Rides ‘n Smiles – a chance to give something back to children in need

Posted on Nov 12, 2022 in Featured | 2 comments

The author, and a happy passenger, at speed in the SRT Viper GTC.

Many of us who earn a living writing about automobiles once had visions of racing professionally, only to learn that our skill sets (or our bank accounts) didn’t measure up to our ambitions. Despite this, we’ve run thousands of laps at tracks across the country or around the world, most in the name of “reviewing cars.” Aside from penning articles for readers to enjoy, it’s rare that we get a chance to use our odd skill set for something really positive, but Rides ‘n Smiles, held annually at Homestead Miami Speedway, is one such event.

Motorsport commentator Shea Adam driving the new Corvette Stingray convertible.

The brainchild of former Group 44 driver Bill Adam (honored in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame), Rides ‘n Smiles was founded on a simple idea: What if giving pediatric cancer patients rides on a racetrack, in contemporary sports cars, could take their minds off of their problems for even a single day?

Since 2007, with the help of automakers, press fleet and event management companies Prestige Auto and STI, Homestead Miami Speedway, and the members of the Southern Automotive Media Association, the event has done just that. Passengers get two laps on the road course at the track, followed by lunch and an award ceremony where “100 MPH Club” certificates are handed out, along with gift bags filled by the generosity of donors.

A young racing fan dreams big.

Pediatric patients, some facing life-threatening illnesses, come from Miami area hospitals. Family members are welcome to participate also, and the “spiritedness” of the lap depends upon the health of the passengers, but the goal is to induct most into the “100 MPH Club.” Drivers, all of whom have prior racetrack experience, are personally vetted by Bill, ensuring that Rides ‘n Smiles maintains its perfect safety record.

The mid-morning line for rides.

In 2012, the event expanded to include wounded veterans, and today the program comprises active duty military as well. Many come from the nearby Homestead Air Reserve base, and generously donate their time escorting and loading children into and out of cars. It’s fitting, then, that the afternoon session is typically reserved for higher-performance cars, driven by active racers, with military members riding shotgun.

Staging the cars and awaiting passengers. Yes, that is a Rolls-Royce in the inside lane. Photo courtesy Charisculture.

A family visit had me in the Miami area at the same time as this year’s Rides ‘n Smiles, so I once again asked to be part of the event in some way. To my ill-hidden delight, Bill asked me to reprise my 2010 role and chauffeur passengers in a Viper coupe. This time around, it was the 2016 Dodge Viper GTC coupe, a 645-horsepower, V-10 slap in the face to political correctness generously loaned to the event by FCA’s SRT group. Half my day would be spent in the Viper, but then I’d swap keys with Racer and Autoweek contributor Steven Cole Smith, who was driving a 2016 Nissan GT-R NISMO Edition, on loan from Nissan, in the first session.

Not all cars were new; this MGA coupe was on display, too.

The new Viper coupe, very likely the last of the breed as the model is once again on the chopping block, is far more refined than the car it replaced, yet it retains the same raucous and over-the-top nature of the original. Yes, it’s still a meat clever, but now it’s a meat clever that boasts a blade honed and polished by Italian craftsmen, with a carbon-fiber handle.

Gone are the unforgiving ways of the old car (which, without stability control, required careful application of the throttle with the front wheels pointed anywhere but straight ahead), replaced by a tamer snake that’s lost none of its potency. Even the six-speed manual transmission is a leap forward from the last car, now preferring finesse to the brute force formerly required when rowing gears.

Plenty fast, the Viper is also blessed with four-piston Brembo brakes in each corner, ensuring that the car stops as well as it goes. In short, if this is indeed the last Viper, it’s a fitting way to send the model into the sunset, and a tribute to the passion of SRT’s engineering staff.

Stopping for a fare in the 2016 Nissan GT-R NISMO.

If the Viper is a meat clever, then certainly the Nissan GT-R NISMO edition is a gendaito, or post-Meiji period katana. Despite a 45-horsepower deficit to the Viper and the addition of all-wheel drive, the Nissan GT-R NISMO felt both quicker in acceleration and more nimble through the corners (though admittedly, the unique-to-the-GT-R Dunlop Sport Maxx tires were more vocal in their displeasure when pushed hard).

Like most modern supercars, the GT-R isn’t available with a manual transmission, instead giving the driver paddle shifters and a choice of shift modes. Though rowing up and down through the gears with two pedals is quicker and more efficient than with three, it isn’t as entertaining, and those with a passion for sports cars of the past may be put off by the GT-R’s arcade-like displays and techno wizardry. That aside, I’d be hard-pressed to name a modern performance car that’s as fast and as forgiving as the Nissan GT-R, particularly in NISMO trim.

Bill Adam, the event’s founder, briefing the crowd.

The day was once again a great success for all involved, and putting smiles on the faces of children who may not have much else to smile about never gets old. A few of my track sessions included members of the U.S. Army’s Golden Knights parachute team, and one said to me mid-lap, “You know you have the greatest job in the world, right?”