Turning Racing into a Career

[d-wire]

there is a story about an old man......his garden was getting torn up and he couldn't figure out why.  He staked out the place and found that during the day, his garden was an end zone for the neighborhood kids football game.  He felt a little honored after watching how happy the kids were every time they scored, but they were fucking up his geraniums. (is that a flower?)

So he went to the boys and told them that he would pay them $5 a day to play football in his yard.  The boys were so happy to get paid for doing what they love.  In the coming weeks he lowered their pay to $4 ....then $3  then $1.....

The boys quit coming around because they felt like they weren't getting paid what they were worth anymore.  They had started because they loved to play, but it turned into a job.

Do it because you love it,  and if your lucky you may break even.  Super lucky and you may make $.      Hate to lose.  Learn to market yourself.


As far as winning a championship......just don't think getting a #1 plate is going to open a bunch of doors.  I never set out to win a #1 plate....it kind of happened.  So I tried to take advantage of it......I got exactly one sponsorship deal from it.  Im forever grateful for that and never felt like I was owed anything....  But keep in perspective it may cost you $50,000 to earn a #1 plate. My point is....its more important who you know than......necessarily how many championships you've won.

And like someone else said, there are riders faster than I that are spending a fortune racing......must get faster.....faster ....faster...  TOUGH AS HELL WAY TO MAKE A LIVING. 

[PJ]

Do it because you love it,  and if your lucky you may break even.  Super lucky and you may make $.      Hate to lose.  Learn to market yourself.
 

Sage advice. +1.

[kl3640]

You might want to browse this site, to get an idea of what's out there:

http://www.motorsportsemployment.com/

[eboos]

You might want to browse this site, to get an idea of what's out there:

http://www.motorsportsemployment.com/

There was maybe 1 or 2 jobs listed, and none in the motorcycle industry. Was that the point of showing that page?

[dylanfan53]

Maybe that is the point. 

[cbr600_mj]

GO FOR IT!


As Teddy Roosevelt said,
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

[Jeff]

I did get some bad news yesterday tho, I was laid off from my job so now I have no income!  I have been out job hunting all day with no luck... maybe something will turn up.

Here's your dose of reality...  You went from relative stability and having income to having that removed in one fell swoop without likely seeing it in advance...

Now consider you dump your entire life into trying to not go bankrupt while racing.  You wad it up and hurt yourself enough to take you out for a season or forever...  What's your path then?  Right now you have experience that being laid off doesn't make useless.  If you're racing and get hurt, your experience isn't going go keep you fed...

Seriously dude... Do what you want, but the advice here is reality.  Unless you're born with a motorcycle hanging out of your ass and the last name of Hayden, Rossi or the like, and/or have basically unlimited funds to start with, you will have far better odds winning the lottery 2 or 3 times...

The best advice I can give has been given... 

Graduate, get that $100k/yr job (if you honestly can - which I highly doubt right out of college..  I doubt this because I hire people with multiple PhD's for less than that.  Experience pays, degrees don't).  Race & have fun.  If you can get some money back or towards the program, you're ahead of yourself!

Take your local MW CCS #1 plate... Brian Hall.  Do you think he's making enough money racing to earn a living?  Without knowing for fact, I'm going to bet my left nut that it's a HELL NO.  In fact, as good as he is and as well sponsored as he is, even with contingencies, I'm DAMNED sure he's still paying to race...  And even if he isn't, he sure as hell didn't get there without dropping an inconceivable amount of money.  Like the kind of money that makes your college tuition seem like a good weekend party...

In comparison, I think your odds would be better in moving to LA and catching a break as a movie star.

Sorry to break it to you, but your dream is shared by pretty much everyone who ever touched the track.  It's just a matter of when  they realized it wasn't possible.  We're all trying to spare you the pain of experiencing it late...

[Super Dave]

GO FOR IT!

As Teddy Roosevelt said,
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

I'm with Mr Jordan here.

I suppose it's decisions like this the help one decide if they are a "racer" or not.

Racing isn't logical.  And even at it's best, it's rough, dirty, but it can be better than clocking in.  Even if it doesn't pay the same rent as a $100k job...or even a $20k job...or, well, you get the picture.

As we age, our abiity to react changes.  It's as simple as that.  As older people, we don't get many opportunities to try out for teams, regardless of the stature of the team.  If you feel like you want to try, I say do it.  Plan, ask questions.  Seek out answers outside the mostly large group of riders that are only going to be around amateur racing or have been around amateur racing for a handful of years.  Bottom line is that most club racers will only do this for two, three, or maybe four years. 

Desire isn't enough.  Hope certainly doesn't cut it.  No one will give it to you.  It IS still racing, so you have to seek to take something away from someone else on the track.

If that's too much, then one has to look at track days or just a light racing opportunity here and there.

[khanson]

Mmmmm...I think I can give a little insight into this subject.

I quite my job, raced at the AMA level and transitioned to a team owner with AMA Factory Support....so it can be done even though all of your friends will tell you how nuts you are.

The reality is you are going to spend a pile of money doing it.  Club racing is expensive and it gets insanely expensive at the AMA level.  For example, support wise at the club level you are only going to get parts at dealer cost or some free product.  You need to be beating some of the guys making a living chasing contingency money and then move to the AMA level. 

At the AMA level you are going to spend $125-150K to do a decent program doing it on your own and I still don't think you can make it without being under a big rig.  However, before anyone will ever consider righting you a paycheck in the AMA paddock you need to be beating guys that are getting big paychecks.  Honestly, racing out of your own truck, driving to the races, etc just takes away from being able to focus 100% on riding.  The reality is you are far better off spending money for a ride on a support team because you get the best bang for the buck.  Some people will argue this with me because I own a race team, Safety First Racing.  However, the reality is a support team can offer a better program cheaper than someone can do it for themselves and be way more successful.

Realistically, it's a 3 year program at the AMA level to get someone a paid ride even if they have a tremendous amount of talent.  It can potentially be done in 2 years, Bobby Fong has a good shot at this year because he's dedicated himself to racing, listens to our coaching and is extremely talented.  Take our team for example, we have a semi full of parts, full time mechanics, team chef, rider coach, 2 mechanics per rider, crewchief, and top shelf equipment.  All of that costs a huge amount of money.  However, it allows everyone to focus on their specific responsibility to be successful in their area of responsibilty that makes the entire team successful.  A rider can't drive to the races, setup the equipment, work on his bike, have one part time mechanic, skimp on tires, etc... and go out and beat paid riders.  A riders job can only be to train, ride, and focus 100% on riding.  Therefore, several people are paying for paid rides for the opportunity to get a paid ride with no guarantees.  Racing is just too expensive for a team owner to blow 200K+ a year on a rider for free unless he can win races.  It costs "X" to finish in the top 15, "XX" to finish in the top ten and it goes up exponentially to finish in the top 5.  It has cost me well into 7 figures to put a bike in the top 5 at an AMA race and several years to do it.

That being said.....working for a team a person has to start out at the bottom cleaning tires, running tires, sweeping, etc.  You have do that well before you touch a motorcycle.  Do you honestly think someone is going to let you come in and start wrenching on a bike with no experience?  If something falls off the bike that rider can get killed or seriously hurt or at a minimum you DQ in the race.  The reality is we prepare all year long and spend a pile of money for 33 days a year (11 races) so everything needs to be a well oiled machine.  A new person coming on to a team needs to work hard and be intergrated into the team process of how things are done.

However, I think its the greatest profession in the world to be in.  I work a lot of long hours but it doesn't seem like work.  I get to wake up everyday, go to our bada$$ race shop, travel and talk motorcycles all day.  Life is good!

So go out, enjoy club racing for now and try not to break the bank in the process.  You don't need 5K worth of suspension and piles of engine work done to your bike to win races at the club level.....it's all between your ears and getting more track time with a properly setup motorcycle.

Any other questions.....

[Braincrater]

You sir have a PM...

[ronhix]

Mmmmm...I think I can give a little insight into this subject.

I quite my job, raced at the AMA level and transitioned to a team owner with AMA Factory Support....so it can be done even though all of your friends will tell you how nuts you are.

The reality is you are going to spend a pile of money doing it.  Club racing is expensive and it gets insanely expensive at the AMA level.  For example, support wise at the club level you are only going to get parts at dealer cost or some free product.  You need to be beating some of the guys making a living chasing contingency money and then move to the AMA level. 

At the AMA level you are going to spend $125-150K to do a decent program doing it on your own and I still don't think you can make it without being under a big rig.  However, before anyone will ever consider righting you a paycheck in the AMA paddock you need to be beating guys that are getting big paychecks.  Honestly, racing out of your own truck, driving to the races, etc just takes away from being able to focus 100% on riding.  The reality is you are far better off spending money for a ride on a support team because you get the best bang for the buck.  Some people will argue this with me because I own a race team, Safety First Racing.  However, the reality is a support team can offer a better program cheaper than someone can do it for themselves and be way more successful.

Realistically, it's a 3 year program at the AMA level to get someone a paid ride even if they have a tremendous amount of talent.  It can potentially be done in 2 years, Bobby Fong has a good shot at this year because he's dedicated himself to racing, listens to our coaching and is extremely talented.  Take our team for example, we have a semi full of parts, full time mechanics, team chef, rider coach, 2 mechanics per rider, crewchief, and top shelf equipment.  All of that costs a huge amount of money.  However, it allows everyone to focus on their specific responsibility to be successful in their area of responsibilty that makes the entire team successful.  A rider can't drive to the races, setup the equipment, work on his bike, have one part time mechanic, skimp on tires, etc... and go out and beat paid riders.  A riders job can only be to train, ride, and focus 100% on riding.  Therefore, several people are paying for paid rides for the opportunity to get a paid ride with no guarantees.  Racing is just too expensive for a team owner to blow 200K+ a year on a rider for free unless he can win races.  It costs "X" to finish in the top 15, "XX" to finish in the top ten and it goes up exponentially to finish in the top 5.  It has cost me well into 7 figures to put a bike in the top 5 at an AMA race and several years to do it.

That being said.....working for a team a person has to start out at the bottom cleaning tires, running tires, sweeping, etc.  You have do that well before you touch a motorcycle.  Do you honestly think someone is going to let you come in and start wrenching on a bike with no experience?  If something falls off the bike that rider can get killed or seriously hurt or at a minimum you DQ in the race.  The reality is we prepare all year long and spend a pile of money for 33 days a year (11 races) so everything needs to be a well oiled machine.  A new person coming on to a team needs to work hard and be intergrated into the team process of how things are done.

However, I think its the greatest profession in the world to be in.  I work a lot of long hours but it doesn't seem like work.  I get to wake up everyday, go to our bada$$ race shop, travel and talk motorcycles all day.  Life is good!

So go out, enjoy club racing for now and try not to break the bank in the process.  You don't need 5K worth of suspension and piles of engine work done to your bike to win races at the club level.....it's all between your ears and getting more track time with a properly setup motorcycle.

Any other questions.....

Thanks for typing all that Kevin.  That is truly the voice of experience talking right there.