Dear Action Track USA

Dear Action Track USA,

I have something to say.

I am not here to complain about payout, track conditions, other drivers, politics or anything like that. I don't care about any of that.

I care about winning.

You made me fall in love as a younger kid. I was given my first ride in an S&S Speedways Slingshot for my  12th birthday, and I had never been so proud of myself at that time. You teased me. You saw the saucers illuminate my eyes with excitement, opportunity, and passion as I won two consecutive Slingshot championships. You gave me mentors of immense racing knowledge, an excuse to not study for my Thursday morning tests, and an escape from the life I live. You made me love myself.

I can't lie, I am a man and I am not ashamed of what I feel or what I have felt... I fell in love.

I fell in love with the competition. The way you challenged me to be a better racecar driver, and most of all a better man. I could not help but smile as I felt like I was proving myself every week as one of the best up and coming younger drivers. You gave me feelings for myself and for the world around me I had not known was possible to feel. 
Then, I started driving 600s. As a troubled child, I used to plead to the racing heavens and ask why I am not good enough to even make a race at Kutztown, let alone why I flipped every other week battling for 24th when I did make the race. You broke my heart, nearly every Wednesday. 

It is different now. I am 17 years old at this time, and I feel like my life is on a pretty decent path in correlation with all that I am doing with art, writing, music, racing, and more. 

However, there is something that rests in the depth of my mind every day. 

A win, in a 600 micro sprint, at Action Track USA. From right now until the end, every Wednesday is my revenge against you.

This division has shattered me so many times. I have basically lost two fingers to these cars, and championships to go along with that injury. I have suffered concussions, extreme aggravation beyond belief, long car rides home of zero speaking with my father, blown motors, and most of all, loss. I have tasted that checkered flag so many times, only to deny myself of it, or to be denied by things out of my control. I will never let it happen again.

After last night, after leading the first half of one of the most prestigious races of the season and truly feeling like we could have at the very least competed for that crown on my oversized head in victory lane, and to lose that long awaited opportunity to a damn tire, I just wanted to say something.

This is a battle you will not win, and I am not scared of you.

I have never lost a fight. I have never let anything defeat me. And you, Action Track USA, are no different.

I study you every day. I watch dozens of in car videos hundreds of times over. I criticize and hate myself as much as I possibly can over the most minor mistakes. I talk to as many drivers, former and current, as I possibly can leading up to every Wednesday. I read about the geometrics, the engineering, the set-up, the mechanics, and all in between about 600 micro sprints every day. I read philosophies of famous athletes, about redemption, fearlessness, and what it takes to not be good, but to be great. I am psychotically, completely, and totally obsessed with victory.

You may ask why, Danny Buccafusca, the Slingshot dominator and micro sprint disappointment in the ugly #3 is even talking about winning at Action Track USA. I have only made a handful of races, and have flipped more than top 10s I've earned. I have yet to truly prove myself in the way I hope to anywhere in a 600, let alone at the most competitive small car track on the East Coast.

Well, it's because I know myself. I know what I have been through. I know what I feel.

And I know I can do this.

I can be great. I can be the greatest. I can win.

That isn't me just telling myself that so maybe I'll have a reason to believe it one day. Not at all. I truly believe in myself, my father, my team, and my racecar. And I truly believe in my passion for victory lane at Action Track USA. Maybe you should too.

So, dear Action Track USA, and every 600 driver I know and don't know,

I respect all of you so much. Some of you are my friends, some of you are my idols, but I'm coming after you.

I speak from all of the thoughts that have crossed my mind from this racetrack. The wonders of what I had been doing wrong, the worries about the reality that I just may not be good enough. I speak from my heart filled with ferocity, passion, and fearlessness. I am focused now. I have grown up, past the partying and past the valleys I have traveled through in this life. And I know one thing,

I want to win more at Action Track USA more than anyone wants anything on the face of this planet.

And I will do it.

I'm determined. I'm locked in. I'm angry, and above all,

I am doubted, by Action Track USA.

And if you know me, if there is one thing I absolutely despise, it's others looking down upon me.

Action Track USA, I am looking you dead in the eyes with my fists clenched and screaming when I say this.

I will conquer you.

This is no longer a battle I will let you win.

It's my turn.

Love,
Daniel David Buccafusca, #3