Guests & Interviews

GHIT 0079: Zack Klapman is Our Special Guest

Zack Klapman with Cobra — Zack Klapman prepping for a tough day at work

Zack Klapman is a car guy through and through and was our guest for this weekâs episode.Â You may know him from the Smoking Tire podcast and YouTube channel or from seeing him on air on the NBC /Drive show or as a producer for /Drive as well as several other television shows like âProving Groundsâ.Â We were able to talk with Zack quite a bit about his overall car interests and how he began working in the area.Â As usual, he was a decade long in the making overnight success who made it through perseverance and constant hustle.

Zack Klapman on NBC Sports Proving Grounds — Zack Klapman is not in Kansas

On this episode we covered:

1) How the recent NASA 25 Hours at Thunderhill race weekend went in their Spec E46 with all the rain and then the mud

2) Zackâs background and what he is involved with currently, both as on-air talent, as a writer, and as a producer.

3) How YouTube videos and channels have changed since The Smoking Tire originated

4) How did cars get into Zackâs blood and what his interests are at this point and in the future. Hint: He does not seem picky, lol.

5) His first Lemons race and the fun of passing a slot machine race car

6) His goals include racing in virtually all endurance racing series including AER, Lemons, Lucky Dog, Champ Car, WRL, etc. and a whole host of tracks across the US and around the world

7) We discuss his (hopefully) upcoming appearance on the âComedians In Cars Getting Coffeeâ show. We think it would be perfect for him.

8) Crazy stories from his past TV and video work, such as his very hot lap with Chris Harris at the NÃ¼rburgring that involved some of Chrisâs serious driving skills being on full display

9) Driving through Morocco while filming with a relatively small tv crew.

10) His initial learning on how to wrench on a car in a pre-YouTube era without ChrisFix

11) A very entertaining and funny Good, Bad and the Ugly segment that included some cars you never expected to hear on our podcast

12) Several audience questions

13) His upcoming driving lessons with Kevin Madsen

We ended with a few basic outlines of our team and how we started and a few tips that Zack wasnât aware of yet as a relatively new to racing driver that may help you as well.

Zack Klapman with Jeep — Prepping for another video shoot

To follow Zack, please use his social media accounts or catch the following series:

Twitter @ ZackKlapman

Instagram: FakeZackKlapman

The Smoking Tire Podcast

/Drive on NBC Sports and iTunes

Proving Grounds on NBC Sports

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0079: Zack Klapman is Our Special Guest

Judge Phil from the 24 Hours of Lemons

GHIT 0078: Judge Phil Greden from the 24 Hours of Lemons

On this episode we started out with one show idea and quickly flexed into another when Judge Phil Greden from the 24 Hours of Lemons was able to join us after some scheduling issues. Judge Phil is also an automotive journalist and often uses the pen name of Murilee Martin and writes for a variety of venues including Autoblog, Autoweek, Jalopnik, Truth About Cars, Car and Driver, Roadkill, and the 24 Hours of Lemons. We had been hoping to have Phil on as one of our original bucket list guests and we were not disappointed and we really hope we can get him on again, soon. His stories are priceless and seemingly endless.

Highlights and discussion topics of the episode include:

1) New installation of the permanent 240V line for the welder is complete

2) Alan tries to blame Chrissy for his mess and no one buys it, ever

3) Alan defines whatâs a bucket load of shims and then decides we arenât going to use them

4) We may have a plan for our long-awaited female only race car entry

5) Tips for working in the cold temps/potential items for Christmas gifting. Hint layers

6) Philâs latest junkyard finds and exploits and several tips for finding things of interest

7) Philâs Lemons history and how he came to be a judge at over 160 races so far

8) Tips for how to improve at lemons, as if that matters, lol.

9) Where Murilee Martin originated, the full story is at his website below

10) How the Lemons series has progressed and the culture came around to the present day

11) Our next Miata with a HT4100 engine

12) Lemons hopeful entries in the coming years, especially several late model Detroit offerings

13) Tips for finding cars particularly suited to Lemons racing

14) Theories on what makes certain car surprisingly good or surprisingly bad in endurance racing

15) The difference between the $500 limit rule as written vs as interpreted in Lemons

16) Various fruitless paths to âdominationâ that have been shown to be lacking

17) Which of the automotive journalists are really good drivers off the top of Judge Philâs head

18) Should GHiT be interested in a Lada, Phil knows a guyâ¦.

19) Potential leads and guidance on our 1974 Capri never-ending build

20) How lucky we were to start our racing team with assistance from the Three Pedal Mafia

21) Parts selling on the internet stories from over the years

22) Crazy Lemons racing stories including lightning strikes and tornado chases

23) How the post-race hangover is real, even if you arenât racing

24) The internet famous Lemons Wrap-up videos and what goes into them

25) How the driver fields differ across the US

26) Splash Gate makes a come back

27) Our traditional Good, Bad, and the Ugly per Judge Phil

28) How to get started in endurance racing and resources that are available

29) The relative importance of team/pit organization vs driving skill

We will put out another short episode to discuss the AIM Data Acquisition and Analysis seminar Bill attended last weekend that we started.

Now if only we could get a weekly segment of âStory Time with Judge Philâ. Maybe we can bribe with a seat at our races? Please let Phil know if youâd be interested.

[email protected]

http://www.murileemartin.com/

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0078: Judge Phil Greden from the 24 Hours of Lemons

The Mandalorian Episodes 1-3

WOOT 0076: The Mandalorian Episodes 1-3 (Spoiler Filled)

We Got Egg Yo

SPOILER FILLED EPISODE. We had a chance to finally review the new Disney+ star Wars related series The Mandalorian. After the first three episodes, we are all impressed and looking forward to seeing where we go from here Our hosts were joined by our friend Jeff from the Everyone Racers podcast, a long time Star Wars fan and pop culture in general. In this episode, we gave a brief synopsis of all three episodes so far.

Our Thoughts, Theories, and Discussions:

1) Show timeline and summary of what we know about the series as a whole

2) Is Mando a good fighter or does he always need saving by outside forces

3) Favorite moments

4) Weekly releases yeah or nay

5) Favorite characters and then quickly Favorite Character not including baby yoda

6) Things we are hoping for or looking forward to

7) Several of the popular baby yoda theories and their potential impact

8) Thoughts on Disney plus and the various content

9) Episode 9 theories and desires:

Somehow we even managed to make several auto and racing related references in this episode. I doubt there are any other Mandalorian review podcasts that made those connections, lol.

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

WOOT 0076: The Mandalorian Episodes 1-3 (Spoiler Filled)

GHIT 0075: Dillon Brennan of EJ2 Track Rat

EJ2 Track Rat x2 — Dillon Brennan with his EJ2 Track Rat

On this week’s podcast, we finally with Dillon Brennan also known as EJ2 Track Rat. This was after missing each other multiple times at the last Watkins Glen HPDE event. While he is an accomplished driver and instructor, he started EJ2 Track Rat to help raise awareness to everyone that they can also get out on track and enjoy our great sport with a low budget. You can follow him on his Instagram account and his blog, and soon on his YouTube channel.

Highlights include:

1) Dillon’s driving history within autocross, HPDE, and wheel to wheel racing (so far)

2) We interview a parrot for the first time

3) Honda engine codes and chassis codes aplenty, so if you are playing scrabble or battleship, feel free to try to use these random letters and numbers

4) How he has found ways to get onto the track and learn with a small budget (one less excuse for everyone). Things like working events for future credits, SCCA Track Night of America, etc. and the beginning of their Lobuk initiative

5) One way not to get a college test delayed for a track day

6) What is Honda Challenge series and how much fun can be had in this form of wheel to wheel racing

7) Bill shows off his Honda engine code prowess, or lack thereof, several times.

8) We compare notes on potential ways to paint and theme your cars livery, including a new one to us, Sharpie paint pens

9) What is EJ2 Track Rat and what they are involved in currently and future goals

10) The importance of a support group of friends and family towards making this a successful and very achievable activity for nearly everyone

11) We review all of our favorite tracks and also get a brief walkthrough of Lime Rock from Dillon

12) Vicki complains about the deer, again.

We end with a plea for help with our Porsche Boxster. Its ability to break every slave cylinder we can find. Any thoughts or options are greatly appreciated.

If you want to follow along with Dillon and the EJ2 Track Rat’s, you can follow them at:

EJ2_Track_Rat on Instagram.

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0075: Dillon Brennan of EJ2 Track Rat

GHIT 0074: Scott Barton and Sim Racing

Early ideas for the upcoming gift season

Sim Racing Rig — Advanced Sim Racing setup

On this week’s episode we have Scott Barton as our guest. Scott is a very accomplished racing driver and very knowledgeable in the area of Sim Racing. We thought we’d learn more about both on this episode, just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Sim racing can be great way to get cheap track time, especially in the off season or during the work week when you aren’t near a track. As with most aspects of racing, you can go as deep as your interest and bank account will allow. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Scott’s racing history and progression to where he is currently racing mostly in the AER series (American Endurance Racing). He has recorded a very impressive series of results since originally learning at HPDE’s in 1999 and racing in 2009.

2) Scott’s latest goal is try to finish his collection of first overall wins in Lucky Dog and WRL. This will complete his already stellar collection of 24 Hours of Lemons, Champ Car, and AER wins. Then he will have recorded overall wins in every major US street tire endurance racing series.

3) Scott is also a driving coach and is involved with many racing series and organizations.

4) We then began to cover various software and hardware choices available. Scott makes some recommendations (links below). He then describes some systems options available for different budgets.

5) The three basic systems we reviewed started with a single monitor, a three-monitor system and a VR based system with a good set of steering wheels and pedals. A sim vibe/butt kicker would be a very nice addition is budget allows.

4 Screen Sim Racing Rig — Go as far as you wish

6) More advanced options mentioned include motion/ full motions simulators, spring loaded harnesses,

7) Computer requirements in general, such as a 4-core processor, i5 or newer, with a video card capable of running a VR headset at 1080p and 90 fps (or better) should be sufficient for your system.

8) We also cover how to deal with motion sickness in VR if that happens to you in the beginning.