I've got a racing question....

[Big Muddy]

I'm not a huge racing fan, but I do like to watch the Talladega races because so many of my friends attend there....but, since Cap posted about the race, this past weekend, it got me to thinking.

It seems, many of the drivers, these days, are really young....my question is, where and how do these kids get their start in the sport, and their driving experience???....I know a lot of them are brought into the sport by family members, i.e., the Earnhardts....surely, there are requirements and training they must attain, before getting on a track with 30 plus other drivers, going 200 mph....just wondering.

[Thumper]

Heck, most of them these days start out racing go-karts! They progress up through midgets and there are a bazillion classes of racing to work up through the ranks. It's much like ball players ... you may have some local kid racing the weekend track and someone spots him (like agents looking for ball players) and starts following his progress. Some get some really lucky breaks if they've got a lot of natural talent. Also, there's the "who you know" factor as well as the family thing ... like the Petty family, etc.

Of course, there are a few steps through the NASCAR ranks before you slip into the Cup cars which is the crown jewel of NASCAR. There are also the drivers who flip from Indy cars to Cup cars, but they normally don't do all that well ... or don't last long. I'd say the most successful at that would be Tony Stewart.

[Big Muddy]

I sort of associate the racing sport to learning to fly an airplane....you can learn to fly, and get a student pilot's license, at just about any airport with an instructor....however, if you want to be an agricultural aviation pilot(crop duster), then you must attend a special flight school to attain an agricultural aerial applicator's license, and log-in the required number of flight hours.

I thought maybe race drivers were required to have a certain number of driving hours to learn the sport, or even attend a special racing school.

[Thumper]

Nope, but you're not gonna take a kid off the Little League field and sign him to the Major Leagues. Number one, there are millions of dollars in sponsorships involved. Nobody is gonna sign a rookie who has no clue what he's doing out there. It's a HIGHLY competitive sport and being .01 of a second faster than the next competitor could make or break you. You're not going to simply show up with a car, pay an entry fee and jump out there and be competitive. You also have to qualify, so even if you did jump into the fray, you'd wash out in a matter of seconds. Only the top 43 cars can start a race.

My all-time favorite underdog was Alan Kulwicki. I have a pic in my office of him making a "Polish Victory Lap" when he won his championship.

I know it's a long read and you may not be interested enough to read it, but his story still chokes me up a bit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kulwicki

[Bwana]

One of my brothers-in-law did the go-kart racing thing for a year or two when he was about junior high/high school age. As Thumper says there are several classes of go-karts but they surely aren't something the kids on the block threw together. I was simply amazed at how fast they could get one of those little karts going with just a 5 HP motor.

After the sanctioned races were over, the track we were at would let anyone take a car for a spin as long as you had owner permission, leather gloves, and a helmet. Have to say I had a blast even if I was pushing 12 years old off the track. ;-)