Many of you have been wondering what I’ve been doing over the past year or so. I’ve been busy. Extremely busy.
I’ve turned a great deal of my focus towards training and coaching. I have a few great clients I’ve been bringing along the path, one remotely from Iran, and others here in the US. Part of this work has been selfish in that I have a plan, and I need people to help execute that plan.
Racing is an interesting business. More and more, drivers are not compensated for their drives by the teams. We’re really sales people who also entertain, selling our own entertainment. Even in F1 for some drivers, being a “gentleman driver” is the norm.
The real way to make a living in racing is to be a team owner. Drivers will flock to your door if you have a good car and team. It doesn’t hurt if you’re running a program where the primary focus isn’t to fill your own bank account, rather cover the costs with a little extra for your time and effort.
With that in mind, it’s time to make a transition.
I’m in the midsts of buying a competitive GT4 car. In doing so, I’ll open up a few opportunities. First, those people I mentioned I was working with will now have a path to racing professionally. There won’t be a need for long negotiations, massive contracts, and tons of money. It’s still expensive, but the extra 10-20 grand a typical owner puts on the price of the weekend will not be there. I expect to be running lean. We might not have the 18-wheeler to haul the car, driver lounges, and all that glitz and glamor. What we will have is a tight-knit, well oiled machine, running a lean program that wins.
I want the drivers I work with to know I’m not here to fleece them. I’m trying to give them opportunity, a path, and easily attainable goals without all the pitfalls of the typical professional racing program.
Be on the lookout for my racing team, still unnamed, to be leading the charge, providing opportunity to the racers out there who need a great team without the cost of the other great teams.