Based at least partly on today's Cup race from Watkins Glen, how is Chase Elliot, a guy who has spent his entire (young) life turning left, such a good road racer? He started dfl, made it halfway through the field, had a tire go down to then put him back to 38th... 20ish laps later, he's 11th. He ended up second, in a race with no cautions to help him.
He's won about half of the road races since his first at the Glen 3 years ago. He's been very competitive at the Daytona 24.
What is it in his style, I wonder, that translates so well to right turns?
Most likely applying hard work - miles on “off days” to the aspect of his game that he might be considered weak at.
Old story I heard many years ago......There was an SCCA autocross going on at a parking lot at the speedway in Daytona. Bill Elliot shows up to see what's going on and ends up trying out a Lotus7 clone for fun. He set FTD. If you can balance a car on the limit turning left you ought to be able to do it going right, too. Now, learning to use brakes on varying corners might be coming into play. Chase is clearly a talent on the road courses, either by hard work, inherent skill, genes, confidence....who knows.
Probably a case of control and set up ability.
He drives everything possible at anytime possible. That is a big part of it. He has more seat time every year than anyone else in the NASCAR field.
Short ovals require precision and trail braking skills that translate well to road courses.
In reply to bmw88rider :
I'm not so sure about that. Kyle Larson is still running sprint cars and late models every chance he gets and owns a sprint car team. There are a lot of the young guy racing a lot. Chase does does spend a lot of time in a race car but not sure it's more than some of the other guys.
Talent is a mysterious thing. Some people have it and some don't, but more uniquely, some can stretch their talent across multiple disciplines better than others. Bo Jackson was great at two sports, while most athletes can only excel at one. Tony Stewart moved from open-wheel cars to stock cars and was great in both, while Dario Franchitti struggled when he tried Nascar. Some drivers are great on dirt ovals but can't make the switch to pavement and vice versa. For Larson, Chase, and a few others, it seems like they can do it all.
He and Kyle run everything possible. Kyle may actually run a little more but if you look the 2 of those have been fighting over the lead all year at the road courses.
Either way, it's about the wheel time and the new breed of NASCAR driver knows they have to be able to drive a road course to be champion so the young guns do a lot of sim time on road courses too.
Turning right isn't the mystery some would believe. They can pretty much all drive, and racing 30+ weeks a year they know the cars well. Since 1973 three road course drivers, Mark Donahue, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Marcus Ambrose have won cup races on road courses and all three were attempting full seasons. The regulars have a pretty good record against the many "experts" that have come in to beat them.
Lots of right turns on a circle track. Contrary to popular belief you have to use the whole track. And its all cornering, acceleration and braking. All the tough parts of road racing with no straights to take a rest.
drock25too said:
In reply to bmw88rider :
I'm not so sure about that. Kyle Larson is still running sprint cars and late models every chance he gets and owns a sprint car team. There are a lot of the young guy racing a lot. Chase does does spend a lot of time in a race car but not sure it's more than some of the other guys.
There isn't much braking in sprint car racing. Leading is about momentum. Braking slows that momentum. It's about judging where to bleed off excess energy without slowing down. You might go up track and use that positioning to gain you momentum
I'd venture to guess most NAACAR drivers grew up karting, so they should have some experience turning both ways
Getting the most out of a tire’s friction circle is not limited to people who can turn left AND right. As Randy Pobst always says, it’s about weight management. Those who manage it best are usually fastest.
bmw88rider said:
He drives everything possible at anytime possible. That is a big part of it. He has more seat time every year than anyone else in the NASCAR field.
I was thinking "seat time", too. A lot of the big name NASCAR guys seem to show up at everything they can run in; I've heard of household-name drivers sometimes running ChumpCar when they didn't have a bigger commitment.
This exactly why the IROC series should still be a thing.
See also: Ernie Francis Jr., a traditional road racer and 7x Trans-Am champ, doing so well in the SRX series.
A pro road racer once told me that believes that inner ear balance is a big part of driving skill--how to balanace the car just so....
And absolute, unquenchable desire to turn right.
Everything I know about racing fast can probably be distilled down to three things:
- courage
- intelligence
- the 10,000 hour rule
None of those factors require turning in both directions.
David S. Wallens said:
See also: Ernie Francis Jr., a traditional road racer and 7x Trans-Am champ, doing so well in the SRX series.
A pro road racer once told me that believes that inner ear balance is a big part of driving skill--how to balanace the car just so....
I think your friend had a good point. The really good drivers all seem to have a great sense of balance.
