Racing, from a sports perspective, covers many aspects. There is car control, race-craft, sports psychology, and regardless of what some retired football player thinks, racers are athletes.

We have all been at one time or another in the seat thinking "Is this thing ever going to be over? How many laps are left?" Physical endurance is critical to all of us.

I have noticed during physical exertion when I use up my short term anaerobic energy and my body transitions to long term aerobic energy I'm slightly distracted by trying to "catch my wind" and what I'm feeling in my muscles. Sometimes this distraction is short (5-15 seconds) and other times the distraction may last upward of a minute depending on physical conditioning.

During that period when you are distracted, you are not giving 100% of your focus to the task at hand - racing. At that point you are vulnerable to another racer in better condition who is using race craft against you, or even worse, you lose control of your race car.

One tip that may help is to make sure that the first time your heart rate is up each day it's not in the car. Find a physical activity that works for you and make it part of your pre-driving routine.

Contact me (505-890-8708 x201) for Race Coaching Service to see how we can improve you personal performance.

This is a tip you likely heard back in high school shop, but forgot, so here is a reminder.

Files often times will get clogged with material creating what are called "pins." You've seen it, where the work material gets stuck in little spots on the file. Those pins typically scratch the surface of your work and create marks on the surface you are trying to finish.

Whatever you do, don't use the wire wheel on your grinder to remove the pins from the file. Instead, check the July 2012 newsletter to see my preferred method using a piece of brass to clean your files.

Once you have a clean file, the trick is to keep it that way so it cuts smoothly. While you may be tempted to put oil on your file, don't do it!

A good "old school" tip is to make a quick even pass over the file with a piece of chalk. The chalk acts like a parting agent and the tiny chips tend to fall off the file and not create the pins.