What's Your Favorite Racing Moment?
The world of racing lends itself to many stories. Photo finishes, come-from-behind victories, or a single crucial corner that changes the trajectory of a championship. These moments, so fleeting as they occur, can live forever in fame or infamy for their impact — regardless of the duration.
Today, we’re talking about those motorsports moments, and asking you to dig through those memories for your top picks. The best memories of a single point in automotive history, a scant few minutes or seconds that stuck with you. What’s your favorite moment in racing?
My single favorite motorsports moment isn’t even a race — it was essentially a pit stop, during a Formula Drift bout five years ago at Road Atlanta. Kristaps Bluss and Dean Kearney lined up for their second bout of the night, after Kearney’s Viper hit Bluss’s E46 earlier in the evening. Both vehicles had been repaired, and the two set off — each hoping to face James Deane in the finals.
But while Kearney had hit Bluss in the first run, Bluss hit Kearney in the second. The Viper completed its run fine, but the E46 sat in Road Atlanta’s keyhole with some truly mangled front suspension. Unfortunately for Bluss, the judges decided that there was too much contact to make a decision — he had to fix up the car for another run, and fast.
Formula DRIFT Atlanta Top 16 Livestream Replay
Five minutes on the clock. A flatbed set the E46 down in the pits, and the HGK team scrambled to fix the ruined front suspension. Chris Forsberg, eliminated earlier in the night, jumped into the fray with his entire crew — lending a hand anywhere they could. Then Ryan Tuerck arrived, fire suit around his waist, to do the same. Michael Essa, fellow BMW driver, showed up. Four competitors, all ostensibly against each other, all thrashing on the same car just to make it race-ready.
With just over a minute left to fix the car, Bluss got back in the driver’s seat, confident that four combined teams could fix the beleaguered Bimmer in time. As the clock hit five seconds, Bluss didn’t have time to lower the E46 from its jack stands — instead, he simply drove it off of them. Ultimately, however, all the effort was for naught: The combined teams did everything but tighten the rear lug nuts before running out of time.
That’s my favorite motorsports moment, four FD teams coming together to help one competitor get back on track, but what’s yours? Tell us a story in the comments, and we’ll collect our favorites tomorrow.
