Circle of Trust

I was lucky to able to attend a couple of different racing schools when I was younger.  My favorite was an all-day session at Road America in Elkhart, Wisconsin.  This is where I was introduced to an old salty ARCA driver by the name of Duck Waddle.  Yup, that’s his real name.  You need to understand that guys named Duck Waddle do not go on to become doctors.  “Paging Dr. Napekoski” makes sense.  “Paging Dr. Duck Waddle”…not so much.  Duck was meaner than a pissed-on rooster and could make a NASCAR truck dance on a wet course like it was a gold medal figure skater.  Duck had certainly found his calling behind the wheel of a race car.

Duck was my instructor for most of the day.  His teaching methods were very direct.  I learned this first hand when the time came for me to climb into the driver’s seat of a race ready Dodge Viper.  Duck was in the passenger seat and I took a quick warm-up lap on the autocross course to get familiar with the track and the car.  The tricky thing about early model Vipers is that they did not have any type of traction control.  Any mistake you made would be felt immediately.

I was driving too cautiously for the car’s capabilities from the start.  My corner entry braking sucked.  I could not get the power down at the apex and this resulted in a dismal corner exit on almost every turn.  I could sense that Duck was getting mad as hell with my driving.  Duck had seen enough and smacked me on the back of my race helmet.  He told me, “trust your eyes you a-hole!”  It was a very inspiring moment.  I loosened up and did drive a little better for the rest of the session.

We broke for lunch and Duck decided to sit down with me to clarify what he meant.  “Racing is like life, son.  Your mind and your hands will instinctively follow the route your eyes are taking you.  Hit your marks and it’s smooth sailing.  Miss your marks?  Well, you might burn.”  He was obviously not just talking about racing and it was beyond evident by the way he stared at me.

I think of that day often.  I understood that letting my eyes focus on those avoidable accidents in life would leave me upside down and on fire.  There are rumble strips on a race track and in life for a reason.  If you feel your car begin to shake, you better grab the wheel and let your eyes help you change course.

I have never achieved a goal in my life that I did not write down first.  I need to be able to see it, before I can believe it, to ultimately achieve it.  It might sound silly, but I have a list of things that I say to myself while staring at deep into my pupils in the mirror out loud every morning.  I challenge you to give it a try.  “Today is a great day.  My name is (insert here).  I am very healthy and I feel exceptional.”  The rest is up to you.  Where do you want your eyes to take you and what are you driving towards?

 Ended with an Our Father.