My dad, a professional race car driver, says, ¨TC America is slowly becoming the best touring race car in America.” The Volkswagen GTI TCR race car need a lot of attention to stay in good shape, to be suitable to race. My three big ideas are. Parts of race cars, equipment and crew.
Editor's Note: Michael Hurczyn, FCP Euro's Marketing and Brand Director, has a son named John. He's 9 and was tasked with writing a non-fictional article for school. Here's what he came up with, and because it's sweet, adorable, and (for the most part) technically accurate, we're leaving it completely unedited.
Chapter 1- Parts of my dad's race car
The parts of the car keep the car durable in racing conditions. In this part of the article you will learn about the parts of the car. On the dashboard my dad has a electronic speed gauge. It also has RPM gauge (gauge is a display to tell a number) to help the start.
Under the hood is where the engine is, and it’s also important to keep this is great condition in order to race. The engine in my dad's car is almost the same as a regular car. It is only a 4 cylinder but has a big turbo and makes 385 horsepower. According to howstuffworks.com, the power an engine produces is called horsepower. In mathematical terms, one horsepower is the power needed to move 550 pounds one foot in one second, or the power needed to move 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute. According to my dad Kids race car that can go faster around the track then some Ferraris. This shows that The Volkswagen GTI TCR is very powerful.
The kill switch is another part of the race car that is not part of a regular car. The kill switch turns off the whole car. Let me explain. A driver would use it when he gets into a really bad crash and if was on fire. This is important because if it was still running, the oil could get hotter and catch on fire. It would be more dangerous.
Chapter 2- Equipment
You have to wear special equipment to drive a race car. My dad has a fireproof suit and gloves in case the car catches on fire. He has to wear this anytime he races, no matter what. Itś a possibility the car catches on fire anytime he races. He wears a shirt that has tubes and circulates water around so he stays cool. As I say this I am realizing it can get above 115 degrees inside the car, and in the summer it gets above 130 degrees or more!
The helmet is one of the most importing things about the suit because if you crashed and your head went forward you could hit your head really hard. In the helmet my dad has a radio that will talk to the crew incase of a problem. My dad also has a tube and when you suck on it you get water because it gets really hot in the race car.
Shoes are really important too because they are fire proof so his feet don’t burn. His socks are also fire proof incase the fire goes above the shoes. He also has a little bit of grip on the sole so his fee don’t slip off the gas and brake.
Chapter 3 - Crew
The crew also Has a very important job too. They have to pay a lot of attention to the car to make sure it is in a Good condition for racing because if it wasn't it could fail and my dad could get really really hurt. While they're waiting for the car to come back in for the pets they hold a very big bottles gas. They also have a lift to lift up the car if they need to change a tire.
The suit is one of the most important part. Because if a car came in and went on fire the crew but it happened once before so that's why now they have to wear fireproof everything. You also have to wear a helmet because if one car comes in and then they crashed Tire could come off and hit you because that has happened on or if the car goes too fast I could hit the wall and parts would go flying everywhere
Conclusion I hope you learn more about race cars and about what gear you need to race And the crew you need to race Professional. If you watch TC America you can look for number 71 FCP Euro Michael Hurczyn and his partner number 72 Nate.
Editor's Note: If John's write-up has you curious to know more, you can visit race.fcpeuro.com. This weekend we're headed to VIR for races five and six of the TC America Championship. If you'd like to learn more about that event and the others from the rest of the year, our brand new events.fcpeuro.com page has you covered.
