I’ve been racing cars professionally for almost 15 years now, and as soon as people find out what I do, the questions start coming in hard and fast. Questions like “What’s the fastest you’ve ever gone?” and “Have you ever had a bad crash?” and so on. But the two I get asked the most often are these: “So you race…

Jalopnik’s Deputy Editor Michael Ballaban: Journalist. Lover. Patron of the arts. Anchovy syrup enthusiast. Above all else, driving god. But how did he get that way? Are heroes like Mike born, or are they made? It’s definitely the latter, and in our latest video, you’ll learn how by seeing what really happens at a…

Anyone who’s ever browsed the internet has probably come across a video in which someone (a Ford Mustang driver) spins out somewhere (outside a Cars and Coffee) and crashes into something (a crowd of teenage YouTubers). Sure, the drivers of these Mustangs are being idiots, but I also want to point out that it’s really…

For a guy who’s only real experience behind the wheel was the occasional “high-spirited” driving on the roads of Long Island, drifting is one helluva sport to jump into. Combine that with the fact that the only real mechanical background I have thus far is what some would consider to be that of a “Subie Destroyer,”…

If you’re a newbie who’s desperate to drive on track for the first time, attending a race school is one of the best ways to go about it. But since absolutely none of them are cheap, it’d help to know know exactly what you’re in for before melting your credit card. I attended the Lucas Oil School of Racing’s two-day…

I’m what you might call a “self-taught racer.” My first wheel-to-wheel racing experience was behind the wheel of a Mk III Jetta, made up to resemble a tiki hut. And while I’ve done hundreds of laps on some of America’s greatest racing circuits, it’s mostly been a trial by fire, and lately I noticed I wasn’t getting…

I’m a child, just like you. I like to go sideways, in a plume of my own tire smoke. I enjoy opposite lock, balancing the throttle and brake in a smooth, effortless symphony. Generally I prefer to do this on gravel. Sounds familiar, right?

This week, I discovered that everything I thought I knew about life, the universe, and high-performance driving might well be backwards.

Before Gary Powell had finished his question about the new Bond movie, I’d already said yes twice. Gary was a 007 veteran. In The World Is Not Enough, he perfected flipping the Q speedboat on the Thames by jumping a smaller vessel—wait for it—onto dry land.

The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is a race that remains far more grueling than the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Why? Because—in an event designed for amateurs—shit breaks, people crash, drivers sleep in freezing trailers (not $500,000 RVs), and blind corners hide many wayward Miatas.

I live in Texas. I only ever see large amounts of snow if I leave the state. But what I learned after doing not one, but two snow driving schools with Porsche and Mazda, is how to turn those distinct winter driving disadvantages into wild hooning superpowers—and also how not to spin out, crash and die.

So, there’s a track that you really want to drive. Great! But you’ve never driven it before and you don’t want to make an idiot of yourself. That’s tricky. Here’s how you can Forrest Gump your way through it without completely screwing up.

I’m telling you, Circuito de Guia is one of the most insane race tracks anywhere in the world. I wasn’t being hyperbolic when I called it “batshit crazy.” Anything can happen and usually does. That was definitely the case this weekend.

No matter how much track day, autocross or driving school experience you have, your first time doing actual wheel-to-wheel racing will be an entirely different animal.

I may be the last person you’d ever want on your endurance racing team. Success in motorsport comes with talent and and experience, and while I’m no stranger to the track—not always in good ways!—I’ve never done any actual wheel-to-wheel racing before. So when I was tapped to race Road &…

What’s it like to drive the 2016 Cadillac ATS-V on the street? Don’t know. Don’t care. Didn’t ask. That is not why I’m here. If you want to know what it’s like taking the kids to school or picking up groceries, then you can ask somebody else. I’m just here to tell you what it’s like to wring the neck of Caddy’s…

“Just bought a new-to-me 991 GT3. Next time you’re in ATL, you’re welcome to drive it.” That text popped up on my phone from a good friend of mine, David, near the end of June. I think he meant that I could drive his new Teutonic baby low and slow around the streets of Dekalb County. I had a completely different idea.

Leaning the Porsche Cayman GTS hard into the first of the three deceptively challenging back-to-back-to-back opening turns of Lime Rock my brain suddenly goes blank. Considering I’m piloting a $100K car at triple digit speeds you’d imagine this would be scary, but I felt great. It was the first time I’d gotten close…