Racing Form

At this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, expensive champagne will flow as jubilant drivers savor their wins.

Ah, the sweet life of a professional race car driver:

Climb in and drive like a bat out of hell at 180 mph or more, with no fear of a speeding ticket. Be the first to see the checkered flag. Accept the accolades and pocket the prize money.

If only it were that easy. As competition has mushroomed, the demands on drivers to be in superb physical shape have increased too.

While race car drivers might not satisfy the public’s definition of an athlete, they do meet Webster’s: a person trained or skilled in acts or games requiring physical strength, agility and speed.

In fact, the obstacles on this grand prix’s 1.59-mile, 105-lap, eight-turn course through city streets are plentiful:

* Heat within a car can reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Gripping the steering wheel is akin to squeezing 20 pounds of force 800 times.

* Heart rates can average 160 beats per minute--and sometimes even reach their maximum.

* Dehydration can be intense, with a 10-pound weight loss, mostly of water, not uncommon.

* And forget about rest breaks, unless you count those 15-second pit stops.

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To meet the challenges, drivers must maintain an absolutely intense focus, says Jacques Dallaire, a performance physiologist who founded Human Performance International, a Daytona Beach, Fla.-based physical and mental training program for race car drivers and other high-performance athletes.

They work against high levels of G-force--4.5 times that of gravity--hundreds of times over the span of a race.

As Parker Johnstone, 35, an Indy car driver who was the fastest qualifier at the 1995 Michigan 500 puts it, “One lapse in concentration could put you in the hospital or even kill you.”

“If a driver isn’t physically prepared to withstand the stress of heat and rigors of racing, there’s a domino effect,” says Daniel Marisi, a performance psychologist and Dallaire’s partner. Concentration wanes, reaction time lengthens and decision-making speed declines.

Drivers also need “good perceptual ability to perceive situations ahead of them,” adds George H. McGlynn, professor and chairman of the department of exercise and sports science at the University of San Francisco. Good upper body strength and strong abdominal muscles to help the back endure the ride are also required.

Considering all those job requirements, it makes sense that the image of the race car driver as a party animal is fading.

“The concern to be physically fit has grown in the last few years,” says Mark Hotchkis, 26, of Pasadena, an Indy Lights driver who was runner-up in the 1994 Barber Saab Pro Series. “It’s primarily because younger drivers and those in the Indy cars and Formula One are making it well-known that the reason they are winning is because they are so physically fit.”

Hotchkis could be the poster boy for this trend. When at home, he trains about 24 hours every week, alternating between cardiovascular exercise and weight work.

“I spend a minimum of 10 hours a week in the gym, weight training. I do two hours of cardiovascular training a day,” he says, split mornings and afternoons, between running and stationary bike.

Johnstone trains for triathlons, although he often has a problem making the event because of his road racing schedule. “I ran the Seattle Marathon last year,” says the Redmond, Ore., resident. Next, he’d like to qualify for the Boston Marathon. In a typical week, he puts in three to four hours a day working out, resting on Sundays.

On the racing circuit, he doesn’t slough off. “I’ve got a 40-foot motor coach and pull a triple axle trailer with a Cybex gym, six bikes, free weights, a video player, and a TV screen and tape. I’m ready for any kind of workout. I can do everything from leg extension to curls, to bench press. The other drivers look in and say, ‘Oh, this will be fun.’ ”

Paul Tracy, 27, who’s had 10 Indy car victories since his first season in 1991 and won Long Beach in 1992, cycles 10 miles before each practice or qualifying session, pedaling the mountain bike mounted on rollers inside his motor home. When at home in Paradise Valley, Ariz., he works with a personal trainer, spending two hours in his home gym on cardiovascular and weight work, then rides an hour on his mountain bike in the evening.

Ritchie Hearn 25, of Canyon Country, the reigning Player’s Ltd. / Toyota Atlantic champion, heads to the gym four times a week for treadmill and weight work. But don’t picture him with the 100-pound free weights. He never uses a weight heavier than 5 pounds, relying on low weights and high reps (85) to build the endurance needed to get through a race.

And it doesn’t fit a male driver’s macho image, but Tommy Kendall, 29, an eight-time road racing champion from Southern California, recently discovered the value of yoga. “It’s both mental and physical,” he says. “I do yoga at least three times a week. I used to do running as my primary cardiovascular, but I was involved in a serious accident a few years ago . . . I broke both ankles. Running is impossible.”

His new routine also includes stretching and cycling, jogging in the pool and using a rowing machine. He plays video games to improve eye-hand coordination. “All told, I work out an average of an hour and a half a day, and I do something every day.”

Lyn St. James, 49, of Daytona Beach, Fla., a four-time Indianapolis 500 competitor, puts in eight or more workout hours a week--and still has to watch her weight, she groans. “I try to exceed that, but it can be difficult while traveling.”

Five one-hour sessions are devoted to cardiovascular conditioning. “I primarily do StairMaster. When I’m home I run on the beach. Weight training I do at least three or four times a week, about the same, for an hour.”

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Drivers are becoming more nutrition-conscious too. Emerson Fittipaldi, 49, winner of the 1989 and 1993 Indianapolis 500, has a reputation for being a fitness and nutrition fanatic and carefully limiting fat in his diet.

His regimen evokes admiration, especially from younger drivers who follow similar strategies. Johnstone keeps close tabs on body fat; he was down to 6% but now guesses he’s at about 9%.

“I try to be as lean as possible,” says Kendall, who keeps his 6-foot, 4-inch frame at about 195.

“Fat grams are my No. 1 concern,” agrees Hotchkis--5 feet, 9 inches and 150 pounds--who says he also pays heed to electrolyte replenishment and shuns alcohol.

“Excess body fat is a handicap as a racer,” Dallaire says. “It pulls useful blood flow that can go to the muscle. And, fat’s a great insulator.” Racing in hot, humid environments, he says, makes heat regulation difficult enough. Excess body fat invites fatigue and dehydration, he says.

“If you lose as little as 5% of body weight in water loss,” Dallaire says, “you can see a drop of up to 20% in physical work capacity.”

The payoffs of all this mind-body attention sometimes don’t kick in until minutes before the finish line. Hotchkis says he usually notices the difference in the last half an hour of each race. “It seems like that’s the time of the race when fatigue sets in.” His training, he believes, helps keep that exhaustion at bay.

“And the racer who can manage fatigue,” he says, “is the one who will win.”