Drag Illustrated Issue 149, October 2019 | Page 50
D.I. COLUMNIST
Tuned Up
with Will Hanna
TUNING WITH A PURPOSE
H
ow many times have you
walked into a buddy’s trail-
er, asked him or her what
they are doing, and they respond
something to the effect of, “Looking
at squiggly lines…”?
All too often we get so caught up
in the next run – or the next race –
that we lose sight of the big picture.
Sometimes you’re just trying to get
down the track without smoking the
tires or shaking. Maybe you’re try-
ing to run quick enough to qualify.
Other times you’re trying to figure
out why the car is or isn’t doing
something.
I have seen a lot of people go to
the track with the “well, we’re going
to try ‘X’ this weekend and see how
it does” attitude. Then a few races
later, they are trying something else.
Sometimes you try the right thing
and it works. Many times, if you
don’t have direction, you get stuck
in that rut for a while.
I think it is very important to have
a goal of what you want the car to
do. When you have a goal, it helps
you shape a plan. Let’s say your goal
is to run a tenth quicker by the end
of the year. The plan is the “how”
you are going to get there. Maybe
it’s gear change, converter change,
engine components, chassis changes
or a combination of changes.
While an experienced racer cer-
tainly may have a theoretical advan-
tage because they could use their
experience to map a road to a goal,
I think it is especially important
for new racers and would-be tun-
ers to have a plan as well. Obviously,
there’s more trial and error involved
when you are new, but if you know
where you want to go, it’s a lot easier
to figure out you aren’t going the
direction you want. Also, sometimes
a new racer tries something us ex-
perienced racers “know better” than
doing and kick our ass with it.
One of the most valuable things
I learned in school that applies to
tuning race cars is scientific method.
Without getting into a textbook les-
son, scientific method was covered
in those chapters in science class
where you asked a question, formed
a hypothesis (theory), conducted an
experiment or test of the hypothesis,
and then review the data from the
experiment to confirm or refute the
hypothesis. If the experiment con-
firms the hypothesis, then it must
be able to repeat the results.
Racing and tuning a car is a con-
stant scientific experiment. While
we have to “take it one run at a time,”
as the saying goes, each run needs
to be part of a larger experiment to
reach your goal. Often times, the
experiment disproves our original
hypothesis, and we have to adjust
and reformulate a new hypothesis
on what it will take to achieve our
goal.
For instance, for a long while I
had a certain theory and method of
gearing a car and the way I ran it. I
had a lot of success with it over the
years at divisional and hot national
event tracks, but it was middle of
the pack on good tracks. Every race
I would try something a little dif-
ferent to try to get it to respond to
what I was trying to make it do. At
one race, I had tried every “trick” I
thought would make the thing run
the way I wanted to make it run. I
felt like we had reached a dead end
on that road. What that told me was
the answer was on the other end of
the spectrum from what I had been
doing. We made wholesale changes,
ran quicker and quicker every pass
until we made a career-best run to
win Indy.
The results were obviously great,
but it wasn’t so much of a data-
driven “big-picture” plan as it was
running out of options for that plan.
I try to be a little more data and
numbers driven on my big-picture
plans now. I also try to let the big
picture drive the run-to-run deci-
sions a little more.
There are plenty of instances you
don’t get enough runs to try some-
thing. If you are running an event
that only has two qualifying runs,
it’s very difficult. I always think you
should put your best “known” A-to-
B tune-up in it for the first qualifier.
If you have a good-running car, it’s
easy to get into sticking with what
you know until you are backed into
trying something new because your
opponent is quicker.
Over time, that can lead to getting
left behind. Even when you have a
good-running car, you always need
to be pushing forward. Tune with a
purpose. Have a plan. You’re already
lost if you don’t know where you are
trying to go!
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
Will Hanna is a tuner/consultant-
for-hire offering services from run
evaluation to trackside consulting.
He can be reached via email at
will.hanna@insidetopalcohol.com.
TRACKSIDE CONSULTING • REMOTE TUNING • RUN EVALUATION / “Monday Morning Crew Chief Service” Available
will.hanna@insidetopalcohol.com • 979.415.4959
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