Podcasts!
Conversations (& Tips) to Help You Drive Better
The Speed Secrets Podcast is taking a bit of a hiatus. For how long, I don’t know? What I do know is that it’s being replaced by something else, something very fun, entertaining, and educational (which is what I’m all about) – and I think you’ll like even more: It’s Not the Car podcast.
From the “official” description:
It’s Not the Car is a podcast about people, motorsport, choices, and how we all work under pressure. In other words, we tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts. Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver and an internationally renowned performance coach and author. Jeff Braun is a championship-winning race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. Together, we explore the emotion at the heart of the machine.
We don’t love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the bag of meat at the wheel.
037 – Michael O’Neal: Passion for Driving, Porsche & Solopreneur-ing
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Michael O’Neal joins me to talk about his experience at the Monterey Historics (he had just gotten back from the event), Porsches, his adventures in buying and restoring his ’72 911, autocrossing, what being a solopreneur is all about, how anyone can build a business in motorsport, and what he loves about driving.
036 – Kenton Koch: Developing Car Control Skills
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Kenton Koch joins me to talk about car control, how to develop these skills, what driving the limit takes, and the difference between cars with aerodynamic downforce and those that don’t. We recorded this conversation between races at the Trois Rivieres round of the IMSA Prototype Challenge event, where Kenton dominated both races.
035 – Michael Zimicki: What You Can Learn From a Great Coach
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Michael Zimicki talks about driver coaching. We dive into the question of how many true, pro coaches there are (as opposed to just how many call themselves coaches), what great coaches do, and what you should look for if and when you look to hire one. Oh, and we talk about what the best drivers do differently.
034 – TJ Fischer: The View from a Young Pro Racer
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TJ Fischer joins me to talk about racing with asthma, his asthma awareness campaign, late braking, the mindset that the best drivers have, the importance of the right coach, and how to get up to speed quickly.
033 – John Drysdale: 4 Seconds – Lessons from a First Season of Racing
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John Drysdale joins me to talk about his experience in his first season of amateur club racing – about what he’s learning, what’s surprised him and what hasn’t, and most importantly, what’s helping him the most. Whether you’re moving into club racing, or up from one run group to another in HPDE and track day events, John’s experience is relevant.
032 – Robert Pool: How to Practice to Drive Faster
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Robert Pool joins me to talk about how to practice to improve your performance in anything, the book that he and Anders Ericsson wrote, and the research that Ericsson is known for worldwide. We’re talking about “deliberate practice,” the new science of expertise, and clarifying the “10,000 hour rule.” Oh, and what you hear Robert talk about will help you be a better driver (if you use what he talks about).
031 – Ryan Staub: Managing Risk & Having Fun
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Ryan Staub joins me to talk about the fun stuff – risk and insurance for the track. Okay, that’s not all we talk about because that would be boring (but important stuff to know). We also talk about the car club scene, where younger drivers are participating in performance driving events, and the cultures that the best HPDE organizations have.
030 – Allen Berg: Racing Senna, F1 & Coaching Drivers
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Allen Berg joins me to talk about his experience racing F3 against Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle, how he made it to Formula One, and his transition into coaching drivers today. Of course, I ask him one of my favorite questions: What is it that the best drivers do that others don’t?
029 – Terry Earwood: The Voice of Experience
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Terry Earwood joins me to talk about… well, a little of everything about driving: drag racing, Sebring, road racing, autocross, instructing, the Skip Barber school, and the 39,000 drivers he’s instructed. Oh, and we laugh about the funniest things we’ve seen drivers do, teaching cops how to drive.
028 – Vivek Goel: What The Best Performance Drivers Do
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Vivek Goel joins me to talk about what he learned when he surveyed 350 drivers, asking them about their level of experience and ability, and what they do to improve. Of course, after talking about what the best drivers in his survey did, I ask Vivek what he does.
027 – Brandon Sneed: How to Get Your Head in the Game of Driving
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Brandon Sneed joins me to talk about what the best athletes in the world are doing to improve their performance. And before you think steroids to build the body, we’re talking about improving the performance of their minds.
026 – Ron Simons: How to Drive the Nurburgring
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Ron Simons joins me to talk about driving the Nurburgring – how to do it, how to prepare, what are the things you should avoid, and the challenges of doing so. Along the way, we talk about the differences between driving the Ring and Spa, the Belgian circuit just over an hour’s drive away.
025 – James Houghton: Lessons from Time Attack
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024 – Glenn McGee: Advice from a Pro Sim Racer & Race Driver
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Glenn McGee talks about sim racing, what he learned from it that helped him move into real racing, what surprises he had when he got to his first car race, what advice he’d give other young racers moving up the ladder, and what the Mazda Road to Indy is like on the inside.
023 – Jesse Love: Up & Coming Superstar
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Jesse Love and I talk about what it’s like being a young racer – just 12 years old – who has more driving experience than most who are listening to this podcast. We talk about what he does to mentally prepare for a Midget or Late Model oval race, how road racing is different, what’s been the biggest influences on his success to date, and what he’s learned that you can use.
022 – Dennis Macchio: A Driver’s Mentor
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Dennis Macchio joins me to talk about how to best find and use a mentor to help you with your driving, driver coaching, and a very interesting approach to using your vision (that is based on the system that Bertil Roos developed). Also, Dennis shares his insights about what gets in the way of some drivers improving, and how to learn more and improve your performance and race driving.
021 – Ian Korf: How to Suck Less at Racing
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Ian Korf and I talk about his experience driving FWD cars, how to practice with simulators, and what a driver’s DNA says about their ability… and then Ian flips the table and starts interviewing me – and we talk about how to manage being nervous before an event, whether a driver should care about what happens to other drivers on the track, and what heroes I have.
020 – Tyler Clary: Driving Lessons from an Olympic Gold Medalist
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Tyler Clary, Olympic Gold Medal-winning swimmer talks about his newly-launched racing career, how he’s learned to be so fast so quickly (and how you can learn from him), what similarities racing has with swimming, and what it takes to be a winner.
019 – Michael Roban: What it Takes to Succeed at Racing – or Anything
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Michael Roban and I talk about what it takes to be successful – in anything, including all levels of motorsport… Advice for when first starting in track days and racing, how best to learn to be a better performance/race driver while not taking too big a risk with your car, learning from mistakes, and his advice (as a relative newbie to the sport) on how best to get started.
018 – Simon Hayes: Getting Fit to Drive
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Simon Hayes of Performance Physixx joins me to talk about what the best race drivers do to ensure they’re fit to drive… as well as providing advice on how you can improve your fitness levels – and drive even better.
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PODCAST TOPICS
While conversations dig into the details of things (like cornering lines, trail and left-foot braking, race track specific advice, data acquisition and video analysis, upshifting and downshifting, steering techniques, and the use of the throttle), the broader perspective of topics such as the following are covered:
- What specific techniques and skills the best drivers use
- The most challenging corners
- How to adapt to handling problems
- What separates the best drivers from the rest
- How to learn new techniques and tracks
- Safety tips and resources
- Handling and car setup
- Data and video analysis techniques
Plus…
- Fun and interesting stories
- Why we drive
- Passion and enthusiasm for our sport
WHY A PODCAST?
Since my first Speed Secrets book was published back in 1998, many drivers have asked about audio versions of them. They wanted to listen to them while driving to the track, to and from work, and while exercising.
Some of the most educational, and fun conversations I have are at the track with a driver, official, coach, engineer, team member, or safety expert. I often wish I’d recorded those conversations so I could share them with you.