Racing Green is the story of how motorsport science has become smarter and more environmentally friendly, and how these developments on the track are changing the world.
Motor racing is one of the world’s most watched sports. In the United States alone, NASCAR has over 75 million fans. Motor racing is also the most scientifically demanding sport, requiring a combination of peak physical and mental skill, world-class mechanical know-how and technological innovation.

Racing Green explores the science that has been translated from racing to the road. The history of motor racing, both its glories and its tragedies, led to some of the most important modern developments we see in car design today. Just as the heartbreaking death of Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona 500 led NASCAR to introduce a new raceway barrier method, ideas pioneered during races—from ABS brakes to crash helmets—have been incorporated into race car and track designs around the world.
Through exclusive interviews with NASCAR’s Research and Development Center, Kit Chapman goes behind the scenes of the current breakthroughs to show where motorsport is likely to take us in the future, picking up extraordinary tales along the way, such as the Ohio State University’s experimental electric car, the Buckeye Bullet, which broke the electric land speed record on the salt flats in Utah, hitting an astounding 340 mph.
Racing Green is a mix of travelogue and historical retrospective, combining visits to the experts and discussing the science with retellings of real-life incidents that represent milestones in modern car development.
 
Contributor Bio(s)
 
Dr Kit Chapman is an award-winning journalist writing for publications such as Nature, New Scientist and the Daily Telegraph. He has traveled to more than 60 countries as he seeks amazing tales from the cutting edge of science. Kit has a PhD in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Sunderland. His first book Superheavy was listed as one of Publishers Weekly’s top 10 science books for Fall 2019 and a finalist for the AAAS SB&F prize for Excellence in Science Books.