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Top 3: Exercises to Improve Driving Performance

• April 1, 2021 at 2:17 PM

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Strengthening these three areas helps you focus on winning.

How often does a driver say, “That race really took everything I had!” or “I feel hungover from X event weekend?” It likely wasn’t the alcohol.

Like any other sport, a racer’s workout regimen is crucial to his or her success. The competitive driving environment inflicts stress upon their bodies and requires a quick and consistent response to the competition conditions. Drivers must also think about their mental exhaustion and take steps to increase awareness and stamina during races to decrease fatigue. Experienced drivers show higher results in physical strength and quicker responses to common stimuli even outside of the car.

Quick Tip: Hydration is key before, during and after your event weekend. Especially on hot days, make sure you’re drinking AT LEAST one bottle of water every two hours.

When speaking with race participants, most physical exhaustion after a motorsport event is felt in the driver’s shoulders, core, and glutes. Studies show that isometric muscular activation in these areas from fighting against the gravitational forces for multiple hours and constant pedal work affect the drivers’ bodies and ultimately their ability. Focusing on these three main body groups during pre-event fitness can benefit any athlete. Let’s break it down into a few quick at home exercises for a full body workout:

Shoulders

When competing against a pack of other drivers or the clock, having stiff shoulders while handling the car will exhaust muscles in a driver’s upper body. The G forces experienced at any level of competition cause a natural response against the pressure the body feels due to external conditions during the competition. Working on shoulder strength increases opportunity on the track because of a more relaxed upper body that releases the tense grip a driver can have on the wheel. Lowering the chance of upper body fatigue allows a driver to put more time in the car and makes the recovery time faster after an event. Here is a quick shoulder workout to strengthen muscle groups in the upper body:

Half-kneeling shoulder press:

For this exercise:

1. Kneel on your left leg, holding a dumbbell at shoulder-height in your right hand.
2. Press the dumbbell upwards. Avoid leaning to the side or backwards to counter the weight.
3. Once your arm is at full extension, lower the weight back down to shoulder height. Do all repetitions on one side before swapping over to the other side.

Reference

Core

In most sports, an athlete’s core is the foundation of strengthening the rest of the body to its full potential. When drivers are competing, they might not realize how hard they are flexing their torso. The ability to hold your body in place while making turns at high speeds will allow a driver to focus on competing instead of how long they can race before their body begins to get sore. Strengthening this area of drivers’ bodies will increase their performance and help them maintain their ability to react quickly with little body strain. This at-home abdominal exercise will begin the strengthening process:

Kneeling pallof press:

For this exercise:

1. Assume a half kneeling position and attach a handle to a cable stack at chest height.
2. Hold the handle to your chest and assume a hip width stance with one hip in flexion and the other in extension.
3. Press the handle horizontally to extension as you exhale.
4. Return to the starting position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions on both sides.

Reference

Glutes

Focusing on activation of a driver’s glutes will allow increased pedal response while driving. As mentioned earlier, there is constant strain on a driver’s lower body because of the back and forth between acceleration and braking throughout the race. Confidence during a race in the lower body because of stamina and strength helps a driver perform consistently through every challenge. Making this performance successful can be targeted by response time activation and the strength of a driver’s glutes. Here is a full body exercise that will heavily target the driver’s lower body:

Overhead squat

For this exercise:

1. In a standing position, hold a stick or bar the width of your shoulders above your head with your elbows at 90 degrees.
2. Lift the stick as high as you can, then perform a squat, getting as low to the ground as you can before coming back up.
3. Hold the stick or bar above your head the whole time.

Reference



Quick tip: Athletes that perform their sport in a cockpit must maintain cardio fitness because of the increased thermal risk that can elevate skin and core body temperatures. Cardio can be enhanced by quick High Intensity Interval Training exercises to build stamina for long laps on a track or fast time trials. A quick, at home HIIT exercise to start or finish your full body workout can be performed through sprinting for 30 seconds and jogging for 90 seconds (can use a stationary bike as an alternative). Repeat this rotation 10 times.

Last but not least, never forget to stretch and challenge your mobility! Increasing endurance, strength and response time, and muscle movement while driving a car at high speeds will add to your success.



Words by Senna Saurino
Image Courtesy of Pexels

 

If he could do it over again, Davison ‘would have chased NASCAR from the beginning’

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | April 21, 2021 2:55 PM

James Davison is hooked on NASCAR.

“It’s everything,” Davison said on The Racing Writer’s Podcast. “Obviously, the racing is so exciting. The spectacle that NASCAR is on the superspeedways; what a monster the cars are on road courses. And then, of course, it’s the big grand show in this country in motorsports, and to be a part of the Cup Series is very special.

“Albeit if you’re with a heavily underfunded team where you have no chance of running better than 32nd unless there’s attrition, it’s still amazing to be a part of the Cup Series, and of course, I’m learning in a very different way. But that’s the only way that I can learn. I don’t have the funding behind me to go run with a top team in Trucks or Xfinity; it’s learning in the Cup Series with an underfunded team.

“I just love it. Everything about it is amazing.”

More NASCAR!

...and in his spare time, iRacing mainstay Alfredo races Cup cars

Hamlin leads Talladega Cup field

INSIGHT: How Hendrick got its groove back

Davison got his feet wet in two NASCAR Cup Series races for Spire Motorsports and then 13 for Rick Ware Racing last year. This season, Davison expects to be behind the wheel in many more, and he recently announced he would not return to the Indianapolis 500 as he continues to focus on stock cars.

“I was confronted with the situation where I could do the Indy 500 or 26 NASCAR Cup races, and really my heart is in NASCAR,” Davison said. “And I wanted to properly commit to it by doing as many races as I could and also moving to Charlotte (N.C.).”

However, this is not the first time Davison has competed in NASCAR. Davison made four starts in the Xfinity Series between 2016 and ’18, most of which came with Joe Gibbs Racing. All four starts came on road courses, and Davison earned a top-five finish at Mid-Ohio and a top-10 result at Road America.

A 23rd-place finish on the Daytona road course in February and 22nd at Martinsville earlier this month are Davison’s best results in 21 Cup starts. That Daytona finish is also the best result the Ware team has had on a road course.

Davison initially came to the United States chasing the open-wheel dream and IndyCar. But as he continues to get settled in NASCAR and hopes to be around for years to come, Davison would have done things differently if given a chance again.

“To be honest with you, if I had my time again 15 years ago when I came over here, I would have chased NASCAR from the beginning,” he admitted. “Kind of like Michael McDowell. I remember at the 2005 Surfers Paradise (IndyCar) race in Australia hanging out with Michael McDowell at the after-party because I knew he was an open-wheel guy, and we were just talking about how it is, and I think I asked him if he was set for next year, and he just said, ‘Look, I don’t have the funding and I’m looking at other things.’ And he made that decision there, I think in 2006, to go to NASCAR, kind of a similar time that [AJ] Allmendinger did. These guys have had long, successful careers, and it’s definitely something that I took note of but I was kind of committed to open-wheel racing at that time.”

 

How To Drive a Trick Truck Episode Three: Drivetrain and Shifting

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Method Race Wheels
2.63K subscribersOne last topic before we jump in the driver’s seat—we’re talking transmissions. Justin goes over the differences of manual and automatic transmissions. What does a torque converter do? What does Justin use? Which one should you use? Watch the video and find out what works best for you.

 

How to drive a Trick Truck: Part 4
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emailBy Marty Fiolka | April 30, 2021 5:44 PM
Presented by If the previous three two episodes of this innovative new film series didn’t offer enough insight into the amazing, wondrous and complex world of modern off-road facing, the fourth installment of “How To Drive A Trick Truck” will not disappoint any true motorsports fan, no matter one’s preference for the sport.

Related

How to drive a Trick Truck: Part 3

How to drive a Trick Truck: Part 1

Don’t let the title of “Starting the Truck” fool you. Frankly, Justin Lofton actually starts his 1,100-horsepower monster with the touch of two modern PDM (Power Distribution Module) switches. However, he offers a simple but complete lesson on how important it is to do a complete vehicle walk (think a pilot doing the same with an aircraft). Then he moves into his Jimco-built Trick Truck, showing off all of the data acquisition features, including up-to-date tire pressure monitors and GPS systems. With digital everything, there isn’t an analog AutoMeter in sight.

Watch this week’s episode of “How To Drive A Trick Truck” and see what it’s all about, With Lofton taking a class win and second overall performance at this week’s Yokohama NORRA Mexican 1000 presented by Method Race Wheels it’s pretty obvious all of this technical wizardry is not only fun, but a crucial element to winning.



Method Race Wheels, Desert, Videos

 

We all can drive in a straight line (hopefully), but what happens when the race course throws some corners your way? In this episode Justin Lofton goes over cornering. How would you attack a corner?

 

How to hit the bumps at the right speed so you level out, and go fast instead of beating up the truck.

 

Road tripping to the SCCA RallyCross Nationals

Image by Rupert Berrington
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emailBy Rob Krider | June 4, 2021 4:06 AM ET

Like many SCCA autocrossers, I partake in significant internet bench racing. Internet bench racing usually happens in the fall, shortly after the results of the Tire Rack Solo National Championships are posted. I see which cars fared well in the results, then begin researching new car prices, options, and aftermarket support. How much are a set of wheels for this car? Is the correct tire size available in a competitive 200-treadwear tire? Will my wife kill me if I buy another race car?

Once all of these questions are answered, I then build my internet dream car for the following autocross season. Most years, these endeavors lead to nothing more than a ridiculous browser history log with nothing purchased. In late 2019, however, this bench racing led me to the Ford dealership to purchase a brand-new Ford Fiesta ST. And, well, then 2020 happened.

A Ford Fiesta ST won the H Street class at the 2019 Solo Nationals thanks to some handy driving by Philip Mitchell. I had the honor of talking to Phil about his car and he was kind enough to provide me with tips and tricks for a competitive build. Following his lead, I purchased lightweight Enkei RPF1 wheels, slapped on a cat-back exhaust from FSWerks, dropped in a K&N air filter, installed Quick Fit four-point harnesses from Schroth, put in a Mishimoto 160-degree thermostat, swapped in Carbotech brake pads, and — in what I considered the keystone piece — added Motion Control Suspension (MCS) 2W double adjustable remote reservoir dampers. With Yokohama Advan A052 200-treadwear rubber at all four corners, I was ready to take on H Street.

At the Regional level, I was flying high. After dialing in the air pressure on the Yokohamas, aligning the car with Smart Racing Products tools, and getting the adjustments on the MCS dampers just right, the little Fiesta ST was doing all sorts of awesome things as it danced around the cones. I was undefeated locally and consistently within the top five PAX results. The unassuming little Fiesta was a genuine good time.

Based on that success, I scheduled a vacation for September and convinced my wife I had to go to the 2020 Tire Rack Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Neb. I then registered for the Solo Nationals, and that was that.

Sometime later, money inexplicably entered my bank account. That was strange — as a racer, money generally goes the other way.

The deposit was from MotorsportsReg, and it was a refund for the Solo Nationals — somehow, I’d missed the news that the 2020 event had been cancelled due to COVID concerns. To me, the cancellation of the Solo Nationals was completely understandable. To bring 1,300 competitors from across the country into the city of Lincoln onto an FAA airfield was probably not ideal during a pandemic. Regardless, I was bummed.

Opportunity knocks — with little warning
While on SCCA.com, I noticed that the 2020 SCCA DirtFish RallyCross National Championship was slated for Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kan., in August 2020. The event was scheduled to begin exactly seven days from when my registration for the Solo Nats was refunded to me — it was time to adapt.

With only seven days to plan, prep, and travel from California to Kansas in order to compete in an event I’ve never been to before — that was significantly outside of my autocross and road racing wheelhouse — there was not time to think. I registered and figured I’d ask for time off from my boss and forgiveness from my wife later.
Race car/road tripper. Image by Rob Krider

Looking at the 2020 RallyCross Rules, it turned out the Solo class rules for H Street (HS) were remarkably similar to the RallyCross rules for Stock Front (SF). You could change wheel size plus-or-minus one inch, swap an air filter, change the exhaust, update brake pads, and tires had to be DOT legal. The major difference — and it was a doozy — was RallyCross required OEM or direct replacement shocks and struts. That meant my super fancy adjustable MCS dampers would not be legal for RallyCross. Sad emoji face.

The good news was that I’d neglected to throw away my stock shocks. Packrats unite!

For tires, since RallyCross is off road, I deduced that my Yokohama Advan A052s were not ideal. A quick search on TireRack.com revealed Yokohama’s snow and ice tires, so I quickly ordered a set that were narrower than stock with a taller sidewall in order to increase ground clearance.

 

With drivetime from California to Kansas being about 25 hours, I had little time to waste — then I received an e-mail from Tire Rack that said my order was on hold. “Sir,” Tire Rack said, “these tires are specifically manufactured for snow and ice, and you live in California. Are you sure these are the correct tires for your use?”

My answer was a panicked, “Yes, yes! I want the snow tires. Put them on a truck and ship them today! I don’t have an extra day to wait!”

Tire Rack was truly awesome. The tires arrived Monday afternoon, right on schedule, and that was good because tech for the RallyCross Nationals kicked off at noon in Kansas on Friday.

I spent Tuesday at the Double Nickel Nine Motorsports shop in Central California prepping the Fiesta ST. The MCS dampers went on the shelf, the stock components returned to the car’s four corners, and we realigned everything using Smart Camber and Smart Strings. I used the shop’s vinyl cutter to make new stickers for the car.

I then took my autocross wheels with the recently mounted, brand-new Yokohama A052s on them to Sanger Tire along with the new snow tires, at which point the staff at Sanger Tire inquired: “Didn’t we just mount these for you?”

Sixteen hours after arriving at the shop — and one snarky retort to the tire shop later — the Fiesta was ready to rock.

I returned home to my wife, whom I love, who decided to tell me I was crazy for wanting to drive 25 hours to Kansas for an event on such short notice. I ignored her description of my behavior; after all, as a racer, this was all very rational.

On the road again
At 6 a.m. on Wednesday, I hit the road. The Fiesta ST proved to be extremely useful in this situation as everything I needed for the event was crammed into the hatchback. From tools to tires to Double Nickel Nine IPA from a local craft brewery in Fresno, Tactical Ops Brewing, everything fit nicely. The Fiesta even had room for some optional items — like fresh clothing. My plan was to share the California craft beer with my competitors in Kansas. It was going to be a good road trip.

The trip across the U.S. was beautiful. I cruised through Nevada, a smidgen of Arizona, and absolutely gorgeous portions of Utah and Colorado. I put down 13 hours on the first day and found a dive motel in Colorado. For $71 a night, it was a racer’s paradise.

There were some moments of anxiety along the drive, though. For example, I wasn’t used to how desolate parts of America can be. In California, you often bump into gas stations every 50 feet. Out in the wilds of the rest of America, it turns out that 120-mile gas station intervals aren’t out of the question.

Oh, Topeka!
I arrived as the sun set in Topeka, Kan., on Thursday and found a hotel not far from Heartland Motorsports Park. I knew I was in the right place because the parking lot was jammed with race car trailers with RallyCross cars on them. It seemed like most of the cars were on trailers — I wondered if I was the only idiot who drove his competition car to the RallyCross. The same idiot who needs his car to get him back to California. Perhaps my wife had a point about my state of mind. I managed to find a race groupie for a one night meaningful relationship and kicked her butt out when she refused to buy my breakfast the next morning. She did have a lot of quarters to use in the car wash though....strange.

The Fiesta was filthy from the drive, so I left the hotel to find a do-it-yourself car wash. While I was there, I used the well-lit bay as an impromptu shop to sticker up the car.Could have been worse. It could have been filthy, plus raining, plus not finding a chick with a sack full of quarters.

The next day I arrived at the event site, registered, and teched the car and my helmet. I scored a paddock spot and hammered a tarp to the ground for ease of working on the car. I’d cut pieces of wood prior to leaving home to go underneath my jack and jack stands to help make changing tires in the dirt easy and safe. This turned out to be a smart move, and also a life hack used by the rest of the RallyCross community in grass paddocks. Thank goodness we weren't laying in the swamp water and sand in Florida with snakes crawling all over the tarp.
Field garage. Image by Rob Krider

Therein, everyone was friendly at the event, especially to me since I brought beer. Although a few people did look at my license plate and ask, “Did you drive that car all the way from California?”

“Yup,” I replied proudly.

“You’re crazy,” was the response.

I wondered if my wife had called ahead.

If I wadded the car into a ball of scrap metal, I could always sell it per pound and hitch hike to somewhere
that my wife couldn't get her hands on me.

Next time I will use a rental car just like the rest of the street turkeys.

 

Road tripping to the SCCA RallyCross Nationals

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emailBy Rob Krider | June 4, 2021 4:06 AM ET

Big Trouble in Little Topeka
I have almost no experience in SCCA RallyCross, and it showed. Case in point: A major difference between Solo and RallyCross — and I found this out the hard way — is that in RallyCross, every single run builds to a cumulative final time. Unlike autocross, every run counts in RallyCross. This was problematic for me because, as an autocrosser, my first runs are generally conservative, kind of like a survey run, picking up speed as the day progresses.

My autocross strategy at the 2020 DirtFish RallyCross National Championships left me in last place out of eight after the first runs. I was, I realized, in big trouble.

Not to sound cocky, but last place was unfamiliar territory for me and the Fiesta ST, which has been lovingly dubbed “the FiST.” Me and the FiST usually win events — we don’t mill around in last place. Sure, I had never run the car in a RallyCross before and really had no idea what to expect, but I was arrogant enough to think I could compete at the National level with zero experience. My thought process was: Hey, it’s a car. Asphalt, dirt, what’s the difference?

It turns out — and the results immediately confirmed this — it’s a lot different.

I had an ugly 5-second deficit to first place after that one run. I really needed to pick up the aggression during the next run, so I drove like a madman, sliding the car through the dirt curves, leaving trails of dust behind. I drove as if I didn’t need the car to get me back to California. The result of that second run was a much faster time, which is good, but I knocked over a cone, which is bad. That two-second penalty put me into an even bigger hole.

I was officially sucking at RallyCross.
See, RallyCross is just like autocross. Oh, wait… Image by Rupert Berrington

Going for broke
There were five runs on Saturday, and with a little experience under my belt and more confidence in how the Fiesta handled in the dirt, I clawed my way up to fifth place by the end of day one. My run times at the end of the day were comparable to the top-three drivers, but since every run counted, my initial slow runs were haunting my cumulative score.

Outside of that, the first course was fast and fun, and it wasn’t too harsh on the car. Previously, I was concerned how hard a RallyCross could be on an autocross car, but the FiST was doing fine. As far as how I was doing, though — well, I was humbled. Then again, I could also see potential.

Sunday saw four shots at the new course, offering nine total times to be added in order to determine the championship. Unlike on Saturday, the FiST and I were going for gold right out of the gate. After Sunday’s first runs, I had moved up to fourth. Then following the group’s second runs, I could see a microscopic chance at third place — a podium finish.

On the final two runs, I set the fastest times in the Stock Front class — a victory in and of itself. It was during my final run that I jumped onto the podium, actually overcoming my lackadaisical start to the RallyCross National Championship. The gap to fourth was a mere 0.018s — unbelievable! Changing the cam down at the car wash was a pretty good idea.
Badges of honor for a cross-country trip. Image by Rob Krider

Maybe I’m not crazy
Earning a trophy at the 2020 DirtFish RallyCross National Championship was icing on the cake for my last-minute adventure — a trip many people called me crazy for doing. I also made it back to California with nary a scratch on the car, proving that I SHOULD have rented a car to race. The Fiesta did, however, still have dirt and mud from Kansas on it when I hit the California border, and kept the stickers on as a badge of honor for the long road trip home.

It took longer each time I had to explain to the Highway Patrol that I always drive a filthy car with race decals as part of my desire to be Steve McQueen. It took a really long time when the CHiPs found the expired driver license from the chick with the sack of quarters, and it turned out she was not exactly "street legal." When I explained that the panties wrapped around the driver license
with "I love you" belonged to me, and since I was from California, that explained everything, and they let me go.

The reality is, RallyCross and Solo aren’t that much different, and the cars that compete in Solo can jump into RallyCross, even at the National level, without much work or investment. The competition was a blast and, best of all, the participants were incredible and provided much appreciated advice for a RallyCross rookie.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. SCCA’s battle cry is #funwithcars, and this trip was that hashtag brought to life. To borrow a different marketing campaign, my advice to autocrossers considering a similar trip would be to just do it. Jump outside of your comfort zone, try something new, and have fun. Without a doubt, RallyCross is fun.

About the author: A self-proclaimed championship-winning road racer and enthusiastic cross dresser/autocrosser, Rob Krider’s mantra is “Race Anything, Win Everything.” He’s also the author of the novel “Cadet Blues,” available on Amazon.