DwD 0318: Cage and Safety Inspection – Especially for an Arrive and Drive Arrive and drives can be a great way to go racing. In this episode, Ben and Bill go into some of the things that you should look for when driving a new to you race car on track. This includes general mechanical and safety inspections with a significant discussion of the cage inspection. We also go into some of the things that you as a driver should do in every car prior to each race to be able to respond quickly in case of...
Apr 05, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 318
GHIT 0317: Race Bar Wins at Lucky Dog's Spring Race at CMP Our review of the Lucky Dog race at CMP continues with our friends at Race Bar. The tranquilizer dart was apparently very effective and we almost kept control of the podcast, lol. This was the first ever class win for Race Bar and it was great to share it with them. Enjoy this episode with Jandy and Richard Freelane. A link to the episode is: https://tinyurl.com/RaceBarWins If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast: You c...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 56 min•Season 5Ep. 317
GHiT 0316: Kyle Lockrow's Second Lap with GHiT - On Winning the Lucky Dog Sunday Race, His Coaching, and a Big Sponsor Reveal Announcement We raced with Kyle Lockrow at the recent Lucky Dog event at Carolina Motorsports Park. Kyle helped our team get the BMW E36 back on track Sunday by doing an overnight parts run for us and also helped his teammates at Race Bar collect the victory in the race Sunday, a true racer. We went over the race and how Kyle approaches racing in the rain or on a wet trac...
Mar 30, 2022•55 min•Season 5Ep. 316
DwD 0315: Driving in the Spring and Cold In an effort to be timely, driving in the early seasons can often be tricky since the temperature can often be lower than desired. We start off covering what to do to account for the decreased temperatures and then we wander off into other areas that are affected by the temperature and humidity. We start to cover taking care of your hands in the cold and then move into the preparation of the windshield surfaces and the potential ways to prepare the helmet...
Mar 29, 2022•22 min•Season 5Ep. 315
GHIT 0314: Audra Tella on Autocross and a Pre-Intervention It was almost spring, and we were thinking about ways to get out and start having fun with our cars again. We thought it may be great to go autocross’ing, especially to start the season. Since we were thinking autocross, we thought we’d invite Audra back to the podcast to talk all things autocross. Audra is one of the hosts of the Shifting Points podcast and is also one of the leads for the local BMW autocross group near Boston. We talk ...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 314
GHIT 0313: Track Day Recap from our HPDE Event with NASA Northeast at NJMP’s Lightning Track Jennifer and Vicki had their first trip the track this year at the NASA Northeast HPDE event at NJMP’s Lightning track. Our event prep had a few issues with our Honda Civic inaugural shake down. The issue is still TBD at this point. Jennifer was in the HPDE 2 group and Vicki was in the HPDE3/4 group. Bill was primarily concerned with instructing two students this weekend, both we on a track for their mai...
Mar 23, 2022•42 min•Season 5Ep. 313
DwD 0312: Jargon: Tank Slappers – What They Are and What to Do – Probably Part 1 of a few, lol We ask Ben about what a tank slapper is. Then we go into what is a typical cause for this phenomenon and most importantly, what to do about it when it occurs. There are several strategies mentioned and probably a few more that would work as well. We hope this helps you if you are driving in a situation when a tank slapper happens by having a few options and responses. In addition, we have audience feed...
Mar 22, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 312
GHIT 0311: Samir Abid Returns for a Second lap Samir Abid hosts the Your Data Driven podcast returns for his second lap with us. We take advantage of his history in suspension systems and as a vehicle dynamics race engineer by asking the key question related to tracking data of “what should I keep track of” and how best to do this, especially if you are solo for the weekend as many of us are. We also go into how to collect the data and how to analyze the data and ways of saving time and money, w...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 5Ep. 311
GHIT 0310 Our 300th Episode Trivia Quiz – Review After three hundred episodes, we wanted to give our resolute listeners a chance to show off with a Top 10 list of trivia questions about the podcast. In our time honored tradition, we thought part of the fun would involve bribing/awarding prizes to those that answered the call. At this time of release, we have not determined who had answered the questions and scored the most points. However, here are the answers along with a bit of nostalgia from ...
Mar 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 310
DwD 0309: Mirror Positioning and Philosophy On this episode of Dominating with Dawson, we go back to a fundamental of driving on track and the street. Where to position your side mirror and rearview mirrors for optimal vision, information, and safety. We also go into several mirror options and our preferred placement of our rearview mirror within our race car. It is a bit unconventional but offers significant benefits to the normal center of the window position. Towards the and we also go with a...
Mar 15, 2022•23 min•Season 5Ep. 309
GHIT 0308: Marlon Sumlin - Racing for Cancer Research (and Fun) Marlon Sumlin joins us to discuss his racing history and how much fun he has racing and instructing. Marlon is a perfect example of how much fun it can be to drive a slow car fast as he routinely passes many "better" cars in his Mazda 2 across the country. Marlon instructs and races in Grid Life's Sundae Cup and B Spec. This year he is also competing in the One Lap of America in the same Mazda 2. Marlon also races to help support an...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Season 5Ep. 308
GHIT 307: Race Weekend Recap: The Entire Team From Lucky Dog Racing at CMP You have only heard a few of the stories from our Lucky Dog race at Carolina Motorsports Park a few weeks ago. Now we unveil the entire team that went to the race. Car owner David as well as the rest of the team including Alex, Ryan, and Matt. We think we have determined the root cause of the problem we had at the race and a path forward. As always, we all had a great time at the Lucky Dog event and cannot wait to return....
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Season 5Ep. 307
DwD 0306: Racing 101: When and Why to Shift Your Car On Track On the latest issue of Dominating with Dawson, we talk about some of the details of both when and why to shift your transmission on track. We start off with a bit of wandering, but eventually work our way towards a great discussion. This will undoubtedly be the first of several episodes on this topic. Quick Summary: Ben Dominates. Alex Denominates (but actually has a question related to this topic, alert the press). Vicki starts off a...
Mar 08, 2022•30 min•Season 5Ep. 306
GHIT 305: Southern Fried Heaps Rally 2022 - Final Day The rally concludes today and Jeff Stobbs joins us again to summarize another great day. Awards were given for several teams including the inaugural winner of the rental car class. The teams were able to get to the NASA Kennedy space center and despite their valiant efforts, no one was able to successfully talk NASA into sending their car into space. If you are interested, the next rally is the four corners rally and will tour the area or Col...
Mar 07, 2022•55 min•Season 5Ep. 305
GHIT 304: Southern Fried Heaps Rally 2022 - Day 2 At the conclusion of day 2 of the rally, Jeff Stobbs joins us again from the Mellow Mushroom to summarize another great day. We are then joined by pirate Phyllis who was driving and plundering in their yellow C2 Corvette. Next up for this episode we talk with Jake who competes in the "big block" rental car class after a last minute mechanical prep in the originally intended Dodge Diplomat entry. Completing this episodes trifecta of entrants we ta...
Mar 06, 2022•55 min•Season 5Ep. 304
GHIT 303: Southern Fried Heaps Rally 2022 - Day 1 Jeff Stobbs and Donnie Petrunak join us to review the first day of this years Southern Fried Heaps rally that started in Mobile Alabama. Highlights include a stop at a decommissioned battleship and a team driving a Studebaker that set a record for sourcing a spare part that may never be broken. Tune in each day for a review of the highlights, lowlights, and spectacles of this years rally. You can follow the progress of the rally on Instagram by f...
Mar 05, 2022•24 min•Season 5Ep. 303
GHIT 302: Race Weekend Recap: Lucky Dog Racing at CMP After a series of failed intros, Bill is interrogated tonight about how the race weekend went with Skunk Oil Racing. It was quite a weekend and some hardware was taken home from the track. As always, Cathy and the Lucky Dog family had a superb event and we were honored to work on our car in their garage all weekend, lol. This is our fourth race with Lucky Dog and we wish we had raced more. If you haven't tried a Lucky Dog race, you really sho...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 302
DwD 0301: the Importance of Knowing the Top 10'ish Cars In an Endurance Race On this issue of Dominating with Dawson, we talk about why it is important to know the top ten or so cars in an endurance race. There are plenty of reasons to know this, especially if you are one of the top ten, but it is also important if you are not. Also, the strategic implications of being outside the overall top ten, but competing for a class win in a race with multiple classes. We each have different opinions and ...
Mar 01, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 301
GHIT 300: Ross Bentley Returns to Celebrate Episode 300 Ross Bentley returns to celebrate our 300th episode with us. Ross is a world renowned racing coach and has competed at the highest levels of racing, including Indy cars and nearly every endurance racing event of note. During this episode, we try to cover a variety of racing related questions and topics, as well as reporting back to Ross how impactful the coaching he provided to Vicki and Jennifer last time he was on. As always, Ross is one ...
Feb 28, 2022•2 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 300
GHiT 0299: James Candelaria from Candelaria Racing Products (makers of the Sentinel System) and Hagerty's The Drive Within with Round 3 Racing We continue our introduction to Round 3 Racing (R3R) and Hagerty's "The Drive Within" with another team member James Candelaria. James races with the R3R team in the WRL endurance racing series. Last season James was racing in the #601 Porsche Boxster and this season he will be in their new #609 M4 GT4 BMW. If you watch the series, James was present but h...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 299
GHiT 0298: Racing Suits, Shoes, and Gloves with AlpineStars Fabryce Kutyba is with the North American Alpinestars group and was kind enough to join us for a quick discussion on driver protection equipment, including racing suits, racing shoes, and gloves. We cover several key aspects of each component and the overall system to protect the driver. For instance, one piece vs two piece drivers suits, grades and certifications, proper care, and approximate replacement/upgrade guidelines. We also go ...
Feb 23, 2022•29 min•Season 5Ep. 298
DwD 0297: Track Driving - With Nanny's or Without On this issue of Dominating with Dawson, we go into another listener submitted question from Ron Mexico related to driving on track with the car's driver nanny's on. First we cover from a high level what a driving nanny is and then we go into our thoughts on driving on track with the nanny's "assisting" you and when/if there is ever a good time to use the nanny's. So what do you do with the driver assistance aides on track? Do you leave them on o...
Feb 22, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 297
GHiT 0296: Mo Dadkhah from Hagerty's The Drive Within We first were introduced to Mo Dadkhah during our episode with Loni Unser and then we saw that he was on "The Drive Within" with the rest of the Round Three Racing team (R3R) as they competed in the WRL endurance racing series. The show is sponsored by Hagerty and appears on their site as well as the Motor Trend channel. Mo is one of the drivers of the #701 Porsche Cayman that competes in the GP1 class within WRL. During this episode, we go o...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Season 5Ep. 296
DwD 0295: Discussing and Defining Driving at "X" Tenths On this issue of Dominating with Dawson, we talk about one of those concepts that is always discussed in the paddocks, especially at HPDE's and endurance races. This week we go through a discussion of driving "intensity" that is often referred to in the arbitrary units of "tenths" as in driving at 8 tenths or 9 tenths or never drive at 10 tenths in an endurance race etc. What does this really mean? We discuss this after a quite side discuss...
Feb 15, 2022•46 min•Season 5Ep. 295
GHiT 0294: ChrisFix - Endurance Racer Most of you will know ChrisFix from his YouTube channel or from his presence on social media. We have been subscribers to his YouTube channel prior to even trying our hand at racing. Then last year, we were one of the first to see his video drop on his teams upcoming endurance racing adventure with the 24 Hours of Lemons team and it even happened to be at a race we were already registered for at NJMP Thunderbolt. In this episode, we take way too much of Mr. ...
Feb 14, 2022•2 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 294
DwD 0302: Getting Advanced in HPDE Too Quickly On this issue of Dominating with Dawson, another listener submitted question leads to a discussion of getting advanced too quickly in HPDE. While this may initially be flattering to one's ego, it may not be the best for the HPDE student's overall progress and development as a driver and can also lead to increased risk on track that does not directly lead to increased skill for the driver and/or other drivers on track. If you would be interested in h...
Feb 08, 2022•25 min•Season 5Ep. 293
GHIT 0292: Aaron Jongbloedt Aaron Jongbloedt from Jungle Motorsports joins us for this episode and we discuss all things racing, even ice boating. Aaron seems to race in all series and all types of racing, we may even be able to make it to an ice racing event with him post plague. Since he has such a wide range of experiences, we try to cover many of them as possible to show how each series and club can vary and each offers a different blend of driving and racing flavor. The best thing you can d...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 55 min•Season 5Ep. 292
GHIT 0291: Mark Petronis - Answers of F&F Story Time Questions - Part 2 Mark Petronis has set track many records and won more than his share of races but recently had a very serious on track incident and thankfully it looks like he is in the process winning his recovery battle as well. We talk with Mark about all things racing and how he is a great example for the importance and effectiveness of the current safety equipment that is available to every driver. In Part 1, we go over Mark's hist...
Feb 02, 2022•34 min•Season 5Ep. 291
DwD 0290: Entering a Race with Zero Experience On this issue of Dominating with Dawson, we go into a listeners question related to racing wheel to wheel on track with zero track experience. While there are several opportunities to race with zero or little experience, we also go into several alternative paths that may be better choice for certain drivers. As a bonus, Vicki, Jennifer, Bill, and Ben all recount some of the stories that came to mind from our first experiences racing on track with ze...
Feb 01, 2022•25 min•Season 5Ep. 290
GHIT 0289: Adam Jabaay Returns to Talk All Things GRIDLIFE GLTC, Sundae Cup, and their HPDE Program Adam Jabaay returns to talk all things GRIDLIFE. Adam is the co-founder of the GRIDLIFE event series and the series is designed to be the track events that the GRIDLIFE team would want to attend. We had a series on last year that covered several of the wheel to wheel GLTC (Grid Life Touring Cup) series. During this episode, we go over the 2022 series and several of the other events in the series i...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Season 5Ep. 289
