Berm Notes
Change is often difficult for many people. When things in our lives tend to stay the same, we can become comfortable and secure. Sometimes, we can even predict the outcome from our efforts when our circumstances are commonplace and unchanging.
In my younger days, I must admit that change did not come easy for me. However, my experiences while racing stock cars taught me that change must happen for growth and opportunity. For instance, the first rule change that came along took our stock car division from a super sticky 11 inch wide racing tire down to an 8-inch wide/DOT street legal tire. This new rule was to be in effect for the following race season. This rule change made it difficult for the racecars to get their power harnessed to the track surface. Drivers and teams were upset with the new regulations, as they could not figure out how they were going to make their cars perform on the track for maximum speed. Our team held a meeting to discuss various ways in which we were going to face this challenge head on. We determined that everyone was at the same disadvantage and our goal became to figure out how to make our set up work better than our competition.
During the winter season, our team changed the chassis and the suspension set up. In addition, we changed the camshaft profile in order to make less bottom end power and tailored it more to the top end power. The reason we made these modifications was due to the fact that the 8 inch wide tire would not allow you to use as much power when exiting the corner of the racetrack. Our efforts paid off by winning the first race of the season. In fact, that season we won 10 out of the 20 races held that year. As the season progressed, more and more of our competition began to learn how to make the new rule changes work for their cars as well. This made it increasingly more difficult to win races that year. I was proud of our team and all the effort that went into a successful race season. Our team finished 1st in points and finished in the top 3 for each race except for one in which we lost due to a flat tire.
Racing taught me much about change. Even today, I use many of the lessons that I learned in my racing days. I found that if rules and regulations remain the same, it becomes increasingly difficult to find an advantage over your competition. When changes come, look at them as an opportunity to get a leg up on your competition by being the first one to figure out how to make it work. This brings me back to one of my favorite Henry Ford quotes: “If you think you can… or think you can’t… you are most likely right.”