Big boys' toys

Here's proof that the only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys. Life imitates play at the X-Games in the Hot Wheels Double Loops Challenge:

Great stuff! This must be the ultimate in big boys' toys! And Stuff has some of the technical details:

The track looked just like the one thousands of children play with in their living room, except this time the cars and loop were real.

Greg Tracy, a six-times Pike Peak winner, and Tanner Foust, a three-times X Games gold medallist, were the drivers that performed this stunt simultaneously on the 20-metre loop at the X Games in Los Angeles.

"That was unbelievable," Tracy told ESPN Sport today (NZ time) after finishing first through the loop in the Team Green car and making the jump into the finish ahead of Foust.

"I tell you what, I'm at a loss for words. That was absolutely the coolest thing I've ever done. It was a handful trying to land it and get it slowed down. I knew Tanner was right behind me and I was just hoping we weren't going to tangle before we got to the end."

The stunt on a track that was two football fields in length, was modelled on Mattel's Hot Wheels toy racetrack set.

ESPN reported the cars reached 83.6 kilometres per hour and the drives experienced approximately 7Gs going through the loop.

"That was pretty hardcore: the 7 Gs ... I almost felt my chin hit my lap, I think, in the loop," Foust said after finishing the stunt in the Team Yellow car. "I felt like I was in a toy." 

X-Games has become big business. But the organisers are going to have a heck of a job topping this for a stunt!