What: The nitty gritty of asking questions when at the race track
If I knew then, what I know now: I would spend a lot more time reading and less time relying on info from others
What do I do about…
Asking people questions or for advice at the track is a tricky subject to discuss. Things like prep, common sense and skill all come into play. What do I do about? That is a question that gets asked at the track more than anything else. What do I about [fill in the blank]….?
Asking questions at the track can be easy at first, and then more difficult as time goes on. People are often willing to help out those that are new, or are obviously a fish out of water. That tune changes over time. People in the racing community are expected to hold themselves to a higher standard. You are out there racing. It is a serious thing, and can have serious consequences.
You should well and know what you are doing out there! The ones that find trouble asking questions are those that do not make good notes for themselves, or that simply do not listen to the advice they are given. It can get you a long way, or it can very much get you nowhere.
Don’t go fishing for what you want to hear
Getting help at the track can be tricky in itself. Knowing when and how to ask any questions is almost more important than what you are asking. A conversation I had last week with one of the other guys locally that runs some race car support on race weekends ended up with us comparing stories of things that people have said and done to us when we are at the track.
More often than not, the gripes we had were from people repeating the same questions, and expecting different answers, as well as asking the “pros” for advice on something, then asking all of the other “pros” until one of them says what you want to hear.
There are three types of people at the race track:
- The ones that are there to win
- The ones that are there for fun
- The ones that are there to try to prove something.
Types 1 and 2 are easy to work with
The guys and gals that want to win will often have well thought out questions about stuff in advance. They are into improving, not bull shitting. The ones out there to have fun are also easy. They don’t expect much out of the weekend, and if they have a question, will generally be a softball question.
Type 3 on the other hand…
It is the ones that are out to prove something, wither to themselves, or someone else, that are the issue. They must like to or somehow almost always end up ruining it for the rest of us.
In the shop I work at, we have internal conversations regarding this issue as well. Often times people want to come with questions and problems, and rarely offer up a solution. In our shop, if someone has a question, we work hard to train and teach them to use all of the resources at hand before going to someone else regarding the question. The race track should be considered the same.
If you are about to go ask someone a question here are a few things to consider before you go.
Step 1: Have some background info about what you are asking.
If you are going to ask about tire pressures, be sure to know what you are currently running pre and post session. Otherwise there is not a reference point to compare.
Feel has a lot to do with the tuning of a car and each driver will often have a different idea of what feels good. We deal with this in our enduro car – getting the set up that everyone can work well with. If you are going to ask about brakes, know what you would want to change about the braking experience (force, feel, pedal modulation…) Having a plan once you have the answer, is crucial.
Step 2: Don’t go shopping for answers!
The second step is to not ask the same question to everyone in the paddock. If you are that un-sure of what is going on or how something is or should be. Then you are in over your head, and you need to take a step back to re-evaluate.
If you have an idea of what you are looking for as far as an answer, and nobody’s reply lines up with what you expect. Going around to ALL of the people in the paddock until you hear the answer you are looking for is incorrect, and the root of that is that you, yourself are expecting an incorrect situation to be proper, and if people don’t seem to think that is the case, then people will try to prove them wrong, often failing to do so.
This does not necessarily mean that crowd-sourcing solutions will always result in the proper answer but if after asking a few people, who are more knowledgeable and experienced than you and it is not what you’re expecting, it is probably time to re-visit those expectations.
Step 3: Take and actually implement the answers you gathered.
If you are asking everyone up and down the paddock about all of the different things about racing, the cars or machines you race, schedule, timing and all of that. You are doing it wrong. We are all adults and should be treated as such when we do events like this. Just think about how ridiculous you would feel if you showed up to try out for the Seahawks and you brought with you some basketball shoes, a baseball mitt, and your I-pod in its fancy arm band holder. You are not making that team.
Racing is similar. If you are showing up and asking questions right out of the truck. Your best bet would be to get back in the truck, head back home, and think about what you have done, what you want to do, and how better to be prepared for it. This is not to say that you need to know everything before heading out and trying racing, but this is a more complicated activity than just a pickup basketball game. It’s important to do some homework and find people who you can shadow and ‘learn the ropes’.
Step 4: Respect people’s time and professionalism
I see a lot at the track, the weekend warriors going up to the bigger outfits and teams, and plain out bugging them about stuff. This is the biggest no-no I see at the track. If you need something from one of the big teams, you had better be willing to pay for it. The guys under the big tents, pay big dollars to have support when at the track. Going to the people that support racers that are paying to get free advice, is a bit of a slippery slope. It can cause high tensions since some people are paying to get the same info that you are seeking for free. The owner of the outfit may or may not be willing to help, but if you come and bring something to the table, then it is great start!
Conclusion: In the end, it’s pretty simple – take what you know, what you can and be sure to have reasonable questions, at reasonable times for people at the track.
If you don’t, you will find it ever increasingly difficult to find solid advice and answers. One of the main things we learned to love about team driver Gama, is that he will often have very prepared sets of questions dealing with specific items. We had a conversation last week about new wheels. He asked if he should get lighter weight wheels to try out.
We talked about the idea (mostly because we all liked it) and discussed the pros-cons of light wheels. The main issue being that often weight and strength will go hand in hand. Gama then spent the time to research each wheel option for size, and spacer needs. We ended up going with a new set of wheels to try. Each one will be saving 4 pounds per corner but potentially not be as strong of a wheel.
He has asked me questions like this for years, and each time, has proven than he knows what he is asking about, is willing to accept the answer, even if it is not what he was expecting, and will take appropriate action when needed. He is the type that wants to win!
Knowing little is not bad, but being a pain in the ass to everyone and not paying attention to people when you ask for advice is. Depending on why type of person you are, asking questions and getting info at the track should not be a big deal. Most participants are eager and enthusiastic, and will be willing helpers. Asking the big name guys will get you a long way with the correct approach. Remember that you should be having fun! Having people be grumpy or mad at you is not fun, don’t be that guy or gal!