If the Jacket and title are really what you want, that must be the focus. STU is still a great place for the Evo with the current rules and you have home court advantage. But event STU is a development class where you have to constantly be trying new things even if its testing backward to find exactly where the magic is. I have a baseline and I try things nearly every event both in what I think might be better and what I think will be worse just to keep refining that baseline. Even at Nationals, I learned something interesting I want to explore more next year.

But if you want to be an "AutoX national champion", these days it takes really pushing for that ONE goal. The talent pool is just so deep these days.

 

And that would be?

 

Just adding to what I think @Balrok was trying to ask...

 

Ahh, wondered what he was referring to.

I found that the particular grip at Lincoln seems to have a bigger effect on longitudinal grip than lateral grip compared to my normal asphalt sites. Where Crows concrete is more like an overall massive increase in grip which makes sense cause its also a killer of tires.

The center diff setting Ive been using has been amazing in the wet and in Packwood for me but its a pretty tight diff setup giving nice entry rotation but being free mid corner. With that setting I use rear rebound to get hop under control and run the 2nd element on the wing pretty flat. Well the total lockup is too much with the forward grip at Lincoln so I got a tip (Thanks Tim!) and went to the softer center setting and pretty much all hop had disappeared and the car was all the sudden quite loose on day 2.

So now I need to start playing with softer center diff settings and increasing rebound for the entry rotation and more wing to settle things at speed.

 

Ya'll knew what I meant lol. So, basically, you're doing what we've been doing this whole time without knowing how the hell to make fancy center diff adjustments other then punching a button Before ACD tuning came out rear rebound was the first cure for my turn ins.

 

Random, yet relative: If anyone has any suggestions on any racing/sports related books in regard to the mindset/psychology of sports, I'd appreciate recommendations!

I think that is one thing I'd really like to focus on for next year - is simply getting the mind right for bigger events.

 

Not directly "sport" related, but try diving into some Stoicism. Aka, the practice of not giving a f*ck... my summary, not theirs . Check out Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and see what calls to you. It's definitely helped me find a calm (but alert) detachment in times of stress.

After that start doing some reading on "Flow State". IMO, it's what we're all after in this crazy sport/hobby of racing.

 

https://www.beyondseattime.com/about/

Heard lots of good things about Vivek's courses here and has helped a bunch of people get their first Championship.

I personally just used time to come up with my own ways. I will say the mental game to win your first championship is the hardest. When you know you can do it but the competition is fierce. For a while I would work to get my self pumped up to overcome nerves so I could be aggressive to attack instead of just trying to be tidy. Now I think a bit more rationally cause Im not fighting nerves and talk to myself out loud through the run telling myself what to do forcing my body not to chicken brake, or to push harder on an entry, or hold throttle just a little deeper, or dont coast, etc.. But thats what works for me.

 

This year I've definitely had that mindset and attitude this past season. Nerves were definitely there on day 2 - sitting in 2nd place at the start of the day, however. It's something I definitely need to work on going forward. Thanks for the suggestions, man!


Vivek has some awesome information on his site. I know I've read through the free material he has posted, but probably should pay the money to see what else he has instore there!

I completely agree with the mental game. That, by far is, is probably the most important aspect of this game we play. I appreciate the insight, Dallas!

 

I signed up for Viveks course, but havent done much of it yet. Always heard good things, so it definitely seems worth the money. Also, the podcast Lizard Brains with DJ and Tomo, (is great podcast in genera) has a great episode all about the mental game. And they talk a lot about 3 run autocross, so I found it to be really helpful!

 

I was going to suggest Lizard Brains too. There's also the autocross talk podcast with Kinch Reindl -
https://www.stitcher.com/show/autocross-talk

It's not strictly sports science stuff but he talks with a lot of really good autocrossers about their approach. There are a lot of good ones; I think my personal favorite is the John V one but the one with the Whiteners is really good too. Among others.

 

Keep me posted on what you find out with Vivek's courses. I probably just just opt in and do it! However, it looks like I'll have plenty of material to read over the coming months! Thanks for reminding me about Lizard Brains as well. Completely forgot about that one!

Autocross talk has been a go to for some time! Many of which I've listed to more than once because there is SO much information - plus it makes the work day go even faster. It seems he's not really doing new episodes any more?