Family in racing

[StephF]

Well, my husband and I have been racing together for about 8 years now. We've been sharing a car (ITB Opel) which meant that we were never on track together. And we have usually done very well together, with only friendly competition between us.

Well, last summer I bought an ITC car, being as the Opel was in a state of disassembly. After doing a double at NHIS,I had to badger him into taking my car to the Glen to get a race in, being as he wasn't too keen on the thought of front wheel drive.

Well, he loved it. So much so that he's getting his own ITC car. Which means we will now be running directly against each other!

Now, I think we can play in the same sandbox together OK, and I think we trust each other's driving OK. I wouldn't have agreed to this if I didn't think that. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it so we can settle the question of who's faster once and for all... :P (I love you honey, but racin' is racin'!)

My question to those of you who share the track with family members is this; What can I expect? Do you get along OK or do you bicker off track? What's it like to come around a corner and see your brother/sister/husband/wife/parent rolling a car over? :119: How do you handle giving pointers to each other? Or do you?

What's the toughest thing about having family ontrack with you? And what's the best thing? I know we have at least one brother team on here that I'm aware of (oh Ray and Steve...) Any other family combo racers on this forum?

At least we know that we won't give each other a hard time about taking the weekend off to go racing instead of staying home to work around the house

[BobsAuto]

Originally posted by StephF@Jan 24 2006, 11:46 AM

My question to those of you who share the track with family members is this; What can I expect? Do you get along OK or do you bicker off track? What's it like to come around a corner and see your brother/sister/husband/wife/parent rolling a car over? :119: How do you handle giving pointers to each other? Or do you?

What's the toughest thing about having family ontrack with you? And what's the best thing? I know we have at least one brother team on here that I'm aware of (oh Ray and Steve...) Any other family combo racers on this forum?

Hi Steph, Trish here. You are right, Raymond and Stephen can give you the best feedback on this issue. They have been competitive since before birth and seem to have taken their competitiveness to the highest with their ski racing and auto racing. What I have seen as a parent of these two wonderful kids is that their healthy competition has brought them closer in many respects. They are able to give each other feedback on their cars and the car issues and have been able to learn more from one another as they both approach the race slightly differently. I'm not sure who is the more aggressive driver, but I will say that Raymond drives more like his Dad and Stephen is a bit smoother in his moves. Both are good traits and very successful traits and I pity the day when they both pick up both traits as I think that they will be unbeatable. Thank goodness that neither inherited my constant cautious attitude on the track. I have seen both you and Ed on track and I really think you two will be a great combination out there and will "make your individual race against one another" the race to watch in ITC.
Good luck to both of you and give them hell.

[mcgyverit]

Last season was the first time I had the chance to race against my brother. He made a great pass on the outside of me going from turn 1 into turn 2 at GIR on the first lap, but then I got to watch him spin off the track in front of me. My first thought was “crap!”, my second was back to racing and dealing with the situation at hand. The next lap he wasn’t there, so I figured he made it back to the pits at least. Fortunately it turned out he didnt hit anything and was able to continue on. If it had been a serious crash I would have pulled into the pits to check on him. The only other down side for me is not being able to offer as much crew help now that we are out at the same time as I have to get my own car going. As far as rivalries go, he is faster/better driver but I am getting better.

[dave parker]

Originally posted by StephF@Jan 24 2006, 11:46 AM

My question to those of you who share the track with family members is this; What can I expect? Do you get along OK or do you bicker off track? What's it like to come around a corner and see your brother/sister/husband/wife/parent rolling a car over? :119: How do you handle giving pointers to each other? Or do you?

Any other family combo racers on this forum?

My wife and I have raced in the Washington DC Region MARRS ITC class together for the last two years. It has been interesting to say the least.

You should expect the other person to follow the GCR "rules of the road", you should follow them yourself.

You should expect bickering, just like marriage. Try not to do it in public, also like marriage.

I have come around T1 @ Summit Point to see the wifes car facing the wrong way with the front end all crunched in. What was more scary was finding the antifreeze that the guy who hit her left in T4! At least the guy who hit her came and apologized( a rare thing these days), he was fully at fault and admitted it. Although that did not help with the frame shop and body shop bills.

It has been made very clear to me that I am not my wife's instructor.

Remember that your job as a racer is to beat the competition. Your job as a spouse is to offer support and encouragement. It is a fine balancing act.

I live for the day when my wife passes me for position in a race. I will cheer her on while she does it. Then I will chase her down and take the position back.

cheers
"dangerous" dave parker

[seckerich]

My wife Vicki and I always shared my ITS car in enduro's and later she started to run in sprint races. She drove my EP car once and that was the end of our shared ride. I quickly found that all the prep and crew duties get spread thin with 2 cars and found that drivers "suck as crew" as she put it. You will need some good friends to help with crew duties or the whole effort will be hurt.

[spnkzss]

Originally posted by seckerich@Jan 24 2006, 02:12 PM
My wife Vicki and I always shared my ITS car in enduro's and later she started to run in sprint races. She drove my EP car once and that was the end of our shared ride. I quickly found that all the prep and crew duties get spread thin with 2 cars and found that drivers "suck as crew" as she put it. You will need some good friends to help with crew duties or the whole effort will be hurt.

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That's interesting that you say that. I am essentially part of a 4 car team. 3 of which race in one class. If the prep work is planned crewing for yourself it doesn't have to be that big of a hassle. Luckily, any issues we have had have been on one car at a time. When it comes to multiple issues with multiple cars, I could see that being an issue and it's every man for him/herself.

There is nothing I would like more than to race against my brother and my father. Ongoing fued for many years. I am putting my brother through Spring Driver's School this year, so maybe one day that dream can become a reality.

As far as the fear aspect, last year my teammate had a wheel break in the middle of the bowl at the new Shenendoah circuit at Summit Point. I came around to find the car stuffed into the wall and him still in it. Next lap, he was still in it. For the next 3 laps I watched Emergency Services get there and luckily I know most of them so they gave me the thumbs up as I drove by. I was definitly nervous. My teammate is a good friend outside of racing so I had a vested interest. I won't lie, it did change the way I raced a little. I wasn't 100% focused on what I was doing. You just need to realize what the risks are and you can not fault the other for not stopping everything they are doing to make sure the other is ok. When you let the emmotions of something like that take over you greatly increase the risk of the non-reckee becoming a second instance. If it does become a huge scare factor, you may want to spend the $1200 on 3 radios. One for one driver, one for another, and one for a friend/crew member. This way status can be relayed, and god forbid something bad was going on, you would know to give your race up and go to the pit and attend this issue.

Take it for what it's worth. I bought radios.

[seckerich]

Biggest problem is when the classes run back-to-back and you have no time between them. One is on track while the other needs to go to grid. Hard to run the radio-spot-and make the 5 minute call!! I had to call the start at VIR from the grid and get a radio check in the car while she was in impound. Gets hectic!! Still wouldn't trade it for anything--could have a wife that complains about the car instead of pushing to get new ones built.

[Knestis]

Here's Vicki (and some other guy) on TV last year.

Please "save as" to preserve bandwidth...

http://it2.evaluand.com/gti/media/BlueRidgeFox8.ASF

K

[StephF]

We've run together in endurance races, the 12 hour at Summit and the 24 at Moroso. At one 12 hour, we split the driving, so it was just the 2 of us each doing 3 hour shifts. So I already know what it's like to work together.

But competing AGAINST each other, well that will be new territory. Especially given the fact that we are competitive on an ongoing daily basis as it is!

For example, if we are driving two vehicles home from town, one person will peel off to take a different route. Then both of us hustle to beat the other one home (while pretending that we aren't racing, we're just motoring along...). We've driven past the other one stuck at the light and done the Queen Elizabeth wave at them, while smirking.

So, I can imagine what the racetrack could be like.

What I DON'T want to do is what the Sheppard brothers were doing. Even though they became the race to watch, they actually slowed each other down because they were so focused on beating the other one.

I think I have been around long enough to recognize whether or not an incident is bad or just a broken car. And I think that I would be able to concentrate on my racing if the incident is not extraordinary, and I would for sure pull in and head for medical if he was being transported. And I would be pissed if he ditched his race because I was in a minor incident. Now both of us would be out of the running, instead of him being out there to hunt down whoever put me out!!

We are talking about getting radios. We already have most of the incar wiring. And we will both run video cameras. He's got lot's more experience and is the better driver (for the moment) and I look forward to going to school on him. We've been turning times usually within 1/2 second of each other in the Opel.

Oh, and as far as working on the car goes, I have a Civic, he has a CRX. He made the comment to me that, "We'll have a set of spares in the trailer, and if I break something and we don't have it, I'll just take it off of your car."

Over My Dead Body!

[dickita15]

having radios on the same channel is pretty cool. I have that with my team mate even though neither of us usually have crew. we can sometimes warn the other about issues at a given corner. i also spent most of a naarc runoffs up to my axels in mud at the lefthander taking times with the watch on my steering wheel and egging him on to go faster.

[joeg]

Stephanie--I chatted with your husband on the grid at the Glen this year (because I recognized the car from Pittsburgh).

He expressed gratitude to you for the car.

Have fun.

[Ed Funk]

Originally posted by joeg@Jan 25 2006, 09:48 AM
Stephanie--I chatted with your husband on the grid at the Glen this year (because I recognized the car from Pittsburgh).

He expressed gratitude to you for the car.

Have fun.

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That wasn&#39;t gratitude, that was thinly disguised irritation for forcing me to drive that damn J-- Crap, rice burning piece of s---! <_< But boy was that thing fun!! and faster than the old itb Opel!! So, yeah, I went and got my own, and I hope its faster than heres, cause guys are supposed to be faster than the "skirts"

Ed

[RacerBill]

Originally posted by StephF@Jan 25 2006, 07:30 AM

But competing AGAINST each other, well that will be new territory. Especially given the fact that we are competitive on an ongoing daily basis as it is!

For example, if we are driving two vehicles home from town, one person will peel off to take a different route. Then both of us hustle to beat the other one home (while pretending that we aren&#39;t racing, we&#39;re just motoring along...). We&#39;ve driven past the other one stuck at the light and done the Queen Elizabeth wave at them, while smirking.

So, I can imagine what the racetrack could be like.

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Steph: My wife does not enjoy the going fast thing, so I will probably not have the opportunity to share that experience with her. My son, on the other hand is a different matter. Unfortunately, he lives in California and we live in Ohio, so we don&#39;t get together as much as we would like. But when he does visit...... There is nothing that gives us more pleasure than racing each other! Last time he was out here, we raced Karts - 13 9lap/8 minute heats for 5-5 1/2 hours.

I guess that it all depends on the individuals, but it can be lots of fun!

[R2 Racing]

My Dad, my brother-in-law, and I started doing HPDE&#39;s together back in &#39;98 and I autocrossed on my own in &#39;98 and &#39;99. For the 2000 season, both my brother-in-law and I bought &#39;85 ITC Civic&#39;s. My Dad took on the duty of chief mechanic and crew chief. The two of us on track were pretty competitive but really, we weren&#39;t experienced to be gunning for wins against eachother. We generally tried to work together both on and off the track to advance ourselves and our cars to the front of the class. Unfortunately, after the 2001 season, divorce happened and my brother-in-law wasn&#39;t able to race with us anymore. So I ran 2002 pretty much by myself with my Dad as my crew chief.

For 2003, we built a new ITC car for me and my Dad jumped into my old car - we&#39;ve been doing it together ever since. I actually enjoyed having to basically make him first realize that he had a lot to learn and then helping him learn it. For once, he was the student. So even though we were both in ITC for 2003, we were generally on opposite sides of the field so we didn&#39;t do much W2W against eachother. But again, we were always working together for the advancement of the team as a whole.

For 2004, we built another new car as I made the jump to ITA where I remain today. My Dad stayed in ITC, again racing my old car that we had built the previous year. I have to say that this is the sitution I have enjoyed the most. This way we are rarely in the same run groups and therefore get to see eachothers races and be eachothers crew chiefs. There&#39;s still some competition between us as he&#39;s gunning for my old ITC lap times. Every now and then he beats one of my old times. When he does, I&#39;m very happy for him but also really feel the need to get back into an ITC car just to rebeat his time.

As for radios, GET THEM! They are invaluable between two drivers on track at the same time. If you guys are running together, you can be on the radio talking to eachother on how to work together to pass other racers or even just warn eachother of incidents around the track.

Honestly, you&#39;ll get use to driving and working on two cars with only the two drivers to tend to them. Also, remember, you&#39;re driving Honda&#39;s now - just put gas in them and go! My Dad and I do this by ourselves all the time. I&#39;m sure being a father & son team, we also experience some of the shouting matches a husband & wife team may. But, it happens - get over it.

[MMiskoe]

Steph:

I’ve been racing with/against my wife Kathy & my Dad Bill for several years now. The worst part – having to have more than one car ready at a time. The best part – we have a lot of common interests and get to do a lot of things together as a result.

We have three cars between us, but Kathy & I swap back & forth between our two. When the option for car #2 came up, she was all for it w/ one caveat – She gets the faster car. My dad & I have shared cars in enduros & raced against each other in them. On a rare occasion we have actually had all three of us in the same race, each in our own cars.

A couple of points to offer about it:
- Don’t be asking about what size seat to be buying while holding a tape measure.
- when your other half comes off the track & complains about the handling, you’re best to listen carefully & go look for the problem, don’t just blow it off
- Don’t send them out w/ only 3 out of 4 wheels torqued. It will come up for years to come.
- when your dad appears to be trying to get out of your way so you can pass him, but you’re under caution, purposely bumping him may provide for fun stories, but it doesn’t work for getting him to speed up.
- outbraking your spouse & passing them (for position) on the outside going into turn 11 at NHIS is not easy. Explaining after the race why you thought it was justified is even harder.

Be very diplomatic when coaching. Make sure they are in a mood to be critiqued before you start. Choose how you approach the subject carefully, but don’t be afraid to encourage them to push harder. For Kathy & I this is the hardest thing to do w/o causing hard feelings. It’s hard to do w/ anyone – if you’re offering advice on how to go faster you’re implying that you think they’re not fast enough, or not doing something right. No one likes being told they’re driving badly.

Be clear w/ your other half what you would expect in the event of an incident. I always tell her to finish the race regardless of what you see me do. No point in ruining both of your races. I’ve always thought that if the incident is so bad that someone has been badly hurt there is likely to be a red flag anyway. It is distracting to see one of the other cars off in the weeds, always makes me look really hard at it.

Will it cause problems at home? Well that’s up to you. Everyone is different. Paint the two cars the same color so when you get friendly on track it will be less obvious. Lots of people have suggested having separate vehicles to ride home in, so far we haven’t needed that.

2 cars, twice the fun, 4 times the work.

Families that race together, stay together.

Matt

[joeg]

[quote]
That wasn&#39;t gratitude, that was thinly disguised irritation for forcing me to drive that damn J-- Crap, rice burning piece of s---! <_< But boy was that thing fun!! and faster than the old itb Opel!! So, yeah, I went and got my own, and I hope its faster than heres, cause guys are supposed to be faster than the "skirts"

Ed


But you were beat by a "skirt" in that race, Ed!

[JamesB]

Figure it this way, if she is faster you can have lots of fun talking about stories of chasing skirt around the race track.

[Ed Funk]

[quote]

That wasn&#39;t gratitude, that was thinly disguised irritation for forcing me to drive that damn J-- Crap, rice burning piece of s---! <_< But boy was that thing fun!! and faster than the old itb Opel!! So, yeah, I went and got my own, and I hope its faster than heres, cause guys are supposed to be faster than the "skirts"

Ed
But you were beat by a "skirt" in that race, Ed!

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Sometimes it&#39;s FUN to have women beat you!

[R2 Racing]

Originally posted by joeg@Jan 25 2006, 03:00 PM
But you were beat by a "skirt" in that race, Ed!

Ahhh, was Meg there?

[Ed Funk]

Originally posted by R2 Racing@Jan 25 2006, 05:33 PM
Ahhh, was Meg there?

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Yes, she was the skirt du jour, and I was trying as hard as I could, but there must have been some mechanical problem with the car, &#39;cause I just couldn&#39;t get by her. I told her after the race that it had been the most fun I&#39;d ever had with a woman when I didn&#39;t have to worry about birth control!!