Ovals

[Carl Abrams II]

Hi guys. This story-telling circle tracker is back after a 6 month hiatus and I'm going to try to once again inject some ovalness into this mostly European, twisty track forum.

I've got some work to do since I haven't had much time on the NTM, but I hope to again provide some insight and setups for Mods, Trucks, and Sprint Cup. I've also got a friend that's trying to drag me to Street Stock and Nationals, so there may come a time when I've got all the oval covered. (Bah, who am I kidding. I want to do it all anyways )

I'm not a wiz on setups and mostly just tweak existing sets to order, but I've posted sets in the past that came home winners for a few members including myself. I hope to provide more of the same soon. Also, I think I'm pretty good at helping understand cars and tracks, which is way more important in my opinion.

Feel free to ask if ovals ever have you scratching your head. No matter how mundane, I never tire of talking oval racing, be it sets, racing lines, pit strategy, rules, etc. Hopefully, this time around I'll have an opportunity to dedicate myself and will be able to add some content to this wonderful site in the near future.

Until then, keep it shiny side up. See you on the track!

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

I think the important thing Cater emphasises is that each of the cars have their own characteristics. I was working on something for Charlotte and noticed there ride height allowance is split a full inch between left and right. He points out the difference between the A and B car somewhere along the way.

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

I just learned that less is more when it comes to steering. Whenever I find the car getting tight my intuitive reaction is to steer more. Somewhere in the stint I decided I didn't want to turn the wheel more than 50-60 degrees and chopped off .5 seconds. Errr... lol!

Can I get my Steering Degree - Noob Level now?

 

[Carl Abrams II]

You have unlocked "Steering Degree Level 1. Oval rank increased!" lol. That's a great point to highlight when it comes to ovals, Yoeri. With turns being sooo long, steering input is a huge factor when managing tires. More is almost never more. As you just found out, there's a point where the turning force of the tires max out, and it's well before what your wheel can do. Any more input past what your tires can do only scrubs, which slows the speed, hurts the turn, and KILLS your tires. It's another of a long list of reasons I insist on a loose car. The looseness almost self regulates; you can't really crank the wheel lest you spin. Also, when you need a little more rotation through the corner, you use the throttle as opposed to the wheel. On slippery Kentucky this week, it is incredibly apparent, so much so that even I noticed. I don't think I've ever once turned the wheel even 45 degrees, it's probably the least input I've ever had on any track. It doesn't even feel like turning, more like "a mild suggestion to go left" lol.

Keep the tips coming!

 

[Carl Abrams II]

Random tip of the day: Win the Mental Game. Knowing this is one thing. Doing it is completely another. How do you do it?

This week at Kentucky was my return visit to the Trucks. After extensive testing and practice, I ran my first race Wednesday. My goal - to finish on the lead lap with few inc. Still unsure of the track and my abilities, I felt quite handcuffed during the race. Add to that quite a bit of on track bickering and the fact that I got taken out early, and it was an uncomfortable ride. But I kept my head in the game and came home 6th or 7th, on the lead lap, with just that one incident. Mission accomplished

I raced again the next day. A new setup gave me a little confidence, so I set my goal as at least beating my previous race result. The first 74 laps were non stop green, something I hadn't physically readied myself for, and my consistency was lacking. But, I was in good position at the end, had a great strategy, and found myself with a chance to finish podium. Unfortunately, I ended up in the middle of a heated lap car battle, and rather than try to force myself through simply because "I'm lead lap", I settled for where I was. They ended up, of course, wrecking each other, and after a wicked avoidance / slide recovery, I gained a position and finished 6th with fewer inc than the race before. Mission accomplished again.

In both races, I set a goal and never lost sight of it. Through the wrecks, self spins, pit goof ups, I never strayed and, as a result, always met my goal.

Third race. The new setup and loads of practice had me feeling like a beast. I still wasn't pole position material, but I could run three different lines on the edge for a full run, so I was ready to make some waves. A low inc top 5 was the goal this time. Settling in in the first few laps already found me passing cars and catching people like mad. Before I knew it I was in 5th. 20 laps in and I already took 4th. I felt the mental change, and everyone should recognize this. All the goals I set went out the window, I felt them leave. Right then, you should know something's up and refocus. But I saw myself in 4th and gaining on the 2nd / 3rd, and lost sight of my gameplan. The incredible consistency I had that got me to 4th disappeared after I took 3rd. I no longer was focused on brake, turn in, set, accelerate, I only focused on keeping 4th in the mirror and putting 2nd back there with him. 2 laps later, I lost the rear end pushing too hard. I saved it, only putting 2 wheels in the grass with no contact, but after coming back up to speed I was 13th. Dammit.

But who cares, right? I'm a beast! Flew into 12th, passed three guys in one lap to put me in 9th, to hell with patience, I'm getting back up to 2nd NOW! Guess what? Pushed too hard, lost the rear, and this time tagged the wall. Yellow comes out 3 laps later.

I get my 1.5 minute repair done, still on the lead lap, and do I settle down? Nope. Second is MINE! I CAN DO THIS! The green drops and I take a position. 2 laps later, I'm up to 10th. Next lap, I'm in 8th. Goals, gameplan, everything out of mind. Every corner finds me coming off sideways, sawing at the wheel and stabbing at the throttle. 50 laps left, and I never noticed. Never thought how much time I had, how much I needed to save my gear, how much worse I could make things. Sure enough, after passing two guys three wide and working on the third, I lose the rear for the third time in 15 laps and collect 2 other guys, ending all our races.

"Focus" is something I preach all the time, something I feel I'm good at, something I've proven to work, yet even I lost mine yesterday. So the question of the day is - What sets your focus off? How do you keep it when you feel it going?

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

This sounds familiar, though I've had this more on road courses than I did on ovals for the simple fact that I've driven more road races. That F3 window can work like a magnet, redirecting your focus from the road to the changing numbers of the gap betwee you and those ahead/behind. It's a killer.

I usually have two different marks that hint a change in focus: one is tension, the other is random irrelevant thoughts.

Tension is easy to feel in the muscles and the breathing. I usually notices this when I'm fighting for position causing me to watch the opponent's car and the F3 window more than my own track marks. These are moments that I really try to focus on those track marks, so I can keep my lines and my flow, which will ultimately give me a better result, because I make less mistakes doing that.

The randoms thoughts pop up when I'm driving alone, pretty much unchallenged or unoccupied due to the lack of cars close. All of a sudden I find myself thinking about the visit to the supermarket, the chat I had last night or the message I need to post on the forum. Complete loss of focus. The sooner you notice the better.

Whatever happens you always need to maintain focus or refocus. What works for me is to simply always keep my mind on the next corner. Where to lift, where to brake, where to turn in? Every time you can't remember how you got through the last corner is a time to refocus. It takes a little practise, but it pays of in results.

 

[Carl Abrams II]

Yeah, Yoeri, that F3 gets me, too. I'll be running along just fine, repeating my mantra of brake, turn in, set, accelerate, and I'll see myself either catching someone or myself being caught. One look to F3 and I'm stuck watching it for a least 5 laps, if not 20 lol.

It's a killer. Anything other than focusing on your line hurts, whether it's F3, pit strategy, jabberjaws on the mic, whatever. I notice the tension, too. It's always when things get hairy, like passing on old tires or going three wide on restarts, Fortunately for me, the physical is very acute; once the issue is over, I tend to relax right away.

My problem, when I have one, is always the mental. I'll have a gameplan of where I want to finish and how I want to do it, and if it doesn't go as planned, I start to falter. The funny thing is that if I'm doing worse, I can usually find encouragement to do best I can and get the most out of a finish. It's when I do BETTER that I seem to totally fall apart. If I've a desire to finish top 5 and find myself there or higher early on, I lose my mind and try to lap the entire field five times lol. And, as happened in the last race I posted, I usually end up throwing everything away and destroying a few Trucks in the process. In the races I've won and podiumed, that's the one constant I've had. I never lost sight of my goal, which was Drive Well. Brake, turn in, set, accelerate. Nothing more, nothing less.

Although the week is over, I'll try to remember to post that Kentucky set for future use. I'm very pleased with it and would rate it about an 8. Hopefully I can find/put together something equally as good for Homestead this week.

 

[Carl Abrams II]

It's story time.

After our talk Yoeri, I went right out and did it again. I ran some laps, was up to 5th too early, and binned it trying to go faster. Ended up 12th, 37 laps down.

Next race, determined to do better, I managed slightly better focus...until I blew my pit stop, totally missing my stall and having to go around again. This put me in last with the lap cars, and I couldn't recover. No inc, but finished 12, dead last of the lead lappers.

Totally beside myself now, I went back to the first race's pace. Held it together for 40some laps before I decided to go too fast, spun it, and collected a couple guys. 5inc, 2 laps down.

So I took a day off. Came back focused to do one thing - run my line, lap in and lap out.

The green dropped and I was in 12th. 5 laps later, after letting everyone who caught me by, I was in 17th. Time to practice what I preached to JJ. I ran my line, never more, never less. By the first caution at lap 20, and after having letting the whole field by, I was back up to 10th.

After the caution, it was the exact same thing. Everyone behind me went by, and after another 20 lap green flag stint, I was back up to 10th. Not bad.

So the green waves for the third and final time. 40 to go, and I go right to the back again. I was behind the green #8. I could pass him, but decide not to. Cars were 2 wide and 2 deep ahead of us, I'll let this pan out. Green8 pressures and goes for the pass, I follow. Catch the next guy, Green8 pressures again, I follow. A couple times I thought I could take him, but I push the thought out of my head. Green8 pressures, I follow along.

20 to go and we're 7th and 8th. I could probably pass him, but still no. Still 20 to go, and hey, maybe we'll catch others.

5 laps later we do. Green8 pressures, I follow. 3 laps after that, we catch another. He pressures, I follow. 12 to go, and we're now running 5th-6th.

What followed next was the best chess match I've ever had on iRacing. I take a peek, make a half hearted run, he comes out on top. He changes his line, throws me off, and puts a length on me. I fake low and go high, that throws him off and we come down the stretch side by side. We touch, no one wiggles. We come up on lapped cars, and we both know right where to go to get around them while still giving the other room and keeping our speed/lines. 2 to go, we hit the stripe at the same time. I pinch him high into the turn, he pinches me low in the middle, we never touch and come out side by side again. Down the back stretch, split a lapper, and into 3/4 we go. He rides the rim, I hug the line. I scrub, he carries the momentum onto the straight and I tuck in behind him. The white flag comes out.

It's go time. He does his rim ride again (after running the previous 75 laps strictly on the line) and I dive it right in there (after running mid track all race), really testing the limits of what I can manage. The truck sticks, and we go down the back stretch side by side. 3/4 I dive it in more than I've ever had, getting hard on the brakes, and I can't believe it but the truck sets. Hard on the gas and not so much as a wiggle, she just squats and is motoring off the bottom. He barely lifts and comes ripping off the high side. We come down the stretch side by side....and I got him by half a length! Palms sweaty, heart racing, we stuck around for must've been 10 minutes recalling the battle. I finished 5th with only 2 inc for (stupidly) putting it into reverse while rolling into the pits.

For FIFTY LAPS I followed that guy's bumper, for 50 laps I shadowed his every move. But never once did I lose sight of my goal. Brake, turn in, set, accelerate. Proof once again that if you focus, good things will happen.

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

I like that write up! Good story there Carl and indeed it shows how patience pays off!

I hope people will take that to the RDiOS later today.

 

[Carl Abrams II]

Thanks, Yoeri, and I also hope that your race goes off well!

Today's lesson/story is about gas mileage. I'm not sure whether to consider this strategy or "saving your stuff", because it falls right in the middle of both.

Tonight's race found me displaying the #1 placard in the second split. After last night's race where I finally was able to contain myself, listening in on the post race discussion revealed some key information. Some guys were declaring that they ran out of gas at the line. A look to my tank showed I had 5 laps left. Others were complaining about having burnt up their tires on the long, 50 lap run. My lowest RF reading was 84%. Interesting stuff.

So, after taking the green flag starting 8th in tonight's race, I quickly found myself in 4th. The guys around me wanted to race far too hard for my taste, so I begrudgingly fell back to 8th. First caution fell at lap 4, and no one pitted.

The restart blocked any progress up the ranks, and I fell a little more, down to 10th this time. I was slightly irritated at the style and ferocity of racing at this point of the game, and will admit it was only with some effort that I kept myself in check. But brake, turn in, set, accelerate. Breath. Blink. Keep it up...

The second caution fell at 17, bringing everyone into the pits on lap 18. By this time, I think the field had sorted into fast and slow, and everyone was comfortable with who they were near. At the green, the field split cleanly with the top 4 rocketing into the sunset, 5-10 holding the middle, and the last 7 falling behind. I was 10th.

The laps peel away, and still with a quite conservative pace, I'm passing folks again. I'd see someone 3 seconds ahead of me for 10 or so laps, and then, like a switch, their gear went up and I caught them like nothing. Not once did I ever adjust line, off point, on point, nothing. Lap after lap of the exact same thing, and it was working like a charm.

With about 25 to go, my mind started thinking about an early pit to keep my fast time fast. But then I thought, "how long could I go, if I really tried?" Could I make it to the end? Last race was maybe 57laps on a run. Guys were saying 50-55 was max, so maybe no one really knew. When was the last caution anyways?

I checked F3 and found myself on a 3 second island, all by myself. I checked the fuel...close. Maybe too close. But not too close to test the waters.

I backed off even more, never getting on the throttle more than half in the corners, and only about 90% down the straight. 2 laps later I check F3, and I'm still pulling away from 5th. I back it a bit more until it evens out, and I ride.

10 to go, and 3rd dives down pit road. I take his spot. 7 to go, and down goes second. I move up. 6 to go, and as I come to 5 to go, the spotter comes on saying pit IN TWO LAPS. My hopes were dashed.

Wondering how this could've happened, how I could've been pushing too hard, I check the fuel. The dial says 5.2 laps, and hope is restored. A decision is made, all or nothing, and I'm going for it!

I usually cross the line at 170mph, I was now crossing at 165. Corners, maybe 160, now it's 145. People come up, I let them by, I feel like I'm coasting. 3 to go, and down goes the leader. My heart is racing. Forget brake, turn in, set, accelerate, I got it locked at 50% throttle and I'm just going in circles.

Two to go, and entering T3, I see I have .8 laps left of fuel. Man, this is gonna be close! I putt down the front, take the white flag, and roll into T1 about 20mph off the pace. As I get on the gas into T2 she hiccups. The spotter's on the horn telling my to shake it back and forth. I'm freaking out, yelling, urging my flaming pink truck to just make it, make it just one more turn! Chugging, choking, she rolls into T3 on the apron at a buck thirty.

Out of 4, and no amount of shaking brings her back to life. I check F3, and it's all blue. 1...2...5 people pass me...it's still blue. I'm going to make it! I see the first white name in F3, 12 sec back, I check my speed, a blistering 54mph, I look up...AND I CROSS THE LINE!!! My first win since coming back, and it feels just as good as I remember

62 laps at Homestead on one tank of fuel. And because I ran a steady pace all race, by thirty laps into it, even with backing off to save fuel, I was still running as fast or faster than everyone else on the track. Be conservative, my friends. To quote the incredible movie "Anchorman", "60% of the time, it works every time". Happy racing.

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

Haha, that will have caused some frowns I imagine. Good story, Carl!

 

[Carl Abrams II]

Thanks again, Yoeri. It was amazing, I was chuffed to bits

Today I wanted to pose a question (assuming people besides just you are still checking in on this thing ) again dealing with the mental game. Since this incident was a racing deal and not specifically an oval issue, hopefully the roadies will chime in as well.

After the previous night's win, I bumped up to top split. My conservative pace again found me in the back in the early laps, and passes were now harder to come by. 15 laps into it, and I had passed but one person.

After running these first 15 laps caution free, and watching the caliber of guys I was running around, I started thinking that there was a good chance this race would be caution free. As I told JJ, this is one of the instances where strategy is going to come into play. I bumped up my pace slightly, still running conservative, but fast enough to prevent me getting lapped. And I had to make a choice: either assume there will be a caution before 60 and prepare to run the full tank, or assume there will be no caution and come in at 40 (half way) to keep my laps average as fast as possible. I decided on a green flag run and came in at 40, running about 9th.

I go a lap down, of course, but come out in 12th. Marks on the track show a few people had offs coming out of T2, but still no caution had waved. Passes are coming easy with my superior gear, and I'm just out there running laps.

Slowly, the others start coming in for fuel and tires and I mentally check myself. I remind myself that they are going to be coming out fast, and to be alert. Don't fight it, don't get run over, don't get frustrated, just run my race. A few go by without issue, and then it happens.

I was up to 5th at this point, when I see a red truck in the distance. Another turn goes by, and now I can tell he's really cooking, must've just reentered from the pits because this guy was a rocket. Up ahead there's a lap truck, obviously damaged. I watch him enter the turn and it's clear there's a good driver behind the wheel as he holds a good line, but the truck looks sketchy. It steps out going in the turn, steps out when the driver gets on the gas, steps out again exiting the turn. He's quite slow, slower even that I was compared to the rocketship coming up behind me, so I figure I'll pass him easy going into 1. After I make that pass, I'll move over and let the rocket by.

But no. As soon as I step out to take the inside at the line, showing him my intentions going into T1, rocketship steps way out, never lifts, and dives it in there, putting us three wide with a sick truck. Rocketship then drifts up, pinching me up into the sick truck, and very nearly caused a wad. Needless to say I was immediately annoyed and my first thought was to punch it and ride his bumper, maybe tapping him into T3. But I manage to control myself, and just ride along.

Whether he burnt up his gear or I was driving mad, rocketship never got away from me. For the next 30 laps I keep a 3 second hold on him. 5 to go now, and I just know I can pass him. I pull up to his bumper trying to pressure him, but he holds solid and I back off. Turn after turn this happens, I'm just waiting for a bobble so I can strike. Then it happens.

2 to go, and as he enters T1 he overcooks it, pushing up to the high groove. I was in perfect position and dive under him, holding my line perfectly. Once his tires gain purchase, he drives back down the track, and for some reason drives into me. My truck never wiggles, it just shifts half a tire width, and I power out of the corner. His truck upsets and he falls behind me. 0X, but I'm getting even madder now. He wasn't patient earlier, putting us three wide, and now he's going to race me like this?

We fly into T3 and I can tell he's cooking again. He catches me ever so slightly, but I have half a truck on him coming to the white flag. I move half a lane off the wall to defend. I'm not going to block, but I'm not going to make this easy. Sure enough, he catches my draft, goes way low, and I'm not budging. I enter the turn never moving my line so much as an inch. He's on the low, I see him in the corner mirror. No way can he hold it, I think, and sure enough, his truck gets louder, louder, I now see his nose in my window...thunk!

Unbelievably, I save my truck as it pitches wildly slideways, and end up coming home 6th without an inc. But boy, was I heated. After the checkers I kept it matted, unsure of what I was going to do. Wrecking was out of the question, but I at least wanted to catch him, pull along side of him, make him look at me lol. As it turned out, he pulled down a side access road and I drove by, keying the mic and calmly stating "that'll be an intersting replay". He finally came on and apologized, which did make it somewhat better, but...man. Sometimes I wish I was 15 so I could've punted him into Iowa and blamed it immaturity lol.

I know everyone in here, bar none, has had several incidents just like this one. How do you deal with it? What really sets you off, and how do you overcome it? Any past habits you remember that always got you in trouble? I'd be interested to hear stories and racer's takes on this.

 

[Yoeri Gijsen]

I find it's hard to deal with this. I tend to give way to people I tihnk drive dangerously, hoping they'll crash. That's the smart thing to do. Very often though I find myself not wanting to move an inch for someone that obviously doesn't have a clue and I just stick with what I do, making sure I drive clean lines. Sometimes that helps, sometimes I crash out with the guy. Method one is the best for survival, but sometimes method two provides the better results.

 

[Sandy Smith]

Had a similar sort of eperience the other night in the skippy at Mid-Ohio. i was running in a comfortable 3rd place about half way through the race when i mad a silly mistake going into the 2nd to last corner( managed to catch it so that i dint get an incident) which meant i fell back to 6th.
after a couple of laps the person in 3rd then made a mistake which let us all through, then a lap later the new 3rd place driver made a mistake which held up 4th also and allowed me back into 3rd.
Was holding the 4th place driver at between 0.5 and 1 sec behind , when in the last lap i made a slight mistake going into turn 2 ( a long hairpin if you dont know mid-ohio) and so ended up a bit slower than i should have been and also a bit wide(about a car width away from the inside). this is when the driver behind brain stormed and tried to dive down the inside and ended up sliding wide into me and taking us both out. i managed to limp the car round the rest of the lap with alot of damadge to come home 6th.
After the race i had a bit of a heated discussion with him in the chat box about his move and after arguing back and forth about it and geting nowhere ( he didnt seem to think he had done anything wrong and it was my fault it happened???)in the end i up asked him if he thought he was Maldonado or something and left the room.
its times like this that im glad im behind a monitor as if i was at a real track and the incident and discussion went the way it did i would have been suspended for violent conduct. i usually dont have a problem with these things when you have a discussion afterwards about incidents and everyone learns from it and the guilty party put there hands up and apologise, but when they will not take responsability for their actions and see nothing wrong then my blood starts to boil