So close. So, so close. We almost went to Canaan for an HPDE event with our fellow podcast friends Garage Heroes – In Training. However, Canaan turned into Canaan’t, and our Ladies Track Day turned into lemonade with us continuing on our hiking plans regardless. Originally scheduled as a two-parter with GHIT, we first discuss our thoughts on excitement, nervousness and prep, and then it goes into the aftermath of what could have been. Spoiler alert for a future episode – we still had a great weekend. Even with the murder loft.
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This is our first Off Road episode and off roading is just as it sounds. We are deviating from our normal path and driving into uncharted territory. For this episode we interviewed Liz Sargent. We thought we were just going to be grilling her about her experience as a novice at rally cross and Autocross, but, what we got was so much more than that. Liz’s story and her outlook on life is truly inspiring. We hope that you will listen on for our conversation with Liz and that you enjoy it as much as we did.
In this episode Jess and Kathy interview Audra about her recent experience as a driver at a 24 Hour of LeMONS event. She describes her first impressions as a novice driver and Jess and Kathy help her along with their view of the event as spectators. Audra and Jess are still trying to get Kathy comfortable with doing a track day soon.
Tune and post your comments on our Facebook and Instagram and let’s help Kathy out with her anxiety as she faces her first track event.
In their first post-COVID in-person session, Kathy and Audra help Jess finalize her decision on her next new vehicle and impart some other sage wisdom in the process. We tossed in a couple of other random topics and some gin, the resultant mixture brings us back to pre-COVID when smiles and laughter could be seen and not just heard (well you know by us, this is a podcast after all).
Photo by Daniel QuaroniListen here now or subscribe using your favorite player on the right!
Audra, Kathy and Jess are at the bar for the first time since COVID. They meet a couple of new friends, Alex Schmidt and Nick Facciolo, and are joined by Matt Cwieka. They discuss Kathy and Jess’ first event in 18 long months, a Test and Tune. Matt managed to drive an amazing array of cars. And we debate/discuss, and are highly impressed by, a Tesla.
Jess and Kathy fight over who gets to drive Audra’s M2Listen here now or subscribe using your favorite player on the right!
Kathy, Jess, and Audra met with a special guest, Lana Tsurikova, who told us the fabulous story of her driving and riding path starting from a small girl to a national Autocross Champion. Now she is looking to conquer the GS Trophy|BMW Motorrad competition in a motorcycle.
We talked about:
The value of taking instructors.
If you are contemplating going to Nationals, do not wait until you think you have a chance to win. Just do it for the experience.
Value of autocross in daily life and in training for the motorcycle competition.
The intensive training needed to prepare for the GS Trophy (off-road challenges on a 550-pound bike).
Women in motorsports.
How Lana wants to help educate and empower the younger generations.
Audra provides a review of a BMW Ultimate Driving Experience. She gives insight into a recent HPDE she attended at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park organized by NER PCA and answers questions from Jess and Kathy to help prepare them for their first foray to the track.
Audra and Jess had a great conversation with Rachel Baker and Heidi Ellison from Driving Forward Together. Their mission is “To encourage, connect, and support women in Autocross, as drivers in their own right, and to embolden them to exercise their power to vie in open competition, embracing ideals of strength and inclusion to radiate through all forms of Motorsport.” They actively promote inclusivity and are working hard to normalize women in motorsports.
Heidi Ellison and Rachel Baker
We talked about:
Levelling the playing field. This includes ensuring that women are represented without being treated as an anomaly.
Their origins, their cars and how they got into autocross.
How to recruit women.
It is actually less stressful to run in open class.
Autocross is a cult.
DFT is partnering with Autocross Evolution School and Beyond Seat Time.
We also debated whether or not Rachel actually likes people and she tells us how much she really likes Porsches. Check out DFT on Facebook and Instagram as Driving Forward Together and on their website https://drivingforwardseries.wixsite.com/drivingforwardseries where you can find information about their contingency program, data and trends on women in autocross and their fabulous Showcase series. You may even see some very familiar faces for their March showcase!
Audra and Jess sit down with Bill and Vicki Fischer who are endurance drivers with a podcast called Garage Heroes in Training. They discussed the differences between autocross and endurance racing, and the similarities with advice about how to get started. Their podcast focuses on new racers and they aim to help people learn from what they did and they augment their knowledge and experience with guests.
The Garage Heroes In Training crew!
We also heard about:
how Vicki’s sister, and co-host, learned how to drive a stick 5 days before her first race.
that Bill is a “the more the merrier” kind of guy and this definitely shows in how they built their team and in his immediate generosity with the Shifting Points crew.
that the goal for them is to learn, have fun and get better every time they race.
it is a huge accomplishment to finish an endurance (and they frequently do!).
$500 is not really the cap; it’s just the beginning.
And, if it’s worth doing, it is worth over-doing and that’s something we can really get behind!
Listen here or subscribe using your favorite player on the right!
Shifting Points Podcast 