Reflecting on my Skip Barber experience & Future Plans

So, this being my first post, I want to reflect on my experience at the Skip Barber Racing School that I attended late last year and let you know on any future plans that I may have.

I ended last year by going to Monterrey, CA to achieve one of my life long goal's and to take one of the first step's in fulfilling my dream of becoming a Professional Race Car Driver, I completed the Skip Barber 3-Day Formula Car Racing School @ Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Having done some laps of Laguna Seca on my Playstation 3, I got a pretty good understanding of what the track was like, everything portrayed in the game was exact! The only difference is it was "legit", it was REAL, I was driving on a track that witness so many races, from CART to ALMS to being the host of the USGP for the Moto GP.

I spent a good week there, brought my family along as well, and I experienced a whole lot...especially when driving a Skip Barber Formula Car, it had a 5-speed sequential transmission, no ABS, no Power Steering, it was a legitimate race car. Everything that I learned over the years, be it in Gran Turismo or in my Indoor Go Kart Racing experience, has prepared me for that week.

One thing that I learned about myself though, is that I lacked the confidence to push myself and the car, it is something that I struggled to learn through those 3 day's. I managed to gain some confidence on the final day though, I was pushing the car more, braking harder, etc. Unfortunately, the fog was coming in as we were wrapping up our last 30 min.'s of the lapping session.

Photo by: Playstation.Blog 

Driving Laguna Seca, in an Open Wheel race car, going up the hill towards the famed Cork Screw, as the fog was coming, was an awe-inspiring moment for me. You could literally see the sun setting over the hills and the fog blowing in, down below! My helmet was covered with condensation, in fact I was wiping my helmet's visor as I was driving through the track, but it was a great experience. Anyway, if I could do it again, I would and I would do certain thing's differently.

At the end of the week, I was left wanting more, I felt like I didn't try hard enough...but I was just learning, trying to figure out myself and who I was as a driver. It is still bugging me today, as I am writing this post, and I am planning on going back to take the 2 Day Advanced Racing School to continue from where I left off. Next time though, I plan on bringing my brother with me to the school, to be my camera man! I can't believe I brought my camera and didn't get any pictures!! UGGHHHH!!! It is just one of those thing's that will keep haunting me, but rest assured, I'll get more pictures/videos than my 1TB hard drive can handle!!!

By the way, the whole 3 day's cost me $3,300 + the optional $500 insurance (fortunately, there were no accidents, but I didn't want to take any chances!)...it usually cost's around $4,400 but there was a Holiday Discount at the time and I took advantage of it. My plan's for 2012? I plan on going to Laguna Seca again for the 2 Day Advanced Racing School, good thing I saved up a lot of money from my last job! Although, I am going through a small dilemma, because although I have the money to do the 2 Day Advanced Racing School, I am not sure if it is the best decision at the moment.

Why? Well, I don't have a job at the moment, but I have a lot of money saved up from my previous job that it won't be a huge cause for concern and I figure if my life were to end this year (Dec 21, 2012...OMG!), I would have liked to have done the 2 Day Advanced Racing School...so in that case, I may just end up doing it nonetheless. Dammit! Money, Y U NO GROW ON TREES!!! Besides that, I plan on continuing helping out at some SoCal NASA Racing event's that are coming up. I have been volunteering for NASA Racing since last year, mainly the Auto Club Speedway event's because Fontana, CA is pretty close from my place of residence.

This and there is an outdoor kart racing school that is held at the Auto Club Speedway, it's called CalSpeed Karting, and they have a 2-Day Techniques School for $995. According to the site, they use a Sodi Kart powered by a TAG 125cc engine. Not bad, these kart's make ~30HP and that is enough to do 60+MPH in a go kart!! The karting fundamentals class that I took at Adam's Motorsport Park used a 100cc powered go kart, and that was mental! So I am considering doing this in the future.

All in all, I still have a long way to go in my pursuit of happyness but I just have to take it one step at a time, and pray to God everyday to give me the patience that I so dearly lack! lol, and I hope that many more opportunities present themselves as I figure out my way in life.


: )