The Last Lap: What It Feels Like Behind The Wheel

What does it feel like to earn a living making left turns in heavy traffic at dangerously high speeds? Just ask Derrike Cope, 42, who won the Daytona 500 in 1990 and now calls races for the Fox Sports Network: "There is nothing like sitting in a projectile going 190 m.p.h. on the brink of going out of control. It's the sheer rush, touching every emotion you have." And a potentially lethal rush: three other NASCAR drivers died in the year leading up to Dale Earnhardt's crash.

On race day you rise around 7, pack your gear, attend a sponsor hospitality...

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