Races

2021 Goals and Our 2020 Goal Review

As the year wraps up, we review how our 2020 racing season went and what goals we would like to do and accomplish in 2021. Obviously, the year did not go as we had hoped or planned with the COVID pandemic impacting normal life routine. But we did make some significant growth and made the best out of a horrible situation. Goal making is one thing that is very easy to do, but also very easy to skip. However, we have found it to be very beneficial to our growth as racers as well as is our personal and professional lives.

On our Dominating with Dawson segment, we go over what it means to be driving at the limit, what is the limit, and how to get closer and closer to the limit safely and effectively.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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 start of looking at what our goals were for 2020 and how we did

2) The next segment covers what we want to accomplish going into 2021. (including items that we would like to improve about our driving and our team.)

3) We then begin to look at things that went well this year and things we could have done better.

4) It probably wouldn’t be a podcast without our doing a Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, so we did.

5) The final step was we tried to grade our year and then determine a few things that would define a successful year for ourselves and the team.

6) We did forget to go into The Mirror that we added to aid us in getting in better shape for racing, so we added it as a bonus section after the credits.

GHIT 0158: Our 2020 Year in Review and Our 2021 Goals

Out 2020 Goals episode can be found here.

GHIT 0156: Pirate Takeover of Everyone Racers

(from 2018) and the (Horrible) Beginning of Our Podcasting

We found several of the original sound files and decided to put this together for a bonus Christmas gift to everyone. This is the podcast recording sessions that started everything. We originally intended this to fill in a week gap that the Everyone Racers podcast took for Chris and Chrissy’s wedding. However, it took almost thirty tries for us to get to this point.

In addition, we added an early snippet of our first GHiT podcast introductions. I guess we did get better over time, but honestly, we really had to, there was nowhere else to go.

We were such newbies back then. Hopefully, we can look back three years from now and feel the same ways about our team now vs then.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Don’t blame us. Bill’s editing skills have improved to where this was possible and almost sounds decent.

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) A few of our best E1R (Everyone Racers) intros followed with our own feeble attempt to follow their episode guideline at the time.

2) A very brief wrap up of our recent race at Thompson with the 24 Hours of Lemons, our teams second overall race, and Alan and Jen’s first ever race. The race weekend was very hot Friday and then very wet and humid for the rest of the weekend.

3) One of our first jokes came at the expense of Jeff. Very fitting.

4) The announcement of the team’s newest puppy, a Bernese Mountain dog named Zoe Lemons Fischer.

5) Even back then, we had prep issues. Still a focus of our improvement.

6) Alan had bad internet at the time and was using the local Starbucks internet since it was much faster. Lol.

7) When 4-5 psi is an issue on your SpiderStang, a 1984 Mustang GT Turbo, obviously you turn it up to 15 psi or so.

8) The end of the Capri at Thompson is reviewed a bit. The project is still ongoing.

9) Special shout out to Bruce and all his help with fixing the Capri until late in the morning, only to find out our issue was a broken cam shaft.

10) Our first ever racing trophy was received at the Thompson race. Unfortunately, it was the
I Got Screwed” award and even more unfortunately, it is still our only reward, but at least we have one, lol.

11) Alan’s first black flag came this weekend. But not his last.

12) Our first ever attempt to help the Everyone Racers podcast with a sponsor reading. It did not go well

13) Vicki provides just the tip. It was on the help of Friday practice. We would add pre-race prep to this as well. A lot of this can be done ahead of time with YouTube and various track guides and track walks available, especially our favorites from Ross Bentley and Racers360.

14) We even discuss our plans for the Capri after the transmission and engine issues at Thompson. The plan is still the same. Our skills just haven’t allowed us to get it to the finish line. Yet. Stay tuned.

15) Proof we can have an episode last less than one hour.

GHIT 0139: Team Progress and Update

This episode of our podcast is a listeners request, Jennifer, Vicki, and Bill go over what we have been up to and begin to look at where we are going for next year. Lots of changes, lots of cars gone, still a few to go, and lots of new cars added, most need some TLC. We think we are on a good path, but you can be the judge of that. Also, on this episode’s Dominating with Dawson, we get into a discussion of driving skill vs driving talent. Lots of opinions, lots of thoughts, probably the first of several discussions related to this. In the end, there are very few people, I any, who if they are interested in our sport and apply themselves, cannot get to a competitive level and become a very good driver and racer. At least that’s what we think.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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) Our upcoming skid pad & autocross car control event at Lime Rock with Safety Third Motorsports. Jennifer and Vicki as so excited it is hard to explain, even for them.

2) How the 2.75 Porsche 944’s and 1.0 Boxsters have found new homes and Brad’s starting to prep his E46 330 for his move to Colorado. Maybe we have the beginnings of a Midwest/Mountain time zone team. 4.75 cars in one weekend.

3) The plan for the SpiderStang Mustang and the black Honda Civic are still tbd at this point, but may be available.

4) Bill has located a HPDE car that is undergoing some upgrade and preventative maintenance with the help of John Lavin from Safety Third Motorsports. It is a E46 that is changing from a SMG transmission to a manual transmission because that is just so much more fun and engaging.

5) An E46 330 shell magically appeared and is the long-term project car for Bill’s goal of running the NASA Thunderhill 25 by 2025. So far, we have 3.5 drivers who are interested and now need only one more driver and Bill to get some more skill.

6) What are we doing with 1974 Capri. We have plans, but not enough skill at this point.

7) Should we build two Civic race cars, we don’t know for sure at this point. Still TBD.

8) Our 2017 Ford F150 black cap is also looking for a new home

9) Mechanical status for each car and the progress to be accomplished over the off season this winter.

10) Bill is apparently stuck in bad joke/dad joke mode throughout this episode. We apologize.

11) We talk about what the plan is for modifying the cage in the yellow Honda Civic and the two smaller jobs of fixing the engine and adding new/better seat mounts.

12) Vicki is reminded of the winter project that was set for last winter. Perhaps we will have better luck this year. TBD. Maybe someday the ND Miata may actually have an interior again.

13) Bill tries to get some planning on the upcoming themes. Vicki and Jen don’t want to get into it at all. Bill thinks its all a coverup for no plan. We shall see.

14) Vicki learns about the most romantic anniversary gifts ever. Why does Vicki put up with this? How did Bill ever get so lucky?

15) We are all three going to complete some car related courses this winter. Eventually, we will be competent mechanically and electrically. (These had better be good courses if they are to get us there, lol.)

16) New/recent garage tools and capabilities that will aide us this winter, with a quick review of each.

17) We reverse the “what does someone know about you that no one knows” question on each other. Bill stuffs a big foot into his mouth during this one. He will be sleeping in the bathtub for a long, long time.

18) Vicki learns that Thunderhill is located in California.

Any ideas for Guests?

Any ideas for upcoming topics?

Please let us know at [email protected] or on our Instagram at @GarageHeroesInTraining

GHIT 0139: Team Progress and Update

GHIT 0134: RaceBar is Back to talk about the Charlotte Roval Race with Lucky Dog

Race Bar on Track at the Charlotte Roval — **Race Bar Invaded the Lucky Dog Race at the Charlotte Roval**

Race Bar on Pit Lane — **Race Bar Invaded the Lucky Dog Race at the Charlotte Roval**

At our recent Lucky Dog race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, we were lucky enough to be in the paddock next to RaceBar. Yes, they are back. Jeff/Ron even took a stint in our race truck. On this episode we go over the entire event from their perspective and how Race Bar helped us throughout the weekend. As we covered in our earlier race review episode, the entire event was a blast and Race Bar was a large part of the fun. Jeff Caplan/Ron Mexico, Jandy/Daddy, Patrick McHugh/Richard “Dick” Freelane, and Kaitlyn “Pineapples” Morgan joined us for this episode. We were greatly outnumbered.

We deal with hydration at track days, races and on the track in our Dominating with Dawson segment for this episode. We cover various options and what we have found to be effective at the track and in some of the highest temperature and humidity days we have seen both at the track, in the paddock and especially in the car which is usually much hotter than the local environment, especially when dressed in your safety and fire rated gear.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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) Apparently, we have been abducted by RaceBar. Who knew.

2) It took less than four minutes for us to absolutely lose control of the episode. Did we ever get it back. Still tbd.

3) Was Charlotte Intimidating? Nope. Was racing on a big oval intimidating? Nope. Was racing with Lucky Dog intimidating? Nope. Was RaceBar being next to us in the paddock intimidating? Oh yes, yes it was.

4) We had a great time hanging with Race Bar but, we really had to tag out around 10 or 11 in order to function. Not sure how they do it.

5) RaceBar strongly endorses the Lucky Dog series and it balance of good racing and lots of fun. This was the best race ever for RaceBar. Ever.

6) We talk about the great highs and lows of endurance racing, sometimes at the same event in the same hour.

7) The pleasures of being serenaded over the radio by Dick Freelane as he drove around the high banks at Charlotte during the race. Ron Mexico has a book recommendation that you may choose to ignore.

8) I think we made an impression on RaceBar with our track food skills. It made their top list. Twice. We may be drafted to be on site food services. we know Jeff will bring his own fork if needed. Lol.

9) We talk a bit about how our team tries to deal with issues and our occasional setbacks. The priority should always be the driver and the team. We can build more cars.

10) There appears to be a plan for the race truck/The Bad Hombre/El Jeffe. Not sure we know what it is or if we have a vote. I think we lost all voting rights once Ron Mexico got into the race truck and drove it around the Roval.

11) We cover our race team theory and philosophy at the current point in our learning curve.

12) Race Bar has a list of he top 47 highlights from the race. It is quite a list. Quite the list indeed.

13) Tips for ways to help and get started at a race if you are ever interested.

14) Why track security woke Cathy up in her Hello Kitty PJ’s around 2 AM one evening. What happens at Race Bar, stays at Race Bar.

15) Why you should always say no to a story that starts with “Do you want to see a man in a van by a river…”

16) Confirmation of who took the “L” off of our “Mr. Pool” E36. Unfortunately, it does fit the car, even more now.

17) Stories of driving the Citrus Race Truck without power steering trying to catch another Race Bar vehicle.

18) Slap cup drinking games and rule interpretation seemed to vary and why Lonnie may have had a slow start one morning.

19) How Deaf Power Racing came to race with us at Charlotte. There are certain advantages to not being able to hear “Baby Shark” all weekend. Potential options for adopting them into a Race Bar west.

20) Apparently there is a plan. We are now aware that there is a plan. We still don’t know the plan, but we think we probably should at some point.

21) We reveal the story of the arrival and unloading of El Jeffe at the garage when we returned. I’m not mentioning any names since I don’t want to have to sleep in the bathtub. Worth a listen. And thank you to the listener who suggested we change our name to “Garage Heroes In Traction”. Thank you Blake.

22) We may have plans for a Summit Point track event.

23) We attempt to CSI the potential reasons behind our Chevy S10 keeps eating Steering Pumps like Seymour from “The Little Shop of Horrors”

24) How the Oooga Booga method for fixing the Fuel Pump worked and gave us a few more hours on the track before we needed to replace it the next morning.

25) How the speaker flew off during the race and how much of a fan some of the corner workers were of their music selections during the race. Also, we go into the joys of having a 120 dB stereo system in your race car that is remote controlled by people that are several hundred miles away from the track.

26) A Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to be remembered.

27) Ah Hah moments we all learned from the Charlotte race.

28) A good discussion of Jennifer’s accident and how it feels after a bit o reflection. A good thing for all potential racers and racing teams to hear.

29) Potential next steps for our team to grow.

30) VIR sweeps the best track ever for Race Bar. And we get a bit of history of how VIR came to be.

GHIT 0134: Race Bar is Back to talk about the Charlotte Roval Race with Lucky Dog

GHIT 0133: Lucky Dog Reviews Their First Ever East Coast Race at the Charlotte Roval

We were lucky enough to get four of the Lucky Dog team to discuss with us the Lucky Dog series and how their first ever east coast race went at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on the Roval. Jason Miles, Briana Miles, Chris Wilhelm, and Justin Parcher were our guests for this episode. Please snug up your racing harness, this one is pretty fun but actually has some good content to learn from and may improve your team.

On this episode of Dominating with Dawson we cover braking speed and how to manage your speed and adjust to different types of brake application and brake capability of different cars and especially when at a new to you track. Vicki and Jen excel at terminology and jargon, as always, lol. Then we get into the way to approach new tracks and turns, as well as a warning to be careful at our then upcoming race at Charlotte. Unfortunately, we ended up proving Ben to be prophetic.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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) Jason works in the pits for IMSA and was obviously less than impressed with the GHiT team’s mechanical skills and performance in the garage.

2) How the Charlotte race went and the impact that the COVID 19 pandemic had on the plans and the race itself.

3) What its like inside the huge Charlotte oval/roval vs the more normal road courses that Lucky Dog typically runs on the west coast and how it was for a Lucky Dog track.

4) Differences between what Lucky Dog typically sees on the west coast vs this east coast event.

5) The tracks impressions of Race Bar and some of their music selections. They are still puzzled by how the car can run for so long with the music at their typical volume.

6) How the Flying Moose sounded going through the pits towards the end of the race. What Randy Pobst and his team were able to do and the speeds they could get out of that car were amazing.

7) Special shout out to all the tow crews at Lucky Dog. It even carried over to the event at Charlotte.

8) Bill makes a joke about finally not having Eric at an event. It’s kind of went over a lot like our cars. Maybe we should change our name to “Led Garage Heroes In Training”. Maybe not.

9) How our Lucky Dog race coincidentally crashed into the background of the NASCAR race program broadcast in the background.

10) How Jason almost reenacted the lightning scene from Caddyshack at CMP.

11) What works and what doesn’t seem to work in a Lucky Dog race.

12) The Deadpool E36 is still not fully regenerated. Fingers crossed.

13) we have a challenge in finding Chris’ Nova (and bringing it to a Lucky Dog race) that he had purchased three times, so far. It had Oregon Plate QRL-231 to aid in your search. Let’s bring it to a Lucky Dog race so he has to tech inspect it, again.

14) Jason demonstrates why females are often referred to as the smarter half of a relationship.

15) Jason missed out on a Porsche opportunity, perhaps he might want our 2 and three-quarters 944. Still available. Just let us know.

16) If we want to torment Justin, please locate Oregon license plate 910-AFC and get it ready for a Lucky Dog race. Last he saw the car, it was likely halfway towards passing safety inspection.

17) Vicki dropped a Star Trek reference. Perhaps she is a Trekkie or a Trekker or whatever the politically correct term is now.

18) Jason’s story got Bill very concerned when he thought Jason said that the fastest he ever drove was on a Ferry.

19) Justin may have the biggest boat for his highest ever speed we have ever heard so far.

20) Vicki and Jen now want to race a taco truck. Don’t ask.

GHIT 0133: Lucky Dog Reviews Their First Ever East Coast Race at the Charlotte Roval