Why we race: the drivers

Editor's note: this is the first in a three-part series focusing on why people take part in auto racing. Part II is on car owners and Part III is on the tracks, officials and fans.

It's a simple question with a complex answer.

Those involved in auto racing in the United States often field it from family, fans, co-workers and fellow racers: Why?

Why take part in this dangerous, expensive, time-invested sport? Why involve yourself with a sport you can't do in your driveway or backyard?

For millions of people across the country, the answer can come easy or hard, but they always have one. Unlike any traditional sport in the United States, racing requires a commitment beyond a single person, and because that's true, it involved the most passionate group of people.

So let's take a crack at answering that question. In this three-part series, we'll focus on the three main aspects of racing - the drivers, the car-owners and then everything that makes a race tick; its tracks, race officials and fans.

------------

The appeal can be found pretty quickly from a driver's perspective.

Think about it - when you ask a little kid what they want to be when they grow up, what are the typical answers? Fireman, doctor, police officer and … racecar driver.

The idea of driving a car as fast as you possibly can - an adrenaline-inducing, daredevil act - is one that excites a great number of people. Typically, the step from a street car to a racecar involves some type of family connection. But once it's made, however it's made, there's often no going back.

Motorsports get their hooks in you quickly.

'I don't remember a time in my life I didn't want to race,” said Cedar Rapids native and NASCAR driver Landon Cassill. 'I can't even tell you the 'ah-ha” moment. Growing up around cars and the car business helped me have an interest in automobiles. And watching NASCAR races on Sunday - I just wanted to be a racecar driver.”

Competitiveness is pretty much the defining quality of anyone who participates in sports in general, and if you had to zero in on a bottom-line answer to the question of why racers race, that would be it.

The chorus has been repeated, in some form or another, throughout racing's history that drivers would race hard for absolutely nothing other than to beat everyone else. Put them in a racecar or on an ATV down a dirt road, and they want to win.

It's part of a racer's DNA in an ego-driven (sometimes in a positive way, sometimes not) sport. Proving you're the best is as powerful motivation as anything.

'It's about showing up, having the team effort and just knowing you're the guy who worked the hardest that week or figured something out before everyone else,” said Cosgrove native and IMCA Late Model racer Andy Eckrich. 'I don't like getting beat, but it's OK. I'm going to load the car up and go work on it when I get home (to make it better for next time).

'If you can't take losing every once in a while, you better get out of racing because you're going to lose a lot more than you win.”

Make no mistake, either, that with competitive drive comes a risk-taking mentality. To be faster than the man or woman in the other car, a driver has to drive the car harder and faster into the corner.

Drivers say they have to walk a line of fear and fearlessness to be able to be fast. A driver must be aware of the dangers posed to him and her and not drive recklessly, while also not being afraid to make a move to gain positions or clock a faster time.

When a car is traveling at such high speeds - anywhere from 50-100 mph in go-karts, 100-150 mph in IMCA-level dirt and asphalt cars and 180-200 mph in NASCAR - accidents will happen. When they do, the safety of the driver is always in question.

Auto racing has a fatality-plagued history. Deaths still occur at the local racing level, but not as in high frequency thanks to improved helmet technology and head and neck restraint systems. Safety innovations, including SAFER barriers, have made great strides at the professional level as well. Since Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001, there have been no fatalities in NASCAR, and since Ayrton Senna's death in 1994, there have been no fatalities in Formula 1.

When an injury does occur in racing, it's more severe, but still rarer than other sports. Comparatively, racing doesn't have the injury record that stick and ball sports do. Looking at concussions and head injuries specifically, auto racing pales in comparison. According to the Associated Press, NASCAR reported 29 total documented concussions in its top three series since 2004.

In 2013 alone, there were 266 documented concussions in the NFL, down from 270 in 2010, according to the Washington Post. Simply because of the lack of physical abuse a driver takes compared to a football or hockey player, drivers like Joey Logano have said publicly they have a much safer sport.

All that said, it's easy to question why someone would put their health and safety at risk to drive a car.

'Life can be dangerous no matter what you're doing. Some people are willing to take a few more chances than others,” said NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughn. 'It's in our personality to be this type of person. I accept the risks. I will not be one of these football players that sues 20 years down the road and says I had head injuries or got injured from racing cars and didn't know I was going to get hurt.

'I think it's fairly asinine to see some of these law suits. You knew what you did and chose to do it. I choose to do it. I choose to because it allows me to support my family and allows me to have a fun job and enjoy what I do.”

Gaughn also went out of his way to point out how much fun racing cars is, regardless of everything else.

Whether it's him or Cassill in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series or Eckrich on dirt around Eastern Iowa, strapping into a racecar is a feeling unlike any other. Make it go as fast as possible and cross that line first - that's the goal.

'It's just what I wanted to do. When I was 12, 13-years old I didn't care about making a living, I just wanted to race,” Cassill said. 'Driving the cars, feeling the way the car feels, the way you can control such a high-powered machine and the way you can change it to your style and personality, and seeking the optimal performance of a car is what excites me.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@sourcemedia.net