I'm not an IT driver, but I DID stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night!

When I ran the GT-1 Corvette I had three guys that worked on it regularly with me, but that's mainly because I took that many guys to keep that car near the top of it's game. The motivation there was for me to prove myself "good enough" to own/drive that car because it was a no excuses, front-running National car. After five years I figured out I really don't have the budget to own that car and I got into something more feasible economically. Although I could run the GTA car by myself, I've got a couple of guys that enjoy helping work on it (one calls it therapy), and that helps motivate me a LOT when it's time to get out in the garage.

I make a list of "gotta-haves" and "nice-to-haves" after every event. The gotta-haves revolve around safety, reliability, and/or performance (replace seat belts, adjust valves, check alignment) while the nice-to-haves are "touch up the door ding, freshen the decals, organize the trailer." Obviously we prioritize and usually everything gets done on the gotta-have list while we pick-and-choose from the nice-to-have. By the end of the season and during the off-season (which is all of two months here), we usually get to most of the items, but I don't get heartburn if we don't.

And while a spotless car is nice and COULD be a draw for a potential sponsor, I'm also reminded of a sign my mom had in our kitchen when we were growing up:

"This house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy."

See ya...