Q: I’m faster when chasing another car – why and how can I be fast when not following another driver?
Q: “Why am I faster when I’m chasing another car in a race than I am by myself?”
Q: If I’m about to crash into a wall, am I better to hit it head-on or sideways?
Q: “If you are about to lose control of the vehicle, i.e. at the end of a straightaway due to brake failure and frontal crash is imminent, would you rather try to rotate the vehicle so it might impact sideways or let it go straight to the barrier? What would be the wiser action to take right there?”
Q: In endurance racing, when is it best to make it difficult for a faster car to pass, and when should our fastest driver be in the car?
Q: “I’ve read through your endurance racing eBook several times and it’s awesome. It’s a topic where there’s not a whole lot of information out there on. I have a couple of questions I was hoping I could pick your brain about. First, I completely agree it’s easier to let faster traffic by because you lose less time to the rest of your competitors. One question I have on that is sometimes we compete in rather small fields of around 20 cars for between 3-5 hours. We are not usually the fastest car based on lap time, but we do make up quite a bit of time based on pit strategy and time spent in the pits. Should we try to make it difficult on the faster cars to pass us? Not necessarily blocking anyone, but also not pointing them by. My second question is about when we should use our faster driver. We typically only use two drivers, with one being 3-5 seconds faster than the other one per lap. Do you want the faster driver to start the race and try to move up the pack as far as possible, or do you want the faster driver in when the pack is more spread out towards the end of the race? This one’s a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Any knowledge you have on these topics would be greatly appreciated.”
Q: In racing & performance driving, when is it not worth it to use more track if it means driving a longer distance?
Q: “We are taught to use 100% of the available track, to increase radius to increase mid-corner speed for a given lateral G capacity of our tires. At what point are there diminishing returns for using the entire available track versus the shortest distance? I have always wondered this. Turn 7 at Portland International Raceway is a good example, as they widened the track a few years ago and I see some drivers use it all, and some not. You can keep imagining if we open up the track more and more, eventually there must be a point where it is no longer beneficial to use all the track available, right?”
Q: In racing, what does it mean to “present” myself to the driver I’m passing?
Q: “I’ve read about, and heard about, the idea that I should present myself to the car/driver I’m passing. Can you clarify what that actually means?”
Q: Is it always the best to ride the car towards the edge of the wall on a speedway?
Is it always the best to ride the car towards the edge of the wall on a speedway? Shouldn’t dust or debris be considered? Is there any different way to approach speedways like Indianapolis for example? What aspects are different on an inclined track from a regular leveled track?