My Future in the Sport And My Sport in the Future: Sean Foster, In His Own Words

On Thursday Stafford Motor Speedway SK Modified division driver Sean Foster announced that he would be taking the remainder of the season off to regroup his team. Below, in his own words, Foster talks about that decision, the sport he loves so much and his vision of that sport and its future.

Sean Foster in victory lane at Stafford on Aug 31, 2012. (Photo: Nicholas Teto)

By Sean Foster 

I bust my ass to learn these racecars and getting them prepared for race days. When the car isn’t right one week, I rip the thing apart and figure out the problem. Throughout these years of having our family owned modified, I’ve never once gone to the race track without this deep confidence saying, “Okay, this is it. I found the reason for our struggles and we’re going to win this week”. I would have bet money on it on any given race day that we would be in victory lane at the end of the night. Nothing is “half-assed” and lack of effort is never an issue when it comes to working on the Tsi-25.

I’m a die hard racer. As die hard as they come. I work a 40+ hour week and everything I do after my work day is related to racing in some way. If I’m not at the race shop immediately after work, it’s because I’m running around for parts. If I’m not at the shop late at night, it’s because I left early to work on editing my race footage, collecting marketing material, or researching promoting concepts.

When it comes to racing, everything else in my life gets pushed aside. My lawn doesn’t get cut weekly… the front half gets cut when i get a free hour and the back half might get skipped until the next opportunity, in a couple of weeks. I drive a pickup truck that has 300,000 miles on it. Since my money goes towards racecar things I don’t take it to a shop for maintenance and repairs. When my truck breaks down, I play musical cars with friends and family so I can get to & from work and the shop because the racecar has to be ready before I get to fixing my truck.

Like everybody else in the world, work is a necessity to live. I’m no different. I work to live, however, I live to race. I like to think of myself as an honest worker but I tend to dose off because there’s something else on my mind. I often skip lunch to run out and pick up racecar parts or make racecar related phone calls. I am enrolled in college engineering classes and have pulled multiple “all nighters” to complete the work necessary…but that’s all after getting home and cleaning up from the garage.

My pockets always seem to have folded up sticky notes with random ideas. They could be promotional ideas, Short Track Racer skits, or to do lists for the Tsi-25. I transfer my sticky note ideas into notebooks that I carry with me most places.

Relationships just don’t work with me. I have dated and I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the most awesome and incredibly supportive girls. The types of girls that some people would do absolutely anything to find… but it just doesn’t work. If I take a night off from the shop to have a nice dinner, I can’t enjoy myself because my mind is overpowered by racecar related things that I’d rather be accomplishing. A night off from racecar things isn’t an opportunity to “relax” or “chill”… It’s less time to be around the things I love most.

This is a family sport. I see my crew more than I see my best friends. They are like family to me. My mom is a vibrant person. She comes to every race and I can’t contain a bad attitude when she is around. Beyond that, she takes care of multiple tasks for me so I have less to worry about. My Pops is with me through it all. Some of my favorite moments in life are when we shut down the race shop and crack one last beer talking about how excited we are for the next race.

I am extremely fortunate to be around something that I love so much. Although, I work very hard at succeeding and promoting my marketing partners, it’s still pretty cool that I have always had the opportunity to race cars. It has given me the chance to have a close relationship with my family and gain an incredible amount of friendships along the way. Racing gets tough at times but I feel lucky to have such a deep passion for something this exciting.

What’s been happening?

We’ve been having so many struggles this race season that I haven’t even been able to accomplish a small percentage of the things I should be doing to help the sport or promote my marketing partners. But we were on the verge of turning it all around.

We were on the uphill. After dealing with mechanical issues and a couple of wrecks early in the race season, we started chopping away at the car handling problems and began putting a good race setup together.

We were ready for the SK 5K which is the biggest and highest paying race of the year. Every race team had “July 10th” circled on the race schedule. Our Tsi-25 racing bank account was dwindling and we were counting on the big payouts to let us continue the race season. During the week leading up to that Friday’s event, the excitement was at an all-time high. We found some issues with the car and discovered some areas of the Tsi-25 that were not being pushed to the maximum capability limits. Despite the extra late nights and lack of sleep, I was extremely eager to hit the track and see what our racecar had.

It all went up in smoke on lap 1 of practice. You see, one week earlier I got spun out on the final lap of the main event. A radiator fan died during the race and I ran in the back so the engine could catch clean air to stay cool. After the spin, I knew the engine temperature had increased but I thought it was just safe of harm. I was wrong. I completed 1 lap of practice for our premiere event and the motor seized up.

This was far from the first time I’ve sat in a racecar saying, “Wow. This is it. I might be all done racing”. Multiple times, I have sat silent in a racecar for a few seconds after a bad wreck or a blown drive train with heavy grief knowing that it could mean the end. It’s a crappy feeling when you have something that you work harder at than anything else in life and it comes to a screeching halt.

I won’t dare ask my marketing partners to help with the repairs. The motor issue was my own fault and the amount they have done for me is far beyond what I have been able to do for them in recent times. My past few seasons all together have been sub par and I haven’t done nearly the amount of promoting for them as I should.

What now?

I’m not done. I’m a racer and I’m a competitor. I am far from satisfied with a 12th place finish, although, that is likely my average finish over the past few years of racing modifieds. Starting with the moment I decided to play the driver/crew chief role for our race team, I would have a hard time believing that any of my competitors work harder than I have. I’m not saying that I work harder than anybody else… I’m just saying that I would have a hard time believing it.

I’ve made the statement that I don’t see racing as a sport, although, I still verbally refer to it as one. I don’t consider auto racing a sport because there is a lack of necessary physical conditioning. However, auto racing is the most competitive activity you will ever find… more competitive than any other “sport” you’ll come across in the world. Well that’s me. I’m the ultimate racer and I’m the ultimate competitor. A realist might say that I’m not the best racer or the smartest guy in the pits, but my competitive side tells me that I am.

So, I’m not sure where the future of this sport is going to take me when it comes to driving. At this point, I have a modified that is capable of winning, but no engine. Funding is very tight after the rough start of this race season. Maybe I will be able to find somebody who is willing to team up. Who knows? Doug Coby went a couple of years without any type of solid ride and he’s winning Whelen Modified Tour championships. Maybe I’ll be able to save up some money, start fresh next season, and rebuild with something better after some harsh lessons learned this year.

I’m going to work on figuring out how to get back on track. In the meantime, I will continue promoting my marketing partners that have all been with me for a number of years. I will also keep in touch and spend time with my crew. I have built great friendships with my supporters and that means the world to me. They have all believed in me throughout this racing game, despite the struggles.

Aside from being the ultimate racer, I am also the ultimate race fan. So you will catch me at a race track quite a few times throughout the year. Beyond all of that, I plan on working at my future which is becoming a racing promoter and/or track manager… all to help fix and improve the sport.

This sport is in a huge rut and the way I see it, the declination of popularity is not going to stop. The majority of track owners and promoters just aren’t using their facilities to their full potential or taking necessary steps in reversing the downfall. I am a frequent visitor of speedways throughout New England and I am not picking on any individual track. This is something I see across the board at race facilities.

Our modern day owners, promoters and managers are lacking vision as to what short track auto racing could and should look like. I firmly believe that short track auto racing is the greatest form of enjoyment for drivers, owners, team members, fans, and even track employees. Everybody must know that the population of the sport will not just turn around on its own. “Waiting out” the recession will not solve things because our nation’s economy is not the problem with short track racing at all.

We need innovative ideas and creativity. Dump the old image because many short track facilities are an eyesore and lack character. Beyond that, many tracks do a poor job of looking out for the best interest of the racers and teams. They fail to cater to the people putting on the show. They also fail to engage with fans, especially the younger crowd. Competing divisions are an absolute disaster throughout. Marketing concepts are inadequate and lack creativity. Local communities shun our race venues. And there is broken communication between neighboring tracks. Those are the real problems. Let it be known that there isn’t one single issue. It’s the whole package.

I have a 4 year old nephew who is already turning laps in a go kart and I am not interested in getting him involved in a dying sport. It bothers me to watch short track racing fail to show its true potential. I have ideas and concepts that can make the sport thrive far beyond its limits in the next 10 years. At this point, I am just trying to figure out the best route in putting some of my vision in action. Let’s face it, nobody should give out their ideas for free and this is what I want to do for a living.

I don’t mean to sound negative with my thoughts, nor do I mean to bad mouth track owners and employees. I just want to see the sport flourish in my lifetime, as well as for my nephew and the rest of his generation. I wouldn’t be stating these things if I didn’t feel that short track auto racing has the capabilities of becoming an incredible phenomenon.

Now I understand that the ideas in my statement here seem to contradict each other. I talk about the sport dying; yet, I am hinting the idea of teaming up with our race team. Truth is, I simply feel that I have a lot more to offer the sport if I continue being a racer.

In closing, I would like to apologize to my supporters for my lack of Short Track Racer video releases and social media updates. I’m still working hard at making the video updates happen. I’ve been purchasing equipment and playing with editing tools so I promise that I’ll continue trying to formulate something.

I would also like to thank all of my supporters and everybody who has believed in me up to this point. This includes my marketing partners, my family, my friends, everybody who cheers for me, everybody who tells me how much they enjoy Short Track Racer, and my race team. I will continue to work hard for my Short Track Racer friends and look forward to seeing you all at the track!

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