America was built on speed. Hot, nasty, badass speed. (Other countries do it too, we’ve heard.) But sometimes the speed brings us some truly unexpected moments. To say that it was hard to narrow this list down to a top 30 was an understatement. However, that’s just what we’ve done: here are the 30 craziest, least expected, wildest, most baffling and/or most wonderful racing moments of 2015.
Porsche Just Won Petit Le Mans In A Freakin’ GT Car
Normally, purpose-built racing prototypes claim the top honors at professional endurance races. This year’s Petit Le Mans was so wet that a GT car took the overall win instead. While the race was ended early because of the treacherous conditions, this is still an impressive feat.
This Ferrari Challenge Race Was So Incredibly Bad It’s Actually Amazing
Pick a crash, any crash. With so many incidents in one highlight reel, we can hardly believe this race was real.
NASCAR Driver Gets Hit In The Butt With Fireworks
A literal fire was lit under the butt of NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner Austin Dillon during the pre-race festivities at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Montoya Drove From The Back To Win A Four-Way Battle For The Indy 500
Not even getting rear-ended early in the race can keep Juan Pablo Montoya from winning.
F1 Car Hits Mechanic In The Nuts
I’m not sure what’s the bigger surprise: the Lotus Formula One crew member getting whacked in the balls, or the fact that he’s able to get up and man the jack afterwards. This guy earned that ice pack afterwards.
This Is What It Looks Like When You Hit A Curb At 160 MPH On A Bike
Clipping a curb at any speed on two wheels is a butt-puckering moment. Clipping one during the Isle of Man TT is on a whole different plane of Code Brown.
It’s So Hot, Driver Liam Dwyer Stripped Down To His Undies In The Pits
Fluffy Bunny wasn’t the only surprise on television during Lone Star Le Mans weekend. Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racer Liam Dwyer was simply done with clothes after being lifted out of his car, so that’s how he spoke to Fox Sports’ Brian Till on-air.
Low Flying Helicopters Don’t Belong In Pit Lane
Even Royal Australian Navy demonstrations are dangerous down under. A Navy helicopter flew too close to pit lane, blowing up a metal wall that hit V8 Supercars driver James Courtney in the ribs at Sydney Motorsports Park.
Watch This Mechanic Get Totally Decimated By An Out-Of-Control IndyCar
We saw several incidents this year where a race car hits a crew member but it’s usually with the nose of the car. Rarely, however, does a crew member get taken out with the side of someone’s race car.
NASCAR Becomes NOPE-car With Bizarre Bee Infestation
Derrike Cope’s hauler hosted quite a few uninvited guests at this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200: Africanized swarms of bees. NOPE.
Polish Rally Drivers Don’t Need No Stinking Steering Wheel
Steering wheels: who needs ‘em? Just grab the hub and keep going.
Watch This RZR Buggy Literally Fly Through The Finish Line
I don’t think this buggy got the memo that finish line banners in motorsport aren’t supposed to be run through like a ribbon at the end of a marathon.
The Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Is A Front-Wheel-Drive 1,250-HP Le Mans Racer
It’s one thing to enter a front-wheel-drive car in a local time attack event, but it’s another thing entirely to take a front-wheel-drive-biased car to the most grueling endurance race in the world. This year, Nissan raced its GT-R LM Nismo at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
While the car wasn’t competitive and the team ultimately withdrew from most of the World Endurance Championship season to try to get it sorted, it’s still insane that Nissan tried it in the first place—and will try to race it again this year, with any luck.
NASCAR Vs. Rabbit Is The Funniest Thing I’ve Seen All Year
A rabbit brought a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race to a halt this year as officials proved that they aren’t exactly Elmer Fudd.
Further Proof Stadium Super Trucks Are The Pinnacle Of Badassness
Stadium Super Trucks could fill up its own list of insane moments all by itself, but these trucks just defy sense and reason in the most hilarious way possible. Here’s a prime example: Sheldon Creed’s truck flipped on its roof coming out of a jump, flipped back on to its wheels, and rolled across the finish. Now that’s how you take a checkered flag.
Vegan Driver Killed A Possum With A Porsche 911 At The Daytona 24
Of all the drivers to hit a poor, innocent wayward possum during the Rolex 24 at Daytona, it was Magnus Racing’s vegan driver, Andy Lally. Naturally, the team vowed to avenge the untimely death of “Ballast of Possum” all season long.
Random Fan Walks On Track During F1 Race
Normally, people who sneak onto an active Formula One track are pretty quick about it in the interest of not getting impaled by a nosecone. This guy was just out for a relaxing evening stroll.
The World Endurance Championship Says Au Revoir To Grid Girls
It’s about time: the World Endurance Championship finally canned the idea of having scantily-clad women standing around as decoration before their events. It’s outdated, it’s cheesy and we’d rather see young enthusiasts get the chance to hang out among the cars instead, anyway.
Pucker Factor 10: Watch A WRC Driver Nearly Crash Into A Tractor
Here’s something you don’t expect on a live rally stage: a tractor driving into your path.
Tony Stewart, Enemy Of ISIS, Had His Track Website Hacked
Clearly, Eldora Speedway has more despicable enemies out there than dumb Major League Baseball execs.
The Definitive Visual Guide On How Not To Behave In A Motorcycle Race
Even with all the drama surrounding Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez at the end of the MotoGP season, those two had nothing on this bizarre on-track spat between Moto3 riders Romano Fenati and Niklas Ajo.
Kyle Busch Bounces Back From Missing 11 Races To Take Sprint Cup Championship
Kyle Busch won his first ever Sprint Cup championship after breaking his leg early this year and having to sit out 11 races of the Sprint Cup season. While many fans are still scratching their heads as to how that happened, Busch simply owned the last half of the season.
Feel The Seething Hatred The Mercedes F1 Drivers Have For Each Other In This Video
There was no shortage of drama between Mercedes Formula One teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton this year. Needless to say, Rosberg didn’t like Hamilton tossing him the second place hat after Hamilton had pushed him out of the lead at the first corner of the track.
ARCA Stock Car Driver Flies Off Speedway Banking, Hits Fan’s Truck
Perhaps a tall catch fence may have come in handy here.
Watch A Rally Driver Roll His Car And Keep Going Like Nothing Happened
Land on your wheels? Shiny-side up? No big deal. Keep going.
Holy Crap: Tiny Buggy Hip-Checks A Trophy Truck Into Oblivion Mid-Race
Talk about David versus Goliath. This Class 1 buggy whacked into the Vest Racing trophy truck just right to send the bigger racer airborne at the Mint 400. Who knew that a little buggy would be capable of causing such carnage?
MotoGP Racer Completes Miracle Save By Crossing Finish Line Sidesaddle
How did Moto3 rider Niklas Ajo not crash here? How?
Ferrari Formula One Car Has A Dick Butt In UPS Logo [Update: It’s Gone]
Bless you, Internet. When Ferrari Formula One team sponsor UPS made a photo mosaic of their logo featuring fans’ Facebook photos in the background, someone naturally had Dick Butt (which is a doodle of exactly what it sounds like) as their photo. Dick Butt then took a glorious ride aboard the Ferrari SF15-T.
Watch A Crowd Of Rally Fans Flee From An Out Of Control Car In Slow Motion
I’m still not sure how this entire crowd was able to flee from this car, but I’m glad they were, regardless.
How To Avoid A Batshit Crazy Crash
Macau’s Circuito de Guia never fails to disappoint. Here’s Robb Holland miraculously working his way through an epic code brown situation where cars are skidding and crashing all around him during the Macau Grand Prix TCR International race.
What will next year bring in motorsports? More madness and mayhem—that’s a given.
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.