By shiftingpointspodcast

We are once again joined by Elizabeth “Liz” (Sargent) White, who starts by telling us about her “wheelie good time.” It’s a punny episode with some great insights, just a little bit of off-roading and some excellent advice.By shiftingpointspodcast

In reverse order of the actual occurrence because it is very, very exciting that Kathy describes some awesome epiphanies she had from her last autocross of the season. Audra talks about riding in cars with strangers. And Kathy has a great trip with a group of MINIs for MINIs Take Vermont.By shiftingpointspodcast

In this episode Audra, Kathy and Jess interview Ralph Stankowski. Ralph has been autocrossing for over 20 years and lends great insight into appropriate course design and has some great tips for novices. We also find out that most of his funniest stories can never be shared. Luckily there are still some real gems that come to light. Join us for an …

Jess, Kathy and Audra interview the father and son team Dana Sr. and Dana II Nigorski. Dana II came with a mission to refute claims by our prior guest John Swig. Dana Sr. gets us started in the most appropriate way possible for a Shifting Points episode. And yes this means that you should heed our cautions on the language. The topics covered includ…

Audra and Jess during the podcast In this episode we get a breakdown of, you guessed it, a whole lot of car shit Kathy has gone through lately. She also bought a new car. Tune in to hear about what she got. It is a wild ride. Listen here or subscribe using your favorite player!By shiftingpointspodcast

Kathy, Jess and Audra bring Xander Swig back to run through his list of 57 cars he has autocrossed. We may have digressed a bit from the main topic with off-topic discussions including mid vs. front vs. rear engine cars, blinker usage, speed wipers, speed horn and logos among other things. And we were excited, and amused, to find out that there is …

Jess and Audra join Kathy for a great discussion with Nick, the owner of Black Pearl Fitness. Kathy and her daughter are dedicated members of this gym that promotes a cross-functional training philosophy. We ultimately drag Leah, Nick’s girlfriend and trainer at Black Pearl into the conversation (she tried to duck out, but we are so happy that she …

In this episode Kathy and Audra get to chat with Sasha and Amora who are an adorable father/daughter autocross duo. Not only do we hear insights into Sasha’s inspiration and experience, we also get to hear about how Amora, at just 18, is seeking to inspire other young people to engage in motorsports. We hope you enjoy their story as much as we did!…

Jess and Audra had the fabulous, amazing and incredible experience of driving at a 24 Hours of Lemons event at NJMP (Yokohama Real Hoopties of NJ!!), courtesy of Garage Heroes in Training. The whole team includes Bill Fischer, Vicki Fischer, Jen Skripchuk and Jess and Audra as they discuss the day, the cars, the atmosphere, THE CAR and all of their…

We had a very interesting conversation with Jasmyn Johnson who participates and coordinates off-road and soft-road adventures with her Subaru Crosstrek. We learn what those terms (and several others) actually mean, and what the rules are when planning these runs. She gives us some how-tos and advice on how to get started. We also talk about the com…

It’s a quick update on a couple of events! As you may have guessed, one of them included ice cream. Incidentally, the other contains some ice. Tents, popups and awnings galore!Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!By shiftingpointspodcast

Join us for a (literal) off-road adventure with our own Kathy. Kathy is an avid hiker and she tells us how she got started and gives us some great pointers for beginning hikers. Along the way, you will get to know her a little better. Our own Kathy Eager on her favorite hike!Listen here now or subscribe using the links on the right!…

Intervention??? Are the ladies quitting gin?? We hate to spoil a good surprise. But, we love welcoming back our good friends Bill and Vicki Fischer from the Garage Heroes in Training podcast. Bill and Vicki not only surprise one of our hosts, but they launch a welcome and game-changing intervention. Listen here or subscribe using the links on the r…

Kathy and Audra interview Jonah Delgenio, a longtime car enthusiast who talks to us about the history of harlequins (Volkswagen that is), the history of oval track and a bunch of other racing venues. In 2012, Jonah found Lemons and has been racing with Lemons ever since. Like many others we have talked to, he expounds on the kindness and camaraderi…

The ladies sat down for an interview with the amazing talented gentlemen of meetyourheroes.tv. Sterling Vernon, Richard Viard and Larry Levin produce a wonderful YouTube series that features matching car people with their dream cars while hearing their stories along the way. We get some inside information on how their show is created; including som…

The ladies are back from their holiday break, in-person (with gin) and talking to John Xander Swig. Swig’s story includes details of some of the 58 cars he has driven at autocross and a surprising hatred of one in particular. Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!By shiftingpointspodcast

In this episode, the ladies get caught up on some recent events. Kathy has some struggles with the winter tire changeover, Jess has a new experience with a Subaru meet-up and Audra has a final track-day of the season. Why do we look sad? Listen and find out! Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!…

Read Fleming represents everything we wanted to focus on with this podcast. He is truly the person who is always there and is extremely passionate about motorsports. We talked with Read about his path to Autocross and the interesting vehicle he is campaigning. He gives some really great advice for novices in any motorsport. Read has our continued g…

Kathy, Audra and Jess had the pleasure of meeting David Baker a MINI enthusiast and restorationist who educates them about MINIs and entertains with his stories of life experiences. After some technical difficulties, shared stories of some cool restorations and talked about his varied car adventures. He documents his adventures with his partner Mat…

Join Kathy, Jess and Audra for some updates on their recent adventures. They discuss Meetyourheroes.tv, Porsche Performance Drives, Jess’ car purchase of a new Crosstrek, and MINIs Take Vermont. The highlight, of course, is the Murder House. Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right! MINIs Take Vermont Crosstrek The murder loft The ladd…

Audra, Jess and special Co-Host Mark Joyce sit down with autocrossing couple Doug DeFonzo and Laura Rosen. What you will miss on this episode is the delicious homemade maple ice cream that Laura brought. What you will get is a great conversation about how this couple started autocross, how they help and encourage each other and a whole bunch of oth…

So close. So, so close. We almost went to Canaan for an HPDE event with our fellow podcast friends Garage Heroes – In Training. However, Canaan turned into Canaan’t, and our Ladies Track Day turned into lemonade with us continuing on our hiking plans regardless. Originally scheduled as a two-parter with GHIT, we first discuss our thoughts on excite…

This is our first Off Road episode and off roading is just as it sounds. We are deviating from our normal path and driving into uncharted territory. For this episode we interviewed Liz Sargent. We thought we were just going to be grilling her about her experience as a novice at rally cross and Autocross, but, what we got was so much more than that.…

In this episode Jess and Kathy interview Audra about her recent experience as a driver at a 24 Hour of LeMONS event. She describes her first impressions as a novice driver and Jess and Kathy help her along with their view of the event as spectators. Audra and Jess are still trying to get Kathy comfortable with doing a track day soon. Tune and post …

In their first post-COVID in-person session, Kathy and Audra help Jess finalize her decision on her next new vehicle and impart some other sage wisdom in the process. We tossed in a couple of other random topics and some gin, the resultant mixture brings us back to pre-COVID when smiles and laughter could be seen and not just heard (well you know b…

Audra, Kathy and Jess are at the bar for the first time since COVID. They meet a couple of new friends, Alex Schmidt and Nick Facciolo, and are joined by Matt Cwieka. They discuss Kathy and Jess’ first event in 18 long months, a Test and Tune. Matt managed to drive an amazing array of cars. And we debate/discuss, and are highly impressed by, a Tesl…

Kathy, Jess, and Audra met with a special guest, Lana Tsurikova, who told us the fabulous story of her driving and riding path starting from a small girl to a national Autocross Champion. Now she is looking to conquer the GS Trophy|BMW Motorrad competition in a motorcycle. We talked about: The value of taking instructors. If you are contemplating g…

In this episode we find out what happens when you decide to enter a LeMons race and the car you’re building breaks in half. For these two brothers, Josh and Mark Fuller, you build an inside joke that turns into an internet sensation. Join us for the journey of the car called The Yikes Peak Escudon’t. We had a great talk and lots of laughs with them…

Audra provides a review of a BMW Ultimate Driving Experience. She gives insight into a recent HPDE she attended at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park organized by NER PCA and answers questions from Jess and Kathy to help prepare them for their first foray to the track. LBy shiftingpointspodcast

Kathy, Audra and Jess have a conversation about all those annoying things at autocross and life. We’d tell you more, but we wouldn’t want to spoil it. Listen in and let us know on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram Don’t You Hate it When. Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!By kendertaunt

Kathy, Jess and Audra talk to husband and wife team Brandon Dryer and Melanie Kwong about cars, autocross and: Brandon Dryer and Melanie Kwong Brandon’s history and the saga of how they got started in autocross. Drifting on on-ramps is a bad idea. Transitioning from front wheel drive to rear wheel drive and automatic to manual. Communication challe…

Audra and Jess had a great conversation with Rachel Baker and Heidi Ellison from Driving Forward Together. Their mission is “To encourage, connect, and support women in Autocross, as drivers in their own right, and to embolden them to exercise their power to vie in open competition, embracing ideals of strength and inclusion to radiate through all …

Audra and Jess sit down with Bill and Vicki Fischer who are endurance drivers with a podcast called Garage Heroes in Training. They discussed the differences between autocross and endurance racing, and the similarities with advice about how to get started. Their podcast focuses on new racers and they aim to help people learn from what they did and …

Audra and Kathy have a conversation with Jason Hopkins, from Citrus Racer Lounge, and Roland Hahn, from Citrus Racer Lounge and Hot Mess Race Group. Jason is the admin and the creator of Citrus Racer Lounge in 2015 and it has grown to almost 5000 members. It is a hub for endurance racers to connect and share information. Roland has been racing comp…

Audra, Jess and Kathy talk with Jack Nguyen about a variety of autocross topics including: Looking ahead to plan your attack. How with Icecross everything moves a lot slower, you have to slow down your inputs to balance the car and how this can make you better at autocross. How an alignment can help handling, depending on your drive train. What an …

Jess, Audra and Kathy sit down with father and son team Don and Brian Kuehl (multiple time SCCA Solo National Champion) to talk about their love of building a project CRX together, discovering autocross, and the joys of tuning a daily driver. Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!By shiftingpointspodcast

Kathy, Jess and Audra chat with Mike Banas and Mark Joyce about, well, Corvettes. Mark and Mike provide some great information about various models and characteristics and we talk about our favorite topic, autocross. Mike, an experienced Novice Coach, lends valuable advice for novices and Mark regales us with tales of his first event nightmares. An…

We tried something new, but that led to learning about how our brains do not like having a decision to make: it causes stress on the brain. We also decided that we are suffering from decision fatigue and talked about some car related stuff. In this episode: We talk a bit about front ends and general car design. Do people just hate the new designs b…

Shifting Points sponsors Southern New Hampshire Cars and Coffee. Audra and Kathy talk when to switch tires, and convertibles and New England winters.They also had a great conversation with Cecily and Nathan about all things cars and Jason Hopkins who moderates the Citrus Racer Lounge which is all about Lemons racing. Listen here now or using your f…

In this episode, it’s a full house as guest Melanie Kwong sits down with the ladies to discuss her experiences both pre and post-COVID autocrossing her MINI and S2000. In this episode: Spinny cars Front wheel drive vs. Rear wheel drive #Relationship goals Less cones = clean runs Why is there always a granola bar leftover Lots of talk about MINI-lov…

Shifting Points was a sponsor for Southern New Hampshire Cars and Coffee. Kathy and Audra check out the car scene and provide a hilarious (if uninformed) running commentary on the sights and sounds of the event. As a bonus, they got a few minutes to talk to the event organizer, MaeLynn Filteau. Audra and Kathy SP will be back again as a sponsor on …

In this episode Kathy, Elizabeth and Audra discuss the dilemma of older cars and when do you decide it is time to give up and stop fixing it? In this episode: We discuss Solo Nationals cancellation Give some updates on COVID impacts Is cost or time the biggest factor in deciding to stop fixing an old car? How do you fool a used car sales person? Li…

BMWCCA autocross co-chair Matt Cweika and autocrosser and course designer Justin Chen join the ladies this week to talk about what it’s like to autocross in a post-COVID world. Justin also talks a little bit about what kind of thought goes into designing a course. Spoiler alert: A lot! Justin Chen. Photo by Douglas Levy In this episode: Autocrossin…

The four ladies (Audra, Jess, Kathy and Elizabeth) sit down to talk about Kathy’s car woes, Elizabeth’s Porsche update, and how the first post-COVID autocross event went. In this episode: Flat tires and Audi brakes. Power washers on fire, convertible tops that won’t retract. Products for removing decal and plastidip residue. Is the paint washed off…

In this episode Audra, Jess and Kathy talk to Matt Cwieka, Co-Chair of the Boston BMW CCA Autocross program, who takes us on his journey from novice to competing nationally, including the story of all of his cars along the way. In this episode: Novice car errors The slippery slope of autocross addiction Blowing up cars and learning how to replace a…

Audra and Elizabeth sit down with fellow autocrosser Lisa Burke and discuss all things Porsche, Miata, track, and autocross. In this episode: Catastrophic engine failure on an ‘01 Miata How Lisa got into autocross What’s a Ground School? What coronavirus track events might look like “Track Skittles” Listen here or subscribe to your favorite player …

Audra, Kathy and Jess have a rousing discussion about their first (or second) cars and experiences they’ve had while car shopping. I could tell you what we talk about, but I think these photos speak for themselves. Jess (not actual car) Audra (actually Audra) Kathy (not actual car) Listen here or subscribe using the links on the right!…

In this quarantine edition of the Shifting Points Podcast, Audra, Jess and Kathy stay home and discuss motorsports movies, round-robin style. Well specifically – what Kathy likes, what Audra doesn’t like, and Jess’ favorite car chase scenes. In this episode: Audra’s number 1 hated car movie.. and why it’s pretty understandable. Kathy spoils the end…

The Shifting Points ladies are joined by Tom Coletta, creator and writer of the Tedward YouTube channel with over 30k subscribers where he posts car-related videos on a regular basis. In this episode: Lack of participation in car club events among underrepresented groups. Let’s get rid of labeling people! Underrepresented groups have seen significa…