By ALEXANDER RAPP

Concord Monitor

In short, I don’t know. But I was close.

The New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) hosted its eighth annual Media Racing Challenge. As the most local news outlet to “The Magic Mile,” we, of course, were offered a chance to bring home the trophy again.

The last time the Concord Monitor won the title of fastest top speed was in 2017 when Nick Stoico, now a breaking news reporter for The Boston Globe, won the inaugural event and etched his name on the trophy.

Looking back eight years on, Stoico reminisced on the power of the machine and how the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he first got in the car.

“It was an awesome feeling. It was super fun. And if you like to drive fast cars, it’s like the best,” he said.

The Media Racing Challenge is part of the NASCAR Racing Experience, a nomadic crew that brings the opportunity to drive in stock car auto racing around the country to 17 different tracks, offering a taste of driving at intensely high speeds that challenge even the best drivers on Interstate-93.

As a prospective driver, one must go through the motions of signing waivers, providing a driver’s license (duh), watching a safety video and gearing up into a firesuit and helmet before hopping in a car.

Safeguards and speed limits are in place to ensure that participants at NHMS don’t exceed the speed of the fastest lap, 21.466s, which equates to 177.43 miles per hour. I tried my best to test if that was true.

Just like any NASCAR Cup Series Race, these cars are the real deal. With only a handful of cars in the pit lane and no live pit crews, the revving of engines and the smell of tires and gasoline were more tame than on actual race weekend.

After a few short introductions, NHMS general manager David McGrath stressed the importance of the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Race and weekend that will take place at the Speedway from Sept. 19 to 21.

This year, New Hampshire will host the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Playoffs, the Team EJP 175 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Round of 10 cutoff race and the Mohegan Sun 100 Whelen Modified Tour race.

Going in, the prospect of driving over 120 miles per hour was daunting, but not as much as driving a standard transmission modified stock car.

Myself, and many others of my generation, have not grown up around many standard transmission cars, and many of us have only known the luxury of high-tech, screen-filled, Bluetooth-capable automatic cars.

First, I threw on a helmet and neckguard and hopped into the passenger seat of one of the cars, accompanied by an experienced driver who handled it like a pro.

After that, I climbed out of the passenger seat and right across into the driver’s seat of car No. 24 and put my best William Byron impression on. Alongside many other media members representing every New England state except for Connecticut, one by one, we each took turns to see who could get the top speed.

As they hooked me in the net, strapped me down with what felt like a dozen buckles, and made sure my radio transmission up to my in-ear coach was ready to go, I contemplated asking for the crew to push me off so I wouldn’t have to shift gears.

Before beginning, I changed my mind. I knew how to do it in theory, so why not try on a car with triple the horsepower of my daily commuter?

I threw the car in first gear, hit the clutch, and slowly released as I sped up and kept my eyes glued on the RPM meter on the dash.

My coach’s muffled voice came in clearly through the in-helmet headset and talked me through each step. It was not pretty, but the car did not stall and made it out of the pit lane onto the track just fine.

I needed speed. The car rattled slightly as wind blew past on turn two, and I reached the back stretch straightaway and pressed my foot down on the throttle.

My top speed was 136.45 miles per hour, which was good enough for 15th place. Tim Gorham of The Wicked Fast Podcast in Boston, Mass., won the 2025 challenge for the third year in a row, while Claire Overton from WWLP-22 in Springfield, Mass., came in second with the fastest-ever speed by a female competitor at NHMS.

It wasn’t a spectacular nor a NASCAR-winning performance. I was content to keep the legacy of Monitor drivers alive and represent the city proudly among the big TV channels and national media outlets.

The thrill of driving with no one around and free asphalt ahead was like no other. Like many in the Concord area and beyond, I’m ready to watch the real professionals hit the Speedway and blow past fans in September.