Permanent pit pass?

[BarillaGirl]

JC and I were watching quali for Monza, and he started telling me about a friend of his who is driving sprint cars, and how much he (JC) would like to be a race mechanic or engineer. "Why did you think I wanted to take Intro to Engineering, Mom?" he asked.

Well, all he had ever mentioned to me was his interest in architecture and engineering... never anything to do with cars.

I encouraged him to find out where and when his friend races, so we could go to the track and he could start hanging around these types and be included on someone's team, even if it's just helping roll tires around for a while until he learns to do more. Surely, however, there is a career path for this that we should be looking into. Does anyone have suggestions as to how he could get experience and credibility? He is 14 years old and, naturally, prefers open wheel. ;)

[Elmo T]

I would imagine that any track experience is helpful in the long run.

But I would have him write letters to some race teams. I think a well worded letter to the right people from an eager 14yo will elicit a response with some intelligent answers on the appropriate career paths. Maybe direct letters to race engineers of note.

[TravelGal]

PM Ed_Severson. He may have some ideas. I don't know how often he checks in during race season but there is a "lull" right now so he may be here more than usual.

Good to see you back, Barilla Girl. I've missed you.

[G.]

On the cautionary side of things:
Be well-rounded.

An engineer coming out of school, may be able to get on to a team, make a name for him/herself, and become a desired commodity. Awesome!

If life on the road doesn't agree with you, you get sick of the work, or some blithering idiot decides to create a competing Leeegue, thus killing the golden goose for everyone, then you must make sure that you are still employable in other fields.

This happened to friends. Their experience was very specialized in racing, and it was harder to get employed in other fields once they left racing.

This is why I try to not criticize people that took jobs with the evil earl.

I do NOT want to even HINT at squashing dreams, just planting the idea to have alternative strategies. It's a hard field to retire from.