Erik Elsea's Blog

Paralysis by Analysis!   Being the huge racing fan I am, I consider Days of Thunder one of my favorite movies. In that movie Cole Trickle, played by Tom Cruise, is advised to head right toward the smoke during any crash in front of him; by the time he gets there, the spinning cars involved in the...

It Is Better to be Lucky than Good!     One of my former bosses used to say this on almost a daily basis. I am sure you could find many examples of this being correct. There is probably some element of luck involved in almost every success. In the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 this past weekend, David Reu...

Happy Birthday to Me!   Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday, causing me to pause and reflect on my life. To me a birthday is almost like New Years. It's a time to make decisions about how I want to live the next year of my life. It makes me think about what I have accomplished so far and what...

Slow Down-The Fastest Way to Get Everything You Want   This book has meant a lot to me. I picked it up, early into my sobriety, as part of a course I was taking to get my life coaching certification. The course was taught by the author himself, David Essel. I was not sure at the time that I wante...

Pit Strategy     In racing, pit strategy is a major factor in determining who wins the race. Crew chiefs and drivers have to determine the right time to come into the pit. Can you make it to the end of the race on the fuel you have or should you come in for a splash of gas? Should you take two ti...

In Order to Finish First     This past weekend Mark Martin did it again! We talked in an earlier post about a person's being too old to accomplish his dream. Well, Mark Martin proved that his win a few weeks ago over the age of 50 was not a fluke. He won again Saturday night at Darlington in the ...

Too Much Pressure!   One of the quickest and easiest ways to get a race car to handle better and increase its speed is to adjust the tire pressure. This can be done to the next set of tires while the car is still on the track, before its next pit stop, based on communication with the driver. When...

Loose is Fast!   If you watch racing much, you will hear the commentator make the comment, "Loose is fast."  A loose race car is one that turns easily. A tight race car is one that doesn't want to turn even as the driver turns the steering wheel. When a car is loose you will also hear it referred...

The Big One!   I was inspired to speak about the Big One with NASCAR's being in Talladega this past weekend. The Big One usually happens at one of NASCAR's restrictor plate races. For those of you new to racing, restrictor plates are used to cut down the horsepower on race cars to keep them from ...