I'll probably have to re organize everything at some point, but
here's a little background that happened before GT Academy that has also helped me greatly since then.
I previously acquired a regional competition license from SCCA, thanks to a spec miata team I volunteered for as a pit crew 2 years in a row(I was introduced to the team while volunteering as a track marshal). As a return of favor, they sponsored my driver's school in 2012.
At the driver's school I hooked up with another student after I graduated 3rd fastest in class and we did a few club races together, it was partly to help him get up to speed as we call it. We shared the cost and a weekend cost us about 800usd per person which was acceptable doing 2 to 3 weekends a year just to keep my competition license current.
I also volunteered to become a track day instructor in 2012 after getting the license as well and that was how I got a lot of free track time. At the same time, some connections were made and I became a professional instructor later in the year.
So that was kind of the life before GT Academy,
note that the biggest thing to gain here isn't the on track experience but the connections and persona I have created that would help me along the way even till today.
Coming back to the US after the Academy, my first thought was to plan a full season program for 2015. The idea came from seeing Sean Johnston not winning GT Academy in 2011,but somehow found a way and did well for himself in Porsche GT3 Challenge the following year. To be recognized as a good driver in GT, that was one of the series to show your strengths. I did all the usual stuff, update Linkedin, hit all the CEO and marketing department contacts I can hit hoping for one that would say "that's an awesome story and I am interested in sponsoring you to go race!" But that never happened. The most you would hear is a polite "I'm sorry but we have allocated our marketing budgets already." That went on for about 2-3 months while I was still in college at that time, on my laptop typing emails in class all the time without any success.
After the show aired on Spike TV, I received a call from a friend who was planning to field a car in the
25 Hours of Thunderhill
A club race at the end of the year in California that has grown in popularity so much that there are professional teams from around the world come and join. This friend was offering me a free race with his team again as a return of favor from 2013 where I again volunteered to lead and build a brand new race car and led the team as a the crew chief to race in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. I was nothing less than thrilled to hear that news.
Everything was cool then, I continued to hunt for sponsorship for 2015 until a bad news came. The guy had to pull out 2 weeks before the race due to family issues and I was left without a ride. I feel bad for him but at the same time I had to scramble to look for another ride in the race. I felt it was important for me to do that race because it is something I wanted to do after being a pit crew in that race for the past 3 years. The thirst is real.
I hit up all the contacts I know in the club racing community and one driver, whom I worked as a pit crew for as well as a fellow instructor told me their team still has a potential spot open so I jumped on it. Now here's what I learned from experience,
being a good driver(fast and safe) does not get you free rides or sponsors, it only opens the door to start a conversation. This miata team has won its class in the 25 Hour 2 times in 3 years, so they have expectations for their drivers, and being the kid that learned how to drive on a game doesn't really make the cut for the veteran racers. To make matters worse, the year that they didn't win was because of a kid who thought he was a hot shot messed up.
It's really important to be humble at all times.
With my friend's persuasion and me making a trip to LA to convince, the team boss decided to give me a shot at it. It does cost me some money to do the race with them, but it was reasonable for most poeple to afford I believe and I'm in no position to fight it anyway. So it was finally decided that I would do the race!
I'll let you guys off for now, that's about it for one post I guess. The next post will be about the race itself. Stay tuned!
Here's a bit of a teaser . This is who I met who was doing the race as well.
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