• 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

Proving Grounds

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 week’s episode.  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 “Proving Grounds”.  We were able to talk with Zack quite a bit about his overall car interests and how he began working in the area.  As usual, he was a decade long in the making overnight success who made it through perseverance and constant hustle.

  • Zack Klapman is not in Kansas
    Zack Klapman is not in Kansas
  • Zack Klapman on NBC Sports Proving Grounds
    Not On the School Run
  • Zack Klapman and some new fans
    Zack and some new fans

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)  Zack’s 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 Zack’s 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 “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” 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 Nürburgring that involved some of Chris’s 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 wasn’t 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

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