How to become a professional race car driver?

Question

I am 21yrs old and I live in Washington DC not a very popular place when it comes to Street Racing and NASCAR stuff. I have no experience in fixing cars and I know very little about fixing them although I really want to learn. I love cars and dream of racing everyday, it’s the only thing I can see myself doing, that or DJing. I have no clue as to how to start or get into the racing scene, no one around me is into cars like me. I want to be an apprentice to someone who is a racer or who customizes cars I would also love to open my own customization shop one day.

Answer 1

The harsh part of this answer is that if you are just starting out at 21, you are alread on the old side (same as if you were attempting to approach the pro level in baseball... by 21 most people that will be pros are already established and close to being pro)! Though, not having experience in street racing shouldn't hurt as there really is not too much in common between real racing and street racing. This is not to say there are not any options, but many options will not be there.

So where can you start? First steps would be to do some reading on what performance driving is all about - two excellent books on the topic would be Skip Barber's "Going Faster" and Hank Watts' "Secrets Of Solo Racing." The former is focused on racing in general while the later is aimed towards AutoX and Time Trial (but some great driving basics in there). The best entry point for trying out motorsports and for starting to develop your driving skills would be Autocrossing and/or go-karting. Both work on some different skills, offer some fun competition, and and very inexpensive compared to other motorsports options. Autocross will help you learn how to find the line on a course you've never seens, and come up to speed quickly; also a chance to hone your car control and develop good track vision. Go-karting also allows the chance to work on driving the correct line, as well as having a taste of wheel to wheel racing; devleop your racecraft, maximize your speed when not "on line" either due to attempting to pass, or to protect your line. Autocrossing would normally involve you using your own car, while many go-karting options are available where you can rent a kart and the basic safety gear.

From there, you would probably move towards Open Tracks and Driving Ed events to get a taste of driving at real speed on a race tracks (ideally, you want to develop a good sense of car control in something like Autocross before you venture into trying to drive hard in a venue where mistakes can have major consequences). From there you could head into Time Trial events, or go to get the racing license (NASA or SCCA in the United States). Once you have the racing license, you will have quite a few options of where to drive, but you'll probably also have discovered just how expensive of a hobby this can be.

If you can get off the ground and be competitive in some of the more crowded classes (Formula Vee and Spec Miata would be good places to look as starting points that offer alot of good competition for drivers of all levels, and are much less expensive than other classes). If you do well here, you will attract sponsorship, and potentially attract offers for better rides. Sponsorship at these levels tends to help manage costs, not cover them. But this is the point where, if you are skilled enough and successful, that you will start to be able to cross over towards semi-pro (keep in mind though that there is a lot of skill development to get to this point).

As for working on cars and tuning for performance, there are many trade schools that focus on automotive repair, as well as some that offer classes aimed into the market of race prep. Check with the local chapter of SCCA for possible recommendations on what is available (they would also have information on Autocrossing, which SCCA calls Solo2).

Answer 2

There is no "limit" in terms of being disqualified because of age... but like most sports, there is a practical point where advancing to professional ranks becomes so unlikely as to be considered impossible. While most people would automatically know if thinking of pursuing something like Olympic swimming or professional soccer that starting at age 20 would be so unlikely as to consider it impossible, for some reason motorsports are overlooked. But the fact is that there are just as many skills to learn and hone in motorsports as with other sports. Knowing how to drive on the street covers a small fraction of 1% of the needed skills that are gained through practice and repetition. This is why so many that you see doing this professionally started in the range of 8-10 years old. So the reality is that you would be starting extremely late! And that some avenues would be unrealistic; driving in Formula 1 or prototypes in sports car racing would be beyond the scope of what you could hope to achieve. But outside of these two areas, careers often span to include drivers in their 30s and 40s or even more. It would still be an uphill battle, and there is still intense competition for the very few paid seats that are out there, but it is possible. The starting point is to start getting some driving experience. The cheapest route out there is karting, with things like auto-crossing and HPDEs being spots where you can get a taste of driving. But given you goal and age, you will need to quickly move on to getting a competition license and doing some racing. But DO get some experience first; I've had occasion to instruct completely novice drivers before and while the learning curves are still very similar, it's less expensive and less dangerous to at least learn a few of the basics prior to going racing.

Answer 3

Look into the SCCA(Sports Car Club Of America).They have very good information on racing schools and other programs related to racing.

Answer 4

Your best option is to get into shifter karts. They are quick (top speed is over 100mph) and they teach you what it really takes to drive a racecar fast. Champions from IndyCar, F1, and NASCAR started in karts so should you. Karts are simple enough to work on that it shouldn't be too difficult to get started. Check out worldkarting.com for more info!

Answer 5

Most people get their start in karting and work their way up. But I am sure there are more ways to get started.

Answer 6

Well first marry your sister, drink more beer, collect welfare, don;t ever wash, and listen to the Dixie Chicks. That's a start.

Answer 7

midget racing, then work up the ranks