Auto Racing: racing in general, world karting association, sports car club

Question
Alright so I am 16 and will be a senior and I know I will be going to college, so racing is not the only career I will be looking at. I just am not interested in many other careers. I have always loved cars and have thought about racing quite a lot and would like to know how to get into racing and get good at it. Hope you can help me and with all the questions you have answered I believe you can.

Answer
Hi Jen:

Start with Go Karts, join World Karting Association (Google it!) and find the tracks close to you . Start racing in the lower levels, move up until you are in the larger , faster carts, and winning regularly.  MOST of the big names in racing spent some time in Karts early in their careers.  

Then join Sports Car Club of America (www.SCCA.org)  and look into racing with them.  You will have to buy a race car and do the mechanical work, buy the tires and gas and fix things that break at the track. It might be a good idea to try and get a friend interested in being your crew. You will probably need considerable financial help at this stage. But if you get good at road racing, your chances of getting a pro ride are a little better.

Understand though, something like 1/3 of the young population of the country want to be race drivers, so the competition is REALLY tough, and you simply may not have the talent to be a professional. Plus it is EXTREMELY hard work.  18 hour days 7 day weeks and year around. Smiling for the cameras all the time , and being extremely nice to some extremely obnoxious people.  It's a real killer. Many of us enjoy the amateur racing we do (I am in SCCA) and can spend some of our time doing other things that  professional driver can't - - like being with family !

Finally, since you're a good student and interested in racing, you should study Physics, Chemistry,and Math VERY hard, and plan on pursuing an Engineering degree in college. Several of today's NASCAR stars are engineers, Ryan Newman is one that comes to mind, there are others.

I wish you a lot of luck and a lot of fun with your racing. If you have further questions, I'd be happy to help

Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida