My step son attended his first drag race at Brainerd with his mother and I back in 2001 at age 11. He was the typical pit rat, running around,getting hero cards signed, and hanging out and talking to various racers and crew members. He became pretty good friends with Shawn and Blake Gann, by offering to help out with anything. At age 16 and 17 he spent the summers on the road with the Gann's pro stock motorcycle team as basically an intern. After he graduated high school he went to Wyotech for high performance cars, and after graduation was offered a fulltime position with the Gann's RumBum pro stock motorcycle team.He is now with them full time, and will be working at the shop prepping the bikes for the season next year, as well as serving as a fulltime crew member. His ultimate dream is to eventually find his way to driving, and his preference is Top Fuel...his current inspiration towards that goal is Antron Brown...and to think it all started out with him just running around getting autographs.
All I can say is to follow the advice you read here, and follow your dream. Best of luck.