DwD 0721: Brad Goes to his First HPDE Solo
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You
may
miss Vicki. Yes, sir. Do you remember when we were watching those WRL events and some of those grid life events where we used to see the in-car
video and it had like the cameras seeing front and back, but it also could see all the telemetry and everything that was going on.
You know, most of the ones that we like were taken by the Sentinel system. Remember James came on our podcast earlier?
Right.
You know, we have no excuse since he lent us one for trial and demonstration purposes. We should actually probably put that in one of our cars, maybe two.
I really think we should.
I think we should.
I know.
Because then we'd look like the immature endurance racing team that we are. Wait, I mispronounced that.
Sorry about that.
We could have.
Sentinel system do.
We could have three cameras with picture and picture. We could have, if we ever get the AIM system to work, open invitation to anybody from AIM to come on and give us a little bit of love. We need some help.
And then we could have all our telemetry on there, and then we can have it streamed live into the paddock or around the world to our millions of fans. We're apparently very popular in Kenya right now.
Don't know why, but that's fine.
And it can integrate all the available race statistics from like race here and everything. So we could actually see how we're doing on video. We wouldn't even have to carry around our phone anymore.
Live.
I love it.
From the great halls of their house, there are assembled three who hope to one day be the world's greatest driving heroes. Created from the cosmic legends of the universe comes our team captain, the vision, Bill Fisher.
They're soon to be Wonder Woman, Vicky Fisher, our captain Marvel and head flight trainee, Jennifer Scribchuk, and our Batman, the master of tools, gadgets and all things mechanical, our mild mannered soon to be billionaire, Alan Danvers.
Their mission to fight injustice, share what is right and wrong to get you out of your house and come out racing with them and serve all mankind. They are the garage heroes in training team.
Dominating with Dawson.
Dominating with Dawson, Dominating Dawson. I need some denominator without Dawson because he's not here.
No, I know he is not here, but we, we have something very special set up.
Do we?
We do.
And I'm involved.
You are involved this time.
Wow.
Well, you're always involved anyway.
I didn't know I was invited to anything special, but okay. Why is it special if I'm here? But anyway.
Baby bird left a nest all by himself. Welcome back to the pocket of breath.
This is Bradley.
Good to be back in the house.
All right.
Just for context.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
I gotta make my joke.
We have two people now.
Okay.
We have Bradley and we have Tim Burr.
Yeah.
It doesn't get any better.
It doesn't.
It doesn't really doesn't.
All right.
We need to try effective, but Miss Vicki is very excited because she's bulldozing already and we haven't even started the podcast yet.
I am.
Go ahead.
Run me over with your little orange Miata.
I know. Okay.
So a little background context here is that Brad Bradley is somebody that we had picked up just basically. Yeah, we met him in near our local town.
He joined our team for a short while really was working on getting him ramped up.
He is like absolutely one of my favorite people in the entire world.
And he had made a decision, you know, in the process of us, you know, bringing him on board and running HPD ease and training with him is starting to train with him that he was going to move to Colorado.
And to such a sad day, we watched him, you know, fly the nest and head off.
And he's been out in Colorado ever since.
He came to visit us for one race and it was a blast.
We had so much fun with him.
And then he flew off again.
But Brad had done his first HPDE out in Colorado and he's going to fill us in on everything.
Almost.
One, before Brad celebrates at being one of your favorite people in the world.
Just remember she married me.
So the standards aren't that high, Brad.
So just stop.
This is a racing podcast and as we know, timing is key here.
So that's right.
That's right.
And two, we have more.
Brad's first HPDE, he forgot to hit the buy button.
So he went to the HPDE but never drove until he forgot to empty the cart.
You must pay for the cart.
You don't just get the cart and say, Oh, but do you also remember him on the way
where the lug nuts fell off his car?
I was getting.
I wasn't even on the way.
I didn't.
He was, Brad was part of our very early stages of our podcast and our journey
when we were doing all the things wrong and he was just there for it.
He was some of the things we did wrong.
But so then let's see the next time he went to.
And JMP and JMP.
Oh, yep.
But you didn't race.
You were just there, right?
Okay.
So no, if we're going to take this all the way back, I was going to go to Watkins Glen.
Oh, New Hampshire.
You went to the HPDE there.
New Hampshire.
We did the Halloween festivities up in New Hampshire for lemons.
We were guitar heroes instead of garage heroes,
which I think is one of our better ones.
We didn't do it well, but it was fun.
I don't know.
Top Gun was good.
It was good.
It was good.
That one single New Hampshire event still has Baby Shark branded into my brain.
Right.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you guys.
Baby Shark needs to go away.
Shout out.
Yeah.
Race parks.
And then from there, I, right after that, I had moved out here,
flew back for New Jersey.
New Jersey.
HPDE, right?
HPDE won.
Yes.
My first go of like, hey, what's an instructor like?
And then they stuck me in the car with you somehow.
Dude, I'm surprised you went back.
But we'll get to it.
I have another joke that we'll get to.
So, okay.
And then you came back and top gunned it at pit race.
We did.
And you guys gave me the honorary helmet of Maverick,
which was like, whoa, that, that was a lot.
I wasn't ready for that.
That's fine.
You lived up to it.
I didn't crash the car.
So not bad.
Dude, I was Iceman.
I was about two Icemen at the time, but that's okay.
That's fine.
I had the shirt that made some of it look okay.
It was fine.
So then Brad moves back.
Well, no, he was in the Denver by now, Colorado.
And we get this text message out of nowhere.
I think it was Saturday morning.
Well, our midday, his morning.
And I'm like, that's Brad.
Oh, I should open this.
So I read it and look at that.
What's Brad doing with Rocky Mountain, NASA?
Yep.
Rocky Mountain, NASA.
We haven't heard about the Rocky Mountain, NASA.
Not, not often.
Not much.
Yeah.
So tell us, Mr.
What were you doing with Rocky Mountain, NASA?
Were you just going there to watch to see cars go around
around the circles?
Did you?
Hell no.
No.
I don't, it's not like I wouldn't enjoy that, but I am here to
participate.
Oh.
Yeah.
Did you have one in Jersey and I'm, you gave me fair enough
commendations on that that I felt okay going to level two
out here on my own.
I'm an easy creator.
What can I say?
I got to sort of tell you about that.
I don't, I don't think you're the easiest creator.
But yeah, came out, went to High Plains Raceway.
Tell us about High Plains.
We don't, we don't get to talk about it very much.
Oh man.
It was, it was great.
Two good long straightaways to figure out how to come out of
a turn and carry as much speed through the straight as
possible.
And then really shit your britches on how late you want to
start your breaking point and hills or flat?
Balance.
They have a couple spots where you have flat turns.
They have a couple of, there are two uphill right handers.
It's honestly for like a learning track, it was
phenomenal.
And like wide bendy turns, ones where you couldn't just hit it
flat out before you hit the straightaway.
So like you really just got to get your ducks in a row
before you hit the longest straight.
And after that, like a very high speed right hander that
cuts, got that track.
It was so cool.
Decreasing radius, increasing radius of hill, but off
camber to a hairpin and then through a downhill
chicane, which was not super tight.
You carry a lot of speed through that and then just
barely stabilize the car, rip through a right hander.
And then, yeah, that track, it was, it was really,
really, really cool.
I think you have talked about trying to get out here to that
track a few times.
When the opportunity presents itself, it's a cool spot for
sure.
We've heard good things.
So we just wanted to see what you had.
So you went to the NASA event.
What car were you taking for this time?
No more Dodge Dart.
No.
That ultimate no fighting machine.
I know it's the pinnacle of a motorsport performance, but
I figured I would dial things back a little bit.
Take a little less performance, maybe relying on you a little
more than the car here.
And I had mixed feelings about it, but I took my BMW
2024 M440 out.
And Brad, that's a lot of car.
It's a lot of car, but I'll tell you when I took
everything it had to give.
All right.
We'll get into details about that, but okay.
So I'm going to speak to you.
That is the upgrade of the original BMW we had when we
moved out here.
Oh, okay.
Oh, right.
That's a lot of car.
That is a lot of car.
So you had done one race with us, one HPD and one
HPD drive along, but nothing really there.
Yeah.
And then was that it?
Yeah, yeah.
A whole bunch of sim racing.
So did you do high planes on the sim?
No, I didn't.
I didn't know the track.
It was still, it was cold.
It was, yeah, definitely had none of that to mind.
I thought about, there was a point where I watched
like a YouTube video.
I'm such a nerd, but like set up the sim in front
of YouTube and then I'm just like doing the
steering inputs.
It was super silly.
And I'm like, I'm going to build muscle memory.
And then never went back to that.
I can't give you to watch a track deep video
and you're sitting there playing the fake game
with it in front of you.
There's a range of excitement about going to a track,
I guess.
You've always been very excited.
So did you have any goals coming out of the
last HPD or any goals going into this HPD?
I think there was such a gap.
So we did Pittsburgh in 2024 and I think I did
NJMP in like, I think that was October of 2023.
November, first weekend in November,
like the second or third, but yeah.
Yeah.
I remember a lot of foliage and it was, it was beautiful.
So like that gap of time, I mean,
it's almost two years since then.
So I just remember, I remember driving the Mini Cooper
and you were next to me like, hit the brakes harder
and going like over that blind turn.
Oh, five.
Yeah.
And I just remember the rear end just wiggling around
and I'm like, this is real squirrely already
and I can feel the rear end wants to come around on me.
I don't think there's any more brakes to take.
No more brakes.
More gas though.
But I guess the value was that and definitely a lot more weight
in this car than in a Mini Cooper, obviously.
Front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive.
So there's a difference there.
I mean, it is all-wheel drive, but it drives
like a rear-wheel, to be honest.
And the one thing I remember you getting slightly freaked out
about in a, not in a, oh my Godway, but in a wow way
was when I tried to show you where I was looking
versus where you were looking.
Yeah.
Not going to lie, I did forget about that.
My instruction being part of that practice.
But the lessons stuck that I know the further of the track
that you can see just your brain's going to put all
the other pieces between you and where you're looking together.
And vision, I mean, it's cringely a novice person thing,
but like vision is just tough.
That's definitely been a weakness with knowing
where the flag stations are, making sure
that I'm watching the flag stations.
And I am grateful to have had good fortune,
but I know that my vision has been lacking.
Everybody works on it, no matter top of the list
to the bottom of the barrel.
So don't, don't feel bad.
Nobody's ever got it.
It's not one of those things you just check off and say done.
Yeah.
It's not continued practice.
Always can be better just like Miss Vicki.
Well, she can't be any better, but that's a different story.
All right.
So you did the two day, I think.
I definitely did.
I just believe there's a huge amount of value
in learning your lessons on day one,
taking all like the classroom material
and like what you've been trying to implement.
I know that for some reason you fall asleep
and your brain digest that stuff.
And then it is more applicable the second day,
which agreed 100% just a night and day difference
between what I could do the first day
and what I was comfortable doing the first day
and then what I was comfortable doing the second day.
So you were solo, right?
Because you were in HPD too.
Yeah.
So I was hopeful for an instructor.
I had reached out about having an instructor
because I'm like, hey, maybe that's where I get the most out of this.
And they said, hey, yes, we can try to set you up with someone.
But I just kind of thought about it and I'm like, you know what?
I can't go on the racetrack and have an instructor with me.
And if that's the level that I'm going to choose
and that's how the setup is,
then better step up to the plate
and just like go through the right motions,
practice the things that I need to practice
because I'm not going to have somebody helping me all the time.
Well, if you remember what I said last time,
it was you're ready to go to two,
but I wanted you to do it one more time with someone else
just before you went to two.
But I don't think you needed it,
but it was just to give you another perspective.
I do remember that.
I think I remembered it a little different.
That's fine.
You can do either way.
It worked.
It was just it wasn't your skill that was lacking.
It was experience.
That was the only thing I was concerned about.
But you did a race after that too.
So that counted.
Did I lose you?
Sorry.
Did I go rub on?
Yeah, I was surprised by the
that's a major jump going from
DE one to wheel to wheel.
Yeah, so that was essentially
because yeah, nobody else is in the car with me.
Nobody's saying, hey, break here.
Do this.
Hey, there's cars trying to kill me.
That has no ABS.
Yeah, so I think
you probably chose wisely
doing HPD too.
So with NASA
Rocky Mountain, how do they run their HPDs?
Do they just have debriefs after the sessions?
Do they have classes?
How do they do it?
Because you were in two.
So it's a little different than one.
So they had one and two
in the same classroom together and they had three
and four in the same classroom together.
And functionally it was
Yeah, I'm not sure how three and four
would have worked differently because
effectively the lessons are the same
and you're writing on your own, I believe.
Everything.
So I feel like that would kind of be just like
blanket
discovery and teaching there.
But yeah, it's
go out on track.
So they start the day off with track meeting
go to class for like, hey, here's the structure
of what we're going to be looking at for the day.
Class breaks.
You have a couple minutes until you need to be on grid.
It was actually kind of cool.
They did a parade lap, which I don't remember doing
in New Jersey.
But just like, hey, you've never been out here before.
Yeah, they do a yellow flag first lap
or maybe first two laps on each day.
But that's not a parade lap.
It's still pretty quick.
Yeah, it's literally go out for
two 1.8 laps or whatever.
Like come out of pits, do one full lap
and then come into the pits.
But just to get like a feel for the elevation changes
for where the curving is.
They have a number of instructors out for that
and they kind of do like groups of three to five cars.
And the instructor would apply the brakes
at the ideal breaking points.
He would be pointing to the flag stations
so that people know where to look.
And then it's a game of telephone to like everybody does it
so that the person behind them knows
like what to be doing or what to be looking for.
So honestly, the parade lap was nice
as opposed to going out.
They still do open yellow for the first lap
because everything is so cold too.
What about tire pressure on this experience?
Was he there for that one when we rolled the wheels off?
No, not that one.
He was at a different one, but it happens.
I rolled the tires off both sides.
Too little air pressure? Yeah.
Both left-hand side tires were debeded.
They just went boop off the rim.
Remember the turn you did that you didn't like
the back any squirrelly?
That was where I lost both tires.
Oh, God.
So like they debeded from the rim?
Yeah.
What do you mean by oh, shit.
Yeah, that's what I was saying.
Check your tire pressure for sure.
I had a passenger in a car too.
He was like old one.
You know what?
I think we were juggling just too many things
at that particular weekend.
So it's just one thing we just didn't check.
Oops.
Yeah.
Definitely all of my time with you guys.
I have been very on top of just like prep
bringing everything I can possibly bring
and then some and just like trying to stay ahead
of schedule because I definitely remember chasing my ass
at New Jersey.
Yep, for sure.
So do you guys, for Rocky Mountain,
do they do drills or is it open just track time
and talk about it as a debrief or at the classes
or how did they orchestrate the HPDs out there?
So I butted up with my paddock mate,
you could call him,
he had a GTR and he was participating in level three
and they were definitely doing different kinds of drills
with like side-by-side throughout the whole track,
like pick a partner,
stay side-by-side through all the turns
and get ahead of each other to pass each other.
And then when you complete the lap, alternate.
So whoever was on the inside is now on the outside
and then run that lap.
And then I think they went like push the cars
see what you can do.
Level one and level two,
similar structure with there are two straightaways.
Therefore there are two passing zones
nobody passes without a point by.
Okay.
In two as well?
Yeah, so just.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah, because we would level one
and two would go out on track at the same time
as well, but it was a tight schedule
because they had funny enough
as we talk about New Jersey,
they had lightning races and they had thunder races
and then they also had time trials going on
in between all of it too.
So yeah, it was all of that just packed together.
So it was one and two out on track together
and then it was three and four out on track together.
And then yeah, ultimately push the car,
find your limits, find your racing line,
find your brake points, find your reference points
and figure out how to drive your car.
How did the,
because it's been a bit since you've been in a car
and then on track, how did the rust feel?
How long did that take and how did we can go?
I definitely caught myself halfway through the first session.
Like of course there's nerves when you go out there
and then like the instructors were, they were great.
They were honestly, they were phenomenal.
But they're like, yeah, even like with us being experienced
like when you're first going out on track,
there's always like some degree of nerves that are in play.
And I caught myself 10 minutes, 20 minute session,
10 minutes into the first session,
like my left leg on the dead pedal was just like dancing
or shaking because of adrenaline.
And like, bro, you got to chill.
You've done this before.
Just like focus on what you need to focus on.
And like it'll be fine.
So yeah, just, just got it together.
It, that was really the only point at which it was
a bit of shaking off rust.
But to be fair, like with this car, it's been a blast.
Like it's my daily driver.
And I definitely have some places in which I've pushed
what the tires can do.
I've got Pilot Sport 4s on there.
And they're really good about communicating
what they are willing to do for you.
So that is some out and runs, which I typically take
with a decent note of caution.
And then there's the on ramps out here are phenomenal.
Because they're just consistent.
They're rounded.
And you just find the limit really easy.
You can feel when the rear end is just like starting
to slip out on you just a touch.
Yeah.
So like I've been working on finding the limits of the car,
but that's why I really wanted, I was excited
to take it to the track to like really know what it can do.
Did you drive with the nannies on at all?
Or did you disable them or how did that go for the weekend?
I totally forgot about it in the first session.
And it wasn't until about halfway to two thirds of the way in
where I was pushing the car a little bit more
and I was coming out of turns and the rear end
would start to step out and it would like cut power
and it would snap back in and it would unsettle the car.
And I'm like, what the hell?
And I'm like, oh, I never turned off traction control,
which I got in the habit of turning off on a consistent basis
on my daily driving.
So yeah, I took note of it and I'm like, this is a lot of car.
This is probably smart to keep on.
So I left it on for the rest of that session.
You can drive around it.
It's different.
It was cool how the instructors put it too
because the way that they put it was
if you are engaging traction control,
there's a good chance that you're pushing the car
in a way that it's not happy about.
And I agreed and disagreed with that too
because when we started talking about slip angle,
it's like your traction control is not going to be happy
with slip angle.
So that's where the second session came in
and mind you, I haven't touched my tire pressures
and I turned off traction control
and it is also blistering hot out here.
So that second session was probably 82 out
and I know that tarmac just soaks up the heat
and it was a real, real greasy run.
Traction control was off
and the rear end just kept wanting to step out
and the brakes kept sliding
and I was definitely getting that greasy, greasy sensation
through turns.
And I'm like, wow, that was a wild, wild ride.
And then I came into the fifth
and saw my tire pressures were at 51
and 50 on the front and 48 and 48 on the back.
I'm like, I don't think that's good.
I mean, if you want a greasy car, you got one, buddy.
Yeah, tires were not happy about that.
So I definitely dialed it back,
got everything balanced and leveled it out
where like the factory wants the tire pressure to be at
and everything was great, like really great after that.
So how would you compare a 2020 BMW M series to a 1993 Honda?
I mean, they're almost the same.
But colors are different.
With the experience, it's a rocket ship.
Like it was so fast.
Like every time I would get a point by it,
like I would just be like treading the throttle
and then I would get the point by and just dump it
and that car would just send it.
And I would blow the doors off with some of this.
Like the GR86s, I get a point by with them
and it would just be like, bye.
Well, you're basically dumb.
So definitely, yeah.
Yes, and it was fun to do,
but definitely I felt a little spoiled out there.
There was some like very over the top cars.
There was one Shelby Cobra
and there was one M3 competition
that was brand spanking new.
And those are tough cars to keep up with.
Yeah, that was fun.
The go factor was a blast.
But to the Honda's credit, it was so light.
That car is, I know there's not much for power in that,
but that car was so light and the responsiveness,
which I assume you guys have some modifications on that.
Like nothing with coilovers just like...
Oh, coilovers, yeah.
I meant engine power wise.
No, we don't.
Engine power standard.
No, yeah, yeah.
We get in enough trouble with that.
Yeah, just the way that car would handle.
Fair.
The handling was great.
The weight was awesome.
Good tires, good suspension.
That's about it.
Roll bars.
Roll bar, okay.
Yeah, flat spots.
Sometimes.
ABS is a good thing.
It's a lot cheaper, even if you cost your money.
It is.
Yeah, I would say that I would probably prefer having ABS
as opposed to just raw brakes to tires.
I prefer you having ABS to not having ABS.
I get where you're coming from, sir.
Yes, sir.
So, Brad, you're a good, bad, and ugly storytime.
What was your good?
Good was day two, just gaining familiarity with the car
and with the track.
The cool thing is, I mean, cool, not cool, whatever.
The car was governed at 130.
And on the fastest straight, it would, I would be probably,
I undersold it to the guy that did the check drive with me,
but I probably had about a quarter of a mile
before my braking point that I would hit that governor.
But I kind of used it as a tool as well where,
regardless how I come out of the corner at the beginning
of the straight, I would be coming into that turn
at 130 miles an hour.
So it gave me perfect consistency for being on the outside edge
of the track and then just knowing how to brake,
get the car squirrely and turn through,
I think it's turn four there and you could carry.
There was one time I got super greasy in the back
and I just like trail-braked out and then transitioned
into the gas and definitely the car was like,
thought sideways, but sliding through that turn.
And it was like, it was just so fast.
And there were definitely nerves.
Like, I don't know if my car is going to stop
before I'm in the curbing or go off.
But no, like it was just like, it was a great turn,
just like finding out how to slide the car through the turns.
Would definitely be the, what do you mean?
Were all four wheels sliding or front only or back only?
My ass is not smart enough to answer that question.
Maybe someday when you get the HVD-3.
I could just feel the grease,
continue to feel the grease going through the turn.
It was like floating, kind of, but grabbing.
Cool.
It was a cool sensation.
The bad would be an educational moment for me
where on the shorter straight, going across the checker,
the start-finish, again, continuing to push my breaking points up.
Right.
I overshot my breaking point.
Oh, that happens.
It does happen, especially when you have a good exit
at the beginning.
And yeah, I just, I hit the brakes.
I realized I was going to miss the apex
and definitely had the instinct to pull in,
like, throw the wheel more,
but then this is where a sim racing came in.
And it's just like, I need to get grip
before I can ask the car to turn.
So I just, like, push to the outer edge of the track
while I was breaking and then just slow the car down enough.
But I put two wheels off, which...
It's going to happen.
It's going to happen.
Hey, it could have been more expensive
if you didn't have ABS.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Thankfully, there's a lot of forgiveness with this
where there is runoff.
And it's hard to do damage.
It was a flat spot, jokes, but, you know,
I got to get those in.
I'm trying to sidestep past traumas.
So the ugly is like the good, bad, and ugly all in one.
On my check drive to try to go to level three
the instructor told me, hey, I'm not going to tell you anything.
We're just going to go for a ride.
And it was great up until a point.
So, like, literally we came out of the pits,
which exits on to turn two.
It's a short straight, turn three.
And then down a long straight went through a series
of other turns and we got between six and seven.
And he, like, looked up and he's like, you pass.
And I'm like...
What?
He's like, honestly, I could tell on turn three you pass.
And I'm like, no way.
That's awesome.
He's like, all you got to do is just, like, go through pit road,
drop me off, enjoy the rest of the session.
And I'm like, sweet, great.
No play.
I had, like, so many things going on in my head.
Because he was a taller driver, too.
So I don't know if he just, like, wanted to get out of the car
because his head was, like, close to the roof.
I don't know if I just, like, really nailed that turn
and then subsequent turns and whatnot.
So, like, I had some stuff on my mind.
He reminded me as we were coming up to the last chicane
before the final straight, like, hey, we're going to go into pits.
So I put my hand out the window, fist up.
And then for some reason, I don't know why.
I just gunned it out of the last turn
and forgot that I was going to pits.
And then he's like, hey, by the way, we're going to pits.
And I look over and the solid line is right next to me.
And I have a GR86 right on my tail.
And I'm like, oh, shit.
So I, like, had the instinct to pull out, like,
swirl it over and go into pits.
But it's like, I'm already next to that line, so I can't.
And then the GR86 is slowing up because I didn't give him
a point by.
And then I was just like, oh, shit.
I just messed this whole thing up.
Oh, no.
Well, it's better than crossing the line though.
Yeah.
So I just realized what I did and punched it.
And then I was just like, man, I took a good thing.
And I just soured it.
So they gave me a provisional pass assuming I could pass
a test later on down the road.
But that would definitely be the ugly of that moment was
just like a mental mess of just like too many things
going on.
And then bad reactions and responses and communication.
And it was just like, it was not good.
No.
It's okay.
So, so let's think about it after we're all,
we've all been there.
So let's get this straight.
You go to one HPD.
You get out of HPD one, you go to HPD two,
you get HPD two one time.
You get up and you're in HPD three.
Sounds like a win.
That's a win.
That's, that's some jumping, Brad.
Yeah, it was, it was, I was really stoked.
I think the thing that like probably tweaked my mind the
most was he's like, I've never passed anybody that fast
that you pass.
So that's, that, that's the tieback to what you said
earlier, like you're an easy grader or whatever.
And I don't necessarily think he was an easy grader.
I think he was a little more detail oriented.
So I, I don't know what I did in the turn there, but, um,
I would have taken it as your excellent HPD one instructor,
but, you know, you get to take it, take out Harvey West.
That's fine.
Anyway, congratulations, sir.
You did awesome.
Um, yeah, it came with, um,
so we had a debriefing after to continue that story.
And, um, he just asked me what happened and I told him it was
like overload and I, I think my ADHD kicked in and that
just was going to keep driving.
Um, and then all of that meltdown happened.
So he's like, all right, we see things relatively the same.
Just focus on being predictable.
That is the whole name of this game.
That moment was not at all predictable for anybody.
And I'm like, yep.
So what we'll do is we'll send you out for the next session.
And as long as everything goes perfectly fine, um,
we'll move you to level three.
So I go off to the next session.
Everything is going great.
Just driving the car hard still, um, pushing all of those
things that we're focusing on.
And I am watching flag stations and everything.
I'm very focused.
It's one of the things he told me is like, I'm going to ask you
what a flagger is doing and you need to be able to tell me.
And I'm like, Oh shit, my vision is horrible.
Like I was saying earlier.
Right.
Um, so definitely I was extra attentive to that and had kind
of forgotten about it, but was utilizing watching flag
stations.
And I go through, um, between turn eight and nine and there's
a black flag waving and it's got my car number on it.
And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me.
I needed this to be a perfect session.
Sometimes they do that as a test though.
So I go into the pits and, uh, the head instructor, uh,
I'm like, man, I'm so sorry.
I don't know what I messed up.
I thought everything went smooth.
He was like, Oh, don't worry about it.
That was just a test.
You pass.
You're good.
Welcome to level three.
And I'm like, Oh geez.
Yeah, it was a, I'll take it.
Honestly, I'll take it because that a means that I was doing
like the right things.
Yep.
D. Yes, we actually do get to advance.
Well, I mean, if you, if you, if it was me and you
went across the, the blunt line, I would have not
passed you.
So you, you did the best of the best of the bad
choices you were presented.
I mean, you did it to yourself, but that track,
I guess they are, they've had a couple.
I think they said they've had two like really,
really, really bad accidents by somebody crossing over.
So they did stress that if you cross that solid line,
you will not come back to this track for many years.
Wow.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That was like a.
I want to do that with an ugly moment.
It was an ugly moment.
It's okay though.
I mean, you, you did what you were supposed to do.
You should have gotten off early, but you didn't.
So you had to stay on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For that, that Jerry six.
Cause I'm sure they were behind me.
Like what the hell is going on?
Oh, they'll survive.
So Brad, did you have any aha moments?
Aha moments.
Um, something click, something come together.
Uh, definitely one thing I wasn't doing a new Jersey.
Uh, that I did this time is I took all the curve that I code.
Um, and sometimes that's to your benefit and sometimes it's to your detriment.
Um, which I did not.
Does depend on the curve and just where the balance is on the car.
But definitely there were some that would super upset it.
And be difficult to predict for the next turn coming up and then others.
It's like, this is a sweet spot.
They just kind of grabs the inside edge of your tire and helps you around a turn.
Uh, that was.
That was a point of focus.
I don't, I don't know.
That would probably be my aha moment.
It's just like use everything to track out as the offer because you can just,
there's a lot to capitalize on there.
So I definitely would do these favorites as I paid for the track and then use the
whole damn thing.
Yup.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a, yeah.
I mean that's, that's the whole point is like, I see some of the more advanced
guys and they're, they're taking just like a little bit of dirt either coming
into the curbs or coming out of the curbs.
So just a case of it.
Not a lot, but.
It's cool.
on the podcast and we've had a few. You are definitely one of the most enthusiastic people
we've had about racing and driving, so it's great to see you out there and having a good time.
That's kind of cool. It's hard not to be just because it's the same thing.
It's pretty much the same thing every event I've ever been to,
whether I got to participate or not is just like the energy is so forward. It's so typically
upbeat and sometimes like some shit hits the fan, but the whole goal is to just like accomplish
something and push as hard as you can safely and comfortably and not destroy the car. It's
like this perfect culmination of like a whole bunch of different factors and a whole bunch of
personalities too and like everybody's got the same mindset for the most part going into those that
it's just like it's always a great melting pot. And racing people are awesome, so there's always
that. Yeah, the next thing Brad is you got to get on a skid pad. You got to get on a skid pad.
The deal is that racing and what you're doing right now is all forward momentum.
You need to know what to do in cases of emergencies. You need to figure out when
things go sideways how to control it. That's the real test. That's the test
because we can all go fast and we can all go forward. The next test. Yes, not the only test.
Not the only test, but that's a big one. If you can get yourself on a skid pad,
then yeah, that would be optimal. Just save your crappy tires.
Yeah, that's right. Definitely. There's one thought that I had over the weekend was like if
you spin out like two pedals in those events and I was thinking about it and just like I don't have
that option. So like if I end up spinning out and rolling backwards, am I just going to destroy
my transmission? Is that how that's going to work? No, it's you just have one pedal in.
I mean, yeah, I would have my break, but I just I've never thought about losing control
and having the car roll backwards while it's geared to drive forwards. I don't know what
happens in that case. It wouldn't. It wouldn't be good, but your brakes are on so it won't.
Ah, fair. Potentially as long as ABS isn't free. I don't know. I don't know. Even if
ABS isn't free. I prefer not to find out. Man, don't do that. I think you need to track our
buddy. Yeah, I mean, I got an E46, but it's an all-wheel drive and that thing pushes
like no other. I think I cannot get rear end rotation. I think you need different. I will talk.
We can fix that. So one thing I do have to put out there for props to
NASA Rocky Mountain Division, like all of the instructors that are participating and just like
watching over everybody that's like out there on track. I didn't know that they are.
I don't know if this is normal. I've never been introduced to figureheads here,
but the owner of Rocky Mountain NASA, Dan Williams, just like was walking through the
paddock and just like sparking conversations with everybody. And he stopped over and he
and I had, I don't know, 10 minute talk on just like being very focused on people who
can drive to like actually get them into race cars and go and it was like between the instructors
and between meeting him. It's just like there's a lot of gusto between behind like getting people
out there and not just to do like driver's eds, but to participate and like compete, I guess.
And it's not like a forceful push, but it's like an open encouragement is the best way to explain it.
And it was a cool energy. Like genuinely, I really like the crew out here and just because of
the crew. I, Pueblo Motorsports, I don't know, Pueblo Raceway, there's a really nice track down in
Pueblo. They have an event coming up in October for and like just how everything went this weekend.
I am more inclined and motivated to go to that. Awesome. It's a long, it's a long hike from here.
How far is it?
About two and a half hours. So
closer than Jersey is and closer than New Hampshire is from northeast Pennsylvania.
You know, the best thing I've ever heard about when the track is like two, two and a half hours
away from home is I believe the phrase was suck it up buttercup. I mean,
yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm definitely spoiled with High Plains being an hour. It's literally an hour away
from here. So that's High Plains is where it's where like lemon's racist.
Yeah, you guys, you're gonna have some out here experience. If we just knew some people out
there, we gotta, if we knew people, you're gonna have a whole family out here pretty soon.
I know, right? Seems that way. Seems that way for sure.
So it wouldn't be me if I didn't ask the question last one.
Goals or things you need to work on for next time?
Everybody hates this question, especially Miss Vicki.
I don't care. I don't care.
I would say a goal that I have, assuming I took the same car out where I've already gotten a feel
for like how it can push where its limitations are, finding out if it's possible to and maybe
this isn't the car for it because it is like it's 60-40 rear front, but navigating around a turn
with a straight steering wheel, I would love to be able to execute that. I don't know how feasible
that is. Definitely, I could feel it on that one turn that I was saying is the good of almost
being there. Definitely, the car is turning more than I am turning the wheel. And that felt
so good, but damn, it was so just like on the edge of control it felt like.
But with this, again, being all-wheel drive, it's not like my rear tires are going to be
pushing me at that angle around that turn. I've got a little bit of a pull from the front end too,
so I'm not sure if it's possible. Did you have the traction control off when you were doing
that? Yeah. Okay. It's possible. Yeah. It's a quick answer. Okay. We'll work it out. Yeah, so finding
out how to do that would be a goal of mine and I guess starting there. Yeah. Awesome.
So when's your next event, Brad?
I don't know. Probably, if I can get some some bites from either, I had a couple people
for clients at work that were interested, but they had family things going on and they couldn't
join this weekend. If I can get either any of them to buy or any of my co-workers who
sound very interested in going, if I can get them to go down to Pueblo, I will go to that in
October. If not, probably something next year, but nothing specifically in mind besides that one.
Okay. We'll do our best to be bad influences on those decisions.
And listen, also don't forget if you want to bring Jacqueline in. Jacqueline, right?
Yeah. Yeah. You know, just invite her to an autocross. Simple. A little two minutes on the track.
That's it. Yeah. Nothing intense. Lots of people to talk to.
She, I got her to a BMW Ultimate Drive event. They did at the Bronco Stadium parking lot out
here. Nice. And they were in the I-4, I-5, and X3 M50. And they put an instructor in the car with
you to just like tell you how to navigate the course and whatnot. But she had a blast with that.
Did she? She did. I've got one bite in there. This won't take long at all. I mean, that's great.
It's wonderful. Can't wait to meet her. So malicious.
What? The first one's free, man. That's all I'm saying. It's the key.
Will she fit in that? Oh, yeah. Yeah. She would be great. There we go. Got it.
Yeah, we got it. I don't know if she can drive sick, but...
Well, I can teach her that in an hour. It's a racetrack. Stick on a racetrack is a joke.
Mm-hmm. Gas is your friend.
Gas is your friend. Yes, this is correct. I do feel like there's more forgiveness when your
foot's just in the floor there. 100%. Well, sir, it is awesome that you got back out there.
We love it when you see there. We're doing our best to try and talk you into coming out this
way. And it doesn't take much to talk us into going that way. So we'll figure something out.
John sounds a brotherly good time. That's right. That's right. Exactly.
That's right. We'll have to see if we can borrow a car out there for an HPD.
Karash here is in training at gmail.com. Yep. Free instruction. I will do what I can.
We'll instruct for free. I can attest to this. This is good instruction.
So that's fine. I am very happy that you did HPD too, and I'm even happier that they agreed
with me and thought you were well ready to move on up even further. So that was great.
Let's see where this goes. I know where it goes. Your bank account goes down,
and your fun factor goes away. Your adrenaline goes through the roof. You sleep better.
Oh, yeah. I slept great after this weekend. Fantastic. Right. You can't help it.
And just think about the experience that you have, the experiences that you have.
When you're older, you can look back and go, man, I did that.
It's just so awesome. There's nothing like this.
We were off for this period of time, and I got back in the car, and I'm like,
this is what's missing. It's the adrenaline. It's the adrenaline rush that I get from it,
because I'm a sleepy girl without it. I am. Yeah, I missed it. Good for you,
Brad. We are so proud of you. Thank you. It's been a long road to hope,
because definitely, I moved from Pennsylvania out here with the direct intention of getting into
it as soon as I could. So five years is a farther timeline than I...
Has it been five years?
2020 is when I moved, October 2020. Brad?
I know. Pre-slash-during-plague. That's right. You were pre-plague.
Yeah. Great time. Jesus.
I'll pass. I'm good. Yeah, I'll pass.
Awesome. Brad, congratulations. You did well. You've enjoyed this. This is like one of the
things that you want to be your thing, and every time you get on track, it looks like you are
100% at home. So enjoy the ride, man. It's so much fun.
Name of the game, man. Thank you.
No worries.
It is so good seeing your face again.
What a roughy and hairy as it is.
What about Brad? Oh.
Well played, sir. Well played.
Got to get the fake nods when I can, because otherwise I'd have to up in the bathtub.
That photo in the group chat was perfectly on time.
That's how I roll.
All right. Thank you, Brad. Great podcast. And I can't wait to see you back out again,
whether it's on the Semi-West Coast or the East Coast with us.
Something's gonna happen. Exactly.
I love it.
We got glad ideas on this side, too.
All right. Have a great night.
You, too.
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About this episode
Brad shares his journey from novice to solo HPDE driver with NASA Rocky Mountain, detailing his experiences at High Plains Raceway in his 2024 BMW M440. The conversation covers track layout, car handling, tire pressures, and managing traction control. Brad reflects on his nervousness, learning moments, and instructor feedback, including a near-miss incident and passing his level three test. The hosts discuss the supportive racing community, training structure, and Brad’s goals for improving car control and vision on track. The episode captures the excitement and challenges of progressing in HPDE events and the camaraderie of grassroots racing.
Original notes
DwD 0721: Brad Goes to his First HPDE Solo
Brad returns to discuss his first HPDE solo with NASA Rocky Mountain. We discuss the event and how things went for him. Brad has always had some of the highest level of enthusiasm for racing on track that we have ever and it is still there.
Did we miss something? Please let us know at [email protected].
A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/BetterIsBetterer
We hope you enjoy this episode!
If you would like to help grow our podcast and high-performance driving and racing:
You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, YouTube, etc.
Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate very much. Even better, a podcast review would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.
Best regards,
Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, Jeremy, and Bill
Hosts of the Garage Heroes in Training Podcast and Garage Heroes in Training racing team drivers
We hope you enjoy this episode!
If you would like to help grow our podcast and high-performance driving and racing:
You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, YouTube, etc.
Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that we would appreciate very much. Even better, a podcast review would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving and we would appreciate it.
Best regards,
Vicki, Jennifer, Ben, Alan, Jeremy, and Bill
Hosts of the Garage Heroes in Training Podcast and Garage Heroes in Training racing team drivers
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