Driver Education

Vicki Fischer- Intro & Update

Deaf Stig and Vicki and Erik makes and appearance

Erik, Lonnie and Vicki — Deaf Stig and Vicki and Erik makes and appearance

GHIT 0210: GHIT Host/Driver Updated Introductions – Vicki Fischer

It has been several years since we did our host/driver introductions and we thought we’d update our newer listeners with a bit of background from each of our hosts. Vicki Fischer started from ground zero as a newbie to racing, driving, and car mechanics and has progressed to become one of our top mechanics and an excellent racing driver. We go over where Vicki is currently in her driving career and what her goals are for the next few years. As a bonus, we included the original introduction we had way back when this all began (after we had only raced twice and had zero HPDE’s etc.). We hope you enjoy getting to know us better and learning where we are (or maybe where we think we are) and where we wish to go in the coming years. If we missed something that you wanted to know, please let us know on our website or social media etc.

In this issue of Dominating with Dawson, we go over the ways that a front wheel drive car and a rear wheel drive car behave differently on a track. This subject resurfaced with the start of work on our Honda Civic race car and Jennifer looking to get a Honda Civic project car. It is not the same, but it is somewhat surprisingly similar. Ben also goes into the first few things you can do to adjust the FWD car to behave more like a rear wheel drive car.

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 or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

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

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/VickiReIntroduction

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS

Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t 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 truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

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

GHIT 0210: GHIT Host/Driver Updated Introductions – Vicki

HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021

GHIT 0205: Our HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021 – With NASA Great Lakes

We went back to Mid Ohio for a second lap in 2021 with Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill attending the May NASA Great Lakes event. It started out as a wet track and at Mid Ohio and that is always especially entertaining. We raced a turbo 1999 Mazda Miata (NB), a 2019 Mazda Miata, and a 2004 BMW M3 (E46) all were on street tires and racing brake pads and fluid. We go over the event where Vicki and Jen were in the HPDE 2 run group and Bill was in the HPDE 3 group. It all started out innocently enough. Then the weather went from warm and sunny to ridiculously cold and wet for Saturday and gradually warm and sunny on Sunday. The event was fantastic as always and the goals going in were designed for success. How did we do? We shall discover together within this episode. Special thanks to all the NASA Great Lakes team and the staff at Mid Ohio for a great weekend.

In this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we go over a variety of methods that can be used to improve your preparation for a “new to you” track and help you learn the track ahead of time and maximize your driving comfort on your first laps.

Any Guesses?

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 or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

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

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/2021MidOhioLap2

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t 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 truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

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 go into the details of the HPDE group 2 and compare it to the HPDE 1 and HPDE 3 groups. We also try to summarize the various drills that we did during the weekend.

2) Jennifer (and Vicki) have a difficult time prepping for a new track and since this was Jennifer’s first time at Mid Ohio, we worked our way through it, but we need to work on a better plan. Bill has ideas. Stay tuned.

3) Vicki tries to break a very bad habit that is really holding her back. She has a difficult time staying at full throttle until the brake zone, especially in high speed areas. There are some aspects of racing that require a great deal of commitment and even a bit of courage to work through. Her resolve to break through did lead to a quality 720 at the end of the big straight leading into China Beach.

4) How did Bill earn a steak dinner that somehow turned into Crack Barrel Meat Loaf.

GHIT 0205: Our HPDE at Mid Ohio – Lap 2 for 2021 – With NASA Great Lakes

HPDE at NJMP Lightning with NASA NE

GHIT Podcast 0203: Our Latest HPDE with NASA Northeast in May 2021 at NJMP Lightning

We review our latest high performance driving education (HPDE) event at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in Millville, New Jersey. We had four drivers at the event from our team. Jennifer, Vicki, and Liam were in the HPDE 2 run group for this weekend. Bill was in the HPDE 3-4 group. We each learned quite a bit a this event and we are all better drivers after these two days on NJMP Lightning.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, Ben goes into the acronym OSB. OSB is sometimes used to describe someone in a learning environment where it stands for “Other Sports Beckon”. We believe that anyone can learn how to drive at a track or an autocross event. While there are differences in everyone at the rate that they learn, or their initial skill/experience level, literally everyone can get to a very proficient level. But they take need to be open to learning and be willing to put in the effort to improve. We then move into how different teaching approaches are better able to match with different student personalities and how the needs of the student may change as their experience and skill level progresses.

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 or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it. This would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

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

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/NJMPHPDEMay2021

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS

Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, we have a 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 truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

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) Car reviews: Jennifer was in a 2019 ND.2 Mazda Miata with the stock OEM Continental tires and brakes. Liam was in his 2017 Toyota 86 TRD with Hankook RS4 tires and Raybestos ST-43 racing pads. Vicki was in her 1999 NB Miata with a Flyin’ Miata Turbo, Hankook RS4 tires and ST-43 racing pads. Bill was in his 2004 BMW E46 M3 with yellow Pagid brake pads and Michelin Pilot SuperSport 4 tires.

2) Telemetry we used for this event: Apex Pro and Garmin Catalysts.

3) How we owe our friends Jeff and Jim from the Three Pedal Mafia for saving our weekend by letting us use their family’s RV. Let’s just summarize by saying our prep for the vent did not go as planned. Situation normal.

4) Vicki’s prep to her turbo NB Miata did not go as planned before the event and at the event, but we did a few adjustments and all went well. It should be back up and running for our HPDE at Mid Ohio this coming weekend. Pro tip, do not try to adjust your wiring harness while the car is running.

5) Vicki and Jennifer’s thoughts on being in HPDE 2 vs HPDE 1. It was Vicki’s second time in HPDE 2 and Jennifer and Liam’s first time in HPDE 2. We also go into some of the differences in the HPDE’s between this event and some of the other organizations we have attended.

6) Let’s talk about point by’s at every post stint debrief, lol.

7) Vicki’s impressions of driving the E46 M3 on track for the first time.

8) We go over our goals going into the event and how we did during the event and what we learned over this weekend. We also go into some of the challenges we each face as we progress and grow as drivers on the track.

9) Liam pops in for a quick summary towards the end with his thoughts on the weekend. He also had a great time at the event and finally had a chance to be on track with the Garmin Catalyst.

GHIT 0203: HPDE at NJMP Lightning with NASA North East

Andrews Rains on the 2nd Gen Apex Pro

GHIT 0202: Andrews Rains Returns to Discuss the Second Generation of Apex Pro

Andrew Rains returned to discuss the new second generation Apex Pro and the new release of the App. This episode was recorded a few weeks ago, but we go into the latest changes to the Apex Pro hardware and the Apex Pro software/app and some of Andrew’s recent racing with Grid Life in the GLTC series at National Corvette Museum Motorsports track (NCM) a very challenging track with lots of turns and a wide variety of turns and use it as a basis for showing some of the information that can be gained from using the data and comparing it to another driver.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, Ben, Vicki, and Bill go into the factors of VIR that make it the legendary track that it is and why Ben always refers to it as a benchmark for so many different types of turns. If you haven’t already noticed, it is Ben’s favorite, lol. We probably have started to plan another race weekend to our season. Anyone coming with us or have a suggested upcoming event/weekend?

The Pocono video we discussed is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1RohRau9Hg at around 2.5 minutes in and no, this is not a normal occurrence.

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 or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

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

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/ApexProGen2

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t 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. We have two systems for our team and Bill is looking to add a third for this season, pending CFO approval from Vicki. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.

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) How the data from the Apex Pro showed Andrew what he was doing well and where he had opportunities to improve at NCM. Andrew also diagnosed how he could have changed his approach to the weekend and potentially improved his overall performance at a new and very complex/technical track like NCM.

2) We then move into the subject of the new Apex Pro hardware and Apex Pro app that was released recently. Luckily our discount code (above) works on this new generation hardware.

3) The app has also been improved to help new users acclimate to the app and especially related to the Crew View aspect of the app that lets you view the live data being shared by any friend or teammate at the track or even if you are away from the track.

4) We provide a review of how we use the Apex Pro on and at the track and how you can use it to improve during each stint and between sessions.

5) How everyone can use the system and due to its simplicity, even those of us who aren’t big data people can get a lot out of the Apex Pro, as well as the updated app.

6) There is even an upgrade program if you have first generation units and would like the new second generation unit.

NEEDED Links:

Andrew’s Video on the 5 minute data review.

Mid Ohio Track Walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYsm3R-CzYs

GHIT 0202: Andrews Rains Returns to Discuss the Second Generation of Apex Pro

For even more from Andrew, here is his earlier appearance. GHIT 0159: Andrew Rains

Ross Bentley

Returns to Help Us Celebrate Our 200th Episode

The Speed Secrets Library — **Ross Bentley’s Speed Secrets Library**

GHIT 0200: Ross Bentley Returns to Celebrate Our 200th Episode

Ross Bentley was kind enough to return for a third time that turned out to be his fourth appearance thanks to the mysteries of podcast recording and his recent episode on the One Lap of America event. Jennifer, Ben, and Bill were able to go through a ton of great questions that were sent in by several of our listeners, as well as a few we had hoped to cover with Ross.

As most of you know, Ross has literally written the book, actually a series, on high performance driving and racing and continues to work with drivers and organizations to increase the skills and effectiveness of the HPDE and coaching of drivers across the world. It is always a great idea to refer back to the Speed Secrets book series to improve your driving and find those little secrets that lead to those precious “ah hah” moments on track and lead to personal best times on track. If we are lucky, Ross will come on again to celebrate podcast episode 250. We actually recorded this episode prior to our victory at Pitt Race. Hopefully this episode will help you to win your next race as well. This may be our most helpful episode ever!

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson,

Ben addresses the use of anticipation and the use of reaction on a track. As you progress, the more that your skills improve and your experience increases, the more anticipation can be used accurately and allows the driver to react to unexpected actions or issues as they arise due to track conditions or vehicle induced occurrences, both with your own vehicle’s performance and potentially another vehicle or driver’s actions.

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 or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

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

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/RossBentley200

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

Some of the questions Ross answered on this episode include:

1) Jen asks Ross Bentley about her braking nemesis: Threshold braking: what it is, advantages and disadvantages, when to use it, and what it feels like etc. It’s not all about just braking later despite all the talk in the paddock you may hear.

2) Bill asks what were the biggest changes that he has learned since writing the original “Speed Secrets” book. As expected, Ross has learned a bunch and continues to grow as a driver and a coach.

3) Did you ever wonder what were some of Ross’s favorite drills and exercises at a track day event? After this, you won’t ever be “bored” just lapping around a track one day. Using these drills, you can really look to break through a plateau, even at a track you may have down cold. The first drill Ross discussed is even useful to those top level and world class pro level drivers.

4) Tips for what to prioritize and to include on your track maps/track notes to improve your driving at a particular track. Bill has a weird way of taking notes as part of his preparation for going to a track, but he is always looking to improve them whole at the event. This habit has really been proven to improve both his driving at a single track and his driving overall. As a bonus, we also discuss when and how to include data and/or video into the track map.

5) We look at ways that we use or could use to work towards improving and how we continue to try to improve each time we get to the track, off track, and hopefully each driving stint. Each driver has a particular level of performance that is their individual “10” they are working towards, but we also try to look at ways to create an even higher level and make their personal “10” level even higher. Because, these go to 11! Or at least they should.

6) What are some of the ways to improve your sensing of the available inputs during driving, especially a drivers sense of speed and the other sensory inputs that are often overlooked while driving and may be holding you back from a higher level of performance on track.

7) Alternatives to telemetry to get feedback while on track. Several are available in any car that you may be driving.

8) If you ever wondered about the differences between driving an Indy car and a well sorted GT car, Ross discussed this with us and recalled his calloused elbows, lol.

9) The potential impact of karting on your track driving, how it helps as well as how it differs from driving a car. The advantages and experience that can be gained greatly outweigh any deleterious habits but these are worth noting.

10) How to transition to left foot braking and incorporate it into your track driving. As well as if it is necessary or required.

11) How to break through a plateau. If you’ve ever been stuck and can’t seem to improve, Ross goes through a few of the potential alternatives to breaking through this seemingly unbreakable limit that can be so frustrating.

12) Ross has some great ideas for every tack around the world. He also goes into one of the best ideas for Formula 1 that we have ever heard. Hopefully, the world will listen to Ross’s wisdom.

13) Jennifer goes into the areas of vision and mental imagery to assist with driving in a high performance environment. Some of this we have not ever heard until this episode. Cutting edge research is what you get from the Garage Heroes In Training podcast, lol.

14) If you have ever had to deal with an ill handling car, what can you do without having to come into the pit or make an adjustment to the car.

15) When racing at an endurance race, how to communicate the behavior of the car and what to adjust to hopefully improve the car. We also go into how to learn what the changes will do to your car. Bill has a copy of Ross’s free ebook on the subject, but has not read it yet. You could get one here: https://speedsecrets.com/tune-car-handling/ for free (for a limited time)

16) How to best prepare for your time with a coach. You want to work with a coach right? This way you can maximize the value for the time that you have.

17) The Ross Bentley even begins to coach Jennifer during the episode. This may be a basis for our upcoming episode #250.

18) How to review your own driving video. Yep,that’s here too.

GHIT 0200: Ross Bentley Returns to Celebrate Our 200th Episode

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