Katharina Buczek
“Which I don’t regret at all. I went to San Diego State, and it was awesome. But yeah, I had to take a few years off, which sucked,” Lindsay said.
She did not begin racing again until 2019, when she competed in a sportscar series known as the Saleen Cup. Still, though, Lindsay’s time away from the track did not seem to impact her performance at all– because she ended up placing second that year.
Nevertheless, she was forced to take another short break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But, ever since 2021, Lindsay has been back behind the wheel and has big plans for this year.
“This year, I am doing Road to IndyCar, which is an open-wheel series, and it’s equivalent to like a Formula 3 car– so a lot of fun. It’s about 275 horsepower, but it’s very light and feels very quick,” she detailed.
As for Lindsay’s ultimate goal, she is working toward racing in the IndyCar Series– which is “the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States.”
And for anyone who is just looking to start their racing journey, your first step might be similar to Lindsay’s– finding a local go-kart track.
“But that can even be super expensive as well, so I think the most cost-effective way to get into racing would be to get a simulator. You can do iRacing [an eSports game] and get really good at that,” she revealed.
“Then, if you are able to win some of those competitions, you can hopefully get sponsored to get into actual cars.”
Lindsay currently has a Sparco racing simulator which costs about two thousand dollars. But, there are cheaper simulators on the market, such as this Dell simulator which costs about two hundred and thirty dollars.
So, if you would like to make the plunge into racing but don’t want to commit a couple of grand upfront, it might be best to start out with a cheaper simulator to get a feel for the motorsport. Then, if you fall in love as Lindsay did, you can invest more into your racing goals.
“Obviously, racing is a super expensive sport, so it takes a lot of dedication and sponsorship. But it is definitely possible for anyone of all ages and genders,” Lindsay finished.
