Garage Heroes In Training

Latest Episodes:

GHIT 0089: Top 10 List of Things We Learned From Racing Jan 30, 2020

Show notes

For this shorter episode of our podcast we thought it would be helpful and fun to go over our individual lists of the top ten things we have learned in our first two years of low budget endurance racing. We also had a few items added in from Kate as well as several thoughts from our Facebook and Instagram accounts. In addition to our top ten list, highlights include:

1) If its worth doing, it worth overdoing, again. 2) Bill's math side is affecting his line and apex visualization and target, still 3) Jen needs to work on her subtlety 4) Vicki is confused with what racing means, but refers to it assuming she is addressing new drivers 5) We review our top choices for low cost endurance tires and brakes at this point 6) Square tires are not desirable 7) Vicki and Bill discuss tire pressure and its potential effects on traction and grip and car handling 8) Bill pretends to be Richard Dawson 9) Black flags are not atta boys or girls 10) Jen learns about blips and has homework for the morning 11) Jen's cat makes an appearance by rubbing on the microphone and says hi 12) Alan apparently makes an appearance via Jen 13) We talk about the video Mental said not to talk about 14) Another discussion on the difference between front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars 15) Jim makes another drop in appearance 16) Matt F, Randy B, Roger M, Jason H, and James M were kind enough to add a few items to our lists 17) Purple mist with sparkly pop rocks It seems like the only things we learned were from the Three Pedal Mafia. Hopefully, you can find a team willing to help mentor you early in your racing team's growth to assist you. 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 0088: Jim Tramontano of No Money Motorsports Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Jim Tramontano is a racing driver primarily in Spec Miata and the creative force behind the No Money Motorsports blog. He started racing and tries to balance a personal life and a racing hobby within the confines of a real-world budget and time availability. He has tried many things to save both time and money. Many have worked, but some, not so much. He shares our interest in spreading the word about how much fun can be had with our sport and how it can be accomplished by almost everyone while maintaining a low budget. We subscribed to his blog many months ago and hope you will too. He is also a fun follow on Instagram.

Highlights from this episode include:

1) His history and growth in the sport and his blog 2) Vicki relearns to not stop on track with the brakes applied 3) The differences in Spec Miata and Spec MX-5 (and a bit Spec Mazda/MX Cup) 4) We discuss some of the Planet Miata visit we recently had and Miata's in general 5) How he broke his Dodge/Mopar addiction, almost 6) Some of the details of the Spec Miata series vehicles 7) Scrubbed tires/Scrubs are introduced to Vicki for the first time 8) Several top tips and tricks to use when racing and being fiscally responsible or at least be able to buy even more toys a bit more easily 9) Many budget saving bookmarks and methods he uses 10) Camel Camel Camel as a source of parts etc 11) Vicki hears about ice racing for the 6th time/first time, lol 12) Vicki has her priorities straight, brake pads first, hubby a distant second 13) A no fail approach to torqueing your lug nuts, well almost 14) Vicki learns of bump drafting for the first time and isn't quite sure about it, yet 15) Vicki, ever so subtly, tries to get another female driver by luring his wife out to the track some day 16) We begin to make a very bad plan for his current daily driven Civic Si into a low budget endurance race car 17) Vicki denies an early drive experience and reminisces about here long lost Wrangler 18) A bit of trash talk amongst friends towards the end

You can follow Jim on his blog at: https://nomoneymotorsports.com/

Or on instagram at: @ no_money_motorsports_blog

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 0087: SilverSleeves Team Racing Driver Greg Birch Jan 26, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, we had Greg Birch on from the SilverSleeves racing team from the west coast. We first met the team at Laguna Seca earlier this month but both of us had less than ideal racing weekends. It was great to catch up with Greg and we look forward to racing with them again.

Highlights for this episode include:

1) What is a Wolseley Hornet, its history, and how to get one onto the track, as well as future plans 2) Greg's Mini fascination and history with both classic Mini's and modern Mini's 3) Canada is a great place to get low cost cars for racing due to insurance rules and where Bill and Alan are going soon, very soon 4) Where the Magic Bus nickname came from and its full history 5) Some of the driving rules for their team and perhaps how they should be our teams 6) a reasonable place to get driver training in the pacific northwest 7) The SilverSleeves car assortment, like the Austin 1800, and MG 1100 and the Barbie Corvette 8) Getting to hear the words competitive and Ford Probe engine in a sentence 9) What is a Hydrolastic Suspension and its "advantages" in racing 10) Racing in Lucky Dog and the 24 Hours of Lemons series 11) We come up with a way to expand upon their primarily British car themes 12) Bill's idea to limit speed creep win low cost endurance racing and fortifying Class C cars 13) Discuss the mini as the predecessor to all transverse front wheel drive cars that are so prevalent today and its racing heritage 14) Team fastest lap punishment ideas and a discussion on speed creep in low budget endurance racing 15) Tire wear versus tire growth, lol 16) Waterford Hills Race track 17) Dialing in our new JCW Mini Cooper with as much cater as we can get 18) Too many cars and a way to possibly limit the issue with your significant other 19) One of the best team mantas we have heard 20) A very helpful the Good, the Bad and the Ugly 21) The inherent greatness of in race racing with a friend on the track, like when Greg raced with Todd of Everyday Driver that may be in their upcoming tv episode on Motor Trend 22) Best west coast tracks to add to our list

We had no luck getting any info on the new theming ideas that SilverSleeves is working on but look forward to the big reveal.

Hydrolastic suspensions for everyone!!

Here are a few videos where the SilverSleeves team and cars are featured.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lata9v4SUkI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NLSdQDQWF4

https://youtu.be/tGccAVdWo98

Best regards, Bill, Vicki, and Alan Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team

WOOT 0086: Our 2019 Year In Movies Review Plus More Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

Another Way Off Our Topic (WOOT)) episode this time, where we review 1) the past year in movies and select our favorites. 2) We then go into the top movies of the decade. 3) We also go into the movies of 2020 we are most looking forward to and finally, 4) we cover the worst movies of the past year. While initially, it does not seem like we have any car talk, we did manage to get a few related car topics into the show. We hope you enjoy this episode where we cover a bit over 100 movies and shows.

If you agree, disagree, or have any comments, please feel free to let us know on Instagram at GarageHeroesInTraining or on Facebook at GarageHeroesIT or via email at GarageHeroesInTraining@gmail.com.

Highlights from Benny, Alex, Vicki, and Bill's discussion include:

1) Alex does his favorite robot impression early on

2) "Bane" makes several appearances and interviews Alex a bit

3) Benny and Alex give their thoughts on Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

4) Bill lights up Alex like a lightsaber with a Xerox discussion, lol

5) Benny shares our opinion on Joe Pesci

6) Bill does not seem to understand directions for these lists and also finds various ways to cheat his way to having ties

If you have any show requests, please let us know.

We end with our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Neil Peart from the band Rush. He will always be our vote for the most air drummed drummer of all time, even when not close to the way he actually performed.

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 0085: Amanda and Adrian from the Faster Farms Racing Team Jan 16, 2020

Show notes

On this week's podcast, we had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Baak of the Faster Farms team who we met at last week's Lucky Dog race at Laguna Seca. Vicki and Amanda had some very exciting racing for a dozen laps or so until things ended poorly on our end. Their team races a Plymouth Belvedere, as everyone should. After repeatedly racing with them Saturday and Sunday, we had to have them on to find out more about the team, Amanda, and Adrian who made an impromptu appearance. We enjoyed our conversation and hope you will too. We can't wait to see them again, hopefully at the track.

Some highlights include:

1) How and why a Plymouth Belvedere came to be a race car for the past twelve years

2) Faster Farms team history and its ties to a real chicken ranch/pick and pull

3) We compare the different racing areas, like California, Colorado and the east coast race crowds

4) How they installed their crystal auto-brake system to make other cars break before passing them

5) Bill has a(nother) bad plan for west coast racing

6) We also begin to make a plan for an upcoming Thompson race

7) Seeking revenge on Willow Springs

8) The upcoming Alameda parade

9) Probably the best "Good" story we have ever had with our Good, Bad, and the Ugly segment. We are pretty sure Adrian isn't familiar with the word "good", lol.

10) Shout out to our many Belgium and Australian listeners

11) Differences between the Lucky Dog Series and the Lemons series

Hopefully, we can be a bad influence and get them out to Thompson for a race at some point, maybe even getting our all-female driven car team goal accomplished.

You can find them at FasterFarms.com

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

#PlymouthBelvedere #Thunderhill #FasterFarms #LemonsBelvedere #GarageHeroesInTraining #GarageHeroesInTrainingPodcast

GHIT 0084: Our Sunday Race at Laguna Seca with Lucky Dog Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

We conclude our wrap up of our racing at Laguna Seca with the Lucky Dog racing series by summarizing our Sunday race and our overall thoughts and experiences. We had a great trip out to Laguna Seca and the track is wonderful. Did our Saturday continue into Sunday. Yes. Did our car give it everything it had? Yes. Did we finally break the podcast curse and finish a Lucky Dog race? Well……listen and find out.

Highlights of our review include:

1) Race car status and prep review

2) Mental's first rolling start in a race and our thoughts on tire warming of street tires

3) Mental's Stint to start Sunday race day

4) The setup of our race car and how to drive it optimally

5) Many of the differences between the Lucky Dog series and Lemons

6) Vicki's technique to remove some of the oil leaking into the cabin of the car

7) A discussion on window nets

8) Mental seems to have a "new" Miata attraction developing

9) Performance variability between the series and within some of the car's by different drivers

10) Our goals for the weekend and goals for our day/stints

11) Our primary issue turns were #6, #9 and #1 (and late Sunday any straightway, lol)

12) Vicki's thoughts on going through the Andretti Hairpin 3 wide and the aftermath

13) Our repair efforts, several of them

14) Erik won an award from the race, with a bit of our help

15) The joys of a random steering direction on center

16) Our end of day exploits

17) Favorite cars we were able to have several great laps of back and forth racing with

18) Mental completes his full set of competing in all amateur endurance series that use production-based cars

19) Track thoughts about Laguna Seca

20) The upcoming Champ Car race at Watkins Glen

21) Mental takes over hosting and we review our goals going into the race

22) Bill shockingly overthinks things and wanders down a path away from racing

23) Bill befuddles Mental enough that he is left without words

24) We question our training and preparation and Mental

25) Bill points out a gift that Mental received but wasn't even aware

26) Vicki and Mental bond over Veggie/Vegan and Bill will have none of it

27) Front wheel drive thoughts and the difference between it and the way a car is prepared/set up

28) Best/Favorite cars of the weekend

29) Our usual Good, Bad, and the Ugly

30) Overall trip takeaways

Mental was able to get down to a 1:54 on Sunday

Vicki was able to get to a 2:06 on Sunday

Bill was only able to get to 1:59 on Saturday

Fastest lap of the weekend was 1:41 on Saturday and 1:40 on Sunday by the red #97 Miata

Overall, we loved our time with Lucky Dog and their team. Please try to race with them if they are ever near you.

Also, we really want to thank Erik for allowing us to use his car and experience this great track.

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team

#racelucky #raceluckydog #garageheroesintraining #garageheroesintrainingpodcast #fasterfarms #deafstig #deafstigsbodyshop #ThankYouCathy #becauseracecar

GHIT 0083: Our 2019 Review and 2020 Goals Episode Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, Kate and Bill went over our 2019 season and our 2020 goals. Are we on the same page? Do we even belong in the same book? Listen in and find out. Some of it was news to us, lol.

Areas covered included:

2019 Review:

1) How did our Team's 2019 go in your opinion, Highlight and Lowlight

2) How did your personal season go? Highlight and Lowlight

3) Things you want to keep the same/similar and Things we need to change or improve

4) Biggest team weakness or missing need

5) Best Race or HPDE and Worst Race or HPDE

6) Our traditional Good, Bad, and the Ugly

2020 Goals:

1) What race goals do you have For you, For the team, For cars

2) Personal, Non-driving/racing goals

3) What driving/HPDE goals do you have, Any tracks or races interested in for 2020

4) Any additions to our team in terms of People, Tools, Training, Paddock, Cars,

5) Roles/Responsibilities, and Team talents missing/needed

6) What would define a successful year? For you and for our team

7) What would you say to the other members of our team

We try to do this every year and would recommend it to you and your team. Bill's inner planner sometimes takes over.

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, Jen, Kate, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0082: Laguna Seca With Lucky Dog and Mental Jan 05, 2020

Show notes

This was a very quickly done episode by a bunch of very tired hosts and is recorded and unedited live from Laguna Seca after our first day of racing. Recording levels varied a bit more than normal but we all ended up with one of our sillier episodes. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as we did.

'Nuff Said

With Vicki, Bill and special guest Mental Ward

GHIT 0081: Kate and Bennett Danvers of our GHIT Team Dec 28, 2019

Show notes

On this week's podcast, we were finally able to interview Kate and Bennett Danvers and share with you a bit of their background and experiences with our team. Kate shared many words, Bennett, few. We hope you enjoy the weeks episode.

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Overall background of each, including driving, racing, and car history of each and the family

2) How to power oversteer a John Deere tractor and the impact on the grass cut, as well as life with a Mark VI GTI first car

3) Team areas of responsibility during race weekend and upcoming changes to our team for 2020

4) Bennett's amazing tracking abilities and what kept Kate from coming to her first race so long

5) Bennett's claim on the fireproof onesie and our plan to get Quinn into our insanity

6) What cars are their dream cars, especially fellow lemons paddock cars

7) Wildest racing memories, so far with Lucky Dog and the 24 Hours of Lemons

8) What we have done well so far, including the Good, Bad, and the Ugly, and some upcoming improvements we can work on. Bennett can only find good in our food, lol.

9) Bennett offers words of optimism/prediction for our 2020 season

10) Heat upgrade for our winter garage is announced, so if anyone wants to come and visit, it should be warm this winter

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

#OversteerJohnDeere #MarkVIGTI #Mark6GTI #Lemontarians #LemontariansCaddy #SavetheTatas #SavetheTatasCaddy #LemonsCaddy #24hoursoflemons #lemonsworld #lemonsmemories #NJMP #NHMS #LuckyDog #RaceLucky #PortlandInternationalRaceway #PittRace #NASAGL #NASAGLHPDE #RoadAtlanta

WOOT 0080: SPOILER FILLED Discussion of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

SPOILER FILLED EPISODE: On this week's Way Off Our Topic (WOOT) episode, we try to review the most recent Star Wars movie, "The Rise of Skywalker". We try to get a broad range of opinions from relatively hard core Star Wars fans to fans who have seen the movies and we also range from 11 years old to over 50. In general, we all liked the movie. We had issues with some parts, but in general, the internet backlash is much stronger than any of us felt it should be. With us this week, we had returning Guest Jeff with his son Josh (11), returning guest Craiggers with his son Noah (18), along with Vicki and Bill.

Highlights and Discussion centers on the following points:

1) Our individual Star Wars history and fandom

2) An in-depth review of most of the major points of "The Rise of Skywalker" along with several discussions along the way, as well as our usual trivia bits

3) Jeff discusses Roger Bannister's breaking of the 4-minute mile

4) New canon and force capabilities expansion

5) The very full nature of this movie plot and Craig's very likely theory

6) Potential editing choices/options to simplify the movie and add more to sections and/or stakes to the movie

7) Is Hux really Biff

8) Force users: anyone vs by birthright/family lineage

9) Acting comparison between prequels and sequels

10) The Han Solo cameo and would it have happened is Carrie Fisher had not passed away

11) Luke's change in tone vs Episode 8

12) Overall thoughts and rating of the movie

13) Impact of Carrie Fisher's death on the movie and plot points

14) Star Wars: Disney vs Lucas films, Closer than you would think

15) Retcon of The Last Jedi/Episode 8

16) Favorite characters, both lead and supporting

17) Coolest Light Saber of the entire series

18) The Star Wars family tree discussion and significant Naboo commonality

19) The original sequel trilogy layout vs what we saw

Our Final Ratings:

Jeff: Wanted to shift focus and expand upon certain other areas 8.0

Josh: Too Complex, 8.0

Craig: Sith level avoidance, as would be expected, but 8.0

Noah: Avoided, rather similarly, Sith in training? 7.0

Vicki: Still shipping Ben and Rey to a 8.0

Bill: 8.5, not quite a 9 as was thought upon first viewing

And finally a check in on The Mandalorian through episode 7 and a bit about The Witcher

Did we cover everything? If not, let us know in the comments and we may have a part 2.

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

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