Mark Walczak Interview 2013 Pt. 1

Mark Walczak recently won his fifth Indyslotcar championship, which ties him for the most championships with series founder Phil Cianciola, and more impressively he has won them all in a row. He is Indyslotcar's all time victory leader and has put together a string of dominance not seen in any racing series. With the target of being the champion square on his back for the past many seasons, other drivers have tried to knock him off his throne to no avail.

Fast. Hard charging. Never relenting. These are some of the things you have to keep in mind if you are an opposing driver and see him in your mirrors. What is the secret to his success?

I was able to ask him before the recent Indyslotcar banquet.

This is the first time I've been able to interview him in this exclusive.

I think you'll find his answers thoughtful and worthy of a champion.

It is fair to say the early years of your Indycar career were marked with lots of inconsistencies not unlike other drivers. Was there an event where it suddenly all came together for you and you haven't looked back since? 

Tough call. I can see two spots for that. The first being my rookie year. I was trailing Phil Cianciola at HORA by 10 laps at the halfway point of the race, and at that time 10 races into the season he hadn't missed a final. Well I just got into a zone and clicked off laps and knocked him out of the finals for the first time that year. It gave me the confidence to know that I could run with "the big boys". The second was the following year at the Turkey Trot.  I started from the pole and dominated in getting my first win. After that with Jim Iverson's tutelage I haven't looked back.

Phil Cianciola is the Indyslotcar series founder

So like other drivers you held Phil as the "gold standard" to try and beat and once you did that it gave you the confidence to beat anyone? 
Well it wasn't just Phil. I had

followed the series the previous season,and that was the season off "Rottertude", so I knew if I could hang with and beat those two I could do just about anything.

 Jim Iverson was Walczak's teammate and mentor

Related to the first question, was there some advice given to you by Jim Iverson or others that helped you change into the dominant force you are today?  

If I gave you the answer to that question everybody would know my secret.  LOL

Okay. Fair enough. Let me ask this way so you can give answers without revealing your secret:

1. Did Jim give you multiple pieces of advice that changed your fortunes around or was it one major point? 
Since he was able to watch what I was doing from an outside perspective for the first half of my rookie year, when he and Phil Cianciola split up and I joined the team there were multiple things we worked on.

2. Was is something with your race craft or with your mental state or just a racing philosophy? 
Honestly I feel it was a little bit of everything.  Like Jim says I was the hardest working man in the series. I always paid attention to the other drivers, and listened to what ever advice I could get from them.  Just watching the other drivers for a while I could start to see their weaknesses, and how to use it against them. 

3. Did he tell you to model or copy another drivers approach or use as an example and if so who was that driver? 
No. He always mentioned to race the track within my own abilities. You really can't copy another drivers approach, because what works for me won't necessarily work for other drivers.

Is there something about these cars that suits your driving style or have you just found the limit at where you can take these cars?

Everybody has a different driving style. With track time comes the knowledge of the tracks themselves. Where you can and can't push the car. Where I can drive it deeper into a corner or where to ease into the corner and drive hard out of it. There are places on tracks that I will go full throttle that other drivers wont even dare try it.

Walczak's GTP ISF car flying off the track. It isn't always victories... Based on that answer did the extra seat time in the ISF at the beginning of your career help you in Indyslotcar? 
Oh with out a doubt. Even though they were run using different cars, the more seat time you got at a track the better off you were. I could transfer some of the information back and forth between the F1 cars and the Indy cars.  It defiantly helped with the learning curve.

Does the fact you are younger than most competitors make a difference?

No not really.  I think it all really comes done to my driving style. You see guys out there like Iverson before he retired and Rotter a few weeks ago in semi-retirement just go out there and dominate.  There are tracks that are suited to my driving style like a Rapids or a Deckertring  and of course Walczy World, and there are a few that I've had to change my style like a Raven, the Mini-Mile, Stardust and to a smaller extent Bayside now Badger Raceway

Look for part two of my interview with Mark Walczak.

Until next time...It's not bad being in the pits!

Steve The Wrench Ratchett

Jim Iverson=Indycar Hall of Famer

Jim Iverson, the three time ISF F1 Champion and two time Indyslotcar champion was inducted into the Indyslotcar hall of fame in 2013. Dan Margetta was also the winner of the prestigious Austin Award. Congratulations Jim and Dan! 
Steve The Wrench Ratchett

Click above for a highlight of Jim's Indyslotcar career

To see Dan margetta's award winning work click above and it

starts just after the "best livery" award

Why IndySlotCar Drivers Should Try the ISF

At the recent Indyslotcar banquet, Hall of Fame inductee Jim Iverson and five time league champion Mark Walczak thanked the ISF for giving them their start. With that in mind, I thought now would be an appropriate time to republish this article from several years ago when Indyslotcar,
then called HOCC (HO Champ Car), drivers were reluctant to race in the ISF.

-Steve

Why HOCC Drivers Should Try the ISF:Congratulations to Jim Iverson on winning his first HOCC championship.
Let me be the first to predict that he will win it again in 2008 with a strong challenge from Mark Walczak and Dan Margetta and Larry Rotter.
 

 Champion Jim Iverson got his HOCC start by first racing in the ISF when HOCC
management barred him from participating

Jim Iverson, having started two teams for rookie ISF participants, expressed disappointment at the ISF Milwaukee Grand Prix that HO Champ Car drivers that committed to running the Spyker and Toro Roso cars were nowhere to be found when the ISF season began.
"Seat time is very important in HO Champ Car," said Iverson. "In the ISF you know you are going to run at least two races each event. That is much more seat time than a rookie driver can get in any other league."

 

Toro Roso and Spyker were set up for HOCC drivers to be able to compete in the ISF.
So far no HOCC driver has fullfilled their contracts with the Iverson built squads to compete in several ISF races despite commitments from them

"People wonder why they don't make finals. Why no one steps up to challenge the winners. Why they haven't won. It is because they are not here!" Dan Margettta recently said at the Rapids Invitational.

"Seat time is very important," backed up Jim Iverson. "You know you are going to run at least two races and it is that much more seat time."

This isn't a rivalry.

It is not a CART vs. IRL.

It is more of a F1 vs. A1GP.

Both series share some of the same drivers and tracks, however they race during different times of the year and to different rules.

It is the same with HO Champ Car and the International Sportcar Series.

Almost all of the ISF drivers currently drive in HOCC.

Most of the tracks are shared by both leagues.

The same technology is shared by both leagues as the ISF F1 cars are the same as HOCC cars.

ISF and HOCC share the same technology so cars can be swapped between both leagues.
Drivers can run either body style 

Dean Strom's HOCC car shows the creativity of the paint schemes drivers mimmick of the real Champ Car series. Most cars are manufactured in F1 livery, so ISF cars are not usually hand painted in different team colors as often

HOCC gave birth to ISF stars Everet Kamikawa, John Shea, and Larry Rotter.

ISF gave birth to current HOCC studs Jim Iverson, Mark Walczak, Mike Fitzlaff, and Dean Strom.

Since the start of the ISF in 2000, all of the HOCC league champions except one has been a regular ISF participant.

There were approximately 106 HOCC races from 2000-2006 with at least 75 of them won by ISF regulars.

So why don't more HOCC drivers race in the ISF?

To paraphrase Mike Kristof, ISF drivers can get a little burned out because they race year round while he prefers to concentrate on one series.

Former HOCC Phil Cianciola would show support for new slot car ventures like the Rapids Invitational or the American Racing Alliance by attending the first event and then leaving it saying "I leave that stuff to you guys. I got my thing."

There is nothing wrong with those opinions and I know that ISF commissioner Everet Kamikawa understands and respects them, however if you look at the performances of HOCC drivers since 2000, there is no doubt that ISF drivers have a definite advantage when racing in the HOCC. Any HOCC driver who is not at the top of the field should give the ISF a try for the experience they will gain.

The first reason why ISF drivers dominate the HOCC is the simple matter of experience. An HOCC driver will run one division per race night consisting of 12 laps of qualifying and at least a 10 minute heat race. If they advance to the final race they could race for another 20 minutes or more.

An ISF driver will run in two divisions per race night consisting of 24 laps of qualifying and race in two 10 minute races. If they advance to one final that is an additional 12-16 minutes of seat time. Two finals is an additional 12-16 minutes. The second ISF division allows a HOCC driver to double the amount of seat time they would normally get on a race night. More time on the track means the driver will reach the sharp end of the grid faster. Since HOCC drivers will be competing with a lot of the same drivers they see in the HOCC season, they will be able to judge on where they stand compared to the competition and see how they are progressing.

An HOCC driver will also gain more track knowledge. Almost all of the current ISF tracks are part of the HOCC schedule. Since the HOCC races on tracks only once per year, an HOCC driver participating in the ISF will have the benefit of racing on several tracks for a second time. This doubles that drivers experience on  a given track. It was no surprise that John Shea won the initial HOCC race at Red Stripe Raceway at Runaway Bay. He had raced on the track 6 times before in various ISF cars and knew the circuit very well. Mark Walczak trashed the field at the Deckertring for the same reason.

Most of the current ISF tracks also host an HOCC event. This would give drivers one or two more races on tracks like Rapids International Raceway, Runaway Bay, Decketring, Bayside, Southshore Speedway, Raven Raceway, and Turtle Creek. Those tracks account for half of the HOCC schedule. A driver who knows where the tricky spots and the passing spots on these tracks has an advantage when the HOCC event at that track takes place. Since the ISF does not require drivers to commit to a full season, HOCC drivers can choose to race on just these tracks to gain experience for the HOCC season.

Tracks like Rapids change scenery often, racing on the tracks more often allows the driver to be used to these changes when they return to the circuit with the HOCC 

 

The side by side racing in the ISF helps HOCC drivers
 gain experience against their main HOCC competition

 

John Shea's 2007 HOCC ride

The third reason is HOCC drivers will be competitive right away in the ISF, especially in the F1 division.

Another area of valuable expeiereince an HOCC driver will gain is in car set up and handling. The HOCC uses “club cars” that are randomly assigned to a driver on race night

The ISF F1 division shares the same technology as the HOCC club cars. HOCC drivers will get more seat time with the same type of cars that they race, and get a better idea of how they handle. They’ll get a better understanding of how to set up a car, which is not as important in HOCC with the introduction of club cars, however when they find the set up on their own cars in the ISF and get used to it, they will be able to tell what a good club car feels like or how to drive around a bad handling club car during the HOCC season.

The fourth reason is momentum. Drivers can enter a few ISF events over the summer. By maintaining that sharpness, they will have an advantage when the HOCC season starts because they will not have to dust off their driving skills like the drivers that sat idle over the summer.

The last reason, and the most important, is that it is fun!

HOCC drivers do not have to race the full ISF season. They can pick the tracks they want to compete on without the fear of losing a championship.

Beer and great food is served at the events.
There are some nice trophies for the winners.
Plus drivers can be themselves and make mistakes without the glare of the TV lights.

Almost all of the ISF drivers currently drive in HOCC.

Most of the tracks are shared by both leagues.

The same technology is shared by both leagues as the ISF F1 cars are the same as HOCC cars.

HOCC gave birth to ISF stars Everet Kamikawa, John Shea, and Larry Rotter.

ISF gave birth to current HOCC studs Jim Iverson, Mark Walczak, Mike Fitzlaff, and Dean Strom (with all due kudos to the American Racing Alliance as well).

The stars and cars of the ISF have opened the door for their HOCC brothers and sisters and welcome them with open arms to their events.

The HOCC drivers who haven’t already done so should step through.

Steve update:

Since this article was published in 2007, several more HOCC drivers have participated in the ISF running at least three races. These drivers include: Mike Kristof, Matt Hayek, Andy Spehert, and Amy Butler. Thanks!

Steve The Wrench Ratchett

Handicapping the Austin Award 2013 Contenders

Anyone can be a pundit and chime in two cents on who will be or should be a champion in the HO IndySlotcar league. It takes a real handicapper to be able to pick the winner of the Austin Award for best comedian during the season.

Here are my picks for the coveted 2013 Austin Award named after former champion both on the track and on camera. Criteria for my votes are simple:

1. Who contributed the most original ideas for the TV broadcasts

2. Who got the most laughs on race night

3. Who provides the best mix of humor and weirdness in the final edit for broadcast

#5. Mike Lack: After six years of racing he finally made his announcer debut on camera for one race. That deserves a little tip of the cap on this list

#4. Everet Kamikawa: He hasn't made much time on camera as an announcer, however the league impressionist developed his arsenal of characters. If you didn't find the joke about Harry Carey comparing a green & brown car to camouflage toilet paper you missed something special.

#3. Amy Butler: Kitty Bo Peep is the one character the fans call for every broadcast. Her being a good sport about her various jokes for Kitty's abscesses from the broadcasts because of "alternate careers" should be rewarded with her first Austin trophy.

#2. Dan Margetta: Always ready with a good throw away line like "bringing a knife to a gunfight" his driver lineup intros are still funny and fresh after all these years.

#1. The Winner: Mike Kristof: Some of you are wondering what! Mike "Jon Wyatt" a.k.a. "Mike Bob Jenkins" has been the consummate straight man over the years on the broadcasts playing the leagues ringmaster within the sea of broadcast "puppets." More so this year than others he has delivered funny one lines and stories that have really added to his depth of bringing the racing action to life.

Congratulations Mike!

Until next time

It's not bad being in the pits!

Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett

Who Gets In? Indyslotcar 2013 Hall of Fame Nominees

The Indyslotcar series formed a hall of fame three years ago. The initial inductee was three time champion Larry Rotter. The second was founder and 5-time champion Phil Cianciola.
In a few weeks the third inductee for the 20 year old league will be introduced.

Who will it be?
The only known rule is that you have to be officially retired from the league, although if you are also a track owner and you let the league race on your track you are still allowed to race.
There is only one person that makes the decision on who gets into the hall of fame, league commissioner Mike Kristof. Here are my odds, based solely or this year, on who will get the honor for 2013:

Jim Kaehny:
A two time champion. 23 wins. 26 pole positions, 53 heat race wins, and appeared in 95 final races in 156 starts. Everyone loved racing him and a good guy to all, hence the nickname Gentleman Jim. He also built the first oval track and first dual purpose track in Edgewood Speedway (a.k.a. The Edge) and used components from the engineering company he worked at to build the first electronic lap counter. He was also Phil’s brother-in-law.
“Jim was the first of the “big guns” in the early days that I tried to beat as did most young drivers.
Phil was way too fast. Jim’s racing technique was somehow more attainable. Once I beat him in a final I knew I could take on Phil or anyone else,” Kamikawa said.
Odds of induction: 3-1

Jim Iverson:
Another two-time champion. Known as “The Grey Fox,” Jim had 17 wins, 11 poles, 59 heat race wins, appeared in 73 finals, all in only 110 starts. Jim was known for his strategy, race craft, and taking the technical work of keeping the cars to new heights as he was the tech master during the first several years of the “club car” era. He built the legendary Bayside International Speedway (now owned by Dean Strom), and is the first racer to drive in three decades of the 1960’s, 1990’s, and 2000’s. While not a factor for this league, he is also a multiple champion in the International Sportscar Federation (ISF).
Another personality who is greatly missed by today’s current drivers.
“Jim was like the tie fighter that was on Luke in Star Wars. If he was chasing you for the win or even third place you couldn’t shake him,” says Kamikawa.
Odds of induction: 2-1

Dave Austin:
The original clown prince of the league also took a championship, 13 wins, 27 heat wins, appeared in 54 finals in 118 starts. While well known for making the league as fun as it was both on camera and off, he was a competitive driver. His nomination also comes with controversy because he was a terrible driver his first two years in the league, then blitzes everyone in season three to win the championship. Turns out he introduced the league to another driver, Jonathan May, who was a driver in a different league who knew all the tips and tricks for making a car go faster. This included attaching a very small and narrow magnet to the underside of the front wing making it almost impossible for his car to crash. He famously revealed his secret after the last race of the season when he stuck his car to a metal pole. His championship wasn’t taken away, however the cheating genie was out of the box. He is remembered for that as well.
Dave is also the person responsible for giving members up close access to cars and drivers at the Milwaukee Mile when he worked there. That and his lighthearted fare is what he is most appreciated for now.
“Dave was so fast during his championship. It seems obvious now nut not at the time,” Kamikawa remembers. “After that season on a good night he was still deadly quick, especially when he was paired with Kaehny on Team Kool Guys.”
Odds of induction: 10-1

John Shea:
John was never league champion, however his influence runs throughout the racing world. In this league he took 15 wins, 11 pole positions, 36 heat wins, and appeared in 47 finals in 98 starts. Shea was the first to break down the cars technically to understand how they worked and what made them go faster. He dispensed that knowledge to others freely and was known as a fierce competitor. His battles with Cianciola are things of legend. He built a replica of Monza and staged that first race, the US Grand prix, in the garage of the Milwaukee Mile. “He and Phil had battles on and off the track. Both legendary. He argued against stupid rules and tried to make good rules better, Kamikawa said. He is still the toughest person I’ve raced against and I’m not saying that because he was my teammate for years!”
Those battles with Phil would also lead John to form the stock car based American Racing Alliance and later the ISF of which he is multiple times champion in both.
Odds of Induction: 8-1

John Baas:
Not a champion on track but one in life, he took three wins and three poles, 13 heat wins, appeared in 17 finals in 135 starts. Maybe not as impressive stats as others, however Baas contributed something else in terms of track engineering. He built the massive Vernon Farms quad oval raceway, and later made a portable version of the  track. He was also the first to really detail the landscape in and around the tracks in the exact attention to detail that model railroaders do. “John was fun to race against. Most importantly he was the first to detail his track with outhouses. We used to ponder what would happen if we were all suddenly sent to the Twilight Zone racing world where we were actually to scale with the cars and racing on our tracks. No one had any bathrooms until John followed up on it!” mused Kamikawa.
Odds of Induction: 15-1

 

Tony Perkins:
Probably the most popular winner of any induction would be the famously inventive T-Perk.
Famously no feature wins in his career, one pole position, 4 heat wins, 19 finals appearances in 102 starts. In one of his most famous racing moments he raced against the entire Penske team of Austin, Cianciola, and Kaehny in a heat race and beat them all!
One of the original drivers, Tony was the first to crash another car off the track in the first race causing a rivalry to develop between him and the crashee, Everet Kamikawa. “Tony and I supposedly ahd this big rivalry after that. It was all lip service much like David Hobbs and Sam Posey in sports cars,” Kamikawa said. “Tony is a class act who always had a thing where the celebrities flocked to him.”
Indeed Tony had that kavorka as his paddock area was often visited by the likes of The Spice Girls, Greg Moore, Frank Williams, The Pussycat Dolls, and a host of various beautiful women from the modeling and singing worlds. “We single drivers would hang out with Tony just to catch what he was throwing away!” Kamikawa chuckled. Tony was also the first of the group known as “painters,” drivers who didn’t rely on store bought cars. Over the years Tony painted cars in liveries like: Players, Duracell, Target, and several others.
Odds of Induction: 10-1

These are my predictions on who will be the next one enshrined in the Indyslotcar Hall of Fame in 2013. Some of these names will make another appearance in 2014.

Until then…It’s not bad being in the pits!

Steve “The Wrench” Ratchett

Wiedeman 4th Win in 2013

WIEDEMANN WINS WEST BEND GP
Takes 4th Straight 2013 F1 Win

"It's John Wiedemann's world," says Super Kamikawa driver Everet Kamikawa. "We're just lucky to be living in it." Indeed it must be great to live as John Wiedemann as the driver looks to have a solid lock on the F1 title after four F1 events in the 2013 season. 

"We don't want to talk championships right now and we've been ordered not to talk about it," says a junior Jaguar team spokesman intern. "In fact I shouldn't have even told you that!"

The short field made things a lot easier for JW. Mike Lack in the sister Jaguar used home track advantage to dig his way out of trouble all night to finish second. The Super Kamikawa team hasn't found the setup at all on these new F1 cars and quickly gathered and served all penalties. It was only Dan Margetta's Red Bull team , who also couldn't find the set up, that prevented Kamikawa from finishing fourth.

Tempers flared as drivers used "rough driving" to the maximum without going overboard. The teams were mad from all the damage that would have to be repaired, however the crowd loved it.

The LMP cars continued to impress the drivers but also retain their reputation as having a high learning curve. All drivers struggled with the bigger, wider cars. Tempers flared as cars seemed to spin off for no reason causing frustration that lead to cars being parked or drivers traction breaking loose and cars smashing into one another. In one case a Peugot was parked next to the food stand. Fans and crew were enjoying the interaction when an Audi barrel rolled into the crowd. Fortunately no one was hurt. 

An ugly race still resulted in a win for Wiedemann with Kamikawa second, followed by Lack and Margetta.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTSCAR FEDERATION
Official Finish, Event # 2013-03
West Bend GP
March 22, 2013
Lack Track

F1 Grand Prix Category -- 16 Minute Final
Pos. Driver Car
1  John Wiedemann Jaguar
2  Mike Lack Jaguar
3 Everet Kamikawa Super Kamikawa 

4 Dan Margetta Red Bull

Fastest Qualifier -- N/A
B Main --N/A

Heat Winners -- N/A

LMP Category -- 16 Minute Final
Pos. Driver Car
1 John Wiedemann Peugot
2 Everet Kamikawa Audi R15
3 Mike Lack Audi R15
4 Dan Margetta Peugot

Fastest Qualifier -- N/A
B Main -- N/A 

Heat Winners -- N/A 

Why Larry Rotter Is the Best Driver Running

Why Larry Rotter Is the Best Driver Running     
You know, you write a column a few months ago about a guy and how he isn't winning in the ISF and look what happens.
He rips off four wins in seven races and looks to be unbeatable for the GTP championship. He would be the first driver to win both the GTP and HOCC championships in the same year.
My writing colleague, Cornelius Funt, has once again opened the debate on whether Larry Rotter or Phil Cianciola is the greatest driver in HOCC history.
While it is easy to compare stats between the two drivers to find the answer,
there are some things about Larry Rotter's career that are not as well known and may tip the balance in his favor. You've heard of Chuck Norris and his feats of strength? Larry Rotter is the Chuck Norris of racing.


Some of these facts are:
-Larry is so fast he can watch an episode of 60 minutes in 84 seconds
-Light is jealous of Larry's speed
-Larry named his feet "gas" and "brake"
-Larry sued Dale Ernhardt over the use of the name "The Intimidator"
-The computer system that controls the engine mapping in Larry's car makes 1,286 calculations
  every second. We know this because Larry counted them by hand...twice!
-Larry doesn't lose races, he just lets other drivers borrow his winners trophy
-Larry doesn't read race data reports. He stares at them until he's absorbed all he needs to know
-Larry can judge a book by its cover
-Larry has counted to infinity-twice!
-Larry is so fast he can lap the field and spin himself out from behind
-Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas got their ideas for
Warp speed and Hyperspace after watching Larry race
-Larry is who "Willis was talkin' about"

-Larry doesn't need a stopwatch to time his laps, he decides what each lap time is
-Larry and Superman are the only two people that have enough speed when traveling to make the earth rotate backwards
-FedEx calls Larry "when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight"
-Larry's race cars only have three tires to give his opponents a chance to beat him
-The movie "Driven" was based on Larry playing with Matchbox cars when he was a kid
-When Larry does long division, there are no remainders
-The best laid plans of mice and men go awry, except for Larry's that go off without a hitch
-Larry can blow bubbles with beef jerky
-Larry is so fast he can cook minute rice in 12 seconds
-Larry only signs autographs with invisible ink so he doesn't ruin the value of the pictures
-Larry doesn't pass cars, he wills the other drivers to slow down
-Larry can win any chess game in three moves
-During a race, Larry's tires actually turn square in shape. If they stayed round he would break the sound barrier
-God created the world in 6 days. On the 7th day he raced Larry and lost two of three races.
-The only man who can beat Larry is...Chuck Norris


Until next time...it's not bad being in the pits!
 Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett

This article was originally published in 2007

Why Rotter Wins

Welcome to my observations of racing, otherwise known as...
"The Pits"

Why Rotter Wins
In the history of H.O. Champ Car, the league champion has absolutely dominated the competition. Dave Austin, Jim Kaehny, and Phil Cianciola all took their turns dominating the league.



In the new era of HOCC, defined as when club cars were introduced, that trend has continued with Larry Rotter assuming the  mantle of butt-kicker.  Fellow drivers marvel at his speed. They wonder what makes him so dominant in the HOCC.



"I know what Larry is going through because I have been there," says fellow 2-time HOCC champion Everet Kamikawa.
"Winning is fun. Once you win you want more and more of it!"

He should know. As the last champion of the original HOCC era before club cars, Kamikawa was wining poles, heats, finals, and championships much like Rotter is doing now. The other champions generated respect among the competition, however the competition was not running away from them screaming in fear like beat down dogs like they have against first Kamikawa and now, Rotter.
 
The comparison to Kamikawa is a good one.
Kamikawa won his first HOCC race in his 32nd start. He originally retired from the league roughly 80 starts later.
In those 80 starts he took 21 wins, 22 pole positions, 40 heat wins, and made 66 finals.
Since the switch to club cars, Kamikawa has 24 starts, 2 wins, 1 pole, 3 heat wins, and made 7 finals.

In the original HOCC configuration, Larry Rotter had roughly 50 starts with no wins, 2 poles, and roughly 4 heat wins.
Since the switch to club cars, Rotter has 22 wins, 17 poles, 39 heat wins, and 57 finals.

The ISF story is also one of opposites.
Kamikawa has started 115 ISF events (a combination of the 3 divisions of GTP, GT, and F1).
He has 30 wins in all divisions (9 GTP, 17 GT, 4 F1), 65 heat wins, 27 pole positions, 52 podiums, and 7 championships.

Larry Rotter has started 111 ISF events.
He has 11 wins (2 GTP, 7 GT, 2 F1), 48 heat wins, 12 pole positions, 62 podiums, and 1 championship. While the stats are close, the difference is Rotter hasn't won any championships since the inaugural 2000 GT title.
He also hasn't won in any division for three seasons. So despite his drought in the ISF, why does Larry Rotter so easily fell HOCC competitors?



The first reason is attitude. Sometimes this has been called "Rottertude." When racing, competitors have noted that nothing fazes Rotter. He doesn't smile or frown, and he rarely talks or shows frustration. A recent taunt by Dan Margetta that "bluegrass music sucks!" seemed to throw Rotter off for a heat race, however even that taunt bounces off his Teflon skin.

"The biggest thing a driver has to learn is how to win," Kamikawa explained. "Larry was always fast. He could dust off the lower half of the grid in the old days pretty easily, however he would rarely get to the final because he had a number of guys ahead of him. Once he got his first win, he knew he could beat anyone on the grid. That fueled his confidence and that built his attitude that he knows he can beat anyone on the grid at any certain time. He got over the intimidation factor. You hear about a certain drivers wins, championships, and see their speed and you think that you could never beat them. That is the intimidation factor.
Racing Cianciola, Kaehny, or Austin wasn't intimidating anymore once I knew I could beat them. If there was someone else that intimidated me; I would work on beating them next. Then the next driver who I was nervous to go up against, and the next driver after that, until I was on top. I'm pretty sure I've helped other drivers get over their intimidation of me by the losing I've done this year!" 

Is there more to it mentally than just getting over being intimidated?
Kamikawa says there is.
"Anyone who says that they don't care about winning I'm a little suspicious of. Having fun in the car is great, however you can't convince me that these drivers who say they don't care about winning don't long somewhere in their hearts to have their name on a trophy. To know that just once you managed to beat a field of other drivers. If people don't believe that what I’m saying is true, than I challenge them to give themselves a little test. Let’s say God comes to you and gives you a choice of having fun and the races, or having fun at the races and winning a few of them. I bet people would take the second option every time! Winning is contagious. Whether it is a team sport, an individual sport, science fairs, debates, or a board game, everyone wants to be a winner at something. Once you win you want more of it. Not to rub any one's face in it, but to have that "high" inside ones self is a great feeling."


 

The second reason that Larry Rotter wins is luck. There is the luck of getting a good chassis draw or picking the right lane in the right heat with the right competition, however there is also the luck that you make yourself. That mostly comes with practice and experience.

"Larry runs in the ISF and that gives him a lot more seat time than some of his competitors," Kamikawa said.
"That may not seem like such a big edge given the differences in the two leagues; however it helps a driver learn to recognize situations like when a car is loose and when to try and pass it. It also helps learn car control and patience. If you notice, Larry is rarely caught up in a multiple car crash. That comes with learning to give everyone the room they need and having a strategy of when to pass or follow another car."

 
The third reason, and probably the most important, is that Rotter's strategy is very sound. Set a blazingly fast time in qualifying, and scare the top runners from racing in the same heat. This forces other top drivers to take each other out in the rest of the heat races, leaving Rotter to run in a heat of slower cars. Rotter advances to the final. Since the other top drivers knock each other out in the other heat races, the level of competition in the final race is also not always at its highest.


"If Larry knows that going into a race he will have no problem beating the fourth and/or third car in the race, then all he has to worry about is beating his main competition. That takes a lot of pressure off," stated Kamikawa. "In my championship years people didn’t want to race me in the heats either. Even if I did get stuck with another top driver I knew I could beat them and it wouldn't faze me."
 

So how do you beat Larry Rotter?
Once again we give the last word to Kamikawa:
"You have to have the confidence and attitude that you know you are going to beat him. Then not be afraid to race against him in the heat races. He may beat you 9 out of 10 times, but you will gain a lot of experience racing one of the top drivers. Then that one time you beat him will lead to more confidence and that leads to more wins. We are complete opposites in terms of our performances in the last several HOCC seasons," Kamikawa said. "It is very interesting to compare our careers. He's got the bit between the teeth for the last several years, while I'm just trying to be more than a moving chicane! It is time I take my own advice."

Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett

This article was originally published in 2007