Give Good Feedback

Being able to properly explain what the car is doing – to your crew chief or yourself – is the key to making the car better, says Tom Long.

Driver feedback is often thought of as the information a racer gives back to his team – to the engineers, to the crew chief, to all the people that will be working to make the car better for the next session.The majority of racers, though, don't have a cadre of technically skilled people ready to descend on the car when it arrives in the paddock. The typical club racer may have a hired crew chief, but often it's a family member or buddy. Those who rent a car or have their car prepped through an arrive-and-drive program will have more resources at their disposal. But in many cases the driver is also the engineer, the crew chief, the mechanic and the caterer. In every one of those instances, though, driver feedback is important – even if it's just to yourself.