Driver development has been a topic both myself and Journo have written about in the past here at TNI. We’ve talked about the business of driver development, talked about different drivers, and even offered up some advice to people coming up. The last time I wrote a post with some advice in it, I chose to talk about the need for drivers to be fearless in order to succeed. With this post, I wanted to again offer some advice to young drivers and also point out something that I think needs to be addressed with driver development.
I think we’ve all seen that if a driver has enough money in the bank, he (or she) can get a ride with at least a decent team. In many cases, drivers are getting rides in the upper levels of NASCAR without much of a racing resume to speak of. Owners are letting these kids climb into their cars just because they can write that big check. What I don’t understand about these situations, is how anyone can expect these drivers to perform.
It doesn’t matter how good an organization and its equipment are, a team cannot hope to have any success if their driver has no idea what is going on with the racecar. With so many of these young drivers being rushed through the ranks, riding that cash wave, much is not being learned. They are missing out on not only that all-important on track experience, but they are also not learning the technical aspects of what it takes to make a car fast.
If a driver doesn’t understand mechnically what is going on with the car at speed, how can they be expected to relay the proper information to the crews so they can make adjustments? Without the right adjustments, no car is going to be fast enough to win. It really doesn’t matter how good a crew chief is, or how skilled his mechanics are. Poor information drags the entire team down.
So if there are young drivers reading this post, here is my advice. Learn everything you can about your craft. If you truly love racing, you should want to know everything there is about the car and the competition. Find out why certain adjustments do certain things. Understand what shocks, springs, sway bars, wedge, camber, brake bias, a-arms, truck arms, and all the other important parts and changes mean in terms of setting up your car. Racing is a tough business, and you should want to give yourself every advantage you can if you are looking to move up. Knowing mechanically what is going on and being able to translate that to your crew will pay dividends.
So where can you find out this information you ask? A lot of places. There are countless books that can be bought online or found at your library that will give you a good start. Also, I’m sure you will find plenty of folks at the track who would be willing to help and give you good information. There are even entire magazines dedicated to this very thing.
As we edge ever closer to the start of the racing season, I hope all those kids out there that want to be racers are using the off time wisely. Just because you aren’t racing doesn’t mean you can’t be getting better. Every professional stick-and-ball athlete uses the off season to get stronger and improve their technique and knowledge. Drivers should be doing the same.
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on Jan 5th, 2009 at 8:48 am
You need to edit the adjective “young” from the title of this thread.
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I equate these drivers that simply want to drive a race car to trying to trade stocks without knowing anything about the Market. They are in the wrong game in the wrong league!! And it won’t take long for them to get burned. The difference with NASCAR is these guys often take out other drivers with them. For that reason alone they will never be on a fantasy team of mine. Of course we know who they are.They would be better off buying an old race car, keeping it at a track, and jetting down to drive it when the track is available.
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Haha, I do agree with you there CVT. But I figured with the young drivers there is at least a chance they will change. The older guys that don’t know are mostly a lost cause.
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Very good article, Jr. has this problem he just doesn’t know how
to set up a car. Sad but true.
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
The best way to learn to set a car up is to drive cars that are not set up and then fix em. You develop a reference of what works and what doesn’t. Keeping in mind that what works in one situation doesn’t apply for every situation. Dirt helps here where track changes (literally) every lap.
Up & comers with medicore/under-powered equipment and a “in order to finish first, you must first finish” attitude will pay dividends later. That is, as long as the right people notice it and give them a chance. If you beat the best w/ less, you are better than the best!
Case in point by Larry above. Take JR (great guy, especially considering circumstances and expectations-to no fault his own), but never had to scrape and scrimp to buy next set of tires or pay entry fees vs he/she who sleeps in their car at the track, hunts for used tires and flips burgers or takes up a collection to get in the gate. Will race for food forces one to learn the trade from the depth of passion for the sport. I say pluck these drivers out of the crowd.
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
So T.C., you are saying Dale Earnhardt,Jr is a lost cause?
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Who said I was referring to Dale Jr.? You are telling me that a guy with 18 Cup Series wins, 22 Busch wins, and two Busch Championships doesn’t know how to set up a racecar? If you believe that, you are kidding yourself.
The drivers I’m referring to are all these young kids coming up buying Nationwide and Truck Series rides, and Cup guys like Paul Menard.
on Jan 6th, 2009 at 9:48 am
What effect has the COT had on this? Some drivers(mentioned above) are good at telling the crew chief what to do or what NOT to do in order to set the car up. Is this going down the wrong road? Should the driver just try to explain to the crew what the car is or isn’t doing?