A dad wrote in about his 14-year-old "motorhead" son choosing a career that's not consistent with what mom (tax lawyer) and he (accountant) are happy with and he wanted to know how to deal with it.
Their son wants to be a mechanic and a race car driver. They're having serious anxiety over it.
Since his son's first words were about cars and baby pitched a fit if parents tried to read Dr. Seuss to him instead of Car & Driver or Road & Track, they're not going to change his mind. It's time to get on the team.
My recommendation was to give him the best education in the field possible and lots and lots of hands-on training with local, small shop owners. Maybe a vocational program when he gets to be 16...just to get him started.
Brian, one of our listeners, sent along an amazing resource. He pointed out that the University of Northwestern Ohio has a program called High Performance Motorsports in their College of Applied Technologies. This is EXACTLY what dad should be looking into. As I looked around the website, I found this...a list of organizations, many of which are motorsports-oriented.
Some of the clubs and organizations include: Auto Cross, Drag Club (that's drag racing), Motorsports Team, Off-Road Club, Over-The-Wall Club (for pit crews), Race club, Technical Support Team for racing and events featuring the students and their skills.
Our listener, Brian, has opened up an entire world of education and experience for the Dr. Claudia Family of Friends. We get the best "stuff" from our listeners/parents/families. Just incredible.
I'm fascinated by the Netflix Series called The Fastest Car. This is where a supercar (Lambo, Maclaren, etc) race against cars built by self-taught mechanics in their backyards or home garages. These guys are not only talented, but inspiring.
Most of these cars are much, much older and all of the effort is put into performance and not body work. They sure aren't pretty, but they sure burn up the track. It's a super great series for your motorhead of any age, girl or boy.
Good luck, Moms and Dads! (caps intended!)
Claudia
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