Cars, Mostly ours

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 0124: GHIT Flashback to Thompson 2018 with the 24 Hours of Lemons

Award Winning GHiT Team — We Won (well, at least we got an award)

On this flashback episode, we cover our team’s second ever race at Thompson with the 24 Hours of Lemons series in 2018. How did the race go? Well, it was our first ever two car race. It was the first ever race for half of our team (Alan, Jennifer, Casey, and Pete). It was our first time on track with the SpiderStang and our friends at Prompt Critical showed Liam and Cassian how to “adjust” the boost on the SpiderStang. The Capri died and is still dead to this day. We won the “I Got Screwed” award. Details of our weekend and what we learned shall be provided. PS Never show your new to racing teen age team mates how to adjust the boost. Also, on this episodes Dominating with Dawson, we go over car control and what it means when someone refers to a car “rotating”.

**Capri’s dies while the SpiderStang makes its debit**

SpiderStang Makes its Debut — **Capri’s dies while the SpiderStang makes its debit**

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) We quickly gloss over the new raspberry additions that Alan and Bill added to Vicki’s garden area.

2) We cover from post-race of our first race at NJMP to the conclusion of our second race at Thompson

3) How our team grew from our first race with 4 drivers to where we had a two-car team with 8 drivers. Our preparation was not quite up to what it should have been. Especially with 4 additional drivers, two of which that had never driven a manual transmission before.

4) The advantages and disadvantages of a teen drivers on a racing team

5) How a perfectly performing a running car from our last race did not stay that way during the trip back from the track, to the great surprise of all involved. Carburetors are not our center of expertise and decided to let us know.

6) How the SpiderStang theme came to be and what we learned in doing it. It ended up looking great, but the process was not one we would recommend. Sometimes you learn what to do and sometimes you learn what not to do. We also mention how we built “Bondo”, a PVC and spray foam version of a mannequin to be used as Spiderman on our car.

RV Plumbing Fitting, not Automotive Grade, lol.

7) Vicki’s trials and tribulations for her first time driving to a race with a race car trailer. It did not go very well.

8) How our first time trying to stay at the track went. In a word: poorly. We have come up with much better sources for renting RV’s to stay at the track since then.

9) How our new drivers first time driving went. Quick checklist, panic attack at being strapped in, panic attack about going on a racetrack in the pit lane, first ever racing in the rain and heavy fog, and how to be a rolling chicane on the track.

10) Prompt Critical helped us with our cars but gave away a bit too much information to Liam and Cassian. They now knew how to adjust (read as increase to maximum) the boost of the turbocharger. After all, more is better, lol.

11) How to dial in a brake proportioning valve during testing.

12) Alan’s chipmunk powered internet popped up again, a few times. Bill had no idea on how to edit this, but it seems pretty funny.

13) How we became an award-winning racing team at this event. It all started with Jennifer and her license in driver tech inspection. Well on our way to minor internet celebrity status. Still on the way to this day.

14) Things we learned at our first ever rain race and our first ever fog race, all at the same race.

15) The story of the death of the Capri and the birth of El Jeffe, The Bad Hombre.

16) We share the secret concoction to keep fog off your windshield that was shared with us by the Three Pedal Mafia.

17) Alan treats his body like a temple? And we finally found the root cause for why Alan doesn’t want to work on the Capri.

18) Bill tries to avoid sleeping in the bathtub even though we won the coveted “I Got Screwed” award.

19) Finally, we go over the post-race awards and the trials and tribulations we went through to get home afterwards.

GHIT 0124: GHIT Flashback to Thompson 2018 with the 24 Hours of Lemons

GHIT 0122: NASA Great Lakes HPDE at GingerMan – Post HPDE Review

Jennifer, Vicki, and Bill check in to review how the recent HPDE at GingerMan went with NASA Great Lakes. We are not in our usual location and are recording under a roof in a KOA near Traverse City Michigan so there may be a bit more background noise than normal but we wanted to record while everything was still very fresh, even though we were all pretty exhausted.

Post HPDE — Giddy after the HPDE this weekend at GingerMan

On this week’s Dominating with Dawson, we go into a discussion to clarify apexes and Ben’s approach and how the point of rotation can apply to your driving, including a discussion of Ken Hill s podcast and how we should approach this during he (at that point) upcoming HPDE at GingerMan.

Jen coming into turn 2 at GingerMan — **Jen going into Turn 2**

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) We compare the structure of this HPDE which focuses on drills and with the COVID 19 separation not allowing for in car instruction at this point.

2) The advantages and disadvantages of a lead follow, especially if it was a group of three this became more of an issue.

3) How quickly NASA Great Lakes is responding to the new rules and conditions on track in a rapidly evolving climate and imposed rules by each state and track.

4) What aspects of racing Vicki and Jen learned at this HPDE and what skills they refined during the weekend.

5) How HPDE track days allow for focusing on the correct and repeatable line vs our racing where we rarely use the line and handle traffic while driving both on and offline.

6) The drills we used during the weekend, including running the track in reverse.

7) How a great track walk with a very large group led to great discussion and options for approaching several sections of the track that even some national champion drivers learned more about racing options at GingerMan.

8) Ways to practice on your daily drive to help improve your track driving.

9) Apex everything!

10) The comparative differences between the HPDE 2 and HPDE 1

11) The skid pad – Winter driving event we had scheduled for earlier this year is again one of the negative highlights for our season

12) Vicki and Jen both had issue with getting their vision farther down the track, especially in the lead follow used during their HPDE 1 group.

13) Both Vicki and Jen both felt their speed progressively increased on the track throughout the weekend. It really was almost as if we needed a 1.5 level for these COVID impacted events.

14) In car video issues during the weekend impacted our results but we discuss what we think the video will show of our driving through the weekend. We shall see once we download our videos later this week.

15) There were some pretty spectacular cars at GingerMan this weekend and we could not help but pick a few of our favorites that came to mind in our racing hangover induced state.

16) Bill tries to work through Jennifer’s acceleration issues during the weekend and hos hypothesis is that she isn’t fully revving

17) Bill inserts his foot fully into his mouth. He will likely be sleeping in the bathtub for the rest of the week.

18) Vicki almost got arrested for stealing as one night by mistake.

19) Somehow, Vicki and Jennifer were introduced to the term Camber during our track walk for the first time. Not sure how we missed it up to this point but apparently we did.

20) We also went through our thoughts on the track and several of our favorite and more difficult turns for each of us.

21) Vicki’s favorite track of the weekend was NamregNig (GingerMan backwards)

22) Bill tries to get out of the hole he dug with John Pagel.

A few hopefully helpful suggestions for NASA we think are:

1) Groups of two students with each instructor max

2) Group cars and instructors by style, i.e. low HP cars with low HP instructor cars etc.

3) Perhaps a 1.5 level with less lead follow and more with the instructor in the position watching the student from behind.

GHIT 0122: NASA Great Lakes HPDE at GingerMan – Post HPDE Review

Doubleshot: GHIT 0115: HPDE with NASA Great Lakes at Mid Ohio and GHIT 0116: Car Prep Weekend Progress and the NASA Great Lakes HPDE at Mid-Ohio Wrap UP

Action at the Hangar — **Work Weekend at the Hangar and HPDE Weekend at Mid-Ohio**

Toyota 86 Prepped and Ready for a NASA GL HPDE — **Work Weekend at the Hangar and HPDE Weekend at Mid-Ohio**

A quick episode to cover the highlights of today’s HPDE event at Mid Ohio with NASA Great Lakes. We also summarize the changes within the event to account for social distancing and how it impacts the event. We will have another episode later this week to go into greater detail, as well as review Sunday.

2OF Racing — Two Old Farts Racing,
Awesome guys with a great team name

Awesome Vehicles Abound at a NASA GL Event — Two Old Farts Racing,
Awesome guys with a great team name

Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill tried to talk through the recent work weekend at the garage and then we reviewed the NASA Great Lakes HPDE Bill attended at Mid-Ohio. Everyone was quite tired from the weekend, but we wanted to get this out while it is still fresh in our minds and to fulfill the “fix” of a few listeners who wanted more detail from the HPDE after Bill’s “too short” episode from Saturday. If you have any more questions, we will have at least two more NASA Great Lakes Episodes in the coming weeks with other instructors and drivers from the event, so please let us know. We also had two competing tools of the week from Jen and Vicki while they were prepping the cars for their new theming. On this episodes “Dominating with Dawson” segment we go into Pre-Race Thoughts and how we prep for a race weekend and a driving stint, with some of our usual digressions along the way.

We hope you enjoy the episode and apologize for being a bit scattered and tired during the recording!

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) We start our discussion Live, inside the Hindenburg, or at least it sounds that way. We are sorry but our microphone unplugged as we started recording .
2) Progress on the mechanical and electrical projects that are needed in the BMW E36 race car, including the new passenger seat for HPDE usage
3) Progress on the fuel cell and sway bar projects for the El Jeffe Chevy S10 race truck and the beginnings of the new theme.
4) Our progress tape system we are using to communicate the progress and status of our various projects between all the team members that are working. Hopefully it will help us (and you) to keep track of things and eliminate silly/avoidable errors, like torqueing lug nuts.
5) Two new additions to the team, Randy and Dennis, who are helping us out and Randy may even drive with us in the upcoming races.
6) We review and compare the three types of painting we have used on prior cars. This includes spray cans/rattle cans, Plasti-dip spray cans/spray wrap, and auto paint using a HELP system.
7) If you do use a normal spray can or rattle can, please make sure to use the auxiliary handle to make it much easier to hold the nozzle open. After 40 or more cans, your fingers will be much happier. Details are on our website under the tips and tricks section if you are not familiar with this attachment. Its usually around 5-8 dollars.
8) The demise of our “Bob Ross Penalty” adorned to the side of the El Jeffe/Bad Hombre race truck
9) We then discussed the HPDE at Mid-Ohio and how the changes to the Toyota 86 affected the handling of it on track
10) Bill goes into the preparation process he uses for an HPDE, as well as for a new track.
11) We also go into a few of the bad habits we have developed from our primary racing in endurance racing.
12) The COVID/social distancing related changes and impacts on the event schedule and potentially on upcoming HPDE and racing events
13) Our dogs Zoey Lemons Fischer and Ziggy Stardust Skripchuk made guest appearances throughout the episode in the background.
14) Bill messes up by calling a C Z06 Corvette a Camaro. Boy, he was tired, lol.
15) Bill gets into the track prep and track map notes he makes prior to going to a new track using Mid-Ohio as the example.
16) We describe the four drills that we used in the HPDE 2 run group this weekend.
17) The final two sessions were Bill’s favorites of the day, likely due to his being more comfortable with the track and hopefully his improved driving skill. TBD. Everything went well until Bill mixed his lefts and rights in describing the chicane going into the keyhole.
18) Bill’s goals going into the HPDE we accomplished, and in some cases too much in the other direction.
19) Best practices and habits for getting the most out of an HPDE event.
20) Bad endurance racing induced habits: Slow to learn a track, no firm fixed points for each turn, too comfortable winging it and adjusting line and speed by visual and by feel, need to tighten up and be more consistent, especially in an open track condition and an HPDE.
21) Goals for Bill’s next HPDE session include: 1) better prep, 2) Fixed points on the track for BoB and EoB, Turn in, and Track out. (apex is set)
22) Jen’s tool of the week is a grinder with a wire wheel to remove rust and paint because it is so Zen. Vicki’s tool of the week is the Power Bleeder for bleeding brake fluid and changing brake fluid. Thank you Randy for letting us borrow it. The tool of the week should have been a pillow.

23) We finally figured out why Bill is here.
24) Vicki wraps it up when she was done, lol.

Doubleshot:

GHIT 0115: HPDE with NASA Great Lakes at Mid-Ohio

and

GHIT 0116: Car Prep Weekend Progress and the NASA Great Lakes HPDE at Mid-Ohio Wrap Up

GHIT 0103: Keith Tanner from Flyin’ Miata

Keith Tanner who has literally written the book on improving the performance of a Miata, actually three books, and works with the team at Flyin’ Miata joined us for this episode to discuss his driving history and he was also willing to add to our recent series on the “Usual Suspects” and addresses many aspects of the use and optimization of all four generations of Miata’s/MX-5’s. Since we have two MX-5’s on our team already and we are routinely passed by them at every race and HPDE event we have been to, we could not have this series without going over them. The MX-5/Miata is one of the more flexible racing vehicles available and with little modification, it can be competitive in many types of racing, as well as being a perfect choice for HPDE and track days. Additionally, the cost for wear and maintenance is quite low in terms of both cost and frequency, due to its light weight and the wide availability of parts.

Our Dominating with Dawson segment goes over the term Trail Braking, what it is and how it can be used on a track as you increase your skill and experience.

We hope you enjoy this episode.

Please subscribe to our podcast on iOS most use the Podcast app or Android users may use the Android App, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher etc. We have also added this to our YouTube channel, especially useful with subtitles if you are hearing impaired, as several of our drivers are.

If you could leave a review, that would help us greatly and you can also add any questions or topics you may want us to cover.

Thank you again and 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

Keith Tanner R&D — **Keith Tanner often instructs on the Flyin’ Miata YouTube channel**

Highlights include:

1) How to choose which version of Miata depending on what your interests are and/or how your personal geometry needs may require, including potential to LS swap
2) History of the Miata, how it came to be and how its racing pedigree arose and developed throughout the 30 plus years of production
3) We mention Long Road Racing during the episode, but they have been recently replaced by Flis Performance for ND prepped cars for the Global MX-5 Cup Series
4) How did Keith originally get into Miatas, including his gateway drug called Autocross and how he has expanded his interests and testing though the years
5) How Flyin’ Miata develops and designs its parts internally and with its suppliers to serve a wide variety of needs and performance interests
6) Can you say LS Swap? Flyin’ Miata can!!! And it fits into a Miata as well, lol.
7) Bill reviews how he came to have and lose the NB Miata to Vicki in a single day
8) Overall advantages are lightweight, relatively cheap to operate and maintain, great driver feel, excellent handling and grip in turns, a great car to learn and develop your driving skill, and relatively bullet proof. Disadvantages are relatively low power and acceleration (true momentum cars) and straight-line speed.
9) NC Miatas (2006-2015) are in a sweet spot for depreciation and a bit larger than the other models. It is also a bit difficult to install a full cage.
10) NA and NB Miatas are a bit smaller, lighter, and “fun” to drive. Downsides, they are getting pretty old.
11) ND Miatas are smaller and lighter than NC, similar to the NA/NB’s and the power is increased above the others, especially the NA’s and NB’s. Also it has the only adjustable steering wheel in the Miata family. Weaknesses may be in the transmission area and you may want to augment the cooling.
12) Recommends looking at used spec Miata for value, especially the 1.6-liter versions that are not as competitive in the series as the 1.8-liter cars.
13) How to inspect and maintain your Miata, especially as the NA and NB’s are getting close to 30 years old or more. Hint look at your cooling systems effectiveness, including the transmission and differential.
14) Pluses and minuses of our Flyin’ Miata Stage II NB Miata, cooling and transmission etc.
15) Advantages and disadvantages of the 5-speed vs the 6-speed transmission in the older Miatas
16) Keith’s thoughts on gauges vs ECU control and how to tell if there is an issue without additional gauges and which gauges may be helpful in general
17) Some of the potential issues involved with a LS Swapped Miata and some of the many issue that had to be addressed during their development to be able to have a system they could offer to their clients.
18) We even get into the new ND and ND.2 models
19) Keith discussed some stories about his past experiences in the Targa Newfoundland
20) Bill and Keith compare stories when they both lost a wheel while driving and other lessons Keith learned while racing and testing over the years
21) In the end, Keith even tolerated some of our more off the wall inquiries and concerns
22) Alan valiantly tries to help a listeners with what gear to use when doing burnouts in a turbo NB Miata.

Keith Tanner Books on Miatas — **Keith Tanner, Author, Racer, and Car Entusiast**

Keith Tanner Targa Newfoundland — **Keith Tanner, Author, Racer, and Car Entusiast**

GHIT 0103: Keith Tanner from Flyin’ Miata