Eagle Clawtooth interview - exclusive for Compete With Me!

Eagle's impressive race trophy collection

Patrons of Rubbing Is Racing - aka R.I.R. - should know Eagle Clawtooth very well. If he's on the track, usually that means that whatever position he's on - it will be defended till the very end. You might overtake his position, but it won't be too easy, that's for sure.

And, now, it's my big pleasure to inform you that Eagle Clawtooth - winner of numerous Grand Prix, and what's more interesting, winner of the summer Build Your Own Car series at R.I.R., also the owner of his own racing venue - came over to my small office at 2RAW to share a bit of his racing experience with Compete With Me! readers. How it all began? What helped him to get to the top? Let's find out!

Eagle Clawtooth

This Summer, he won his very first series at R.I.R., the Build Your Own one, and this turned out to be the most significant achievement in his Second Life racing career. Despite his rich experience, this win didn't come to him with ease - due to the fact that many racers can be very tough opponents when it come to racing, it took him a lot of determination along with hours of practice on the tracks. Everything was counting - planning the strategy to use, practicing for feeling easy on the track, and, certainly, being able to change plans mid race. But even when you got the lead - there's no time to relax. "No one wants to be last or go a lap down so the whole field itself is the toughest", Eagle says. "As the leader, you wear a target, and a good racer will do what it takes to get pass the target."
Eagle himself loses the lead at times. However, this never was a reason to give up the fight, or even quit the battlefield right away. "No matter where I am, I remain focused on what's ahead". And that's not the only secret for making it to the top - "Being considerate and clean helps the other racers return the same". 

Eagle Clawtooth's racing career, in fact, dates from his real life, consisting mostly of dirt races, also offroad races and motocross - as his favorite, he named high bank dirt tracks. Retired from the real life racing just a couple years ago, he joined Second Life racing world, which became a good fix for him. "Being a RL race also fuels the drive to compete here", he admits. 

Eagle Clawtooth's RL race car

And how much does the real life racing experience help him in second life? "I understand the principles and fundamentals as well as the physics involved in racing which helps a lot" - and then he adds: "Oh, and I know how to curse quietly... haha makes me a dangerous opponent". 

Not being a really emotional person and understanding his own faults, he, nevertheless, won't let it go if people around him were the reason of his unsuccess. "If I am the cause of my own misfortune, then I say nothing, same thing if it involves someone else's actions. If I get verbal in either predicament, it's of no help or benefit." But, certainly, emotions are not the best helpers at the race. "If you let yourself get distracted, then your focus is jeopardized."

His Second Life racing experience originates not in a way we see him racing today. "I tore a freebie car apart and built a prim race truck and a race track and ran races against myself on a freebie budget :)". Something close to the serious racing in Second Life began for him with SMC (Silver MotorSports Complex, which is gone from the grid up to date): "Then I discovered a place called SMC and saved enough to get a car there and I was off on my racing career". Certainly, no one becomes the best right at the start of the career, especially with the competition that was around the racing world back then - and Eagle wasn't an exception. His first win was possible more thanks to the circumstances: "In fact, the first race I won there was 6 months after I started, and it was because I was the only racer that showed up that race". However, even the fact that he got a lot of opponents - way more experienced than him in racing - wasn't able to prevent him from keeping on racing. Competition happened to be the thing that drives him, competing with others - his nature.

Eagle Clawtooth at a race event
(RIR Nationwide Series, 8/11/12)

Second Life racing progresses, apparently, was in help as well. Maybe it's not as easy to win as it was back then (if you knew certain secrets), but, as Eagle remarks, today's SL racing world is getting more and more adapted. "Back in the day, all you had to do is jump in get up against a wall and haul butt. Now, if you do that, it's not possible, as the cars can get damaged or make you slow down." Physics today are not only more realistic, but more customizable as well! "The cars now are more realistic driving and looking, and some quite adjustable to one's driving, meaning now you can set the cars up to suit your driving ability and style."
For sure, this doesn't matter that people can just grab a car and go fast being guaranteed to win the race. "It can still be easy for the beginners to have fun with, but, to be a front runner, it will always require time and understanding settings and conditions as well as a decent amount of ability." 

Eagle's cars from old racing associations
(Some do not exist on the grid any longer) 

And today we have him, one of the top racers - although he does not rest on his laurels, he does his best to help others have fun (not without having fun himself, of course!). "If you help someone learn and they beat you, that means you did your job really well :)", he says. Indeed, who but him knows what the real competition is - with both results, beating someone or being beaten himself! 

And that's followed by his advice to all the beginner racers. "Don't be afraid to ask for help and watch what the fast ones are doing. Learn the lines and limits, stay clean, and if you're racing with people, remember - what goes around comes around, so be considerate. And that's the key to in SL racing..."

I, myself, would like to thank Eagle Clawtooth for his time that he generously shared with us, and wish him a lot of success in both RL and SL - and not only in racing, for certain!