September 2018
September 26th, 2018 by Sherry Grantz
2019 Driver’s School to Feature Seminar by Previous National Champions
by Clint deWitt
For the first time next year the SF Region Drivers’ School, which is scheduled for the Presidents’ Day weekend (February 16-17-18), will feature a day-long seminar by a distinguished group of SF Region drivers who have gone on to win one or more National Championships – epitomizing the dream of every SCCA racer (whether he or she will admit to it or not).
Undeniably, an SCCA National Championship has a certain mystique! There is something about winning a National Championship that not only sets you apart, but makes you look as though you can do no wrong! Well, that’s quite far from the truth, really. Just ask Jim Devenport, who won the 2016 National Championship in the super-fast Prototype 1 Class at Mid-Ohio.
In his path to a National Championship, he learned a valuable lesson with respect to setting the priorities in his racing budget, namely that at least in certain instances any savings could be false economy! Here is that lesson in his own words:
“One idea that failed so badly made me realize the single most important thing to setting up your car correctly. It is to only adjust your suspension settings for maximum performance when running brand new tires within their best performance window. Otherwise you’re just chasing a degrading tire issue…a rabbit hole if there ever was one. My faux pas was buying what looked to be a lightly used set of tires shortly after I started racing 12 years ago.“
Following Jim’s advice may not win you a National Championship, or even a Regional Championship, but it can surely help you along that path.
If you are interested in starting racing next year, be sure to sign up for the February 16-17-18 SF Region Drivers’ School at ThunderHill and graduate with a full competition SCCA license – and a full day of important tips from SF Region’s cadre of of over 50 National Champions!
Until next month, this is Clint deWitt