As I have been fortunate to have some success in the racing world over the past few seasons, a lot of people have asked me, "what's the secret?" I could give the cookie cutter answers of "oh you have to test relentlessly" or "race every weekend to keeping improving your driving skills" but we all know that the true answer isn't either of those things. I am finally ready to share the secret to success in boat racing and how I arrived at this conclusion.
In the year of our Lord 2016 I set out with a goal to become the best boat racer I could be. I wanted to be one of those guys that made people physically upset when they read my name in their elimination heat at the nationals. I thought the best way to start my journey to becoming that driver is to study those who are currently at that level. I studied the likes of Dylan Runne and Andrew Tate to see how they were able to become the upper echelon drivers that they were. I meticulously took notes of all of their mannerisms, their pre race rituals, the way that they started, the way that they raced with people all around them. It became an obsession, everything that these guys did was something that I could learn from. Then I broadened my search.
Next I looked at the likes of Dave Bennett and Peter Lauer. These were the kings of ASR and I knew that there had to be something there. I watched how they manipulated their boats to do exactly what they wanted and how they were always in control and knew that I could learn a lot from them.
I finally got to the point where I was studying drivers in every class from all around the country. I was keeping tabs on Johnny Wlodarski in New Jersey and Donny Allen in Wisconsin amongst a multitude of others to learn more about them. The notebooks kept filling up with more and more notes about how drivers took runs at the clock and how they tested to the point where it was all I could think about.
At this point, the picture was becoming more and more clear. I was starting to see trends and similarities between the drivers that were becoming more and more apparent but I just couldn't quite put it together. I knew something had to be unifying all of the best drivers in racing put I just couldn't put my finger on it.
Then it hit me.
Like a ton of bricks.
One single picture had put it all together for me and I couldn't sleep for a month knowing the secret.
I had cracked the code.
To quote the great Avril Lavigne, "can I make it any more obvious?"
-MP
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