The world’s fastest motorsport features eight racers speeding 250 miles per hour around an oval circuit, a little faster than NASCAR—“and just 30 feet higher,” said Jeff Zaltman, CEO of Air Race Events, which sponsors the annual Air Race 1 World Cup.
His group is now launching an electric offshoot. By 2020, pilots will streak across the sky in electric-powered racing planes.
The sport has existed in various forms since a 1909 race in Reims, France, and the Air Race 1 World Cup requires pilots to design and build their own planes within a few specifications.