Garage Heroes (In Training)

Learning as we go. Come along with us and Enjoy the Ride!

Guests & Interviews

The Semi Sentient Centenarians

Racing Team

  • 911 fake bimmer
  • In the paddock
  • Winners
  • Engine Woes

GHIT Podcast Episode #193 with our guests The Semi Sentient Centenarians Racing Team

The Semi Sentient Centenarians are a relatively new endurance racing team that are in the midst of an engine swap for their 1996 front wheel drive Buick Century A-body.  Their team started much like every other team, including ours, and in their case they can blame Matthew, lol.  They are a great bunch of guys learning as they go and trying to come up with the magical plan to dominate the C division of an upcoming race.  They are another example of a group of people who were interested in racing but never thought it was possible or knew how to get started so they just jumped in and tried it and the hook was set.  While we discussed their planned engine swap, we also had the opportunity to check back in the next week to see how the plan went.  This is one team we can’t wait to check back in with at the end of a full race season.  So we didn’t wait and added an update on the engine swap progress and project prognosis.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, we

go into the topic of what is a money shift and then once we define what a money shift is, we then go into several different types of shifting and shifting issues that you may encounter with a manual transmission.  If you aren’t driving a manual transmission, at least the segment should be entertaining.

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/SemiSentCent

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)  We learn how their team started, developed, and became the team and drivers that they are today.  One thing that they did well was to talk to other Lemons and experienced endurance racing teams to accelerate their teams learning.

2)  The team’s racing philosophy is very simple:  Podium/Top 3.  So far, so good in the one race to date.  Lol.

3)  The stories of what they did and what they learned at their first race is tremendous.  It sounds like they truly jumped in the deep end of the pool with their first race being a ture 24 hour race at CMP.  It sounds like some of the Racing 101 series would have helped them.  It looks like we were only one year too late.  However, they did win the IOE at their first race so who are we to say anything?

4)  We walk through the logic of their upcoming engine swap and whether this is a good plan.  It sounded great, and then the turbo plan kicked in.  Luckily they have a full five weeks to get this done before their race at Sebring.  How hard could it be?

5)  Bill even resorted to math, but the +40 HP plan seems to be set in stone.

6)  We then check back in after the weekend to get an update on the progress and the prognosis.

GHIT 0193:  The Semi Sentient Centenarians Racing Team

Mike Skeen is our Guest

  • Mike Skeen Podium
  • Mike Skeen

On GHIT Podcast #0190: Mike Skeen is our Guest

Yes, That Mike Skeen

We were honored to have Mike Skeen join our podcast as a guest.  He is an amazing driver and has seemingly competed in every type of driving we can think of and it seems he usually wins.  We go over a bit about how he progressed and what he is currently racing, as well as a great discussion on the skills and abilities that can separate a great driver from a typical amateur driver.  He has a talent for explaining racing that rivals his driving skills.  I think Vicki and Jen have now added working with Mike as a coach at a track.  Bill was already on board that train long before the episode.  We are pretty sure Ben may even look to join us for that.

Mike Skeen Mustang

On this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we

have our first ever series of story time questions with Ben, Vicki, and Jennifer where we try out two new fast and furious story time questions.

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/MikeSkeenwithGHiT

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

Mike Skeen Mercedes

Highlights from this episode include:

1)  It all starts off with a bit where Vicki does a bit of a time delay/selective deafness to whatever Bill says.  In other words, a normal day and episode.  lol.

2)  We learn a bit about how Mike worked his way up through various racing series and progressed to where he is currently competing as a professional driver.

3)  Mike goes into the benefits of the different forms of racing he has done, how each helps him, and the benefits and excitement of cross training as a driver.

4)  Bill dug deep and finally found something Mike hasn’t tried racing, yet.

5)  Mike does a great breakdown on the typical skill differences that separate a good professional driver from an amateur driver in a way that not only helps us to understand but really clarified what we need to look for and work on.  ~31:00 in.

6)  It was also great to hear that even Mike Skeen is still working on his driving and learning things from his recent driving and coaching in some prototype cars.  Once again proving that we are all always “In Training”.

  • Mike Skeen Optima Series
  • Mike Skeen Trans Am
  • Mike Skeen at Pikes Peak

GHIT 0190: Mike Skeen is our Guest

Perspective from a New Track Driver with Guest Adam Owens

GHIT Podcast episode #0187: From our Racing 101 series Part 7 with Adam Owens

  • Adam Owens with his first racing team
  • Adam Owens Racing Driver
  • Adam Owens at His First Race at PittRace
Adam Owens at his First Race at PittRace with the Boston Whiners

Our podcast is trying to encourage people to try high performance driving and racing, so Vicki wanted to start a special series she calls “So You Wanna Racecar”.  On this episode, we have Adam Owens on to talk about his first track events he had last summer.  Adam has a lot of fresh memories from these events and is a good friend of our team (and potentially future team GHiT member).  In talking with Adam, it is even more apparent that the biggest thing stopping anyone from trying to drive at an autocross or a track event is just saying “yes” and doing it.  

Please let us know if we missed anything that you may want discussed in a future episode of our Racing 101 Series. 

The outline for the series is:

Part 1:  Building Your First Race Car (and options to not)

Part 2:  Safety and Safety Related Equipment Needed

Part 3:  Best Entry Points To Start Performance Driving

Part 4:  Buying and Selling Cars (With Special Guest Lara Vernon)

Part 5:  Going To and From The Event/Track – What To Expect

Part 6:  Paddock and Pit – Best Practices

Part 7:  Perspective of a New Driver (With Guest Adam Owens)

Part 8:  Tools, Spares, Supplies Needed for a Race Weekend

Part 9:  Common Issues All Drivers Will/May Experience in When On Track For the First Time

Part 10:  Miscellaneous Topics (& Things We Forget to Mention Earlier)

In this episode, we cover the differences between driving at an HPDE or a track day where you are more or less driving as singular cars on track vs driving on track and racing wheel to wheel vs other drivers and cars.  Neither is better or worse, but they are different, and both offer different challenges.  Largely the key difference is increasing the number of factors you need to keep track of and this increase proportionately to the number of cars on the track and the length of the track (overall car density).  In addition, there are often car specific details and peculiarities that will need to be considered.   Ben puts it best don’t worry, “if you are on the track, you are already a winner”.  Start slow with zero pressure, keep to shorter stints until you are comfortable with going longer while maintaining focus.  We are looking for any great stories from your first-time racing on track.  Please let us know for a great future episode.

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/Racing101Part7

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)  Adam has done 1 day at a racing school, 1 HPDE, and 1 race to this point and is an enthusiastic racing driver in training.  For his day job he is the host of the local radio morning show and we have significant audio quality envy of his audio quality.  Post Covid, we will be reviewing our techniques with him.

2)  Without any prompting, Adam says one of the issues he had in starting was how and where to get started.  We are a bit biased, but we know of at least one podcast that is specifically aimed at this. 

3)  Adam’s bucket list goal was to drive a car on the race track.  Now he just wants to do it again! And again.  And again.

4)  We discuss with Adam the impacts of Covid on the past racing seasons and the upcoming 2021 season.

5)  How Adam first went on track at NJMP.  It was really as simple as a google search.

6)  We also go into how Adam and Bill first “met” and how small a world it is in that one of the teams Adam has been on track with our good friends at Safety Third Motorsports.

7)  Adam goes into how it felt to be on the track for the first time at an HPDE event and then his first time on track in a wheel to wheel race at a Champ car event.  As always, it was a bit different than he expected.

8)  Adams pro tip to this point:  No Coffee before a stint.

9)  We go into the advantages and disadvantages of renting/arrive and driving a car at the track.  It’s not only a fiscal transaction but also a chief concern is the safety aspects.

Additional Information and Links:

Rental Safety Suits:  http://www.racesuitrental.com/

Lucky Dog Seat Rental:  https://tinyurl.com/LuckyMatch 

24 Hours of Lemons Seat Rental:  https://tinyurl.com/LemonsMatch 

ChampCar Seat Rentals:  https://tinyurl.com/ChampMatch 

  • Adam Owens at Spec Miata School
Adam Owens at the Spec Miata School

GHIT 0187: Racing 101 Part 7: Perspective from a New Track Driver with Guest Adam Owens

GHIT 0184: A Race Bar Farewell to Jandy

The Jandy Man

After a very long delay in editing, here is the episode we recorded several weeks ago (pre-Christmas) as a farewell wish to Jandy before he went on a long-term deployment.  We did not expect to take as long editing, but we easily had triple the number of guests we have ever had and that made things a bit complicated.  This is a fun episode with a good bit of Storytime from past racing events.  Good luck to Jim on your deployment.  We hope to see you back soon.  And thank you so much for your service!

In this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we give and introduction to the basic braking techniques and when you should use them on a track.  The typical braking technique that you use nearly every time on a public road is never the proper technique when you are driving on a track and concerned about your lap time.  But here we describe the main types of braking that you will work to use on track as your experience grows.  We even go into a few techniques that you may not want to use initially, but we think you should be aware of, even on day 1.  The main technique that you will want to use at first is threshold braking.  Then there will also be a few turns where you only want to brush brake or even just lift off the gas pedal or throttle.  In addition, we introduce the concept of trail braking.  We do not recommend working on trail braking on day one for most drivers, but at the same time, we also don’t feel it is beneficial to be closed minded on only braking in a straight line.  Especially if you have a more well developed braking proactive where you apply trail braking naturally.  The key aspects to remember is to apply pressure quickly but not just stomp on the pedal to avoid upsetting the car or locking up the tires.  Just as important is the concept of gradually releasing the brake pedal to help keep the car stable throughout the turn.  Stomping on or popping off the brake pedal, as well as any of the pedals, is to be avoided. 

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.

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/FarewellToJandy 

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)  It took almost 15 minutes just to herd the cats, so we put that as a “bonus” after the credits rolled

2)  Guest roll:  Jeff Caplan/Ron Mexico, Ann Moran/Giggles, Ruth Bates/Master Bates, Patrick Mchugh/Richard “Dick” Freelane, two secret commando guests who will go by Pat and Chris, Matty/Opah, Taylor Purcell/The Droner Boner, Estaban/El Banos, Lara Vernon, and our guest of honor Jim Andy Jandy Webb.

3)  Story time upon story time ensues.  Most are examples of what not to do, so we aren’t sure this episode will make you faster but it should make you laugh a few times.  Always remmerbe: The Jandy Man can! and usually does.

GHIT 0184: Wishing a Fond Farewell to Jandy – With Race Bar

GHIT 0181: Sponsorship with Brian Bohlander

Returns to the Podcast to Discuss Seeking and Working with Sponsors and Sponsorships

Brian Bohlander with John Force Racing
This group knows a bit about sponsorships

When Brian was on with us last year, we started talking about identifying sponsors, working with potential sponsors, and how to get and treat sponsors to assist with the expenses related to racing.  Since then, Brian has given several talks on this topic, as well as appearances on several podcasts.  As always, our goal was to provide a complete summary of the area of sponsorship and allow you to be able to identify potential sponsors and find a way to help their business and your racing.  If you use the strategies Brian covers and understand that it is not all about you, your speed, and your race wins, you should be able to start or grow your current driver/team/car sponsorship program.  So technically, our podcast is not only free to you but may actually make or save you some money.  

There is no Dominating with Dawson on this episode, but we will double up next Monday. 

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. 

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 on Sponsorship include:

1)  Bill establishes his wish list for a dream sponsor and Brian quickly dashes it against the rocks and we move to the reality of the current sponsorship and business climate.

2)  Brian defines exactly what should be considered to be sponsorship and provides several examples of how these relationships start and develop.

3)  Sponsorships are sometimes monetary but can also be discounted goods or services.

4)  When approaching a sponsor, the key is to try to determine what the sponsor is looking for and how you can help them grow their business.  Try to look at it from their perspective before thinking of what you can give or what you want from them.

5)  Advertising and media exposure should not be the focus of your pitch.

6)  What are the three components that make the strongest proposal to a potential sponsor.

7)  What is a potential sponsorship program, how to prepare one, and how to increase your likelihood of success.  We also go into the importance of having an internal champion is getting the traction needed to start the relationship even before you have a sponsorship program.

8)  We even go into an area that is often overlooked by our racing friends:  what does the business want in return from the sponsorship.

9)  We even go through a scenario using an example business and product with an amateur endurance racing team as a worked example.  Just for instance.  Hey, it’s our podcast, lol.

10)  Tips and guidance on how to approach your first sponsor that you probably already know within your personal social network.

11)  Getting, maintaining, and growing a sponsorship relationship is a significant investment of time and effort by your team or at least one team member and can really be a near full time job.

12) Brian also goes into several examples of sponsorship deals that he has witnessed during his professional life.

13)  How to present you and your team to the sponsor and what you should do before even sending them any information.

14)  As many would have guessed, Bill tries to get Brian’s help with his dream Slurpee sponsorship.  And then we walkthrough a potential path to Vicki’s dream sponsor of Flyin’ Miata for her baby.  The thought behind these would be to show a worked example and what factors and approaches that may be helpful with trying to prepare for and start the conversation.

15)  How and where to start your first steps towards working with a sponsor.

16)  UPOD – Under Promise and Over Deliver.  Words to live by in racing and in the real world.  (Meat Space).  Its right up there with “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing”

17)  Brian was also kind enough to offer several additional potential models that can be pursued instead of, or in addition to, seeking sponsorship.

18)  Vicki goes off program and starts talking racing EV’s in endurance racing from out of nowhere.  It is kind of like the line from the Talking Heads “Well, How Did I Get Here”

GHIT 0181: Brian Bohlander Returns to the Podcast to Discuss Seeking and Working with Sponsors