When you want to humble yourself, drive on a race track.

I've loved cars, seriously loved them all my life. I had tons of Hotwheels and Matchbox cars as a kid, put together plastic models, had more than a few slot car tracks, had subscriptions to Road & Track and Hot Rod Magazine as teenager, and hung pictures of cars from my bedroom walls. I'd wrench on them with my best friends, Mike who had a beautiful 65 Chevy Malibu, a 70 Monte Carlo, and Rob who had various 60's era Mustangs in all forms of working and non working iterations. Heck I even spent a good Saturday afternoon (and evening) with my buddy Scott in his garage doing a dual carb swap on a Porsche 914. Now let me do caveat this a bit when I say 'wrenching' I mean handing wrenches to those fellas, because they knew way more about working on cars and their inner workings than I did at the time. Although, I did ace auto shop in high school my senior year. But that may have been with a lot of luck when it came down to the final where you had to reassemble a partially taken apart v8 on an engine stand, get it to start, run and adjust the timing. The engine Gods were with me that day.

But to really humble yourself, aside from knowing the inner workings of a car, go get yourself in one on an actual race track. And even better if it's driving a fast one.

Yup, that's me, having just driven that beautiful Porsche GT3 back in 2017 at the Las Vegas Speedway. It was an absolute thrill. That boxster mid engine absolutely roaring behind your ears as you glide through the turns and zip down the straight. I did 5 laps, and gained confidence with each lap and didn't want it to end. The instructor from Dream Racing who sat beside me was great, but for sure a bit intimidating with the fast call outs of instructions as I navigated the course. None the less, by the 4th and 5th lap as I hit my groove of knowing the track and really getting into it, he had to tell me to slow down a bit as we went into the long sweeping right turn so as to not turn racing into drifting.

But if you are a car enthusiast, and particularly a racing enthusiast, there is nothing better than spending a day trying your hand at the track. It takes such focus, quick reflexes, and plenty of guts to rip around a race track and it definitely gives you an appreciation for the guys and gals that do it professionally. For a novice like me, it's an adrenaline rush every time you get to do it. I've driven on a few different tracks now, and absolutely love it.

There are more and more opportunities and places to drive not only your own car, but also to rent an exotic/supercar of your choosing. They seem to be popping up all the time, in almost every state it seems. If you are in Las Vegas, and have time and desire, https://www.dreamracing.com/ is great! Check them out, and most of all, have fun!