McMahan, who pilots the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle entry, talks about what a driver endures physically and mentally while in the seat. He also speaks about what it’s like to ride the high side at the legendary half-mile.
Quotes from Paul McMahan, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Eagle – World of Outlaws Sprint Series
As a driver preparing to push off for qualifying at Eldora Speedway, how do you mentally ready yourself for two very intense laps around such a demanding racetrack?
“As you’re sitting in the car in the push-off chute, you’re usually trying to watch the guys who are running the heat races or qualifying. You’re watching to see where they’re running. But as you sit there and look out, you see a wall of dirt. That’s really all you see. Eldora is solid banking. You’re trying to see where everyone else is running and you’ve got the wall there that you’re running about 140 mph straight into. You try not to turn the wheel, you want to keep the car as straight as you can so when you get to the corner the air will push the wing down and turn the car. But you’ve got to keep it as straight as possible and drive it as hard as you can straight at the fence. That’s a little unnerving to do the first few times you run at Eldora.
“You try to keep in mind that you need to have a good, set speed so you don’t have a lot of tire chatter. You don’t want a lot of tire chatter when you’re being push started because it can chatter the motor so bad that it will actually break the pin in the magneto and that can do a lot of damage. Ideally, you want to get up to 15-20 mph, which is a good, steady speed to start. Some of the trucks get going way too fast when they push you. They think you need to be going 60 mph when that’s not the case. In fact, 15-20 mph is the best way to get started.
“As soon as you get on the race track, you want to get up to speed as soon as you can. Eldora is a place where you don’t want to scrub off any speed. You’re trying to roll through the center of the corner as fast as you can. You’re usually up on the banking to keep your speed up and keep the car underneath you. Basically, you’re holding your breath. Eldora can get really slick when it’s right up against the fence where there’s no grip and you have to have your car right. It’s pretty nervy because it’s just a wide-open place. You can’t lift. You do, but in order to be fast you have to be able to roll around there with as much throttle as possible. When its slick, sometimes you’re running three or four inches off the fence and if you make one slight little error you can get in the fence in a hurry. ”
As soon as the car begins to come up to speed, what do you experience physically as a driver?
“The things you feel when you get up to speed around Eldora are very unusual. It feels like (the track) is trying to throw you out of the car. You’re physically trying to hold yourself upright and it feels like it’s trying to throw you out of the right side. The G-force wants to push your body over to the right and you’re trying to hold it up so you can turn left. You’re fighting your body weight and the force of your body wanting to go right as you’re trying to turn left. You’ve also got a seven pound bowling ball on top of your neck with your helmet, so you’re trying to hold your head up and steer all at the same time.
“With the winged car, you can feel the wing push everything down. It really pushes you into the seat. At the same time, the speed also wants to suck your helmet off of your head. With the air that’s coming through, if you don’t have the right deflectors, it will try to suck the helmet up and off of your head. You also have the sensation of the car sucking you back in the seat. You’re completely locked down. ”
You’ve described some of the physical sensations you experience while racing at Eldora. With the punishment that a driver’s body takes during a race, which muscle groups get the most work?
“The way the seats are built now, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be, especially with the (Butlerbuilt) seat that I run. Your shoulders and forearms probably get the most work. You’re gripping the wheel pretty hard. Your forearms, shoulders and neck work pretty hard, and you do use your stomach muscles a lot. You wouldn’t think that when you’re driving a race car that your stomach muscles would be doing a whole lot but your core muscles are what’s working to hold you up. You’re really using the core muscle group to keep your body as straight as possible in the car. ”
The majority of World of Outlaws Sprint Series races consists of 30-laps. Factoring in the physical strain that a driver goes through during an event, how much harder is it to run a longer race?
“An extra 10 laps is 10 more laps on your body. It’s more time of being focused in on what you have to do the whole time. It’s mentally and physically draining. In a 30 lap race when your car is nice, 30 or 40 laps is no big deal. But if it’s rough and sticky or if your car isn’t that good and you’re trying to make it do things it doesn’t want to do it can be pretty tiring. ”
Do you remember what you were thinking the first time you sat on pit road at Eldora Speedway strapped into an 850+ horsepower winged sprint car?
“I was scared to death. The first time I went out to qualify, we qualified sixth for an All-Star Series race. Until you get used to the track, taking a lap by yourself isn’t that bad because there’s no one else on the track. It’s intimidating but it’s not that bad because you’re by yourself. But when you put other cars out there, it’s a little different. I remember going out for my first heat race, the guys were saying you have to be on the fence. They kept telling me that at Eldora you have to run on the fence. So, I ran the fence, but it was the one around on the infield wall. I remember telling myself with each passing lap that the next lap would be the one I’d to the top on. ”
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