how does one become a pro driver? i have been working on ah64 long enough and i don't want to do that anymore, instead i wanna do something i always loved racing.

 

http://www.nasaproracing.com/proracing/license.html

 

i'm still a bit lost.

 

Do the basic events as an amateur, get up to HPDE level 4, then try and get your racing license. I guess that essentially makes you a pro. If you are trying to make a career of it, good luck, most guys who drive in the highest levels of racing have been in the game since they were 12 driving shifter carts. A lot of guys going pro nowadays are coming from motorcycle racing, in le mans and f1 at least. Hamilton is one of the best drivers in the world and is 21, so I am sure at that level its takes a ton of natural talent as well.

 

i did a bit of research and seems like i have to stand out on my own to become pro... i even found a school http://www.bondurant.com/ this sucks tho i'm gonna have to dump a lot of cash in the car and then the tracks just to see if i can make it.

 

Did that light bulb just go off above your head ?

 

Behave Derrick!

Ah yes, its not an easy road...if you want it, and your good enough, it will happen...but its not easy.

 

Yes the bulb went on when i noticed that there are lots of hateful people in this circle i think i'm gonna start by changing my name to Max Power. hehe.

 

I hope you aren't saying we are hateful, me and Derek just like to keep it real, but we just, I owe that guy alot to him for getting me into NASA and you would be wise to follow his advice also. After one even I started saving up to buy myself a dedicated track car and got one for five grand, and I think after about 3k more invested it will be able to be competitive, now I just have to get myself up to its level.

Do yourself a favor, you can do the driving school, I would personally recommend the skip barber school, but join up in NASA, you will find out there are thousands of guys (and gals, my best instructor was female) who have the same hopes as you. How old are you if you don't mind me asking? Because its honestly very hard to become a big time racer if you are starting out and are over 20-22 years old. The ballad of ricky bobby isn't how it really goes down. I think American Le Mans is the most hardcore series amateurs realistically have a chance to get into, but you have to have millions of dollars and a full crew. There are some amateurs running the old le mans c5 corvette and they placed 3rd or 4th a couple times last year. And porsche sells the cup series cars (essentially the gt3 rs I believe). Hell, Paul Newman even won a couple of races back in the day I believe.

I for one want to get my future son into racing at an early age, if he appreciates cars the way I do. All these guys in Nascar start their sons of at 8 or 9. One of them actually has a crew chief for his nine year olds cars team and a $200,000 dollar yearly budget. For a nine year old.

And I would recommend against SCCA, I know its good for some guys because they don't have NASA in their area, but you drive in empty parking lots around cones. In NASA, you get to race on real tracks, my first even was at California Speedway, where the Busch series and Nascar series raced last weekend.

Best of luck, if you get into it I promise you won't regret it.

 

Easiest way to make a small fortune in racing:

Start with a large fortune.

 

HAHAHA!! That's Mr. Max Power too you.

 

Hehe...nice. How do i get a large fortune?
Don't answer. NC, don't mean to steal the thread but how's it going on between the cones? Have to check up on Derrek's latest too. Max Power...keep pushing buddy.

 

I am pretty serious about this tho, i'm 29 right now and i don't want to regret not trying. I'll do tracks for fun but i have a bigger goal.

 

Last 3 ProSolo's have gone something like:
2nd by 0.015
2nd by 0.011 (and barely coned a final run that woulda covered the field by like 6 tenths)
4th by 0.420
Made the challenge in all 3...1st round exit and 2 2nd round exits.

So, some disappointment, but some encouraging things too...especially since I figured out that I had a *massive* amount of toe in the front for at least the last one of those 3 events (no wonder I couldn't shake the push with that 4th place). I think the camber correction bolts slipped their way into place a little further than when I first put them in and got an alignment.

Leave for the ProSolo finale (8 signed up in DS) and Nationals (38 in DS) next Thurs.

 

where is DS?

 

DS (D Stock) is an SCCA autocross (Solo II) class.