Aspiring To Be A NASCAR Driver

Aspiring To Be A NASCAR Driver

So you think you have what it takes and you want to be a NASCAR driver? Many of those drivers have been doing this sport for many years. Some do believe that this isn’t any kind of sport at all, beside how hard can it be to drive a car in a circle for 500 miles? Many people overlook so many factors that are involved in this sport such bump drafting, car set-up, track conditions, and the variance of tracks from one to another. Also things that should be in your mind as you judge this is there is 43 drivers on a track that sometimes is a mile long, while other tracks can be up to two and a half miles long. Also there is the fact that the time separation between first place and last is merely only a second or two. So I will try to give all you need to at least survive. Please keep in mind that there are so many things that can factor in your success or your defeat.
First of all, you have to have some kind of idea of what you will experience while you engage in this non-athletic activity. Let’s look at the simple thing and that is identifying different tracks and how you are to deal with them. Many see a track and think of it as round and flat. If anything a track is everything but that. As stated before there are all kinds of different track on the yearly circuit, some are perfectly round, while others are what we call tri-ovals. As each track is different so should be your driving styles. Many of these tracks also have offsetting turns, which in layman’s terms means that turn 1 and 2 will have a different turn radius as turn 3 and 4. So as you may have already guessed turning through one end is different than the other. Let’s take a look at some of these tracks, for instance Talladega, is a well known track and well revered. It is a two and a half mile track, and it has 18 degree turns. This means that a forty foot track at ground level is forty-eight feet up top of the track. This can be ideal for multiple lanes of track to race on, however it also can create a real dangerous problem such as running a line(lane choice),that is too high and you wreck and hit the wall. You not only hurt yourself but you have the real potential to take a lot of other drivers out on the track also. And you have just wrecked a car that is about $350,000, so as you can imagine that the owner of the car will not be happy at all. Then there is Pocono Raceway, it only has a 6 degree turns, so as you can see you would not drive Pocono like you would Talladega. Each and every track is different in some way or another, and as a driver it is your job to find out what those differences are.
Secondly, we will have to take a look at you as an individual. The average driver can and will lose ten pounds per race. As you may have guessed here, the driver must be in good condition. When you see a race on television it is a nice sunny day. But in the car it is way more than that. If you climbed in a car on a day that is 80 degrees outside it is surely hotter. To give you a precise idea of what it is like inside try to imagine this. Go climb in your car this summer dress as if you were going skiing. Roll all the windows up while you are in your ski suit, and turn the cars heater up to the maximum heat and sit there for three and half hours. Please keep in mind you are not even moving yet! Now we will have to see if your body can endure the punishment that the average driver goes thought while he is racing. Such as driving a car at 195-200 miles per hour just before you find out where you want to be so you can negotiate the turns that you have to. Oh yeah you also have to remember that there are 42 other cars out there too. They all want exactly what you want, and that is to win and get the big check and notoriety. Do you honestly think he is just going to leave you alone and let you win? Better think again. So here comes the turn are you ready? When you turn at that speed and at that degree you will experience what is called g-force. Say you weigh 150 pounds, through that turn you could weight anywhere between 300 to 400 pounds. This affect all of you your body, and your mind, all the while you have to deal with the heat you and your body is absorbing. These effect reaction times, possible black-outs, no patience, and worse of all poor judgments which in the long run will hurt your performance.
Finally, there is the car we have to address, while you do have a team you have to be able to tell them what is wrong. You cannot just jump in and drive. You have to know more than where the gas goes. Problems will arise all during the race such as being too loose (which is when you turn the wheel of the car and it hesitates in recting to you turning), aero-push, car-plowing, and finally there aspect of the ever changing track conditions. Say you start a race when it was cool (making the car good and easy to turn), then the sun comes out and heats the track. This will make you feel like you are driving on ice. This isn’t a good feeling when you are going that fast and then you lose control, and surely the wall is in your future again. To fix some of these problems is as simple as adding or taking out air pressure in the tires. Or you could add or take out a round of wedge (which will affect the way your cars handling capabilities). But you still have to be able to tell your pit crew what is going on with your car so they may be able to fix it and you could go on to win. One has to be proactive with their car as to be there in the final laps, remember it is a 5oo mile race so a lot of patience and good driving will put you where you need to be in the end. With 43 other drivers out there if you don’t use your head and use patience, it could be the determining factor that decides if you race or you go home early.
So as you can see there is a lot to being a NASCAR driver than driving. Many drivers have gone to schools to learn aerodynamic engineering, structural engineering, so you can imagine there is a lot of money, time, and other valuable resources that get them where they are now. With all of this being said and done do you really think you have what it takes to be a NASCAR driver, and do you aspire to be one?