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Road courses: The joys of turning right

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For years, road-course racing has been one of my passions. Maybe the reason that I've enjoyed success at those places is because I love it so much. But to be good at a road course takes the right frame of mind, the right car, and a little luck.

Road-course racing isn't as easy as it looks. In fact many would say that it's much more difficult than oval racing. Because you turn right and left it's nearly impossible to hit a perfect set-up. Compromise is the key here.

Take Watkins Glen, for example. All the best places to pass are right hand turns, so we take a car that has a tendency to turn better to the right. The same is true for Sears Point since the changes to that track.

When you're on the road course, it's all one big chess game. When you approach a turn, you have to be aware of not only how you enter that turn, but also how you set yourself up for the next turn. You always have to be one step ahead of yourself.

The same is true for passing on a road course. In order to pass someone on a road course, you have to start setting up that pass well in advance.

It may require a lot of strategy and thought, but when it's done right, road-course racing can be a bunch of fun -- especially when you win.