Garage Heroes (In Training)

Learning as we go. Come along with us and Enjoy the Ride!

Bill Fischer

GHIT 0159: Andrew Rains About Racing and the Apex Pro

Apex Pro Logo

Andrew Rains joins us for this episode to talk through his racing history and then we went deeply into the Apex Pro telemetry system.  We have used our two Apex Pro’s many times this season and everyone has liked the simple interface while on track and the data analysis capability off track is simple and fast, yet powerful.  We have only scratched the surface to this point, but we wanted to make sure everyone we know was aware of the Apex Pro system and we all learned a great deal more about the system with Andrew.  After this episode, we can understand why he is a sought after coach at the track.

Andrew Rains
Andrew at the track coaching

Meanwhile, on our Dominating with Dawson segment, we thought it was time to discuss the concept of scrubbing speed, what it means and how to avoid it, as well as how it can be used to assist you on track to lower your lap times.

As always, if you have any questions that you would like us to cover with Ben, please let us know in a (5 star?) podcast review or via email at [email protected] or in a comment on our social media.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Information about the Apex Pro can be found at:  https://apextrackcoach.com/

Andrew and the team can be contacted at:  [email protected] or at [email protected]

Also, Andrew is competing well at the recent Grid Life GLTC NOLA event even though his #719 BMW is on treaded tires vs everyone else on racing slicks here: 

Race 3:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7olV427w28

Race 4:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PufQoz_a7hA

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  We learn about Andrew’s extensive racing experience, as well as his current E36 M3 WRL and Grid Life GLTC BMW car, past, present, and future.

2)  Vicki thinks she is on mute.  Then she knows she is on mute.  Then it sinks in.  The life of a mom.  Lol.

3)  Andrew really has a great racing philosophy and a way of thinking about being at the track.

4)  We discuss several potential issues that people cite that prevents them from starting and a variety of ways to overcome them, including contacting Andrew or us at any point.  Every driver we know would love to have more people to share the track with.  It is much more fun for everyone.

5)  The discussion on the Apex Pro at 19:50 with one of Bill’s longest intros ever that Vicki jumped in and made even longer, lol.

6)  Andrew provided a great overview of the Apex Pro device and its operation at 23:20

7)  We begin to explain the detail of the actual operation and interpretation of the lights when on track and how the patented Apex Pro algorithms work in the background.  The best news for most of us is that it works even if you can’t even spell algorithm.

8)  Vicki and Jennifer relate how the Apex Pro has helped them on track at their current level of driving.  Those simple little LED lights can provide so much feedback on track and so quickly, it really is amazing.  Especially when a driver may be early on in their learning and can often be overwhelmed with the number and speed of sensory inputs when driving at speed.

9)  We then go into the setup (that is super easy and quick) and beginning use of the data within the app that is collected automatically.

10)  Andrew even answers some of our “how do we” questions with useful tips and tricks, several that we had thought of to this point.

11)  Questions answered include:  Options for multiple drivers and endurance races, approximately how long will the battery last, how to save battery during the day if not powered within the car, how to add tracks, especially for autocross use, can I use the Apex Pro without a phone, how the auto-start and auto-stop features work and interact with the phone screen being on, what does the apex score mean and how to interpret it, some of the potential values and options to utilize the power of the notes section.

12)  How the Apex Pro light display works, what the light colors mean, and how to interpret the lights and probably most importantly, how you can use them to make driving changes on track during the stint.

13)  Andrew also goes into the other data you can get in your car if your phone is visible.  Then we go into the full data capabilities that are available post session using the Apex Pro app.

14)  Our resident engineer has his usual requests for future features.  He just can’t help it.  Please bear with him, we try, every single day.  But it appears that Bill may finally have had a good question.

15)  Andrew then moved into the beginning level of looking at data, almost a 101 review.  Once you have used the unit, or any telemetry unit that offers data, this discussion would form a very good foundation for looking at your data the first time and how to correlate the data to your track feel/impression.  Intro at ~51:20

16)  Simple 101 process outline:  1)  Think about where you did not feel comfortable or where you think you may have left the most opportunity to improve,  2)  Look at those areas on the track map overview screen,   3)  Speed vs distance plot and check if the top of the speed trace is rounded (coast or slow transition) or is it sharp and you moved from full throttle to brake quickly,  4)  Look at your minimum speed in corners and if a fast corner you would like a u-shape and in slow corners, you would like a V-shape (fast is above ~60 mph or 100 kph)

17)  Options for exporting the data to larger visual areas, like an iPad or a computer as well as additional options, like Track Attack, to compare with other drivers who may use other data collection systems.

18)  Bill resumes his friction circle soap box discussion.  Andrew graciously tolerates it.  Is there any foundation to Bill’s theory?  Still tbd.

19)  We even had a chance to go into the Apex Pro Crew View feature and how it can be used.  Bill is getting more and more excited.  And then we started to discuss the ability to add in OBDII data.

20)  Options for integrating into other data systems and video options including Race Render. ~1:13:45

21)  Our team has been working on a comprehensive survey of all the data systems, but we have only completed the systems we have personally tested to this point.  If interested in the results or helping us try some of the missing systems, please let us know.

22)  How best to analyze multiple drivers and/or multiple laps within the Apex Pro system as well as external software systems.

23)  We end our discussion of Apex Pro discussion is at ~1:29 and begin our F&F Storytime questions

GHIT 0159: Andrew Rains About Racing and the Apex Pro

2021 Goals and Our 2020 Goal Review

2021 Goals and 2020 Goal review

As the year wraps up, we review how our 2020 racing season went and what goals we would like to do and accomplish in 2021.  Obviously, the year did not go as we had hoped or planned with the COVID pandemic impacting normal life routine. But we did make some significant growth and made the best out of a horrible situation.  Goal making is one thing that is very easy to do, but also very easy to skip. However, we have found it to be very beneficial to our growth as racers as well as is our personal and professional lives.  

On our Dominating with Dawson segment, we go over what it means to be driving at the limit, what is the limit, and how to get closer and closer to the limit safely and effectively. 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and

Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  We start of looking at what our goals were for 2020 and how we did

2)  The next segment covers what we want to accomplish going into 2021. (including items that we would like to improve about our driving and our team.)

3)  We then begin to look at things that went well this year and things we could have done better.

4)  It probably wouldn’t be a podcast without our doing a Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, so we did.

5)  The final step was we tried to grade our year and then determine a few things that would define a successful year for ourselves and the team.

6)  We did forget to go into The Mirror that we added to aid us in getting in better shape for racing, so we added it as a bonus section after the credits.

GHIT 0158: Our 2020 Year in Review and Our 2021 Goals

Out 2020 Goals episode can be found here.

GHIT 0157: John and Dean from Safety Third Motorsports Discuss Race Car Preparation

John Lavin and Dean Hesser join us to discuss improvements to our car preparation processes.  This includes before leaving for the racetrack, as well as at the racetrack and after the race.  We learned a ton of things that we should have been doing but weren’t simply because we didn’t know or hadn’t thought of it yet.  We hope that this episode will save you at least one headache at the track or eliminate one breakdown or even better prevent an issue on track that causes damage to you or your car.  We don’t have a lot of can’t miss episodes, but this is one of them for sure.

In addition, Dominating with Dawson we discuss some of the goal options for endurance racing.  It is not simply a situation where you are either first or last, but really it is a race where you and your team are trying to work together and perform at the highest level internally and the final position is a relative measure of the team’s performance versus the current bar that weekend.  While winning overall, or even your class, is a great accomplishment, it is not the only measurement available each weekend, especially early in your racing career.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  Bill makes up a new word, “ThankYouNess”, well you know what we mean.

2)  How Dean has “capitalized” on being target fixated during a race.  Your results may vary.

3)  Then we go into a “Weekend At Bernie’s” worthy moment.  For those under 40, it’s a movie.

4)  A brief summary of why many of the Safety Third Motorsports team members have ended up using BMW’s as their weapon of choice on track.

5)  Bill cannot help but to make fun of the test drive at John’s shop where the GHIT M3 HPDE hit a deer.  Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up.

6)  A discussion of their team’s racing plans for 2021 and how both teams generally decide where to race.

7)  How their team has progressed and grown over the years.  It appears that our team is actually following their progression, both in how our team is organized and how our drivers are individually progressing.  Perhaps there is hope for us.  Who knew?  Lol.

8)  How Dean and Jen both ended up learning and growing as racing drivers as a result of their track incidents.

9)  What is prepping a car?  What is involved?  What do you do before the race, during/at the race, and after the race to prepare and preserve your car and make sure that it has a higher likelihood of performing well.

10)  Basic assumption:  Assume everything is broken after a race and then verify before you take it to your next event.

11)  Develop a wear rate of consumables and moving parts and then develop a preventative maintenance plan to replace before they fail at the track.

12)  Overview:  Repair things as they break or replace them ahead of time at a certain interval.  Determine your team’s philosophy and plan appropriately. 

13)  A standard rule of thumb is to use a margin for wear, it can range from 75% to 80% to 90% of the experienced failure rate before replacing a still good part.  This does not address issues due to abuse or an accident etc.  As an example, if your front wheel bearing fails after 100 hours or racing, you may want to replace them all before they break at 75 or 80 or 90 hours.  The balance of costs and/or effort vs your acceptable safety/failure factor is a personal/team decision.

14)  Several available options range from paint marking nuts and bolts to adding safety wires.

15)  What should you do when at the track and prepping for the race in the morning.

16)  What to do the night after are race while racing the next day.

17)  What to do post-race weekend while packing up to leave the track.

18)  Why checklists are so very important and how your team will need to develop it from your own experiences and particular car.

19)  It was good to hear that we aren’t the only team to have had radio communication issues at the track.  They have come to the same solution as we have.  Painfully.

20)  The key is really to minimize the number and potential for errors.

21)  We finish up this segment with the post-race recovery process for your race car.  Don’t just put it away to wait for the next track event.

22)  We wrap up with a post episode discussion of the skid pad and the value that it has had to our driving, as well as Dean’s.

GHIT 0157: John and Dean from Safety Third Motorsports Discuss Race Car Preparation

GHIT 0156: Pirate Takeover of Everyone Racers

(from 2018) and the (Horrible) Beginning of Our Podcasting

Everyone Racers Podcast pirate Takeover

We found several of the original sound files and decided to put this together for a bonus Christmas gift to everyone.  This is the podcast recording sessions that started everything.  We originally intended this to fill in a week gap that the Everyone Racers podcast took for Chris and Chrissy’s wedding.  However, it took almost thirty tries for us to get to this point. 

In addition, we added an early snippet of our first GHiT podcast introductions.  I guess we did get better over time, but honestly, we really had to, there was nowhere else to go.

We were such newbies back then.  Hopefully, we can look back three years from now and feel the same ways about our team now vs then.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Don’t blame us.  Bill’s editing skills have improved to where this was possible and almost sounds decent.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  A few of our best E1R (Everyone Racers) intros followed with our own feeble attempt to follow their episode guideline at the time.

2)  A very brief wrap up of our recent race at Thompson with the 24 Hours of Lemons, our teams second overall race, and Alan and Jen’s first ever race.  The race weekend was very hot Friday and then very wet and humid for the rest of the weekend.

3)  One of our first jokes came at the expense of Jeff.  Very fitting.

4)  The announcement of the team’s newest puppy, a Bernese Mountain dog named Zoe Lemons Fischer.

5)  Even back then, we had prep issues.  Still a focus of our improvement.

6)  Alan had bad internet at the time and was using the local Starbucks internet since it was much faster.  Lol.

7)  When 4-5 psi is an issue on your SpiderStang, a 1984 Mustang GT Turbo, obviously you turn it up to 15 psi or so.

8)  The end of the Capri at Thompson is reviewed a bit.  The project is still ongoing.

9)  Special shout out to Bruce and all his help with fixing the Capri until late in the morning, only to find out our issue was a broken cam shaft.

10)  Our first ever racing trophy was received at the Thompson race.  Unfortunately, it was the
I Got Screwed” award and even more unfortunately, it is still our only reward, but at least we have one, lol.

11)  Alan’s first black flag came this weekend.  But not his last.

12)  Our first ever attempt to help the Everyone Racers podcast with a sponsor reading.  It did not go well

13)  Vicki provides just the tip.  It was on the help of Friday practice.  We would add pre-race prep to this as well.  A lot of this can be done ahead of time with YouTube and various track guides and track walks available, especially our favorites from Ross Bentley and Racers360.

14)  We even discuss our plans for the Capri after the transmission and engine issues at Thompson.  The plan is still the same.  Our skills just haven’t allowed us to get it to the finish line.  Yet.  Stay tuned.

15)  Proof we can have an episode last less than one hour.

GHIT 0155: Trey Shannon returns to discuss getting in shape during the off season

Podium Performance Fitness

Trey Shannon returns to discuss several options to get in better shape for racing and life that can be done with or without a gym.  We talk through a wide variety of ways to shave pounds off each car you drive by carrying fewer (extra) pounds in the driver seat.  Trey usually works with several pro level drivers and many with professional aspirations.  Podium Performance not only deals with physical preparation, but mental, visual, and many other related areas that can impact your driving performance, especially in long races or races with challenging conditions like heat etc.  If you happen to live in the Charlotte NC area, Trey is local to you and he works out of Podium Performance Fitness at www.podiumperformancefitness.com or 540-815-2737.

We discuss the relative importance of driving perfect lines versus driving with full commitment on our Dominating with Dawson.  This philosophy was brought up to Bill at a recent HPDE last summer and had a dramatic improvement on his lap times at the event.  Maybe Bill was too smooth (for the first time in his life).

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  The podcast starts with a reference that won’t make sense unless you listen to the post credits.  Is it worth it to make it all that way?  TBD, but we hope so.

2)  What would a good starting point program look like to get into shape or back into shape.

3)  Trey also offers many suggestions for activities that can be done with body weight only or minimal equipment that you may have at home already.

4)  Leopard crawls:  what Bill usually has to do to get a new race car.

5)  RPPWFB.  Familiar?  Its an oldie, but a goodie around here.

6)  How often to work out and how long can be very dependent on your starting condition, but something is always better than zero.

7)  Remember, getting into better shape does not mean becoming a better circle or more round.

8)  How has exercise and people’s dietary habits been affected by the COVID induced isolation?   Trey also goes into several online options to look for guidance at home, many of which are available for free on YouTube etc.

9)  Trey also goes into the additional intensity that tempo can offer if you have limited weight at home.  Bill dates himself with a Billy Squire reference.  Trey being much cooler (and much younger) makes Flower by Moby reference.  Both are tremendously effective ways to raise your pulse and intensity, even with light or very light weights.

10)  Basic, fundamental diet discussion that leads to portion size control as a great place to start and work from, as well as the benefits of establishing an eating schedule.

11)  Trey expands upon the one key principle that everyone needs to keep in mind, you cannot out work a bad diet, but you can easily out eat any workout program.

12)  Vicki finds that the Noom app is very helpful for her to help control her diet and food consumption.

13)  If you are very interested in the aspects of nutrition and diet, please look to working with a nutritionist to determine your exact needs and perhaps any food allergies etc.  Even Trey’s team works with a nutritionist with several of his clients. 

14)  Why does it always come back to Slurpee’s with Bill?  Trey tolerates it a bit and then they come up with a potential plan for controlling the craving for something while retaining control of your dietary inputs.

15)  How to start with small steps and changes to begin a path towards huge results.  Trey also goes into a planning approach to be ready for next season.

16)  Slurpee substitute smoothie is included below.

17)  Several gift tips for holiday gifts to help get in shape this year.

18)  Vicki looks for tips from Trey on how to ease into a fitness and diet program, while secretly just trying to control Bill.

19)  Hard Hog makes its first appearance in the fitness lexicon.  We shall see if it catches on.  Also, this proves that Vicki doesn’t just make up terms in racing.

20)  Approaches for working with and around any prior injuries, pain, or joint issues.

Some of the online or at home programs we discussed include:  Tone It Up, several Beach Body programs, The Mirror, Peloton, among a near limitless number of potential alternatives.

Bill makes a commitment to Trey that the next time he is on there with be 25 pounds less of Bill.  We really hope we see Trey again.  Lol. 

Anyone interested in joining Bill in the contest, please let us know.  We all know he loves a competition and is more than willing to bet many stickers etc.

Trey’s smoothie recipe is as follows:  you can put in pretty much whatever you want, but I usually make mine two at a time, and I include the below ingredients.

  • 1 Banana
  • 1 Cup Strawberries
  • 1/2 Cup Blueberries
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • 1/2 Cup Spinach
  • 1 Multivitamin
  • Dash of Cinnamon
  • Dash of Turmeric
  • 1/2 Serving BCAA Powder (Amino Acids – this is where the Slurpee flavor comes from)
  • 1/2 Serving Protein Powder – Vanilla
  • Water (maybe a little bit of nut milk in there too)

For the strawberries and blueberries, I buy frozen bags. This makes things much easier, plus fruit that has been picked and almost immediately frozen tends to be slightly more nutrient rich than the “fresh” counterpart. I’ll freeze my own bananas, as I have yet to find pre-frozen bags of those.

GHIT 0155: Trey Shannon returns to discuss getting in shape during the off season