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course, generically lonely, filled with down time and travel, with low job
security, frequent trades to other teams, moving oneself and/or family,
omnipresence of drugs and alcohol for self-medication and/or physical
endurance, the bad nutrition on the road, fickle fans who want super-human
and error-free performances, paparazzi (or perhaps worse, the obvious neglect
of the media), “stage-door” fans who want to notch their guns with more than
autographs, grueling and fickle weather for those who play outdoors, and the
strain placed on any long-term relationship attempts. Racers, however, have a
unique dilemma.
Racing, unlike soccer or even down-hill skiing, involves taking life-threatening risks. It involves trusting the thousand myriad parts of a dumb machine (and the expertise of those who maintain it), and also the dozens of driver’s personalities who will practice their skill only feet away from each other…all at three times the speeds most people drive. It is no wonder that drivers are a very “closed” and tightly knit community, but also that this very closeness brings on its own stresses. Friendships or romances in this setting are fragile indeed. Today’s friend disappears to race in Europe, becomes my most daring competitor who will know all too well my fears and hesitancies, becomes a part of a rival team, will make a mistake in setting up my car, will mis-quote me to the press. The stock response is that “we leave all that on the race track;” however, real humans don’t function with such a black and white compartmentalization of life.
Add to the list of stresses that fact that the owners and sponsors really don’t care very much about racers’ psychological needs. In the business of racing, it’s win or place and show the logos….or find someone who can win or place.
Consider, too, the worst stress of all: youth. Drivers in world competition grow younger and younger. In essence, many are going through adolescence….many of them still technically in school but often far, far from home. The twenty-somethings live with the stresses of that stage of development, and can become conflicted about their trajectory: “will I/can I find a stable relationship, put down true roots, be a provider for some significant other(s)?” Females in racing don’t lock away awareness of their biological clock either, and it goes without saying that living in a sport born of testosterone isn’t easy for women.
Are there any racer psychologists? Is social Darwinism the only life philosophy of the racing business? Can friends de-stress themselves during the long January nights in the small apartments a few miles from the shop, or all alone with the American TV blaring…wondering if they‘ll have a ride? Or…do even the women have to “man up” and deal with it alone?
