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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
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The two-seater IndyCar is used to give rides, not to race, but it still can reach well over 200 mph.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
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This team belongs to a former Dancing with the Stars contestant. Down the aisle is the team of David Letterman.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
The crew's work is the first part of the race, normally unseen: putting the car together perfectly.
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The teams keep their offices and cars in these trailers.
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Medical teams keep the race running smoothly, no matter what happens.
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Special tires make racing possible—and they're almost impossible to get unless you're a pro racer.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
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This weekend, IndyCar drivers will descend on Gateway Motorsports Park for its biggest race in years, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. SLM went to the track on setup day with the important questions: What's it like to drive more than 200 miles per hour? Why does your neck bend that way? And what happens if you have to pee?
Colombian-American IndyCar racer Gabby Chaves was one of several drivers who took St. Louis VIPs out on the tracks for (relatively) slow-mo 180-mph laps. He has a few tips for racing at 230, 240 miles per hour: protect your internal organs...and don't forget to work out your neck! (And, no, he's not that worried about safety.)
Cathy Kightlinger, a communications manager for IndyCar, says that finding shirts for the pro drivers can be a nightmare—because their necks are huge, but they're otherwise small people.
Zach Veach has raced since he was 12. "I didn't even have a driver's license, and I was driving a car that was going 150 miles per hour at 15," he says. The two-seater rides are a favorite of his because he gets to watch people react to what's often their first high-speed experience. He drove Chris Pine, once. (Pine screamed. A lot.) A common question Veach gets from middle-schoolers: "How do you go to the bathroom?"
Super Bowl champ Isaac Bruce says he wasn't nervous—but he was praying.
And Bruce's fellow Rams vet Andy McCollum took a ride twice.
