Elkhart Lake Racing & Sipping Society

Obsession

Obsession

This is a response from a current MARRS racer to a prospective racer who posed some questions about joining the racing ranks:

Kevin:
You are at a very delicate and tricky place on a path to a place some people call heaven and some call hell, but no one ever returns from, unscathed. "Addicting" is far too weak a term to describe Road Racing. "Addicting" is fine in a discussion of simple cheap and harmless issues like Booze, Heroin and Crack Cocaine habits, but Road Racing, once a taste is acquired, falls under "obsession" and creates a thirst that can barely be quenched. You have time to save yourself but you must take action now or suffer the gruesome fate of many, in which I am included. Be satisfied in the observance of this demon we label as "Sport" and forego notions of personal involvement beyond an afternoon in front of the TV tuned to "Speedvision". Road Racing is one of the few man made activities that equals or exceeds our makers intention of reproduction as the primary driving force of life on earth.
A race car on a track will take you places you can't get to any other way. One learns things about themselves and others that, many times, one did not want to know and one must live with these realizations the rest of one's life. The slightest of character flaws or personal insecurities become magnified ten fold and show up like a terd in a glass of milk, for all to see. There is no place to hide, no way to cover, no place to run. This is not a place for the faint of heart, for personal realization is assured and for many this is the greatest fear of all.
Consider yourself warned!
That said, and if you choose to ignore my warning, take $10,000.00 and put it in a box labeled Road Racing. Call the SCCA, get a GCR and join, buy Jim Thill's 37 car if it's still For Sale as it is a great value and you can not build, test and develop a dependable, fast, safe car, like his, any cheaper. Make arrangements to take the car after the season is over. Come out and crew for Tom Sweeten's rental fleet a few races and learn as much as you can. Do the fall and spring schools and we will see you on the starting grid at MARRS 1, 2001, just another fallen soul to the demon.
Ed Davis
84 GS RX-7, SRX7 #8

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