Ultimate Speed Secrets

by Ross Bentley

  There’s no doubt that another reason Penske teams have won so often is their level of preparation. It’s so legendary that the words “Penske” and “preparation” just naturally go together. Rest assured that Castroneves, de Ferran, Fittipaldi, and Mears did not begin preparing for a race when they first showed up at the track. You can be sure that they were doing mental imagery long before ever getting to the track.

  Ahh, but that’s all well and good for professional racers who spend all their waking hours preparing to win, you say. Let me share a few more real-life examples.

  A few years ago, I began working with a club racer who had been racing for three years. Racing was and is a hobby for him, a way to break away from the stress of his business life. Over the course of about three months, with some focused coaching on specific techniques and some mental programming work on his own, this particular driver improved his best lap time at his home track by more than 4 seconds. He also improved his racecraft, learning how to race wheel to wheel with much more experienced drivers. But most important, he began to have more fun than ever before. In fact, this driver claims that he had been feeling so frustrated with his inability to improve prior to working with our coach that he was beginning to question whether to continue racing or not. Now, he can’t get enough.

  Another driver, a young man who had been successful in karting, began his transition to racing cars with me coaching him. In his first few car races he surprised people with his speed, his racecraft, and his overall attitude. But something happened. Either his budget dried up to the point where he could not afford a coach, or his attitude changed in a way that happens with many young, successful drivers. He thought his success was a result of his natural talent. And guess what happened? He stopped impressing people. In fact, he stopped being successful to the point where he changed his mind from thinking about becoming a professional driver to planning on going to college and simply racing for fun. I’m not saying that wasn’t a good idea, since I think an education is important for race drivers, but the reason he changed his mind was not because he thought it was a good idea. The reason he changed his mind was because he wasn’t willing or able to do the work it took to continue building on his early successes. The sad thing is, if he continues with that attitude, it’s doubtful he will be successful regardless what he chooses to do with his life. The lesson he could have learned in this situation could have made him a winner in more places than just on the track.

  A driver that I coached a few years ago had taken up racing in his mid-40s. He had been very successful in business and was now semi-retired. He had used what he thought was a coach for a season and had learned a few things, but what he really had was an instructor. You see, the fellow helping him told him what to do—he instructed him—but did not give him any long-term strategies for learning. When I provided these strategies, he went off and used them, doing mental imagery once or twice a day. His improvement was staggering, and the needle on his fun meter matched that improvement.

  I must point out that the driver in this last example not only enjoyed learning, he craved it. It was like an addiction for him. His desire to learn was a critical factor to his success, as it inspired him to do whatever it took to prepare. The interesting thing is that all this preparation amounted to no more than 30 minutes a day. You could look at that and say, “I don’t have that much time to put toward my racing.” If so, that’s okay, as long as you realize that you won’t improve much without some commitment of time to prepare. It’s okay as long as you don’t feel bitter or frustrated that you’re not improving as much or as quickly as other drivers (who probably are committing time for preparation).

  A driver I coached a few years ago was extremely focused on his results. Great drivers focus more energy on ensuring their performance is at its maximum and trusting that will look after the results better than any other focus. They know that they can’t control the results, but they can control their own performance, and ultimately it is their performance that will dictate the result. So when this driver went to a race, he had a lap time in mind, as well as a result. He would think, “If I can get into the mid-28s, that will put me in good shape to finish third or better.” He had expectations going into a race weekend.

  One of the first things that we worked on was changing his focus (through mental imagery) away from the results and onto his performance. Rather than doing mental imagery of him turning laps in the mid-28s, I had him do mental imagery of driving the car at the limit. So rather than having expectations, he focused on the potential, on the possibilities. Rather than focusing on the lap time or race position, he saw, felt, and heard himself performing at his best, no matter what the conditions and competition level were. He was open to whatever could happen if he performed at his best, driving the car consistently at the very limit. And not only did he enjoy his racing even more since he didn’t judge himself and his abilities based on a lap time or race result, but he performed even better. He performed so well, in fact, that he began to win. Had he stayed focused on the result, it’s unlikely he would have performed so well. He wouldn’t have enjoyed his racing so much, and he would always have been chasing the expectations he had set for himself.

  SPEED SECRET

  Don’t set expectations. Focus on the possibilities and your potential.

  Earlier, I suggested that the main ingredient superstars of any sport have that mere stars may not is the ability to learn quickly. In other words, it’s not that they were born with any more natural talent than the rest, but it’s what they’ve done with that natural talent. It could be that they began life with the same amount of natural talent but worked harder and smarter at developing that talent.

  I still believe that. In fact, the more I coach drivers, ranging anywhere from beginners to experienced, from those who appear to be effortless and gifted to those struggling to figure it out, and from older drivers who just want to have some fun at the local club racing track to young racers who are committed to making it to Formula One, the more I stand by my initial belief. It’s not how much talent you’re born with that’s going to make the difference; it’s what you do with that talent.

  To do anything with your talent, you need to begin with an open or growth-oriented mindset, one that is constantly looking for ways to improve. It’s a mindset of wanting to work harder at becoming better than anyone else. It’s an understanding that it’s through effort that any amount of talent you currently have will turn into something special. It’s knowing that, no matter how easy it’s been to be successful so far, you now need to work harder than anyone else to get to the very top.

  That’s the attitude that every great champion or superstar has ever had. The motorsports world is littered with drivers who were successful early in their career, who developed an attitude of, “I’m great—I’m gifted—and therefore I will make it to the top with this natural talent.” In my world of being able to work closely with drivers of all levels, I see far too many of these types of drivers and not enough who make the commitment to doing what it takes to become as successful as they desire. That’s sad. I can’t help but feel sorry for drivers who feel that they are going to make it to where they desire without doing what it takes. And it’s going to take effort, it’s going to take an open mind—no, a craving—for learning and improvement, and it’s going to take other people to assist you.

  SPEED SECRET

  Be open to ever-improvement.

  Before you close your mind to what I’ve just said and think, “Oh, that’s fine for a young driver who’s trying to become the next Michael Schumacher or Jimmie Johnson. I just want to have fun doing what I do at my level,” think again. There are just as many drivers who race for fun who are putting in the effort to improve as there are young, up-and-coming world champions. In fact, I see it every day: drivers in amateur racing, drivers who are older, drivers who are not out to become world champions who still have the attitude that they can improve and are willing to do what it takes to do so
. Why? For one reason: It’s more fun!

  In the end, that’s why anyone should race, and why you should put in the effort it takes to be successful—to have fun.

  Throughout this book I’ve talked about, and used as examples, a number of great race drivers, especially Michael Schumacher. Am I the president and founder of the Michael Schumacher fan club? No, but despite his struggles coming back into F1 after a three-year sabbatical, he’s recognized as one of the best of all time, so who better to use as a role model or for comparison? Do I think he is something special? Yes and no.

  I believe all of us—you, me, Michael Schumacher—were all born with the same amount of natural driving talent. We all have the ability to be a superstar. Yes, if you were born with the DNA makeup that resulted in you growing to be 6 feet 10 inches tall, it is doubtful you are going to make a career out of driving F1 cars. But assuming you have the basic physical design, you too can be a racing superstar. In other words, Schumacher was not born special.

  If there is a difference between Michael Schumacher and you today, it is simply a result of what the two of you have done with the talent you were born with. And yes, that makes him special.

  The bottom-line is this: There were a number of events in Schumacher’s life that enabled him to take the basic talent he was born with and turn that into the superstar abilities he demonstrates today.

  You now know the value of being integrated (whole brained) to achieving peak performance. Whereas, many children do not do enough integrating physical movement as a baby to become as integrated as possible, I suspect Schumacher did. When a small child does become integrated, he or she feels and acts more coordinated. That leads to a belief system that tells him he’s coordinated, which encourages more physical movement. This belief system is reinforced by comments from outside sources (parents, friends, and so on). All of this encourages the child to do more physical movement that further enhances brain integration and so on. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  Of course, the opposite is true, as well. For example, a baby who does not do much “cross crawling” action may not become as integrated as early in life, which affects the belief system. This leads to a child who stays away from physical activities “because I’m not very good at it.”

  So Schumacher enters childhood at an integrated, coordinated level. I’m sure that encouraged him to participate in numerous sports, which lead to the development of his sensory input skills. The fact that his family had its own karting track certainly didn’t hurt. But from what I understand about his childhood, he didn’t simply spend a lot of time in a kart, he spent a lot of well-defined, strategic, deliberate practice time in a kart. In other words, he went onto the kart track with specific strategies for improving.

  You see, much of the development of his natural talent was a result of the environment he grew up in.

  Now, I’m not suggesting that Schumacher necessarily developed these abilities at a conscious level. Actually, I’m guessing he “stumbled” into most of the techniques, just like many people do who become good at a physical task. On top of that, I suspect some techniques were taught to him, in a very specific manner.

  ILLUSTRATION 53-1 Many drivers have asked whether Michael Schumacher does brain-integration exercises. I don’t know if he does specific exercises, such as cross crawls, but I do know he does warm-up by practicing with a soccer ball, which is very similar and would have the same effect.

  One of the things that separates Schumacher, or any other superstar, from the rest is his ability to learn so very quickly, more quickly than most everyone else. Assuming he started his racing career with the same talent level as everyone around him, he was able to take that talent and develop it and enhance it faster. That is what gave him the edge.

  Of course, that does not come from wishful thinking or without some effort. He is famous for the amount of time he spent working out physically. A similar effort went into his mental preparation. That was also the case with Ayrton Senna. When you look at all the hard work they put into developing their ability, you have to ask, “Is that natural talent or hard work that got him to where he is?”

  My main point is it doesn’t matter how much natural talent you believe you were born with, it is what you do with it. If you learn how to learn to be better faster than other people with similar talent, you will be miles ahead.

  SPEED SECRET

  Learn how to learn and you will never stop improving.

  Of course, that is my intention as well: to continue to learn more about the art, science, traits, and techniques that lead to drivers becoming champions.

  Auto racing is no different than business or life. It provides the same ups and downs, the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” the same lessons and emotions, good and bad, that each of us face in real life. Often though, racing provides as many of these in one season as many people face in a lifetime.

  If you keep your eyes and ears open, and your mind open, you can learn many valuable lessons that will assist you in other aspects of life. Remember this in times when your racing program is not going as well as you would like. There is more to racing than what you do on the track. It’s how you use what you learn on the track in your everyday life that makes you a real winner.

  Through racing I have met and become friends with many of the most genuine, interesting, and exciting people in the world. I have visited places that I never would have, had I not raced. I have had the most rewarding and memorable experiences.

  And finally, racing has helped make me a more complete person. It has encouraged me to be a team player; it’s taught me how to work with and motivate people; to learn about business, engineering, advertising, and marketing. It has helped me to be a good money manager, to improve my public speaking, and hopefully, to be a good coach and writer.

  SPEED SECRET

  Have fun!

  appendix A:

  RESOURCES

  DirtFish Rally School. www.dirtfish.com.

  Driver Coach. www.apps.gedg.com.au/drivercoach.

  Performance Rules! www.performance-rules.com.

  PitFit Training. www.pitfit.com.

  Speed Secrets Driver Development Services. www.speedsecrets.com.

  Virtual GT. www.virtualgt.com.

  Books

  Alexander, Don. Performance Handling. Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1991.

  Colvin, Geoff. Talent Is Overrated. New York: Penguin Books, 2008.

  Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.

  Dennison, Paul E., and Gail E. Dennison. Brain Gym, Teacher’s Edition. California: Edu Kinesthetics, 2010.

  Donahue, Mark with Paul Van Valkenburgh. Unfair Advantage. Massachusetts: Bentley Publishers, 2nd edition, 2000.

  Dweck, Carol. Mindset. New York: Random House, 2006.

  Edwards, Guy. Sponsorship and the World of Motor Racing. Surrey, UK: Hazelton Publishing, 1992.

  Fey, Buddy. Data Power: Using Race car Data Acquisition. Tennessee: Towery Publishing, 1993.

  Gallwey, Timothy. Inner Tennis. New York: Random House, 1974.

  Gelb, Michael J., and Tony Buzan. Lessons from the Art of Juggling, New York, New York: Harmony Books, 1994.

  Haney, Paul, and Jeff Braun. Inside Racing Technology. Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1995.

  Hannaford, Carla. Smart Moves. Utah: Great River Books, Revised & Expanded edition, 2007.

  Hannaford, Carla. The Dominance Factor. Virginia: Great Ocean Publishers, 1997.

  Huang, Al Chungliang, and Jerry Lynch. Thinking Body, Dancing Mind. New York, New York: Bantam Books, 1992.

  Hunter, Dr. Harlen, and Rick Stoff. Motorsports Medicine. Lake Hill Press, 1992.

  Jackson, Susan A., and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow In Sports. Illinois: Human Kinetics, 1999.

  Kaplan, Robert-Michael. The Power Behind Your Eyes. Vermont: Healing Arts Press, 1995.

  Markova, Dawna. The Open Mind. California: Red Wheel / Weiser, 1996.

  Martin,
Mark, and John Comereski. Strength Training for Performance Driving. Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1994.

  Smith, Carroll. Drive to Win. Pennsylvania: SAE International, 1996.

  Smith, Carroll. Engineer to Win. Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1985.

  Smith, Carroll. Prepare to Win. California: Aero Publishers, 1975.

  Smith, Carroll. Tune to Win. California: Aero Publishers, 1978.

  Turner, Stuart, and John Taylor. How to Reach the Top as a Competition Driver. Wisconsin: Motorbooks International, 1991.

  Valkenburgh, Paul Van. Race Car Engineering and Mechanics. California: Published by author, 1992.

  Wise, Anna. The High Performance Mind. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1997.

  appendix B:

  SELF-COACHING QUESTIONS

  How far ahead do I look when driving on the highway? How about when driving on city streets? On the racetrack? Can I look farther ahead?

  How consistent is my corner-entry speed? Does my speed at the turn-in point vary from lap to lap by 1 mile per hour? Three miles per hour? Five or more miles per hour?

  When was the last time I worked on developing, on practicing, my traction-sensing skills? When was the last time I practiced just sliding a car around, whether on a skid pad or the racetrack?

  How tightly do I grip the steering wheel when driving on the street? How about when driving on the racetrack? Can I relax my grip a bit?

  Where am I in the continuous learning process loop? Have I perfected the line? How about the exit phase? How is my corner entry? My midcorner speed?

  What can I do to improve my line? My corner exit? My corner entry? Midcorner? Turn in later or earlier? More gently or crisper? Begin accelerating earlier, or just get on the throttle harder at the same place? Carry more speed into the corner or slow it down a mile per hour or so to get the car to turn in better? Make a smoother transition from brake to throttle? Turn the steering wheel less or begin unwinding it out of the turn earlier?