Bill Fischer

GHIT 0129: Review of Our NASA Great Lakes HPDE at PittRace 2020

Jen, Vicki, and Bill review how the NASA Great Lakes HPDE event at PittRace went last weekend. It is our team’s most anticipated HPDE event of the year and we were not disappointed. Jennifer had our friend Chris as her instructor for the entire weekend and it showed as she progressed dramatically through the event in her ND Miata. Vicki was also in HPDE 1 with another friend Jim as her student partner and also learned a ton, especially related to weight transfer in her NB Miata. Bill was in the HPDE 2 group with both Chrissy and Jeff in the E36 race car and the stock Toyota 86 for this weekend. With COVID 19 controls in place, there was no right seat driving instruction option, but NASA Great Lakes is continually learning, adapting, and responding with improvements that allow for a great amount of instruction for every student.

The Dominating with Dawson segment for this episode was initially in the area of coasting but we quickly wandered off into proper use and application of the throttle and aspects of controlled or over controlled track driving as opposed to pushing the limit and getting out of a comfort zone.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1) Our group of 7 brought 7 cars with us and Chris did his best Randy Pobst impersonation by driving almost every one of them during the weekend.

2) Our teams struggle with car preparation and timing continued and we agree they must be addressed going forward.

3) Jen, Vicki, and Bill all had goals going into the event, largely as we discussed after our last HPDE at GingerMan several weeks ago.

4) Track learning/prep is very important to allow us to focus on our driving and not be distracted by “learning” the track at the same time for a new to us track

5) We discuss the Saturday event and the Sunday event and how we did not prepare our meals as well as normally because we were way behind. Sorry to our camp sharing friends.

6) Vicki converts Jen’s RV sink into a disposal, for a short time.

7) We compare and contrast HPDE 1 and HPDE 2 from this event.

8) We individually cover the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the event

9) Vicki “surveyed” the track extensively after turn 10 during her spin on Saturday. Vicki did get to wave to Jennifer as she drove by a bit later.

10) Chrissy, Vicki, and Chris encountered a handling issue on the NB Miata that was easily fixed by adjusting the adjustable shocks in the rear. Who knew? PS We are sorry for not listening to you earlier Chrissy.

11) Jen solved her downshifting issue going into a turn that has plagued her to this point. This was solved by slowing down by letting out the clutch, especially on track. The best part is that Jennifer can also practice this on the street during her daily driving.

12) Jennifer failed miserably by not getting her training partner over to our podcast. Lol.

13) We learned a lot from this event both about our prep and our driving.

14) Bill admits we have too many cars and need to downsize significantly.

15) Vicki summarizes our teams learning and progress to this point.

16) Vicki’s “ah ha” moment included understanding weight transfer and improving her down shifting/sequencing going into turns. Hopefully, this will help when she races a front wheel drive car again.

17) Jennifer’s “ah ha” moment included shifting and especially downshifting and actually her hearing tires “sing” through the turns for the first time ever on track.

18) Bill’s “ah ha” moments included 1) Bringing Lemons “skills” and HPDE “skills” together into a complimentary driving style utilizing both, 2) Comparison and E36 race car and the Toyota 86 street car, and 3) How significant the difference between sticker tires and scuffed tires. We won’t be sending any of our newer drivers out on track with sticker tires ever.

19) Vicki did not get out onto the track in the E36 BMW race car due to an accident in the prior session closing the track on Sunday prematurely.

20) Some of the advantages of lead follow and some of the difficulties we saw. NASA Great Lakes addressed these by actually switching the lead follow to what is essentially a switch of the cars into a “follow – Lead”

where the student is in front of the instructor at several points.

21) Goals for our next HPDE event for each of us.

GHIT 0129: Review of Our NASA Great Lakes HPDE at PittRace 2020

GHIT 0126: Breaking “Barriers” That Are Keeping You Off Track or From High Performance Driving

Strap in, its a long one

Christian “Mental” Ward joins us for a very special episode where we try to break down any barriers that are keeping you from getting started and trying high performance driving or going out to a track or autocrossing etc. As with every Mental episode, we have tons of stories and go very, very long.

So strap in for a great episode where we show various ways for you, YES YOU, to start TODAY! PS this will also apply to getting some improved training opportunities for the new drivers in the family. Avoiding an accident is the best safety system. If you enjoy taking the fun way home from work/school, if you enjoy going around exit ramps, but you haven’t tried anything further, this episode should show you how to break through any barrier that prevented you from REALLY enjoying your car.

“That guy can sure spin a yarn” – Jeff Wakeman

Barriers Broken during this episode:

1) I don’t have a racing license

2) I don’t have a car to race with

3) My car isn’t ready

4) It’s too far away

5) I am too intimidated by the people or the other cars/may car, or the track

6) I don’t know how to get started (Hint you can contact us or E1R etc.)

7) I’m a ______ e.g. Girl, too young, too old, out of shape, the wrong shape etc. etc. etc.

8) I will one I _____ (insert any number of wonderful wish list items)

9) It costs too much

10) I don’t have time

11) Ego issues

12) Where can I find where I can ______

Our Dominating with Dawson segment for this episode goes into the often overlooked art involved with downshifting, how and when to do it properly, how to practice during your daily driving, and how it can help your car last quite a bit longer during a race.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1) References to Hamsa and Matt

2) Hot tub rule #1 at the track

3) Details of the Deer Incident/Inside Joke can be found at

4) Your race car is never, ever finished. Ever.

5) Waiting to get your car faster or a faster car will actually impede your learning progress. Counterintuitive but absolutely true.

6) Teen driving training discussion and resources (a few links below)

7) This episode may contain some tough love, but it’s all with love.

8) We take advantage of the opportunity and hit Mental with the Fast and Furious questions, finally

Descriptions:

Autocross: Racing usually in a large area around a temporary course usually composed of orange cones

HPDE: High performance driving education – Where you can learn to drive better, usually on a race track Track Night in America: an event held at a local track where you can drive your car around a race track and dip your toe into the pool

iRacing: a brand of sim racing on a computer that the focus is on more realistic racing than a traditional racing game.

Lots of links:

SCCA: https://www.scca.com/

NASA: https://www.nasaproracing.com/

Track Night in America: https://www.tracknightinamerica.com/

Go Carting: Lots, use Google

24 Hours of Lemons: https://24hoursoflemons.com/ Lucky Dog:

Home

AER: http://americanenduranceracing.com/

Champ Car: https://champcar.org/

WRL: https://www.worldracingleague.org/

Race Seats for Rent: Lots (Google) including The Dog Pound for Lucky Dog and OK Stupid for Lemons seats and Kingpin Motorsports.

Driving Experiences: Lots, use Google

Grass Roots Motorsports magazine Link: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/guest-blog-open-letter-lgbtq-car-enthusiasts

No Money Motorsports: https://nomoneymotorsports.com/2020/06/09/the-14-most-effective-tips-to-spend-less-on-track-days-and-racing-maximize-your-track-time/

Motorsports Reg: https://www.motorsportreg.com/

Teen driving Training near Atlanta: https://atlantamotorsportspark.com/teen-driving/

B.R.A.K.E.S: https://putonthebrakes.org/

Race Image: http://www.raceimage.com/

Racers Parts Wholesale: https://racerpartswholesale.com/

GHiT Handy Links: https://garageheroesintraining.com/racing-resources/

EVO School: http://evoschool.com/

Team O’Neil Rally School: https://www.teamoneil.com/

Skip Barber Racing School: https://www.skipbarber.com/

DirtFish Rally School: https://dirtfish.com/

Bondurant: https://bondurant.com/

The “Marks” clubs, e.g.

BMW CCA: https://www.bmwcca.org/

PCCA: https://www.pca.org/

Audi: https://audiclubna.org/

No Man’s Land Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c0dj11dn98

The Wraith Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC1DRl26Guo

GHIT 0126: Breaking “Barriers” That Are Keeping You Off Track or From High Performance Driving

WOOT 0128: Christian James Hand Breaks Down Music on his Show “The Session”

For anyone over 18 and who has any interest or especially if you love music, here is our first episode with an Explicit tag and not for the kiddies, but it just flowed naturally that we are releasing it as is (We are running it live). If there are kids in the car with you, you may want to listen to this episode later.

In a long overdue Way Off Our Topic (WOOT) episode, we are joined by a special guest Christian James Hand who has a tremendous way to break down music into its component tracks (also called Stems) during his shows to demonstrate the individual components that are combined into the finished song. Our description does not do justice to his amazing style and presentation that he puts together. If you are even the slightest bit interested in music or ever were, we would hope that you would listen to one of his live shows on Instagram or to one of the podcasts he has and allow Christian to give you one of the greatest gifts that we know of. Christian’s “The Session” breakdowns give you the ability to hear a song for the first time all over again!

Christian James Hand at a Live Session — **Christian’s Live Sessions are cannot miss. If at home, Headphones always make it better**

**Christian’s Live Sessions are cannot miss. If at home, Headphones always make it better**

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan
Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast
and team members in the GHiT
Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1) A short bit about touring with PM Dawn Peter Gabriel, The Grave Diggers and RZA and an acapella rendition of “Jam On It” by Newcleus on stage in front of tens of thousands live and broadcast over Swedish radio

2) Business tips, including do not buy a company blimp

3) Working on music videos including “Hey Ya” by the Outkast and several Def Leppard videos as well as Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn’s “Dodgeball: An Underdog Story” movie.

4) An upcoming podcast where he breaks down music with the cooperation of and with Universal Music

5) Benny cannot seem to count to six, lol.

6) Another special guest appearance by his Funko Pop “Odd Job”

7) How music is made and how it has progressed to where it is now

8) How Christian approaches music and how the song creation process in incorporated into his live song breakdown shows.

9) The incredible opportunity Christian has when being able to unpainting a painting when he dissects the song to its original moments and components and stories.

10) How sometimes the simplest songs are often some of the most complex tapestries to weave.

11) Incredible music recording history and stories

12) How digital processing, Pro Tools, and over-processing has impacted modern music and removed much of the humanity of current recordings.

13) What is groove and what is pocket?

14) The Gadd-Weckl-Colaiuta Drum Showdown is found at: https://youtu.be/K7h6hOs_ySw

15) Some of the fantastic songs to breakdown that came to mind during our discussion and are well worth listening to again, for the first time, especially for the songs that have almost become musical “wall paper” or have faded into the status of background music.

16) Christian’s rock band member breakdown is hilarious, every single time.

17) I think Christian nearly broke Vicki when he discussed his inability to listen to music while “occupied”

18) Some highlighted drum tracks, bass tracks, and guitar tracks that came to mind and are some of the cannot miss episodes.

19) His thoughts on concerts in general and the Counting Crows performing Mr. Jones in specific.

20) What Christian feels are the root masterpieces for rock music after the Beatles catalogue.

You can hear Christian James Hand break down songs at a variety of places online including:

At “The Sessions On Air” on Instagram at 11 AM Pacific or 2 PM Eastern on Instagram @thesessiononair

Podcasts such as:

The Session

Heide and Frank Show weekly on Mondays

And try to catch him at a live show once they are able to resume. Details will be provided on his website at: https://thesessiononair.com/

Audioslave’s Cochise music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDMvN45sjo4 and yes, it is mind blowing!

Budget music systems suggestions:

Sony MDR-7506 headphones at ~$90

Better: Audeze headphones at around $400 use Christian’s discount code PS Audio Sprout system ~$600 Rega Planar 2 turntable for ~$200 Sumiko Needle Polk Audio or Klipsch or JBL Speakers of your choice (don’t need powered set Total system around $1,000 max

WOOT 0128: Christian James Hand Breaks Down Music on his Show “The Session”

GHiT 0127: Our Team Answers the Fast and Furious Question – By Request

We try to give answers to questions our listeners want to know, usually to help them progress as drivers, but sometimes we get requests to answer questions that are not going to help you drive any better, ever. This is one of those times and one of those episodes. Several of you have asked us these questions at the track or via the inter webs, so here they are, as requested.

Throttle steering is the subject for our Dominating with Dawson segment this episode. This is one of the ways that you can make a car turn without using your steering wheel.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1) Somehow we combined the Fast and Furious questions with the Newlywed Game during this episode.

2) Who has driven the fastest on our team. Any guesses? Unfortunately, not all have hit triple digits, yet. New team goal for our next HPDE!

3) Alan wanders off during the podcast with his wireless microphone. Can’t even herd cats on the podcast.

4) Jennifer stretches the limits of what a car sound is, just a bit.

5) What were some of our team members “Ahhh Hahhh” moments.

GHiT 0127: Our Team Answers the Fast and Furious Question – By Request

GHIT 0125 Lucky Dog Is Coming East to Charlotte with Cathy McCause Fuss

Lucky Dog's First Ever East Coast Race at the Charlotte Roval — **Lucky Dog’s First Ever East Coast Race at the Charlotte Roval**

Cathy joins us on the podcast again to talk about the first ever Lucky Dog endurance race on the east coast that will take place in 4 weeks at Charlotte Motor Speedway on their Roval and we will be under the lights!Â There is no way we would miss this race and it will likely be our teams only wheel to wheel race this season.Â Cathy discussed how the Lucky Dog season has gone this year and what updates to the race procedures that they adopted to assist with COVID 19 compliance.Â If you haven’t been to Lucky Dog race yet, this may be a great opportunity.Â There are still a few spots left to enter a car and there may be seats available on their website under the “Dog Pile” area.Â We simply cannot wait.

Dominating with Dawson covers the term throttle steering and helps us to understand what it means and how it can be used on track to add a little more to your driving repertoire.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

Highlights from the episode include:

1) Cathy’s history at the Charlotte Motor Speedway

2) How COVID 19 has changes the Lucky Dog paddock procedures and how everything is still very fluid and changes day to day and especially track to track

3) Changes that have been tried so far include no pitting on pit row, requiring a face mask or a racing helmet at all times, limited track access for kids and spectators/visitors.

4) The details of the Charlotte race include over 18 hours of racing, The BBQ event is still a go for Saturday evening, and a 10-hour race Sunday.

5) There is over $10,000 in prizes and awards available during the weekend, not counting the $10,000 in watches from Rebel Watches (We Are Rebels!) and the $3,000 d in tires from Hankook tires, hopefully our much preferred RS-4’s.

6) We may be able to debut the new 196 Honda Civic is all goes well with the prep and cage.

7) Attendees will include traditional west coast Lucky Dog entries as well as many east coast and midwest teams.

8) Horse trading seats as a way of trying new tracks and events

9) Potential tracks that may appear on the 2021 Lucky Dog schedule.

10) How Lucky Dog works with a flexible qualifying model to balance competitiveness and still allow for new and experienced drivers in a single event.

11) Randy Pobst will be racing his Volvo at the Charlotte event. He will be much faster than we are.

12) The mystery of the Fuss Fantom E46 continues.

13) Greg and Bill may have similar car buying issues. But on the bright side, Bill may have solved a race car solution for both coasts. Greg, call us.

14) Bill is confused between goats and sheep and everyone is confused with Lucky Dog racing and racing dogs.

GHIT 0125 Lucky Dog Is Coming East to Charlotte with Cathy McCause Fuss

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