The Pit Board
The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.
Muhammad Ali
Baseball is 90% physical – the other half is mental.
Yogi Berra
Racing, regardless of what people say, is a mental sport. If you believe you can win, if you’re in a car that can win, you more than likely will. If you have a negative attitude, typically you won’t get very good results.
Jamie McMurray
Earlier this month I got caught up in a small documentary. The Velocity channel aired a four part series documenting actor and racing car driver Patrick Dempsey and his quest to race the 24 hours of Le Mans. If you haven't seen it, I recommend giving it a chance. It took some time to disassociate Patrick, the nerd from "Can't Buy Me Love", from Mr. Dempsey, the driver. Once I really started to pay attention, some interesting insight into the mental aspect of racing.
It's an endless challenge against your own brain. Every sport is: golf, tennis, even 100-meter sprints - where you think it is only due to the sheer power output - they have to be right in the brain too. Especially in auto racing it is very much brain-driven.
To the "outsider" we are merely playing a video game. Most of us that
play Gran Turismo, it is not a game at all. The sheer size and scope of GTPlanet is a pretty good indicator of that. Within our League we take the competition with each other pretty seriously. We spend a great deal of time discussing, practicing and trying to perfect our racecraft. We also spend countless hours learning the car and track combinations in preparation for when the racing actually begins. One part of the whole experience that rarely gets addressed is the mental aspect of what we do.
Something I think we all need to think about is our state of mind
before we line up on race night. Our cars may be painted, broken in and we have practiced our lines and strategies for the nights battles but are we psychologically prepared? The racing we do is very intense and where our heads are before the PS3 is even fired up has a great deal of influence on how we act and perform on the track. Our personal lives are a battle in their own right and what happens in real life can easily find its way onto the grid with us.
One thing I am going to do before racing this Sunday is to spend a few minutes before I start lighting off everything and think about my mental state. I am going to set aside a few quiet minutes and clear my head of everything and get myself mentally prepared for the evenings competition. I know it isn't always possible but I think we those of us that don't already do it to give it a try. To some this is just a game but for us it is real competition and as mere humans, we get emotional about some things. Maybe clearing our heads of outside distractions could ease some of the more trying events on track.
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S.N.A.I.L. Directory
The following is a comprehensive list of the important links within the main S.N.A.I.L. thread.
(Work In Progress: This is the first draft and many edits will undoubtedly be needed. It will be alphabetized and hyperlinks added. If you have anything that should be added, send me a line. Once we have all of the links that should be in the directory, I will then create a post separate from The Pit Board.)
Color and Numbers
SNAIL Birth Dates
Racing Data
Racing Complaint Rules
GTP OLR
SNAIL OLR
Team SNAIL
Market Place
Schedule of Events
Weekly Lineup
Qualifying Procedures
Perfect Point System
Power Rankings
Good Racecraft Guide
SNAIL Videos
Penalty Guidelines
Car Classifications
Break In Guide
Drivers List
And?....
PM me with any ideas to make this as informative as possible.
Race Clean, Race Hard, Race S.N.A.I.L.