I’m a big fan of my Stilo helmet and one of the reasons is the built in hydration port. I have mine on the right side of my helmet (inboard for LHD cars). In my own cars, I have a camelback system mounted in the passenger area and I use the quick-disconnect for sprint races so I can drink without taking my hands off the wheel.

For endurance races where I’m sharing a car, we usually use something like the Longacre Drink bottle which a crew member pops in the car when I begin my stint:

Normally I attach a bit of the hook side of velcro wrapped around the tube and it will stick to the fabric on the side of the race seat between the seat and the transmission tunnel. The problem this year in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill was that it didn’t stick and about 3 laps into my 40 lap stint, the hose went flying and out of reach.

Enter McMaster-Carr part number #5012K39 “Air and water quick-disconnect tube coupling barbed socket with valve, 1/8 coupling for 1/4″ tube ID”:

This is the appropriate size female connector to click onto the quick-disconnect male portion that extends from the Stilo hydration port. In short, if you want to attach any fluid hoses to the Stilo factory hydration port, you need a 1/8″ coupler quick disconnect. The 1/4″ barbed size is the right size for the hose in the Longacre drink kit (and probably the others). McMaster-Carr has all different styles of this connector available including other size barbs and compression fittings.

• High temperatures (made worse by wearing the equivalent of an oven mitt and helmet for safety)
• Endurance stamina (30 minutes – 3 hours at a time)
• High G-loads
• Noxious fumes such as carbon monoxide
• Sustained loud noise upwards of 100db
• Awareness and “butt sensitivity” key to extracting maximum performance from car

Very few sports require the sustained concentration and focus (with life and wallet-threatening consequences) as motorsport but we can’t just do a hundred deadlifts, swim a mile or practice some yoga and call it good. All of those things would help but none of them alone will really prepare us to deal with the above. There are motorsport-specific trainers out there, Jim Leo’s PitFit in Indy probably amongst the best in the States, but most of us don’t live in Indy so what can we do?

Build Something!

I’m a small guy – 5′8″ and 140# – so strength is something I have to work at. Hours behind the wheel in a 25-hour endurance race with big sticky slicks could tire me out if I’m not in shape so I wanted a tool for my home gym. I have a one-car garage so it had to be modular and not take up a lot of space. I sketched a design that could attach to my Rogue Fitness half-rack and called my friend Tony Colicchio at TC Design Motorsports to make it a reality.

With a spare Mazda Miata steering column, a $25 “race wheel” from Ebay and a J-Cup from Rogue Fitness, Tony (who is also a big fitness junkie) built the perfect arm and shoulder exercise tool for replicating the experience behind the wheel. I can load it up with weight and do sets of turning the wheel left 90 degrees, holding for a count of 5, then turning right 90 degrees and repeating. When I’m done, it just hangs on the wall. You could achieve similar effects with just a plate weight but I find that this more closely taxes my arms and shoulders as when I’m racing. It also replicates the hand position required.

The old race seat is something I use with iRacing (another training tool) and is definitely overkill but there’s no question it puts me in precisely the right position. I frequently race a Mazda and have received a lot of support from Mazda Motorsports so the steering column is a subtle nod of thanks.

Check out another of my DIY projects: Racecar cool shirt system.

Brian Ghidinelli interview on Cars Yeah

It was a lot of fun! Mark has interviewed hundreds of interesting business and motorsport personalities and to be included on the list is an honor. Be careful – you might spend all day listening!

Spec Miata came in its traditional form, with six cars up front in the lead back through the early stages. Kyle Kaiser’s metallic blue No. 88 Miata was the first of the lead group to fall back when he spun, and with two to go it was down to Charlie Hayes, Tyler Vance, Brian Ghidinelli and Joey Jordan.

Hayes, in the 22 TFB/AIM Tires/RM Autosports Miata, and Vance, in the No. 85 TMG/RM Autosports/Sparco Miata, were racing hard to hold the top spot when they went side by side, and then off the track, in turn nine on the way to the one to go board. Both Ghidinelli and Jordan took advantage of the off to move into the lead and begin the final lap.

Ghidinelli kept Jordan behind him for the final circuit, and entered the last turn conscientiously reminding himself not to overcook the corner. With that in mind, Ghidinelli’s No. 12 RaceHero.io/MotorsportReg.com Mazda Miata probably slowed too much, and Jordan got a run up the front straight to the finish. It was too little, too late for Jordan’s No. 47 Minxnails.com/Protomotive Miata, and Ghidinelli crossed the stripe in front by less than a car length.

Next up, Laguna Seca… and then onwards to the SCCA Runoffs in October.

But, the point about driving a brand new car is, occasionally you expect things to break. That’s the point of a shake down. However, there’s one piece you really don’t want to come off as you’re about to drop under the bridge in to a high-speed 4th gear sweeper that leads onto the front straight which is surrounded by walls on both sides: your steering wheel. Here’s the video:

Lucky it wasn’t the first lap surrounded by 55 other cars! As it turns out, we were accidentally shipped a pre-production unit of what is, hands-down, the nicest quick disconnect steering wheel adapter I have ever used from MiataCage. The tolerances in the prototype weren’t quite right which allowed the unit to come apart under heavy vibration over the exit curbing. MiataCage overnighted us a production piece which we replaced and now you could sick a 500# ape on that wheel and it won’t come off unless it’s properly disengaged by the driver. If you’re interested in a high-quality QD that has no slop, can’t be misaligned and looks like it came out of an F-16 fighter jet, you can see more details at http://miatacage.com/products/281-quick-disconnect.aspx.

Pic linked from wren.

My favorite question was “What are you most excited about, auto racing, travel or startups?” See what I said.

To help build the biggest, most competitive field possible, I campaigned to change the format to a Double Rational, which is SCCA’s National and Regional racing on track simultaneously. Drivers who primarily race National races would make the tow to earn points and run at Infineon (which hasn’t had a National in well over 5 years) and those who already know how competitive our regional weekends are (40-50 Spec Miatas on average) could come do battle as well. Philosophically and economically, I see no reason to have the distinction between Regional and National racing in the way it’s currently implemented and for this event, I wanted to have huge, competitive fields.

For an inaugural event, I don’t think too many people were disappointed. The Spec Miata group actually sold out more than 10 days in advance of the event when we reached the limit for number of cars permitted on track by the rules. Spec Racer Ford saw huge contingents make the haul from Oregon and Southern California. Our formula car fields looked every bit as full as the Runoffs last year at Road America. The weather was gorgeous, the races were mostly under green flags and the feedback was very positive. It will take a long time before we have the prestige of Chicago Region’s June Sprints (which is now in its 57th year…) but there is no doubt that we had the competitiveness required of a big race.

I had a great weekend, with a lot of old friends making their way back out to the track. TFB Performance finally put humpty dumpty #12 back together again so I could go racing and we had a good haul with one 3rd and two 2nds. Former trailer-sharing-partner Kevin Baillie and I had friends and family out on Sunday for the two races along with my semi-annual Taco Truck catering program and it was another huge success. To end the weekend, I got to stand on the podium with the AIM Tires trophy girls and a big bottle of champagne. Despite not standing on the top step (kudos to Polsley for great drives all weekend long), this was one of the most fun weekends I’ve had and something I hope we can do every summer.

Props to SafeRacer whose Cool Suit system kept me cool as a cucumber during the 40-minute races in the heat. The ability to focus on the race and not think about how hot you are is a huge competitive advantage.

Unfortunately due to a mistake on grid by the officials, I started 16th in class instead of 6th. Combined with ending the race early due to rain (while we were on rain tires…), I ultimately finished 16th in Spec Miata. We were about a lap away from a win but coulda, shoulda, woulda!