Race Car Drivers' Day Cars: 2012

Most of the time, people with demanding jobs want to leave them behind when quitting time arrives. Law clerks don’t want to file more briefs when they get home, actuaries don’t want to weigh financial risk from their comfy chairs, and accounts receivable clerks don’t want to send past-due invoices over dinner.

However, some people have no choice but to bring aspects of the workplace to their day-to-day lives. Take the professional race car driver. Unless he or she lives above a convenience store, chances are good that most errands will require an automobile. But who wants to deal with parking a Grand Prix race car at the Piggly Wiggly? Even the most accomplished race car driver will need a regular vehicle to negotiate parking lot shrubbery islands.

What follows is a list of drivers who compete in Nascar and Formula One events, and the cars  they drive when they’re in no hurry to get anywhere at any particular time. Click ahead to see who they are and what they drive.

By Daniel Bukszpan
Posted 23 February 2012

2012 Toyota Camry

When Nascar’s Kyle Busch is just trying to get from point A to point B in a leisurely fashion, he prefers to drive one of his Toyotas. His day-to-day vehicle of choice is a black 2012 Toyota Camry, according to his publicity team.

Busch’s fierce competitiveness was an asset in 2008 when he won a record 21 victories in Nascar's three series. However, there were also times when it got the better of him, such as in the 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K, when he forced competitor Ron Hornaday Jr. into the inside wall of Texas Motor Speedway.

Nascar fined him $50,000 and put him on probation for the remainder of the year. Fortunately, 2012 has been better for Busch than 2011. On Feb. 18, he won the Budweiser Shootout, narrowly edging out Lamborghini enthusiast and Nascar champion Tony Stewart.

2007 Lamborghini Gallardo

In the male-dominated field of race car driving, Danica Patrick is an  anomaly. Currently, she competes in Nascar’s Nationwide Series but she has also worked as a model, including an appearance in the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. As successful as she’s been in her career, she’s been less fortunate when it comes to finding the car of her dreams. She owns several cars for personal use, all of which have had their share of problems. When she bought her Lamborghini in 2007, she thought her long search had finally come to an end. However, today she’s looking to sell it, as the $202,000 machine just isn’t very practical.

"I got it originally because I had a 645 BMW and it was a convertible," she said. Problems soon developed at inopportune times, such as when she went to pick up her sister at an airport. "She’s got bags. I don’t have a trunk. I’ve got a briefcase-sized spot in the front of the car. I have no space," she told Yahoo Sports. Worst of all, the Lamborghini lacked something that almost any driver will tell you is an essential component in any car. "It sounds stupid but there are no cup holders in my Lamborghini."

2005 Lamborghini Murcielago

Nascar’s Tony Stewart loves cars, whether he’s on or off the track. When he’s not competing in an event like the Sprint Cup, he’s driving one of several cars he’s collected, including a refurbished Cadillac hearse.

However, a hearse can’t take tight corners and hug curves at 110 mph, so something a little sleeker is in order for long distances. In those instances he drives a 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago, according to the official website of the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Carl Edwards has been racing professionally for less than a decade, barely enough time for lesser motorists to establish themselves within the Nascar pecking order. However, in that time he has raced in the Sprint Cup Series and won a Nationwide Series Championship.

His personal car is a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. In 2009, he drove it 1,445 miles on a single tank of gas by using the “hypermiling” techniques recommended by Ford. These techniques include avoiding using the heater and air conditioner and keeping the windows closed at high speeds.

Volkswagen Touareg

Timo Glock is a German race car driver who competes on the Marussia Formula One team. He joined Formula Three in 2002, and said: "For talented young racing drivers, Formula 3 is the best training they can get.” He didn’t become a regular Formula One driver until 2008, but he established himself as a force to be reckoned with and became the main driver for Panasonic Toyota’s team that year.

Glock drives a Volkswagen Touareg, according to the National Post. The car is described as "powered by frugal 3.0-liter turbodiesel V6s" and the article, which profiled the personal cars of several race car drivers, singled out Glock’s choice as the only one "motivated by pure pragmatism."

1962 Chevrolet Corvette

At 21, Joey Logano is the youngest Nascar driver currently active. He began his career with the organization at age 17, when many of his contemporaries were just getting their braces taken off. He had competed in the Quarter-Midget division of junior stock-car competitions as a child, and by the time he was 15, he was ready to compete in the Hooters Pro Cup Series.

Logano not only has sophisticated abilities for a driver his age. He also has sophisticated taste in cars. Among the automobiles he’s collected is a vintage 1962 Chevrolet Corvette, which he showed audiences in an all-access video segment for Nascar.com.

2010 Maserati GranCabrio

Fernando Alonso is a two-time World Champion Formula One driver from Spain. When he won the championship title in September 2005, he was a mere 24, and when he won the following year, he became the youngest two-time champion up to that point.

Despite driving for the Ferrari team, Alonso bought a Maserati GranCabrio in 2010 to use as his own personal ride. The first four-seat convertible in Maserati history, the GranCabrio has a 4.7-liter, 440 horsepower V8 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission.

2008 Lexus LS 460-L

Denny Hamlin is best known for driving the Number 11 FedEx Toyota in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. However, he made headlines in 2009 when his personal car, a 2008 Lexus LS 460-L valued at $50,000, was stolen out of the driveway of his North Carolina home.

The theft was caught on surveillance cameras, and the car was recovered a few weeks later, according to The Associated Press. Hamlin went on to win eight races in the 2010 Cup Series, and in the 2011 season he racked up one victory and five top five finishes.

1928 Ford Roadster

Ryan Newman is the winner of the 2008 Daytona 500, and he’s gotten no fewer than 49 pole positions since 2000. However, none of his accomplishments on the racetrack holds a candle to his proudest moment, when his wife, Krissie, gave birth to their first child, Brooklyn Sage Newman, on Nov. 18, 2010.

Newman is an avid car enthusiast who customizes, repairs and drives vintage models. He owns 13 different automobiles, including a 1928 Ford Roadster.