Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Yello. Im gonna be new to circle track stock car racing this year, so I have a braking question. Alright.. the first track ill probley run will be this half mile track about 4 hrs from here. So im curious, I know you brake as you enter the turn, but do ya stay on the gas a little or do ya complete the turn then slamm the gas and hop off the brake?

on the track here with a fwd i keep pedal to the metal and pull hand brake, on a rwd i just release a little bit the throttle then kick brake and steer....

good luck

Dirt or paved track?
How big?
What type of banking & corners?
What's your car set-up?
Are you at a hobby/street stock level?

Keep in mind I'm not a driver but the driver of the car I work on, a 5/8ths mile dirt track pro stock says he brakes before he gets into the turn and depending on how the car is handling loose or tight he gets back into the throttle slowly before the car is pointing down track again. This helps keep the motor lit longer so you come out of the turn harder.

The most important thing is to be smooth. If it is asphalt you want to do your hardest braking going straight into the corner ( so you don't upset the chassis). Depending on the conditions you want to be mostly off of the throttle during hard braking then as soon as you are off of the brakes pick up the throttle as much as the corner will bear coming to full throttle as soon as the tires will allow through the apex and the exit. Again BE SMOOTH sharp throttle inputs cause wheel slip and out of controlness = bad E.T. Have Fun!!!!!!

P.S. If it is dirt ......... You are at the mercy of someone else.

Brake bias(percentage front to rear) has as much to do with it as anything,If you can`t change it you need to find the limits in practice or hot laps,When it locks the fronts it won`t turn,when it locks the rear it turns all by itself,Locked up sliding is bad on any surface.You`ll never know the limit till you reach it, Find it in practice(Best done alone on the track)Addrenaline may make you drive over you head during a race,Bad time to find your limits.

you should left foot brake, it may feel weird maybe even hard for you at first but it will really pay off, you will be able to react faster to situations because you don't have to keep switching feet.
if your car is set up right, drive the car into the turn hard then left foot brake through entry when you feel the nose set stand on the thottle!
another advantage of left foot braking, is you can flat foot the track and just use thr brake to set the nose up for the apex.

Ok whether its dirt or ashphalt. u never stab the brakes unless an emergency. as ur coming down the staight quickly but smoothly let of the gas. act as if the pedels are sponges. because if u stab the brakes the weight transfer is ganna happen way to fast and u will spin out. and the same will happen with the gas. u have to remember if your running dirt everything the car does with weight transfer is multiplyed because theres not near the grip as on ashphalt. so you want to get on the brakes before u start turning. if u get on them during the turn the cars ganna slid right out from under u so to speak.
Hope this helps.

The biggest help with driving is experience. Depending on driving style you may never need a brake. Race car driving is timing. Learning where your fastest and slowest. High vs Low. Many people want to run the bottom but it takes horsepower for that ridding the rimm is fast but it takes skill. You dont stab the throttle on dirt but learn how to add throttle as the car will handle it. You have to maximize throttle to traction. Getting setup and driving skill matched you're hard to beat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just get out there an see where you like to drive. When i first started i liked the inside but now i stick to the outside. Definitely watch where you brake it won't turn if you are on them too hard/late, especially on dirt.
I let off, tap the brake and hammer it i really don't think its anywhere near as fast as i could be but its fun and thats what i'm there for

As you can see driving methods vary slightly from driver to driver, track to track, class to class and yes, dirt to pavement.

The thing to understand is that all circle track racing is a momentum game. Not slowing down as much as the other guy may be more important than ultimate speed on the straights. Remember that lap times are of average speeds, not top speeds.

Some tracks (dirt tracks for me, I have never raced legally on asphalt) require a soft touch while others require man handling to get the most performance out of the car. The options are endless. Just keep trying to not lose speed as much as possible. This is especially important on slick tracks. There just isn't much opportunity to make up time on a slick track. One slip up can take all race to recover from.

For instance, I have had to kill the engine to set the car into a heavy hairpin cornered 3/8 mile track. While I have only lifted for less than a second to set the front down on a very fast 1/2 mile track, lifting well past the bend in the wall for the corner. Never touching the brakes. Only to then slam the throttle back full tilt and bang the frame off the track for the next couple of seconds. It can be brutal on dirt sometimes.

Then come feature time, you can't even begin to touch the throttle until half way down the chute. I have seen both in one night at the same track.

Don't be surprised or embarrassed if the first night you go out and "think man what the heck are these guys on to run so fast." It can take some time to get your driving skills up to speed (no pun intended).

The one thing I learned years ago, that I share with young or novice drivers is you have to <slow down to go faster>

It took a long time to drive that into my son-in-laws head, but he now has the concept and is much faster.

By slowing down you become smoother, just as another stated earlier.

Being smooth is the real key. Don't think you have to be the first one in the corner, as while your still trying to slow the car or drive thru the push you have created, the next guy is already on the throttle before the apex and his monster motor (NOT REALLY) is beating you off the corner.

Governor,

I would often use both the brake and throttle at the same time. It helps hold the car from breaking loose in the turns and unloading the suspension if you hit a rough spot or it is just slick. It is easier to let off the brakes a little than to add a little throttle coming off the corner.

Sprint car racers will leave the throttle on the floor and use the brake to hold the car down in the corners.

There are an almost infinite number of driving tips and tricks to learn and to master. Some pointers you are given will make you faster, some will slow you down.

The very best advice I would give to a beginning driver is to purchase a data logger (used if budget limited) to measure and record what the driver and the car are actually doing on the track. Study the data.

Memory is fleeting and inaccurate. Experience takes much too long and is too expensive. Assuming the car is set up reasonably well, the only way to go faster is to gain more knowledge. Quickly.

As you see there are 50 dozen ways to do it. It all has to do with slip angle of the tires. On the your tires you get two different forces that add to a slip angle. How far you can go before loosing traction. If you use less brake force, you can increase side force and vice versa. This is the reason on most tracks you do the slowing down before you really get that cornering force going. There is a lot of weight that can be transferred from rear to front and side to side also. This is controlled by the brake and steering as to how fast it transfers. Most of it has to do with sweep of the turn, banking, the line you take and your car set up. If you do it the same all the time, your going to suc at at least half of them. Example, Run the cushion at Eldora and you never really let of the gas and trail break just a little. Try KC and bottom feed, you brake before the corner not in it. I used them because you can relate to them tracks. It's drive by the seat of your pants, but being aware enough to tell your crew chief what's going on. Takes the average guy about 7 years to figure this out. why the crew needs this is breaking, steering wheel position and acceleration change camber , roll centers and tire loading. You can help each other here.