Q: “How can I still find motivation to continue after 15 years of racing the same car on the same regional tracks against the same people – it’s gotten stale. I enjoy racing and I have that as an identity, but unfortunately I’m not sufficiently well-financed to afford a second car or race at tracks more than a day’s tow from my home state. I suppose I could sell my current car to buy another, but sentimentality is kind of preventing that. I wondered if you had any advice for me.”
A: You know the definition of insanity… doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something to change. Kinda applies here, right? If you want a different result – more fun, not feeling stale – then you’re going to have to do something different. The first thing that came to mind was driving different tracks, different car, or different types of events. If you’re attached to your car, then it’s one of the other two options; if you can’t travel far, then it’s one of the other two options… maybe you want to try rallying, or time trials, or low budget endurance racing (Champcar, WRL, AER, etc.)?
Do you do any instructing? Some drivers have found that jumping in the deep end of instructing is super-rewarding and fun. And it helps them become better drivers. That’s something to think about.
Or how about getting super-focused on improving one part of your driving. If you don’t left foot brake now, maybe learn to do so. Maybe work on your brake release to see if you can carry more entry speed without it hurting your exit speed. Or try different cornering lines at the track you always drive (they might be slower, but maybe not – and even if they are, it’ll be different).
Those are the thoughts that come to mind. Whatever you do, if you want to make a change, you’re going to have to make a change! Doing the same thing over and over… well, you know!