Recently we were hard at work on Project DLM preparing for our next race at Ocala Speedway. I had this story idea in my mind for some time so I decided to pitch it to Editor Rob Fisher while he was working underneath the car at 3 a.m. I asked him, "How do you setup a driver?" I can't print his answer but when he figured out I was serious and actually had a story idea wrapped around the question, he seemed to wake up.The answer to the question is actually pretty simple . . . setting up a driver has to do with the driver's state of mind. And the driver's state of mind or driver setup actually starts back at the shop during the week as you're working on the car making repairs, changing oil, or tweaking the chassis setup. Here's just one example. A few years ago I went to my local race shop to pick up a few things I needed.
Editor Rob Fisher, seen working...
Editor Rob Fisher, seen working (yeah, we're surprised too) under Project DLM, reacts to the idea for this story. He was overjoyed with the idea . . . or maybe it was because it was 3 a.m. Tanya Clark
That piece of advice has helped me throughout my years of racing. Think about everything that is going through your mind when you are on the track. We have to think about track conditions, other drivers, maintaining the correct line, is the setup working, what do we have to do to make the setup work better, and so on. The last thing you need to worry about is your equipment on your race car. Before you ever arrive at the track you must have complete faith in your car and its ability to do what you want when you get on the track.
Proper driver setup can lead...
Proper driver setup can lead to a happy racer. Tanya Clark
The bottom line is to arrive at the track with little to no pressure. The key to achieving that is to get the car perfect before you ever leave the shop. When you get to the track the only thing you should be doing is minor adjustments to the specific track conditions of that night.
Visualization Now you are at the track with your clear mind and are ready to race. At a dirt track you will see a lot of drivers walk to the edge of the track or the grandstands and look the track over for a good period of time. Most of the time, they are alone. Back when I started racing I asked some veteran drivers what they were looking for. I was told numerous times they do two things. First, and this would be the obvious one, they look at the track conditions. Based on the condition of the dirt on the track, they will try to determine tire selection, whether or not they need to groove or sipe their tires more and possibly any last minute changes to the chassis setup.