I. Attention Getter: Ryan Newman, one of the most successful racing driver on the NASCAR grid, walked through these very corridors, sat in these very benches and considering COM 114 is an engineering degree requirement, took this very class 13 years ago before graduating as a vehicular structural engineer.
II. Relating to the Audience: I believe that cars have fascinated most (if not all) of you at some point of time in your life, be it their loud growly engines, sleek looks or the sheer excitement that comes along a racing weekend. Motorsports is fast becoming a profession that many college graduates seek.
III. Thesis statement:
IV. Credibility Statement: As someone who has been Go-Karting for the past 7 years and as someone who closely followed Formula 1 and NASCAR, I believe I am credible enough to speak about how to become a professional racing driver.
V. Preview: Today, I am going to discuss with you the requirements and the
procedure required to become a professional racing driver.
VI. Background Information: Racing as defined by the Formula 1 governing body is “The ultimate test of man and machine - pushing car and driver to their absolute limits in pursuit of one simple goal. Speed. “
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(Transition: Now that we know what professional racing is, let us explore the requirements of becoming a racing driver.)
I. There are several requirements that racing drivers need to fulfill as stated in the British Journal of Sports Medicine authored by H Baur and S. Muller.
A. To be sharp for over 2 hours of intense racing involves unimaginable levels of mental skill which can be broadly classified into four dimensions.
1. The first dimension is driver input.
a. Driver input involves information such as status of the track, location of other cars and race circumstances.
b. It is best to let these inputs flow in naturally and act according to the situation.
2. The second dimension is concentration.
a. Almost all driver errors occur due to lack of concentration.
b. Concentration can be built by focusing on the job at hand, which is driving, instead of concentrating on the bigger goal of winning.
c. The only way to practice concentration is to race more and more until you can make a mental map of the entire track and all its turns.
3. The third mental skill involves anticipation.
a. Anticipation is a way of making an educated guess about the immediate environment of the driver.
b. Thinking ahead gives the driver an opportunity to have more time to process information and act according to it.
c. Anticipation also serves as a tactical tool which helps a driver in making passes over other cars on the track without having an accident.
4. The last required mental skill is emotion.
a. Emotions play a vital role in a driver’s performance on a particular day.
b. A good standing on the championship table might increase a driver’s performance whereas a career low may lead to further defeats.
c. It is...