Tuesday, February 19, 2008

"Hello, Newman." (Seinfeld)

Not a huge fan of Ryan Newman, but a fan nonetheless. He won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, ending a 2-year winless drought.

Newman and his old crew chief Matt Borland won a bunch of races a couple years ago by doing something no one really thought about in racing. Finishing 500 miles the quickest.

They weren't the fastest lap runners, or fastest during certain parts of the race. They were the fastest to complete 500 miles. Fellow racer Tony Stewart was not happy losing the Newman, with the quip "the fastest car should win the race"- not one with better gas mileage.

Last time I checked, winning is who can complete the race faster than the other competitors. Newman and Borland did it through gas mileage. They found that by decreasing the amount of fuel to the engine slightly would drop 5-7 hp, but gain 5-7 more laps per tank. Fewer stops than competitors. A true engineering victory from Purdue grad Newman.

And now he has a 500 victory.

What are you doing in your life to solve a problem by shifting resources around? Something to allow you to move on to a bigger victory?

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