Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Evening With A Legend: Rick Knoop

Transcript

Evening With A Legend: Rick Knoop · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

0:00
Evening with the Legend is a series of presentations exclusive to
0:03
Legends of the Famous 24 Hours of Le Mans, giving us an opportunity
0:07
to bring a piece of Le Mans to you.
0:09
By sharing stories and highlights of the big event, you get a chance
0:13
to become part of the Legend of Le Mans, with guests from different
0:16
eras of over 100 years of racing.
0:19
So Rick noob's driving record at le mans is a testament to his enduring skill
0:38
and dedication to the sport of endurance racing Throughout his career, Rick has
0:41
participated in multiple auditions of the prestigious 24 Hours, showcasing
0:46
his prowess behind the wheel on one of motorsports most demanding stages.
0:50
His driving performances have often been marked by a combination of
0:54
speed, consistency, and adaptability as he navigated the challenges
0:58
posed by the track alongside of some of the world's finest drivers.
1:01
And with that, I'm your host, Crew Chief Eric from the Motoring
1:04
Podcast Network, welcoming everyone to this evening with a legend.
1:08
Rick, welcome to the show.
1:10
Thank you.
1:11
Every legend has an origin story, so let's start with yours.
1:14
Rick, you come from humble beginnings.
1:16
What was your road to Le Mans like?
1:18
Well, it was interesting.
1:20
My father taught me how to drive when I was about eight years old in a parking
1:24
lot in a little Volkswagen Beetle.
1:27
That summer, I was driving pickup trucks at the ranch, sitting on
1:32
a pillow and propping myself up.
1:34
As I was getting older, my job in the springtime was to
1:38
start all the equipment up.
1:39
The D4 Caterpillar, the water wagon, the loader, hauling hay and, and that.
1:44
I've driven a lot of different utility cars.
1:49
I got my driver's license.
1:50
My first car, and it sounds grandiose, was a Porsche.
1:53
I bought a 64 SC, which was the last, as you know, the 356s.
1:58
But it was 2, 200 back then, which was a lot of money.
2:02
Fast forward, I went to college and I had a BMW 2002 TII.
2:09
My first time on the racetrack was 1974 and I did a hill climb at
2:15
Willow Springs International Raceway.
2:17
Little did I know that I'd be teaching there and became one of
2:21
the foremost test tracks for me in my affiliation with Jim Busby.
2:25
Then I ran an Alfa Romeo in 1977.
2:29
I got my regional license.
2:30
I was fortunate enough to win the B sedan regional.
2:33
The next year I went right into pro racing, driving an RSR, which was 1978.
2:39
Jim Busby racing was preparing the car.
2:42
Lo and behold, I meet Jim Busby and 48 years later, he's a dear friend of mine.
2:47
And.
2:47
We went to Daytona, to Le Mans, to Monza, to the Nürburgring,
2:52
Watkins, all the major tracks.
2:55
How did you get to Le Mans?
2:56
1978 was my first year, 24 years old.
3:00
I had finished six overall with Bob Aiken and Steve Earle.
3:03
Steve Earle, you might know as being the moderator of historic car races.
3:07
We figured if we were vintage racing, we could probably keep a car
3:11
alive at the Pepsi Rolex 24 hour.
3:14
We finished six overall.
3:16
We went to the mobile one, 12 hours of Sebring.
3:18
Then we were fifth overall.
3:20
Now I've got WEC points and Jim Busby had watched over the shoulder
3:25
and said, this guy new is consistent and I won't speak for him, but said,
3:30
you know, he brings these cars home.
3:32
And I think being smooth, consistent, and concentration in the background
3:35
of driving various cars, trucks, and private's license and all,
3:40
I have eye to hand coordination.
3:42
Now, Busby says to me, would you like to go to Le Mans?
3:46
And I think I was third in the world championship.
3:49
I was 24 and I said, go to Le Mans.
3:52
How does that work?
3:53
He said, well, Manfred and Erwin Kramer are going to do three cars.
3:57
We'd like one car to have American drivers.
4:00
There was two other drivers that were willing to buy a ride type format.
4:06
I guess Buzz really wasn't too keen on them.
4:09
So he said, Rick, you have anybody that might be able to help in this?
4:13
And I said, Chris Cord.
4:15
Chris and I had been, uh, running at Steve Earle's events and he'd been driving a
4:20
365 Daytona with John Morton, Milt Mentor.
4:24
Lo and behold, Manfred and Erwin Kramer said, that's a good idea,
4:29
we just don't know about this new, has he ever driven a turbo?
4:32
That's sort of how it came to happen and the next thing I knew,
4:37
we were an all American team.
4:39
All from California, driving for a company in Cologne, Germany called Kramer Racing.
4:45
And we had a fantastic run there.
4:47
So when you look at your entrance into Le Mans, you're actually
4:51
coming in at about the midpoint.
4:52
It had already been about 50 years old, celebrating that anniversary.
4:56
Was that your first European race?
4:58
And if so, what was it like when you got there?
5:01
How did it compare to racing in the United States?
5:03
What kind of emotions were you going through turning your
5:06
first qualifying laps at Lamont?
5:07
Well, I'd been to Europe a couple of times.
5:10
My mother was nice enough to get us a little bit of a, on a sightseeing,
5:14
but first time you're very correct was racing in my wildest dreams,
5:19
the nine seventies, the John wire cars, the Porsches, the GT forties.
5:23
I was a big fan of.
5:24
Really had a lot of respect.
5:26
I knew I'd really have to ante up to my game.
5:29
I had to have the integrity, had to earn the trust to be responsible.
5:34
And we went out there and I had a lot on my shoulders.
5:38
I guess you could say it's a natural ability I was born with.
5:42
And that is to swing a backhoe correctly and to load and unload.
5:46
And I had a hand.
5:48
And when I was asked to get into the car for the first time, And Eric,
5:52
as you know, this is pre chicane, so the Mulsanne is approximately
5:57
just a little short of four miles.
5:59
Before I got into the car, Manfred Erwin Kramer asked Busby, uh,
6:02
has Newt ever driven a turbo?
6:04
Busby says, has he ever driven a turbo?
6:07
That was the answer.
6:08
So that wasn't yes or no.
6:10
And I'd never have, but I'd been driving some McLaren, some big,
6:14
big, fast cars at Monterey at Steve Earl's been driving those since 1975.
6:19
I still to this day, drive them.
6:21
So the shock wave or the power to wait, wasn't going to just say, Oh crap.
6:26
The spooling up of the, not one, but two turbos, all that sound
6:31
almost like indigestion and the marvelous flames on the overrun.
6:35
And I got to tell you my first lap there, just trying to be smooth.
6:40
And I was earning a reputation, anything I left, I'd get the equipment
6:44
back to the barn, the vintage races.
6:47
I would go out there and gradually start rolling the volume on
6:51
in terms of its potential.
6:53
I love to explore, but I don't get crazy.
6:56
I do a little bit of sprint car stuff.
6:58
I just have a knack, I guess, and this isn't a self assessment,
7:02
but I love going in and explore a little bit, a little bit more.
7:07
And most of the time, at the end of the day, I do a pretty darn good job
7:11
for never been to the track before, and that's indeed what happened at Le Mans.
7:15
But the first time going down that Mulsanne, and we didn't have simulators
7:20
then, we had to rent a car the week before, and I just started to hear the
7:25
whistle, and both of them starting to feed me and going back under the accelerator.
7:29
Four speed, aluminum cage.
7:31
open face helmet and you knew that if something was to happen, it
7:35
probably wasn't going to be good.
7:37
But gosh darn it, with the two drivers, Jim Busby, who really said you can do
7:42
this, but the butterflies were real.
7:45
And what's funny about that is if anybody's ever gotten the
7:48
opportunity to drive an original 930 turbo, which I have, you feel like
7:52
you're getting hit in the chest.
7:54
It's incredible the amount of power that those cars could
7:56
put down with a single turbo.
7:57
So I can't imagine what it's like behind the wheel of a 935.
8:01
I've also heard that the 935s can be visceral and vicious at the same time.
8:05
So what was the biggest learning moment with those cars at Le Mans?
8:09
That's a great way to describe it.
8:11
When the 930s came out, you'd count to three and then they'd get with it.
8:15
It's called lag.
8:16
The twin turbos, it takes a bit, it's half sprint car, it's a very physical
8:22
car to drive, and I've driven NASCAR as well, I, I almost exaggerate my steering
8:27
wheel way up front, because when you start getting spirited in them, and mind
8:33
you, bringing it back and exploring, you know there's a whole chapter of
8:36
this book on what this car will do, but you better learn to dance with not only
8:42
Integrity don't put it through the fence.
8:45
You'll lose all your momentum.
8:46
So I explored very carefully.
8:48
And then we started to rotate it.
8:50
But you got to be careful tire management.
8:52
This is a track with a 4 mile straight away.
8:54
And my God, I came into the pits after the 1st session.
8:59
My father said I looked up to him because he was standing up and
9:02
my eyes were the size of a plate.
9:05
And he said, Rick, let's go for a walk.
9:07
It's the most amazing feeling.
9:09
I knew I could do it, but I had no idea.
9:11
The reflective signs saying that where the track, where the kink is,
9:15
they had a way of illuminating a track that I had not seen at Daytona.
9:19
But mind you, I'd only been to Daytona for the first time.
9:23
I went to Sebring for the first time.
9:25
Now, baby, we're at Le Mans.
9:27
Even in 1978, they had a way of really guiding you through that black forest.
9:33
Because as you know, a small part of Le Mans is actually a racetrack.
9:36
You're flying through a countryside.
9:38
No, you try not to fly, but you know what I'm saying, you're just zooming.
9:42
One of the things I've heard about Lamar is one of the toughest times
9:45
to drive isn't necessarily at night.
9:48
It's when the sun is coming up, you know, on those dawn hours, but also
9:51
the weather is super random at Lamar.
9:53
It could be raining on one side and not on the other.
9:55
There's other tracks in the United States are like that too.
9:57
Watkins Glen, which you're familiar with, is like, that could be raining in
10:00
the boot and sunny on the other side.
10:02
What did you find to be challenging or not so much compared to
10:06
some of your competitors?
10:07
Did you have an advantage at night or in the rain or anything like that?
10:10
You're very accurate in saying one place I'll tell you is spa.
10:14
It has a whole different weather system as well.
10:17
Watkins Glen, what we were talking about earlier, has the kind of topography
10:22
that the water actually drains.
10:24
Mid Ohio, it puddles.
10:26
Lime Rock, it puddles.
10:28
The biggest plus in all that, I'm not trying to be negative, there's a lot of
10:32
variables here, but the one thing that is neat, there's so many neat things
10:36
about Le Mans, and Busby told me this, Le Mans isn't a race, it is And boy,
10:42
if that doesn't get you before you go out and you know, you've got a world
10:45
audience, but what I'm getting at is the one plus is that the nighttime, as you
10:51
know, is shorter, it gets dark at about 11, because that place at nighttime when
10:57
you're a freshman, like I was, and I saw some things that weren't too pretty
11:00
there in terms of cars getting air.
11:03
The consistency, which I'm noted for, and my concentration was at an all time high
11:09
because we get into wake turbulence there.
11:12
We get into the overruns of the Renault that won that year.
11:17
Once you get out of the throttle, it's like a flamethrower, and you can
11:21
almost use that to your advantage.
11:22
I've driven with the Angaisses, the Foytes, all those guys, and we used
11:26
to giggle at the end of just loading that turbo up, you get out of it hard.
11:30
And you have a flamethrower, very much so at Le Mans.
11:33
Your eyes have to readjust from your pupils going large and small.
11:37
And the rain there, you've got to be very mindful.
11:41
That's a big word in my life.
11:43
You don't want to come home on the hook, but you want to keep exploring, but have
11:47
a baseline to keep the consistency going.
11:50
And God, you can't believe how many people are there.
11:53
Jesus.
11:54
I mean, they're everywhere.
11:55
They're camping the Peugeot Club, the Maserati, the Fiat Topolinos.
12:00
I mean, it is just a complete woodstock with cars going over 200 miles an hour.
12:05
I mean, it's something else.
12:07
So let's switch gears and talk a little bit about competition and in some
12:11
respects, rivalries, because that's an important part of racing, right?
12:14
We're not out there just turning laps.
12:16
We're trying to win.
12:17
And at Lamar, as we know, it's a multi class situation.
12:20
And so people are trying to win their class.
12:21
They're trying to win overall.
12:22
There's a lot of.
12:23
Traffic out there and things like that.
12:25
But when you went there the first time in the late seventies and
12:28
into the early eighties, the nine 35 was an extremely popular car.
12:32
I think we can rattle off other names that drove nine 35s, whether it's
12:36
Garrison, Ray Hall, Redmond, and so on down the line, what was it like being
12:41
out there with the other nine 35s?
12:43
And did you have any rivals on the track?
12:45
Oh, yeah.
12:46
And I'm glad you brought that up.
12:47
It was almost an Iraq series with nine 35s.
12:50
Dick Barber racing had three cars, Paul Newman, Brian Redmond.
12:55
You got a squadron of all of these nine 35s.
12:58
You got the nine 35 Moby Dick with Jochen Moss and Jackie X.
13:02
So that was basically the prototype version.
13:04
Of course, the index set performance or power to weight was very,
13:08
very similar in the nine 35s.
13:10
And Porsche's always had a gaggle or a squadron of cars out.
13:14
So in order to run in the top 10%, you know, you're crossing your
13:19
T's, you're dotting your eyes.
13:20
You're being quiet and you're just trying to be a blue angel on the asphalt.
13:25
You have to keep your formation with military discipline.
13:28
You have to keep your smoothness like your water skiing.
13:31
And you just are very aware.
13:33
Now, Judy Stropas, before we had transponders, I was always so honored
13:39
that I was on teams that Judy was on because she came from where.
13:42
Roger Penske and Mark Donahue.
13:44
So I knew that these teams that I was so honored to be a part of departmentally,
13:50
we had a Rover that would Jack the cars up in the list and that, but in the specific
13:55
fields, we had the other nine 30 flies.
13:57
That's a brilliant point because it was like an Iraq.
13:59
Like I said, all the cars.
14:02
Power to weight were the same, but you want to take a little
14:04
wing out of it because it's a four mile straightaway, Rick.
14:07
And that's how Jim Busby and I have worked with race cars.
14:10
We look at the straightaway first, not only for gearing, but should we take
14:14
some wing out and make it cleaner?
14:17
Well, you know, what's going to happen.
14:18
It gets looser, less.
14:21
The grip comes on at 170 on.
14:23
So there's some variables there, world audience, and what an honor to be
14:28
selected all California team running for Cologne, Germany, the Kramers.
14:33
And you're darn right.
14:34
We had categories group five that year and group six and the group six cars.
14:39
And I think we qualified at Jim Busby at a 209.
14:43
Okay.
14:43
So we ran some boost up.
14:45
I'm going to give you an accurate number.
14:46
I'd say we were going 193 to 195, not one lap, every lap.
14:52
And we get into vibrating the steering wheel and holy cow, and then you
14:56
look in the rearview mirror and you see boom, boom, the blinking of the
15:00
lights, and it's a 936 going by.
15:02
And you look at it going by.
15:04
And it's a crown road and you say, I wonder if my body work is kind of, it
15:09
was like a piece of binder paper, not dangerous, mind you, and not like an
15:12
accordion, but it has some wiggle room in it and you're going, man, god, this
15:17
isn't doing solo one in a parking lot.
15:19
We're doing the real deal here.
15:21
Warren also writes, who was the toughest guy to pass among the various
15:25
935 drivers we talked about earlier?
15:27
Oh, yak and moss for sure.
15:29
Hell of a driver.
15:30
And I'll tell you another guy that was just absolutely unreal and it
15:35
tore my heart out was Stephan Beloff.
15:38
Sheer speed, but he ended up getting killed.
15:41
When I had earned the right to get into the GTP prototypes with the tunnels and
15:46
everything, in the 956s in Europe that Beloff was killed in, and then the 962s.
15:52
I raced with Beloff prior to his accident, but y'all can Moss.
15:56
There's no not nonsense.
15:57
AJ Foy doesn't have a lot of patients and there's a little
16:01
bit of I'm AJ and that's okay.
16:03
But you know, I learned to know if we're going to bring the goods home.
16:08
Just get over it.
16:09
Count to five, even though you're going 190.
16:11
Let them have the track, because gosh darn it, any entitlement in
16:15
endurance racing normally doesn't bring you, you know, a trophy.
16:19
You have to really cool it.
16:20
You don't drive like you're in a parade by any means, but you drive
16:23
with absolute 100 percent focus, concentration, and smoothness.
16:29
So let's do a little myth busting here.
16:30
Since you're talking about modifying your 935s, were you one of the
16:33
fortunate teams that had one of these experimental limited slip differentials?
16:38
I've heard these wives tales about pit crews that would push the 935s through
16:43
the paddock through scrutineering and scrub their feet on the ground.
16:46
So it sounded like there was a locker in there and not an LSD.
16:49
So were you fortunate to have this new technology?
16:52
Oh my God, if it happened, I would hope to hell it had a limited slip.
16:56
I boy, that way you describe that is classic because you can't push
17:00
those through the garage area and the tennis shoes chirping.
17:04
I honestly can't answer that for you.
17:06
Now, as the years came on and I drove other nine 35s, they were full lockers.
17:10
That's why you really commit yourself in those.
17:13
If you start losing track after, you know, you're tracking in.
17:17
Apex and middle and whack it.
17:19
And if you don't get it to rotate, you're going right through the fence.
17:22
So I can't answer what we had at Lamar, but I have to tell
17:26
you it was enough for me.
17:28
I like that word exploring don't crash, but explore a little bit.
17:33
And then after a while, you are going faster with more rhythm, more consistency.
17:37
It's like a water slide.
17:39
And a lot of the students I have, it's water skiing on the pavement.
17:42
And it's a beautiful thing to watch.
17:44
And you watch this enough in slow motion, a car at Lamar or any track
17:48
that's got speed, the cars are actually drifting unless you're on the
17:53
banking with force grip at Daytona.
17:55
But the rest of the time, if you've got the car set up pretty well, it's pretty
18:00
neat entire management and all that.
18:02
But that's a long answer.
18:03
But I'll tell you what, there was a lot of nine thirty fives and I
18:06
was proud to win the group five.
18:08
As you mentioned, you've driven a lot of cars in your day and a
18:11
couple other brands that you're associated with are Mazda and Lola's.
18:15
So how do they compare to the Porsches?
18:17
And of all the other cars you've driven in your racing career, what's
18:20
your favorite or maybe least favorite?
18:22
Well, I think I'd have to go on my favorite memory and we're going back to
18:26
what we're talking about tonight, Le Mans.
18:28
That was the big world coverage.
18:30
I think in terms of what got me recognized, I don't really need my
18:35
ego to be fed, but just to showcase.
18:38
What happened to me, I always have a special, special
18:41
place in my heart for a 935.
18:43
Now I've driven the M20 McLarens, I've driven sprint cars, I've driven for
18:48
the Mazda factory, you're correct.
18:50
I drove for Mazda North America.
18:52
I've always loved to have had manufacturer, they call it
18:56
brands now, support and couple it with a tire manufacturer.
19:00
Been driving Can Am cars since 1975.
19:03
They really get with it.
19:05
My memories when I was a kid prior to my racing licenses, when that green
19:10
flag came out at a Canadian American gold cup race, the world shook and
19:15
it was not only visually unreal, but the audio grandstands would shake and
19:19
I don't need to be ZZ top when I go somewhere, but you know, something's
19:24
happening when you drive a Can Am car.
19:26
What happened later is I developed the Ferrari 512 with Lee Dykstra.
19:31
Because we were having trouble with camber changes, but I would say
19:35
Porsche has never failed me and I'm damn fortunate to tell you I've
19:40
never put them into the fence either.
19:42
If they were to go out, we've had a mechanical problem and I take a lot
19:46
of pride in being able to say that.
19:48
But the nine 62s.
19:51
Obviously, another Porsche, as you were mentioning, almost an IROC type category.
19:56
Been very fortunate to have not just equipment, but tried,
19:59
trued, and fresh equipment.
20:01
Cold starts and drive train warm ups really pays off in the long run.
20:05
And the day before paddle shifting and sequential boxes, they would match us
20:10
who's nice in the car that is crisp, accurate, and has traffic management.
20:14
And traffic management's a big one.
20:16
You don't just fly like a funnel and to turn one, you don't do
20:20
it halfway through at 12 hours.
20:22
Sometimes you give away, so you're going around and like, where's that car?
20:27
It's in the fence because he felt entitled.
20:29
There's a lot of things you do behind the wheel.
20:32
And now that we developed the in car cameras.
20:34
Yes, people can see now, but you really got to be pretty grown up about it.
20:39
Cause I was young and I knew that.
20:41
Yeah, well, he's just 24.
20:43
He's at Le Mans.
20:43
He was over his head because I take a lot of stuff personally.
20:46
So Warren writes, do you think the modern Le Mans WEC IMSA cars are harder to
20:52
drive than what you had back in the day?
20:54
No, you have both hands on the steering wheel all the time.
20:59
You don't have to take one hand off to shift.
21:01
I believe the accuracy of downforce or ground effects, the ability to concentrate
21:06
totally on a car that is more durable.
21:10
Matching the revs and all that is all done for you.
21:13
I've been in both worlds, not the newer ones, but to answer your questions.
21:17
No, the cars that I was driving were much more physical and much more demanding
21:22
on having drivers matched correctly.
21:25
If one guy isn't shifting correctly, your whole race is gone.
21:29
So the short answer is.
21:31
The cars are easier to drive.
21:33
The loads are heavier, but the seats are better and the Hans is better.
21:37
It's kind of a multi edged sword, but I would say for driver,
21:41
the accuracy is promoted on the downforce, the grip, and the ability
21:44
to keep your hands on the wheel.
21:46
As you know, coaching high performance driver's education and things like that.
21:50
Some of the modern hypercars are better than the race cars from 40 years
21:54
ago, and they're on the street today.
21:55
So there's a lot to be said about the evolution of technology as well.
21:59
Many of the cars, the GT3 RSs, the GT2 RSs, and you're very accurate on that.
22:04
I'm instructing With cars that have the driver aids, the
22:08
ABS and the traction control.
22:10
But I got to tell you what, they are all business and they are built.
22:14
Porsche's always had the ergonomics that you loved.
22:17
A Lola's a Lola, a March's a March.
22:19
When you get in a Porsche race car you go, Tim, by way of Scott, writes,
22:23
Is there a car that you wished you could have driven at Le Mans, either
22:27
contemporary or from the past?
22:29
I've driven some from the past.
22:31
Series 2 GTO Ferrari, which was just beautiful.
22:35
The 3 liter Colombo V12.
22:38
And not because of the cost of them, but because I've driven one of those.
22:42
I'd love to drive a 936.
22:44
That would be the Jackie, X, and Jock and Moss car.
22:47
And that's exactly what I did a couple of months ago at Rentsport.
22:50
I got into a 962.
22:52
I looked to the left, looked to the right.
22:54
I'd love to answer that question in another Porsche, but a 936
22:59
Longtail, for me, it gives me chills.
23:01
I love them.
23:02
Lamar was your first race outside the continental United States.
23:06
It wasn't your last race in Europe or outside of the U S
23:10
your subsequent returns to Lamar.
23:12
How did it change?
23:14
And how did Lamar's change you?
23:15
Well, I went back in 1984 in the Lola chassis with my involvement with Mazda.
23:22
Jim Busby flew to Japan and the Lola six one six was conceived
23:27
at Eric Brodley from Lola.
23:29
It was originally a car that was gonna be produced for the DFV for Cosworth.
23:35
I was part of Mazda and Jim.
23:38
I'd done more races with him since our victory at Lamont, and now it's 1984.
23:43
And we ended up striking a deal, or Jim Busby racing did with Mazda.
23:48
And we did a world effort putting a Mazda motor, which is very minimal
23:53
on the torque characteristics.
23:55
It doesn't really hurt the drive shafts and compression and rebound and all that.
24:00
It comes on almost like a turbo, as you know, a rotary engine.
24:03
So then we were able to put together a package that we were going to
24:08
go for the group C2 championship.
24:10
Lo and behold, we debuted the car with BF Goodrich.
24:14
I drove with Boy Hia from the Netherlands, Jim Busby, and myself.
24:19
The other car was Parosh Yashada from Japan, John Osteen, and Pete Halsmer.
24:25
So we're prepping ourselves to see if it will run where?
24:28
At Le Mans.
24:29
So we indeed had a problem at the 24 hour race and we decided to
24:33
miss Sebring, but now I'm back at Le Mans with the two car team.
24:37
And how did it change with still no chicanes?
24:41
I've got a softer engine than the brute power of my first win there.
24:46
I hate to say brute with Porsches because they're such
24:48
a lovely surprise all the time.
24:50
It isn't a big jackhammer going off.
24:53
It just keeps going and going.
24:55
It makes marvelous sounds, those turbos.
24:58
So now we're there in the Mazda.
25:00
How did it change?
25:01
Well, I'm back there now, six years later.
25:04
I'm starting to reap some of the benefits of when I was 24, and the
25:08
word was getting out about me, and I was an endurance racing specialist.
25:12
That wasn't a self title, but I would bring cars back.
25:16
We're now going to not only go to Le Mans, but we're going to go to Monza,
25:20
we're going to go to the Nürburgring, we're going to go to Mount Fuji.
25:23
Just prior to Le Mans, Jim and I won at Monza, Italy, so
25:27
we knew the cars were good.
25:29
It was a thousand kilometers, but at Le Mans, same crowd, got three to four
25:34
hundred thousand people, or whatever it was, were riding the tail of an
25:37
awful lot of public relations now.
25:40
Mazda has been gracious enough to not only have me transfer again with my
25:45
longtime friend Busby and there we are with two cars, beautiful livery.
25:49
The one thing about Busby Racing is the cars are almost like a Peter Max
25:53
poster, but damn it, they can win Pebble Beach or Amelia, but they really,
25:58
uh, You've got the reliability when you get out of the car and your co
26:02
drivers, you know, you're in good hands.
26:04
Remember this is before paddle shifts.
26:06
Obviously you have to be crisp in your shifting.
26:10
You don't power shift.
26:11
You have to be nice because this isn't one hour.
26:14
It's not six hours.
26:15
It's not 12 hour, it's 24 hours and you've got your cards on the table.
26:20
You're at a race that the world knows about and we're out there.
26:23
It's such an honor.
26:25
We ran damn well, two car team.
26:27
We were first and third in group C2.
26:31
So what happened there?
26:32
Lola was showcased, Mazda was extremely happy.
26:36
And we're on a DOT approved tire.
26:38
To me, that's the best menu a guy could have is to have a car manufacturer, and
26:43
then you've got a tire manufacturer.
26:45
So you could run the crest of the wave, if you will, of two global
26:49
marketing and public relations.
26:51
You can't miss it, Le Mans.
26:52
Um, But you really take it seriously because you can get hurt there.
26:56
In our final segment, I want to talk about the future of Le Mans.
27:00
I want to talk about why more people should be interested in watching it,
27:04
going to it, attending it, and continuing to spread motorsports enthusiasm.
27:08
Looking back on all the years that you've been involved with The
27:11
24 Hours, what's one of the most important takeaways from the race?
27:16
And also, if someone were to walk up to you today and say, why should I go
27:20
to or watch The 24, what would you say?
27:23
It's such a spectacle.
27:25
Yes, a race is going on, but it's its own infrastructure.
27:30
It'll exceed anybody's expectations, and I'm not trying to bundle it up,
27:35
but I could describe it as the Ferris wheel, the car clubs, the wicker
27:40
baskets, the picnics, the tents.
27:42
The complete rivalries, God, you know, Porsche against Ferrari and the
27:47
various gradients of classes and the public relations people just oozing
27:53
with releases every 10 minutes, every hour, you can feel a real energy there.
27:59
And you just know that you're probably doing something that a lot of people
28:03
aren't, even though a lot of people are.
28:06
But on a global basis, it'll surpass your wildest imagination.
28:11
And I'm not just talking to road and track car driver people that have trade
28:15
magazines or watch trade shows on cable.
28:19
This is something that's awfully hard to explain the
28:22
sheer depth, the texture of it.
28:24
It's something else, and it's been a while, and I'm just so honored
28:29
to be going back again with my wife and to represent the ACO USA.
28:34
It's pretty emotional, I'd say, because it was a childhood dream
28:38
to maybe go there as a spectator, and there's no entitlement in me.
28:41
I gotta tell you, we're all a gift in this world, but I just happen
28:46
to have exceptional respect.
28:48
And responsibility in just building irrigation ditches in herding cattle.
28:53
I like to autograph my work through my actions.
28:56
I don't over process it but I get into a whole different thing inside when
29:01
you mention it because to think that I had earned it or they gave me an
29:05
opportunity and my god I just didn't know I would feel this way even now.
29:10
I'm a pretty versatile guy but this is an emotional race
29:14
and gosh darn it we did well.
29:16
There's so many people to thank, and I don't want to sound like a guy on the
29:19
podium, but I mean, I gotta tell you, there was a lot of people that endorsed
29:23
my ability to do what I say I'm gonna do.
29:26
It isn't like, what in the hell happened to Rick?
29:28
The car's not back.
29:30
And I'd probably just go into a complete cardiac arrest if I did something,
29:34
because I'm representing All the blueprints before the CAD drawings, I'm
29:39
representing all the wind tunnel tests.
29:41
I'm representing compression to rebound, pitch, yaw, roll, all these things.
29:47
And I'm taking their Mona Lisa down the hot pit lane.
29:51
And I'm a damn fool if I screw up.
29:53
So I hint at this, but I like to explore, but I have a good baseline.
29:57
At the end of the day, man, I'll be getting with it and not
30:00
over my head because I explore.
30:04
And it's a volume switch.
30:05
I just go at about number six of the card's potential.
30:09
Hey, Rick, come on.
30:09
We got to get with it.
30:10
You wait.
30:11
At the end of the day, I normally configure stuff out.
30:14
So as we mentioned earlier, you came in basically at the
30:16
midpoint of Lamont's story.
30:19
At the 50 year mark, let's say right around there.
30:21
In the last almost 50 years since then, you've seen a lot of change at Lamont.
30:27
What would you say is one of the best new things to have come about?
30:31
Clearly the pit lane.
30:33
The pit lane there when I was there that what they have done at the start
30:36
finish complex is absolutely like Star Wars because I got to tell you
30:42
there was no first gear 3200 cutout.
30:46
We come in hot at the old Le Mans and I've been there twice and I podium twice
30:51
but gosh darn it that pit lane there was the width of a golf cart path at a golf
30:56
course and if you want to see Peroni come in with and the French they won that year.
31:01
1978, dammit, the French are going to win this race, dammit they didn't,
31:05
but these Germans are going, no, the Germans are going to win the race.
31:08
And you'd see Jock and Moss and Jackie X going about the same speed
31:11
on the pit straight in the pits.
31:14
And I got to tell you, it's like breaking down on the freeway and you're changing a
31:19
tire and you're almost in the slow lane.
31:21
It's not a nice place to be.
31:23
But I think the ability to be so specific in the caliber of driver then, there was
31:29
no cutouts, there's no paddle shifting, and I'm not the guy old back in the
31:32
day, I'm not that guy, but I gotta tell you, the most significant, without a
31:37
doubt, there's no fog on this comment, is clearly what they have done in the
31:41
grid, the garage area, it was almost like catacombs when we were there, there
31:45
was gravel around, and kind of old fuel tanks, that was part of the romance of it.
31:49
But boy, the new Le Mans, exquisite, haven't been there,
31:53
but yippee, I'm going in June.
31:55
But what I've seen in the pictures, and I've heard from guys like me that were
31:59
in the old pit lane, hot pit entrance and exit, that was a mind blower.
32:03
And mind you, at all the tracks, we didn't have pit speed.
32:06
We come off the turn forward Daytona with both whistles turning,
32:10
called turbos, and we come in hot.
32:13
Now they've got radar guns and everything else, but at Lamont, different deal.
32:17
I'm pretty accurate on this.
32:19
It's the width of a golf cart, but you're not going 18 miles an hour.
32:22
You're coming in at 140.
32:24
Your journey is far from over.
32:26
So what's next Rick?
32:28
What's next?
32:29
Well, I'll tell you what I am fortunate enough.
32:32
To pass on some of my experience and strength to driving
32:36
schools, and I'm just tickled.
32:38
I'm a head instructor at DK Driving in Willow Springs here with Timothy
32:44
McGrain and the M1 concourse.
32:47
I get to go to Pontiac, Michigan, weather permitting, obviously in the
32:50
spring, and I guest instruct there.
32:52
And I also, I've got some pretty interesting plans for 2024, which
32:57
I'm going to be doing some racing as well as farming, as well as it's
33:03
awfully refreshing to know that I've always wanted to be part of something.
33:08
It's a long journey being a race driver, so I'm pretty diversified, but I will
33:12
be going around with some pretty special cars and really looking forward to it.
33:18
I'm doing a little mentoring with a wonderful young man.
33:21
That's 16 that I think the world will probably hear about later.
33:25
I'm doing a lot of personal coaching with him.
33:28
We're getting him prepped.
33:29
He's doing fantastic.
33:31
I've been speaking with the Porsche club and I'm not going to call it motivational
33:34
speaking, but I do those PowerPoint to share some of my racing experiences.
33:39
The Road Racing Drivers Club is a big part of my life, and I'm
33:43
honored to be a part of that.
33:45
You don't get sponsored there, but you get sponsored by Ray Halls and the Andrettis
33:49
and the guys in the industry, and I'm proud to be a member there for about
33:53
40 years, and I'm very, very active.
33:55
We're going to be going to Goodwood this year.
33:58
They're having a tribute for the shadows cars that were not only Formula
34:02
one, but Formula 5, 000, of course, the Can Am out of Marina, California,
34:07
Don Nichols, Jim Bartel has got two containers that left about four days ago.
34:13
We haven't really made a major announcement, but
34:15
you're asking what's going on.
34:16
I'm just tickled to be able to go to Lamar.
34:19
And then the next month I go to the Goodwood festival of speed.
34:22
If this was a restaurant, I have a menu that's being developed that I'm being
34:26
a bit careful in terms of saying too much now, but I really am honored to
34:31
be asked and to be part of it, some of these teams, it really makes my world
34:37
go round and the people around me.
34:39
It's a wonderful, I'm not going to say it's a reunion.
34:41
I never really left.
34:42
I've had an FIA license for 46 years, even though I'm not running for points, but I'm
34:48
just awfully, um, full of gratitude, Eric.
34:51
Full of gratitude.
34:53
While specific details of Rick's Le Mans driving records may vary across the
34:57
different years and teams, his presence on the grid has consistently been synonymous
35:02
with a competitive spirit and a relentless pursuit of excellence, a respected figure
35:06
within the Le Mans racing community.
35:08
And his enduring legacy is at the pinnacle of endurance racing defined by
35:12
an unwavering commitment to excellence and an enduring passion for the sport.
35:17
And on behalf of everyone here, and for those of you listening at home.
35:20
Thank you for sharing your story with us, Rick.
35:23
And I hope that everyone enjoyed this presentation and looks
35:25
forward to more Evening with a Legend throughout the season.
35:29
Thank you so, so much.
35:42
This episode has been brought to you by the Automobile Club
35:45
of the West and the ACO USA.
35:47
From the awe inspiring speed demons that have graced the track to the courageous
35:51
drivers who have pushed the limits of endurance, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is
35:55
an automotive spectacle like no other.
35:57
For over a century, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has urged manufacturers to
36:00
innovate for the benefit of future motorists, and it's a celebration of
36:04
the relentless pursuit of speed and excellence in the world of motorsports.
36:08
To learn more about, or to become a member of the ACO USA, look no further than www.
36:14
lemans.
36:15
org, click on English in the upper right corner, and then click on the
36:18
ACO Members tab for club offers.
36:21
Once you've become a member, you can follow all the action on the Facebook
36:24
group, ACO USA Members Club, and become part of the legend with future
36:29
Evening with the Legend meetups.
36:41
This episode has been brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports as part
36:44
of our Motoring Podcast Network.
36:46
For more episodes like this, tune in each week for more exciting and educational
36:50
content from organizations like The Exotic Car Marketplace, The Motoring
36:53
Historian, Brake Fix, and many others.
36:56
If you'd like to support Grand Touring Motorsports and the Motoring
36:59
Podcast Network, sign up for one of our many sponsorship tiers at www.
37:04
patreon.
37:04
com forward slash gt motorsports.
37:07
Please note that the content, opinions, and materials presented and
37:10
expressed in this episode are those of its creator, and this episode has
37:13
been published with their consent.
37:15
If you have any inquiries about this program, please contact the creators
37:19
of this episode via email or social media as mentioned in the episode.