GRAND-AM Road Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - For as long as motorsport has existed, drivers have relied on certain rituals, routines and/or superstitions to - at least in their own minds - prepare them mentally and physically for a safe and successful race.

Years ago, many drivers wouldn't go anywhere near the cockpit of a green racecar, because it was believed that green was a bad luck color. It's still also somewhat rare to see a car carrying the No. 13, and one of the worst things you could say to a driver right before a race back in the old days was, ‘Good luck.'

That tradition is alive and well in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, where drivers have all sorts of routines they do before each event. A fairly common one is the order in which drivers perform specific steps before pulling onto the racetrack.

"The only superstitions I do have are, I do everything right side first," says Ricky Taylor, who co-drives the No. 10 SunTrust Ford/Dallara with Max Angelelli. "I'll put on my right sock, then the left, my right pant leg, then the left, right shoe, then the left, tie the right shoe, then right sleeve, right glove, etc. I don't really know how it all started, but if I don't remember how I did something that day, then I have to start all over again, so I make sure and do everything right side first."

Baseball fans might remember a pitcher by the name of Turk Wendell, whose many superstitions included jumping over the foul line whenever he came onto and off the field, waving to the center fielder (and waiting for a wave in return) at the start of every inning, chewing exactly four sticks of black licorice instead of tobacco and brushing his teeth between innings.

Wendell has company on that last one, namely 2005 Rolex Series GT champion and 2004 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Grand Sport (GS) champion Craig Stanton, who now co-drives the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 with John Potter.

"For some reason, I started brushing my teeth when I was racing motocross and supercross," Stanton explains. "That was a deal where I'd get dirt in my mouth, so I'd always want to brush my teeth. Every time, it gives you that fresh feeling when you brush your teeth. If you haven't brushed your teeth for a while and then you brush your teeth, it's like, ‘Wow, I feel great!' That's how I want to feel in the car, kind of that fresh feeling."

Stanton calls his teeth-brushing ritual a "psychological anchor," and it's just a part of his preparation before each session. He starts every day of a race weekend with coffee that he brews himself ("It can't be the hotel coffee," he says), gets in a workout before leaving the hotel and makes sure he's at the track two hours before he's slated to drive, even if the crew isn't there yet.

Then, there's the unique way Angelelli gets ready to go racing...

"I have this habit of getting people on the team mad before the race," he says. "Whatever it takes. I antagonize whoever I can, just to get them worked up, and then they'll be in a fighting mood once the race starts. That is a good thing, I think. It makes people perform better.

"How do I do it? It's different for everybody. Some people, I only have to look at them twice, and they get mad."

But don't count Angelelli among those who believe in superstitions.

"I have absolutely no superstitions, because I don't believe superstitions have any effect at all on the outcome of the race," he says.