Quote.... PREPARING to win............

Bobby Knight said, "The key is not the will to win … everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important."
I found this quote today and it really hit home. It applies to many things in life but it certainly applies to top fuel drag racing....... My crew chief and driver have been pounding into my head for 2 years now that we have to race smarter and work harder than the next guys to win. They couldn't be more right. We have to be willing to do more preparation, spend more time practicing and going over every part of our operation with a fine tooth comb to come out on top of the heap on race day. Small details can be BIG on race day and must be treated accordingly.
When the fans see the teams in the winner's circle most have no idea the hundreds of hours spent by the crew in the shop doing mundane and repetitve tasks preparing for those few moments when races are won and lost. They don't see the days on end that the team owner spent calling companies to talk about sponsorships or the searching for competent people to be on the crew. They don't see the years of knowledge that the crew chief has painstakingly acquired and recorded. They don't see the boring tasks like inventorying and ordering spare parts, organizing a place for everything in the trailer, planning trips, booking hotel rooms, and writing budgets.
These are the things we do to prepare to win. These things are about racing and winning. There is no glory in these tasks but for the love of the sport and competition among men and their machines we work, and we prepare to go to battle.............................