Now that a strong, fast race car sat in the garage, the exhaustion from the long nights at the shop quickly faded. All of the hard work that we put into the last 60 days felt surreal. It was like waking up from a nightmare—like the crash and rebuild never happened.
I find myself in the garage …
Always love seeing how dedicated you are and how hard you work. One random day and it all spiraled out of control, the same that happened to me a few years ago.
So you finished the season with a broken foot??? Yikes!!!! Best of luck on 2020 and beyond.
I also has a thaught. Have you ever considered taking your story and condensing it down in to a book for kids? There are a lot of excellent life lessons here as well as inspiration that many kids could use to chase ones dreams.
Also as a Dad of three girls I think your story would resonate with many little girls telling them it is ok to play with race cars if you want to and more importantly it is ok to follow your dream
Thank you for this excellent series of articles telling your story of perseverance and determination. I'll be rooting for you in all your future races.
Agreed on the series of articles, excellent. You are a great role model not only for women, but you exemplify what it takes to be a racer. Keep up the hard work and heres hoping great things for your racing future!
Looks like a pretty great team you have there. Teamwork makes the dream work! Also, I had no idea you drove on the Nürburgring... in the rain... while learning to drive a manual - all at the same time? I've never been there myself but I'm pretty sure from what I've seen and heard about, 1 out of those 3 things is usually a challenge in itself. My you've come a long way though! Hope you make it to the big leagues because you are an idol for the up-and-coming racers of all ages.
*gasps* how did you get that engine bay so clean??
edit: xP
I make this comment about my teenage aspirations to becoming a professional motorcycle racer "I only lacked three things to become 125cc World Champion, money, dedication and talent".
There are loads of talented drivers out there as well as drivers with money but people totally underestimate or have no clue the amount of dedication required. If I had to pick one of the three attributes that's most important I'd pick dedication; you can find sponsors/work three jobs/live in a hut/hire a driving coach/get a simulator etc. but if you're not willing to dig deep to get there, no amount of talent or money is going to help.
Christina my friend you've shown a huge amount of dedication............I suspect you'll find your way to a pro series.
Success comes form grit and tenacity, can't wait to see what you accomplish in 2021 and beyond.
Hope to see more of your writing too, hopefully the next series will have a more positive title. Best of luck!
Christina - Beyond the insanity of building a fresh race car in 60 days, I'm curious about one thing: How on earth did you afford to build it after building the first car shortly before?? Those don't look like cheap builds and I didn't get the feeling that your job provides you with an endless budget. Did I miss something about sponsors? Have you maxed out every credit card you could get your hands on? Late night card shark?
PS - I understand this may be a sensitive topic and you can tell me/us it's none of my/our business. ;-)
Re: the last photo. What SCCA class does the pink car run in?
Jerry From LA said:Re: the last photo. What SCCA class does the pink car run in?
You weren't supposed to see that. (Something new, perhaps?)
Tom1200 said:I make this comment about my teenage aspirations to becoming a professional motorcycle racer "I only lacked three things to become 125cc World Champion, money, dedication and talent".
There are loads of talented drivers out there as well as drivers with money but people totally underestimate or have no clue the amount of dedication required. If I had to pick one of the three attributes that's most important I'd pick dedication; you can find sponsors/work three jobs/live in a hut/hire a driving coach/get a simulator etc. but if you're not willing to dig deep to get there, no amount of talent or money is going to help.
Christina my friend you've shown a huge amount of dedication............I suspect you'll find your way to a pro series.
Thank you for the kind words Tom! Some of that determination started off as me simply not understanding there is a cost or talent barrier and just stubbornly pushing forward. Once I got started, there was no stopping me. Making it to a pro series would be one hell of a journey!
dean1484 said:So you finished the season with a broken foot??? Yikes!!!! Best of luck on 2020 and beyond.
I also has a thaught. Have you ever considered taking your story and condensing it down in to a book for kids? There are a lot of excellent life lessons here as well as inspiration that many kids could use to chase ones dreams.
Also as a Dad of three girls I think your story would resonate with many little girls telling them it is ok to play with race cars if you want to and more importantly it is ok to follow your dream
The extended off season is a blessing in disguise for my foot this year. I do hope we all can safely get back on track sooner rather than later though. I would totally be interested in putting this into a kids book! Three girls will really keep you on your toes. You've got the right plan encouraging them to follow their hearts.
msterbeau said:Christina - Beyond the insanity of building a fresh race car in 60 days, I'm curious about one thing: How on earth did you afford to build it after building the first car shortly before?? Those don't look like cheap builds and I didn't get the feeling that your job provides you with an endless budget. Did I miss something about sponsors? Have you maxed out every credit card you could get your hands on? Late night card shark?
PS - I understand this may be a sensitive topic and you can tell me/us it's none of my/our business. ;-)
Great question, and its something that comes up often. I wish I could tell you that I'm one of those "Crazy Rich Asians" and that there will an Oscar winning movie about my life. My job as a program manager is very rewarding and flexible but no endless budget there. I'm a very "regular" person with a 9-5 M-F day job and a hunger for racing on the weekends.
We had a ton of support from partners and friends after they saw what happened. I can't express how grateful I am to have partners step in and help with not just one but two full racecar builds in 2019. They saw something in my race program that they believed in to support it for round 2, and their belief in me helped fuel my determination to make it all happen. Eternally thankful for every single one of my partners on the car, this car wouldn't exist without them.
No counting cards at the blackjack table. Looks are deceiving, my dark secret is that I'm not very good at math. I can drive so I guess it makes up for that. So much for that stereotype haha. My credit card did get flagged a few times for the rate of spending. I'm a saver, maxing out my 401k, investments, and retirement. The savings account took a very serious hit last year to make this car happen, but thats why we save, for the important things in life. I caution friends against taking on debt to go racing. Nothing can kill your passion quicker than accumulating debt.
Great point on debt; over the years I've seen people rack up huge debt, then leave the sport never to return.
In reply to christinaylam (Forum Supporter) :
Great reply. Thank you for your candor!
And a little extra info from the editor's desk. We follow our own Prime Directive here at the magazine as we won't let people leverage the promise of editorial coverage for any kind of support. Christina got these partners on her own merit.
Even though Christina and I go back several years, we didn't discuss this blog series until November 18. It started with a tweet from Christina: Would anyone read a blog about my experience?
I think it's something that we can use, I told her.
And that got the editorial ball rolling: plan, schedule, deadlines.
I happened to talk to one of her partners today, in fact. This person is with company that donated some product to the 60-day build. I had to ask: How did that come together? This person had been following her Instagram account, saw the posts about the wreck, figured she was a good person and, upon seeing the drive for the new build, quickly offered to help with some product support.
Loving the series and rooting for your continued success Christina
David we've all been there at some level, so we enjoy reading about someone digging deep and getting it done. Racers are good people.
In reply to Tom1200 :
Yes. It's nice seeing good things happening to good people.
And really happy to hear all of the positive feedback on this. Christina hit it out of the park.
David S. Wallens said:And a little extra info from the editor's desk. We follow our own Prime Directive here at the magazine as we won't let people leverage the promise of editorial coverage for any kind of support. Christina got these partners on her own merit.
Even though Christina and I go back several years, we didn't discuss this blog series until November 18. It started with a tweet from Christina: Would anyone read a blog about my experience?
I think it's something that we can use, I told her.
And that got the editorial ball rolling: plan, schedule, deadlines.
I happened to talk to one of her partners today, in fact. This person is with company that donated some product to the 60-day build. I had to ask: How did that come together? This person had been following her Instagram account, saw the posts about the wreck, figured she was a good person and, upon seeing the drive for the new build, quickly offered to help with some product support.
I'll piggy back off this and also mention, we only partner with brands we believe can help us build the best car on grid. All of our supporters create a product which we believe adds serious value to the racecars we build. Not every product is right for us, just because a brand is willing to support, doesn't mean its always the best fit. We have long standing relationships with the companies who support us because they have some of the best stuff to make our cars the run fast and reliable. You'll see many of the same brands on Hi-Speed cars for this reason.
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