how did you guys get so much faster in so little time?

[ShadowBolt]

I was looking at some of Adam's old race write-ups and came upon this.

The CMC racers were equally hot on track – the #17 of Varner, with a carefully pinned down hood, scorched the pavement with a ripping 1:25.879. Jeff Burch, the current MSR-C track record holder, was only .3 behind with a 1:26.087. The rest of the CMC was equally close, showing lap times all within a second of one another.

On this day at MSRC (May of 06) Jeff was second in qual for R1 with a 1:26.087. I was eight this last weekend in R3 with a 1:26.2 (Thanks again Mitch)? How in the hell have you guys picked up so much (like two or three seconds)? Can a guy get better just going to the six races a year? It is hard for me to do very many track days with the tracks so far away from me. Can you really learn much just doing track events when not going door to door? I feel like even if I picked up a second or two, if I don't learn to drive in traffic, what good does it do? Just looking for what to do to get to the next level?

After being bummed all night and all day today about spinning on the first F'ing lap I feel a little better knowing I got within less than a second of the time the great EV did in CMC17. Jay also ran a 1:26 something.


JJ

[AI#97]

Jerry, I don't know if I can speak for the CMC crowd but yes, seat time even just doing track days/DE's will make you faster. Mostly in part to tweaking on the car and getting it to work....secondly, getting to know the car and YOU behind the wheel better. I do just about every instruction event I can make lately just to work on tweaking the car. I learned to drive it when it was really bad, and now I am working on fixing one thing at a time. Probably because that's all I can keep track of!

Even though you aren't door to door, you gain valuable information about setups, car placement and track knowledge. Once all that becomes second nature, you can concentrate on how to pass or pressure someone out of your way which is where the door to door skills get honed.

It's been said many times and many ways.... Seat time! Seat time! Seat time! is the best modification you can make to the car!

[GlennCMC70]

Jerry, i rarely do test days. mostly its just me making all the events.

seat time is key.

[jeffburch]

For me, it is all the car :P

jb

[ShadowBolt]

For me, it is all the car :P

jb

Are you saying you work on the car more than your driving? Or is this as I assume, a joke?


JJ

[jeffburch]

Humor.
8)
jb

[Al Fernandez]

Without getting into any great debates about car development yadda yadda...seat time, seat time, and seat time are the three most important things to buy to get faster. Six race weekends a year is plenty to get fast. More is better, and too much is just right, but take what you can.

Now...the fastest a particular car with a particular driver can go on a particular track will vary with surface condition and weather even if you kept the car and driver skill static, but there is no doubt in my mind JB is faster today than he was two years ago, same as everyone else here is.

[BryanL]

JJ-How did you get so much faster this year from last year? I don't think you should be bummed at all. I thought your lap times were good but I haven't looked to see if all your laps are consistent? I too was a little bummed this weekend but have to keep it in perspective. Remember some of these guys have been in the same car for several years and may have lots of track time prior to racing. This was only my 5th weekend in the car (one other weekend in my 68 Camaro) so I have areas I know I can improve which gives me hope.
Seat time obviously is key but also spending some time learning and working on things. What I mean is not just seat time but testing. Testing different changes to the car and the driver and understanding what it makes the car do so you can make adjustments on race weekend. Right now I still feel really lost with tire pressures. My car was totally different last weekend so now I have to learn to drive it differently. But like you I am wanting to get competitive with everyone else and a little disappointed I wasn't faster.
I just started reading "Going Faster" by Skip Barber. You could consider hiring a driving coach for a track day. Getting a data acquisition system might also help. Could really help you since you have 2 drivers that may run a lap differently.

Bryan

[ShadowBolt]

Bryan,

I have not changed a thing on the cars set-up since I purchased it. How Jay and I got so much faster from MSRH of last year to this MSRH of this year is a good question. In 07 I was running on old tires that came on the car and this year started out with a new set. Other than paint and Painless wiring nothing else has been changed. Jay and I had four or five years of doing DE's prior to racing. If your first track time ever was last year in NASA your doing very well indeed! It took Jay and I four or five track weekends a year for four or five years to get where we are and we are still way behind most of the others. Al made me feel good when he told me he had driven his car for seven years and was just a tick faster than I was in R3 qual. It did make me feel better but that also means I'm seven years behind in race experence. Then you have JB driving two seconds a lap quicker while messing with the radio and smoking a cig. Proctor with years of dirt track side by side racing experence and I don't even want to think about JW and his 1:23. makes it look like a mountain to climb.

JJ

[Wirtz]

I believe in good car prep and as much seat time as you can get. Other simple things to stay sharp. In my case, I drive a six speed car for a daily driver. things like heel-toe stay second nature that way. It's hard to keep sharp if you only drive your car 2 days a month.

Fear is a good motivator as well

Jeff