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I have twin boys who will be 4 years old in a few months. They know daddy likes racing. They know daddy periodically "has a race". They know daddy works in the basement, and they know daddy's (homemade) driving cockpit is in the basement. They think daddy's a racecar driver. Can't say I do much to dispel the notion :-) One of my boys was coloring while I was eating lunch. "Look, daddy, a racecar. You're a racecar driver. You race in the basement!" They don't think that's *all* I do, as 99% of the time they come downstairs I'm just hacking away on the computer and not driving ... but it is what captures their imagination. (Them and that cockpit, man ... like moths to a flame.) They love the movie "Cars". They know the championship in the movie is the Piston Cup. I finished second in the GT class in the Season 1 enduros, and Tim sent me a trophy. I have it front and center on one of my shelves. One of the boys was in the basement the other day and he pointed to the trophy, "Is that your Piston Cup daddy?" Yes it is, son. That's my Piston Cup :-) |
HA! That's great! :-) | ||
That's a great story, thanks for sharing. Say hi to the kids for us! :) | ||
Yes, a steering wheel and a racecar chair will peek the interest of my son and duaghter. My daughter insterted a nickle in my gp shifter..rendereing it usless after awhile, mon son..who is now 8 can actually reach the pedals and drive now. Coaching your son on how to drive on spa, using apex's, throttle control. he loves rFactor and GTR2. wants nothing to do with stock cars anymore. He can't wait to watch the fia gt on speed. Yes daddy is a racecar driver...a lousy one i say. i wrecked out of the bullrun in 5 laps. and actually showed him the video jan did to show how bad i messed up. But when your kids get old enuff to "drive" in the cockpit, its priceless. | ||
hehe, great stuff Todd, enjoy it while you can, I have teenagers and the comments get far less cute by that time, lets just say I see a lot of eye rolling :P | ||
I can see the tears in their eyes when they realize the truth. Kind of like Marge on The Simpsons when she realized that her dad wasn't a pilot but a stewardess. :P | ||
The difference there is that Marge's dad probably couldn't fly a real airplane, but I'll bet Todd (like many other sim racers) could hold his own in a real race car. | ||
Barry, have you read the August issue of AutoSimSport? There's an article in there about a guy who is a successful sim-racer, went to a track for some real racing, and found out just how difficult it is to make the transition. A good sim-racer does not make a real life racer. A good sim-racer may know the theory/set-up of a car, but handling one of the pavement is whole 'nother world. You should read the article. I don't mention this to in any way diss on Todd's original blog entry. Please don't read it that way. | ||
Well Ive done 4 or 5 track days this year at Millers in my E36 and I can tell you being a resonably competant sim racer helped a ton. My instructor turned me loose after 2 laps and put me in the advanced group after lunch. The last day I did I was amazed out how slow guys with the same real track time as me were and especially the guys in cars with double the HP and grip. For instance several in new Sub STi's and trick Evo's and even the odd 997 Porsche. I would also note that I know of several very succesfull real life race drivers that also actively sim race:
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Add to that Matt Neal, two-time BTCC champ! | ||
That's FANTASTIC !!!!! :):) :) Things like that make you smile & make a tear well up in the corner of your eye. Great Story. :) |