Guests & Interviews

GHiT 0106: Cathy McCause Fuss discusses the 2020 Lucky Dog racing series and a whole lot more

Cathy McCause Fuss of the Lucky Dog racing series returns for the 8th or 9th time. Unfortunately, only one episode has ever been published due to connection errors and other computer issues. Why she puts up with us, we don’t know, perhaps it’s because she is one of the best people we have met since we started racing. During this episode, we go over a lot of the Cathy’s history and her perspective of racing from the Series perspective. We also get into her thoughts of how racing and endurance racing are progressing and helping to grow our sport.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, Ben goes over what is an “Arrive and Drive” and the details of racing in that situation. We go over a lot of the options, concerns, and advantages of being an arrive and drive driver, as well as being the team renting to the arrive and driver.

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

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

Randy Pobst with Jennifer and Vicki — Deaf Stig with Vicki and Erik makes and appearance

Highlights from the episode include:

1) Bill felt like he was going down the hill into turn 12 at Road Atlanta when Cathy’s connection went robot a few seconds in.

2) What the impact of the COVID 19 has been so far and speculative hopes and expectations for the rest of the season.

3) the Lucky Dog i-Racing league and it sponsored, you can even win race entries, and other racing supplies from the Lucky Dog sponsors

4) We develop the exchange rate between Clairol hair color and Hankook RS4’s.

5) We go into the process of working with the tracks, rescheduling, and the potential impact of the current COVID 19 related impact and issues on the tracks and the series, and the drivers, as well as some of the amazing steps Cathy and Lucky Dog have done to help the overall racing population, including paying 2021 track rental fees.

6) Bill shamelessly plugs the upcoming Lucky Dog race at Charlotte in mid-August.

7) Cathy threatens us with bringing the 196 car out to the race for us. We much rather like her alternative bonfire idea.

8) How several members of the Lucky Dog racing community, and the overall low cost endurance racing community, have helped in dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic.

9) We brainstorm a bit, well really a mild drizzle, on what options we can come up with to help save the 2020 racing season

10) Bill apologizes for his black flag digression earlier this year at the Lucky Dog race at Laguna Seca in January

11) Cathy even was kind enough to go through our “Usual Suspects” but this time from a race series perspective and how her series has progressed through Miatas, into BMWs, and recently into Hondas and several Fords.

12) Self ejecting starters as a way to save weight

13) Speed creep and its concern as we progress to including more modern cars where horsepower increases seem easier and easier, especially with all the recent time people may have had with the stay at home orders.

14) Cathy’s strategy for classing cars in Lucky Dog and addressing the variability in car and even individual driver capability.

15) As expected, we eventually reviewed or last race at Laguna Seca and our other Lucky Dog race in Portland.

16) Brakes and brake pads were a big discussion point. One way to get to a faster lap is to be able to slow down even faster. Hopefully, we have an upcoming guest from Hawk on the show.

17) Hilarity ensued when we started talking about the spares being brought to the track.

18) Rally Dogs? And yes, we had an East coast rally dog volunteer.

19) Also, a rookie time attack challenge option came into being.

20) How Lucky Dog is working to partner with the local Club racing, especially for the HPDE and learning aspects, hopefully raising the tide for all.

21) How our team has been invaded by two of the drivers we know from Lucky Dog

22) Opportunities for arrive and drives at the Charlotte race abound with teams and drivers looking to come east for the race.

23) How the Lucky Dog racing series came to be.

24) Cathy fears answering what car she would love to start with as a race car.

25) How Lucky Dog’s i-Racing league is helping racers scratch their itch.

26) She is still looking for the known unknown E46 Greg has hidden. Somewhere.

27) There seems to be a potential for an east coast west coast race car exchange program. Greg, Call us!

GHiT 0106: Cathy McCause Fuss discusses the 2020 Lucky Dog racing series and a whole lot more

GHIT 0105: Julian Cordle is our Special Guest Driver to help us celebrate Blursday

Julian Cordle is our guest for this episode and celebrate Blursday! Julian races with the Snow Speeder Pilots Association racing team that races on the west coast, one of the original Lemons teams from the inaugural Altamont race. The episode starts off with all of our usual professionalism and then, well really, who are we kidding. The alphabet is apparently still a challenge for us. Julian started with Lemons in 2012 after he first heard about the 24 Hours of Lemons on Jalopnik. He met his team on his driveway and immediately left for his first race two states away. We reminisce about his early days, setting Guinness Book of World Records records, and through to his latest Chrysler 300 race car build.

MR2 Driving in Anger — Carting Makes You Faster

Dominating with Dawson covers what happens when you have a mistake on track and how to minimize the potential outcome. Ben also cites taking a peak at the professional racing driver Sandro Espinosa as a potential reference for how someone preemptively catches a car pre-slipping to avoid an issue. Also, Danica Patrick on how to prepare for a big hit when you can no longer avoid it.

Sample links discussed:

Sandro Espinosa at Road Atlanta

Danica Patrick Crash Prep

We really 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 include:

1) His battery powered recliner that is faster than some of our race cars
2) How a man from Alaska grew into a low-cost endurance racer
3) Our first XR4TI makes an appearance on our podcast
4) Jen chimes in with her opinion on our teaching her how to drive a stick. Julian tops to with learning with a vehicle that “offered” electrical shock incentives.
5) How the 25 Hour at Thunderhill led into Race Cast
6) How he helped with organizing the world record that was set at a Lemons event in Thunderhill
7) What the overall process is of setting and getting recognized as a world record
8) Vicki starts off with “since you seem to be a person”, lol.
9) Several tips and tricks to help teams and drivers compete at the track, besides behind the wheel
10) White boards for at the track organization and how to use them to plan your race strategy
11) A BIG shout out to Randall Pinney and we all hope you are feeling better
12) Sonoma Raceway makes an appearance in the Good, Bad, and the Ugly segment.
13) 1989 Camero, ‘Nuff Said
14) We develop a new Lemons penalty, well sort of.

GHIT 0105: Julian Cordle is our Special Guest Driver to help us celebrate

GHIT 0104: Liam Fischer’s Hot Ones Style Tribute Interview

On this episode we finally talked Liam into coming on the podcast by making it in the style of one of his favorite shows on YouTube, Hot Ones. Since Bill has almost zero tolerance for spicy food, Vicki tagged in to assist with the interview and we also took advantage of the opportunity and covered several aspects of teenage driving, driver training, and racing. If you prefer, there is a live video recording on our YouTube channel, creatively named Garage Heroes In Training.

YouTube Link

B.R.A.K.E.S. website: https://putonthebrakes.org/

Our Dominating with Dawson segment for this episode add Heel-toe Downshifting to our jargon repertoire.

We hope you enjoy it. The episode is still going for Liam and Vicki, lol.

Also, we would like to the thank the team over at Hot Ones for their great YouTube episodes and wish them the best of luck. They can be found on their channel at “First We Feast” or by searching for “Hot Ones” on YouTube.

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 this episode include:

1) Liam’s history of learning how to drive and eventually race cars, he is still relatively young at 19 years old.
2) Some thoughts and suggestions on training a young driver in general and how it has been helped by racing and race training events
3) We go into a fair bit of detail related to one of the best training events Liam has gone to with the B.R.A.K.E.S. program.
4) Vicki breaks out into her “it’s like trying to nail jello to a wall” when talking about racing with teens on our team.
5) Angry Goat Peppers “Hippy Dippy Green” sauce was very well received. Two Thumbs Up.
6) Why Bill gets father of the year a few years back
7) We try to provide help and suggestions to new racers or soon to be racers throughout the episode. Please remember to ask before hopping into the hot tub.
8) Liam tries to compare the 2017 Toyota 86 to a stock ND2 Miata and a Stage 2 Flyin’ Miata turbo NB Miata, however the wings inhibited some of his brain processing capability and the virtues of learning to drive and daily driving a +/- 200 HP car.
9) Vicki tries to come up with three good things about her first car. And fails. 3 bad things were way easier.
10) You start to see the affect of the hot sauces about 25-30 minutes into the episode
11) Liam takes a walk about at 40 minutes in and can barely think to answer from then on.
12) What car or cars got away for each of us.
13) Liam reveals his love for the SpiderStang and Capri
14) Da Bomb hot sauce lives up to it’s reputation
15) “I feel like I met the devil” and “Why is it the tongue”
16) Liam can’t speak and tries to use sign language, not the best for an audio podcast
17) Liam wants a shot at the Datsun Z and Vicki surprises Bill with saying she wants to drive Black Betty
18) The hot sauces apparently make Liam delirious when he comes up with his dream car to build into a race car.
19) Vicki and Liam’s favorite and least favorite tracks so far. NJMP makes both lists for Vicki.
20) Liam calls Brad out for a round 2. Silly boy.
21) Liam’s brain left the building, several times during this episode
22) Mental sort of gets a shout out, not really, but it was funny
23) An endorphin infused discussion on endurance race craft approaches and ways to compete successfully, especially with longer stints.
24) We end with Bill attempting to herd the two cats for a final question and then a delirious ranking of the sauces.

GHIT 0104: Liam Fischer’s Hot Ones Style Tribute Interview

GHIT 0103: Keith Tanner from Flyin’ Miata

Keith Tanner who has literally written the book on improving the performance of a Miata, actually three books, and works with the team at Flyin’ Miata joined us for this episode to discuss his driving history and he was also willing to add to our recent series on the “Usual Suspects” and addresses many aspects of the use and optimization of all four generations of Miata’s/MX-5’s. Since we have two MX-5’s on our team already and we are routinely passed by them at every race and HPDE event we have been to, we could not have this series without going over them. The MX-5/Miata is one of the more flexible racing vehicles available and with little modification, it can be competitive in many types of racing, as well as being a perfect choice for HPDE and track days. Additionally, the cost for wear and maintenance is quite low in terms of both cost and frequency, due to its light weight and the wide availability of parts.

Our Dominating with Dawson segment goes over the term Trail Braking, what it is and how it can be used on a track as you increase your skill and experience.

We hope you enjoy this episode.

Please subscribe to our podcast on iOS most use the Podcast app or Android users may use the Android App, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Stitcher etc. We have also added this to our YouTube channel, especially useful with subtitles if you are hearing impaired, as several of our drivers are.

If you could leave a review, that would help us greatly and you can also add any questions or topics you may want us to cover.

Thank you again and 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

Keith Tanner R&D — **Keith Tanner often instructs on the Flyin’ Miata YouTube channel**

Highlights include:

1) How to choose which version of Miata depending on what your interests are and/or how your personal geometry needs may require, including potential to LS swap
2) History of the Miata, how it came to be and how its racing pedigree arose and developed throughout the 30 plus years of production
3) We mention Long Road Racing during the episode, but they have been recently replaced by Flis Performance for ND prepped cars for the Global MX-5 Cup Series
4) How did Keith originally get into Miatas, including his gateway drug called Autocross and how he has expanded his interests and testing though the years
5) How Flyin’ Miata develops and designs its parts internally and with its suppliers to serve a wide variety of needs and performance interests
6) Can you say LS Swap? Flyin’ Miata can!!! And it fits into a Miata as well, lol.
7) Bill reviews how he came to have and lose the NB Miata to Vicki in a single day
8) Overall advantages are lightweight, relatively cheap to operate and maintain, great driver feel, excellent handling and grip in turns, a great car to learn and develop your driving skill, and relatively bullet proof. Disadvantages are relatively low power and acceleration (true momentum cars) and straight-line speed.
9) NC Miatas (2006-2015) are in a sweet spot for depreciation and a bit larger than the other models. It is also a bit difficult to install a full cage.
10) NA and NB Miatas are a bit smaller, lighter, and “fun” to drive. Downsides, they are getting pretty old.
11) ND Miatas are smaller and lighter than NC, similar to the NA/NB’s and the power is increased above the others, especially the NA’s and NB’s. Also it has the only adjustable steering wheel in the Miata family. Weaknesses may be in the transmission area and you may want to augment the cooling.
12) Recommends looking at used spec Miata for value, especially the 1.6-liter versions that are not as competitive in the series as the 1.8-liter cars.
13) How to inspect and maintain your Miata, especially as the NA and NB’s are getting close to 30 years old or more. Hint look at your cooling systems effectiveness, including the transmission and differential.
14) Pluses and minuses of our Flyin’ Miata Stage II NB Miata, cooling and transmission etc.
15) Advantages and disadvantages of the 5-speed vs the 6-speed transmission in the older Miatas
16) Keith’s thoughts on gauges vs ECU control and how to tell if there is an issue without additional gauges and which gauges may be helpful in general
17) Some of the potential issues involved with a LS Swapped Miata and some of the many issue that had to be addressed during their development to be able to have a system they could offer to their clients.
18) We even get into the new ND and ND.2 models
19) Keith discussed some stories about his past experiences in the Targa Newfoundland
20) Bill and Keith compare stories when they both lost a wheel while driving and other lessons Keith learned while racing and testing over the years
21) In the end, Keith even tolerated some of our more off the wall inquiries and concerns
22) Alan valiantly tries to help a listeners with what gear to use when doing burnouts in a turbo NB Miata.

Keith Tanner Books on Miatas — **Keith Tanner, Author, Racer, and Car Entusiast**

Keith Tanner Targa Newfoundland — **Keith Tanner, Author, Racer, and Car Entusiast**

GHIT 0103: Keith Tanner from Flyin’ Miata

GHIT 102: Sam Smith Auto Journalist, Driver, Racer, and Enthusiast

Sam Smith, Editor At Large for Road and Track and Co-host of the NBC Sports Proving Grounds television show joins us for this episode. We try to cover Sam’s impressive history with the automotive and mainstream media, as well as his driving and racing history, but we only seem to have scratched the surface of Sam’s great stories. You can quickly see his gift for storytelling and ability to recall details and intricacies, as well as his optimism and enviable modesty. It is quickly apparent that Sam truly loves cars and especially those that he finds to be immersive and involving.

Also Ben reviews two videos pertaining to the driving style of the legendary Ayrton Senna on this Dominating with Dawson segment.

Links to the videos:

Senna Throttle Technique

Senna Footwork (with accurate audio)

If you want to contact Sam Smith, he recommends DM’ing him on Twitter or Instagram @ThatSamSmith. Or you can read his articles on Road & Track and don’t forget to watch for him on NBC Sports Proving Grounds.

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 for this episode include:

1) How his current Caterham 7 project car progresses from a box to a functioning car
2) His automotive past and how he worked his way through the tangled web of automotive journalism to have a successful professional career in a very tough business area
3) An overall discussion on driving being a skill and a sport, but definitely learnable by many is not all
4) Now Nigel Mansell confirms we are not going to be a pro racing driver anytime soon
5) Sam’s racing history is pretty incredible and has some absolutely spectacular cars including a McLaren F1 and F1 GTR, an actual Formula 1 car, and a few great stories of his racing (with Mental) at the 2019 NASA 25 Hours at Thunderhill in the rain and the ever so lovely mud.
6) Bill valiantly tries to sell a Citroen SM, for a friend. Still available for a good home. We know a guy.
7) Bill digs a hole on a comment that will likely lead to issues from some of our friends and soon to be friends who are Porsche fans.
8) How his schedule has been impacted by our current social distancing due to the Covid 19 virus
9) When car technology and societal sanity intersected, perhaps for the worse.
10) Sam’s experience with racing the RX-7 Black Betty (rambutan) when it was still set up as a time trial car. He misses the old, scary setup.
11) His thoughts on modern cars in general, are they too fast, too intrusive, and are there any good drivers’ cars still available and the potential impact it may have on racing in the future.
12) Sam also lists several of the current cars that are highlights within the available assortment at your local dealer for both on and off-road driving fun.
13) Electric cars and electric car motorsports/racing, and the varying degrees of success for each.
14) Thoughts on autopilot and potential impending issues in the transition to full autonomy (SAE Level 5)
15) His experience with test driving a true Formula 1 car and how he grew to acknowledge the difference between his level and those gifted individuals driving at the level of Formula 1, as well as the actual level of performance of the car itself. The tip of the spear is very, very pointy indeed.
16) Breaking News for one of the first times: Sam’s “Ugly” story is one for the books! It involves another one of our original bucket list guests to be (hopefully) Jason Camissa and a Ford GT, but we will go no further.

GHIT 102: Sam Smith Auto Journalist, Driver, Racer, and Enthusiast

Sam Smith racing in a van — **Sam Smith racing in a Van, an Exocet, an da BMW Alpina 2002**

Sam Smith racing an Exocet — **Sam Smith racing in a Van, an Exocet, an da BMW Alpina 2002**