A Segway spin in NASCAR territory

Racers, start your Segways.

Surrounded by a phantom crowd of 135,000, I bounded away from the starting block, pressing hard on my toes and tilting forward as if I were fighting a gale wind. I rounded the first turn, deliberately avoiding the high bank that makes Delaware's Dover International Speedway the track with the fastest mile in the world. As I coasted toward the finish line, I checked my speed: 12.6 mph, a personal best. I would have performed a victory dance if I hadn't been so worried about toppling over.

All morning, I'd been itching to break out of easy touring mode and vroom into Dale Earnhardt Jr. velocities. SegZone's new two-hour-plus tour of the Delaware racetrack, which hosts two NASCAR weekends a year, has that fly-like-the-wind effect on people.

ABOUT THE TOUR

SegZone, which also arranges tours of Annapolis, Md., and downtown Dover, is the first in the country to offer guests a Segway spin around a NASCAR racetrack. After a year of planning, Debbie Wilson and Steve Dapias, the sibling owners, held the first Monster Mile Segway Experience in August. Dapias said the combination of crazed-fan activities was a natural, just like Budweiser and NASCAR.

I harbored doubts that fans who thrill at cars going round and round at dizzying speeds would get pumped over a vehicle that falls into the same category as an electric wheelchair. Yet, here I was, a formerly avowed anti-Segwayan and a NASCAR newbie who couldn't wait to rev her machine along the mile-long track.

The tour covers the track's landmark attractions, starting with the Monster Bridge. We parked our Segways and stepped inside the elevated rectangle. We sat in blue seats that have been warmed by the bottoms of celebrities and other VIPs. After poking around the Bridge, we boarded our Segways and scooted to Victory Plaza to pay tribute to Miles the Monster, the track's mascot. We formed a Segwayloose circle around Brian Citino, the track manager of communications and our guide, as he tossed out stats.

ON THE TRACK

I had my first taste of the race course en route to the garage. Citino told us that we could ride halfway up the bank, but we should cruise the straightaway during the turns. When someone asked why, he mentioned the "L" word -- as in liability.

On foot, we explored the garage, the media center and the black-and-white checkered grandstand with track historian George Keller, a fount of arcane tidbits who has attended every race here since it opened in 1969.

Now, more than two hours into the event, the owners set us free to take a victory lap. I placed all my weight on my toes and took off, a tortoise on two wheels. Race car drivers can complete the mile in about 22 seconds; WilsonDebbie clocked us at 5 minutes, 11 seconds. Only 399 miles to go, which, on a Segway, would take about about 33 hours.

If I ever compete in the 400 Sprint Cup Series, I think I'll take the car.