Subjects: Technology

When it comes to Pikes Peak the numbers are staggering; 156 turns, 12-miles of zig-zags, a starting position at over 9000 feet, and a summit finish line at 14,115 feet. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is unlike any other race in the world; it’s not just racing against other drivers – it’s competing against the mountain.

In addition to following an electric car in its attempt to break the battery powered record, we’ll be there as a father and son both try to break the magical ten minute mark.

Shamwreck can be compared to a demolition derby, but the drivers are actually racing around a half mile track. The kamikazes behind the wheel throw out the rule book and basically bang each other all the way to the finish line.

This episode will also feature the ultimate in 50’s and 60’s hot rods, a world speed record on water, and stadium super trucks that tear it up on the Las Vegas strip.

Nürburgring is regarded as the most dangerous racetrack in the world – 170 turns spread out over 25 kilometers in Northwest Germany. Every year, more than 200 cars, in four classes, attempt to tame the track in the 24 hours of Nürburgring. This year the Aston Martin 007 team will attempt to crack the podium usually dominated by Audi, Mercedes and Porsche. The British factory team has never finished the grueling 24 hour race, but just finishing won’t be good enough for them this year.

When it comes to drag racing, age is just a number as we follow a 79 year-old dragster as he attempts to become the fastest drag racer in North America.

Minimotos are two-stroke miniature motorcycles that serve up a unique brand of speed and carnage. We’ll follow two of the sports stars as they race around a tight circuit in Northern Ireland.

Rounding off the episode: an off-road race that puts the “out” in the Australian Outback, a contest that features the best burnouts, and a spectacular crash in the Dakar Rally that you have to see to believe.

On an air strip at a Colorado airport the world’s fastest street cars duke it out in an attempt to break the world record of 219 miles an hour over a half mile. Lucas English is the current record holder in his beefed up Nissan GTR, but his competition is in his rear view mirror and gaining ground. They call the event the Air Strip Attack and it features traditional standing start drag racing, along with the extremely challenging rolling start events.

Figure 8 racing is like nothing you’ve ever seen before as cars race on two ovals that actually intersect. You can only imagine the chaos as cars essentially fly through an intersection at 80 miles an hour with no one stopping to give way. Speed is almost as important as surviving.

We’ll go sideways at the Formula Drift championships in California, jump on snowmobiles and race on clay, and meet two Swedish sisters aiming to be the fastest on two wheels.

On this episode we follow the Vesco family as they try to set a new land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Vescos have been racing on the “flats” for three generations and they’ve held the land speed record since 2001, but the competition is closing in on their record and this year they’ll have to fend off their arch rivals, Speed Demon.

Bobby Dykes is a part-time Las Vegas bartender who gets the ride of his life behind the wheel of a million dollar Ferrari. It’s a hair-raising experience that he can only describe as “awesome on top of awesome.”

Nobody gets to school faster than Paul Stender as he fires up his jet school bus and goes head to head in an ultimate drag race with an airplane.

The dirt is kicked up and the action is bumper-to-bumper on the half-mile oval as we cover the dash for sprint car championship.

Valerie Thompson is all style and substance as she attempts to hit the magical 200-mile-per-hour mark on her motorcycle.

On ‘Surviving Speed’ we catch up with daredevil Eric Barone who limped away after a wipeout at 170 kilometers an hour on his bicycle!

Rookies Craig Breen and Lara Venneste are determined to make a name for themselves on the European Rally Championship Series, but they’ll have to do it on the toughest track on the circuit. The San Remo Rally winds through the dangerous mountains of San Remo overnight with only headlights to guide the way. It will take everything Breen has to pilot his car to the finish line.

Sabine Schmitz is Queen of the Ring. For 480 Euros a lap, Sabine scares the heck out of her passengers as she screams around the world famous Nürburgring racetrack in Germany.

Carl Renezeder and Rob MacCachren go bumper to bumper 30 feet in the air at the Lucas Oil Off-Road championships.

Mike Bowman says goodbye to his trusty old Chevelle after he goes zero to a hundred in less than two seconds.

Francois Gissy goes 285 kilometers per hour…on a jet bicycle!