tnord

anybody that hasn't been living under a pushrod engine for the last 30 years knows that the term American Motorsports has basically been a laughing matter in the rest of the world for quite some time, and understandably so given the recent popularity of NASCAR and drag racing. but i'd say within the last 5 years there has seemed to be quite the explosion in road racing; most specifically amatuer road racing. In my opinion this is where it has to start. Kids here don't grow up driving go-karts, they grow up playing baseball, basketball, and football (at least i did). Right now the 30 and older crowd are pretty heavily involved, and some of them are bringing their kids. You need look no further than the resurgance of the SCCA, the 100+ autocross fields for Midwestern Council, the creation and success of NASA, speed-trial, track-time, and any other number of orginizations mostly dedicated to road racing for proof of this. Now i know i might just be too young (22) to be aware of these things in the past, but i get the feeling that this is a new trend (oh please don't let it become "trendy"). In order for American drivers to be able to compete with those of Germany, Brazil, England, and the like, we must get involved at an early age. Being a good racing driver is all about seat-time, and it's tough for us to make up the time we lost from 5-18yrs old, when most other drivers across the world are already getting paid to do what the rest of us gleefully empty our bank accounts for. But I digress. Getting back on track i think that there will be a trend for kids to start driving competitively at a younger and younger age over time. Hopefully this will lead to American drivers being better represented in the highest forms of motorsport; that being CART, F1, WRC, and F3000 most specifically. But I ask myself this question. Do i want American road racing to become as popular as it is in Europe? Do I want to lose a lot of the "individualism" and other such attributes that go along with being associated with motorsports in this country? Do i want to see young professional drivers on the cover of the next issue of Teen magazine? Well, even though i'll probably never see a paycheck for my newfound love, if my kid gets the opportunity to be a Formula 1 World Champion.....you're damn right i do.

EDIT: oh yeah, i would like to hear your views on this topic as well.