The thrill of car racing past me by years ago... When you get a phone call from your husband saying the car needs to be towed home on a flatbed because the radiator failed, well, not only does your heart skip a beat but so does the bank account.
He went to track days, put in some lap time, joined the Hoosier BMW Club and that was it.
Then the deliveries started.
A helmet, specialized driving gloves, Ferrari driving shoes, etc... New car parts... I really like our UPS guy. And when we lived in Indiana, car parts were even delivered to my work (imagine my surprise when I think it's a work package and it turns out to be the front end of a BMW).
This is why he has a shop in the basement and a shop in the garage. I'll have to take pics of the race shop at some point because now I'm sure y'all are curious to see what a race shop looks like (cars, car parts, welding tools, spare roll cages, extra seats and smelly men). Neither is it glitzy nor glamorous like Penske or Andretti Green Racing is. Sarah Fisher's race shop is really nice plus she's pretty awesome too - Graham Rahal drove in her cars last year. Unfortunately she's not big enough to get huge sponsorship like some of the other shops and I would really like to see that. I think that her team could do excellent if they had more funding (but just don't let me start spouting off like other race wives, it's really not like we matter that much in the world of racing. Generally wives are on the sidelines trying to not look to bored).
In any case, a roll cage was put into Bimmer's every day driving BMW (which I helped with, I'm actually pretty good at helping to fix cars but that's a whole other story) and then track days became more frequent and more expensive. He wanted more than just driving fast around a track trying to better his lap times.
He's actually going to be an instructor this year... if he has time...
WE decided (yes, WE, not HE) that racing was the next step. And so out of that decision the ChumpCar World Series has now taken over my life from late February to late October. There are famous racers that do a few races each year. Races take place in major tracks (like Road America and the Iowa Speedway) and some people have jumped from Chump to more famous racing teams and televised races. The picture below is Bimmer Man (in the gray car) at the Iowa Speedway.
Last weekend he was supposed to race at Road America but it was canceled due to weather. They're heading out for this weekend instead and Bimmer is super excited for the season opener. I'm pushing for the team to go race in Ensenada, Mexico - it's a street race, however in my excitement for going to Mexico I sort of forgot that I'd probably get stuck either in the car giving the guys a break or being on the pit crew and all suited up. I'd planned on just going to the beach and reading, shopping or hanging out by the hotel pool but I forgot - I'd have to actually work.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a heck of a lot of information - people that don't race are usually pretty curious and have a lot of questions.
If you're curious to see more, feel free to visit Bimmer's blog, Opposite Lock. He mostly talks about repairing cars, recaps of the races and the events.
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