The last sentence is what I've seen, The medical exam for many doing this later in life is a wake up call for most. Certainly, the primary care provider works with them to effect a)

As far as your assessment, I see more incidents due to @Nizer's observation.

Working with older drivers for the last thirty-five years, most drivers affected by the "effects of age" to the extent that it causes lapses in judgement on track know it and stop.

The rest of your bullet points are just good sense, if the driver is in possession of good sense...

The problem is most driver incidents are caused by drivers who a) don't know where that limit is until they're past the point of no return and b) decide to do something very different than they've done in the past. While the first one could be aggravated by fatigue, the second, which is far more prevalent, is not generally a result of a condition, but rather a conscious decision.

II's like Nizer said. I have seen a LOT more incidents in the last three years than ever before at DE and track day events. Also, in pro racing. Look at the last lap of the IMSA race for all you need to know.

 

Really? Wow.

Red mist is anger that comes through in your driving.

 

I'll only add that "the limit" is fluid, not a line in the sand.

The way drivers ask/tell the car to do things is a direct influencer of the success of the outcome.

It's why that it's a fact that there is NO car that cannot be driven quicker by somebody else... Especially at the club/DE level and despite RL conventional wisdom that everyone can tell the difference in the number of heat cycles and a pound of air pressure...

 

I think of it as aggression, not necessarily anger, which often manifests in driving closer to the limit than one's skill level allows. The boundary of 'too much' aggression is somewhat fuzzy, usually judged in hindsight (e.g., if you intimated your competition, didn't hit anything, and won the race, not red mist). We're not necessarily saying different things.

 

Bingo. Red mist is uncontrolled aggression, entitlement, unrealistic expectations, decisions made despite geometry and speed counting against a successful outcome.

It's an emotional and physiological state that ignores reality and the presence of other cars and things to hit. God, I see it all the time... I've been guilty of it a few times, and I'm not proud of it.

 

The latter is just not true. I can see it watching a live stream. If there is "too much" (i.e. uncontrolled) aggression, and you intimidated your competition, didn't hit anything and won the race, you dodged the bullet. You were lucky.

The boundary is very much finer than that at the highest level. You can't see it, but the driver will tell you it was there in the post race or qualifying interveiw.

No am driver should ever flirt with that boundary, unless they have SO much practice that they can shave the levels down to blond hair thickness level difference.

 

And yet PCA and all organizers could fix a few of those quite easily. Free water + tents for shade.

I find requiring to showing up at 7-730am and dicking around for 2-3 hours doing nothing after the same damn drivers meeting we've had forever annoying too when I go sprint racing. Zoom meeting that crap the night before, check-in online, and be there for your qualifying time should be good enough. I'm sure I'd get more sleep if I didn't have to wake up at 5am... and I live 15-20 minutes from the track.

 

The second Porsche race? I could not believe that. smh

 

Curious...

When the OP indicated that his CPAP machine had failed and that only limited data was available from the replacement (less than a week?), did PCA or PCA CR state how much data (in days) must be provided and what type of rx compliance that data much show (e.g., 90 nights with 70% of nights showing at least four hours)?

Was PCA or PCA CR that specific? Or did the conversation veer off in a different direction?

As far as physiology of club racers, I think heat stress and dehydration can be especially challenging.

I worked in this field for a awhile and collaborated with experts, including Larry Armstrong, PhD. who clinically-validated urine color as a biomarker.

My company failed to get properly funded, but not before a few accomplishments.

A new(ish) effort along the same lines is reflected here:

https://mx3diagnostics.com/mx3-team/

They have a white paper here:

https://mx3diagnostics.com/wp-conten...1.2_070222.pdf

NOT clinically validated.

NOT a medical device-- no FDA review to assess safety and efficacy.

The white paper refers to some studies on salivary osmolality, including the famous work of Walsh.

I remember when my CEO and I discussed this Walsh work with the CEO of CamelBak-- we were looking for paths to funding, including some monies to pay Walsh for access to his raw data.

This was back in 2008 and I was a VP in a start up.

I knew before the call that the CEO of CamelBak was a college classmate and my CEO and I had some fun with this at the start of our telephone call. My CEO said "I have someone here that you might remember from long ago."

I said "I lived on the fourth floor of Hitchcock Hall in Fall 1978."

She said "Oh, top of the '****!."

We briefly discussed our freshman year, English 5, Animal House and Paradise Lost. Required reading.

We learned PCA or the PCA depending on context.

Some day we may be able to characterize salivary osmality well-enough to use it as a true biomarker. Or maybe not.

Regardless, if a simple medical device can be used in the future, it might be good for racing.

Meanwhile we have urine color.

 

I feel compelled to add:

OTC devices like "watches" and related "apps" that provide data on "the quality of sleep," are not likely medical devices, so folks should be careful with how they use information provided.

And there are some studies (which I have not read in detail) which compare the dx capabilities of at-home sleep tests to results from sleep labs. The former are medical devices.

 

I have been wearing a FitBit watch for about ten years now. Although it is not a medical device it sleep rating function, which tells me the amount of REM, deep and light sleep I am getting, in addition to periods of waking up, is what told me I had sleep apnea. The data now shows I get a much better quality of sleep now that I lost weight.

Again, while not medical devices, all these smart watches do help to monitor overall health, and allow to get better information with a doctor if a problem shows up.

 

Something I've been saying for years!
You're not telling the car what to do. You're asking it.
And to my non-tracking friends, I always add: If you ask it nicely enough, it will do some amazing sh*t.

 

Definitely agreed on the luck part. Going fast on the edge is better to be robotic calm and calculating rather than a hot head of emotion. For anyone with skill it should not be faster to drive on emotions in a rage and if by some miracle it is, that is also just luck or the driver is bipolar or something as that doesn't add up to me as being likely.

And sometimes red mist results in 'lucky' wins just because people around just think it's not worth mr red mist guy crashing them out. They're not 'winning' because the red mist made them faster, but because it made others go slower to gtfo away from them.

 

Your definition of red mist is fine, but red mist is colloquial term, not a formal concept in psychology. From ChatGPT:


"Red mist" is not a formal concept or a recognized term in the field of psychology. It is more of a colloquial or popular term used to describe an intense, sudden burst of anger or rage that can cloud judgment and lead to impulsive actions. While the phenomenon it describes—sudden, overwhelming anger—is studied in psychology, it is usually discussed under more formal terms such as "rage," "anger outburst," "emotional dysregulation," or "impulse control disorders."

Related Formal Concepts in Psychology

1. Rage and Anger: Psychology extensively studies the emotion of anger and its extreme form, rage. Research focuses on the triggers, physiological responses, and behavioral outcomes associated with these emotions.
   
2. Emotional Dysregulation: This refers to difficulties in managing and responding to emotional experiences. Emotional dysregulation can result in intense emotional responses like those described by the term "red mist."
   
3. Impulse Control Disorders: These disorders are characterized by an inability to resist impulses that can be harmful to oneself or others. Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is one example, where individuals have sudden episodes of unwarranted anger and aggression.
   
4. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT is a well-established therapeutic approach that helps individuals understand and change their thought patterns and behaviors, including those related to anger and rage.
   
5. Anger Management: This involves techniques and therapeutic practices aimed at helping individuals control their anger and respond to situations in a more measured way.
   

Practical Implications

While "red mist" is not a formal psychological term, the behaviors and emotions it describes are well-documented and addressed within various psychological frameworks. Therapists and psychologists might encounter the term when clients describe their experiences but would likely translate it into more formal terminology for assessment and treatment purposes.

Conclusion

"Red mist" serves as a useful descriptive term in everyday language but lacks the formal definition and theoretical framework that concepts in psychology typically possess. Nonetheless, the intense anger and impulsive behaviors it describes are significant areas of study and intervention in psychology.

 

Who cares what red mist means in psycho babble.
On the race track, it only means one thing….