Gentlemen,
I'm amazed at how far this league has come in this season alone. We have gone from typical "Caution-Fests" to professional-level racing and everyone in the league has had a part in that. My hat is off to all the drivers who've struggled, who've attended Sim-School and have turned their driving around to become competitive week in and week out.
I know that many drivers outside our league are beginning to take notice of our success and I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see a dramatic increase in driver counts very soon.
However, it's time to push ourselves to the next level.
James Gregait has had an incredible year and deserves all the kudos he gets. The teamwork at Agitator Racing is obvious and second to none. Now it's time we all learn from their example.
If they have taught us anything, it's that practice and teamwork are essential to running well on league nights.
By now we should all have a feel for our racecars, what setups work and don't work, what driving styles work and don't work and how to come to the racetrack ready to compete for top 5's.
One of the problems I see is that many drivers are still coming into the practice and turning a few laps and then going back to the garage. You CANNOT get an accurate feel for your true setup and what it will do in only a few laps. You can be fastest on the speedchart and drop like a rock after 15 laps if you don't spend the time to properly set your car up and learn it's handling characteristics over long runs. When this happens, you are not getting beat by others...you are beating yourself.
There is no shame is getting beat by a superior car or driver...just don't beat yourself. (We all do it from time to time).
Another problem area I've seen is the tendency to race too hard too early. This is a typical mistake many drivers make, but with the league progressing as it is and longer green flag runs...this is going to bite you (and most likely others) very quickly.
If a race is 150 laps, there is no rush to get to the front...especially if it threatens to ruin your night or others through over-aggression, impatience and simple "mind-warp." We've said it a million times but, no race is won in the first few laps...so relax...find your rythmn and then go racing. Again, we have all made these mistakes...but it's time for us to QUIT making these kinds of mistakes, since we are all determined to make BCR the best ARCA/Remax league on the internet.
Ask, Ask Ask. If your struggling and want to get better...ask. Ask the instructors, ask anyone who'll listen but you'll never learn anything if you don't ask.
Finally,
THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK
It's been a really long season. We've raced countless races together, we've all had on-track issues at one time or another and we're tired. The season is drawing to a close and it's easy to allow your emotions to get the best of you and spill over onto the racetrack. I strongly encourage all team owners to keep a check on their teammates and make sure that all banter over the public radio does not damage the entire league.
We all have access to private conversations AFTER a race if we need to address an on-track incident with another driver. I implore you to use that, rather than the public radio during a race to vent your hostilities. (Even when engaging in private conversations, I hope you'll all be respectful and adult).
We are all very competitive by nature, and if we're not careful, we can seriously harm the league by saying things in the "heat of the moment" that makes us look like fools to our competitors or turns off prospective new drivers, who simply don't wanna listen to radio rage. At the very worst, we can cause a driver who truly meant no harm, to leave the league with hurt feelings, just so an angry driver can satisfy their bruised ego. We are better than that guys, at least I believe so.
At the end of the day, guys....this is our hobby..it's not how we make our living and it's not curing cancer...so it doesn't hurt to lighten up a bit once in a while and remember we're doing this for fun. In fact, I think we'll drive better when we're not putting so much pressure on ourselves.
Just some thoughts on a Sim-School Level
Reydon
Subject: TIME TO PUSH TO THE NEXT LEVEL 
October 7th 2009, 4:21 am
