sit in traffic , it can be fun to imagine yourself shifting to top gear , swerving around your opponents ( err , fellow commuter train … ) and beat out everyone to the exit . But do you really have what it takes to be a real - deal race car driver ? We spoke to Ross Bentley , racing carriage and author ofSpeed secret – the classical guide to the mental aspects of racing – on what makes the pro so unbreakable . How do you measure out up ?

You have to “not think” about driving

It sound counterintuitive , but it ’s true for many in high spirits - carrying into action tasks : the more you consciously mean about the enormity of the job at hand , the more opportunity for self - doubt to set in , harm carrying out . It might be heavy to “ not think ” about hurtling down a track at hundreds of miles per hour , but when drivers allow instinct take over ( provided those instinct are correct , of course of study ) they by and large make fewer errors .

You have to be comfortable with the uncomfortable

Average Nascar speeds exceed 200 mph , with 42 cars racing on the caterpillar track . manifestly , that means a lot of danger to the drivers . It take a lot of guts to lurch up a gear wheel and taste to compress into a narrow margin between cars , just to get slenderly further ahead . In the Word of Bentley , “ they have to be comfortable being uncomfortable . ”

No crime , but most people but do n’t have it in them . surely , drivers call for to make constant risk of infection / reward estimations in their head , and 9 time out of 10 , they might make the good call . It ’s the few who can go “ YOLO ” and gun it that become cracking . “ Some people never get there , ” suppose Bentley , “ and it ’s easy to get a crazy number one wood to chant it down than to train a cautious gadget driver to amp up their risks . ”

But nottoocomfortable…

At the other remainder of the spectrum , being too easy with risk is pregnant with risk . While the stereotype is that racing driver are softheaded , pilus - on - fire types , Bentley say that ’s usually not the face . “ Most drivers are control – they need to push the boundary , but they want to know where the line is . If they do n’t , they ’d be all in . ” Drivers who exaggerate the risky moves to shave seconds off a circle time speedily get a repute for break apart a band . And as Bentley point out , it ’s kind of hard to become smashing if you check out early .

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Having face of steel ( and likely a blade vesica ) help keep a gadget driver from turn into a sweaty stressball on the track , but so does knowing they ’ve got reliable stuff under the thug , like Castrol boundary .

You need incredible physical stamina

Beyond the genial prospect of the game ( which Bentley says invoice for 90 % of a race car ’s skill ) , drivers need to be incredibly primed to run well . Racers experience over 4 one thousand ’s of lateral quickening on turns , so even holding one ’s read/write head up for hr becomes a job . Just turn the steering wheel is tough , since there ’s no power steering and the lateral force play are much high . “ Racers have to be some of the most fit athlete out there – some keep their heart pace above 160 bpm for a two - time of day race . Not many mass can perform at that level . ”

You have to stay in the zone, no matter what

When Tom Brady miss his zen and throw an interception , he gets a courteous break while the defense takes the theatre . When slipstream driver recede their centering and make an error , they have to find control within secondment . Consider this : permit ’s say that after a misapprehension , you drop 3 second feeling bad about it . At 200 miles per hour , that signify you ’ve just travel 900 foot mean about your past decisions , instead of what ’s next . Bentley advises his racers to grow a “ pre - planned opinion ” that helps regain focus . exchangeable to a mantra in meditation , a pre - planned thought is a uncomplicated phrase or visual image that gets a number one wood refocused on drive . That means , you wo n’t be making deadly high-pitched - speed turns while remember about your last mortal , high-pitched - speed twist .

You need to have an excellent imagination

Bentley coach his students to project the course of action beforehand . Imagining yourself become through the turns and charge up the straightways makes a huge difference in race time . “ genial visual image is a science just like any other , ” says Bentley , “ and the better you are at visualizing the course , the advantageously you ’ll be when you get out on the track . ” Of course , you ’ll involve to see other cars trying to shove you out of posture , too .

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Dan Evans/Thrillist

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Dan Evans/Thrillist

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Dan Evans/Thrillist