It’s a good thing Nik Wallenda and his sister Lijana Wallenda don’t hold any childhood grudges. Otherwise, their dual tightrope walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway could have made for a difficult situation. The Wallendas of the famous Flying Wallendas family performed at the Bank of America 500 during the pre-race show on Saturday.
On the way up #NeverGiveUp pic.twitter.com/n9eJGhsfLi
— Nik Wallenda (@NikWallenda) October 12, 2013
The 460-foot tightrope wire was suspended 150 feet over the race track, which doesn’t sound too terrifying considering some of Nik’s previous walks, such as the one at Niagara Falls. Each sibling started out at opposite ends of the rope and had to make it to the other side. The walk didn’t get too difficult until Nik and Lijana had to get past each other at the halfway point. Watch Nik very carefully step over his sister at 150 feet in the air:
.@NikWallenda steps over his sister Lijana, on a tightrope, high above @CLTMotorSpdwy before the #BOA500. #nascar pic.twitter.com/yqRmFEi9Q1
— Harold Hinson Photo (@HHinsonPhoto) October 13, 2013
Before the tightrope walk, NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer gave Nik a warning about the cables at Charlotte Motor Speedway, referring to a freak accident that occurred at CMS earlier this year when a TV cable snapped and injured several fans.
Hey Nick Wallenda! This track doesn't exactly have a good track record with cables…
— Clint Bowyer (@ClintBowyer) October 12, 2013
Nik and Lijana Wallenda completed the tightrope walk successfully, of course, and the siblings were happy to do the stunt together. “It was exciting to perform together again,” said Nik Wallenda. “We don’t perform like this very often. We’ve never performed this high and this far apart before and this was the first time in many, many years.”
Check out some of Wallenda’s other death-defying tightrope walks below:
Image via Jeff Wilhelm at The Charlotte Observer