Johnny Petrozelle

Race car drivers are elite athletes

What Tobi is about to do today is one of the most insane things I’ve seen in athletic performance. He will be racing for 2.5 hours straight. Before immersing myself in this sport for the past few days, I would have thought “oh that’s cool, he’ll be driving a fast car around a track.” That is not what this is. And why I have so much respect for him. Tobi will be driving a car over 180 mph, experiencing up to 4.2 g of force. That will throw his body forward with 715 lbs of force and his head by 67 lbs. Braking action requires up to 200 lbs of leg force. The cockpit will average 104-122°F (40 to 50°C). His multi-layer suit barely allows for evaporation. This will cause his core body temperature to reach 102°F. I achieved this same body temp after 200°F of dry sauna for 34 min. It’s overwhelming. His heart rate will beat between 140-170 bpm. He will sweat up to 170 fl oz (5 kg), losing 11 lbs of body weight. Some classes run driver cooling systems. His LMP2 doesn't. Under these conditions, he will need to maintain perfect concentration for the entire 2.5 hours. He’s fighting for tenths of a second on every turn and every stretch. One small slip up and trouble awaits. Today it’s even more intense… it’s raining. The track is wet, scrambling everything. He has to maintain spatial memory of every other car on the track, the complicated rules to avoid penalty, and constantly strategize overtaking other drivers, communicate with his team on the radio, watch for debris, be aware of slightest nuances of his car, and anticipate other drivers. He did a practice run on Thursday and then a qualifying race yesterday, when he emerged from the car, he was a different human. Unrecognizable from the person who entered the car. Beaming with something like an omnipresence of reality. We celebrate those who are especially good at kicking balls, shooting balls into baskets, and running with balls. What Tobi will do today is alien to those. I struggle to think of a sport equally as demanding. Tobi and I have a lot in common. We’ve both built companies. We both spend a lot of time at the keyboard trying to organize the world in ways that we find beautiful. We both love data, method, and analysis. We both have a love for continuous improvement and will endure any pain required to achieve that next goal. What I’ve not experienced is the unmatched flow state Tobi tells me he drops into when under these racing conditions. I deeply understand what it means to achieve a 102°F core body temperature after 34 min in a 200°F dry sauna. I also know what 3 g’s feels like from being a pilot. These are extremely intense psychological states. I know what it means to apply 200 lbs of pressure with my legs. What I’ve never experienced is all these things, at the same time, for 2.5 hours straight, while maintaining perfect focus. He is new to car racing. Late by racing standards. DHH got him into it a few years ago. During this first year of racing, he endured to overcome the extreme motion sickness that accompanies the physical and mental violence of the sport. The race starts at noon eastern. Tobi will be driving for the first 2.5 hours and then @dhh will drop in, followed by Mathias Beche. The race will conclude at 10 pm. I’ll be in the pit watching as all the data streams in from his car and body and imagining what it’s like to be in that car.