[SteveR]

We were lucky enough to have dinner with Tony Schumacher two weeks ago and he said that for him, it was his determination and personality that got his foot in the door, and thats is definitely the case if you want to be a pro. Think about it from a sponsors point of view, they want the publicity, and a good spokesman. A lot of the time you spend as a pro driver is in front of a camera, or on the radio, or meeting people and having dinners etc. Being able to present yourself professionally is the first requirement. I asked Tony what made him decide to become a pro driver and how did it happen, and he said that he was racing Top Alcohol Funny Car at the time and his car broke at one race and he didnt have the money to fix it so he needed to find a new ride and sponsors and he heard of a Top Fuel opening so he inquired about it. They brushed him off a little and told him to just send a resume and they'd "let him know". He wouldn't take that as the answer and he flew out to meet them face to face and show them in person that he was the man for the job. It worked, and the rest is history. Each person that may come up to you at a race and ask you something about your car could be a potential sponsor, they may own a local business, or speed shop. Be a salesman each and every time and you'll be one step ahead of the drivers that blow people off.

However, personality wont win you races. You still have to have the numbers to back it up. There are several ways you can go, or mix them up if you want. The big thing is to be consistent. You need to be good on the tree, you cant take yourself out of the race by red lighting. You can run weekly points at a track, and get the attention of the local racers at that track. Hopefully you'll do good enough to collect enough points to earn your way to the Bracket Finals for Division 1, and race in front of several thousand people from your division, and if you win that, you go to Pomona to race at the national event for the National Champion in your class. Another way to go is National Opens and divisional races held at various tracks, both of which will get you some attention if you do good, as well as earn you points to be able to run at national events in front of 2-300,000 people.

The problem some people fall into is the thought that you have to build the fastest car to win. In bracket racing, its all consistency. Build a car that will do the exact same thing every time, and you'll be on the right track.