Well, everyone, first off I want to apologize for the long, long layoff since my last blog post. While there hasn't been a whole lot to talk about with my racing efforts, there has been no shortage of things going on. So, I thought I'd take this time to bring everyone up to speed (pun intended!)on what the latest is with my racing, as well as share with everyone what I've learned this past year. I had actually planned to post this on New Year's day, but my computer suffered a tragic, epic demise.
OK. First off. My Indy Lights program seems headed for a bit of a short detour. Our primary sponsor prospect backed out rather unceremoniously towards the end of the summer. Fortunately, I've got some very good people helping me find the sponsorship needed to get back in the car and finish what I started. Thanks Jason for your fast and growing friendship, support and belief in my abilities. Thanks too, Elio and Dan, for being such great friends over all these years, and continuing to be right there with me to make this racing dream a reality. So, with all that said, where is the program at right now? Well, at the end of this past season, Elio, Dan, Jason, and myself all decided that everything was on the table, and while I have a lot of experience in sedans, like Porsches, Corvettes, etc., our focus turned to the Star Mazda series. Certainly the fact that the Indy Racing League formally introduced their ladder system at the PRI show in December which now includes the Star Mazda and USF2000 series' helped with our decision. My primary goal is still to get to Indy for the 500 while still keeping my hand in sports cars for the long term. In the meantime, we have a developing relationship with another driver through Jason that may actually lead us to competing in the USF2000 series for 2010. It's not a done deal by any means, but it is looking very encouraging. While it may seem, on the surface to be a step backwards, we may actually be able to structure this with a team that has an existing Indy Lights program that is very competitive and could afford us the possibility of "skipping" Star Mazda, and moving right from F2000 to Lights and then we're well positioned for an Indy Car attempt. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards (especially in the current economy) in order to take two steps forward. Did you get all that?
As for my other racing related endeavors, there's plenty to talk about. I recently got a high degree of satisfaction from a process I started 3 years ago. In my role as the Assistant Track Manager over at the Autobahn Country Club, I had approached the IRL about certifying the Autobahn as an Indy Lights testing track. Certainly, having just completed my rookie test in a Lights, I had a vested interest. Well, just over a month ago, Tony Cotman, the IndyCar Vice President of competition approved the Autobahn North track as Lights testing certified. Yea! My persistence finally paid off! As well, I will be the point person at the Autobahn coordinating and booking all Lights testing at the track. Also, I have stayed in close contact with the Autobahn, since being asked to move to contract status in March of 2009 due to cost cutting measures at the club, and we have enjoyed a very open and positive relationship. I still have privileges at the club and do quite a bit of private coaching and development work for member teams based there. Having spoken with them over the recent holidays, they have expressed a strong interest in having me involved at the club for the foreseeable future in not only the role I just described but also to do some instruction for their various programs they plan to put "on the books" for 2010. That's a good thing. Also, I'm working on some winter driving programs that may also keep me busy during the cold winter months here in Milwaukee. Hopefully, we'll be able to get those nailed down in the next few weeks. Check back on my blog and websites for the latest updates on that!
In the meantime, I'm keeping very busy. My family is definitely keeping my hopping. The kids all have alot going on with school, winter softball, hockey, performances, etc. I'm also working on expanding my driver development company, Red Arrow Autosports, and I'll be taking some classes at a small business center here to help with those efforts as well as another business that I'm strongly looking to get started in addition to growing Red Arrow. The recent news that a couple high profile names have started driver development and management companies just tell me I had the right idea already a couple of years ago. It would seem perhaps, the timing is right in the market. (Either that, or I was just ahead of my time! I'll go with that!).
So, what did I learn this year? Damn good question! Well, first of all, I learned that you can't count on anything! When I permanently moved from Phoenix, it was due to the Autobahn wanting me there full time, year 'round, and my wife had secured a full time job in downtown Milwaukee. That was before the economy tanked and the automotive industry took the brunt of it. Certainly, when you work in the automotive related world, you are not immune to it's struggles. That not only caught me out when it came to work, but it also has hurt us in our hunt for sponsorship as it has many other racers. However, that also taught me even more about not giving up! When you're passionate about something, you absolutely cannot give up on it! That's one of the most important lessons I feel I can teach my children.
I also learned that no matter how good a deal seems and how sincere someone can sound, unless you've known them for a long time, you can't trust them. The main sponsor I mentioned at the beginning of this blog made a big deal of his word being his bond, and about old school handshakes essentially being the same. Well, after all of that talk, his word turned out to be worthless. After having jumped through hoops to accomodate him, he didn't do what he said he would. Lesson learned. Any of you racers out ther relate to this? I have learned from that mistake and won't make it again. Fortunately, I took the high road, as did my "team" helping me, and we can go forward knowing that we did everything right, and can live to fight another day, and feel good about how we chose to handle the whole situation. Consider it a step to a bigger, better relationship that will really work for everyone and that will provide a strong measure of satisfaction.
I also learned how much I'm glad to be able to spend more time with my family. The past few years when I was splitting my year between the Autobahn and the Bondurant school, I was away from my family for substantial periods of time. I'm grateful for getting to be much more intimately involved in the daily trials and tribulations of my kids in particular with everything that they are doing and contending with every day. It's nice to know how much more of a positive influence I've had on them, being able to be more "hands on" every day.
Finally, I've learned that not only do bad things happen to good people, but also that at some point, eventually, life is going to kick everyone of us in the teeth, or in the gut and put us down. At that point, it's not about what has happened to us, but what we choose to do about it. I choose to keep getting up and fighting again, being persistent and never quitting. It's like I say on my emails; it's the absolute refusal to fail. Call is personal pride, call it stubbornness, call it whatever you want. But I know that you can't keep good people down for long. And if there's anyone who doubts that, just look at the picture of our good friend Mr. McQueen in this blog to know my thoughts on that.
Now, while the challenges of 2009 aren't totally behind me as yet, there is sufficient cause for optimism going into 2010, and I am very excited to make 2010 a better, stronger year than 2009. I expect to be back on the regular blogging path here on this blogsite, at least monthly, if not twice a month. Stay tuned!
KK
