Guests & Interviews

GHIT 0165: Loni Unser

Loni Unser is our guest racing driver for this episode. She is a fourth generation racing driver and has quickly worked her way up through several racing series in all types of cars and racing. She has recently announced that she will be driving the Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce car in the MX5 Cup. She graciously accepted our invitation to the podcast and is easily one of the nicest and friendliest guests we have ever had. We hope everyone will be following her career and we hope to see her at a track in the future (most likely as she is passing us, lol)

On this week’s Dominating with Dawson, we begin to cover one of the key aspects of a driver’s personality and tendency by looking at helping two types of drivers progress. If you look at drivers as a spectrum, each will fall somewhere between a driver who tends to push a car hard and perhaps even overdrive a car naturally vs a driver who tends to approach the limit more slowly and gradually. Every driver is different, but each of us will likely share aspects of each type, but it is always useful to look at the way the driver’s personality can impact their driving and optimal learning approach.

You can follow Loni as Loni Unser on all the various social medias.

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

Highlights from this episode include:

1) We go over many of the positives and potential negatives of being an Unser at a racetrack. We really want to go to the family go cart race for the holidays.

Loni Unser with her very proud Papa — Loni Unser with her very proud Father Johnny

2) Some great stories and perspectives on how racing has grown and evolved since her family started racing, things like the addition and improvement safety systems and fire suits etc.

3) Jen brings up her crash at Charlotte as a preemptive strike before Bill broke out the video. Maybe her new nickname will be Quickdraw.

4) It turns out that Loni is also an instructor at B.R.A.K.E.S. We have been with our son and it has helped him and thousands of other new drivers to learn so much more than most driving classes. We hope will have someone from the B.R.A.K.E.S. program on soon.

5) Loni raced with WRL last year and will be driving the Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce ND Miata in the MX5 Cup next week. Loni’s approach to learning is very impressive. She is trying to learn as much as she can, in as many areas as she can, to help her become a better, faster, and well-rounded driver that can assist in any way needed to help the team perform.

6) Loni’s perspective on racing and her philosophy shows that she has chosen the correct path and is headed for a great career.

7) The benefits and the accompanying pressures of being an Unser at the race track, as well as how her family is coping with their daughter racing.

8) We also cover how Loni’s background with downhill skiing and racing compliments her approach to track driving. There is a great deal of similarities that may not be apparent initially.

9) Loni also goes into how it was balancing her college studies with her racing schedule. We think she may still be catching up on her sleep.

10) We bet that you cannot guess what Loni’s tap root car is. Garage Heroes In Training decals will be sent to anyone who guesses it before listening. Two free decals if you actually listen.

11) We think we may have a business idea to help fund Loni’s racing teams.

12) One of Loni’s favorite racing drivers is Katherine Legge. We are hoping to have her on the podcast at some point. We apologize ahead of time to Miss Legge, lol.

13) We show a bit of why we edit. Still in training.

14) Another vote for us going to VIR. It must happen this year.

GHIT 0165: Loni Unser

GHIT 0163: Ian Korf

Teacher, Racing Driver, and Author of “You Suck at Driving”

Ian Korf was our guest for this podcast. Ian is an amateur racer and driving instructor when at the track, as well as the author of the book “You Suck At Racing” that is aimed at helping newer drivers progress, as well as his similarly titled blog. Ian and Ben have raced together for several years on the west coast and obviously have had more than a few stories to share. In spite of Ian have a well thought out and logical approach, he still enjoys racing as much as anyone we have met.

Since Ben was on, we took this opportunity to have a live Dominating with Dawson with Ian as a special guest. For this Dominating with Dawson segment, we went into

You can find Ian’s book at:

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

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Vicki and Ian may have already met online gaming. Still TBD.

2) How his interest in driving started and how his blog progressed from examining racetrack incidents and eventually transitioned and led to the book. It was that lure of the $500 race car.

3) Ian went into his low-cost racing Yaris and how he has managed to find a way to actually make racing relatively inexpensive. Does anyone have or know of a lower cost option? We would love to know.

4) Plywood splitters? Absolutely. This is almost low budget racing OEM equipment.

5) Ian may have accomplished two things that we have been searching far. His Yaris may be the car that races everywhere and more surprisingly, he may have more spreadsheets about racing than Bill. Still TBD at this point, lol.

6) We then discuss how to get people started in driving, both those that have interest and those who don’t. The track is so much more fun and a way safer way to enjoy your car.

7) The difference in helping novice drivers grow within our sport and how it is different, sometimes vastly different for intermediate drivers.

8) Apparently Ian has zero black flags in his entire career. I am 100% sure that none of us can say the same.

9) Ian also goes into several ways to gain skills while off track, at least in meat space. How virtual racing can assist in your driving.

10) Breaking news related to an update of the book and potential expansion to intermediate drivers, including data.

11) Why poker is a game of imperfect information and how racing is a game of imperfect amount of practice.

12) Ian has a series of drills and we weren’t smart enough to ask what they area. We will have to get together again. One we did get was to drive the track without using the brakes at all. Zero braking. Hopefully, we can get a section on the next book.

13) Bill sucks up to Ian and asks to help with the book.

GHIT 0163: Ian Korf: Teacher, Racing Driver, and Author of “You Suck at Driving”

GHIT 0161: Johan Samanta and a VERY Special Guest The GD Yo Man

We have had a few guests requested and here is one of them, Johan Samanta is a driver that started endurance racing over a decade ago. In his real life, he is a Neurologist and at the track, he may need one, lol. Johan travels across US to races from his home in Phoenix. We last raced with him at the Lucky Dog race Charlotte Roval August 2020 and a great time was had by all. Johan also shared many of the things he has learned in his racing career and we discuss many of the reasons to race beyond “winning”. You can save a ton of money by learning from others. In addition, we have a special F&F Storytime question guest for this episode: The GD Yo Man!

On our Dominating with Dawson, we go into dealing with the marbles around the track (as well as what the marbles are). We also provide a tremendous method to learn or teach where the flag stations are at a new to you track. Special thanks to Robin Burnett for showing us how.

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

Highlights from this episode include:

1) How does a Neurologist end up needing one, oops, we mean how did Johan get started in racing and a lot of his racing history to this point and how he has changed his racing over the years.

2) We go over Johan’s first ever race with Lucky Dog at the Charlotte Roval where we were literally sharing the garage with their team, and tools, and parts, and shave ice, and…. Cathy and the Lucky Dog team get two more thumbs up!

3) Bill simply cannot rests making a Ricky Bobby quote. Honestly, we are surprised it took this long.

4) The places to save money, as well as the places not to, like safety equipment. We also provide several cautionary tales regarding poor or counterfeit safety equipment.

5) Johan also goes into several other “bad” ideas that are so bad that they are good ideas for a Lemons race. Some of them are things like eastern European racing cars, adding turbos, and several others. How hard could it be? Actually, these will likely make endurance racing even a bit harder.

6) Pit strategy, tips, best practices, and goals and other “free” ways to save time on the track.

7) We then go into a prioritization of ways to improve your driver and, if you must, your car.

8) This is the episode if you ever wanted to learn how to endurance race a Super Beetle. Boy, that search string is not going to increase our Google search results for this episode, lol.

9) Our second guest comes in at around 59 minutes. Vicki and Jen were less than prepared for THE GD Yo Man!!!!! That is Mr. Yo Man to you. After this, you will know the Yo Man much better, probably better than you ever wanted. Lol.

10) I think Jennifer is still broken from this interview.

GHIT 0161: Johan Samanta and a VERY Special Guest The GD Yo Man

GHIT 0159: Andrew Rains About Racing and the Apex Pro

Andrew Rains joins us for this episode to talk through his racing history and then we went deeply into the Apex Pro telemetry system. We have used our two Apex Pro’s many times this season and everyone has liked the simple interface while on track and the data analysis capability off track is simple and fast, yet powerful. We have only scratched the surface to this point, but we wanted to make sure everyone we know was aware of the Apex Pro system and we all learned a great deal more about the system with Andrew. After this episode, we can understand why he is a sought after coach at the track.

Meanwhile, on our Dominating with Dawson segment, we thought it was time to discuss the concept of scrubbing speed, what it means and how to avoid it, as well as how it can be used to assist you on track to lower your lap times.

As always, if you have any questions that you would like us to cover with Ben, please let us know in a (5 star?) podcast review or via email at [email protected] or in a comment on our social media.

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

Information about the Apex Pro can be found at: https://apextrackcoach.com/

Andrew and the team can be contacted at: [email protected] or at [email protected]

Also, Andrew is competing well at the recent Grid Life GLTC NOLA event even though his #719 BMW is on treaded tires vs everyone else on racing slicks here:

Race 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7olV427w28

Race 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PufQoz_a7hA

Highlights from this episode include:

1) We learn about Andrew’s extensive racing experience, as well as his current E36 M3 WRL and Grid Life GLTC BMW car, past, present, and future.

2) Vicki thinks she is on mute. Then she knows she is on mute. Then it sinks in. The life of a mom. Lol.

3) Andrew really has a great racing philosophy and a way of thinking about being at the track.

4) We discuss several potential issues that people cite that prevents them from starting and a variety of ways to overcome them, including contacting Andrew or us at any point. Every driver we know would love to have more people to share the track with. It is much more fun for everyone.

5) The discussion on the Apex Pro at 19:50 with one of Bill’s longest intros ever that Vicki jumped in and made even longer, lol.

6) Andrew provided a great overview of the Apex Pro device and its operation at 23:20

7) We begin to explain the detail of the actual operation and interpretation of the lights when on track and how the patented Apex Pro algorithms work in the background. The best news for most of us is that it works even if you can’t even spell algorithm.

8) Vicki and Jennifer relate how the Apex Pro has helped them on track at their current level of driving. Those simple little LED lights can provide so much feedback on track and so quickly, it really is amazing. Especially when a driver may be early on in their learning and can often be overwhelmed with the number and speed of sensory inputs when driving at speed.

9) We then go into the setup (that is super easy and quick) and beginning use of the data within the app that is collected automatically.

10) Andrew even answers some of our “how do we” questions with useful tips and tricks, several that we had thought of to this point.

11) Questions answered include: Options for multiple drivers and endurance races, approximately how long will the battery last, how to save battery during the day if not powered within the car, how to add tracks, especially for autocross use, can I use the Apex Pro without a phone, how the auto-start and auto-stop features work and interact with the phone screen being on, what does the apex score mean and how to interpret it, some of the potential values and options to utilize the power of the notes section.

12) How the Apex Pro light display works, what the light colors mean, and how to interpret the lights and probably most importantly, how you can use them to make driving changes on track during the stint.

13) Andrew also goes into the other data you can get in your car if your phone is visible. Then we go into the full data capabilities that are available post session using the Apex Pro app.

14) Our resident engineer has his usual requests for future features. He just can’t help it. Please bear with him, we try, every single day. But it appears that Bill may finally have had a good question.

15) Andrew then moved into the beginning level of looking at data, almost a 101 review. Once you have used the unit, or any telemetry unit that offers data, this discussion would form a very good foundation for looking at your data the first time and how to correlate the data to your track feel/impression. Intro at ~51:20

16) Simple 101 process outline: 1) Think about where you did not feel comfortable or where you think you may have left the most opportunity to improve, 2) Look at those areas on the track map overview screen, 3) Speed vs distance plot and check if the top of the speed trace is rounded (coast or slow transition) or is it sharp and you moved from full throttle to brake quickly, 4) Look at your minimum speed in corners and if a fast corner you would like a u-shape and in slow corners, you would like a V-shape (fast is above ~60 mph or 100 kph)

17) Options for exporting the data to larger visual areas, like an iPad or a computer as well as additional options, like Track Attack, to compare with other drivers who may use other data collection systems.

18) Bill resumes his friction circle soap box discussion. Andrew graciously tolerates it. Is there any foundation to Bill’s theory? Still tbd.

19) We even had a chance to go into the Apex Pro Crew View feature and how it can be used. Bill is getting more and more excited. And then we started to discuss the ability to add in OBDII data.

20) Options for integrating into other data systems and video options including Race Render. ~1:13:45

21) Our team has been working on a comprehensive survey of all the data systems, but we have only completed the systems we have personally tested to this point. If interested in the results or helping us try some of the missing systems, please let us know.

22) How best to analyze multiple drivers and/or multiple laps within the Apex Pro system as well as external software systems.

23) We end our discussion of Apex Pro discussion is at ~1:29 and begin our F&F Storytime questions

GHIT 0159: Andrew Rains About Racing and the Apex Pro

GHIT 0157: John and Dean from Safety Third Motorsports Discuss Race Car Preparation

John Lavin and Dean Hesser join us to discuss improvements to our car preparation processes. This includes before leaving for the racetrack, as well as at the racetrack and after the race. We learned a ton of things that we should have been doing but weren’t simply because we didn’t know or hadn’t thought of it yet. We hope that this episode will save you at least one headache at the track or eliminate one breakdown or even better prevent an issue on track that causes damage to you or your car. We don’t have a lot of can’t miss episodes, but this is one of them for sure.

In addition, Dominating with Dawson we discuss some of the goal options for endurance racing. It is not simply a situation where you are either first or last, but really it is a race where you and your team are trying to work together and perform at the highest level internally and the final position is a relative measure of the team’s performance versus the current bar that weekend. While winning overall, or even your class, is a great accomplishment, it is not the only measurement available each weekend, especially early in your racing career.

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

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Bill makes up a new word, “ThankYouNess”, well you know what we mean.

2) How Dean has “capitalized” on being target fixated during a race. Your results may vary.

3) Then we go into a “Weekend At Bernie’s” worthy moment. For those under 40, it’s a movie.

4) A brief summary of why many of the Safety Third Motorsports team members have ended up using BMW’s as their weapon of choice on track.

5) Bill cannot help but to make fun of the test drive at John’s shop where the GHIT M3 HPDE hit a deer. Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up.

6) A discussion of their team’s racing plans for 2021 and how both teams generally decide where to race.

7) How their team has progressed and grown over the years. It appears that our team is actually following their progression, both in how our team is organized and how our drivers are individually progressing. Perhaps there is hope for us. Who knew? Lol.

8) How Dean and Jen both ended up learning and growing as racing drivers as a result of their track incidents.

9) What is prepping a car? What is involved? What do you do before the race, during/at the race, and after the race to prepare and preserve your car and make sure that it has a higher likelihood of performing well.

10) Basic assumption: Assume everything is broken after a race and then verify before you take it to your next event.

11) Develop a wear rate of consumables and moving parts and then develop a preventative maintenance plan to replace before they fail at the track.

12) Overview: Repair things as they break or replace them ahead of time at a certain interval. Determine your team’s philosophy and plan appropriately.

13) A standard rule of thumb is to use a margin for wear, it can range from 75% to 80% to 90% of the experienced failure rate before replacing a still good part. This does not address issues due to abuse or an accident etc. As an example, if your front wheel bearing fails after 100 hours or racing, you may want to replace them all before they break at 75 or 80 or 90 hours. The balance of costs and/or effort vs your acceptable safety/failure factor is a personal/team decision.

14) Several available options range from paint marking nuts and bolts to adding safety wires.

15) What should you do when at the track and prepping for the race in the morning.

16) What to do the night after are race while racing the next day.

17) What to do post-race weekend while packing up to leave the track.

18) Why checklists are so very important and how your team will need to develop it from your own experiences and particular car.

19) It was good to hear that we aren’t the only team to have had radio communication issues at the track. They have come to the same solution as we have. Painfully.

20) The key is really to minimize the number and potential for errors.

21) We finish up this segment with the post-race recovery process for your race car. Don’t just put it away to wait for the next track event.

22) We wrap up with a post episode discussion of the skid pad and the value that it has had to our driving, as well as Dean’s.

GHIT 0157: John and Dean from Safety Third Motorsports Discuss Race Car Preparation