We speak with racing driver Matt Plumb on how he prepares for races, and how he trains himself to endure situations that would drive most people to quit.
"I've driven races where my power steering has gone out and the diver cooling system went out and it's 130 degrees, and if you did that for about five minutes, you'd say I gotta quit. But I had to do it for an hour. And the only way to get through it is just keep taking breaths and focusing on, 'What's the next step? What's the next step? What's the next step?'"
Today's guest is Matt Plumb, a professional race car driver.
If I asked you about car racing, you’d probably mention your favorite scene from Ford versus Ferrari with Matt Damon and Christian Bale or Days of Thunder Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Other than what we see in movies, most people don’t know a whole lot about the sport of car racing and what it takes to be a successful professional driver. As sports nerds, Bryan and I were treated to an inside look, not only into the sport of car racing, but more importantly, the mind of a professional race car driver. Car racing is about so much more than driving fast and trying not to crash. In fact, everything we talked during our conversation with Matt felt completely relatable, even though our background is in a completely different sport. We discovered so many parallels between race car drivers and runners that at times, it felt like we were talking about the same sport.
Matt highlights his story with insight into what makes up his winning mindset, including why not quitting is quite possibly the biggest motivator that got him through his toughest moments. There’s no mistaking how relevant the lessons Matt has learned from twenty years of racing are to all of us. We really believe this conversation will inspire you to be ‘all in’ when it comes to going after what you want in life.
Show Notes
(4:11) Where is he and what his season looks like…
(5:18) Simple questions from a novice and racing basics explained…
(9:27) It’s a brother thing. The stories behind their starts…
(14:23) What’s the mindset when you are driving 180 mph?
(15:47) “Essentially you're balancing 3000 pounds of metal and fuel and everything else attached to it on four little rubber patches.”
(17:31) It takes a team…
(20:18) What are your thoughts on other drivers?
(22:4) What happens physically and mentally in the cockpit?
(27:40) The “why” behind racing and the dysfunction of being elite…
(30:16) “Early in my career, I would say, I'd be willing to die to achieve success behind the wheel.”
(31:52) What’s the process that takes you through a race?
(33:42) Navigating the moments where you lose focus…
(35:56) A perfect example…
(39:06) “90% of my conditioning has become warming up for my exercising and then stretching, and trying to make all the things that cramp and get sore, go away.”
(41:07) Dealing with the consequences of mistakes…
(45:59) The safety of the sport today…
(49:51) Advice for others looking to fuel their pursuits...
References
Matt's Wikipedia page - Wikipedia
Team TGM - homepage
Laguna Seca results - Team TGM
Guest
Matt Plumb
Matt's fav UCAN product: Tropical Orange Energy
Hosts:
Jon Rankin - gobemore.co | @chasejonrankin
Bryan Green - maketheleapbook.com | @maketheleapbook
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