Romancing Supermodels

Driving someone else's racecar

Mac Demere / autoMedia.com

Driving someone else's racecar is like romancing a supermodel. Just to get a chance to begin a conversation you'll have to be determined and assertive without being obstinate or aggressive. To move beyond that requires daring and innovation, but you can't be brazen or wacky. The difference is indistinguishable.

Rules of Attraction

You must be immune to rejection. Failure doesn't come with helpful pointers for improvement: You won't know whether you were really close or light years away.

Even if you meet with success, your first indiscretion just might be your last. Seeking your spot will be a long line of eager suitors, all of whom are at least as talented, and charming as you. Most are richer.

Just as guys will hit on a beautiful woman when her date is standing beside her, before an injured driver makes it to the infield care center his car-owner's cell phone will begin ringing. If you want the ride, you have to do it, too. The supermodels aren't going to call you.

This effort is fatiguing. I didn't really retire from racing. I just stopped chasing rides.

Big Dates

Over the course of my racing career, I had the pleasure to compete in someone else's racecar numerous times: We ran in the Daytona 24 hours, NASCAR Southwest Tour Series, IMSA, SCCA, and several short ovals. The opportunities weren't wasted: In 24-hour races, we took two overall wins, three class victories, and another couple of top-five finishes. In the Southwest Tour race—the '93 event at the track formerly known as Sears Point—I was running 11th directly behind a little-known sprint-car driver named Jeff Gordon. Then there was a wreck. He went the right way. I went the wrong way. He makes $15 million a year. I'm here writing to you. Hey, the only difference between Jeff and I is that his wife's half is going to be a whole lot bigger than my wife's half.

As a writer for a major auto magazine, I sweet-talked more than a score of car owners—Winston Cup, IRL, CART, World of Outlaws, Le Mans, Busch Series, and many more—into letting me take a few laps in their pride and joy, so that I could write a road test about the experience. Often, the initial response to my request was: "Yew wanna dew whut whit mah whut—" Then I mentioned that six million adults would pick up a copy of the issue. That often changed their attitude—but not always.

Love or Money?

Car owners are looking for a lot of things, but money is very high on the list. Kind of like supermodels. I was able to provide a step toward that cash: Media exposure. I wrote about the experience of driving their car, and mentioned every sponsor in glowing terms. The owner showed the article to his sponsors or potential sponsors. He got a check. Or justified the check he'd already received.