Top Racing

By a Racer, For Racers: Finding Target Brands for Sponsorship

By a Racer, For Racers: Finding Target Brands for Sponsorship

For young racers looking to make the step into racing professionally, a singular topic is always at the forefront: sponsorship.  Current Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup challenger Aidan Fassnacht dives deep into the prospect of finding funding to secure a racing seat; the first of a four part series - By a Racer, For Racers.

By Corey Rueth | September 27, 2022
Speed Secrets: Setting HPDE Expectations

The story of two bad wrecks and how experience teaches that managing expectations is key for track days (and even more important for wheel-to-wheel racing).

By Corey Rueth | February 08, 2022
Why We Love Willy T. Ribbs

Just one week into F1's summer break, we've found ourselves rewatching some of the 2022 season's highlights.  One of the most memorable moments so far has to be Willy T's podium interviews after the Miami GP.

By Corey Rueth | August 08, 2022

Racing

The Guide to Road Racing, Part 15: The Elusive Rain Line

As a young racer I found myself listening to more seasoned drivers discussing rain lines at the track with great curiosity, like they belonged to a secret club. I read and asked questions but found a myriad of answers that never worked that well for me. Ultimately, I determined that my own aggressive research was my best hope for a rain strategy that produced consistent results. I have a short attention span and sports that can’t kill me do little to keep my interest. I guess that’s why I found racing so appealing – specifically road racing.

By Corey Rueth | August 11, 2020
Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge Driver Profile: #42 Michael Borden

Michael is a returning driver with a solid record of top-10 finishes in 2019 and finished 6th overall in the 2019 Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge season. He’s a hard-charger and is not afraid to put his elbows out and fight for a position. With a single win in the 2020 season, he’s sitting in 3rd, only 8 points behind 2nd place with one regular season event to go.

By Winding Road Staff | July 21, 2020
How To Jump Curbs Like A Pro At Buttonwillow: Driver Mod Track Guide

For racers and time attack/HPDE drivers in the Southwest, there are still plenty of opportunities to get on track at Southern California’s world-famous famous Buttonwillow Raceway Park. If drivers are feeling a bit rusty in regard to properly navigating this fun-yet-tricky course, particularly in its 13CW configuration, Kevin Burke of Driver Mod has you covered.

By Peter Nelson | June 03, 2020
Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge Driver Profile: #23 Jack Sanchez

Oregon’s Jack Sanchez returns to the Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge for another crack at the title. In 2019, Jack finished 18th in the regular season which earned him a spot in the Grand Finale race at Road Atlanta; he also has the distinction of being one of the few driver’s that started every 2019 race and that’s what earned him an auto-invite to the 2020 season.

By Winding Road Staff | April 21, 2020
2020 Spec MX-5 SimRacing Challenge Driver Profile: Rob Lebel #14

Rob Lebel comes to us with plenty of real-world experience. Having competed in various North American racing series for the past 10 years, he's now…

By Winding Road Staff | April 09, 2020
Speed Secrets: What Prevents Quicker

Is there anyone reading this who does not want to drive faster? Yep, just what I thought. Going faster can be seen in two ways: what can you do to drive faster, and what stops you from driving faster. It’s this second viewpoint that driver coach E. Paul Dickinson writes about this week, getting you to think about what stops you from going quicker. By doing so, you can mentally prepare for what prevents you from driving quicker.

By Ross Bentley | March 23, 2020
This Weekend In Racing: Take A Look Back To The Late 80s And Early 90s

Since there won’t really be any racing on TV this weekend, we thought we’d put together a mix of street circuit races from around 35 years to enjoy while we’re all more cooped-up than usual.

By Peter Nelson | March 20, 2020
The Sauber-Mercedes C9 Is One Of The Most Gorgeous And Fascinating Group C Racecars

We’ve got a big soft spot for the Sauber-Mercedes C9. Its development story is fascinating, its podium ratio is quite good, and it just looks beautiful. The small, bi-turbo V8 beast was the most successful cars of the 1989 Group C racing season, winning eight races including Le Mans. They scored a 2nd place spot on the prestigious, French podium as well.

By Peter Nelson | March 18, 2020
How Do NASCAR Teams Figure Out Tire Changes Before And During Races?

It is impossible to watch a NASCAR race without noticing the lightning-fast speeds at which the pit crews change tires on the vehicles during their pit stops. The unforgettable zipping sound of the impact wrenches they use to remove the lug nuts is just one of the highly-skilled duties these professionals use to assure a quick tire change.

By Guest Contributor | March 17, 2020
Three Common Methods of Steering Wheel Control – But Which Makes You Faster?

This is a controversial topic, with many differing opinions. One of my objectives for Speed Secrets Weekly has always been to provide different perspectives, and that’s why we have a different guest contributor each week. To address these questions and comments, I’m going to tackle the topic in the feature article, and then have two coaches/drivers whom I respect immensely, Peter Krause and Peter Carroll, share their thoughts.

By Ross Bentley | March 17, 2020
Speed Secrets: Why Do We Do What We Do?

Some people would say that driving around a race track is not the smartest thing to do! In fact, you may have had your sanity questioned more than once. Perhaps you’ve had someone give you THAT look when you tell them how much you spend on your passion. Or they’ve questioned your concern for the environment, your safety, or the care for your family.

By Ross Bentley | March 09, 2020
Why You Want To Go Vintage Racing

In some ways, vintage “racing” isn’t really racing. Chances are, you’ll be in a class with other cars that aren’t really like your car all that much. Vintage is different, but in that difference are some charms…

By Tom Martin | March 08, 2020
Speed Secrets: How To Reel ‘Em In

There is a justifiable concern amongst many automobile and driving enthusiasts about the way many teens (and even those in their 20’s or 30’s) have less of a passion for cars and driving than many older people. And some believe that the sport of performance and race driving may begin to suffer from fewer participants (if this hasn’t happened already) as the “older” crowd “moves on.” That’s why I appreciate Ingrid Steffensen’s article this week. As many of you know, a few years ago, Ingrid wrote a fun and interesting book, Fast Girl, that is all about how she – someone totally uninterested in driving on a track – became addicted to the sport. So, I think she’s well-qualified to talk about how we all should do what we can to get others interested – no, addicted – to our sport.

By Ross Bentley | February 29, 2020
Race Communications: How to Properly Mount an Antenna

Mounting your antenna properly determines the range and clarity of your two-way radios. A bad coaxial cable or an improperly mounted antenna can restrict two-way radio range from miles to feet.

By Jeff Sexton | February 27, 2020
Video: Spec Corvette Lap Record Broken At Willow Springs

This past weekend, with fears of rain and potential snow up in the high desert at Willow Springs International Raceway, Spec Corvette ran their second round of the year in conjunction with Speed Ventures. The rain held off for the most part and racers were able to take advantage of the cool ambient temperatures, to the point of setting a new Big Willow lap record!

By Peter Nelson | February 25, 2020
Crash And Learn: Typical Fault-Finding Is Pointless Or Wrong

We saw a crash of epic proportions at Road America on Saturday in the Continental Sports Car Challenge race (as far as we know, both drivers are okay). It happens in the famous Kink, with Owen Trinkler (#46 Mercedes AMG GT) setting up a pass on Craig Lyons…

By Tom Martin | February 25, 2020
Video: From P25 To P1 In A Spec Racer Ford, Post-Spin!

This video came across our desk recently despite being a few years old: after spinning out moments after the green flag waves, an SRF driver proceeds to fight through the a massive field from P25 to P1.

By Peter Nelson | February 17, 2020
Speed Secrets: Why Not Going Slow Is More Important Than Going Fast

If you had to guess, how many compromises do you make in just one lap? You know, trading off speed in one part of the track to gain in another? Or compromising braking for cornering, and cornering for acceleration? Or? I don’t know, either, but reading Randy Beikmann’s (author of Physics for Gearheads) article this week got me thinking about this, and I bet you will, too, when you read this week’s feature. And Randy’s main message is one that you need to take to heart, and use (it has to do with not going slow).

By Ross Bentley | February 17, 2020
What It Takes To Be A Great Racing Driver In 90 Seconds

This clip came across our desks recently: it’s filled with short tips from pro drivers of various series and eras, and is a sort of promo video for safeisfast.com. They’re all things we often forget about and need to be reminded of often (at least this author does). 

By Peter Nelson | February 11, 2020
Highlighted Podcast: SlipAngle Podcast Discusses The Glory That Is A Modified Audi TTRS

This is a great one: we love the TTRS, so we were especially excited to see this one show up in our Apple podcasts!

By Winding Road Staff | February 10, 2020
Speed Secrets: Developing Your Career Plan

One thing that most every successful business does is develop a five-year plan, some type of strategem that helps everyone, especially management, know where the company is going and how to get there.

By Ross Bentley | February 10, 2020

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The Guide to Road Racing: Winding Road Magazine's ultimate guide to getting your start in racing.

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