• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Garage Heroes (In Training)

Garage Heroes (In Training)

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

  • About Us
  • Our Cars
  • Our Drivers
  • Handy Links
  • Tips/Tricks
  • Contact Us
  • Questions or Comments
  • Sponsorship

24 Hours of Lemons

Tom Suddard from GRM

Tom at home
GRM endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0252:  Tom Suddard from Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

Tom Suddard is the Director of Marketing and Digital Assets at GRM.  Tom’s first visit to our podcast was with zero notice and was at the invitation of Nine Live Racing’s Johnny C on episode #209 when we had our first episode on Aero. 

In spite of this, Tom decided to put up with us again in what we hope will be a long list of bad decisions in the future.  What do you ask of a prolific supplier of articles and videos aimed at helping grass roots racers and drivers improve?  Well, we choose to go into a great article that Tom wrote about “10 Ways to Keep Your Racing Effort Disciplined” which is a great article and will help almost everyone to improve a bit easier and more cheaply.  We also covered a few other areas and will provide a bunch of links at the end of these notes for even more information.  We have a ton more questions for Tom and hope to have him on again, as many times as he will tolerate us.  Tom gave so many great tips during this episode, Bill is still taking notes.

Please subscribe to GRM to learn a ton and support the grassroots racing community.  It is the best money we have spent in racing.

GRM

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, could you give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review. we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy.  If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review. 

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/TomSuddard 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.  Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order.  They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.  The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

To find even more from Tom, please go to:

1)  Grassroots Motorsports:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ 

2) GRM Youtube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/c/Grassrootsmotorsports 

Articles we referred to for this episode:

1)  10 Ways to Keep Your Racing Effort Disciplined:  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/10-lessons-to-keep-your-race-e/162737/page1/

2) How to Wrap Your Race Car:  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/LS-Swapped-2003-Nissan-350z/how-wrap-your-race-car-home-project-350z/

3)  Trimming down Your Racing Car’s Harness:  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/LS-Swapped-2003-Nissan-350z/getting-ready-trim-down-wiring-harness-project-ls-/

GHIT 0252:  Tom Suddard from Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

GHiT Garage, Podcast, and Team Update

GHiT Logo Faded

GHIT 0235: GHiT Garage, Podcast, and Team Update

The Garage Heroes In Training team has had quite a summer on the track so far and with our racing season beginning to wind down, but far from done on the track, we thought we would bring everyone up to speed with where we are with the podcast, how our driving and racing is progressing, and what our car related projects are going into the fall and winter repair and build programs.  This is a quick update episode, but we have so many moving balls (people and cars) it may appear random or confusing at points.  However, there is a plan, and as always a spreadsheet or two. 

In case you missed it, our podcast format has changed recently due to popular demand.  Monday is our normal podcast release day for the week.  On Tuesday our Dominating with Dawson segment for the week will be released as its own stand alone episode.  Wednesday may or may not have a bonus episode as needed.  This could be a Way Off Our Topic episode (WOOT), a race review from the weekend, team updates, garage updates etc.  We hope you enjoy the new release format.  Thanks again.  Special thanks to Chris and Chrissie from the Everyone Racers podcast and Three Pedal Mafia for stopping by last weekend to advise us on the 1993 Honda build and our path forward for the next few months.  

Vicki is looking into what she could/should do with her currently turbo’ed 1999 NB Miata.  Any suggestions?

If you would like to help the podcast,

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating. Even better, a podcast review. We would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy.  If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast. There you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review. 

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPart1  

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.  Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order.  They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.  The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

GHIT 0235: GHiT Garage, Podcast, and Team Update

The Saving Saturn Demonstration

Save Saturn

GHIT 0237:  Breaking News With Eric Rood – On the Saving Saturn Protest and Other Lemons Rally News

As part of our journalistic responsibility, we caught up with Eric Rood from the 24 Hours of Lemons to discuss the recent protest at General Motors HQ that was aimed at resurrecting the legendary Saturn brand.  The rally was respectful but filled with lots of deep, deep emotion.  We also took the time to cover some of the other news from the recent rally.  You are welcome.   

If you would like to help the podcast,

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating. Even better, a podcast review. We would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy.  If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast. There you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review. 

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPart1  

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.  Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order.  They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.  The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

The Jalopnik articles is found at:  https://jalopnik.com/sign-toting-evangelists-show-up-to-gm-headquarters-dema-1847357485 

GHIT 0232: Breaking News With Eric Rood – On the Saving Saturn Protest and Other Lemons Rally News

Race Review of the Thompson 2021

Part Duex

  • Audra and Vicki
  • Jennifer
  • Audra
  • Vicki
  • Strapping In

GHIT 0227:  Our Race Review of the Thompson 2021 – Part Deux

We finally have the whole El Jeffe team together to discuss the Race Review Thompson 2021 with all the ladies drivers.  Elizabeth and Audra joined Jennifer and Vicki to talk about the race, how things went over the weekend and if/when the ladies will be returning to the track together.  The results of the race were exceptional.  The only issues we had that were racing related were due to the initial issue we fixed on Saturday.  Considering that this was Audra’s first ever wheel to wheel race and Elizabeth had only entered two prior events, we are viewing this as a great win for the team.  Hear all the details, even some of the super secret ones.  All in all, each of them grew as drivers and learned a ton this weekend!  

Still waiting for Alan’s SpiderStang update but there was something shiny near his house so, …….

Still Shiny Squirrel Free Unfortunately

PS  If you can’t tell, Vicki was very excited to have the team back together to discuss the race.

If you would like to help the podcast,

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating. Even better, a podcast review. We would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy.  If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast. There you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review. 

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.  Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order.  They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.  The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

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 Race Review Thompson 2021 episode include:

1)  Some of the shocking differences that Audra experienced in her first wheel to wheel race.

2)  Elizabeth and the team discuss some of the unforeseen benefits of having the seat adjusted for their size and not making due.

3)  Audra goes over our race strategy for her first stint on Saturday, as well as getting to practice on Friday before the event started with a much lower car count on the track. 

4)  Elizabeth (and everyone) also found the practice helpful but really got a lot out of the (amazing) track walk with our friends at the Three Pedal Mafia.

5)  Find out if we have grabbed Audra from autocross?  We hope not.  We love both.

6)  The ladies discuss how important vision and spatial awareness is, especially as the speed increases or the traffic increases.

7)  We also address how each driver is a member of the team and how each car is really also part of the team and (usually) work together on track.

8)  The entire team began to see the benefits of having spotters on the track for each other, as well as the race craft.

9)  Audra tries to convey the chaos of a race weekend.  We have done so many events that we don’t even notice anymore.

10)  The team discusses several ways of managing traffic, as well as passing and being passed on a fairly crowded track.

11)  How the ladies did in the paddock and garage prep by the team.  We were a bit out of our normal groove with all the unintended changes to our team pre-race, but everything went really well even though we had 3-4 different issues this weekend, one was for the last 5 or so races.

12)  Audra and Elizabeth also pointed out hat we missed a few opportunities to refine our tire pressures through the weekend.  Added to our list.  Along with a few other items we learned or noticed this race.

13)  Pit Stops.  We did a few, lol.  Black flags, not so much.

14)  Apparently, Audra is also part of the Connecticut tourism board and they were having a meeting in our paddock.  Who knew?

15)  It looks like Bill is going to have to find someone to drive with him (if the ladies have anything to say about it).

Don’t forget that you can follow Audra and her co-hosts on the Shifting Points Podcast.

GHIT 0227:  Our Race Review of the Thompson 2021 – Part Deux

Race Review Thompson 2021 Farewell
Puny God

Our Race Review of Thompson 2021

Part 1

  • Elizabeth Jolly Prepped and Ready
  • Vicki Prepped and Ready
  • All  Ladies GHIT Team

GHIT 0224:  Our Race Review of Thompson 2021 – Part 1

Our ladies team came to Thompson and even though the entire prep week blew up in our face, the weekend as a whole went fantastically.  Vicki and Jen go over some of the highs and lows of the race on this episode.  We are hopeful for a part 2 with Audra and Elizabeth, and perhaps even Alan, to go over their thoughts on the weekend.  The El Jeffe race truck stumbled a bit at the beginning of the weekend, but we were able to work through the problem eventually with a bit of help from our friends in the paddock and we may have solved the intermittent electrical problems that have popped up over this entire season.  More to follow next week.

If you would like to help the podcast,

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating. Even better, a podcast review. We would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy.  If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast. There you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review. 

A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPart1  

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS  Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.  Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order.  They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.  The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

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 Thompson 2021 Episode include:

1)  We started with several of the prep debacles, for once they did not involve prepping the car, but unfortunately it involved just about everything else.  

2)  Since it was Audra’s first time racing wheel to wheel and Elizabeth’s first time in the truck, they thought it would be a good idea to get acclimated on the Friday practice.

3)  Thankfully, this allowed us to start to work on the engine bogging issue.  We go through the symptoms and what we tried to solve the issue.  We may actually have found the true problem and we also ended up with a lot of spare parts.

4)  Our generator issue continues and we aren’t sure if it is us or the rental RV’s.  Do electrical problems only occur to teams that aren’t electrically literate?  Asking for a friend.

5)  We try to cover how the SpiderStang team of Alan, Bennet, Quinn, and Elazar went, but left a lot of the details out for a future episode with them.

6)  Thoughts on the track walk and the track in general.  The data shows that both Vicki and Jennifer made great strides during the race, each setting personal bests by several seconds.  Jennifer may have even conquered her issues on the long straights.  We will confirm at our next event.

7)  Any guesses on how many black flags for the ladies?

GHIT 0224:  Our Race Review of Thompson 2021 – Part 1

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent

  • DwD 0507:  Racing the Track vs Racing the Other Cars
  • GHiT 0506:  Eric Dewey DeWitt
  • The Mythology of Late Apex and Braking in a Straight Line
  • Glenn Robinson
  • The Fail Failage Rally 2023

Categories

  • Aerodynamics
  • Autocross
  • B Spec
  • Cars, Mostly ours
  • Comic Books and Movies
  • Dialing In
  • Dominating with Dawson
  • Driver Education
  • Fitness
  • Food
  • GLTC
  • Grid Life
  • Guests & Interviews
  • Honda Challenge
  • HPDE
  • Judges
  • Lemons Rally
  • Mechanical
  • Motorcycles
  • Our Team
  • Races
  • Racing 101
  • Radios and Communication
  • Safety
  • SCCA
  • SIM racing
  • Sundae Cup
  • Telemetry
  • Themes
  • Time attack
  • Track Photography
  • WoOT

  • About Our Team