The Day Before, The Day Of & The Day After . . .

[Florida_Slotter]

I do not know about y'all, but my process for preparing for a day racing goes kind of like this:

The Day Before - actually this can take place more then the day before a race. It kind of depends on whether or not you are in a position in life where you can spend your preparation time whenever you wish. I am blessed with that situation, so my day before is usually dedicated to preparing the cars that I intend to race the next day. Usually I take the car almost completely apart, clean it, check it as I put it together, lubricate all parts, run it through a "self tech" and then run some test laps prior to thinking that car is ready.

The Day Of - I like to get a good night's sleep. Sometimes that is harder to do then to say. The anticipation of the next day sometimes makes it a bit harder, but I at least try. Then I like to get up early, have a good breakfast, leave plenty of time to get to the location of the race, get some practice in, make sure what I did the day before on my car was the proper thing to do. If the car is working as hoped for, then I put it back in the box and take out a "practice car" to familiarize myself with the track. I try not to over do it and when content with my readyness, I sit down and socialize as much as possible.

The Day After - many years ago a very good friend of mine asked me what my "ideal" was for slot car racing. He went on to say that if my "ideal" was to have FUN rather then winning, I would enjoy this hobby much more. His reasoning was very sound. There is one winner and a lot of others that participated in the race. If I were more intent on having FUN, then I would always be a winner. So that's what I always look to do . . . . having FUN! It just works out so much better for me. So most of my time of the day after is spent smiling and reflecting on all the FUN I had on The Day Of.


Works for me! :banana-rock:

[FootScoot]

It's all about the fun! I never was really serious about winning a race, it was fun just participating, win or lose I still had fun. I usually had more fun socializing with the other people there. Everyone has stories and I enjoy listening to them. :)

[HomeRacingWorld]

As long as you are enjoying yourself, then you are the winner :) I have spent more time with folks who sandbag a lot so I can keep up...but it's still fun :)

[DHansen]

Winning is great fun but, If I had to win every race in order to have any fun, then I would not have much fun racing. I enjoy building and modifing the cars, then I enjoy seeing if what I built is competitive. And if I win a race or two, then that's a bonus.

[pgtr]

Interesting. Not even my 1:1 pre race prep is this considered.

[Czar]

I'd rather lose by an inch than win by a mile. It's just more fun that way.