Racing Brain

[JimsLS1]

Anyone have interesting stories of how your racing experience saved you on the street? I narrowly escaped a crunched bumper and embarrassment this morning in my E36 DD (no ASC) on an onramp (it looked dry?). I don't think I would have steered out of that spin so instinctively a few years ago. Racing brain ever helped you avoid a crash?

[basil2000]

My racing brain hasn’t saved me on the street but it does have me threshold braking on every off ramp. I have a company car and they are always surprised that i go through tires, brakes and wheel bearings so often. Thing takes a beating. My wife always says,”you think your so cool clipping apexes on the off ramp”. She refuses to ride in the vette with me. I am a child.

[SandyClam]

Ken, you must have had some pretty poor instruction to be such a hooligan!

[JimsLS1]

Ken, thats probably because of the grip-induced nausea to which people riding shotgun in vettes seem to succumb. I think Lester gave me my license just to avoid riding with me again.

[basil2000]

That must be my problem. My instructors have been a little bit crazier than i. When i started i used to hear brake brake brake. Now i hear, don’t brake don’t brake. Jim. Glad to hear you escaped without hitting anything. It is amazing how driving on ther track improves your driving on the street.

[Bobc]

I think the total situational awareness that you develop road racing helps you every time you turn the key. Then the instinctive panic less reaction to the issue makes your result better than most other drivers, The normal reaction is to freeze up for an instant or plant the brake, then react but in the road race car that is a sure trip to the wall...

[breakaway500]

I use to think I knew how to drive fast. Then I "discovered" on track driving.

You don't know what you don't know. I've stopped counting the many times my "new" skills have helped me both on and off track.

The mindset to anticipate is the biggest asset I have learned....and to keep learning is the other...

[TunaNoCrust]

A couple months ago I was taking the off-ramp at the Palmer exit at my er... usual speed only to find an ever so faint icy glaze on the ramp, I didn't panic just calmly widened my turn radius and there was no problem....the next guy not so much.

I agree 100%, I too used to think I drove "fast" on the street and then you get on the track only to realize how foolish that notion was! Trying to explain it to people who never have been on track is impossible.

[n1gzd]

I think that I am much better at watching my mirrors than I was before I started driving on a track. There was one time in the past year when I remember having to react very quickly to a car that I saw in my mirror with my peripheral vision (cutting across many lanes - behaving erratically). It was a close call and I think that the outcome could have been worse if I was not very aware of my mirrors.

Also I think that I a less likely to get a speeding ticket now that before I started driving on the track (driving fast belongs on the track).

Rebecca

[StephanAlfa]

I agree racing brain on street gives me a much better 360 deg and what is around us. I assess cars and drivers around me observe what they are doing (ex; whether they are paying attention or not) and apply required defensive driving or otherwise to steer clear of possible danger situations.
In case of emergency (ex: Panic braking ,etc.) while I have prevented a few situations, those non-racers next to me (ex: wife) is not very appreciative of the evasive maneuvers that saves our a..es

[gcranston]

Resurrecting this thread after a bit of a moment this morning. I've been taking the kids to daycare towing a small trailer behind a bike. It's a short ride, but I picked up a used road bike after a lifetime of riding mountain bikes - lower rolling resistance and much better power-to-weight, right? But I digress.

On the ride home there's a decreasing-radius right-hander at the bottom of the hill, turning off the road and onto a running/cycling path. So you carry good speed in, there's room on exit, and some grass run-off if you need it. Well today I picked up some wicked understeer just before the apex. In a car it wouldn't be much of a thing at all, but on two wheels it's a bit different. Thankfully the racing brain took over and quickly opened up the steering, keeping weight forward, the front tire gripped up again, and on we went. Three years ago I think that story ends quite differently.

[TroyV]

Graham, that's a good one.

I think in all this time the thing I have sort of developed is spotting other driver's behavior and having an ad hoc predictive model that runs in my head calculating all of the stupid shit they are about to do.

....especially the Camrys, CRVs and RAV4s

[TunaNoCrust]

....especially the Camrys, CRVs and RAV4s

I don't what it is with those three cars, but one of them was consistently my idiot of the day winner.