Racing Articles

Wednesday

TOP 10 Things for a NEW YEAR & NEW YOU!

TOP 10 Things for a NEW YEAR & NEW YOU!
By Tami Eggleston (c)

It is a New Year so that means it is a whole new season.

TOP 10 Things for a NEW YEAR and a NEW YOU!

#10--Take a look back at what went well last year and what things need to be improved. Be honest with your successes and challenges.

#9--Set some BIG GOALS--What do you want to achieve this year?

#8--Now set some small goals--what do you have to do today, next week, next month to achieve your big goals? Break your big goals into small parts. Every day complete something to get you closer to your big goals.

#7--GET ORGANIZED! To achieve your long term and short term goals, you need to get organized. Simple things like cleaning your shop or garage or getting a racing calendar to layout your schedule help organize your life. Make To Do Lists to get ready. And of course I would suggest organizing your shop or trailer with great quality aluminum products from www.tuffpaw.com!

#6--What do you need? As you set goals and get organized, figure out what resources you need? How can you budget your financial resources and your time to achieve your goals? Do you need help from others? Do you need to learn new things? Figure out what you need to achieve your goals.

#5--PRIORITIZE...whenever you shoot for goals, some things are going to stay on your TO DO list and some things are really just not that important. Start to think about things that you have to do, things you want to do, things you need to do, and things you would like to do but really are not helping you reach your goals.

#4--Stay POSITIVE--a lot of goal setting and reaching your goals is just plain hard work, determination, and sacrifice. It won't be easy. So stay positive, remind yourself why you are doing the things you are, be your best coach, and surround yourself with positive people who are helping you reach your goals.

#3--SEE IT and BELIEVE IT--a lot of sport psychologists emphasize visualization and imagery--use these skills to visualize yourself achieving your goals, working toward your goals, and succeeding.

#2--RELAX--we can't achieve our goals or enjoy achieving them if we are too stressed out. Learn how to breathe, keep things in perspective, and focus on what we can control to keep a calm and steady approach to achieving our goals.

#1--Have FUN and be Thankful! It is always easy to look at other people and think they have life easier or things just come to them, but for most successful people they are also working hard, sacrificing, and doing what it takes to reach their goals. Focus on your own journey by being thankful for what you have, optimistic about your future, and have as much fun as you can as you work on your goals.

BEST WISHES on your exciting Journey!

Thursday

Too Complicated?

Too Complicated?
By Don Terrill (c) - www.RacingSecrets.com

If left unchecked, products will become more complicated over time.

When thinking of how to improve a car they always think about adding something, never deleting. I'm sure many of you will agree, it might be time to start removing some of these "improvements."

A while back I had a Chevy S10 Blazer where the push button 4 wheel drive quit working. It cost me $400 to fix. Now tell me, what was wrong with the old lever for shifting the transfer case? It cost a lot less to produce and never failed. Have we become so soft that pulling a lever is consider too much work?

Toyota's huge recall because of gas pedals sticking is the most recent example of products becoming too complicated. My '69 Camaro has a rod attaching the pedal to the carburetor. Later they switched to cables. Both are very simple designs. Now Toyota and others are switching to electronically controlled throttles that add layers of complexity and new points for potential failure.

How do we keep our race cars from befalling the same fate?

(1) Think fewer moving parts - If it moves, it will eventually fail

(2) Think simplification - Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler -- Albert Einstein

(3) Think less is more - See subtraction as a positive

(4) Ask if it's actually needed - This is the most important. Why spend time simplifying if the item is not even required.

From Wikipedia:
Feature creep is the proliferation of features in a product. Extra features go beyond the basic function of the product and result in over-complication rather than simple, elegant design.

Wednesday

Racing...Sometimes it is all fun and games

Racing...Sometimes it is all fun and games
By Tami Eggleston (c)

Have you heard the saying, "All work and no play....."? Well all work and no play isn't good for people in their lives or in their racing. Sure racing is intense, when you are on the line you better be ready. The competition is tough and most of us are spending a great deal of time, money, and effort to race, so yes racing is serious business. However, sometimes a little fun is jut what you need to remember why you love the sport. We raced a Big Buck race July 4th weekend at Byron Illinois (aka, the Playground of Power!). On Saturday rain came in to eliminate the racing for the race cars, but when the weather cleared up Byron let us race our golf carts. Golf carts are SLOW and you can have a passenger (s) ride along. Believe it or not, 90 golf carts entered the race! Mike and I had a GREAT time. It was really fun driving the finish line and the trash talking that went on at the starting line and finish line was pretty hilarious. We were very happy to make it down to six carts. Sometimes a little fun and games with your friends reminds you why you work so hard to race. Now go have a little fun!

Friday

Saturday

I get knocked down, but I get up again!

It has been a cold and snowy week in St. Louis and I am more ready for spring and the start of race season than ever! I know in the middle of July I will complain about the heat, but right now a 90 degree day at Gateway International Raceway with the smell of race fuel and the sound of thunder seems like a wonderful escape from winter. Of course race season will be here before we know it and it a good chance to start over again. One of the other things I love about sports is there is always another week and there is always another season and there is always another chance. As I write this blog, the Super Bowl is just a few hours away. There are always so many wonderful stories of sacrifice, courage, and resilience in the super bowl. For most people, you either love him or "not quite so much" when you think of Kurt Warner. But whatever you think of Kurt, his story of determination and faith is pretty amazing. He played at the University of Northern Iowa (near my childhood hometown) and then he started his interesting NFL career (after a little work in a grocery store, Arena football, etc.). He had a successful career with the St. Louis Rams (near my current hometown) from 1998-2003. And then because of some injuries, etc. Warner left St. Louis and I think most people thought that was it for Kurt Warner. He went to the New York Giants and then on to the Arizona Cardinals and everyone thought that was about it. But Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals surprised everyone this year with an amazing year and Kurt definitely keeps getting knocked down but gets up again (both literally and figuratively!). No matter what happens at the Super Bowl, the Warner story is a great story of determination and resilience.

Chumbawamba said it best with:

We'll be singing

When we're winning

We'll be singing

I get knocked down

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

Tuesday

How-to Beat the Recession

How-to Beat the Recession
By Milt Gedo (c) - www.sponsorship-101.com

Open any newspaper or turn on any television news program, and you’ll hear the word “recession” or even “depression” thrown around, along with all the necessary hand-wringing that goes with it. I’m not a financial guru (as my accountant will attest), so I don’t really know if the U.S. economy is in recession, depression or just a slow-down, but I do know one thing: Corporate America will always have the need to sell and market their wares effectively and efficiently, and motorsports marketing remains one of the best methods to achieve results.

If you’ve read my columns for the last 12-18 months or so, you know that I’ve been preaching the decline of “traditional marketing” (i.e. newspapers, magazines and television) in favor of “consumer driven” marketing, such as mobile marketing and event marketing. I recently saw the results of a survey that demonstrates this trend. The survey was conducted by Gfk Roper September 11 through October 10 of this year, and asked adults (18 and older), “What do you do during TV commercials?” The findings are interesting:

-52% of respondents claim they “Talk to others without paying attention to the commercials”
-51% responded they “Get up and do something else before the show comes back on”
-44% replied they “Switch to another channel”
-43% of respondents “Fast-forward through the commercials while using a DVR”
-26% of respondents said they “Turn the sound down on the TV or mute it”

Here’s the most important finding of all:

-Only 13% of respondents stated they “Sit and watch the commercials”

If you were the VP of Marketing for a company, and were responsible for spending your advertising budget in the most effective and cost-efficient way, how would the findings above make you feel about television advertising? Technology and consumer mind-set is changing the way companies look at advertising.

At a race event, the commercials are the race cars! When a fan watches a race, either in person or on television, they’re not going to “talk to another person to avoid seeing the sponsors”, “get up and do something else”, “switch to another channel”, “fast-forward through the race”, and no REAL race fan will ever turn the volume down or mute it! For fans who attend a race event, even walking through the Manufacturer’s Midway is not considered commercials “to be avoided”. The Midway at most motorsports events is more like a carnival, where fans can buy merchandise, get autographs and have a good time… all the while being bombarded with marketing messages. As I’ve mentioned, motorsports is the “original mobile marketing” venue, and remains the best value in marketing today.

So how can this information help you, the sponsor-seeking racer? Clearly, as corporate America tightens its belt, every dollar spent will be closely scrutinized… including advertising budgets. I believe the trend of spending less in traditional advertising and shifting those funds towards mobile or event marketing will continue and even pick up speed. Every serious race team should be prepared to capitalize on this trend.

When you sit down to create the list of actions your race team can offer a potential sponsor (Step one of my proven Six-Step program), you should include a heavy bias towards mobile and event marketing. Sportsman race teams are at a real advantage here, because you can offer a lot of these actions at a fraction of the costs of a Professional team. True, a Sportsman team can’t offer the same exposure at a race event as a Professional team (Television coverage, preferred parking in the pits, hospitality opportunities, etc.), but once you’re away from the track, the playing field is leveled.

In these tough economic times, the lesson is: Companies will always have the need to sell and market their products, and savvy racers/race teams know how to capitalize on this fact. Take advantage of the shifting market trends, and GET SPONSORED!

Thursday

How Bad Do You Want It?

How Bad Do You Want It?
By Tami Eggleston (c)

I think all of us love sports because you just never know who is going to win until the game is over. Sports are exciting because it is not always the best team, the fastest car, or the team or person that is "supposed" to win that wins. Of course I love drag racing the best, but I have enjoyed watching the football playoffs because I love watching the psychology of the games. Teams that were supposedly "unbeatable" get beat and teams that were not supposed to even get to the playoffs can go all the way! And I think what it all comes down to is "How Bad Do You Want It?" The teams and the players that really dig deep and keep playing hard, practice hard, and never give up do end up coming out on top. You can see it in these players and the teams, they have that walk, they have the drive, they practice hard, they play hard, they get knocked down and get back up, and they really want it. The drag racers who race year after year know how hard it is to keep the motivation to work on the car, sacrifice other things so you can go racing, and keep trying over the years. It is always fun when everything is working great and winning, but when you have a few problems and get beat a few weeks in a row, you have dig down deep to keep trying and you have to answer the question, How Bad Do You Want It? There is a great song by Tim McGraw called "How Bad Do You Want It?" and I encourage you to buy this CD or download the song for your MP3 player, it is a great motivational song. And take a minute to really think about "How Bad Do You Want It?" What are you willing to do, what are you willing to sacrifice, how hard are you willing to work, are you willing to lay it all out on the line, and is it really something that burns you up inside? I know for sure that the winners out there want it really bad.

A few lyrics from Tim McGraw's How Bad Do You Want It:

"Been out here on this highway

Breathing diesel smoke

Driving hard for hours

Trying to make that Memphis show

People always ask me"Son what does it take

To reach out and touch your dreams?"

To them I always say

Are you hungry?

Are you thirsty?

Is it a fire that burns you up inside?

How bad do you want it?

How bad do you need it?

Are you eating, sleeping, dreaming

With that one thing on your mind?

How bad do you want it?

How bad do you need it?

Cause if you want it all

You've got to lay it all out on the line....

There's always a price you pay no matter what you do

If you're gonna climb that mountain to the top

It always comes down to

How bad do you want it??"

New Sponsors? It's a Numbers Game

photo by Mulsanne

New Sponsors? It's a Numbers Game
By Don Terrill (c) - www.RacingSecrets.com

It's a numbers game my father told me - to find a great woman you just need to meet more women.

Well, what about sponsors?

The Formula:

Number of new sponsors = (Number of prospects you contact) x (Percentage of contacted prospects you close)

So, to get more sponsors you need to contact more prospects and/or increase your closing rate.

The closing rate is going to be dictated by your skills and economic conditions. Now, you can't do anything about the overall economy or a business's financial position, but you can improve your skills by...

Educating Yourself - Read every sponsorship book you can get your hands on. You only need to get one good idea for a book to be worth it.
Role Playing - Get your family members to play potential sponsors so you can work on your pitch. This should also help your confidence when you do the real thing.
Becoming a Veteran - No shortcut here, the more experience you have in searching for sponsors the better you'll be.

As you can see, one of the ways to improve your closing skills is to make more closing attempts. How do you make more closing attempts? You contact more prospects.

In the end it really does come down to how many prospects you contact - (1) by directly increasing your odds and (2) by helping improve your closing skills through practice.

So, did I take my dad's advice on women? You bet, the best thing I ever did.

Monday

Don't Leave Anything on the Field !!!

Don't Leave Anything on the Field!!!
By Tami Eggleston (c)

OK—two scenarios for you to think about. Scenario number 1 you go into a situation (work, personal, sport, etc.) and you only give about 50% of what you possibly could give and then you fail. How bad do you feel? You know you could have done more and succeeded. Scenario number 2 you go into a situation (work, personal, sport, etc.) and you give 100% of what you can give at that moment and you fail. How bad do you feel? You did everything you could; you tried your hardest, now you have learned what else you need to do to succeed in the future, but this time you failed. Can you get back up, dust yourself off, and learn and go out and give 100% again and keep learning and trying and improving?

I think most of think, yeah Scenario 2 is better you should always give 100%, but I think if we are HONEST and I mean down and dirty honest, some of us know we don’t give 100% all the time. We hold back, we wait, we are tentative, we lack confidence, we don’t give it our all. And then if we fail, maybe we can feel like, “well I failed because I didn’t give 100%.” And maybe that makes us feel a little bit better—but here is the deal , we will never be the best we can be if we keep leaving something on the field and we don’t give 100% of what we have to give. If we don’t give 100% we can’t push and learn and get better. When we give 100% and fail we have to do more analysis—why am I still failing, what do I have to learn, what do I have to do different, what do I have to get better at?

In drag racing, do you feel better when you try really, really, really hard you are prepared and worked hard and were mentally and physically the best you could be and go red by .001 second or when you were slacking a little and didn’t have your head on straight and cut a .089 light? Both situations are bad, you lost both ways—but what way can you fix? What way is going to win you more rounds in the long run?

So think about this—do you want to go out and give it your all? Are you willing to be brave and give 100% of yourself even if that means failing? Why are you holding back? What are you waiting for? When are you going to give 100%? If not now, when? The best racers, the best athletes, the best people, they give 100% every time to the things they care about. Start right now and decide if you are going to push and learn and grow and risk failing while giving 100% or are you going to make yourself feel better by holding back and not giving all you can give?

Thursday

Recession Proof Horsepower

Recession Proof Horsepower
By Don Terrill (c) - www.RacingSecrets.com

Does the news media have you all wigged out about the economy? Are you looking to cut costs, but still need your racing fix? Well, you can't race for free, but you sure can be smart about how and where you spend your money.

Build Affordable Horsepower:

Only Build What You Need - The vast majority of racers will build their engine with more horsepower than required. Instead, think about how much power you need and then find the most affordable (and reliable) way to get there.
Engine Size - If there are no restrictions on engine size, build one large enough so you don't have to put it on meltdown to make power. 400" with a flat tappet cam may be better than 350" with a roller.
Power-Adders - Throwing reliability out the window, power-adders (nitrous, blowers, etc) can add a lot of bang for the buck. It's hard to beat the HP per Dollar of Nitrous Oxide -- in fact it's impossible.
Airflow - Have a bunch of rules? Forced to make your horsepower the old fashioned way? Don't waste a penny on titanium rods or other nonsense. Put your money where it counts, in airflow improvements.

Build Reliable Horsepower:

The last thing you need is a blown engine when money is tight. Here are a few tips to help out with engine longevity.

RPM - There's no bigger killer of engines than too much RPM. Don't spin the engine any harder than required to be competitive. You won't have to give up any performance if you build/tune the engine to work down low.
Compression - The main problem here is the increased risk of detonation as you raise compression ratio. The lower the compression the better, but learning how to read spark plugs will help keep you out of trouble no matter what the compression.
Valvetrain - If you can only afford to build the engine once, then this is no time for any aggressive valve motion. Leave the camshafts with quick ramps and a ton of lift to the rich folks. Get more air into the engine through airflow improvements, not by wilder cam lobe profiles.

As for financial success in this economy, I don't see anything more important than protecting your ability to earn, and one of the best ways to do that is by furthering your education -- Make yourself more valuable to the marketplace.

The same goes for your racing success, there's no better bang for the buck than educating yourself. Dummies will never find themselves in the winner's circle very often.