Adam Rippon Goes Racing (at 150 MPH!) with Fellow 'DWTS' Champ Hélio Castroneves: 'My Heart Was in My Throat'

Adam Ripponhas checked off a lot of firsts in the last year — winning hisfirst Olympic medal(in figure skating) and then winning theDancing with the StarsMirrorball Trophy — and on Sunday he added another to the list.

While attending his first IndyCar race, in Toronto, he rode for two laps in fellowDWTSchampHélio Castroneves‘ two-seater as part of “Honda’s Fastest Seat in Sports.” They got up to speeds of more than 150 mph.

“It was definitely the fastest I’ve ever driven in my entire life and my heart was in my throat the whole time,” Rippon, 30, tells PEOPLE.

“The hardest part of the entire day was sitting in the car waiting to start,” he says. “It was incredibly hot in there. I really don’t know how those drivers can do that for 85 laps. I was wiped out after two — and I was only the passenger.”

Like Rippon, Castroneves, 44, wonDWTS(in season 5) and is an accomplished racer, with three wins at the Indianapolis 500.

Riding with him “gave me a whole new respect for these drivers and what they go through during a race,” Rippon says.

Chris Owens/IndyCar

This year helaunched a YouTube channeland will release a memoir,Beautiful on the Outside, in the fall.

“I think [readers] will find a lot of humor in the way I grew up and in my family situations and different situations I got into and the characters and people I’ve had throughout my life,” Rippon told PEOPLE earlier this year of his book.

Of his “amazing” racing day with Castroneves, he says: “It’s always great to step out of your comfort zone and experience something new and this was definitely out of my comfort zone.”

source: people.com