COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

WRITTEN & PHOTOGRAPHED BY: ADAM GOLIGHTLY

In an alternate universe, I would have driven my last DE four years ago and would not have had the privilege to write this piece extolling the virtues of PCA’s High Performance Driver’s Education program. Then again, in an alternate universe I, someone who should probably barely be trusted with a torque wrench, would not have recently changed the shifter cables on my family’s ever-forgiving Cayman. It would be silly to think of these alternate universes as objectively “bad.” If we can hope to take any positives from the last eighteen months, it is that we must always count our blessings, and there are far more important things in life than being around fast cars and fun people. I can say with certainty, though, that I would be a distinctly different person if I had taken the hint four years ago and dropped out of this financial black hole of a sport. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and that is because of the program the Lone Star Region has put together. At first blush, it would not seem terribly difficult to build a strong community out of a group of folks obsessed with automotive excitement. Beautiful cars and the act of driving them quickly are pretty much the polar opposites of religion and politics: there is never a bad time or place to bring them up. The joy of the LSR DE community, though, goes much further than that. No one, from the greenest Green run group student to the most grizzled veteran racer—yes, I’d hazard a guess even you Haas—leaves the track without learning something new, usually from someone eager to share anything they can that might help others. No one leaves the track with a mechanical issue the diagnosis and repair of which has not been attempted by at least five other drivers far more mechanically knowledgeable than themselves. And no one leaves the track without new friends and new memories that will likely serve as the source of a laugh or a sigh of relief or both for many weekends to come. Often, the most treasured moments of this community come from the combination of all three; such a combination certainly explains why I am still driving today. The first time I drove at the Circuit of the Americas, I was a mechanically ignorant young person just starting out in the sport, terrified of imperfection in everything I did and accompanied as ever by my part-time pit crew, full-time mother. Equipped with nothing more than years of “seat time” watching racing on TV and a few weekends of exposure masquerading as experience, a smooth, peaceful event would have been ideal. Instead, I stalled on the grid, tripped a temperature alarm on the second lap, and picked up a puncture on the way in to check out the alarm. My

weekend was done. My time playing racecar driver was done. It was time to drop the act and let the family sports car live out a peaceful early retirement in the garage. Or I should say, it would have been if this didn’t also happen to be my first event with PCA. Within minutes, there was a swarm of instructors around the car, bringing to bear OBD readers (cheers, Brad) and patch kits (thank you, Ramez) and more than anything their time and generosity (I’m still trying to work out how to repay you both Philippe and Guillaume). Everyone’s sole focus was figuring out what this suddenly temperamental car was on about and getting me back on track. In two hours, “we” had remedied the Cayman, and I had been distracted from the doubts in my head by a ride around a wet track in an air-cooled race car that can’t help but quicken the pulse of any human with a pulse left to quicken. That weekend at COTA cemented my love for the sport and confirmed its hopefully permanent place in my life. More importantly, I caught the bug that drives the true magic of the LSR DE community: I set my mind to the task of finding ways to give something back to this group of enthusiastic, passionate people who had very literally kept me in the hobby. Everyone I meet comes away from their first track weekend with new friends who made their weekend better and an eagerness for the chance to come back and return the favor to this wonderful community of people. Now as an instructor, the greatest privilege I have when I go to the racetrack is to occasionally have the chance to be one of those people for whom someone is thankful. For those of you who have not yet joined us, I can tell you with certainty this is the mindset every instructor brings to their students, and these folks are what will make your weekend special more than any top speed or flashy picture. Of course, I won’t claim either of those will ever be a bad perk either. As one of the lucky individuals who gets to call himself a PCA instructor, I also get to witness in my students every weekend the confidence our HPDE program can instill in its participants. I have seen this confidence take many forms. Some first-time students are unsure of whether they “belong” there and whether they have what it takes to bring a car close to the edge of its performance envelope. You can watch even the most timid of these students take massive steps through the weekend: they start to believe in themselves, their abilities, and their potential to improve. Some first-time students come out with an estimation of their inherent skill that might be best described as “outsized.” The type of confidence these folks gain is just as important. Anyone who is fortunate enough to come out and take part in this wonderfully frivolous activity has presumably been fairly successful in life. To watch these highly successful, motivated people build the confidence to concede they are not the best, to ask questions and put themselves in a position to learn, is a fascinating evolution to observe.

Personally, the chance to participate in these events has brought tremendous upside to my life far beyond the paddock. As someone who applies tremendous pressure to myself in everything I do, someone who constantly struggles to feel he is good enough and faces all the resulting inner doubts and de-

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I’ve made and continue to make countless friends in a community whose only criteria for membership are a passion for cool cars and a willingness to learn and help.

mons, I default to fear and anxiety when faced with any new challenge. Being on track, however, gives me confidence and brings me peace. It gives me something to point to and remind myself that I willingly do an activity that involves a certain element of risk, an activity that not everyone is comfortable doing. It serves as a constant reminder that the world keeps turning when you are imperfect—seeing the small scratches in the headliner where it made friends with my helmet during a spin at TWS does that quite well. Most significant of all, it provides an arena in which I have some level of ability irrefutable by even myself and some amount that I can contribute to those around me. It is not merely the act of driving on track that brought these benefits; while that joy can be euphoric, it is unfortunately also fleeting. No, these benefits stem from learning to do so in a program and in a community like LSR PCA. Our events are focused specifically on making everyone feel successful and making them catch the bug, and I think anyone would contend they do a tremendous job of that. I remember each promotion to a new run group better than I can remember most academic or professional accomplishments. The day I completed Instructor Training School and was turned loose on some unsuspecting students in a crisp new PCA Instructor shirt will always stand out as one of my proudest moments, a feeling far too fleeting for those of you who share this mentality of self-doubt. I have that moment and several similar since then because of every individual in our program, from our ever-patient corner workers, grid marshals, and black flaggers (we do appreciate you all, I swear) to our instructors, mentors, and volunteers. Around seven years ago, I was able to go to my first track event about a year after getting my license. I am beyond privileged to have had the amazing opportunities I’ve had behind the wheel since then, almost all of which I can recall as though they happened yesterday. The driving credentials that mean far more to me at this point, though, are the opportunities our DE program has brought me. I remember every student and every mechanical question presented to me in the paddock (God help those folks resorting to me for mechanical queries), and I’ve made and continue to make countless friends in a community whose only criteria for membership are a passion for cool cars and a willingness to learn and help. That is the most important thing to know about the HPDE program put on by the outstanding folks who run our events: everyone is welcome. While there will unfortunately always be a certain barrier to entry for this sport given the necessary expenses, we strive to encourage anyone who has the ability to participate to do so. The coolest moment I’ve had as an instructor so far was coaching my brother in a base model Subaru during our recent Intro to HPDE program at COTA. It would have been easy to feel out of place in that car amid a line of beautiful, high performance luxury cars. But, when you have the chance to be on a racetrack as you watch and listen to gorgeous sports cars recede into the distant sunset, you will fall in love with this sport whether you’re in a golf cart, a VW Golf, or a Gulf-liveried GT3. Once that initial curiosity brings you here, the confidence and community our DE program provide will keep you here. So, to those of you who haven’t yet been out with us, I implore you to grab your car and sign up. To those of you who are already coming out with us, I ask you to remember we are all part of what makes this group special and to bring that attitude to the next weekend ready to help, to learn, and to share. And to anyone who comes out to our next event, I encourage you to share your highs and lows with myself or anyone else, as this program and this community only grow stronger the more everyone’s voices are heard. J

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