I saw this in a cartoon once and think it will work 
Scares the crap out of my passengers
I saw this in a cartoon once and think it will work
Scares the crap out of my passengers
Ernest K. Gann was almost a philosopher pilot:
"If the airplane is still in one piece, don't cheat on it. Ride the bastard down.
I always liked "Don't shift till you see Jesus."
Or Homer Simpson's ideals on driving in traffic.
"Gas, gas, brake. Brake, brake, gas. Gas, brake, punch." (This has saved people's lives by making me laugh in grid lock and forgetting why I wanted to kill them)
"You can't win (practice/driver's school) but you sure can lose"
I once saw a bumper sticker that said "ass or grass - no one rides for free".
My buddy Matt, a fellow Type R nut, had a good philosophy about each and every component on the car, from the tires and brakes to the paint and body.
"It's a wear item."
Oh, and I've got a little sticker on the gauge cluster of my R, it's something my mom used to say to me.
"Engage your brain."
I have more for flying than driving, but some of my favorites from that could certainly be adapted:
"There are old [racers/pilots] and there are bold [racers/pilots] but there are no old-bold [racers/pilots]."
"There's no place you need to get to so badly that it's worth killing yourself to get there."
"There's no place you need to get to so badly that it's worth killing yourself to get there."
I've got a full schedule of things I need to do - dying will complicate that
"It's difficult to win the race if you crash in qualifying."
"Stand on the gas until you see the Pearly Gates, then brake!" [Tongue-in-cheek]
"Brake early so you can nail your apex."
"That wasn't fast if I wasn't sideways!" [Also tongue-in-cheek]
"Get in, sit down, shut up and hang on!"
No one else said it, so "To finish first, first you must finish."
David
"It's difficult to win the race if you crash in qualifying."
"Stand on the gas until you see the Pearly Gates, then brake!" [Tongue-in-cheek]
"Brake early so you can nail your apex."
"That wasn't fast if I wasn't sideways!" [Also tongue-in-cheek]
"Get in, sit down, shut up and hang on!"
No one else said it, so "To finish first, first you must finish."
David
Never bring a car to the track that you're not willing to leave there.
My auto-x instructor gave me some good advice last year- Just be smooth and improve your time- worry about the cones you hit later.
He also told me to 'break the car'. I picked up a good few seconds from that advice.
Another favorite of mine- If your last run felt good, you weren't going fast enough.
From LeMons:
No matter how well your team-mate is doing on track, shouting the phrase "Dude you're on berkeleying fire" over the radio is apparently the wrong choice of verbiage.
salanis said: I have more for flying than driving,
My brother's got a little note taped up in his garage that goes something like this:
"Hi mister airline pilot,
My name is Nicole and I'm 8 years old and this is my first time on an airplane. I'm flying with my Mommy and Daddy to Pittsburgh where Grandma lives.
The flight has been fun so far. Taking off was scary, but a nice lady brought me a cookie and some peanuts once we were in the air.
I like to look out the window and see how little all the cars are.
Thank you for taking me to see my Grandma. I can't wait to get there!
Love,
Nicole
PS: Don't berkeley up the landing!"
^Poop, Yeah, I've seen that one before. It's a pretty old joke.
My favorite flying saying, but I'm not sure how to adapt it to racing, is: "The three most useless things in flying are the runway behind you, the sky above you, and the fuel you didn't put in the tanks."
For driving: "Track you're not using". I'm not sure what else.
Brake dust on the wheels?
I live by the words of the red green show:
If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy
Any tool can be the right tool
Keep your stick on the ice
ummm....."I live my life a quarter mile at a time"?
"If you don't feel like you're driving on the ragged edge of control, you're not driving fast enough!"
The inclination of the right pedal is directly correlated to the torque on the nut behind the wheel.
My other hobby is sailing.
"if all hell hasn't broken lose, let some more sail out"
In that regard, the most scared I have ever been was when I was going 8 knots...
I also like this quote: "You haven't won the race, if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors." -- Paul Elvstrom
From the old guy in suspenders who used to run control for the SCCA flaggers at the Glen when I first started back in the 90s:
"Ya'll got a lot of pretty cars out there. Ain't nuthin you gonna do to them here thats gonna make them any prettier. Try not to make them any uglier. Shiny side up, boys."
Not race related, but wrenching related. Especially useful when a torque wrench isn't available. "Tight is tight, too tight is broke." 
Dan
^classic. lol.
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