Physical keyboard or phone keyboard
The typing race works with both, but they feel very different. On a physical keyboard you can use every finger, feel the keys and keep your eyes on the screen. On a phone you tap with one finger or two thumbs, and there is nothing to feel. A large 2019 Aalto University study found that people typing with two thumbs on a phone averaged about 38 WPM, which is below the keyboard averages quoted for adults.
So pick one device and stick with it while you track progress. A win on a laptop and a loss on a phone tell you about the devices, not about your skill.
Where your fingers go
On a physical keyboard, everything starts from the home row. Rest your left little, ring, middle and index fingers on A, S, D and F. Rest the right index, middle, ring and little fingers on J, K, L and the semicolon key. Thumbs hover over the Space bar. The bumps on F and J let you find this position without looking down.
From there, each finger is responsible for the keys directly above and below its home key. The index fingers also cover the middle column, G and H. Using the same finger for the same key every time is what makes typing automatic. In the race, a finger that reaches for the wrong key costs you, because your car stops until the mistake is fixed.
For guided drills on this layout, try touch typing practice.
Playing on a phone keyboard
Tap the text to open the keyboard. Keep the phone steady with both hands if you use thumbs. The race asks the browser not to autocorrect, but some keyboards ignore that, so turn autocorrect off in your settings if words keep changing. Watch the highlighted letter rather than your thumbs.
Making the race a keyboard drill
Use each race to work on one habit. In one run, focus only on returning to the home row after every word. In the next, focus on never looking down. Your WPM may drop at first, but your accuracy figure should rise. When it does, try the standard typing games page again for a clean comparison, or check your saved progress with the typing test.