John Green's Fiery Race Car Disaster

2015-10-13 · story · John, Alan · 3:03 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, guest or collab, self promotion

John recounts his dirt-track race against Maggie Stiefvater at Princeton Speedway, in which he overcorrected and his car caught fire before Maggie won, and reflects that life's line runs between extreme caution and extreme aggression but this was not a smart risk; he retires from racing.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Leaving NerdCon: Stories for Princeton, Minnesota, to race Maggie Stiefvater; an IndyCar driver's advice on caution versus aggression; John's hope to finish without being pulled from a burning car

• ★★★ On Friday John and Rosianna left NerdCon: Stories for Princeton, Minnesota, where John raced cars on a dirt track against best-selling author Maggie Stiefvater. — 00:00:01 · Rosianna Halse Rojas
• ★★ An IndyCar driver John knows told him that in racing the only thing more dangerous than being too aggressive is being too cautious; John thinks this applies beyond racing. (hedged) — 00:00:11
• ★★ John, an uncommonly anxious but not overly cautious person, never expected to win but thought he could finish without being pulled from a burning car, which proved overly optimistic. (playful) — 00:00:18

00:00:37 — Preparing: a 17-year-old's car, coach Alan and his kids, getting in and out of the car, Eleanor & Park shirt, advice not to overcorrect, fire suit, Maggie arrives

• ★ John's race car belonged to a 17-year-old; the boy's father Alan, an experienced driver, coached him, and Alan's kids were his pit crew. — 00:00:37
• ★ John points out his Eleanor & Park t-shirt, which he got at DFTBA.com. — 00:01:01 · DFTBA Records
• ★★ Alan warned John at least a dozen times not to give in to the urge to overcorrect the steering or let off the throttle coming out of a corner; John remembered it for about five and a half laps. (playful) — 00:01:10

00:01:30 — The races: John overcorrects on lap five and his car catches fire; he is pulled out, wins the second heat (Maggie lets him), and Maggie dominates the third and beats the pros

• ★★★ In the first of three races Maggie led; trying to race alongside her, on the fifth lap out of turn four John corrected the steering and his car caught fire; staff pulled him out, unhurt but terrified. — 00:01:36
• ★★ After the car was fixed John got back in and won the second heat, or rather Maggie let him win, and got a trophy. (playful) — 00:02:05
• ★★★ In the third race Maggie dominated John so thoroughly that the speedway's regular pro drivers asked to take her on, and she beat them too; Maggie won the race. — 00:02:14

00:02:29 — Replaying the crash that night: smart risks and the line between extreme caution and extreme aggression; proud to lose to Maggie but not to himself

• ★★ That night John kept replaying the race: doing exactly what he'd been told not to, the flames on his back, his panicked hands on the belts, the smoky relief of being pulled out. — 00:02:29
• ★★★ John says there are smart risks and the proper line through life runs between extreme caution and extreme aggression, but this was not a smart risk. — 00:02:43
• ★★ John confesses he is proud to have lost to Maggie, but not to himself. — 00:02:50

00:02:55 — John announces his retirement from race car driving; sign-off

• ★★ John uses the occasion to announce his retirement from race car driving, heading back to the grandstands where he belongs. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:55

In the description and comments

• ★ John thanks Alan and everyone else in Princeton, Minnesota for giving them such an extraordinary evening and for not letting him die. — video description

Humor (significant)

• John thought he could at least finish the race without being pulled out of a burning vehicle. — 00:00:32

  “which as it turned out was overly optimistic.”

• After his car is fixed John says he won the second heat. — 00:02:10

  “more precisely, Maggie let me win”

• Maggie won the race, but John caught fire. — 00:02:24

  “I caught fire and didn't get hurt, which felt very much like, you know, some kind of winning.”

• After the fire and the loss John announces his retirement from race car driving. — 00:02:58

  “I'm headed back to the grandstands where I belong.”

Threads in this video

• told · John's race car catches fire during his race against Maggie Stiefvater (2015) — John tells how, coming out of turn four on the fifth lap, he overcorrected and his race car caught fire; staff pulled him out unhurt, and it was terrifying. (00:01:54)
• outcome · John and Maggie Stiefvater's charity race car race at Princeton Speedway (2015) — John reports the race: his car caught fire in the first heat, Maggie let him win the second, and Maggie won the race, also beating the speedway's pro drivers. (00:02:24)
• came true · John: he will lose his race car race against Maggie Stiefvater (2015) — John lost his race car race to Maggie Stiefvater, as he had predicted. (00:02:24)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John: he will lose his race car race against Maggie Stiefvater (2015) — came true

Mentioned

Central: John Green and Maggie Stiefvater's charity race car race · Maggie Stiefvater

Also: Alan · DFTBA Records · Eleanor & Park t-shirt · NerdCon: Stories · Princeton Speedway · Princeton, Minnesota · Rosianna Halse Rojas

Also centred on John Green and Maggie Stiefvater's charity race car race: Writing, Walling, Racing, and Wizard Schooling

Also centred on Maggie Stiefvater: Writing, Walling, Racing, and Wizard Schooling

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