WWE legend Steve Austin puts new focus into full gear: 'I’ll race ‘til I die'

For years, the pro wrestler known as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin terrorized opponents, blew the roof off arenas when he entered the ring, and delighted fans with his beer-drinking and not giving a damn about anyone attitude while in WWE.

Those days appear to be long gone. Aside from the one-off appearance at WrestleMania 38 where he had an impromptu match with Kevin Owens, Austin has not been in the ring or even around the company. Instead, he’s been focusing on his passion projects – growing and cultivating Broken Skull Ranch, making the tremendous Broken Skull Beer, and racing side-by-sides in the Valley Off Road Racing Association (VORRA).

Austin, 59, is in his second season competing in VORRA’s sportsman division. He competed in five races last season and won last October.

The sudden turn from being the “Rattlesnake” to being a driver in long-distance racing, like in VORRA, appears to be strange on the outside looking in. But for Austin, he got hooked on it when he did his first “poker run,” which is when the racers pre-run the track and mark out possible dangerous terrain on the long-distance desert courses.

“I got introduced to it last year and this is my second year of racing,” he explained to Fox News Digital. “I made a lot of progress, still need to make more progress. But at this stage in my life, I guess they always say, better late than never. And I’m glad I finally found it because it fills a void of my competitive nature.

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“In wrestling, when I first started, I was terrible. And it takes repetition to get there to build confidence, to build your skillset up. And, it’s the same thing with racing. You can drive recreationally, but until you try to push that vehicle, like yourself, to the limit, you never know what you could do.”

Austin said his Kawasaki KRX 1000 tops off at around 80 mph, but the vehicle could face rough terrain once the race gets deep into the desert. It’s something that Austin faced this past week.

The pro wrestling legend, who turns 60 at the end of the year, made clear to Fox News Digital that side-by-side racing isn’t something he’s doing just to further his celebrity status. He’s in it to win it.

“I didn’t get in this to collect trophies and I’m not sitting here to brag about my abilities… the goal is to just be competitive. You gotta do something in life, you know,” he said while mentioning his work with his beer business and Kawasaki. “So, there’s things that go with it that are part of the end result.

“I don’t want to sound morbid, but I’ll race ‘til I die.”