We’re all familiar with the phrase “Your reputation precedes you,” and whether by instinct or experience we come to realize that the reputation we earn can work for us, or against us. In his seminal work The 48 Laws of Power author Robert Green discusses this idea, stating that “reputation is the cornerstone of power.” In the book, he shares the story of renowned Chinese general Chuko Liang. After dispatching his army to a distant camp during the War of the Three Kingdoms, Liang, who had earned a reputation as a cunning and savvy general, was resting in a small town with only a handful of his soldiers. Word came that a huge enemy force was approaching – in short, they were doomed. Immediately, Liang told his small group of soldiers to open the city gates, take down their flags and hide. Meanwhile the leader himself took a seat on the most visible part of the city’s wall, in clear sight of the enemy. There, Liang lit some incense, and began chanting peacefully. The enemy army, who outnumbered Liang’s troops by hundreds of thousands of fighters, was disarmed. Rather than easily overtaking Liang’s small army and capturing the powerful general, they held back assuming that the Liang’s tactics were undoubtedly a trick to lure them into the city. Ultimately, they retreated quickly, not taking advantage of Liang’s incredible vulnerability, as a direct result of his reputation as a sneaky, masterful leader.
Let’s fast forward 1800 years and bring this conversation back to sportsman drag racing… Whether we realize it or not, whether we like it or not, we have developed a reputation of our own as a competitor. This is a reputation that, like General Liang, we can often use to our advantage. It is also a reputation that, at least occasionally, provides opportunity by way of defiance.
If, for example, you’re most comfortable approaching rounds of competition as what we like to call “The Dialer” on ThisIsBracketRacing.com – you typically depend on your car to match the dial-in, and trust that it will do so – high-level opponents do pick up on that. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve developed a reputation. And those high-level opponents are developing and executing a strategy based upon that reputation. It doesn’t mean you can’t stick to your game and beat him or her, but often it does mean that you have to be flawless in execution to do so. Defying your reputation as a “Dialer” and implementing what we refer to as a “spot drop” wherein you dial up a set amount of ET, and lift off the throttle and/or tap the brakes at a predetermined point near the finish line can really improve your odds of success in these rounds. This isn’t because you’re any more likely to make a great run, but because you’re doing it in a way opposite to what your opponent expects – a way that defies your reputation!
We all have tendencies as racers. We all have comfort zones that we default to in terms of strategy and execution. In Super Gas competition, as an example, I tend to default to setting up to run 9.86 (“holding” .04 against the 9.90 index). I’m not breaking news here: my competition realizes this (at least they should). In the pursuit of both strategizing for each round individually and cultivating a reputation, however, I will often change it up – specifically against high-level opponents. I may set up 9.90 one round and hold it wide open. Obviously, I’m doing so because in a given round of competition, I feel that strategy gives me the best odds of turning on the win light. Sure. At the same time, there’s an additional benefit lurking just below the surface: Whether or not my strategy results in a win in that particular round, it forces that high-level racer (and anyone else who is paying attention) to race me differently next time. They’re going to approach that round questioning what they know about my “reputation” of setting up 9.86.
Occasionally, I’ll hold a bunch and set up 9.82. I’m very comfortable killing just .01, so I can set up 9.89. I try to change it up just enough, that even opponents who are truly paying attention (perhaps especially opponents who are truly paying attention) never really know what’s coming.
The benefit that I see, the benefit any racer sees to this is twofold. First and foremost, opponents get to the point that they simply aren’t very confident in what’s coming. Speaking for myself, when I’m not sure what to expect in a round of competition, there’s a portion of the run that is spent trying to figure it out. News flash: We’ve got under 10 seconds to put the pieces of the puzzle together (for those of us in other classes or 1/8th mile racing, there’s even less time)! So any time our opponents spend trying to figure it out inherently diminishes the time that they have to make a decision and execute it! The hidden benefit, however, might even be more valuable. By constantly (or even occasionally) changing things up, we develop a reputation over time much like that of General Liang: as a cunning, deceptive competitor. As a racer capable of anything at any given time. And it’s that reputation for being capable of executing various strategies that ultimately opens the door for us to fall back on the one go-to strategy that is most in our comfort zone – the one thing that we know we do best. Because we have opponents guessing, we can now revert to the strategy that we find the simplest; and it’s inherently more effective because our reputation has forced savvy opponents into overcomplicating it!
It’s worth taking a good hard look at how you tend to approach your rounds of competition. Are you consistent in this approach? If so, your opponents probably realize that. What reputation have you earned?
Accurately pinpointing and understanding that reputation can bring to light opportunities to succeed by defying that reputation, or (like Chuko Liang) it can bring into focus opportunities to succeed by capitalizing on it.
