I have only been inside a race car at the legendary Nurburgring racetrack in Germany once in my life. And it happened to be with my friend Jesse. 

Meeting Jesse

Jesse is one of the most interesting people that I know. The day that I met him was a beautiful sunny day. I was walking out of Walmart in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I saw at the very back of the parking lot, a bright red, brand new, Fifth Gen Dodge Viper. They had just come out, and it was just sitting there. As a car lover, I was so excited! I walked to it and I started taking pictures of it admiring it when suddenly I saw a guy walking leisurely this way and wearing a big, bright smile. 

Without hesitating I asked him “Where did you get this? Did you get it in Arkansas?”  He goes “I had to go to Florida to get it.” –“That makes sense.” I told him. “This just came out! I couldn’t imagine anyone getting it here in Arkansas!” We continued chatting for a bit, then we shook hands and we parted ways. 

A few years after that, early on a spring Sunday morning, I was at a local Cars and Coffee meetup in Bentonville, Arkansas, and there happened to be this bright red Lamborghini Huracan. This was 2018. At the time there were not many exotics in the Northwest Arkansas area. I was freaking out wondering where the heck it could have come from when out of the crowd I saw a familiar face, a guy wearing a soft-shell jacket, with a very chill demeanor, and a big, bright smile. 

I said “Hey, did you used to have a Viper?”  He goes, “Yeah, man, I sold it. I got this instead.”  And I was like, “No way, dude! That’s so cool! Congrats.” Then, in the most humble way one could possibly say it, he said “Yeah, you know, I got bored of the Viper. I wanted something faster. I wanted something that I liked a little bit more.” So, after chatting for a bit and catching up and finally finding out that his name was Jesse, I ended up asking “Hey, man, do you mind if I follow you on Instagram?” And that’s how we stayed connected.  

Planning Our Rendezvous in Germany

Fast forward a few months to August 2018. I was running around in Fayetteville, and I saw Jesse’s Red Lamborghini, and a green Lamborghini parked outside of a moped store in Fayetteville. When I saw those cars I thought “Oh my gosh! I have to stop by and say hi to Jesse.” So I parked and walked inside and indeed, there was Jesse, smiling big as ever, and he was chatting with another guy named Ryan. 

While we were shooting the breeze I mentioned that I was getting ready to go to Europe that coming year. Jesse mentioned that he was also going to Europe and that he would be going to drive the Nurburgring in May. I knew that I was going to be in Cologne, just two hours north of the Nurburgring, so we made plans to meet up with each other on the track. 

Fast forward to 2019. I was in the middle of my Euro trip. I was done with my second workaway, and I got on a train that took me from Osnabrück to Cologne, Germany, where I spent a few days. Then I got on Google Maps and followed a series of public transportation routes that would get me as close to the Nurburgring as possible. 

It started with a train through Rhineland-Palatinate, which followed along the Rhine River, and snaked its way by all these castles and vineyards and beautiful dark green hills. Then I had to jump on a bus to some small town way out in the middle of nowhere until I couldn’t go anymore. After that, I had to either Uber or hike to the glorious silver gates of the Ring. 

Getting to the Nurburgring

The Nurburgring is out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a huge track. Just shy of 13 miles long which is remarkably longer than any other racetrack on the planet. It’s so big that the weather can be different in different parts of the track. On any given day a part of the track can be sunny and dry and another can be wet with rain. And I didn’t know this, or at least, I underestimated it. So instead of taking the Uber I chose to start walking towards the track. 

Walking in this area or Germany is not recommended. This area is very hilly and the roads form a labyrinth through the mountains. It’s easy to get lost. Somehow I had signal on my phone and I was able to contact Jesse. I told him that I was on my way. He responded, asking “Where are you at?”  -“I don’t know”, I said,.“I’m at an intersection.” 

I proceeded to describe to him what I saw and where I was. He told me to wait for him right there. After 3 and a half hours of travel from Cologne to this little town by train, bus and foot, I didn’t mind waiting for a bit. 

After about 15 minutes Jesse showed up in his rental car. He stopped illegally and I quickly got in with all my stuff. He was like, “Dude, what are you doing? How did you get here?” I looked like a through hiker who got way lost carrying my 22 liter commuter backpack and my 32 liter backpacking bag, wearing hiking boots and my trusty steel diver watch. Unbeknownst to me, I was already within the track, but I couldn’t tell. The track is so big that there are towns within it and I had accidentally walked under the track. So Jesse turned around, got us to the main road and we circumvented to the main entrance.

The Legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife

The Nordschleife of the Nurburgring has achieved legendary status. For almost a century, some of the best racing in history has come from this race track. It has traded ownership and purposes many many times, but the stories of Green Hell still linger. The Nordschleife (North Loop in German) is 12.94 miles of fast, narrow, undulating racing paradise. One wrong move and you’re dead. Many have indeed died on the track, yet many victories and comeback stories have also been born here. Coming here is like a pilgrimage for those who love cars. It is like going to Mecca and standing on holy ground. 

The entrance to the track is marked by a famous roundabout that leads you to the parking garage under the big silver building with the Nurburgring logo on it. The building is part hotel, part food court and part everything else that is needed to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix. At the time they were still hosting races in the south loop and there was even a roller coaster that started and ended inside the building. They also had a bunch of cars parked in there, like a museum, and a room with some really cool racing simulators.

Outside, up and down the road leading to the actual town of Nürburg are all the car rental places. All around I saw unusual cars being driven particularly by Japanese people. Many of them were wearing racing gloves, with Alcantara grips, of course. There were a lot of souped up and stripped down BMWs, a lot of Honda S 2000s, and, of course, many many Miatas and 350Zs. Surely every one of these guys were once kids who grew up playing Gran Turismo or Forza and dreamed of being here one day and now they had made it a reality. I looked up at the famous castle sitting atop the small village from which the track gets its name and got giddy. Holy cow! I was actually there too! 

Catching up with Jesse

Inside the building there was a large space with a sort of beer garden where we could sit and have lunch. We decided to get Currywurst und Pommes. We sat down at a table with wooden benches and started to catch up. There were a bunch of giant screens surrounding us. Each of the screens was playing races, or advertisements about upcoming events. 

We sat at those benches for a while just kind of getting to know each other. Besides those first few and brief encounters that we had had, we hadn’t really spent that much time with each other. So I caught him up on what I was doing with all the workaways and the couch surfing, and how I was that I ended up in Germany. 

Then he told me that he’d been coming to the Nurburgring once a year for the past few years. Besides the Lamborghini, he also had a few motorcycles. He had been racing since he was a kid and he had training driving around race tracks. He’d been at the track for a few days and he’d been testing out different cars. He said that earlier that day he had rented a BMW M2. Then he said “Alright man, are you done eating? Let’s get back out on the track.”

The Mental Rental

We went back to the parking garage. On the way to the car we walked past a bunch of cars that all the different rental companies have available. Of course, we saw Porsche 911 Turbos, other variations of 911s, Audi R8s, BMWs, etc. One of the 911s had a sign that said “Drive it yourself for just €400 per lap”. One lap. “Goodness gracious”, I thought. 

We got in the car and drove a little down the road to the town of Nürburg. Jesse happened to be staying at the Apex Nürburg rental place. At the time it was a boutique bed and breakfast that also offered track car rentals, instructor and taxi services. Even Vehicle Virgins had used them when he went to drive the Nurburgring. (They have since transitioned to building cars rather than renting them).

Taxi service means that they strap you to the car while someone else drives. You are, essentially, being taxied around the track. What was crazy about this place, though, is that they had race car drivers that actually drove for them. Jesse pointed at a blue and orange Mclaren570S with a roll cage and told me that he paid for a taxi lap in it.

“It was mental.” He said. “It’s like the corner just comes at you so quickly and you feel like you’re just gonna run out of road, but then next thing you know, boom, you turn. The driver just pushes to the limit and you really get scared because you’re right there next to the driver and you’re like, ‘I think we’re gonna die. We’re gonna crash right now.’ And then you do that again with the next corner.”

The Invitation of A Lifetime 

As he was telling me this story he goes “Yeah, I kind of want to do that again”. I was like, “What?”  He told me that he rented the BMW, and he’d already driven it before I got there, but that it was boring so he wanted to do a faster car again. I responded with a “Dang dude, that’s so cool!” 

Then he asked “Do you want to do it?” With the “€ 400 per lap” sign still fresh on my mind I was like “Dude, I can’t afford it. I’ll wait for you here.” He said “Ah. Don’t worry. I got you.”

Two things simultaneously went through my mind. The first one was “Holy cow! This guy’s willing to pay for me!” But the second was “Holy cow! I’m about to strap myself into a  stripped-down rocket ship and be driven around by a madman!” So before I could think too much about it and let fear get the best of me I answered “Yeah, yea. If you’re willing to pay for it, then yeah, I’ll go with you.”  So he goes “I want to do it. Let’s do it” 

Getting Ready To Race

Next thing I knew I was signing a waiver and the staff were asking me about my baklava, and  helmet size. “Find the helmet that feels good. You want it to feel snug” they said. I remember there was this cute girl who was helping me to put it on. She asked “How does it feel?” I had one on that didn’t feel right and then we switched to the right fit. When I told her that it felt good she asked “Are you ready?” I didn’t hesitate and I didn’t care to answer honestly. “I’m scared.” I told her.  

I was shaking. I didn’t know why, but I knew that I was getting myself strapped into a race car. Of I tried calming down by looking at all the cars parked around a place called Devil’s Diner, but inevitably, my time looking at cars eventually ran out. The people from Apex came out and they showed us the car we’d be riding in. It was a graphite gray BMW M3 competition with gold BBS racing wheels. The interior was fully stripped out, and fitted with racing seats and a roll cage. They told me to get in the back right seat and they helped me to put on my five-point seat belt. I remember that I could not move an inch forward. I could not go anywhere. My fate was sealed. 

Then, a man dressed in a full race suit and helmet climbed in. Later I found out his name was Moritz Kranz who had just won his category in a five hour endurance race the day before. He checked in with us via the microphones in our helmets. He asked how we were doing and made a thumbs up sign. He reminded us that we should keep our phones in our pockets. No worries. I couldn’t reach my pocket if I had wanted to anyway. Then in his German accent he goes “Okay, we are going to go now.” He started the car and my heart sank. I started to pray that we would come back safely. 

The Lap of a Lifetime

We drove slowly out of the parking lot, and very quickly got in the queue to enter the track. Even driving slowly on the road I could feel the aggressiveness of the car. Jesse was just kind of chatting with the driver, but I was stone-silent because I was so nervous. I remember noticing that we had to scan a card to be allowed in the track. It is, after all, a public road. Sure enough, as soon as we taped and we made it past the queue. All of a sudden, we were in the pit lane about to enter the Nurgburgring.  

I remember seeing this wall to our right. The inside wall. We were driving slowly, the car was growling begging to be let loose. As soon as we cleared the entry lane BANG! The car just came alive. Have you seen the movie F1? That scene at the very beginning when Sonny Hayes first joins the racetrack at Daytona? That’s exactly the way that it felt when we first got in the Nurgburgring. We built up speed so fast down the straight that I could feel myself being pushed to the back of my seat. Yet, somehow it felt manageable. That was until we entered the first set of corners. 

A very sharp right hander, followed almost immediately by a left hander. Forward, and then right, and then really sharp left. During those two turns I remember feeling the air involuntarily leaving from my chest as the car was just turning so quickly. And I could just hear the roar of the engine.

I was screaming Ah! OH-MY-GOSH! Ah! I am sure the driver eventually turned off my microphone. He was driving fast. I could just feel the vibration coming through the car. Every break just pushed me forward. I was held in place, but I could feel my body just shifting along with the car at every turn.

The Art Of Racing In The Ring

The BMW we were riding was incredible. The whole time the car was just planted. The driver pushed it and the car just went. I don’t remember how many cars we passed, but I do remember the sound and the vibration. Just the loud road noise making it’s way to my ears muffled by the padding of the helmet. I eventually stopped screaming, but the rawness of the car never stopped.

From where I was sitting I had a direct view to the speedometer. I remember that at some point I heard the engine just scream and keep screaming. The noise just kept on going up and up and when I looked at the speedometer and it read something above 280kph, the equivalent to over 170 miles an hour. Uphill. 

We passed all the famous corners including the Karussell and the Brünnchen, and eventually after, about 7 and a half minutes, we reached the Döttinger Höhe straight. Then slowly we queued to get out of the track and go back to the safety of solid ground. My prayer had been answered. 

When I crawled out of the car I was excited, speechless, and emotional. I never thought that this would be something that I would do, or that I could do. When I set out to come to Germany this was not the expected experience. Sure, I wanted to meet up with my friend in the middle of Germany, but I never expected that that friend would strap me to a race car. When we got back to the parking lot the girl saw me and she said “Hey, you made it. Are you still afraid?” I was like “No. That was amazing. That was totally amazing.” 

The Adventure Continues

Afterwards, Jesse and I got back to the BMW M2 that he had rented. We turned in our helmets because we didn’t need any special equipment for the BMW. We did one more lap around the track. This time it was a lot quieter. It was easier to chat. I was able to take some pictures with my phone this time. They’re not very good because A) we were still moving quickly, and, B) my phone at the time sucked. But, we still had fun chasing a red Porsche 911 and following his lines. 

Then we turned in the car back to Apex and Jesse gave me a ride to Frankfurt where he flew back to the USA and I continued to my next Workaway. I still can’t believe that I got to do this. Praise God. What an experience! What an unexpected and exhilarating experience!

Here’s why this matters: I would never have been able to get in a race car if I had stayed home. There is an amazing world full of wonder and terror out there, and it’s all there for me to discover. But I have to go and look for it. So, don’t be afraid to make friends with strangers with cool cars at a Walmart parking lot. Who knows? One of them might just invite you to drive around the Nurburgring with them. 

P.S. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Jesse.

I hope this story is encouraging to you. If you know somebody that you think this might be encouraging to as well, go ahead and share it with them!