Ross Bentley

4 days ago | rossbentley.substack.com | Ross Bentley

How time flies when you’re having fun!Two years ago, I started publishing Driving Directions with a simple goal: to share what I’ve learned from a life of coaching, racing, and thinking way too hard about what to do with a brake and throttle pedal. Today’s post marks number 170. So, well more than one every week, for two years. Substack tells me that makes me a one-percenter. But stats aren’t what keep me writing. You do.

1 week ago | rossbentley.substack.com | Ross Bentley

Sit back, grab yourself a cup or glass of your favorite beverage, and have a listen to the story of how I learned about the importance of braking, corner speed, acceleration, and a few other things. Back in 1999 and 2000, I was coaching a driver who was competing in the North American Formula Atlantic Series, one of the steps on the ladder to Indy car. There were twelve races on the series calendar, from Long Beach to the Milwaukee oval, and Road America to the street course at Trois Rivieres.

2 weeks ago | rossbentley.substack.com | Ross Bentley

Natural talent and seat time. That’s all it takes to be an elite-level driver. Nope. Most people look at the very best race drivers (Max Verstappen, Alex Palou, Colin Braun, Kyle Larson, etc.) and think that what makes them the best is what they were born with—their natural talent. Or, that they would be just as good as these superstars if they had the same amount of seat time that they’ve had. While their DNA does make a difference, it’s what they’ve done with it that makes the biggest difference.

3 weeks ago | rossbentley.substack.com | Ross Bentley

Of the seventeen times I competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona race, the event in 2005 was perhaps the most challenging and interesting. As you know, in endurance races like this, a team has four drivers. Each drives for about two hours before pulling into the pits and handing over the wheel to the next driver, much like a relay race. Between stints on th…

1 month ago | rossbentley.substack.com | Ross Bentley

Min speed, vMin, or whatever you want to call it, is simply the minimum speed you’re carrying at the slowest point in a corner. I’m sure you understand why your min speed is so important, but to review:If it’s too high, you’re going to be delayed in beginning to accelerate out of the corner, hurting your speed down the next straight. If it’s too low, you’ll begin accelerating from a lower speed than ideal, and that will also hurt your speed down the next straight.