Shifting Brain Gears: How To Mentally Separate Normal Driving And Racing

Shifting Brain Gears: How To Mentally Separate Normal Driving And Racing

Shifting Brain Gears: How To Mentally Separate Normal Driving And Racing

Lucy Wyndham
22 December 2020

Famed NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick once said that driving on a normal road is absolutely terrifying. The act of racing requires a certain mindset, so sufficiently separating normal driving and racing is a matter of shifting mental gears, and if you’re into racing, it’s worth knowing how to effectively separate the two. Here are a few methods to help you mentally separate normal driving and racing.

Brush Up On Road Safety Laws

One of the most effective ways you can shift your mental gears towards separating racing and normal driving is by brushing up on road safety laws and penalties. This is important, as the rules of a racing track greatly differ from the rules of normal roads, and may change with time. For example, DUI laws in Pennsylvania have shifted, so it’s not strange to expect laws against speeding and street racing to change as well. In fact, legal bodies are aiming to increase the penalties for illegal street races and those caught, according to Rep. John Gillespie. If you’re seeking to curb whatever thoughts you may have about racing on normal roads, learning about the laws in your area and the consequences faced by those that break them is an effective way to do so. Think of it as a cold shower of sorts to sober you up about racing on the streets.

Keep Simple Visual Reminders

Beyond learning about harsh penalties you can face for breaking road safety laws, you can train your mind to separate racing and normal driving through simple visual reminders. Racers respond very well to visual stimuli, according to Otto Lappi of the University of Helsinki. What this means is that you can employ a visual token like a pin on your dashboard - one for racing, and one for normal roads, switching between them as necessary. This visual reminder is a good psychological trick to shift the track of your mind when you go behind the wheel. You can train your mind to associate a visual reminder with the “mode” of the road that you are on so you can separate racing and normal driving successfully.

Schedule Dedicated Time For Racing

Another good psychological trick is to avoid repressing your desire to race. When you neglect to schedule some time to race, you may start to feel antsy and frustrated. This frustration can bleed out when you drive normally on regular roads. Finding some regular track time for yourself is not just a good way to sharpen your racing skills; it’s also an effective way to keep yourself (and others) safe on regular roads. Satisfying your desire to race will help you to separate the act of racing from when you drive outside of a racing track.

Both driving and racing are a privilege, and should be treated with due respect and seriousness. Thankfully, keeping safe on the road and racing tracks is all about your mental fortitude. So before you get behind the wheel of any vehicle, it’s smart to take some time and check the state of your mental gears. That way, you can fully separate normal driving and racing.