AMERICANWAY

COURTESY CHEVROLET (2) I . As soon as the road is empty, I switch into sport mode and smash the gas pedal to the fl oor. The thundering of 415 horsepower echoes through the cabin, drown- ing out Digital Underground's "Doowutch yalike," which is blasting through the Bose sound system. Suddenly, fl ash- backs from the previous few days are racing through my mind. I see myself behind the wheel of the No. 24 Chevy as Je Gordon comes around turn four in the fi nal lap to win. The checkered fl ag drops, and I snap out of the daydream. The speedometer is reading 95 mph. My knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. The Midwestern landscape is fl ying by in a green blur as I make my way back to Motor City to catch a fl ight home. A few days earlier, I had arrived at Detroit Metropolitan A irport. Walking out of baggage claim, I was greeted by a man named Dennis, who handed me a release form to sign and popped the trunk of a shiny black sedan next to us. " W here are you headed?" he asked. "Indianapolis," I told him. "Headed to the race, huh? Have a great weekend," he said as he hopped into the passenger seat of a passing car and vanished into airport tra c. A quick glance at the car he had surrendered to me revealed a spacious sedan with aggres- sive lines from nose to tail and chrome accents gleaming in the sun. It wasn't until I pulled away from the curb that the beast lurking under the hood announced its presence. My ride, the Chev y SS, is the newest addition to the bow tie's performance-car lineup, which includes high-performance legends Camaro and Corvette. The leather performance seats with suede inserts hold you in place in the corners. The paddle shifters behind the steering wheel let you take control of the 6.2-liter V-8 en- gine. Chevy's racing lineage is hinted at throughout, but it is not without the creature comforts one would associate with a luxury car. An excellent sound system, navigation, AUTOMOBILES Drove My Chevy Our writer put his racing face on to test out A MEAN MACHINE and witnessed NASCAR history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Brickyard 400. NEED FOR SPEED: The 2013 NASCAR Chevrolet SS race car and (inset) the 2014 Chevrolet street model 4 8 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY

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