Freedom Factory — Local services in Sarasota

I was in town visiting my grandsons (7 & 5) and took them here for the Tour of Destruction.

We arrived somewhat early 5:15 with the event starting at 7pm. I was glad I paid the extra $10 for closer parking. The parking is an open field and can be quite a walk if towards the back. There were plenty of people working and kept traffic moving and surprisingly able to keep everyone parked in orderly rows.

Even being early with fairly close parking was a bit of a walk. No complaints, my knees are bad, and like to remind me of my age whenever they have a chance. So if you have difficulty walking or need to use a wheelchair, I would recommend being early to get as close as possible.

I also purchased the pit passes for my son and myself (kids under 12 free with an adult). Seeing how far I would have had to walk to get to the other side for the pits, I just went in the regular side, and he took the boys to the pit area.

I will say now that this was one of the friendliest events I have been to in a long time. Everyone on staff, security, and even the other attendees were friendly, helpful, and just all-around pleasant.

I found us some seats (again, first come, first serve) while they toured the pits. Had some great conversations with other attendees as I waited on the boys to return.

Two very excited little boys returned from the pits. One driver let them sit in their car for a picture, one had a Minion themed car and was letting all the kids write their name on the car, and even some pics of them next to Bigfoot strapped on the back of a truck.

The event started on time and was well run. There were no long delays between races, everything was kept moving so there was little time of nothing going on.

The lines at concessions moved quickly. The bathrooms always were kept up despite the amount of people using them. Trash cans were emptied before they became to full. I think the staff did a great job keeping up with the crowds.

The prices were very reasonable on everything. Each of the boys got a t-shirt, a Gatorade, a cup of ice cream, split a chicken tender and fries meal, two beers and a bbq sandwich for dad, a water and a BBQ sandwich for myself and I still had change from $100.

After the event was over, getting out of the parking lot took some time, but was nowhere as bad as I thought it would be. Everything was kept moving in an orderly fashion. The local police were even on hand to help with traffic flow exiting onto the main road.

Overall, we had a great time. Everyone working there did an outstanding job of keeping up with everything, keeping things moving in an organized way, and making sure you had a good time.

I would definately recommend coming here. I will be returning as well. This is only 20 minutes from their home and I am looking at future events that I can plan my visits around for another evening with the boys.

Thank you to the staff and drivers for making their first visit to the track an...

see edit below

We bought tickets for an event titled, “Freedom Factory Freedom 500 and Burnout Rivals”. We bought the VIP option. We, and many others, were turned away at the entrance today. The website never said that separate tickets were needed for the separate days. FOAT does not say that you need to buy separate tickets for the separate days. Both events are in the same Paragraph of the description. Multiple people fell for this scam and were turned away at the door. Staff was condescending when explaining how, even though our tickets say “Fri April 5, 2024-Sat April 6,2024”, that we only purchased tickets for Friday.

What do you say to the people who traveled a long way to be here? Who saved their hard-earned money, to then be turned away for an error your marketing team made?

This is completely unacceptable.

Do better.

edit Don’t get me wrong the freedom500 is by far a 10/10 experience and I will be attending future events. However I wish the descriptions of the tickets was more detailed and more accessible after buying the tickets. Also I believe the staff had a very agitated approach to our questions. There were several other groups that were under the same impression as us. At one point, a staff member said, “Oh, it’s the VIP thing again”, when explaining the issue to his colleague. I would’ve been more than willing to buy the extra tickets before hand. But there was ZERO communication. I would’ve purchased at the door if given the option by staff. But we were ushered out almost immediately with zero explanation other than “those aren’t for today.”

Suggestion for the future. Send an email to everyone that buys the “vip experience package” something along the lines of “remember your tickets don’t include burnout rivals.” I would also make it clearer on the website/ticketing platform. I believe this would alleviate a lot of confusion and frustration in the future. Finding out day of is not fun.

All in all the freedom500 was an excellent event. Just need a little more transparency in terms of what your “vip” experience...

Cleetus Driving Experience – Like, Totally the Best Day Ever

If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to star in your own high-octane 80s action movie—minus the cheesy one-liners but with way more horsepower—look no further than the Cleetus Driving Experience.

The day kicked off with Allan checking me in—cool, composed, and running things smoother than a Knight Rider dashboard. He had me set up and ready before I could even finish saying “start your engines.”

Then Dave got me situated in the vehicle—seat adjusted, harness locked in, and steering wheel gripped like I was about to launch into warp speed. His calm confidence made sure I was ready to roll without second-guessing a thing.

Ryan took over from there, directing me around the track with the kind of clarity and timing you’d expect from a Top Gun flight instructor. Thanks to his guidance, I was hitting the lines harder and cleaner than I thought possible.

And here’s the kicker—I raced twice in one day. First run got the nerves out. Second run? Pure 80s-style redemption arc. Faster, tighter, smoother. I improved my lap times and walked away feeling like I just nailed the third act of a racing movie.

Massive thanks to Allan, Dave, Ryan, and the entire Cleeter crew—every single person there brought the energy, professionalism, and good vibes. From the pit to the track, it was clear they love what they do and want you to love it too.

I’ll be back—no question. And next time? I’m bringing a windbreaker, mirrored shades, and a mixtape labeled “Lap Time...