The Fear of Not Driving Good Enough

Above this text you see a distressed driver, with a car covered in mud.

That driver would be me, after full sending it a little too hard out of the last corner on arguably my best lap of the day. I had lost the car and went straight into the cold, wet mud, and it had felt as if I had failed and disappointed those that had been on the sidelines for me.

But as I sat there, muddy and frustrated, honestly on the verge of tears, I realized that moments like these are just as important as the perfect laps. Every mistake has always taught me something important, whether it be about car control, about anticipating conditions, or most importantly, about continuing to try again. The track doesn’t just test your skills, it tests your mindset. Getting back into the car, wiping off the mud, and trying again reminded me that motorsport isn’t about perfection, it’s about persistence, learning from failure, and chasing improvement no matter how messy the process gets. In a way, that day’s offroad mishap became one of my most memorable experiences, not despite the crash, but because of it.

(And yes, I laughed about going off track afterwards with everyone)