D . I . COLUMNIST The Real Deal with Tommy D ' Aprile
Just the other day , I was looking at all of my racing pictures on the walls at my office , and I just had to take a minute and reflect on all of the different seasons , not only the race seasons but the seasons of life that racing has covered . When I started at the age of 14 , I just couldn ’ t get enough . I would have raced seven days a week if I could . At that time , what other responsibilities do you really have , right ? I would sleep , eat , and go racing .
As the years passed , racing always seemed to take a front seat to anything in my life . I would not miss a race for anything or anyone . My priorities were racing first , and that was it . I remember a friend of mine saying he was going to step away from racing for a while to get his master ’ s degree , and all I could think of was how crazy he was to want to go to school and not race . I went to college but still raced every weekend . This was hard but worth it to me . I didn ’ t understand how he could be OK with missing a race . Talk about closed-minded – that was me . Now , I wouldn ’ t change anything , but I sure can see now how my self-centered perspective was blurred .
I am happy to say these days , I can miss a race and the world does not end , although I sure thought it would have at one point in my life . What I ’ m getting at here is that our lives are pretty short . Racing is a great sport and we love to do it , but I try to balance it differently these days . Remember that guy who quit to get his master ’ s degree ? Well , he did , and now he ’ s back racing with us . He missed racing but sacrificed it to better himself and get an education . He now holds a great job and still gets to race .
Sometimes we tend to think that if we don ’ t make every race , we will miss something very important . Here ’ s the real deal : sometimes , when you don ’ t miss a race , you actually miss what ’ s most important . Guys and girls , listen up . A race missed to attend a little league game can show a little boy he ’ s really important . No one will remember you missed the race , but that little boy will remember you missed his game . He won ’ t forget .
Some of you might say , “ No way , I ’ m in the points .” I ’ ve seen guys with rooms full of trophies and numerous championships , some of whom are very well-known in our sport and might even be your alltime heroes . They have all the hardware but no relationships left . Every one of these guys had times they said they should have never left for a race . They would have given up every trophy and championship because of the pain it caused loved ones . As one man told me with tears in his eyes , “ I ’ ve won it all but lost what was most important to me .”
Very few of us race for a living or would want to . It takes an insane amount of work and sacrifice , so for most of us , you won ’ t lose your job if you miss a race or two , but you might lose way more if you don ’ t stop and think about what you might be missing at home .
The question of racing and a balanced lifestyle can only be answered by you . Take an honest look at how you approach racing . Is racing everything to you , or are the people around you more important ? I tell you from experience if you don ’ t put racing in its place , it will own you , drive you broke , and leave the pieces for someone else to pick up . Our sport is great , fun , and absolutely fantastic , but only if you know how to balance it with life . As always , the choice is yours to make . DI
Email Tommy at tommyd @ dragillustrated . com
September / October 2023
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