Part 3 and a video
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My crew chief Stephen Young is my conscious. He looks at the Racepak data and tells me, “You are leaving two feet on the right side at the entrance to Turn 14.” Instead of arguing with him and saying things like, “Yeah, there is a friggin’ concrete barrier there, I’m just leaving a few inches for safety,” I just go out the next lap and try to grind down my right side rearview mirror on the concrete barrier. Thus, giving myself a larger radius through Turn 14 and getting a faster lap. Thank you, Stephen.

Summary of Data: If you have it, use it. Knowledge is power.
Spotters
Brandon Lindlahr hangs out on the grid, waiting for the two DNN Motorsports cars to take the green flag and try to keep the streak alive. His warnings over the radio can make or break the team’s success on the track.

The eyes in the sky separate the difference between our team and other teams. We work hard to ensure our spotters are in the right positions to see as much of the track as possible. When we got to Mid-Ohio and saw how far of a jog it would be to get from the paddock to a good spotting location, we went to Walmart and bought a $70 kid’s BMX bike, so our guys could get where they needed to be on time.

As a driver, I trust my spotter 100 percent. If they say it’s clear, I go. If they start yelling, “Yellow flag!”, then I back off from a pass to ensure I don’t get disqualified. Our spotters have saved the day thousands of times. We couldn’t do it without them.

Summary of Spotters: Get some good radios, and get them somewhere high. They are your overwatch.
Driving (With Aggression)
Once all of the pieces are in place, now it is time to trust the work you did and drive with absolute aggression. Destroy the car in the process. Leave nothing on the table. It is the National Championships, you have to be right on the edge — or even a hair beyond — to win. But do it smartly.

To enjoy the ultimate prize, you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price: everything. Drive the car as if someone else’s body is inside it. Drive it as if somebody else will be paying to fix it. If it is a 45-minute race, the car only needs to last 45 minutes and one second. Do whatever needs to be done to get out front early and crush the souls of your competition.

Summary of Driving with Aggression: Go like hell — as if there is no tomorrow.

Okay, now that you are driving around the track like a madman (because I just told you to), forget all that, and be extremely intelligent on track. Make smart passes. Racing is a chess game. Use strategy. Manage your tires. Manage your fuel. Watch your gauges. Watch for yellow flags. Don’t take any risks that will eliminate you from the race or get you disqualified. Be smart.

New Summary of Driving With Aggression: Go like hell — as smartly and safely as you can to ensure you finish the race.

Confusing? Yes. Racing is a balance between risk and reward at 100 miles an hour, with 400 decisions to make every 50 feet.
Make Sure You Are Legal
The checkered flag doesn’t mean anything. The race isn’t won until you get out of impound. Here I am opening up the engine computer for inspection. Bring a legal car and save yourself the embarrassment of having to hand over that First-place National Championship trophy to the Second-place driver.

At the 2019 NASA National Championships, our car was pulled into impound for some extra attention. This is not new for our team. When you win a lot, you get inspected a lot. I don’t sweat it because we work very hard to bring a 100-percent legal Honda Challenge car to the track.

The NASA tech inspectors looked over our ECU to make sure it was stock, and an alternate chip was not added (per Honda Challenge 4 rules). Then, they made us unplug the ECU and then attempted to start the car. If the car started, it would tell them we had a “different” and “hidden” ECU running the engine. We weren’t worried about it. With the ECU unplugged, our car wouldn’t start, and we were able to keep our fourth championship. Time to party!

Summary of Make Sure You Area Legal: Just be legal, and you are good. Simple as that.

Bringing It All Together

The reality is racing isn’t just spraying champagne and looking cool with the podium girls, it is a ton of hard work. It is a team sport that requires lots of support to be successful. You can’t do everything yourself. To win a National Championship, your car has to be prepped to the max. You, as the driver, have to be physically and mentally ready for hardship. You have to use data to improve yourself and the car during the weekend. You have to have good spotters in good positions and trust what they are telling you. You have to drive like a crazy person and be smart behind the wheel to finish for the win. And, when it is all said and done, your car has to pass impound, which means you need to race a legal car. If you and your friends can do all that, then you just might be National Champions.

Below is a video of Double Nickel Nine’s origin story and our championship “Streak,” which is currently four-years strong. The team rocks the motto, “Wrench. Race. Win. Repeat.” And this video shows why. Enjoy.



Photos courtesy of Brett Becker, Downforce Media, Stephen Young, and Herb Lopez.

 

If you want to know what it takes to win, click here:
see post # 103:

https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...ml#post9428464