Yea I practiced for like 6months before I started racing. I had a disadvantage of a traumatic brain injury so i had to build up my concentration and fatigue headaches etc. I’m still building myself up. But i think practice is important for nitro. Get a feel for clutches for different surfaces jumps and mileage and learn tuning different engines. Also practice for like how long the mains are to. So if your track has 25-30-45-1hr long mains I think it’s good to practice for that length and build up your consistency over that long of time. I think it helps cause some people start getting sloppy after after say 15 mins or 20 mins. And maybe if you have a aggressive setup you might not be able to drive the car aggressively for that long and it might be better to go with a easy to drive setup for a long main depending on your driving. Also learning what tires will last on the track for a long main etc