January 2009

Fitness in Motor Sports Today

By Ilya Feynberg
The Ferrari F1 team spends a little over $1 million a season to make sure that their drivers are in peak physical condition….

Mclaren Mercedes F1 spends $2 million on various programs, trainers, and in house gym’s, all to make sure that their drivers can not only endure, but excel in the most demanding conditions possible……the race car…

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart has a personal trainer that goes everywhere Tony does….

Yet, somehow the “non-pro” driver seems to totally miss the mark when it comes to realizing the incredible impact that fitness has on his/her performance on track. While many aspiring drivers easily see the steps that high profile teams and drivers take to make sure that they are in top physical condition to race, very few seem to understand why, and most importantly why they too should take part in something that can so dramatically improve their driving that the world’s best teams spend millions on.

The demands of modern racing are not for the faint of heart, that’s why only a few excel at the sport. One very linear and constant variable that you’ll find throughout the whole field of top drivers, whether NASCAR or Formula 1, is that the best drivers are always the most fit. Why do they have to be fit? Simple, because if their not, the demands that racing exerts on the human body will drive them to failure on track….literally. With cockpit temperatures easily exceeding 125 degrees Fahrenheit (or 52 degrees Celsius), up to 5 g’s during turns, and braking that will have you looking at your knees within a second and you start to realize that the demands of modern motor sport are a lot like those of running a marathon with some space shuttle adventures mixed in.

You don’t have to be in the pro ranks to understand the need for fitness in the motor sports arena. You can feel it for yourself every time you race, and witness it from the sidelines. Whether you race just for fun at local track events or are a future world champion, fitness will play a very critical role in your ability to perform consistently on track.

Becoming fit to race and increasing a drivers performance on track is not an easy task but a necessary one for any driver. There are four main areas of fitness that a driver must look into to and create a training program out of. These are:

Cardiovascular fitness

This area of physical conditioning is without doubt one of the most crucial to increasing a driver’s fitness level and on track performance. Cardiovascular fitness refers to improving the overall fitness of the lungs and heart, which in turn gives those vital organs the ability of taking in higher levels of oxygen and essential nutrients to the proper muscles far more efficiently. Cardiovascular exercise also greatly increases the strength and overall tone of the skeletal structure.

Endurance Training

Structuring an endurance training program as a driver can be of great benefit if done properly. Endurance programs for driver’s can be a tricky area of training as it requires a very considerable amount of time, planning and carries the possibility of increased risk of injury. However, since muscle and respiratory fitness as well as endurance during long and hot (or cold) races are what the aim is….it could be a program that’s incorporated into a fitness regime. In turn, you will reap the benefits of the extra hard work put it.
Weight Training

Weight training is the form of exercise that develops strength and size of the muscles in the skeletal structure. While it is the most common form of resistance training, it is not the only form. Weight training focuses on the strength and growth of the muscles needed to drive and control a race car from start to finish. This area of fitness is very important. Cardiovascular training alone is not enough to develop muscles and to instill the right amount of endurance into them. However, weight training programs for racers must be structured differently as the goal is not size, weight gain and mass brute strength. The goal is to develop the muscle so that it can withstand constant abuse and work throughout the entire race weekend at peak levels.

Mental Training

As if physical training and conditioning wasn’t overlooked enough by racers in the motor sports arena…mental training is even more of a hidden secret. Developing and perfecting the right mental mindset is critical and not an easy task to tackle. Proper mind set up is not only curial to stand up to the pressures of the sport, but also to simply get into shape. The mind is a very powerful wonder that can become a great asset to a driver’s efforts, or become his/her worst enemy. From the first run down the dirt trail for your cardio, the last repetition in your weight training routine to the final lap of the race weekend…mental fitness plays a much larger role then meets the eye.

If you’re still not convinced that proper physical conditioning plays a major role in the performance level of a driver and are not currently involved in any training programs specific to racing, then go out for a race among fit and successful drivers…..I promise you that your mind will change half way through the race weekend.

Training To Work Among NASCAR Motorsports Finest

By: James Brown

A garage technician might have big dreams of working around NASCAR racecars but will keep those dreams in check because they know they are not trained to work on that equipment or any other high performance engines for that matter. The typical garage mechanic might be able to repair a street model automobile, but it takes a lot of training to work among motorsports finest.

The automobiles that are part of the NASCAR motorsports realm are not the everyday automobile. They might fall under automobile manufacturing names that are well known throughout the automobile industry but they are not the kind that are easy to care for in a local garage. The engines used are tooled to be precision instruments that are capable of achieving over 200 miles per hour in the stretch. To enable the engines to maintain those speeds requires the care and expertise of a graduate of the NASCAR automotive schools.

Experience Go Kart Racing

3 Easy Ways To Get More Money For Racing!

By Frederick Musser

Most types of racing have a beginners class which is less expensive of course than the premium classes, but… you still have pit passes to buy, fuel, routine maintenance, food, etc…

So what is the easiest way to get more money for racing?

• Online Auctions (eBay) Buy and Sell Your Items: . . . . .Most everyone has stuff laying around the house or garage that they just do not need any more.
  Sell it on eBay. With a little practice and the right stuff to sell you can make a nice little profit
  to add to your racing venture.

  Find great racing deals on eBay to save yourself even more money, find tools, haulers, engines, safety equipment, racing parts, and the list goes on and on and on and on – Stretch those racing dollars even more.

• Trade Or Provide Your Service: . . . . .What do you know how to do? Weld, paint, re-build engines, make vinyl letters, chassis set up?Sell or trade your services to others and take the money and add it to your racing fund. One guy in our area does race car repair for wrecked race cars, he makes a nice little profit. Another guy in the area builds chassis and roll cages in his spare time, another sells vinyl racing letters, another scales in cars for a small fee.There are many services needed in the racing community, what could you do that other people need? With people’s hectic no time lifestyles many racers would gladly trade or pay you for your expertise.
• Get A Sponsorship: . . . . .Ahhh, the good old racing sponsorship if only it was that easy. Let’s face it in a trying economy
  many businesses just don not have the extra money for that kind of advertising – OR – Do they?

  So how do you get really great sponsorships? ASK – contact friends and neighbors if their places of employment might like to sponsor you. You may get some NO’s but you may very well get some yeses as well. Ask any salesman and they will tell you that it is just a numbers game.
  ASK, ASK, and ASK again.

  A sponsorship does not have to be all about money either – What if you could get some free stuff, that is less money that you would have to spend anyway? Free oil, free tires, free gas, free lettering, free trailer to use, more, more, more. Just be creative when you are proposing a sponsorship.

  The most important thing to remember is to take care of your sponsor - Do what you said you would do.

Prepare yourself with as much information as you can when pursuing the examples in this article and be creative in your attempts and above all always be professional and serious in what you do.