Learning how a race weekend works

Marc Freire with Adam Bomb Racing invited me to attend an enduro race where he had rented out one of his cars. I helped wherever I could without trying to get in the way because I wanted to understand how the racing process worked.

I stayed overnight in the trailer. My daughter came from the Bay Area and spent Saturday with us, turning the weekend into something we could experience together.

NASA official Henry Raftopoulos made an amazingly generous offer to take both my daughter and me out during practice sessions. It was the first time either of us had experienced Sonoma Raceway at speed.

On Sunday, I helped Marc manage the pit area during the enduro. I learned a lot, had an absolute blast, and left feeling anxious and excited at the same time about everything still ahead.

• —A race weekend depends on people being willing to help, pay attention, and find a useful place without getting in the team's way.
• —Seeing the paddock and pit area from inside the process taught me more than watching from the outside ever could.
• —Experiencing Sonoma at speed made the goal feel real for both my daughter and me.
• —The closer I get to racing, the more I feel both the excitement and the weight of how much there is to learn.

This was not my race car or my seat. Marc had rented one of his race cars for the enduro, and the weekend gave me a close look at what it takes to keep a car and team moving through a real event.

Marc Freire invited me into the weekend and trusted me to help in the pit area. Henry Raftopoulos generously gave my daughter and me our first experience of Sonoma at speed. Having my daughter there made the weekend even more meaningful.

Keep showing up, learn the responsibilities of every role around the car, and turn the nervous excitement into useful experience before I earn a wheel-to-wheel seat of my own.