You don’t find many sports that are as full of adrenaline and excitement as car racing, giving anyone participating the time of their lives by offering a legal and relatively safe way to drive fast, hard, and win money. If you have a passion for racing and cars and want to profit from doing what you love, professional race car driving may be the right career for you.
With that in mind, here are tips and tricks to make the process of becoming a professional race car driver easier for you.
Begin Your Journey With Go-Karts
Although starting your journey to becoming a professional race car driver with a go-kart may sound unappealing, it’s usually the best way. These aren’t only for kids, and there are faster versions that can help you experience a “real” sense of car racing and see if you’re built for the sport.
You can do this by visiting go-kart tracks of different sizes and practice driving, continually pushing yourself to take things to the next level. Improve your skills by starting with paying attention, such as how fast you can finish a track using a speed radar gun to keep track of your progress, reaction time, and ability to predict other drivers’ moves.
Learn More About Racing
Besides polishing your technical skills, you’ll also need to spruce up your knowledge of the sport. The best way to learn about professional race car driving is by attending races at either pro-level events, local race tracks, or dirt track events in small towns. You can also learn more about racing by following different pro racers and learn about their backgrounds and journey to success. Finally, you need to know more about the mechanics of how race cars operate and their necessary safety features.
Take Professional Race Car Driving Classes
Many race tracks offer various race car driving classes in more urban areas, ranging from fun and beginner-level courses to more challenging and highly advanced opportunities to those looking to go pro. Doing this helps you get to really “feel” what’s like driving a real race car on a professional track, giving you a genuine sense of what it would be like when you join professional racing—all while keeping you safe.
Additionally, getting involved with local tracks can help you meet more people in the industry, opening more doors of opportunities along the way.
Get a Real Car
If you’ve got all the basics down and are still serious about taking your race car driving skills to a whole level, invest in a vehicle and try out your driving skills during open track time at local tracks or courses. Besides that, it’s best to work with a professional mechanic to keep your car intact and track-ready at all times while having the essential safety features.
Get Funding
After you’ve polished your skills and are ready to begin your path to becoming a professional race car driver, you’ll need funds to get your racing agenda underway. Luckily, entry-level racing isn’t as substantial as professional racing, so you’ll likely find a reasonable way to fund your entry-level racing—but that still depends on the type of car you’re planning on using and how big the amateur event is.
If you don’t have the funds, it’s best to ask for funding from those closest to you first before taking any loans since you’re only going to test out the waters first. Remember, to become a professional race car driver—it’s going to take more than just placing a company’s logo on your car and have them pay for your racing.
You’ll need to create value and reason for them to fund you when you go pro, so asking from relatives and other acquaintances is a better choice.
Join a Professional Organization
Finally, after you’re confident enough about your skills and have the appropriate funds, join a professional organization, like Sports Car Club of America. Doing this gives you access to a wealth of resources and information to help you find amateur and advanced racing opportunities within your area. Plus, it gives you a chance to connect with other drivers at your level and know the competition more. But after you’ve done all these and still fail in making a living from racing professionally, you can still be a competitive racing enthusiast.
Over the years, the process of becoming a pro racing driver has changed a lot. Today, aspiring race car drivers can only make it if they’re good enough to be picked by a professional racing team or due to pure talent, making it more challenging to become one. When you have either one of those and follow the tips mentioned—you’ll be one step closer to becoming a pro at the game.
