Day 7: I Like Racing Cars

Racing cars is an odd addiction I’ve come to grapple with. In my situation, there is no glory to be chased, no crowds of adoring fans, and certainly no prize money to be earned. It’s simply a feeling that I don’t get anywhere else. I’ve had my share of track time on motorbikes and I’ved raced bicycles for years, but auto racing is a different animal to me. Time, space, and overall consciousness seem to enter an altered state when piloting a car at its limits at a track. The challenge of mastering the heel-toe shift, steering the car with the go pedal, and gracefully trail braking into a fast sweeper are all things I may never master, but the attempts at getting it right seem worth the time, money, and frustration to get it just right. I know these Zen-like experiences of getting it “just right” can be said for just about any sport, but to me, trying to control four little tires’ contact patches through a Rube Goldberg like contraption known as the internal comubustion engine is simply a magical experience.

I was calm today and conspicuously absent were the flitter of butterflies as I glanced at the track layout. I spoke with a handful of competitors, all with pointers about Mid-Ohio’s tricky aspects. Mostly in one ear and out the other for me as I realized that although it would be nice to finish in the top 30, whether we did or not is absolutely irrelevant and unrelated to the mount of fun I’m having. So while I pushed the car and my limits, I cared little about my placing and more about simply having more fun. The result was a less than average run, but bigger than average grin.

At the end of the day, I had grabbed the glory, pleased the fans, & won the prize money as I slotted in the winner’s circle at 46th place.

PS – I have little to say about Sebastian today except that I've perfected the booby trap made of rubber bands and sharpened KFC sporks. It won’t be pretty, but it will be effective.