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Why are you involved in racing?


abrungot

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To be all i can be. No wait, thats the ARMY.

Fame and fortune. Nope, thats what I told my wife.

Hmmm, this is a toughy.

 

 

 

Maybe because I love racing. Yep thats it.

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#10 Because 60 hours a week at my main job isnt enough work for one man

#9 Because I like to see how fast I can blow all my money and have nothing to show

#8 Because spending $1000 with the potential of winning $500 is too sweet a deal to pass up

#7 Because anyday I should be getting that call from nascar.

#6 Because If Im a race car driver I'm automatically cool..( at least till you meet me)

#5 Because if I'm a race car driver I'm automatically hot..( see perenthesis above)

#4 Because I like grease on everything I own

#3 Because I like when all of my friends yell at me and threaten to kick my butt.

#2 Because I like buying the same tools and parts over and over again

and the #1 reason I race is Because "I WANNA GO FAST" or stupid ...your pick

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When I was in the Masters program in Experimental Psychology at UTSA, this subject came up. One of the social psych professors had an interest in the psychology of "road rage" and similar phenomena related to automobile driving.

 

When he discovered my involvement in stock car racing he considered using race car drivers as one of the "groups of interest" since I could provide him with a large subject pool. But he decided to take a different approach to his study.

 

While he did not share his hypothesis or even the underlying psychology for his study, I took it upon myself to look up the research that had been done in the area - which, at the time, was almost nothing.

 

Most of the peer-reviewed literature seemed to identify a desire to control the world around them as one of the underlying constructs. This involved what is commonly referred to as a having a "death wish," which translates into having enough control over their environment to even defy death.

 

I think the professor mentioned above was more interested in identifying personality factors associated with various risky behavior than exploring the "death wish" angle.

 

When I worked as a researcher with the Institute for Job and Occupational Analysis, a good deal of work was done under military contract to identify personality factors that were associated with fighter pilots in an effort to identify likely candidates for that role. Out of that research came what is known as the "Big Five Personality Factors," an scale that is the basis for many of today's more legitimate instruments that attempt to identify personality traits that might be useful in identifying appropriate candidates for various occupations.

 

It would be interesting to administer one of the more reliable personality trait instruments to a large number of race car drivers to see if there is a common personality type. I doubt it, but I would hypothesize that the trend would be towards the more introverted side of the scale.

 

Nick

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When i pull onto the track, nothing else matters, but here and the now..

I seek to out think, out perform and show bravery and courage, Everthing that "animals" do to attract a mate/friend.

 

I live on the adreneline and the high it provides.

After.. just relive that high when everyone talks about what happen/you did.

 

Its the only time my crazy mind/life feels in control.. Focused on one thing.

 

Going Faster only means i got closer to the out of control without losing control!

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First came the addiction, and then it evolved into an incurable disease! LOL

 

I said the very same thing this past weekend to the representative from NASCAR, and she said she had never heard it put that way.

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Good topic, good answers. For me it comes back to Pan American Speedway. Growing up my dad took us there, my friends liked to go there, and guys that worked for my dad raced there. I built a car to race there and was hooked. The racers there were a great bunch of guys. I was never any good at stick and ball sports but I knew cars. Had so much fun there at Pan Am, still trying to capture some of that fun today. TPS is like that. As much fun as on track performance is, there is a lot of good off the track.

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after more thought ..when i got into racen i was helping someone who had raced 5 seasons and never won ...he wasnt good at much other than he could drive ok .....well i looked at it as a challeng ..wonder if i could learn enough to help him win ..that would be something ..got rid of the junk he drove and asked for some help in building a new car ..he won 5 races the next year ...man was that something .i was hooked ..i had tears in my eyes when he won his first ..he did too.... i know crybabys. but who cares ...i raced for three seasons and won many races myself .never had the money to win a championship .but two third place season finishes didnt bother me .seeing who i ran against...over the last 28 years i have built many cars or had a hand in building them ..some cars won championships with other drivers .but felt good to know i had something to do with that car in other ways ...i know this sounds like crybaby again ..i helped jesse build the prosedan car ..we built it for one reason .to win a tps race at sa ...only track we really wanted to win on ....kyle and cc didnt matter ..we won sa ..i felt the same way then as i did on the first mans win ...i realy love seeing someone do good in a car i help on more than my own winning . my only unhappiness now with racen .is it so costly .i cant afford to give my son a good car ....he deserve all i have given to others from me now ...hopefully i can get him into his car by season ...

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I spent many years racing for all the above things.But now its more important at this juncture of my life.I race to KEEP living.I have been told to go to pasture but Im not ready.The rush I get after a feature gives me life for 3 days.I move better,my vision is improoved,I sleep better and my wife is better looking.After a winter season I feel 100 years old.Time for a dose of the fountain of youth.

 

Besides its fun to outrun those young chaps that can do everything else better than I can.I plan to enjoy it as long as it lasts.Age gives you patience and thats an important tool in winning races,I think.

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I got into racing at the age of 7 driving and its made my relationship with my family very good. But I did the circle track thing for 20 years and did because I loved it and all I wanted to do then I got tired with it and about that time dad started working at the drag strip and that brought it all back and to stand side by side with him working numerous races to standing with him while he is blasting off to nitro top fuelers and teaching me things about track surfaces and what to look for to this year where I am crew chiefing on Neal Roger's southwest junior fueler dragster and that really brought the drive back to make the car run the fastest the car as ever run and to be the best I can be.

 

Plus how can you not love the smell of racing fuel and nitromethane.

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