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I have 1 track 1 hour away, another one 1.5 hours away. For the last several years I've only been going 1 day, on saturday vs the entire weekend. Spouse isn't interested in coming to the track, it's extremely hot, there's no shade and there's nothing for a non car person to do there. As far as my wife goes, she'll say she's ok with it but the reality is the support is more on the "No" side, lol!
Unfortunately most of the events are attended by older people whose kids are much older than mine and also don't bring their kids to the track. My 5 year old would be bored out of his mind at the track. As someone else pointed out, it'd be hard to bring him with me without a camper, someplace where that's air conditioned, has snacks, a TV, etc,etc. I don't have a camper... If there were a pack of kids around my sons age that were at the track he could play with, then he'd have a great time and I'd bring him. That's not happening tho and he's too young to bring and have him have a good time.
Big problem with scheduling is the track day schedule comes out far in advance to when my sons T ball and soccer schedules come out. That's what happened just recently with these last two events I'd hoped to do. The events were on my calendar, then soccer happened....
Guess I'll see how this plays out for next year...
More or less in the same camp. No way wife would go with me with all the heat, noise and rubber smell. So in essence, I rarely go. I try once a year, for a day, but by the time my brain starts getting used to the track, car and I manage to switch the brain off from work, time to get back to normal life. Weekends are usually taken with family stuff, and weekdays accorded with work. Vacation is reserved for family travel, not track days. I work out when I can, which has its benefits. Plus nothing like a happy wife. Enjoy guys.
I sacrifice other hobbies to focus on this one. Golf, etc are now out of the picture as there is only so much time and money to go around. My wife knows that those 5 weekends she is on the hook, but there are 47 others that I can "buy" that time back incrementally. I tell her to go on girls trips or weekends at the spa's but thankfully she hasn't taken me up on that many times yet!
I think it boils down to the fact she handles the kids so well it doesn't bother her too much the 4 or 5 weekends I am gone. Some families I work with, the spouse can be alone with the kids 6 days a week 50 weeks a year so the other spouse can make a living. Not a good situation at all and we are extremely blessed for certain.
I'm pretty lucky (sort of) in that I only started this hobby when my son was 17 and daughter 14. Since then my son started tracking too and has become a better driver than me (we now own 2 track cars). My daughter just turned 18 and pretty much always stayed home with mom when my son and I went to the track. But now that she's 18 she can't wait to get out there herself. When they're young-uns it is a dilemma but when they get older it's a great bonding hobby, at least it has been for me. Hang in there.
Transparency is key. As soon as the track schedules come out (Jan?) I lock in my weekends on a shared Google calendar and will invite the family to cheer on all race weekends. Set mutual priorities and lock them in a shared calendar.
Somehow this crazy hobby has me with 2 race cars this year, so I'll be doing sprint races with NASA, budget enduros with the usual suspects, and trying to fulfill my obligations as a PCA instructor. All in, it's probably 12-16 weekends, so not unreasonable. Living in the land of perpetual springtime helps in this regard; the driving season is 11 months long
One of my daughters comes with me. Initially I bribed her with burgers and Ice Cream but she's been coming with me for about fiver years now. She knows tons of people and is a social butterfly.
I enjoy our "Track Weekends" and she seems to as well.
My wife and I both track at HPDE, separate cars. We are both car enthusiasts. Not a huge surprise that our daughter, now 14, is sports car aware and can get enthusiastic. We take her to the track whenever possible. Sometimes she pays attention, sometimes she socializes, sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she reads. She is eager to get out on track herself. We are fortunate. My former business partner, who has been an instructor in Canada for years, has three kids not one of whom seems interested in cars or the track. My advice: take the kids, involve them in your enthusiasm, but be aware of the enormous limitations placed on their movement and activities when they are young. With that in mind, the track is a very social place, as you know. We have found folks at every track event to be awfully nice, and welcoming to our daughter.
4yr old, 2yr old and 8month old. I'd be extremely selfish to leave them on the weekends for my hobby and would generally feel pretty bad on missing out on them growing up. However, I love the thrill of driving so I did the next best thing I could. Built a sim rig. Don't discount these especially when racing against others in organized leagues online.
Doc it gets better as they get older. Mine are 10 and 14 now, they are involved in so much of their own stuff that getting away a few weekends per year for HPDE's is not that hard. It does help that neither of my kids are into ball sports, so their weekends are generally free. There is no way I could have done this stuff very much when they were younger. Also a (very) understanding wife helps a lot. Hope to see you out at the track again soon with your Turbo, I do enjoy talking with you.
4yr old, 2yr old and 8month old. I'd be extremely selfish to leave them on the weekends for my hobby and would generally feel pretty bad on missing out on them growing up. However, I love the thrill of driving so I did the next best thing I could. Built a sim rig. Don't discount these especially when racing against others in organized leagues online.
I don't chime in here often, but do get to the track a fair amount with my 12 and 14 year old. I'm surprised no one mentioned karting. I got my 12 year old son involved in karting 3 years ago, and now we get to the track all the time, albeit mostly for his races - all the way up to national events in FL over the winter. Best bonding time ever - and both fun and scary watching him race. He comes to the track with me and actually provides excellent coaching advice as he understands line, passing, starts, etc. I am thinking about buying myself a kart for times when I am with him; obviously I'll drive a different class than him... but he loves coming to the car track as well. Sometimes wife and daughter join, too.
^My son and I will be karting once he is old enough.
We have a 3.5 year old son. I only do single days, so I am lucky to have three tracks within 1.5 hours and one more 2.5 hours away. I always try to get home before he goes to bed, which means skipping social events. My wife is fine with it since this has become my only hobby, aside from the climbing gym to stay in shape. I did ten days this year, and should be able to match that next year.
I can see how it would be tougher with multiple kids, and/or sporting events and weekend activities.
P.S. Bring them to the track, and put them to work
A very understanding wife is critical. You got a good one, you get to do track daze. You got a mean one, you don't.
Choose carefully.....
+1
My wife also knows I'm a happier person at home when I'm involved in hobbies (mostly wrenching on cars, track stuff, and mountain biking). We've been together for a long time and I've had project cars since day one. My kids are getting to an age where they like track events (9 & 11), they can keep themselves entertained and have a lot more stamina than they used to. I always bring bikes along to ride with them and when possible we check out nearby attractions like the Monterey Aquarium, sand dunes etc. Just got back from camping at Rennsport and my son had a blast. I haven't been racing much this year but that more down to a blown engine and financial priorities.
I'm lucky my wife loves tracking cars, but also loves having her own hobbies too. I just trade her time for her to do her own thing so that I can do track days when I want. We also bring kids out to track sometimes (4 & 7), Having some kind of help with the kids is nice too, my wife's cousin will help out with the kids when we are doing track days.
10-03-2018, 10:33 AM
