12 EPIC RACES

MORE TO EXPLORE Free Ebook | Live Updates by Janet Slingerland 12StoryLibrary.com

12 EPIC RACES by Janet Slingerland www.12StoryLibrary.com

Copyright © 2019 by 12-Story Library, Mankato, MN 56003. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

12-Story Library is an imprint of Bookstaves.

Photographs ©: Jared C. Tilton/Stringer/Getty Images, cover, 1; momentcaptured1/CC2.0, 4; Bettmann/Getty Images, 4; Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire/Newscom, 5; HIMOINSA Racing Team/CC2.0, 6; Markus Leodolter/dapd/Associated Press, 7; cristiano barni/Shutterstock. com, 8; cristiano barni/Shutterstock.com, 9; bobostudio/CC2.0, 10; Andia/Alamy Stock Photo, 11; jakez29120/CC2.0, 11; Hemis/Alamy Stock Photo, 12; Hemis/Alamy Stock Photo, 13; MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images, 14; MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images, 15; Alonso Tenorio/Associated Press, 16; Juan Diego Villarreal/Associated Press, 17; Achim Knacksterdt/US Army Corps of Engineers Europe District/CC2.0, 18; Kaisove/CC4.0, 19; Kaisove/CC4.0, 20; RHB/Alamy Stock Photo, 21; RHB/Alamy Stock Photo, 22; Bureau of Land Management, 23; Bill Brine/CC2.0, 24; Jim Owens/Associated Press, 25; nick farnhill/CC2.0, 26; nick farnhill/CC2.0, 27; pingebat/Shutterstock.com, 28-29

ISBN 978-1-63235-568-3 (hardcover) 978-1-63235-622-2 (paperback) 978-1-63235-684-0 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018937846

Printed in the United States of America Mankato, MN June, 2018

About the Cover Driver Takuma Sato of Japan, car #26, won the 101st Indianapolis 500 in 2017.

Access free, up-to-date content on this topic plus a full digital version of this book. Scan the QR code on page 31 or use your school’s login at 12StoryLibrary.com. Table of Contents

Cars Race 500 Miles in Historic Indianapolis Race...... 4

Dirt Bikers Scramble at the Erzberg Rodeo...... 6

Off-Roaders Rally in South America...... 8

Sailors Race Around the World...... 10

Paddlers Challenge Canada’s Yukon River...... 12

Teams Trek Through Chile in Patagonian Expedition Race...... 14

Mountain Bikers Race Across Costa Rica...... 16

Runners Face the Desert in Morocco...... 18

Teams Race Beds in England...... 20

Dogs Pull Sleds in Famous Alaska Race...... 22

Crowds Gather in Louisville for Two-Minute Race...... 24

Horse Riders Race Long and Hard in Mongolia...... 26

Where in the World?...... 28

Glossary...... 30

For More Information...... 31

Index...... 32

About the Author...... 32 1 Cars Race 500 Miles in Historic Indianapolis Race

Each Memorial Day weekend, race The Indianapolis Motor Speedway fans gather in Indiana. It’s time (IMS) was built in 1909 for car for the Indy 500. It was first run in testing. Occasional races let rival car 1911. Now the Indy 500 is one of makers compete. After a few years, the world’s most famous races. the owners wanted to draw bigger crowds. They decided to have one long race each year. They offered a big purse to attract racers. Ray Harroun They hoped the 500-mile was the winner of the (805-km) race would bring first Indy 500 in 1911. His fans. Forty cars ran in the Marmon Wasp car is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

4 first race. The six-and-a-half-hour event was chaotic, but it drew a 74.6 Average speed in miles crowd of about 90,000. per hour (120 km/h) of From then on, the Indy 500 ran cars in the first Indy 500. almost every year. In 1996, it • The Indianapolis Motor became the premier race for the Speedway was built for new IndyCar series. These cars testing and racing cars. have a single seat. They have open • The Indy 500 is a 500- mile (805-km) race. cockpits and wheels. • The Indy 500 is run each Today the Indy 500 draws year on Memorial Day 300,000 fans each year. The weekend. 33 cars race at speeds up to 235 miles per hour (378 km/h).

KISSING THE BRICKS In 1909, workers paved the track with bricks. The track became known as the Brickyard. Over time, the bricks were replaced with asphalt. By 1961, only one three-foot section of bricks was left. These bricks make up the start/finish line. In 1996, Dale Jarrett won the NASCAR Drivers race Brickyard 400 race. He and his 200 laps around team celebrated by kissing the the 2.5 mile bricks. Since then, every Indy (4.0 km) oval track. 500 and Brickyard 400 winning 5 team kisses the bricks. 2 Dirt Bikers Scramble at the Erzberg Rodeo

The world’s toughest one-day dirt intervals. They race for time on a bike race happens in . Erzberg twisting gravel trail. The fastest 500 is a centuries-old mining town. The get to compete in the last day’s Red mountain there is nicknamed the Bull Hare Scramble. Iron Giant. Iron mining has littered The Hare Scramble is a checkpoint it with pits, boulders, and snaking race. Riders have four hours to trails. These make perfect obstacles check in at each of the 20 or so for riders looking for a checkpoints. (The number varies challenge. from year to year.) Racers start in a The first few days of the Erzberg quarry pit, leaving in waves of 50. Rodeo are known as the Iron Road The fastest bikes start first. Prologue. All motorbikes can ride in In a good year, five percent of the this event. Riders start at 20-second riders finish the course. That’s only

Riders of every skill level, and from any country, can enter the Erzberg.

6 Bikers climb the Dynamite section of the course in the Iron Giant mine.

25 out of 500. The rest get stuck or break their bikes along the way. Dirt bike riders love a good challenge, though. Each year, about 1,700 try to 5 get in the race. Number of riders who completed the Hare Scramble in 2015. THE IRON GIANT • The Erzberg Rodeo is a The Iron Giant is an active iron multiday event. mine. Operations stop each • It takes place at an iron mine in Austria. year for the Erzberg Rodeo. One • The Red Bull Hare section of the course is a climb Scramble happens on the full of loose rocks. It is called last day. Dynamite because the mine’s • 500 riders race through explosives are stored at checkpoints to complete the scramble. its base. 7 Index

Austria, 6-7, 29 Kentucky Derby, 24-25, sail, 10-11 28 sand dunes, 8, 27 Bauer, Patrick, 18 bike, 6-7, 9, 16, 28-29, Lamazou, Titouan, 11 team, 5, 9, 14-15, 20- 31 La Ruta de Los 21, 22-23, 28-29 Conquistadores, 16- car, 4-5, 9, 28 17, 28 Urbina, Roman, 17 climb, 14, 16-17, 19 Le Cleac’h, Armel, 11 Velazquez, John, 24 Dakar Rally, 8-9, 29 Marathon des Sables, Vendee Globe, 10-11, 29 18-19, 31 , 9, 10, 29 Mongol Derby, 26-27, 29 Yukon River Quest, 12- museum, 4, 25 13, 28 Hare Scramble, 5-6 Harroun, Ray, 4 off-road, 8, 29 orienteering, 14, 30 Iditarod Trail, 22-23, 28 Indianapolis, 4-5, 28 paddleboarding, 13 Indy 500, 4-5, 29 Sahara desert, 18-19

About the Author Janet Slingerland was an engineer READ MORE FROM before she started writing books. She 12-STORY LIBRARY lives in New Jersey with her husband, Every 12-Story Library Book three children, and a dog. She loves is available in many fomats. going on adventures with her family. For more information, visit 12StoryLibrary.com 32

Find More to Explore at 12StoryLibrary.com Get free, live content on this topic and a full digital version of this book. Just scan the code or use your school’s login for instant access. The website features: • A free multi-user ebook • Staff-generated news updates • Live content feeds from safe, reliable sources Scan here • Video, interactive maps, and graphics for live content on this book. • An educator’s resource page with lesson plans Note to educators: Visit 12StoryLibrary.com/register to sign up for free premium website access. Enjoy live content plus a full digital version of every 12-Story Library book you own for every student at your school.

Read all the books in Epic Adventures Where can you go to swim with sharks? Hike along rooftops in a city? Race across a desert? Watch icebergs being born? Discover the distant past? This exciting series is all about daring, dreaming, and exploring. Get ready to learn about the farthest, deepest, highest, coldest places on the planet— and beyond.

EPIC ADVENTURES