Paul, the other thing for me has been consistency and confidence. It's very hard to make setup changes at a track that you have never been to before. And in general, when you don't have confidence that you're doing things right on the track, it makes it difficult to convince yourself that you should try different things off the track.
I finally feel that I'm getting to a consistency level that I now have confidence to try different setup options for next year. Sadly, I have 4 months to sit around in the snow. And as usual, I plan on starting the season at a track I have little or no experience at (Road Atlanta). When will I learn?
This is one of the single most important aspects of coaching... I can remember when i was really fast at my home track, hired a coach and drove a car loaned to me, (dont ask) but car wa a basket case, the coach which is no secret Todd Lamb had compared my data to his before even comeing to coach me. I was so far off in the new car and he just kept asking questions till he could get to the bottom of howi could go t a few tenths offhis data to 2 seconds off... finaly he asked the right question! we made some wholesale setup changes and all of a sudden i was outside pole in a car that wasnt even mine. I could have won that day easily, if it werent for the stress of having a coach and trying many new things, i spun twice and got the the front each time afterwards, it was real eye opener and the coaching let me know how to give myself feedback. questions are often tricky! is car to loose or to tight? neither! ok wo why ar eyo so far off the pace? no idea! ok so what do you think the car will do to you if you drive i 2 seconds faster on pace? It will spin like a top Todd! ok lets get the car rght! so we did, sometimes the question isnt what te car is doing! what will the car do? I have a severe adversion to hitting walls! so I hoold back if car is to lose, I dont have car control skils like Rain man, but i can drive fast if the car is right. So its paramount for me to get the car right! And thats a huge reason why I have not been good at Roaf atlanta, I have never had a car i an be 110% confident in, so i can often rip off a top 5 lap but cannot do it with any conistency. came back from ARRC asking myself what do you think thecar will do??? wouldnt have ever asked myseld that kinf of question with out Todd's coaching!