playnext.fm

The Daily Stoic · Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

A Stoic Test I Didn’t Expect

March 14, 2026·35 min·3 clips
Ryan Holiday faces a terrifying moment driving the pace car at a NASCAR race with 35,000 people watching.
It begins with an ad-heavy arrival. The cold open gives real time to a Wayfair sale before the show returns to courage and discipline. Then the story gets sharper. Ryan is at a racetrack with tens of thousands watching, responsible for helping start the race. He has been there before, so it seems manageable at first. Bike rides, Christmas lights, and a mention of his nine-year-old make the place feel known, right up until the practice lap starts. Familiar does not mean ready. From the passenger seat of a Toyota, he texts Samantha that the whole thing is genuinely terrifying and wonders if he can do it. This is not just a wave to the crowd. He has to drive three laps at a steady 40 miles an hour through S turns, hairpins, and a hill that makes the job feel suddenly serious. Precision matters because the NASCAR cars do not have speedometers. The pace car teaches by feel, by RPM, and by matching speed. That is where the pressure lands. A small mistake would happen in front of everyone waiting for the race to begin. He feels it in his stomach, and that plain admission gives the episode its Stoic point. There is some dry comedy too. Before he walks out, an announcer calls him one of the world's best-selling living philosophers, and the crowd's confusion takes the air out of the moment. Smoke, announcements, training, and the absurd setting all fold into the same lesson: composure has to show up while the test is already happening.

As heard by us

Being introduced to 35,000 NASCAR fans as a philosopher turns out to be the easier part of the episode.

Ryan Holiday drove a pace car three laps at a consistent 40 mph around a NASCAR track, in front of 35,000 people, with no speedometer and hairpin turns he had underestimated, having just been introduced to that crowd as "one of the world's best-selling living philosophers" while…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

A philosopher introduced to 35,000 NASCAR fans, then handed the pace car keys -- the dread was real.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on
Apple PodcastsSpotify
Play clips from this episodeMore from The Daily Stoic