Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series

INDIANAPOLIS – American speed climber Sam Watson, who won a bronze medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris, will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports at the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 25 at Portland International Raceway.

Watson, 18, from Southlake, Texas, is the fastest speed climber in history. He set a world record of 4.74 seconds in the event en route to the bronze medal for the United States in Paris, breaking his record of 4.798 set earlier this year in the IFSC Climbing World Cup at Wujiang, China.

The Olympic medal was a highlight of Watson’s international climbing accomplishments, which also include a gold medal in speed climbing at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, a gold medal in the IFSC Climbing World Cup event in 2022 at Edinburgh, Scotland, and a victory in the 2022 U.S. National Speed Climbing Championship.

Competition speed climbing, which takes place on an artificial and standardized climbing wall, is the main form of speed climbing.

Watson will join a long list of celebrated INDYCAR Fastest Seat in Sports passengers as he leads the field to green in a custom INDYCAR SERIES car with a special back passenger seat. This high-speed, high-octane, super-charged thrill ride already has been taken by Jon Bon Jovi, actors Judge Reinhold and Dylan Sprouse, country music star Riley Green and reality TV star Mary Bonnet during the 2024 INDYCAR season.

Live coverage of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 25 on the USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES represents the ultimate challenge in racing, with drivers competing at speeds of 200+ mph across a demanding set of ovals and road and street courses. The full schedule can be viewed here.