Wayne Presley, owner of VeryCoolParts.com,
has some must-do tips for any endurance
race team.
1. Talk with your drivers and remind them
that two hours of fast laps are wasted with
just one spin, black flag or wreck.
2. Use a checklist to make sure you don’t
forget any parts, pieces or tasks.
3. When you arrive at the track, the car
needs to be ready to roll off the trailer and
onto the circuit. If it needs anything more
than that, you are not ready to compete
and you should not have made the haul to
the track.
4. Put a real fire system in your race car.
A handheld fire extinguisher satisfies the
rules, but we’d rather be safe than sorry.
5. There’s no excuse for not wearing
safety gear. On our team, every driver
wears an SFI-rated head and neck protection
system or they do not get in the car.
6. Corner-weight the car so you don’t
constantly lock one tire under braking.
The resulting flat spots cause that wheel to
shake and are a source of blow-outs.
7. Have a pitstop plan that spells out
what every person needs to accomplish, and
remind everyone before each stop.
8. Have real time communication
between the pits and the driver. Radios let the driver know when to pit, what lap times they’re running, what the competition is doing, and what hazards await. The drivers can tell the
pits if they need to come in, if they’re out of
gas, or if the car is behaving oddly. It’s also
good for drivers to hear the voice of reason
in their ears when things are not going well.
9. Have a backup plan if the radios quit
working. Tell each driver when he or she
needs to pit, and where the pit board will be
displayed if necessary.
10. At a minimum, have a spare set of
calipers, rotors, wheels and tires–with tire
pressures set–plus any other known failureprone
parts for your specific car. You’re
already driving a truck and trailer to the
track, so why not fill it with spares to keep
your car racing?
11. Quick-fill jugs, like the Hunsaker
USA products we use, will allow you to
spend less time in the pits and more time
doing everything else the car needs during
a pit stop.
12. Every driver should have a Coolshirt
or similar cooling system. Overheated,
dehydrated drivers make poor decisions and
drive more slowly, even if they don’t exhibit
any symptoms of heat exhaustion.
Comments
jfb
None
8/8/15 2:50 p.m.
A few additional tips for an overnight race.
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Test your driving lights and window tints/shades ahead of time. Don't waste time at the track setting this up. At a 25 Hours of Thunderhill, there was a mad rush to the local Walmart after the night practice. Also, our 4 big driving lights exposed our weak alternator, which we had to change.
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Get some unique marker lights for you car ahead of time. All the cars look alike in the dark and it helps your crew track you if you have a unique light on the roof or on the side. Just don't use colors that look like emergency vehicles and nothing flashing.
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Having a dedicated cook/food preparer is great. One of our team cooks for a hobby and kept food available for the entire race. Very handy to get a hot meal in the middle of the night when you are dead tired and cold.
I drove in a 10 hr enduro once.
Drove the car to the track. Put my helmet on and ran practice.
Ran the entire race. I drove a total of six, my co driver ran four.
About half way in the race, changed the front tires.
After the race, drove the car home.
Any guesses when and where that was ?
1) Bring a grease board to track things (driver line ups, pit stop responsibilities, anything else).
2) Bring a note pad, take notes on setups for the track, and let each driver write notes about the car. They can tell you something right after they get out of the car; but, you may forget.
3) Bring coolers filled with water, gatorade, and sandwiches. Even if you do have a dedicated cook sometimes they get to drunk and pass out during the whole event. Sandwiches are great alternatives.
4) Have a sense of humor.
5) Don't get the red mist. (The great Mental taught me this)
6) Don't be a dbag driver. If a slower car waves you by on the left, go on the left.
7) Have a plan for everything.
G) refer to rue #4 - remember we're all out there to have fun.
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