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Scott Dixon would be conditioned enough to have the calmness, precision and energy to perform brain surgery, a car racing expert says.
After years spent in a range of Formula One teams, most recently McLaren, Dr Kerry Spackman told the Weekend Herald top drivers like Indy 500 winner Dixon were incredibly fit athletes - and for good reason.
"You can always tell a Formula One driver by their necks.
"After three or four corners our necks would start to give out.
"But [Dixon] doesn't just have to survive the 500 miles. He's got to be as sharp at the end of it as he was at the beginning.
"He has to be able to thread the eye of a needle. He has to come out of each turn and just brush the wall - no more."
A turn too tight and he's losing speed.
Not tight enough and there'll be bits of his car strewn over hundreds of metres of tarmac.
And that precision requires work - years and years of work - Dr Spackman says.
