Any Advice for a New Driver

[Vaughn89]

I have never raced anything before, and im starting out in a SLM this coming season. What some advice that you would give me as far as practicing/testing my car so i can get up to speed and be able to half way keep up in my first few races.

Thanks in advance

[joedoozer]

Watch as much video of dirt late model racing as you can. Especially in car camera stuff on youtube. Don't watch the videos out of enjoyment, pay attention to all the little things. Corner entry, throttle control, stuff like that; see if you can spot something a driver does, and then try to see if other drivers (videos) do it to. Burn those mental pictures in your head of what you should be seeing.

Then rent a local track, doesn't even have to be the one you plan on running weekly. Seat time is very hard to get on a dirt track. There aren't "hot laps" in dirt racing, like on asphalt. Go out and just make laps. Do 10 lap segments, and get someone to record a video of it. So you can see all your mistakes. Just get as many laps under you as you can. So the first time you race, isn't your first time in the car.

[supercomet32]

The best advice I can give for inexperience is to gain experience. not trying to get smart just saying that in order to improve you must learn everything you can by DOING and not necessarily by listening. SEAT TIME.

find someone in your class running the same chassis as you. try to pick someone with more success versus someone with little success. Get advice from the ground up. Go to a chassis setup school, something similar to racewise. make sure to pay extra if required to take home a good manual. get the setup sheets from your chassis manufacturer and set your car up as they advise and drive that until it feels comfortable or till your are very comfortable with making an adjustment....and as always adjustments only matter when measured on a stopwatch. GET A GOOD MULTI LAP STOP WATCH CLIP BOARD WITH 2 STOPWATCHES. Figure out who's running the best on any given night and time them consistently. GET GOOD WITH THE STOPWATCH. only time the fastest overall and the fastest using the same chassis as you. talk with those people to find out what they will tell you.

Get good with tires. Go to you tire supplier and find out if/when a tire prep class may be possible if they do them. also get them to explain PROPER tire mounting, airing and measuring for the tires you are going to run. treat your tires like a checklist. prep them the same every week every time. groove, sipe, grind, air and only flip if your tire supplier advises. some tires are not intended to be flipped. learn what groove patterns can do in terms of grip, temp, and tire life.

if your in a 4 bar car dont adjust yourself out of the race. set it up as advised and adjust to changing conditions when necessary but make sure to have a thorough understanding of what an adjustment will do. at first make small adjustments till you get a feel for what the adjustments do. DONT SKIP HOLES ON THE BRACKET ONLY MOVE ON DIRECTION AT A TIME. MAKE INDIVIDUAL CHANGES TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOU VERSUS CHANGIN 3 AND NOT KNOWING WHICH ONE DID WHAT OR HOW THEY EFFECTED EACH OTHER.

DONT GET LOST IN SHOCK. talk with a good shock man close to you and develope a relationship. if possible pick the one from the previous years track champion or best running chassis same as yours. ask copius questions and take copius notes.

if possible find a track that will let you turn laps midday on a clear day. pay them a hundred bucks if they ask for it and take your chassis down and the first few times put the standard setup under the car. change nothing but tires. fuel up to the same spot every run so you get a feel of the car till you learn how the fuel burnoff effects you.

also dont get lost in the brake adjuster. set it and learn to drive it. take a driver with you that can take yoru car out and ensure its reacting as intended.

also at first youll probably run midfield back....THIS IS A GOOD THING. get used to how fast you need to react on starts restarts cautions etc. this is more critical the closer to the front you are on starts/restarts. if you slow on the throttle you will get turned. if you jerky on the throttle you will break the tires loose losing time on the stopwatch.

in your shop place a pingpong ball or plastic egg under your foot as you pick up the throttle. learn how to smoothly apply the throttle. throttle control is critical.

BUY A GRID NOTEBOOK, PLACE DIVIDERS IN IT AS SECTIONS FORM IN YOUR ROUTINE.
this goes everywhere you and your car go.

as a driver have a tire tape, air guage, durometer, pyrometer a good eye.

IF possible go to your local fab shop, repaircenter, especially if they have a jig adn offer to help out adn in the process learn how to string a chassis and ensure it is straight and square. learn how your car is assembled and check bolts, rivets and placements on your chassis regularly. spend copius hours going over your car nut by nut, inch by inch tube by tube part by part until you know not only what each thing does and also who on your team is qualified to repair/replace that part. if you have a crew that does most of the work make sure one is a qualified engine person for your teardowns, carb adjustments etc and let them take that area out of your way. learn what your chassis can do for you. it comes down to these areas and i try to have someone dedicated to each section so they can focus on smaller amounts of problems while i am free to focus on what i feel is something within my understanding.

1. ENGINE
2. Chassis
3. Shocks
4. Tires
5. Fuel
6. Body aero


4 people can cover these areas easily

1. ENGINE
2. Chassis and shocks (Crew Chief)
3. tires and fuel
4. body and stopwatch

now to the last point.

BODY.

your body must be mounted in a way that it works. its shouldnt sag flap or flop around. the surfaces should be firmlyu mounted in a way that they move the air. the air shouldnt move the body. improve your body bracing methods to accomplish this. aerodynamics require the surface to work in order to flow air as intended a flopping panel reduces effectiveness and increases drage.

that being said the less you damage them the better they work. KEEP YOUR NOSE CLEAN
your nose is where you pierce the air. if its a point of drag your going to have to work harder to run consistent. it also is where air that cools your engine is taken with a properly designed radiator tunnel and scoop system. damage it and your going to increase you engine temps. also without the down force of the nose your going to go rearward to the cars with clean noses. dont be afraid to drive under someone but make sure you know how much you can. if you have two cars push you car as far under the other and climb in to picture it in your mind. the nose is longer than you think. if not place a 2x4 in front of you nose standing up and slowly move forward till you touch it. place a mark on the 2x4 at deck height so you have an idead of where a car would be in front of you.

dont overdrive yoru abilities. after going to some practices you will figure out where your comfortable and gradually pick up the pace you will also learn when too much is too much. break down the track in segments. in order to exit the turn fast you must enter it controlled. so begin with entering a corner in order to drive the line you want you need to know where you need to be at the end of the straight away. now keep in mind if you leave room on the outside you will have someone in your blindspot so dont let it drift back high unless you know your clear. get into the corner with the right amount of throttle. too little you gettign passed too much yoru spinning out. were going for control. brake before turning if possible or trail brake. find the spot where you can pickup the throttle(smoothly) and drive off the corner dont be in a hurry itll come instictively after some practices

remember generally speaking loose in tight off, tight in loose off, also as you make mistakes try to analyze the mistake. learn what a push verus loose is learn what skating is and learn what sconcing is. learn to read what your car is doing whether your makign a msitake or not so you can correct your mistakes. also treat everyone on the track as you would be treated. we all make mistakes and in this game they cost money. not just your own. when your working for a living and take out a second mortgage to build a racecar it sucks to have it torn up in a weekend and your not coming back for a season. someone else might not be able to control their temper when their 4 kids are eating hotdogs instead of steak so they can race and you come along and make a rookie mistake and tear up their equipment. offer to fix or help fix where you can and youll earn respect faster than just going out and makign fast time and winning your first heat, feature, etc.

also dont expect miracles. if you go out in a tenth place car adn finish 6th then you did your job if you go out in a top 5 car and overdrive it tear the nose off or burn the tires off and finsih 13 then its time to regroup and go back to basics and practice.

also develope a routine, a system of checklists and stick to them in your operation. keep all the information you can in a 3 ring binder. as you add tracks add sections, as you add weeks at each track keep a data log of the event. include as informational of a weather report of the weekend as possible. find your local weather channel/website that is accurate as possible and watch your forecast. if possible record the activity the week prior to the race in order to make accurate predictions about what the track surface is going to do. on your weekly report note BY TIME when the track smoothed off, dried out, went slick, went rough, and learn to spot typical weather patterns that yielded the track conditions you encountered. in doing all this also note where the fastes cars were running on the track as conditions change. figure simple methods of looking at the surface. walk the track if allowed. cross the track when allowed. kick the dirt. push a screwdriver in it and measure the resistance. this will tell you if its hard packed, heavy, loose, etc. learn to visually read the surface like a golfer....just dont wear the argyle socks or fuzzy hat. lol good luck and welcome to the sport

[giffordracing]

http://www.dirtschool.com/index.html

This will teach you stuff it will take years to learn by your self..
even if you been racing for years

[scrub_fan]

the best advice is what everybody has been saying PROPER LAPS if you are not doing laps properly than there is no since doing them at all if you learn wrong than you will have bad habits that will stick with you

[hardracer32]

first of all i wouldn't start in a super if i were you. i won't go into all the reasons but there are plenty, not the least of which is you have NO experience, the money you have to spend is ridiculous and you can learn the same thing in a crate class and not have to worry aabout tearing up cars of people who are trying to race for money or who might be lapping you at mach 3 until you get used to the feel of everything.

you would be better off to start off in crate for at least one season so that you can get the feel of the car and concentrate on car control and how to set up the car. if you start in a super you will have your hands full just trying to keep it between the walls when you pull the trigger on 750+ HP.

also, definitely go to a driving school. I highly recomend the mcdowell/cook school. it will shorten your learning curve immensley when it comes to adjusting and setting up your car. the driving part is not that big a deal but it will give you some seat time and kind of prepare you for what's to come.

or go to racewise and you will come out an engineer. that's jsut what i've heard, iv'e never been but would like to.

[powerslide]

i was going to suggest build a smaller motor similar to the guy telling you to not start off in SLM instead start in a crate class. i would just try to build a good 400 with 23degree heads and run that til you can keep up with the pack when you feel you are being out motored and can consistanly keep up upgrade the engine. if you start with 750hp you will just be a ticking time bomb. I didnt start in a SLM but i did start in a mod and i started with a big motor and wish i would of started w/ a little motor to learn how to do more than just try and drag race.

[pottz07]

buddy you gotta start slow and get seat you will get faster go to as many practices as you can pick out a good car and try to follow there line and i have to say a dirt late model whether limited or super they are the most uncomfrotable thing to drive till you get used to it when they lift up out of the corner and they slam down if u let out of the gas at the end of the straights good luck to you

[jason29a]

Supercomet along with the others gave you good advice... Dont get discouraged, this will take time, and I don't mean a few weeks or months. Stick with it apply the advice given and just try to enjoy yourself. Things are be quite different inside the car than they seem or you expect.

Keep going to the racetrack.... get in the car as much as can. Its easy to give up in this business, especially when you first start out. It will get hot, you will wreck your car and have to work all night to fix it, you will be tired beyond imagine. Keep getting in the car and making laps and eventually you will wake up one day and without knowing it you will have become a racecar driver.

[Vaughn89]

Thanks for advice everyone its been really really helpful! I was gonna run the crate class, but i just found out about a week before i ordered a 604 that they werent running any crate classes close to my house this year. so i got me a 525 and now im gonna run in the super class.

I know its gonna take a ton of seat time to even get up to racing speed, its pretty discouraging looking lol...ill just try my best, have fun racing, and try and stay out of everyone's way!

[grt74]

all the above is great advise just make sure not to have your car to tight to begin with (if its to tight at first you just wont trust the car to turn this was my experence with alot of the setups people helped with at first)make sure the car will drive through the whole corner and tighten it up a little at a time if the car tries to get away from you (spin out to the infield) learn to control it and make consistant laps(youll need to know that later when you can drive a really tight car)good luck and use your head youll be fine and save money just dont lose your cool and wreck every week that will cost a ton of money and instead of trying to get your car faster youll be working just to get it back together

[Matt49]

Having never raced ANYTHING before, you are going to be on a steep learning curve just with the feel for racing in general. But if you've never driven anything before, it's probably going to be a while before you are "racing" anybody. You need to tell the officials at the track that you race at that you want to start the tail of your heat race. When the green drops, just let them go and get as many laps as you can. If your track uses raceceivers, they'll tell you when the leaders are coming around to you and then, unless you are running smooth consistent laps, pull off the track. No point in tearing up your car and somebody elses if you're not even in the race.
Work on getting the car into the corner as smooth as possible and just gas her up nice and easy until you get the feel for what your horsepower does to your car. Throttle control is the most important thing in late models. Anybody can yank on a steering wheel but having a smooth foot makes a huge difference. The slicker the track gets, the more important this becomes but even on a tacky track you have to be able to come on an off the gas without jerking the car around.
Have the people watching you let you know what the attitude of the car looks like (are you getting it up on the bars, etc.). If you're not rolling the car over at least a little, it won't behave the way it's "supposed" to when you gas it up off the corners. So work on your corner entry first and foremost. Just watch how the other guys are getting their cars into the corners and try to emulate that (but just a hair slower). Chances are, the fast guys are on the edge of allowable traction getting into the corner and you won't be ready for that yet. But if you can get 1/2 way there, the care will drive off the corner a LOT easier. If you think it's too loose coming off the corner, there's a 90% chance (probably more as a new driver) that you're too tight getting into the corner. So as stated before, don't be afraid to free your car up on entry.
Throw away everything you THINK it's going to be like - a dirt late model drives different than anything out there. And search for a friendly, experienced driver at your local track that is willing to give you some pointers. Ask them to watch you when he's not on the track and give you some feedback. You'll learn a lot more from another driver as a mentor than you will from 10 crew guys telling you how to drive something they have never sat in. Everybody driving a late mode, no matter how good they are now, has been in your shoes and they know exacty what you are going through as a new driver. Unless you're out there driving way over your head and looking hopeless, they'll be more than willing to help you out.
Best of luck to you.

[Rocky]

So what about for a driver moving up from lower classes, how do I know when what I've learned from experience in other cars is right and when I'm just plain bass ackwards? I don't have any help at the track with me most of the time and when I do pretty much all they know how to do is help me push the car on and off of the trailer and maybe change a tire. I got to admit this whole late model thing is darn intimidating. I don't plan on doing anything to the suspension at all. I'm gonna set it up the way the guy I'm getting it from says it worked for him and just drive it. I figure I'll cause more handling problems than the setup will this year. When I can drive it THEN I'll worry about other stuff. I'm approaching this right or umm wrong?

[talclipse]

What class do you have previous experience in racing? What kind of suspension did you run in that class. That will tell us what part of your experience is applicable and what parts you'd be better off putting into a dark spot of your mind never to be found again.

Having help at the track is pretty critical. Even if they can't give you feedback show them how to use a camcorder so that you can look at your line and to see what the car is doing through the different phases.

You are approaching it semi corectly by eliminating as many variables as possible. However, like is previous stated in this post there is no substitute for laps. Rent the track before the season starts and run a bunch of laps. Once you feel more comfortable in the car make changes in small intervals and to single components at a time so you can establish what each change does to the car. Learning how to adjust on the car to get a desired effect is part of driving IMO.

Where do you race at in the VA Beach area? My sister is stationed down there and I visit occassionally and wouldn't mind checking out a race or two.

[Rocky]

First to the guy that started the post, thanks I was gonna do it anyways and a lot of stuff got answered for me I'm a rookie just the same as you so good luck man!

Me I have raced Street Stocks on asphalt and mini stocks on dirt have also been a crew guy for some asphalt street stocks, late models and an asphalt Super Late model. I figure the only thing I can use that I've learned from prior racing experience is: lots of time racing in traffic, pretty good knowledge of Stagger, wedge, gears and of course how to straighten something because some dill weed always has to run over you in those classes, etc. You know the bone basics of racing. I'm not new to racing not at all but this seems to be a big jump into the deep end of the pool. I'm excited about it but I've at the same time talked myself out of making it in the past not this time I pick up the car this weekend.

far as help my crew chief up in Md went got out and went home my other main helper is gonna be outta town all season. If I get somebody to come out this year the first thing they are gonna learn is how to point a light in the car at night when I'm putting my belts on and back me out of a pit stall. It sucks to not even have anybody to do that for you. Video I'll worry about if I can just get somebody to do that first seemingly simple but very important thing. Rent the track, umm I'm working on this by myself I can only hope to make the season opener. Better buy some beer for the guys at work to help me get ready I guess. (as long as they promise not to stand there and drink my beer while I do work.)

I'm stationed at NAS Oceana and new to the area and track which will be Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, NC.

If your sister is stationed here I might know her I'm new here but have been in the Navy a long time. If at Oceana which squadron if I don't know her I bet I know somebody that does.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

So what about for a driver moving up from lower classes, how do I know when what I've learned from experience in other cars is right and when I'm just plain bass ackwards? I don't have any help at the track with me most of the time and when I do pretty much all they know how to do is help me push the car on and off of the trailer and maybe change a tire. I got to admit this whole late model thing is darn intimidating. I don't plan on doing anything to the suspension at all. I'm gonna set it up the way the guy I'm getting it from says it worked for him and just drive it. I figure I'll cause more handling problems than the setup will this year. When I can drive it THEN I'll worry about other stuff. I'm approaching this right or umm wrong?

A lot of tuning adjustments on the rear will be bass ackwards. The lr works by raising up to wedge the car, not by the springs carrying weight. That messes people up.

As for driving...

If you are coming from some sort of stocker, you will tend to over-drive the car. A good-handling car just needs a babysitter. It will do a lot of the work for you. You don't have to force it to turn the corner.

[Rocky]

A lot of tuning adjustments on the rear will be bass ackwards. The lr works by raising up to wedge the car, not by the springs carrying weight. That messes people up.

As for driving...

If you are coming from some sort of stocker, you will tend to over-drive the car. A good-handling car just needs a babysitter. It will do a lot of the work for you. You don't have to force it to turn the corner.

So if I put 2 rounds in on the RR it will tighten the car instead of loosen it?

or it just won't do anything?

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

So if I put 2 rounds in on the RR it will tighten the car instead of loosen it?

or it just won't do anything?

You will decrease wedge. The car will be tighter off the gas and looser on the gas. Pretty much what you would expect. Really, I guess I should have said the lr more than "the rear".

[Rocky]

You will decrease wedge. The car will be tighter off the gas and looser on the gas. Pretty much what you would expect. Really, I guess I should have said the lr more than "the rear".

ahh got ya, when you said wedge I thought of it in generic stock car terms only like backwards. I got a setup book with the car and a driver that has won in it on the other end of my cell phone speed dial. I'm trying not to phsych myself out over all this I've seen plenty of guys with less experience racing anything than me do just fine. I don't doubt I can get in the car and go fast but I mean it's intimidating to a guy that's raced "junk" all his life. Hell I still got a junk motor I'm just taking about 700lbs off of what it had on it in the last car it was in and that sir was a fast street stock. This ought to be a blast! 2 barrell limited late model class on a 1/3 mile track, it ought to be enough to learn with.

[supercomet32]

on a bullring track i would also go with a gear combo that would keep you going around the top with very little accel/decel per lap more momentum type track and make sure you still go the umph to pull you back up in rpms in the inevitable slow down from a small track

[powerslide]

ahh got ya, when you said wedge I thought of it in generic stock car terms only like backwards. I got a setup book with the car and a driver that has won in it on the other end of my cell phone speed dial. I'm trying not to phsych myself out over all this I've seen plenty of guys with less experience racing anything than me do just fine. I don't doubt I can get in the car and go fast but I mean it's intimidating to a guy that's raced "junk" all his life. Hell I still got a junk motor I'm just taking about 700lbs off of what it had on it in the last car it was in and that sir was a fast street stock. This ought to be a blast! 2 barrell limited late model class on a 1/3 mile track, it ought to be enough to learn with.

With it being a 2barrel class it will be alot about momentum. Your experience with mini stocks will help alot. Think you will be fine

[Rocky]

With it being a 2barrel class it will be alot about momentum. Your experience with mini stocks will help alot. Think you will be fine

hmm I never thought of it like that, I thought I was just wasting my time in those cars. I guess I'm glad I raced them so much. Thanks! That makes me feel a little better.

[1Blacksheep]

Take that money and buy a good Bassboat and fishpole. Drive that sucker like a mad man all around the nearest lake. Fish for hours while drinkin beer. The worst that can happen is you will go home drunk and disappointed but satisfied. The racecar and fellow competitors = are going to send you home broke and pissed most the time. Bassboat = less stress .