The Drivers Guide to Safe Oval Racing
It's essential to have everything you need to go racing when the green flag waves. Preperation is not just about making sure you are in your seat and have your steering wheel in hand. It's more about those little things that people often forget about. It's those little things that can often make-or-break a driver.
1: Be prepard
A) Physical Preperation:
The night before the big day, eat a good meal and make sure you get to sleep early. Make sure you are well rested. It's not recommend to go out drinking the night before and come to the track sleepy or hungover. A sleepy or hungover driver is a dangerous driver. Make sure you come to the track feeling refreshed and ready to go. The day of the race, eat a small meal for breakfast, and be sure to use the bathroom (toilet) before the event. 500 miles is a long way and it can last for many, many hours. You must be ready for the long journey ahead of you.
B) Mental Preperation:
The day of the race, stay at home and mentally prepare for the big day. It's not wise to go play your favorite sport for a few hours (be it football, basketball, or bike riding for 20km) then come to the track with your adrenaline levels high. Save the high levels of adrenaline for the track. The human body can only produce so much, so don't waist it all before the race. Stay focused on the job at hand, and be ready to put yourself into what I call 'The Zone'. 'The Zone' will allow you to block out everything except the task at hand...racing!
2: Race Day
A) Distractions:
Be sure to tell your families and friends of the big event! I'm sure they will all be rooting for
you, but the last thing you want is a phone call (on lap 80) with your buddy asking, "So, how's it going so far???". Turn off or unplug the damn the phone, put your pets away, maybe place a big sign on the door that reads "DO NOT DISTURB!". In real racing, the slightest distraction can have dire consequences. Try to treat this the same way. Be alert and focused at all times because anyting can happen. Also, turn off that music! Although some will argue with me about this, you MUST be able to hear the track, the tires, the cars, the engine, the wind, the crazy race director... everything! How can you concentrate on the race if you have Sir Mix-A-Lots' "Baby Got Back" blaring in your ear?
B) More Preperation:
Make sure your computer is ready to go. Reboot your modem, routers, switches, and computers. Make sure that ONLY the programs you need to race are running. Do NOT use MSN, Yahoo, or any chat programs. Make sure you're not downloading anything and that YOU are the only one using a computer on a home network. Just to be safe, Unplug all the other computers on the network. Excessive bandwidth use can cause you to lag and crash others, or worse, to time-out then your race is done. You don't want that, do you? Remember, the Race Director can 'Black-Flag' you for a high ping. I'm sure you don't want that to happen.
If the room temperature is going to be hot, turn on your air conditioner. Have a fan circulate the air in your room. Also be sure to have a fan for yourself and a very comfortable seat. If there are many cautions, the race can take 4 or more hours. Have everything you need within arms reach (a drink, a small snack, cigarettes, etc.) Think about what you will need and have it ready before you arrive at the track. maybe even something to pee in... seriously! What if you gotta go? Are you going to park in pitlane and run to the toilet?
C) At The Track:
Plan to Arrive and ready to race one hour early. Discuss with teammates the plan. Relax but be prepared. Discussions should be kept to a minumum. Any discussions should be race-related. No one wants to hear about how your cat puked up a huge hairball. Use the time to put youself in 'The Zone'. Personally, I prefer silence. It gives me time to put myself into 'The Zone'.
3: The Race!
A) The car:
At this point your car is tuned up. Your setup is ready to run for 500 miles. There should be no question about whether it's going to last (or not). There has been many months to prepare for this and any racer will tell you, it takes a while to get any car ready for such an event. You've got to know the car like it's part of your body. It's an extention of you. The car is a "well oiled" machine and must be properly tweaked to get the most out of it (before and during the race).
B) The Driver:
As discussed earlier, be prepared. Once on the track, anything can happen. Are you going to be ready? How's your vision? Can you see? ...I don't mean directly in front of you. Oval Racing requires that you have 4 eyes (one in front, one in back, and one on each side of your head.) You do look to the sides, yes? How about mirrors? Are they adjusted properly? You do use mirrors, i hope? If you can't see all around you, that's not a good thing. I wont go into it here, but I am sure you can figure out why being able to see all around you is so important. Afterall, you are a race car driver and should already know the answer.
C) On The Track:
This is probably the touchiest subject to talk about. Everyone has their own 'style' of racing. Just like music, everyone does it their own way. The only advice I can say is be safe and drive predictably. Don't take unnecessary chances when you can achieved the same thing in a safer manner a few hundred meters down the track. Make sure YOU are in control of the car and that the car is NOT controlling you. Think, then act. One thing that must be discussed is drafting. Everyone knows what it does and how it works, but the question you must ask yourself BEFORE taking the draft of the car ahead is, "Is it clear to get behind him, or will I hit someone already in his draft?". (see what I wrote about vision, above.)
Anyway, enough of my babbling. I recommend everyone reread the rule book one more time. There are 30 drivers starting on the grid and I'd love to see all 30 pass the finish line. Please drive safe, carefully, and patiently. I know you will do great!
[FM]^JeffyG (skydiver173)
P.S. If you can add to this, feel free but keep it on topic. Good Luck to all!
It's essential to have everything you need to go racing when the green flag waves. Preperation is not just about making sure you are in your seat and have your steering wheel in hand. It's more about those little things that people often forget about. It's those little things that can often make-or-break a driver.
1: Be prepard
A) Physical Preperation:
The night before the big day, eat a good meal and make sure you get to sleep early. Make sure you are well rested. It's not recommend to go out drinking the night before and come to the track sleepy or hungover. A sleepy or hungover driver is a dangerous driver. Make sure you come to the track feeling refreshed and ready to go. The day of the race, eat a small meal for breakfast, and be sure to use the bathroom (toilet) before the event. 500 miles is a long way and it can last for many, many hours. You must be ready for the long journey ahead of you.
B) Mental Preperation:
The day of the race, stay at home and mentally prepare for the big day. It's not wise to go play your favorite sport for a few hours (be it football, basketball, or bike riding for 20km) then come to the track with your adrenaline levels high. Save the high levels of adrenaline for the track. The human body can only produce so much, so don't waist it all before the race. Stay focused on the job at hand, and be ready to put yourself into what I call 'The Zone'. 'The Zone' will allow you to block out everything except the task at hand...racing!
2: Race Day
A) Distractions:
Be sure to tell your families and friends of the big event! I'm sure they will all be rooting for
you, but the last thing you want is a phone call (on lap 80) with your buddy asking, "So, how's it going so far???". Turn off or unplug the damn the phone, put your pets away, maybe place a big sign on the door that reads "DO NOT DISTURB!". In real racing, the slightest distraction can have dire consequences. Try to treat this the same way. Be alert and focused at all times because anyting can happen. Also, turn off that music! Although some will argue with me about this, you MUST be able to hear the track, the tires, the cars, the engine, the wind, the crazy race director... everything! How can you concentrate on the race if you have Sir Mix-A-Lots' "Baby Got Back" blaring in your ear?
B) More Preperation:
Make sure your computer is ready to go. Reboot your modem, routers, switches, and computers. Make sure that ONLY the programs you need to race are running. Do NOT use MSN, Yahoo, or any chat programs. Make sure you're not downloading anything and that YOU are the only one using a computer on a home network. Just to be safe, Unplug all the other computers on the network. Excessive bandwidth use can cause you to lag and crash others, or worse, to time-out then your race is done. You don't want that, do you? Remember, the Race Director can 'Black-Flag' you for a high ping. I'm sure you don't want that to happen.
If the room temperature is going to be hot, turn on your air conditioner. Have a fan circulate the air in your room. Also be sure to have a fan for yourself and a very comfortable seat. If there are many cautions, the race can take 4 or more hours. Have everything you need within arms reach (a drink, a small snack, cigarettes, etc.) Think about what you will need and have it ready before you arrive at the track. maybe even something to pee in... seriously! What if you gotta go? Are you going to park in pitlane and run to the toilet?
C) At The Track:
Plan to Arrive and ready to race one hour early. Discuss with teammates the plan. Relax but be prepared. Discussions should be kept to a minumum. Any discussions should be race-related. No one wants to hear about how your cat puked up a huge hairball. Use the time to put youself in 'The Zone'. Personally, I prefer silence. It gives me time to put myself into 'The Zone'.
3: The Race!
A) The car:
At this point your car is tuned up. Your setup is ready to run for 500 miles. There should be no question about whether it's going to last (or not). There has been many months to prepare for this and any racer will tell you, it takes a while to get any car ready for such an event. You've got to know the car like it's part of your body. It's an extention of you. The car is a "well oiled" machine and must be properly tweaked to get the most out of it (before and during the race).
B) The Driver:
As discussed earlier, be prepared. Once on the track, anything can happen. Are you going to be ready? How's your vision? Can you see? ...I don't mean directly in front of you. Oval Racing requires that you have 4 eyes (one in front, one in back, and one on each side of your head.) You do look to the sides, yes? How about mirrors? Are they adjusted properly? You do use mirrors, i hope? If you can't see all around you, that's not a good thing. I wont go into it here, but I am sure you can figure out why being able to see all around you is so important. Afterall, you are a race car driver and should already know the answer.
C) On The Track:
This is probably the touchiest subject to talk about. Everyone has their own 'style' of racing. Just like music, everyone does it their own way. The only advice I can say is be safe and drive predictably. Don't take unnecessary chances when you can achieved the same thing in a safer manner a few hundred meters down the track. Make sure YOU are in control of the car and that the car is NOT controlling you. Think, then act. One thing that must be discussed is drafting. Everyone knows what it does and how it works, but the question you must ask yourself BEFORE taking the draft of the car ahead is, "Is it clear to get behind him, or will I hit someone already in his draft?". (see what I wrote about vision, above.)
Anyway, enough of my babbling. I recommend everyone reread the rule book one more time. There are 30 drivers starting on the grid and I'd love to see all 30 pass the finish line. Please drive safe, carefully, and patiently. I know you will do great!
[FM]^JeffyG (skydiver173)
P.S. If you can add to this, feel free but keep it on topic. Good Luck to all!
I doubt the pitspotter will actually help you that much.
