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Traveling at the speed of NASCAR

Sure, NASCAR cars are fast but compared to what? We’re looking at the speed of NASCAR cars and comparing that to the speed of various other things in the world. Trivial? Sure. Comparing apples and oranges? Of course. But these speeds provide an interesting perspective on how fast these vehicles can move. Here’s a comparison:

• Usain Bolt: Bolt, the world’s fastest human, reached a top speed of 27.8 mph during his 100-meter world record in 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin. Sure, that’s just a fraction of the speed of NASCAR cars, but if you and Bolt are running to grab that last beer in the cooler, you’ll end up thirsty.

• Cheetahs: The cheetah is the fastest land animal and can run up to 60-70 mph. While that’s incredibly fast for an animal, that cheetah will still get lapped if it decides to race at Martinsville.

• NASCAR Cars: NASCAR vehicles can reach up to 200 mph on certain tracks, like Daytona and Talladega.

• Formula 1 cars: F1 cars can reach top speeds of around 230 mph, slightly faster than NASCAR vehicles. But it’s important to remember that they’re designed for different types of tracks, focusing on agility and acceleration.

• High-speed trains: Some of the world’s fastest trains, like the Shanghai Maglev, can travel at speeds up to 267 mph, which is slightly faster than NASCAR cars, but they operate in very different conditions, like on tracks instead of pavement.

• Commercial airplanes: A typical cruising speed for a commercial airliner, such as a Boeing 737, is around 500-600 mph, so yes, commercial planes are significantly faster than NASCAR cars but just try bringing a carry-on bag into one.

• The speed of sound: Sound travels at approximately 767 mph, which is quite a bit faster than NASCAR vehicles. But unlike the speed of sound, you don’t need a PH.D. to begin even remotely to understand the basics. Sure, there’s more than hitting the gas but we don’t have to worry about that.

• The Space Shuttle during re-entry: After traveling through space, the Space Shuttle would re-enter the earth’s atmosphere at speeds of about 17,500 mph, vastly faster than any car and indicative of the extreme velocities involved in space travel.

• The speed of light: At 670,616,629 mph, the speed of light is incomprehensible compared to any vehicle speed, including NASCAR cars.

Meg Oliphant/getty Images The wait for NASCAR speed ends Feb. 4 with the Clash at the (L.A.) Coliseum. Here (top), Clash signage is shown during the recent ground-breaking ceremony for the 2024 race; above, (L-R) Carlos Sanchez of Fox Deportes, NASCAR Mexico driver Max Gutierrez, Dave Allen of NASCAR, NASCAR Challenge Series driver Regina Sirvent, and Joe Furin of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum pose for a photo during the groundbreaking.