Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / From Havana to Le Mans: Ruben Sanchez’s Journey Through Racing History

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From Havana to Le Mans: Ruben Sanchez’s Journey Through Racing History · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

• 0:00
  Break Fix Podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all
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  over the autos sphere, from wrench, turners, and racers to artists, authors,
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  designers, and everything in between.
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  Our goal is to inspire a new generation of Petrolhead that wonder how did they
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  get that job or become that person.
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  The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.
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  This episode of Break Fix has been brought to you in part by the A
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  C O U S A, where you can become part of the Legend membership in
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  the Automobile Club of the West.
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  The founding and organizing body of the 24 hours of LeMans is open to
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  all the club hosts events in LeMans and around the world, attracting
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  fans who enjoy their shared passion for motoring and motor racing.
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  Get ready for a heartwarming tale of courage, camaraderie, and the pursuit
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  of racing glory as we transport you back to the late 1970s in France where
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  a talented team of privateers from Cuba and Puerto Rico came together
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  as a Porsche 9 35 racing team, united by their passion for speed and an
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  unbreakable bond forged on the racetrack.
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  Joining us tonight is Reuben Sanchez, head of Marketing and Social media for
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  the A C O U S A to tell us all about what it was like being in the pit box at
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  a very young age at LeMans, supporting his family's Porsche racing team, and
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  how that changed his life forever.
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  With that, let's welcome Reuben to break fix.
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  Hey, thank you very much for that, Eric, and joining me as my co-host is our
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  resident sports car and endurance guru from the golden age of sports car racing.
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  Mike Carr.
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  You make me sound old, but thank you very much.
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  Let's transport our audience back in our best Estelle Getty way.
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  So picture it.
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  Cuba, the mid 1960s.
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  Reuben, you're two years old.
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  That's what set all of this in motion.
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  Absolutely.
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  Like my parents tell me I was a Hellen since birth.
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  I continue to be a Hellen.
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  I was meant to drive.
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  That's why I love racing my whole life.
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  And I started technically, you could say, at 14 months old, my grandfather
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  was working on his car was, which was an old Buick with column Schiff.
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  And he left me in the car and.
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  Went inside the house somehow and I ended up yanking on the shift.
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  'cause I was sitting on the, uh, seat and the car started going down the hill
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  comes out, the car is halfway down the hill and they're like, where is he?
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  He must be inside the car because that's where I, I was, I had shared
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  a photo with you that I still keep because I just can't remember that day.
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  But, you know, I didn't wanna get out of the car.
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  I was just holding onto the wheel.
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  But I enjoyed it somehow.
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  And from there on, you know, it's always been cars.
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  Planes, boats go-karts.
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  Big evil Knievel fan as a kid.
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  So you know, I made my own evil Knievel attire with my grandmother,
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  you know, until I jumped my dad's car on a ramp and that was it.
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  My 100 cc motorcycle away.
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  Thank God I've never been really hurt.
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  You know, I've been lucky in that aspect.
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  Thank the Lord.
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  You're from Cuba?
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  Yes.
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  How easy or difficult was it to move from country to country, from Cuba?
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  I am under the impression that that was a relatively repressed regime.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  You know, at the time that we're talking about Castro came in in 1959.
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  I didn't leave till 66 and a half.
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  67.
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  We had relatives here that were.
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  Had already left like Diego Fales.
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  He left in early 60 fifties, right around that time period.
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  He raced there with, uh, Juan Manuel when Manuel the re revolutionaries came
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  and got him at the Cuban Grand Prix.
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  So around that time they left some of my other family members Le had
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  left and had started businesses here.
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  You know, we didn't have the, the same economic situation as they did, so they
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  sponsored us and we had to go to Spain for two years before we could come here.
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  You had to go through a third world country.
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  So, you know, we went to Madrid and lived there till 69.
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  And so I got here at around three and a half years old
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  because you couldn't come direct.
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  There was no communication, so you had to be sponsored to another country.
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  So that's how we pretty much all the Cubans that left in that era got here.
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  You know, the Ralph Sanchez and Diegos, all these Moscanoza, all the
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  people that, that you might know of.
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  I had been under the impression that maybe you were coming and going from Cuba, but
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  what you're saying is that you got out.
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  We never went back.
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  Right.
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  Okay.
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  When you left, they took everything.
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  Everything you had, you couldn't leave with nothing.
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  No.
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  Any gold chain, nothing.
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  They stripped you down to your clothes and that was it.
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  So whatever you own, like the Bacardi's lost their factory.
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  They had to leave and go to Puerto Rico.
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  All the Cuban cigar people that are in Miami, they left everything that they had.
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  It was, everything was nationalized, and you get outta here.
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  Ones that had money, they kicked out, so they took their factory.
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  The other people, they just keep repressing.
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  Until today, people think things have changed here, but nothing's changed here.
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  It's still the same way.
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  We still have distant relatives there.
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  We have other people here that go there and 90 miles from Key West off our shores.
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  You have such misery and socialism.
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  Dictators.
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  It's a shame.
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  So once you finally got out of diapers, there's a bunch of years between
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  your first lama and that incident there with your grandfather's Buick.
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  So tell us how you ended up going to France and being on
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  this team in the late seventies.
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  Well, I have on both sides of my family, the racing family on my
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  mother's side, grandfather, my second cousin was Diego Fales.
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  So, He was an avid racer.
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  He left Cuba in the late fifties, right around Castro, went to Ecuador, then
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  later Venezuela, and then eventually settled in in Puerto Rico in the sixties.
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  The way I got to Lamont was in 1976.
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  My grandfather died in March, and Diego came back to the US
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  for his funeral and so forth.
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  And you know, when I was very distraught, I could put a Chevy
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  three 50 together by the time I was 10 years old with my grandfather.
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  My dad can't turn to screw work to save his life still.
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  So I picked up everything either to God-given talent or because
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  of my grandfather, you know, and I wrench and built all my cars.
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  So I was distraught.
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  And then my dad and Diego got together at the funeral and said, we're
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  gonna Lamont, so bring him with you.
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  Come and be the team.
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  So that's how I got there.
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  You know, I was already a, a lamonts fanatic from watching
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  McQueen's movie in 71.
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  At six years old, to me it's, it was already the holy grail and to
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  actually be there, you couldn't have really appreciated that time.
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  But you get older, you reflect back, you're like, wow,
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  what an experience that was.
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  You know, the garages are lousy.
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  There was just little, tiny, little silos, you know, open, noisy people in shorts,
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  smoking and filling up the car, you know?
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  I remember helping them with tires and moving stuff around as I've gone back
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  over the years to see the contrast.
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  Wow.
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  How racing is now compared to those days.
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  It was very grassroots.
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  Good old boys having fun today.
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  It's a whole different ball game with the professionals.
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  Nothing's left to chance.
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  How did the team wind up there with the 9 35?
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  Well, it was a 9 34 R s R act.
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  Okay.
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  It was, I.
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  Brumos car.
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  He bought it from Brumos, from Peter, Greg.
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  And it still had the same paint scheme except you changed the number, uh, to 78.
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  Red, white, and blue with the stripes.
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  Yeah.
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  It was a Bruno card, you know?
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  Yeah.
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  And then he put Puerto Rico in the front.
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  I remember that.
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  And something I'll never forget that he had in the back.
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  I don't know if he had it in the months, but later on, you know, that they used
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  to make, made in Jacksonville for Brumos.
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  Okay.
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  He had a great sense of humor, Diego, he wrote, but enjoyed by Puerto Ricans.
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  You know, and so, so I, I always used to love van go pretty crazy guy.
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  I mean an incredible Volkswagen, probably the fastest Volkswagen bug
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  in for a quarter mile in Puerto Rico.
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  So that just fueled my OSHA Volkswagen life my whole life.
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  But this takes a lot of juice to put a car in a plane or a.
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  Boat or whatever and get it over to France.
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  And how did that work?
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  What were their background?
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  I mean, is there enough racing in Puerto Rico that that could be
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  their full-time thing, or was this the gentleman's hobby, I suppose?
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  Yeah, it was a gentleman's hobby, but there was a lot of money in
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  Puerto Rico that helped him to do it.
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  Lamont.
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  We went twice in 1976 and 80, but he did race like in Sebring from
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  74 to 80 something straight for like 10 years straight in Daytona.
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  In fact, at one point, I think 77, it was second overall in Sebring,
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  the 12 hour, but it was just amateur.
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  Amateur guys.
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  Really it.
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  This was not no factory works team by any sense of imagination.
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  Just passionate about it and they really worked a lot of hours to
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  do, you know, scrounge up money and whatever we could to get there,
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  buying old equipment, basically.
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  Pretty incredible story.
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  What did you do next?
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  I would go to Lamont pretty much every year with the family.
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  With them or with other, from my dad's, uh, father's side at
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  the Ralph Sanchez family side.
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  I would go there, I mean, I was there, um, in 79 when the Wintons won.
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  That was a great time to be there as well.
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  Then in 80, we went back again.
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  Diego went back.
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  We crashed in the 15th hour, unfortunately.
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  So the two times there, there wasn't bad the first time there.
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  I think we had an engine failure.
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  You do what you can, you know, not a lot of spare, not a lot of qualifying engines.
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  Only like today, you know, we scrounged up and did everything we could, you know,
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  and then after that we kind of stayed more stateside because, you know, the go to
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  France is definitely a more expensive but.
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  It was always a dream to do it.
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  It's been my dream my whole life.
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  It's yet racing is so expensive now that, uh, you know, unless you find,
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  uh, somebody to, to finance that dream, it's, uh, it's very difficult.
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  Well, not only that, it's near impossible to just show up to Lamonts
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  anymore and say, I'm gonna compete.
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  Correct.
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  You have to go through all these other gates and all these other
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  series and points and be nominated to be in one of the garages.
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  I mean, it's way more complicated than it's ever been when you hear the
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  stories of when that was possible.
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  It just blows your mind.
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  Yeah, you just showed up.
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  You know, you could take your car if you had to get there.
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  You know, you, you made it there.
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  I remember that was the NASCARs were there that year.
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  That was 76 was when the NASCARs were there.
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  Big four 20 sevens were not that far away from our pit.
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  And you know, I could hear that, you know, every time it went
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  down, they didn't last very long.
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  But those vivid things.
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  So when I went back now for the centenary, you know, the 56 garage
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  brought that back to memory very vividly.
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  Again, you know, those are the things that are seared in your brain and
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  when we look at it back, it's like, wow, back then everything's possible.
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  I had so many friends that raced in G T U and in G T O and A SS A as well,
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  you know, which, you know, after the mid eighties, it just, It got to a
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  level that it was impossible for, you know, the homegrown guys to show up.
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  So funny.
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  It's almost on par with like going to an S C C A event.
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  It's like, as long as you show up with a sack of cash to pay your
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  registration fee you're in, you can run at lama, you know, see how Lama
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  chooses you at the end of it, right?
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  Correct.
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  Being there 11 years old and then again, you know, 15, 16 years old,
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  the second lamanzi went to in 80.
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  You had to rub elbows with a whole bunch of people that now
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  are considered lamont's legends.
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  And we'll talk more about Lamont's legends as we go along, but any folks
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  that you met that now you realize that are of that stature much later?
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  You know, there was Redmond and there was Bell and Icks and so
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  forth, and I knew them from Lamont's.
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  The Lemons movie because they were in the movie.
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  So I knew they were either actors or great race car drivers
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  because there was for the movies.
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  So those are the kind of ones I remember at that period of time
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  because I was, you know, very young.
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  But from lemons, I remember that the ones that were in the movie,
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  you know, later on going back.
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  For many years and different jobs and different opportunities,
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  I've run into them again over and over again, and many, many more.
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  And like I said, you don't know at that moment because you're so young,
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  but when you get to reflect much older in your life, you're like, wow,
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  I, I've really had some great times.
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  I had really great memories to reflect back on.
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  And you mentioned to me when we were touring the Lamont's Museum
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  together, that you had a encounter with Jackie Hicks, the original Mr.
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  Lama himself many, many years later after your original encounter
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  with him in the seventies.
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  And what was that like?
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  It wasn't in Lamont.
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  I went to Paul Ricard for the Formula One race after the race.
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  I was at the airport and Jackie was right in front of me with his wife.
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  So always says, Jackie, you know, can I get a picture?
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  Then we started talking.
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  I said, you know, Jackie, you know, I, I was in Lamont.
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  I first dive when I was in 1976 and then 77 when you won with the 9 36,
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  I think it was the open tic car.
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  So we just started talking.
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  So we actually flew back from, I was going from Paul Ricard,
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  Marcel, I think it was to Belgium.
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  'cause I was going to Belgium and, and he was going back home.
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  So my wife and her got together in front of us.
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  Him and me and Jackie did the, uh, you know, two hour and a half flight
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  together, just talking back and forth.
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  He's such a approachable and gentleman, you know, and very
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  just grateful and a humble guy.
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  Actually, I've met others that are totally opposite of that,
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  but he's, uh, very warm and open.
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  And in this whole time you've been still going to lama many
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  times over how many Lamonts.
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  Races have you been to since your very first one?
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  23, 24?
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  I'd have to count 'em.
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  When you look back over the last 40 years of LAMA or more now, almost 50
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  years, some of your best memories?
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  The memories that have the greatest impact?
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  Definitely in 76 and 80, because, especially 80.
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  'cause I was 16 years old.
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  I could definitely remember everything then I remember seeing Paul Newman
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  and some of these guys that I could appreciate at that time.
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  So 1980, probably, you know, number one.
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  In my mind, I was there, I was in the pits, I was behind the scenes.
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  I was helping, checking tire pressures on car, doing whatever
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  they, you know, we had to do.
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  You know, we didn't have 30 people.
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  We, we had maybe eight people total, so we had to do whatever it took.
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  You know, as far as being a participant in a way, that's probably the best memory.
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  You talk about 1980, that was Alan Cone racing there that year.
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  We just lost him.
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  Correct.
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  I used to watch his series all the time on Speed Vision.
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  Yeah.
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  With the Ferraris and stuff.
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  Yeah.
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  He was very eloquent in and what a gentleman.
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  Yes, absolutely.
• 13:34
  There's so many memories following the Rothmans and the Porsches and
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  I think 83 when you know, a car was broken, I think with the door and in
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  85 again, Derek and Hurley and Al.
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  Yeah, that that was the Bell Holbert era.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Then with the Silk Cats, With the saber, I remember going, went
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  with the Mercedes flipping Po.
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  Joe's wind.
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  Mazda's wind, you know, and, uh, magni just eating the wall right there on the
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  Dunlop curb and I'm on the opposite side.
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  That was terrifying.
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  And that was right across Chappelle, like where it went into
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  where people were, yeah, yeah.
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  And yeah, that car got destroyed.
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  You can see the, the wheel, the hubs, and the whole axles flying off the tub.
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  Incredible.
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  The carbon fiber tub is incredible.
• 14:14
  You know, in, in the Jackie Stewart era, back in that tin can with, with two race
• 14:18
  fuel tags, it was a whole different thing.
• 14:20
  Nobody would've survive anything, period.
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  So I, I mean, I would go like every other year or every two
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  years or so, I would start there and then continue on a vacation.
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  I'd plan everything around lamonts.
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  It's been my holy grail.
• 14:32
  I'd like to understand whether or not these were crew gigs or
• 14:36
  you're on vacation, or it's just important that you be there.
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  Important that I'd be there.
• 14:41
  The only time that I've done some crewing was for synergy racing in
• 14:45
  Grand America that I did it a couple times with David Murray and one
• 14:49
  of the doctors from Team Seattle.
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  It was in Synergy and so forth, but no, the other time, just because
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  I love being around the smell of a hundred into a octane and burning
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  rubber and, and just the noise.
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  We all share that.
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  Yeah, it run through the.
• 15:03
  So good.
• 15:04
  So do you think if you hadn't gone to Lama you would've still pursued motorsport?
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  Yeah.
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  I love things that move fast.
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  So whether cars, planes, boats, it don't matter.
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  I, I've done it my whole life.
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  I, you know, I, I've always somehow tried to get in.
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  One time in the eighties, I worked for a dealership that was here in Miami
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  and uh, the owner raced offshore boats.
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  So I got myself in there.
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  I, I would working at the dealership and doing mechanics and so forth, but then
• 15:29
  I would go at night to go work and then it was a Ford dealership, so we were
• 15:32
  the only ones that had Ford Engines.
• 15:34
  Everybody runs Chevy 4 54 more cruisers.
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  So we had Jack Roush engines and I got to go and do a several races.
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  In fact, in 1887, we won the Peace Sportman class in, uh, key West
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  at Worldwide Championship, you know, doing 112 miles an hour.
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  On the water.
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  I, I've had great opportunities, you know, and, and been kind of lucky in
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  some spots to get in some of these.
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  So I'll get into anything you give me, just if it moves, I love it.
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  You know, it could be rally, could be, you know, drag car, jet car,
• 16:01
  Lamont, uh, you know, like moving fast.
• 16:03
  You've had a really interesting career as well, obviously focused around
• 16:07
  mechanics and cars and things like that.
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  But there's a period in your story, and I think it's fascinating, and
• 16:13
  I think Mike and I both wanna dive into this a little bit deeper.
• 16:16
  You worked for Momo.
• 16:17
  So how did that come to be Jean Piero Moretti of Milan?
• 16:23
  When you talk about Momo, it's Moretti and Manza.
• 16:27
  Yeah.
• 16:28
  Mo Mo.
• 16:29
  Correct.
• 16:29
  Yeah.
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  And it was a great guy.
• 16:31
  So generous.
• 16:31
  He was great.
• 16:32
  I have a friend who Eric knows who says that he loved the ladies
• 16:37
  and he was sponsored by Penthouse.
• 16:39
  Yeah.
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  And he was from a rich Italian family and there had to have
• 16:43
  been a million stories there.
• 16:45
  Did you see any of that stuff?
• 16:47
  By the time I saw him, he was married and his wife was at the races.
• 16:51
  So, you know, he came from very affluent Italian family and he
• 16:55
  didn't go into the business.
• 16:56
  He loved racing and, and that's how he developed the wheel.
• 16:59
  And then Enzo said, okay, you're gonna do all my race car wheels
• 17:03
  and also my streetcar wheels.
• 17:05
  And that's how Momo got launched.
• 17:06
  He convinced Enzo to let him do it his way.
• 17:09
  Right.
• 17:10
  Enzo liked wooden wheels and Right.
• 17:13
  Momo said, we've gotta cover them with leather.
• 17:15
  It's going to be.
• 17:16
  A much better wheel.
• 17:17
  You know, you need that grip for a Formula One car or whatever in the case.
• 17:21
  So, and then the rest of the story from there, it took off and then he really,
• 17:24
  uh, expanded into other things, including, you know, in the nineties when I was
• 17:28
  with him doing the eyewear and all that.
• 17:30
  So it's definitely a playboy lifestyle.
• 17:32
  He didn't flu it very much, but yeah, you know, I, I saw a lot of stuff here and
• 17:37
  there, you know, not looking for gossip.
• 17:39
  Yeah.
• 17:39
  No, no.
• 17:40
  And I enjoyed that lifestyle too.
• 17:43
  Why not?
• 17:45
  I actually worked before Momo.
• 17:47
  I ran a chain of tire stores and when the Momo idea wheel came out,
• 17:51
  which is this Icep spoke wheel that used, had a little bracelets you
• 17:54
  put on it and changed the color, I sold more than anybody in my store.
• 17:58
  You know, because I love Momo to begin with.
• 18:00
  I, you know, even before the Idea Wheel.
• 18:03
  So I got invited to the office for a V I P event.
• 18:07
  I met Reti.
• 18:08
  We started talking and since I spoke Spanish, you know, he says, you know,
• 18:12
  would you be interested in handling Latin America and the Caribbean?
• 18:15
  And I said, yeah.
• 18:16
  So I actually became director for Latin American.
• 18:19
  Caribbean since he knew I nobody in the office really in
• 18:23
  Miami, was a Motorsport guy.
• 18:25
  I was the only guy who was always of all racing.
• 18:27
  So I definitely build a bond with him.
• 18:29
  Every time he came.
• 18:30
  He would say, I'm gonna walk into, then fly up and, you know, He would
• 18:33
  send me the tickets or a plane.
• 18:35
  So I, I did that.
• 18:36
  We enjoyed the 9 62 with GE Hart for a couple years and then 83
• 18:41
  Nissan g t p that he ran with Kevin Doran as the, you know, the team.
• 18:45
  So some memorable moments, like 93, I think CBR was reigned that
• 18:49
  stopped the race for a while.
• 18:50
  And we came in second after Dan Gurney Eagle.
• 18:53
  And I remember John Paul pissing in his pants because he couldn't hold it
• 18:56
  anymore, you know, sitting in the car in the rain, but it doesn't matter.
• 18:59
  Flush away with the rain.
• 19:00
  I.
• 19:01
  A lot of those stories that I go back and go, wow, it was good
• 19:04
  to be behind the scenes there.
• 19:05
  That's kind of why I started the evening with the Legend because there's these
• 19:08
  stories that I heard, and I wanna try to get the legends while we still have 'em
• 19:12
  alive to get their story out as well.
• 19:14
  When we step a little deeper into the Momo story, and there's some pictures
• 19:17
  that go with this that are in the show notes along with the episode, you sort of
• 19:21
  circle back to where you were as a kid.
• 19:23
  You talked about Derek Bell and Jackie Icks, and you find yourself, as you
• 19:27
  mentioned, working with John Paul Jr.
• 19:28
  But.
• 19:28
  Also at Derrick Bell at Momo.
• 19:30
  What was that like to now be there shoulder to shoulder
• 19:33
  with one of your heroes?
• 19:35
  Well, that was incredible.
• 19:36
  I spoke to him and I, and about my time there, so we kind of bonded on that.
• 19:40
  And I met him on plenty of times throughout the years.
• 19:43
  And he lives down here in Vero and he couldn't believe he, you know.
• 19:45
  Yeah, I know plenty of people there, so he doesn't remember me.
• 19:48
  I said, but I remember you because Lamont, you know, you were like
• 19:51
  one of the heroes in the movie and I definitely remember you.
• 19:54
  You, you weren't a main character, but I know you were there just
• 19:58
  like Redmond and so forth.
• 19:59
  So as I moved older, you know, in the nineties, talked about that.
• 20:03
  And then, you know, his experiences with the nine 17, much later on got to drive a
• 20:08
  nine 17 because I have a friend up in that Long Island that had a Martini nine 17.
• 20:13
  So I drove it 2015 or so at Palm Beach International because Brian
• 20:19
  Redmond has a Target 66 event.
• 20:21
  So I got to drive Greg Skar.
• 20:23
  He's a collector.
• 20:24
  He has a quite a bit of cars, a a three 12 PB Ferrari Can-am car that
• 20:27
  I've driven in Road America as well.
• 20:30
  You know, I, uh, I got to feel that movie by being the real car.
• 20:34
  Finally, you know, miracle, you know, because I had a girlfriend
• 20:37
  that lived in Palm Beach and this gentleman lived in Palm Beach and
• 20:40
  the girlfriend later became my wife.
• 20:41
  I don't know if the karma brings you in circle.
• 20:44
  Back to that.
• 20:44
  How else would I get into a nine 17?
• 20:47
  Do a couple laps with it, so let's hear about that.
• 20:49
  What's it like?
• 20:51
  So let's go there.
• 20:52
  Yeah.
• 20:53
  You know, I didn't push it very much.
• 20:55
  Even then you could see it, it wanders a lot, those Avon tires or driving a modern
• 21:00
  car with slicks, you know, it, it, it's, it's a different ballgame, low profile.
• 21:04
  It definitely needs brakes compared to modern cars, but that's how when you just
• 21:08
  gun it a little and you hear that from that vertical fan, it just raises the
• 21:12
  hair of your back and it makes your butt.
• 21:14
  Kind of fucker really.
• 21:15
  You feel it move.
• 21:17
  How would it have been to have been in that car over a 24 hour race?
• 21:22
  Just to imagine doing Ong with no hairpins at 252 has, Derek would tell
• 21:28
  me that they were doing back in the day.
• 21:30
  It was a story from Bert Zinger that told me once that, you know, he told him that
• 21:33
  you, you did this, you know, He goes, that's translates 252 miles an hour.
• 21:38
  And he said, well, what about if I did 100 RPMs more past redline?
• 21:41
  Well, that it, you would blow up.
• 21:44
  You know, I heard that from Dover with talking Derek many years ago.
• 21:47
  And I, I was like, wow, what a, what a concept, you know?
• 21:50
  Yeah.
• 21:51
  I would imagine that's what the redline there for.
• 21:53
  Limiters are only good on the way up.
• 21:55
  When you money shift, they don't work.
• 21:58
  Yeah.
• 21:58
  So you drove one of the G T P Ferraris as well.
• 22:02
  You also mentioned the 9 62.
• 22:03
  How do they all compare?
• 22:04
  They're all very different.
• 22:05
  The Ferrari, the three 12 pb, just trying to work the gate.
• 22:09
  It looks like a little toy.
• 22:10
  It's just a little shifter with the ball and you have to be so
• 22:14
  precise just to get it in there.
• 22:16
  Acceleration is yes, definitely accelerates incredibly.
• 22:20
  That car had a, a next sneaky load, a Formula One engine in it.
• 22:23
  It's a different V 12 compared to the nine 17, but it was an
• 22:27
  incredible event that, you know, the tires are very tiny in the front.
• 22:31
  It's whole different serious under steer.
• 22:33
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:34
  Yeah.
• 22:35
  It's, it's terrifying.
• 22:37
  Well, it's, it's a gentleman's race and.
• 22:39
  Vintage of ad, you don't really push it.
• 22:41
  Nowhere, anywhere, the limit.
• 22:43
  I respect these cars because I can't afford 'em.
• 22:45
  And uh, yeah, I don't definitely want put that kind of a vehicle on, on a wall.
• 22:50
  I think that car my friend had sold me, now it's about 7 million bucks,
• 22:53
  you know, back then, I don't think it was that much a couple years ago.
• 22:55
  But, uh, these cars have gone price points at or strato fair right now?
• 23:00
  Well, the 9 62 was a ground effects car, so that must have
• 23:03
  handled completely different again, I didn't drive it very fast.
• 23:07
  Let me do a, a lap or two at Seing for testing once you know
• 23:11
  how Sebring is with the da da.
• 23:12
  So if I drove, it's 50, 60% maybe that, so you don't really get to push it in
• 23:17
  the corner, keep that ground effect.
• 23:19
  I can't say I could feel it because I, I respected it.
• 23:22
  I, it was if something happened to that car, you know you're not gonna mess it up.
• 23:25
  Right?
• 23:25
  Yeah, yeah.
• 23:27
  Priority one, I could drive it in anger.
• 23:29
  I would love to, but I know I, you know, it's not my machine.
• 23:33
  I have to, you know, keep the throttle up.
• 23:34
  Well, they say though, if you're not at a certain speed with a
• 23:37
  ground effects car from that period, any of them, they don't stick.
• 23:40
  They're very unruly.
• 23:42
  Yeah.
• 23:42
  I mean, a straight line and you know, in Sebring when you're doing the straight,
• 23:45
  not a problem, but when you start going like turn one or whatever, It's
• 23:48
  really high speed, but again, you know, you gotta say, okay, it's not my car.
• 23:52
  Plus if something happened already would fire me.
• 23:54
  So, so I'm like, okay, you know, I appreciate you at least letting me
• 23:59
  do it, but I know how to respect the courtesy of what he, he allowed me to do.
• 24:03
  So at this time, Momo in the early nineties, they were
• 24:06
  campaigning the Ferrari 3 33 sp.
• 24:09
  Was there anything else going on or projects you guys were working on?
• 24:12
  Stuff that was kind of exciting that started after I left.
• 24:15
  He was trying to get Ferrari to get into prototypes for years it never happened.
• 24:19
  And then finally he convinced Pietro to do a car.
• 24:23
  And then so Pieto contacted with Delara.
• 24:27
  He worked on that car to get that prototype for the regulations.
• 24:31
  So that started, I think in 94 and he worked until about 98.
• 24:35
  I think he won Daytona around 98 or so.
• 24:38
  You know, I wasn't working m all but I would go to the races and
• 24:41
  see them and, and be in there.
• 24:43
  Even though I was in no longer a mobile, I was actually working at Penske at the
• 24:46
  time, but with Penske, I never met Penske at, at the track or did anything with him.
• 24:51
  But yeah, I mean, I love that car B 12, you know, it's a whole different
• 24:54
  ballgame from, uh, the three 12, you know, the B 12, but, but now
• 24:59
  you're talking ground effect.
• 25:00
  It's kind of a, the evolution because really that three 12
• 25:03
  really became the 3, 3, 3.
• 25:04
  If you look at 'em, they're so very similar.
• 25:06
  In every way, you know, open cockpit, just the evolution.
• 25:10
  Definitely.
• 25:10
  You know, a decade later, and as we know it wasn't a Lama's winner
• 25:14
  because Ferrari hasn't won LAMA until this year, it's been 50 years.
• 25:17
  It was the big body cars, which were the last ones to win at lama.
• 25:21
  So it's kind of interesting, all this development still ongoing
• 25:24
  with Ferrari, you know, all their trials and failures along the way.
• 25:27
  And we'll get more into the hundredth here as we go along.
• 25:29
  Obviously the first LAMA you went to in the seventies left a lasting impression.
• 25:34
  You went there with a Porsche team, a family team, Porsche, and vw, as you said,
• 25:38
  has been in the blood for a long time.
• 25:40
  You find yourself on a personal level, still entrenched in the
• 25:44
  Porsche world, and you've remained a Porsche guy for your life.
• 25:48
  And you shared with me some of your early cars nine 11 sc, 9 39 11 Turbo.
• 25:53
  Have you kind of ventured away from that or has it always been just Porsche?
• 25:56
  Porsche, Porsche.
• 25:57
  I've had Corvettes too.
• 25:58
  I, you know, I've enjoyed Corvettes as well, but my first car was a nine
• 26:02
  14, which I still have today, and that's my race car that you see.
• 26:06
  I've had it since I was 16 years old.
• 26:07
  The nine, 14.
• 26:08
  It's a six.
• 26:09
  Yeah, it's a six.
• 26:10
  It's a three, two short stroke that I built.
• 26:11
  Let's hear about this.
• 26:14
  Yeah.
• 26:14
  It wasn't a six when I bought it.
• 26:16
  It had a.
• 26:16
  Volkswagen engine.
• 26:17
  I, I souped that up as much as I could.
• 26:19
  Basically a two liter.
• 26:20
  But eventually throughout the years, I, you know, I, I got an
• 26:22
  SE engine, took it apart, and then started putting it together.
• 26:25
  Gone through so many generations, over 40 years, probably, you know,
• 26:29
  I started doing autocross with it.
• 26:31
  Then eventually, you know, racing Ss C C A and Porsche Club and stuff like that.
• 26:35
  And by now it's almost like a Lamont prototype, because I have
• 26:38
  a swan neck wing in the back.
• 26:39
  I got almost ground effects in the bottom.
• 26:41
  I mean, I, it has no windshield.
• 26:43
  It has, you know, low drag.
• 26:44
  I got the whole cockpit enclosure that I built a, a cover for.
• 26:48
  So it's just my helmet in the wind.
• 26:49
  I've gone really radical with it.
• 26:51
  So, you know, the sail panels, fiberglass, everything on the car is fiberglass
• 26:54
  except for the, you know, the basic structure, the front tube frame and
• 26:58
  the back is almost tube frame too.
• 26:59
  So, and it's a sheeps and wolf clothing.
• 27:01
  And I love that.
• 27:02
  I love the underdog.
• 27:03
  You know, like we were on TikTok, you know, as a 14 coming up.
• 27:07
  You know, compared to factory teams at Lamont and throughout
• 27:09
  racing in life, period.
• 27:11
  Are you in e prepared with that car or one of the other classes?
• 27:14
  G T two.
• 27:14
  Okay.
• 27:15
  G T two.
• 27:15
  Okay.
• 27:15
  Yeah.
• 27:16
  1900 pounds at about 350 horses.
• 27:19
  50 P M o Webers.
• 27:20
  I mean, it's got everything in there.
• 27:21
  Billet heads from C M W, I mean the works, all the uh, VOS stuff at the
• 27:25
  gearbox, even interchangeable first gear 9 93, big red brakes, you know, you
• 27:30
  name it, that the car has everything.
• 27:31
  We're gonna be able to put some pictures.
• 27:33
  With this.
• 27:34
  Oh yeah, I have 'em.
• 27:35
  Ruben's already sent 'em.
• 27:36
  Yep.
• 27:37
  Yeah.
• 27:37
  Alright, perfect.
• 27:38
  It sounds amazing.
• 27:39
  Coming up through nine elevens and owning several nine elevens.
• 27:43
  Why did you settle on a nine 14?
• 27:44
  Because it was my first car, but I've had a whole bunch
• 27:47
  of nine 11 race cars as well.
• 27:48
  I had a cup car, 9 86 cup car that I drove for a while.
• 27:51
  I had a, uh, a 9 34 type r s r that had built this well, that I enjoyed.
• 27:56
  Yeah, but the nine fourteen's still around.
• 27:57
  That says something.
• 27:58
  Yeah.
• 27:58
  Yeah, because it was the first and you, you, you know, it's like you keep that.
• 28:01
  But you know, the nine 14, that mid-engine compared to the Porsche,
• 28:05
  you know, you know, and when I take it racing now with some newer cars, the
• 28:09
  nine 90 threes that are out there, 9 96 s and a, you know, and they get blown
• 28:14
  by, by the nine 14, they're like, wow.
• 28:17
  Well, you know, horsepower, the weight ratio mid engine.
• 28:19
  So you could come in, you know, earlier and you know, more hotter on the apex
• 28:23
  break later, slide it through with the mid-engine, you get better stability.
• 28:27
  So those things add up to lap pipe.
• 28:29
  Some of these guys.
• 28:29
  That have the big wallets, they get blown away from this car
• 28:32
  that's 40 years old that I built.
• 28:33
  I love it.
• 28:34
  For that reason, I don't get rid of it.
• 28:36
  Everybody in a R and W R L are moving towards Caymans and you
• 28:40
  know, there's some brilliant cars.
• 28:42
  It's the same idea as the nine 14, but they're just spending $200,000 to.
• 28:47
  Do what you're doing with a lot of development over the years.
• 28:50
  Mm-hmm.
• 28:51
  I would love to see you show up and blow them away.
• 28:54
  It would be so much fun.
• 28:56
  Oh, I usually do in, they're in, in a race with, you know, they're with
• 28:59
  their, uh, nine 18 spiders or GT four caveman that I come with this, you know,
• 29:04
  19 74, 9 14, but you know, they're a thousand pounds heavier in most cases.
• 29:09
  Yep.
• 29:10
  I'm in 1900 pounds, so, you know, weight and mass, it's just, And engineering.
• 29:14
  It's, it's quite simple and I think it's a lot of fun too.
• 29:16
  'cause as you know, I'm a nine 14 guy and actually one of the LeMans
• 29:20
  legends who we hope to have on the show here in the near future, Margie
• 29:23
  Smith Haas is also a nine 14 gal.
• 29:25
  So we bonded over that when we were at.
• 29:28
  The hundredth, which was a lot of fun.
• 29:30
  And it's such an interesting community of folks and that's why I always ask.
• 29:33
  It's like, what's your nine 14 story?
• 29:34
  You know?
• 29:34
  It's always kind of fun.
• 29:35
  Yeah.
• 29:36
  I like nine fourteens when I was a kid and I'm at Al Bert's house and he's giving
• 29:40
  me a whole bunch of posters and one of them is a nine 14, and I'm like, that
• 29:44
  one is gonna take a place of prominence.
• 29:46
  I don't know why I liked it so much.
• 29:48
  'cause I had never driven at that point, I'm probably 11 years old.
• 29:51
  He handed it to me and I.
• 29:52
  Put it right up on my wall and talking about Lamont's, I think it
• 29:55
  was 1970 where the 9 14 6 GTS came in behind the nine 17 to take a podium.
• 30:01
  For those of us in the nine 14 community, we hang our hats on that.
• 30:04
  It's like David and Goliath.
• 30:06
  Correct.
• 30:06
  Right.
• 30:06
  And it's like, that's super awesome to see that underdog of a car, not
• 30:10
  Porsche's flagship, right behind what would be considered an L M P card.
• 30:14
  Today it's, it was pretty cool.
• 30:16
  Even Brumos, they have the Orange nine 14.
• 30:18
  They still have, you know, with the Richie Ginther.
• 30:20
  Without the windshield, when you remove the windshield,
• 30:23
  that car changes completely.
• 30:24
  You know, it's such a, a low drag car.
• 30:27
  Yep.
• 30:27
  In the mid-engine.
• 30:28
  Absolutely.
• 30:28
  You know, Porsche had to go back to mid-engine with the, uh, another nine,
• 30:32
  nine, whatever the number we're at by now.
• 30:34
  I, I lose track of the current once, but it's a mid-engine car because,
• 30:38
  You know, it got to a point that you cannot do any more development.
• 30:41
  And it's kind of funny you mentioned those early teams campaigning nine fourteens,
• 30:45
  a lesser known trivia question, but the first Jagermeister Ade car was a 9 14 6.
• 30:50
  Right?
• 30:51
  Right.
• 30:51
  And they've had hundreds of cars since then.
• 30:53
  But it's kind of funny that all roads start there and yeah.
• 30:55
  And you had the, the Kenwood car as well, that black Kenwood car.
• 30:59
  It was, it's been a couple of 'em here and there.
• 31:00
  Of course, you know, the other Porsche nine 11 have been more predominant, but
• 31:03
  there's some big success with the nine 14.
• 31:06
  You know, a lot of people take them for granted.
• 31:07
  What's also great about this is you have made Motorsport part of your life,
• 31:12
  and not only on the professional stage being at Lamont, being part of Momo,
• 31:17
  being part of these teams, but being back at home in Florida, you have some
• 31:20
  great racetracks in your backyard.
• 31:22
  Obviously you have the Daytona Rolex, you've got spr, you've got
• 31:24
  the firm, you've got other stuff.
• 31:25
  You've found yourself in S E C A and nasa, as you mentioned before,
• 31:29
  having made Motorsport part of a life.
• 31:31
  I wanna ask you a pointed question for our younger Petrolhead
• 31:34
  that are listening to this.
• 31:35
  Why should you get involved in amateur racing?
• 31:39
  I'm gonna take this from Ben Keating and I think he's had interviews about this.
• 31:43
  It's the only place where an amateur could come in and play in the Super
• 31:46
  Bowl because Ben is an amateur.
• 31:48
  He's a car dealer.
• 31:49
  He just won Lamont.
• 31:50
  He's won twice now, back to back Grassroot Motorsports.
• 31:53
  I've raced with a lot of people, poco that raced and Spec Miata with me.
• 31:57
  There's a lot of people that have made some improvements and uh, and moved
• 32:00
  up into some professional cars now.
• 32:02
  So there's opportunity and you have to start somewhere.
• 32:05
  You know, unless you know your name is Stroll or Andretti that you have
• 32:08
  money or a name, it's very difficult.
• 32:10
  So you kind of have to pay your dues from the bottom up and, you
• 32:13
  know, at least either you start with carding when you're 10 or eight.
• 32:16
  Yeah, or four.
• 32:17
  If you, if you really wanted to build your racecraft.
• 32:20
  But you know, you could start in the spec Miata.
• 32:22
  One of our members is a female from Texas and she's trying to make it in
• 32:27
  the world, and she's doing Spec Miata.
• 32:28
  She's trying to get to the, the Global Miata Cup.
• 32:31
  Those are still somewhat affordable, that level.
• 32:34
  Because beyond that, it really jumps up.
• 32:36
  But it's an opportunity where maybe you get spotted if you
• 32:39
  have something and you're at the right age or even the right look.
• 32:42
  And that's why I think without the grassroots, there might never be the pros
• 32:46
  because you know, where do you come from?
• 32:47
  You've spent a lot of time at a bunch of different tracks.
• 32:50
  What are your favorites?
• 32:51
  What do you hate?
• 32:51
  If you hate any homestead?
• 32:53
  My home track.
• 32:54
  You like it?
• 32:55
  I hate it.
• 32:57
  There's nothing there.
• 32:58
  I've been in a lot of tracks all over the world.
• 33:00
  Spa Manza.
• 33:02
  I love Road America in the us.
• 33:04
  I love, I love Road Atlanta.
• 33:05
  I love tracks.
• 33:06
  They have natural terrain, blind corners coming off a hill.
• 33:10
  You've run at mid Ohio, obviously.
• 33:12
  Yes, yes.
• 33:13
  Another great track.
• 33:14
  Same idea, yeah.
• 33:15
  Yeah.
• 33:15
  I was at Road America for the first time last year and I was driving
• 33:20
  the PACE car Corvette C three.
• 33:21
  It was so much fun.
• 33:23
  To be able to take it around easy and then just nail it, bring in the pack around.
• 33:28
  Right.
• 33:28
  Didn't have to worry about whatever that Canada corner or whatever it's
• 33:31
  called, like where people crash because the walls are so close.
• 33:34
  It's like turn nine at the Glen.
• 33:35
  The runoff is about three inches.
• 33:37
  Turn 11.
• 33:38
  You want to put your mirror on the concrete.
• 33:41
  Yeah.
• 33:41
  It's a lovely track, but you're at risk all the time.
• 33:44
  Yeah.
• 33:44
  Road Atlanta turned 12 coming down off the hill between the
• 33:48
  bridge, the nine 10 complex.
• 33:50
  Right.
• 33:50
  And looking at that wall in front of you is just terrifying.
• 33:52
  And.
• 33:53
  Fun, but you do like homestead.
• 33:56
  It's kind of boring, you know, Daytona's Daytona and in the banking and so forth.
• 34:00
  But again, it's just a couple straits, a horseshoe, you know?
• 34:04
  You know, I like v I r, that barber.
• 34:06
  I, I really like lots of corners of blind corners, the off camera, because that's
• 34:11
  where you really excel and, and grow.
• 34:14
  You know, anybody can drive a car.
• 34:15
  Straight, but straight lines are fast cars, but fast corners
• 34:18
  are, you know, fast drivers.
• 34:20
  So I always wanna improve my skills.
• 34:22
  So the more challenging, the more corners, the more blind, the better.
• 34:26
  That kind of gets my juices going.
• 34:28
  So have you had any chance to get around Lamont?
• 34:31
  No.
• 34:31
  Oh, that's gotta kill you.
• 34:33
  And my friend that I know doesn't go over there, doesn't take his cars there.
• 34:36
  That's one of the reasons when a c o called, you know about
• 34:40
  starting a focus group or whatever.
• 34:41
  I jumped on board doing the communication because they go, well,
• 34:44
  if I can make that connection with someone, then I've been trying to
• 34:47
  make that connection my whole life.
• 34:48
  You know, with mobile, we're you name it.
• 34:50
  Try to get on that track one day on a, in a car with, on a
• 34:53
  classic, probably most likely.
• 34:55
  Have you been to the ring?
• 34:56
  Yes.
• 34:56
  In fact, when I went before the pandemic, so maybe 17 or so is,
• 35:01
  is when I went, I rented a g T three from a facility that's there.
• 35:05
  I think it was 300 and something, a lap with the car, but it's fine.
• 35:08
  I did three laps.
• 35:08
  I figured I'd blow a grant.
• 35:10
  The first lap out, the, uh, ber ring queen was SAB beam.
• 35:14
  Yeah.
• 35:14
  She was going out in a, in a beamer with some people.
• 35:17
  So I said, I'm gonna follow her.
• 35:18
  Oh, perfect.
• 35:20
  So I learned as much as I could following her, I said, all right, I, I'm
• 35:23
  gonna stick with her, like bubblegum.
• 35:25
  So that helped a lot coming blind.
• 35:27
  I mean, I've done it in the simulator and so, so you kind of start remembering
• 35:30
  stuff, but it's never the same.
• 35:31
  Figuring out like on, on the hairpin and the cam and it really turns on.
• 35:35
  You don't really feel it in a simulator.
• 35:36
  You know, you.
• 35:37
  You see it, but you don't feel it with your butt.
• 35:40
  If you were able to keep up with Sabine Schmidt, I am impressed.
• 35:43
  Well, I had a much better car, I think.
• 35:46
  Okay.
• 35:46
  Than the beaver.
• 35:47
  Oh, she's doing the van.
• 35:48
  Yeah.
• 35:48
  Right.
• 35:49
  Yeah.
• 35:50
  So I have, she's three yards.
• 35:51
  She's in a whole bunch of people in the car, you know, so I'm like, okay,
• 35:55
  but at least I know where she's going.
• 35:56
  That's the optimum line.
• 35:58
  Then I went out, uh, I did great.
• 36:00
  I didn't crash on my third lap.
• 36:01
  Half of it got stopped because, uh, three 50 zx and another car crashed.
• 36:06
  That's a problem when you go there, you know, you never know who's
• 36:08
  driving there and they crash.
• 36:10
  That's it.
• 36:10
  That ruins your opportunity to have a good lap and fun, but at least I got one
• 36:15
  great lap, one lap behind her and half a lap before it became upon the accidents.
• 36:20
  We're all still coming off of the hundredth anniversary high, if you will.
• 36:25
  So I wanna get your thoughts, especially being a longtime Porsche fan, Ferrari one.
• 36:30
  We all know how it turned out.
• 36:32
  Do you wanna elaborate on your feelings on that?
• 36:34
  And we had a discussion about how sometimes Lamonts does choose you,
• 36:38
  but there's also a lot of politics these days in the outcome of the race.
• 36:41
  So I wanna get your thoughts, maybe your recap on the hundredth.
• 36:44
  I don't have anything against Ferrari winning.
• 36:45
  I love Ferrari and Formula One.
• 36:47
  Unfortunately they can't win.
• 36:48
  But when Chuma was there, I loved Schumacher and, and, uh,
• 36:51
  you know, I've been to Monte.
• 36:52
  Plenty of time.
• 36:53
  When I worked at Momo, I would go over there all the time.
• 36:55
  Back then, we still had regular steering wheels, no airbag at that point.
• 37:00
  So I would go to Marleno a lot in Italy.
• 37:02
  The factory for Momo was very close by.
• 37:05
  I had access.
• 37:06
  You know, back then the formula oh one wasn't very secretive like it is now.
• 37:09
  I got to go to the factory several times, so I enjoyed it.
• 37:12
  So I've always, I still love Ferrari.
• 37:13
  I don't, I don't hate him.
• 37:14
  I, you know, just, I love Porsche.
• 37:16
  Just Porsche's more affordable for me.
• 37:18
  You know, I, I would love to have a Ferrari.
• 37:20
  I would love to raise a Ferrari.
• 37:21
  It's just the, uh, socioeconomic level.
• 37:24
  So I, I definitely wanted a storybook ending for Lamonts, whether naturally
• 37:29
  or can say it could always be in tribe, there's always speculation
• 37:32
  and theories behind the scenes.
• 37:33
  But them coming back for the hundred that not being there
• 37:36
  for 50 years, it was great.
• 37:38
  You know, nobody wanted to order to win, that's for sure.
• 37:41
  You're not kidding.
• 37:45
  We could all go into conspiracy.
• 37:46
  Well, you know, Toyota only wins when there's Porsche, Audi, and
• 37:49
  everybody else is out of there.
• 37:50
  That's the only time they've won.
• 37:51
  I mean, when have they really won against Ferrari or Porsche?
• 37:55
  With the 9 1 9 or with Audi, they have 'em, so I don't wanna
• 37:58
  take anything away from 'em.
• 37:59
  But if you don't have the competition, then it paints your win a little bit.
• 38:03
  But this time, Everybody had a shot.
• 38:05
  Even the Cadillac, I mean they were all there.
• 38:07
  The parody was there and Toyota could have won it.
• 38:09
  They blew it.
• 38:10
  We ran off the track.
• 38:11
  They blamed the squirrel though.
• 38:12
  It was a squirrel's fault.
• 38:13
  Yeah, well, you know, so you, you could say it was a robotic
• 38:16
  squirrel maybe that came on.
• 38:18
  I dunno.
• 38:18
  Again, being a Porsche of fanatic, what did you think of the 9 63?
• 38:22
  Well, I think it's a great car.
• 38:24
  The problem is when you're using auxiliary units for the hybrid
• 38:27
  from another manufacturer, you don't have the full development.
• 38:31
  Control of everything.
• 38:32
  And I think, you know, that could be the Achilles seals for a couple of those cars.
• 38:36
  The race in I ssa, because they use a Bosch hybrid unit, a Williams,
• 38:40
  uh, you know, electrical unit.
• 38:41
  So you got all these units that are not a hundred percent integrated into a car
• 38:45
  that was designed from the beginning.
• 38:47
  Those things can play.
• 38:48
  I think it'll, they'll get better.
• 38:50
  You know, this is just the first year.
• 38:51
  First year is really very difficult to calculate.
• 38:54
  So I'm glad you brought that up because there's also some
• 38:56
  speculation around whether or not the 9 63 will be short-lived.
• 39:00
  Because as we know during Lamont's week, Porsche debuted their new hypercar, which
• 39:06
  is, I don't even know what to consider it, because it's sort of in line with
• 39:11
  the new Lamborghini that's coming to LMP one and the Bugatti bullied it, which we
• 39:15
  saw live at Lamar, which was pretty cool.
• 39:18
  And so the nine x I believe they're calling, it sort of
• 39:21
  falls into that category.
• 39:22
  And I'm wondering, The 9 63 maybe has another year in it, especially if
• 39:26
  Lamborghini and Bugatti are coming to the table with these other hypercar
• 39:30
  and the hypercar class is gonna grow.
• 39:32
  So do you see a shift there?
• 39:33
  How do you see the hundred and first LeMans playing out?
• 39:37
  Well, I think the hundred first definitely is gonna be at the same type
• 39:40
  of battle because the uh, IMSA type.
• 39:42
  L M D h definitely gonna be, the bugs are gonna be worn out
• 39:46
  of those, uh, a lot better.
• 39:48
  They're gonna be, you know, gone through with the fine tooth comb.
• 39:50
  They're gonna be definitely more reliable, I think.
• 39:53
  So, I think the hundred first is going to really be, uh, another,
• 39:56
  you know, right there, even the PEO didn't do bad considering.
• 39:59
  And I always go for the underdog.
• 40:01
  So, you know, I also like the American, you know, uh, licen
• 40:04
  house as well, David and Goliath.
• 40:06
  You know, imagine it somehow Clickenhouse would win, considering
• 40:09
  everything being against them.
• 40:11
  So anything is possible.
• 40:12
  Lamont chooses who he wants to win.
• 40:14
  Yeah, I would like to see Penske get a center crown for everything else he's won.
• 40:20
  He's always wanted to win LeMans and still wants it.
• 40:23
  I would love to see him get it with Porsche because he's been a
• 40:26
  Porsche guy since the beginning with Donahue and then in the 9, 17 30
• 40:30
  and and many other, you know, D H L later on in American Laman series.
• 40:33
  So who knows?
• 40:34
  Next year, you know, B M W might be coming.
• 40:37
  CRA talked about coming with a second car as well.
• 40:39
  It's a lot better than being blown away.
• 40:41
  You know, where car's up by 20 laps and there's no competition.
• 40:44
  So I prefer this battle back and forth for everybody.
• 40:48
  It's, it's more entertaining 'cause you don't know what's gonna happen in
• 40:51
  the GT classes, the production based cars, you know, we got some other
• 40:54
  shocking news and you guys just had Ben Keating for one of the legends nights
• 40:58
  on the gm, made the announcement.
• 41:00
  No more team Corvette, no more factory backed racing.
• 41:04
  They're moving to the private tier model, which is nothing new.
• 41:06
  Ferrari and Porsche have been doing that forever with like AF
• 41:09
  Corsa and all that kind of stuff.
• 41:11
  But what are your feelings on the future of Corvette at lama?
• 41:13
  They're still gonna have a Prat and Miller team.
• 41:16
  It's just not gonna be a pro team.
• 41:19
  Almost like a pseudo factor like Joyce getting, Porsche
• 41:22
  Kramer getting Porsche support.
• 41:25
  They're gonna get that from Pratton Miller.
• 41:26
  I think td, which is the car that Ben raced with the Aspen Martin last year.
• 41:31
  He won his first lamont is taking one of those Corvettes and they're doing
• 41:35
  that because around the world, all these manufacturers sell G T three cars.
• 41:40
  The G T E, you know, Lamont is a purpose built.
• 41:43
  So it's really about cost containment to keep the field alive.
• 41:47
  And with that parody with the G T three F I A regulations across
• 41:50
  the world, you're definitely gonna have more entrance and keep it more
• 41:53
  viable with in WEC and, and other.
• 41:56
  And then of course, you know it merges with Daim as well.
• 41:59
  You know that convergence again, that's what it's about.
• 42:01
  To wrap up this thought about the current LeMans, somebody asked me
• 42:06
  about Garage 56 and not necessarily the Camaro, the concept of Garage 56, right?
• 42:11
  The extra garage.
• 42:11
  The experimental garage that exists there.
• 42:14
  I had to rack my brain to think about the last time we saw a garage, 56th
• 42:18
  century, and I think it goes back to the front wheel drive Nissan or the
• 42:21
  Delta Wing and some of those other ones from 5, 6, 7 years ago or so.
• 42:25
  The reason I bring it up is the question that was posed to me was, is
• 42:28
  there always a garage 56 car and can a garage 56 car come back to Lamar?
• 42:33
  What's the future of this G T three Camaro, you know, NASCAR
• 42:37
  inspired that was at the hundredth for the experimental or garage 56.
• 42:42
  It's a car that either made a significant difference technology with this year
• 42:47
  with the hundred and nascar, 75th anniversary and the convergence.
• 42:50
  That's the main reason they.
• 42:52
  Brought NASCAR Gen three, I guess 'cause that's the new nascar.
• 42:56
  That's how that came about.
• 42:57
  But normally they're very much into sustainability and you know, with the
• 43:01
  hybrid, the, uh, the age 24, it's about those kinds of milestone events or
• 43:07
  certain things like that, that, that they have the garage 66, I believe
• 43:11
  the quadriplegic we had at Lamont.
• 43:14
  I was a garage 56.
• 43:15
  Again, showcasing the human spirit racing in Lamont.
• 43:18
  As a quadriplegic, you know those special things that don't interfere
• 43:22
  with the regulations and the categories and the wind on the other everyday
• 43:26
  competitors, but something special that merits having that garage and that's why
• 43:30
  that garage 56 is there for this year.
• 43:33
  Was a bit of a disruptor though, because there closing speeds.
• 43:36
  Trap speeds.
• 43:38
  I mean that car outperformed, I think everybody's expectations.
• 43:41
  It was super fun to watch.
• 43:42
  Oh, it was ama.
• 43:43
  It was amazing.
• 43:44
  But a lot of garage 56 cars have the reputation of really never finishing
• 43:48
  the race, and this is probably the first one in a very long time that
• 43:51
  not only finished, but kicked.
• 43:52
  But they kicked butt in the pit stops with actual NASCAR jacks,
• 43:57
  which was so much fun to watch.
• 43:58
  When you have Jim going there, since he hasn't been there since 76 when I was
• 44:03
  there, and Rick, who's super competitive and Hendrick and you know, and Jimmy
• 44:07
  and, and Mike and Jason, they're gonna make sure that that car goes well.
• 44:11
  Well, and then you've got button driving it, which was so much fun, you know?
• 44:14
  Exactly.
• 44:15
  He's hooked now.
• 44:22
  Now in, uh, racing here in America.
• 44:23
  That's great.
• 44:24
  And I think more than anybody, everybody loved that 56, that V eight thundering by
• 44:30
  more people were taking photos of that.
• 44:32
  The Europeans, the Brits, the Americans problem, they went crazy for the car.
• 44:36
  That V eight Rumble, you know, you haven't had that since the C five
• 44:39
  seven beat a couple years ago.
• 44:41
  That's racing when you hear that, you know, just blind by.
• 44:45
  So, uh, I'm all for stuff like that.
• 44:47
  That definitely raises awareness.
• 44:49
  Either for sustainability, for new technology, human endeavor.
• 44:54
  So those are great things that I think that's the reason why the, you know,
• 44:58
  they should continue that garage 56.
• 45:00
  So I think it's always been a, a popular thing.
• 45:03
  They don't always finish, but hey, you know, NASCAR boys wanted to make sure
• 45:06
  that they, oh yeah, they finished, they made a good statement and, and it was
• 45:09
  well received around the globe of action.
• 45:11
  How did you hook up with this American job with the.
• 45:16
  Auto club desk.
• 45:18
  Well, it's not a job.
• 45:19
  I'm a volunteer.
• 45:20
  Okay.
• 45:20
  The a c o was not doing much in the United States with the
• 45:23
  convergence of regulations.
• 45:26
  I guess they saw that those opportunity to, to maybe grow in the US market.
• 45:30
  About a year ago, they appointed David Lowe, one of his family
• 45:33
  member runs the A C O Club.
• 45:35
  He's a director in France, so he appointed David.
• 45:38
  Last year, maybe around, uh, October, and David started calling people
• 45:42
  that were members of the a c o and I was a member of the A C O I think
• 45:45
  there was only maybe 50 in the United States compared to 30,000 in France.
• 45:48
  So basically we, we had nothing.
• 45:50
  And a lot of times the people we just joined for the race,
• 45:53
  I just joined because I.
• 45:54
  Like to get the newsletter and always be active on Lamont.
• 45:57
  And that's how it started.
• 45:58
  And then we started a, a focus group to work on, you know, what
• 46:01
  we thought would bring people into the community, what we should do.
• 46:05
  That's where I suggested, well, the race is once a year, you need to have something
• 46:08
  more than, you know, than take a discount.
• 46:11
  And that's what we wanted to build a community.
• 46:13
  And I say, well, let's do evening with a legend.
• 46:15
  I'll get drivers and I'll, we'll start interviewing once a month.
• 46:18
  So at least.
• 46:18
  Regular folks can ask questions and get behind the scenes stories, you know,
• 46:23
  whatever you wanna ask 'em, because you don't always have access to those people.
• 46:26
  And also members meet up where members can meet up at a track.
• 46:29
  So we did the first meetup in Daytona this year actually seems like it's
• 46:33
  been more than a year already.
• 46:34
  The year's gone pretty quick and that was a success.
• 46:37
  I got Donald Leatherwood to come from Brumos, who's a crew chief
• 46:40
  for Brumos for many years, and the the members really enjoyed that.
• 46:43
  Then one of our members stepped up in Sebring, that he's a local car
• 46:46
  dealer, he's a member of the A C O.
• 46:48
  He has like four or five rental spots there at sea bringing
• 46:51
  turn one for motor homes.
• 46:52
  And we did this.
• 46:53
  Great members meet up there again, another success building, you know,
• 46:57
  camaraderie and, and everybody getting together knowing who the people are.
• 47:00
  And that's how this has evolved and grown basically from October.
• 47:05
  Till now at right around 500 members.
• 47:07
  So it, it's been a pretty steep curve at Lamont alone.
• 47:11
  I think we signed up about 89 in one day.
• 47:13
  Talked to 'em about what we're doing and so forth.
• 47:16
  A lot of it is that they don't know that the a c o even has a, a member's
• 47:19
  club and that Americans could join it.
• 47:22
  And that's what, what David and I are trying to do to get that word out to
• 47:25
  the public that's not aware of it.
• 47:27
  The biggest perk.
• 47:28
  David worked very hard for this.
• 47:29
  I know Ruben, you were involved in this as well, is getting the American.
• 47:32
  Audience, the American region of the a C o, access to the races via livestream,
• 47:37
  which has been a challenge for all of us to tune into Lamont every year.
• 47:41
  'cause you're like, is velocity carrying it?
• 47:43
  Is it speed?
• 47:44
  Is it MotorTrend, is it peacock?
• 47:46
  Who's carrying it?
• 47:47
  And when they do carry it, it's like, here's a four hour chunk, you know,
• 47:50
  we'll wait for the next one and the next one and, and it's a little clergy.
• 47:53
  But to go in there and say, I've got direct access.
• 47:55
  To the A C O and I can watch the live stream.
• 47:58
  And what was great is while we were at the hundredth, one of our guys that brought
• 48:01
  us in, also American a c o, he was like, Hey, I can put a lot up on my phone.
• 48:06
  And even though we were at La Chappelle and the Jumbotrons were there, as we
• 48:09
  were walking around, we could still watch the race from a mobile device that way.
• 48:13
  We were seeing what was going on throughout the track, which
• 48:15
  was absolutely phenomenal.
• 48:17
  For me, that's worth it.
• 48:19
  And if it expands, as David talked about on his episode, to maybe include
• 48:22
  additional WC races, which now you can get them in replay form, but we could
• 48:26
  live stream the rest of the series.
• 48:27
  Holy cow.
• 48:28
  That'd be awesome.
• 48:29
  That's what we're trying to do.
• 48:30
  We wanna get the whole WC so people can have the whole year port them out.
• 48:33
  They could have Bon uh, the spa Fuji, but yes, we wanna keep that
• 48:38
  momentum going the whole year.
• 48:39
  It's not a just Lamont.
• 48:41
  Yeah.
• 48:41
  You know, the ACO is our brand.
• 48:43
  Laman is our race, but there is other races, date races, you know,
• 48:47
  and we definitely want to continue that vibe moving all year long.
• 48:51
  And that's why now at Petite Laman, we're gonna do another member's meetup
• 48:54
  at Petite to get another group of people.
• 48:57
  Recently, uh, we've had a, a member that, uh, from the Pillow Club join us and we've
• 49:02
  spoken about doing regional events where we have 20, 30 members across the country.
• 49:06
  We'll have a, a small regional get together for.
• 49:09
  We can know who all we are.
• 49:10
  You know, maybe we'll surprise him with, you know, a legend
• 49:13
  showing up at one of these events.
• 49:14
  So those are the things to bring people into the community
• 49:18
  because that's what we want.
• 49:19
  We don't, we don't want the club that you could get, this kinded the race.
• 49:22
  That's a benefit.
• 49:23
  It's about having a community, the whole year of passionate people that love
• 49:27
  lamont, that love endurance racing.
• 49:30
  Says, well, we welcome everybody.
• 49:31
  We don't exclude anybody.
• 49:33
  We want people that are passionate and, and just get together
• 49:36
  and, and enjoy our passion.
• 49:37
  Share our our stories as well.
• 49:40
  Soreen, not only are you right hand man to David, part of the board, you know, making
• 49:44
  all this stuff happen at the A C O U S A.
• 49:46
  You're also in charge of social media marketing, all that.
• 49:49
  You run the A C O U S A Facebook group, which is for members only.
• 49:53
  Then you have the night with the legends.
• 49:55
  Do you wanna expand upon that and explain to people like what all those
• 49:59
  different pieces are really about?
• 50:00
  The Facebook group was my idea to get to people that don't read the newsletter.
• 50:04
  Because a lot of times you get an email, don't open it.
• 50:07
  We get so much spam, you know, just another avenue we get the message
• 50:10
  out, you know, whatever we put in the newsletter, I'll put on on the
• 50:13
  Facebook group, whatever comes from LeMans as well, I'll put there so we
• 50:17
  can have a daily reminder of something.
• 50:19
  It keeps.
• 50:20
  Lemons in the people's mind.
• 50:23
  I'll come up with stuff, you know, that I'll pull up from all over.
• 50:26
  You know, before the hundred there was so many events, you know, a chocolate event
• 50:29
  that Lamonts that did chocolate, that track, and all kinds of unique things.
• 50:33
  So I'll put that in there to bring that flavor because our vision is.
• 50:37
  For the people that can never get to Lamont, we wanna bring Lamont to them
• 50:41
  and bring it to them on a daily or weekly basis, you know, and the monthly zoom,
• 50:45
  you know, again, access to a legend.
• 50:47
  Some of these legends, you know, their days are numbered, the ones
• 50:49
  in the seventies and so forth, you know, the, the bells, the red mints.
• 50:53
  And so the, you know, dreads and they're in their eighties plus, so it's
• 50:57
  building that connection with them.
• 50:58
  They, you know, they make, like me, when I was there, I saw 'em, but I
• 51:02
  didn't get to talk to them, you know?
• 51:04
  Now, later on, I'm, I'm catching up, I guess.
• 51:06
  By doing this.
• 51:07
  And, and I love it, you know, chasing them down to do the zoom
• 51:10
  and, and really get into their story, how they felt in the car.
• 51:13
  You know, good or bad.
• 51:15
  'cause Lamont, you know, you won't win Lamont.
• 51:17
  Lamont chooses you.
• 51:18
  So everybody's got a, a story there for sure.
• 51:20
  And you know, and I just wanna get that out to people that want
• 51:23
  to hear it from our legends.
• 51:24
  When we had David on, he talked about some of the other events you're planning,
• 51:28
  like The Blown Away, which is on the original America's Cup winning ship and
• 51:31
  some other things you guys have planned.
• 51:33
  What are those events about and what else is on the radar that
• 51:36
  people should be interested in?
• 51:37
  It's about building a community and getting people together.
• 51:40
  I.
• 51:40
  Blown away.
• 51:41
  One of our members owns the Gun America, the sail ship that the
• 51:45
  America's Cup is named after.
• 51:46
  And so he graciously donated the boat for the members to do a meetup.
• 51:50
  So we're actually doing, uh, in San Diego, a small group of members and
• 51:54
  about six or seven legends who will all be together for about 40 people.
• 51:58
  So it's very intimate.
• 51:59
  You get to sail for two hours with the legends and then
• 52:02
  we'll have a formal dinner.
• 52:03
  Two of the possible visitors that are gonna reunite after 30 years for that
• 52:08
  event is, uh, doc Bundy and Jim Bugsby.
• 52:11
  They haven't been together for 30 years.
• 52:13
  That's amazing.
• 52:14
  God willing, you know, to be in the room on the wall when these two
• 52:17
  legends get together after so many years, it should be a memorable event.
• 52:21
  And that's something money can't buy.
• 52:23
  You could only access that by being a member of the a c O in the us.
• 52:27
  So those are the things that we're planning.
• 52:29
  Bringing people in access to some of these legends.
• 52:32
  There might be heroes for them.
• 52:34
  They know their story, but they never met in person because in a racetrack
• 52:37
  it probably won't ever meet them.
• 52:38
  So it has to be some of these social events meetups, and this is
• 52:41
  what we're bringing to people, you know, whatever we can put together.
• 52:45
  And you might ask, well, what does the sailboat have to do with.
• 52:49
  It's racing.
• 52:51
  No, no.
• 52:51
  But Briggs Cunningham in 1958 won the America's Cup.
• 52:55
  Wow.
• 52:56
  So there's the connection.
• 52:58
  I found that connection.
• 52:59
  So see, and actually, uh uh, I don't know if Briggs grandson might be coming.
• 53:03
  I'm a sailor and I'm a racer, and.
• 53:06
  It all touches the same part of your heart and your brain.
• 53:11
  Let's go fast.
• 53:11
  Even if there's light wind, you know, if we've got four knots of wind and
• 53:14
  we're putting the spinnaker up and we're chilling and it's a slow race, I'm
• 53:18
  like, well, we're just gonna enjoy this race, but we're gonna beat the guy and.
• 53:23
  About the company.
• 53:23
  If I'm driving 135 horsepower B m W versus a 500 horsepower Mustang or
• 53:29
  something, you know, it's, it's just all different degrees of the same thing.
• 53:32
  So see, these are the kind of things that you say, wow, you
• 53:35
  know, there is a connection.
• 53:36
  I guess racing is racing, you know, but that's where we could say,
• 53:39
  okay, there's a Lamont connection.
• 53:40
  That's good to know.
• 53:41
  I, I'll definitely be, uh, getting on board.
• 53:44
  It sounds like a, a, a great group of people.
• 53:47
  Well, Ruben, we've come to that part of the episode where I get to
• 53:50
  ask any shoutouts, promotions or anything else you'd like to share
• 53:53
  that we haven't covered thus far.
• 53:55
  Being part of the A C O I think is the number one thing that I
• 53:57
  want continue the shout out on.
• 53:59
  I really want people to look at our members page, see
• 54:02
  the benefits that are there.
• 54:03
  It goes beyond the page.
• 54:05
  I mean, we could only list a couple stuff there.
• 54:07
  It's about building connection with other members locally or racetracks across
• 54:11
  the country, you know, and sharing the stories, just like we shared tonight.
• 54:15
  My story with you and just our experiences, and I think we'd
• 54:19
  all be better off as humans by participating in events like this and.
• 54:22
  This is exactly what we want to bring out as being part of a member of the A C O.
• 54:27
  And it's not which car you drive, like some of the car clubs, if you
• 54:30
  don't have the car, you can't join.
• 54:32
  You know, we want people that are passionate about racing, whether it's
• 54:34
  lamont, ssa, we just want to get together, share stories, bring access to people,
• 54:39
  legends that you'll never get otherwise.
• 54:42
  Andretti, Redmond, you know.
• 54:44
  Bugsby, whoever they are.
• 54:45
  And those are the kinds of things that I wanna get out.
• 54:48
  And through this podcast and some of the other avenues that we're trying, we peeled
• 54:52
  back the many layers of Ruben's racing history, delving into the trials and
• 54:56
  triumphs of unsung heroes from the dusty back roads of their humble beginnings
• 55:00
  to the international racing circuits.
• 55:02
  Many of us can identify with Ruben's journey, the dreams resilience,
• 55:06
  and the unbreakable spirit that fuels our pursuits in motorsports.
• 55:10
  To learn more about Reuben or to chat about the ACO O S A, reach out to him
• 55:13
  via email at rSanchez@acolemons.org.
• 55:19
  If you'd like to become a member of the aco, look no further
• 55:22
  than www do lemons do org.
• 55:25
  Click on English in the upper right corner, and then.
• 55:28
  Click on the link on the a c o members tab for the club offers.
• 55:31
  As a member, you can follow all the action on the Facebook
• 55:34
  group, A C O U Ss A Members Club.
• 55:37
  And with that, Ruben, can't thank you enough for coming on
• 55:39
  Break Fix and sharing your story.
• 55:41
  It's an inspiration to all of us to start in Motorsport.
• 55:45
  It's such a young age, and continue this journey for a lifespan.
• 55:49
  A lot of people will get into Motorsport for a couple years and get out.
• 55:52
  You know, we say that it's a sport of convenience and not
• 55:54
  of loyalty, but you're the.
• 55:55
  Example that we look up to of a loyal diehard motorsport enthusiast, thank
• 56:00
  you for giving back and being part of the A C O and making this something
• 56:04
  for everybody that we can all share in.
• 56:06
  Well, thank you for having me.
• 56:07
  Yes, it's a lifelong passion and we speak to my family members.
• 56:10
  They know that I wanna primate it and be put on the moose song.
• 56:14
  You know, I started at six with McQueen and I wanna end there whenever that day
• 56:18
  comes, hopefully many years from now.
• 56:20
  That's my passion.
• 56:21
  I share that exact dream.
• 56:23
  I get that.
• 56:24
  Yeah, real pleasure to meet you Reuben.
• 56:27
  Are you tired of just sitting in the pits?
• 56:29
  Explore the many advantages of becoming an A C O member today.
• 56:33
  A C O membership benefits exclusive to the United States include live streaming
• 56:38
  of the 24 hours of the laman free practices, 1, 2, 3, and four qualifying
• 56:43
  hyper poll, morning warmup, and the race.
• 56:46
  You can get your member name on the fan wall at the famous Lamont circuit.
• 56:51
  Invitations to an evening with a Legend series, presentations that are exclusive
• 56:56
  to U S A members, where a legend of the famous 24 hours will share stories
• 57:00
  and highlights of the big event, regular interactive video conferences
• 57:03
  featuring technical experts and racing personalities, as well as a c o.
• 57:08
  U s a member merchandise, but most of all, as a member of the Automobile
• 57:12
  Club of the West in the United States, you'll be part of a community of
• 57:16
  fans that share your passion for the excitement of the 24 hours of LeMans
• 57:21
  and endurance racing around the world.
• 57:24
  If you'd like to become a member of the a C o, look no further than
• 57:27
  www.laman.org, click on English in the upper right corner and then click on
• 57:33
  the ACO members tab for club offers.
• 57:40
  If you like what you've heard and want to learn more about G T M, be sure to
• 57:43
  check us out on www.gt motorsports.org.
• 57:47
  You can also find us on Instagram at Grand Tour Motorsports.
• 57:51
  Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call
• 57:55
  our text us at (202) 630-1770 or send us an email at Crew chief@gtmotorsports.org.
• 58:03
  We'd love to hear from you.
• 58:05
  Hey everybody, crew Chief Eric here.
• 58:07
  We really hope you enjoyed this episode of Break Fix, and we wanted
• 58:11
  to remind you that G T M remains a no annual fees organization, and our goal
• 58:16
  is to continue to bring you quality episodes like this one at no charge.
• 58:21
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• 58:48
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• 58:53
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