9 Ways to Become Successful as a Racecar Driver

Being a race car driver is a calling as much as it is a career. You can’t just decide to be a race car driver. It’s a hugely dangerous profession that only a special person can be apart of. It’s important to know about cobra kits and muscle cars and things like that. Performance driving encompasses so much more than just simply sitting in the seat and pressing the gas pedal. Let’s take a look at what it takes to become a successful race car driver.

1. Always have business cards on hand.
   The only way to get big in this career is to network. It’s all about who you know and the truth is, you never know who you are going to meet or when you’re going to meet them. Everyone should know and understand what your goals and ambitions and dreams are as well as the things that you have accomplished. Hand out your card to as many people as you can and you never know how it’s going to circulate.




2. Forego getting a manager.
   The problem with having a manager is that no one can market you as well as you, if that makes sense. If you want someone to help with building contacts or keeping things organized, that’s fine but you don’t want to hand over the reigns to someone else. Once you get to the big leagues, you might consider a manager but that’s more because it can get really busy and you’ll need someone to the administrative work for you as well as someone to look over contracts and legal papers.




3. Be more than just a driver.
   Other than driving, you’ll have to give interviews, be prevalent on social media and cultivate a fan base. You’ll need a brand that people can learn to recognize and trust. You’ll also need to attract sponsors. That’s going to be a lot of work for you and adding driving to your schedule makes it a full time job.




4. Stand out from the crowd.
   With so many drivers in the world looking to become the next big thing, you have to make sure that you are different from the rest. Find inspiration by going over racing history and figure out what make the big timers stand out and see if you can cultivate that with your brand and personality and talent. Knowing about cobra kits and the behind the scenes will only get you so far. It’s important but you need something more than just head knowledge.




5. Don’t stay in kart racing for to long.
   There are many benefits to karting. It teaches you some great things in the beginning so that you can become familiar with cobra kits and driving skills and the craft overall. However, you don’t want to stay in karting too long because you won’t get to the big leagues by hanging out there. The world of cars is much different and you’ll need to start making a name for yourself as soon as you possibly can.




6. Get your qualification as an driving coach.
   Being an instructor will make you stand out and will help you to make some money when you aren’t getting a lot of races. It will also keep in very involved in the network to help you make good contacts. Teaching others also helps you to better understand the craft and technique so it will help with your own driving.




7. Work extra hard on your training.
   There’s training and then there’s real preparation. You should always be prepared for your career to take off at any point. Training isn’t just physical, it’s also mental, emotional and even virtual.




8. You have to have some money.
   Whether it’s your own savings, loans from somewhere or sponsors, you have to have money. It’s an unfortunate part of the business.




9. Learn what the business is all about.
   Racing is a business. The sooner you learn that, the better off you’ll be. Everything that needs to be done in a regular business needs to be done in racing. The information you need to know for performance driving might be a little different, like about cobra kits and sponsors but it’s a business all the same.

It’s a difficult career but extremely exhilarating and very rewarding at the end of the day.