As a student strolling around campus, it is usually pretty easy to pick out the athletes. The signature black Nike bag is often fixed to their back, and their relaxed workout gear is a tell-tale sign that they probably just endured hours of intense physical pain, breaking their backs for the Buffalo name.
The football players are large and muscular, the volleyball players, tall and lean, but amongst the classic athletes, the University of Colorado harbors some unknown talent.
Cooper MacNeil is a race car driver that has been attending CU since 2011. He has raced sports cars for the past nine years of his life on courses across the country and around the world.
Sports car racing is not typically what comes to mind when people think of race car driving. People are used to NASCAR where turning left seems to be the only skill required to sit behind the wheel. Sports car racing is an endurance event that requires drivers to sit in intense heat while flooring a car down a road course with both precision and accuracy. Thirty two-second pit stops are the norm, and drivers racing a variety of exotic cars through winding turns is to be expected. Everything from Porsches, Ferraris, BMW’s, Audis and yes, even Bond’s famous Aston Martin, can be seen racing alongside MacNeil and his Porsche.
“What people don’t realize about sports car racing and driving a race car is how difficult it truly is because people always hear, ‘Oh yeah you drive a car, I could drive a car, no big deal … it’s a lot more complicated than that,” MacNeil said. “We’re doing 180-190 miles an hour, basically trying to get the car as fast as you can get it to go for anywhere from one to three hours at a time without crashing.”
Twenty four-hour races, involving teams of three to four alternating drivers, are also common in the sport. Extreme temperatures ranging from 110 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit are prevalent as well.
However, crashing is also a part of the sport.
“The thing about being a race car driver is you can’t find the limit unless you pass it. So you can’t maximize what the car can do unless you spin or hit something or crash,” MacNeil said about his time in the driver’s seat. “I’ve hit a concrete wall at 120 miles per hour a few times, and that’s not fun because you can’t win if you crash.”
After years of watching his dad on the track, Cooper began his own racing career at the age of 15. He raced as an amateur for three years and has raced professionally for the past six years.
In his six years as a pro, MacNeil has won two championships and a third-place title. Both wins came at the American Le Mans Series Championships in 2012 and 2013. Cooper also noted that a fifth place finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, the most prestigious sports car race there is, was a highlight to his career.
“Racing in France at Le Mans is as special as it gets,” he said.
Aside from France, Cooper enjoys racing his buffalo-clad car (CU stickers) around his hometown track — Road America in Wisconsin — and in California, where he won a Pirelli World Challenge race in Laguna last weekend.
Cooper’s primary sponsor is WeatherTech, a company that, as of recently, has become the sponsor of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series (organized by the International Motor Sports Association), and is a recognizable name for any CU student that has stopped for a late night snack at the C4C.
Colorado is not known for its racing, but it is known for it’s outdoor activities. After years of coming out to explore some the country’s greatest ski areas, like Vail and Telluride, the Chicago native followed in his brother’s footsteps and became a Buff. It seemed as though all the pieces of the puzzle fit together for MacNeil, and he decided to study business in Boulder.
MacNeil will graduate this winter, after spending a few extra years in school to accommodate for his hectic racing schedule. Despite the years of travel mixed with the intensity of trying to earn his degree, the 24-year-old has figured out how to balance the two.
“When I’m at the race track I pretty much try to focus on racing stuff, and then when I’m here I try to focus on school as well, so I try to keep them separate.”
But racing can take up a lot of time when you’re on the road from Wednesday to Monday.
“We’ve had like six weeks of school so far and I have probably missed half of them, but they’re all for legitimate reasons for racing,” he said.
Although speeding down a course at surprisingly fast speeds keeps Cooper interested in the sport, it is his crew and the small, dedicated sports car fan base that make the travel and the danger all worth it. Open garages (for fans) and sideline shenanigans have helped MacNeil maintain a strong interest in the sport throughout its ups and downs.
“It’s good to have everyone involved — it’s what keeps the sport alive, it’s what keeps me at the racetrack, the fans being there. I mean we wouldn’t do it if nobody came,” MacNeil said. “I’m the one that’s driving the race car on the track during the race, but there are so many people behind the scenes. It’s a very, very big team sport [and that’s what] a lot of people don’t realize.”
A self-described low-key guy, MacNeil is unsure of his plans following graduation. Race car driving may be fun, but the salary may not be able provide him with enough for a comfortable lifestyle down the road. He credits his CU degree with providing him an opportunity to keep his doors open, whether that be working for the family business our out on the racetrack.
Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Olivia Butrymovich at olbu3713@colorado.edu.
