How to Race a Truck - Part 2

Driving Tips
Now that you have some knowledge about truck racing specifics, we will go over some techniques that are common to all race cars and identify some bad habits you may have accumulated while driving over the years..

#1 Seating Position
As elementary as it sounds, there is a right way to sit in your seat for better control of your car or truck. First, tilt your seat back forward so you are sitting up near straight with a slight recline so you are comfortable. Sit with your back flat against the seat back and your butt squarely in the corner of the seat back and seat cushion. Your drivers seat is not supposed to be a laz-y-boy recliner.
Sit up straight

Put your arms straight out in front of you and rest your wrists on the top of the steering wheel. Move your seat for ward or back so that your wrists rest comfortably on top of the wheel. This will determine how far away from the wheel you will need to be to allow you to hold the wheel at the 3 and 9 o’clock position with your arms slightly bent maintaining better control. Do not hook your thumbs through the steering wheel. If the wheel were to snap out of your hands, your thumbs may snap with it. As a side note, the “gangster lean” to one side, driving with one hand, will not cut it when you are out on the racetrack nor on the street and driving like a moke with your arm hanging out the window dragging your knuckles on the ground lacks complete control of your vehicle. Besides that, you look like an idiot.
Hold the steering wheel at the 3 and 9 o’clock position

Plant your left foot on the dead pedal or on the floorboard left of the clutch and brake if you don‘t have one. Do not let it hover over your clutch pedal. Keeping your feet planted will help stabilize you during cornering. Lift your foot to operate the clutch and then plant it back down again.
Plant your left foot and don’t let it hover over the clutch pedal.

Do not hold on to your shift knob while driving. Remember you’re supposed to keep both hands on the steering wheel. There are two reasons why you should not do this. One obvious reason is lack of control while steering. It may seem cool to hold on to the shifter while driving but it is pointless. Practice shifting from the 3 and 9 o’clock position. You will find that in a short time, it will be second nature to take your hand off the wheel, shift, and then right back to the 3 o’clock position on the steering wheel. Another not so obvious reason is that by holding on to the shifter knob, you are putting stress on the linkage of your shifter and transmission. This may cause premature wear and failure.
Do not hold on to the shifter knob while driving.

#2 Shuffle Steering
Something that was taught to me by my race instructor that I apply still to this day, even on the street, is shuffle steering. Shuffle steering is the way you turn your steering wheel. Most of us were taught in Driver's Ed that when you make a turn, you cross your arms over each other to turn the wheel. I'm here to tell you to unlearn what you have learned.

The concept of shuffle steering is easy and allows for maximum control of your vehicle at all times. Let's say we are turning left. When you turn the wheel, first push up with your right arm. This will give you more support in your seat and control of the steering wheel. You can also pull down a little bit with your left arm of course to help stabilize yourself, but don't lean into a turn. Sit up straight because leaning into a turn gives you a false impression of going faster than you really are. Next, as your right arm reaches approximately the 1:00 o'clock position and your left arm around the 7:00 o'clock position, slide your right hand down to the 4-5 o'clock position and then your left hand to the 10-11 o'clock position and continue turning the wheel as necessary. Your hands are shuffling on the steering wheel staying near the 3 and 9 o'clock position.

This way, if your vehicle starts to loose traction, you have your hands in the optimum position to correct. If your arms were crossed over each other and your tail end started to slide out, you will have a harder time countersteering. With your hands in the proper position, you simply need to turn the wheel a bit to countersteer. And to answer your question, Yes, you can do this fast enough, even on windy roads, and it works.

Watch this VIDEO CLIP and watch how I shuffle steer around Hawaii Raceway Park during a Super Lap race. You will also note that toward the end of the video, I entered Turn 1 too hot and the rear end started to kick out. I was able to quickly and calmly recover without even lifting my foot off the gas because my hands were at the optimum position to correct the slide.

#3 Steering by Throttle
Steering by throttle is a relatively simple manuever and uses some of the weight transfer we discussed earlier. It is very useful in long turns and sweepers. Let's take for example a constant radius sweeping turn. As you turn-in and apex, you should be able to keep your steering wheel still, without sawing back and forth, and steer by applying gas or letting off the gas.

If your front end is starting to go wide toward the outside of the corner and you need to bring it in tighter, slightly lift your foot off the gas. If you're turning too tight and need to take the turn wider, apply more gas.

By lifting off the gas, your weight is transferred to the front tires and therefor your front tires will get more grip. When you apply more gas in a turn, weight is removed from the front tires and this will allow the front end to slip a little and turn wider.

By steering with the throttle, you will maintain a smoother apex and control through the sweeper.
Steering by throttle.

Contents:
Page 1 - Front Page
Page 2 - Trophy Room
Page 3 - Specifications
Page 4 - Solo II Autocross Action
Page 5 - Track Days / Super Lap / Road Racing
Page 6 - Driving School
Page 7 - Iraqi Autocross
Page 8 - Modifications
Page 9 - How to Race a Truck - Part 1
Page 10 - How to Race a Truck - Part 2
Page 11 - How to Race a Truck - Part 3
Page 12 - ~
Page 13 - ~