SPEEDWAY, Ind. The Jordan Missig seems like no other race is optimistic. In shape, quick reflexes, focused on his vehicle, eager to move to the front of the pack.
In Missig’s case, the goal is to get into the IndyCar chain. This year, he’s a rookie on the Indy Pro 2000 circuit, two rungs of the ladder down the big streak he’s aspiring to. The cars are somewhat less powerful than the big cars or even the Indy Lights, which is the penultimate step on the ladder, but the competition is no less tough.
Signed this year by Pabst Racing, the 24-year-old Chanahun took his first lap at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, tucked largely into the 2.5-mile oval.
Most drivers are cared for with commercial products ranging from motor oils to deodorants. Missig’s main sponsor is a start-up charity, Racing For Mental Health, which is fully invested.
Missig volunteered, “The whole goal is to spread awareness to people like me who have ADHD or who have a mental illness and don’t know how they can make it work.” “Many people who have it, keep it to themselves and find no help or success in life. The purpose is to help people speak up and find their rightful place in life.”
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s a mental health disorder, and its symptoms include difficulty paying attention, impulsive behavior, and low frustration tolerance.
For Missig, driving a race car is the perfect antidote to chronic illnesses.
“I’ve had trouble being able to focus in school, and I’m having a hard time understanding what the teachers are saying or understanding the lessons,” Messig said. “I was always focused on something else or just fidgeting, unable to sit still. With racing, because so much is happening at once, it takes away from having to focus on other things around me, and I am able to hone the tasks I do In the racing car.
In other words, outside the car, his layer is half empty. In the cockpit, his plate is full, and there is no way to add anything to it.
“There are many other mental health conditions that I feel racing can help,” Missig added.
Missig found racing great as a kid, ran fast in go-karts and, like NASCAR driver William Byron, competed in iRacing simulator races before getting into real cars, including sports cars.
It’s fast. Part of the winning team at this year’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill in California, he’s been driving the checkered flag car, and has driven sports cars across the country since 2019, when the track champion was at the Autobahn Country Club, his home stadium. and co-sponsor. There he trains in sports cars. He also has a seat with Wayne Taylor Racing for this major.
Missig and her teammate Colin Kaminsky of Homer Glen’s mission brought mixed results this weekend. Missig finished seventh in Friday’s race, crashed and finished last in Saturday’s opener, and was 11th in the evening. Kaminski finished third on Friday, second on Saturday morning, and tenth in the third race of the weekend.
This was Missig’s first trip to Indianapolis as part of the IndyCar ladder streak, but he’s not expecting the last.
“I’ve been to Talladega and Daytona, and they’re both big, but this place gives you perspective,” Messig said. “The four holes of the golf course inside – it’s huge.”
As is the challenge. Missig is eager to address them.
“The ideal plan is to get into the IndyCar series, and then with Wayne Taylor Racing, the sports car,” Missig said. “This year in Pro 2000, I want to learn, and next year, I win the championship for the Indy Lights scholarship.”