Opening a can of worms
 

Years ago, I ran across a NASA study on human performance. They found a major effect from temperature, but the only one that seemed to matter in drag racing was heat stress. I've built quite a few computers since then so have lost the file and the original link.


I went over the data with a team I was working with and the driver decided to get a cooling system for the suit and helmet. He was widely ridiculed for being a wimp. And honestly, no real improvement could be verified but that was due imo to the driver and not the system - not naming names, but it wouldn't have mattered.


This is still a thing. A reseacher from Harvard, now at Rutgers, ran a study and found "It turns out even young, healthy college students are affected by high temperatures. During the hottest days, the students in the un-air-conditioned dorms, where nighttime temperatures averaged 79 degrees, performed significantly worse on the tests they took every morning than the students with A.C., whose rooms stayed a pleasant 71 degrees."


A later test "found that just a four-degree increase, which participants described as still feeling comfortable, led to a 10 percent average drop in performance across tests of memory, reaction time and executive functioning." 2 of those factors directly affect drag racing, at the starting line and the finish line.

Yes, your opponent will be racing under the same conditons and no one's body acts exactly the same. But even though people thought I was nuts at the time, I still believe there is a performance advantage to be had.


Just food for thought. Most sportsman budgets are not going to allow a coolsuit system, but everybody can go overboard in making sure they're completely hydrated.


I know a lot of people are sitting there thinking "it's just a part of summer racing and I can handle the heat". You may think you can, but science says it makes you worse. So I'd advise, do what you can and keep this in mind.

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

Last week at LVMS it was 112 degrees and felt hotter with the
heat radiating of the black asphalt!

Without the ability to stay in my AC living quarters laying down
between rounds = I would not be able to race at my elderly age
and health in those conditions!

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

Years ago Clint Walters was racing his dad nova and put a thermometer in the car in July
I believe it got to 140 degrees in the car at some point
I can remember racing all
Weekend and lose 5 to 8 lbs.

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

Hottest I've ever been racing was the 2001 US Class Nationals in Byron, IL. If I remember right it was like 105-107 without the heat index. And in IL in the summer the humidty can be bad and it was that weekend too. I was in my 30's then and it was brutal!! Best race ever tho!!




Bret Velde
2003 I/SA

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

Good thread Dan, as a distance runner (including the 1985 Boston Marathon) I can definitely attest to the impacts of heat on performance. Heat exhaustion can have horrible effects on your body and will make you much more susceptible to it in the future. Hydration coupled with keeping your core temperature normal will dramatically improve your concentration and permit execution of your driving strategy. And you won?t be dragging during a long recovery period.

And this isn?t CDC/Dept of Health yada yada yada?.

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

[QUOTE=Dan Bennett;698778


I know a lot of people are sitting there thinking "it's just a part of summer racing and I can handle the heat". You may think you can, but science says it makes you worse. So I'd advise, do what you can and keep this in mind.[/QUOTE]

I dont think anyone doubts you Dan. For us older guys the HEAT sucks. Bruce Noland withdrew from the Virginia race and was ridiculed by a few racers. At my advanced age I just dont want to be hot and miserable for 3-4 days in a row. You gotta realize that I am the same guy that has attended only 1 race in the last 22 months ..LOL .I was at Byron 23 years ago and I couldnt wait to get the heck out of there. I think I was sweating right alongside Brett Velde. LOL ….Never in my life do I wish to be that HOT again, EVER !!!!

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

Mark Sanders can't drive the 2nd Kronenbitter car for the Bowling Green and US Nationals races. He has commitments and can't make it. Mark offered the car to me. Andy and I will have a ball. Amazingly my wife Sue put her stamp of approval on it. The heat has me truly concerned. Haven't been in a car for 3 years and when I last was in a car I worked in a hot factory. Back then I was 65 and now approaching 70. Since then, I'm retired and sucking up AC most of the time. I can't believe this is even a concern. Good Lord we got old.

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

No matter how hot it gets, you need to sit down in the shade and take off your footwear and socks, it will help like you wouldn't believe.

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

We?re in the middle of a heatwave this week here (32c or 100f but im Canadian, lol) and yes, taking off socks and shoes is huge. As a reference, aug ?92 i was in south sector of Yugoslavia working on tanks, it was 54c and we were drinking 6-8 1.5L bottles of water a day. I was younger but can?t imagine even being in that heat now, let alone humping a ruck and getting shot at, lol!

Heat is your enemy, most times you don?t recognize the signs yourself, thats why we used the buddy system.(also works in the cold, like -74f up north too)

Re: Opening a can of worms
 

I really think you have to be smart about how you approach the whole thing, you might not like drinking water (I yell at my dad all the time....water, water, water, NOT ICE TEA with Suga) but, it's what keeps the body hydrated and running. I bring a 3-liter jug of water to work with me every day, I drink one, maybe 2 cups of coffee and its water all the rest of the day. I go to BJ's and pick up 3-4 cases of water every 2 weeks, you have to remember the body is made up of 50 to 78% of water and as we get older the body loses that %, no less then 50%, so you have to keep it well maintained just like our racecars. If a motor has 1,000 runs on the oil, I'm sure it's not going to run as good as one that only has 5 runs on the oil.

What kills out here on the EC is the humidity just make its 10x worse and let's face it we don't recover like we used too, I know being a promoter and being in the sun all day, I don't recover till like Wednesday to following week and Mondays are a waste.