10 Ways to Bridge the Generation Gap in Racing

"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig) 05/15/2014 at 11:45 • Filed to: None

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I walked all the way around Road Atlanta on Saturday. It's a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but on the way back I was forced to wade through an army of obnoxious youths in town for the Formula Drift event. Now, I like drifting for what it is – a cool, spectacular dance on pavement. I'm not such a huge fan of the fans. No, it's not the superior attitudes or the shut-up-I'm-okay drunkenness, or the cigarettes (really? Kids still start smoking?). It's the general lack of interest in actual racing motorsports. The drift stands were packed for practice, but barely a soul not associated with a team could bother to stretch an eye toward the Trans Am race, even though the cars were just as powerful and much faster.

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It was slightly troubling. Was this the beginning of the end? Was I staring at patient zero in the final great epidemic that finally killed the last vestiges of American racing? Would the art of the apex die off with its masters?

First of all, no. As I mentioned earlier, there were plenty of non-obnoxious youths on hand last weekend for the Global Time Attack series, and they knew how to take corners just fine. But there does seem to be a widening generation gap in racing. The young punks just don't have much appreciation anymore. But is it entirely their fault? I'll bet many of those drift fans would start racing if they had the chance.

At nearly 30, I find I'm pulled between the Punks and the Olds, so here's some advice for both, from an inbetweener, on how to bridge the generation gap in racing.

It's over on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , because my kids don't like Falafel.

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2BWise > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 05/15/2014 at 13:11

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Interesting read and I agree with a lot of your insights. As someone who falls into the same age bracket as yourself I find a lot of your points on either side of the age discussion applicable to myself and especially as I've become established racing on my own. As I got started I received a ton of help from the older and more experienced crowd and it is definitely beneficial in making road racing work for me. It is definitely not a sport you can do on your own and having resources to lean on when trouble (or even normal work) happens is a huge help. Now, from my perspective the biggest detractor from making racing work for the Punks is commitment. The sexiest cars on the race track (the big bore or open wheel classes) take a ton of commitment and therefore preparation to run competitively. Between each race I am spending nearly 40 hours wrenching to have my car ready for the next race. In competitive racing, tight fields, it takes some sacrifices to make it work. I'm not sure if the same can be said of the drift crowd. I'd be refreshing to hear that's not the case and I'm open to anyone that would like to speak to it.