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Well when you take it out of context, it sounds pretty stupid!



You're welcome! I certainly don't expect all of this stuff to work for everybody but it may at least lend a different perspective to some things.

Jim

A couple more driving tips:

* Don’t upset the car!

As far as I know, cars don’t have feelings. Feel free to curse, berate or kick the car if you feel things aren’t going your way. The car won’t care! But that’s not what I mean here. You should strive to keep the car in a rhythm at all times and that usually means using smooth inputs on the controls. This doesn’t mean that the car isn’t sliding around a bit but it does mean that it shouldn’t look like it is having an epileptic fit. Being smooth on the steering wheel is what most people focus on and that is definitely something to strive for. AutoX’ing is such a fast paced sport that sometimes you can’t help but move the steering wheel quickly but you should try to do it without big jerky inputs. You should be fairly decisive with your inputs and once you commit to a turn, stay committed.

You can practice this on the street at a slower pace by trying to make turns without moving the steering wheel once you have initiated the turn. This is easily accomplished in most 90-degree turns and it will help with your timing and feel. Another common game to play on the highway is trying to change lanes without running over the bots dots. Those are the little reflectors between lanes and you’ll find that if you can change lanes without running them over, you’ll develop a more acute awareness of the spatial relationship between your tires and your seated position. To slightly advance that notion, try to make a lane change by giving one initial input to the steering wheel with no further corrections and miss the dots with both sides of the car. You can also use them to find the edges of your tires by finding the point where you are just running over them.

The red-headed stepchild of being smooth that most people seem to overlook is not using the gas and brakes as if they were on/off switches. I already talked a bit about using part-throttle positions when “flooring it” isn’t appropriate but it really can’t be overemphasized enough. This is true whether you are driving an anemic100-hp wonder such as my car or a 500-hp monster or anything in-between. Every time you jump on and off the gas, it upsets the fore-aft balance of the car which can lead to losing traction in all sorts of spectacular ways. This can be an even bigger issue under braking since cars tend to brake *much* harder than they accelerate. Try not to “stab” the brakes especially if you are driving a FWD car. Ease into the brakes quickly and decisively and release it the same way. It’s a subtle distinction but it is a key component of being smooth.

You can practice your braking techniques anytime you come up to a stop out on the street. You don’t need to brake hard to do it either and always be mindful of anybody who is behind you! When approaching an area where you need to stop, pick a spot where you are going to stop and try to press the brake pedal with a constant force. The trick is to come to a stop exactly where you intended without having to modulate the brake pressure. This will help with your spatial awareness as well as judging speed/distance relationships.

These techniques can pay off in a big way in large offset elements. A lot of times people will accelerate hard between offsets and then jump on the brakes to slow for the next one. Instead of rocking the car back and forth like that, try lifting off the gas a hair early and/or just brushing the brakes to get slowed for the next offset and you’ll find the car has more traction overall. There are a lot of instances like this where it is better to lift a hair early and not use the brakes at all instead of waiting to the last minute, jumping on the brakes and then jumping back on the gas. You’ll hear that you shouldn’t ever be coasting out on course and while that is generally true, there are circumstances where a slight early lift is preferable to rocking the car back and forth unnecessarily. Don’t upset the car!

* Attack the fast stuff, be conservative in the slow stuff.

The single biggest time sinks on most courses are slow features with the classic example being a pin turn. We tend to see a few pin turns at our events every year and if you watch people closely, you’ll find that is where most of them are losing big chunks of time. Why is that? For some reason, most people find going slow much harder than going fast. It’s as if they are trying to make up time in the slow sections and when most people try to make up time, they push extra hard. As a result of trying too hard, you’ll see people blowing past the pin cones by several feet and sometimes as much as ten or more feet.

So how bad is it? Real bad! I would estimate that you can lose over a 1/2 a second by simply being 5 feet off a pin cone. If you are really aggressive and blow by it by 10 feet, you’ve just added over a full second to your run! Think about it for a second-- the car is traveling relatively slowly at that point and you are covering a ton of extra distance. Covering that extra distance at a slow rate of speed takes a ton of time! Conversely, if you are a few feet off line in a fast section, it isn’t nearly as costly since you are covering the extra distance at a much greater speed. I’d estimate you can be up to five feet off-line in a sweeper and still only lose around a 1/10 of a second. Sure, it’s time lost but it isn’t nearly as painful.

So what does that mean? If you’re going to be super aggressive in a few spots to really test a car’s limits, make sure you are doing it in a section where you are traveling at a relatively high rate of speed. The perfect place for that is a sweeper such as we see in Laurinburg or Danville. In the slow sections, if you’re going to be heroic, try to do it by getting back on the gas as early as possible instead of dive-bombing the entrance. I’m not saying there isn’t time to be gained under hard braking but it is greatly outweighed by the potential time lost by covering extra distance which also forces you to get back on the gas late. And remember, don’t scrub the front tires off the car while making your turn!

Next up: Going mental!

Jim

The Mental Aspect:

* Nervous Nelly?

Do you get nervous before you run? Unfortunately I don’t have much to say here since this isn’t a problem I have. Hopefully others will chime in and share tips/tricks that help them relax. I’ve heard a lot of people say they drive better when they are hung over but I have a hard time believing that actually helps. I can see it taking the edge off if you get really nervous since you probably don’t care anymore and are slightly distracted but I have to believe that isn’t a great way to go about things.

I tend to have the opposite problem in that I have a hard time getting psyched up before my runs. This tends to make me lazy and drive a little soft especially on my first run. I usually do better on subsequent runs but there are days that I’m just not feeling it at all. I constantly have to remind myself before my first run to “scare” myself a little just to get the adrenalin flowing. I’d like to say that some of my previous racing experience helped calm me down but I’ve always had the same problem. I’ve tried various things over the years such as too much caffeine and whatnot but it really boils down to getting my adrenalin going by trying to knock myself out of my own comfort zone out on course.

I guess this has the advantage of not getting rattled by what is going on around me but sometimes I really wish I could get myself into the “zone” easier. About the only time I really get worked up is when I can’t seem to execute my own game plan and I wind up aggravated at myself. This is one of the biggest things I’ve been working on in the past few years.

* Stay sharp.

This is usually a big deal when attending larger events since you may not run until late in the afternoon. If it’s hot, it can be a real chore to keep your focus because by the time you are supposed to run, you are already worn out. I think the biggest key in these situations is to pace yourself. Take a page out of the “old guy’s handbook” and stay in the shade as much as possible. You’ll inevitably have to spend some time out in the sun so when you do, make sure you have a proper amount of sun screen on and cover yourself as much as you can stand.

My personal strategy for beating the heat is to make sure I’m pre-hydrated before an event day. I’ll drink a *ton* of water to the point that I’m totally sick of it by the end of the day. During the actual event day, I’m constantly drinking water and sports drinks in a specific ratio to keep myself hydrated. Even if you don’t feel like drinking something, do it anyway. I’m not a big fan of Gatorade due to the amount of sugar in it so I drink Propel fitness water. It’s made by the same people but it doesn’t have nearly the amount of sugar as Gatorade. I’ll drink 2 standard-sized bottles of water for every Propel I put down and I’ve found that is nearly a perfect mix for my body.

At the beginning of the year, I found was getting really tired at the end of the day when it was hot. I work indoors all day in front of a computer so my body just isn’t accustomed to being out in the heat. I started taking mid-day walks everyday no matter how hot it was and I found that really helped out my heat tolerance on the weekends. I’m guessing part of that is a byproduct of getting older but it really worked for me. At this point, I can spend the entire day out in the heat and I barely feel it. If you hate walking, the other option is to ride around with the heat on and the windows up like Dale Earnhardt Sr. used to due but he was tooooooouuuuuuuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhh!

* 3-run strategy?

At the national tours and some of the bigger events, you may only get 3 runs. This can really mess you up if you’re used to getting more at local stuff so it’s best to have a strategy going in. My personal approach is to go “banzi” during the first run and try to overdrive most of the course on purpose. Some of that has to do with my inherent demeanor mentioned in the “nervous” section but with so little opportunities to see the course, you need to find where the limits are NOW.

No matter what happened during the first run, I try to get a clean second run in. If that means I have to back off in a bunch of spots, so be it. If I under drove a few sections on my first run, I still try to stay a hair conservative there just to get a decently fast time in the books. There are several approaches to “backing off” and I’ve found that I can’t really slow down like most people would think. Instead, I still drive as fast as I can but I intentionally leave myself a hair more room around the cones to make sure I don’t clip one by accident. This is especially tough in slaloms but that’s where visualization really comes in handy. Try to attack an imaginary cone in front of the real cone and it should leave you enough space for mistakes.

Assuming my strategy panned out on my first 2 runs, I totally “banzi” the third run. In this case, I know where the trouble spots are so I can make adjustments based on that. In the unfortunate event I don’t have a clean run up to this point, I still drive as hard as I can on the third run but I may leave a hair of extra room around a few key cones. I don’t make much of an adjustment here because you’ll never win anything at the bigger events by trying to get a conservative run at this point. You have to assume that _somebody’s_ “banzi” run stuck and was clean and you really don’t want a big gap going into the next day or trying to finish out the final day.

That’s it for now. I hope that provided a good summary of most of the topics covered at the school and some people can benefit from it. I wish everybody good luck at the NCAC this weekend and just remember that no matter what happens, have some fun!!!

Jim

Jim you make a LOT of GREAT points! I hope everyone is paying attention.

Now just to add a little balance. The NCAC seems to have taken on a very special importance this year (which is neat) and I want to remind everyone for this event:

(1) Have fun!
(2) Don't try a lot of new things all at once. Stick with what you know you do best, and spend years mastering. Take all of Jim's suggestions and let them meld, but remember them when they are important.

I have only done a few national-level events, and I always felt like I needed to "try harder" at these events, when just doing what I always have done well would have netted better times. Just because it's a special event doesn't mean that you can "try harder" while out on course -- it's all about the prep of the car, driver, and how much you drink the night before

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Thanks Mike.



That may the be most important advice of all. We discussed that at the school and I probably should have mentioned it again. It goes along with the idea of *not* looking to make that last minute big "demon tweak" to your car or your mental approach. You should generally try to stay within your comfort zone and relax as much as possible. Save the big tweaks for local-type events when you have time to properly adjust to them in familiar surroundings.

Jim

What Mike and Jim said about not "trying harder" at big events is absolutely correct. You certainly should be more prepared, get there early, walk the course more, take each run seriously, etc. compared to a "less important event". The main thing is to drive at the level you KNOW you and your car can based on past experience. Keep your cool, don't try to do the impossible, no "faith based" driving, etc. Any change in the car or your driving style is for test/practice events. Focus on execution.

Dick
2 time National Champion
3 time Pro Solo Challenge and 1 Pro Solo Bonus Challenge winner

_________________
Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

How about showing up this weekend with that '85 Van Diemen. We could sure use you in our top 10!

_________________
SCCA Solo Triad Award Recipient 2014
SCCA HSL National Champion 2012
SCCA DSL National Champion 2013
SCCA DSL National Champion 2014
NCR National Driver of the Year 2012
THSCC Heel of the Year 2011
Former Club Secretary
http://www.petscompanioninn.com

Gwen,

Thanks but after autocrossing a LOT since I started in the early 70's it has become a low priority, at least for now.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Thanks for all the information. I am positive I get way too excited before I drive. Ask Vincent how I was at VIR. I need to calm way down. I'm the opposite of Jim F. I'm never too relaxed on the first run.
I'll work on that this weekend.

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Rubbin' is Racin'

Something that helps us with preparation is a “pre-flight” type check list that I print out. All possible things we’ll need are included. Like Jim suggested, we get everything ready the day before, but we don’t leave until we’ve read the list and checked off everything on it. It’s saved us from not having all our stuff a number of times.

Gwennie

_________________
SCCA Solo Triad Award Recipient 2014
SCCA HSL National Champion 2012
SCCA DSL National Champion 2013
SCCA DSL National Champion 2014
NCR National Driver of the Year 2012
THSCC Heel of the Year 2011
Former Club Secretary
http://www.petscompanioninn.com

You're welcome.



It's definitely a tough problem since it can lead to what all men fear the most: Premature Acceleration!

I've been told some of that can be cured by thinking of Rosie O'Donnell and/or Wes Eargle but I haven't been able to verify it yet personally.

Jim

Walter:

I had to deal with that a bit at the DC Pro. It was my first and there's a lot of stuff to take in and deal with. The pace, the launch, the fact that there's a another car line up next to you. Plenty of things to distract you from the most immediate task on hand: drive the car.

I think getting overly ramped up is similar in that it's a distraction.

What have I done to get around that? By the time I'm in grid, I'm done thinking about the course, my plan, whatever. At this point I should have walked it plenty of times. I should know what I'm going to do out there. No need to cram right before. It's time to drive.

So in grid, I'm just doing a last check on tire pressures and trying to relax. I might pay attention to the radio depending on the day. Maybe stretch.

Once I get the helmet on, it's all routine. Some of it required, some of it not. But I always try to do it in the same order. None of the details are important, but just find something to make it part of your routine.

For me, one car out from start I do two things:
1. Double check that traction control is off.
2. Think (or say out loud) "Look ahead to be smooth."

For me, at that point, that's the only thing I really want to remind myself before I roll up to start.

The traction control is a required thing, but I think Jim P. told me he used to always reset the trip odometer. Just something. Anything you can do to turn those last few minutes into a routine will help turn down that adrenalin.

I still have a lot to learn and I won't guarantee anything in the above, but it's what's worked for me the last few events.

It made a huge difference at Atlanta. Up until my last run when I didn't stick to my routine. Of course that was my fifth or sixth run and I can blame my tires right? Nope. It was me. I didn't look ahead and turned in too early for my last turn and had to wait for seemingly days to get back on throttle while watching my opponent charge to the finish.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

Walter,

Start working on it now. Create a mental exercise where you visualize yourself in the car, lined up for the start. Do it in an "associated" manner where you visualize it as you were there within your body (as opposed to seeing yourself in the visualization). Close your eyes and pretend you are really at an event at the starting line. Feel the feelings that come up. Notice the anxious part.

Now, for the moment, forget how you normally feel at events and choose how you want to feel at the start. I would suggest a mental state that is relaxed, focused and ready to really enjoy driving the car to its limits (but not beyond). Pretend you are a professional driver. Close your eyes and fantasize about how the national champion CP driver would likely approach the start and the course. Step into that feeling, pretend you are him. Turn "up the volume" on most of your senses and their modalities (i.e. sight, sound, feeling, maybe even smell with modalities being all the many, many aspects of each sense) in your visualization. When you do this strong enough you will feel like you are actually there. Do this pretend exercise many times. Drive a fictitious course pretending you are him and feel how he’d feel, how he would be looking ahead, putting in practice all of Jim’s great words up above. Really enjoy this fantasy and perfect it.

Now go back to the way you normally feel at the start of an event (don't forget to close your eyes). Turn up the volume of this visualization. Recognize the anxious feelings. Recall how they are familiar. Let your body go ahead with that nervous feeling. In fact, purposely build it up very strongly. Really freak out. Now instantly jump into that national champ CP driver feeling you practiced above. Notice what changes in your body...perhaps your facial muscles relax, tension just drops away from your chest, etc. You can do this...after all, just remember you are pretending and having fun here. Create an emotional anchor of some sort that you can use in the future such as tensing one particular muscle or squeezing your arm, etc., right at the moment you jump into that pro CP driver state of mind.

Using the power of your mind to do stuff like this incredibly quickly, you can now practice getting into that state a zillion times today and tonight using your anchor each time to help your body trigger the proper switch over. Do it until it becomes automatic for you to fall into the proper mental state once your body has some of that nervous, anxious feeling you’re used to. Now visualize yourself this weekend snapping instantly into that professional driver state.

Have fun with it, PRETEND. As a matter of fact, you could function all weekend just PRETENDING to be the national CP champ out for a fun weekend of autocrossing. If something transpires that is not what a CP champ would do, you will recognize it, and now your task is to continue pretending and react like the CP champ would. How would he choose to respond? How would he learn from his mistakes? How would he choose to feel at any given moment?

Anytime you have difficulty with visualizations, forget "trying" to do it and just tell yourself to pretend to do it, and go ahead with it anyway.

Good luck and enjoy the weekend. I think it's time for me to practice what I'm preaching -- your post was a great spark for me to get "back in my game plan" from years past autocrossing.

Chuck

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
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1975 CanAm 125MX2