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Episode 202: The School of Lizards

Lizard Brains: Driving Drivers

Episode 202: The School of Lizards

78 annotations

Coaches and racers swap stories from a busy kart/track weekend, including using onboard video and live timing to help drivers improve. The conversation then turns into “lizard brain school” lessons: how to structure practice with lead-follow, why early slalom commitment matters, and how brake release timing (plus a horizon test) changes rotation and corner balance. They also cover coaching mindset—focus on car dynamics, not body mechanics—and share event logistics, SCCA commentary plans, and even a white-water rafting trip.

0:00 --:--

12:25

Term

sim rig

A sim rig is a home driving simulator setup, usually with a steering wheel and pedals. People use it to practice driving or race virtually, and here it’s mentioned as something someone might buy.

13:25

Term

SCCA autocross

Autocross is a timed driving event where you drive a course made of cones in a parking lot. SCCA is the club that organizes many of these events, and you usually drive one car at a time to see who’s fastest.

13:30

Topic

test in tune

A “test in tune” is basically a practice day. People use it to get comfortable with the course and make small changes so the car feels right before the main event.

13:34

Term

autocross school

An autocross school is a coaching session for learning how to drive an autocross course. Instead of just lectures, instructors often ride with you and teach you what to do right away.

13:52

Place

Grissom at Peru

This refers to an autocross venue in Peru, Indiana, associated with the Grissom area. Autocross events are often held at local facilities or airfields, and the specific site matters because surface, layout, and run-off areas affect how the course drives.

20:45

Term

transition heavy course

A “transition heavy course” is a track layout that keeps forcing you to switch what you’re doing—slow down, turn, then speed up, over and over. It’s harder because you have to get the timing right every time you change directions or speed.

20:45

Term

slalom

A slalom is a cone course where you weave left and right. Drivers practice keeping the car balanced and choosing the right speed so they don’t get “stuck” behind the cones later in the pattern.

20:57

Term

underdrive

Here, “underdrive” means you go into the cones too slowly or don’t commit enough early on. If you do that, you end up behind the pattern and it’s harder to carry speed through the rest of the slalom.

21:34

Term

overdrive

“Overdrive” here means you go in too fast or try too hard at the start. That can throw off your timing and make the rest of the cone weaving harder to do cleanly.

22:19

Term

transitions

Transitions are the quick changes between turning one way and then the other. The idea is to shift the car’s weight smoothly so it doesn’t feel like it’s fighting you during the change.

22:29

Concept

overdrove

To “overdrive” means you push the car harder than it’s ready for at that moment. In a cone course, that usually makes the next turn harder because you didn’t set up the car correctly.

22:58

Term

weight transfer

Weight transfer is when the car’s weight shifts from one side to the other as you turn. If it happens smoothly you get better control; if it’s abrupt you can lose grip and stability.

23:03

Term

lateral weight

Lateral weight just means how much weight is on the left vs. right side of the car while you’re turning. In cone weaving, getting that side-to-side shift right helps the car track where you want it.

23:14

Term

back-siding

“Back-siding” a cone is a driving technique where you aim to pass the cone on the “back side” (the side that keeps the car’s path tight to the intended line) rather than missing it and forcing a late correction. It’s often about steering timing so the car is already rotated for the next cone.

24:08

Toyota A90

Car

Toyota A90

The Toyota Supra is a sports car built for fast driving and responsive handling. In the podcast context, it’s being used to practice difficult maneuvers that require the driver to control the car’s direction precisely, including turning it sharply and managing the rear of the car.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Lizard Brains podcast. I'm your host DJ Alice Andrini.

I'm joined by my co-host Tom O'Gorman. Tom, how's it going?

I'm okay. Happy Pride.

Yep. Happy Pride Month, Tom.

Thanks. How are you?

I am doing great, Tom, and that's because my wife right now, Christine Rohiric,

she is at a work party and they picked a carding track to go to for this work party.

So naturally, I had to pull out, I had to go like super try hard.

And Christine, she didn't join me at first.

I wanted to go like three or four separate days for training for this corporate work party.

You did or she did?

I wanted to. I wanted to go with her as like training.

OK, so last week she was she wasn't feeling up to it.

I couldn't get her to go, OK, which like understandable.

I probably like scared her away.

I'm a little intense.

So Monday comes around, I talk her into it.

We're about to leave.

I look it up to see if we can like book races ahead of time.

So we don't have to wait as long.

It's closed. They're closed on Monday.

What the heck? OK, so the work party is today.

It's literally happening right now as we record this.

And the only time we could go was during lunch

because the work party was literally right after work.

So there was no time to practice before that.

So we went and I'm like, we got to extract the most out of this limited practice

because we only have like time for we like, yes, it's a team effort.

OK, so so we only had time for like two races.

So I literally I put I strap a GoPro to her head.

We're reviewing video after the first race.

I got headphones in her ears and I'm like talking to her on the phone

like while she's going like through her first lapse.

Oh, dude, it's no wonder she doesn't want to do any of this stuff with me.

I'm like, I'm an absolute lunatic.

Yeah, you are. That's crazy.

OK, we got to get the blue to the head, both plugged in

so I could talk you through the track.

It's flat out. It's just flat out, right? You steer.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

I would be like, OK, you can go flat through that corner like them.

You know, just like stuff like that.

Anyways, so we review video after the first race

and I'm like trying to talk her through it or whatever.

And then at some point it's like, all right,

we need to just do like a lead follow.

So I go on bio race and they put me in the same race with her.

There's some other people in there and so we're doing the lead follow

and I'm like making sure that she's still behind me, like looking back there

and like she's just kind of keeping up.

And at some point I'm like, man, whoever's in P2 is like getting kind of close to me.

Like I better like put in a couple of burner laps or whatever.

So I put in some burner laps and look behind and Christine's still freaking there,

dude, she's just there and she got so she got P2 in that race

and had right now she has like the fourth fastest time of the day.

And would you like to tell everyone how you know that?

Yes, I will get there.

So not being an overbearing husband, I swear.

I've been following the live timing of this like corporate event

on their website and I've just been rooting for Christine.

Dude, all right, I've already told all 23 audience members so far

while we were waiting for you.

But so P1 or like race one, she just like just it goes by fastest time, right?

So that's how most rental car places go.

She kind of just dust everyone.

That's because like everyone else is probably still trying to figure out

where the track goes.

So race two, I'm looking.

And she's in P3 at the times are looking a little off pace.

And then I see a lap time where she's like like four seconds slower.

And then the very next lap, boom, straight to the top of the board.

Tom, she literally gave herself a gap lap and like found empty track to put in

like a flyer next level.

Tom, you got you've never seen a prouder husband than you see right on this web

cam right now.

I am so fricking psyched.

I love that for you.

And I don't know how she feels about it, but I support however she feels about this.

No, I'll tell you what, after lunch, dude, here's some of the things that she said.

She said, normally it takes me the whole weekend to have that much fun.

That's what she said after lunch.

Okay.

So she's not a prisoner over here.

Everyone like starting to like write in like a worrying messages to Christine.

Okay.

She had fun.

All right.

Edo's doubting this, but like I, I tell you what, she had fun and I don't think

it was just to appease me.

I think she legitimately had fun.

She has not responded to any of my let's go tax after she won the first two races.

Um, so I'm assuming that she's just having a lot of fun with her coworkers.

Um, Lou God says Christine blink twice if you need help.

So I'm assuming she's just having a bunch of fun with the coworkers, but we'll

have to have a debrief on how the races went, you know, what could have went better.

You know, just the typical, typical husband wife conversation after a corporate work party.

I don't know if you actually realized this, but my job for over a year at the

go-kart track that I worked at was corporate event, like manager and hope.

Do you know that?

Yeah.

Yeah, you did.

Okay.

So I was literally, I was the host of the person who was all these strangers were

coming in and there, I feel like coworkers are strangers.

Maybe, maybe there are some healthy workplaces where that's not the case, but

realistically, how many coworkers know things about each other that is like not

just work related.

Yeah.

So you get these groups of at the smallest, it would be 78 10 max.

And then at the largest, it would be like 50 to 50 to 70, 80 people, I think.

That was one of the biggest ones we hosted.

And like, first of all, I'm terrified of speaking in front of people at the time

I was, I should say.

So I'm like the energy of the group.

You would be perfect for this job.

Oh my God.

Me.

But also it was really entertaining to watch the people who would come out of

their shell over the racing.

And it was really entertaining to watch the way that some people would respond to

other people's, I don't know if I call it success, because sometimes it was like,

there was always, if I could profile, there was always like the loud doofus guy

who was in like, he obviously played like football in high school and he's like

the sales guy and he's like the energy of your office.

And that guy like was a thousand percent convinced that he was going to win when

he showed up at the track.

And he would be like, he'd be slow as shit.

And then there would be somebody who was either really quiet, really small in the

corner, you know, small presence, not, I mean, physically small, although they

would often be physically small and they would just like wax everybody.

Yeah, that's Christine right now.

I'm profiling the shit out of Christine's work group at this go-kart track,

because I know exactly how they are.

They're all the same.

It's every office dynamic has the stereotypical, this guy, this person, this

person, this person.

So the person, that's so fun.

I'm picturing it is, it's a good time.

The person that was put in charge for like, like putting together this corporate

party said, I literally picked this place just because I wanted to win.

And as far as I know, that person has not won yet.

I'm sorry, uh, because my wife is there and she's whooping your ass.

Let's go because he didn't want it bad enough.

He didn't, he didn't put in the practice.

Yeah.

He didn't put in his recon and like have a coach like help and stuff and things.

Yeah.

Now that I think of it, there were, I don't know that it happened more than

once or twice, but there were people who would show up before their work event.

Yeah, to, to, to like, they said practice, but I don't think they knew what

practice was. So they would just like do races before, you know?

Yeah.

Like they didn't show up with a coach.

They didn't have a built in marriage with a coach involved that was like

stressing them out, making them do practice.

They were just show up and like,

I want to do a race or two before I show up with my job and, you know, look silly.

Christine, if you happen to listen to this episode,

thank you for appeasing me of like, because she was a little embarrassed.

She's like, really?

I got to put the headphones in and I'm like, come on, I got to talk to you.

Like, like it was like, she was like feeling a little ridiculous.

And trust me, Tom, we looked fricking ridiculous.

Like I got that we like, because they're like, oh, are both you racing?

And I'm like, nope.

And then she's like, just me and they're like looking at us confused.

Like, wait, why are you both here?

And like, it's just her racing and like, what is going on here?

Like they were so confused.

So, yep.

Uh, I was the weirdo at the cart track today.

And that's right.

You guys are weirdos together, to be honest.

Yeah.

Well, she was, she was a weirdo by proxy, but I think she was weirdo by association.

And I was, I was source of weirdo.

So, yep.

Um, yeah.

But that's really fun though.

I hope she wins.

Can we get an update?

How do you, how are you going to know if she wins?

It's currently 641 on Wednesday, June 3rd.

Well, when is she going to be done?

Oh, she just did race three and she won again, Tom.

Wow.

Three for three.

Let's hit the button.

Oh, wait.

Can I hit a button?

Yeah, hit a button.

Nope.

No, I don't have a button to hit.

Okay.

Well, then I will hit a button.

Nope.

Not that one.

Very good, very good.

I missed, I missed this last one.

Yeah.

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