He takes two steps at a time, up the stairs into the race trailer, with a water bottle in one hand and a protein bar in the other. Hair buzzed short, steely blue-gray eyes focused, his posture belies the 5'6", 135 pound frame. Mark Martin, 18-year veteran NASCAR driver, seems larger than life. Over 10 years ago, Martin stepped into a gym and has been there ever since, starting his day at 5:45 AM, five days a week--"no matter what," he emphasizes. His two days "off" are spent on the race track, so the opening comment of his book, Strength Training for Performance Driving, reflects his personal experience and commands attention, "With good physical fitness, the body becomes less likely to become fatigued and subsequently less likely to commit errors. Errors that can cost you a race, injury, or even your life." During his NASCAR Winston Cup career, Martin has claimed 7 victories, 22 top-five and 26 top-ten finishes--not to mention four International Race Of Champions (IROC) titles in five years. "It's not all about racing--if I quit driving today, I wouldn't stop training," he states, "Life is better, you feel better, look better, it makes you live longer--why aren't they all doing it? It takes discipline, and I guess I have discipline in my genes."

Preparation for racing takes more than knowing how to rocket a car around a track at the take- off speed of a 747--it takes mental and physical strength. One of the biggest strength zappers during a race, are the effects of G-force, or acceleration that pulls on the body as the race car charges around the corners. Imagine 4-G's hitting your body, as at 200 mph, you take a turn at Indy, feeling blood rush toward your feet. Your head feels like it weighs 40 pounds, your vision blurs, blood vessels constrict and internal organs work harder to get blood back into the system. Are you still on track, ahead of 30 other racers, trying to pass? "These guys do this for 500 miles, at 225 mph, doing fours turns per lap, for 200 laps--that's 800 corners! These are some of the greatest athletes in the world," exclaims Ron Hemelgarn, owner of Hemelgarn Racing, "When you're moving the length of a football field every second, you've got to have intense concentration, sharp reflexes and eye-hand coordination."

Hemelgarn's drivers have proven their mettle--and metal--throughout the Indy Racing League, and he has used his expertise from his pre-race business in the health club industry, to help many racers build their own home gyms. He even built a workout facility at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, giving racers the opportunity to work out in a fully-equipped gym, while they spend the month of May, gearing up for the greatest spectacle in racing, the Indianapolis 500. In addition to Life Fitness machines, Hemelgarn enlisted the sponsorship of Billy Blank's Tae Bo for his team, tying together the markets of race fans and martial arts, both young, active enthusiasts who believe physical exercise is a tool to achieve the goal of excellence.

Buddy Lazier, Hemelgarn Racing's first Indy winner, leads by example. A Supercross motorcycle racing Champion at 15, Lazier turned body builder in college, weighing in at 230 pounds with 4% body fat. Now, down to a lean 173 pounds, he recalls a March,1996 traumatic accident that would likely have paralyzed a less-fit man and states, "Physical training is THE most important contribution to my racing team." Lazier hit the wall at over 200 mph, suffering a 99.6 G-force hit that shattered his sacrum, broke his lower ankle in 40 places, and injured his first four vertebrae. He spent April in the hospital, under strict medical supervision, and though his bones hadn't totally healed or hardened, in five weeks, he qualified to return to racing.

"People thought I was crazy to race, but I healed quickly," he said. It seemed only fitting that it was his year, not just to race, but to win the Indianapolis 500.

Lazier trains several hours per day in his Vail, Colorado, home gym, eight days on, with two days off, for travel and testing his car. He rides a stationery bike for cardiovascular training for 40 to 90 minutes, then adds free weights and elastic bands for sport-specific training, targeting neck and midsection. He even does eye exercises for coordination and quick response. "I train for my weaknesses," he states, and adds with a laugh, "I don't want to give away any trade secrets!"

Nutritionally, Lazier finds his best results by eating a balanced diet, four times per day. "I listen to my body--it tells me what it wants," he says. He tries various protein shakes several days before races and takes a multivitamin, plus chromium picolinate to help stabilize his blood sugar.

Fellow Hemelgarn racer Johnny Unser, maintains his family's long history in Indy racing. A former Olympic skiing hopeful, Unser takes advantage of the team's Tae Bo sponsorship, by using the video workout in hotel rooms while on the road. Living in the mountains of Idaho, Unser uses the off-season to mountain bike, hike and work on strength training. In the winter, he cross country skis and snow mobiles for all-around cardiovascular fitness--a must when fighting G-forces.

Along with G-force, concentration and hydration are continuously cited as issues for racers. Unser drinks plenty of water and Gatorade to keep his fluid level up, and drinks no caffeine on race day. "We sweat so much," he explains, "The inside of the car can get up to about 135 degrees, so I drink as much as I can during the race weekend."

Billy Roe, Indy Racing League driver, sponsored by Mannatech, a Texas-based sports nutrition company, found that EM-PACT sports drink, a nutriceutical with Ambrotose® enhanced his racing performance. Roe believes that the drink delayed muscle fatigue and helped him to feel alert, focused and relaxed, going into a race.

"Imagine putting on a couple of pairs of long underwear, a ski suit, then sitting in your car with the windows closed and the heater turned up, then run as fast as you can for four hours," says John Difede, a Miami-based personal trainer for a number of professional racers, "That's the kind of abuse drivers take." Difede counts the legendary Emerson Fittipaldi as his "oldest star pupil" who started out "on the bulky side," but with a new workout routine and proper nutrition, increased his lean body mass and endurance. Through the end of his career, Fittipaldi continually beat younger drivers and recovered from both a serious racing crash, and an ultra-light flying accident, a credit to his excellent physical conditioning.

Difede tries to mimic the effects of G-force by physically pushing against his clients' bodies, creating resistance to stimulate core stability and leg strength. He also puts racers in unbalanced situations, such as standing on one foot, or using a wobble board. "I try to throw them off-balance with mixed neuromuscular messages, much like the other 30 drivers on the track do," he says. Difede has clients stand or kneel on the Swiss or Balance Ball, while doing rotational exercises to develop stability. "It forces muscles to react more rapidly than standing on the ground, by eliciting more rapid fire of muscle tissue. If you're doing more work, your gaining more muscle," he explains. Racers like Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Al Unser, Jr. and Raul Boesel will vouch for his tactics.

While the high-mileage racers train for endurance, in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) world of Drag Racing, where winning depends of short bursts of speed down a 1,320' strip, training is still important. "I think it helps me perform better," says Whit Bazemore, one of the fastest men in Funny Cars. It takes mental and physical strength to accelerate to over 300 MPH in less than 5 seconds, then parachute to a full stop. "There is a huge G-load--over 5.5 under acceleration, then down to a -4 when the parachute opens," Bazemore explains, "The car is still going 300-320 mph at the finish line, and the changes in G-force effect your vision--everything becomes blurry--it's a tremendous force on the body."

A serious motorcycle accident several years ago could have been career-ending, but Bazemore worked with a personal trainer and made a strong comeback from the broken bones, skin grafts, soft tissue damage and injuries to both knees. "I'm always working on my legs," he states, "I do a lot of long mountain bike rides and do free weights in my home gym. I don't try to lift heavy or get big," he adds, "The cars are small, so I need to stay small."

Patrea Johnson, Bazemore's trainer, works with him on increasing balance in his legs, using a wobble board, and resistance training for strength. "Racing also stresses the upper body and back," she explains, "So we work the muscles along the spine, using repetition to build endurance and stability in case of a crash. Flexibility and strength in the torso and neck are extremely important," she states, "And aerobic conditioning helps with heat endurance."

Bazemore also tries to "eat right," adding more protein than carbs and watching his sugar intake. "I have an ice cream weakness," he admits with a laugh, and tries to compensate by eating bananas and drinking a lot of water on race weekends. Bazemore has likes The Ultimate Protein Bar, a good quick fix when he's on the run or mountain biking.

At Skip Barber Racing School, one of the country's prime training grounds for professional racers, all candidates for the Pro Series undergo a fitness assessment, says Divina Galica, one of the instructors and a championship driver both in Europe and the U.S. Galica, former British Olympic skier, who won several races in the 1999 Women's Global GT Race Series, knows a thing or two about fitness, "If these young drivers want to race, they realize they have to get fit. We have found a tremendous program, Human Performance International, which addresses all facets of fitness for racing," she states. Dr. Jacques Dallaire, a Ph.D. in performance physiology, developed the evaluation and training program, in 1983, which evolved into "The Winner's Edge," a series of training manuals on mental and physical preparation.

Dr. Dallaire describes most physical trainers as "muscle heads" who do not understand the sport-specific needs of racers. "You can't see endurance and stamina with the eyes, but you can see big biceps," he says, "Racers need a more well-rounded, and mental training program; strength is not the priority--quick reactions, flexibility and lean muscle are."

The evaluation starts with a vision skills, nutritional and medical profile as a base for an individual's comprehensive program, but overall, "The Winner's Edge" recommends muscular conditioning for the neck and low back, which becomes strained and weak from sitting in a safety harness. Strong abdominals are essential, as is upper body strength in the shoulders, forearms, upper back and grip.

Regarding nutrition, Dr. Dallaire believes supplements are useful when travel makes a balanced diet difficult, but notes that over-supplementation leads to "healthy sewers" and toxicity. "Hydration is critical," he cautions, "Fluid replacement drinks are extremely useful though sometimes hard to digest, so we dilute them with water. Energy bars and drinks are good as meal replacement when tension makes digestion difficult. You don't want to 'live on them'," he comments, recalling how in 1999, NASCAR rookie Tony Stewart raced back-to-back 500 mile races on the same day. After competing at Indy, he flew to the NASCAR Winston Cup race in North Carolina, eating only a couple of energy bars on the way. He completed the second race, then passed out, literally running out of fuel.

Mark Martin summarized why racers who feel the need for speed, also feed the need, "If you like training, you go to failure every single set. If you stop short of that, you're not going as hard as you can go. It's like racing. Some people might have more talent or experience, but it's the ones who do that ‘extra' who are going to win. If I can do more, if he's not as physically capable, I'm going to go the distance. You have to be tough enough to hold you own road."

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Mark Martin - slide from Action Sports Photography (should have by Wednesday)

Hemmelgarn Racing - shot of Indianapolis Speedway gym (should have shortly) shot of Buddy Lazier.

(Great head shot of Buddy, showing Tae Bo on his helmet, available from the indyracingleague.com website--press section, go into racer photos and the shot is #9. #13 is also an excellent car shot)

Emerson Fittipaldi, (retired Indy Racer Legend) Raul Boesel (Indy Racer) - slides from John Difede. Please return slides to John.

Whit Bazemore - slides from JVS Entertainment/Chevrolet

Skip Barber Racing School - shot of open wheel car attached to article as email 54A (obviously, crop out my photo and VP Racing Fuels, but the car is an example of the Skip Barber Racing School cars.)