Do you think you could be a good competitive driver? NASCAR, Indy, etc.?

[TheGoodTexan]

I think part of the psyche of many males is the thought that, "Given the opportunity, I could have been a great race car driver."

I know that I like to entertain that idea, conveniently ignoring the absurdity of it (sort of like me thinking that I could have been a great NFL running back). Also ignoring the fact that the fastest I've ever driven a car was about 150 mph, about 20 years ago on a straight stretch of I-40 in New Mexico, for about 60 seconds. So I've never really done what a NASCAR driver does, so there's no way I could have a true understanding of whether I'm good at it or not.

Just wondering if the rest of you enjoy some of the same absurd dreams that I do.

Also, does your wife think you're as much of an idiot as my wife thinks I am?

[SolidbdyJazzfan]

If we're talking about drag racing along with other types of racing, yes. I had a bit of experience in that (not an awful lot) about 38 years ago.

[KokoTele]

Five years or so ago they starting installing whirlygigs on all the roads around here. (You may know them as traffic circles, but I'm calling them whirlygigs to better describe the comically absurd way people drive on them)

On every trip I'm always looking for the straightest line across, and if I have to take a turn I'm always trying to downshift and break at the right time so I can hit the apex and accelerate away. On a good day I can pick up one or two positions.

[TheGoodTexan]

Originally Posted by KokoTele

Five years or so ago they starting installing whirlygigs on all the roads around here. (You may know them as traffic circles, but I'm calling them whirlygigs to better describe the comically absurd way people drive on them)

Yep... the "roundabout" at Music Row is a great place to sit and watch society break down.

Originally Posted by KokoTele

On every trip I'm always looking for the straightest line across, and if I have to take a turn I'm always trying to downshift and break at the right time so I can hit the apex and accelerate away. On a good day I can pick up one or two positions.

^^^^^
This

[kelnet]

Auto-racing is in my family. My aunt and uncle were race car owners/drivers back in the sixties, seventies, and eighties in Australia. Uncle John won at Bathurst in 1981.
http://www.speedcafe.com/2009/11/27/john-french/

They still own this:
http://www.johnfrenchmotors.com/

My cousin was a champion motorcycle racer. Another cousin raced speedboats. In my childhood, I was obsessed with sports cars, especially Jags and Ferraris. Whenever we visited my aunt and uncle, I would spend hours just sitting in their Alfa or their big Jag, imagining that I was on a track.
I spent many weekends at the go-cart track in Brisbane when I was ten and eleven, drving lap after lap. When I was twenty, I signed up for the Jim Russell Racing School, but I couldn't afford the tuition. That's the closest I ever got.
I don't know if I could have been any good, but it's something I always wonder about.

[NightBoss]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTexan

"Given the opportunity, I could have been a great race car driver."

Also, does your wife think you're as much of an idiot as my wife thinks I am?

"Given the opportunity, I could have been a great guitarist."

And she used to, not sure now, I'll ask next time I call the kids.

[Daddy Hojo]

I play a lot of forza 4 on xbox. Does that count?

[taxer]

Huge auto racing fan here, and the reason I am such a huge fan is because it is the one sport I realize that I could never do what they do.

I know I am not as good as the pros in football, hockey, baseball, basketball, boxing, and tennis. But a strong part of me knows that I wouldn't embarrass myself if I stepped on the field with those guys. I've played all those sports and done well at the levels I was at. But auto racing? No way in hell would I ever get on the track with those guys.

The speed is something you either love or it rattles you. Speed rattles me. When I ski I love the turning and carving and finding my way down the mountain. I do not love the speed (so I do a lot of cutting). Auto racing is all speed. I ain't for that.

[Tdub]

As far as the skills are concerned, I could probably figure it out. As far as the fearlessness that it takes to go all out. I ain't the one.

[dented]

Been around racetracks since I was 6. Been racing since I was 8 (Go-karts). Drag raced and had a few first place trophies with my '64 Malibu and my '68 Roadrunner and my '69 Z28. Started at the drag strip at 15. Started working road racing events around 1973 as a worker and a part time driver with a buddy of mine. Just now trying to start a little race team with a nephew.

I was competitive and probably should have tried to stay in it. My family was not supportive of me doing that.

[dan1952]

No possible way in the world! I hate driving, always have, don't like going fast...I like to watch racing on Sunday afternoon, but would never consider trying to do it!

[Big John]

Yup, I could have been a contender until -------- I had the chance to climb in an F1 cockpit and realised -- I'm 18" too tall and 100lb too fat !! :(
All motor sport has always fascinated me, would love to have tried, if only for fun.

PS going to the Little River Raceway, about 10 miles north of here with TDP's gtrjones and Her Ladyship within the hour, fun, sun and noise :)

[sax4blues]

I would not. I am a sprinter, my concentration lasts about two minutes. NASCAR, Indy, etc... require walking a tight rope for almost three hours. One mistake and you move back a place. Make one slip every 15 minutes and you are 15 places back in a three hour race.

[brewwagon]

"mostly racing is sitting in a hot outfit strapped into a cramped seat waiting for a chance to pee"

[Big John]

Here we are at Little River, what a great little strip :)

[elicross]

Texan, I think you're right that there are certain things men like to think they'd just naturally be good at. We tell ourselves that if we were forced into a fight we'd do alright; if we were stranded in the woods, we could survive; etc. Race driving probably falls into that list. Having said all that, I think what most of us appear to think: with the right training, I could be a good competitive driver.

[ludashoeless]

my dad let me move his car. that count?

[mal paso]

No way.



I don't think most people truly realize how grueling professional sports are.



If most people could do it, most people would do it, right?

[String Tree]

I couldda been a contender!

[stevieboy]

I'm an excellent driver.