First time in a car

[TheJet-09]

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!

[Ralphy]

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

[Lizardracing]

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

[A ron]

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

[Garrettshurling]

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