My Favorite Race

Anyone who has ever loved racing has their favorite venues. There is drag, road, rally, Nascar, F1, and many other forms of automotive racing. For many of us having been involved from behind the steering wheel for many years, we can enjoy all of the above but there always seems to be at least one racing venue that seems to stand out from all the rest. For me it is hands down La Carrera Panamericana. In short this race started in 1950 with the Mexican government inviting top drivers from all over the world. The race starts at the border of Guatemala and continues 2500 miles back to the United States over seven days with some cars reaching speeds up to 200 miles per hour. And that’s through the middle of down town Mexico City!

Continue reading after the jump, with tons of pics from the race!

For me it’s so much more than a race. It begins with a love of speed and all things automotive. From there it requires a car than has to be able to outperform every single aspect of racing known to man. Cars must be fast, well built, able to take unbelievable abuse, handle like a slot car and the driver has GOT TO KNOW his car is so safe that he can keep his foot into it just a few seconds longer than the other guy.

La Carrera Panamericana is full of stories and there is simply no way to describe what a life changing journey it is for anyone involved. This race is unbelievable.  Like any other race there is danger (lots of it), speed, fast cars, beautiful women, wrecks, and volumes and volumes of racing drama. But some of what sets this race out from others is first of all it is the last truly great race where drivers are invited to go as fast as they possibly can on public highways entirely with the blessing of millions of race fans. I cannot begin to describe how excited the citizens of Mexico are during the seven days of this event. Race fans line the highways often for hundreds of miles and every major city you drive into finds hundreds of thousands lined along the streets to see the cars coming and meet drivers for photos and autographs. It’s like nothing any driver could ever expect. The word overwhelming cannot do the feeling justice.

Many of the roads, streets and highways are in less than pristine condition but the beauty of Colonial Mexico and it’s villages, cities as well as it’s people are nothing short of breath-taking. There are way too many misconceptions of what people expect Mexico to look like, but the usual border town appearance is nowhere to be found in the heart of this amazing country. There is so much color and flavor to be experienced whether it be food, architecture or even the fans you meet along the way.

The driving is as competitive, grueling and dangerous as any race to be found and to take it for granted all too often proves costly as it did this year. Out of 107 cars that entered the race less than 60 finished and even many of them had the help of a lot of duct tape holding what was left to what used to be a beautiful car only 7 days prior.

Racing Photos courtesy of my friends at Go Fast Energy Drinks.