“Racing generates the one drug that can’t be bought outright with cash. It’s the dirty little secret that non-racing folks don’t quite grasp. If you do it even once, you will forever want more of it and you will spend your fortunes trying to get it. “
That’s what it all boils down to and the thing that any n0n racer or even casual fans of race-oriented sport, mechanized or not, can’t really understand until they actually experience it. It’s not a slam on them, just the facts.
My first ‘real’ racing experience came on snowmobiles back in the 80s when a 50 horespower 340 cc machine was pretty quick and a 440cc Yamaha SRX could be tweaked to within an inch of it’s life at 125 HP. Today, That’s recreational stock stuff. But we had fun regardless because 100 mph in ice with your eye level about a foot off it in the turns is not for the faint-hearted.
It’s really hard to describe that ‘rush’ when you really think about it. When you have a practically non stop adrenaline rush like that, it’s sensory overload. You perceive a thousand little things all at once and thanks to the ‘clarity of mind’ that adrenaline forces on the brain as a part of what it does, you ‘understand it’ and process it.. that ‘feedback’ refereed to earlier.
I say this tongue in cheek, but it’s true. A dog has a few thousand times the sense of smell as a human. What do you think he’s doing when he sticks his head out the window at 80 mph on the freeway? He’s getting that sensory overload I’m talking about.
The body itself is operating in a far higher state of capability and reacts with the ‘rattlesnake on crank’ quickness that another poster refereed to. And depending on the sport, that mental and physical state that TV commentators call “the zone” can last for the duration of the race, whether a few laps or a few hours. This is a level of physical performance far above your ‘average’ and you are very much mentally aware of it. Feels pretty damn good!
Then, when it’s over, you are physically and mentally drained and you are then flooded with another rush of natural endorphins as the brain preps the body to deal with the physical and chemical exertion you and ‘it’ just placed on the system overall.
There is not one other experience on God’s green earth, nor one drug available that replicates all that. If you ever wondered why people will do things like go spend fortunes for the ability to hit 200 mph for 5 hours, go broke and then struggle to build back up to do it again or pound themselves into wrecks, risking broken bones (and getting them quite often) and even killing themselves on dirt bikes/mountain bikes and in other forms of motorsports, now you have a better idea.
But until (in the general sense) you actually do it, you will never really understand it.
The casually bandied about term “Adrenaline junkie” is a very real “addiction” in it’s own way to many.
It's always obvious when talking to a fellow junkie. I don't mean to make it out like it's some sort of exclusive club either. I've begged people I know to just try it once just so they would stop calling me crazy.
My first experience was WKA 5hp stock go-karts roughly 25 years ago. I spent well over 1500 bucks just to get in that first heat. 5hp stock lasted exactly 1 Sunday. I proceeded to spend all of my savings moving to 100cc yamaha pipe. That lasted until I had enough money to put together my first shifter. It had to be faster and I needed more. That craving went on for almost 10 years until I called it quits.
I had to decide between my own selfish addiction and providing a more stable future for my wife and kids. I may have loved racing, but I wasn't anywhere near good enough to every get past running local Indiana tracks. I remember talking with my wife one night about starting to save for kids college. We were going over annual tuition costs and all I remember is her talking bla bla bla while I secretly calculated in my head that I could almost get a complete Ed Pink for the same money. That's when I realized I needed to sell off the stuff and quit.
I don't go to the races anymore. All it takes is to get one whiff of that sweet smell of burning methanol (and you KNOW what I am talking about) and it starts all over again... it's so funny how your body starts to react to those old triggers and the smell was always my favorite.
God, I really hate being a has-been.