Addictions Counselor Marci Backus Talks Drag Racing and What It Can Teach Us About Mental Health
Marci Backus is busy. She’s an addictions counselor completing a masters in Mental Health Counseling with Indiana Wesleyan University, works as an intake coordinator with Kenosis Counseling Center in Greenwood, IN, and is a wife and mother of 4 kids. Her secret? Taking time every week to unwind and relax. For Marci, that happy place is the racetrack, and she’s not just lounging on the sidelines either.
She’s the one behind the wheel, winning the race.
“With tests, papers, and other anxieties with work and home life, drag racing relaxes me enough to slow down,” explains Marci on how the sport keeps her sane in her busy life.
It’s an oxymoron, but it works, and Marci’s kept the routine 2-3 days a week for the last 5 years; she’s even upping her racing game and working towards achieving a pro class status. We sat down with Marci to talk about her racing, and she gave a few insights on what the sport can teach us about mental health.
IT’S SOCIAL
Marci started racing thanks to her relationships.
“My husband is a mechanic and always enjoyed going to the races. He invited me to watch with him, and I ended up wanting to try it myself,” she says, “He eventually got me my own race car, and even gave it to me as a graduation gift when I received my business degree.”
From there, she and her husband quickly found their tribe – forming a core community of racers who meet up on the weekends at tracks all across the state. “My racing team is like my family,” she says.
It’s no secret that strong relationships and social well-being are essential to positive mental health. According to Psychology Today, the health benefits of socializing include longer lifespans, better physical health, a decrease in symptoms of depression, and a drop in our likelihood of developing memory-related diseases like dementia. Community-centered sports like drag racing don’t just keep us social, they keep us sharp.
Marci notes that racing goes a step further, fostering healthy competition that strengthens ties with people you might never interact with in other areas of life. She says about the racing community, “If you need help, they’re all there for you. Anytime someone needs something people will stop and help. Everybody has a different reason for racing, but there’s an understanding we’re all in it together. You may meet a guy that you’d never talk to on the street, but you will on the track.”
And most racers know Marci. To other drivers in the area, she’s known as “the counselor,” a nod to her occupation and caring attitude she carries with her on the track. Even her car (proudly sponsored by Kenosis) is dubbed The Counselor.
“I’m such a therapist on the track,” she laughs, “I’m a mamma bear, I protect all my drivers no matter what. Win or lose, I’m there to help them just like they’re there to help me.”
IT’S MEDITATIVE
For Marci, prepping for a race is her quiet time.
“(To prepare for a race) I like to get in my car, get settled, and have a few minutes of quiet time. Sometimes other racers want to come up and hang out with you – try to talk to you, coach you, just chat. But I’d rather get quiet and focus,” she explains.
This is for good reason – the two types of racing Marci does demand that racers are on their A-game mentally at all times.
“There’s Bracket racing and Open Comp racing,” she explains. “Open Comp is the ‘bring what you’ve got’ race – where you give it your all and drive as fast as you can to beat the guy next to you. Bracket racing is a mental game. It’s all about strategy, sticking to your time, and paying attention to the race conditions as a whole rather than winning on speed alone.”
Both styles require a serious shift in mental concentration, and racers must be able to quickly adapt their strategy to the individual race and its conditions.
Sports that encourage meditative-focus like drag racing help strengthen our mental muscles and keep us mindfully resilient in all areas of life. For Marci, this aspect is why racing is so therapeutic for her busy life.
“(When I get in my car and get quiet) that’s usually when anxiety for other things pops up. I’ll think about that paper that’s due, or my upcoming test results – somthing. But once I get focused and the race starts, I relax. It’s my therapy,” she explains.
IT’S RESEARCH
This summer, drag racing made waves (and some sensational headlines) in mental health news. The 8 members of the NHRA Don Schumacher racing team signed a pledge to donate their brains to science.
The pledge was made to the Concussion Legacy Foundation which hopes to use their donated brains to study Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (also known as CTE, a degenerative brain disease that can lead to dementia, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in military veterans.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea for research and amazing gesture to donate their brains to research,” says Marci. “I don’t know much about the subject (being studied), but I think it’s a great idea.”As far as witnessing concussions in her own racing she says, “Personally I’ve not heard of or experienced a lot of concussions in the drag racing world. (But) if someone is not in the proper gear I can see how there would be a problem especially driving at such high speeds.” she explains.
IT HELPS YOU FACE YOUR FEARS
Drag racing might be relaxing for Marci, but it’s not for the faint of heart. She understands first-hand the potential dangers of her sport.
“One of my buddies from the track recently flipped his car several times and was lifeline to the hospital,” Marci recalls. “His car is destroyed and he is in stable condition – his cage and helmet saved his life. Mentally when one of your own take such a hard hit in drag racing we all feel his loss. Racers and track owners will pull together to see that he’ll race again. That is a real beauty in my opinion and that’s is why I love this sport. Racers are a different breed.”
Marci respects stories like this and she and her husband take the proper precautions to ensure safety in every race. She explains, “You really have to learn to be on your A-game. I always have a full helmet, proper gear – I don’t play around with that stuff. We’re always working on the cars and checking the tires, oil, everything to make sure it’s all safe for our next race.”
It takes courage to race despite the potential physical risks involved. It takes even greater courage to stand up for yourself in the face of prejudice from other racers.
Historically, drag racing is a sport dominated by men with it’s own gender equality issues unique to the auto racing world. Marci notes that in her own experiences, the scene has changed in the 5 years she’s been racing (“Partly because they now know my reputation for winning at the track,” she interjects.), but she still gets the occasional guy unwilling to race her. They’re either afraid to lose to her or believe that, because she’s a woman, they’re about to get an easy win and don’t want to waste their time.
“I challenge those guys,” she says, “I say, ‘Come on, let’s race!’ and I usually prove them wrong and win. My husband jokes I’m ‘a woman with balls’,” she laughs. “A lot of them think I don’t have fear. Of course I still have a little bit, but I challenge them anyway.”
Like Marci during a race, experiences that put us through a little adversity and fear in our own lives increase our emotional resilience. You know those tough people who can summon the will to keep going no matter what? They have deep emotional resilience and mental strength. Pursuing a hobby that not only brings you joy, but forces you out of your comfort zone on a regular basis helps develop this mental superpower that can improve other areas of your life.
Maybe racing isn’t your gateway to relaxation, but when it comes to maintaining your mental health in our busy world, Marci’s story offers valuable insight in our own lives – invest in what drives you in the off-times, it can improve your mental health and be the key to positive growth in all areas of your life.
For Marci, that’s racing, and she’s not slowing down anytime soon, “Why be the one sitting on the sidelines?” she says, “I want to get out there. I want to race!”