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Cowher learned to drive stock car for 'Fast Cars & Superstars'
8 p.m. Thursdays, on ABC
Bill Cowher
ABC
"I couldn't believe the G-forces you end up feeling when you're going around the track," said Cowher, who learned to drive a stock car for ABC's reality show "Fast Cars and Superstars," which premieres at 8 tonight. "I had flown with the Blue Angels before, but it's one thing to be a passenger in the plane and another to be the one pushing the pedal.
"It's one of those things you look back on and realize how dangerous it is," he said.
Twelve celebrities -- including extreme skateboarder Tony Hawk, daredevil surfer Laird Hamilton and tennis diva Serena Williams -- trained with NASCAR drivers before competing in time-trial races at the Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.
Think "Driving With the Stars," but they wear NASCAR suits instead of ballroom costumes.
"We're not all on the track at the same time -- which was a good thing," Cowher said. In stock car racing, "those drivers are three inches away from the back bumper of the other cars. It's the difference of millimeters and milliseconds," he said. "I have a newfound respect for it."
How'd he take those turns?
"Without being able to reveal much, I kissed the wall, as they say in the profession," Cowher said.
Cowher was teamed with "Boston Legal" actor William Shatner and volleyball star Gabrielle Reece. Their race is scheduled to air on next week's episode.
Shatner, 76, said he jumped at the chance to experience the thrill of stock-car racing, even if he was at a disadvantage against what he called some of the world's premier athletes.
"Their hand-eye coordination by necessity had to be superior," Shatner said. "So I had to compete in some way. I think stupidity was my best weapon."
It wasn't an athlete that impressed Cowher the most, however.
"Watch out for Jewel. She's pretty good in the race car," he said.
Cowher came with one disability: "I'd never driven stick shift before," he said.
His crowning moment?
"I hit 181 mph in the back straight-away," he said. "It's one of those things I was able to do and live to tell about it."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
