I remember it clear as a bell: I’m on my hands and knees in the hallway of my grandfather’s house, pushing a large plastic toy that’s vaguely in the shape of a G-body NASCAR racer, splattered with “Richard Petty” stickers all over it. I was enamored with racing. I wanted to go fast. I wanted to win. I wanted to be the guy standing on the roof of his car, screaming like a maniac, beaming with pride, spraying the champagne, getting kissed by the trophy girl. That dream…that dream died. And it died quickly. You didn’t just go to school to be a race car driver. You drove every weekend. You busted your ass every weekend. And that was before you got into the questions of money or talent. Did I have talent? Maybe. Money? Hell no. There was no money for a kid to go tearing around the race track. I was dreaming. I’d see when I got older, when the Real World came into focus. I’d see.
About that loss of innocence that comes with age…it’s a kick in the junk, ain’t it? You learn that those who can afford to, make it to the first step and everybody else is just trying to keep up. You learn that unless you sell enough T-shirts or stickers or other merch, that you’re on-the-tour dining experience can be summed up with two golden arches and a clown handing you a cheeseburger. You learn how fickle the fan base can be, what it’s like to be hated simply because you aren’t their favorite, and what it’s like to bust your ass and put your heart into everything you love, only to find out that it might not be worth it in the end.
This week, a rather disheartening story started floating the waves: Renee Gracie, the first full-time female Supercars racer, had given up the dream to race in IndyCar or NASCAR and instead turned to a career as an adult entertainer because it’s lucrative from a financial perspective. One statement that really hit home: “I tried to do my best but it got to a point where my dream vanished.” I want to say that’s a one-time thing, that her story is unique, but it’s not…at least, as far as the “this isn’t working anymore” thing is concerned, not the other part that I’m certain a number of you looked up in the last couple of minutes.
Back in the day, it was possible. Hard work and knowledge, plus the understanding that you probably weren’t going to be the richest house on the block, meant that you got to do what you loved and made a little coin off of it. That was decades ago…those days are gone. We see signs at tracks all the time talking about the next generation looking up to you. They exist to keep your rowdy asses on your best behavior, but what do you tell the kid who wants to be just like you growing up? “Sorry, kid, you’ve got to buy your way into racing”? “Don’t bother…go learn how to be (INSERT RANDOM JOB HERE) and don’t waste your time.” Or do you feed into the hope, much like parents do when the kid walks up with that letter to Santa Claus? What do you do? How do you convince someone who still has stars in their eyes of making it professionally as a racing driver that it’s viable when, from the outside looking in, it looks impossible?
The old adage “How do you make a small fortune in racing?” Start with a a big fortune. Is unfortunately applicable
Well, that was a depressing read. It’s always been hard to make a living racing, nothing new under the sun there. Now in the upper ranks of American motorsports it’s frustrating to watch kids with a check and marketability with questionable talent. That aside, racing now still takes all you give and everything you got.
As for Renee, her choice to leave racing to make bank getting it on for the camera speaks nothing of the state of racing, just volumes about who she is and her values.
You have to have parents willing to shell out their money to get you started, or work in the car industry of some kind.
Agree with Dave, whole lotta choices between racing and doing porn. How athletes Ibn any sport don’t make it? Most.
While I agree with the sentiment, I feel I need to clarify a couple things. She wasn’t the first full time female V8Supercar racer, that was Simona DeSalvestro. And I’ve probably spelled her name wrong. Second, Renee Gracie drove in the Super2 category, which is exactly what its name implies – a second tier series that acts as a feeder series for the main game.
I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of her before this news came up; that may say all that needs to be said about her results on track.
I think the most disappointing thing about this is that she has said her career in the adult entertainment industry is the most fulfilling accomplishment she’s had. And this is somebody who has raced at Bathurst, a lofty goal that millions of young Aussie gearheads – myself included – would give almost anything to achieve.