NASCAR in the Sky

Taking rocket science and engineering to the next level, X Prize founder Peter Diamandis and race car capitalist Granger Whitelaw announced the formation of the Rocket Racing League Monday during a news conference. Rocket-powered planes called X-Racers, designed especially for the RRL, will cause spectators to gaze skyward as contestants pilot their craft at speeds in excess of 250 miles per hour. In short, Diamandis is driven by desire to make space travel seem exciting again. NASA is not delivering that at present. As in NASCAR, the rocket planes would have a staggered start and then race around a sky-track. After six years of planning and organization, the league is finally ready for the first competition at its headquarters in Las Cruces, N.M.

Tim Gormley, the RRL's COO says "The nice thing about rocket planes is you're not blowing up engines and going through tires". The estimated annual cost to maintaining and fueling a rocket plane is $500,000 - a paltry sum compared with the $12 million or so that a Nascar team can spend annually on a car. The RLL will begin official competition in 2007 and looks to offer prize purses in the neighborhood of $2 million.

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