Seat Time: Where to get it?

"way2blu does a rev update" (way2blu)
07/14/2017 at 19:39 • Filed to: autocross, Professional Driving

Civic Type Rs in Scotland, from when I tried a “Rally Driving Experience” at the beginning of summer.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! seems all too timely. I’m heading to autocross tomorrow but I still don’t know how I’d make the jump from weekends dodging cones, all the way to gaining sponsors and driving professionally. I’m motivated yet not sure which way to go.

A key aspect of success in motorsport is practice. There’s also the everlasting paradox, of needing sponsors to be a successful driver, but needing to be a successful driver to get sponsors. My question to you all today is, where does one go to practice performance driving?

Being located in Southern California, I see only a couple of options. There are local karting centers that I frequent, as well as SCCA autocross maybe once a month, if the stars align just so that I both manage to reserve a spot and actually make it to the event. Far north is the closest major track, Willow Springs International Raceway.

An important digression needs to be made at this time: it’s my intent to find a motorsport that suits me and become competitive in it. I’ve recognized karting isn’t that, and, fun as it is, I need to move up to a more publicly recognized motorsport. What that might be, I’m not sure.

So the conundrum is as follows: where do I learn such things as car control and better driving technique? I feel that the difference between my current hobby and a potential career is how much practice I get. I have an excess of motivation to succeed in motorsport, but I’m not sure what the route to success looks like.

If only these were available in America...

Will it be rallying, drifting, endurance racing, or something else entirely? Not sure. What should I do today, tomorrow, and in future weekends, such that I can make motorsport the day job and not the hobby?

DISCUSSION (11)

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 19:50

Start as a billionaire and/or a karting genius as a child.

The hard reality is that if you’re older than 15 or so, it’s probably too late unless you have gobs and gobs of natural talent. And even then you’re going to need money.

Keep doing autocross if you like it. You can look into getting contingency money from brands like Hawk and some tire companies if you’re able to podium or trophy on the regular.

A reputable track day will have a beginner driver program for novices who are new to road courses. You mention Willow Springs as being “far north” but anything less than a 5 hour drive would be worth doing a weekend driver school.

AestheticsInMotion > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 20:08

For sponsors, scour all company websites you’re interested in for a “sponserships” page going over the requirements for entry into their program. It’s generally pretty... In-depth, to say the least, but definitely doable without having to be a top level racer.

Smaller, local companies—distributors, fab shops, tuning shops, etc.—are another great avenue. Shoot them an email with your info and a short cover letter, let them know how you can help their brand, and what you’re looking for in return.

Source: a VERY nonprofessional racer who’s managed to get a lot of free parts, trips, perks from working the sponsorship biz

DrDDay > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 20:27

As a former pro driver who quit at the age 17.....

.....good luck.

way2blu does a rev update > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
07/14/2017 at 20:36

Good points all around. I’ll give Willow Springs another look. Autocross is definitely something I’m continuing regardless of how far I get, it’s simply too fun not to do.

I guess a question I neglected to mention in the post was, which motorsports can one have the most fun with, when starting early isn’t an option? Still being in college leaves me with a lot of motivation but not as much of the early development opportunities.

way2blu does a rev update > AestheticsInMotion
07/14/2017 at 20:39

I definitely know some local companies that I could look at for sponsorship. I think the promotional side of things might be my greatest strength, relatively speaking. Thank you for the advice, the local approach does sound doable.

way2blu does a rev update > DrDDay
07/14/2017 at 20:51

Tell me more, what was it that led you to quit? I’m curious to hear about the experience.

AM3R, lost another burner > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 21:03

A friend of mine has a few sponsors for his 180sx, frs, and now his chaser. Pretty much all he’s done is become instagram famous and attend big car events like h20.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 21:18

Track days are great for that. I started driving at them when I was 25 and that was near unheard of, mainly because they aren’t cheap. Even now a few years later there’s not many people under 40 involved with them.

DrDDay > way2blu does a rev update
07/14/2017 at 21:35

I grew up in a family that lived racing (well, really only my father), and it tore our family apart. I raced dirt bikes before I could peddle a 2 wheel bicycle, and was racing karts by 7. We had 3 or 4 forged birth certificates depending on what age I needed to be that weekend. By the time I was 12 or 13 I was barely attending school because there was always another race to go to. My childhood was fairly abnormal because of that. Lot of friends, but never able to be a normal kid. I never went to any school functions or attended any friends birthdays. I’m 33 now and I’ve never had a birthday party. I don’t know how those things work. My life was driving from the time I woke up until the time I slept, and when I was sleeping I was still making laps. By the time I was 13 we didn’t pay for any of our equipment. Dunlop or Bridgestone was providing all of my tires, chassis were provided by multiple different manufacturers over the years, and there were various other outfits taking care of race gear (helmets, suits, boots, gloves) and other consumables. My father worked a fairly humble job and made just enough for us to get by without the worlds most expensive hobby. He worked for awesome people that allowed him to take unreasonable amounts of time off work and even gave us space to maintain karts or cars when we needed to. When I was probably 13 or 14 we arrived home to our little apartment and the key didn’t fit in the lock. The manager had changed the locks because my dad was months behind on the rent. He chose entry fees and hotel rooms over rent. While we slept in the truck that night I told him that if I wasn’t being paid enough to take care of us by the time I was 18 I didn’t want to do this anymore. The years went by and I made a little here and there driving peoples cars as a replacement driver, and being offered rides in very competitive cars provided that I could come to the table with significant sums of money or a major sponsor to cover the expenses on an unproven driver. The straw that broke the camels back for me was after a test at Irwindale Speedway in California. We knew the people who ran the track at the time and he put in a word with a guy who needed a driver for his midget team. I drove the car that day with 2 other drivers. One kid was fast, but a wreck waiting to happen. The type that will win if he finishes, but will take you into debt with wrecks. The other kid was a few tenths off the pace every lap, but his father owned an excavating company and money wasn’t a problem. After my drive I really liked everything with the car and the people on the team were really cool. I thought this was going to be my shot to get into a great car and move forward with my career. My father and I attended dinner with the team owner and manager that night and they had great feedback. They loved my driving style and they thought my smooth driving would be really beneficial to saving the car for some of the longer, big money races. I also had experience driving in the dirt, so they liked how versatile they could be with they schedule. When it came time to talk serious business, they said they needed $75k to put me in the car for the season. If they liked what I did for them, they would pick up the tab for the next year. I just couldn’t come up with the dough. I remember seeing the kid with the excavator dad bringing up the rear in that car the next year. I drove a few more people’s cars in a few other races over the next year, but I got to the point that I stopped answering calls and stopped showing up to tracks with my gear bag. I got a job in the automobile industry (which really sucked because I probably should have went to school for mechanical engineering, but that’s really hard when you barely graduated HS because you were never there) and realized that even when I did have the chance to drive someones car, I usually had to work and the people I worked for didn’t care about me chasing my dream. So that was basically it. I still love driving more than anything I’ve ever done in my life (just don’t tell my girlfriend) and get out to the track when I have a chance, I just don’t bother myself with racing.

DrDDay > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
07/14/2017 at 21:38

If you are 15 and you haven’t been on someone’s radar for a couple years, it’s already too late. Most big teams these days have driver development programs and they pretty much lose interest in you if you haven’t shown them something special by about 13-14.

way2blu does a rev update > DrDDay
07/19/2017 at 00:06

Thank you for the story. The part about the kid with support from the excavator company sounds especially difficult and I can only begin to imagine how that felt. Glad to hear you still enjoy driving though.

I’ll stick with SCCA autocross for now and see how I do, the main goal is still having fun. Gaining experience with indoor karting has caused me a bit of a first-place addiction though. There’s probably a way to resolve that eventually. Thanks again for sharing your experience with racing, it was eye-opening for sure.