This is, ultimately, a game (despite how seriously some people take it) and you shouldn't let it be a stress. Sign up if you feel like racing, and if you have to jump out because of real life important situations, that is perfectly fine, I don't think anyone in the club would hold that against you (and if they did, they'd be jerks anyway). This is for fun, not to feel like a chore. You're welcome any time.
Thank you, I appreciate the thought and I agree: it is a game, especially compared with the crap life throws at you.
Nevertheless, sometimes I think it is one of the few things that keeps me sane.
The greatest thing about racing, simulated or not, is that only the next turn is important, the next pass, the next race. It helps one detox from the stress of daily life where so many things have to be managed at once (few of them pleasurable).
I tried quitting simracing so that I wouldn't feel guilty for playing while my wife was suffering in bed. I eventually realized that a) I am not a doctor, there is little I can do, b) depriving myself of fun does not make her better, and c) I need a way to abandon real life every once in a while and live in a world where things are more under my control.
So if it is Simracing, watching a movie, reading a book, play tennis, I am not being egotistical as long as I can still be there for her and I can be a good father, husband and man in general.
At the same time, a lot of us, including yours truly, spend a considerable amount of time practicing and preparing for these races and we count on each other to make sure that time is not wasted.
A 20 car race is excellent, a 10 car race can be fun, a 3 car race, when 20 people signed up, is a bummer. So if I sign up I want to be reasonably confident that I can show up on the day of the race.
Thank you again for the nice words.