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.
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057 – David Vodden: The Secrets of Thunderhill!
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David Vodden joins me to talk about why some race tracks are more successful than others, why some car clubs and event organizers do a better job than others, whether our sport is growing or not, and what the real secret is to being faster around Thunderhill.
056 – Andrew Rains: Real Time Data & Peripheral Vision
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Andrew Rains joins me to talk about how to use – and train – your peripheral vision to improve your driving, as well as the APEX Pro device, and using data to coach yourself. We wrap up the show with Andrew’s insight into what he wishes he knew when he first started track driving.
055 – Danny Kok: Ice Driving & Making a Racing Comeback
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Danny Kok joins me to talk about the AMG Driving Academy he runs in Canada, the ice driving programs he puts on, and about his plans to go racing in 2018. Danny, an accomplished racer and great driver coach, hasn’t raced much in the past few years, so he shares his plans to get ready, as well as how he’s training his co-driver for his first season of racing.
054 – Scot Elkins: MSF Instructor Certification & Formula E
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Scot Elkins joins me to talk about the Motorsport Safety Foundation (MSF), its various safety initiatives, and especially the Instructor Certification program it launched in the spring of 2017. We also touch on the topic of electric car racing.
053 – Peter Carroll: 14 Ways to Improve Your Performance Driving
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Peter Carroll talk about his recent article in Speed Secrets Weekly, “14 Ways to Improve Your Driving.” Specifically, we talk about braking too hard, not enough trail braking, getting on the throttle too early, coasting, not using all the track, downshifting too much, shortening the distance by altering your line, and how to experiment with new driving techniques.
052 – Andrew Comrie-Picard: Sensing & Driving Traction in Rally & Other Forms of Motorsport
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Andrew Comrie-Picard joins me to talk about how to sense the traction limits of any type of car you’re driving, whether on pavement or dirt. That’s it. Just how to drive fast on any surface, and how learning to drive a variety of cars will make you a better driver. Versatility is a good thing! We talk about “dynamic traction, sliding friction, sliding, slip angles, traction circle, weight transfer, and “steering with your feet.” Okay, we talk about rally, rallycross, drifting, road circuit driving, and even radio controlled cars. This one of my favorite podcasts yet! And it just so happens to be the first anniversary for the show.
051 – Brian Bonner: Finding a Racing Sponsor
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050 – 11 Drivers Talk Favorite Corners, Most Valuable Lessons Learned & Attracting Newbies Into Our Sport
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Eleven different drivers sit down with me and share their thoughts on what makes one track more technical than another, what their favorite corners are, which car they’d most want to drive, what the most valuable lesson they learned at the track is, and how to attract new and younger drivers to our sport.
049 – Tom Martin: The Winding Road of Motorsport Business
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Tom Martin joins me to talk about all things motorsport, from business to the original Can-Am series, from Spec Miata to HPDE and track day driving, and from low cost endurance racing to the passion we all share for our sport. It’s a very cool conversation, and his advice about the business of motorsport is invaluable!
048 – Ryan Dalziel: How the Pros Do It & Race Car Coaches
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Ryan Dalziel joins me to talk about how he’s developed into one of the best race car drivers in the world – what techniques he thinks are most important (hint: it has to do with corner speed and what you do with the throttle), and how to take your driving to that level. He shares his thoughts about his Tequila Patron-ESM co-drivers, Brendan Hartley and Johannes van Overbeek, and how their driving styles compare, as well as confidence. Then we talk about race driver coaches, and specifically how to find the best one for you.
047 – Ashton Harrison: Women in Motorsport & Learning to Drive Faster
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Ashton Harrison and I talk about racing in the Global MX-5 Cup series, what it’s like as a woman in racing, instructing at the Porsche school, and the challenges that come with being a woman telling a man how to drive.
046 – Kevin Fandozzi: How to Treat a Tire!
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Kevin Fandozzi joins me to talk about tires – how to break them in, warm them up, and pressure them. We also talk about how tires are developed, what Kevin did to his tires to podium at the recent SCCA Runoffs, and where Continental Tire is going in the sport. Be sure to listen to his advice in the last 10 minutes or so of the show – it’s super valuable stuff.
045 – Michael Silver: Learn to Drive Fast in Less Than a Year
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Michael Silver and I talk about how he got to be so good a driver in a short period of time – less than a year. And it’s not just seat time, but how he applied the seat time that made the difference, as he shares here. Oh, and we also talk about astronauts and how Michael communicated with them in space, as well as his incredibly varied background.
044 – David & Dylan Murry: Learning to Drive Fast
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David Murry and his son, Dylan join me to talk about the track day business, how to manage modern cars on the track, why NASCAR is a great option for young drivers, how important a driver’s reputation is in this sport, reading a car’s handling, what a son learns from his father who is a racer. And then Dylan and David provide their simple but important advice to you.
![043 – Brian Ghidinelli: Learning New Tracks, Left-Foot-Braking & State of the Sport](https://speedsecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/043-brian-ghidinelli-learning-ne-1080x675.jpg)
043 – Brian Ghidinelli: Learning New Tracks, Left-Foot-Braking & State of the Sport
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Brian Ghidinelli and I sit down at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while at the SCCA Runoffs, and we talk about left-foot-braking, driving a Spec Miata fast, how to learn a new track quickly, and the state of the sport – is participation increasing or decreasing, and why.
042 – Ryan Kristoff: Engineer’s View of Electronic Driver Aids
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Ryan Kristoff joins me to talk about the electronic driver aids, such as ABS, traction and stability control, and automatic braking systems available in almost all cars these days. And more important to you, do you turn them off when driving on the track or leave them on? That’s the big topic we’re talking about today.
041 – Phil Wilkes: Performance Pilot on Track & in Air
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Phil Wilkes joins me to talk about car racing and flying – but not at the same time. We’re talking racing, track driving, and piloting planes. Oh, and simulators, self-coaching, and the mental game of driving and piloting.
040 – Simon Kirkby: Life at Lime Rock
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Simon Kirkby joins me to talk about Lime Rock Park, the Lime Rock Driver’s Club, Skip Barber, and what he’s learned through decades of working with the icon of driver training. Along the way, Simon shares stories about Terry Earwood, Dorsey Schroeder, Simona de Silvestro and others. Oh, and he talks about 3 different ways to get through the Left-Hander at Lime Rock fast!
039 – Sam Smith: Road & Track Writer & Car Guy
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Sam Smith joins me to talk about writing for Road & Track, how he got his start working on and writing about cars, his own racing, fellow Editor-at-Large Peter Egan, driving a NASCAR Cup car with Boris Said, Jack Baruth, hanging out with Kimi Raikkonen at Fiorano, having a day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with 5 historic Indy car… well, you get the idea – amazing stories!
038 – Steve Smith: Endurance Racing for a Cause
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Steve Smith joins me to talk about racing Porsche Boxters in the World Racing League (WRL), why endurance racing is so much fun, and how he and his teammates have turned their racing efforts in a serious fundraising program for charities.
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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.