This week Porsche factory driver Patrick Long takes the "Ask a Pro" experts seat to field your questions about motorsports. This season, Long has joined CORE autosport to compete for the ALMS GT championship.

Patrick Long is set to guide young drivers through the maze of making a career of motorsports. [CORE autosport image]

Like so many of today's top drivers, Patrick Long began his career in karting, at age 8, notching numerous wins and championships both in America and Europe. The California native maintained his trans-Atlantic options when he graduated to cars in 1999, competing in the French Elf Campus series and the Skip Barber Racing School, where after much deliberation he turned down a scholarship prize in order to contest the British Formula Ford Championship.

After finishing a close second in the 2001 title-chase, Long moved up to Formula Renault and was invited to attend the inaugural Red Bull F1 Driver Search. He didn't win but the experience led to a pivotal point in his career when he was selected to race for the UPS Porsche Junior factory team in Germany in 2003.

This is Long's ride for the 2013 ALMS season. [CORE autosport image]

Long, now 31, has never looked back. The past decade has seen him claim 21 American Le Mans Series victories, three championships and two GT class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He has won also at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans, and raced impressively in NASCAR and Australian V8 Supercars. He has become acknowledged as a fine ambassador for Porsche and the sport, is an accomplished driver coach and most recently has encouraged several North Americans to follow in his footsteps by competing in the Carrera Cup Germany. The Carrera Cup also runs series in Scandinavia, Asia, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and France.

"I have great memories of roaming the pit lane at CART events in the late '90s just hoping to get a little advice from some of my heroes," remembers Long. "It's really cool to see that SAFEisFAST.com has nailed it with "Ask A Pro," giving the next generation a lot of the answers we were all looking for one weekend at a time. I really look forward to offering my take on some of the questions I receive."

One of the more talked about topics around racing paddocks today is blocking versus defending your position – the overt versus the covert and the fine line between the two.

IndyCar driver Scott Dixon kicks off a lively discussion on blocking vs. defending your position. [SAFEisFAST.com screen grab]

During the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, Tom Davey and Jeff Tan found 10 racing people not only willing to talk about this often adrenaline spiked subject but also to discuss the maneuvers in terms the most rank amateur can understand.

SAFEisFAST's latest video – "Defending vs. Blocking" – is up now for your edification.

Current top racing drivers Scott Dixon, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, Simona de Silvestro and Joey Hand plus two-time Indy 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, ALMS Director Paul Walter and Mazda Road to Indy Race Director Bill van de Sandt gave their perspectives.

Besides actual NBC Sports racing footage, our producers also had access to simulation streams such as this maneuvering on the pit straight at Road America. [iracing.com screen grab]

Much of it boils down to the "one move" perspective – making your car "wide" at just the right time and place to make the overtaking opportunity more difficult. Move a second time, and that's blocking.

In short, defending your position is an art form that can be appreciated by both the front-runner and the overtaking driver. It's a subtle game of cat and mouse.

The take-away from this well-edited piece is a clear understanding of what defines blocking and what constitutes defending your position. The difference remains a fine line, but blocking should be easier to spot after viewing this tutorial.

"Defending vs. Blocking" is the 10th tutorial in the Advanced Driving Techniques series. Other categories include Driver Safety, Driver Fitness, Mental Preparation, Karts to Cars, Driver Development, Race Car Systems and Dynamics, Career Development plus Marketing and Sponsorship and an Introduction by RRDC President Bobby Rahal.

Our lady of communications, Judy Stropus has just completed the 2013 California Mille with co-driver Chuck Schoendorf in her recently acquired 1952 Lancia Ardea. Judy and Chuck penned their fascinating adventure for velocitytoday.com.

The happy travelers – Judy Stropus, Chuck Schoendorf and the little Lancia Ardea. [Debbie Earle image]

Several other RRDC members took part, including Steve and wife Debbie Earle in their Porsche 356 Speedster Cabriole and John and his wife Lisa Weinberger in their stunning 1953 Ferrari 166MM Vignale Spider.

Oscar's Kids Get Tips from Brian Redman

If you've known Oscar Koveleski for more than 10 minutes, you know all about his marvelous Kidracer program. Brian Redman certainly knows about it, and the day after he was honored at the RRDC annual banquet in Long Beach, Brian joined Oscar for another annual event – the Kidracer charity race at the LBGP Pavilion.

That event is organized by Koveleski and fellow RRDC member John Dinkel along with Donavan Caver, Kevin Nguyen and several members of the Long Beach State Delta Gamma sorority. Obviously enjoying himself immensely, Redman gave driving tips to the youngsters and handled the start/finish flagging.

MARILYN ALDERMAN, 1939–2013

A determined battle with cancer ended Sunday, May 5, for Marilyn Miller Alderman, wife of RRDC member George Alderman who was present at her passing, as were numerous family, friends and caregivers. She was 73.

Marilyn met George while working for Hercules in Delaware in 1961 when friends suggested she take her contrary TR3 to George's new foreign car repair business. A year later they were married.

Marilyn was an essential part of George's business ventures including his Datsun, later Nissan, dealership where she ran the accounting department.

In order to get back and forth from George's races, Marilyn acquired a pilot's license in 1984. Over the years, she advanced through numerous levels of licensing, eventually working as a part-time corporate co-pilot. In addition, she dabbled in SCCA racing with a bit of hill-climbing thrown in.

Marilyn was actively involved in aviation for more than 25 years and did her share of air racing. In 2006, Marilyn was the first member of the board to be inducted into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame. Check here for more details of her fascinating career in aviation.

A memorial service will be held at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 2313 Concord Pike (Fairfax), Wilmington, DE, on Saturday, May 25th, at 11 am, where visitation will begin at 9:30 am. A reception will follow the service in the church auditorium.

Donations in lieu of flowers are encouraged for Cancer Support Community Delaware, 4810 Lancaster Pike, Wilmington, DE 19807; or to The Ninety-Nines Endowment Fund, Virginia Harmer, Treasurer, 8627 Banyan Street, Alta Loma, CA 91701.

The Evening with Brian Redman presented by Firestone at Long Beach last week was an unqualified success. RRDC president Bobby Rahal conducted the much anticipated chat with Redman which is now posted on You-tube for your viewing pleasure. Sam Posey's marvelous video overview of Redman's career provides the introduction.

Brian Redman delights host Bobby Rahal and an appreciative audience at Long Beach.

Rahal doing his best impersonation of David Letterman complete with index cards that he briefly thought about tossing offered the seeds that sprouted into one Redman story after another. As fine a raconteur as he is a race driver, Brian delighted the gathering with yarns of derring-do and in some cases don't. Even the serious ones – like nearly dying at St. Jovite – were tinged with irony.

Enough set-up. Watch the video.

Wolfgang Husdedt, one of the best known factory reps in this history of motorsports, has retired after 44 years with Bosch – 38 as the company's motorsports manager.

The face of Bosch for four decades, Wolfgang Husdedt has retired.

There are hardly any among the membership of the RRDC who don't know Wolfie, who became a member in 2000.

Our friend Gordon Kirby recently penned a fond remembrance of Wolfgang's years on the racing circuit in his blog, “The Way It Is”. Do check it out.

And don't despair. Husdedt will continue in an advisory capacity for Bosch. He just won't be on the road every weekend as was his habit for four decades.