XRAY - Model racing cars

Honestly, racing is a lot like golf. When you first start golfing, you usually go out to the driving range and hit a few buckets of balls, then you make it out to the course and find out it's a whole different ball game. You shoot a score of around 130 or so. So you go back to the driving range, maybe take a lesson, and then next time, you drop 25 strokes and shoot a 105. So you keep working hard and practicing all the time, you get down to the 80s. You think, "this isn't that hard, I've been progressing so fast I'll be shooting in the 70s in no time". You could spend your whole lifetime trying to shave off 10 strokes from your handicap, while it only took you a few months to drop 45 strokes. The point being, you may hit that "plateau", but it really isn't a "plateau" after all, it's just that you aren't progressing as fast as you once were.

going to have to agree on the platue thing.. That happened to me and jess i almost stopped racing all together. I have only been in this hobby for a litte over a year and the guys that beat me are many levels below me now.
practice practice practice i got 125 hrs on my 3pk since last september.
I was still below like 4-5 guys at our local track, then i went to rnd 1 mid west and had nothng but trouble all weekend and was in the last main. EGO GONE
came back home and set new goal for myself in r/c and since then i have seen my driving get way better..................so when you think you are stuck go get your @ss kicked and drink a red bull and set new goals

In my case, from the racing standpoint, I have the advantage (or disadvantage) of living in Southern California. Sometimes our club races look like a mini nationals. Anyways, I've been seriously racing buggy for about 3 years now, and definitely progressed like my golf game. I came from nitro sedan, so getting into a buggy was different, but not that difficult. The 1st year, I drove a lot, and had a decent year. I made the A-main at Silverstate and the B at The Dirt Nitro Challenge (in Sportsman, of course). Then last year, I started racing for RC America and moved up to the Pro class. In the beginning, it was very disheartening to get spanked every weekend, especially at the big races. Little by little, I could see not only my driving startng to improve, but also my knowledge of setup on the XB8. Driving the same car for almost two years definitely gets you into that comfort zone of knowing what and how your buggy is going to handle in various track conditions. Anyways, driving with guys who are faster than you may not be great for your ego, but it is invaluable if you're trying to get faster. You learn things both on and off the track that will help you in the long run. You may not progress as fast, but as long as you learn something new everytime you go out onto the track, then you're going in the right direction.

I wholeheartedly agree with what Rich said about driving the same car for two years helping a lot. Some guys switch brands every year and never get comfortable with their car. Each car has little things about it that as you practice and race more and more you learn and get better with it. It is like the car becomes a part of you and you know exactly how it is going to react in different situations when you really get familiar with it.

If you switch cars often, you will never get comfortable enough to reach the level you can. I've found it takes at least 2 years racing one particular car before you hit that "zone".