Garage Heroes In Training
Garage Heroes In Training
Updated 12 days agoAn amateur endurance auto racing team hoping to show everyone that they too can participate in performance driving or racing. We are a relatively new team and learning right along with you. Our assumption is that you know very little to nothing about the sport but are interested in learning to drive better and eventually maybe even race in a local event of interest. We will cover all forms of racing and hope to be entertaining as well as educational.
Are you the creator? Claim this podcast
Episodes (769)
GHIT 0044: Nick Pon - Our Special Guest
On this episode, we were joined by Nick Pon from the 24 Hours of Lemons HQ. Nick is a car enthusiast for the vast majority of his life and worked with the Lemons team since the inception. During this interview, we were able to go over Nick's history, both with Lemons and personally. Highlights included: Thoughts on how you Lemons has gone so far, the Good, The Bad and The Ugly What is planned for NJMP next weekend with Race, Radwood, Hooptiecon and everything else on site Also please check out Nick's latest article at Autoweek related to a 24 Hours of Lemons race car that turned into much more. (and no, that is definitely not our Capri) https://autoweek.com/article/car-life/capremium-when-cheap-race-cars-turn-out-be-valuableish
GHIT 0043 Jeff Wakeman is Our Special Guest
Jeff Wakeman from the Three Pedal Mafia racing team and the Everyone Racers Podcast joins us for this week's episode. We had a wide ranging discussion covering many topics including: Jeff's first car Some of Jeff and the Three Pedal Mafia early history The Wartburg vs the Trabant Past few seasons results, and challenges Building two new cars for this season Team Goals for 2019 Summit point led to no stunting and 'splodin rule Track Discussion of the NJMP Lightning track for our upcoming race Bill makes the same bad joke In between races maintenance practices Fix any broken parts Full nut and bolt check All suspension bits, end links suspension bolts, shocks, struts Oil change every race Brake pad check Wheel bearing check (12-6 and 3-9, every day) Shocks and struts Rim check Brake Rotor check Calipers All lugs and lug nuts Fire system Electrical system Clean up and Vacuum Brake fluid every season, unless overheated then change immediately Tires for flat spots, cuts, bubbles etc. Fuel cell foam every season, unless fuel filter clogging etc. Exhaust inspection, will rattle apart Transmission fluid every few seasons unless issues Read tire tread after every day Wheel bearing check at 12-6 and 3-9 every day What exactly is involved with "Dialing In" a new car What is the exact definition of Mental Extrapolation and an itemized correction list/rant Race Car Development guides Vicki gets excited about power steering for the Spider-Stang Street and Normal mechanics vs endurance racing mechanical needs Alan takes a few shots to the bow, in a very good natured way Vicki has two tickets, Bill only knew about one, until now…. Jeff is oddly collecting tickets from every state Bill makes bad decisions about towing with the new rental truck However, Jeff presents his quick summary of what to do and what not to do to related to speeding to avoid speeding tickets book review Keep your eyes up Speeding ticket story time We end with a discussion of Avengers Endgame and many other hero Game of Thrones discussion, or how to end a story via Cliff Notes Upcoming theories and desires Ranking of many marvel movie favorites The upcoming Watchman series on HBO Monoculture in modern entertainment, is it ever possible again with streaming and bingeing becoming more and more popular How Lemons could be the solution to this and everything else Upcoming ace at NJMP with Hooptiecon and Radwood as well Star Wars discussion and predictions Jeff Does a Road Warrior impression We apologize for being helpful to your racing this time. We will resume our normal uselessness next week, lol.
GHIT 0042 GHIT Year In Review
For this episode, we wanted to look back on our team's first year racing Lemons and what we did, what we did well, what we did poorly, and begin to refine our plan for the coming year. Alan also covers his recomended tool of the week.
WOOT 0041 Avengers Endgame Q&A
We received a ton of questions from you and reconvened to answer all that we could. Thanks for asking! PS We are planning our summer and have some ideas but would love to hear from you on what would be of interest. Please drop us a line at [email protected] or even better give us a review and include your ideas there within the review.
GHIT 0040: How to Get Better at Racing
If you think you have the driving itch or may have an interest, how can you try racing to find out if its for you? We also cover what is a preferred path towards your personal driving greatness. As always, the biggest key is safety and safely progressing up your individual learning curve. During this episode, we also cover various ways to get out on track, how to progress with many options given including experience type driving events, one day HPDE's, SCCA Track Night America, SCCA and NASA events, various Mark clubs like BMW, Porsche, Audi, etc. etc. Naturally we also cover low cost endurance racing series, Go carts/carting, autocross, and other low cost methods to race. Racing lemons. Towards the end, we also cover a brief overview of various decisions and interests that may shape your individual progression including whether you want to race vs a clock or wheel to wheel racing (or both), sprint racing vs endurance racing, open wheel vs closed wheel/road cars, buying your own vs renting a race car or just renting a seat. We tried to provide an overview and include an approximate cost where we could to help with budget discussions. As always, with Mental it always involves great stories and a good bit of digression by both of us across a many subjects. Always try to remember that the key is remain on the primary tasks of #1 safety and #2 having fun! Race school recommendations aplenty, but not all inclusive. Plus we work through Vicki's flat tire excursion while we were taping PS We did manage to keep it under 3 hours this time, lol.
GHIT 0039 EVO School - Seneca Falls
Jennifer, Liam, Vicki, and Bill attended the EVO School for Autocross this weekend in upstate NY near Seneca Falls. It was Bill's second time and the first time for everyone else. We all agree that the instructing staff was awesome and the structure was excellent. We all learned a ton and would recommend it to anyone interested in trying to push their driving limits in a safe environment for the first time to experienced racers and autocrossers. The course is designed to help everyone progress from whatever level they are currently at. In addition, there are two more levels of courses offered by the EVO School and we can't wait to try those as soon as possible.
GHIT 0038 Prepping for a Race Weekend
On this episode, Vicki, Alan, and Bill discuss race weekend preparation using this week's EVO School race day and our next Lemons race at NJMP as examples. In addition. Alan covers his tool of the week, a Quickjack 5000. No relation to Sunblock 3000.
WOOT 0037 Avengers Endgame Review WITH SPOILERS
We tried to get everyone together but it ended up being only Benny and Bill. We may have following episodes reviewing the movie but there is our first one that several of you have been requesting. Thank you for your patience. We did manage to keep it under the running time of the movie. Barely.
WOOT 0036 Preview Avengers Endgame
Avengers Infinity War Spoiler Heavy Episode Alex, Benny, and Bill welcome in the new Avengers Endgame movie that opens tomorrow with a review of the first part Avengers Infinity War with our comments. We also give a few predictions for Endgame. We will return after we all see Endgame this weekend with our review.
WOOT 0034 Shazam Review
Another Way Off Our Topic episode featuring Benny, Vicki and Bill Reviewing Shazam. It is a spoiler review, many attempts were made and the episode was somehow lost and not released for unknown reason. Despite rumors to the contrary, I did not mess this one up to avoid releasing it We initially review some basic Shazam history and then we disagree on the quality of the movie. Bill has a lot of issues with it, but Benny and Vicki are both strong defenders (and wrong). Vicki agrees with Bill at least once, please alert the media but Benny and Bill go after it for most of the show. We also discuss the upcoming Joker movie, the new Suicide Squad movie and finish with a discussion on the imminent Avengers Endgame movie including speculation and predictions for the aftermath and future MCU movies. Also, Bill gives his tip on how to dress for End Game per Jim Ross. And we apologize in advance, our post credits section is extremely long.
GHiT 0035 Pitt Race Review
We reviewed our first race of the year at Pitt Race with the 24 Hours of Lemons series. We had some issues during the weekend that prevented us recording at the track so we went into some detail during this race review. Including: Tech inspection Greasing palms with lots of fake money Virtual Track walk Practice schedule at the race The awesome race track at Pitt Race (We will be back) Brake fires (yes, plural) Car Spins/Trimming the infield grass with our Aero Racing in the rain, again Changing track conditions all weekend Overview of each racing day We also tried cover how we ran the race and our thought process, post race diagnosis and plans and we ended with our segment on The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, along with the highlight of the weekend Things we learned and changes to continue to improve
GHiT 0033 Pre-Race Prep and How to Get On Track
We are midway in prepping for our first race of the season and wanted to review some of the details involved with preparing for a race weekend. We also cover several of the lower cost options that are available to get anyone (meaning YOU) out on the track if you wanted to try it out. These included high performance driving education/events (HPDE), autocross and autocross education events, driving experience opportunities where you take a few laps in a rented car, or race car, or super car of your choice, racing schools, our predominant choice of low cost endurance racing, various "mark" series like Porsche Car Club, BMW, Audi, etc. etc., national and local events run with NASA and SCCA, drag racing, test and tune nights, drifting, spec series like spec Miata or spec E46 etc., rally courses, cannonballs, One Lap of America, and many others. We covered what to expect, how much it may cost and what you get from each of the options. We hope at least one of these fits your interest and budget. Once you come up, we are very confident you will find it to be an amazing experience and probably should plan on your second event as soon as possible. We are sorry to keep Vicki awake for this episode.
GHiT 0032 Ann Deane
This week we welcomed Ann Deane to our podcast. We met her at NJMP a few weeks ago when she was participating and also instructing at the Hooked On Driving event. The discussion covered many topics and areas including: Racing and learning to race cars, things we could have done and still could do better Wish list items and plans for the coming season How to approach a new track and what to do to learn a new track, we used Road Atlanta as an example for our preparation for Pitt Race next weekend We also go over how the day went when teaching Vicki and Jennifer at NJMP. Items to work on included: Clutch and input timing for a manual transmission Breathing is not optional in racing Cameras/GoPro's, data and video learning
GHiT 0031 Evo School
Alan and Bill got a last minute invitation to Evo Performance Driving Event at Giants Stadium in NJ. Vicki acts as the interrogator, lol. We ran it live! Highlights include Alan going off road, Bill committing several acts of car-on-cone manslaughter, and things we learned in our driver education progression.
GHIT 0030 Hooked On Driving Track Day at NJMP
Greetings from the track. We reported in from NJMP while we are at our High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) event and review our impressions, things we learned, and things we are still working on. We hope you enjoy this episode. Most of it was recorded inside a car at the track with other cars in the area so in some spots the audio quality may vary.
GHiT 0029: What to Expect at a Track Day
Vicki and Bill go over what goes on at a high performance driving event, how to prepare for the event, and what to bring etc. Our season kicks off with a weekend of HPDE at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) in Millville New Jersey this weekend. We took a page from our friends at Everyone Racers podcast and "ran it live". We will likely have an update episode from the track this weekend. If you are in the area, please stop by and say hello. We would love to hear from you. We hope Alan comes back to us soon.
WOOT 0028 Captain Marvel Review with Spoilers
Spoiler filled and unedited podcast post everyone seeing the Captain Marvel movie at least once this weekend. It turns out that Benny was the closest in his prediction on our preview podcast last week. It turns out we all really liked it, even more than we had hoped and predicted on our show. In this episode we discussed: Our initial rating of the movie Listener feedback from Jason H and El Jeffe and our thoughts of their opinions Bill gets tremendous bonus points for calling out the Right Stuff movie reference in the movie. It's almost like Babe Ruth calling his homerun shot. Well, not really, lol. Vicki is on the hunt for a Fonzie lunchbox to be used as us at the track first aid kit Captain Marvel's Movie vs comic book history Cats vs Flerken's Ben Mendelson's acting and his role Soundtrack, nineties flashback and Vicki's continued girl crush on Gwen Stefanie Stan Lee tributes and train cameo and Bill's eye leakage Our traditional the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly segment, scenes and actors/characters Benny stays true to his brand and gives his 6' 7" 13-year-old girl perspective on the movie Torrie Wilson WWE Hall of Fame election shout out and congratulations to her Vicki loves Carol's FLEX towards Ronan the Accuser Benny seems to hate the Kree and continues his rant against Marvel's movie villains Bill fights his base humor instincts to make a pun about the Kree city of Halla Benny and Bill and Vicki disagree about the Skrull portrayal in the movie, but it isn't a Mandarin level issue Vicki and Bill disagree about the portrayals of Annette Benning – roles redacted to minimize spoilers in description Bill is concerned over a potential block in the path to a future Secret Wars saga. Benny walks him back from the cliff a bit Captain Marvel's powers and mixing into the MCU, especially relative to Thanos Avengers Endgame speculation Marvel's MCU de-aging machine and its use of the time stone Samuel L Jackson and Nick Fury in the movie Bill wants a huge director cut with more Carol Danvers, Benny wants at least 15-20 minutes The end credit scenes and predictions for Avengers End Game Phase 4 speculation Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman comparisons, logically Avengers post End Game speculation Vicki changes her tune on Brie Larson and her portrayal of Captain Marvel Bill provides useless trivia on Brie Larson's training partner for the movie Benny is now looking at getting back into GLOW We all agree, go see the movie for yourself. Don't let the reviews from reviewers with agendas keep you from a very solid entry in the Marvel MCU And finally, the discussion you always wanted: Flerkens!!! In the end, we all want a time stone to get to Avengers End Game ASAP. Can it come out early, please!!!! PS Mr. Feige, we would accept any invitations to a critic screening. #garageheroesintrainingpodcast #garageheroesintraining #spiderstang #spiderman #spidermanracecar #avengers #avengersracecar #CaptainMarvel #CarolDanvers #MCU #Marvelmovie #MsMarvel #Flerkin #Flerkins
WOOT 0027: Captain Marvel Preview
NON SPOILER FOR THE MOVIE: One this episode, Vicki, Benny, and Bill began with a deep dive into the history of Captain Marvel and Carol Danvers in preparation for the upcoming Movie this week. As usual, we discussed a whole lot more and we hope you enjoy it. We will cover the movie later this weekend. Benny is expecting a 9.5 out of 10, Vicki a 7, and Bill an 8. We all hope Benny is right!
GHiT 0026: Hydrocephalus Racing Team
We are very happy to welcome the Hydrocephalus Racing Team to our podcast this week. They are a great team of friends and family that we first initially met at their first ever Lemons race in Thompson CT. Unfortunately, Vicki and Bill apparently recorded in the Tube of Mockery we borrowed from Mental, so it sounds like we are huddled up in a cave somewhere. If you are interested in supporting research in the area of Hydrocephalus, please go to their website to learn more about it and what we can do to support their efforts at: http://hydrocephalusracingteam.com/ for all kinds of information and links. When and how to use the term "Scrutineer" How (and Why) to race a prepped minivan in Lemons The art of "subtle" racing in a minivan How not to prep for your first time racing We begin to hatch a plan to get their team CFO onto the track Vicki can't keep a secret to save her life (about the GHiT posters) How to learn about cars when growing up and working in a local junkyard Our Race Truck Progress – Its ready for Pitt Race Math and racing sometimes don't apply to radiator leaks Two or three potential lemons car stashes in the upper Midwest and Alaska, one with hang time experience Effectiveness of our roll cages and safety equipment in an accident Fog is not your friend on the track, especially on your windshield Gentlemen driver documentary on Netflix right now and eventually listen to them ponder why they can't hear through their microphone, hint, it's not a speaker, lol. We hope you enjoy the episode and please subscribe to our podcast using your podcast network provider of choice, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Music, etc.
GHiT 0025: Cage Party and Capri Resuscitation part 1
On this episode, we interrupted our Autocross month for a quick update on a recent roll cage installation weekend we attended that was hosted by the Three Pedal Mafia and focused on their new to them Nissan 300Z. We also cover other work that was done during the Cage Party. We also reviewed our progress on resuscitating the 1974 Capri and getting it back onto the track this season with a new drive train and how our progress goes towards replacing/repairing/upgrading the entire drive train from stock 1974 2.8 liter Capri engine to a more modern Chevy/Buick 3.8 liter design. Finally, we also touch on preparation for an upcoming welding course that Bill is taking.
EP 0024 - Jason Hopkins of the Citrus Racers Lounge
Please excuse a few spots where we lost internet recording. On this episode, Bill has the worst intro of any podcast in history, Vicki stages a coup d'état of the hosting duties, Alan shows up late, and we have recording issues galore so our episode for this week is posting late. Despite this, Jason Hopkins who is the founder of the Citrus Racers Lounge was an awesome guest and we hope you enjoy this week's episode. Things we covered: Last week's Facebook conference in Menlo Park CA How many Smokey and the Bandit Movies exist Differences between thinking you are ready to race and being ready to race Other ways to contribute to a racing team, even if you never drive Bill makes several bad jokes about Massachusetts drivers and driving Jason shared a ton of great guests we need to have on soon Bill begs for all members of the lounge to subscribe to the podcast in vain Alan practices juggling bottles in the background several times, I hope I edited them all out Lesser know great driving/mountain roads in New Hampshire Happy Birthday to Mental (and his hair) Dream Lemons builds Alan: Mechanic and Referee
EP 0023 Chris Kamery Special Guest Racing Driver
This week, we welcomed Chris Kamery to the podcast to continue our discussion on Autocross this month. Chris is an avid and accomplished driver mostly in the upstate New York and neighboring areas. We cover a wide range of topics related to start racing in autocross and what to do and what not to do. We also attempt to drag him into the dark side of endurance racing. We hope to see him out at the track soon. Topics covered included: Car requirements and preferences Track design and review Typical struggles of new and first time drivers at an autocross event Several places to look for local autocross and other driving events We may even have been helpful again this week. We cannot promise this to continue, lol.
EP 0022 - Autocross Overview with Sam Strano
On this episode, Vicki and Bill welcomed Sam Strano to our show to discuss another form of racing called autocross. This involved timed racing laps of a course that is usually artificially defined by a series of cones in a parking lot, air strip or other paved area. Sam is a multiple time national champion in autocross and we are now signed up for at least one race and one training session and knowing us there will be more to follow. Please stop in or visit Sam's company at: http://www.stranoparts.com/
EP 0021: Chris Abbott - Special Guest Driver
On our latest episode, we had Chris Abbott of the Three Pedal Mafia and the Everyone Racers podcast as our special guest. Chris is one of the nicest people we have met at lemons and has probably passed us more times than any other driver in the series, sometimes even in our own car. On this episode, we talked about a wide variety of topics including: Our wish you were sponsoring us, Alpine Stars Alan does his Dalek impersonation New car race prep strategy Giraffes and racing Also as a special surprise to those of you who listen to the Everyone Racers podcast, we made special accommodations and you can actually hear Chris speaking on this episode, lol.
EP 0020: Christian "Mental" Ward Special Guest Driver
We are very happy to have our first guest from our friends at the Everyone Racers podcast and also a member of the Three Pedal Mafia, Christian "Mental" Ward. While our usual episode is around 45 minutes to a bit over an hour, this one went a bit longer. We actually had some audio issues so it ended up under 3 hours of a great conversation. If you listen to us on the way to work, we may have your whole week covered. So either you have our apologies or you are welcome.