In my experience as a young driver and as the leader of our youth programming, kids have a funny way of rising to the challenge.
When I was just 13 years old, my dad signed me up for racing school to become a safer driver before hitting public roads. The first time I passed 100 mph was my eureka moment, the moment I knew this was what I would do for the rest of my life. It didn’t matter that I was the slowest among the school’s 30 students, or that this was the first thing I craved that didn’t come naturally to me. I pushed ahead and eventually made history as North America’s only professional teenage female sportscar racer at the time (now, there are around a dozen — one of my favorite stats!), as an IMSA Rookie of the Year, and as the only woman globally to win a race in Radical Cup North America.
A dozen years later, I’ve watched a similar dynamic play out in my youth programming. Of the 100+ young drivers I’ve helped get on track, there’s no substantive correlation between speed on day one and future racing performance. In racing, like in life, persistence overrides innate programming.
Since entering professional racing, I’ve worked at startups, graduated from Harvard, and joined Bain & Company as a strategy consultant. Despite being in intense environments off track, the skill sets on which I most often lean come from my time on track — particularly during the formative years of ages 13-18 when I learned to drive and made my pro racing debut.
- Independence: In my experience as a young driver, and then as the leader of our youth programming, kids have a funny way of rising to the challenge. When given the power to manipulate machinery at 100 mph, you acutely feel the responsibility of doing so, and become more independent as a result.
- Safety: To avoid collisions, most people instinctively turn while braking. In racing, this is “trailing throttle oversteer;” the car’s weight shifts to the front tires when you release the throttle, causing increased frontal grip. It’s why “normal” drivers avoiding deer are often injured by off-road collisions, not by deer. It’s a hard instinct to re-program without practice, but young racecar drivers aren’t “normal” drivers; they have practiced these defensive driving skills for hours on track. It’s the reason I was a safer driver than my high school peers, and why many of our young racers often drive in inclement weather while their parents ride as passengers.
- Confidence: The first time I had to stand my ground in pro racing against an angry driver, I was 16, facing off a 32-year-old veteran yelling gendered expletives in front of fans. Years of being the youngest racer gives you thick skin and prepares you to approach and de-escalate situations.
- Humility: Conversely, some conflicts arise from your missteps. “Small” mistakes, like miscalculating space to another car by a few inches, can result in big crashes. As a competitor, you want to apologize graciously; as a young person whose reputation is more easily marred by errors, you need to do so without groveling.
- Teamwork: While racing may not seem like a “team” sport on its surface, there are dozens of teammates who put you into contention. Technicians impact the car’s performance, pit crew timing can win or lose a race, and sponsors determine whether you race each season. Every piece is critical, and your child’s primary role as a driver is to be a good teammate.
- Perspective: Once you get used to making split-second decisions at racecar speeds, normal life slows down. “High stakes” is relative, and most situations — whether it’s gossip at school or drama at work — can be resolved calmly.
- Persistence: On track, you pursue relentless optimization — inches of asphalt, milliseconds — to win, knowing you usually won’t. But at each green flag, winning is possible. Like when achieving other great things in life, motorsports require compulsion and constant optimism.
- Grace under pressure: After my craziest crashes and heart-wrenching losses in pro racing, I have seconds before going on live TV. Young aspiring racers will be watching (I founded a trackside educational program for young girls called Girls With Drive, so I am particularly aware of this). As racecar drivers, your children will become spokespeople, and take on the associated responsibility of being good role models.
I believe that facilitating these life lessons are some of the greatest gifts we can give to the next generation, and it is the most important reason we have a differential focus on youth and family programming. The other reason? Bragging rights — your 13-year-old daughter is kicking ass in a racecar. Enough said.