The Realities of Pro Racing
Introduction: Dark $ecrets – The Realities of Professional Road Racing 
In this series of articles, we will dive into the hidden and often secretive realities of professional road racing in the United States. We will discuss several topics such as the steps to become a pro driver, what it’s like once you’re there, common misconceptions people have, and what it’s like to operate a professional racing team.

Dark $ecrets – The Realities of Professional Road Racing
Have you ever watched races and wondered how some professional drivers made it? I mean, they’re off the pace of many other drivers and are making some questionable moves (to be polite). Why is it that some highly regarded teams have a fantastic driver and yet the teammate is less than stellar? As one begins to look at lap times and peoples’ backgrounds, you can begin to piece together what’s really happening in professional road racing. Read More…

Dark $ecrets – When Things Go Wrong
In professional road racing, what happens when something goes wrong and the race car becomes damaged? Is the driver liable for any of the costs incurred? What if they had absolutely no fault in the accident? And how much are some of these costs? Also included within this section is a summary of professional racing’s ladder system (or lack thereof), and how cash changes the game. Read More…

Dark $ecrets – Sponsorship and Getting Paid
If you don’t have personal or family money, another route is to find outside sources of revenue in the form of sponsors. As you might expect, this is quite the challenge and an extreme uphill battle. This article discussed various aspects of sponsorship at the professional level, but also includes a section on what the talent levels are in professional racing, and typical salaries earned. Read More…

Insight from a Pro Who Made It
Eric Curran, a successful paid professional driver, talks about how he made it as a pro driver and provides various tips and suggestions to those of you who also want to turn pro. Read More...

A Look into Highcroft Racing
If you are not familiar with Highcroft Racing, they are a top notch racing organization lead by owner Duncan Dayton. In both 2009 and 2010, Highcroft Racing was crowned American Le Mans Series (ALMS) champions. In this article, we uncover what it’s like to run an organization such as Highcroft Racing, how Duncan transformed from successful racer to team owner, his suggestions on how to turn your passion into a career, and more.

Highcroft Racing: Irony and Perseverance
This is a continuation of our conversation with team owner Duncan Dayton. In this article, we discuss the funding aspects of a pro racing team, some miscellaneous ramblings during our meeting which we felt were important to include, and how the team was impacted by outside influences yet persevered through that tough time. Read More…

Safety in Racing

Guide to Purchasing Safety Gear Online Wouldn’t it be great if we all had a racing safety equipment store with a large inventory and reasonable pricing right near us? Unfortunately the majority of us are not so lucky. Never fear, this article will provide assistance on making your online order a success.

Head and Neck Restraint Systems: Comparisons and Politics
If you do not already have a system that meets this criteria, the question becomes which device should be purchased? Being in the market for a new system myself, I can tell you that getting actual facts about each device is far from straight forward. This article will shed light on the options you have and also dive into the politics surrounding them. Read More..

How a Simple Fire Can Get Less Than Simple
Saturday afternoon, I was moving cars around. Long story short, I backed my truck up my longish driveway and left it near the street. Then I moved my 1973 911 and since it has no choke, and a sketchy battery that needed lots of help to turn the engine over, I left it running (crappily, as you’d expect a flat 6 carbed car that has no choke to run in 22 degree weather), while I got another car and left IT right behind the 911. All to get my girl friend’s POS minivan that I had just done the brakes on out of the garage. As I got out of the last car in line, and was walking back to the garage, I hear a weird ‘boom” from the spitting and fast idled 911. Odd, and I turned around. Hmmm, LOTS of smoke, even more than I’d ever seen. I look closer, and see, suddenly, orange light below, and quickly through the engine vent. FIRE!

Race Tires

DIY Tire Mounting & Balancing – a Realistic Option? While I don’t exactly enjoy spending money on tire purchases, at least I feel like I’m getting something for what I’m spending. Paying a shop between $100 and $120 to mount and balance each set of tires? That just frustrates me! Considering how often many of us racers need race tires mounted and balanced, this becomes expensive quickly. There’s got to be a better way.

Off-season Tire Storage: Learn How to Do It Right What steps should you take to properly store you race tires to ensure they don’t get destroyed during the off season and what should you avoid doing?

Costs

Is Sponsorship Possible? Whether you’re a front running driver or new to the sport, sponsorship opportunities do exist. Learn the type of businesses you should and shouldn’t target, then how to create a successful plan for approaching prospective sponsors. Also included are tips for what you should do once you have a sponsor, and a sample sponsorship proposal. We also suggest you read the Dark $ecrets sponsorship article linked above.

Kai, how come you don’t race a nice Porsche? Why do I spend time on this? Because I think it is important to explain this to every beginner before they decide what kind of car to race and write a big check. I do not mean to discourage anyone from racing – most of you who read this blog are likely addicted anyway. The purpose is to help with the decision what kind of car you can not only afford to buy, but also afford to maintain, repair, and race for a good number of events every season. This should maximize the fun and minimize frustration.

Professional Racing Schools

Which is Right for You?
Attending a racing school can be a fantastic way for both novices and experienced drivers to improve upon your on-track driving abilities and race craft. Before you make a decision on which racing school you’ll attend, there are several important factors you should consider.Understand the helmets you need to race in HPDE’s.

Moving On

Race and Maintain – What You Should be Doing at this Stage
You have successfully completed a few races now and overall things are going well, but you want to be faster. Dave discusses the next steps to take at this stage in your career including instructing at HPDEs.

Moving On – What it Takes to Become a Front Running Driver
People always want to know what exactly it takes to run towards the front of the pack and start winning races. To be in this position, it takes a total package.

The Benefits of In-car Video
Not only is in-car video fun to watch, there are also other benefits to having video.

Mental Aspects of Racing

Nerves and Racing – A Sign of Weakness?
Is it normal to be nervous even as an experienced racer? It a bad thing that you’re nervous?

The Mental & Physical Aspects of Racing
There’s more to becoming a successful racecar driver than just learning various driving techniques. A big part component relates to the driver’s mental and physical state. This article discusses these aspects, how having self-confidence matters, and what various mental exercises you can do.

Racing Destinations

Porsche Pilgrimage
If you are a motorsport enthusiast, you probably know about historic sports cars, racers and races; if not, you are interested in learning about some the above; if you are technically inclined, you love the beauty of sports cars, perfection and ingenuity of their engineering, their development from the very beginning to the present day. Whatever part of motorsports and cars fascinates you, the Porsche Museum is for you.

Nürburgring
If you’ve ever considered or even dreamed about going to the Nürburgring, this three part series of articles is for you! Read what it’s like from the eyes of an experienced racer, Greg Amy. It’s a fantastic series that will have you contemplating how much a plane ticket to Germany would cost.

Product Reviews

Racers Best Friends – Duct Tape & Beyond
We all know how much men love duct tape, but racing has opened my eyes to a whole new world of tapes and adhesives. This just proves that tape can fix just about anything!

Replay XD Camera Review – Video for Under $200! Understanding the balance between cost and quality can help you choose the best camera for your car video.

RAM Roll Bar Camera Mount Review
Whether you’re looking to mount the Replay XD or another Lipstick (also known as Bullet) camera, this inexpensive mount does the job! Read more information about this product.

Other Articles

The Cheatn’ Side of Town
A discussion about cheating in amateur racing.

Great Racing Gift Ideas
Looking for some racing related gifts for yourself or possibly provide a hint to someone else? Here are some of our ideas.