Knowledge Is Power

Subtitle:Lites 1 Masters Championship Contender Slusher Continues To Improve

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 3, 2016) – So many elements, big and small, factor into the formula for success in racing.

A strong, reliable engine. A well-tuned chassis. Proper tire management. Track experience. Teamwork. Pure driving skill.

But Todd Slusher thinks there’s another important ingredient that has helped him progress from a raw rookie in the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires in 2014 to a Lites 1 Masters championship contender in 2016.

“I would say, for sure, my knowledge has doubled,” Slusher said. “There are certain aspects to racing, and knowledge is probably one that people least focus on. But knowledge is what allows you to get faster.”

Slusher, from Las Vegas, returns to the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Official Development Series for a third consecutive season with Las Vegas-based ONE Motorsports. The 2016 season is just his fifth year in any kind of racing, so he continues to be a sponge for more knowledge.

He opened the season in March at Sebring International Raceway with a victory in Round 2 and is second in the Lites 1 Masters standings, just four points behind ONE Motorsports teammate Gerhard Watzinger in what looks to be a very competitive class in 2016.

Slusher, 53, came full circle at Sebring with his return to Lites 1. He started in the class in 2014 with only two seasons of regional sports car racing under his firesuit.

The stiff competition in Lites 1, combined with a few early-season mechanical problems, convinced Slusher to drop into the Lites 2 class midway through the 2014 season. The smaller Lites 2 field allowed Slusher to learn more quickly and gain confidence with podium finishes in all eight of his L2 starts, including three victories. He finished second behind Brian Alder in the season points.

“I was brand new; I never had been at this level,” Slusher said. “So I was already kind of nervous about it. So when I had these problems, I immediately dropped to the bottom, and I felt like I’m so far down that for me, it’s just going to get worse. I’m going to be at the very back of the bus trying to figure this out.

“I thought maybe I should drop into L2 because I’ll be able to compete for the rest of the season, and I’ll have less guys I’ll be racing against. I’ll get more information, be more active and be more excited about going to the track.”

The strategy worked so well that Slusher decided to stay in Lites 2 in the 2015 season. He finished second again behind three-time Lites 2 champion Alder, earning five victories and seven other podium finishes.

But Slusher decided it was time to return to Lites 1 in 2016.

Friend and rival Alder also was jumping to the class, and two-time Lites 1 Masters champion and ONE Motorsports teammate John Falb was heading to race in the European Le Mans Series. Falb’s departure elevated Slusher to the most veteran driver in the ONE Motorsports lineup in Prototype Lites.

Plus Slusher was quicker in his Lites 2 car than a handful of Lites 1 Masters drivers near the end of the 2015 season, so a comeback to Lites 1 was a logical step.

“I knew I wasn’t going to compete with the young guys, but the Masters, I felt I could compete with those guys,” Slusher said. “I just want to keep competing with the guys I’m going to be racing with, and I felt I was ready for it. Two, knowing that John wasn’t going to be in it, I needed to step up in our group.”

Slusher is aiming for a Lites 1 Masters podium finish every time he straps into his No. 62 Élan DP02 chassis with Mazda power running on Cooper Tires. Continuing to expand his knowledge base will go a long way toward reaching that goal.

That information-gathering process involves many sources at every event. Slusher pores over data and receives instruction before and after each on-track session with his driver coach, 2013 Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype driver Sean Rayhall.

Slusher also gleans tips from drivers and officials, including sports car racing legend Elliott Forbes-Robinson, who serves as Race Director for the Prototype Lites series.

No advice is too insignificant. Everything counts.

“Everybody has a skill level, but when you combine that with the knowledge you gain by racing and interacting with the other drivers and Elliott, there’s a lot I’ve learned from him over the last season,” Slusher said. “And if you take that to heart and apply it to your knowledge base, if you get on the track and you apply it, you sort of look back and go, ‘Wow, that did have an effect.’ You can use that to make it better.

“That’s the biggest thing: I look back now, and I know so much more than I did two years ago.”

Slusher’s work with Rayhall almost resembles learning a new language. In 2014, Slusher could only absorb so much of Rayhall’s teaching before it became overwhelming. Now he’s a much more fluent student.

“For example, we’re looking at a track and going over a map, he’ll mention things that didn’t make sense to me before,” Slusher said. “I couldn’t quite understand everything. It’s kind of like drinking out of a fire hose.

“Now when he explains stuff to me, he can give me more information and I can get more out of it. Before, I was like: ‘Stop. I can only understand so much.’ Now it’s much different. We can go over a track map, and he can explain everything to me, and now I’m getting it. I can understand what he means. Before, I was only getting about half of what he was telling me.”

While Slusher’s mental database continues to grow, his affection for the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires remains as strong in his third season as it did as a wide-eyed rookie in 2014.

Slusher’s physique resembles that of a linebacker more than a jockey-sized race driver, so the high-downforce, fast Lites car suits his physical strength. His efforts to get in better physical shape also have produced more speed, as he insists there’s a direct correlation between the two because the physical nature of the Lites chassis rewards fitness.

“I absolutely love that car,” Slusher said. “If you look at the entire package of what you’re doing in that car, short of a Prototype Challenge car, there aren’t a whole lot of cars out there that deliver what these cars can do. You pretty much go as fast as everybody out there in the market in this range.

“So if you look at across the class of cars that are out there, this car, in my mind, is far ahead. Everything, from top to bottom. Braking, power, cornering speeds. And they look great. I like to be in a car that looks good and feels good.

“If you’re going to commit this kind of time, money and effort, you want to get the max out of it. And I just feel like this particular car, this particular class in IMSA, delivers a lot. That’s keeping me pretty excited.”