How to Become a Faster Race Car Driver

Moving On

The eternal question in club racing: What does it take to become a front-runner? People try to pinpoint the few qualities that it takes to run up front, but it really consists of a total package. Yup, you guessed it – you are the package’s core. Throughout this resource, I continuously stress how important it is to develop and refine your driving skills. There are multiple reasons for this philosophy. The first reason is because improving your racing skills does not have to be extremely expensive. The other reason is that once you have the necessary skills, you will find obtaining the car that enables you to reach this next level to be the easy part. By all means, when I say “the easy part,” it is not to say that coming up with the funding is simple. What it means is that people can’t buy their way into becoming a great driver; this takes more work than simply buying the right racecar.

Take some time and revisit your racing goals to determine if you are willing to put in the time, effort, and money to become a front-runner. While everyone wants to win races, there is absolutely nothing wrong with not being a front-runner. I look back at some of my previous races and just how much fun I had running mid-pack. I developed a pretty intense (yet fun) rivalry with a friend I met through racing. It was not uncommon for us to qualify within 0.05 of a second of each other and be less than three cars apart during the entire race. Jake Fisher, the other driver, often joked that he thought I would rather finish in 18th place and beat him than finish second and lose only to him. All right, so he might have been correct. I have also been fortunate enough to experience what it is like to be a front-runner. Am I necessarily having more fun? Honestly, I am not sure. My first race win was awesome! It is something that I will always remember and cherish. I remember finishing the race and thinking to myself “Did I really win this?” While driving up to the worker who carried out the checkered flag for the victory lap, I couldn’t help but think “How embarrassing will this be if I actually came in second place?” Of course I knew that I had won, but it just didn’t seem like reality. At the same time, racing has become much, much more expensive for me. Just ask my wife!

Before you can become a front-runner in a competitive class, you will need to ensure that both you and the car are ready for the challenge. Of course, I will start with what needs to be done to you, the driver, before talking about what needs to be done to the car. I hear many people consistently make excuses why they can’t win despite the fact that they have a well-developed car with the potential to run up-front. I will say that it certainly is much easier to blame the car than yourself. The reason they are not winning is often because they have not spent the necessary time and effort on developing themselves yet. Do you remember those books I previously recommended on driving techniques? Read them, then re-read them. Once you have done that, read them one more time. You may be surprised with what you pick up from the books as your perspective changes after gaining more experience. Depending on which books you bought, it may be worthwhile to see what other racing techniques and racecar tuning books are available.

Do you have the heart, will, and determination to win?