Sophomore Piper Christiansen learned to drive race cars from her father when she was 10 years old. When she was 12 and saw her dad’s friend race at the 105 Speedway, she started racing competitively. It’s a pastime she continues today.
“We went to my grandparents’ house, and he basically was like, get in and drive,” Christiansen said. “And he taught me how, cause like, I’m a quick learner. And because we have a lot of different vehicles, he taught me how to drive an automatic.”
Christiansen is a dirt racer, which is a form of racing that is competed on dirt tracks similar to a horse derby. While she is aware of the many dangers that are present with racing, she also knows there are several safety precautions put in place to ensure everyone’s safety as much as possible. She wears fireproof racing suits and shoes. She also wears helmets, neck braces and chin straps when driving. In addition, her cars have a fire extinguisher at all times and a roll cage.
“I don’t worry because there’s a lot of safety equipment that goes into it, so I’ll be all right,” Christiansen said.
Racing is not a cheap hobby to get into, with the price of the car not being an issue compared to all of the modifications and maintenance that come with it. Cars can be bought ready to race with no need for modifications, but that still leaves the thousands of dollars of maintenance costs.
“It gets expensive because you’re paying $4,000 for a car at the minimum,” Christiansen said. “The engines cost a lot, and then it depends on the modifications. If you buy it track-ready, maybe $5,000. And if you don’t, it could be from $2,000 to $6,000 or $7,000. My car is expensive. I’ve had a lot of stuff done to it. I’d say it’s over $10,000.”
On top of car costs, there are entry fees for each race. Depending on the place, competitors could win upwards of seven times the entry fee.
Another challenge is the temperature within the car, especially in the Texas heat.
“Sometimes in the middle of summer, it’ll be like 100 degrees, but you still have to put on a full suit, helmet, shoes, and get in your car, and it just gets really hot,” Christiansen said. “And I think someone’s died of a heat stroke there, which is pretty crazy.”
Christiansen’s dad has a collection of eight race cars that he lets her use. On top of her dad’s eight, Christiansen has three of her own, which are all her favorite type of race car – a Fox body Mustang.
Outside of racing, Christiansen drives a 2022 Range Rover, which is especially helpful for her since she lives in Atascocita, is on JV volleyball, is an orchestra officer and in the chamber and beginner orchestras, which come with many after school rehearsals. She says her Range Rover is reliable and she likes how it drives.
Despite having so much driving experience, Christiansen had one difficulty during her driving test in January – going the speed limit. That rule went against the goal she’d had her whole life up, which was to go as fast as possible. She had to retake her driver’s test after failing the first time for hitting a curb immediately after leaving the parking lot.
“The curb literally wasn’t there. I was driving, and then it spawned out of nowhere,” Christiansen said.
Despite initial challenges, Christiansen feels that driving race cars for four years has made her a better driver. While she understands the difference between racing and regular driving, she also feels that her racing personality sometimes reflects in her day-to-day driving.
“I’ve been driving for a long time, and I’ve gotten a lot of experience doing it,” Christiansen said. “I’m a very defensive driver.”
