Moment of Zen

There are a couple of things that separate me from the consistently fast people in this hobby.  One of them is talent.  Not much I can do about that one.  Another is consistency.  Racing is not about your fastest lap.  Many times, as I have talked about previously, it's about your slowest lap.  A slow lap can kill an entire run substantially more than a fast lap can save you.

It seems odd to think about a four minute race as being a long time to concentrate.  I have no idea how those NASCAR guys can hold their focus for 3-4 hours when it takes all I can do to pay attention to the details for the limited time we're on the stand for RC racing.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they are actually in the cars and stand to lose more than a few plastic parts if they goof up.

So, with my time off from racing over the holiday, I've been thinking about how to improve my focus while I'm on the stand.  

We turn about 50 laps in a four minute period, so if you think about it, we've got to enter a turn and exit a turn about 100 times each in a four minute race.  There's a lot happening in a race, so it's understandable that you might lose your focus during one or more of these activities. A slip up might mean something as minor as a bobble, costing you a few tenths of a second to an opportunity to test the speed of your corner marshall, the fastest of which will leave you four or five seconds down to your competition.

Hitting consistent lines, letting off the throttle at the right spot, getting back on the throttle smoothly are tough to do that many times in a row.  Throw in the half dozen other cars on the track that have their own agenda doesn't make it any easier.

So, I figure it's all about focus.  Every time I think too much about the other stuff going on out there, I lose track of my car and bad things happen.  About the best I can do is to focus on my car and a few feet in front of it.  I envy those people that seem to have a grasp of everything that's happening on the track, but I just can't do it.

I also need to stop paying too much attention to cars coming up behind me.  Every time I worry about a car gaining on me, I blow by my corner and lose out.  I'm guessing that I'm not alone in this.

To make a long story longer, the more I can remain focussed on my vehicle and the area immediately in front of it, the better off I am. 

My New Body is Done!!!

I was over to BFG on Tuesday night to do some testing and came up with a few things for my car that I hope translate into faster speeds when I get back to the track for racing in a week or so.  I moved the right front wheel spacer to the outside of the wheel and adjusted the ride height on my sprint car to try to get it to turn in better.  I came to the conclusion that I'm not sure that I really understand how the weight transfers on my Sprint car.  I've got it ok for now.  Not great, just ok.

Couldn't really get a gauge of how it will perform because we couldn't seem to keep moisture in the track for any length of time.  It would be ok for a 2-3 minute window, then was drying up on us.

Going to be hitting the RC circuit hard in the next few weeks.  BFG, Monee, Teas, then back to BFG before heading to Daytona for speedweek.  Looking forward to it....