So I thought my dad was cool with me racing but apparently he isn't. He's even asked my what class I was racing and we've talked about it for some reason it's a problem now. He thinks I'm going to break something. Yes my car is old, but I keep up with maintenance.

What would be some good reasons why he should let me race?
There is an autocross on sunday so I've got a day to convince him.

Take him out with you and let him drive so he can see what it is all about. or maybe download some videos that shows what you will be doing and the typical speeds involved.

Also let him know that autocrossing is a very safe activity and what you learn from it actually makes you a better driver on the street.

If he's worried that you might break something, he might be right. Competition does break stuff. Part of that is up to you, though. For instance, don't drop the clutch at 5 grand unless you can afford to replace your 10-bolt (if that's what you have). There's also one site that I don't run at very often because it's rough on cars, and when I do compete there, I try to drive at about 95-98%.

The good news is, if you break something, you will learn how to fix it.

Asking him to go with you is a good idea.

Better yet, get him involved. When I ran my first event in 1975, my Dad preached to me about breaking stuff, racing being a "rich man's" hobby etc. He attended a few events and even bragged on how I was doing. (He was a chevy dealer parts manager). The best things I can say about a young person autocrossing is that it makes street racing seem so lame, and you'll learn car control techniques you'll use everyday. The best drivers ed ever. Take him and show him.

Your best shot is to bring him along. If he is dead set against it, then bring him with and both watch an event. You can probably get someone to take each of you on a ride too.

I would imagine that you could also get one of the officers of the club to speak with Dad and explain to him about what autocross is about and what they do to ensure it's fun and safe.

You may have to wait until you are 18 on this one if the above suggestions do not work. If so, just use the time to study driving technique and start working as a volunteer like a corner worker or cone chaser. You'll learn lots.

Also, if you said "racing" you might have sunk your ship - competing against a clock is different than competing with other folks on a race course. Racing brings up all kinds of negatives with parents and teens, for good reason. If your parents think you are going to street race they will appropriately lay an egg!

"Dad, I understand your fears and I have a good healthy respect for this kind of thing. I see my friends racing their cars on the street and that scares me. this venue gives me a great outlet to mash the right pedal and do it in a safe and controlled environment. Only thing to hit is a cone."

"At these events, there are a lot of adults that are there to offer there help and tutoring to help me learn car and self control, both of which make me safer on the street."

"I would really enjoy you and mom coming along and seeing first hand just how safe and controlled the event is run. Meet the other drivers, the officials and see the safety standards they require. Maybe you will see something I'm over looking. Plus I could use the help in the pits."

As a parent, going at it from this angle tells me that you've thought it through, researched in thoroughly and aren't discounting the "fear factor". Parents typically don't want to limit their kids' growth and squelch their dreams. They weigh fear vs reward. So, acknowledge their fear and market the reward.

Take your dad street racing and then take him to whatevever legal racing you do. Ask him which one he prefers.

Pat

hahahaha. Thanks for the advice. I said racing since I do also go to the dragstips ocassionally, and have just starting autocrossing.

if you have an outlet for aggressive driving like autocross or track days, then you are much less likely to race around on the streets... and that is a good thing...

once you become skilled at racing, street racing will not turn you on

Totally agree and this is what happens for most folks. Once you make driving mistakes in controlled conditions (such as on a road course or autox) you realize how easy and unforgiving it would be to make these kind of mistakes on the street.

Also introduce him to men his age at the autocross, particularly any who you know whose kids also participate. We tend to listen to and believe people who we see as being like ourselves. As an example, I met a guy at an autocross yesterday who was relating how his son who is only on his temps, co-drove with him at a prior event and beat his time. You could tell how proud he was. A person like him would be ideal to talk with your dad.

Howdy,

So is the primary reason he doesn't want you autoxing the fear of breaking something on the car?

Parts breakage due to driving at the limit or damage due to a crash?

If the 2nd, there's lots of ways to point out that autox (usually) makes every effort to drastically reduce the opportunites for crash damage.

If the 1st, about the only thing you can do is explain how you'll pay for / fix anything that gets broken.

Are you sure that's the only reason he doesn't want you doing it?

Also... I'd make a large distinction between autox and other forms of motorsports like track days or roadracing. Heck, even dragracing is probably more dangerous (to you and the car) than autox. Since most folks don't have a clear picture about what autox is... Are you sure he knows what you're wanting to do here?

Mark

I'd say it also depends on who's paying for the car/insurance/repairs. If the car breaks down, and you're left borrowing their car to get to school/work, he's got a valid point. That being said, if you don't beat on the drivetrain at the starting line, autox will pretty much only wear down tires in the short term. I assume you're not doing track days, since that's much more brutal on the car's mechanicals. I think getting him involved is important. I used to invite my parents to the autoxes - they'd bring chairs and a picnic lunch, and hang out - neither one is a "car person", so it's just spending time with their kids, doing something fun. It's a great sport to get into, and teaches you a lot about car control (hey - that's another good one - if you know your car at the limit, you'll be able to save yourself on the street if it gets slick, someone cuts you off, etc...) and suspension/mechanicals.

Andris

Make sure he knows it is a timed event and you are competing against the clock. Most people don't know that. Parts do break, but a lot fewer parts than with drag racing, IMHO, and I have run stock-class and prepared-class cars.

Learning car control is the other important message.

As the others have said, a picture is worth a thousand words. Take him with you. He'll see. I don't think my dad approved of me autocrossing either, but I never bothered to take him with me. Wished I had. You should, too.

I am reminded of our Tour even last weekend. After the event started on Saturday, someone told me there was a guy from Progressive sitting outside the entrance taking down license plates. That infuriated me. If I had known he was out there, I would have walked out, smacked him on the back of the head, and said "What do you think is going on in there? People are learning and practicing car control. If you don't think that will lower accident rates, you need to get into another line of business!"

Just as a point of information, most insurance policies state that coverage is voided if you participate in any form of timed motorsport event. The Progressive guy was probably going to check his list of cars against his listing of policy holders. That's a slimey thing to do, but increasingly common in today's insurance climate.

Last year at an import drag event at Englishtown, there was an OEM manufacturer of turbo charged performance cars that went through the pits collecting vin numbers in order to void warranties! The dealership that I bought my '02 Z28 from voided my warranty at 1200 miles and placed a note in the GM data base to that effect because I changed from the stock stamped steel torque arm to an adjustable tubular arm!

The reality is that involvement in any form of motorsports today is a complex proposition. Most of the time you have to assume that all the potential liability is is your own- regardless of insurance. That being said, you have to decide how much your personal freedom is worth to you.

As for your father's concerns, I am the father of two boys (19 and 22) and fully support any interest they have in performance driving and skill building under controlled conditions in a safe and legal environment. I'd much rather my sons learn car control skills and experience in a reasonably safe circumstance rather than have them have to try to learn them in a crisis situation on the highway. Living in NJ they have to drive on the Garden State Parkway daily. It is a much less controlled and less safe environment than any autocross venue or road course they could drive. Performance driving serves more purposes than simply providing thrills and using up tires.

I was thinking about this thread yesterday while I was in the driveway with my 2-1/2 yo daughter. We bought a bike trailer for her yesterday. I hooked it up to my wife's bicycle and left it in the driveway. I could see her face light up and point at it from her car seat when they arrived home from work/daycare. I got her out of her car seat and she started pointing and looking and telling me she wanted to get in the Tunnel - every plaything she has that is tent based is a tunnel, we need to work on her vocabulary. We put her in the trailer and rode her around for a while. She bawled her eyes out when we took her in for dinner.

We have a picture of her in a friends Elise from the Deven's tour last summer. I sit her in the Trans Am and she loves it. We're taking her to a local cruise night tonight. She loved it last year. Her favorites were a Harley and a 1st gen 454 Camaro. We'll see what she goes for tonight.

What I was reminded of yesterday is her dad is putting money away for a kart already. She can compete in Solo event in 6 years. I hope my daughter will be interested enough to drive with me.

The kart program is pretty active in New England. (hope they don't mind me using them as an example)--> We have a three generation family running - Bill, Mark, and now Kayla Goodale. Mark's wife/Kayla's mom also drives. Mark is our current Solo Chair. Another family runs karts in solo - dad, mom, son, daughter. Dad and son also run with karting organizations on road courses and hit some pretty high speeds.

Four or five of us in NE have girls about a year and a half apart. Looks like we'll have a big class in '12.

We've had and have several parent-children cars, too.

Some of our core workers began "racing" as youngsters with their parents. Not only are the young folks learning car control, but they are also learning about competetion, winning and losing, responsibility, gaining friendships, and participating in an event as a family. Can't say that about alot of families these days.


I'm looking forward to driving with my daughter if she wants to . It may give me some comfort when she asks for the keys to my car someday. We'll be doing something together - although I may need to take up ballroom dancing at this rate to do things with her. I'll have less fear of her getting injured than if she were involved in, for instance, soccer or gymnastics (yes, I've seen some scary injuries in soccer games)

I realize you're older than the kart kids, but it may help with dad from a dad's perspective.