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A sold-out grandstand packed with more than 100,000 people erupts in a loud roar, drowning out the National Anthem. This is meant to be The Great American Race, bigger, brighter, louder than anything else. An incoming rumble and the ground shakes as six fighter jets streak into view. The cheers are drowned out by the jets, flying so low you swear they could hit the tops of people’s heads.
I'm standing at the base of one of the most legendary corners in all of auto racing, the uphill right-left sequence named Eau Rouge. I'd never driven it before but four-time F1 champ Sebastian Vettel has and he's waiting in a hopped up Infiniti hoping to crush me. Then it starts to rain.
Infiniti Red Bull Driver Sebastian Vettel became the youngest F1 Champion of all time, which he followed up by becoming the youngest double, triple and quadruple F1 World Champion of all time. It doesn't matter, we've been given the chance to best him at one of the world's best race tracks. Here's how we do it.
There is something lovely that, sadly, most racecars lack. It's called an emergency brake and mastering the use of it will make you a master driver. Here's how to do it. And as an added bonus, here's what happens when you put a NASCAR driver in a rally car.
What happens when you put a 2015 Subaru WRX STI with a three-time British rally champion on the most dangerous race track in the world and tell him to set a word record? You get a world record. It may sound simple, but having seen it first hand I can tell you it's anything but.
Millions of spectators on TV. Thousands of fans in the stands. Constant updates streamed over countless internet channels. All focused on cars and drivers racing side-by-side at upwards of 200 miles per hour. So why are we drivers usually so damn boring?
Wait a second, did I mean to say “last” and not “fast”? Yes I did. This is what its like to be in last place. This is my life at what I can only hope is the bottom of the barrel.
The 2014 Sprint Cup season — my first full season in NASCAR's premier series — is under way and... it's not going go so well. Here's what happens when a life full of preparation meets the catch fence at 200 MPH.
Ok, let me be honest right up front, I haven't raced at the Daytona 500 yet and therefore I haven't won it yet. However, I have a pretty good record on the super speedways of NASCAR, including a win in the Truck Series at Talladega, so I'm sure that I can explain to you how drafting works and, in doing so, how a race car driver like me attempts to win one of the world's most famous races. Also, if I do win the Daytona 500 this year this column will seem that much more impressive.
Since first stepping in a go-kart at age 13, it's taken me exactly ten of the most nerve wracking, disorienting and exciting years of my life to reach the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Through those ten years, almost $10 million dollars of funding has been spent by sponsors, investors and owners on me.
Now that this attention-grabbing headline has done its job I'll make it simple for you: The only way not to design a great a racetrack is to "design" it in the first place. The more you design a track, the worse it is.
If you’re a racecar driver you could change that to “How Horsepower Saved My Career,” or if you were an astronaut “How Horsepower Got Me to the Moon." If you're the average Joe your title might resemble: “How Horsepower Cost Me My License.” But is that the truth? Do we need as much horsepower as we always insist we do?
Every relationship starts with an introduction, so here it goes: My name is Parker Kligerman and I am 23-year-old professional NASCAR driver for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. I've been paid to drive race cars since I was 18 years old when a small check arrived at my door with the unassuming name “Penske Racing” above the letterhead. The check has been framed above my bed at my parents' house in Connecticut ever since.