Even If Your Race Program Appears To Be In Top Form, There's Room For Improvement. So Tighten Those Bolts, Strap In, And Reach A New Level This Season
Don't settle for mediocrity when you can enjoy success by making necessary changes to step your program up to the next level. Photo by Kevin Thorne
We have all seen the team that unloads at a track and is considered one of the favorites to win. This is the same team that has the swagger and confidence that comes with success.
But no matter the accomplishments from past years, I believe that every racer wants to win more races and finish up front on a more consistent basis-in other words be more successful.
There is an old saying, "If you don't make changes, don't expect anything to change." This is one of my favorite sayings and I believe every race team should have this hanging up inside the shop. If you are going to the racetrack and are consistently struggling to make the field, then something needs to change before you can enjoy success. But it shocks me the number of teams that merely accept mediocrity and choose not to put the time and effort into improving their program.
You can jumpstart this year by following a few steps that will help ensure success for your race team in 2008. Behind these steps are a few different rules that must already be applied in order to succeed. One is that you must be racing as much as you possibly can. If you go a month between races, it will take longer to find success than it will take someone who is racing every weekend and learning where he can improve his program. Even if you have to rent the track for a test day, that is better than not driving at all.
Don't assume that the top teams you race against are running up front just because they are in a better financial situation. Photo by Kevin Thorne
Second, you don't have to have unlimited funds. This sounds like a contradictory statement, but a lot of race teams that see success in a rival race team are quick to jump to a conclusion that money is the only reason that team is winning. Let me assure you that money can only get you so far. The team that is constantly finishing up front at each race is doing so because its entire program is firing on all cylinders.
Finally, your driver seat has to be filled with a decent driver. There are drivers who are not so much drivers as steering-wheel holders just along for the ride. Drivers like this, once they hit the track, are not controlling the car, the car is controlling them. You need a driver your team believes in and will do anything to help. So whether you are driving the car or hiring a driver, make sure the driver can get every possible 10th out of the car.
These five steps are in no particular order, and each one is as important as the one listed before or after it. I can guarantee you that if your team applies these steps and genuinely follows them, your program-no matter how great it already is-will improve.
Preparation is the key to avoiding short race weekends. You must be able to put in the time and effort to ensure you don't have a run of mechanical failures at the track. Jeff Huneycutt
1.Any Amount Of Success Starts With A Great Amount Of Preparation
Preparation is key to having any type of success, and if one step can rank above the others it's this one. The right preparation can ensure that everything about the car is near perfect when you arrive at the track. If you skip the preparation, you run a huge risk of not only experiencing failure while at the track, but you also put yourself into harm's way.
For instance, arriving at the track with work to do on the racecar is just plain ridiculous. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but it must be if at all possible. You will have so much vying for your attention while at the track, that having any extra work to do will pull your attention away from where it needs to be. Proper preparation can be broken up into three sections: prep work on the car, on the toolbox taken to the track, and on the trailer.
The preparation to the car is obviously the most important of the three. If you don't already have a check sheet, create a one that is reviewed thoroughly every time the car arrives back at the shop after a race and before the next race. The prep work that is completed on the car after it has finished a race is as standard as just checking the weld points on the chassis to make sure that nothing is bent or broken. It can also extend to checking for exhaust leaks, cracked heads, and so on.