Late to Grid - Helping The Grassroots Racer

In April I gave a presentation at the SCCA's 2023 Day of Motorsports at Nelson Ledges Road Course to help beginners with their track day prep.  I then recorded a similar version of the presentation to share with our listeners on our YouTube channel and now it's in audio form for the podcast.

Key Take A Ways:

• What Is Car Prep
• How To Prepare Your Car For An Event
• What To Pack For Your Event
• What To Do During The Ev...

Bill and Brian talk about Brian's motorsports journey which started with him helping his dad at the track thenBrian started karting, got his comp license and started racing Formula Vee.

Brian recommends finding a way to get into the paddock and learn from that side of the sport before you jump into racing.  Look for opportunities to help others.  He also spends some time with iRacing to keep sharp and learn new tracks...

Nick Boyas is Vehicle Controls Engineer for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems in Avon, OH and co-owner of Maniates Motorsports in Parma, OH. He races an Improved Touring A - Honda Civic EF.

Connect with Nick:
Instagram: nboyeas
Instagram: Maniates_motorsports
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nboyeas

Check out our sponsors:
LMS-EFI Website, Facebook, Instagram
Atomic Autosports Website, Facebo...

How cool is it that I have Ross Bentley on the Late To Grid podcast to talk about his motorsports background?  Very cool I think!

Ross is a driver coach for high-performance and race drivers.   He loves to help drivers of all levels and types with not just the physical aspect of performance driving, but also the mental game.  Ross's coaching services include;  in-person 1-on-1 and group coaching, as well as seminars a...

Devan Keeling is a Mechanical Engineer who caught the racing bug as a sophomore in college when a classmate invited him to an SCCA event.

Devan is coming off of his best season with taking the Ultimate 1 Championship for OH&PA and has a the U1 track record at Nelson Ledges and Pitt Race.

Devan's advice for getting on track:

• You don't have to mutilate you daily driver
• Get with a group
• Just show up
• Do...

Randy Ericksen doesn't drive, but he has a unique perspective on motorsports as he sees the sport through the lens of his cameras.

He caught the racing bug at 5 years old when his parents took him along on Time, Speed, Distance rallies and over years finds himself at the coolest tracks either taking pictures or capturing video for race teams.  He also works for Michelin at select endurance races to make sure that the ...

Kris McCrone is an entrepreneur who was re-engaged with motorsports in 2018 by his kids who found pictures of his late father and brother from the 80's and 90's racing.   

Currently, all of his efforts have been focused on building the Motorsports Experience Park in Lorain, Ohio and operating the Ohio Sprint Series.  Phase I of the facility - The LOK (Lorain Ohio KartPlex) will be operational in the Summer of 202...

So you want to go out and find sponsors for your racing program, right?  Do you know where to start?

Bill Snow shares his insights into how to build a  sponsorship plan for your racing program.  Sponsorships have to go beyond product sponsors if you want to get to the next level of getting funding for you and your team.  Having a plan and knowing your value is key to building your program.

Over the years Bill has ...

What started off as an idea to get the Wednesday Night Crew together for build updates and advice turned into a long episode of laughter and jokes.  We managed to get some updates on their two Dodge Neon builds and talked about about two of the  team's current sponsors, Heritage Coffee & Hoppin' Frog Brewery.


Check out our sponsors:
LMS-EFI Website, Facebook, Instagram
Atomic Autosports Website, ...

You down with OPTT?

You will be after this episode.  Bill sits down with the a few of the guys involved with a really cool time trial concept that continues the Northern Ohio and Western PA rivalry. 

This is the second year for the Regional Time Trial Championship that is designed to foster inclusion and fun between the NEOhio, Steel Cities, and other SCCA regions.

Plus they've lined up some really...

Bill sits down with Jennifer Bradford from the Neohio SCCA to talk about her motorsports background and the upcoming Neohio SCCA Day of Motorsports.

Jennifer has been an SCCA member since birth, no joke, and is involved in racing, just like her mom, dad, and brother.  Jen races her F500 in autocross and time trial events and is working to obtain her competition license.

Bill and Jennifer discuss:

• Jennifer'...

Chase McIntyre started his racing journey in his senior year in high school when his parents sent him to the Mid-Ohio driving school as a graduation gift.  From there he rented a Spec Racer Ford from previous guest Reed Kryder to see how he could do in a real race car.  He went on to get his NASA and SCCA license during a driving school at VIR.

Chase races a Spec Miata and in 2021 won Rookie of the year and the SLT champio...

Andy Graham is a 5th generation, fastener businessman and he shares not only his motorsports background, but also his business journey.

He's also a bit famous and has been asked to sign autographs and people recognize the BoltsandNuts.com logo.  Andy and his company are big suppliers to some of the biggest names on YouTube and that has paid off in a big way for him and business.

Wants wants get behind  the wh...

Who knew that drinking bourbon on a porch one day would lead to creating a platform that makes it easy for teams to sell seat time and for drivers to explore renting seats in race cars?

Well, that's exactly what we talk about in this episode.

Chris Crouch from Seat 4 Sale joins Bill to talk about the Seat 4 Sale platform.

The team at Seat 4 Sale created the company and website to make racing more ac...

When I started the Late To Grid podcast, Steve Jaworski's story is exactly what I hoped I would be able to share.

Steve was always a spectator at motorsports events, but then he  bought his dream car and  researched how to get on track.   He is now entering his third season of on-track activities and his enthusiasm and level of involvement is growing

Here are the some of things you'll hear in this episod...

In this Grid Walk episode I caught up with Jim Tramontano to hear about his 2022 Spec Miata season and learn more about how he spends his offseason.  We also talk about his 2023 plans which includes running with NASA North East  and getting to NASA Champs.

Jim runs the No Money Motorsports Blog which contains a lot of great articles to help readers learn more about grassroots racing.

Jim was a guest in season one ...

Jason Pribyl joins Bill in the Atomic Autosports studio to share his motorsports journey.

Jason started racing karts at age 6, moved onto Lucas Oil School Of Racing at age 13 and then onto F1600 in 2019.

In 2022 Jason participated in the Road To Indy program and raced Spec MX-5.

His advice for someone who wants to get started is to look at karting and track days.

Like many other guests, Jason tal...

Being behind the wheel requires physical and mental fitness and Trey Shannon explains to our listeners how fitness plays an important role in making sure that drivers  are ready to be their best on track.  Trey is the Performance Director at PitFit Charlotte in Cornelius, NC.

As Trey prepared to complete in a 24 hour kart event he fell in love with the fitness and nutrition preparations that PitFit designed and implemented...

It's official!

The Neohio Region of the SCCA is hosting a 14 enduro at Nelson Ledges in June!  The rules and licensing will allow for many to sign up and race.

This is how we envision an SCCA enduro!!

Bill & Dave also talk about the Day in Motorsports on April 22, 2023 and the growing Time Trials program.

Event Details:
Neohio SCCA Website
SCCA Enduro Rules
Event Registration...