Auto Racing: How to start my career in racing?, world karting association, sports car club

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I am almost 14 and my dream is to have a career in racing. I know almost everything about every single car and I find them very interesting. I follow every single Formula 1 race and WRC every year (two of my favorite types of racing.) I don't want to wait to long to start my career. I undarstand that karting is a great start but I am quite confused on how to start entering the leagues, sponsors. And teams. Can you please explain some basics to me about how to start these things please?

Thanks!
Michael

ANSWER: 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 1/2 of the young population of the country want to be race drivers, so the competition is REAL 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. 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  or earning a living !

Finally, if 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. Nearly all of today’s professional drivers  though, stated in Go Karts. And nearly all of them are college educated.

Good luck !


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the advice. I will look into karting as a start. Final question: what are the steps and how do I get a sponsorship? Do I need one for lower levels and pro levels of karting an on from that point on?

Answer
At the outset , you go around to local businesses and ask them if they will sponsor your efforts for the privilege of having their business name on your Kart, trailer, truck and so forth.   Maybe at the Karting level you  don't need them.. Then later on in Sports car Club of America, many don't have any outside sponsors, just their own money..  But once you start to move into the lower levels of pro-racing, you will  have to seek out larger sponsors.  Most pro drivers use sponsor agents for that.  They do the looking and the selling for you , and take a percentage of the package for their work.  I don't know much more about it than that, I stayed an amateur because I was too old to try for a pro ride.

Let me point out that all racing is expensive ,  you must have a darn good job, and probably some help from your parents and relatives to make a good effort at racing.  The most important thing you can do at this stage is stay in school, and plan on college. Physics, Chemistry, Science and Engineering are your goals. They will help you
understand what's going on around you in a race and in a race car. There will also be room for certain computer nerds, but the Engineering is a sure winner.

Again, Good luck
Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida