What a 200 MPH Race Through Washington Taught Me About Cybersecurity
Jul 22, 2026
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What a 200 MPH Race Through Washington Taught Me About Cybersecurity
By Scott Stricklin, Chief Revenue Officer, Accoona.IT
I’m going to sound like a racing nerd for a minute.
Bear with me.
When I heard the Freedom 250 Grand Prix was actually happening in Washington, D.C., I immediately texted our team.
Not because I suddenly wanted to become an automotive journalist.
Because I couldn’t stop thinking…
This might be one of the best cybersecurity analogies I’ve ever seen.
Here’s why.
For years, racing organizations tried to bring an INDYCAR event to Washington, D.C.
Years.
Nothing happened.
Then suddenly…it did.
One conversation.
One executive order.
A few months later?
They’re preparing to send race cars flying down Pennsylvania Avenue—something many people thought would never happen.
History is pretty cool like that.
But here’s what really caught my attention.
Everyone is going to watch the drivers.
Very few people will notice the hundreds of engineers, mechanics, strategists, data analysts, safety officials, telemetry specialists, and spotters making sure those drivers actually survive the weekend.
That’s the real story. That’s cybersecurity.
Everyone Sees the Driver. Nobody Notices the Pit Crew.
When a driver wins the Freedom 250, the headlines won’t say:
“Amazing firewall configuration.”
“Outstanding telemetry monitoring.”
“Excellent tire pressure management.”
No.
They’ll celebrate the driver.
But everyone inside racing knows the truth.
The driver is only as good as the team quietly working behind the scenes.
Someone is watching every sensor.
Someone is watching fuel.
Someone is watching tire temperatures.
Someone is watching weather.
Someone is already preparing for problems before the driver even knows they exist.
That’s exactly what managed IT and cybersecurity should look like.
At Accoona.IT, our job isn’t to steal the spotlight.
It’s to make sure your business never has to become the headline.
Cybercriminals Don’t Wave a Green Flag
Here’s another similarity.
Race teams know exactly when the race starts.
Cybercriminals don’t.
Hackers don’t wait until Monday morning.
They don’t avoid weekends.
They definitely don’t care that your IT person is on vacation.
Most attacks today are automated.
A phishing email gets clicked.
A password gets stolen.
A vulnerable server gets discovered.
Sometimes everything happens in minutes.
That’s why “We’ll look into it tomorrow” isn’t really a cybersecurity strategy anymore.
By tomorrow…
The race may already be over.
The Best Drivers Prepare Long Before Race Day
Imagine showing up to the Freedom 250 and saying:
“We’ll install the brakes after qualifying.”
Sounds ridiculous, right?
Yet businesses do something very similar all the time.
“We’ll think about backups after we grow.”
“We’ll invest in cybersecurity next quarter.”
“We’ll worry about compliance when someone asks.”
The problem?
Cybersecurity isn’t something you bolt onto your business after it’s successful.
It’s what allows your business to keep succeeding.
Every championship team prepares for problems they hope never happen.
Businesses should do exactly the same.
Speed Is Great. Proactive Control Wins Championships – Removing the Rocks in the Road.
Business has never moved faster.
Cloud platforms.
Remote employees.
AI.
Digital payments.
Connected devices.
Everything is accelerating.
That’s exciting.
It’s also exactly what cybercriminals are counting on.
Because when businesses move faster than their security can keep up, mistakes happen.
Good cybersecurity doesn’t slow innovation.
It gives you the confidence to keep pushing the throttle.
So…Who’s Watching Your Dashboard?
When you’re driving your business every day, you’re focused on customers, employees, growth, and the next opportunity.
You shouldn’t also have to wonder whether someone clicked a malicious email.
Or whether a server missed last month’s security patch.
Or whether ransomware is quietly spreading through your network.
That’s our job.
At Accoona.IT, we become the pit crew behind your business—providing 24/7 monitoring, managed IT, cybersecurity, backups, patch management, compliance guidance, and rapid incident response so you can stay focused on where you’re going instead of what’s happening under the hood.
Because the best racing teams don’t wait for something to break.
Neither should your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a managed cybersecurity provider actually do?
A managed cybersecurity provider continuously monitors your environment, patches vulnerabilities, protects endpoints, responds to threats, manages backups, and helps organizations reduce cyber risk without hiring an in-house security team.
Why is reaction time so important in cybersecurity?
Modern attacks are automated. Detecting suspicious activity within minutes instead of hours can be the difference between a minor incident and a company-wide ransomware event.
What can businesses learn from professional racing?
Championship teams succeed because preparation beats panic. Continuous monitoring, experienced specialists, rehearsed response plans, and preventative maintenance are just as important in cybersecurity as they are on race day.
Is my business too small to be targeted?
No. Small and midsize businesses are increasingly targeted because attackers often assume they have fewer security resources. Every organization benefits from layered protection and proactive monitoring.
The Checkered Flag
I’ll absolutely be watching the Freedom 250.
Sure, I’ll be cheering for the drivers.
But I’ll probably spend half the race watching the crews.
Because they remind me of what we do every day.
The best teams don’t wait for disaster.
They prepare for it so well that it never happens.
If your business is running full throttle without a pit crew, maybe it’s time we talked before someone else waves the green flag.
