Speed Secrets Podcast

Jeff Braun joins me to talk about what makes the best engineers, and what the best drivers do differently. Of course, Jeff can’t resist sharing what he knows about tuning a car’s handling, so he does that in this episode, too. Most important, by listening to Jeff, you get an insight into the process, or approach, to tuning a car’s performance.

No doubt, Jeff is one of the very best race car engineers in the world. He’s engineered cars at every level, and every type: NASCAR, karts, club racing cars, Indy, GT and Prototypes, and even Top Fuel dragsters. But what sets Jeff apart from many engineers is how he can explain what he’s doing, what a car is doing, and even how the best think.

To register for the Tune Your Car’s Handling webinar that we are doing on April 23-24, 2018, go to https://SpeedSecrets.com/Tune-Your-Handling.

And you can follow Jeff at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AutoRacingTechTips/

Twitter: @jvbraun

Instagram: @jvbraun

Ed Potkanowicz joins me to talk about the work he does with Wayne Taylor Racing drivers, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Renger van der Zande regarding core body temperature, heart rate and stress to help them improve their performance. What he’s learned from working with elite-level pro drivers, and shares in this podcast will help you drive better and safer.

Ed is an Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology at Ohio Northern University where he focuses on “driver science” – the objective and scientific examination of the driver’s physiological response to the cockpit from which data-based recommendations can be made to improve driver safety, tolerance and performance. He’s also a member of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences, American College of Sport Medicine Member, and the Motorsport Health and Safety Taskforce.

Follow Ed on Twitter @epotkanowicz, and his website at www2.onu.edu/~e-potkanowicz.

Colin Braun joins me again (he was on episode #7 over a year ago) to talk about his approach to learning a track he’s never been to before, what it takes to get to throttle sooner, how to use the brakes, being smooth with the steering, and what “rotating” a car really means. Basically, he shares with you what he does to be so bloody fast! We recorded this episode while driving from the Lisbon airport to Portimao in Portugal, so we also share a couple of funny travel stories (since Colin’s luggage had gotten lost on his flight and would be in the same clothes for the next 4 days…)!

Colin has won races and championships in sports cars, NASCAR and open-wheel cars. He’s the youngest driver to have ever stood on the podium at Le Mans, won the IMSA Prototype Challenge championship five times, and won NASCAR Trucks series races.

Follow Colin at colinbraun.com, www.facebook.com/ColinBraun, @colinbraun on Twitter, and @colinbraun on Instagram.

I mentioned being able to download my past webinars – go to SpeedSecrets.com/Webinars to do so.

Lyn St. James joins me to talk about her career, and more importantly, what she learned about driving that’ll make you a better driver – how precision is more important than bravery, understanding car set up leads to being more sensitive to the limit of the car, who the best drivers she ever raced against are, and why we have a need for speed.

Lyn really doesn’t need any introduction, but the highlights are her being the 1992 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year, winning the Daytona 24-Hour race twice and Sebring 12-Hour race once, racing at Le Mans, in Trans-Am and the IMSA GTO series. The list of accomplishments is long, so check out her website at www.lynstjames.com for more info – and to learn about what she’s doing these days.

Gama Aguilar-Gamez allows me to record a coaching session I do with him. We talk about identifying strengths and weaknesses, and then what he needs to do to improve. We use data to confirm some things that we felt were things he should work on, and talk about the approach he should take to make these improvements. Oh, and we talk about the difference between him and Fernando Alonso.

Gama races in the PRO3 (Spec E30) series in the Pacific Northwest, as well as being a founder of the Track Attack application – a tool that helps you compare data from different systems, and provides a secure storage system.

For more information about Track Attack, go to www.TrackAttack.io; and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @TrackAttackApp.

Heyward Wagner joins me to talk about what the Sports Car Club of America is up to, and why. We talk about how the club’s focus is on converting car and driving enthusiasts into participants (I love this!), and they’re all about having fun with cars. Specifically, we dive into SCCA road racing, autocross, Track Night In America, and the new focus on Time Trials.

Heyward is the Director of Marketing and Experiential Programs for the SCCA. The son of parents involved in the SCCA, he’s lived and breathed autocross, corner marshaling, rally and rallycross, and club road racing his entire life. But it’s what he learned being a summer camp counselor that has had the biggest impact on how he contributes to the many positive changes the SCCA has seen in the past few years.

 Check out:

• scca.com
• www.tracknightinamerica.com

Elivan Goulart joins me to talk about the Sports Car Driving Association (SCDA), and then what makes him so fast, and why he wins so many races. We talk about self-coaching, whether you need to crash to learn the limits, how it’s important to take time before driving to mentally prepare – and how, how to learn to read other drivers, and the strategy behind racecraft.

Elivan started in Karts at the age of 12, then moved into cars in Formula 500 (2001 and 2002 SCCA National Runoff Champion), then moved up to the new Formula SCCA in the Cooper Tires Championship and won Championship in 2004. In 2011 he won the SCCA National Championship in Spec Miata, and was the SCCA Presidents Cup winner that year.  In 2013 Elivan won the SCCA STU National Championship, and has also won the 2016 Pirelli World Challenge TCA Championship. In fact, Elivan has won over 45% of all career races entered since the beginning.

Sports Car Driving Association

Web: www.SCDA1.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sportscardrivingassociation

Elivan’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Elivan-Goulart-Racing

Ann Morey joins me to talk about how to get in the zone, what gets in the way of doing so, the voices we all have in our heads when driving, self-critique versus self-awareness, experimenting to learn, and the journey she’s on to win Spec Miata races.

Ann writes a great blog about her racing and driving experience at GentleWomanRacer.com. She started doing Driver Education track events about 5 years ago, got addicted to the sport, and now races a Spec Miata in the Southeast.

Blog: www.gentlewomanracer.com

Instagram: @the_ann_m

Twitter: @The_Ann_M

And if you’re interested in the Virtual Track Walk videos I mentioned, check out www.SpeedSecrets.com/Virtual-Track-Walks.

Steve Stepanian joins me to talk about what the best drivers do, what they don’t do, what his Aha! moments were, and how you can be an even better driver.

Steve has an amazing passion for the sport of performance and race driving, which is why he jokes that he doesn’t need a therapist! His enthusiasm comes through in this podcast, as well as his experience and advice that you can use. When he’s not racing Spec E30 or instructing, Steve is the Chairman of the Driving Events Committee of the BMW CCA, the Pacific Region DEC Rep, and license director for the Southwest region of NASA.

Check out the links to:

BMW CCA: https://www.bmwcca.org

BMW Club Racing: http://www.bmwccaclubracing.com

NASA Pro Racing: https://nasaproracing.com

Dale Sievwright joins me to talk about electric cars, being an engineer at Tesla, racing gas-powered cars, autonomous vehicles, and the future of driving.

When Dale isn’t working to make Teslas quiet as an NVH engineering techician, he’s either spending time with his wife and son, or racing. Dale drove a BMW Touring Car for Rotek Racing in the VLN series at the Nurburgring and will be returning this year. Dale is also a 3-time class winner at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, driving for El Diablo Motorsports/Bimmerworld, and has had multiple podiums in the United States Touring Car Championship.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dale.sievwright.3

Instagram: @thedalesievwright