One Lap of America

One Lap of America 2022

– Marlon Sumlin – Sundae Cup Class

GHIT 0333: One Lap of America 2022 – Marlon Sumlin – Sundae Cup Class

In the first of a series, we reflect back on the 2022 One Lap of America with Marlon Sumlin. Marlon completed the event in his Mazda 2 Sundae Cup car. This was Marlon’s first One Lap of America, and it will not be his last. We talk about Marlon’s impressions from his first OLoA, how it is to compete in a low horsepower, Sundae Cup car, and what he learned from his first event. As always, it seems like the first OLoA event leads to an annual habit and we cannot wait to try our first One Lap of America, hopefully next year. If you don’t yet know about the One Lap of America event, this is a great introduction, we hope.

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, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate that very much. Even better would be a podcast review. This would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS If you are looking to stream or save your integrated telemetry/racing data with you video, Candelaria Racing Products Sentinel System may be the perfect solution for you. We are amid installing the system in two of our cars. If this sounds like something that may help you and your team, please use our discount code “GHIT“. This will give you a 10% discount to all our listeners during the checkout process at https://candelaria-racing.com/

PS2 Please do not forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, do not forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order from https://apextrackcoach.com/

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, and Bill

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

Highlights for this episode include:

1) What is the One Lap of America

2) How it is to participate in the OLoA for the fist time and in the new to this year Sundae Cup category.

3) How everyone on the OLoA work together to support the other entrants and fight against the weather and any mechanical issues that may arise during the week.

4) Bill makes a joke that Vicki liked. Time to play the lottery.

5) Track reviews and what Marlon thought of the new to him tracks for the event.

6) Marlon’s future as a packer and a mover and some great stories from the 2022 event.

7) How to make a Mazda 2 sound like a Huey Helicopter.

8) We try to find out how Becky and Scott were able to come in second overall on the skid pad.

9) How Marlon and the One Lap of America teams helped support FORCE and work against cancer, as well as a ton of other charities for the event.

10) We start planning the 2023 OLoA.

11) We start to talk a bit about the NASA Great Lakes TREC endurance racing series that we cannot wait to try for the first time and what prep is needed for the car.

For more information about FORCE or to make a charitable contribution: https://www.facingourrisk.org/

GHIT 0333: One Lap of America 2022 – Marlon Sumlin – Sundae Cup Class

Scott Robertson from the Track Walking podcast

GHIT 0218: Scott Robertson from the Track Walking podcast

(Part 2 of Our GLTC Series)

For this episode, Scott Robertson reviews a variety of topics including his racing in the Grid Life GLTC series, his multiple One Lap of America entries, being a driving instructor, and his Track Walking podcast. Scott had an ill timed racing incident earlier this year just prior to the 2021 One Lap of America. He was somehow able to get the car back in running shape in time for the OLOA with the help of a ton of help from the racing community. His podcast approaches our sport and driving in general from a very different perspective. The podcast is definitely unique among the racing and driving podcasts that are available. We hope to have his podcast co-host on Seth Lemke on in a coming episode. And we cannot wait to meet his crew chief and co-driver Becky Burton at the track and hopefully our podcast.

Want to help our 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, you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating. Even better, a podcast review would be greatly appreciated. This 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/ScottRobertsonOnGHiT

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 episode include:

1) How Scott’s racing career began and has continued to progress.

2) We discover how versatile Scott’s Miata is in its current role, road driven, race car, tow vehicle, and sometimes hotel room and base camp.

3) Vicki and Scott bond over their Miata love for a bit. Scott has a super secret spare stash and upgrade kit that we will get out of him someday. We’d love to get our NB Miata a bit more reliable and sturdy. (and we all know Bill loves upgrading his checklists, lol)

4) Details of his difficulties in preparing for this year’s One Lap of America after his on track incident. It literally took a village (of racing friends) and every last minute to pull off the miracle save.

5) The intertwining of the 2021 One Lap of America and the current GLTC season have impacted each other and how the season has gone to this point.

6) Tips, Tricks, and Do’s and Don’ts that experience has taught Scott over the years of instructing new and soon to be drivers on the track at an HPDE.

7) Prepping for GLTC vs One Lap of America, and especially how to One Lap in a Miata race car

8) Several things Scott got from Coaching with (hopefully our future guest for our GLTC series) Tom O (Tom O’Gorman) but we can also confirm one item that was not part of Tom’s coaching.

9) Podcast goals and perspectives on what they are trying to provide to our sport.

To follow Scott Robertson, you can go to:

@TrackWalkingPodcast on Facebook or Instagram

@RobertsonRacing on Instagram

@RobertsonRacingMaita on Facebook

GHIT 0218: Scott Robertson from the Track Walking podcast (Part 2 of Our GLTC Series)

**The Monster Trailer allows Scott to race at Grid Life and One Lap of America**

GridLife — **The Monster Trailer allows Scott to race at Grid Life and One Lap of America**

PGR Racing: An EV in the 2021 OLOA

GHIT 0208: PGR Racing – Racing In an EV in the 2021 One Lap of America EV Race Car: Ready or Not

“Tony Stark” was the obvious lead in to this episode with PGR Racing and their EV racing car that recently competed in the 2021 One Lap of America. On this episode, Andrew DeKoning and Chad Martin go into the pluses and minuses of racing an electric vehicle in the One Lap of America and racing an EV in general. We really had no reference to racing an EV, except for those unfounded rumors on several golf courses. Bill was stuck late at work so he sounds a bit “tinny” for most of this episode. We learned a ton during the episode about racing EV’s and we even know what PGR stands for now.

In this episode of Dominating with Dawson,

we go over what a contact patch is and how it is the key to driving and racing. The contact patch is the portion of a tire that is in contact with the track surface, and the contact patch is influenced by the weight transfer during the driving. The control of the contact patch through the control of the weight transfer is the key to maximizing your traction and use of traction during driving and is a direct measure of the potential speed and track time that you can achieve. And we may have ended up planning a race with Ben Dawson.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could 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/PGRRacing

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 the PGR Racing episode include:

1) We have never driven an EV on track so Andrew and Chad review some of the differences that they feel, hear, and the driving changes that are required related to changing from an internal combustion engine (ICE) when transitioning to an electric vehicle (EV). Regenerative braking is also another significant difference between the two, along with the weight associated with the batteries.

2) Where an EV excels currently and where there are still limitations and challenges to racing EV’s.

3) What PGR Racing modified on their Tesla Model 3 to help with the challenges of the One Lap of America and why they chose the Model 3 vs the other available EV options.

4) Details on the upcoming test of autocross’ing a Tesla in Autopilot. No back seat driving though, thankfully, lol.

5) Bill fights not to make the Tesla model name joke. He may even have succeeded. (Hint: the model names are S, 3, X, and Y)

6) A recent market change is the availability of several options for making the car suitable for track use and there are several more expected to be coming in the future.

7) The downside of changing tires right before the start of the first event on the One Lap of America. Key word: mold release.

8) Everything you ever wanted to know about charging for the transits and at the track.

9) Did the Tesla have any mechanical issues and what the PGR team did to prepare the car for the event.

10) Tips that they have learned from their One Lap of America experiences in an EV.

GHIT 0208: PGR Racing – Racing In an EV in the One Lap of America EV Race Car: Ready or Not

Ross Bentley’s 2021 One Lap of America

On our latest GHIT podcast, episode #198: Ross Bentley talks about the recent One Lap of America Event

Ross Bentley returns to the podcast to review the 2021 One Lap of America event that finished last week. This was Ross’s first One Lap and he seemed to have a blast. I think the hook has been set and Ross’s inherent competitiveness will likely lead to him trying to win it in the future. We go into the event as a whole, its history, how the 2021 event went, and every detail we could think of to scout for Bill’s eventual entry in a coming year. It sounded like a great time and should probably be on almost every high performance driver’s bucket list. Now which car should we enter, hmmmm.

On this episode’s Dominating with Dawson,

Ben clarifies what people mean when they say the term “pedal fest”. Bill first heard this related to drag racing. Vicki had heard it but not a clue as to what it meant. We also go into what the goal should be on track, the usual causes of the “fest” and ways to think about re-applying the throttle to minimize the issue. Ben also demonstrates the sound that your car may have if this happens to you, lol.

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc.

Also, if you could 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/RossBentleysOneLap

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. We have two systems for our team and Bill is looking to add a third for this season, pending CFO approval from Vicki. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc.

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 One Lap of America covered in this episode include:

1) We start with a display of a bit of podcast time travel involving Ross’s appearances on our podcast.

2) Ross summarizes how the original “Cannonball Run” event transformed into the current
One Lap of America” event and how it is structured.

3) The event consisted of a scheduled ~20 events at various tack facilities across the country that change from year to year. This year the total travel distance was almost 4,000 miles in the week, not counting any of driving within the events.

4) Tracks consisted of: Tire Racks’ Skid Pad, Grissom AFB for an autocross, Memphis International Raceway, Eagles Canyon, NOLA, Atlanta Motorsport Park, the Lanier Oval, Summit Point, and Gingerman.

5) What to pack, what to bring, how to prep, car and tire selection, etc. Yep, it’s in there.

6) Great stories abound about the cars, the drivers, the track events, the transits, and even some good hearted sponsor induced bounties for the event.

7) We hope to have a few other teams on the podcast as well to discuss the event in coming episodes.

GHIT 0198: Ross Bentley on his recent One Lap of America Event