Paul Gentilozzi on going from joyriding at 13 to a 5-time Trans Am champ

This week on Racers Unchained, Paul Tracy sits down with Trans Am icon Paul Gentilozzi for one of the wildest origin stories you’ll ever hear.

Before the championships, before the Daytona wins, before the Hall of Fame, there were midnight “borrowed” cars, 4-speed joyrides, and a 13-year-old kid who couldn’t wait to drive anything with wheels.

Paul Gentilozzi takes us through:

• The rainy race where he grabbed the lead… only to spin multiple times and end up six feet off the ground in a tree
• The heated on-track rivalry (and championship battle) with Tommy Kendall
• Why being “just a driver” matters more than labels
• His early drag racing days at Onondaga Dragway
• The moment his dad caught him red-handed at McDonald’s with shoe-polish race numbers on the windshield