SVRA is a racing organization that puts on events for older or vintage race cars. If you hear “SVRA,” it usually means the event is organized around vintage-car rules and classes.
Dyno time means testing the engine on a special machine that simulates driving conditions. It helps you see how much power and torque the engine makes before you go out on track.
This means the camshafts are chosen to make the engine feel strong right off the line. The goal is quick acceleration and torque at lower-to-mid engine speeds.
RPM is how fast the engine is spinning. Saying it gained “1000 RPMs” means the engine is able to rev higher than it used to, which can make it feel stronger when you keep it in the power band.
Pistons are the parts that move up and down inside the engine cylinders. Changing piston shape can change how the engine burns fuel and can even affect the sound.
Midrange is the part of the rev range where the engine feels strongest for everyday driving and track acceleration. It’s the RPM zone you use most often between corners.
Peak power is the highest power number the engine hits at one RPM. The speaker is saying the car is better where you drive it, not just at the absolute top number.
Term
VQ
VQ is Nissan’s name for a specific family of V6 engines. They’re talking about how the modified parts change how that V6 makes power.
Term
GLTC tune
A tune is a software update that changes how the engine computer controls things like fuel and spark. The speaker is saying their specific tune keeps the engine running aggressively without backing it off.
Oil blow-by means oil is getting past the engine’s internal sealing and ends up where it shouldn’t. It can cause messy venting and can be a sign something inside the engine isn’t sealing as expected.
These are the rubber/gasket parts that help keep oil from leaking around the spark plugs. If they wear out, oil can seep into places it shouldn’t and the engine can start smoking. That’s why the host saw lots of oil and smoke after the issue.
These seals sit around the spark plugs and help stop oil from leaking where it shouldn’t. If they fail, you can get smoking and fouling. The host says in their case the seals are part of the valve cover, so fixing it isn’t as simple as buying one small piece.
A gasket is a sealing material used to prevent leaks between two mating surfaces. Here, the host distinguishes between a replaceable outer gasket and the spark plug seals that are integrated into the valve cover, implying that the outer gasket alone won’t solve the oil-past-seal problem. This matters because you can end up paying for the wrong part if you assume all leaks are fixed by the external gasket.
The Honda Civic is a small, everyday car made by Honda. People talk about it a lot because it’s common and parts or accessories often fit it. If someone mentions it in a fitment context, they’re usually saying something will work on a Civic the same way it works on another car.
A ball joint is a suspension part that helps the wheels move and steer smoothly. The host is basically saying that even if something feels okay or moves easily, the real test is how it behaves after you install the new part. In other words, don’t assume the old one was fine just because it wasn’t seized.
Term
burning down laps
This is track slang for just running laps and getting seat time. After fixing the problem, the host spends the rest of the day driving to get comfortable and improve. It’s like “getting back up to speed” on track.
That means the car’s lap times improved by about a second compared to last year. On a race track, a second is a big deal because it usually takes real changes to achieve it. Here, the host is saying the fix helped right away.
HPD is Honda’s racing/track program. An “open lapping day” means you go to the track and drive multiple laps, usually with other cars, more like practice than a race.
A “practice day” is when the main goal is to drive the track repeatedly to get better. It’s more about learning and setup than racing for position.
Concept
apex track day rentals
“Apex track day rentals” describes a track-day business model where you rent a car (often performance machinery) and drive it for a set time. The “eight other teams” framing suggests a group rental format rather than a dedicated, team-run test program.
IMSA is a big North American racing organization. If an “IMSA team” shows up, it usually means serious racing experience, not just casual track-day driving.
A Porsche GT4 is Porsche’s more track-oriented version of the 718/GT lineup. It’s meant for drivers who want a car that feels sharp and planted on a circuit.
The “brake zone” is the part of the track where drivers hit the brakes to slow down for the next turn. It’s where a lot of close calls can happen because cars are changing speed fast.
Place
China beach
“China beach” is the name drivers give to a particular corner on the track. When people talk about it, they mean that exact spot where you have to slow down and set up for the turn.
SRF is a specific kind of race car class (Spec Racer Ford). It can be intimidating in a race because it may be slower or behave differently in corners than the faster cars around it.
The Kia Forte is a compact car made by Kia. In this podcast, it’s mentioned because the speaker rented one and wasn’t happy with how it turned out. That could be about how the car drove, its condition, or how it behaved during the rental.
In IndyCar, “push to pass” is a button that gives the driver extra power for a short time. It’s meant to help them pass other cars more easily, but it’s limited so you can’t use it all race.
Concept
eye racing
“Eye racing” sounds like a racing video game or simulation. The point here is that passing and mistakes can feel different in the sim than they do in real cars.
Racecraft is how good drivers make smart moves during a race. It includes knowing when to try to pass, when to hold your line, and how to deal with other cars.
A brake marker is a spot on the track that tells you when to start slowing down for a turn. Drivers use it so they brake at the right time every lap.
Topic
GLTC race
“GLTC race” is mentioned as the real racing world the host is comparing against. They’re saying that when someone makes a mistake, what happens next can be different in real life.
Endurance racing is a long-duration race where you’re thinking about the whole stint, not just one fast lap. Since tires and fuel matter, how you pass other cars can be more strategic than in a short race.
Watkins Glen is a famous road course in the U.S. known for its mix of fast sections and heavy braking zones. In sim racing and real racing alike, it’s a track where drafting and passing behavior can strongly affect lap times.
Track limits are the boundaries of the racing surface that drivers are allowed to use during a lap. In many series, going beyond them can be penalized or ignored for timing, so drivers must balance cornering speed against whether they can legally use the runoff/curbs.
The Honda Fit EV is a small Honda Fit that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. Because it’s electric, it can feel quick and responsive. In the podcast, it’s being mentioned because it did well in a driving test compared with some sedans.
An acceleration curve is a graph showing how fast a car speeds up. It helps you compare cars, but it doesn’t include everything that affects lap time, like gearing and drag.
Gearing is how the car’s transmission ratios multiply the engine’s effort. It affects how quickly the car accelerates and how fast it can go before it needs to shift again.
Math channels are extra data lines that a program calculates from the basic measurements it records. They can be powerful, but they also add complexity.
MATLAB is a general-purpose engineering and data-analysis programming environment. The host uses it as an analogy for telemetry tools—suggesting they’re powerful but can feel tedious or frustrating to use.
Garmin makes GPS and tracking devices. In this context, it’s being used to record driving info, but that data may not be as easy to share as other telemetry systems.
Term
higher horsepower GT cars
“GT cars” are race cars based on real road cars. The discussion here is about choosing a version of the racing class that uses cars with more power, which affects how they drive and compete.
Term
B spec wheel, wheel series
“B spec” is a label for a particular set of racing rules. It usually means the cars are more evenly matched by limiting or standardizing certain things, and the host thinks that would make the series more fun and sustainable.
A “tight turnaround” means races are scheduled close together, leaving less time for repairs and setup changes. “Mechanicals” here refers to the car’s mechanical systems (like drivetrain, suspension, brakes), and the concern is that limited time increases the chance of issues not being fully addressed between sessions.
Time attack is a racing event where the goal is to go as fast as possible around the track. Instead of racing wheel-to-wheel, you’re mainly trying to beat your own time (and other drivers’ times).
The braking zone is the part of the track where you slow down before turning. If the track is contaminated there (like oil), the tires can lose traction and the car may not stop in time.
Oil dry is a powder/absorbent that track staff put down to clean up spilled oil. It’s meant to make the track safer, but the surface can still be slippery or weird to drive on.
A CT scan (computed tomography) is an imaging test doctors use to look for internal injuries, including possible brain injury after a crash. In motorsport contexts, it’s often mentioned when there’s concern about concussion or head trauma.
A concussion is a brain injury that can happen after a head impact. Someone might feel okay at first, but it can still affect focus and cause problems for weeks or months.
GT is a type of race class for cars that are related to production models. In events with multiple categories, GT is one of the groups that gets its own sessions and results.
The Mazda MX-5 (Miata) is a small two-seat sports car designed to be easy to drive and fun on twisty roads. Because it’s light and simple, it’s often used as a reference point when people compare lap times or setups. When someone says “spec Miata,” they usually mean a fairly standard, not heavily modified, version.
Hydroplaning is when your tires ride on top of water instead of gripping the road. When it happens, the car can feel harder to steer and stop, so you need to slow down and drive smoothly.
When “chords” are showing, it means the inside reinforcement of the tire is exposed. That’s not safe—track driving loads the tire heavily, and it can blow out or break down.
“Bald” means the tire tread is worn down a lot. With less tread, the tire can’t grip as well, and it can get damaged faster—especially when you drive hard.
The Ford Falcon is a Ford car model. In this podcast context, it’s mentioned because it’s the exception to what the speaker expected—everything else matched, but the Falcon didn’t. That’s why it stands out in the conversation.
The sidewall is the tire’s outer “wall” on the edge. If it gets damaged, the tire can lose air or become unsafe quickly, especially when you’re cornering hard.
Suspension is what connects the wheels to the car and helps the car stay controlled over rough pavement. If something’s wrong, the car can start bouncing or feeling unstable.
On a race track, the steering wheel tells you a lot about what the car is doing. If it feels weird during braking or turning, it can mean the tires or suspension aren’t behaving correctly.
Inside a tire there are reinforcement layers that help it stay strong and keep its shape. If those layers are damaged or broken, the tire can bulge and fail under cornering or braking forces.
In some race cars, the windshield has multiple clear layers. When the view gets bad, the driver peels off the top layer so they can see through a fresh one.
Anti-fog film is a coating or laminated film applied to a visor or windshield area to reduce condensation and fogging. It can improve visibility in humid or temperature-changing conditions, but it may also introduce glare or reflections depending on how it’s installed.
Rev matching is a technique where you briefly raise the engine speed to match what the car needs for the next lower gear. It makes downshifts smoother and helps avoid jerky movement.
Blackhawk is another place people go to drive on a track. It’s part of the list of venues for track-day style coaching.
Place
IO Royale
“IO Royale” sounds like Isle Royale, a national park in Lake Superior. They’re talking about a vacation trip there, not car racing.
LIVE
Hi. I'm Scott. And I'm Seth. And I'm Robbie. And we are trackwalking. Robbie's such a
professional, we didn't even have to tell him how the intro worked. He just.
Listen to your podcast. And I listen to it all day today to get fully caught up on all of the
episodes. That's too bad. I've listened to both of your sultry voices for almost six hours today.
That's too. Wow.
Which is like three hours longer than I expected to be in the pickup today. So I wasn't
expecting to get caught up. So we are recording this podcast with special guest and host co-host
co-co-host Robbie because this is our annual. We're not going to do this for a while.
Because we're busy and Seth has a house to finish and sell and I have race tracks to go coach at
and trailers and vans to fix because that's part of my life. Robbie is actually driving his race car.
Is this the first time out for it in a while?
First time since grid life auto, right? Autobahn last year. Yeah. Yeah, because I ruined that
transmission and then did the transmission swap in the paddock. I mean, it's just a two hour job.
Not a big deal. That's just what we do now. And that was on top of all the alternator nonsense.
Yes. Which turned out to just be the dead wire. Yes. Which made note that's whatsoever.
But I'm not bitter about it. I mean, you'll just remember it forever and ever.
Forever and ever. I'll check that first no matter what from that one.
So yeah, you went out since you live fairly close to mid Ohio now. You are three hours or?
No, no, no. I'm an hour and a half. But you drove six hours.
Yeah. How do you spend six hours in a car being an hour and a half on the track?
Because I went there twice today.
Was it because of those seals we mentioned? So we'll do a quick recap. So I did a track
list. I call it a test day, but it's an open lapping day. And so I got up before this morning,
drove to a middle house so I could be there by six, like luckily I kind of dragged my feet,
you know, stop, get coffee, stuff like that so that I show up around 6am
so they can get there when they open and then do the tech inspection and be there
early for their meeting, stuff like that. So you're prepared.
Yeah. And since this is one of those like it's their advanced group, they had an
team practicing. They had three vintage, what's that called? The vintage series?
SVRA. That's the one. So they had three NASCARs, X NASCAR cars that racing that were testing
there. So I mean, there's some decently fast cars there today. So I wanted to not be a complete
knob. So I could be just be there and see how they do the thing just because this is my first time
with them. The imposter syndrome was strong and you want?
Yep. Well, it's funny because he called and he's like, yeah, I didn't recognize your name,
so I just wanted to see what your track experience was. And I just kind of listed off,
you know, what I've been doing the last six years and he's like, okay, you'll be fine.
Yeah, I assumed, but yeah. Fair enough.
But I get it. Do you know who I am? I definitely did not do that. But I'm always weird out when
people are like, oh yeah, I know who you are. And I listen to your show. It's weird.
I was about to say you really should lead with, well, maybe you've heard me on my podcast.
I'm not that guy. I cringe even thinking about saying that.
That made me feel weird when I said it.
Yeah. So then I did, I went out for a first session and this is a new built engine that I've
never had out. All we've had is just dyno time on it. And it's not much more power,
but it's all like the cams are considered light to light cams. So it's like all the acceleration
and torque as fast as possible on these engines. So it also gave me an extra 1000 RPMs that I
didn't have on the previous setup. So it's more power everywhere and then 1000 more RPM. So it's
not 9000 RPM, but still better. So the first time I'll track with it and then I blew
everyone to your drums out. First of all, but I'll have you know that the organizer came up to
me throughout the day and went, your car sounds amazing. And I was standing next to it. So he
knew which car I was. He had no excuses. Yeah. I mean, that, that thing at full chat, 9000,
it's got to sound like, were you kind of giggling a little bit in the car?
Well, it doesn't go to nine because the cams I got are the early torque ones. If I would have
got the other cams that would, they would go to nine. So it only goes to like just shy eight.
Okay. I mean, that's not, but with this cam profile and the, uh, the
don't domed pistons, whatever you want to call them, those pistons completely change the tone
for the better. So it actually does sound better. Nice. Okay. Which is important,
more important than the power itself. So we're talking like, so you said it doesn't make more
power like peak, but how much, how much mid range meat we talking about? So it's like
15 wheel horsepower everywhere. Good God. More, more. And then instead of just like
on the stock VQ is it gets to like 6,600 and then just, you know, that's it. That's all it can do.
Yeah. And then even then it's like trailing off before it hits there. So like they'll out, like
previously I've just been running it full, full chat. Like that's, that's all she can give me
and nothing more. That's my GLC, GLTC tune. There's no detuning. That's, this is it. Right.
And then this cam, yeah, it comes on immediately more power everywhere and then
has the ability to like maintain that power all the way to past 7,500 RPM. Nice. So it's like,
yeah, so it's wide a bit more power under the curve compared to what I had before.
The gearing and drivability is going to be wild. Not having to go to sixth gear at mid Ohio is
excellent because I hated that. Yeah.
So it went well. It started going well.
It started going not well. So I had a couple of laps and it was like,
had a bunch of oil blow by out of the vent of the, the valve cover. So I have two that go
to like the catch can and then one that doesn't. And that was just like puking oil out,
which has never been an issue in the past, but the built engine it is. And so I had to like
Jerry rig up like a hose to a Gatorade bottle to make my own little catch cam.
That actually works really well. And then, and then the next session I went out and it like
completely blew all of the oil past the smart plug seals and they were like
five out of six were just full of oil and just like, you know, smoking everything, everything.
So like I get, I get it all cleaned up and I'm just kind of like sitting in my trailer and like,
I don't know anybody at this event. So I'm just kind of like, well, it's 1030.
I got all day homes only 90 minutes away. And I have at least four sets of valve covers sitting
there, two of which I know are excellent shape. So yeah, spent, I guess I'm going to get them.
Yep. I unhooked the trailer and then drove all the way back. And then luckily I caught a group
of people that were dead set on driving like 85 the whole way north. I just followed them.
That saved a bunch of time. So were the seals just old or what?
Yeah. And they don't make replacements for like the seals themselves. So like you can get the
gasket that goes around the outside, but the seals for the spark plugs are like built into the
valve cover. And of course they're like $200 a piece for the aftermarket ones and those suck
or either like 360 a piece from Nissan. Jesus.
So that there are people that like cut out the old ones and put them like, I think there's
out of a Honda Civic that they'll fit the same. But I knew I had one back here that was good.
And I popped off the old ones to put the new one on and like the old ones just kind of came right
off like no problem whatsoever. And the new one you had to kind of like work it around. It's like,
oh, these seals actually do something. It's always whenever I have to replace a ball joint,
you know, it always seems like nice and free, right? And I'm like, why is this bad? Like,
why is this clunking? This seems fine. And I go to put the brand new one in and like you can
barely move it by hand. I'm like, this doesn't seem better. But like, I guess.
Yep. All right.
Yeah. And that's, that's all that. And then the rest of the day was just burning down laps
and getting comfortable. I mean, the car was immediately a second faster than it was last year.
And I felt like I was driving worse. Because I also put non boosted brakes in it this year.
Oh, so that I think there's a little bit of air still in there, just just enough that I couldn't
get out on my own. And obviously it breaks a little bit different than boosted brakes. So
adjusting to that took a little bit of time. And basically I just need to break like I mean it.
I haven't been doing that. So it took all day to kind of get to that point.
You don't get to skip leg day anymore.
No. So I got to do a little bit of adjustment there. Definitely got to replete those. And then
yeah, just kind of keep getting comfortable with actually breaking like I mean it.
Well, it sounds positive though.
Yeah. All in all, very positive. Not how I wanted the day to go, but
way better than it could have gone. So I'll take it.
Yeah. So are you, do you have a GLTC ticket? Are you planning on racing this year?
No, I'm doing the Austin Hurdle method. Okay.
I'm letting fate decide.
Nice. Good.
So my plan is I have a test day. I haven't signed up yet. It's Memorial Day in Gratton.
Um, uh, with the Canakery and then that guy. Yep.
And then my plan is to do, uh, Midwest Fest, Watkins Gun and Lime Rock.
Actually, I think I just saw a festival GLTC ticket go up for sale.
Yeah. R.J.'s was.
Yeah. That must have been his.
And it's not sold out yet. So it's fine.
Yeah.
It sounds like fate.
Fate will work its way. It's fine.
Yeah. So it's a great excuse for not planning.
The, and, and I do appreciate the, as you started this story, that your test day
is really an HPD open lapping day. Like we, I, I do enjoy hearing people
at kind of our corner of the universe use very professional terms for what we do.
You know, this is a test day, you know, over my career and stuff like that.
And it's like, it's, it's hard because there aren't like better terms for it,
but let's be real. Like sure we may be testing some things, but it's a practice day.
It's a, at an HPD event, like we're not doing these apex track day rentals where you're, you know,
you're spending 10 grand to go drive the track with like eight other teams sort of thing.
Yeah. I've done that, but that was not what today was.
No.
But I mean, legitimately there was an IMSA team there and three SVRA teams.
And so like it sounds like he was playing the right game.
Yeah. I mean, it's the budget way to do it.
Yeah.
And dirtbag IMSA alive and well, apparently dirtbag NASCAR too.
No, it was real IMSA.
Which, uh, what car was it?
The, oh shoot.
I was sitting there looking right at a close park right next to him.
It was the D1, not Benetton.
Oh shoot.
I even took a mental note to be like, remember this and then I can't remember D1 something.
They were, that's a Porsche GT4 team.
Nice.
Those are cool cars.
Yep. Yeah. He was, he must have came out of pits, uh, going down the front or the
after turn one, right as I was cresting it.
So like all of a sudden we're in the brake zone.
He's right there.
I was like, oh shit.
Thinking I, thinking I cut him off or something, but I just gave him the point by
He probably saw exactly what was going to happen.
But it was, yeah, it was totally fine.
They, they spent a bunch of time talking about like the NASCAR cars and a couple other cars
were like, we can't put our windows down and our mirrors are terrible and we have
containment scenes and, and, and it's like, so we won't see.
It was like, great, great attitude guys.
Cool.
But I mean, it was, it was a non issue, but it was still just kind of like the way they
were saying it was like, I don't, I don't love the way you're saying this.
There's an attitude I'm hearing, but luckily it was all in my head.
They were fine.
Yeah.
It's pre excuses for why they're going to turn down on you going into China beach.
Yeah, completely non issue.
There was a couple of cars that were, I mean, there's a huge disparity in, in pace between
the cars that were there.
So everyone were, everyone worked together.
The, my only real concern was there was an SRF car there and that is terrifying to me.
Those are fun cars though.
Oh, I don't doubt that.
I'm all about it.
But to put that on track with the three NASCAR cars seems a little dangerous.
It's like,
You say how hard are those to see for you to see?
I mean, they're about as hard as a Delta wing and that went fine.
So.
Define fine.
I mean, they did laps.
Yes.
I also remember how their laps ended.
Yup.
It was literally the first episode of my podcast.
It didn't help at all that they, like the first year they entered them,
they painted them like chrome or they wrap them in chrome and it's,
it's the dumbest thing.
Like I would want to wrap it hot pink.
Like chrome doesn't make it easier to see.
No, that's for sure.
If anything, it's like camouflage makes it harder.
It's the closest thing to camouflage, like pure camouflage that you could do to a car
that's tiny to begin with.
Anyway, that's, that's a 10 year old podcast now.
That's crazy.
It's, yeah, did you know that stuff?
10 tenths has been around for 10 years now.
That's a really long time.
You're not too far behind me though.
No, I always get this wrong.
Because you're comfortably in the 200s.
Yeah, we, we did break this year.
So I guess we should mention this.
We did break a 100000 listens earlier this season year, whatever.
Is that rolling year or year to date as in 26?
Yeah, no, that's like total listens overall.
That's all time.
We're not, we're not playing the same game you are Robbie.
Like we're just,
Oh, our numbers are not anything crazy impressive.
Yeah, that's, that's like from the beginning of the show to now.
Yeah, on spot, like those are Spotify numbers.
I think so.
The, the way creators for Spotify reports numbers is kind of weird.
It says all time listens, but it's hard to
parts out if that's Spotify or all platforms.
Okay. Yeah.
And we were on shout engine first and that gave us this crazy false sense of success.
Yes.
Because those numbers were so inflated.
I mean, you know, the people that were running it also had a podcast and selling advertising.
So of course the numbers were inflated, but it worked for everybody.
So yeah, our numbers were ridiculous.
And then we switched over to Spotify when they went down.
And then we got more realistic numbers.
Yeah.
Which still to this day are very surprising to me that we have what we have, but.
Yeah. I mean, people, people like here and dudes talk about cars, I guess.
Since when do we talk about cars?
We just did.
I guess.
Literally just talks about yours.
Right.
We started with cars today.
This was a big deal.
Yeah. I just got back from Rhode Atlanta.
Um, we, well, I, I can't even say we.
So this, um, I flew down to Rhode, Atlanta, got the world's
crappiest Kia forte, Turo car.
I swear to God.
So, okay.
So I got on a couple of flights.
Everything went largely fine, except my second flight was delayed by like an hour.
And I was supposed to have gotten in like to the track after 11pm anyway.
So I'm getting there even later now, get off the plane in Atlanta.
And I apparently had blocked out how big and terrible the Atlanta airport is
because all the terminals are separate.
So you have to either walk a long distance or you have to take one of those underground
train subway things.
Well, apparently everybody on God's green earth got off an airplane at the exact same time that I did.
And so we're all waiting for this train to come.
And it was of course like late.
So the countdown timer said like your next train in three minutes.
And I swear to God, I look back up after like five minutes and it said four minutes.
And, and I thought I was drunk at that point.
Like, and I started staring at it and the numbers would just jump around
as if they had no real meaning.
And so we're standing there and it's kind of hot and I'm kind of annoyed with people.
And I just make the conscious decision.
This would be a terrible wheel to wheel decision.
But I make the decision.
I'm getting on this train and good luck everyone else.
So sure enough, the train comes and I'm like two or three people rose back.
But like there's a lot more people behind me and I'm a pretty tall dude.
So like this is happening.
So sure enough, I like, I'm not like pushing up against the people in front of me to get in,
but I'm like on their heels and I get in and like one, like three or four more people like
cram into this thing.
And to the point where like the doors didn't close the first time.
A very Japanese of you.
It's, have you seen those videos?
Yeah, where they're like pushing somebody's job is to just push.
I never felt like cattle more and we, we even get to like the next terminal,
the doors open and there's like 10 people standing there.
Their eyes just got huge and they're just like, well, I guess we're catching the next one.
So, um, yeah.
So we make it, we get to another terminal and it sits there for like five or 10 minutes for
no apparent reason and it's hot and it's very people-y.
I don't even get like one of those hand holding things to myself.
There's this dude, like, you know, those leather loop things.
That's the closest thing to me.
I can't get to anything else without like getting real up in somebody's business.
So he's holding onto the loop.
I grabbed to basically like the clasp at the top of it.
So I'm not holding hands with this dude and so I don't fall off.
I just landed like 20 minutes ago and it just so irritated.
So finally make it to ground transportation and like get on this bus
because like after a certain time, these buses kind of stop running regularly
and then you have to like call in for stuff and I'm like, I, I'm not doing that.
So I get on the bus.
Thankfully it was there.
We take like this 20 minute ride and I have never been to a ride share parking garage before,
let alone, let alone one outside of Atlanta airport.
Um, I got notified that my car was parked in D D five something and I looked on the satellite
map as we were getting close and I, I couldn't, I was having a hard time believing that this was
like one structure because it's like a single level of just covered parking for like half a mile deep
of just cars.
And so we finally got to mine.
I, you know, we had a couple other people.
It took like 15, 20 minutes to finally get to my car.
You know, you do the take a pic, take a selfie with the car thing so they can open it up
and so after I do all that, um, I start the car, the check engine light is flashing
and the car is running like it's a cam to V eight.
And so I immediately grabbed my phone and start taking video because I'm like,
if this thing dies, like it's not on me.
Um, and Bob Miller, I sent him a mess.
Like it's Bob loves Kia's and I'm like, this one's terrible though, like legitimately awful.
Uh, it settled down, um, cruises at 80 just fine.
It makes a weird, it fixed itself like the check engine lights not flashing.
It went off.
So I guess it found oil or something.
Like I don't, I don't know why it was running poorly.
I'm not spending my time checking on someone else's car.
Um, yeah, it's like throughout the weekend, it would like tick under acceleration.
I think it might have been an exhaust leak or maybe something worse.
Um, but then on driving it back, it also sounded like a carrier bearing or something
was going, it was getting pretty growly and I'm like, man, I got 15 minutes until I get
to the airport. You will stay in one piece just long enough for me to drop the keys off
and make it somebody else's problem.
Uh, but anyway, yeah, I made it to the track like one AM.
I was just tired, passed out immediately.
Um, but this, this event was, um, pretty unique in the grid life calendar in that it's,
they're a, uh, support series for formula drift.
And so the schedule is super condensed.
It's from nine to two no breaks.
And you get, everybody gets three sessions within that time slot.
And I had five drivers, uh, and it was busy.
Gave me time to work on, uh, you know, my brevity as a coach, like getting to the point,
not really dilly dallying sort of thing, which I think actually worked out pretty well.
Um, but yeah, worked with three GLTC drivers, uh, one time attack driver and one rush driver.
And thank you.
So how just to interrupt you here?
Cause I love interrupting you.
Yeah, please.
I've been talking for a while.
That feels like we're just fascinated by your life.
When you get three GLTC drivers, they all come off track with the same level of hype
and energy.
How do you, like, do you have a, I'll see you first, you second, you third,
is that planned beforehand?
Or do you just like grab the guy who looks the most scared and you're like,
you need to talking to first or.
So I kind of learned early on when I'm splitting my time like this between multiple drivers
that they need to come to me.
Um, it's too much to go for me to leave a place where I can be found to go check on a driver
to even check their availability because in that period of time,
another driver could be coming and like is kind of ready to go ready to talk sort of thing.
And so most of the time it's kind of first come, first serve.
Um, you know, oftentimes I'll have a driver
you know, see that I'm working with someone and they'll just like put their SD card
or data or whatever just on the table and they go take a walk or something like that.
Like putting a quarter on a pinball machine.
Yeah.
Or yeah, pool table, you know, we'll stack a quarters.
Yeah.
Kids don't know anything these days.
So.
So I guess, you know, how was, what was your setup like?
Cause obviously you didn't have your trailer.
Cause like, I remember last year I'd just kind of go and find you.
Now you weren't coaching me yet.
But at the time I would just kind of be a fly on the wall,
which I really appreciated that Rory was okay with that.
But yeah, so since you had a very nice trailer and we can all just watch the same screen
and it's easy and I don't bother people by just being there.
What is that like at an event that you don't have that?
Yeah.
So I kind of had an inkling.
I didn't, I wouldn't say I had a clear plan, but one of my drivers,
they've got extra tables in their trailer.
And so I'm like, Hey, are you using this fold up table?
It's like, Nope.
I'm like, cool.
I'm stealing it.
And then Sam Dooling who, you know, I check in with from time to time.
He's like, Yeah, we've got extra camp pictures.
I'll go grab them for you.
So he got a couple of those done.
And I've set up right next to the tech shed, kind of under an over,
like an overhang thing.
So I was in the shade all day.
He just squatted next to the tech.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
I even parked right next to it.
Like that's what I'm going to do.
Yeah.
It's, this is mine.
The only downside was that it was kind of close to the dyno.
So occasionally we'd have to like do the whole like put a finger up
and plug your ears sort of thing.
But dinos do be doing dyno things.
And yeah, it went pretty well.
Like results aside at road Atlanta.
There's some very common places that drivers are kind of working on pace,
working on speed, depending on what they are, what they like to do
and what they feel like they're better at.
Like if they're better at high speed, you know, turn one and turn 12
aren't really much of things.
If they're better at low speed stuff and then one and 12 and six
are the ones you probably work on stuff like that.
So there's oftentimes a lot of similar discussions happening
between one and another driver.
And then a lot of race craft, which, you know, the longer I go
and the more I coach wheel to wheel.
The way people pass or set up passes, it's kind of no wonder that a lot of people
in the mid and backpack have a hard time passing people.
Because they're, it's really a knowledge thing.
I don't even think it's a skill thing.
It's just what do I do?
And so, you know, being able to help my drivers kind of like figure out like
concrete ways of setting up passes and being strategic in thoughts and using
other cars and stuff like that is, it's pretty fun to watch, to be honest.
So it's always, I don't want to say it's not a conflict of interest,
but like on several occasions, I had like two drivers front to back
and like sometimes all three of them in like a very similar place in the field.
And it's just like, please behave, please behave.
So you don't want them to reduce your workload early in the weekend.
Exactly. Yeah.
I think formula one gives people a false sense of what it's like to pass people.
Because like, you know, we're like even IndyCar, you got that push to pass.
So like you watched it on TV, like, oh, they just go down the straight side by side
and then he breaks it a little later than that one.
And then they're in front.
It's no big deal.
And it's definitely not the case.
It's really not.
You gotta be way worse strategic.
I mean, that was one thing that I really focused on, on eye racing this year was,
you know, setting up and passing cars that are equals.
And so being strategic and being very cognizant of racecraft,
and like I really hadn't done that up until this past year.
Well, it's, if you're willing to share, I'd love to hear like one or two specific
examples of what you found out or if you have examples.
And I think this, where I think it's eye racing versus like reality to an extent
is where it kind of just disconnects for me because on eye racing,
you can kind of wait and know when someone's going to make a mistake.
Like you can just kind of tell on the, but again, that's also true in reality.
But in eye racing, it's usually more catastrophic.
And you can, and you can see when they're about to make a mistake and you can pounce on it
because like it's in, it's not like, oh, they just kind of missed a brake marker,
or they, oh, they, they, oh, they clearly are offline in one spot.
Like in eye racing, when they do it, they do it and then they end up in the wall.
Whereas, whereas in like, you know, in GLTC race, you can, you can do that same stuff
when someone makes a mistake and it's, oh, you, they clearly screwed up that break
or they, they clearly missed a shift and it's just like, that's when you can get in when you need to
or understanding and paying attention to how they're setting themselves up or playing defense even.
Cause like, yeah, if they're playing, if they're watching in their mirrors,
you can, you can kind of play that game of chicken at that point where like,
you can clearly tell they're watching you not blocking, but reacting.
And you can, you can use that to your advantage.
For sure.
Yeah, it's far from an expert, but I'm clearly learning.
Yeah. It's, and it's, I think it's falsely called playing mind games with people.
It's not that that's not what it is, but trying to take up mental bandwidth
from somebody you're racing against is a skill.
And it's also a skill to not have that bandwidth, to not give that bandwidth to another driver,
like more than they deserve sort of thing or more than they warrant,
I think would be a better way to put it.
That's hard because like when a car has been on your butt for like three laps and you're driving
your heart out and you know, like if I make a mistake and then whatever happens, like
if you've said that line in your head, like they're already in your head.
It's the mental fortitude of wheel to wheel is really fun.
Yeah. And then a WRL was kind of like trial by fire for me because we were in a fairly
quick car, but in an MP01 it was very quick in a weird place that a lot of other cars weren't.
So you're learning when to stick your nose in there or like,
you know, which cars are clearly going to pass you on the straight and picking and choosing how
to use them, like, oh, let them by get behind them and then make sure the other person that's
behind them that's not like that's in your class doesn't get the freebie.
So just yeah, just being WRL really helped with strategy in that in that respect because you
look in your mirror like, oh, yep, I know that car. They're fine. Just go, just go.
And then the car behind them. No, no, no. Elbow's back out.
Yes. Yeah, endurance racing is so much different though because fundamentally you're just trying to
get the lowest average lap time. And so sometimes you don't want to race somebody if it can make you
faster. And so that's a, it's a completely different thing. Like when I'm sprint racing,
like I don't care, nobody, like I don't want you to pass me no matter what.
But when I'm endurance racing, sometimes I do want you to get around me
so that we can run faster together than if I was trying to actually race you. So yeah,
it's a, it's a different game. It's fun. And actually speaking of that,
road to Atlanta has them pretty long straight away. And so drafting was more of a conversation
this weekend than, than it has been previously. And that's, that's a lot of fun when you're like
playing drafting games. I assume that'll be the case at Watkins Glen as well.
You bet your sweet, but it's going to be.
Yep. I racing loves Watkins Glen this year, apparently the last like couple of seasons. It's
been like all the tracks or all the cars are at that track all the time.
I think they just, redid that this past year, didn't they?
Yeah. Yeah.
It's good. But like I jumped in it and did the, there was a GR cars doing whatever the NASCAR
track is with NASCAR track limits. I was not prepared for that.
The NASCAR track is wild. It's very short. It's almost an oval.
Yeah. It's, well, then you can, you can literally just blow through the track limits and go all the
way to the wall. It's so, it was so weird. Turn one is barely a breaking zone when you're using.
Yeah. You're using no track limits.
All the way out there. Yeah. Seen some speck me out of races, you know,
they go like four or five wide through there and like four of them are on these skirts at the exit
of one. Yeah. Yeah. I'll do, I'll do like the open practice sessions and be like, I'm doing really
good. And then I'll look at the laps. I'm like, that's how, how, or like the, the, the race results.
It's like, Oh yeah, because I'm alone and you have buddies and that makes a dramatic difference.
As it turns out. Yeah. So yeah, road to Atlanta was really good. I don't remember the last time
I've coached an event that I've been done so early. Friday, you know, track went cold for
grid life at 22 30, I think it's two 30. I was done by four and like twiddling my thumbs
and I should have told you where to go get lunch or dinner. Well, we ended up going and getting
ramen with most of the club, TR paddock and Lisa came along as well. And it was delightful.
Like going out to dinner and doing all that stuff is really nice.
You need to fly to more events and drive to less events. I guess I do.
But yeah, that, that was interesting. You know, everyone was asking where Becky was,
which, you know, is, I think is a nice thing that people miss and enjoy seeing Becky. I think it
was good that I was seen at an event having flown in to do the thing, uh, at least in the grid life
paddock, like it's yes, this is like hopefully a reminder that like this is kind of what I do now.
And so I think that part was good. Um, I did a single session with, um,
uh, time attack street car, uh, that found a lot more time later that day. So that's,
that's always exciting. And, um, yeah, sat down with Sam Dooling and found him
another like two seconds in Sunday cup and like he's not a slow driver by any means.
Um, but he put, he put a hell of a lap together for, uh,
for a Honda fit versus, uh, some sedans. So that, uh,
yeah, that would seems like it, that would favor the sedans, what with the long straight and all
really did, really did. Um, it's tough. I'm, I'm kind of looking and had some conversations.
There's a lot of conjecture about where the sedans make their power or like not power by
how they make their lap time. Um, because they are lower center of gravity. Uh, there are some
double A arms in effects. Um, I'd have to look up wheelbase information, but then there's drag,
then there's power, like there's all sorts of things at play. And for, I've yet to see some,
like just straight up data. Um, have you asked? I did. And I have some and I'm going to be looking.
Because I think a lot of the people, um,
involved, like it's easy to look at acceleration curves and judge everything based on that,
but that's gearing, that's power, that's drag. That's like, that's so many things all
displayed in one. I'm, I'm kind of more interested in overall performance. Like, and maybe it is on
straightaways. I don't know. Um, but subjective like run lap differences from two compared lap
differences and you should see where that time shows up. So exactly. Especially over the course of
um, a session, you know, seeing where everybody's best sectors were and stuff like that. So
it's nice to Robbie. I don't know if you saw this, but now you can import aim data into your apex pro.
I did see that. And so I've been using that, uh, a fair bit and telling my aim buddies that like,
if you don't like race studio or you want something quicker, like this is a pretty good option for
you. Does anybody like race studio? I think, I think people had, I think the people who use it
appreciate the, like the different math channels and things like that. I think they've become used
to it. I don't think anybody likes it. Right. You can get good at it and still hate it. Yeah. Yeah.
Like drinking a terrible beverage or something. Like most engineering tools.
I've heard things as strong. I was trying to,
trying to tell somebody I was like, it's like MATLAB for cars. And then everybody I know who's
an engineer is like, Oh Christ, that sounds terrible. Yeah. It's the perfect analogy.
So yeah, I'm going to pull some aim data and compare some apex data and I've got some videos
um, because Mike Jansen, somebody told me that Mike, uh, Mike drives the Civic in
Sunday cup and somebody was like, yeah, he really doesn't like sharing data. And I'm like,
well, I mean, I'll ask. And so I did. He's like, well, I've got a Garmin. So like,
I really can't share data. And it's like, yeah, that's, that's what a Garmin does. Like,
okay. He's like, but yeah, yeah. If you want to watch video, I can send you video and stuff.
So I'm going to do some like over under video comparisons, but do it like by sector.
So like every sector, it'll restart both cars or all three cars to the same location
to at least like see something, you know, and even on his video, you know,
you've got mile per hour overlay and stuff like that. So you can at least compare min speeds and
timing of things and whatnot. So yeah, 22 speed traces late on top of each other.
Effectively, it'll, it'll, it'll definitely point you in a direction. Yep. So, and,
and this isn't so much to like, I'm not terribly interested in rulemaking or decision making,
but I think giving everyone in the class a clearer idea of the strengths and weaknesses
of drivers and platforms and stuff like that, I think will be good for the series because there's
a lot of, I don't want to say animosity because that's far too strong of a word, but like
just reservation that
Yes, a little heartburn.
Yeah, it's, these cars are clearly better choices for the class. And that hurts for a
a class that's been built on, you know, be, be spec shit boxes.
Yep.
So I mean, and any class in good life is to the point where you can't make rules based on feelings.
Like it has to be hard data and the, and the people that are making the rules
need to be taking the time to be analyzing to that level.
Yeah. And spreadsheets don't work, um, even though a lot of people present ideas and actually a lot
of ideas had been accepted based on spreadsheets, like, uh, what was it contact patch versus weight
in GLTC, I think that's, that's one of the bigger red herrings, uh, that kind of continues to be,
you know, continues to show itself forward. You know, and there's stuff that isn't looked at,
horsepower to drag horsepower to, uh, frontal area, uh, weight torque, torque doesn't matter.
Torque doesn't matter. Um, it's not even get started about gearing, right?
Yeah.
So yeah, there's, there's all this stuff and like, you know, I just want to be able to
understand it better so that like I, I genuinely like Sunday cup, but if this
topic isn't addressed better, I think the class is going to die pretty quickly.
Yeah.
Like conspiracy theory, they want it to die.
No, I say, I understand the decision they made to go and try to get the higher horsepower GT
cars. And like, I understand from a business standpoint, why they did that. I still feel like
the better choice was a B spec wheel, wheel series. And I will argue until I'm blue in the
face about it. That was discussed over the weekend.
Yep. I would, I would, in a perfect world, they'd have both, but I, I understand that
it's the business decisions behind their choices, but I would be much happier with the B spec series.
Uh, I think you're not the only one. I'm sure.
It's like that. Um, but yeah, it was a good weekend overall. Um,
this kind of a bummer. I, I didn't stay for the podium. I hate skipping out on the podium.
You know, I'd like to, you know, be in the crowd clapping for, you know,
any of my drivers who were up on the podium, kind of try to support them.
Um, I had a flight to catch. So like as soon as the last GLTC race was done,
uh, I'd already said bye to my two or three other drivers and I, you know, circle background,
kind of got general impressions and, uh, yeah, and got on my merry way and then, uh,
yeah, got home about one a.m.
But I had an entire Sunday to do nothing before going back to work on a Monday and that didn't
suck. That sounds right. So that was nice. So I, what was the general takeaway from
like that compressed schedule? Cause to me that looked awful.
A lot of people, I remember after last year, a lot of people genuinely hated it.
Um, because of, you know, the tight turnaround for any mechanicals.
I know that the rain last year, cause it rained like all day, Saturday,
definitely put a dampener on a lot of feelings, especially the time attack paddock.
Sure. Um, I, this year I didn't personally hear much about that. Uh, it could have still been
a thing for sure. The only thing I really saw this year was the, the combined race for
that was the only real like heartburn that I was seeing outside. Cause like, I don't know,
obviously I wasn't there and I didn't, wasn't there last year either, but I saw the schedule
and I was like, that is a lot to get done by two PM every day.
Yeah. And they, and they could have, except they had some big cleanups.
Right. Um, uh, there was a pretty serious time attack incident. Um, in turn six,
where a car basically at its beginning of breaking zone, there was quite a bit of oil and
oil dry still down and the car just really didn't slow down very much.
Yeah. The video, the video just looked like he completely missed
or where he was going and then just, whoop. Yeah, it looked like he turned in like super,
super early, but, but I think he turned in early like most of us do when your brakes don't do
anything to try to just give you more runway. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't, I didn't see any context.
It was on my phone with no audio. So it's just like, I saw it. I was like, oh, shit. Yeah.
It was a big one. Yeah. It was, it was real bad. Uh, supposedly the driver didn't remember getting
into the accident or getting out of the car. Holy cow. So that's not great. Hope, uh, hope
he's doing all right. He might want to, he might want to CT scan. I suggested that to some of his
friends that they should really have him get checked out. Like just because he feels okay,
doesn't mean a damn thing. Yeah. And if it's a proper concussion, which it's going to suck for
like six months. Yeah. They're okay. I mean, I guess it can. We used to just walk those off Robbie.
I tried walking mine off and then it wouldn't go away. And then I almost failed in a semester
of college because I couldn't focus. Yeah. Um, yeah. And we, so the opening weekend had quite
a bit of discussion and GLTC and GT because the first hour for both of them was practice slash
qualifying combined. So it was both series practice and qualifying.
Good luck everybody. I mean, it's a big track, but they still have the, it had to be hard to get
good clean laps anywhere out there. Even with an hour. Yeah. It was a thing. Um,
yep. I mean, that's how it was. So, you know, drivers, drivers did what they could. Um, and then
yeah, with all the cleanups and stuff they had to postpone GL GT race two. And the only place to do
it was to combine race four, I guess. And so usually in race four, they also invert the top,
however many. So both series had inverted fronts of the field. Um, I think they spaced the groups
out too much because I think Matan came through everybody but 10 people at GLTC.
If the race had been a little longer, he probably would have got pretty close to the front.
He could have gotten through most of the others. Um, and you know, there were some GT cars that,
you know, spun or, you know, we're just well off base that got passed by some of the TC cars.
And so it was, it was an extra bit of, uh, you know, if you, if you want to win,
you got to manage traffic really, really well. That being said, most did very well.
Yes. It was shockingly clean. Yes. Uh, I think the GLTC finish, um, really the entire race for
the top three or four in race three, certainly the last four laps of race three was probably the most
exciting I've seen where it was Eric Magnussen and Eric Cattell up front,
nose to tail the entire time. And Erton Grimm from like 23 seconds back,
consistently chipping away. And it was almost a spec Miata finish down the hill.
Um, like all three cars kind of overlapped each other in different ways.
Uh, I think the only, the only questionable thing for me is, um, there was a car that spun going
into turn one, uh, kind of straight on into the gravel and they only through a local yellow.
Oh yeah.
But I mean, it turned out fine, but that was
interesting. So, so they can't see that until they come down the hill.
No, but it's also like directly, potentially directly a line of fire.
It's right there. They got there. You can get there.
Right. It's true. It's true. So, um, but yeah, the event was good. It was going to hang out with
people. I, I really enjoyed being done early, even if that meant just kind of a furious pace
throughout the day. Cause I know like sometimes during normal events, like
you have like what 45 hours in between sessions.
Yeah. But sometimes you have to swap a transmission between sessions and those four hours critical.
Yeah. I mean, get faster at swapping transmissions. I can do it in two hours. What more do you want?
One and a half more or less. One and less. So yeah, uh, since we're not going to be
recording for a little while, um, we do this because breaks are good. Doing other things
is good. Robbie shaking his head because he's, they're constantly taking breaks.
Yeah. We're, we're, every month we're on a break for the, till we do the next podcast.
They have a, they have a much better balance than we do. I mean, it's, I would not say that
whatsoever. Here's the structure at least it's planned ours is just like, are we doing a show?
Okay. See you next week.
Um, and yeah, uh, it's basically going to be, uh, Becky working on her Mazda too. I've got
maintenance on the van and trailer to do. Um, I would really like to get the Miata ready to
do something this year and the house, you know, of course needs a little bit of
love and turns out you shouldn't put that off for decades. And, and so yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You hear a lot of adult stuff in there. There's a lot of maintenance that
maintenance sucks. Like race car parts are way more fun, like new parts.
Right. Way more fun than like, oh, I guess I need to inspect this wearable item to see
if I need to replace it, but not on the race car on my daily driver. And it's like,
you're just supposed to beat on your daily driver and it's just supposed to work.
I was at an email shop on Saturday helping with his, uh, Datsun. And the other day I was like
driving my son. I could be thinking about how crappy I was hydroplaning in the rain. I was like,
man, this is, I knew the tires were not that great, but, uh, this seems really bad.
So I get to work and I look at it and I was like, oh, they bald. There's chords showing.
So I got when I was over there on Saturday, I was like, yeah, let's, let's look up tires.
And if Monday goes well, well, I'm going to need tires for GLTC.
Just put it on my bill. I mean, the good news is right now, Tyrex is running a lot of good
promotions. Everything except Falcon, it seems like. Okay. That's the only thing in my size.
Yep. I think that's about the only thing in anyone's size for this year.
Well, I thought he was asked like, what do you want? I was like, I don't have a choice,
dude. It's six, 60 pluses. That's the only thing available. Yeah.
Hope you get the good plus pluses or something.
Or I'll just blow up the sidewall on this one too.
I mean, it was still holding air.
I've got my fastest lap on that tire. I'm just saying don't be dramatic. Okay.
Your face when I came around grid, I was just like, did you hear this story?
So I did not hear this story. So last, last spring I did, um, was that been rev up?
I think it was gentlemen day. I don't remember. I don't know. It would have been rev up right
before because I was like the last one they did. Okay. But the sake of the story was at
rev up at grid life, obviously. And I did all day Saturday of just beating on my car and
using up last year's six sixties. And then Sunday morning, I was going to do one session,
wrap up and head home. And I go to get to grid and like the car's just doing this weird like
hop thing where I can just like the whole car just feels like it's bouncing.
And I thought I had broken something like in the suspension that for whatever reason,
let me get back to pad. I can just didn't show itself. And like I thought all day, like on Saturday
that the car had gotten like, I don't know if I was just accumulating other people's rubber
inside my wheel. The tires are getting worn out. Just like, it just was rougher and rougher. And
like I could really feel it in my steering wheel during in the braking zone, stuff like that.
And so I got to get to grid and instead of going left to go on grid, I take a right and then go
back up paddock and then pull past his paddock space and just like, can you, is there something
wrong with this? Does this look weird? And I take a quick look and like from
the passenger side, it looked fine. Like I couldn't really figure something out,
but then I have him like do a U-turn, come back. And sure enough, the right side was like
like a wheel was messed up, like got curbed bad or something. Cause like there was one
corner of the car, like, like almost on switches, level of like something's up. Continue, Robbie.
Yep. And so he looks over and he gives that like confused puppy dog look, like we know where he
tilts his head and then there's just like, huh? And I pull up closer and yeah, there's clearly
something wrong. And then, you know, go back to paddock, obviously missed the session,
popped the wheel off and like the entire, like 180 degrees of the inside sidewall is completely
blown out and it's just like a rubber, like a balloon. It's puffy. Yeah. Yeah. Holding air,
but like something was not doing what it should be doing. Some of the belts were not
building in a way. All broken. Yeah. And I had, that's pretty impressive. I haven't seen something
like that, like in a decently set up car in a long time. I did the exact same thing to a set of
nexons the next, the next month. Well, it wasn't near as dramatic, but there was,
there was something broken on that tire. Maybe it is you.
Sounds like you really. Like I was saying earlier, I need your time at a set up day.
Like real, real bad. So you can take, you can give me the puppy dog look again and be like,
dude, you've been doing this for years. Oh, she didn't know how to do this better.
I'm just going to do that to you in general. Just get your reaction like, oh God, now what?
Like I'm not like, I don't have a posture syndrome enough. Yeah.
No, Robbie, I actually have my NASA competition license now.
Dang. And I'm going to go race NASA in two weeks. You should come out and say hi
at mid Ohio. Oh, yeah. Wait, hold on. Is that like more a day we can?
Are you going to be a gentleman because that would be hilarious if you're going to be?
I'll be at Gretton on a Memorial Day. No, it's on the 23rd, 24th, 22nd through 24th.
Is that not Memorial Day? That's Memorial Day weekend. Yeah, that's what I meant.
Is it? I thought Memorial Day weekend was the last weekend in May.
It's the last Monday. Yeah. Monday, I'll be at Gretton and I have a wedding that night,
but other than that, I should be fine. Yeah.
Yeah. So I'm going to, I'm going to race a Thunder Roadster.
Dang. And yeah, that's going to be a thing. All right. I might have to swing up. Yeah,
this one. I'll give it to you. Do you have your tear-offs yet? I ordered them today
and I'm going to feel super cool, super excited. It comes with three stacks of 10 tear-offs.
Oh my gosh. I'm just going to be pulling them for no reason.
I'm curious what that does to your vision. Yeah, I'm definitely going to look up the
better ways to apply them because I really don't want to mess up one of the tear-offs,
but also my nice visor. That shouldn't be a problem, but I know when you put the
anti-fog film, it has this weird reflection that just kind of messes with you. So I'd
be curious if the tear-offs do something even close to that. Hopefully not.
I'm hoping Schubert has their stuff figured out. I'm sure they do. I assume they do.
I'll probably attribute it to user error regardless because, like we talked about.
Yeah. There it is. I want you to know that your podcast lives in my brain with that saying,
and I say it almost daily. We actually haven't mentioned it on this podcast
in quite some time. Forever and forever. In a while, yeah. I say it in my real life all the time.
But I do hear some assessed stories and I do like look at them while we're doing the podcast.
Sometimes it's like, yeah, that tracks like that line.
No, the story, the newest story, which is how you do anything is how you do everything with my
garage, fixing things is I have on the very back of the garage, I have a set of double swing doors
so that I could like pull things in out of the back of the garage and I installed them
whatever 14, 15 years ago when I built the garage. Like patio doors and French doors?
Yeah, they're like French doors, but they're just like a solid metal clad work door.
And I haven't opened them in probably five years because there's been an engine on a stand sitting
in front of them. And I moved the engine and I had to move the couch out so I could throw in
the dumpster. I love where this is going. And so I opened the first door and I'd like pull on it.
I was like, well, it's hard to get open. That's that that I grabbed the second half and I pull
it and it swings halfway open and falls on the ground. Oh, yes, it does.
And it was one of those, it was, I just sort of looked at it and incursed a little bit. And it
was like, I just made my life so much harder by opening this door. Yeah, you shouldn't have opened
it. I shouldn't have opened it. And, and because, you know, I can't leave a giant hole in space there
once I had, once I had picked the couch up and carried it out. I then was like, well, I have to
put it back and I got to, I got it put back pretty good. Like how did it fall off though? Like,
is the jam rotten? Did the screws come out? The door was rotten. So ants had, had decided that
like it was like an ant farm. So it was long and skinny. And I'm sure if the door was clear,
you would have been able to watch them build. I bet you get a thermal imager on that, but
bad boy and it would look. Would have been amazing. And so
for a second, for just a second, like everything else in my life when something's gone completely
pear shaped and I've sort of like, just pushed it back together. I'm like, maybe that's good enough.
It wouldn't have been good selling that house. I know. Yeah. It would have lasted for years
if I wasn't selling the house and just holding structure vertically at that point. It's fine.
Yeah. It's fine. And so it was probably in place now and it will help seal it up.
So I went and I was like, all right, so I have to get a new door. And so
I immediately jumped on and look, you can't just buy those doors. You have to order those doors.
And they are a three to four month wait right now. And so expensive.
Yeah. They cost like four times as a single hung door costs. And so I got to reframe that section
of the wall, including like, as soon as you open it up, you're like, Oh, the ants have been in other
pieces of wood. And so now I have to replace all of those. And so yeah, I spent an entire day
reframing and hanging a single door in place of the double door that fell onto the lawn. And
so let me reframe this story. Tell me if I've stepped out of bounds. Okay. So your hobbies
of motorcycles, cars on lifts, engines and places help to cover up the other parts in your life
to the point where they were rotten and falling off and you didn't notice.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's just how my life just check in the thing that made me think
this is how I do things is I so reluctantly fixed it properly.
Like, like I did a good job. It's, it's framed up. It's nice. Everything is good. I still have to,
you know, hang sheetrock on that, that wall and put some, some tin on the outside so it matches
the rest of the building. But like, it's good. I'm getting better at hanging doors. Like I,
I did a good job hanging the door. And so I did it right, but I didn't want to do it right.
I just did it right because I finally sighed and convinced myself I should do it right. And that's
how so much of my life is going over the last five months or so.
Yeah. I recently heard a quote that really spoke to part of me deep, deep inside. And it was,
my mom didn't raise a quitter. She did raise a complainer. So I'll get it done, but you're
going to hear about it. I in the thing is I live alone now. Like it's, I can send my wife texts
of the picture on the ground, of the door on the ground. And she's like, what is happening? I'm
like, I don't know. This is just my life now. You're, you're going to need so much spooning
and so much TLC when you move out of that house just to like emotionally recover.
I got to see my wife for 21 hours. That's right. So that was great. I haven't seen her
almost a month. I got to drive to Dallas. Is that worse than not seeing her?
It was better than not seeing her, but like emotionally harder than not seeing her. It was,
it's one of those things where, yeah, I picked her up at the airport. We drove to my son's dorm.
We packed all his stuff up. We went to the hotel room where all three of us immediately took a nap
because we were all tired, got up, ate dinner, went to his graduation, came back, went to sleep.
They drove to Colorado and I drove home and I was like, yay.
Hey. How long are you still in Texas?
What's that? How long are you still in Texas?
Yeah. Yeah. How much longer? I don't know. You want to buy my house?
Like I'll leave next week if you want to buy my house. I would, I mean, I would like to live there.
What? We can make a deal. The more, anytime I move, it has to be further south. That's the rule.
I went from Des Moines to Columbus, Ohio. That was further south. It was 500 miles to the east,
but it was still further south. You can find a job in Houston. I will, I will make you a
smoking deal. I don't, I don't think, I, Seth, I'm absolutely not trying to submarine you.
I really don't think you want to live in Texas, Robbie. I don't think you want that.
But maybe after we went to Vegas, the, the saying in this house still,
the shit wouldn't happen if we lived in the desert. And that's, that's, that's been the,
even if it has nothing to do with the desert. You're wrong. Not the desert. This is,
this is not the, the scorpion part of Texas. This is the alligator part of Texas. So yeah.
Either way, the rule is it has to be further south though. So if I move
probably the next 10 years, then I'll, it has to be further south.
All right. Every 10 years I'll move. How about that?
I think part of the problem is he doesn't know when he's moving.
It's just a matter of how much he can get done and how quickly.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I had, I had to be here through my son graduating and then my wife is
going to be here in 10 days. She's got a board meeting in town. So she has to be in town for
that. So those are the two things where I wasn't going to move before those two things.
So now it's just open ended and all up to me. And the reason I'm here is all my incompetence
and inability to get shit done. And so that's going to be deeply, deeply frustrating. If we
start this show up again in the fall and I'm still here, we're probably going to be grumpy.
I mean, I won't say this for sure, but if you're still in Texas,
this show probably won't start back up to help you get that done.
No, probably if I'm still here, what'll happen is like the house will be done and it'll just be
on the market. And you know how it is in the Southeast. Like you can't really let houses
sit without people in them. You have to have people going in and out of them and running
back and doing all that. Otherwise you can get ants and doors.
Yeah. Yeah. As it turns out.
So Robbie's going to go racing this summer. What else are you doing this summer?
We're going to Florida. Kind of doing a smaller version of what you did. Okay.
Justice family didn't do Christmas this year. So they were dead set on doing something. So
whatever, I don't know, whatever wants it down there. I've never been. So I'm going to be a
Disney adult. Do the GM car ride and see what you feel.
Do so bad. It's so bad. I did hear back. So apparently they knew that the ride has not
really been revamped mechanically. And so the mechanics of it are still like from the early
90s, which I get. But like, if you're touting new technology and stuff like
it's got a match, it's come on, do better. But it does. It probably does kind of drive
like an early 90s GM car though. Probably. I'm thinking about, yeah, probably.
It's like a Cavalier type feeling. I don't think I'll have to tell you Robbie,
but absolutely go to Epcot as a Disney adult. That is the jam.
Yeah. We have 33 parks in three days. And so far the up until today,
the biggest feedback I got was don't do animal kingdom. So
really? Okay. Well, Columbus Zoo is like the biggest in the country. It rivals
like San Diego apparently. And we go there like multiple times a year. So yeah. So
my, because I'm an adult now, my financial planner, they're, yeah,
wealth manager, whatever the hell you call them. He was like, yeah, don't, don't do that. Just
skip that one for sure. Okay. Easy enough. Yeah. So you'll, you'll go to all the parks we went to.
It's a, it's a good time. It sounds like one.
Um, and Seth, you're going to be working on a house. Do you have anything else like
planned? Um, the Porsche should theoretically be going off to a mechanic in the next,
within the next two weeks. Oh, that's exciting. So that'll be a big thing I've got
between two and four races, depending on how long I live here. So I still, I'm still motorcycle
racing as long as I'm here. Shannon has threatened to, uh, fly me back for the, the rest of the
races of the season, which sounds wretchedly excessive, but also kind of awesome. So, um,
we'll have to see how that goes. It's a farewell tour. Um, yeah, that would be amazing. Um, and
I still have two moving truck trips to make. I have one moving truck trip that has to go to
Michigan with the, the bulk of the stuff that needs to go there and some motorcycles. And then
at the very end, there will be a small moving truck trip. So a moving truck towing the Porsche,
remaining motorcycles and the remaining few things that, you know, kitchen stuff and things in
the house that needs to go to. So that's my life. Don't put off your home repairs kids
because it'll catch up with you. Somebody will, somebody will tell you, you have to move for
work and then you can either pay a zillion dollars to get it done or you can suffer. And those are
your two choices. I will back that up completely because that was, that was like in Des Moines,
too, is like, took the interview, except for the job is like, oh, shit. All the stuff has to get fixed.
I know. I look around our house. Sometimes we, we started a fair few projects during
the COVID shutdown, uh, you know, which was over six years ago and I just haven't really finished a
lot of them. It's also a problem when like my day job is like a lot of these projects. I don't want
to come home and do my job. That sounds terrible. That was exactly what I was going to say.
Yeah. You don't even like going to your job to do your job. Why would you want to do it at home?
It's got its days, but like, yeah, I don't know. I mean, that, that right there is exactly why I
went to engineering school after I finished mechanic school. I don't want to go to work
and be a mechanic and then go home and do my hobby because I'm going to hate my hobby.
Yeah. I know mechanics and I know what kind of cars they drive.
Yep. They drive shitty sonics with ball tires.
Yes. But it's mechanically sound.
Runs like a top.
Or don't fall off when you open them up.
Yeah. Uh, yeah, I'm just, I'm going to be coaching a bunch. Um,
going to be running around with rev match.
Going to go do that anywhere near here.
He asked selfishly. Uh, no, I gingerman, uh, autobahn, blackhawk, stuff like that.
Uh, they don't get out to mid Ohio, although I think there might be looking into it. I know
auto interest kind of, you know, dumped all their, uh, dates and stuff. So maybe a mid Ohio,
but I've also heard mid Ohio's, you know, kind of tough to work with. So maybe not.
Just do it on a Monday. That's fine.
Just yeah. Um, otherwise.
Yeah. We got a couple trips to do. Uh, the kid is really into national parks that we're going to go
up to, uh, was it IO Royale up in the, yes, the least visited national park.
So it's on an, it's on an island in the middle of Lake superior.
Neat. So, um, but that's also one of the closest ones. So we're going to go.
If you go to the right place, you can go to an island on a lake on an island on a lake.
I remember that. Yeah. So
playing it's weird. Yeah. But yeah. Um, yeah, as much as I love Seth, um,
I'm looking forward to taking a break from the work of the podcast.
I get that.
I want to want to talk to you instead of like half to talk to you.
It's well put. And I don't take offense to that.
Um, so yeah, uh, stay tuned. Um, we don't put out like the revisited episodes every week
to keep the feed live. Uh, our feed just goes silent for a while. Um,
but that's a great time to, uh, join the discord, uh, to share what you're doing,
driving videos, questions, uh, topics for when we come back as well. Um, getting a good stack of
that, getting a good list of people that we, uh, that we want to talk to, uh, coming up in the
fall, stuff like that. So there's other podcasts you can listen to. There's, there's, I've heard
there are other podcasts out there. Um, yeah, weekly podcasts that we do monthly. Yep. Uh,
podcasts probably should fill the summer with up to three podcasts.
It'll be more probably more than that. June's not looking good already. Yeah.
I mean, if we're at the same event, we probably should put microphones in front of each other
and stuff, but I am terrible. I refuse. I refuse to take them with me. I won't do it
because we, we did that to start the show or start our podcast. We'd always bring them with us.
And then it's just like, it's not worth the hassle, especially if you're actually doing
things at the event. Yeah. And yeah, we've talked about just the act of like, hold on.
It works if we're both there and we can sit down with people and have it feel like this.
It doesn't work like individually. We suck at it. Yeah. Same. It's very true.
Um, so yeah, um, 10, 10s, garage heroes and training. Who else? Um, we've got heat exchanger.
I was going to say slip angle, but I, they do it way less than us. Yeah, they do.
I've been caught up with them for a long time. I don't like that I'm caught up to yours
as you go into break. That's never happened before.
I should have thought this through.
Lizard brains. I know, uh, high performance podcasts I've been listening to. Uh,
they've got some really fascinating ones on there. Um, and just, you know, non car podcasts, you,
you can do that. That's fair. It's probably not the end of the world if you do.
I've been listening to the rest is history, just two British historians who go over
a wild variety of topics, but they've got like 600 episodes. So if I'm taking a 12-hour car ride,
I just push play and let it cycle through episodes until I get there. So it, it does help kill the
time to learn about, you know, like Genghis Khan and the Reagan years and weird British kings
and strange stuff. They'll just like let stuff fly. It's wonderful.
Oh, I'm also going to be playing with, uh, eye tracking stuff.
Who's going to ask about that?
Yeah. I, uh, Robbie, I have an eye tracker now.
I know you do.
And it's very cool. So yeah, just getting the workflow down on that better. Um,
but yeah, in terms of like strapping it to somebody's head and getting the, uh,
the video and date off that it's a pretty easy and you're not looking where you think you do.
I promise.
I'm aware.
Yeah. Let's make Robbie feel worse about himself.
I'm pretty good at it, but we can try.
It's always great because it's, it's kind of like doing any scientific research.
You can't do this blind. Like the person's aware of what's happening.
And so the amount of bandwidth that sometimes is taken up when you put these things on somebody,
they're like intentionally trying to like look at things and you could tell that it's not natural.
It's very entertaining, but also fantastic. Uh, it's a piece of data that's, uh,
most professional drivers, I don't think have had access to, um, and
they sure don't talk about it if they do.
No, um, it happens occasionally, but, um, yeah, I know in the simulator,
it's a lot easier to do, but in terms of like actual in car stuff.
And it's way better than that fake AI eye tracking stuff that gets put up on Instagram
sometimes when it's like, here's what you are looking at.
And here's what you should be in the circles, like moving super slow and like floating back
and forth. It's like, I promise you nobody is doing that. And you shouldn't even want to do that.
No, this is for clicks and likes, my friend.
Yeah. I noticed that like a lot of those AI coaches all were bullshit.
Like, yeah, I could, I could spend some time talking about Instagram driver coaching.
I refuse to do, if you do this, you're probably a slow driver.
Let me explain. I want to punch those guys.
Normally I do, but I do like Swellio. I like his videos.
Well, what I appreciate about him and some other coaches out there is that they've
actually thought through the learning process. His coaching thing online for
eye racing was really good. And he actively updates it and actively makes it better.
Yep. So yeah, there are better people out there, but the guys standing in front of
probably aim it. That's fair. Probably. You can also get at me if you think I'm wrong.
But I won't be able to talk back. Yeah, it's best they tell me how badly I suck on the discord.
And that's, they'll do it for us this week and for a few months. So, but we're going to be out
there doing fun, cool stuff. And we hope that you do too. Go find other podcasts to listen to,
drop in the discord, share your thoughts, who we should talk to, come up in the fall,
topics, things like that. And we'll definitely do that once Seth gets his house ready to sell.
Yep. Robbie, thanks for hanging out with us for a little bit for our partial farewell podcast.
No, it's definitely not a farewell. So we'll be back. Farewell for now.
If a proper farewell podcast needs to just like go out and ablaze a glory, like you have to have
like notes of just like going out both middle fingers up. Like if that's not how you go out,
then I don't want to do it. Just naming all the people who've ever wronged us and what was that?
Yeah, whatever. God, that's gonna be fun.
Grassroots Motorsports has a file called the last, the last magazine and it's full of just like
FU and I bought, I don't want them to end, but I do hope they publish that someday.
It's just a list of names and you know what the names are about.
Well, thanks for listening. Thanks as always for your guys' support and time listening to us talk
about car and driving adjacent things. But yeah, we'll be around message us or don't. It's your
time. So it's going to do it for us this week. I'm Scott. I'm Seth. And I'm Robbie. We'll talk to you
in the fall. Take care.
About this episode
Season 243 wraps with a farewell tone while the hosts and guests trade real-world track lessons. The conversation moves from open-lapping formats and SVRA/IMSA paddock sightings to practical repair stories: transmission swaps, alternator/charging trouble, cam changes, oil blow-by catch-can improvisation, and spark-plug seal oil leaks. They also cover event logistics, condensed schedules, traffic and braking-zone close calls, plus tire failures and visibility gear. Between racing talk, they compare coaching approaches, discuss telemetry/sector analysis, and share travel and home-repair detours.
Robbie quotes us more than we do... Seth discovers the connection between his rotten door and his life... Scott makes a move onto a train that shouldn't be attempted in a wheel-to-wheel environment...
We put a wrap on this "season" of the show - we're off to do our summer break, and look forward to talking on Discord, until we come back towards the fall!
