Race Program Development - 5 Steps To Success In '08

That said, there are some things that should be left to the experts. There is just too much expertise out there that should be applied to your racecar. For instance, transmissions have always been a struggle for me. Because of that, I take mine to a specialist. However, it is easy for me to do some body repairs to my car that don't require a professional. Even if there's a pesky dent in the side of the car that just won't come out, it isn't that big of a deal ultimately because of the money I can save by doing the work in-house.

By choosing to do as much as you can in-house, you free up more finances that can be invested back into your team. This is a great way to learn more skills as well. Maybe after some time you will be able to rebuild a transmission and not have to pay someone to do it.

A prime example of this is replacing the ratchet springs in quick-change rearends. It is not a difficult task for someone who has done it before. All it requires is a special tool and a steady hand. But to someone who hasn't done it before, taking it to a specialist will cost $150-$200 in labor, not to mention the price of the springs. To learn how to do this yourself, you might have to spend some time in a specialist's shop, but it will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Some readers might be saying, "Wait a second, John, you said to race as much as you can, so how can I expect success if I am not racing?" This is indeed true, because you need to be racing every weekend to have a better chance at reaching the level of success you desire. But there might come a time this year when you're involved in an accident or where other priorities keep you from putting the necessary time into your racecar. You may be pressed for time and have to make the decision whether or not to try to make the race.

This past year we were pressed for time on the night before one of our races at Shenandoah Speedway in Virginia. We had crashed hard the race before and had multiple repairs to make. We spent several late nights in the shop, and we still hadn't stopped working on the car at 3 a.m. the day of the race. We ended up finishing around 4 a.m., loaded the car in the trailer (still with wet paint) and headed for the track. We were all tired and, to make things worse, on the way to the speedway we blew the engine in our tow vehicle and had to have someone come and finish towing us to the track. We arrived late, missed all of practice, and qualified with a damaged driveshaft that had to be changed prior to the race, meaning we had to start at the rear of the field.

We somehow managed to get a good run going, but an oil line broke in the middle of the race because it was secured in a bad position, causing us to spin into another car and dropping us from the field. This was something that-with adequate prep time-we would have found in our routine maintenance check of all nuts, bolts, and lines, and the oil line would have been secured in a better location. We might, or might not, have found the driveshaft issue. The engine was going to blow in the tow vehicle no matter what, but my point is, we should have made the call not to race. We just were not well prepared. It was a miracle that we didn't run the motor completely out of oil and blow it sky high, which would have sidelined us for quite some time.

Again, the problem with working that way is that you are putting yourself in harm's way. You are choosing to go without sleep so you can go racing. It was not a smart decision on our part, and it affected the decisions we made.