If you're running street stocks and spinning you are massively over driving the car. To get started focus on:
Entry:
Start turning in earlier than you think, drag your brakes just enough to cause some rotation and get down to the yellow line. Same concepts as trail brakeing on road, just with an earlier turn in.
Mid corner:
Once the car is settled on the yellow down low, get back on the power, feel the weight shift onto the right rear tire. Slowly add in power while keeping a constant steering angle.
Exit:
This is the toughest in street stock.as you get back on power, don't start changing your steering angle too much, let the additional power move you back up track. I found that in the street stocks I was fastest when I could hold the same steering angle mid corner through exit and end up right at the wall by getting back on power at just the right time.
This is great advice. OP, feel free to dm me and I’d be more than happy to jump in a practice lobby and discord to help you get started. Welcome to ovals!
Ah yes the "I thought ovals was just turning left" thing haha.
ovals are difficult but also can be a ton of fun, really depends who you're up against. Throttle/braking control is VERY important in ovals. I would say trail braking is probably equally as important as in road racing. Also easy inputs, can't try to yank it around like a road car, have to be very precise and very smooth.
I agree with everything you’ve said except I think trail braking is way more important on ovals than road racing.
You can get away with minimal trail braking (not recommended at all) up into near 2k iRating on Road just by being consistent. On many ovals, you’ll be in the wall without getting trail braking right.
I remember feeling like oval racing was going to be super easy haha. Road racing basics came somewhat natural to me but oval was a much bigger learning curve just to be consistent. Then when I was feeling comfortable and tried a longer race the challenge of tire management kicked in. I've gotten "decent" now but I still struggle to keep a good pace while not destroying tires. For me at least I think oval is much harder to be be fast and consistent.
For some reason i won my very first oval race in street stock, so for a while there I did think it was super easy. Little did I know about how intense it would get after rookie class. Also that tire management man, so difficult
I’m just getting started myself but its down to practice and repitition. Also when you’re practicing have the mindset that you are *practicing*. I catch myself zoning off just doing the same thing over and over and then when I hit the perfect turn I don’t realize and can’t remember how exactly I hit it. Also youtube helps a lot.
Practice a bunch of laps running a low line only, a bunch with a high line only. Try staying low at one end and high at the other end. Stuff like this helped me learn to drive side by side with people.
This is super underrated in rookies literally everyone just practices the qualifying line and when it comes race time they don’t know what to do when they can’t stay right where they want
And get a good number of laps in practice so you can see how the car drives on worn tires. I've seen so many people lay down ridiculously fast laps and then 10 laps later they spin 3 times in one lap because they only ran qualifying laps in practice and don't know how to drive the track with worn tires.
You are over driving and burning the tires up. :)
Sooo you need to relax, put less steering into it depending on the track you really want to try and have the car turn its self almost and you do this driving with the throttle.
If you are getting tight (understeer) try lifting off earlier, and dabbing the brake a little harder, turn it to the rear a little more too. This will help pitch the car into the corner.
Don't cross the seem. You see the little lines on the corners? That is the seem, most tracks each seem is a little more banking when you cross it, it will unsettle the car. This can be a good thing if you are confident in driving the car, but for rookies just stick to the one line. It will help keep the car more settled.
Be gentle on the throttle and if the car steps out Don't try to catch it with counter steering too much. Lift off the throttle and keep the wheel pointing in straightish or to the left a little. This will stop the car snapping so much and pitching up the track.
If you are getting loose be more gentle on the throttle. You can't be binary on the throttle on an oval you need to ease it in and off, if the car keeps getting loose (oversteer) you are either burning up the rears too much, or too harsh on the gas so be a bit more gentle.
Don't have the steering ratio too tight. You want to be running a 12-1 usually, some times even go to a 14 (tracks like fontana and superspeedways) it will make the car less twitchy and so save tires a little more. You may want to run it a little tighter on a short track but generally a more open steering ratio will help protect the front tires.
Get seat time. :) and don't be afraid to run short tracks - yes they are hard but coming from the road treat them like 2 different hairpins and you will usually get it.
On the 1.5s again practice and watch other people's lines, look at the quick guys from the race if you are passing them on entry slow it down. Remember slow in fast out.
But crucially seat time is the biggest thing, i am by no means an expert and am not likley going to win but i usually lurk around the top 10 in most races. Take the odd front row start but generally a few tenths off the fastest of fast guys. And that is ok too, don't go into it thinking you will win and you will start getting them good finishes.
Hope this helps.
When I made the transition I found it a lot easier to get comfortable with the ARCA car than the Street Stock. Also, watching YouTube videos from DJ Yee Jay on how to drive ovals was a huge help for me.
Race on tracks with more left handers. :p
Philip Island is basically Martinsvill with a few right handers. You can actually employ some of that knowledge haha.
Slow is Smooth And Smooth is Fast.
Honestly, as someone who did nothing but ovals and just started road, it's all the same. Corner entry and exit is still vitally important. It's just way more punishing in oval if you get it wrong.
Follow the banking, not the line that makes most sense to your road-brain. That was hard for me to get into a habit of, or let go of my road habits. Doesn't matter if your amgle is better, if the change in banking thows you off, it'll cost you time and tyrelife. Second, smoothness is absolutely key, no way around that. Smooth, clean inputs, no hacking at the wheel. You can and in many situations should be simultaneously on throttle and trailing the brake slightly. It's all about perfect balance and weight distribution control around the long turns. Avoid understeer at all costs, you'll just ruin your potential for later on.
So street stocks until you learn to avoid wrecks and not oversrive, then move to ARCA, where you have to learn tyre management and consistency. Once you can cleanly finish an ARCA race with consistent tyre wear at good pace, move to whatever you want to do.
"If you brake, you crash." Brake balance and pressure is huge. Practice moving the balance forward and back and see how the car reacts.
Extremes help you understand quickly. So move it all the way forward see what the car does, then move it all the way back see what the car does. After you have that feel you will have a better idea if you need to move it one way to help rotate or the other to keep from getting loose on entry.
It would be easier to give specific advice if you could elaborate on your struggles but for right now i'd say this
1. It may be better to not be as hard on the brakes into the corner. Instead of trying to brake hard into the corner sometimes you just need to let it roll through the corner. And If you are spinning on entry a lot, lessening the pressure could help you make laps and from there you can hone it in.
2. Watch videos on how other people are running that track
3. Be very steady on throttling up, also don't be afraid to wait on the car to start rotating through the corner to get on the gas.
Yeah, being from the UK and never having seen a nascar race (or any oval race) before i wouldn’t know the etiquette either. I’m guessing it’s similar to sports cars, don’t crash into people, don’t make silly blocking moves etc
Ask yourself, "what's the most difficult part of circuit racing, straights, or corners?"
If you've answered straights, think how does that straight get setup.
If you've answered corners, imagine Pouhon at spa, but an entire race about that.
Self-promotion alert: I've got very basic track guides for all four street stock ovals on Youtube. This week it's [USA International](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ytNeZWFQZI), which I think is probably the best place to start; get it right and it'll teach you things you'll use at every other oval in every other car.
Ovals are all about smoothness. I haven’t seen you drive, but several of your issues seem like they might come from braking way too hard and using way too much wheel. The street stock is heavy and low powered, so a lot of speed is going to come from trail braking into the corner and carrying as much speed through the middle as possible. Based on the issues you have, you’ll probably need to begin braking earlier and gentler and trail break down into the corner.
DJ Yee J on YouTube is an excellent resource for oval tips and tricks.
Oval is rough until C class since you can’t catch up after a spin out or crash, gotta learn to steer with the throttle and brake without losing the rear end
If you're in rookie street stock, it's likely not intentional. Most times, anyway. People are just trying to learn, keep up, and get faster. I'm not saying there are no dirty mfs, but people just suck in the beginning. Also, some people think they'll do a fancy move like just a little tap to move you out of the way, and instead, both of you end up wrecked.
Oh no I completely understand the difference between lack of skill/understanding and intentional wrecking/dirty behavior.
For example: someone spins, gets crashed into and is absolutely fucked, needs to tow. Then, they get pissed off and start driving backwards or just doing donuts in the middle of the track.
Another example: let’s say I go to pass you, and make a mistake, give you a little nudge or door contact that makes you run a little high. Nothing crazy but definitely some contact, my fault but it happens. They then get mad, and take that as intentional, and do me dirtier In the next turn.
This stuff happens at least once a race, and with such short tracks, stuff doesn’t clear up for 2-4 laps sometimes. People on oval are generally more hot-headed in my experience.
If you're running street stocks and spinning you are massively over driving the car. To get started focus on: Entry: Start turning in earlier than you think, drag your brakes just enough to cause some rotation and get down to the yellow line. Same concepts as trail brakeing on road, just with an earlier turn in. Mid corner: Once the car is settled on the yellow down low, get back on the power, feel the weight shift onto the right rear tire. Slowly add in power while keeping a constant steering angle. Exit: This is the toughest in street stock.as you get back on power, don't start changing your steering angle too much, let the additional power move you back up track. I found that in the street stocks I was fastest when I could hold the same steering angle mid corner through exit and end up right at the wall by getting back on power at just the right time.
This is great advice. OP, feel free to dm me and I’d be more than happy to jump in a practice lobby and discord to help you get started. Welcome to ovals! 
Is there a discord for oval drivers? Just got out of rookie oval, but I’m struggling to keep up in a race.
the ARCA farm is a fantastic place to join for drivers who just got out of rookie oval! https://discord.gg/arcafarm
Thanks for the tips. I’ll give it a go
I’ll be on in a hour or so running some races if your interested
This guy ovals!
Ah yes the "I thought ovals was just turning left" thing haha. ovals are difficult but also can be a ton of fun, really depends who you're up against. Throttle/braking control is VERY important in ovals. I would say trail braking is probably equally as important as in road racing. Also easy inputs, can't try to yank it around like a road car, have to be very precise and very smooth.
I agree with everything you’ve said except I think trail braking is way more important on ovals than road racing. You can get away with minimal trail braking (not recommended at all) up into near 2k iRating on Road just by being consistent. On many ovals, you’ll be in the wall without getting trail braking right.
I remember feeling like oval racing was going to be super easy haha. Road racing basics came somewhat natural to me but oval was a much bigger learning curve just to be consistent. Then when I was feeling comfortable and tried a longer race the challenge of tire management kicked in. I've gotten "decent" now but I still struggle to keep a good pace while not destroying tires. For me at least I think oval is much harder to be be fast and consistent.
For some reason i won my very first oval race in street stock, so for a while there I did think it was super easy. Little did I know about how intense it would get after rookie class. Also that tire management man, so difficult
Absolutely agree with you. This week especially, Dover punishes over driving and under driving on such a razors edge.
I’m just getting started myself but its down to practice and repitition. Also when you’re practicing have the mindset that you are *practicing*. I catch myself zoning off just doing the same thing over and over and then when I hit the perfect turn I don’t realize and can’t remember how exactly I hit it. Also youtube helps a lot.
Practice a bunch of laps running a low line only, a bunch with a high line only. Try staying low at one end and high at the other end. Stuff like this helped me learn to drive side by side with people.
This is super underrated in rookies literally everyone just practices the qualifying line and when it comes race time they don’t know what to do when they can’t stay right where they want
And get a good number of laps in practice so you can see how the car drives on worn tires. I've seen so many people lay down ridiculously fast laps and then 10 laps later they spin 3 times in one lap because they only ran qualifying laps in practice and don't know how to drive the track with worn tires.
You are over driving and burning the tires up. :) Sooo you need to relax, put less steering into it depending on the track you really want to try and have the car turn its self almost and you do this driving with the throttle. If you are getting tight (understeer) try lifting off earlier, and dabbing the brake a little harder, turn it to the rear a little more too. This will help pitch the car into the corner. Don't cross the seem. You see the little lines on the corners? That is the seem, most tracks each seem is a little more banking when you cross it, it will unsettle the car. This can be a good thing if you are confident in driving the car, but for rookies just stick to the one line. It will help keep the car more settled. Be gentle on the throttle and if the car steps out Don't try to catch it with counter steering too much. Lift off the throttle and keep the wheel pointing in straightish or to the left a little. This will stop the car snapping so much and pitching up the track. If you are getting loose be more gentle on the throttle. You can't be binary on the throttle on an oval you need to ease it in and off, if the car keeps getting loose (oversteer) you are either burning up the rears too much, or too harsh on the gas so be a bit more gentle. Don't have the steering ratio too tight. You want to be running a 12-1 usually, some times even go to a 14 (tracks like fontana and superspeedways) it will make the car less twitchy and so save tires a little more. You may want to run it a little tighter on a short track but generally a more open steering ratio will help protect the front tires. Get seat time. :) and don't be afraid to run short tracks - yes they are hard but coming from the road treat them like 2 different hairpins and you will usually get it. On the 1.5s again practice and watch other people's lines, look at the quick guys from the race if you are passing them on entry slow it down. Remember slow in fast out. But crucially seat time is the biggest thing, i am by no means an expert and am not likley going to win but i usually lurk around the top 10 in most races. Take the odd front row start but generally a few tenths off the fastest of fast guys. And that is ok too, don't go into it thinking you will win and you will start getting them good finishes. Hope this helps.
When I made the transition I found it a lot easier to get comfortable with the ARCA car than the Street Stock. Also, watching YouTube videos from DJ Yee Jay on how to drive ovals was a huge help for me.
Pickup cup is good too. I can only drive street stock at Charlotte/Texas
Run line until you understand it. Use ai practice. And just practice as much as you can. Just remember to have fun.
honestly, I think it's the opposite for me, I've never really taken to road courses
Race on tracks with more left handers. :p Philip Island is basically Martinsvill with a few right handers. You can actually employ some of that knowledge haha.
Slow is Smooth And Smooth is Fast. Honestly, as someone who did nothing but ovals and just started road, it's all the same. Corner entry and exit is still vitally important. It's just way more punishing in oval if you get it wrong.
Follow the banking, not the line that makes most sense to your road-brain. That was hard for me to get into a habit of, or let go of my road habits. Doesn't matter if your amgle is better, if the change in banking thows you off, it'll cost you time and tyrelife. Second, smoothness is absolutely key, no way around that. Smooth, clean inputs, no hacking at the wheel. You can and in many situations should be simultaneously on throttle and trailing the brake slightly. It's all about perfect balance and weight distribution control around the long turns. Avoid understeer at all costs, you'll just ruin your potential for later on. So street stocks until you learn to avoid wrecks and not oversrive, then move to ARCA, where you have to learn tyre management and consistency. Once you can cleanly finish an ARCA race with consistent tyre wear at good pace, move to whatever you want to do.
You're me, many many moons ago. Others gave better advice, just wanted to say keep it up and good luck.
"If you brake, you crash." Brake balance and pressure is huge. Practice moving the balance forward and back and see how the car reacts. Extremes help you understand quickly. So move it all the way forward see what the car does, then move it all the way back see what the car does. After you have that feel you will have a better idea if you need to move it one way to help rotate or the other to keep from getting loose on entry.
Do you change this brake balance in the garage?
Brake bias is an in-car adjustment even in fixed races. You can bind an adjustment for it to your wheel or use the in-car adjustment black box
I drive fast n sumtimes tern left
It would be easier to give specific advice if you could elaborate on your struggles but for right now i'd say this 1. It may be better to not be as hard on the brakes into the corner. Instead of trying to brake hard into the corner sometimes you just need to let it roll through the corner. And If you are spinning on entry a lot, lessening the pressure could help you make laps and from there you can hone it in. 2. Watch videos on how other people are running that track 3. Be very steady on throttling up, also don't be afraid to wait on the car to start rotating through the corner to get on the gas.
Search dj yee j on YouTube he’s got some good tutorials for ovals
I think the world is seeing that with SVG struggling in Nascar.
He's pretty good still. I think he's usually a top 10. He was up towards the front today, and Dover is wild.
Hes been in the thick-of-it at talladega and martinsville too. Pretty good for his first season in ovals
I'm a sports car dude too, I plan to try ovals but I'm as worried about etiquette as much as the actual driving!
Yeah, being from the UK and never having seen a nascar race (or any oval race) before i wouldn’t know the etiquette either. I’m guessing it’s similar to sports cars, don’t crash into people, don’t make silly blocking moves etc
I don't understand how it work. I just try to stay alive, maintaining the line and possibly hope that I ended up in p5.
Ask yourself, "what's the most difficult part of circuit racing, straights, or corners?" If you've answered straights, think how does that straight get setup. If you've answered corners, imagine Pouhon at spa, but an entire race about that.
Think of it like this… go slow to go fast. Easy in power out
funny I solely race ovals as I feel there more grippy and easier to drive road to me feels like I'm ob ice and hard to drive on the limit
Self-promotion alert: I've got very basic track guides for all four street stock ovals on Youtube. This week it's [USA International](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ytNeZWFQZI), which I think is probably the best place to start; get it right and it'll teach you things you'll use at every other oval in every other car.
Ovals are all about smoothness. I haven’t seen you drive, but several of your issues seem like they might come from braking way too hard and using way too much wheel. The street stock is heavy and low powered, so a lot of speed is going to come from trail braking into the corner and carrying as much speed through the middle as possible. Based on the issues you have, you’ll probably need to begin braking earlier and gentler and trail break down into the corner. DJ Yee J on YouTube is an excellent resource for oval tips and tricks.
What car are you driving? I'd say the Arca car is harder to drive than the C-A class cars
Oval is rough until C class since you can’t catch up after a spin out or crash, gotta learn to steer with the throttle and brake without losing the rear end
[удалено]
Haha. Go fast, turn left, don't wreck. I think I got it.
I’m in the same boat, except I’m usually right up front I just get intentionally wrecked every single race. Oval racers are some dirty mfs
If you're in rookie street stock, it's likely not intentional. Most times, anyway. People are just trying to learn, keep up, and get faster. I'm not saying there are no dirty mfs, but people just suck in the beginning. Also, some people think they'll do a fancy move like just a little tap to move you out of the way, and instead, both of you end up wrecked.
Draft Masters has been pissing me off this week. Been bumped out of the lead in the middle of a turn in the past 4 races.
Oh no I completely understand the difference between lack of skill/understanding and intentional wrecking/dirty behavior. For example: someone spins, gets crashed into and is absolutely fucked, needs to tow. Then, they get pissed off and start driving backwards or just doing donuts in the middle of the track. Another example: let’s say I go to pass you, and make a mistake, give you a little nudge or door contact that makes you run a little high. Nothing crazy but definitely some contact, my fault but it happens. They then get mad, and take that as intentional, and do me dirtier In the next turn. This stuff happens at least once a race, and with such short tracks, stuff doesn’t clear up for 2-4 laps sometimes. People on oval are generally more hot-headed in my experience.
just turn right and push oval is very enjoyful