Garage Heroes In Training

Our podcast this week focuses on our race weekend at NHMS with the 24 Hours of Lemons teams. We had a bit of a struggle getting ready, but the cars eventually cooperated and raced well, at least for a bit. In the end, we had a great time and caught up with a lot of friends and made several new ones this weekend.

On this episode, Alan, Jennifer, Kate, Vicki and Bill are still recuperating from the race weekend hangover, but did manage to discuss:

1. Vicki learns the alphabet, finally.
2. Pre-race prep and race car struggles.
3. We broke the first rule of racing and brought an non-prepped car to the track
4. El Jeffe/The Bad Hombre/The Trophy Truck/Race Truck was finished literally hours before the race.
5. The E36 BMW struggle did not complete until midday Friday afternoon when our great friend Bruce figured out a simple electrical issue that we could not find on our own
6. We had to pick up a windshield, which was in Canada
7. Bill learns to not joke with the border police
8. Normal race induced issues led to a lot of on track repairs and replacement for the race truck, especially related to our steering, power steering, and steering rack.
9. SpiderStang was almost brought into race trim since we had all hands on deck and needed two cars
10. We rolled the dice and brought the E36 to the track and hoped we could fix it with the aide of our friends in the paddock area
11. Friday testing went well with El Jeffe and we were able to get almost all of our new to NHMS drivers
12. Jennifer clears all prior NHMS demons from last year
13. Kate enjoys her first time on this track and then promptly has internet issues in mid story
14. Jennifer is very excited and saw many benefits of the Watkins Glen HPDE we sent to two weeks ago.
15. We may finally have solved our braking issue with the El Jeffe race truck
16. Bill creates a new word for the dictionary
17. Bruce saved our team having to get another engine and perform and engine swap by solving our issue and getting the engine in the E36 to fire.
18. Bill confirms that by fire, they meant to get it running and not that it had caught on fire.
19. Special thanks to the Thunder for Days team in their Folgers E36 BMW for all their assistance as well. Apparently, they travel with an entire parts tore worth of spare parts to each race. Thankfully. And Wisely. We owe you all.
20. Our one time only Guitar Heroes In Training Theme for this race
21. Vicki confuses AC/DC and Kiss somehow
22. Mia tormented Craggier as the Plague Doctor all weekend
23. Several other teams were theming hard this weekend including appearances by the Three Pedal Mafia's Ambiguously Gay Duo themed new Pontiac Solstice and the entire gang that represented Baby Shark.
24. Jennifer's costume was very helpful in getting our cars to have no penalty laps
25. Harley Quinn and the harlequin GTI were also a big hit, ad it was quite fast on the track.
26. We had a run on power steering pumps for the race truck this weekend, using three total, and we also lost the steering rack/box
27. We then run through the race for the race truck and then for the E36 race car
28. NHMS this year was the most aggressive race we have been in and there were many incidents, especially Saturday
29. We also had a Guest driver this weekend, Jeff Wright, who we met at our Lucky Dog race in Portland this summer. We hope he had a great time. His smiles
30. Our wheel spacers led to tire tracking issues in the El Jeffe race truck
31. We eventually (think) we lost the steering rack and had some steering difficulty that eventually led to the race truck parking for the last half of Sunday
32. Jennifer gets here first black flag in the race truck
33. Bill ran first in the E36 on Saturday and raced with several of our friends on the track for long periods of time
34. We peaked at 5th place overall, our highest position ever. Now we need to figure out how to stay there for the whole weekend.
35. We learn that there are two different style safety harnesses/safety belts
36. Saturday night dinner and post-race festivities
37. Vicki finally meets her girl crush, Amanda Tully, in full costume, in the Three Pedal Mafia's hot tub, built for 4, but somehow managed to squeeze in 9 that evening. Hopefully, we will have her on as a future guest.
38. The festivities went long into the night.
39. Alan eventually gets into a on race CSI investigation that gets edited out a bit.
40. Vicki proves that numbers are hard
41. We end up talking all over each other during the review of Alan's Sunday stint
42. The Egan's new car modifications led to a lot of fun but also a lot more gas usage
43. We ended our day in the BMW E36 when we lost either a wheel bearing and/or a hub
44. Team improvements for next year were abundant
45. Radios for each team member if possible
46. Earlier starting prep on race day morning with more people
47. Training matrix will be developed and monitor our progress towards overall team knowledge and skill improvement for next year and the future
48. New Pit Crew Chief election for 2010 season is very likely
49. Spares parts for the BMW for next season
50. On site car alignment verification capability within our team
51. We begin planning our off season and our 2020 season, including re-theming several cars for the 2020

Thank you to all our friends, we cant wait to see you again next season!

Our podcast this week focuses on our race weekend at NHMS with the 24 Hours of Lemons teams.  We had a bit of a struggle getting ready, but the cars eventually cooperated and raced well, at least for a bit.  In the end, we had a great time and caught up with a lot of friends and made several new ones this weekend.

Thank you to all our friends, we cant wait to see you again next season!

Please vote for Vicki A https://www.intechtrailers.com/max-the-tach#

NHMS race weekend prep status.

One race, two cars, neither working. The rest is good though.

On one hand we have the BMW E36 3 series from 1998. Issues, yes. It won't start. It seems to not be getting power to the computer system and won't turn over. We found one wiring issue and are tracking down any others, slowly. One good thing is that the prior owners live very close to our race, so as a last resort, we may ask for some assistance.

El Jeffe/The Bad Hombre: Braking issues abound. Still. The caliper/pads do not fully release from the rotors, which may be the issue we have been battling this entire season.

On this episode:

1. Alan breaks up into a game of boggle with things like DME, EWS2, etc.
2. Vicki breaks back in and tries to get us to explain what is going on
3. Bill breaks down the entire battle we have been having with the brakes on the race truck
4. El Jeffe brake theories, plan, and a review of the current status
5. An El Jeffe Transit story for the books
6. Alan talks about flashing ECU's and seeking additional help to get the E36 running well again.
7. Alan does his best weatherman impression and forecasts clear skies for the E36
8. Kate even makes a quick guest appearance towards the end

It seems to be a standard week before the race. Now will this turn out? Tune in tomorrow, same bat channel, same bat time.

Or actually when we record at the track this weekend.

Please vote for Vicki @ https://www.intechtrailers.com/max-the-tach#

NHMS: One race, two cars, neither working. On one hand we have the BMW E36 3 series from 1998.  Issues, yes.  It won’t start.  It seems to not be getting power to the computer system and won’t start.

El Jeffe/The Bad Hombre:  Braking issues abound.  Still.  The caliper/pads do not fully release from the rotors, which may be the issue we have been battling this entire season.

Welcome to our latest podcast episode where we review our weekend HPDE with NASA North East at the world famous Watkins Glen International racetrack. We had a great weekend with 5 of our team showing up and two other friends from the Everyone Racers Podcast and The Three Pedal Mafia racing team, Chris and Chrissy.

We summarize the prepping of the many cars we brought and the debacle it became for almost every car we brought.

Cars we prepped included:

1. BMW E36 1998 race car
2. 1. Roll bar prep and Passenger racing seat installation
   2. Issue: Won't start as we were prepping to leave. Issue still TBD
   1. Roll bar padding and switch to racing seats and racing harness from OEM
   2. Issue: 4-point belts aren't acceptable so hot swap at Watkins Glen to install two new 6-point harness sets
3. 1999 Mazda MX-5 Turbo Miata with Flyin' Miata Turbo
   1. Installed new roll bar
   2. Issue: did not finish roll bar installation and did not remember to reconnect the battery before giving it to Jennifer
4. 2019 Mazda MX-5
   1. Mostly no issue, except cleaning
5. 2017 Toyota GT TRD
   1. Bad Lug bolts and Missing Lug bolts
   2. Waited until day before to get parts, ended up with bad hub threads and missing bolts, and doesn't know how to click the pay button after registering for the HPDE
   3. Cue the sad trombone please
6. 2013 Dodge Dart
   1. Did not have time to change to race seats, nor brake pads and fluid, nor tires from standard OEM
7. 2017 BMW M240i
   1. No issues since Chris and Chrissy are always prepared, unlike us.
8. Race Prepped Honda Civic

Brad was an excellent test passenger for three different cars on the track. He reviews his first ever race laps in the Turbo NB MX-5 versus the race prepped Honda Civic vs a new Acura NSX.

Vicki, Jennifer, and Bill covered our in car instructors and areas we worked on and improved over the weekend.

These areas included:

1. Track vision
2. Racing lines in general
3. Braking points and braking pressure and the proper application and removal of the braking pressure
4. Turn in Points
5. Input sequencing
6. Several drills, including vision and non-shifting the entire lap or session
7. Car control
8. Learning and feeling what is correct and what isn't with immediate feedback
9. Late apexing vs early apexing and turn in
10. Prep is key to racing

In addition, we also reviewed our thoughts of the track and the NASA North East HPDE event in general.

We also reviewed the relative performance of the Turbo 1999 NB MX-5 to the newly updated 2019 MX-5 ND.

On this episode we review our HPDE with NASA at the world famous Watkins Glen International racetrack. We had a great weekend with 5 of our team showing up and two friends from the Everyone Racers Podcast and The Three Pedal Mafia racing team. We summarize the prepping of the many cars we brought and the debacle it became for almost every car we brought. In addition, we also reviewed our thoughts of the track and the performance of the Turbo 1999 NB MX-5 to the new 2019 MX-5 ND at Watkins Glen.

Racing is both physically and mentally challenging, even at the beginner and intermediate levels. For this week's episode, we were very proud to have Trey Shannon as a guest. Trey is located near Charlotte NC and is helping many high level drivers and teams with their off track preparation both physically and mentally. The discussion will go over many areas that you can focus on and improve not only your best lap time, but also improve your consistency over many laps. The degradation due to fatigue can lead to not only slower laps, but also the demands can lead to loss of focus and increase the likelihood of driver errors and potential damage to the car and driver(s).

During this episode we discuss:

1. Physical preparation
2. 1. Anaerobic and Aerobics
3. Mental Preparation and acuity
4. Cardiovascular fitness
   1. Diaphragm vs chest/shoulder breathing
5. Breathing exercises and breathe control
6. On track relaxation strategies and techniques
7. Neck, Shoulders, Hands and Core Stability
8. Eye exercises and hand eye coordination
9. Sleep
10. Diet and Nutrition, especially on race day and race weekend
11. Hydration
12. Off season preparation, Pre-race, at the race, during the race, and post-race options
13. Training periodization and improving well rounded fitness for all aspects of life
14. Cramping and cramp prevention
15. Heat and Cold management strategies
16. Outdoor training ideas and options
17. Improving proprioception and other driver "feel" capabilities during the race
18. Pre-race warmup techniques to get you in the zone in the first few seconds behind the wheel
19. Cognitive ability degradation with fatigue is easily quantifiable and very significant

This is critical when you are looking to compete in an endurance type of racing where the ability to be at or near your fastest consistently could dramatically improve your overall performance by many TEN's (10's) of seconds, not just the usual TENTH's (0.1's) everyone pursues. It not only affects your overall speed, but the quality of the decisions and skills on the track, especially over time.

If you are interested in improving in this area of your driving, please feel free to contact Trey at:

Podium Performance Fitness in Cornelius North Carolina (near Charlotte) or on the website at PodiumPerformanceFitness.com and follow them on Instagram and Twitter.

Racing is both physically and mentally challenging, even at the beginner and intermediate levels.  For this week’s episode, we were very proud to have Trey Shannon of Performance Podium Fitness as a guest.  Trey is helping many high level drivers and teams with their off track preparation both physically and mentally.  The discussion can improve not only your best lap time, but also improve your consistency over many laps.

On this week's (delayed) podcast we go over how to plan and prepare for a race weekend nutritionally. We will usually have a 3-4 day weekend with 12-40 drivers and crew to feed, so we know what works well for us and what doesn't. It really does affect how well the weekend goes and can seriously Impact your driver's and team performance in a significant way.

Some of our top tips include:

1. Prep before leaving for the track and when to start cooking
2. Meal planning and prep thoughts and techniques
3. Some of our best recipes
4. Hydration, beyond suds
5. Our typical schedule and communication strategy, also known as divide and conquer and start cooking in bulk the Monday or Tuesday before race weekend.
6. Crock pots and crock pot liners are your friends (Including the use of Insta-Pot)
7. What is a Wartburger and why you want one
8. Storage, utensils, and serving needs
9. On track/last minute pickups, including ice, water, fruit, etc.
10. Do not put pickles into the ice tubs, especially if the lid is open/loose
11. 5 gallon drink coolers filled with ice water and Gatorade or lemonade
12. Minimize prep and cleanup at the track as much as possible
13. Clear totes are very helpful for organizing and finding at the track
14. If possible, have a separate set of things from your normal kitchen during the season to make pre-race packing as easy and quick as possible
15. Scheduling meals and responsibilities on track day
16. Snacks, drinks, open platters etc. for in between meal grazing
17. Advantages of Camp Sharing with other friends and teams, preferably both
18. Cleaning wipes and other techniques to deal with potentially limited water supplies at some track infields and pit areas
19. Favorite gadgets and prep tools
20. Smokers, Crock Pots, Sous Vide, Turkey Fryers, etc.
21. Favorite meals and meals that are difficult/require "too much" prep for at track preparation
22. Other food and drink related thoughts
23. Variety of the menu from race to race is also something to consider

We will be producing many of the best recipes we use on our website shortly after this episode (once Bill finished prepping the 6 cars we need to end our season)

We end with a much anticipated (by Bill) Hella Sweet or But Terrible that went over like a Led Balloon.

Please let us know if you or your team have any suggestions and recipes if possible and we can share them with everyone with either an email to [email protected] or even better within a 5 star review from wherever you downloaded our podcast.

On this week’s (delayed) podcast we go over how to plan and prepare for a race weekend nutritionally.  We will usually have a 3-4 day weekend with 12-40 drivers and crew to feed, so we know what works well for us and what doesn’t.  It really does affect how well the weekend goes and can seriously Impact your driver’s and team performance in a significant way. 

We end with a much anticipated (by Bill) Hella Sweet or But Terrible that went over like a Led Balloon.