The Older I Get the Faster I am.

So we all know the old adage of "The older I get that faster I was".

In the past two weeks I've been reminded that I've reached that nirvana of driving better than I ever have. I will be 60 this year and I'm on my 35 season of racing (if we include motorcycle racing).

This past weekend I was instructing an autocross school; we were demonstrating various techniques and I was hoping in everything from Vettes to a bone stock Matrix and within 50ft was finding the limit of the tires without over driving them. 

The weekend before I was instructing at PCA and running the Datsun. The corner workers were telling me over lunch that they loved watching me drive the car as I was making it dance. I was indeed driving it well and getting the most out of the tires.

So out of curiosity anyone else hit that sweet spot?

I too have noticed. Youth brings many things, but with racing, experience may trump all. 

I just turned 60, but I was, by far, the fastest I've ever been on a motocross bike in my mid 50's.

The weird thing about it was, it didn't seem any different, and I didn't feel fast. But I was suddenly battling with the top riders, and leaving my usual group in the dust.

I've had a few 'off' years but my goal is to see if I can get back there this season.

Practice, practice, practice. That was the only thing I think I did differently at the time.

Peabody said:

I just turned 60, but I was, by far, the fastest I've ever been on a motocross bike in my mid 50's.

The weird thing about it was, it didn't seem any different, and I didn't feel fast. But I was suddenly battling with the top riders, and leaving my usual group in the dust.

I've had a few 'off' years but my goal is to see if I can get back there this season.

Practice, practice, practice. That was the only thing I think I did differently at the time.

It's the seat time for sure; unlike many people I've been getting a lot of seat time the past 2 years. 

I've watched some of my in car stuff of late and I don't have a lot to nitpick. In fact there's one with the F500 that I'm surprised I didn't loop the car or scrub off a ton of speed.

I took a few years off from racing (after a decade of full time racing) and came back for an event. In the same car, I knocked a second a lap off  my previous best times in my first practice session.  Annoying as of course I'd been trying to do exactly that before I went on hiatus.

As long as the reactions stay with you, there is no reason you can stay old and good, but there are certain limits like deteriorating eyesight or reaction times.  I really respected Stirling Moss when he tried driving again after his big accident and when he realized that he would never again be able to reach that superb level he had attained before the accident, opted to retire even though he would probably have still been a pretty decent competitor had he stayed in the game.

Tom1200 said:

So out of curiosity anyone else hit that sweet spot?

Nope, and I'm running out of time.

Duke said:

Tom1200 said:

So out of curiosity anyone else hit that sweet spot?

Nope, and I'm running out of time.

 

My only racetrack experience was driving horses, but I fit this discussion otherwise. 
 

I went to my first autocross when I was 62. April 1 will be the fourth anniversary. I'm still improving and have been competitive against the better local drivers for a while. 
 

Considering that I've had to work on weekends, it's been hard to get seat time.

This is all very encouraging, considering I just started racing last year and I'm 47.  I feel like I got a really late start but it's good to know that I could have many good years ahead of me on the racetrack.

I peaked somewhere in the mid 50s for lap times and race craft , but picking up on a new to me course, my best was when I was about 40. Still pulled a few wins in my early 60s, but my body told me to stop when I was 63. 

I'm 76 and still improving. Some of it is the car set up and a bunch is experience. A few years back at the Indy Runoffs I had my fast 2 laps at the very end, back to back .002 apart. I was really focused trying to catch the car ahead.

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

There's a guy who vintages races with us who is 83; he started about 10 years ago and he's fast. 

Tom1200 said:

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

There's a guy who vintages races with us who is 83; he started about 10 years ago and he's fast. 

I just did my first SVRA race last weekend and had a blast. So much so that I signed up to race in the Mitty next month. SCCA racing is a total rush, but I really enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of the vintage scene. It was fun to race against Lolas and Mallocks even though my car wasn't much of a match for them. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

While both scenes are awesome (I run both) I really like vintage racing for the exact reason you stated.

One of my regrets in life is that I've never done wheel-to-wheel racing. I hope to remedy this sad situation by racing Lemons later this season. I've also got a friend who's willing to sponsor me racing his vintage motorcycles. He just quit at age 75, but then he raced continuously from age 12. I'm not sure that I want to take that sort of physical risk at my age of 59. In Motorcycles my sweet spot would probably have been my 30s. In my teens the approach was more like go faster until you crash. Rinse, wash, repeat. The gal at the emergency room claimed that I was sweet on her because I kept on showing up....

well so far I don't feel like I'm getting slower as I go

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

 In my teens the approach was more like go faster until you crash. Rinse, wash, repeat. The gal at the emergency room claimed that I was sweet on her because I kept on showing up....

That was me 100%. And when I got back into motocross in my 40's I resumed that style. At some point in my 50's I stopped crashing altogether and got faster at the same time. I'm not sure how or why.

I hope that's the case for me. Just turned 57. I stopped racing over a decade ago when the kid came home.

Getting back into a project car now and hoping to work my way back to the track in the not-too-distant future. Getting lots of encouragement from this thread.