Provided by: FloridaAutoRacing.com - Rob Elting
I was asked by someone to write a story about
what it is like to be a race car driver. So I thought I would give you what I
think is the Anatomy of a race car driver.
First you need to understand what racing is. Auto racing is the showing of one's
human competitive nature, while operating a machine. Let me explain...
Have you ever rode in a go-kart at a public track or amusement park?( if you
haven't, you probably should not be reading this) Your competitive nature takes
over and you drive that go-kart like you were at Daytona!
Competitive nature is in all of us, we all want to win. I have always said,
"Anyone can drive, we all have the ability, but when you take your common
curiosity a little too far, and get in a racing kart, motorcycle, or race car,
then its all over."
I have referred to it as the "racing hook", and when you get the hook way down
deep in your throat, it's hard to spit it out! The feeling you get when you are
racing is like nothing you could get in pill form nor could you buy it. Well....
I guess you could go buy a race car, and race it if you have the money, so I
guess it can be bought.
That brings me to the next part in the anatomy. Most race car drivers are very
hard workers, because we have a need for money to supply our racing habit. Until
you find that "big sponsor or car owner", you work, beg, and borrow, so you can
race next week. It is a drive that only the nerve of a race car driver could
stand.
For all you ladies out there that want a race car driver for a boyfriend or
husband. I must warn you, unless he is a NASCAR racer, you had better get a good
job! I mean, who do you think we do all the begging and borrowing from?
Racing has done many things for me in my life. I have made many friends and
learned a multitude of "racing lessons." Every time that I race my car I learn
new things about the car and racing in general. Over the years, I have continued
to be able to race my car, so for me and my family, we are living a dream. I
have always had the dream of racing exactly what I am racing now. I remember as
a kid watching the late models race and I always wanted to be the guy on the
other side of the catch fence, racing that car and the fans cheering for me!
Well, I have reached that goal, and now I spend my nights, when I am not
working, getting all the racing news and drivers information together for
FloridaAutoRacing.com. I am trying to do my part to make sure that the kids on
the other side of the fence understand that they too can one day race a car,
they too can realize their dreams. That is all a race car driver is made up
of......grown up little dreaming kids.
About being dangerous, well we don't see it that way. I mean, I could get killed
driving home tomorrow. What would the real tragedy be, for me to die in a car
driving home from work, or die in a race car, racing, doing what I love. I do
not like to talk about my death, because who would write all these dumb stories?
"H" would kill me if I died!
Bottomline: The anatomy of a race car driver is simple, it is people who love to
compete and are driven by a need for speed and the adrenaline that goes with it.