Garage Heroes (In Training)

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

Our Team

GHIT 0068: NHMS 2019 Prep Week

Our plans are unravelling
Our preparation plans are unravelling

Our ineptitude continues

NHMS race weekend prep status.

One race, three cars, none working.  The rest is good though.

On one hand we have the BMW E36 3 series from 1998. Issues, yes.  It won’t start.  It seems to not be getting power to the computer system and won’t turn over.  We found one wiring issue and are tracking down any others, slowly.  One good thing is that the prior owners live very close to our race, so as a last resort, we may ask for some assistance.

New to Us BMW E36

El Jeffe/The Bad Hombre:  Braking issues abound.  Still.  The caliper/pads do not fully release from the rotors, which may be the issue we have been battling this entire season.

It is a race truck

On this NHMS Prep episode:

  1. Alan breaks up into a game of boggle with things like DME, EWS2, etc.
  2. Vicki breaks back in and tries to get us to explain what is going on
  3. Bill breaks down the entire battle we have been having with the brakes on the race truck
  4. El Jeffe brake theories, plan, and a review of the current status
  5. An El Jeffe Transit story for the books
  6. Alan talks about flashing ECUs and seeking additional help to get the E36 running well again.
  7. Alan does his best weatherman impression and forecasts clear skies for the E36
  8. Kate even makes a quick guest appearance towards the end

It seems to be a standard week before the race.  Now will this turn out?  Tune in tomorrow, same bat channel, same bat time.

Or actually when we record at the track this weekend. 

GHIT 0068: NHMS 2019 Prep Week

GHIT 0067: Watkins Glen HPDE Review

Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International

Welcome to our latest podcast episode where we review our Watkins Glen HPDE with NASA North East at the world famous racetrack.  We had a great weekend with 5 of our team showing up and two other friends from the Everyone Racers Podcast and The Three Pedal Mafia racing team, Chris and Chrissy.

Just some of the cars in attendance

We summarize the prepping of the many cars we brought and the debacle it became for almost every car we brought.

Cars we prepped for the Watkins Glen HPDE included:

  1. BMW E36 1998 race car
    1. Roll bar prep and Passenger racing seat installation
    2. Issue:  Will not start as we were prepping to leave.  Issue still TBD
    1. Roll bar padding and switch to racing seats and racing harness from OEM
    2. Issue:  4-point belts are not acceptable so hot swap at Watkins Glen to install two new 6-point harness sets
  2. 1999 Mazda MX-5 Turbo Miata with Flyin Miata Turbo
    1. Installed new roll bar
    2. Issue:  did not finish roll bar installation and did not remember to reconnect the battery before giving it to Jennifer
  3. 2019 Mazda MX-5
    1. Mostly no issue, except cleaning
  4. 2017 Toyota GT TRD
    1. Bad Lug bolts and Missing Lug bolts
    2. Waited until day before to get parts, ended up with bad hub threads and missing bolts, and doesn’t know how to click the pay button after registering for the HPDE
    3. Cue the sad trombone please
  5. 2013 Dodge Dart
    1. Did not have time to change to race seats, nor brake pads and fluid, nor tires from standard OEM
  6. 2017 BMW M240i
    1. No issues since Chris and Chrissy are always prepared, unlike us.
  7. Race Prepped Honda Civic

Brad was an excellent test passenger for three different cars on the track.  He reviews his first ever race laps in the Turbo NB MX-5 versus the race prepped Honda Civic vs a new Acura NSX. 

Team photo WGI 2019
Our team for the weekend

Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill covered our in car instructors and areas we worked on and improved over the weekend. 

These areas included:

  1. Track vision
  2. Racing lines in general
  3. Braking points and braking pressure and the proper application and removal of the braking pressure
  4. Turn in Points
  5. Input sequencing
  6. Several drills, including vision and non-shifting the entire lap or session
  7. Car control
  8. Learning and feeling what is correct and what isn’t with immediate feedback
  9. Late apexing vs early apexing and turn in
  10. Prep is key to racing

In addition, we also reviewed our thoughts of the track and the NASA North East HPDE event in general. 

We also reviewed the relative performance of the Turbo 1999 NB MX-5 to the newly updated 2019 MX-5 ND.

GHIT 0067: Watkins Glen HPDE Review

Track Day Food and Drink Prep

GHiT Cookbook for Races
Our team runs best of great food and drink at the track

GHIT 0065: Track Day Food and Drink Preparation

On this weeks (delayed) podcast we go over how to plan and prepare for a race weekend nutritionally.  We will usually have a 3-4 day weekend with 12-40 drivers and crew to feed, so we know what works well for us and what does not.  Track day food really does affect how well the weekend goes and can seriously Impact your drivers and team performance in a significant way. 

Good Food equals good results
Yum is the goal

Some of our top track day food tips include:

  1. Prep before leaving for the track and when to start cooking
  2. Meal planning and prep thoughts and techniques
  3. Some of our best recipes
  4. Hydration, beyond suds
  5. Our typical schedule and communication strategy, also known as divide and conquer and start cooking in bulk the Monday or Tuesday before race weekend.
  6. Crock pots and crock pot liners are your friends (Including the use of Insta-Pot)
  7. What is a Wartburger and why you want one
  8. Storage, utensils, and serving needs
  9. On track/last minute pickups, including ice, water, fruit, etc.
  10. Do not put pickles into the ice tubs, especially if the lid is open/loose
  11. 5 gallon drink coolers filled with ice water and Gatorade or lemonade
  12. Minimize prep and cleanup at the track as much as possible
  13. Clear totes are very helpful for organizing and finding at the track
  14. If possible, have a separate set of things from your normal kitchen during the season to make pre-race packing as easy and quick as possible
  15. Scheduling meals and responsibilities on track day
  16. Snacks, drinks, open platters etc. for in between meal grazing
  17. Advantages of Camp Sharing with other friends and teams, preferably both
  18. Cleaning wipes and other techniques to deal with potentially limited water supplies at some track infields and pit areas
  19. Favorite gadgets and prep tools
  20. Smokers, Crock Pots, Sous Vide, Turkey Fryers, etc.
  21. Favorite meals and meals that are difficult/require “too much” prep for at track preparation
  22. Other food and drink related thoughts
  23. Variety of the menu from race to race is also something to consider

We will be producing many of the best recipes we use on our website shortly after this episode (once Bill finished prepping the 6 cars we need to end our season)

No Chef needed
No chef needed

We end with a much anticipated (by Bill) Hella Sweet or But Terrible that went over like a Led Balloon. 

Please let us know if you or your team have any suggestions and recipes if possible and we can share them with everyone with either an email to [email protected] or even better within a 5 star review from wherever you downloaded our podcast. 

GHIT 0065: Track Day Food and Drink Preparation

GHIT 0058 Thompson 2019 Race Wrap-Up

New Drivers and a New to Us Car

Alan, Jennifer, and Bill with our “new to us” BMW E36 race car

This Thompson 2019 episode is dedicated to our friend Aaron Leinemann.  He has had some unexpected bad medical news and a GoFundMe page has been started to assist.  Please share whatever you can to assist Aaron and his amazing family.

On this episode, our team reviews the 2019 24 Hours of Lemons race GP du Lac Chargoggagogg(etcetera) at Thompson Speedway in Northeastern Connecticut.  We entered our Race Truck El Jeffe a 2004 Chevy S-10 with many Isuzu Hombre body panels and our new to us 1998 BMW E36 3-series car for our first race with it after buying it about two weeks prior.  El Jeffe was updated from the former Stan Lee livery to and Avengers Endgame livery and the E36 was quickly themed in the paddock to be a Captain America car. 

  • Alan as Spider Man
    Alan as Spidey
  • Bennett Rocketing Deadpool
    Bennett Rocketing Deadpool
  • Connor with a Serious Chin
    Connor with serious chin
Garage Heroes were present and accounted for

We review Friday practice and spend most of the episode covering the race on Saturday and Sunday.

Highlights include:

  • New Drivers, several first timers at Thompson
  • Thompson track walk and review
  • Saturday and Sunday within El Jeffe
  • Saturday and Sunday in the BMW E36
  • El Jeffe brake issues and a potential fix and path forward to alleviate this ongoing problem. 
  • Our 4 black flag debacle and how it impacted our position in the race (HINT not well)
  • Bill got to make two signs with Connor to slow the cars in the pits
  • A minor incident where a car came across the bow of the El Jeffe and removed moist of the front end facia
  • Saturday night’s Potluck Dinner hosted by the Three Pedal Mafia team for Stuntin’ and Explodin’ fest
  • We show our exceptional math skills several times this episode
  • Team awards for the weekend
  • Hella Sweet or Butt Terrible idea of the week
  • To do’s and improvements for our next race
  • Radio and Helmet communication issues
  • Then things devolved from there
  • E36 performed very well
  • El Jeffe was a race truck
Proof we were ahead at least a few times

GHIT 0058: Thompson 2019 Race Wrap-Up

Our Capri Project and NASA HPDE

The Capri Phoenix
Hopefully, it will rise again.

GHIT 0055: Capri Project and Post NASA HPDE Review

Details of our progress, mechanically and ability: For our main topics, Alan, Vicki, and Bill go over where we are with the Capri resuscitation progress and Bill’s recent NASA HPDE event at Pitt Race.  Additionally, we talk about a how Alan’s Yankee ingenuity has “helped” in mocking up the build, his “free” source of “new to us” metal, wheel spacers. 

We also have a detailed explanation in how to alleviate the potential pressure involved with having a racing hobby and any potential friction that may cause with your significant other. 

And, yes, we may need an intervention to get the car to Thompson.  Anyone free and/or bored want to meet in CT? 

We are trying new software so please let us know what you think, etc, especially nice would be to leave a podcast review from wherever you subscribed.  Thanks again.  

GHIT 0055: Capri Project and Post NASA HPDE Review