Effect of the Various Levers (2 Viewers)

[clwill]

Silly season always brings about the same question in my head: what effect do the various "levers" have when building a winning race effort? I'd like to hear the Maters' thoughts on this subject.

Speaking entirely about pro fuel teams (TF and FC, only because that's an easy way to limit the variables), what part of a winning effort do you think is played by:

• The Driver
• The Crew Chief
• The Team (camaraderie, "chemistry", attitude, whatever you want to call it)
• The Money (aka: the equipment)

We've all seen cases of all the money in the world but just can't make it work, or of a great driver but without the car, or of a team that overcomes it all by working beautifully together. Yes, it takes them all to make it work, but to be a winner, what's the ratio?

So what do you think? Is it Is it 25%, 25%, 25%, 25%? Have I left out important components?

 

[mltdwn12]

My uneducated shot

• The Driver 25%
• The Crew Chief 30%
• The Team (camaraderie, "chemistry", attitude, whatever you want to call it) 15%
• The Money (aka: the equipment) 30%

 

[yoda]

Guess it depends on the organization. I would imagine the percentage would be different for Jeff Diehl than it would be for JR Todd than it would be for Courtney Force....

 

[you]

If you had asked me last year, I would have told you something different. But, after last season. Seeing how the Al-Anabi team struggled.....I don't know what to think anymore.

 

[flapjack]

If you had asked me last year, I would have told you something different. But, after last season. Seeing how the Al-Anabi team struggled.....I don't know what to think anymore.

I think Al-Anabi had all the right components except for the engine program. 2013 should be different as it seems they had the gremlins figured out at the end of the year.

What I have a hard time understanding is why AJPE didn't have the large valve cylinder heads ready to go for 2012, unlike DSR and JFR. They had to play catch-up.

 

[mick]

money.....you have nothing without it.
after that you buy the best crew chief/s you can afford because he
will innovate, not imitate; and innovation applied properly will give
you a winning edge.

3m annual budget
parts 36% _______________ $1,080,000
crew chief 27% ___________ $810,000
driver 17% _______________ $510,000
team 10% _______________ $300,000
travel/lodging 10% ________ $300,000

driver/crew chief numbers plus or minus

 

[PJ]

The Driver 15%
The Crew Chief 20%
The Team 5%
The Money 50%

Luck 10%

 

[MHayes]

The Driver 15%
The Crew Chief 20%
The Team 5%
The Money 50%

Luck 10%

If that's the case, then Morgan Lucas should have won a LOT of races!! I like your breakdown, but throw some more in the Crew Chief category and a little less in Money, IMO

 

[Jeff]

While I don't like saying it, I agree that Luck is one of the categories. Very small tuning differences make big differences, sometimes you have Luck working for or against you when trying to cure a problem.

I would probably add one more category --- Leverage

Leverage can come in the form of a prior year base build from, or team cars to learn from. Next year AJ's teams will benefit a lot from Leverage in my opinion.

Then, I'd go on to say that some teams benefit very little from certain categories at certain points.

 

[Bluey]

The Driver 15%
The Crew Chief 20%
The Team 5%
The Money 50%

Luck 10%

I'm with PJ.

 

[PJ]

If that's the case, then Morgan Lucas should have won a LOT of races!! I like your breakdown, but throw some more in the Crew Chief category and a little less in Money, IMO

Money is what makes it go. After that the other items are what can put you over the top. Morgan has the cash, just hasn't had enough of the other areas to reach the next level

 

[BaldyLochs]

I was gonna say - you can't tell me Luck shouldn't be category #5

 

[TF CREW]

You guys are not giving the crew factor anywhere near the proper credit.
I have to say it ranks higher then the driver and slightly below the CC

 

[vegasnitro]

Luck is 10% of the equation?!?!?!

In my experience, there is no such thing as luck, let alone deduce that 1 out of every 10 things that happens on the track is luck. I know you didn't mean it as such PJ, but I would be wildly insulted if someone told me that 10% of my profession was luck. You might be able to talk me into .5% just because every once in a great while something wacky happens that NEVER could have been accounted for by conventional means.

Money 50% (having the proper funding is literally half the battle)
Crew Chief 30% (all things being equal, crew chiefs win races)
Organization/Team 10%
Driver 10%

My percentages would differ greatly for Pro Stock.

 

[PJ]

Luck is 10% of the equation?!?!?!

In my experience, there is no such thing as luck, let alone deduce that 1 out of every 10 things that happens on the track is luck. I know you didn't mean it as such PJ, but I would be wildly insulted if someone told me that 10% of my profession was luck. You might be able to talk me into .5% just because every once in a great while something wacky happens that NEVER could have been accounted for by conventional means.

Money 50% (having the proper funding is literally half the battle)
Crew Chief 30% (all things being equal, crew chiefs win races)
Organization/Team 10%
Driver 10%

My percentages would differ greatly for Pro Stock.

the other guy goes red, sleeps, smokes the tires, breaks a part, blows up or runs way off of their previous times. An oil down right before you run your race, might improve the track for you, might get into your opponents head before they run if it is in their lane. Weather changes and comes to your tuneups strong point and/or against the other guys.

These are just a few examples of what can affect a race that is out of the driver's control. I chalk that up to luck and it is not a bad thing, at least according to Yogi Berra

 

[clwill]

Luck is an excuse given by the inadequately prepared -- winner or loser.

Can't remember who said that, but I love it.

 

[James]

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

 

[vegasnitro]

the other guy goes red, sleeps, smokes the tires, breaks a part, blows up or runs way off of their previous times. An oil down right before you run your race, might improve the track for you, might get into your opponents head before they run if it is in their lane. Weather changes and comes to your tuneups strong point and/or against the other guys.

These are just a few examples of what can affect a race that is out of the driver's control. I chalk that up to luck and it is not a bad thing, at least according to Yogi Berra

IMO, none of the things you listed are luck. Guy goes red, he made a mistake, you didn't. Same if he is late on the tree, or blows up. The weather changes for everybody. The better prepared team will adapt. Oil downs are part of the game.

 

[Huge]

Some people say that you usually need at least one lucky round to win a race. John Force had a lucky round at Brainerd this year when he went red in the first round and was eliminated until Alexis crossed the center line and that reinstated him and allowed him to go on to the final round.

 

[clwill]

While I fully agree that money is a key issue, and you can't succeed without it, I'm not sure it's all of 50%. If you look at someone like Wilkerson, he has shown that a great team, crew chief, and driver can be successful and in contention for the championship (just a couple years back) without a bottomless checkbook. And as someone else noted, Morgan Lucas certainly hasn't been at a loss for funding but has had team turnover and struggled to get commensurate results.

I think some of these are, in fact, levers -- tradeoffs. You can offset some lack of funding with a great team, a marvelous crew chief can help a novice driver succeed, a great driver can peddle a car that's tuned too hot and turn a loss into a win, and so on. So I'm not sure you can get very precise with these numbers.

I do agree with the general consensus that driver's aren't as key as perhaps ESPN wants to make them appear. But I think several of you are underestimating the effect of teams. Great teams can overcome a myriad of problems, making parts last for yet another round, or giving drivers a sense of confidence in their equipment, or helping to make that final qualifying round miracle happen. Sport is filled with examples of mediocre teams making championship runs seemingly on willpower alone, and drag racing is not immune.