I am in my late 30s and making a career change for the first time to work outside of the automotive and racing industry. In my early 20s I had dreams of becoming a professional driver, but as I ran out of money I started working with the idea of continuing to turn pro by being around teams through proxy.
Over the course of ~15 years I got to drive with Senna’s chief engineer who gave me very high praise, a karting legend and Atlantic who did the same, and a few other world famous guys with multiple Le Mans wins – all of whom told me I would have easily been a successful driver if I had come from money.
I’ve raced a LOT of cars, driven with some of the biggest names in the history of motorsport, and got to be around a plethora of amazing minds and talent.
As I move away from the “professional” side of things, but remain building my kart and tracking vehicles for fun, my thoughts on the sport have kind of changed. Towards the end of my coaching career I started questioning why I was doing what I was doing. I’d rather be driving than teaching people as much as I enjoy the teaching side.
This has lead me to reflect over the last 12 months about why I started racing and what I wanted out of my whole journey to begin with.
It made me curious:
Why do you guys race/track? How do you view the sport and your own personal endeavors in it? Did you enjoy being professional if you were? If your views of the sport have changed over time please share that if you’d like.
Thanks!