Ross Chastain used to run a 7-minute mile. Now he clocks 5:30, and it’s not just a personal milestone. That time makes him the fastest in a growing group of NASCAR drivers training like distance runners, thanks to Josh Wise and his Chevrolet-backed “Wise Optimization” program.
Wise, a former Cup Series driver, now works full-time on improving driver performance, physically, mentally, and neurologically.
His approach puts endurance training at the center. “Our goal… we want everyone to run a sub-six-minute mile,” Wise told 5GOATs. “I think 70% of our guys can run close to or sub-six-minute miles. Other guys well within range of that…maybe a six twenty. Ross has the fastest one.”
It’s not just running.
Drivers in the program train year-round, hitting the gym, riding bikes, and completing half-marathons.
Many compete in the Huntersville Half Marathon in North Carolina or its 10K. And among Wise’s roster are some of the biggest names in the sport: Kyle Larson, Daniel Suárez, Rajah Caruth, Nick Sanchez, and rising star Connor Zilisch.
Wise’s journey into endurance sports started midway through his driving career.
“I didn’t really have a mental model for how to prepare and grow as a driver or athlete,” he said. “It wasn’t until about halfway through my experience in Charlotte, as a NASCAR driver, that I just started thinking, ‘If I’m gonna continue my career, I’ve gotta find ways to improve myself.’”
That led him from a simple gym membership to road cycling, then sprint triathlons, and eventually Ironman races.
“I started seeing differences,” he said. “I started feeling more energy, I started feeling more clarity, I started feeling good that I was doing something to improve myself. Not just kind of relying on my invisible magical power that we call natural talent.”
From there, Wise returned to school to study psychology, all while building his training business. “I just realized I was under-equipped to do what I really wanted to do,” he said.
Today, the Wise Optimization program is more than fitness.
It’s built around developing versatile, resilient racecar athletes from a young age. “We diversify them in race cars,” he explained. “Connor Zilisch being the example. He’s run multiple, probably more styles of race cars than most drivers two or three times his age.”
Zilisch, 18, has wins in IMSA endurance events, the CARS Tour, and the Xfinity Series. He recently returned from a back injury sustained at Talladega. This weekend, he’ll race 900 miles across two series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Wise is confident he’s ready. “We’ve put enough kind of in the bank that he should be fine,” he said. “Connor is just an impressive human, as much as a race car driver.”
Josh Wise compares race car drivers to other athletes, "The car is their body, they are the brain." 🧠
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) August 17, 2024
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Why all this matters? Stock car racing is brutally physical.
“There’s not many other sports that the average person couldn’t survive,” Wise said. “I’m not talking about crashing, either; I’m talking about heat. I’m talking about forces.”
He added: “Their body has very specially adapted to the stresses of what’s going on. It’s very, very unique for sure. But there’s no doubt that they’re high-level athletes.”
With drivers training like runners, it’s becoming harder to ignore the reality that NASCAR isn’t just a mechanical sport, it’s an endurance sport, too.
