More wheels are about to hit the racing capital of the world in our Racing Experience at the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience®. The Racing Experience consists of a pedal-car dragstrip and an Indianapolis Motor Speedway-sponsored oval pedal-car racetrack.
But before your tiny sports legend jumps into the driver’s seat to practice the part of a future racing champion, we’ve supplied three quick diet and exercise insights from Dr. Geoffrey Billows, Medical Director of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Emergency Medicine and Trauma Physician at Indiana University Health:
1. Maintaining diet and exercise as a driver
“Driving a race car requires a significant amount of strength and endurance. Our drivers maintain their fitness through proper diet and exercise. Most drivers work with personal trainers to make sure they are maintaining their fitness. While there is no one diet for every driver, they make sure they eat healthy, well balanced diets.”
2. Staying hydrated
“Drivers have access to fluids through a drink tube which is in the front of their helmet. The choice of liquids during the race is up to the driver, but most use a diluted sports drink or water. They avoid super sugary and caffeinated beverages while racing.”
3. Staying in motion
“While the drivers do spend a significant time sitting in the car during a race (sometimes over three hours!), they are very active and constantly moving their arms and legs while controlling the race car. They use other large muscle groups to maintain balance and to correct for the G-forces to which they are subjected during cornering.”
That’s a wave of the checkered flag! Now your tiny racer can imagine life in the fast lane and get mentally prepared for the Racing Experience in the sports experience, opening in spring of 2018. Until then, pit-stop to our social media pages to see all the construction in action!