What's it like to be behind the wheel in a 24-hour endurance race?
Patrick Carpentier knows. He'll be driving in the 24 Hours of Daytona race next weekend, hoping to return victorious after taking a break from racing last year.
Mr. Carpentier generously offered to give us a rare glimpse into the mind of a professsional race car driver. He joined us online Monday to answer questions from readers. Your questions and Mr. Carpentier's replies appear at the bottom of the page.
Patrick Carpentier began racing go-karts more than 20 years ago, winning the 1985 Canadian 4-stroke karting championship before moving to cars in various Formula Ford series. Success followed him up the ladder in a number of open wheel development series which culminated in a record-breaking 1996 Toyota Atlantic season where he annihilated the competition, taking the championship on nine victories and eight poles in 12 races and leading the series in almost every major driver category.
His success led to a drive with Bettenhausen Motorsports in CART (now Champ Car) the next season, where he took the series Rookie of the Year Award. He joined the Players/Forsythe Team the next season and remained there until he left the series at the end of the 2004 season. Along the way, he took his first of five career victories in 2001 at Michigan Speedway and finished third in the championship on two occasions.
After eight successful years in the Champ Car, Mr. Carpentier signed with Team Cheever in the rival Indy Racing League. A successful speed skater before racing consumed his life, Mr. Carpentier always loved racing on oval tracks. He delivered two podium finishes for Team Cheever despite using the less competitive Toyota engine. He finished the year in the top 10 in points.
But it wasn't enough to keep him around with the team when its sponsor Red Bull decided to leave the series. Mr. Carpentier bought a farm near Montreal and took most of 2006 off to recharge his batteries. While he spent most of the year driving a tractor, Mr. Carpentier also dabbled in stock car and sports car racing, before signing a contract with SAMAX Motorsport to contest the 2007 Rolex Sports Car Series in the Daytona Prototype class.
He returns to full-time racing this weekend in the 24-Hours of Daytona, which is the first race on the Rolex schedule. Last year, Mr. Carpentier and teammates Christian Fittipaldi and Eddie Cheever, Jr. challenged for a podium and possible win at Daytona before a mechanical failure two hours from the finish ruined their run. They ended the race 17th.
Mr. Carpentier is 35 and hails from LaSalle, Que.
--Jeff Pappone
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Rebecca Dube, globeandmail.com: Hi Patrick, and thanks for joining us online today to answer questions from readers. I'm wondering if you could tell us a bit about how you're preparing for next weekend's big race? Do you have a special training routine, special things you eat, anything like that?
Patrick Carpentier: Preparation is mostly done for my physical training. Now it is time to relax and enjoy the week as it goes on. I am flying to Daytona tomorrow and will start talking with the team about the coming weekend. I keep eating what I always do and there is not much change in that regard. Until the actual race that is. We then have to eat little at a time so we don't have stomach problems during the 24 hours.
Jo Caron from Montreal writes: Do you have a NASCAR nickname like Richard Petty (The King) or Dale Earnhardt (The Intimidator)?
