Garage Heroes in Training catches up on a busy winter of racing prep, travel, and shop work. Vicky gets her Miata and other projects moving, tackles brake and throttle-body issues, and plans livery/track prep for upcoming endurance events. Jeremy details progress on a 2004 BMW E46 race car, including safety work and a new crankcase breather setup, plus stories from delivering a trophy truck and watching rocket launches near Blue Origin. The crew lays out a packed 2025 schedule across Lemons, Lucky Dog, AER, and more, while juggling baseball, chess, and family travel.
With the recent weather starting to show signs of spring, we catch up with Santa Jeremy and see what his plans are for the season, what he's been working on all winter, and what bad ideas we can come up with for the racing season.
A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/755SantaJeremy
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
Money saving tips:
1) Enter the code GHiT 25 for $50 off the Fire Links hardware system with a 1 year membership included and/or a an extra three months if you subscribe now at https://firelaps.com/
2) Enter code "GHIT" for a 10% discount code to all our listeners during the checkout process at https://candelaria-racing.com/ for a Sentinel system to capture and broadcast live video and telemetry.
3) Enter the code "ghitlikesapex!" when you order and Apex Pro system from https://apextrackcoach.com/ and you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40.
"One, this lefty-loosey, righty-tighty thing is very confusing to me."
It’s a memory trick: turn left to loosen, turn right to tighten. It helps you avoid stripping bolts or making things worse.
“Lefty-loosey, righty-tighty” is a common rule of thumb for tightening and loosening threaded fasteners. Turning counterclockwise typically loosens a bolt, while turning clockwise tightens it—though always confirm thread direction and fastener type for special cases.
"I don't think it's going to take a lot of time because the Civic only needs... I know, they're fun to take apart. The Civic only needs the exhaust and the engine out."
A Honda Civic is a common Honda compact car. They’re saying it’s not too hard to take apart because you can remove the exhaust and pull the engine to strip useful parts.
The Honda Civic is a compact car that’s popular in the enthusiast and parts world because many models share common serviceable components. In this segment, they’re talking about removing the exhaust and pulling the engine to strip the car efficiently.
"The Civic only needs the exhaust and the engine out. Anybody needs a B18? Let me know. No, the Civic? Yeah. Oh, that exhaust system is badass."
The exhaust is the system that carries fumes from the engine to the back of the car. If someone needs the exhaust, they’re probably taking it off to keep or sell the parts.
The exhaust system is the set of components that routes engine exhaust gases from the engine to the tailpipe. When people say they “need the exhaust,” they usually mean they’re salvaging the exhaust parts (like the headers/catalyst/muffler section) for reuse or resale.
"And then we get... And then we get to do plasma torch and make it into small pieces of former Civic."
A plasma torch is a tool that uses super-hot electricity to cut metal. They’re talking about using it to chop up the remaining car body after removing usable parts.
A plasma torch uses an electrically heated, ionized gas to cut through metal. In salvage contexts, it’s used to quickly break down a car shell into smaller pieces for disposal or scrap.
"If somebody wants a hatchback shell. Yeah, we have a title for it. We've got a title for it."
A title is the paperwork that proves who owns the car. If they have the title, it’s easier to sell the car body legally.
A vehicle title is the legal document proving ownership and enabling transfer or registration. In salvage situations, having a title makes it much easier to sell a shell or parts car legally, compared with an untitled or unclear-status vehicle.
"We did a bunch of stuff over there. Anything go up into the space or no? [542.7s] Yes. We actually went over to Blue Origin. Nice. A friend of mine works there and we got a private tour."
Blue Origin is a company that sends rockets into space. They visited the area and got a tour, then talked about how intense the launch experience is.
Blue Origin is a private space company that launches rockets from its facilities in the U.S. The episode ties it to the Florida area near Cape Canaveral, where the hosts visited and watched a launch, emphasizing the real-world experience of rocket noise and vibration.
"Blue Origin is about three miles from the launch pad. Do you know which kind? It was SpaceX. [563.3s] I don't know. I don't remember which one. It was one of the smaller ones."
SpaceX is a company that launches rockets. They watched one lift off and described how loud and shaky it felt from a few miles away.
SpaceX is a private space company known for frequent rocket launches. Here, the speaker watches a launch nearby and compares the sound and vibration to motorsports events, highlighting how close proximity changes the sensory experience.
"It's like when you're hungry at a lemon's race. Yes. Or if you've been to a top fuel drag race, [593.8s] it's kind of the same thing as that."
Top Fuel is the loud, high-power category of drag racing. They’re comparing the rocket’s constant noise and shaking to what you’d feel at a Top Fuel event.
Top Fuel is a class of drag racing where cars use extremely powerful engines and produce intense noise and vibration. The speaker uses it as an analogy for the constant roar and shaking they felt during the rocket launch.
"The suspension alone in that car is basically our other car cost-wise. That's the big boy car."
They’re saying the suspension work is expensive—so expensive it can cost as much as another whole car. That makes sense because the suspension is what helps the tires stay planted and makes the car handle well on track.
They note that the suspension alone costs about as much as their other car, highlighting how suspension upgrades (springs, dampers, geometry changes, and alignment capability) are often the biggest expense in track-prep builds. Suspension is critical for grip, tire wear, and driver confidence.
"I was told that that was supposed to have its maiden race this past weekend."
A maiden race just means the very first race the car has ever done. Teams use that first event to test that everything works and to catch any problems early.
A “maiden race” is the first time a car or race vehicle competes in an event. It’s a big milestone because the team typically uses the debut to shake down systems and confirm reliability.
"Eric said that it was going to get broken in by the Fokine family this past weekend, so."
“Break in” refers to the initial period of running a new or recently rebuilt vehicle to help components seat properly and reveal early issues. In racing contexts, it often means controlled laps or limited sessions before full competition.
"So yeah, trophy truck's gone. I brought him all the spares."
A trophy truck is a purpose-built off-road race truck meant for desert-style racing. It’s built to survive big bumps and rough ground, so teams often carry extra parts.
A trophy truck is a high-performance off-road race truck built for desert racing, typically featuring long-travel suspension, large tires, and robust drivetrain components. They’re designed to handle rough terrain at speed, which drives specific maintenance needs and spare-part strategies.
Brake pads are the part that actually creates the stopping power when you press the brake pedal. In racing, they wear out faster, so teams often bring extra sets.
Brake pads are the friction material that clamps onto the brake rotors to slow the vehicle. In racing—especially off-road—they wear quickly and are often carried as spares so the team can maintain consistent braking performance.
"Well, I do know that they were taking a list at Mid-Ohio for signing up... Unfortunately, we can't do pit race momentous. Yeah, but then there's Michigan... Yeah, Gingerman. Mid-Ohio."
Mid-Ohio is a race track in Ohio. They’re talking about going there for an event and how far it is.
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a well-known road course in Ohio that hosts many racing and driving events. Mentioning it signals the type of track weekend they’re planning and the travel commitment involved.
"Yeah, but then there's Michigan. So much for some. That's up in there. Yeah, Gingerman. Mid-Ohio."
Gingerman is a race track in Michigan. They’re listing it as one of the places they might race or attend an event.
Gingerman Raceway (often shortened to “Gingerman”) is a road course in Michigan known for club and amateur racing. Mentioning it helps listeners understand which track they’re considering for upcoming events.
"Yeah. Yeah. So part of me right now is weighing out the cost of driving out with this new era of gas prices that are becoming out."
They mean the cost of gas is going up. That changes how much it costs to drive to races and how often they can go.
They’re talking about how rising fuel costs affect the budget for racing events. In motorsports, fuel and transport expenses can be a major part of the total cost of attending a weekend.
"this spring and summer is to just go ahead and do my car trailer up to where if it was just me heading out with the car, then I would just go do that. Yeah. Yeah. And it would be comfortable. I wouldn't have to leave the track. And the trailer locks from the inside."
A car trailer is like a moving platform you tow behind your vehicle to bring your car to an event. It’s useful because you can stay set up near the track instead of constantly driving back and forth.
A car trailer is a towable platform used to transport a vehicle to and from events, like track days. The key idea here is convenience—being able to travel and set up without needing to leave the track area.
"I wouldn't have to leave the track. And the trailer locks from the inside... So listen, if you're going to punt on doing the full schedule for Great Lakes, then why aren't you doing northeast? ... Get on a track."
A track day is an organized event where drivers take their cars to a racetrack for timed or coached driving, usually without racing competition. In this segment, the speakers discuss planning around track schedules and meeting up at the track.
"It is an oil collector as well. Yep. Yep. In case some oil gets out there, it is a catch can. We have one of those on the car if you need a reference."
A catch can is a small container that traps oily vapor before it goes into the engine’s intake. It helps prevent gunk and oil from building up.
A catch can (oil catch can) collects oil mist and condensation from crankcase ventilation before it can enter the intake. This helps reduce oil ingestion and keeps the intake tract cleaner.
"How'd you do that? Roll cage. No, center net gets all attached to the roll cage. Okay. It basically attaches just like the belts do."
A roll cage is the reinforced frame inside a race car. It’s there to protect the driver and it also gives a strong place to attach safety gear.
A roll cage is a reinforced structure that protects occupants and provides mounting points for safety equipment like belts and window nets. In racing, it’s designed to maintain survival space during rollovers and impacts.
"And I've been I have a checklist of break jobs I have to do."
They’re talking about brake work—repairs or replacements needed to keep the braking system healthy. It’s on their to-do checklist.
“Break jobs” is clearly “brake jobs,” meaning scheduled brake service such as pad/rotor replacement or brake hardware work. The speaker has a checklist, so this is central to the episode’s “what’s in the garage” theme.
"The Acura has Brembo brake systems on it. So I have to go ahead and put those on order."
Brembo makes performance brake parts. If your car has Brembo brakes, you usually need the right Brembo-compatible parts for the system to work properly.
Brembo is a performance brake brand known for high-quality calipers, rotors, and brake hardware. When a car has Brembo brake systems, the parts and fitment are often more specific than standard brake components.
"Bill just says, go ahead and call. What's her name over at a Wendy, Wendy at Porterfield, Wendy at Porterfield, go ahead and give her a call, just either that or do factory breaks from Acura."
Porterfield is a company that makes brake parts, like brake pads. They’re being mentioned because the speaker wants the right replacement parts for their brake setup.
Porterfield is an aftermarket brake-parts brand, especially known for brake pads. The speaker is told to call “Wendy at Porterfield,” implying they’re considering specific replacement brake components rather than generic parts.
"[2192.2s] So that was really kind of awesome. Good. Because I also end up moving the donor car
[2197.7s] at the same time."
A “donor car” is basically a second car you use for parts. If one car needs something, you take it from the donor so you can fix the main one faster.
A “donor car” is a second vehicle used as a parts source. In projects and race prep, people often pull specific components (like throttle bodies or other parts) from a donor to keep the main car running.
"You know, it didn't have VTEC. So that was kind of fun. It didn't have VTEC and it ran super rich."
VTEC is a Honda feature that changes how the engine breathes. If the car doesn’t have VTEC, it can’t switch into that extra “power” mode, so it behaves more simply.
VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) is Honda’s system for changing camshaft profiles to improve performance and efficiency. When a car “doesn’t have VTEC,” it typically uses a more basic cam/valvetrain setup and won’t switch into the higher-lift/high-flow mode.
"[2468.7s] New throttle body. Right now, new throttle body for sure.
[2474.6s] Notice how he's trying to divert. He's trying to change it off of him.
[2477.9s] I would never go shopping on Rocco Auto during a podcast."
The throttle body controls how much air gets into the engine. If it’s not working right, the car can feel sluggish or run rough.
A throttle body is the air-control valve between the intake and the engine. If it’s faulty or miscalibrated, the engine can run poorly—often showing symptoms like rough running, hesitation, or trouble codes.
"You need an OEM one. Yeah. Yes, you need an OEM. Well, Chris only buys OEM."
OEM means “Original Equipment Manufacturer,” referring to parts made to match what the car originally came with. Using OEM parts is often about fitment and reliability, especially for critical components.
"But I think it was the best car that we had down at Motorsports Red Houston just because
[3622.0s] the layout of the track and how bumpy the track was like it was really, really bad."
Track layout just means the course design—where the turns and straight sections are. Some cars feel better on certain track designs.
Track layout refers to how a circuit is designed—its turns, straights, and overall flow. Different layouts can favor different cars and driving styles, which is why the speaker says the GT-R felt best “because of the layout of the track.”
"So I mean, it depends on the track. It depends on what you're looking for and what kind of fun
[3639.4s] you want to have because they all have their own unique personality."
They’re saying different tracks make different cars shine. A car that feels great on one course might not feel as good on another.
This is the idea that car performance and driver enjoyment are highly dependent on the specific circuit. Factors like surface quality, bumps, and corner types can make one car feel “best” at one track and less impressive at another.
"Every once in a while, I will. I'll get a little bit of motion sickness,
[3692.4s] but no, it's not. It's not bad. I got used to it. Very well."
Motion sickness is when you feel sick or dizzy because your body and eyes aren’t agreeing on what’s happening. It can happen in cars, especially on bumpy or twisty drives.
Motion sickness is nausea or dizziness caused by the mismatch between what your eyes see and what your inner ear senses. In cars, it can be triggered by acceleration, braking, and especially rough track surfaces or sustained cornering.
"...we should look at the last race of the year down there in Atlanta. [3746.8s] Road Atlanta. At Road Atlanta..."
Road Atlanta is a famous race track. People race cars there, and it’s the kind of place you’d plan a trip around for a weekend event.
Road Atlanta is a well-known road course in the U.S. It’s a common venue for sports car racing and track days, so it comes up a lot when people talk about scheduling events. In this segment, they’re discussing adding a race there to their yearly plan.
"for the F1 race. Woohoo. Woohoo. Hopefully it'll be smooth. Well, when is the race again?"
F1 is Formula 1, the biggest kind of professional race for open-wheel cars. Teams compete on tracks around the world, and the cars are very advanced.
“F1” refers to Formula 1, the top tier of open-wheel racing run by the FIA. Listeners might recognize it as a global series where teams race highly engineered cars on road courses and purpose-built tracks.
"You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre-produced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience"
Libsyn Ads is a company that helps place advertisements in podcasts. Here, they’re being used to run an ad on other shows.
Libsyn Ads is an advertising platform associated with Libsyn, which helps podcasters distribute and monetize shows. In this segment, it’s mentioned as the service used to place podcast ads across other shows.
Select text to request an explanation
We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about
buying tickets. The Game Time app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps.
Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the Game Time guarantee means
authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to
concerts, sports, comedy, and more with Game Time. Download the Game Time app and create an account
for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
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. And their soon-to-be wonder woman, Vicky Fisher. And our captain
marvel and head flight trainee, Jennifer Scriptjunk. 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. I found 750 of these puppies. I know what I need to do.
So, yes, while she's making notes, Formula One. You're burning pot, you're burning pot. We'll
do it. I'll bring it in right now. She could make notes in the background. She doesn't listen to me
anyway. Welcome to the Garage Heroes in Training Podcast. We've got a host full episode. Who else
is hosting? I'm Vicky. And I'm Jeremy. Santa Jeremy's back. Santa Jeremy, the beard keeps
getting longer, which means your waist is not getting smaller. That is somewhat kind of correct,
but not really. The beard is getting longer, but the waist is getting smaller as well.
I thought the deal was no shave until Jeremy has shaved off part of Jeremy.
Well, that's what the deal is, but I haven't hit that goal to be able to shave it off yet.
Yeah, that's why I think longer means more Jeremy. Or not enough less Jeremy, I guess.
Yes, not enough less Jeremy. We'll go with that. All right, very well. This goes back to
survive the 25, which rolled into 26, and I think started in 24, but you know, we're still
working on it. Actually, I'm somewhere in that area. Yeah, I'm done with my first 25. I'm working
on my second 25, so I'm going to lap you soon. That's good for you. That's awesome. We're working
on it. Anyway, someone who needs no loss of 25, my beautiful bride. What's up, Miss Vicky?
Yeah, I opened up the garage, so I've been down there.
That's right. I'm pretty excited. Got my little Miata MB up on the lift right now and drained,
and doing some work on that. So that was kind of nice to get going.
The garage is back in action. We put an entire tank full of oil in and used zero of it and
refilled it now, so at least we're using it. Yeah. So this is the first time that we've
actually filled the tank up and kept it as the lowest that we could do, which was probably about
42, is I think the lowest it'll go. It's 40 or 42. Yeah, but it was so cold this winter that
it just drained the tank. I popped in there and there was no oil. Twice. No problem. Yeah, but
the first one I can kind of understand because I didn't fill it up before I closed the garage.
I don't really think I did, but maybe I did. But I was really kind of surprised at how much it used
because technically, the way the hanger is, is that it's really not worth it going down in there
from January into February strictly because the oil heater just works too hard to keep it warm.
I think we need to winterize it next year and not oil it. Yeah.
Because we're just heating it with nobody there, so that's kind of dumb.
Yeah, so I mean, the nice thing is that it does have insulation on the back wall,
it does have insulation on the other side on one wall, and then the front doors are insulated,
but one side wall isn't, but there is like two hangers that are kind of fitted right there,
so there is a buffer. But yeah, unless it's like above freezing 32 or something like that,
it's just it's 32 or something in 30s, it's not really worth it. And we dropped down way too low
to go down there. It was like zeros and in the teens, so no, it's not worth it.
Jeremy, you've been to the hanger. Oh, yeah. You know what? We have two things that are
outstanding that I am committed to doing, and I may need your assistance for two things. One,
this lefty-loosey, righty-tighty thing is very confusing to me. And two, I may need some additional
uga-buga. We need to take apart the BMW parts car, and we need to take apart the Civic parts car.
I don't think it's going to take a lot of time because the Civic only needs...
I know, they're fun to take apart. The Civic only needs the exhaust and the engine out. Anybody
needs a B18? Let me know. No, the Civic? Yeah. Oh, that exhaust system is badass. Okay. Yeah.
We've got a B18 engine. Don't need it. And we've got an exhaust. We do need it. And the rest of it,
I don't think we need maybe a few spare parts. So the Civic's going to take like two hours.
I'm going to take the panels off. And then we get... And then we get to do
plasma torch and make it into small pieces of former Civic.
Mm-hmm. Unless somebody wants a shell that may not be salvageable.
If somebody wants a hatchback shell. Yeah, we have a title for it. We've got a title for it.
No, it sounds like a fun weekend. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
Destruction's fun. Yep. That sounds like a fun weekend in warm weather when we can grill and
all that kind of stuff. Yes. Sometime in August. Perhaps Sea Heat. Yep. That sounds like a fun,
fun weekend. So speaking of heat, when I think of heat, I think why not go to New Hampshire?
So Jeremy, what's it like in New Hampshire? If you guys like started to thaw anything?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's... We don't have any snow on the ground most places now.
Really? While I was in Phoenix, it was really, really warm here.
Everything melted. It's been raining lately. So whatever there is, I mean, obviously, there's
still some big snow banks, but for the most part, unless it was a big pile, there is nothing left
anymore. I mean, it's still cold. And it's going to get cold again this week. It snowed a little
bit today. But yeah, I mean, we're still... We're not out of winter. We're still in winter.
Oh, we're going to have more. So it's just... Oh, yeah.
Just wondering. Was it... We had it really, really cold. Were you guys cold?
Oh, yeah. It's been cold. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to know if the inversion...
No, I mean, I've been gone so much lately that I haven't really... I'm back into that.
I'm home for a 1.75 days if I'm lucky. So I've been kind of out of the loop.
Nice. Because it's not really quite two days because I get home usually Monday evening.
I'm home on Tuesday and then I fly back out first thing Wednesday morning.
So do you have the divorce lawyer on retainer or is that still in TBD?
No, that's a still TBD. That's still TBD.
I'm just wondering. Are you gone enough that she's mad at you for being gone?
Are you gone enough that she likes you when you're home? Which one?
A little bit of both. It depends on the week. It depends on the week.
Yeah. No, I mean, it's been fun. I've been in Texas. I've been in Phoenix. I've been Florida.
It's been fun. So what tracks? Where are we instructing in the stream?
Circuit Florida. And then we ended up using that as a February vacation. So the wife and
kids flew down. We went all over the place. We ended up in Key West. We ended up in Naples,
Florida. That's a trip from there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. From Orlando area. We actually ended up over
near Cape Canaveral. We did a bunch of stuff over there. Anything go up into the space or no?
Yes. We actually went over to Blue Origin. Nice. A friend of mine works there and we got a private
tour. Super, super cool. Super fun. And then we got to watch one of the rockets launch. Blue
Origin is about three miles from the launch pad. Do you know which kind? It was SpaceX.
I don't know. I don't remember which one. It was one of the smaller ones.
But yeah, it was really cool watching that thing launch.
You don't get the perspective until you actually are nearby when one goes up and you're like,
oh, well, I mean, we were three miles away and it was shaking the building and the railings.
It was just this constant noise, this constant, you know, I can only describe it.
It's like when you're hungry at a lemon's race. Yes. Or if you've been to a top fuel drag race,
it's kind of the same thing as that. Except you're three miles away as opposed to 300 yards away.
Right. Right. Yeah. And it's just constant for a solid, you know, probably two minutes that you
hear and feel it. Yep. It's the first one I ever saw was quite fun. I don't think Ms. Vicki's seen
one in person yet. Yeah, super, super cool. If you ever get a chance, it's super cool.
So then we came home. I was home for a couple of days, finished out the basketball season,
and then headed right to Phoenix, Arizona. On the way to Tacoma. I don't know.
And then came home and then flew back to,
flew back into Houston to go to Motorsports Ranch Houston.
And then I got home on Monday night, luckily, because of all the crazy weather on Sunday and
Monday. Yep. It was nuts. One runway. And you know how big the Houston airport is.
Yeah. Only one runway was positioned the correct way that they could use for landing and takeoff.
That's no fun. No, no. But you got lucky, you got out of there.
You know, it was a little bit of a bumpy ride, but it was worth it. We got to Atlanta
and made it from Atlanta to home. Yep. I'll do that. So we decided that since Santa Jeremy is
available at home, not comatose from traveling, we would go over where we've been, what we're
doing and how we're doing. So Santa Jeremy, you've been, when you are home, which is not much,
you've been playing with your new, the white one, I believe, the white race car.
Yes. Yes. The fun car, the crazy one, that one is, it's getting very close. My list is down to,
you know, maybe two, four, six, eight, 10, 12. So that's the car that we've been working on for
years and just trying to get it finished and done. And it's a 2004 BMW E46. Originally,
it was built for, you know, we started building it specifically for AER, but we're going to race
it in another series. Lucky dog. We might try a champ race. We'll see how that goes.
Is that your bigger boy car? That's the big boy car. Yeah. That's the big boy car.
The suspension alone in that car is basically our other car cost-wise. That's the big boy car.
But we also had a subtraction from the family moment of silence. Well, actually not from
the family, but from the, this part of the family. From this stable. Yes. From this,
this stable of the family. The extended garage heroes family. Yeah. So let's talk about that
real quick. And then I'll go back into the, to the BMW. So L Hefe, trophy truck, whatever, it's
been named various different things. He has found a new home, now lives in Ohio, which that was
quite a trip. He has gone to the Fokine family. I took that, delivered it out there in February,
ended up driving through snowstorms. And it was, it was absolutely insane. The weather said,
keep me. And you said, no, I'm going anyway. Yeah. Yeah. The weather looked great. Took me
14 hours to get, get out there to his house. You know, it took me probably about 13 hours to get
home. There were still accidents all over the place, tractor, trailer, trucks and the ditch. I
mean, it was crazy. It was a crazy two days to deliver that thing out there. And the worst part,
you were too sick to stop by. Yeah. Yes. Yep. That was the worst part. Yep. Because you went
right by. I did. I essentially went right by for him. I mean, two miles, three miles? Yeah, if,
yeah, yeah. God, that sucked. Yep. So, but yeah, L Hefe is gone. I was told, and I haven't spoken to
Tim yet, but I was told that that was supposed to have its maiden race this past weekend.
Yeah. NCM, right? I don't know where. I don't know. He didn't, Eric didn't tell me.
That's the Great Lakes, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think that was NCM this weekend.
Yeah. Eric said that it was going to get broken in by the Fokine family this past weekend, so.
Tim Fokine's still alive because he hasn't called me back and I texted him in November.
Tim Fokine, Tim Fokine, November. He is hard to get a hold of. He's hard to get a hold of. He's
got two houses that he's juggling back and forth with and been busy working and so yeah.
March. Tim Fokine, Tim Fokine. It is March. Hey, Tim, it's March. So yeah, trophy truck's gone.
I brought him all the spares. I gave him three sets of wheels with it. I had a brand new set of
wheels in boxes. Wow. So all the spare parts went with it. Extra set of brake pads, all kinds of stuff.
Actually, one of the wheels, one of the sets of wheels had a pretty decent 200 treadwear tires
that probably could have got a solid race day out of or a bunch of test days.
Especially he's track racing, so he only races one day, so he could probably get a weekend or two.
Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, so it's gone, but it's not forgotten and it's not out of the circle of who
we know. So yeah, it's good.
You and I are going to race it this year. Race against it this year.
Yeah. Yeah. Where?
I don't know. Miss Vicki, when's your next Great Lakes event?
Well, I do know that they were taking a list at Mid-Ohio for signing up
August, I mean, April, like 16, 17-ish. Oh, cool.
But I don't know if I'm going to be able to make that one, but I am going to make one of them over
there. Yeah, I'm going to be doing that. I've been trying to think about everything as it's
kind of panning out because of like gas races and that kind of stuff, because we're having a shift in
the racing era right now. Well, you're trying to get your instructor certification. Yeah, I'd like to.
You just have to just do it. Yeah, I know.
Because you keep trying to wing it and then you're like, oh, it's too late, I can't get to it or oh,
it's just put it in the calendar and suck it up. Yeah, though, I think that one of the issues
that is happening with it is that it's Mid-Ohio and it's really far.
And it's that whole... Like an hour more than pit race.
Yeah, but that's the one. But if you're going to be doing it, you have to do the whole thing.
No, you just have to... Maybe you don't do it all this year. You do it this year and next year
and then graduate. Yeah. You got to do like Mid-Ohio. Unfortunately, we can't do pit race
momentous. Yeah, but then there's Michigan. So much for some. That's up in there.
Yeah, Gingerman. Mid-Ohio. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So part of me right now is weighing out the
cost of driving out with this new era of gas prices that are becoming out.
And one of the things I talked to Bill about was that Audra and Max have such a great setup in
their car trailer. And I said, if it was just me going, because there's going to be times when
Bill's not going to be able to go. And I said, it's not really worth
getting like an RV or... And I don't feel comfortable sleeping in a tent
as a woman being out there by yourself. Yeah, by myself. So...
You could get one of Jeremy's tents and sleep on top of the car.
Right. But here's the thing. Audra and Max have such a great setup. And I really thought about
this spring and summer is to just go ahead and do my car trailer up to where if it was just
me heading out with the car, then I would just go do that. Yeah. Yeah. And it would be comfortable.
I wouldn't have to leave the track. And the trailer locks from the inside.
Right. So... It's great because of fire.
Well, I'll be inside it so it's fine. I can open the door. I know.
Stop it. Stop it. I don't pick on you. It's not me.
Right. And of course, I'm an outdoor camping girl anyway. So it doesn't really bother me to do that.
I love Ruffin as much as the next guy. Holiday and Express.
Bill loves to Ruffin. Yeah. I mean, what is that? The Circle 8? No, not Circle 8.
I'd put my money on Bill Ruffin in the wild. That's right. Out surviving everybody.
Yeah. Well, I'm out there allergic to literally everything that grows. Yeah. That's what I want.
Give me more of that. Let me smear it across my body and turn into a strawberry.
Really great. This is true. This is very true. That's the one thing like me and Bill are opposites
that fit together well, except for that area. We fit together perfectly fine. I'll let you go
camp anywhere you want. I will stay at the hotel that's in your eyes. It's fine.
I'll be with you during the day. I'll go back to the hotel. If it's a crap night,
come back to the hotel with me. It's the best for everybody. Yeah. It's funny.
That's Bill. That's my Bill. Funny. Yeah. So that was the plan for that.
So listen, if you're going to punt on doing the full schedule for Great Lakes,
then why aren't you doing northeast? I could do northeast.
Get on a track. Stop coming up with reasons why not to. Jeremy, help me here.
Yeah. You need to get on the track. Yep, I do. I do.
And if I'm around, I'll meet you at the track. Okay. So Bill and I will sit down and set the
schedule up for me. And even if Bill can't come, there's going to be races that I'm doing that
I'm going to be there. So you better be there. Yeah.
I mean, can't be the person that he fictionally calls, let's just say,
Nick with quotes around it because that person doesn't exist. He doesn't exist. He does not exist.
Jeremy and this Nick will, you know, he needs some real butts in seats, not this like fantasy
fairyland, the Nick person. Do you remember that one time, a long, long time ago, where that
random guy was choking on bacon and when I was cooking? Oh my gosh, that was so freaking funny.
The one you paid to be Nick that weekend. Yes. I believe that that might. Yeah,
that's the guy I paid to be Nick that weekend. He was playing Nick that weekend.
It's like when Jeremy was 13 and his girlfriend went to a different school. That's what Nick is.
It's just a different. Yeah. I love Nick. Nick is freaking awesome.
There is no Nick. It doesn't exist. Yeah, so we'll get into the race schedule later on. We'll
finish out the episode with that one because I know everybody's wondering what the race schedule
is going to be for this year. So back to the BMW, Jeremy. Yeah. I diverted us with El Hethay,
but you know, I had to. Yeah. What you doing with your BMW? This is not the one with the hands.
This is the white one. This is the white one, which actually may get a modification in the
livery because I love the hands so much that it might end up partaking in a little bit of that
in the livery of the car. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So no, it's getting close.
I got most of the safety stuff in recently over the winter time. I did a bunch of
adjustments to things. I had installed a breather system that wasn't going to work,
and I found out through other people that had kind of the same setup that it just wasn't enough.
So I ordered a new breather system. Breather for what? Just in case people are unaware.
Breather system for the engine. So in that car, the old intake manifold, the breather,
there would be a breather hose, the vent hose that came out of the cylinder head,
while the valve cover actually, sorry, and it would go into the intake through various systems,
and then it would go back down into the engine block so it could, so the engine could actually
breathe, right? If they're sealed up, they create pressure and they don't work.
Is that the crank case pressure? Crank case breather system. Yep. Yep. Same thing,
but just because I have a different... Bring everybody with us for the ride, you know?
Right. Crank race breather system. Because I have a different intake, I can't run that design,
so essentially I have a tank that is off-site, well, in the, you know, in the engine base somewhere,
and I have had a breather system built that I had built, and it just wasn't enough. There wasn't
enough airflow going to go through it, so I ordered a larger system with a much larger hose,
and I just have to redo that. Is that an oil collector as well, or just for...
It is an oil collector as well. Yep. Yep. In case some oil gets out there, it is a catch can.
We have one of those on the car if you need a reference. I'm not saying ours is the best in
the world, but at least you have something. Oh, yeah. No, I have... I had a catch can in the car.
It just wasn't going to be enough. Okay. So, yeah, so I've got that. You know, I got the rest of the
wiring done. Now, really, my list is very small now, but just basically body panels. I have to
weld in the window net. I got that all cleaned up and ready and prepared to weld in the window net.
And you need to weld in the net for Lucky Dog, right?
AER. Yeah, everybody's... Yeah. Okay. Not lemon cell. No. Center net's in...
How'd you do that? Roll cage. No, center net gets all attached to the roll cage.
Okay. It basically attaches just like the belts do.
Okay. And that's strong enough, and I guess if it works for the belts, it works for the net.
Yeah. And then, so I basically body panels, windshield, rear window, and then finish up
the livery and just the odds and ends. So, it's a small list compared to what it was six, eight
months ago. But the first race for that car is going to be in June, so we'll get to the schedule
later. But I'm hoping to be able to test it. The first week of May is when we have... When we're
scheduling to test, to test the car, make sure everything's good.
Okay. For those playing the Grouchiers and Training Home Game, that was 750 plus episodes
before Bill dropped the microphone. But that's okay. Yeah. Whoops. Butterfingers.
Yeah. So, yeah. So, it's pretty exciting that it's getting that close.
So, we'll see. We've got a busy schedule this year. The BMW. We haven't had a chance to touch
your sister, Hampshire. The other one, the black one, the handprint car. For those of you that
have seen it, those of you that haven't, you need to see it because it's pretty rad.
I'd like to propose a nickname for it. And since it's your car, you can't do your own nickname.
I've been thinking about this, and I wanted to have you face-to-face when I said this.
I want it to be called Fondle. How about Hansie? Hansie. Fondle. Yeah. Yeah.
But does that really go with the whole kids... No, he does need to keep it kids-friendly.
No. Not at all. I just want to see. You can name it, you can name it High Five.
Right. High Five. Yeah. But yeah, the kids, you know, four months to 15 years old.
Probably need to go a little more PG. Yeah. But no, that car, it's great. It came off the track at
New Hampshire. A little late race. Hiccup cost us third place, but still came in fourth.
Did you change the water to antifreeze? Please say yes. Please say yes. 100%.
Because you said he didn't touch it since the race. I'm like, please say you changed.
I don't know. Yeah. No, I changed the antifreeze in the truck, the BMW, and sorry for parties.
Nice. Camaro there. Firebird. Failbird. The Failbird. Failbird.
Yeah. Oh, did I tell you that story about the Failbird? Because that's what I said.
He's not aware. I am aware, but... No, you can film me in.
All right. So the Failbird, we're at New Hampshire, and of course,
Jeremy opened in his big mouth, like I always do. The better to feed you with.
The boys wanted to, they wanted to figure out a way to keep the Failbird here instead of trying
to lug it back across the country. And Tim... The boys meaning Tim Burr and his puppy.
Well, yes and no. No, it was more the team as opposed to, you know, so much Tim, but
Tim has a place up in Maine. And I was like, hey, listen, if you can, you know, if Tim says
it's cool, like, I'll just take it home or get it to me, bring it to my house, and I'll get it to
Tim's house. So of course... Because you have nothing else to do. Right. Because I have nothing
else to do. It's a solid two hour drive without towing. It was like a almost six hour round trip.
They're just driving. And then I had to unload it and move some stuff. And, you know, so
it was a whole day. So they bring it, Dean brings it over to me, drops it off at my house.
It's at my house for a week. And then I finally had time to get it up to Tim's house up in Maine.
And yeah, so the Failbird is in Maine and it's on the east coast and it's going to do some racing
next year. Nice. Yeah, the Failbird is back. Yep, it is. It's back. It's back. Did the
Sophocet survive for New Hampshire? The Sophocet was gone when they tried to find it.
I guess it had gotten thrown away. So they searched high and low to find a Sophocet and couldn't
find one. But that is 100% in the works for next year. Sophocet is going to be found.
So sorry for party likes to have a garage reserved just strictly for their living room
Sophocet that they keep on site at New Hampshire in case people aren't familiar with the goings
on of the crazy team that is sorry for party. Yes. And anybody that's in New Hampshire,
if you have an old Sophocet that you need to get rid of, yes, it can gladly be taken off
your hands. Just let us know. Yes. Absolutely. The more sopranos, the better. Yes. Yep. Yep.
Actually, for sorry for party, it's probably Sopornos, but that's a different story.
So anyway, we just said we had to keep the car PG. We didn't say we didn't say anything yet. It's
using his Southern accurate adjectives there. Yeah. Yeah. So it's it's been a busy winter.
I coached a lot of basketball this winter. So that was that was a lot of fun. So it's kind of,
I wish my both cars were finished, but I was unfortunately really busy with basketball.
So if I remember 2025, Jeremy, I believe your goals were set pretty high because
and I believe I quote, I'm done coaching basketball and I have plenty of time now
and quotes. I mean, it's pretty close, pretty close. No, not basketball, baseball. Oh,
baseball. I'm sorry. Yeah, you go. Yeah, baseball. Yeah. So I'm coaching basketball,
but not not baseball. But but no, it's just been it was just a busy winter. And but I was able
to get, you know, quite a bit done. And so that's a positive thing. And we've got high hopes for
the year. Mm hmm. You sound like one of the dwarves from Snow White. Yes, absolutely. Yes,
high hopes. Okay. So Miss Icky, what what car fiascos do we have to make up for for last season?
So, so for right now, again, I've been driving the truck around. And it's it's
daily, daily truck, not racetrack. Yeah, not racetrack. So I would like to just kind of let
that sit and rest. And I've been I have a checklist of break jobs I have to do. So my MBs up, which
doesn't need breaks and be Miata. Yeah, the MB Miata. I have to do the ND Miata, which I can drive
around. The Acura has Brembo brake systems on it. So I have to go ahead and put those on order.
And they're just the fast ones. I can get those in and out the door.
How many miles you have on that Acura that you need breaks already?
They said I had a breakdown. I have to I have to put it up there. I don't know the quality of the
brake pads that were on there. So but when I had it in the shop, I was actually just having them
just do the fluids on. Okay, so here's what here's what happened in the winter time. In the winter
time, I had the Acura at the house and it caught me by a snowstorm caught me by surprise up here.
Because sometimes it does that. We sometimes will get snow sometimes you don't get snow in the region.
But anyway, Pennsylvania calls the mountains of Pennsylvania, right? We're in the mountains
of Pennsylvania. So this snow caught me off guard. And the truck is the truck that we used to plow
the parking lot at work. So I had to wake up I looked out the window going oh crap.
And I was driving the Acura down and it was the first snowfall and they were not prepared. So they
didn't do the roads. And I had a miserable time just trying to get to the hangar. So I ended up
pulling off to the guy who fixed our our trailer. And I walked in the door and I'm like, Hey,
Bill, because his name is Bill also, Bill, greatness. Right. I said, I said, can you do a girl a favor?
I said, can you can I leave my car here and can you drive me to the hangar so I can go get the
truck? He goes, Yeah, sure. No problem. I said, Oh, drive me over to the airport. Can you drive me
to the airport? Right. And then he said, Yeah, sure. So I went back out and I moved the truck
into the parking lot where, you know, where they have all the other cars there. And one of the
guys said, You better ask her what airport. So I'm like, No, it's not Philly. No, it's not Jersey.
I said, No, it's around the corner. That's what the truck is.
She says, Yeah, so we hop in the truck. And, and he manages to get me over there. But none of the
roads are plowed. And my Acura was just all over the foot. It was not hitting any elevation,
any hills, nothing. I just, I made it there. They didn't plow the airport.
Right. And they didn't plow the airport. And I kept thinking, I'm not going to get in the
airport with this thing. So, so. Got enough of a hill on the way in. Yeah. And the other two,
the other thing too was that Bill was out of town. He was traveling. So. Oh, yeah. So Bill was like,
Listen, if that happens again, and you're stuck or something like that, just let me know. Call me.
No problem. I was so nice. Like, it's nice to know people. It really is. 100%. Right. So I was
just like, All right. So I, getting back to the break job, I let him do the work on the car,
because I'm like, Hey, well, since my car's there, I'll just pay you guys to go ahead,
just do the fluids on it, stuff like that. And I brought them lunch and everything.
And he was the one that said, Hey, you're going to need a break job. He says,
but they're Brembo brakes. And they are just like, like a big, a big deal breaks. So he's got me
like all shaken a little bit, like, Oh, what kind of break system do I have on this thing? Right.
Right. So anyway, I'm doing the research on like, what kind of breaks I need to have. Bill
just says, go ahead and call. What's her name over at a Wendy, Wendy at Porterfield, Wendy at
Porterfield, go ahead and give her a call, just either that or do factory breaks from Acura.
And you don't have to worry about squeaking or anything like that. Yeah. I remember almost every
manufacturer used Brembo brakes. Oh, okay. It's just, it's just a brand. It's just a different
shape. It's nothing to be worried about. It's just a brand name on the brakes. They're just a
little bit better than what a factory brake caliper would be. That's all. Yeah. It's nothing to,
it's this, this literally nothing about it. Yeah. But honestly, if you're not doing much with that
car, even, and especially if you're not tracking it, I would just, even if you do track it once or
twice, I would still just put factory brakes on it. Yeah. It's been sitting all winter. I don't
take it out in the winter. I don't, you know, it's just not that kind of car to take out. So it's,
it's been sitting. But anyway, I got, I got to do those jobs on it. And then they're all quickies.
So then I have the Honda already drained. I had it up on the lift. And I got to tell you my, I
still think it's like my favorite coolest thing are those little hydraulic draw dollies,
because I just took that car right off, put it, put it up the dollies up underneath the wheel.
You pump them and you lift the whole thing up and just rolled that car out and rolled it to the
side. Love that. They're amazing. Love that, right? Until you hit a rock. And then they start. Well,
yeah, don't say that. But then I was able to get the other cars through to get them onto the lift.
So that was really kind of awesome. Good. Because I also end up moving the donor car
at the same time. So I kind of squeeze the two together and move them off to the side inside
the inside the hanger. So anyway, I'm doing that. The Honda's drained. I have a checklist from last
year of from the race that we had. And I do know that I need a throttle body, a new throttle body.
I'm thinking that was the issue that I had because even the throttle body that I had put on from the
donor, I don't think that was good because I think the engine was exposed too long and that was creating
a problem. So I'm going to order a new throttle body this week coming up. You should let Bill do
that. Bill loves to order things. I can order. Yeah, he does. So I got the information from Chris
because of the fact that some of the parts on the car are accurate parts to give it a little
beefier boost on the engine. So I got that information. And then we did the podcast,
but I also have Eric Kressler. He's sending out a checklist of stuff that he remembers
from the race. Or I'm going to go back also and listen to podcast post race. That was
a summit point. Oh yeah. The car ran, but it didn't run well. But for the fact that
I put it together and it ran, I call that a win. Right. Right. It ran all weekend. There you go.
You know, it didn't have VTEC. So that was kind of fun. It didn't have VTEC and it ran super rich.
So I'm going to have to do a little bit of diagnosing. There were some things that we missed
that we fixed along the way. So when we were at the race, but we'll address those when
they go back into the hangar. I don't really see. I see is it more like just parts that need to be
swapped, but nothing major? Right. Right. Just a good once over with a couple of replacement parts
and yeah, that's good. I wouldn't have known anything about the car until I got on the track
anyway. So, but it finished the race. I would consider that a win. I would consider that a win
for the winter. Yeah. Yeah. So, but anyway, I'm back in the shop
doing that. And of course, like I said, I want to, I think I'm going to convert the trailer
a little bit. So if I'm going to go out and do some of these weekends, I could still stay at
the track. If it's just like you and I or something, you know, if it's just, well, me,
but if it's you and I, who are you talking about? Yeah.
I don't know. Your work schedule has been kind of volatile.
A little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when Bill sometimes takes off for work, he's gone for
like three weeks, you know, and he's somewhere in California. I was home for two and a half days
in February. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So, Bill has been to something new for those listeners that
haven't, haven't heard. Maybe he's talked about it, but Bill doesn't have a schedule
to allow him any time to do anything because of work and all the other things.
And Bill decided to pick up something this winter, didn't you, Bill?
Nope. Not at all. Nothing going on. It's been about a year. Nothing going on here.
I mean, I think it really ramped up this winter though with the podcast part of it.
Yeah. He had a little bit of isolation put that way.
How hard is it to do a podcast? I mean, anybody can do one.
It is not ideal. So, talk about what you've been up to, Bill.
You know, we have to late the chess podcast because, you know, I started just a teeny bit
late. So, that's fine. Yeah. Bill's chessing now. I am. I'm actually getting to be quite terrible.
So, but get this. So, he tells me yesterday on the way of the movies that him and his
cohort in chess has been talking. They're starting a first ever fantasy chess league.
Yeah, because Bill's got a lot of time. Yeah. Like, yeah. How hard can it be?
Right. Right. Fantasy chess. Yeah. That's wonderful. Yeah. That's great.
Yeah. That's fine. I don't see a problem. What are you talking about?
What kind of part do you need for the Civic now?
New throttle body. Right now, new throttle body for sure.
Notice how he's trying to divert. He's trying to change it off of him.
I would never go shopping on Rocco Auto during a podcast.
He always does this. He always does this. He said I could go shopping. I'm in.
So, the thing is, is that they think it's the throttle body because a car did run rich and it
was having some difficulty, you know, in that region. But...
Okay. Calling Dr. Honda. Hi, Mary. No. Or Khan. Do I buy one from Rocco Auto or do I have to go get
one from the... But listen. I need to know. You need to stop because it's not a Honda piece.
It's an Acura piece. Okay. I have that clicked as well. I'm good. Yeah. So, it's like a 2019-99 to
2002. And you wonder why I don't order these things. No. Well, I told you we were going to do it
together. Okay. And this is why, ladies and gentlemen... I have lots of spare parts for cars. I
don't know. Right. And we... It's better to, if you're building an endurance car, it's better to
keep it all as factor as possible because it's way easier. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it is a
throttle body for a manual transmission Integra RSLS or GS the year 1996 to 2001.
Is what it is. They don't make an Integra in 98.
Okay. So, 96 to 2001 is what he was saying. So, yeah, but I think it's the welded
sensor on the throttle body because there's two sensors that are on it and it's the one I think
that's riveted on. So, yeah. Anyway, so that was an issue. But then again, I don't know if it also
has something to do with something else, but we'll figure it out. We'll figure it out.
Jackie. I forgot Jackie. Jackie could... Jackie would know. Jackie would know. Yeah.
It's in the cart if I got the right piece, but tell me if I need to order it.
No, we need one. The brochure was a trainee at gmail.com. He actually... He said go through car parts,
car... They used car parts place. Yeah. Then you need a Honda one. That's why he said that.
You need a OEM one. Yeah. Yes, you need an OEM. Well, Chris only buys OEM. Yeah,
you definitely need an OEM one. Yeah. Very well. He could have told me when I was in California,
he could have got a bunch of them. Right? No, you probably could have. Yeah,
you probably could have found a couple and sitting on the side of the road that probably had an empty
van on the way back. I could have had a lot of them. Yeah. Could have had a lot of Honda parts.
A lot of parts. Honda parts are small. Small, small, small. All right, so we got to fix the Civic
race car. We got to fix some of the daily HPD cars. Everything else is pretty good shape,
except you kind of let the batteries get a little... A little drainage, but we can fix that.
So that brings us to the fun part. What's our first race, guys?
I haven't even looked at the schedules, but we got to get on the schedules.
We have looked at the schedules, but Jeremy, what's our first race?
Our first race because Silence, again,
yes, no pit race. Our first race this year with Lemons is first weekend in June,
six, five, six, seven. That's at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Yep. Then we have... You're unaware. Talk to me, Goose. Ms. Vicki, when's your next race?
Right after that, I am going to Colorado to go race at High Plains with Bradley.
Oh, no, I was... I'm fully aware of that, Bill. Yeah, baby bird coming.
Remember, baby birds leaving the nest, but mama bird wants to go make sure baby bird
is well taken care of. Yes. So this is Bradley's first race with his first car
that he has been working on, and he had invited me to come out. I said, yes. So
I put him in touch with Chris and Chrissy because this is...
Hey, you know people, we're going to see if we can kind of...
We can either camp share or camp adjacent because he hadn't thought about paddock.
He thought about getting the car there and enough about the garage stuff,
but he hadn't thought about the rest of it. So I'm going to come in and...
That's fine because everything, it's like metropolitan right around that track. There's
going to see what I can do to help him out. But I think for the first one, I was seeing if maybe we
can kind of camp share semi with Chris and Chrissy and their group. So Brad can see
what it is and understand it because I think if you're part of it, you understand how it
kind of operates and kind of how it works. And then they're said trying to figure it out all by
yourself. So you're doing a back-to-back race weekend for the first time? I am. So here's the
thing. Here's the thing. So he... You know what? He's not coming. He was going to come and race with
us and I told him, I said, I would, just being your very, very first race, I would strongly
advise against you coming out here to race in my race and then turn around and then go back to
race in your race. I think that for your very first race is way too much pressure. Too many,
too many, too many things can go wrong is what I told him. For his first race ever, I said because
some people are working on their cars to like maybe the night before because they realized
something had happened. And if you have things that are starting to go wrong and all of a sudden
you have to hop on a plane and you have an entire team waiting for you on the other end and you're
not prepared or you don't know what that looks like, just this year, this year, skip that part.
This year? Yeah, this year. And then focus on your team so you know everything that you need
to do. Just focus there. It's going to take everything you're going to have just to get
to the track with your car for your first race. It really is. So there's a lot of planning.
You don't want to be doing both. Plus, you're going to be exiting the race here, flying back,
deal with a race hangover, and then try to get to your next race, your very first race with
your car. It's just too much. I said, think about it next year, but this year skip it. So,
yeah, so I'm going to head out there and race in their car. And hopefully I can help them
along and help organize this paddock and bring some savvy to it and help them along.
A little bit of structure. A little bit of structure because the rest of the team has
never raced before. So this will help when I'm open. And then Bill is going to go out,
but he's not going to the race. No, no, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He's going to be in Vegas
at a chess tournament. Hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That's all I know.
Right. Yeah, it definitely does. Hey, Bill, go in there and drop 500 on black for me every
time you walk by the roulette table, please. Every time. Okay. Every time. No problem. You'll
walk away. I'm going to guess with about $5,500. Okay, I'll see what I can do. Okay.
That could pay for me as desired swag, maybe. Hey, thank you very much.
Seriously, if you get her a sweatshirt or something like that from there, I would seriously
Venmo that money to you. I will find out from her what she wants while I'm there,
and I'll let her pick something out. I will send you the money. I mean,
I will send you her text information. Yeah, so it's going to be a fun, fun, busy year.
So we'll go through, because you guys haven't buckled down your schedule yet,
with the exception of those two races. Maybe Bill has, but I'll go through both of my cars
real quick for what we've got scheduled as of right now. So we've got New Jersey Motor
Sports Park with Lemons, first week of June. Then we've got Thompson, 730-82 with Lemons.
Then I have Thompson 821-823. I'm going to give a champ car race another go.
Really? Yep. We're going to give it another go, see what happens.
Okay. And then New Hampshire Motor Speedway is 1016-1018 with Lemons, and then Summit Point is
1023-25 with Lemons. So those are the five races that the handprint car is scheduled to be at right
now. Now my white car, first race for that car is 626-28 at VIR with Lucky Dog.
Depending on how the champ car race goes at Thompson, we're going to do the July 724-726
champ car race at Lime Rock Park. We're going to do Road America with AER, 87-89.
We're going to do New Jersey Motor Sports Park with AER. It's the 14 hour in November,
11-13 to 15, that whole weekend. It's a 14 hour straight race.
What time does it start? I believe it's 9 a.m.
So it goes into the black? It goes into the night. It finishes into the night, I think.
So you've got to get lights and everything? Yeah. The car has lights. It has working everything.
And then again, depending on how champ went prior, we have a VIR race scheduled 12-4 to 12-6.
So we've got 10 races on the books. So yeah, so we'll see how the year goes. And then if there
is time in between those races, there may be some other stuff in the works up here, local stuff.
There's a new series called New England GT. It did kind of well last year. They're looking
for more cars this year. The slow and mellow team, the number 95 car, they're actually not
doing any lemons races this year. They're going to do only New England GT or Northeast GT, sorry.
But they're not endurance races. Well, they say they're endurance races. It's only a three hour
race. So you've got a three hour race Saturday, a three hour race Sunday. Right. So if there's some
time, we might go and do one of those races. That sounds like fun. In between. Yeah. I mean,
I'm not going to go to a track for a whole weekend to only race for six hours. But if I was going to
do that, I would go sprint racing or something. But we'll see how the weekend goes. So we'll probably
end up going and doing one of those and see how that goes if there's time in between all the other
stuff. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. So it's going to be a busy race schedule this year. Are you doing
extreme again? Oh, I've been doing extreme like mad crazy, you know? I know they're in the summer.
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'll do some extreme in between. In between the races, if there's some time that
allows me to do that. We got a busy baseball schedule as well. So my son has been asked to
play for two different travel teams. Oh boy. Oh boy. Yeah. And one of them's got 22 games,
June into July. And then the other one is a team that is being put together
with a high caliber player team that is going to a national
championship baseball week in Myrtle Beach at the end of June.
That could be fun. Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be a lot of fun. But again, it depends on
how things go. So that end of June race might not happen if we go do the baseball thing. So
there's a lot of different variables that are going to happen.
That means for those playing home game, Jeremy's not going.
That one race at the end of June, if he decides he really wants to go play baseball,
yeah, that one race at the end of June is probably not going to happen at all. It definitely won't
happen if he decides to go. Send your take a picture of your schedule and send it over.
Let's see if we can catch up. Can do stuff. I think I already said it to Bill once.
You did. I haven't. She has. She's had a look at it. Okay. Yeah, so we just got to buckle down
your schedule and the team schedules. And I got to talk to Chris and Chrissy and see when they
want to come out and race to maybe they want to come out for New Hampshire or Summit or something.
I think they're judging some of it. I don't know their schedule exactly. We're trying to get a
trying to catch up with them. Yep. I'll be seeing them in high planes.
I know. I know. It's going to be super fun. Yep.
Yeah, so we're all of us have got a busy year this year.
Yep. Bill with the addition of chess and with the good problem to have of work being incredibly
busy. We were out of race and you know, he slipped out to go to a chess tournament and came back.
I've messed up and scheduled one. She did. You did not. He did. Well, race. Summit.
I wasn't racing. So I went over to the Red Robin and I sat in their room and I did it there.
Yeah, he did that. It was online. It's not like it's a big deal. He did. Yeah, that's amazing.
Right now there's a little bit of competition going. Bill is his brain is divided at this
point between chess and racing and work and home and home. Yep. I'm bored. Well,
that's not that. It's just you like being busy. But the other thing is that I've been telling Bill
is like you need a vacation. So bad. So, so bad. So for Christmas, he gave me a little trip to
Saras Toga Springs, which is up in New York. As soon as the weather breaks for that, that's going
to be really nice to go up in, you know, close. It's far but close, close but far. Well, that's
yep, sort of. I just hit it from a different angle, I guess. Yeah, it's near there. I mean,
it's a little further, you know, it's further west, but yeah, it's up there. It's relatively
close. It's not like next door. Right, right. It's closer than where our house is. Yes, it is.
It's closer than where Jeremy's house is. I am looking forward to getting behind the wheel again.
I'm starting to feel alive. It's been a stagnant winner. I know. It's fun. It's
it's super fun. Well, you know, Jeremy's got a big smile on his face. I've already been behind the
wheel many times this year. So yeah, yep, but not not racing. Not racing. No, no, no track,
you know, extreme experience track days. Yeah, get to drive the hellcats.
So let's give us the roster. What's the roster right now?
For what? For what we have? Well, we have some new Charger Hellcat wide bodies this year. Or we
got a couple of, as my son calls them, the jailbreak. The jail, why is he calling the jailbreak?
Because they're they're the name of the car. Like it's a jailbreak. I don't know. It's like
10 more horsepower and a couple other added things to it. It's just a Chrysler thing that
loves to come up with, you know, names like that. We've got, you know, the Huracans, the
Lamborghini Huracans, the Ferrari 488. We've got a couple of new Nissan GTRs this year.
A couple of new Porsche GT3s, some new GT4 RSs.
We've added some more Corvette ZR1s to the to the fleet.
Yeah, it's it's it's pretty fun. Pretty fun. What's the winner for Jeremy wants it in my driveway?
Oh, I'm I mean, if I could only have one of the cars that we have, it'd be a
probably the GT4 RS. You can rank them just in case they're sold out when Christmas comes around,
you know, I got to get you something. I mean, you look like Santa Claus. Oh, I forgot the
Ferrari 296 GTB, which that car is just ridiculous. But I think one of my favorite cars to still drive
right now is still that Corvette. But if I can only have the 06, yeah, the C8, the C8 06, yeah.
I don't know. It's just crazy. It's fun. But it's also the newest car to us. So
but I mean, they're all incredible. Every one of them. Are you guys going to get
the crazy Corvette that just came out? No. No, they're going to be too hard to get.
You got you got plenty with the one I don't want to instruct you that car.
That would be a scary if we were to get one. Yeah, no, that'd be no.
But to be honest with you, the GTR, in my opinion, was the best car at Motorsports
Red Houston. I didn't think you like that. Just because of the track. Oh, I love that car. It's
so much fun to drive. Yeah. Yeah, it's a wild car. It's a big heavy car, but it's a fun car to drive.
But I think it was the best car that we had down at Motorsports Red Houston just because
the layout of the track and how bumpy the track was like it was really, really bad.
It just absorbed all the bumps and just like just continue to tear through all the corners.
So I mean, it depends on the track. It depends on what you're looking for and what kind of fun
you want to have because they all have their own unique personality.
Miss Vicki, you haven't tried them out yet. Are you interested in going maybe going with
Jeremy one weekend? Of course. Are you going to get behind the wheel this time?
Or are you just going to go there and look at them like you did the last time?
Probably look at them. No, not on the list. No list. Not on the list. You need Moa.
I got to make sure that I take my drama. Yeah, drama mean. I don't passenger well.
But you would drive, my dear. I know. Driving's good. I don't know, Jeremy. I don't know how
you do it. Nuck is sick. I don't either. I don't either. Yeah, I look out the windshield.
I'm kidding. I really don't. Every once in a while, I will. I'll get a little bit of motion sickness,
but no, it's not. It's not bad. I got used to it. Very well.
Yeah. Well, it sounds like we got a crazy summer.
Wish it was summer. We have a very crazy, crazy schedule. The other thing I was going to
chat about. I got one for you. One of your goals was to get the non racing weekend together.
Yes, that's got to happen, too. Okay. Just bringing that up. Making sure you don't sit there and
say, Oh, I forgot. Nope. Nope. That's already. It's in there. That's already in here. There's
all my goodness. Who knew? But the other thing I was going to bring up, and we're going to,
we'll kind of leave it this one and let everybody mold this over. But
I think we should look at the last race of the year down there in Atlanta.
Road Atlanta. At Road Atlanta. Hot Lanna, where it snows every time we go. Hot Lanna.
I think we should kind of think about adding that to the schedule this year.
Kind of snows every time. Hey, I've got to set us no tires for the BMW.
That's true. I'm talking more about the trailer than the...
No. You know, we need to figure out a way to get there.
And somebody else's car, because the tow is where it killed you.
I'll tow it. Yeah. Says the person who flew the last time.
Just because you wanted me to fly. That was your choice.
Fool. What a fool. That was our first time. I mean, I know people down there.
Maybe. And we might be able to make something work. I don't know. A lot of people that have
race cars down there, but I know people down there. We can do a trade. We can do a trade.
Garage Heroes and training at gmail.com.
Let us know. Do you want to come north? We want to go south. Because honestly,
you know, who wants to race down there in August when you can come up to nice,
calm, cool, shady acres of Thompson? Very cool. No mosquitoes, by the way. No mosquitoes.
No mosquitoes. Plenty of places to park. Some of the best ice cream in the country.
This is true. Nice. Add a racetrack for sure. Add a racetrack. Yeah. Yeah.
See, this is a lot. Nice golf course. Rental golf carts. Did you mention that?
Rental golf carts. There's a golf course there as well. So if you come up
a day early, you could play golf. That's right. Put whatever.
So think about it. Very cool. Jeremy, you got your stuff together. You think you're ready?
You think you're good? I think we're ready. I think we're good. Ms. Vicki?
We are not ready, but we will be good. Okay. Very well. The gap in our schedule in May is
appreciable. It is. It is. I miss pit race. I already do. I missed it since the day we
left it last year. Well, you were in full denial when I posted it to you. You're like,
nope, this is true. This is fake news. Fake news. I was 100% in full denial. 100%.
You still are. I still am. I can't believe they did that. I mean, I can, but I can't.
We just need to win the big lottery and go make our own.
I mean, if we won the big lottery, I would submit to the new owners of that facility.
Yeah. Say hey. I'll buy you this piece of property over here. You sell me the track.
You go over here. You go down. Let us have the track. Yeah. Or we just build our own. It'll be
and again, I've been to a lot of tracks from coast to coast and it's still my favorite track.
Indeed. It was too much fun. Anyway, we'll get there. Ms. Vicki, we've also got a gingerman track
day. We do. We're going to be racing with the Italian job. That's right. Oh, what's that series?
Lemons. Oh, I forgot they added that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lemons. Yep. I have not. When is that?
June something. Is it June? June something. Oh, three weekends in June. Vicki's going to be racing.
Yeah. Only one she has to prep for though. This is true. Three she has to survive. One she has to
makes it much easier. Yeah. And I think that when it comes to prep that I'll have that done.
I'll have it. Well, I think mine is actually a first race out.
It is. Yeah. Then it's just a matter of. And then you have to decide whether you're doing Thompson
or not. Yeah. Because I cannot. Oh, yeah. Bill can't do Thompson again. Well, you know what?
I think I might. I will see if I can get Jeff and Eric to come along. You can totally do that.
Yep. Yep. I'll definitely come. Absolutely. That's what I was thinking. They may have their car
ready by then. Oh, gingerman's in September. It's my birthday weekend. Oh, okay.
Not that I'm doing a search in the background because it didn't sound right for when I said June.
Because Great Lakes is in June. They do the longest day there. 21st or whatever.
I don't think I have much going on in September. First weekend in September. Labor day weekend.
I don't see anything on my schedule for September. I think it's like five, six or so, something like
that. Yeah. You only drive a meatball in gingerman. You've never been to gingerman. Gingerman's fun.
I've never been to gingerman. I really like gingerman. And it doesn't make sense that I like
gingerman because it's flat, but it's fun. I mean, if there's an extra seat, I may have to make the
trip out. Paging Mike. Paging Mike. Is there a seat in the meatball? Is there a seat in the meatball?
We may have sold it. I know he's got three of us. I don't know that he's got any other takers.
We may have a meatball for the meatball. And I'll wear my dodgeball outfit.
Mike, he's not available. He can't be there.
That'd be hilarious. All right. So we got some work to do. Guys,
do you need any help with your journey? Do I need to ship off my number one?
I may. I may. We'll see what happens. Yep. Very well. So it happens.
Especially as the prep comes for livery. Ah, yes.
Miss Vicki's gotten fairly good at doing raps. And you like the blue.
And I love the blue. Yeah. That would be fun. Yep. Indeed. You know what? I got a solution.
You bring the car down. You and I go tear apart those two cars. Miss Vicki and Miss Jen.
Livery item things. Livery. Dun dun dun. Yep. And I feed you large pieces of steak.
Yep. That sounds like a fun weekend. That does. We might have to make that happen in May.
That's right. Garage here is in training at gmail.gov.
All right. We have room. All right, Jeremy. Since you're finally home and one night and
you're at the house, I figure we should let you go and you can go see the family.
Yep. I'm going to go see the family. So, well, it's 9.15. The boys are hopefully asleep because
they get school tomorrow. Good luck with that. I got appointment nine o'clock to go get passports
for the F1 race. Woohoo. Woohoo. Hopefully it'll be smooth. Well, when is the race again?
It's in May. May, whatever it was. Yeah. Yeah. It says there are about six weeks out right now.
Yeah. Yeah. He doesn't have a lot of time. I would definitely go tomorrow.
Oh, no. I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. Good plan.
All right. Have fun, everybody. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much.
Marketing is hard. But I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point
something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host.
You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking,
even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did
I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising
from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements
or run a pre-produced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience
in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn Ads. Go to LibsynAds.com. That's L-I-B-S-Y-N ads.com today.
Request an explanation for:
1 cars
1 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
