If you could have any car/motorsport job...

[NaptownE36]

Now to become the next Pantene girl....

Which brings me to MY dream job...

haha actually I'd like to drive for a living, either as a test driver for new concepts or reporting on new car releases in a larger magazine like Motor Trend... They seem to get a good mix of American, European and Japanese cars, and although I tend right now toward European cars, I don't want to get into a rut.

Why am I not pursuing this goal? It's not my life's passion really. It'd be a lot of fun and would let me travel, which IS my life's passion, but in the long run I'd probably get bored.

John

[.RJ]

"professional driver on a closed course"

[Maengelito]

"professional driver on a closed course"

i've seen more than one race car with that on the back bumper cover. damn thats clever, i wish i had thought of that first

[G.Irish]

Hard to believe I originally posted this over 2 years ago.

Anyway I was thinking about careers in motorsport again and I was wondering why few of us have gone that direction. I think right now Blair is the only one of us who is directly employed in the auto industry and I think that's a shame in a way. Everyone here is passionate about cars, bikes, and/or racing in some way shape or form so it seems to be that there should be more people working in the industry.

I got to thinking about the subject again because a conversation I had with a current student at the Turducken party about my Ferrari Challenge deal last year. Whenever I talk to people about it they're a bit incredulous, like, its a superhuman thing to do. While it was a lot of fun and something few get to do, its not all that hard to put yourself in that position, and its not all that hard to get a permanent job in the racing industry if you so desire.

So again, why is nobody doing it? If we spend so much time following cars, bikes, and racing of all types why not do it as a career? Or at least try it as a career for awhile? I'm fairly close to trying something motorcycle-related this year but I'll have to wait to see how some of the financials work out. Either way I'll be doing more motorsport/auto writing this year so maybe that will pan out into gainful employment of some sort.

I don't know how many students are interesting in crewing but if there are a few I'll try to help dig around for volunteer spots if possible. Its the first step if you want to work in pro racing. I'd also like to hear from current students about what they'd be interested in doing so that maybe we can get talking about how to get people into those jobs.

[Sijray21]

i would actually love to be associated to the automotive/motorcycle or directly in the motorsport industry. I just don't know how to get in to it.

i'd transfer jobs in a heartbeat if i can find a solid interesting position though.

[JohnC]

I actually applied for a job at Ducati North America, last year.. Granted, it was a bit out of my skill set, but I was hoping they might overlook that in the interest of a fresh perspective.

It didn't work out, but at least I can say I tried

[Mike]

the only motorsports job i'd want, aside from actually driving, would be to work for a magazine.

anything else (helping a race team, working on actual tech) is not conducive to my life at this time OR i don't have the expertise... and it's not something i could attain while still holding a regular job.

so back to being a writer. i write pretty well, i know a good amount, and the only way i really see breaking in (without an appropriate education) is getting noticed. to aide that, i have a blog. it has been seen by many, and it has actually resulted in me getting an offer to write for an auto site. the site hasn't come to fruition yet, but if that takes off, i could see it leading somewhere.

basically, blogging = my best ticket right now.

[ScottyB]

So again, why is nobody doing it?

i'm going to find some way to get into designing auto livery. i have no idea how, but i have a decent portfolio so that helps. i think the biggest hurdles to most motorsports stuff is:

- expertise/background in tech
- travel
- connections
- skill/ability

if someone started early enough you could definitely have something lined up out of college.

[G.Irish]

So again, why is nobody doing it?

i'm going to find some way to get into designing auto livery.

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Get on it Scotty!

i think the biggest hurdles to most motorsports stuff is:

- expertise/background in tech
- travel
- connections
- skill/ability

if someone started early enough you could definitely have something lined up out of college.

The background in tech depends on the position. Plenty of mechanics in motorsport don't have formal education in engineering or anything and there are plenty of positions behind the scenes that don't need it. The PR/marketing side of it for instance, or logistics, or management. I was just reading something last night about some new execs hired at Thunderbolt Raceway in NJ. I have to think that there is room for people with business skills to work in some sort of capacity there (or at one of the other newish tracks).

The travel thing definitely could wear on someone but most motorsport jobs are not as bad on travel as my first job was, and I handled that just fine. If you stay in the US the travel probably wouldn't be killer. Even in Europe its fairly tame except for the international championships like F1, WSBK, and Moto GP.

As far as connections, that is definitely major. I've made a few here and there and that has allowed me to do cool stuff here and there and this year I want to push hard on that front to see where it takes me. I think right now the club has a couple of good connections in the US that could get people some cool volunteer positions at the least, and possibly paid positions at the most. Either way, volunteering is the way to get your foot in the door and network.

As far as skills I think a lot of people are more intimidated about it than they should be. A lot of people I've met just got their start by volunteering and learning as they went along. A lot of what makes people successful is simply the willingness to try and work ethic. Having met a lot of people in the industry they're no different than you and me, they just took the chance to do it.

[NTIman]

I didn't choose to enter a job in the racing field after graduating from Nascar Technical Institute for one reason.

Money. I'd have made a lot less money starting out working for a decent team when i started out at the toyota dealer in winchester. Mostly, I couldn't have afforded to pay rent and whatnot in NC making $8 an hour working for Roush. (a 60 hour workweek on chassis setup making that was out of the question).

Am I happy with where I'm at now? Absolutely. I still get to work on cars every day, and I still manage to get to the racetrack (Winchester Speedway...dirt track) nearly every week during the season, and its a lot more laid back when I go, since its not my job.

On top of that, I think working on street cars is a little more practical for side work as well. There are a lot more cars on the road than there are on the racetrack, and people don't need their racecars to travel to work. So from that perspective, I did pretty good as well. I hope to work on more dirt track cars in the future as well, for a little side money.

[BLAIR]

Anyway I was thinking about careers in motorsport again and I was wondering why few of us have gone that direction. I think right now Blair is the only one of us who is directly employed in the auto industry and I think that's a shame in a way.

The auto industry is something I always have been involved in and I dont see that changing. Ever since i was 15 i was in car related jobs. First oil change bitch at a jiffy lube, then porter at a dealer, then detailer at a dealer, quality control at a body shop, service writing at a performance shop, working at an auto auction, and now my job with chrysler.

I knew even when I was at JMU i was going to do something in the car industry. I just knew that little piece of paper called a degree would open doors for me not matter what the degree was ( i was an art major ) I think working full time for 3 years out of HS made me realize this.

I think I had my dream job in the industry. Out of HS I started working at Autothority in fairfax va . It was once the leader in ecu tuning for mainly porsches. Daily a would deal with some insane cars, mostly turbo Posches. It wasnt rare for me to drive home 500-700 hp 996 and 993 turbos home for the night. And this was all when I was 18-20 years old. It doesnt get much better than to be pimpin in NOVA in a sick ass porsche. Some highlights of that job was participating in many european car, car and driver photoshoots going to alot of track events, and going to the super tuner challenge ( 10,000hp shoot out) in Mich. I actually drove the car alot of the way to mich along with another guy. For being a young guy I deff. was at the envy of alot of people. After a while the company went downhill and it was time for me to move on, then i went to JMU.

Now it would be great to have a bad ass job racing or developing race cars or something, I cant complain about my current job- more so carrear. Im in the car industry. See new things. Get to go to detroit all the time and go on awesome trip. deal with cars all day. get a nice company car. and on top of it all get paid well.

I will however always remember the days of driving sick Porsches all day








see vids of this car on the page below on the stage 5 996 vid link
http://www.autothority.com/multimedia/index.html#videos

[ScottyB]

Get on it Scotty!

heh, it's a goal for a ways off in the future. there are a number of complications as to why i can't take a job like that right now. i'm working towards something like that though, i can't truly be happy until i'm there.


Blair -- Could you describe how you got from bodywork into being a service writer; and what that entails? going from a oil change bitch to porsche pimper is a path that i think alot of people wouldn't believe if you didn't tell them yourself.

[BLAIR]

well you have to start somewhere and start to learn. Working at the oil change place when i was 16 was just a place for me to start. i worked with people who knew alot more than me and i learned alot. Then i got sick of that and started working as a porter at a dealer. Over time they realized im better than that and slowly moved me up. I went to a body shop, only because they offered me good money, but while there i learned alot about body work, accidents, correct ways to fix-paint a car. I have always been down to learn about cars in general, it can be fixing, selling, painting, whatever, I like to think I have had my hands in most of the various jobs that are car related.

At autothority I just wanted to work there because it was my "dream job" I even offered to work for free for 2 weeks, so they could see how serious I was. I started out there basically being a janitor, mopping floors, taking out trash, moving cars. And I had no shame in doing it at all. Within 2 days the owner gave me a raise and said your too good to be going this kinda stuff and moved me into the office where I worked the phones for retail sales, then moved to being the service writer- guy the rich people came to and said make my car cool, here is 100k haha. I worked there about 2.5 years. It was awesome times.

Its the same kinda thing with my nw job with Chrysler. I wanted the job and I was ready to prove myself. They were only interviewing buss. and marketing majors. I had the challenge of convincing them that my past experience and car knowledge would far surpass anything else. The interview went awesome. They said they would call me in 3 weeks to let me know and sure enough called me the next day to offer me the job. :lol: and out of 12 training district managers I am the only service and parts rep to go out in the field. The rest are still training in the buss. center in bmore.

and thats history

[ScottyB]

sweet...thanks. pretty cool story 8)

[Kaan]

i'd like to manage an enduro team. thats never going to happen!

[drivesideways46]

This is odd timing, I just sent off an email to the guys at "Modified Mustangs" the other day to see exactly what is involved with writing for them.

I think that would be my realistic dream job, but does anyone else share the same fear that I have about mixing your business with your hobbies?

I never did detail my cars with the same zeal after I worked as a detailer for a local car dealer. It just sucked all the fun out of it.

[Evan]

I love racing, but the motorsports industry is the absolute last place I would want to depend on a paycheck to feed myself and my future family. And that definately includes being a 'pro' driver too (outside of nascar)


"whats the difference between a race car driver and a large pizza?"
"a large pizza can feed a family"

[Steve85]

I would want to be in engine development.

I am not pursuing it becasue I spent too many years (and came very close) to qualifying for the PGA teaching school.

I am going to start playing with engine combos for fun. Put'em together, throw them on the dyno and then sell them.

drivesideways brought up a good point about mixing hobby/work. I was not having fun playing golf when my future depended on every shot. I love it again now...and I suck again.

If I was building an engine to be used in a race, I'm not sure I would enjoy any moment from the first bolt to the last lap.

[G.Irish]

I love racing, but the motorsports industry is the absolute last place I would want to depend on a paycheck to feed myself and my future family. And that definately includes being a 'pro' driver too (outside of nascar).

Yeah pretty much working for any privateer team in any of the championships in the US other than NASCAR would not pay too well unless you're in a management level position. Certainly not compared to what you can make in IT.

I guess for some of us our earnings in our chosen specialities are starting to get pretty high so to take a job in racing would be a big step backwards in pay. I think maybe one could work for a factory motorsports program and do ok but it would probably still be a pay cut.

That's why it would be better for those who are still in school to check out some of the opportunities now since they don't have the golden handcuffs on yet. An ISAT or CS person could definitely do pretty well for themself in pro motorsport technical position. Especially as the electronics are becoming a bigger and bigger component of racing at all levels of the game.

drivesideways brought up a good point about mixing hobby/work. I was not having fun playing golf when my future depended on every shot. I love it again now...and I suck again.

I think racing is a field where its easy to get burnt out. One would have to make sure they're working in the right team/environment to avoid it, and you'd have to make some effort to take care of yourself.

[G.Irish]

Here we go, who wants a Help Desk position at Ducati?

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