Another day, another track, and another adventure for the eight remaining World’s Fastest Gamer finalists as they got down and dirty with some Sprint Cars at Merced Fairgrounds Speedway.
After a long drive from the previous day’s #CaliforniaDreamin tour venue at Willow Springs, the gamers arrived at the 1/4 mile Merced Fairgrounds Speedway dirt oval for some Sprint Car sliding. The high-powered open-wheel cars, the dirt surface and even racing on an oval were all new challenges our gamer to racers would have to overcome to impress the judges.
With 800 horsepower and only 1,400 pounds (640 kg) of weight, the Sprint Cars were a handful for our World’s Fastest Gamer hopefuls on the slippery dirt surface.
“They’re beasts, they’re monsters!” Kamil Pawlowski said of the cars. “It’s an absolutely mental and nuts experience. We took them on the dirt oval track and it was crazy.
“We are living the dream!”
Of the contestants, only Mitchell De Jong had driven something similar before, but several of the gamers began to master the art of dirt tracking by the time the lights went out at Merced Raceway and they moved on to their next adventure of the tour.
“Everything we’ve been learning about road cars and racing lines just got flushed down the drain. These are a whole new beast to tame and they are insane,” Riley Gerster said.
“They are absolute weapons. We had a total of ten laps to get the feel for them and learn how to drive them.
“Some of us were doing really well, some of us were being a little safe—but you really have to be with these things. What a blast. I can’t wait until tomorrow! Every day is a new adventure and this is just incredible.”
The night’s activities were coordinated by former Sprint Car racing champion, Australian Peter Murphy.
“I was really impressed with the way the gamers went about it. We briefed them pretty thoroughly before they got in – these things need to be respected or they will bit you pretty hard,” Murphy said.
“The fact we did 80 laps across eight gamers and had zero spins drove out the venue with zero damage was quite incredible. The whole competition is a great opportunity for these guys and I hope they enjoyed it.”
After their runs, the World’s Fastest Gamer finalists were given a demonstration of what the cars could really do – Californian Tarlton Motorsport driver Cole Macedo put on a show turning 12-second laps around the 1/4 mile track.
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