I usually get very nervous during the minutes leading up to the start of a big race. It was the same when I was racing karts, but once I actually got moving, everything was cool, as I was focused on the task at hand. That hasn't translated into LFS, unfortunately. Only until I get a few laps into the race and I settle into my immediate surroundings (cars ahead and behind) do I feel more comfortable.
I once had a LOTA Formula V8 Challenge race where before things started, I had turned on a portable heater next to me (my desk is in a cold place in my house). I forgot to turn the heater off (which was located about 2 meters from me) before the race started. About 1/3 through, I got into a heated battle and that made me sweat profusely, so much so that it was interfering with my vision. I made the decision to pit early so I could rectify the situation. Unfortunately, my pit strategy and no damage meant that I would only take on about 2-3 seconds of fuel. In one fluid motion (or it seemed so at the time), I got stopped for my pit, threw the headset off to the side, sprung up out of my chair, pulled the ceiling fan chain twice (for medium speed), and sat back down, all in the time it took to make my pitstop. I got my headset back on as I drove down pit lane. What a waste of electricity, because I had the fan running, and the heater was still on!