Topic: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

What is the optimal length of driving shifts ?  I'm seen at the two races i've done....an hour to two hours thirty.  You want to minimize jerking around in the pits and only stop for gas like a Dad who want to make it all the way to Milwaukee by sunset....but....

What do most people do ?

I know I frag hard at hour two and the "endurance" part of this becomes the central issue.  Mistakes were made....parts were bent.

Water:  I've been told to pre load, but think a water delivery system in the car might be a better approach than preloading too much, as if you overshoot, there's no potty in the car (yet)

Thanks.  Any help would be appreciated.  My team mates are legit iron men and I one day want to not be the weakest link.

Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

We run with cup holders, a qt size gadorade with a hole drilled in the cap for a short piece of vinyl hose to slip under the helmet chin on long straights, I tend to cramp when dehydrated so the first tinge gets a big gulp.

Stint length? Attention seems to fade after 1:45, can do 2:35 but only with a cool shirt.

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Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

Only you can set your stint lengths. It honestly comes down to how long you can stay focused and not exhausted in the car. I have done as long as 4 hours in the car before and man does that put a beating on you. I came into the pits thinking "yea, I could go another  30 minutes", and then almost collapsed once the adrenaline wore off. Our strategy this weekend was to put someone in the car for 3.5 hours, then swap in my sister to drive as long as she could, then have my brother close out the day. Repeat the next day with the 4th driver opening for half the day and then repeat the afternoon. That 3.5 hour stint is very long and very abusive on the driver.

2 hours seems to be a decent length for balancing abuse on the driver and minimizing time stopped.


Put water in your car, just do it. Doesn't matter how. We have a bucket hung behind the driver seat where we dump a camelbak bladder. Swap it out at driver changes. Putting a good cup holder special built for a large bottle as mentioned also works. Some people have gone as far as a low pressure pump and tank for water on demand. Doesn't matter how, put water in your car. Even in the fall when it's cold you use a lot of water doing this.

If you run in any kind of heat, get a cool shirt system. I won't even get into the car during the summer without one. We had one race where the pump acted up and failed on one of our drivers. He realized at one point he couldn't remember where the track went, somehow found pit off, parked it in some random team's space, and stumbled back to our paddock space. He got heat exhaustion or worse, and it was scary as hell. I've never let someone go out in the summer without a functional cool shirt after that, and now we have a pit space system you can clip into after driving to help cool off again.

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4 (edited by chaase 2019-10-22 06:52 AM)

Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

I ran 2 hours 15minutes on Saturday and was beat after that. I could've gone longer but I was getting worn down. I also wasn't driving it that hard. It all depends on what you are driving personal stamina, weather, etc. I don't do well in hot weather so I stay in shorter stints.

Manny devised a drink system for us so we have plenty of water to drink. The Saturn and Javelin use a simple system. It is a small cooler w/2 1-gallon jugs of water. The jugs are attached to a small 12v pump, like those used for washer fluid, We run a long hose with a bite valve to the driver and mount a momentary switch to the dash. When you want a drink you simply hit the switch, bite on the valve and suck on the tube.

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Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

Our OEM tank can only go about 1:45 - 2:00 before it sucks air on hard turns.  So we change at 1:30.  It really depends on the driver and the captain of the team should be able to work with his/her drivers to determine good stint length.  For new drivers I have them report back after their first 30 minutes and then send them out for another 30-60 minutes depending on how they are doing.  2:30 seems like a long time unless you have other racing experience, especially for a California race where there are 100+ cars in a race.

Minimizing driver changes and fast pit stops really move you up in the standings much more than shaving a second or two off per lap.  We are not that coordinated yet, just having fun.

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Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

I'm sure we'd finish better if we'd install a fuel cell so we could run 3 hour plus stints, but we just aren't willing to do it.  We run 2 hour stints, which is all our car will do on fuel, and that's all our bodies want to do as far as "endurance" too.

We use a 2-quart cooler type water bottle for each driver.  It slides into a holder right behind the driver's seat and has a long tube with a bite valve for driver hydration.  The key is you have to remember to use it!  I typically drink most of mine, if not all, but our other drivers often say "I just forgot to drink".

We also run a cool suit system.  I ran once when the ambient temps were about 98 degrees, and about 30 mins in, the system's pump failed.  I was able to continue another hour, but that was big mistake.  When I got out I had a pounding headache and wasn't feeling well at all.  The next driver only lasted 30 mins before he came in an said I'm done.  It took us a while to cobble something together, but we finally got it working again and were able to finish the race.   We all decided that if we couldn't get it fixed, we'd just bail because our health just wasn't worth it.

Captain
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Re: Ideal length of driving shifts & water

Lots of variables. I've done ludicrous-length stints and I've been forced to stop after only an hour because my body couldn't handle it. There's no way to put a quantifier on an ideal stint length.

My experience is that there becomes a point when you are behind the wheel and it stops being fun and just turns into a challenge and then becomes a sufferfest, which is another level of challenge. Stay in long enough and you can experience a "runner's high" and/or kind of get in a flow state.

And as you seem to have discovered, there is also a crossover point where long driver stint length becomes a detriment and throwing in another driver actually yields better results.

Ask yourself and your team If you are at the race to have fun, or at the race to challenge yourselves, or some combination therein, and decide accordingly. Go ahead and create a plan to meet your performance goals, but always have a means to abandon that plan that allows you to achieve your other goals.