This Racetrack Has No Guardrails, And Other Sprint Car Eye-Openers

See that track? It has no guardrails. And those cars racing on it are only a few hundred short of a thousand horsepower. This kind of racing takes place all over the country. Welcome to the world of sprint cars.

This is a recap of this year's Indiana Sprint Week, a week full of sprint car races across the state, ultimately won by Northern California-born, Indiana-raised Bryan Clauson.

The racing is nothing but powerslides punctuated by wheelies, competed by roaring V8s with seats.

You might not recognize the names of the drivers, but it's possible you soon will. Some of the highest-paid drivers in the world (thanks NASCAR!) got their careers started in sprint cars. Hell, one of the biggest rising stars in the series today is a dirt track phenom.

And there very much are risks attached to the sport. That oval with no guardrails? It's Bloomington Speedway and the only barriers are in front of the stands and in front of the parking lot, far from the course itself. One young driver died there last year, and the racing world is still reeling from the death of Kevin Ward Jr., fatally thrown from under Tony Stewart's tire at a sprint car race last month.

The weather's still warm and sprint car racing happens every weekend at a racetrack probably not far from you.