GUEST POST: The importance of never giving up

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By Tyler Hooks
LiveRC.com

Back in January, I ventured into the arctic tundra otherwise known as Ohio for the CRCRC Midwest Electric Championships. I am primarily an 1/8-scale off-road racer, but I have been taking more time to visit 1/10-scale electric tracks and events. That is where the subject for this post comes from, and while this is geared more for the younger crowd again I think lots of people can gain something from it. 

I heard the quote "younger drivers quite simply just drive with more passion" from a racer that weekend and it stuck with me. That’s not to say that older drivers don't, but when you don't have a job, or a house, or a significant other, and thing you love to do most is drive your toy car, then - yeah - you are going to be pretty passionate. Perhaps that’s the reason that I saw a lot of short-sighted driving that weekend. I watched racers make lots of costly mistakes that, had the racer saddled back up and kept driving, could've been salvaged for top-ten or even top-five runs. Instead, those heats and main events further devolved into continued mistakes, frustration and broken cars. 

Obviously, collecting one’s composure and refocusing is often easier said than done - especially for younger, inexperienced and less mature drivers, but if 1/8-scale racing has taught me anything it’s that if I gave up on every 45-minute main where I crashed on the first lap, I probably wouldn't have finished a race in my first year running in the pro-level classes. 

The easy answer, of course, is to not crash - but when you do, take a breath and settle down. There’s no better way to get a good run back on track than forcing that mistake out of your mind and continuing driving as if nothing happened. In my second qualifying round of 4WD Modified at the CRCRC race, I crashed on the first lap. Rather than lose my cool, though, I calmed down and drove a controlled pace considering my ability. I earned a tenth-place finish for the round. Could it have been better? Sure - but a tenth-place finish is better than being outside the top 50.

Dakotah Phend repeatedly proved to be an even better example at that race - and many major events he attends. On multiple occasions, I’ve seen Dakotah make a costly mistake in the middle of a qualifying run - then relax, strap it up, and push back to TQ runs. It’s one of the reasons why he’s among the fastest drivers in the world, and watching him rebound from mistakes serves as a reminder that self-control is often the difference between the A-Main and packing up early.