Winning!

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   Winning is a way of life, it's  part of every aspect of what you do, on a day to day basis. Whether it's racing, business or whatever, You have to consciously choose to be a winner and in another instance a loser, either avenue is your choice. I know this may  sound a little harsh but it's the truth.  If you don't think so, give this some thought.........   If you're not willing to do what it takes to compete at the top of the sport, game or field of work you are participating in, you've made a conscious decision  to accept a second place trophy or a second place in life. 

   If you have the will to win,  and your talent and knowledge of racing  has not caught up with your desire and enthusiasm. Don't worry, as long as you Work hard, educate yourself and hone your skills, you will get there. This applies to anything you do.  Make no mistake though, getting to the front  is no easy road in anything you do. With that said, nothing and I mean nothing worth while is going to be easy.

"Winning is not a sometime thing it's an all-the-time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in awhile, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately so is losing

     Winners an example:   Joe Gibbs

    I know this comparison is on a professional level. The reason I'm using it, is most everyone in racing knows who Joe Gibbs is.  If you don't, Joe Gibbs coached the Washington Redskins for 12 seasons and led them to eight playoff appearances, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowl titles. After retiring at the end of the 1992 season, he switched focus to racing. His NASCAR team, has won countless races and three championships under his ownership. I think you get the drift here, It wouldn't matter if Joe Gibbs was coaching the united states Ping Pong team.  He would still Find a way to Win. 

   Remember, anybody can achieve mediocrity!  Going forward, set yourself apart.  Make your time spent in preparation, pay the most dividends.  Regardless of your current talent level look for an area to improve in each week. A winner will never become complacent.  He will always look for that extra little bit, even if he thinks there is no more to be had!

   Finally, I"ll leave you with a few thoughts. 

• If you're running the same equipment everyone else is.  You can only hope to be as good as they are.  Unless, your equipment is better prepared and you have tweaked it to get the full benefits of it.

•  Winning starts with  preparation.  I cannot expound on this enough. Be relentless in preparation, make sure your car is the best it can be when you show up. When you consider the time spent in preparation versus the time actually spent on the track it's probably a fifty to one ratio  ( or greater) considering  you didn't tear something up from the previous week. Remember you have to finish to win.  

• Have a little pride in your ride, don't  show up at the track with a dirty car or with the panels flapping in the breeze. How your car looks is a reflection of who you are.  Ever notice 99% of the time the Feature Winner usually has a pretty sharp looking ride?  It's because his equipment is better prepared and he has the mind set to do what it takes to win. Besides soap and water are cheap!

•  Read  everything you can get your hands on, about the portion of the car you are working on at the time, and perfect it. Perfection in racing is a misnomer, well any way.  When you have this part of the car to a satisfactory level. Move on to another area of the car and do this over again until you've covered your entire program. This is the part where it pays to have competent help. 

• A winner always identifies his shortcomings; I know it’s hard to admit, you don't know everything (don't worry I won't tell your wife if you don't tell mine).  This is irrelevant if you’re smart enough to know this. Acknowledging it, means your half way there.  Also don’t let pride or arrogance stand in the way of you being a winner.  Allot of times it's hard to ask for help, for fear someone else may get credit for the knowledge or maybe find out what you don’t know. Don’t worry about this, believe me two heads are better than one in any case.  Remember, when you sharpen a knife you have to  use something of better substance than the knife to sharpen it with, so make sure the person you are asking for advice has some experience with what you are dealing with. If you do utilize someone's help and talent, be smart enough to give credit where credit is due.  Even though you wear the suit, don't forget what it took to have your picture taken with the checkered flag.  A pat on the back or just a plain thank you will go along way here.

•  Work in the gray area of the rules.  Always try to work in the area that will make them re-write the rules.  Racing is a thinking man's game, let me re-state that, winning is a thinking man's game.  You not only have to out perform and out prepare your competition.  You also have to out think them. So be creative here, read and re-read the rules, look for the gray area. Rules are always subject to interpretation. Remember, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission. 

• Never discount the effort people will put forth to win. Smokey Yunick was a great example of this and a personal hero of mine.  If you don't know who he is read up on him, it'll be time well spent.

• Never whine if you get beat. Take it as a personal challenge and know the loss came because you were out prepared, out driven or out thought. This is what makes a person a winner.  Everyone but a winner will accept it as,  the other guy  won because they had better equipment, better this, better that or whatever.  A winner will accept it as a personal challenge or see the loss as a personal defeat that will only make him better the next time he shows up.

• The difference in Winning and running second is in the details!!!

• History always remembers the did's, not the did not's

  And Finally, 

• Winning is not a LAZY man's way of life!  So get off the Computer and go work on your stuff!

JIMBO

I firmly believe that any mans finest hour-- his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear --is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle -- victorious

10 Undeniable Truths about Going Fast
by Don Terrill - RacingSecrets.com ©2003

1.) You will not go fast by reading the rulebook - You need to get into the pits and see what other racers are doing to go fast. If you build to the letter of the rulebook, you'll be bringing up the rear at every racing event.

2.) Cheating exists in all types of racing - Some want to sweep it under the rug for the integrity of the sport, but non the less, it's there. I personally hate cheating, but when your competitors are allowed to get away with murder, what are you supposed to do?

3.) 5% of people will dominate - This doesn't just apply to racing, but our entire society. I know this may offend, but 95% of the people in the world are just along for the ride. Only 5% actually do anything of value.

4.) You can't Bolt-On your way to #1 - You can't order a number one qualifier out of a catalog. Fast racers will modify or design from scratch just about every important part on their cars.

5.) A full-time racer will outperform a part-time racer - I'm amazed how many part-time racers think full-time racers are cheating. I know it may be hard to admit, but they're just better. Not because they cheat, but because of their experience.

6.) More money does not directly equal more wins - Stop thinking you're losing because of money. I've seen world champs crowned with a tenth of the budget of their competitors. My advice, focus on what you spend your money on. Look at performance per dollar.

7.) Complaining about a competitor or his car will not make yours faster - Worry about you and your car, they're the only things you truly control. There is no such thing as a perfect car or driver, both can be improved.

8.) The difference between good and great is tuning - I feel like I've said this a thousand times, give the same engine to 10 different racers, you'll have 10 different results. The top tuners will always come out on top.

9.) You can make too much power - Unless you run the Bonneville Salt Flats, there's a good chance you can over power the track. I see it all the time with short track stockcars -- they almost all have too much low end power and spend half their track time at part throttle.

10.) An engineer with commonsense will rise to the top - It's only a theory because the combination doesn't exist :) Alright, I'm kidding, but you have to admit it's rare. The easiest way to get the same thing is having an engineer team up with someone with commonsense.

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