Apex Adjacent

Episode 164-Really, he's fine. But we're not.

Grief has several stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Here at the TeamClearCoat podcast, we've pretty much perfected going though all of those, save for acceptance, so much so that it's pretty routine at this point. Dusty Rusty, Ian's oil pan(s), our general hopes and dreams, and so much more have been topics in our blankety grief hut. But this one, this one got us right in the feels.

In this episode of the TeamClearCoat podcast, we mourn the loss of one of our favorite, albeit short, segments: Chrispatches.

Listeners, don't think about the Chrispatches we've yet to receive, think about the ones we have had. Remember all of the things you've seen in the passenger seat of stranger's cars as Chris stared into the lens of his phone's camera. Carry them with you, each and every one. Except the raw meat. You should absolutely throw that out.

Episode 163-Varsity Roadsters

Joining us this week is Ted Parks, founder of Varsity Roadsters. Let's get this out of the way right up front: we had an absolute BLAST talking to him about all things related to his car and it's development.

A huge thing that we love about doing this show is all of the elements of history and culture that are related to automotive enthusiasm. The overlaps are the things that really intrigue us. We honestly don't think we could find a guest that speaks better to all of those things, their influence, and the incredible outcomes than Ted. Add in some incredible serendipitous moments and the magnitude of Ted's accomplishments really come to light.

Ted's care is truly incredible. The world is a better place with the manifestation of his hard work driving through it. Ted, you're welcome back in the blanket fort at any time. Everyone, be sure to check out his website at www.varsityroadsters.com. Thank you Ted!

Episode 162-Blue shell.

Questions. We has them. Can karting be had without thinking of Mario-esque power-ups? Can Subarus be had without ambient lingering vape? Can a rental Home Depot van be driven without overalls appearing on your body? Which came first, the dent or the depleted health meter? Is it better to hear Buffet or inflict Buffet upon passers-by?

Answers. We may has some. Usually, no. Usually, no. Eh, you're at least wearing them in your mind. Probably the dent. Inflicting, hands down. Maybe this will all make sense, maybe it won't, but by now you should know what you're getting into and what you're going to get out of our goofy show.

RAPTAH - YES.

Episode 161-What's that coming down from the sprinklers?

The stuff that keeps you up at night. The source of the heartburn. No, we're not talking about that certainly-too-old baked ziti that you panic ate out of the fridge at 3 AM, we're talking about the world we live in. The stew. Picture the world as the stew and our goofy show and automotive enthusiasm as a whole as the breadstick.

Sometimes you need to just want to jump out of the stew and take respite on the breadstick for a minute. Ride that butter patty and take a break. Unfortunately, a little bit of Cheeto dust shows up there too, and it's everyone's job to flick it off.

Episode 160

Booty N Pizza. What more can be said? What more could be desired out of life? Never have eleven letters said so much. Our admiration dials get turned to 11 on this show; normally a Mustang owner wouldn't cause so much envy…but…Booty N Pizza.

Speaking of things that make us happy, Dave detected that Ian may have needed a mental break, and stepped in with three impromptu karting heats to get the bad vibes out. We had some fun, Dave inserted himself into an already goofy situation, and we chopped through some pedestrian traffic like it was standing still.

It all comes down to this folks, sometimes life throws a pylon in your way. Said pylon may or may not be moving. Sometimes there's twenty of them and somehow one of them ended up being the president of the United States. You're not always going to have life's track marshal throw a blue flag, so sometimes you've got to get up, get around, and put that youknowwhat behind you. Godspeed fellow kart drivers.

Episode 159-Hurrrrp.

Look, there's no getting around this. Toad. Yep, that Toad. We can never play Toad in Mario Kart again without throwing up a bit in the back of our mouths. Thankfully she didn't describe it as Dry Bones with the tank, because that's Dave's default choice, on the DS version at least. What? Car show? Oh, right.

Car show: Scion. Toyota. Crazy puzzles to unravel with a CR-V spare tire. Car accidents. Gran Turismo. Kroger Lube and Crash Bandicoot. Shoot. Sorry about that. Got away from me again.

Sigh...

Episode 158-Ups and Downs

There's one thing that absolutely needs to be above the fold on this episode's description: RIP BURT REYNOLDS

In other news, we talk about some stuff we like and stuff we don't. A motorcycle racer's behavior? Bad. Kids racing pedal cars at the Goodwood Revival? Capital G Good.

Also in this episode, we discuss some karting etiquette, and Ian reassures Dave that he, Dave, is not being a butt on the track. Keep your foot in it folks.

Episode 157-Coal Rolls

There's some surprises in this episode of the TeamClearCoat Podcast. First, we discuss how much fun we had in Nissan's hopped-up golf kart. After all, tire squeal plus car equals fun, no matter the propulsion system. Another surpirse was our affinity for a huge Subaru, this one really caught us off guard, but hey, if you can move seven people with a smile on your face, then it is a welcome surprise indeed.

Want to know what wasn't a surprise? The end result of Ian getting shoved into a Dodge Journey, like an angry house cat getting shoved into a pet carrier in preparation for a vet appointment. Claws exposed, fur hackled, and ire on high, Ian fills the blanket fort with his cloud of Journey-inspired criticism.

Episode 156 - They just handed us the keys...

Apologies up front for the abreviated episode. Dave and Ian were busy kanoodling across Colorado in all kinds of cars and we're able to make their regularly scheduled appointment in the blanket fort this week.

In lieu of blanket-based broadcasting, we bring you tolerable in-car audio on such topics as the Kia Stinger GT, the Ford Bullitt Mustang, The Volvo XC40, the Subaru BRZ, and the incredible, organ-relocating BMW M5.

Legitimate automotive journalism is tough work people, somebody's gotta do them burnouts, right?

Episode 155-He's like an bomb-sniffing dog for costly online purchases.

When inviting Ian into your home, if there happens to be a limited edition LP boxed set, guess what? IAN GONNA FIND IT. If there was any attempt to hide it, you can bet it's going to be found.

On to the car topics! Listeners, let's um…listen to Dave lament about the Viggen failing emissions testing. Again. On an upnote, Ian had a rental that he really liked, and we've seen some STUFF. Also Ian hates Toto, so there's CLEARLY something wrong with him.

Much like a Tesla Model 3 bumper filled with rain water, we've also unhinged ourselves from our mounting brackets and gone off the rails.