Dialing In

GHIT 0118: John Pagel from Evil Genius Racing and the Tech Tyrant from the 24 Hours of Lemons

John Pagel is our guest for this episode. John Pagel is the Tech Tyrant and is the head of tech inspection for the 24 hours of Lemons and has a shop called Evil Genius Racing in Davis, California that serves a wide variety of metal fabrication needs for racing teams. John also teaches how to fabricate roll cages. When he comes east, we will be attending one of these sessions. We thank John for all his efforts and the entire Lemons team for their endless work to keep everyone safe at our races. We did have a few dropped words due to connection issues, but the episode is a must listen.

Dominating with Dawson covers some of the aspects of sway bars this week and the potential uses and adjustments they make possible. +

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) John explains how he was originally banned for life from racing in Lemons after his team’s car hit Jay at an early Lemons race and the unlikely path that this actually led to him being hired as the head of tech inspection.

2) We go into his work with the 24 Hours of Lemons as well as what he does from within his shop at Evil Genius Racing in Davis, California

3) How he got his start racing showroom stock in a Ford Fiesta

4) We recorded the episode a few weeks ago and speculate on when the racing series will resume.

5) John also has custom designed universal seat mounts to better fit seats into all cars, but are especially useful for the smaller cars. We will be ordering at least one set to try to get Bill to fit into his ND Miata with a helmet.

6) Everyone should be very proud of the exemplary safety record of the series so far and what the future improvements may be to continue to improve the safety of Lemons racing.

7) We go into the many common issues new teams (and old teams) will have with passing tech and the very simple ways to avoid issues.

8) John was even kind enough to offer his thoughts on what a new to racing team should do to get their feet wet in racing, providing some of the best tips we have heard.

9) A truly memorable discussion of the “Line” and the unrealistic expectation of using it in a race with 150 cars or more.

10) Some of the car cages that has built in the past are quite impressive like a Lancia Scorpion, Borgward Isabella, or a Humber Super Snipe.

11) How one team painted their cage to look like PVC, complete with barcodes and the purple adhesive at the joints.

12) We will have at least three attendees when John teaches cage building on the east coast.

13) John also went into some welding tips, especially related to the settings of the helmet darkness.

14) The differences between a halo and a down bar style cage.

15) What a back bend is and why they are an issue in roll cages and should be avoided for structural reasons.

16) A general discussion of the advantages of a custom cage vs a kit and also why bolt in cages are not suitable for most track racing (usually bolt in cages are only permitted for drag racing and circle track racing).

17) Typical tech failure areas

18) Bill tries to ask a question about our Splash Gate fuel spill incident but words the intent of the question poorly. This did not go well.

19) What are good expectations to be able to get out of a car if it’s on fire (<15 seconds or less) and what to do first after a wreck (Put your hand up in case you are upside down before releasing your harness belts)

20) Some of the most entertaining and surprising Fast and Furious answers we have ever had.

GHIT 0118: John Pagel from Evil Genius Racing and the Tech Tyrant from the 24 Hours of Lemons

GHIT 0117: Race Bar Returns – A Discussion of How Many Teams are Helping with the COVID 19 Pandemic

Jim “Daddy Earth” Webb, Pat “Richard Freelane” McHugh take over another episode of the podcast (lol), but it was for a great cause and contribution to our society during this COVID 19 pandemic. Jim and Pat have been working with James Ballenger from Ballenger Motorsports to raise funds and to fabricate and distribute face masks, face shields, and all kinds of assorted PPE for the Richmond region and anyone in need across the country. Hopefully, you can add to the relief effort in some small way. To bring it back to racing, we did get into a good discussion on the details and decisions related to converting your car from an OEM fuel system to using a fuel cell. This is a truly inspiring story of what a bunch of race drivers and James Ballenger’s team and Ballenger Motorsports were able to accomplish in a short amount of time.

As we always say, racers are some of the best and most generous people we have met. This crisis has still not passed, so if you or anyone can help, it could literally be lifesaving and I am also sure we would like to be in a better position if there is ever a bounce back in the infection rate. It took a bit to get the editing done, but the message and need remains the same. Even if you can’t be of assistance in fabricating or assembly, there is always something that needs to be done that would assist.

The Dominating with Dawson segment deals with what to do and what not to do when going on track for the first time.

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) Working to make a difference in trying to contain and protect people from the COVID 19 virus

2) Some of the unexpected challenges of helping deliver PPE to those in need

3) How even little steps are significant, especially if we compound upon each other

4) Karen makes an appearance for the first time on the podcast, lol.

5) You can learn more at [email protected] or contact them through email

6) The parallels between this program and what happens in an endurance race are amazing.

7) This effort will continue into the future as the economy starts to resume and a larger population of people can use shields and masks.

8) If you want to donate to the effort, you can go to GoFundMe.com under Virginia Needs PPE

9) Bill volunteers to let James and the team pass us during our next race. It is the least we can do, lol.

10) Even the next generation of Race Bar, Oliver, comes in for a brief podcast experience.

11) A short Race Bars race car fleet review and its recent new addition with a super-secret theme

12) Fuel cell discussion on details, locations, options, and aspects of the conversion and installation including some of the best options for venting the fuel cell.

13) Ben is still sorting his nuts and bolts. We hope he finished soon.

14) Jim’s latest deep dive is in the area of fuel discriminator valves. Because Race Car.

15) Rob Krider’s magnetic towels for catching fuel as you fill gets another shout out.

16) Some good discussion points on the morals of resuming racing events at this point.

GHIT 0117: Race Bar Returns – A Discussion of How Many Teams are Helping with the COVID 19 Pandemic

GHIT 0112: John Lavin from Safety 3rd Motorsports

Safety Third Motorpsorts — **John Lavin points the way for the Safety 3rd Motorsports team**

John Lavin joined us from the Safety 3rd Motorsports racing team for a great discussion of his racing and team history, including how his background in racing snowmobiles, motorcycles, and snowboarding has led to and helped with his racing cars. His team started with an initial car that was intended for Lemons but ended up being a second gen Supra that was better fitting into an episode of “Better Call Saul” and ended up in ChampCar and started with the usual issues and tremendous stories as his team grew. The team is currently running in several ChampCar events each year, as well as several other organizations in multiple divisions.

We are hoping to talk John into letting us attend one of their upcoming races to learn more, if they will have us. Please follow them on Instagram at Safety3rdMotorsports.

In our Dominating with Dawson segment, we go into racing in the rain and while some complain, it’s really actually better in many ways for learning and definitely should not be skipped or avoided.

Safety Third Motorsports E36 Racecar — **Safety 3rd Motorsports E36 Racecar**

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) Sharing the pain of herding cats as the team manager’s primary role.

2) It appears John’s path is similar to Bill’s, just executed much better.

3) VIR gets another big endorsement, and it wasn’t from Ben this time.

4) First race stories for the team, a true 24-hour race at VIR.

5) Why they eventually switched from a Supra to a BMW to the annoyance of all the Fast and Furious fans.

6) Racing is really a situation of management by crisis, we agree and couldn’t have said it any better.

7) Several discussions on the differences and benefits of a racing school, as compared to HPDE’s and track days.

8) A comparison of ChampCar and the Lemons series, with a bit about AER as well.

9) How the teams racing philosophy has changed as they have become faster and a bit more competitive.

10) A very good discussion on transitioning a team from having run racing a car to racing to compete. A challenge our team is likely approaching.

11) We offer our excellent BBQ rub and BBQ sauce for some of their secret sauce, so far to no avail, lol.

12) Practicing at track days vs learning from an instructor and several other benefits of instruction.

13) A discussion on the various aspects of car control, what it is and several techniques that can be used to improve it.

14) The everlasting rumor of Lime Rock closing has reached Vicki for the first time.

15) John even sneaks in a discussion of the modern style racing line for Lime Rock.

16) Since John’s team races an E36, we can’t help but discuss some of his thoughts on the E36 setups and even more importantly how to evaluate and develop them for yourself or when using a shop to assist.

17) We even went into more depth around tire temperature and tire pressure and tire selection.

18) A dual team meetup is preliminarily in the works and sounds like it will be great fun! Still working on the Baja road trip invitation though. Lol.

19) Bill tries to talk John into lowering his standards and joining us for a race or for weekend racing fun. Still TBD to see if John is capable of making a decision that bad.

20) John was even gracious in acknowledging our difficulty with the rear hub bearing a few weeks back. We may even be able to replace the control arm Bill broke after our quarantine ends.

21) Towards the end, we even went into team HPDE and team bonding ideology that are helpful to all levels of teams.

GHIT 0112: John Lavin from Safety 3rd Motorsports

GHIT 0109: Brent Picasso on TireX (Special Bonus Episode)

Brent Picasso from Autosports Lab and fellow racing driver joined us to discuss a very exciting addition to their system called TireX. TireX allows the driver and the paddock to real time monitor the tire temperature across the tread continuously while the car is on track. This can help in a multitude of ways including monitoring tire performance, set up effects, and driver induced effects. In addition to being real time, it also was designed to use a graphical display that can monitor tire temperature and distribution in an easily digestible manner. If you drive a car where the tires contact the road, the TireX system may prove to be invaluable to you and your team. If you drive a time travelling DeLorean, it may not be as helpful.

In Ben’s Dominating with Dawson segment, we discussed driving styles and potential ways to use YouTube and other video to learn a track or to improve your driving.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Our Podcast is available from Apples Podcast App, or on Android at all the typical podcast sites like Google Music, Stitcher, and iHeart Radio etc.

Brent, can we order one with the plug and play harness? Pretty please?

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) Brent and Bill catch up on what Brent and his team have been up to, including a very successful Indiegogo campaign.
2) How TireX came to be and what its capabilities are, as well as some of the very important questions it can answer for your car and driver performance, especially if there is a team aspect to the race.
3) We talk about squiggly lines and graphical interfaces and how they can be helpful to different types of people and their individual ways of digesting information.
4) Advantages of real time live data vs post session traditional tire temperature measurements, especially in specific turns or across the car from left to right or front to back.
5) The amount of time saved can easily pay for the system itself by allowing the team to dial in a car set up much more rapidly.
6) Bill simply cannot avoid making a predator comment. Get to the Choppa!!!
7) Brent even discusses the typical peak performance window for your tires.
8) We discussed how the TireX works, its capabilities, size, and installation options as well as various display options for the data collected.
9) Ways to use the data to communicate to the driver if they are driving too aggressively or too conservatively in a specific turn etc.
10) Use of the TireX system in rainy conditions.
11) Bill had several usage and capability related questions for TireX and its integration with the other RaceCapture and Podium systems. Hint, there is still a lot of capacity left in the system even with 4 channels per tire in use.
12) Mounting options and a discussion of some of the advantages and disadvantages of specific orientations, especially for the front wheels due to their steering.
13) A quick review of the RaceCapture Track and RaceCapture/Pro systems
14) Bill also goes into mounting the GPS antennae in a daily driver Miata, for a friend, lol.
15) Track days are seeming to start opening up and we may be able to go back soon. We miss it. Badly.
16) Bill pleads to his favorite HPDE group at NASA Great Lakes for the upcoming Mid-Ohio event. He is going whether he gets off the waiting list or not.

GHIT 0109: Brent Picasso on TireX (Special Bonus Episode)

GHIT 0108: Randy Bish is our Guest from the League of Legitimate Nigerian Businessman racing team

**Randy Bish and The League at Their First race.**

Randy Bish is a relatively new lemons racer for the League of Legitimate Nigerian Businessmen racing team that is off to a spectacularly good start by making all the best bad decisions possible, including racing their 1972 Ford Pinto. On this episode, we go over his racing experiences so far and cover the topic that no one ever thought they wanted to know: what is the best way to race a Pinto in endurance racing. Jennifer and Vicki particularly enjoyed this since their first car was also a 1972 Pinto. Randy may be new to Lemons, but he seems to have found his tribe.

On Dominating with Dawson, Ben covers being on track for the first time, what to do, and what not to do. It can be intimidating at first thought, but hopefully, this will assuage some of your potential concerns and give a brief guideline if you are going to a track for the first time and what the other drivers would like for you to do. Short summary, stay on line, stay safe, and be predictable. They also expect you to be off pace, so don’t worry about them or the F1 and Indy Car scouts in the grandstands.

We hope you enjoy the episode! The episode you never asked for.

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) Design discussion of why the flames go in reverse from the back of his Pinto. Our more seasoned listeners likely already know.

2) How he learned all the details of his grandfather while his grandpa was behind the while as Randy was a boy.

3) A summary of his two races last year at Pitt Race and Gingerman with the 24 Hours of Lemons.

4) Randy’s very novel and very lemons charity fund raising method on the 24 Hours of Lemons i-Racing events, how this horribly awesome idea came to be and how much money he was able to generate for charity at the cost of some of his liver. Maybe someday he will remember the race, but we doubt it.

5) We may actually have convinced Vicki to race this Thursday. Tune in this Thursday and we shall see.

6) Matt Ferenchak and Florida Man Donnie get a few mentions, some even complimentary, lol.

7) Randy Bish tries out for being a spokesmen for the Michelin Ice-X tire for amateur endurance racing.

8) How a water pump can become a spinning end mill of death.

9) How the initial “success” at Pitt Race led to his team going all in and winning the Heroic Fix at their next race at Gingerman.

10) We find out the Randy Bish has a car obsession with big, Detroit luxury boats, the floatier the better. But that does not seem to explain his having owned 3 SVX’s.

11) Their team’s experience as the unintentional role as the unofficial Yellow Flag “Pace Car” at Pitt Race.

12) Randy actually was able to use the term provenance and Pinto in the same sentence. Admirable.

13) We go deeper than anyone ever thought possible into the advantages of a racing Pinto.

14) “Tires are evil and must be punished”. Words to live by. And Jen’s train agrees.

15) Bill gets an honorary place on Randy’s list of favorite drivers. But it turns out to be kind of like winning the Heroic Fix award in Lemons.

16) The El Jeffe makes a surprise appearance in being a desirable race car to swap into, but then again, Randy is used to driving a Pinto race car so….

To follow Randy and his team, you can find their team on Instagram or Facebook as the League of Legitimate Nigerian Businessmen with their official pace car of mediocrity.

GHIT 0108: Randy Bish is our Guest from the League of Legitimate Nigerian Businessman racing team