First time in a car

I wasn't sure where to post this question, so I posted it where I thought the most people would see it. I drove a crate late model for the first time this weekend and was wondering what you guys did your first time and if my weekend was successful. I'm 32 years old and have never driven any type of race car, although I have been a follower and spectator most of my life. I bought a 98 Grt with a fresh 604, and trailer this spring. By the time I got tools and safety gear together I have a lil less than 10k in everything. I started out the weekend qualifying last out of about 44 cars at about 17 seconds flat (1/4 mile high banked) way off the 14.5ish laps set by the leaders. I started the heat and got lapped by the entire field haha but I did my best to hold my line and stay out of everybody's way. I ran the B-Main Saturday night and lap times were in the 15.8 to 16.0 range and got lapped the last lap. I never spun the car (although I came close in the first heat) or wrecked it. I also had raciever problems all weekend. I kept asking people around the track what channel it needed to be and everyone said "it'll change to the right channel automatically". When loading the car up for the weekend, I finally compared it to another drivers to find it was on the wrong channel. I was up to 4th at one point in the B-main from all the other cars wrecking, but I went to the back for not knowing where to lineup. I've had no help setting up the car, etc. Would you guys consider this first weekend a success? I feel like the more I was able to follow drivers, the better I got. I also met some good people who may be helpful in the future. Either way I cant wait until spring time now!

Seat time will be the best thing you can get... worth more than any part you can throw at the car to make it faster at this point in time for you. If your home track has a practice day there next year, get in on that and turn as many laps as you can.

Sounds like a pretty good first time, especially if that was your first time ever in a racecar. This year was my first full season racing on dirt and in a crate late model (I'm 32 as well), but I also did some roadracing prior to this. That experience was helpful in the fact that I was used to being around other cars on the track at speed. The setup stuff was alot to take in as nothing was the same as I had previously been doing. I actually went and took Dale McDowell's dirt school before getting my own late model and that really accelerated my learning curve than by just winging it on my own. Might be something to consider.

I would suggest taking your car to a reputable guy that knows or works on GRT's in your area and have him give you a good solid baseline setup. Or if you have the know-how, call GRT and get one of their setup books and start learning to do it yourself. I got a book for mine (Rocket) and bought some grain scales earlier this year and I've learned a ton about setups and still learn each time I mess with it.

Congrats. You put the car back on the trailer in one piece and with no holes in the motor! Thats always a good night.

On your raceiver, the default is channel 0/ freq 454 which most tracks use.

Here's a link to how to change it:
http://www.raceceiver.com/Fans/scanner-tips/

Yeah 454 was the correct channel. Hopefully they weren't cussing me too bad.

A Ron,First I want to congratulate you on your first race, muddy side down and on the trailer. Secondly, talk to the other drivers - the more successful ones and learn what they have to say. Once you find one that helps, try to stay with that one driver for as long as you can. I don't know how many times that we listened to too many drivers at one time and ended up going the wrong way on the car. We finally have it to where the car will run anywhere on the track for the most part. Once you have exhausted that one driver, then move on to the next.Thirdly, read, read, read, read, read, oh, by the way, did I say read - NO?, read as much as you can get your hands on for circle track racing. There are many books, magazines, forums, articles, etc.. out there. Get them and study them. Also there are articles on other classes that will help on your car.Fouth, get a good notebook and take notes on your car, before, during, and after the race. Include any changes that you did to the car in between the heat and main. This will give you ideas on what to do and more importantly, what NOT to do for the next race. There are numerous sheets out there to use or you can make one up to suit your needs.Fifth, seat time is extremely important. The more you get, the better you understand what the car is telling you. Have someone (who is a successful driver0 watch you as you drive the drack to tell you what they see the car is doing as it goes around the track. Our driver once would not take our advice at first until we told him that what we see the car doing as he drove the car. Always keep your pride in check when someone is giving you good constructive criticism. Listen to what they say and learn.Having said all this, there are 2 other things you really must do. One is to have fun doing this. The other is to read, read, read, read, read, oh, by the way, did I say read - NO?, read as much as you can get your hands on for circle track racing.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm trying to soak up all the info I can.

sounds like you had a great 1st run, congrats,the best advise i can give is learn to drive a free or loose car(tail hanging out)once you get the hang of it and can keep the car under you, tighten her up a little at a time,the reason i say this is a tight race car has tons of traction until you cross the line and then she snaps loose all at once and if your not ready and don't know how to catch it, here comes the wall or infield(thats why i think its better to have a loose car at first)good luck and have a blast,one other thing knowledge is better than money(as far as all the latest, greatest parts or cars)

Went to the Ray Cook/Dale McDowell school, they said it takes seven years to make a good late model driver. Might think about going to one of these schools to speed your learning curve.

Yep sounds like a great first time, compared to today's crate racing. Stay out of the wrecks and you can just about always get a good finish. Seat time is the most important! Practice every chance you can, try different things, and log it. Write down everything! Good luck to you buddy

THIS IS AN INSPIRATION I hope to be in a crate within 2 years Good luck with your career!!!

Bignilla hang in there it'll happen. It's been my dream to be behind the wheel since my family quit racing when I was about 5. I can remember driving my 5hp go cart around the 1/10 mile track my grand dad made in his backyard for hours and hours dreaming of making that first start. 27 years later it finally happened. I may never win a feature or maybe even a heat haha but the feeling of just being on that track had me as giddy as a 14 year old school girl.

My first time ever in a race car I let the crowd do a visual inspection of the underside of my car. I always say that it was just because I wanted to show off my new driveshaft, but we all know the real reason! lol

Keep it up though, man! With some seat time you will improve leaps and bounds, and do not be afraid to ask faster guys for some help, 9 times out of 10 they will be happy to help with pointers on either driving or setup!

Best of luck in your racing pursuits!

I sure hope so. I have a few things to get in order first but I can't give up on the dream

Admire the effort of keeping in mind that faster cars were coming behind you and making an effort to hold your line. Most drivers where we race don't have that respect for others. Sounds like you are off to a great start. Stay plugged in to this tech section for help, these guys sure helped us a ton. Good luck and be safe!

Like you, I had been around late models for all of my life before finally getting my act together financially to be able to really do it. Before I ever even bought a car, I spent about 5 years just studying and trying to learn from other racers. Then it was a full year after buying the car before it was ready to go. It was a roller and we stripped it down bare and rebuilt it just to learn every part the best we could. Then we finally dropped a crate motor in it and went racing. I'll never forget my first time out. I spun it out on the front stretch on the second lap of hot laps :-). I remember pulling in the pits and thinking...MAN, what have I gotten myself into. I told my dad, "this is a lot harder than these guys make it look".
But as previously stated... SEAT TIME, SEAT TIME, SEAT TIME. It can take a while to get comfortable with the control of the car. Next step is getting comfortable really being side by side with other cars. Then as your confidence and skills build, you'll be able to be more aggressive and actually "race" instead of waiting for somebody to screw up so you can make a pass :-)
It sounds to me like you had a great first night out. Car in one piece and you learned something. The first is never guaranteed but the latter should be.
Just remember this: This is a sport of EXTREME highs and lows. I just about guarantee that in your first full season you will have at least one night where you feel like you're going to be the next Bloomquist and at least one night where you consider selling everything the next morning. And it might even be back to back weekends. EVERY racer goes through this if they are even the least bit passionate about it. Sounds like you are. Just stick with it and learn as much as you can from the people that are willing to share advice. Take advantage of that now because as you get more competitive, people won't be so willing to give you an extra tenth of a second worth of knowledge for free.
Best of luck to you!!!

Great info from everyone! My random thoughts: 1) Do attend some type of chasiss class if not a driving class as well. Money spent up front on an "education" can pay dividends down the road. As I heard Mark Bush explain, he would rather we know which few springs (or other items) your car will be succesful with. If not, we spend everything we have on way too many springs guessing what our car needs. We then go broke and companies such as Afco lose us as a customer, because we are no longer racing. 2) Make most changes to your set-up one at a time, to learn the actual affect that change had on its handling. 3) Hone your skills at one track to start, before venturing out to new places. 4) Be relentless with maintenance/care of your car. Show up to race 100% prepared. I believe Moyer has said that "races are won at the shop, not at the track." 5) Don't get discouraged. Set goals/expectations for yourself and find solace in the small victories (like starting in the back and moving "forward," or winning a heat race, or finishing on the lead lap in the feature). 6) Do seek out information. There are numerous intelligent individuals that routinely post on this forum, many of whom have already added to this thread. Learn from their experience. 7) Lastly, the obvious...have fun!

Great list JET! We should all read that over and over.

How that go again? You must first learn to finish before learning to finish first.

Don't beat your self. I made an extensive checklist of maintenance items to do every week. If for whatever reason I don't get it done, I don't go race. Nothing sucks more to me than having a bunch of problems at the track because you didn't check it at the shop.

I also have to agree that races are won in the shop not at the track. Those are the guys that make it look easy because they showed up with a detailed plan to meet a reasonable goal. The better you get at this the better your plan will be. That's why you need GOOD notes.
I suggest learning to love the shop time as much or more than the actaul driving time because you'll spend many many more hours on preparing than actually racing. 40 laps total for the night at 14s/laps is less than 10 minutes of racing time but you'll spend 20hrs/week getting there. Just my 2.6 cents

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice guys. I cant wait to get the ball rolling next year.

Very cool man! I enjoyed hearing your fresh perspective on the sport and all the support from the guys on here!