Q: “Can you give me some racing career advice? I want to race frequently, win regional championships or qualify to drive for a PWC team, dreams of winning a national championship or PWC season, and fantasies of what I want to do in motorsports. So what’s next? I know my limitations as I have a full-time job, and I can’t sacrifice everything for the dream, but I am willing to work for advancement. Should I run different race series every year? Race at more tracks? Or instead, try to race different cars at the same tracks? Take time off from racing to get sponsors with what time I have available? Stop racing and spend my time/money at racing schools to get better before I compete again? Help!”

Q: “I thought you might have some information to share regarding a good basic home simulator. I tried the sim at the Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, for 15 minutes… and I got motion sickness. I’ve had the condition since childhood as a passenger, but not as driver. Now, prior to track time, I take Meclizine in case I ride with someone, and it works.”

Q: “I race a Spec E30 so every ounce of momentum is extra vital. How do I determine the best trade-off between maintaining momentum, but at the same time braking enough so I can keep the throttle to the floor through the next set of corners? An example is turn 3 and 3A at Sonoma. In my car it is possible to lift (no brakes) just before turning into 3 and the car will make it through the corner, but will require going on and off the throttle through 3A. The alternative is a slight brake before turn in to 3 and floor the throttle all the way through 3A and down the short straight. I know option two is faster, but how do I determine how much I should brake? How do I determine the exact entry speed that will bleed off enough speed that I can barely keep the car on the track at the exit of 3A and still not lift off of the throttle going over the crest of 3A?”

Q: “This season I’m working on corner entry speed. Briefly, my general approach has been on tight, slow corners, go in deep, brake hard and rotate the car to get to gas before the apex. On high-speed corners, brake early but lightly to get the car balanced and myself comfortable so I can carry more speed through the corner and get on the throttle before the apex.

“I’m thinking of trying a subtle adjustment on the high-speed corners; i.e., maybe trail braking a little longer and carrying more speed to the apex so that I don’t get to the throttle until or very slightly after the apex. In other words, if I get to the throttle early, then I took off too much speed on entry. I realize a book could be written on this, but I would love your general thoughts for my guidance.”

Q: “Could you comment about pedal mounting and differing techniques? After training myself in a Ford Mustang street car to handle “top mounted down swing” pedals, I found that I could not use old Porsche “bottom mounted bottom swing” pedals.”

Q: “This is a question I have been wondering about for some time now. I do informal track weekends in my 2011 BMW M3. I’m starting to add lightness and adding track parts through replacing things like the battery, lighter brakes, removing the rear seat, and adding aero. For this particular car, it is much easier to take weight out of the rear of the car than the front of the car. Is having less overall weight in the car more beneficial than a more weight-balanced car? Can aerodynamics be used to compensate for a car starting to lean towards a front-weight bias?”

Q: “I did a track day at NCM in the rain – not damp, but RAIN. Rain, as in standing water many inches deep against curbs, little rivers flowing, no visibility when following… you get the picture. Years ago, I thought you would lower your hot (coming off track) tire pressure to soften/make more compliant tires as you do for sway bars, shock settings, etc. However, a pro who’s name I won’t mention (but he’s won a “few” races in BMWs), suggested that lower pressure was flat wrong. He said you should increase your hot pressure significantly to help pump the water from under the contact patch. Since then, I’ve tried raising a couple of psi a few times and it didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t obviously better either. What’s your take? Raise pressures, lower pressures or the same in the rain?”

Q: “After your recent Improve Your Braking & Corner Entry webinar, I have two questions:

“1. Where is the EoB (End-of-Braking) point? Could it be defined as “when the car is under control and pointed where you want it to be”?

“2. Listening to tire squeal… first, in relation to the Slip Angle curve, where does tire squeal begin, near the peak, at the peak, or on the downslope? And when tires squeal, are we close to (or already in) pushing/front and/or getting loose/rear?”

Q: “My question is, why does the track get slippery when it gets really hot and how to adapt to it with my tire pressures, as that is really all I can change at the track?”

Q: “Where does one start to begin racing? I have looked at the Trans Am series (starting at the TA4 class) but there are so many series. Which does one chose? Is there a progression one should follow – maybe we start with HPDE days, then time trials, then getting licensed to race, then pick X organization to go with to race. What’s your advice?”

Q: “Can you give me some racing career advice? I want to race frequently, win regional championships or qualify to drive for a PWC team, dreams of winning a national championship or PWC season, and fantasies of what I want to do in motorsports. So what’s next? I know my limitations as I have a full-time job, and I can’t sacrifice everything for the dream, but I am willing to work for advancement. Should I run different race series every year? Race at more tracks? Or instead, try to race different cars at the same tracks? Take time off from racing to get sponsors with what time I have available? Stop racing and spend my time/money at racing schools to get better before I compete again? Help!”

Q: “I thought you might have some information to share regarding a good basic home simulator. I tried the sim at the Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, for 15 minutes… and I got motion sickness. I’ve had the condition since childhood as a passenger, but not as driver. Now, prior to track time, I take Meclizine in case I ride with someone, and it works.”

Q: “I race a Spec E30 so every ounce of momentum is extra vital. How do I determine the best trade-off between maintaining momentum, but at the same time braking enough so I can keep the throttle to the floor through the next set of corners? An example is turn 3 and 3A at Sonoma. In my car it is possible to lift (no brakes) just before turning into 3 and the car will make it through the corner, but will require going on and off the throttle through 3A. The alternative is a slight brake before turn in to 3 and floor the throttle all the way through 3A and down the short straight. I know option two is faster, but how do I determine how much I should brake? How do I determine the exact entry speed that will bleed off enough speed that I can barely keep the car on the track at the exit of 3A and still not lift off of the throttle going over the crest of 3A?”

Q: “This season I’m working on corner entry speed. Briefly, my general approach has been on tight, slow corners, go in deep, brake hard and rotate the car to get to gas before the apex. On high-speed corners, brake early but lightly to get the car balanced and myself comfortable so I can carry more speed through the corner and get on the throttle before the apex.

“I’m thinking of trying a subtle adjustment on the high-speed corners; i.e., maybe trail braking a little longer and carrying more speed to the apex so that I don’t get to the throttle until or very slightly after the apex. In other words, if I get to the throttle early, then I took off too much speed on entry. I realize a book could be written on this, but I would love your general thoughts for my guidance.”

Q: “Could you comment about pedal mounting and differing techniques? After training myself in a Ford Mustang street car to handle “top mounted down swing” pedals, I found that I could not use old Porsche “bottom mounted bottom swing” pedals.”

Q: “This is a question I have been wondering about for some time now. I do informal track weekends in my 2011 BMW M3. I’m starting to add lightness and adding track parts through replacing things like the battery, lighter brakes, removing the rear seat, and adding aero. For this particular car, it is much easier to take weight out of the rear of the car than the front of the car. Is having less overall weight in the car more beneficial than a more weight-balanced car? Can aerodynamics be used to compensate for a car starting to lean towards a front-weight bias?”

Q: “I did a track day at NCM in the rain – not damp, but RAIN. Rain, as in standing water many inches deep against curbs, little rivers flowing, no visibility when following… you get the picture. Years ago, I thought you would lower your hot (coming off track) tire pressure to soften/make more compliant tires as you do for sway bars, shock settings, etc. However, a pro who’s name I won’t mention (but he’s won a “few” races in BMWs), suggested that lower pressure was flat wrong. He said you should increase your hot pressure significantly to help pump the water from under the contact patch. Since then, I’ve tried raising a couple of psi a few times and it didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t obviously better either. What’s your take? Raise pressures, lower pressures or the same in the rain?”

Q: “After your recent Improve Your Braking & Corner Entry webinar, I have two questions:

“1. Where is the EoB (End-of-Braking) point? Could it be defined as “when the car is under control and pointed where you want it to be”?

“2. Listening to tire squeal… first, in relation to the Slip Angle curve, where does tire squeal begin, near the peak, at the peak, or on the downslope? And when tires squeal, are we close to (or already in) pushing/front and/or getting loose/rear?”

Q: “My question is, why does the track get slippery when it gets really hot and how to adapt to it with my tire pressures, as that is really all I can change at the track?”

Q: “Where does one start to begin racing? I have looked at the Trans Am series (starting at the TA4 class) but there are so many series. Which does one chose? Is there a progression one should follow – maybe we start with HPDE days, then time trials, then getting licensed to race, then pick X organization to go with to race. What’s your advice?”