Motorsport events are the safest places to practice pretend engine noises without attracting lawn mowers in heat. Rev up with this Groupon.
$12 for Entry for Four to the Budweiser Cup Spring Classic Swamp-Buggy Practice Race ($24 Value)
On Saturday, March 2, at Florida Sports Park, swamp-buggy racers whip their vehicles around a muddy figure-eight-shaped track in preparation for the next day’s Budweiser Cup Spring Classic. Gates open at 10:30 a.m., and drivers practice throughout the day while spectators watch from grandstand-style seating and nosh on snacks from food vendors.
Swamp Buggy Races
Driving a motor vehicle into a swamp generally sounds like a recipe for disaster, unless the vehicle in question is a swamp buggy. Outfitted with balloon tires and gun racks, swamp buggies originated in the 1930s as a mode of hunting in Naples’ otherwise impenetrable bogs. Years later, buggy owners started an off-season tradition to complement their hunting: swamp-buggy racing. For more than 60 years, Swamp Buggy Races has kept the tradition alive, growing from informal competitions held in muddy potato patches to a thrice-yearly event at Florida Sports Park. Drivers zoom around a track dubbed the Mile O’ Mud, dotted with sinkhole-like “sippy holes” that can only be traversed with sufficient horsepower or with help from a chivalrous man willing to lay down his sturdy coat. As buggies whir past, fans cheer on their favorite buggy from grandstand-style seats and delight in the race’s finale, the Swamp Buggy Queen’s Annual Mudbath, in which the year’s beauty pageant queen is dunked in the track’s sloppiest segment.
Reviews
Good competitive racing! Friendly people, good food and drink.
Mark S, TripAdvisor, 2/6/12
Love the crowds, lots of entertainment. Look foward to it every year
islandgirl34145, TripAdvisor, 5/18/12
Tips
-
“Fun, family friendly event! I def recommend. ”
-
A
