The seemingly endless laps of a race at Bristol Motor Speedway or the constant tight, winding corners of a single lap at the annual Monte Carlo stop on the Formula One calendar may seem like a tough task for drivers to endure. While they’re not easy by any stretch, they pale in comparison to some of the world’s most daunting auto races. These spectacular competitions combine grueling terrain with long distances and continuous varying challenges to create a competition that pushes both man and machine to their absolute limits. Think you’ve seen a tough race? Think again. Here are the five most difficult famous auto races to finish.

5. 4X4 RAINFOREST CHALLENGE – MALAYSIA

Held each November in the small Southeast Asian country of Malaysia, this race pits dozens of competitors against each other for the toughest off-road racing on the planet. How tough is it? It takes the competitors five days to finish the course that stretches only about 500 miles. In fact, some stretches are so difficult that it can take teams over an hour just to go a single kilometer. But that kilometer can be filled with everything from slippery slopes of mud to giant, craggy boulders, to massive forests involving careful weaving to avoid getting stuck. Bring a winch, you’re going to need it.

4. THE NURBURGRING 24

The Nurburgring is a famous (and infamous) auto circuit located just outside the German city of Nuremburg. This circuit is known for being the ultimate test of both car and driver, with the most popular Nordschliefe circuit measuring just under 13 miles in length. It’s over this circuit, which features an incredible 154 turns that one of the most testing endurance races is held every year. No race tests the limits of a car’s performance for hours at a time or a driver’s ability to remain completely focused more than lap after lap of this track for 24 hours straight.

3. ISLE OF MAN TOURIST TROPHY

The Isle of Man is a small autonomous island in the Irish Sea that’s roughly about 220 square miles in size. Every summer, some of the most daring and perhaps insane superbike riders head to the island to take a crack at the 37.7 mile Snaefell Mountain course. The annual competition that has been held for more than 100 years to this day still has the highest fatality rate of any motor race, making it easily the most dangerous motorcycle race on the planet.

2. ERZBERG RODEO

While not as fatal as the Isle of Man TT, the Erzberg Rodeo is even tougher to get from start to finish. The course? From the bottom to the top of a working quarry in the Austrian Alps. But the trick to this race isn’t the distance, it’s the sheer difficulty of making it out. The hill is extraordinarily steep and covered with loose dirt and gravel, making it a challenge for even seasoned riders to reach the finish. This enduro-style race is known for taking out competitors. The 2011 running of this race saw more than 1,000 riders qualify and only nine actually reach the final finish line.

1. THE BAJA 1000

Have you ever seen the movie Death Race? The Baja 1000 is kind of like that, minus the guns. This race that annually takes place across the desert terrain of Baja California in Mexico and features challenges you won’t find in any other event. Spectators have been known to booby trap the course for entertainment, competitors have been detained by local police, and the grueling course and difficult terrain makes for a race where it’s not uncommon for the two-wheeled motorcycles to actually beat the more-powerful and overall-faster four-wheeled entries in overall time. The teams who can claim to have finished the Baja 1000 have earned one of the most prestigious badges of honor in the world of off-road racing.

At MB2 Raceways, you and your friends can race to the finish and put your own skills to the test. Our San Fernando indoor karting facility and other great locations give you the ability to experience the high-speed thrills of go-kart racing with our fully-electric European style vehicles. We offer great parties and event packages as well as daily arrive-and-drive style races, meaning you can get behind the wheel today.

Call MB2 Raceways now at 866-986-RACE for more information or to start booking your event!

The National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing, otherwise known as NASCAR, is by far the most popular racing series in the United States. But there are some parts about this sport which some people have never known but always would have liked to. On this blog, we look at just a few of these rubber-burning questions to give you the answers you have been searching for.

“Why do they always turn left?” 

One of the most common digs at NASCAR is that races just consist of a seemingly-endless cycle of left turns around an oval track. But why left? Why are there no races where the drivers take the oval turning right? Nobody really knows how the tradition started, but today the reason why NASCAR doesn’t simply adopt right-turning races is one of safety. Because drivers sit on the left side of the car when driving and cars tend to slide outward to the right when turning, this places far more armor and safety equipment between the driver and the retaining wall.

The exact opposite is true in what was Australia’s equivalent of NASCAR, otherwise known as AUSCAR. Australia drives with the wheel on the right hand side of the car, so to preserve safety, they drove in a clockwise direction, making right turns for the duration of the race. Unfortunately, AUSCAR shut down in the year 1999 and is no longer running down under.

“Why do NASCAR cars not have doors or mirrors?” 

Similar to the previous question, the answer once again has to do with safety. Doors are prone to flying open and crunching during accidents, so engineers opted to get rid of them. This means the car will hold its integrity better in a crash. Likewise, it also gave engineers the ability to install additional safety features, such as a solid roll cage along the sides of both cars, which further decreases the chance of a serious accident and allows more drivers to walk away from the high-speed crashes.

Cars don’t have mirrors simply because they race so close together all of the time. To be more accurate, cars don’t have side-view mirrors, but they do have a long rear-view mirror that allows them to see into their blind spots easier while racing. If cars came with side-view mirrors, they’d get knocked off easily nearly every race (especially in the tight conditions of restrictor-plate racing) and a loose mirror could spell disaster for another car that strikes it.

“How big is a pit crew?” 

It’s impossible for a NASCAR vehicle to go the entire duration of a 500 mile race without having to stop for fuel or new tires, so pit stops are an integral part of the race. In a pit stop, a driver’s team members, known as his pit crew, will jump over the wall, change the tires, fill the car with fuel, make adjustments to the suspension or steering, clean the windshield, and even give the driver a drink of water if necessary. And they’ll do all of this in about 12 to 14 seconds.

While a race team is composed of dozens of members, the actual pit crew is composed generally of about nine members, with up to seven being allowed over the wall to work on the car at any given time. Each crew consists of a tire carrier and changer for both the front and rear of the car, as gas man, a jack man, and on occasion, an “extra man” who does things like cleaning the windshield or making a car adjustment. Teams also have support crew members who do things such as retrieve wrenches and air hoses and hand things to the crew members working on the car, but they must remain behind the pit wall for the duration of the stop.

If you want to learn more about the experience of high-speed racing, stop by your local MB2 Raceway for a memorable motorsports experience. Our fully-electric European-style go karts offer all of the thrills of wheel-to-wheel racing in a safe and controlled environment. Each of our tracks is designed to test drivers of the highest skill levels while being simple enough for even novice drivers to navigate without difficulty, making the experience fun for everyone involved. We even provide all necessary safety equipment to help you truly enjoy your race!

Learn more about our arrive-and-drive races or book your next event today! Call MB2 Raceway at 866-986-RACE!