The Racing Ear Podcast

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again, 

I was fortunate to be able to visit Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point for Friday of the 2026 GT World Challenge weekend.  It was unseasonably hot and was not as cool as it usually is visiting in late March.  Anyway, it was fun to catch up with these cars and remember what it was like to see sports car racing at Sears Point Raceway in years past.  

I was able to say hello to Craig Stanton who...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again 

just wanted to chat about seeing full F1 coverage on Apple TV.  From the looks of the qualifying show for the Fosters Australian Grand Prix it looks to be chock full of insight. At least one Brundle is on the broadcast.  Martin Brundle is my favorite pundit but I have a feeling that he is on the other side   

thanks for listening ! 

Footage of The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca during the 20...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

I had the honor and privelidge of finally being able to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.  I want to thank my wife Monica, our son Ian, our adopted son Andrew, Bud Moeller, Jason Vansickle, and Jeff Oldham for making this visit possible.  

I was on a family trip and this has been on my bucket list for my entire life.  

God willing, I hope to be able to visit again to s...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

This is a special episode where I was fortunate to be able to have a chat with Rob Dyson and Rick Knoop at the same time.  Rob and Rick were both very gracious to spend time with me chatting about sports car racing / professional road racing in all of its splendor and lore that was rekindled during this glorious phone call during Christmas Break 2023.    

Rob Dyson is a professional race car driver and team...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Mr Producer and I were able to attend the 2024 CSRG David Love Vintage Races held at Sears Point International Raceway in Sonoma California.  It was great to see this place in its glory on a late winter Saturday after a very wet winter with its green hills and tiny white flowers popping up all around the circuit.  

Got to do more interviewing of participants with their cars and their opinions of the new tra...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Here is a great conversation that I had with Kim Schiedel who is and was the owner of Schiedel's Fleet Services in Sacramento California for many years.  Kim has recently retired.  Kim also has many interests and passions that have allowed him to be involved in many endeavors throughout his life.  One of the interesting parts of his life was that he was involved in the local Hard Top / Super Modified racing circuit here in Nort...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

I wanted to put together an episode for someone that went out of their way to allow me the opportunity to have a tour inside of a 50,000 watt major metropolitan radio station in Sacramento California.   Lou Gesicki who's radio name is Sweet Lou Gallagher gave me a tour of KFBK News Radio 1530AM and 93.1FM on the eve of Thanksgiving 2023.  Sweet Lou often times would fill in for Pat Walsh who does "The Pat Walsh Sh...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again fellow Racing Ears,

I got to visit the Cars and Coffee Folsom Group in El Dorado Hills during Christmas Time 2023.  It was a bit cold but it was good to get out and practice talking to enthusiasts about their cars.  I enjoyed learning a little bit more this time about the cars that showed up on a cold but bright Saturday morning in December.  

Thanks again for listening to The Racing Ear Podcast!

Mer...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Mr. Producer and I were able to attend the Cars and Coffee Event in El Dorado Hills California.  This event was put on by the Cars and Coffee Of Folsom California Group.  This group meets every Saturday at the El Dorado Hills Regal and IMAX theater parking lot.  

I enjoy attending, chatting, and learning more about these great and historic cars.  Their owners of these cars share great stories, great anecdotes, and where they...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again fellow Racing Ears, 

I took a courage pill and spent 110 quidd for a ticket to the 2023 Velocity Invitational.  Mr Producer and I had a ball seeing and hearing very famous and historic racing cars that were all staged in the one and only paddock area that is at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point.  

As I described in this podcast episode, there was a flavor for every possible historic sports car racing enthusiast's appetite.  50's GT race...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

I went to the 2023 CSRG Autumn-Tacular Season Finale at Thunder Hill Raceway and had a new way of capturing footage to make episodes.  I got to briefly chat with owners / driver members of the Classic Sports Racing Group which had its season ending event in early November 2023 at Thunder Hill Raceway in Willows California, just off of Interstate 5 south of Redding California and west of Chico California.  I enjoyed getting to know passionate sports car rac...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

Well it has been a long time since I have published an episode but I wanted to share that I now have a new piece of podcast cover art.  I went to Fiverr and got to work with a brilliant artist named Claudia E.  She came up with a great piece of podcast cover art for me and I really enjoy it a lot! 

Her link on Fiverr is here:
https://www.fiv...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again fellow Racing Ears,

Well its been a long and hot summer but I got a chance to cool off while I visited Monterey California during Car Week, highlighted by the 2022 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 24 Hours Of Le Mans.

In this episode I was able to share a bit of memories of the recent photos that I took of the events on Friday and Saturday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.  

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

In this episode, Rick and Trent were fortunate to be able to chat with Jerry Woods about his illustrative career as it pertains to his experience over the years working with the Porsche 935.  Jerry also shared that he had experience working with the Kremer Brothers in Cologne Germany.  Jerry also got to experience other types of auto racing at other racing events that happened in Europe, after the 24 Hours Of Le Mans was finished on Fa...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

In this episode Trent, Rick, and Jeff were fortunate to have a first conversation with Mr. Jerry Woods.  Jerry Woods is the owner at Jerry Woods Enterprises which is a Porsche related specialist service shop that specializes in preparing Porsches either for the enthusiast driver collector or for the enthusiast collector racing driver.  

Mr. Woods is known as the crew chief for the world famous Dick Barbour Racing Garretson Enterprises Porsche 935 that is hig...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Fellow Racing Ears,

In this episode, Trent, Rick, and Jeff were all onboard to have a great discussion and with the 2021 Motorsport Hall Of Fame Of America Inductee, Judy Stropus.  Judy Stropus was a pioneer in the development of timing and scoring in auto racing before racing transponders were invented.  

Judy became involved in auto racing back in the early 1960's when her boyfriend was road racing in SCCA events in a Jaguar XK120.   Timing and...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again fellow Racing Ears,

In this episode Rick and Trent were able to have a memorable conversation with Joe Catron.  They were recently all together at the Lucky Dog Racing League 8 Hour Enduro at Sears Point International Raceway on Saturday February 12 2022 where the racing team finished 8th out of 80 cars in the Vintage Exotics Porsche 997.  The Vintage Exotics Team on that Saturday was Joe Catron, Lenny Loftin, Rick Knoop, Mike Halo, Mary Lou, and Trent Barr.  

Joe...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Many thanks to Brad Kettler for coming on to chat with us on The Racing Ear Podcast.

In this episode, we all were able to discuss more of what the era was when the Audi R8 LMP 900 racing car dominated the 24 Hours Of Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series back in the early 2000's.  We also shared insight as to how the Audi R8 is now involved in the vintage racing wo...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Here is another great episode of The Racing Ear Podcast.  For this episode Trent, Jeff, and Rick got to chat with Brad Kettler formerly of Audi Sport and of Champion Racing.  

Originally from Lafayette Indiana, Mr. Kettler was kind enough to come on and share how his passion for racing grew from being conveniently close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the month of May during the 1970's.  He also shares insight as to w...

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Here is another great episode of The Racing Ear Podcast.  For this episode Trent, Jeff, and Rick got to chat with Brad Kettler of Audi Sport and of Champion Racing. 

Originally from Lafayette Indiana, Mr. Kettler was kind enough to come on and share how his passion for racing grew from being conveniently close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the month of May during 1970's.  He also shares what the movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen meant to him and how the movie inspired him. 

Mr. ...

Hello again Racing Ears, 

Many thanks again to Brad Kettler for coming on to chat with us on The Racing Ear Podcast.  

In this episode, we were able to discuss more of what the era was when the Audi R8 LMP 900 racing car dominated the 24 Hours Of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series back in the early 2000's.  We also shared insight of how the Audi R8 is now involved in the vintage racing world.  

Thank you so much for listening to The Racing Ear Podcast.  

#theracingearpodcast 
#rickknoopracing
#j...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

In this episode Trent, Rick, and Jeff had a chance to catch up with Dan Binks.  

Dan Binks is the legendary Crew Chief that was involved in the epic racing dynasty that was the Pratt & Miller Engineering Compuware Chevrolet Corvette Racing Team.  This team has a total of EIGHT class victories at the the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Over the years, this team accrued many class victories in the famed American Le Mans Seri...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Fellow Racing Ears, 

Martin Raffauf is an auto racing mechanic that spends his time being a highly published auto racing Porsche racing historian.  He has written several articles that are currently posted on www.porscheroadandrace.com.   

In this episode, Martin Raffauf joins The Racing Ear Podcast to share how he started in auto racing working as a volunteer mechanic on a certain historic Porsche 935 for Dick Barbour Racing at Garretson Enterprises in Mountain View California back...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello Racing Ears, 

Many thanks go to Rick Knoop and Henry "Ike" Smith for making this episode happen at the glorious "Conversation Diner" in Central California.  As mentioned in our last episode, myself and Mr. Producer were able to visit Rick and Ike during the Holidays in 2021.  

In this episode we all had a conversation about how Henry "Ike" Smith became interested in cars which then developed into a  burning passion for cars that propelled him to the...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello and Happy New Year 2022 from The Racing Ear Podcast, 
 
In this episode, Mr. Producer and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit with Rick Knoop and Henry "Ike" Smith during the Christmas Holidays in December of 2021.  We were also able to have a very historic conversation about the Canadian American Challenge Cup at the glorious "Conversation Diner".  We had an enjoyable time remembering what Can Am auto racing was back in the 1960's and the 1970's.  
<...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

It is my distinct honor and pleasure to welcome Mr. Paul Page to The Racing Ear Podcast.  Mr. Page is a legend in the coverage of the Indiana classic auto racing event that happens every Memorial Day weekend at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.  Mr. Page also wrote the book called "Hello, I'm PAUL PAGE "IT'S RACEDAY IN INDIANAPOLIS".  His legendary radio announcer and network television broadcaster career started when he first att...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

In this episode, Jeff Oldham is our special guest.  Rick Knoop and Jeff Oldham have known each other for over 40 years.  It was great to hear about Jeff originally being from Indianapolis Indiana.  His Dad taking him to the Indianapolis 500 practice and qualifying sessions was a big reason why he has had a deep love for auto racing.  Both Jeff and Rick also have an affectionate love for Road America in Elkart Lake Wisconsin.  

A...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

It was great to chat with Rick Knoop again after his illustrative trip to Daytona Beach Florida to be a racing driver during the HSR Classic 24 Hour at Daytona International Speedway back on October 27th through the 31st of 2021.  

Rick had an awesome time getting to see old friends again, see spectacular racing cars again, and getting acquainted with "The Big House" again.  He was honored to be able to drive the #41 1973 Porsche 911 S/T...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

I had a great opportunity to be a guest at the 2021 Yokohama Drivers Cup at Sears Point International Raceway.  This event featured Porsche racing groups but it was great to see the Masters Historic Racing groups as well.  

The Masters Historic Racing group featured a Historic Formula 1 racing group and a Historic Endurance Racing group.  I got to catch up with Bud Moeller who was a guest on my podcast for episode 8 back in l...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

In this episode it was great to have a conversation with Dann Shively.  Dann Shively was a key figure in the development of live helicopter news journalism in the greater Sacramento metropolitan area.  Dann has been involved in the broadcasting of radio and television news which includes his tenure of being the pilot and reporter of the legendary  Live Copter 3 for KCRA NEWS in Sacramento California for 40 years.

I met him last year vis...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

This is a special episode where Rick Knoop talks about his week at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac Michigan.  For the week of September 27 of 2021 Rick was at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac Michigan at the Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies for 2020 and 2021.  Both events were amazing and it was really fun to catch up with Rick after being a part of both black tie events at the M1 Concourse.  

Later in the...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

Here is a great episode where it is just Rick Knoop and I.  Rick was great to come on the show again to discuss his trip to Pontiac Michigan for the week of September 27th 2021.  He shared a little bit of what is "on tap" for this particular trip to the M1 Concourse in Pontiac Michigan.  

Then Rick shared a little bit of his longtime friendship with Judy Stropus and what her contributions mea...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Fellow Racing Ears, 

In this episode, Rick and I started with a new Father / Son theme as it relates to automotive enthusiast heritage.  

Today we chatted with Jim Perell.  He is Chief-Of-Concours for the San Francisco Region of the Sports Car Club of America.  We all discussed the car culture living in Southern California during the 50's and 60's.  We also discussed the upcoming Niello Concours at Serrano coming up on Sunday October 3 2021.  

This y...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

In this episode, Rick Knoop was kind enough to let me chat with his friend Peter Miles.  Peter Miles is the son of Ken Miles, who was heavily involved as a test driver, mechanic, and racing driver in the development of the Ford GT40 back in the mid 1960's.  The Ford GT40 won the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hours, beating Ferrari for the first time.  

Ken Miles won the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the 1966 12 Hours of Seb...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears, 

In this episode of The Racing Ear Podcast Mr. Producer and I revisited our visit to the amazing Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles California.  We shared each and every car that we saw in this museum and what each car meant to us.  This museum experience is a great value for any automotive enthusiast.  

If you are planning on visiting this museum in the near future and want to be surprised, please DON...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello Again Racing Ears, 

I was so excited to be able to chat with John Morton and Rick Knoop again for the Part 2 episode of their shared racing memories.  In this episode we discussed their time racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  

Once again they discussed cars, drivers, chicanes vs no chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight, different corners on the Circuit De La Sarthe, etc.  This episode is full of many amazing stories.  
Thank you for l...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello Racing Ears, 

Mr. Producer and I got to go to the NHRA Sonoma Nationals back on Friday July 23 and we had a ball.  It was our first big racing event of 2021.  We had $16.00 corn dogs and drank $5.00 cokes and sprites.  We saw a few heroes of ours and it was so nice to be in a cooler climate for a few hours.  I incorporated some actual sound footage from the dragstrip.  Turn up the volume! 

Enjoy!!

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello Again Racing Ears,

In this episode Rick Knoop was kind enough to let me chat with his friend John Morton.  Both Rick and John spent time being racing teammates and being racing competitors.  In this episode we all chatted about racing cars, racing drivers, and racing circuits.  This is part 1 with special guest John Morton.  

John Morton mentioned a few books that are about the Electromotive Nissan GTP program and John Paul Jr.  

They inclu...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

I had another amazing chat with Rick Knoop about a circuit in North America that you may have heard of.  Watkins Glen International Raceway is a circuit located in Upstate New York and according to Rick Knoop it is one of the fastest circuits he has ever raced on.  His descriptions of this historic racing circuit coupled with stories of what he experienced in NASCAR stock cars, in IMSA Grand Touring Prototype ground effects cars, an...

Send me a message. I would love to know where you are listening to me from!!

Hello again Racing Ears,

Jeff Kline is a former racing driver that I have become more familiar with recently after hearing him being a part of a panel discussion with the Racing History Project / "Race Talk with Trish" episode remembering IMSA GTU back in the 1980's.  Back in the day, Jeff raced predominantly for Mazda, but had rides for Porsche, General Motors, and drove a Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9 at the 1989 Le Mans 24 Hours.  More recently Jeff has competed in...