Subjects: Technology

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona is the first auto race on the North American racing calendar, and the drivers and their teams better be ready. The race, two times around the clock, is a test of endurance, perseverance, and mental toughness with 67 cars sharing the narrow high banked tri-oval of the Daytona International Speedway.

Wayne Taylor racing is the underdog heading into the event, with Dad Wayne running the team and sons Jordan and Ricky sharing the driving. The Taylor family team has a fast car but a limited budget that hopefully won’t get in the way of a podium finish.

From the oval to the rock pit, this episode will go airborne with the rock bouncing stars from the American Deep South.

We’ll go flat out at the AMA flat tracks championship, and meet a Hollywood fabricator who makes hot rod who dreams.

Normally Negril, Jamaica is a tranquil oasis, but when the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship comes to town, soothing is replaced with speeding. Bragging rights are up for grabs in a showdown between the top racers from Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados.

Local favourite Peter Rae has the sun soaked crowd behind him, but his car Zoom-Zoom has a nasty habit of bursting into flames. If Peter can avoid burning out on the track he could find himself on the winner’s podium.

Sun screen is optional in Iceland where we find some racing daredevils race straight up the side of some seriously steep mountains.

It’s pedal to the medal as the Lucas Formula One Drag boats fly across the water at break neck speed in Phoenix.

A marketing executive gets the ride of his life behind the wheel of a NASCAR racer on a high-banked oval.

The Mint 400 is a bone jarring, kidney bruising off-road romp in the Nevada desert featuring North America’s top all-wheeled racers. The Mint is a flat out race over some of the toughest terrain known to man.

Rob MacCachren is considered a legend in off-road racing and he’ll be in tough up against some of the young bucks of the sport. MacCachren isn’t ready to concede anything to the future stars of the sport, but even racing icons have to deal with mechanical breakdowns. And when your truck breaks down in the middle of the desert, it comes down to how fast you get it moving again.

This episode stays with the dirt theme as we head to California where they try to get a grip and go drag racing on sand.

Car auctioneer and serious collector Craig Jackson invites into his home for a private tour of his extensive vehicle collection. When Jackson isn’t running his world famous Barrett-Jackson car auctions, he’s out driving one of rare exotic cars. He invites us to tag along.

In the UK we meet an eccentric inventor who’s come up with a jet go-Kart, and racing up a snowy ski mountain in a jeep.

Big Rig Truck Racing, five-ton vehicles jockeying for position on a track built for ‘normal’ race cars. It’s a lot like a demolition derby as the giants of the track bump and push each other around in search of the checkered flag. Veteran Jim Bennett will do his best to fend off upstart Simon Reid. Will Simon’s enthusiasm be enough to get past the crafty veteran and attempt to capture his first Big Rig win?

He calls himself Kid Kwik, but to Frank Hawley, head school master at Drag Racing school, Kid is just another student. The young cocky upstart better pay attention to Frank or risk hitting the wall.

Tanner Faust is one of the stars of global rally cross, a rock-em sock-em racing series that features every racing discipline and almost encourages contact. On the Las Vegas stop on the circuit, Tanner will try and keep his nose clean to make it to the finish line.

Eric Taboul straddles a jet motorcycle and goes an astonishing 451 kilometers an hour.

Connor Cummins recounts a spectacular accident that almost took his life on the world famous TT race course on the Isle of Man.

Virgil Benton wants to become the first driver to go 200 miles per hour in a Shelby Cobra. The San Diego gear head bought his 1965 Shelby in parts from the world famous manufacturer, built it himself, and now he’s taking it the Mojave Mile. “The Mile” in the middle of Mojave Desert is the place to go if you think you’re fast. Virgil doesn’t have a lot of race experience, but he’s hoping he can make history behind the wheel of his classic roadster.

Finland’s Anita Makela is the two-time European Top Fuel champion, and one of the fastest women in the world. Anita is out to capture her third crown as she straps herself into her top fuel alcohol dragster and gets launched to 300 miles per hour.

A former British Cabinet Minister gets behind the wheel of the world’s fastest electric car. You might not hear it coming, but the battery powered Lola racecar can go 205 miles an hour, without making a sound.

Jari Kuosma calls himself the Birdman as he soars at more than 200 kilometres an hour, five thousand feet in the air.

Meet Brenda Sue Carver, the fastest woman in the world… wearing a Tutu.

The Goodwood Vintage Revival is one of the most prestigious events on the motorsport calendar; the British Lawnmower Championship isn’t. Although they both attract a different clientele, each event features wheel to wheel racing, engineering excellence, and an unmatched competitive spirit. The only difference is about a ton of mud.

At Goodwood, vintage car owners put their trust in father and son restoring team Ian and Will Nuthall to race their million dollar beauties to the finish line without trading paint and suffering a costly bump along the way.

Not far away, the ‘Gods of the Track’ are trying to fend off ‘Team Rhino’ in the annual Lawnmower championship. The British rains have provided a muddy track, and if they don’t drown first, the winner will have lawnmower bragging rights for another year.

Also on this episode, RJ Anderson tries to move up a class in the Lucas off-road series and gets a rude welcome from the veterans.

The Isle of Mann TT circuit is regarded as the most dangerous racetrack in the world, but motorcycle racers from near and far come back every year to capture the TT title and boast they survived.

The Porsche 918 Spider is the world’s fastest Hybrid clocking in at over 200 miles per hour.

Bryce Menzies has won almost every off-road event he’s entered but there is one race that has always eluded him, The Baja 1000. Bryce and his co-driver Pete Mortensen are determined to conquer whatever the desert throws at them this year and cross the finish line first in the iconic event. It won’t be easy, of the 240 trucks that will start, less than 10 percent will survive the ultimate endurance race.

Barefoot Bobby Williams is out to capture the crown at another iconic event: the annual Swamp Buggy Championship in Naples, Florida. If Bobby is successful he’ll win the ultimate prize, a chance to dunk Miss Swamp Buggy in the murky waters of the swamp.

When it comes to supercars, the Pagani Huayra is the epitome of luxury. Crafted by hand, the Huayra is custom designed, with no detail overlooked: from personalized paint to the ignition key that is actually a model of the car sculpted from solid aluminum. It can be yours for $1.8 million.

Ryan Villopoto is a superstar in the dirt and he’s out to capture the national championship of motocross racing. Ryan has led the points race from the beginning of the season and he can seal the championship with one more victory.

Rocky Robinson wants to go into the record book on the fastest motorcycle in the world. To get there he’ll have to go 376 miles an hour.

The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most iconic racing events on the planet, it’s a race everyone wants to win and James Hinchcliffe is no exception. But with just one week before qualifying, the Oakville, Ontario native is in a hospital bed recovering from a severe concussion.

Hinch, as he’s known to fans and friends, has the backing of one of the most successful teams on the circuit and his car is definitely fast enough, but it all comes down to whether he can recover in time to qualify for the big race.

This speedy episode will also scream down the quarter-mile at the Nitro Nationals as the top fuel funny cars top out at 300 miles an hour.

One of Britain’s top stunt drivers rears his van up on two wheels for a television commercial, and we take a McLaren P1 for a test drive on the world famous Silverstone race circuit.

The North West 200 in Northern Ireland is one of the world’s fastest and most dangerous road circuits. Alastair Seeley is a local hero, and the 34 year-old desperately wants to break the record of 15 career wins at the North West. He’ll have a chance to win at least five more times on the weekend of racing if he can avoid crashing.

Formula 2 boat racer, Tammy Wolfe is taking on the big names in a Formula 1 event on the St. Lawrence river on the Ontario/Quebec border. If Tammy has a good showing she’ll be able to move up a class.

Larry Larson is out to retain his title as World’s Fastest Street car, a smart car that’s been transformed into a dragster, and a jet powered truck tears it up on the quarter mile.

The Targa Newfoundland rally is one of those events that every racer puts on their bucket list. Not only is the race extremely challenging as it weaves through narrow village roads, but it’s also one of the most picturesque races as it hugs the Atlantic Ocean on Canada’s most rugged province. As you’ll see in this episode it’s not necessarily the fastest driver who wins the Targa, it’s the one with the car still moving at the end.

The Lindberg brothers might be the fastest siblings on the ¼-mile ever! Jonnie recently shattered the world record with a speed of 272 miles an hour. We try to catch up with Jonnie and his brother Johan as they try and seal the European Championship.

This episode will also take it off-road with the Lucas Oil dirt championships, test a state of the art electric motorcycle against its gas cousin, and see how a pair of drivers survived crashing over a cliff.