Silver Lake, KS - At the end of this week, I have a lot of things to ponder for the week ahead. While I sit here and type on the computer there are a lot of things going through my mind or is that just the massive headache I am suffering from trying to knock down the HPT turn 3 wall once again? Who knows.
 What I do know is this. No matter what anyone tells you about driving a race car. There is nothing that is better for a driver than experience. When you hear a tv analyst or even someone that owns a race car you will hear the term, "that driver just needs some seat time."
Those people are absolutely right. 100 percent right to be exact.
I have found that out first hand so far this year. No track is exactly the same, week-in-and- week-out, no setup is 100% fool proof and if you have never raced that much, then seat time is the best thing for a driver.
The question then becomes, is the best seat time in a testing session? or is it the best time in a race?
Since most of us don't have our own test track at this level, outside of the practice days at the beginning of the year, we have to get our seat time when we can. All the veterans can recall the days when they were cutting there teeth in different divisions and the mistakes they made along the way. The mistakes, which in the long run make them better drivers.
Learning the hard way isn't fun nor does it feel good at times.
A great way as a rookie to gain experience is to surround yourself with people who have raced or are still racing themselves. To have someone in your corner that can tell you what kind of adjustments to make on your car, how to alter your driving style etc., can be invaluable. It's like going to an Encyclopedia of information.
Tonight for my second time at Heartland Park Topeka this year, I tried to blast through the turn 3 wall. Yes, I entered the turn to high, yes, I entered the turn to fast and yes, with a car that was pushing like a dump truck, I should have been at the bottom. I learned a hard lesson tonight, just like I did the night before.
 At Mayetta the night before, I saw my first dry slick track. Not knowing how to handle it, I spun on 3 different occasions. Never racing on that type of a surface before made it difficult to learn, but by the end of the night I figured out how to drive a little better on a dry slick track. I didn't look perfect doing it, but I kept it straight, didn't spin out and most importantly, I finished. The next time I see that at Mayetta, because of an experience I will have a little bit of what to do or what to expect.
At HPT, it was an experience too. Not the kind of experience I wanted to get, but it was a lesson learned. The only thing besides the aches and pains, is just how bad I feel for my dad, who goes with me every week and works on the car with me every day.
As a driver, you bare the brunt of the responsibility when a lot goes wrong. Tonight, was my fault for sure, but you feel bad for the people that help you.
I am sure that when a driver crashes a car or messes up in a race, they feel bad for not just themselves, but everyone involved. On the level that most local racers are at, it's usually family and close friends that you have in most race teams. It doesn't feel very good. That's why most drivers seem to have a tough exterior.
My dad spends money on our race team and he works on it pretty dang hard for a guy in his late 60's, by crashing the car, it makes me feel like I let him down. I talked him into this dirt track thing and he has done the best in getting me a good motor to race with, but just like I wanted a good motor, I feel like he deserves a good driver. To feel this way, gives me a greater amount of sympathy for those who have the same things go wrong with their race teams.
As I sat and watched the rest of the races, I began to see where I made my errors at. I began to see how the preferred line showed itself. I also was able to watch how some drivers, more with some experience maybe, were able to put there cars places that other drivers had no shot at.
I am sure we will get a shot at it again. It will just take some time to get everything put back together and the car straightened back out, once again.
It's tough wanting to be a race car driver. |
