Shelby Manning (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelbycobra) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
muserevival2015-09-13 06:04 pm
shelbycobra) wrote in muserevival2015-09-13 06:04 pm
Entry tags:
101.2.1 - quotes
"You can always get better. Nobody can stop you from getting better, and nobody can stop you from trying to make something right."
We know exactly what we need to do to get better next season. We need to win more than one race. We need to have a solid showing at the Indianapolis 500. We need to maintain the consistency that we established this season while also looking for that extra two-tenths to turn all those third place finishes into seconds or firsts. It's not that we did anything so badly wrong; it's that we're racing against the best drivers in the world, and they get so many things right.
As proud as I am of 2015 and as much as I know that it was my year, it's just one year. You don't become a Dixon or a Castroneves or a Montoya in one year. You build upon it and you keep finding ways to improve. I had one good year in 2012, and then I had a bad one and I was packing up my stuff. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want people to say I was a one-season wonder. I want to prove that I'm here to stay and here to contend, and that means doing well in 2016.
Lucky for me, there's a great team of people around me who will be here to help me toward that goal. My entire crew will also be back next year; that means Shane will once again be calling my races, three steps ahead of the entire field including me. Derrick will be on the rail with that weird memory of his where he can remember every car's last pit stop but can't tell you where he parked his car. Terry will continue to put my car together, along with a pit crew who never once botched anything. That's before you factor in having the financial backing of the Penske organization and three teammates who will be giving me three sets of data to look at every weekend.
But I can also continue to become a better driver. My worst finish of the season was solely because I was too aggressive on a corner and wound up in an accident. I was running in the top ten at the time. If I hadn't pushed too hard, it's entirely possible that I could have finished within the top ten in every single race this season. So my goal next season is to be calmer and have more faith in myself, so I'm not pressuring myself into making a mistake.
I can keep learning from everyone around me. I've always tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible, but one big difference between me in 2012 and the driver I am now was that while I listened a lot, I didn't necessarily implement anything. I found ways I wanted to do things and I stuck with them. This season I was more collaborative, because I knew I was coming back and that there would be things I didn't know. I knew that coming into Team Penske, I would have to do certain things their way and not my way. I got to work with our NASCAR team, with the Ganassi organization, and today I got to talk with Michael Andretti. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know before, and hopefully I'll continue to get smarter, because this sport isn't just about who can stand on the throttle.
Most importantly, I can continue to be a good teammate. If you look at the successful teams in IndyCar, it's not just a great driver but also a great strategist. Scott has Mike, Will has Tim, and Helio's having his races called by Mr. Penske himself for crying out loud. I've got Shane, and he and I both know that we did not get off to a good start this season. Now that we trust each other and have that respect for one another, we can eliminate one of our early road blocks and hopefully have a better first quarter than we did in 2015.
I have a tremendous opportunity now. I'm one of eight drivers racing for the top two teams in IndyCar. The contract I just signed guarantees me a seat for the next three seasons and more money than I've ever made in my career. The potential in front of me is tremendous. It's up to me to capitalize on it. I accomplished my goal of getting back to this sport and proving I was still relevant; now it's time to show the world what else I can do.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
754 words
We know exactly what we need to do to get better next season. We need to win more than one race. We need to have a solid showing at the Indianapolis 500. We need to maintain the consistency that we established this season while also looking for that extra two-tenths to turn all those third place finishes into seconds or firsts. It's not that we did anything so badly wrong; it's that we're racing against the best drivers in the world, and they get so many things right.
As proud as I am of 2015 and as much as I know that it was my year, it's just one year. You don't become a Dixon or a Castroneves or a Montoya in one year. You build upon it and you keep finding ways to improve. I had one good year in 2012, and then I had a bad one and I was packing up my stuff. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want people to say I was a one-season wonder. I want to prove that I'm here to stay and here to contend, and that means doing well in 2016.
Lucky for me, there's a great team of people around me who will be here to help me toward that goal. My entire crew will also be back next year; that means Shane will once again be calling my races, three steps ahead of the entire field including me. Derrick will be on the rail with that weird memory of his where he can remember every car's last pit stop but can't tell you where he parked his car. Terry will continue to put my car together, along with a pit crew who never once botched anything. That's before you factor in having the financial backing of the Penske organization and three teammates who will be giving me three sets of data to look at every weekend.
But I can also continue to become a better driver. My worst finish of the season was solely because I was too aggressive on a corner and wound up in an accident. I was running in the top ten at the time. If I hadn't pushed too hard, it's entirely possible that I could have finished within the top ten in every single race this season. So my goal next season is to be calmer and have more faith in myself, so I'm not pressuring myself into making a mistake.
I can keep learning from everyone around me. I've always tried to absorb as much knowledge as possible, but one big difference between me in 2012 and the driver I am now was that while I listened a lot, I didn't necessarily implement anything. I found ways I wanted to do things and I stuck with them. This season I was more collaborative, because I knew I was coming back and that there would be things I didn't know. I knew that coming into Team Penske, I would have to do certain things their way and not my way. I got to work with our NASCAR team, with the Ganassi organization, and today I got to talk with Michael Andretti. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know before, and hopefully I'll continue to get smarter, because this sport isn't just about who can stand on the throttle.
Most importantly, I can continue to be a good teammate. If you look at the successful teams in IndyCar, it's not just a great driver but also a great strategist. Scott has Mike, Will has Tim, and Helio's having his races called by Mr. Penske himself for crying out loud. I've got Shane, and he and I both know that we did not get off to a good start this season. Now that we trust each other and have that respect for one another, we can eliminate one of our early road blocks and hopefully have a better first quarter than we did in 2015.
I have a tremendous opportunity now. I'm one of eight drivers racing for the top two teams in IndyCar. The contract I just signed guarantees me a seat for the next three seasons and more money than I've ever made in my career. The potential in front of me is tremendous. It's up to me to capitalize on it. I accomplished my goal of getting back to this sport and proving I was still relevant; now it's time to show the world what else I can do.
--
Shelby Manning Martin
Need For Speed OC
754 words