Garage Heroes In Training

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...

GHiT 0580:   Bryan Lanham from the Adrenaline Chunkies Bryan Lanham hasn't been racing with the 24 Hours of Lemons for a long time, but he and his team have had quite a lot happen in a relatively short time.   Once we saw the latest theme, we knew we had to have him on.   If you are thinking of racing Lemons, you can learn a lot from this team. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NinjaTu...

DwD 0582:   Comp School Stories and Tips Ben, Vicki, and Bill talk about their comp school days, how things went, and some tips for attending Comp School.   Ben and Bill went to two different NASA regions and Vicki attended hers at a recent SCCA event.   Comp School is where you go to get qualified for a novice racing license and after several successful races, you can qualify for your full racing...

GHiT 0578:   Brad Lee Finally Races Wheel to Wheel  Brad Lee has been working with us for several years to get to race wheel to wheel on track with us.   Obviously, he should aim much higher, but we get to hear how his first race went with us at PittRace.   This is the last and 4 th part of our PittRace event, and we hope you enjoy the episode as much as Brad did the race. A link to the episode is...

DwD 0577:  Tool Organization - At Garage/Home and At the Track On a Ben-less Dominating with Dawson, we go over one of Bill's obsessions, tool organization.  He has tested almost every style of tool organization and evaluated them for use in a garage/home, as well as when travelling to and from the race track.  We initially go into several of the tool box solutions that we have tried and liked for...

GHiT 0576:   Bob Miller – Your Oil Needs for Racing Bob Miller joins us to talk about motor oil and oil analysis.   Bob runs the Racers Oil Analysis Resource that will provide you with oil analysis and recommendations for your particular use case.   Are you using the correct oil?   Are you changing it too soon or not soon enough?     That and more.   Plus we talk about racing his Kia Rio in the On...

DwD 0575:  Car Livery - Part 1:  Base Coat/Color Change Options In our first emergency episode of Dominating with Dawson, without Dawson, we tried to cover an area of racing that we have investigated repeatedly, the livery.   In this episode, Vicki and Bill go over several ways to change your car's color for a base to your livery.   We also cover difficulty, costs, and other things that we have fo...

GHiT 0574:   Getting Our SCCA Racing Licenses Vicki, Audra, and Elizabeth went to Thompson for the Thursday/Friday event that if they passed would give them their novice racing license that becomes a full racing license after 5 more races without any incidents.   How did the weekend go?   Did anyone pass?   What did we learn?   What we would recommend before, during, and after the event?   Its in...