Dominating with Dawson

Coasting On Track – Allowed or Not

DwD 0348: Coasting On Track – Allowed or Not

One of the often quoted things that may have first come from Ross Bentley’s “Speed Secrets” book series is that you should never be coasting on track, but should either be on the gas pedal/throttle or on the brake. Ross has been on the podcast several times and we have discussed this aspect of racing with him a few times both on the podcast and at the track. We decided to get into it today and with Ben discuss whether there are any scenarios where “coasting” is acceptable or even allow for improved lap times. If you have time before listening to the episode, please take a moment and think of any areas where you would think coasting can be the best option for a certain area of a track and then listen to what is no doubt the first episode of a multiple part series on this topic.

There was a minor interruption by our cat during the episode, we apologize for the distraction. Lol. We then moved onto ways for Vicki (and you) to gradually work on reducing the amount of coasting on track, especially before and at turn in to a corner.

If you have any thoughts related to “proper” use of coasting or why costing has no place on a race track, please let us know in a podcast review, on our social media, or send us an email at [email protected] and we can share it in an upcoming Dominating With Dawson.

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate that very much. Even better, a podcast review, would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is amazingly easy. If you go to your podcast library, look under shows. Then click on this podcast. Here you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS If you are looking to stream or save your integrated telemetry/racing data with you video, Candelaria Racing Products Sentinel System may be the perfect solution for you. We are during installing the system in two of our cars. If this sounds like something that may help you and your team, please use our discount code “GHIT” for a 10% discount code to all our listeners during the checkout process.

PS2 Please do not forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, do not forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and invaluable to safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross, etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, Jeremy, and Bill

Hosts and Drivers for the Garage Heroes In Training team

DwD 0348: Coasting On Track – Allowed or Not

Track Selection: The Impact on Learning

DwD 346: Track Selection: The Impact on Learning

On this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we wanted to discuss an aspect of racing education that can often be overlooked – track selection. The typical decision path to getting a racing license or going to an HPDE event or a track day is to find the closest track to you. Ideally, there will be an event that fits within your schedule. This is likely to be what you do as well. However, one factor that is neglected in this methodology is the impact that the track design and layout can have on your learning and progression. There are many tracks that have very little run off room or walls, trees, rocks, etc. Especially if they are very close to the track. This can make a small off track event a potentially very large cost event. It can also affect the comfortability of the driver towards pushing the car. This will then change their personal driving limits during the event.

Track Selection

We talk about a few examples of tracks that are very forgiving. Then we review a few that we have been to that have layouts that are not quite as friendly. This is not to say that it is the tracks “fault” because in the end the responsibility always remains within the driver’s seat. It is their responsibility to maintain control of the car and determine when/if they are going to push towards the limit. We love every single track but wanted to point out something that should be taken into account. This is especially as you are in your middle stages of learning and progressing as a driver. As a bonus, for the exact same price, we include a great story of an early HPDE event in Ben Dawson’s HPDE history.

If you have any favorite tracks to work on your skills or push your limits, please let us know. Also, if we missed a few of the higher consequence tracks or turns, please let us know. This can be in a podcast review or on our social media. You can also send us an email at [email protected] and we can share it in an upcoming Dominating With Dawson.

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate that very much. Even better would be to leave a podcast review. This would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS If you are looking to stream or save your integrated telemetry/racing data with you video, Candelaria Racing Products Sentinel System may be the perfect solution for you. We are during installing the system in two of our cars. If this sounds like something that may help you and your team, please use our discount code. By entering “GHIT” at checkout, you will get a 10% discount code during the checkout process.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, Jeremy, and Bill

Hosts and Drivers for the Garage Heroes In Training team

DwD 346: Track Selection: The Impact on Learning

The Tyler Stank

GHIT 0342: The Tyler Stank

After having better answers to several of our Dominating with Dawson’s, it was only appropriate that we invited him onto the podcast. We first met Tyler while iRacing and have since been paying attention as he has begun driving in the real world as well. His middle name really is Ayrton and there can be no better reason to have him on the podcast, but he is also notably the first person to drive each of the three versions of mini truck in the 24 Hours of Lemons endurance races. Stay tuned for several stories related to “driving” a car on iRacing with a French horn and other non-standard inputs. We also interrupt the episode with the first ever Dominating with Dawson with a guest judge Tyler to address the best modifications to make your car faster. Both Ben and Tyler get it wrong.

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate that very much. Even better, a podcast review, would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS If you are looking to stream or save your integrated telemetry/racing data with you video, Candelaria Racing Products Sentinel System may be the perfect solution for you. We are amid installing the system in two of our cars. If this sounds like something that may help you and your team, please use our discount code “GHIT” for a 10% discount during the checkout process at https://candelaria-racing.com/

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Jeremy, Alan, and Bill

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

GHIT 0342: The Tyler Stank

Building a car vs developing a car

DwD 0341: The difference between building a car and developing a car

Race Weekend Shuffle in place: We have talked a lot about building a race car and prepping a car for the track. But that Is only the beginning and just when you thought it was over, it has only begun. The best way to think about it is that you now have a ticket to enter the event and part of your future will be developing the car and improving it.

There are things that will always need to be done. Some of these areas are to increase the performance of the car. Many of these areas are to improve the durability and reliability of the car. There is also a set related to optimizing the car by dialing in the various settings and options within the car that you will be using to improve the performance on a given track or day or weather or. Undoubtedly this is the first part of a multipart series. On this episode Ben was joined by guest judge Jeremy Hall, Vicki, and Bill.

If we missed a factor or something wasn’t covered to a satisfactory level, please let us know at [email protected] or on our Instagram @GarageHeroesInTraining

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Jeremy, Alan, and Bill

Hosts and Drivers for the Garage Heroes In Training team

DwD 0341: The difference between building a car and developing a car

Getting the Most Out of Instruction

GHIT 0340: Getting the Most Out of Instruction at a Track Day or HPDE etc.

Track time is a precious commodity. It is often difficult to fit into your schedule, it takes a significant amount to prep for a weekend (both the car and the driver and often simply getting to the track). It is also not free to attend the event. We try to give some examples of what to do and what not to do before an at an event. Also, given this, one of Bill’s obsessions is in getting the absolute most he can from each event, and even every stint, especially for our team and his HPDE students. We use a standard debrief sheet for each event and have fount it to be very helpful and increase the progression of each of our drivers, especially as you progress and improve since you will often be driving without an instructor directly assisting you every stint. So if you are looking at getting the most out of instruction, this may be the podcast for you.

If you have any interest in getting a copy of out sheet, or our track walk/track notes template, please let us know in a podcast review or on our social media, or send us an email at [email protected] and we can share it with you.

(Because Bill has no idea how to link them in the episode notes, lol)

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, and Bill

Hosts and Drivers for the Garage Heroes In Training team

GHIT 0340: Getting the Most Out of Instruction at a Track Day or HPDE etc.

« Previous Page