Who Cares Who is in the Other Lane?!?

Ask any drag racer in the world when they are the happiest to get a bye run and the answer is always, "at three cars." A few weekends ago at the Gateway International Raceway Spring NHRA Open, we were running super comp and I was able to take a look at the ladder. I quickly saw that if Mike could keep cutting good lights and if the car wanted to keep cooperating, then we had a chance at a bye into the finals. When the winlight came on at 12 cars, I was excited. And when the winlight came on at 6 cars I was really excited! I knew that at 3 cars we would have the bye into the finals and we did. As we were rolling into staging at 3 cars, Mike and I felt this surge of confidence, this surge of joy, this surge of "we are going to the finals." And Mike cut an awesome light and the car ran a great number. And I started to think how many times I have seen good runs when people have bye runs--they often hit a good light (.005-.020) but they rarely seem to go red and they rarely seem to cut a crappy light. And it made me think--you should always run like it is a bye run, you should always try to have the best run you can. Of course when you are racing someone you need to think about their ET, their MPH, but the number one thing is to focus on your light and your run. I do some sport consulting with athletes in other sports (e.g., tennis, softball, volleyball, bowling, etc.) and I encourage them to think about their competition, but to keep the focus on their own game and the things that they can control to help them win. So who cares who is in the other lane if you perform the best you possibly can?

(Photo from www.bretkepnerphotos.com)