It was a little sad knowing this was the end of Champ Car, but at the same time it made me hopeful that the unification with the IRL will bring new excitement to open wheel racing. (Photo: James Hunt) » More Photos

In past articles, I briefly discussed my company James Hunt Racing, LLC. What I have not fully discussed, however, is the multitude of investments required to make an entrepreneurial endeavor work. As some of you may already know, starting your own company is hard enough; but this goes triple for racing. In racing, every driver is their own company. And as a driver you have to constantly sell yourself to potential business partners and teams in an effort to earn a seat. So, unless you are one of those lucky “Silver Spooners” born into a ton of money (or have family willing to basically light money on fire so you can go racing), you end up running your own show like me.

As with any company, in order to see a positive return you must first invest. Personally, I have been saving for a while now to purchase a few necessities that should enable me to act as my own Advertising, Accounting, Marketing, Sales, Media and Public Relations Departments, to name a few. The newest addition has been a digital camera that will hopefully allow me to document my on and off track activities without relying so much on the generosity of others all the time. Coming soon are a new computer to run my business from and an in-car camera to start making videos with.

Lastly, the most important investment in any new start-up company will always be your time and energy. Being a professional driver is an obsession, not a hobby. I have touched on this before (and will probably continue to do so) because of how important it is and because of how few people outside the racing world seem to truly realize what it means. If you are not 100% dedicated to racing don’t waste your time--- a healthy bit of obsession doesn’t hurt either. A person’s life is the biggest investment I can think of, but becoming a professional driver requires nothing less.