Garage Heroes (In Training)

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

Guests & Interviews

GHIT 0099: Chrissy Mittura, Racing Driver and Host of the Everyone Racers podcast

  • Chrissy Mittura Up Close
  • Chrissy Mittura Winning
  • Chrissy Mittura and Miata
Chrissy Mittura is our guest this week

For our 99th Episode, Chrissy Mittura from the Three Pedal Mafia and the co-host of the Everyone Racers podcast was our guest for this week.  Chrissy was one of the key influences that helped us to start our team, so we thank her all the time and blame her some of the time, lol.  Chrissy is not only and excellent driver that we are passed by routinely but has also helped our team immeasurably not only at the track but preparing for the track and our various HPDE events.  With Chrissy finally being able to come on our podcast, we now have a complete set (four of a kind?) of the Everyone Racers podcast hosts.  Now we have to work our way through the remaining Three Pedal Mafia team.  You, our listeners, have been warned, lol.  Chris may even learn something during this episode.

Please Listen to the Everyone Racers Podcast

On this week’s Dominating with Dawson segment we go over racing a “new to you” car, what to look for, what to look out for, and how to begin to get comfortable safely to reduce your lap times. 

Highlights from this episode include:

* Chrissy is in a new position with being able to talk and not being interrupted
* Kate’s recent dream about Chrissy
* Vicki reviews a video of her driving at her first ever race at NJMP
* Alan claims the title of “Cone Clearer” while driving the El Jeffe race truck, unfortunately, not a joke
* Vicki gets all philosophical with Chrissy over here approach to racing in Lemons and racing in general
* A full review of the Trucklet
* We are the second to break some new car news and pick at the gaping wound of the Citroen paperwork one last time
* We come up with a potential solution to the current podcast curse in the Lucky Dog racing series and racing on a Sunday (3 strikes and counting)
* Kate is looking for Chris to help with getting Alan towards any form of clean
* Kate picks Chrissy’s brain for her upcoming season (we hope) where Kate is taking over as Crew Chief at our races
* The Grill Guys of 3PM get a shout out
* Great tips on pit stop coordination and paddock optimization
* A discussion on passing in high traffic Lemons fields and potential sad face aspects of racing
* Many tips and tricks from Chrissy’s many years of racing in Lemons
* Potential herding strategies and a reluctant admission of the impossibility of herding shiny squirrels and the upcoming potential sainthood for Kate
* Pitt Race HPDE with NASA Great Lakes gets a full endorsement from Chrissy, as well as Bill
* Chrissy calls her shot for our upcoming Thompson race in August
* CMP vs Lemans, two things you never thought would be in the same sentence
* What it’s like to race with and learn from your significant other, we may or may not have asked for ourselves, but it is sure to help you as well
* What to do when the cars are running well and there is down time available.  We almost never have that as an issue.
* We discuss the merits of singing while driving with a new demo tape
* Alan breaks news about our upcoming Pitt Race event during our Good, Bad and the Ugly.  Everyone takes it well, well sort of.  Kate takes a very, very glass half full reaction. 
* Alan:  Domination?  Chrissy:  Have you seen me?  Best retort ever
* The Save The Tatas team and car gets several shout outs during the episode

We hope you enjoyed the episode as much as we did. 

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

GHIT 0099: Chrissy Mittura, Racing Driver and Host of the Everyone Racers podcast

Chrissy Mittura and Chris Abbott
Chrissy and Chris, Special Car, Special Day

GHIT 0098: Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering on racing BMW’s

Rogue Engineering
Rogue Engineering at the track

Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering was kind enough to come on this week’s podcast.  Ben races and also supports his racing clients at Rogue Engineering in Upper Saddle River, NJ, where they not only assist with race car prep and on track support but design and manufacture many parts improvements for many BMW models.

Also, on this week’s Dominating with Dawson, we went over driving a new to you race car and what you should do prior to driving and how best to acclimate to the new vehicle.

Highlights from this week’s episode include:

1)  Stories of how his business grew from designing and manufacturing to mechanical and racing assistance
2)  Some thoughts on car prep for racing
3)  A great discussion of various BMW models that are used in racing, including strengths and areas where you may want to augment the stock parts and systems.  Most 3 series models were discussed including the E30, E36, E46, E92 as well as the more modern F series models, as well as a few 1 and 2 series models and Mini’s, including relative strengths and weaknesses between them.
4)  Our first real discussion about the AER endurance racing series
5)  Potential upgrades for racing our M240i
6)  Spec E46 race cars and priority the addition of upgrades, including the subframe issue
7)  Bill gets into a discussion while Vicki has computer issues
8)  Alan picks Ben’s brain throughout while he also goes shopping while we are recording “for Vicki” lol
9)  Bill put Ben in an unfair spot to compare BMW’s to other typical cars, like Boxsters/Caymans and Miata/MX-5’s etc.  Ben, you have our apologies.
10)  Vicki wanted to appeal to Ben for any assistance with her latest E36 rear wheel hub and bearing replacement project/debacle.  Ben offered his typical preventive maintenance program for hubs and bearings for his AER endurance racing.
11)  We even go into critical spares and critical spare philosophy and the potential tradeoff vs pre-race prep
12)  Several Dante references and a new level called “Wheel Bearing Hell”. Vicki views this as the hidden 8th level.
13)  Rogue Engineering’s incredibly smart wheel studs with a hex end on both ends in case of a sheared stud
14)  Bill finds a brand of power tools where he is fully qualified, and even Alan agrees

To contact Ben and his team or follow along with their various exploits, you can go to their website at https://www.rogueengineering.com/ or follow them on Instagram at Rogue Engineering.

Thank you for listening to our podcast.  Please subscribe to our podcast your favorite podcast source.  If you have any questions or topics you would like for us to cover, please feel free to let us know at:

www.GarageHeroesInTraining.com
or via email at:  [email protected]

and you can follow us on Instagram at Garage Heroes In Training
or on Facebook at GarageHeroesIT or Join our Friends of GHiT group.

And if you really would like to help us out, please leave a rating and review on your Podcast App of choice, Apples Podcast app, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, or whatever podcast app you use and we will address any questions that you leave on the review.

We hope to see you out there racing with us.

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team

Rogue Engineering
The Key Is In The Preparation

GHIT 0098: Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering on racing BMW’s

GHIT 0097: Nathan and Mike Howe from the Lemons New Zealand racing team Hooncorp

The Hooncorp Team
The Hooncorp Team

Nathan Howe and Mike Howe, who talked with us all the way from New Zealand, are part of the Hooncorp racing team and our guests for this week’s episode.  We had to learn about the racing, the tracks, and the amazing roads in New Zealand from some locals.  New Zealand has been on our bucket list and has moved up several spots after this discussion.  The team has been racing longer than many of our team has been alive, so there a several pearls of wisdom in here along with our usual off tangent banter.  We hope you enjoy the episode. 

Hooncorp paddock
Staged and Ready for Racing
Hooncorp at the Start
Racing to the Line

Highlights from this episode include: 

  1. An introduction to Nathan, Mike, their team and racing in New Zealand
  2. Tracks and notable roads in the area and quick track impressions and reviews
  3. Thoughts on how their team has done so far, including our traditional Good, Bad, and the Ugly
    1. Holden Commodore VN
    2. Nissan Pulsar
    3. Nissan Lucino
    4. The Muttstang  
    5. Holden Commodore VK
    6. Suzuki Ignus
  4. Their cars and several we don’t usually find here in the US including:
  5. Jen has geographical issues between New Zealand and Australia, luckily she doesn’t follow rugby
  6. Their team history of over 30 years and counting
  7. A great quote “There is no point being the fastest car in the pits”
  8. We had several other “people” chime in during the episode
  9. Several of the teams and themes in there New Zealand racing series
  10. SpeedyCop’s great impression on the New Zealand racers
  11. Several local Lemons penalties
  12. A rather embarrassing story about Liam’s friend driving a “stick”
  13. Nathan has a Nissan issue; it appears to have centered on the GT-R area of his brain
  14. We make a trade for seats in their Commodore for seats in our Capri.  I guess we have to finish the Capri now.  
Hooncorp Team
Hooncorp Team

On this week’s Dominating with Dawson segment, Ben covers the optimal seating position and driver positioning in high performance driving and racing to improve your comfort, performance and safety. 

If you want to follow the Hooncorp Team, please follow them on:
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Hooncorp/
or on Instagram at HooncorpNZ
or on GT Planet
or on a great video at https://youtu.be/H-WJqni76rY 

Racing for over 30 years and still going strong

Thank you for listening to our podcast.  Please subscribe to our podcast your favorite podcast source.  If you have any questions or topics you would like for us to cover, please feel free to let us know at:

www.GarageHeroesInTraining.com

or via email at:  [email protected]

and you can follow us on Instagram at Garage Heroes In Training

or on Facebook at GarageHeroesIT or Join our Friends of GHiT group.

And if you really would like to help us out, please leave a rating and review on your Podcast App of choice, Apples Podcast app, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, or whatever podcast app you use and we will address any questions that you leave on the review.  

We hope to see you out there racing with us. 

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan
Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast
and team members in the GHiT
Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0097: Nathan and Mike Howe from the Lemons New Zealand racing team Hooncorp

GHiT 0096: Eric Rood on the 2020 Lemons Rally schedule is our Special Guest

Eric Rood Official Capacity
Eric Rood: Lemons Official

Eric Rood from the 24 Hours of Lemons racing series reviews his history and the upcoming Lemons series, especially the rally events.

Eric Rood is our guest on this episode where we review his car history, the upcoming 2020 Lemons races and especially the Rally events.  We first met Eric when he was judging one of our races.  Alan quickly knew all about him after he visited him 4 times.  In addition to being an awesome judge, he has written for several automotive sites and currently helps steer the direction of the 24 Hours of Lemons series, especially their social media presence and the Lemons rallies.  If you see Eric, please ask him about touring with Ozzy!  (Details are in the first three minutes of our show)

If you would be so kind, please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite listening platform.  We would greatly appreciate it. 

Eric Rood and Friend
Eric Rood and Friend

Highlights for this episode include: 

1)  Our best introduction to an episode, EVER
2)  Vicki is vying for our lead master mechanic position/opening
3)  We break news of an upcoming Lemons YouTube video on the latest Lemons Rally
4)  Bill shamelessly begs for reviews and ratings of the podcast
5)  What does the title of Everything Bagel exactly mean in the Lemon’s org chart
6)  Eric’s writing and racing history and how he first started with racing in a Lemons event
7)  What does being a catalog copy editor entail and how much you can know about office folders
8)  Overview of the Lemons Rally events and describes the “process” of competing
9)  Eric discusses some of the most forgotten cars we have ever discussed on the podcast, some thankfully forgotten
10)  Rally stories abound including the Asheville Pinball Museum
11)  Alan makes his debut as our sound board
12)  Eric discusses a long list of cars he has had and would like to see in Lemons
13)  An amazing (and backward) Good, Bad, and the Ugly with the best “Good” we have ever had
14)  Our trials and tribulations related to getting our E36 BMW race car prepared for our upcoming race
15)  Alan may have an apprentice “In Training” and Vicki seems to have a talent and enjoys the mechanical work, well most of it
16) We are now looking for a “Hub Tamer”.  Does anyone happen to know anything about them?
17) We have a high-level discussion about our telemetry system and electrical system upgrades.  More details will come in an upcoming episode.

Eric at rest and and play. Little Difference.

This week’s Dominating with Dawson segment reviews proper hand position while racing and how that can impact your driving performance and control of the car.

To keep up to speed with Eric and the 24 hours of Lemons team, they are on all the social medias as the 24 Hours of Lemons or via his email at [email protected]

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

GHIT 0096: Eric Rood on the 2020 Lemons Rally schedule is our Special Guest

GHIT 0095: Nick Pon of the 24 Hours of Lemons team

Returns to kick off the 2020 season

Nick is the Engine of Lemons
Nick is the Engine of Lemons

Nick Pon returns to our podcast to discuss the current 2020 season for the 24 Hours of Lemons series and the various new aspects of the series for 2020.  As usual, we digress several times and wander around our subject, but Nick very kindly tolerates us for unknown reasons.  We eventually go into what the series is about and how welcoming it can be to everyone who has an interest in racing and how to get started within the series.  There is even a new driver bonus program for 2020.

  • Nick Pon Relaxing
  • Nick Pon with something
Nick Pon enjoying life with various cars

If you would be so kind, please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite listening platform.  We would greatly appreciate it. 

Some of the highlights for this episode include:

1)  We cover the first two races of the year at Barber and Inde in Arizona and the first rally from Moscow to Paris
2)  What to do if a plane lands on the track
3)  The return of the Scrotium race at Road Atlanta and the usual snowy race to end the season
4)  Any upcoming things, themes, cars, and tracks
5)  Novel ways of staying outside the black flag area
6)  The two 24 hours races and why we may never get one in the north east, but we do get the Hooptiecon at NJMP again this year
7)  Cars, themes, and theming requests for current and future teams
8)  We begin a program to get Lemons into VIR
9)  An intro to Lemons in case you aren’t familiar with the series and its welcoming climate
10)  What car does Nick want to race in from the series
11)  We explain to our younger listeners how cars were bought using a thing called the “paper”
12)  Our podcast tradition of picking on Alan has its latest installment or three
13)  Nick new moniker as “The Place Setter” and helps us with our travel race schedule
14)  Nick gets subjected to several of our newer questions related to his car proclivities
15)  We go a bit out of our normal order on this episode but following the rules isn’t really our strong suit
16)  A semi-subtle shout out to our friend Erling
17)  We go into our never-ending battle with our BMW E36 rear hub and bearing
18)  Vicki leads a discussion of tool drawer organizing techniques, strategies, and options.  We will be putting several posts on our website if you are interested.
19)  Vicki steals Alan’s section and gives her first ever Bat Cave Tool of the Week
20)  Alan shows the importance of following the process and the order of the operations
21)  We then go into a long discussion of some of the issues we have been having with removing the rear hubs from the E36 race car

Nick Pon's BMW 2002
Nick and his 2002 from 2002 or so, lol.

In our Dominating with Dawson segment, Ben goes into a discussion of the black flag penalty box, what happens, and how to handle it properly.   

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

GHIT 0095:  Nick Pon of the 24 Hours of Lemons team returns to kick off the 2020 season