A doughnut or donut is a maneuver performed while driving a vehicle. Performing this maneuver entails rotating the rear or front of the vehicle around the opposite set of wheels in a continuous motion, creating (ideally) a circular skid-mark pattern of rubber on a carriageway and possibly even causing the tires to emit smoke from

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

. In the US state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, the maneuver is referred to as "whipping shitties". The move was popularized as a race celebration by

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

. He first did it after winning the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

championship at

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (currently known as EchoPark Speedway for sponsorship reasons, formerly known as the Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Hampton, Georg ...

in 1995, even though

Ron Hornaday Jr. Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He currently owns Team Hornaday Development, a driver development program, as well as Hornaday Race Cars, a Modified racing, D ...

had also done it prior that year after winning a race in the NASCAR SuperTruck Series. Alex Zanardi also spun his tires after the 1997

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...

, where he performed the maneuver as a way to give back to the

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

fans and the atmosphere they produced for the teams and racers. He continued to use it as a form of celebration throughout his racing career. The move has now become the post-race celebration of choice for many victorious drivers. Other popular drivers known to be among the first ones to perform this maneuver are

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver, and former NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. He currently competes in the NHRA Top Fuel class. He is a four-t ...

after winning the 1999 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 and

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

after winning the 1998 Daytona 500. In

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

, there are limits on the number of engines and transmissions a team may use in a season, so doughnut celebrations are normally saved for the last race of the season where the hardware will no longer be needed. Doughnuts are more easily performed on wet and frozen surfaces (

ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

and

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

), as well as on loose surfaces, such as dirt. When performed in the snow, it is more often done to have fun than it is to make an earnest attempt at creating the circular skid mark pattern. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, doughnuts performed in dust or mud are colloquially referred to as "circle work". Performing the doughnut maneuver can be hazardous. Strain is placed on the vehicle's suspension and drivetrain, which may result in mechanical breakdown with loss of control. Tires are also subject to severe wear which may result in a sudden loss of pressure or blowout. In snow, however, the strain placed on the vehicle is much smaller. Hence, rally drivers prefer to learn car control in such situations.

References

External links

Modern Racer - Driving Tips - Doughnuts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doughnut (Driving) Hazardous motor vehicle activities Driving techniques Articles containing video clips

See also

References

External links