[ponyakr]

It doesn't matter how many dirt races you see. That does not prepare you for your first night of driving a car yourself. You can know all the rules, regulations, and procedures, like cautions, restarts, realignments after the caution, red light situations, and what all the flags mean, you're still not ready. You can have your best racer buddy give you tips and pointers that he's learned from years of racing. But that will still not prepare you for your first race behind the wheel. There's no simulator that can prepare you. The only way to learn how to do it is by doing it. Some call it "seat time." The more seat time you get, the more comfortable you'll be in the intense atmosphere of racing competition. You'll eventually begin to learn to ignore the loud noise of the competitior's motor right beside you. You'll even learn to ignore the friendly "love taps" on your back bumper. Now, it's a tremendous advantage to start out with a good handling car. I sometimes feel sorry for those poor guys who even after many weeks of racing are still slippin and slidin all over the track and then spin out in the turn several times during the race. I consider this sport one in which it is very important, if not absolutely necessary, to have an experienced racing buddy to help you get started. You can't just take a stock bird or Camaro or anything else onto the track and race it. The won't turn left. I doesn't matter how much power you have, or how fast you can do on the straights, if it won't turn left when you get to the turn. There are certain basic modifications that must be made to the suspension to make the car turn left. And most racers are not willing to divulge any of their setup info to just anybody. That's why it's important to find somebody to help you get started. If you want to run a Pont, you will probably need to find a Chevy racing buddy at first, cause there are extremely few Pont. dirt cars out there. And when you do, you can just about be assured that he will try to talk you into using a Chevy motor. So be prepared to resist. You may have to go thru several possible helpers before you'll find one that will help you, if you insist on using a Pont. motor. But it's worth it. To be the only Pont in the race and beat all the Chevys can be extremely rewarding. Ask my friend MB. He'll tell you "I used to wear them chevy out with my old 350 Pont." Try it, you might like it. If you stick with it, you may even grow to love it.