At What Age Did You Decide You Wanted To Go Racing?

I was 5 years old when I announced I wanted to be a racing car driver.

My cousin was at the 1967 NY Auto Show and was marvelling at the 67 fastback Mustang but also the race cars. He and my older brother said they would go racing so natarully I chimed in as well.

4 years later I saw On Any Sunday and then decided I needed to race motorcycles. 

5 years after that I read about Niki Laura's amazing comeback and decided I needed to be an F1 driver..........but then 2 years later I saw footage Kenny Roberts riding and was blown away. At the same time I also saw footage of the 125cc GP class (most of the riders were small like me) and that's when I decided that I would ride 125cc GP bikes.

It only took 8 more years but I was able to buy a Honda 125 GP bike and went racing. It'd only taken 19 years but I'd managed to get on track. After a few seasons of racing I found out that I was already considered to old to become a professional racer. The Spanish and Italians who dominated the class made their GP debuts at 15-16 years old......so I was pretty much 10 years past my sell by date regardless of talent.

By happenstance I'd come into contact with the local SCCA region and in 1989 I sold the bike and we started prepping my friend's Datsun 1200 (the car I still have) 

Several years after I started racing with the SCCA I managed to start racing a fairly rapid single seat race car and finally get a glimpse of what the drivers who inspired me (Lauda, Prost) get to see. Totally Walter Mitty stuff I know but given the number of race fans who never get to race a car; I feel lucky to have been able to do so.

So 55 years after making the bold pronouncment that I was going racing I'm getting ready to start my 37th season.

When R&T's Peter Egan bought his first Bugeye he wrote a great story about making this decision.  I have the full story in one of his books.  Great read. 
 

49?  I'd been doing track days and autocrossing for 25 years, but a couple years ago I decided that if I ever wanted to try capital-R "Racing" (which I define as requiring wheel-to-wheel) then I needed to actually do something about it because the window of opportunity was closing.  Covid made that logistically difficult for a while, but I got my NASA provisional license a month before I turned 50. :)

From my earliest recollections, I can remember my dad racing his Suzuki GN400 dirt bike, him trying to do trials riding with it too, him racing he and his friends '58 Chevy (well, one owned the 348ci motor, the other the car, but I don't remember who owned what), and his C Sports Racer that he built out of a NSU Sport Prinz.  It was pretty much guaranteed I'd race cars at some point.

I finally got started in '91, and have been at it ever since.

19 years old when I really committed to racing as a career goal. I think I was about 23 when I drove my first wheel to wheel race. 
 

Never done any of that in a car, though. 
 

I wanted to be a race driver when I was a small kid. I finally went wheel-to-wheel racing at age 23. I first autocrossed when I was 16, but like codrus, I define Racing as wheel-to-wheel.

3 years old & I remember the exact moment: FIA rally was on Wide World of Sports & I saw a Lancia Stratos(which I figured out much later) come sliding around a corner through some trees. 
 

I had my face pressed up against the TV enthusiastically exclaiming "I want to do THAT!!!" My father just laughed & told me I had to wait another 13 years before I could drive. It was a completely soul-crushing experience. 

Earlier than I can remember. My dad had raced and loved cars...the pictures of his MGTD blasting up Grandfather's Mountain were on the wall in our house so I likely started dreaming early. 
I went public with my sentiments at 14 after looking at the little ad in R&T for Jim Russell Race School for years. 
When I asked for this for my 15th birthday, my father just stared at me as though I had asked to lock myself in the freezer for a long weekend. 
Short answer....no. 
I got my comp license in 2002 at the age of 40. 
My father was at VIR for my first race. 

Always wanted to give it a go after seeing my first SCCA races when I was still in my teens. Didn't actually get to try until my mid-40s because race cars are expensive. I did dabble in hill climbs and autocross at first but it's not the same.

Unfortunately, the cost of racing made this an experience I merely got to check off the bucket list. After a couple years of $1000+ weekends I realized it is a rich man's hobby.

In reply to ddavidv :

Yeah, "rich man's hobby" is the reason I'll never get a chance to do any auto racing.  I'm on the edge of being over extended just doing autocross. 

TSD rallies and autocross for years and then I went racing at age 44.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to ddavidv :

Yeah, "rich man's hobby" is the reason I'll never get a chance to do any auto racing.  I'm on the edge of being over extended just doing autocross. 

I always wanted to work on racecars instead of driving. People will let you do that for free most of the time.  
 

I don't remember a time I didn't want to go racing, I've been around it as long as I can remember. 
 

Hasn't happened yet, but I could see picking it up in my 40's. 

I really just enjoy working on them. Cars are a big puzzle, and race cars are a puzzle with a purpose. 

I was 14 years old. A friend got a semi decent  Buick straight eight and we were trying to decide how to hot  rod it. 
       He'd been to Elko race track earlier and talked about the hobby stock class.  So for a month we spent every spare minute tearing the car apart

. I've always had a lot of self confidence, so when he started wavering as we neared completion I jumped in and said I'd try it out and make sure it as safe.

    We drove it from Richfield to the race track. ( about 30 miles away. No fenders,  glass, no body forward of the firewall, except the front bumper, bald tires,   no muffler, air cleaner, or floor boards  behind the drivers seat  ( except the patch the "rollbar" sat on  ( swing set) 

   He was terrified we'd get arrested since I didn't have anything except a 5 horsepower motor cycle license. And there were no plates on it either.    Luckily for us several hobby stock cars stay on the premises between races. So we used to carry two Jerry cans filled with gas him and me on my Honda 90  dream ( yeh I know, more than 5 horsepower but it sorta looked like a Honda cub ).  
  He never did get the nerve up to race it. But most weekends we'd have enough prize money  left over to stop and  get a couple of dishes of ice cream.  He had a lot of fun until the season was over and we just left it there. 

47.  I'm now 49.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I did not specify what type of racing; so the trotters count.

As a kid I wanted to grow up and be a racecar driver. As I aged through my teens though, I realized that I'd have to figure out a more attainable job. I did my first autocross at 17 and my first HPDE at 18 and worked my way up to being an instructor. 9 years later, I bought a miata and spent the winter building a spec car. I had a lot of fun racing, but ended up switching to time trials a few years later and then back to the HPDEs where I run now. I'm now a sim racer and do a few HPDE weekends a year with that same old miata. 

I never had the budget to be competitive with SM and am still slow by being overly cautious as I know I am the guy that has to fix any damage and I hate body work. iracing has given me my fix without the fear of balling up a car and at a much lower expense

Seriously got the urge when I was 20 and got my license and started racing a year later (IIRC it was 1973)

Tom1200 said:

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I did not specify what type of racing; so the trotters count.

Thanks.
 

I guess to try to compare it to something in auto racing, imagine a very tightly bunched field of spec Miata cars. None of them have any bodies on them, no roofs, doors , fenders or anything. Also, no roll bars, or any safety equipment whatsoever. Bare seats on a bare frame. 

No steering wheels. The drivers are steering with leather lines, and there's no brakes.
 

I don't know how to compare it to the risk of a horse stumbling/tripping and going down. Remember the part where nobody has any brakes?

Oh, and the car behind you keeps bumping into your helmet. That's normal. 

ddavidv said:

Unfortunately, the cost of racing made this an experience I merely got to check off the bucket list. After a couple years of $1000+ weekends I realized it is a rich man's hobby.

I was lucky: 

When I raced motorcycles my races were late Saturday and so we'd get up real early and drive The 240 miles to the track, race and come home. If my race was Sunday we'd camp.

When I switched to SCCA the track was 9 miles from my house. I only did the Saturday race and ran used tires. I'd spend around $220 which is about $450 in today's dollars. I'd do 4 races a year and about 9-10 autocrosses for about $1000 a season.

For a long time I did side work to pay for my racing. I have the racing bug in a big way so I was happy to do it.

For 2023 I'll do 2 vintage races, 6 track days and 6-7 autocrosses on a budget of $4600-4800. Basically it works out to $400 a month........not a lot but also not cheap.

Honestly, Never. I did some Autox and track days. I love the creativity of the community and the good people I've met through the years. I would do a champ car or something but more than anything it's the people for me. 

I think part of that is why I Flag and help run races. Maybe I'll do some TT with the Teggy but that's it. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I'm familiar with the sport. My father once wanted me to be a horse jockey.

I was very small for my age.........unfortunately for my Dad I eventually sprouted up to 5' 7" had these days I've ballooned out to 142lbs. 

My Dad was actually proud of my becoming a different sort of jockey.........he saw that racing gave me direction. Basically I was pretty aimless but my desire to go racing jump started my ambition to earn a good living.

ddavidv said:

Always wanted to give it a go after seeing my first SCCA races when I was still in my teens. Didn't actually get to try until my mid-40s because race cars are expensive. I did dabble in hill climbs and autocross at first but it's not the same.

Unfortunately, the cost of racing made this an experience I merely got to check off the bucket list. After a couple years of $1000+ weekends I realized it is a rich man's hobby.

Single in the Navy with Flight pay and hazardous duty pay I saved enough to get an SCCA regional license in DProduction with a Jaguar XK150 I bought for $300  SCCA is insane  with costly   upgrades and requirements. 
    I got out of the Navy and started vintage racing.  Things stay the same and it's no contact so never any body work.  Plus lower entry fees and never worry about upgrades.  
    I still couldn't afford it ( I'm past retirement age) except I have a partner to help.  
   My car is a Jaguar XJS V12  I paid $300 for . It will be race ready at about $5000. 
 

In reply to Tom1200 :

You're lucky not to have become a jockey. That's even more dangerous than harness racing, plus the anorexia/bulimia that the jockeys subject themselves to destroys their health.

FAMALIES are expensive... racing isn't compared to them.