CHARLES LACARRE
Charles La carre
Field report: ARCA Pre-season at Daytona - Part 2
When I raced at Warneton in 2017, I developed signs of claustrophobia. I must have inherited that condition from my grand-mother, who cannot stand closed spaces… In my case, that is a rather embarrassing phobia as I spend most of my seat time confined in a head sock, buried in a helmet attached to a HANS device fixed to the seat placed in a narrow cockpit with a window protected by a safety net that needs to be removed to reach the fresh air of a warm racetrack…
This claustrophobia reached a peak during a panic attack after a race in Warneton, when my brakes caught fire. I thought I was lost to the flames when the temperature quickly rose in the cockpit… Thankfully, I have always enjoyed heat more than cold… as every good French southerner! I got rid of this problematic condition after some hypnosis sessions and I could measure their effect when I entered the cockpit of an ARCA race car at Daytona. The XS sized seat inherited from Leilani Munter wrapped my torso, my legs, my head and pressed on my shoulders. The heat from the engine was oppressive and I had to gather all my emotions in order to resist panicking. 10 years worth of racing memories flash by in my head. From my debuts in go-karts, the sacrifices of my family and their support, to the time spent on the tracks, which eventually led to this trip to America… All of this to feel scared? I am at Daytona to cross a new border leading to my dream, and it is not time to be scared. It is time to appreciate the moment.
Once the engine is fired and the “fear” neuron shut off in my brain, only 5 things remain : the car, the track, my spotter, my crew chief (Mr. Hillenburg) and I.
Rather careful exiting the pits, merging on the other side of the infinite double yellow line feels like a leap in the unknown… It is Daytona. We do not lift here, we do not brake either, under no circumstances. We keep the throttle pedal down and accelerate, all the time! Additionally, we do not forget to turn the wheel because at the end of the long long straightaway stands a 31° banked turn. The car never seems to stop accelerating… It goes faster and faster until it squats on the banking and turns almost on its own… or should I say, on her own, as car is a feminine word in French! I can feel the pressure on my shoulders literally, and the whole cockpit trembles so much that my vision is blurred and it becomes challenging to distinguish how far I am from the wall or the apron, which I need to avoid at all cost because I do not want to upset the suspension. In fact, it is never a good idea to upset a suspension at 170+mph…! Exiting the corner feels like a downhill roller coaster. The banking disappears and the car goes straight to the wall if a driver is not careful! First time through the tri-oval, blinded by the sun behind the grandstands endlessly standing as far as the eye can see… My first lap at Daytona is complete, and I am reaching cruising speed. No problem to report!
There is something new behind the wheel, or actually on the wheel: a red button which allows me to talk back to the team from the car. I am used to listening, but I am experiencing talking for the first time. I would rather remain focus on my driving, but Mr. Hillenburg challenges my reactions with some tricky questions about water and oil temperatures that I can read on the dashboard… The answers pop in my mind in French and I have to wait for the straightways to answer in English!
Top speed recorded at 178mph… Everything is under control, so I guess I am not going fast enough! Throughout the laps, I learned how to find my marks and, slowly but surely, solutions to my issues. I looked far ahead, and was careful about the steering movements. The car was tight on exit and I had to fight and predict that, but thankfully, my body adapted to the speed quickly. It all comes down to staying proactive behind the wheel and it is a trap to think you can relax as if you were driving on the highway… because there is no speed limit and you can always find ways to go faster at Daytona!
After starting to feel more comfortable on the middle groove and the inside line, in a more « optimized » approach, the team asked me to pick up the rhythm during session #3.
???
Tough to accelerate when you never lift, but this is why it was important to focus on the basics in my first two outings. It is now time to give attention to details. In order to go faster, momentum is my answer. To find that momentum, the distance between the car and the outside wall shrinks from yards to inches, or meters to centimeters… a matter of nationality and units! To run the outside, all 4 wheels above the white line, allows to use the banking as a launch pad, gain a few precious miles per hour… and a few hundredths of a second at the line!
Before attempting my 1st try, I take a deep breath approaching the turns, sticking to the wall on the outside. I do not look at that SAFER Wall, I just feel it and I am aware that it is a risky business to stay as close as possible to it. I brought the lap time down. Yee haw!
A car braking in the middle of the track out of turn 2 will prevent me from completing my 2nd try at a fast lap, and the 3rd try will end in a surprising fashion.
After spending 3 laps on the outside to build up speed, my heart skips a beat when the engine loses all power in Turn 3. A quick glance at the dashboard indicates a fuel pressure of 0. I am out of fuel following a calculation error from the team. As an econometrics student, I am not mad because I am familiar with miscalculations. However, this maneuver forces me to come down pit road, and breaks my dynamic. I will eventually have to go out on the track for try #4 and spend 3 more long laps to gain enough speed.
Conclusion: faster lap time again. I kept improving session after session and I obtained the 2nd fastest time out of the 16 drivers who climbed in “Fast Track Racing” racecars. It does not mean anything given that everybody drove under different conditions, but that brings me satisfaction. I am still slow compared to the fastest drivers, but how could I compare when I did not benefit from the draft, which is of huge importance at Daytona.
The feedback from the team’s crew and their pride are my rewards. A conversation with the team engineer around a laptop screen will give more insight, especially on something I did right: steering wheel movements. My inputs were smooth and without superfluous “sawing” all around the track. It helped reducing tire friction on the asphalt and it translated in fewer constraints on the car which resulted in faster speeds!
The condition to obtain ARCA’s approval to race on superspeedway was to be unknown to the scrutineers who kept an eye on the track all day long… When I called Mr. Joe Wells and introduced myself as « Charles Lacarre », his answer was « Who ? ». This means I did a good job.
The contract is fulfilled. The margin of improvement exists and is only equal to my desire to race more. All these emotions leave place to frustration because the tests are already finished. I started a cake, I ate a small slice, and I am still hungry. To top it all, the cake is left in front of me but I am not allowed to have another bite. Indeed, the tests continue for other drivers, and the following hours spent at the race track are hard for me. The only thing that will appease my mind is leaving the track and going as far away as I can. It illustrates the ambiguity of my passion for motorsports, but I see a clear illustration of my passion for driving, and that is an important nuance.
Later on, I realize that I drove at Daytona and I did not fail. This is a chance that I cherished more than anything in the moment… Almost too much. Actually so much that the return to reality was that hard. To honor this chance, my work will now be psychological and the goal will be that my frustration fuels my productivity, to avoid the “fear of tomorrow”. I will tell you all about it in the next chapter… Soon!
