Indy Race Calls For Cake

© Chuck Atkins / RumBum.com

Gaan sets forth on his winning ride.

Sunday night at the track, Rum Bum Racer Shawn Gann did something he does only on the bluest of moons: he ate cake. And not just any cake; this health nut of a racer was scarfing what he called a "crunchie munchie cinnamon bunch". Unusual, yes – but you'd feel a little indulgent too after your best race of the year.

Gann's performance over the Labor Day Weekend certainly lived up to Indy's fast-track reputation, as he was one of just four racers who sped through the quarter mile under seven seconds. His teammate, Bailey Whitaker, also outperformed himself by hovering just above that 7-second mark with a time of 7.066 during qualifiers.

Friday, though, things were looking dire for Gann. In his first race of the weekend, Gann hit his foot badly on a cone while racing and veered into the centerline. Worse than being disqualified, the pain was such that he thought every toe down to the pinky was shattered. After some vigorous icing and TLC – plus, in typical Gann form, some therapeutic guitar – a miraculous healing allowed Gann to outshine almost every competitor with his qualifying victory time of 6.979 that placed him fourth.

"Every inch I left smoke," Gann said proudly through the cinnamon crunchiness. "I toted the front tire till half track," he added. In other words, this Rum Bum Racer left the start line so smoking fast that for the first three seconds and change, he was riding on just his back wheel. If not for that rear wheelie bar – and Gann's years of experience going 190mph – that kind of power could have knocked a lesser racer on his head. So Gann, in grand celebration, will let himself eat cake.