Why I Keep Coming Back to Miatas, Even After Racing The Best GT Cars

All right here we go Episode 6 We just got back from AMP Mike
Atlanta Motorsports Park How was that
It was pretty amazing
Yeah
it was a new track for me Uh elevation changes was definitely something new for me
Not a lot of that down here No not no not at all Uh what I liked about AMP was it wasn’t a very fast track That’s not what I liked about it What I did like it was very technical and obviously the elevation changes were just fantastic So I highly recommend it
We’ll make a trip Anyways our guest today this I’ve really been looking forward to this one Our guest today has been racing longer than some of his competitors have been alive and still he finds a way to beat them With over three decades behind the wheel he’s a multi-serious champion and has stacked podiums across IMSA SECA GT World Challenge Prospect Miata Global Cup and MX5 Cup He’s a wizard when it comes to car setup and data analysis and somehow still has the energy to be the co-owner of Farra Racing the Farra owner uh Farra Racing series Oo that was a mouthful While still chasing podiums please welcome the podium magnet himself Todd Burus
Wow welcome to the show Todd That was quite the introduction Yes
I don’t know if I can follow that up or I deserve quite the uh quite that introduction but I appreciate it Thank you
It makes it sound almost like he’s a better driver than David Tati himself Some would argue that he is Now I’ve only seen them out there on the track once and that was at Autobond actually behind the wheel of uh street version of the GR86 which was fantastic
That was a lot of fun We had a good time We were told not to do what we did but we did it anyway little Days of Thunder car rental scene recreation
Yes Yes that was exactly what I was thinking too when when we got out of the car and there’s a shot and we’ll do the overlay later of um Todd and David just both staring at the G86 and the front uh the front wheels the brakes are just smoking and they’re just laughing And and the Mike Moore in me came out the chief instructor in me came out and said
“You guys are the type of drivers that we hate in the academy.”
Correct Yes Don’t do that
Yes
Going out we were told not to do that
We did it anyway We were side by side through multiple corners but we all had a smile on our face
Yeah Here’s something that we’re going to get into later on But what was I think pretty amazing to me in retrospect was you guys were going all out and I was in the passenger seat while Todd was driving He was chasing David Tati and at no point was I ever nervous thinking are we going to survive this one Like never crossed my mind and and they were you know not leaving much on the table
which is big kudos to you
Thank you Yeah exceptional driving
You had that high degree of confidence because Todd has never crashed before So you knew you were safe Well we’re going to get to that later Not crash in front of me at least not that I knew at the time And then as we started speaking more in preparation for the podcast um and Todd you know he he’s had a very long uh career in motorsports so there’s bound to be some some wrecks If if you if you knew then what you know now you would not have gotten in the car Probably not
right Okay
All right There’s a caveat to that right We always go 9 and a half versus 10 So when somebody’s in the car you always dial it back just a hair and there you always leave some on the table So for sure
So yeah
All right let’s get into it Todd you’ve been driving everything from Spec Miatas to GT cars Um Yeah
What’s the one car that made you think uh this one might bite me The one that might bite me Um we developed Irish Mike and I developed a Hyundai Genesis back in 2011 when they just came out We put one on the dyno and it was truly 300300 It’s the Evo motor and we looked at each other and said “We’ve got to do it.” Six six end link multi-end suspension horrible transmission but we made it work It was truly a car that was special Lot heavy long took a lot to set it up But I thought it was so fast in ST in Grand Dam Cup that it was going to be a lot of fun and it was it was actually a winner We were we were extremely fast It was one of those questions of how fast do you really want me to go Do you want me to show the true colors of this car And it always you know 204 is a Daytona and ST high 203s It was in back in 2010 that would qualify for the Daytona 24-hour now So um yeah back in the day in 2010 but yes But you were still nervous about that car going into it
Uh yeah you know um it was uh it was a really cool looking car but really the chassis and platform transmission and everything was just a little off not quite built for what we were going for So one of the interesting things as we discussed your your path into motorsports is that you you started in I would assume like most people do in the corporate world um you were fairly high up in the corporate world So I’m curious as to how you got your start in motorsports and perhaps how some of those skills that you had in the corporate field transferred over to the racing field
That’s an interesting question Yeah Um lots of different things So I grew up flying remote control airplanes So eye hand coordination um you know big pattern ships and then started flying I built my own aircraft a little Acro 1 and flew that That was a fully aerobatic airplane and that was a lot of fun So I got my pilot’s license early on and then realized that flying aerobatics is not very safe So I thought you know let’s go into motorsports So I turned my first Perfect How’s that worked out
It’s you know at 30 years old So my first car experience was 30 years old and uh and loved it ever since
What did you do in the corporate world Just give us a little background
Uh 30 second overview I started uh my father was um uh owned a company called Jark Computers back in the early late 80s before there were you know the home PC
It was the home PC build and so I got big time into computers
Um start I bought the company from my father in Atlanta sold that off two years later and then went for uh Unix mainframes So I did architecture design of Unix infrastructure before there was an internet
So it was all dialup you know 9600 b not even 9600 bottom modems at the time The um uh so EMC HP Unix concurrent non-concurrent architecture design of data warehouses for Chick-fil-A Delta Boston Market um and a bunch of defense contractors that I can’t mention and you know it was web application database servers and they would all dial in and say why did you sell 3600 app meals in Portland versus you know right down the street in California and it was because of weather So it would go through these big web application database servers and and and go from there
and that’s what you or your team essentially built
Yeah So at a young age um we did the architecture design And I was internal sales uh at that point at that point and then went at external and yeah so we we did the Delta very first baggage claim back in you know 96 or whatever it was and um you know that was a $15 million Delta warehouse off two Ford left on the airport So kind of cool
Tell us a little bit about some of the the cars that you’ve driven over the years we on off the uh offline you and I spoke about some of these cars and you mentioned like an Oldsmobile and I just I couldn’t imagine it I actually while we were talking on the phone I had to look it up I’m like an old mobile really Tell us a little bit about those cars and what what have been some of your favorite cars
Um the Osmobile SCX was the Achieva It was a dual overhead cam uh dual quad four dual overhead cam made crazy horsepower It was a front-wheel drive um out of control um car It was run in the uh Motorola Cup back in the day and it was a um uh a hacker’s car and I bought it and said this is going to be fun and um Tom Fowler OPM Motorsports um he and I put it together and it was a lot of fun and we actually banged it Honda because we had a prelude We had an ITA uh ITA CRX We had an ITB Honda Accord back in the day you know 88 Honda Accord and you know 90 whatever CRX and uh had a lot of fun with those cars So yeah it was it was good There’s been mostly front-wheel drive I grew up in and then moved to the Miata in 2003 or two and then uh from there went uh IMSA and and and Global Cup So you’ve raced a lot of different cars Yep What has been the allure to keep going back to racing Miatas That’s a good question Actually uh that’s come up quite a few times I raced some of the best cars on the planet and just blessed to do it And then the back of my mind the community surrounding Spec Miata was always in the back of my mind I had one kept it couldn’t wait to get back to it the community the closeness I mean just I remember going to Limerock in 2005 and we qualified ninth or it was the last practice and I was ninth and I was 0.009 off the poll and literally it was 001002 003 through nine and I was ninth
Wow And I called Colin Harmer and I called my wife and I said “Uh I’m ninth and I can’t be upset because I’m 0.009 off the pole
right?”
And he said ‘Well do something different I’m like “What?” And he goes “Just just try something different You’re obviously got to pick up a little.” So I went into a corner and I tried something different I picked up two tents and I was P1 So you know it was uh one of those things that you just don’t get in any other class So the community community driven that that made your decision easy
It was Yeah And and such closeness Um a close friend was John Dunan and you know in Mazda And it’s funny cuz one of the a great story we were in Col uh Canadian Motorsports Park and we were all there was 43 cars uh all you know the new 2006 Mazda MX5 and mine had a hiccup right mine It just And he said “Well I’ve got a rental car a Canadian rental car.” And next morning I came to the track and sure sure enough the cluster the key fob the Rob Greenwood had switched it all out from the rental car to my car So I you know I was the only Global Cup car that had Canadian parts you know the dash the key fob and the immobilizer you know on the track and uh you know that weekend we won so everybody’s like oh Canadians got better you know ECUs and stuff but that wasn’t the case so that car is still floating around somewhere
That’s awesome Yeah
Um you and I also talked we talked about a couple different subjects and hopefully we’ll be able to cover most of it because Todd has some fascinating stories One of those is how you consistently got uh picked up as a driver from different teams right
And that other drivers would end up uh resenting you because of it Tell us a little bit about how you were able to do that and what essentially what value you provided for those those teams So I have a very close friend Colin Harmer He’s he was a data engineer So in 2003 we were using stack stack stack data It was stack stack stack on the dash and we had full-blown data and we were racing pretty good and we were winning a lot of races and I was moving up I was in IMSA and I was running good with Piper Motorsports and we were winning a bunch of races and you know Colin was my engineer at BSI racing and I asked him I said how do I become Randy Post How do I become Johnny Oonnell And he said do you want to And I was like I think I do And he said ‘Well you’ve got a you’ve come from a very good background in in in in business and you know you’ve retired once and at 30 and all right whatever And he said you know make racing a hobby and make your family priority And I looked at him and I thought huh okay so what does that mean And he said “Always bring the car back better than you started and you know always ask for your name on the door with no crash damage and do engineering and data for the teams.” So I never asked for any money and I was racing against guys like Eric Foss and Charles Espin Lob and Randy Poped and things of that nature and always had my name on the door with no crash damage and I would do engineering data and video analysis for the entire team and always bring the car back better than I got in it And what does that mean Right That means that if I finished fifth or second it’s I just went to the owner and I’d say I could have finished first but first was being a jackass and I’d rather not have a donut on your pretty rap
and bring it back in second then or fifth or whatever the number was Um usually it was in the top five Um and then ding up your car because it didn’t cost them anything and their car finishing in the top five meant new and new people would come to their team and rent cars So we had a pretty big team um everywhere I went because of the car was were finishing well and you know I would data engineer the car and engineer the shocks and and I had a great friend Irish Mike and I’d call him up and Connor Colin um Colin Harmer and I’d say hey you know I got a and center off push you know coming out of six and seven he’s like well that’s super high speed you know increase the compression in the rear and it’ll get rid of the push off center off and sure as you know now we’re pick up three or four tents put you know instead of P9 P4 and you know we’d do All right So
so for some of the people that might not understand when you say engine help engineer the car you’re helped to dial it in
Correct Yeah And and the deal is is there’s there’s a big difference between getting in a car and driving it and saying “God I need a new set of tires every 30 minutes versus getting in it and tires lasting six hours.” Sure
You know have have the tires do their job without doing their job and have the suspension do all the work And that’s a difficult thing to do but that’s what was drilled down for me from some of the best data engineers out there
right
You know um Colin Harmer Irish Mike and and some of the other you know guys out there that really understand
camber caster toe rake setup thrust compression rebound high speed low speed Um you know and it’s it’s and it’s a phone call away And it’s a beautiful thing when you talk to these guys and pick up the phone and say “Look going through one it feels like I’m at the end of the shock and the thing’s going to shake my head off and and and just fly off in the durst.” Oh just increase the high-speed rebound You got high speeded rebound Yeah I do Give it five clicks Oh wow Picked up 310 through turn one Pretty crazy stuff So that kind of leads into my next set of questions Um in fact I was just on the phone with a young driver He’s 16 years old wants to get into racing and he he was just picking my brain left and right What advice would you give young drivers that want to get into racing or already starting to get into racing as far as getting as much seat time cheaply or inexpensively or free What advice would you give them to to do that Tough question especially today Um I was 30 and I got rides which is incredibly difficult and and and hard to even fathom A new person coming into racing would have to be female
Okay
Unless you’re Connor Zilich Um basically when it’s funny I have a friend Noah Harmon and I told him that um you know he’s incredibly talented and uh Connor Zilich another one when you bust into the scene scene on Global Cup he’s running TA2 be incredibly just unheard of right it you get into the car buy the car run it a year show up and dominate the field um and then leave and it was like what just happened you know guys that have been running these cars Noah Harmon for instance been running these cars for the last 5 years and TA2 and show up out of the blue and finish P4 you know and never been in the car never been to that track in that car and show up engineer the car and and show up and do that And that’s kind of what um you know a couple guys are doing Uh and it’s very difficult and you know there’s a lot of energy at women right now in motorsports um women’s initiatives and things of that nature and I would take advantage of that also So I think when you mentioned Connor Zilich you’re talking about maybe a 1enter if if not you know
that’s probably too much
Yes That’s even high
You’re talking about a guy that gets in anything and wins So most people are not going to fall into that bucket So maybe what I’m hearing is your advice is learn how to dial in a car so you can be an asset to that team
Absolutely You know the you’ll be on a team and really the best friend I had on a team was the owner and it was you get to a team I get a phone call and say “Hey Piper Motorsports you know they’re running 34th and 39th Can you go over there?” And I went over there and first thing I did was I talked to the owner and then I talked to the data engineer and he said “The car the BMW 328 gorgeous cars massive push.” I’m like “All right tell me the setup.” you know they’d start walking through it and I’m like “Okay make these changes these changes these changes.” And you know we went from 39th to to fourth and eighth both cars you know and then we finished fifth and ninth at Daytona 24-hour and then we went to Laguna and I finished second I got in the car 21st finished second and then we went to VR and finished third on the podium and two podiums in a row And it was cars that wouldn’t you know that were dead last to and then literally it’s shocks camera caster toe you know that kind of adjustment But you just have to know what you’re feeling for and what you’re looking for because you can get a car to go fast but if you don’t know you’re tearing up the tires and you’re not having the suspension work what good is it two hours 3 hours into the race We got the VWs you know when we were running GLI’s we got the VWs to to drag the rear tires around for three weekends and just put new tires on the front You know the new tires would go to the rear and put two new tires on the front So literally we were buying four tires a weekend Um the Hyundai’s we got it to where the we weren’t buying tires much at all because the tires didn’t do much The suspension did all the work So yeah All right let’s transition over to some of the the less happy times some of the wrecks that you’ve been involved in Um some of maybe some uh losses personal uh financial whatever the case is Um how does how do things like that affect you and how do you bounce back from from those things If you can talk a little bit about some specific you know instances Um I was very fortunate when I first started racing RS Argginian was my coach and he said “Before we even start there’s three things you got to know.” Right So one was racing is dangerous and you could lose your life Two when you get in a wreck and I thought I’m never going to get in a wreck You know who’s going to get in a wreck Why am I going to get in a wreck And he’s like “When you get in a wreck you drive the car all the way to the point where you know you’re going to get in a wreck
right
And then when you do you close your eyes and in the most intense moment of your life you have to relax
I mean not just relax relax every fiber in your body.” So we were doing I my first year of racing I was roundy round I was running rowdy around in a pinto you know back in 19 right
back in 2000 1996 Sounds like a terrible idea
Oh it’s horrible But it was Peach State Motor Speedway the fastest half mile asphalt racing in in Georgia And it was just like Bristol It was a half and we were turning 21 seconds in a pinto flying Um and I was running second and man out of two a tire went down and I was sideways and I saw 48 cars coming at me and I thought “Oh boy here we go.” And I just relaxed and I think I got hit nine times you know it was bad And I popped right out of the car stood on the roof and kind of threw my hands up in the air and said “Yay!” And the crowd went nuts you know cuz it’s redneck racing on a Friday night Yeah And uh the car was you couldn’t even the that you know they had to use a forklift to get it on Sure You know they just left it there because it was so trashed But um yeah so in the most intense moment of your life you have to wreck So uh there was a Virginia wreck I’ve gotten a bunch But Virginia was a big one Six seven ribs
You were driving the the Irish Mike VW
right It was um Derek Whittis and Mark Pombo and uh we were running P2 out of 49 cars um Altonberg and all these guys were in that race and uh a doctor that back in the day right back in the day IMSA that was 2010 You went to Daytona and you filled out your 5×7 card you gave them 50 bucks and they said “Do you know how to drive a 5-speed?” I’m like “I think so.” Perfect You’re in And that was that’s what that’s what I requirements to go race you know
Sounds like car champ You didn’t need a license you didn’t need to be checked out So I filled out my 5×7 card and this back in 2004 but this is 2010 And a doctor I think his name is Preszinski and he lives in my neighborhood Um was in an M3 was in a really nice M3 and he spun out of Southbend I came over the top following somebody so close that I couldn’t see So I came out and he went and I thought “Huh okay I got this.” And I turned the wheel and nothing happened Well the car behind me you know and I touched the brakes I didn’t realize I touched the brakes but the car behind me at 93 miles an hour touched me and it picked up the rear tires of a front-wheel drive car and I thought “Huh?” And it was about you know 15 ft away at the time and I thought “Oh okay.” And I just relaxed
Um I watched that wreck
You did
On on video
Oh yeah I did
It It hurting it M
we’ll put it up on on overlay but I I I think I watched it They followed it They did like the the the live view you know as it happened and then they did like a slow-mo and I I had to turn it off at the slow-mo I was like “Okay that’s enough.” Like I don’t need to see that again It was that bad
How many bones have you broken
Um well that was I mean
seven ribs and lower back and shoulder and collar bone And then I was with ESR and broke three more And then in 2019 runoffs I was on a motorcycle and Steve Berto ran me off the track ran me off the motorcycle and I broke two more So that year I won the runoffs in SM Spec Miata And uh my friends are just like dude And then um Jim and I got together at Virginia and broke two more wrecked a car Got two more broken Um and then just recently I was in a wreck at Tampa St Pete
St Pete Yeah
St compete and uh ended up you know they they didn’t think I broke anything but I went to Watt Family Chiropractic and he’s my guy and he puts you up and he does the big crosses and scans you and he goes “Oh you broke one here two here You broke you fractured your sternum and then the wing little wing in the middle of your back you fractured that too.” So yeah that was bigger than I thought That was a big hit That was
So you’re into the 20s or 30s
Yeah you stopped counting basically To answer your question Mike 20s or 30s it’s a lot And um you know it’s funny When I broke in 2010 I had to figure out how to get out of bed Um because it was so much stuff that wasn’t right You couldn’t use any of your muscles right You couldn’t use your ribs or anything And it’s amazing how much you use those muscles to get out of bed So I figured out if I put my leg up kind of and hooked it with my hand as I stood up
I would scream at the top of my lungs My kids they were four or five years old and they still remember “Dad I remember you screaming at the top of your lungs to get up out of bed you know that’s one thing they remember.” And my wife just rolls her eyes God bless her So uh yeah core memories right
Yeah Core memories How old are the kids now
18 and 17 Uh off this August off to UF my oldest
Do they do any motorsports stuff
No they I met my wife
They remember dad screaming at top of his do that right Go fly fishing instead
Yes
Yeah
Let’s choose something a little safer
My I met my wife at the racetrack at Daytona Beach International Raceway I met her father three years earlier He did not tell me he had two daughters So uh I was at Daytona International and he’s like “Hey you know I’m about to start.” He raced VWs against Twatti
My wife raced against Twatti
Um Todd Fliss and Twatti and and a whole bunch of guys Steu Bremer was the uh was BSI and she was racing a uh a Shurocco and um it was about to start Jim Anderson’s race and he said “Hey my RV is over there Why don’t you watch the race Go up there I’ve got a big green flag.” I didn’t know who he was you know I didn’t know any So I I there was you know a 5’6 tall blonde sitting up there and I was invited to come up and yeah that’s that’s how I met Debbie my wife of 25 years 24 years and
so that’s why your wife is unfaced when she gets phone calls from the hospital telling her that her husband has multiple broken ribs and she’s like ah I’ll be over
there goes Todd again
Yep
That’s funny cuz yeah at VIR I was pinned to the I got out of the car and and every the whole thing was planned there and you see me get out and collapse on the ground and the doctor from Melbourne runs over and he unzips my thing and he goes “Oh you have multiple broken bones take a big deep breath So I breathed in really heavy and they went back in place and I just screamed and oh gosh it was the worst thing ever But um she saw all that on TV So when I when the when the emergency guys in the in the transport go to Virginia International whatever hospital um they put the phone on my ear said “Dial up your wife.” And she answered She goes “Hey honey I just watched it on TV You all right?” I’m like “Yeah I guess I’m okay.” like “Yeah he’s got some broken bones and some other stuff going on but he’ll be all right.” And she’s like “All right well let me know when you’ll be home.” Have those roles ever been reversed where you watched her get in a wreck That’s a great question No No But I will tell you my close friend Jim Drago at East Street has a standing bet or standing what do you want to say Um for my wife he never My wife was a three-time ECR champion She won and that’s against Twatti and things of that nature She won the ECR series three years in a row and then she jumped into Miatas and my friend Jim Drago who runs ESR never beat her in a Miata So he’s like I will build her an A+ car at no cost and put her in it cuz I want to beat her So uh so that’s the standing joke between uh Jim and I So it’s a lot of fun It’s a lot of fun She’s she’s there’s a good video of my wife out there running and you may want to put it out Debbie does VIR and um it’s when we Yeah So we race in Miatas and she started fourth and
it’s there’s a lot of good in car
Have you ever raced against her
A lot A lot
H how is that It just all gloves come off
Um yeah You know it’s funny because um Stu Bremer at BSI Racing he would always take care of our cars
and so we used to run the Enduro Series the ECR series in the SECA and he held me five minutes one time I finished second My wife finished first That’s the one time she beat me But uh she was very competitive Very very and extremely good Very competitive Does she still do it
As soon as she became a mom and pregnant with our first kid it was over She said “I’m done I’m not going to race anymore.” Um and became a full-blown mom And I I couldn’t doubt her for it And to this day she won’t get in a car She
She drives she drives some pretty radical cars on the street And um she has fun So and the kids drive pretty radical too So it’s fun One of the things that I noticed when we were at Autobon and you were driving uh competing not competing against David Tuati in a street GR86 and I was in the passenger seat Um I mentioned that I you know I wasn’t nervous at all and then I asked I asked Todd if he would ride shotgun with me and kind of just you know help me learn the the course Um one of the things I picked up on is you were a lot more nervous than I was expecting you to be And I think some of that comes from
the terrible person that was driving
No he was actually really good
This is why this is why I like Mike on the show You can still throw little jabs like that and you’re so perfect
You just speak the truth
Yes So I I would assume that some of that just comes from like personal loss cuz
if you stay in the in the sport long enough like you will heal from the broken ribs and things like that but you’re going to lose friends And so my question is how how do you address that How do you overcome that Um that’s a tough question You know that’s that’s that gets pretty serious Uh we’ve had a lot of driving instru I’ve known a lot of driving instructors too three that have passed in the passenger seat for not very good reasons you know uh for um and so it’s interesting I’ll I’ll with the collegiate racing series that we’re involved with now
I was sitting the first time the in the passenger seat in 15 years and and it was a friend and his name is Jack Hobbs He’s the founder of CRS And I didn’t realize it but I got pretty vocal with him
He told me
“Yeah I I was pretty stingent I said “Listen you know we’re going to I’m going to sit right seat
but you are going to do everything I tell you.” And before I knew it I was at the top of my lungs because I’ve lost multiple friends and to people being stupid And he’s sitting there you know like a little mouse and I’m I’m kind of like a lion going “If you don’t listen to what I say then I’m pulling the E bra and we’re done.” Sure you know and and I didn’t realize how uppidity I was getting because I was a little uppy
and and there were multiple times in the passenger seat that I got a little uppy you know and um like if I jumped in with Twatti or with you or Michael or or somebody that I knew but you know somebody new to the track who thinks “Oh I got a Mustang and it’s going to do everything I want it to do.” And and a lot of people just don’t understand that a 40 mph impact against a wall is like 110 You just it it hurts especially with the three-point belt without the you know the Han safety and all the equipment that we use Um it’s pretty intense
You know that’s something we like to talk a lot about instructor stories on the podcast and it and this is a topic that I like to bring up hence the name off the racing line I like to talk about these things that aren’t normally or usually talked about you know because there have been instructors that have lost their lives just instructing So there’s there’s a very serious consequence when you don’t take that job seriously And sometimes it’s completely outside of our control anyway Something it could be a malfunction with the car blown tire or something can go wrong Um but I like to highlight that as much as possible that there is there’s I think a beauty behind instructing There’s I think it takes a special person to get in the right seat and want to share that information and experience with a a novice driver
But at the same time I think it also takes somebody with a few loose nuts in there to do so You know
I think there it’s a calculated risk And and I’ve said it before in in different episodes that I I’ve I finally reached that point where I was like “Okay I think I’ve had enough of that you know and I choose to do something else.”
Yeah for sure Like I said we’ve again you are talking about a is it a risk AB: Absolutely Is it a calculated risk that especially with most of the people you know obviously Todd you’re out there instructing people when you were in the right seat that are looking for that last tenth on the entire lap where generally speaking in the HPD environment that that myself and most of the coaches that I know are it’s people that are leaving
five six seconds on the table So you can help them find 3 seconds with a still pretty good margin of error and and relative comfort
Sure
I totally agree with what you’re saying Yeah there’s a there’s a big difference And then um you just really have to make sure he’s not out there to impress you right
And that’s that was a situation this past weekend or our last school the yellow Porsche guy at Homestead Dave was coming up behind us Dave Tatty was in his car and he was going up behind us and he really wanted to get down into 11 down in off the banking 10
Uh and the car he held the input He didn’t relax his hands out held the input I literally reached across and pulled it out because it was turned right and Twatti came out and he goes “Man you guys were 90 degrees to the track.” And I went yank you know and the thing straightened right out
So yeah And after that I was like “Okay I’m not going to do that again.” You know it’s it’s not worth it to And I saw it was wall and and he just saw wall and I like I said and then a few laps later I was like “You got to stop doing and he did the same thing.” And I did it again and I said in the pits
you know and um interesting Kaitlin Kenny the 16-year-old
the 14-y old 15 16-year-old
just finished competition um instructor school with us
Yes
She fantastic She sits right seat and that Corvette guy the guy in the Corvette Anyway you recall Anyway so she made him go down pit lane like three times because he made an illegal pass He did something wrong extremely strong willed little girl
Very assertive
Very assertive
No her her mentors spoke very highly of of of her said “Oh she did a great job good command you know wasn’t intimidated at all that there was a guy that was two or three times her age uh sitting in the driver’s seat She had absolutely no problem taking control of the situation.”
Incredible And and I have multiple I took multiple videos of her
Yeah you know giving him the finger you know and Mark is the father and he and I sat back and just sat there and smiled because it was just here’s a girl I met two years ago at at instructor school or at a comp school and now she’s just blossoming into this this instructor and mentor and just unbelievable driver Yeah You know so and she understands data you I gave her sold her I gave him a laptop and she has data in all her cars and she’s going over data with Jack
and all the instru you know the kids in the in the comp schools and and really given lots of instruction So I got to give it up
One of the things I I’m picking up um about her is that she seems to also really enjoy instructing and and coaching and being part of the team and helping new drivers Absolutely 100% Um yeah it’s a fantastic family you know Bill and Mark and Kayn and the mom They’re all just they’re all in it They’re all in it to win it And just I hope I wish him the best
One of the things that um you and I again Todd and I have had several conversations offline and we were having this one um conversation over the phone and you were telling me about finishing the race with the car that you have
now to bring you up to speed and the listeners that what that means is you’re you might have started the race with a car in a certain state but after a couple knocks here and there your your suspension is maybe getting worn out uh your toe your alignment is now you know gone Are you just going to you know throw your hands up in the air or are you going to finish the race with the car that you have How have you been able to adjust to the car that you now have in the middle of a race and still be able to come up from behind and finish you know in hit a podium essentially That’s you know and and that was something uh Stu Bremer and Tom kind of worked into the whole thing and and and gym You have to you the ideal setup right You got all these practices and you you you work on toe and cross weights and you go out on the first lap and you’re doortodoor and side by side and somebody bam all of a sudden you got tow in on the left front and the thing pushes like a pig you know So it’s like well okay a pushy car I’m going to drive like a front drive car So I’m going to break later break deeper get the turn done before the corner and come off you know like a front drive car Um so been blessed to drive multiple you know multiple different styles of cars and and they all want something different So yeah you know you can get frustrated and you can get get I call it the spike you know you can get frustrated and you can get pissed off and or just drive the car you got and see what happens because if you can figure it out especially in Global Cup you know those guys are running over curbs and you run over the curb and the inside toe gets pulled out and all of a sudden you’ve got an inch of toe in each front you know it’s going to turn in like son of a gun like nothing you’ve ever seen before So just hit the brakes a little later and and turn in a little later and and come off or whatever it wants you know whatever the car wants But there’s no use getting on the radio and complaining about it because I’d probably say over 90% of the time you never come in with the car that you went out with or that you wanted with And um you just have to figure out how to drive the car you have It’s funny because we talked about this past no this year in January we ran Daytona in the Global Cup car and Irish Mike my friend was talking about the cars and he’s like “Dude the toe is going to get completely screwed after the first four or five
laps.” So I okay that’s fine So literally going down the east horseshoe west horseshoe I was 20° to the left to turn right hit the brakes hold the wheel that way and right when the car is about to catch crank the wheel in and hit the power And if you watch my incar which we can post here you can see that I’m later on the power than everybody else but the car wouldn’t turn right
And it’s all right you know it would turn left pretty good but um east horseshoe west horseshoe I’m literally hit the brakes sliding to the left and as soon as it catch I’d turn right to go through West Horseshoe So uh and the bus stop was even worse So it’s like you just either give up completely and get frustrated or kind of smile and enjoy it and say “All right this is what I’ve got Let’s see what happens Enjoy the chaos.”
And uh and and that’s what it was It was if you watch the incar and you watch my hands I’m literally turned 15° to the left and we’re going right You know I hit the brake and and Okay Okay Okay catch and turn right in the last five or six laps So it’s um it it Yeah it’s drive what you got
It’s the battle behind that’s important And down on the inside Jared Thomas gets a brilliant run out of the Lemon Monster
Watch Cisero
This is not going to be over yet Big bump on the leader as they come on the low side Cicero was hung out to dry a little bit He got a good run but didn’t have a dancing partner Now they come up to the back of Western workman The checkered flag is in hand Is it going to be Thomas Is it going to be Burus Messing I think is just a little bit out of it Deuce is the dive on the inside underneath the yellow line as they go across the line It’s Thomas by the barest of margins A classic wheel and Mazda MX5 Cup finish with Jared Thomas taking it from Todd Burrus JTR from AA M
A lot of that I think a lot of that also comes down to experience right so and we talk a lot about that on this show about getting a lot of seat time So whether it’s and not just see time but also go to different tracks like you drive a lot of different cars because that way when things go wrong and in racing things will go wrong you can start relying on a lot of that information that you’ve uh acquired over the years of driving different tracks different cars you can tap into that and say okay now the car is pushing I got to adjust my driving accordingly
Absolutely 100% Yes One of the one of the things that um you and I talked about you know and and I don’t know I think I had an epiphany when you were talking about just drive the car that you have I drew a parallel to life right So racing is is a lot like life right You have to finish the race So are you going to complain about it or are you going to adjust your driving so you can finish in you know at least hit podium or something along those lines So I think life is is the same way you know like you may not have started with you know a broken marriage or you know broken ribs or what have you Like stuff is going to happen along the way Are you just going to give up or are you going to finish the race You know adjust adjust your life accordingly and do the best with what you have right now And that’s you know it’s funny about racing the so in 96 when I started racing um the relationships that were built
Tom Fowler Stu Bremer Jim Drago Jim Daniels you know the list goes on pick up the phone and they say if you have two good friends that you know es that you could call today I could literally pick up the phone and I’m so blessed that I could pick up the phone and call a hand you know more than a handful of people and they’d pick it up and it’d be it’d be instantly catching up to what you had in 96 you know I haven’t talked to you in 15 years but oh my gosh as a matter of fact we went to uh where were
and I was in Mark Kinley’s trailer and somebody had pulled up and um somebody pulled up really close So like you couldn’t even get a car out and I’m like who is this guy pulling right And sure as you know I know the guy Belle and I walk up and I’m like what are you doing and he’s like “Ah we big hugs and kisses and and you know I hadn’t seen the guy in 20 years but you know he’s like “Thank God you knew that guy.” So because I didn’t want to get ugly about parking so close So it’s the relationship developed over the years Um and and still have fantastic relationships and and and everybody that races um is always anticipating the next race So do I have that extra you know um ice cream sandwich Let’s leave that off the table because you know we got to be in somewhat good shape I mean look at you and look at you you know somewhat good shape to go get in the car So it’s like you know a lot of guys our age that raced with us look at Twatti you know look at Jose look at look at those guys you know they work out like fiends because the mental intens the intense mental focus that takes to run these against 18-year-old kids 15y olds kids 12 I mean look at F4 right The F4 guys are 12 to 16
Yeah
Ultimate focus right And we’re up there That’s something that blows my mind when I see you racing still you know this year in the MX5 Cup and you’re racing against guys like uh Connor Zilich and um I remember when I was um you know looking for some some pictures on your Facebook so to use for the for the promo for the episode and I saw a picture of of of you and Connor was like right behind you I was like holy cow Yeah
you’ve raced some with some pretty cool people I you know over the years um I remember Laguna Secika Chip Hair uh I remember we were at Lagona and Poped was Pope and I were decently good friends and I was P1 and he was uh he got after the the first session and I said how’d you do he goes I was P5 and I said what’s wrong and he goes well the left front shock’s dead and I said the left shock’s dead and he goes yeah and he I told the engineer but he didn’t believe me So they’re going to make some adjustments We go out into the P2 He was P7 Guess what They’re changing the left front shock So you know
he knows a thing He knows a thing or two about cars And uh you know not for that But it goes back to to what you said about knowing I’m not sure what you said I’m not sure if I went down the right path there but that’s okay
It’s okay That’s life But uh yeah it’s it’s uh it’s it’s keeping a sharp mental focus about what you’re doing in life and not making the wrong decisions in life and not making the wrong decisions on track
Yeah
Yeah that’s that’s that’s right
All right Um we are going to move over to my new favorite segment which is rapid fire questions
Oh boy So
don’t worry it’s just a madeup name We usually answer in like five minutes just like it would just go on and on and on There’s really no rapid fire about it
So hopefully the questions are rapid and the answers are equally as rapid So try to keep them nice and short So here we go Number one I’m going to start with you Mike Favorite track Um just because it was so new and I’ve only been there once I got to go with Road Atlanta
I thought you might say that Yeah Yeah
What about you Todd Favorite track
Yeah
the rapid fire is going great
Oh yeah It would have to be Canadian Motorsports Park
You know I’ve driven that on iRacing and I loved it I hope to one day you know actually drive it but I thought it was a fantastic track
Or Three Rivers Thro River Rivier Three Rivers in Canadian That That track was insane That is insane But but as far as fun goes VIR or Canadian Motorsports Park Yep
I’ve only driven a handful of of tracks so I would still have to stick with Sebring as as my number one
Not a bad choice David Mer uh always says that you know like once you go to like something like Watkins Glenn like you’ll realize that is a real track
So hopefully that’s that’s actually a good lead in to my second question Bucket list track
I’m going to go to Ozarks
Ozarks Okay
I mean you know Spa if we’re going global but but in the US of somewhere where I actually may make it in a couple years I would go Ozarks
Okay What about you Todd I would tell you go to pit Pit race
pit Unbelievable facility Really unbelievable track If if pit would be it’s the ultimate roller coaster ride It is by far one of the best tracks out there Okay
Pit Pittsburgh
What’s your uh bucket list track that you have not done yet
Um Spa probably Okay
Um I’m not much for the Nurburgg or any of those tracks over there but probably Spa
All right Um for me uh it’s probably going to be Laguna Seca
Oh yeah Great track
All right Uh question number three One car you would race purely for the chaos of it not because it’s good just because it’s insane
I want to try the Pinto that Todd mentioned That sounds fantastic Yes the Pinto is amazing Truly incredible car the Pinto Um not many left in the world Uh something crazy that
something crazy that I’d want to
Let’s see
Uh
let’s see what happens
Let’s see I’ve always been afraid to run a open wheel car like a Formula car
Okay
So like a Formula Atlantic or you know the F4 guys I would love to run that car Scared to death to run that car but the like a Formula 4 Would you fit in that
I don’t know I don’t know if 6’2 220 pounders fit in those things
The first
You’ve had one too many ice cream sandwiches The first car that came to mind when I was putting together this question was the Viper Like it just sounds like
a stupid scary car that Yeah Let’s see what happens you know But yeah I think the the open wheel formula would be a lot of fun too
Yeah
All right Question for you Todd Who’s the best driver you’ve ever gone wheelto-wheel racing with O um there’s been a lot in Spec Miata If you look at the history of Spec Miata we’ve had Preston Partis four-time national SM champion Jim Drago two-time national Nick Broom two-time national Um best driver I’ve gone up against Probably the most wily Gosh I’ve run there’s a lot
You’ve ran with some big name
Yeah Yeah The Poped Um
I actually have a Randy Propes question for you
Pop I was I was watching some incar I think he was at a chin event with Kota and he was doing some private coaching and somebody in a GT4 RS or something and I guess he went out for his his client laid down a good you know couple of data laps so the guy could work with it and the in-car camera he’s driving with one one hand on the wheel the entire lap it’s insane
I have that problem too really
I drive all the time with one hand mostly in the grass um I would have to say Connor Preston Popost Espinob Altonberg um you know I I mean there’s there so Daniels I there are so many guys that are Foss just incredible drivers just got you know and I always say the quick real quick responses is to go 10t with a lot of these guys is equal right so you can run and you win on a on a on a Sunday and they win on a Saturday and and you’re running together the guys that are above that the shoe marker the the the the the Max the the Connor there’s only a handful Mhm
And to have to go above 10
to go above 10 and their their 9/10 is your 1010
Yeah
And they’ve pulled something else out
and it’s like wow
where’d that come from How in the heck did they do that And it’s so rare And when you see it it’s just this shining star And you don’t see it often but when you do it’s it’s it’s pretty special Um Preston Yeah I I said it already
All right So uh let’s try to continue this rapid fire that’s slowing down so far Yeah Right Go ahead
Uh okay Favorite thing about racing or track driving
Instructing
You like instructing Okay
Well other than winning a far superlap series of course
Sure Of course What about you Todd
You know it used to be um it’s more about giving back now I’m really enjoying that I’ve really enjoying uh for the LA you know yeah there’s always been a line out the door in the in the trailer for going over data with guys
Um but now giving back more to the students and to to the to what you’ve brought to the table the HPDE stuff
the comp school giving back to people you know I’ve really really enjoying that
Yeah I’ve noticed that I’ve noticed that at com school it seems like you you kind of found your you know your your place that you’re really comfortable in
Yeah
At at this point
Yeah The uh the the I’m blessed to be super competitive still but giving back to people that say “Hey how do you or what do you or how you know what’s the So yeah answering those questions.”
All right six minutes six questions Let’s see if we can get through this
Here we go
Number six If this ever happens my wife will force me to quit racing or track driving Huh Um Wow
I mean I guess if it was a bad accident I’m sure that would be an honest conversation we’d have with each other Yeah
Yeah
Few broken ribs stuff like that
Something like that Yeah
What about you Todd
That’s not one for my wife because I six five months ago I came home with a bunch of broken ribs She just laughed it off Um I don’t think there is one
Yeah
I don’t think there is one Um no
I I think she’d be good with everything
All right let’s continue Uh number seven If I had to do it over again I would do this differently Uh I would have hired a pro uh a coach earlier instead of spending three years of track fees and tires and brakes and maintenance Me just going out there trying to figure it out I would have saved thousands of dollars and probably cut three years off my learning curve Yeah What about you Todd
That’s a perfect answer I was blessed from day one I’ve got some of the best instructors best engineers best setup guys um on the planet working with us And I was just blessed and and and coming from the computer world before understood it and got it you know um one of the best laptops back in you know 2009 five right you know and had all the stuff we have today So yeah
I would agree with you Mike I would do the same thing I would just get as much coaching regardless of your solo status Just get coaching
Yeah
that would definitely expedite the that process
the vertical learning curve
All right number eight Uh this is a good one You’ve been given an unlimited budget
but you can only race one car one track and one co-driver for the rest of your life What are you picking My co-driver definitely wouldn’t be you So I think I’d probably have to go with Todd Um
that’s nice
Um car And I’m gonna just be my typical answer and I’d say like yeah 911 at some track that has a little bit of everything So something spa-ish Watkins Glennish VIRish you know something that’s got good straights good technical parts elevation change All right Todd
That’s a great question Uh repeat the question If you’ve been given an unlimited budget but you can only race one car one track and one co-driver for the rest of your life what are you picking
Uh GT3 Cup car 2018 91.2 Um co-driver Handful of guys that I would love to race with
One guy You got to pick one guy
One guy Um
not Carlos has already taken
Carlos is taken So it would be somebody fun full of energy and and very energetic Somebody like a a Preston a Dave a Twatti Um one of those guys One guy Um
one track
One track VI Laguna Sega
Okay
Laguna Seca Yeah It’s a blast It’s so much fun It get every aspect or VR every aspect of every corner in the US Fant all over the planet Fantastic Yeah
All right Number nine You’re hosting a dinner with three racing legends dead or alive Who’s at the table Roger Pensky I’m a Penske fan So Roger Pensky Um that’s a tough one I’m I’m an IRL fan so they’re going to be all all IRL people So yeah I’d go with like Penske Um you know you like AJ Foy and one of the Andreddies Mario probably
Mhm Huh
What about you Todd
Ken Miles Uh you know I almost have to go with Shelby Okay
Uh Carl Shelby Ken Miles and someone like an Andy Pilgrim Andy Pilgrim type guy
right
Um probably those three
Well I think Andy’s very accessible now
Yeah he’s around So
maybe we should have him on the show I think I think he’d be great
Yeah Um or Yeah
I would like to uh sit down and have dinner maybe with Aenna
No
Mario Andredddy
Yeah
you know would be would be one of those as well Third one I don’t know Maybe maybe one of the NASCAR guys I think that’d be kind of cool
Oh the NASCAR guys probably have ton Oh an Nhard
Nhard Yes
Or an Nhard Yeah I’d have to go with an Nhard Yeah Nhard
All right Number 10 Uh who’s someone in the paddic you would want to hear their story on the podcast Let’s go with you Mike
I’ll defer to Todd because he spends a lot more time in the paddic than I do
None of my people you know
my people are all
they don’t have interesting stories
Exactly I think someone with really great stories would be Eric Foss Randy Popst Chip Vanver
uh Jim Drago There’s so many guys with good good stories Um so many guys with good stories Uh you know Dylan McAvern just so many or sorry Ara Marcassian would be a great one He’s got great stories Uh he was a team owner for a long time with Racing and um Hoover He raced you know Jason Hoover raced some great great great stuff Um yeah So yeah So we are out of time Uh we are heading to Autobon in a couple weeks Is there something you want to say real quick I know that you want to invite some uh Miata drivers to come compete Yes absolutely Autobon in a few weeks guys Come on Let’s go Um you know what we’re trying to do is create a Miata environment of Days of Old
With Far Yeah So with Far we offer great contingency I mean we offer great money um to win Um we’ve had extremely clean racing Our race director is very stringent and we have very few double yellows You get tons of track time for very little cost and we give away lots of gifts So come to come to Ottabbon I mean Nick Leone come on Um Mark Seph let’s go You guys bring seven eight cars a piece and Jim Drago at East Street Let’s go Come on Let’s bring some cars and and and Chris Alderman
All right sounds good So in the meantime
remember all the interesting things happen off the racing line We’ll catch you guys next time
Hey if you liked what you heard be sure to click like and subscribe If you are an HPDE driver instructor racer work at the racetrack EMT and you have interesting stories that you would like to share be sure to reach out to us We would love to have you on the show Everything interesting happens off the racing line I took the hard road I burned these stripes The road from dream to driver ain’t always straight Kept my head down Fueled by faith I lost some time but found my name Pressure made a diamond out of me