Max Papis enjoys driving fast and a text message from time to time..even sending photos with his text while driving.

A few Laps at the Legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway

By Dan Peters

What better way to start out the 2008 Indianapolis 500 season?  Taking
a ride with a professional race car driver around the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This was not just a leisurely ride, but what is called in racing circles a
“Hot Lap” in the one of the 2008 Corvette’s that will pace the race on
race day.  Yes, this was a ride in one of the real Pace cars that will lead
the 33 drivers to the green flag.  What a ride it was.

Being an Indy veteran, this was my first time around the historic
racing oval. It may have taken me thirty years, but now I can say I
have been on the most famous race track in the world.

My driver was Max Papis. He is back at the Speedway for the first
time since he raced here in 2006. When I strapped into Corvette,
Max asked me if I would mind waiting a moment as he was sending
a digital photo to his good friend Jimmie Johnson. He said “Jimmie will
get a kick out of what I am doing here” I looked at Max and smiled.
He said  “Are you ready?” I said lets do it. And the ride was on…
They don’t call him “Mad Max” because  he is mad, but because he
has a really aggressive driving style. Our 2 laps in the Corvette were
on the edge from the time we left Pit Row until we returned.

Max used a different line than Emerson, bringing the Corvette
within inches of the outside wall in each turn. Had I opened the window
and put my hand out, it would have touched the wall, that’s how close
we were.

When I looked at the speedometer down the long backstretch, it was
just pushing 160 mph. After the ride, Max said we reached a speed of
157, but I am sure we did hit 170 at times traveling the long front and
back stretch. I think he may have been referring to our “Average
Lap Speed”  None the less, it was a ride I will never forget.

The Chevrolet Corvette that paces the race is nothing short of spectacular and in the hands of a great drivers as Max and Emerson, the cars
true colors were apparent. The Corvette is hands down the best sports
car value in the United States, if not the world!

"Mad Max"

Papis earned the nickname "Mad Max" at the 1996 24 Hours
of Daytona during his last stint at the end of the race. Although
his second-place Ferrari 333SP had been battered due to collisions, some of its bodywork held together by tape, Papis unlapped himself by passing the race leader (the Doyle Racing Riley& Scott-Oldsmobile driven by Wayne Taylor) and proceeded to bang out some of the fastest laps of the entire race. Taylor had already been nursing his car around the track due to an overheating problem and otherwise would have been able to cruise to a win, but Papis' relentless pace and the slowing Oldsmobile suggested that Papis could theoretically take the win from Taylor except that Papis' pace put his fuel consumption to the max. One of the most startling sights ever at the 24 Hours of Daytona was Papis' full-speed shot (~200 mph) down the pit lane for fuel (pit lane speed limits were imposed the very next year). At the end of the race, Taylor still beat Papis by 64 seconds, but it was Papis' bravura performance that people talk about to this day and earned him the nickname "Mad Max".

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