Garage Heroes In Training

GHiT 0605:   Isaac Rodriguez – Sundae Cup and Beyond We first met Isaac Rodriguez at the GridLife NJMP event where he was dominating Bill in Sundae Cup.   Since then, we have stayed in contact and followed along with his racing.   We thought it was overdue to have him come on the podcast and catch up with his racing history and see where he is planning on going. A link to the episode is: https://t...

GHiT 0603:   GHiT Garage Update – July 2024 Preparations have begun for a quick flurry of track events and as usual, the cars hate us.   We try to catch up on the race car prep and the debacle of our relatively new tow pig.   The worst part of racing is the cars.   Lol. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/TowPigsSuck If you would like to help grow high-performance driving and racing and...

GHiT 0602:   Nick Barbato – How To Properly Setup Your Race Car Nick Barbato is back from his first race in GridLife's GLTC series at the newly repaved Mid Ohio.   In addition to talking about the event, we get into the long awaited part three of our series on setting up a race car.   In spite of Bill's horrible questions, Nick is able to steer the discussion into a coherent approach to setting up...

DwD 0601:   Tool Storage and Transportation Part 2 - Audience Recommendations In an earlier episode, we discussed some of the alternatives and options for tool storage and transportation to and from the track.   It appears that our audience has several other options that we discuss here.   Links to the items discussed are included below.   A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/ToolStorageP...

GHiT 0600:   Ross Bentley Celebrating 600 Episodes Since we first started our podcast, we were hoping to show everyone that they could go racing and to help everyone to get better.   One of the best guests for our podcast we could ever hope for was Ross Bentley.   Being the kind person that he is, he agreed to come on and help us celebrate our 100 th episode and continues to come on to celebrate e...

GHiT 0599:   Team Crocs Racing We are joined by a fairly new team that has an awesome livery.   Team Crocs Racing drivers Dan, Collin and Nick have had several entries into endurance racing and some have gone well, some a bit less.   We talk about the car, their driving histories, and work towards some creative problem solving and potential solution paths going forward.   This is a great group and...

GHiT 0598:   Dealing with Difficulties at the Track Kaan Canturk (host of the Blind Apex Podcast) joins us to discuss a topic that happens to everyone who drives on track, difficulties with the car.   Things happen on track.   That can be mechanical issues, driver induced issues, and/or externally induced issues.   During this podcast we go over many examples of what can happen and some of the bes...

GHiT 0597:   Waka Motorsports Finishes the Races One of the teams that has had some terrible luck has been Waka Motorsports.   However, at the recent NJMP race, things changed a bit and they had some issues, but conquered them all and finished the race.   A great accomplishment for any endurance race and well earned.   Hear all about it in this episode.   A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl....

DwD 0595:   Breaking Through Limits, Self Preservation, and Plateaus In an effort to answer a listener, Ben discusses several methods of breaking through plateaus, limits, and fear on track.  We get into things we can do on track, off track, and with the help of others, data, and instructors/coaches/friends.  Ben even makes a gracious offer to personally assist if that might help.  Now to send our...

GHiT 0596:   Double Header with the Brooklyn Bomb Squad and Slow and Mello Teams With BOTH teams winning their classes at the recent NJMP race, we wanted to talk with the Brooklyn Bomb Squad team about its (VERY) long overdue class victory and our friends at Slow and Mello who also won their class and nearly won overall. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/BBSandSlowandMello If you would...

New, Slower Version GHiT 0591:   Race Recap – The MooStang at NJMP Thunderbolt 2024 The MooStang has been on quite a run recently.  How did it do a this huge race at NJMP with 147 other entrants?  Its in here. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NJMP2024MooStang3 If you would like to help grow high-performance driving and racing and maybe even our podcast, lol: You can subscribe to our p...

New and Improved, now even slower, lol.  GHiT 0594:  Race Recap - Slippery Slope Slides into NJMP Team Slippery Slope joins us to go over their race at NJMP Thunderbolt.  In addition to Audra, Max, Bill, and Larry, they have introduced two new racers, Laura and Doug, to endurance racing.  How did the BMW 5 Series perform this week?  Is having your first race with 147 cars entertaining?  Very much...

GHiT 0593:  Nick Barbato Nick Barbato has accomplished a TON in a relatively short career in racing.  So many great stories.  We catch up with Nick just after breaking his lap record at NJMP Thunderbolt and just before his debut at Mid Ohio with GridLife.  We know you will love this one!  Part one of hopefully many. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NickBarbato If you would like to hel...

GHiT 0593:  Nick Barbato Nick Barbato has accomplished a TON in a relatively short career in racing.  So many great stories.  We catch up with Nick just after breaking his lap record at NJMP Thunderbolt and just before his debut at Mid Ohio with GridLife.  We know you will love this one!  Part one of hopefully many. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NickBarbato If you would like to hel...

DwD 0592:  Ben Is Back On Track and Shaking Off Rust and Fuel Conservation? Ben FINALLY returns to the track and its with AER at VIR.  We talk a bit about shaking off rust and then wander into fuel conservation options and exploring ways of driving as fast as possible while conserving gas.   A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/BenIsBackOnTrack If you would like to help grow high-performa...

GHiT 0590  Race Recap - El Jeffe Trophy Truck at NJMP Thunderbolt 2024 – Part 2 The El Jeffe Trophy truck team reports in on their race at the  NJMP Thunderbolt track with the 24 Hours of Lemons.   This team truck was driven by Jeremy and Nick who were joined by JT and Ryan.  They had their ups and downs but had a great time.  Judge Tim Burr made a special guest appearance on this episode. A link...

DwD 0589:   Power Steering - Good or Bad on Track? In an effort to answer a listener, Bill and Ben discuss having power steering in a race car.  In a classic case of "it depends" we go over several things we like about power steering and unassisted steering.  Its seemingly never a simple thing and to some point, personal preference is another factor, but we did babble on about several things to co...

GHiT 0588:   Race Recap – NJMP Thunderbolt 2024 – Part 1 Our race season continues with a huge field at the newly resurfaced NJMP Thunderbolt track with the 24 Hours of Lemons.   Our team had 4 cars at this event and on this podcast we review the 1993 Civic (EG for the home gamers) that was driven by Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill (with a pinch hit stint from Jeremy on Saturday).  We had hurt the car a...

GHiT 0587: Team PGR Reviews their Second Overall Finish in the 2024 One Lap of America - Oh, Yes, It Was In Their EV On this episode, Team PGR returns to the podcast to talk about the 2024 One Lap of America.  The last time Andrew DeKoning came on we talked about the plusses and minuses of competing in the OLoA in an electric vehicle.  This time we talk about what its like to come in SECOND overal...

DwD 0586:   Understeer - Types and Potential Adjustments Ben and Bill discuss the different types of understeer and several options to improve your lap times.  This includes things that you can do to the car setup.  Often, you may not have time to change the setup of the car (during a race etc.) or the conditions of the tires, track etc. can change and we also cover options you may be able to use...

GHiT 0585: Rob Fields - One Lap of America and Building Original Race Cars  Rob Fields has an amazing background in aerospace and other advanced technologies but now works and runs Fields Auto Works and has designed and manufactured several original race cars, one of which competed and completed the 2024 One Lap of America.  The performance and value for these cars is amazing and honestly way too...

DwD 0584:   "Good" Coil Overs/Shocks – Are They Worth It In an effort to start yet another internet flame war, a listener asked us "Are the fancy coil overs really worth it".   We answer this question with a series of questions that lead to the answer.   And for our next episode, we will answer what is the best brake pad and brake fluid, lol. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/Coilovers...

GHiT 0583: Autocross with Audra  We were so close to going to a local autocross that we thought it would be great to talk to Audra about what to do and expect.  Autocross is a great way to start improving as a driver and helps with track driving as an excellent, low cost way to improve your skills, especially your car control skills.  Audra has been autocross'ing for well over a decade and run man...

DwD 0582:   Weight Management On Track – AKA Friction Circle Take 6? We are looking to improve our track driving and one of the concepts that some of us are still working on is how best to manage the weight of the car on track to maximize grip and minimize our lap times. In other words, managing the friction circle.   Yep, here we go for try number 6 or so.   Did we do it this time?   Does it make...

GHiT 0581:   Heyward Wagner on his One Lap of America Heyward Wagner is back after his recent adventure on the One Lap of America in his newly built Club Spec Mustang.   As we discussed with Heyward on one of his earlier appearances, the Club Spec Mustang series was created to make a car that was competitive and fun to race in all types of motorsports, so naturally the OLoA was a great place to sh...