Effective communication is very important in racing, just as it is everywhere else in life. Pertaining to racing, you have to be able to communicate with your engineers, team owners, mechanics, the media and fans. If you do not have a good understanding in this subject, then your life will be much more difficult and can make small tasks and requests more difficult to execute. Certainly, talking to the media and the fans are very important and need to be done with care.

Yes, history!  Racing has a very extensive history (in terms of sports) dating back almost 100 years. Knowing the mistakes that people and organizations made in the past can help you navigate the future because history repeats itself. Whether you like learning about straight facts like, “What happened in 1043 AD,” or studying what great people did back in the day, when you come across certain situations in your life, there is usually a story just like it that has already happened, and this can help you get through your situation.

You could say that counting laps falls under this category and that is important, but there are so many other aspects of racing that require this subject. Geometry in particular helps you understand almost every inch of a racecar. Charts and graphs are used to translate data when you are debriefing with your engineers. The setup of the car is all done in some sort of numbered fashion. The more advanced topics such as calculus and beyond., lead into the design and engineering of all cars, including racecars.

The motor oil, gear oil, tire compounds, fuel, every metal and other materials, even down to duct tape, all came from some sort of chemistry. It is important to understand the concepts of chemistry because it can help you better understand what is going on inside a racecar, even down to the seat you sit on which is made of a special material to absorb energy. It is almost like a bean bag chair.

This should be obvious as a racecar going around a race track at 200mph should not actually stay on the track. Why the tires grip and how aerodynamics help keep the racecar on the ground, to spinning masses and kinetic energy and G forces, this subject applies solely to the racecar and combines mathematics, as well. Impacts and safer barriers and…lions and tigers and bears! Moving on!

Someone needs to paint the car, so graphic design is important for designing all of the glamorous signs, paint schemes, T-shirts, hats, uniforms, including the decals that go on to pit equipment and the car itself. Spacing things out and making things look nice are all important in the racing world. Another small concept in art that can help out is perspective; at what angle do you look at things. I won’t tell you why, but it can shine light on new things that you may not have previously seen from another angle.

Racing is an international sport and you will always come across people from different countries. This leads back to communication.

Obviously, there are many subjects that apply to racing, ranging from the obvious ones like engineering, sports marketing and business to the not so obvious ones like psychology and sociology, etc. The only thing that I can say is that most of the subjects you study in college apply to racing in some way, shape or form.