The last few times I've been out RC racing at my local track, it seems like the racing has gotten less clean and more and more wrecking has resulted in some pretty fast cars ending up with some pretty slow results.
The first time I ever put my car down on the track and asked for advice, someone (and I don't remember who) told me that sometimes you have to go slow to go fast. Now I've heard that 283 times since then and we all know it's true, it's just incredibly hard to force yourself to do that when the object is to get around the track as fast as you can.
I am sort of taking the reflective route remembering a time a few summers ago when I was down at a track in Danville Illinois (JTEC) racing in the MDOR series. Turns out I had a rocket fast car that day and I was completely hooked up. My car had all kinds of grip and for the most part, I was lapping the field. In my first qualifier, I was running good and a car that was clearly, slower, and out of control for most of the race would not yield position. For some reason, I had it in my head that I was going to get around him come hell or high water so after a few laps I made my move. Sure enough, the other driver, swerved up to block me I guess and took us both out of the race.
Later that evening in the mains, the exact same situation presented itself, only this time I was fortunate enough to have a Custom Works driver yelling at me on the stand reminding me that I did not have to pass him to win the race. While common sense sometimes eludes me in these situations, I did back off and as a result won the main, which was the whole point of the race.
In hindsight it seems ridiculous. Anyone in their right mind should know that it's all about winning, not how many laps I turn at a race track that I probably won't ever be at again. I don't see myself as a particularly aggressive driver, yet I was unable to resist the urge to go for broke just to see if I could get another lap in.
After tanking a few of my heat races (and having a few races tanked for me), I started thinking about how I can improve my race strategy to get better results. In my mind, I see the successful racers and try to emulate that. When someone faster comes up on me in a heat race, I immediately look for the first opportunity to let them by safely without putting myself out in the marbles. It's the way I was taught to race and it's the common courtesy that I hope will be returned in future races. It doesn't always happen on the first turn, but the fast guys know they'll get their opportunity. I don't move out immediately, because if the guy is truly faster than me and not very patient, they may try to blow by me on the outside. In that case, both of us usually wreck and nobody is happy. Now in the mains, it's a little tougher to give up positions, but I figure that if I don't give them an opportunity, sooner or later they are just going to wreck me to move me.
In watching the fast guys race, they come up on someone and follow them (not too closely) for a lap or two to see where they might get by the person in front of them. One of two things usually happens. In most circumstances, the slower driver makes a mistake and bobbles or there is a place somewhere on the track where it's a higher percentage play to make their move.
Because I tend to run a pretty tight line if I can to the inside, I usually feel like I can get my car inside the car in front of me at some point. Once I do that, it is my responsibility not to run the other car off the track by pushing out to the wall. I will back off if my car won't stick low to let the other car by, saving us both time in the process. Driving into the corner too hard just to get under them, plowing into the guy in front of you and using them as a steering aid is not a strategy. It's also a low percentage play. In at least half of those instances, both cars are taken out.
We do everything to our cars to pick up a tenth of a second here and a tenth of a second there. Waiting behind someone to get an opportunity to pass may yield a few tenths, but if you look at your lap times, a single instance where your car needs to be marshaled usually ends up being at least one lap's worth of time on our local track. Even if it wasn't discourteous, the risk reward just isn't there when viewed from a strategy standpoint.
Yeah, that's me :)
