ENCINITAS — After decades behind the wheel of high-performance race cars, test vehicles and Hollywood stunt rigs, Nick Kunewalder has seen his share of speed and risk.
And while the 64-year-old Encinitas resident is no stranger to close calls, nothing prepared the retired pace car driver for the road-rage assault he endured off El Camino Real earlier this year.
Kunewalder, a longtime professional driver and instructor, said the March incident began in the late afternoon shortly after leaving Swami’s Seaside Park, when he noticed the driver of a small, four-door sedan aggressively tailgating him, weaving back and forth and revving his engine.
“I kept slowing down and waving him past,” Kunewalder told The Coast News. “But he just stayed on my bumper.”
The pursuit continued south on North El Camino Real, about a half mile from Kunewalder’s home. Despite his repeated attempts to wave the driver past, the vehicle stayed on his bumper, following him into his neighborhood, Kunewalder said.
At one point, Kunewalder said he jammed the brakes and pulled sharply to the right, forcing both cars to the shoulder. The car pulled alongside his vehicle, and the driver began shouting obscenities at him.
“I told him, ‘I don’t want any trouble,’” Kunewalder recalled.
The encounter soon boiled over into violence outside an apartment complex on Encinitas Boulevard when the man exited his vehicle, approached Kunewalder, who was seated in his truck, and began punching him repeatedly in the face.
Absorbing nearly a dozen blows, Kunewalder sustained a skull fracture and nerve damage near his right eye. Two months after the incident, Kunewalder said that portions of his face are still numb.
“He wanted to end me,” Kunewalder said, noting the man had unsuccessfully attempted to pull him from his pickup truck during the assault.
Although the suspect was arrested at the scene, prosecutors later declined to file charges, citing insufficient evidence and a lack of eyewitness testimony.
“I’m not angry,” Kunewalder said. “I told the DA, listen, it doesn’t bother me. But it ought to bother you that a gang banger with two previous assaults on his record is rolling through town trying to kill people.”
Life in the fast lane
Originally from the Bay Area, Kunewalder moved to Encinitas more than 40 years ago and has lived in a local mobile home park since retiring from racing.
Kunewalder was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 23 — the same disease that killed his father when he was a child — but kept the condition private for most of his career.
Kunewalder’s racing roots trace back to the early 1980s, shortly after his MS diagnosis. While sitting at Hansen’s Surf Shop in Encinitas, he spotted an ad for a racing school and spent his savings on a course at the Jim Russell Racing School in Riverside, launching a career that would span decades.
“All I ever wanted was to surf and drive race cars,” he said. “Once I got started, I never looked back. Next thing you know, I’m one of the fastest guys on the planet.”
Kunewalder was legally blind in one eye, which created depth perception issues, but said he adapted using visual reference points on the track. Against the odds, he rose through the ranks as a pace car driver, test driver and competitive racer.
His career includes work with top manufacturers such as Ferrari, Bentley and Cadillac, as well as instructional roles at driving academies, including Skip Barber Racing School, Derek Daly Academy and AMG Driving Academy.
Kunewalder was a lead pace car driver at the Long Beach Grand Prix for nearly 30 years and worked as a stunt driver for commercials and films. He described drifting through downtown Los Angeles for shoots (before the driving technique was popular), performing high-risk maneuvers with little rehearsal.
“I just said yes and prayed I’d figure it out,” he said.
Over his decades-long career, Kunewalder drove everything from open-wheel formula cars and IMSA GT machines to high-performance exotics and precision-tuned prototypes. He handled Aston Martins, Cadillacs, Bentleys and Lamborghinis at speed during hot lap events, test drives and manufacturer performance showcases.
Kunewalder competed in the Barber Saab Pro Series and raced in the Grand Prix of Southern California at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. He also served as a hot lap driver for the iconic Marlboro Penske Racing team and shared the track with racing greats, such as three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser.
“I didn’t have sponsors or big money, but I had drive,” he said. “I just had a passion, and I followed it.”
Kunewalder also worked in surfing, snowboarding and skiing, once clocking over 100 mph in a downhill race. A former managing partner with Carlsbad-based XYZ clothing brand, he also helped design and sell Mandero surf leashes in the 1980s and even served as a stunt double in a ski sequence of a James Bond film.
A Sudden Ending
As lead pace car driver for the Long Beach Grand Prix, Kunewalder completed thousands of laps in race-prepped sports cars. But his career skidded to a stop after questions arose about his health ahead of what would have been his 30th appearance at the world’s longest-running street circuit race.
Kunewalder came clean about his MS diagnosis during a Zoom call with organizers and was told he would need to undergo a new physical evaluation.
“They told me the responsibility was too great,” he said. “I had taken the test before and passed. But someone wanted my job. That’s how racing works sometimes.”
Despite the abrupt end to his professional career and the progressive nature of his disease, Kunewalder, who walks often assisted by a cane, remains active, spending his free time playing conga at local drum circles and crafting handmade driftwood walking canes for others with mobility issues.
“Nothing can bring me down anymore. It’s shocking,” he said. “I don’t have any expectations. I’ve had a wild life. I’ve broken most of the bones in my body, I’ve raced with legends, and I still love getting behind the wheel.”
