I wrote this a year ago to a guy, a writer for Sports Compact Car magazine. He wrote in his column about trying to decide which fork in life to take, one of them being a pursuit of a dream of professional racing. I think it's applicable to this discussion as well.
===========
Josh, are you a South Park fan? A couple of weeks ago there was an episode where Stan's parents hired an actor to pretend that he was Stan-coming-back-from-the-future as a drug addict. Tried to scare him into never doing drugs.
Well, my friend, I could have written your "Sport Compact Car" column 10 years ago. You see, in 1992 I was racing SCCA Club and Pro, advancing through my "career" very quickly and quite well I might add. In 1992 I won the Bronze medal at the SCCA Runoffs in Showroom Stock B while setting the lap record. I had Goodyear, Nissan, Valvoline, and lot of local sponsorship with productive experience in World Challenge and IMSA Firehawk. I was ready to make the jump to "pro."
A few things happened to me, though. First, I should have won that 1992 Runoffs race. I had the fastest car out there, I was one of the fastest drivers there, and it was mine to blow it. And I did. Second, I met a woman that stole my heart and diverted my attention to the outside world (partially). Third, while I was able to cover the cost of a hotel room at the Runoffs that year, I let a couple of guys room with me that, I guess, couldn't afford it. They were very successful and promising racers with loads of talent, skills, and experience, and I knew that they were well on their way to success. I looked that those two whom I admired and saw that they had the dedication to sleep on some stranger's hotel floor, to do whatever it took to seek their goals. I saw that they had the desire to sacrifice it ALL to get where they needed to go and it was obvious they were going to get there. I looked at myself and decided that *this* was not for me, that I didn't have the dedication and motivation to do WHATEVER it took, to give ANY sacrifice to get there. Yeah, it's only a hotel room floor obtained through a mutual acquaintance, and sure, I was willing to give up a bunch, and I knew I could compete with the best talent-wise. But the hotel floor was a metaphor for their motivations and I didn't think I had that level of commitment.
During that same Runoffs week I got laid off form my job (again, and via phone call during the event!) I stopped and looked back, realized I was living for the racing, that I had no girlfriend, no really close friends, was not really close to my family, and that the last 8 years of racing had resulted in a road strewn with ex-friends, ex-girlfriends, ex-poorly-done jobs, no savings and a BUTTLOAD of debt, and no real firmed-up future in auto racing. When I tried to use my racing success collateral to obtain a ride for 1993 the responses I got were very much in line with, "Hell, yeah, we want you to drive for us. How much sponsorship are you bringing to the team?" It became painfully obvious that the old axiom of "Money talks and talent walks" was firmly based on reality.
So, I quit. I just up and quit racing after the 1992 Runoffs. Gave it up, let my SCCA membership expire, cancelled almost all of my magazine subscriptions. Sayonara motorsports.
I began a focused attempt, at age 28, of rebuilding what I had for my future. I was unemployed but I had an engineering degree and some good skillsets. I also had an interest in computers and networks, which I parlayed into a very lucrative career as a Networking Consultant. That wonderful woman and I got married. I pursued a life-long dream of getting my pilot's license and was able to buy and rebuild one of my favorite small airplanes which I still own and use regularly. I now own a home, multiple cars (including one of my favorites, a 2000 Audi S4), two dogs (no kids), I am debt-free except for my home mortgage, and my credit cards are paid off in full each month. I have a comfortable - and growing - net worth and a super job doing something real fun while being able to save up enough money to be comfortable in 25 years or so when (if!) I decide to retire.
Two years ago I began out of curiosity to find that 1992 race car. I found it covered in weeds in the back of a repair shop, sitting on a trailer, with a blown engine. I decided that I wanted to repair it and go driving again, just for fun this time. I now had the money to do it correctly, and I could make the time to do it. That car and I were back on the race track soon thereafter, and it was a sweet victory for me. I conquered the racing addiction, got my life in order, and then leveraged that into doing exactly what I was doing before, only much better. Once I recognized that I was never going to make a living as a professional race driver I was able to reorganize my life's priorities in such as way as to not diminish what I had done, but to nourish it. I now enjoy the racing as much as I did 10 years ago. In fact, I'm finding I enjoy building and preparing just as much as I did the driving.
So, while I'm not "future Stan" here to scare you into submission, I can tell you that unless you're absolutely committed 110% to trying to make this a career, and you're willing to accept likely failure in that pursuit, there are much better ways to make a living while still being able to pursue your passion of motorsports.
Oh, and those two guys who used my floor at the Runoffs? Boris Said and Peter Cunningham. Who says hard work and dedication don't pay off?
I wish you the best of luck, whatever you decide to do.
Greg Amy
