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Frank Youtzy is a crew chief for a local Sportsman team at Five Flags Speedway, in Pensacola Florida. He will give us a birds-eye view of what it's like to race at the grassroots level. He will also field questions from the readers concerning weekly local racing.
March 10, 2009
By Frank Youtzy
Hey there,
My name is Frank Youtzy. I am new to this forum, but was asked to chime in for you all. Let me know what you think, and I will do the same.
The main focus of my articles will be to transfer my experiences of local racing as it relates to our beloved NASCAR sanctioning body.
So, the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Trucks Series are getting into their grooves now.
But what about all of us local racers? ‘Super late models’ to the ‘Bomber’ divisions are gearing up all over the country.
I will not ever complain about the cost of racing. Face it, this is a hobby. I got over that when I saw an entry level, ‘bomber’ team complaining about the cost of racing as they unloaded their car from an enclosed hauler.
But what about the balance? No, not the handling of the car. The balance of play time to work time is what I’m talking about.
This is supposed to be fun right?
We had a terrible season last year. We worked way too hard at first, but wound up third in points due to the balance.
Think back to how many professional teams did the same thing, and wound up worse.
Bad luck/good luck? Luck is what you make it.
As crew chief, it’s my responsibility to make things happen and keep the team together. It was rough. Wrecks, starting in the back, penalties for getting dumped, etc.
So what did I do? I put the ‘play’ back into the team.
Local racers to F1, hear me out on this. If you’re not having fun, you are Losing. The support of your family should come first. “If momma isn’t happy, nobody’s happy.”
And don’t go spending the power bill money on fuel and tires! (Sorry about the car count promoters)
We worked on a bent chassis all year and didn’t even know it. We had fun figuring it out though. Taking tire temps like the pro’s, and listening to driver tell about ‘evil’ turn entry. Getting a bent car to roll through the middle of the turn is difficult. We did it, but we were getting it handed to us down the straights.
“Frank, you are all over the track here, what’s your point?”
From 'start up teams' to Cup Series teams, you can tell which ones have the balance between the work and play of racing.
Look close at the top teams.
The current ‘Super Teams’ look so focused all the time when you see them on TV, but look closer and you will see them cutting up and having a good time as well.
Racers, if your family and friends are having a good time playing at the track, you can stick together and justify the time, money and work needed to be competitive.
Fans, there is a lot of stuff you don’t see, but you still know when a team is having problems. That’s because their crew chief/team manager doesn’t ‘balance’ what this sport is all about.
Don’t Work so hard you lose the real reason you are at the track in the first place. -- Don’t Play so much that you can’t be competitive.
Comments or suggestions are encouraged. Please contact Frank Youtzy at Insider Racing News.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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