Latest / The Racer on Demand Show / Episode 26 | Husbands Unfiltered (ft. Adam Lingner & Chris Van Den Elzen)

Transcript

Episode 26 | Husbands Unfiltered (ft. Adam Lingner & Chris Van Den Elzen) · The Racer on Demand Show

• Megan and Adam: if you win every race, like people are gonna be banging at your door to put their name on the side of your car. That's not the truth at all. I figured out you have to bring value to them. they're not just gonna sponsor you because you're a badass. Like that that there's no ROI just because you're a badass or Amanda Van Den Elzen: Surprise. Surprise. Megan and Adam: Okay, we welcome back to another episode of the Racer on Demand show. And we have not one, but two special guests today. This is a special edition husband episode. So I've got my partner, Adam. And Amanda Van Den Elzen: partner. Megan and Adam: Yes, and we've got the amazing and talented Chris Vanden Elzen with us as well. Amanda Van Den Elzen: What's up? You finally let me on. I like how Adam is partner and you're amazing and talented. I'm sorry, Adam. You're also amazing and talented. Yep. Megan and Adam: yeah. Well you're you're my amazing talented. Appreciate it. anyways. Amanda Van Den Elzen: So we just got back from Glen Helen. Megan and Adam: Let's let's kick it off. Yes. So you guys how long of a drive was it for you guys to get back from Glen Helen? 'Cause that's a long drive. Amanda Van Den Elzen: So it's if we were to not stop or anything and just drive direct, I think it's thirty-three, thirty-four hours roughly. so we split it up over three and a half days on our way back home, which was nice. but yeah, it's a lot of driving and I'm really glad right now to be stationary for a while. In a little bit bigger box. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Do you drive the whole time? Or does Amanda drive at all? Amanda Van Den Elzen: So Amanda has offered many times to drive. She has driven. Megan and Adam: Ha ha ha ha. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I trust her, absolutely trust her in the in the RV, but I'm I get so like over I don't know. I get so bored. Like I need to do something the whole time. So it's better Megan and Adam: You can do something. Amanda Van Den Elzen: for both of us, I think, if I just suck it up and drive the whole time. Cause other than that Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Same here. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I'd be yeah. I'd be bored all over the place trying to figure out what I'm doing and then I'd then I'd probably kick Manda out of the driver's seat anyways, just so I could do something. The one Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: time we drove back last year from Glen Helen, we had to drive from Glen Helen to a Nexen Tire event in Shock in Chicago. And we left on Sunday morning and we had to be there on Tuesday morning. So Monday night, yeah. Yeah. We had to do basically We had forty eight hours to drive thirty four hours. And that one we were supposed to shift drive for and I think out of the thirty-four hours Chris drove for like thirty of them. So Yep. 'Cause he did. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: He kicked me out. Yeah, allegedly 'cause Allegedly. I don't have a C DL yet, so we're good. Yeah, you're fine. Yeah. You didn't have a logbook, it's fine. Megan and Adam: You do most Amanda Van Den Elzen: But yeah. Megan and Adam: driving. Most you do most ninety nine percent. When have you ever driven the motor home? I've driven it I drove it to one of the Mokian maybe? No, I drove to Flying H. Yeah, not with me in there. No. You've never a place to sleep. I do one hundred percent of the driving. Yeah. Yeah, she drove it one time when I wasn't there. Amanda Van Den Elzen: That's fair. That's fair. Megan and Adam: So 'cause I had to. Yeah. But I Amanda Van Den Elzen: That's fair. I did I drove the motor home to an event when Chris was gone as well, 'cause I was spotting for our buddy Ryan and it was just forty-five minutes from here. So I loaded all the critters into the R V, drove the R V out. I think his dad wasn't expecting me to be able to like drive it comfortably because his dad was at the event already and he's like, You can back it up, okay, you're fine. I was like, I know, I know, I can see, I'm good. Megan and Adam: He's Amanda Van Den Elzen: Done this a couple times. He's just being helpful. I know, I know, but it was so funny because everybody all weekend were like, Where's Chris? And I'd tell him you were in Flagstaff. And then the second question from everybody was, Wait, you drove the motor home here? I was like, Yeah. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. I just prefer to drive. I put my headphones on and put on a podcast or whatever and we just go and they're back there in their own world and I'm just yeah going down the road. I gotta take care of Henry, so yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We we listen to three audiobooks on our trip. Yeah. So that's like our thing. I'll put music on for a little bit and then I just start getting bored and then we put audiobooks on. So we listen to what, three Van Brown books. So Yeah, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol. We've got a couple more to go. So now I'm well versed in Symbolism. The Illuminati. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Anyways. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Anyways. You're basically a thirty third degree Freemason at this point. Yeah, I guess. I don't have the ring. So anyways, we don't have to Megan and Adam: Anyways, so at Glen Helen, you guys did a cool VIP thing with Nexen, right? So how was that Amanda Van Den Elzen: Kind of. Megan and Adam: kind of. Okay. Okay, so what I guess what did you guys set up within there? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. So we've been trying to get this together for a couple of months, but Nexon's focus was really on their ride and drive that they were doing. They did a really cool event for their N Blues, which are a four seasons tire, so they're a snow tire rated, but they can be ridden on all year round without destroying them. so they rented an indoor ski facility out in Vermont, and they had a car on these tires going up and down this ski hill inside this mall, basically. So they had like all hands on deck getting this ride and drive event together. And Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: while they were focused on this, we were trying to get this VIP event together. So what we did was we got four VIP tickets, put together a gift basket had like hospitality planned for the VIP section. We were gonna go hang out with them, give them some background knowledge. And basically anybody who bought a set of four tires at Big Brand Tire throughout the event, I guess, like however long they decided, was gonna be entered to win these four tickets and hang out with us for the night. What happened was Unfortunately, that kind of took a back seat to the ride and drive, which was happening at basically the same time. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: So although we got approval for it, we got everything squared away. I don't think that the communication was really there on the giveaway. So come the event day, I was texting back and forth with one of the salespeople who was handling that account. And he said, I haven't heard back on a winner at all from Big Brand Tire yet. And so I was like, Well, if they don't pick somebody, send some of your people, like get the salespeople out here or a customer or something. And they couldn't find anybody on short notice. So unfortunately, or fortunately, I mean we still got to hang out in the VIP section, but it it just unfortunately didn't play out the way we had hoped. Megan and Adam: Okay. Yeah, I know. Sometimes that's hard. Like, yeah, you spend all this time to come up with this giveaway. And then, yeah, if it doesn't work, like whoever wins it, sometimes it is such late notice and they have other plans or they have to travel and it just doesn't work out for them. Because yeah, I've been in situations too, yeah, where like we do this whole giveaway thing and we do this big sponsor display and give out some free tickets, but then Yeah, they just end up having other plans or something else happens and not able to show up. So it's part of it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yep. It is what it is. Move on, carry on. Yep. Bigger and better things. Yep. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Do you wanna talk about Glen Helen at all? Hm. I mean we can. On the racing side of it, we were fast. There's a lot of really good things. finally on the last day, I just kind of w drove as, you know, fast as I could and more aggressively. And there's a lot of good things that came out of it, and a lot of less than ideal things that came out of the racing side on it. And we'll just I'll just leave that. where it is on that side of it. I'm still fresh off of this. So a lot of time, effort, emotion goes into it. So you know, it's one of those situations where you're like, I I wanted it to go a certain way and it went kind of the opposite. but in the end, there's some really good takeaways from it, some really cool things that happened. Just connecting with partners and people out there and making like genuine connections, I think was the huge thing for me. you know, getting to hang out with some people. It kinda spawned from the chili cook-off and stuff like that at Crandon. so we made some really good connections. Alex Strayler came out, which was awesome. Megan and Adam: Okay, good. Amanda Van Den Elzen: so he introduced us to David at IBach and Megan and Adam: Okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: There's some stuff that Amanda and David talked about and even Alex as well. with like the AI world. So that was a cool conversation starter. And then during this whole conversation I came in and and we talked to David about going to the headquarters. so he invited us out. Megan and Adam: Okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: So it was really cool. We got to go and tour all of Ibach on on Monday, which is fascinating for me 'cause my background's mechanical design and I'm so used to like machining and processes and the way the flow of of creating products and to see their full lineup. Literally everything they do is made in house and I Like which is geeking over that because so many times you see companies that will outsource here and buy private labeled things and bring it in and outsource there and do it. But they everything they do is in-house. And that's to me like just fascinating. Watching all the coils and the springs be made was really freaking cool. their QC and everything like that. So I was just geeking out about it, right? but then on the other side we talked You know, not not heavily about it, but just talked about like the racing side and and kind of what their their ideas are and just getting a really good grasp of of the company and what they want to do in the future and and what their plans are for certain products and things. So it was really neat just to see it all. Mm-hmm. The other really cool thing was hanging out with all the guys from Method Wheels. So we have been chatting a bunch with Method. on making some new pro light pro spec wheels, which was I mean, this has been over a year in in the making that I've been chatting with Luke on it. And they finally have the go-ahead and stuff like that. So I'm super pumped on that. But the Chili Cook Off, their marketing guy and their VP were also there. So we got to hang out and meet them. And yeah, we got to essentially hang out with with Matt. their VP a whole bunch at at Glen Helen and it was really cool just to have that the conversations, connections and just sit down as people. And w I mean we talked a little bit about like their strategies and ideas, but just talking as people and just creating that relationship was pretty huge. So I thought that was awesome. But then for me, like geeking out, again, mechanical designer brain. They came and brought their engineering team and they three D scanned like my front hub brake setup and all of that so they could essentially mock up like a making sure that they have clearance with the new wheel they're designing and what they can do with it to make it better. And so that was a really cool thing. They had this fancy little three D scanner out there and doing their whole thing. So it was really neat. I was geeking over it. And I'll add, cause you You didn't really go backwards. We're kind of talking about at Glen Helen, but we were out early for Glen Helen. And after the chili cook-off, Chris had made a point to reach back out to Method because they hung out. They said it was awesome. You know, we had kind of that blossoming relationship which could have died off at that point. And, you know, maybe they'll come to the chili cook-off next year. But Chris had reached back out and said, Hey, we're gonna be out in Southern California. I know you guys are headquartered there. Can we meet up for lunch or something or do something cool? And so the Monday before the race, we actually went out and toured Methods new facility as well. And so we were walked around by Boyd, who leads their marketing team, and he gave us about an hour tour. We got to see the SEMA display truck. I don't know if you guys saw the one that they did out of like cardboard boxes and they made a trophy truck out of it. Megan and Adam: Yes. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, they have that in their like right when you walk in their building, it's right there. That's the first thing that you see is their cardboard Megan and Adam: Yeah. That's cool. Amanda Van Den Elzen: trophy truck. And so, you know, we got the behind the scenes of like why that came about and how that whole installation was kind of conceived and built and and turned around on a short time frame and a small budget and still kind of broke the internet for a while. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah I did. Amanda Van Den Elzen: but we got to tour their warehouse and and really learn a lot about how they position themselves and what kind of marketing campaigns they do too, which that's the kind of stuff that, man, we learned so much just about that brand just from that visit. And it wasn't like we were going in there having partnership conversations with any of these people. You know, we didn't talk about partnerships with iBock, we didn't talk about partnerships with Method. We just built connections and relationships while we were out there and and it's definitely like it's cool to see, you know, now Matt was messaging Chris on our way home and he's like, How how's travels home going? You know, it's those are the things that really provide value, is is that kind of a connection? I mean, that's kind of everything and that's kind of just how I am as a person in my brand, I guess, is like If we're gonna work together, I wanna be buddies. Like I wanna I wanna be good. Like I'm still I still talk with Dave all the time from Nexen Blaster, right? Like we're I s check in on him 'cause he's a buddy, right? Yep. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Dave's a cool dude. Amanda Van Den Elzen: But but yeah, that's the kind of the the stuff that I enjoy is I don't I don't wanna force the conversation. If things naturally happen right away, then cool. Like when it comes to partnership stuff, but I mean connection's everything, genuine connection and being able to call somebody a buddy, I think is so important for me. more than just being like, All right, what's this business transaction we're gonna do? Yeah. So I think you're better at that than I am. I just talk a lot, so but yeah. So that was Glen Helen again, kind of skimming over the racing side, 'cause how many times do we talk about like racing is such a small aspect of what we actually do? Yeah. Right? I mean, it'll come and go. It's it's a part of like leveraging and telling the story of what we we have going on and and building our fans and following, but it's not racing isn't the overall selling aspect of it. It's not the deliverable. Yeah. So but yeah, it was really cool. There's a lot of really good things. But I am so glad to be home because all I want to do is go ride my mountain bike. That's all I want to do. You're going after this. I am. Yeah. Yeah. But anyways Megan and Adam: Yeah. Well you're you're in hunting mode, so I think our race season is done. So we're it is now. Well I thought you wanted to race the car's still not put together, so it could be put together. Amanda Van Den Elzen: If there's a will, there's a way. Megan and Adam: Well, she told me after the last race we were done. So we I put it away and shifted gears and then last weekend she was upset because there's still two I I I thought we you s you said you were done for the year. No, I don't think I said that word twice. Twice. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: I think we just very good. I can't control what she says when she's frustrated and then doesn't remember it when she's not frustrated. That's that's not on me. So I you know, if she tells me we're done, like, okay. 'Cause the short course thing like I enjoy short course racing a lot. I think it's a blast. But we only have one car. So we're putting twice the wear and tear on one machine in a weekend. And I Prefer for her to just do that, you know, so I can just concentrate on fixing what goes wrong. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: And she wants me to race, and it's just it's a lot of stress on me to try to race and work on the car and And do your ultimate form. And then I have to I kinda have to pick classes to race that revolve around what she's doing so they're not stacked up cla 'cause the classes aren't ever the same. The race order's not the same. So if she's doing pro am, like I would prefer to do pro. But if pro is the race before or after pro am, then I can't because it it just it it doesn't work trying to hop out of the car real quick and then get it and get gas in it and then And then I just feel like we're holding up the race for other people and I don't want to be that guy that's creating chaos or whatever, the racetrack, and Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: it's just way less stressful to me just to watch her race. Well, sometimes. But not the last one. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: But anyway, the last race we did, man, it was tough. She she didn't do anything wrong. I mean, it's a race incident, but like we had some problems and blew up a front diff and me and a buddy were changing a front diff, you know, on a gravel parking lot, which is a blast. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: and yeah, and it just and then she was like, We can just be done for the year and like, Okay. You know, I'm not gonna whatever. Now she doesn't want to be done and that's fine. I just I just all we have to do is switch a front diff and then there's a the intake. Yeah, I gotta figure out a stud that broke off on an intake mount, but where it can all be done. It's just but also the other thing is our next two races 'cause there's only two left for Wheatland. There's one the end of October and the next one I think is the weekend before Thanksgiving. But that's also both prime time hunting weekends. Yeah. And so I'd be taking away from that. Or I'd have to just go by myself. So So Megan goes to P R I and SEMA. But it's P R. I is is in the That's December. it's SEMA? SEMA. What's November? That's SEMA. Yeah, so SEMA apparently is anti hunting because they schedule Sima during the best time to deer hunt. so I don't think I think SEMA Amanda Van Den Elzen: Conspiracy theory. Megan and Adam: and PETA like got a thing going together. I I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: but I think maybe only Point one percent of car people are also into hunting. No, that's not true. That's not true. Like active car people. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Well and for us it's not hunting season yet. That doesn't happen till later. It is, it's bow season right now. bowl. And then and then hunting season is right around Sima as well. No, it's right after. Megan and Adam: Okay, but yeah, and but also PRI is always the we so for rifle here, you only get like one week, maybe week an Den days. Yeah, you get like Den days and it's always the same week of PRI also. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: And so like last year, 'cause I was gone the whole week, 'cause Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I went early for the women and motorsport conference that was at the convention center. So I I only got one day which was Sunday. So like my dad and I flew home Saturday from Indy and I hunted Sunday. I did get a doe, but that was like my only chance to rifle hunt 'cause I don't really do bow anymore. But you do, but I just bow hunt. Yeah. So but yeah, typically the first week of November, first two weeks of November the best when you wanna be out there mostly. But she's gone, so then I'm single dad at the wrong time of the year. And and I love racing cars, but bow bow hunting is my number one passion. Like it's it's the top. And someday she's gonna have to quit going to P R. I so someday we need to get you. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I d I don't know if that's gonna ever ever happen. Megan and Adam: I know. Yeah, you need to put Well we need we need to put a bulletin out to the deer to tell to switch their nature, you know, to a week before, a week Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: after their whatever. Like, hey guys, like PRI is going on, so you need to stop breeding for a for a week here. SEMA. It's not it's not whatever. Yeah, yeah. Chill out dudes. So Amanda Van Den Elzen: Just slow it down, guys. Slow it down. Megan and Adam: Well, I don't know. We'll get one of the grandmas to help out with Henry and whatever. Or hen I'll just build a big block splind that I can just take Henry with me, I suppose. But eventually eventually he'll hopefully be doing it on his own and then Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: him and I can just go hunt. Send mom off to where is it Vegas? Seam is Vegas, right? I've never been. I don't go to the shows. If you can't tell. So Amanda Van Den Elzen: Sima SEMA is huge. It's a wild. I think last year at SEMA I saw maybe an eighth of it. Maybe. Like you just it's so big. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Well yeah, and you were probably 'cause you had your truck there, so you probably couldn't leave, right? Amanda Van Den Elzen: I I could, but it was also nice to hang around and and kinda answer questions just as a racer with but there's a couple times you stepped away and met people or just tried to cruise around and see some things and it was like it's like PRI, you know, you could you could get the show done if you wanted to in a day. Half a day really, if you had your Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: your points where you just wanted to see things. SEMA is like Den PRIs. On top of each other. Yeah. And spaced out. Megan and Adam: Yeah. It is. Yeah. I would rather go to PRI than SEMA. Yeah, you would hate SEMA. Well I got a friend I got friends Amanda Van Den Elzen: Really? Let's let's get into that. I wanna know why. Megan and Adam: He just he he doesn't like being around big crowds and like that many people. I just don't like not being able to move. Yeah. I've got a buddy that owns Amanda Van Den Elzen: You know? Megan and Adam: a big like audio distribution company that he's out there every year, so and he just like he dreads like going out there for it. Like he's just I don't know. I I I I I can go Amanda Van Den Elzen: The the early days aren't bad. Well and I would honestly argue I end up walking in a single file line through the aisles at PRI, but CEMA I feel like Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: there's so much and it's so spread out that it's honestly there's more people there, but there's more space. So I felt like it was less crowded at Sima, even though there was more people. Yeah. Yeah. Single's not too bad. Unless it's the open to public day or whatever, which was Saturday. I don't know which day it was. The last day they have it. Then it got chaotic Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah, I think that's that's the last day yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: trying to get places. But before that, Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: when it was just open to business and and people involved, it was pretty pretty chill. Mm-hmm. And there's cool Megan and Adam: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: stuff to see. Yeah. Megan and Adam: There's a lot. Well, and I didn't realize last year, like I've never really looked at much of the the burnout stuff that they have. And I didn't realize I think they had like three different burnout pads last year. Cause I was thought there was like that main one, like the Hoonigan one, I think, or whatever it was. Yeah, I cause I I Okay Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. We have feelings about that. Megan and Adam: yeah. Well, I was trying to find Optima And I was with Alex Striler and I didn't realize there's like you go around the corner of the building and there's like this whole other section of like holy cow, like I didn't even know that was going on. But did you hear so I don't know anything about this other than what's been posted on socials, but I guess Outlaw Series has partnered up with SEMA and they're bringing in some dirt to do a little short course track. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I saw that. I would love to get the truck out for that, but Bring the two seater out. Megan and Adam: yeah, so which is cool, but yeah, I don't know. I mean it's kind of late notice, so I don't know how many people will actually be able to make it out there. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Reach out to Brian. Be like, hey, I have a two seater. Yeah, I think everything's closed. I saw something on it where he's like trying to get all his applications and stuff closed, but I don't know. I don't know. That's a lot. It is a lot. On very short notice. Especially if we're Megan and Adam: It is. You you don't want to haul the truck back out to the west coast? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Well, I apparently might be going out to the West Coast around that time anyways. No, after that after SEMA. You probably will be. I have a secret. Yeah. Megan and Adam: Was this part of the secret? I just see. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I and I can't ask questions. Okay. Okay. So we were on our way home from Glen Helen and Marc Auger or Marc the Shark, he put up fifty thousand dollars and added payout for the Glen Helen race because he's trying to build up marketing and really racer buy-in for something he's putting together called the major league short course race. And that's gonna be like a really big payout race, single time. And he's trying to do kind of proof of concept. He wants teams in four distinct classes he wants a different point structure than what we have in champ. And since it's a one-time race, it'll be like not winner takes all, but the top three take all, basically, of this huge payout, right? That's super high level. It goes way deeper than that. But that's why he put it out the added payout was really to get racers aware of this, get buy-in from from the racers in these four classes that he's going to have going on. So, anyways, Marc calls me on the way home from Glen Helen, and Chris has been working with him a lot on this MLSC stuff because Marc doesn't really know the ins and outs of our sport at all. And so he's been leaning on Chris as a subject matter expert. And he calls me and he says, Hey, are you with Chris right now? I was like, Yes, we're driving home. He's in the driver's seat, I'm in the passenger seat. He goes, Can he hear me? I said, Probably not, but I can put you on speakerphone if you want. And he goes, no, no, no, no, don't do that. I was like, okay. And Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: he basically laid out this surprise that he would like to give Chris. And I have been sworn to secrecy beyond that. but I Megan and Adam: I thought we were gonna get it out. yeah, I thought I thought this was a big reveal. Okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: No, I am not allowed to reveal. It's killing me. And Marc literally made Amanda like give me the phone or held it over by me as I'm driving. And Mark's like, It's it's only good things, it's nothing nefarious, but please just don't ask any questions. And I'm like, you know what? I can't not respect that. Like, so now I'm just sitting here like, just tell me. Mm-hmm. It's eating me. Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: So when when will you find out? Amanda Van Den Elzen: I don't know. Amanda probably Megan and Adam: I don't know. Amanda Van Den Elzen: knows, but I don't know. I don't know when. Okay. I can tell you that. But but I will say the odds are pretty good that you're going to Firebird. Okay. Megan and Adam: I don't I don't like it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: Or like just don't tell me anything at all. Like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Right. Well the problem was is I was in the passenger seat, so he heard my side of the conversation the whole time. And like as soon as I knew what it was and that it was supposed to be a surprise, I knew there were certain questions I couldn't ask without giving it away or or things like that. But Yeah. killing me. This is killing me. Megan and Adam: Maybe you get a like rip a pro four truck or something. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dude. They don't run pro for it. They don't. They don't. But still I got Megan and Adam: Two Amanda Van Den Elzen: like every thought in my brain is just going and I'm trying to like shut it off 'cause I'm like, what's gonna happen? What is this about? But again, I have to honor what Marc asked and I'm just not gonna I'm not gonna ask. I'm not gonna push the subject because He wants it to be a surprise. So we'll leave it at Megan and Adam: Hehehehe Amanda Van Den Elzen: that. Which still fucking eats me. Just eats at me. Anyways. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: So it sounds like you guys need two UTVs switching gears again to go race short course is really the solution that Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I solved for you in my own head. Megan and Adam: And that's fine. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Okay. Megan and Adam: no, like like that that's seriously fine. The deal is we're erasing Arctic Cat in short course and they're not producing that machine anymore. So I don't know what we're gonna do. I don't know if like Megan's got a pretty good deal worked out with them. I don't know if that'll continue for next year. I I I don't know. and then I don't know if we'll end up doing some champ stuff and it's seems pretty skewed towards the Polaris machines. so I don't know if we'll I I d I yeah, I just don't know. I guess we gotta see what kind of sponsorship deals she whips up for next year and I guess then we'll know, but Life would be a lot easier with two machines, you know, just gotta work a little more to pay Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: for all this. So I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Or or sponsors. Yeah. Yeah. Megan and Adam: mean, but like, you know, everyone rides a Polaris, like this is a marketing show, I guess, is like wha what do we bring special to the table for Polaris to, you know, help us out? Like it Amanda Van Den Elzen: So so so don't get caught up in the Polaris world because everybody is right now. Cause Cross Birchmeyer Megan and Adam: Well, I know, but like Amanda Van Den Elzen: just absolutely killed it in his Honda. Like just right. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Seriously. For sure. No, no. I I I yeah, I'm not I I do race a Polaris in Ultra Four. I don't have any loyalty towards Polaris or anything. It was just the machine that made the most sense at the time. But Megan ultimat eventually she's wants to race Crandon. It's kind of like a bucketless deal, which totally get it. Crandon's special Amanda Van Den Elzen: Next year. Megan and Adam: special place, like super cool. But I feel like Champ makes it hard not to run a Polaris. Well, I guess they're pushing CF Moto now. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I was about to say, yeah. Megan and Adam: but it they don't make an NA car. So that's ca you're you're out in the NA class in a CF moto. you know, Yamaha's not making their machine Yamaha made a great machine for the NA class. they're out, Articat's out, so now you're down to Polaris. Or Can Am. Can Am doesn't make an NA machine. Well yeah, I guess I'm sorry, you're down to Honda Honda and Polaris basically. I if we stayed NA. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I like the way Megan's talking. Yeah. If you stay NA. Right. Just add a turbo. Yeah. We do have Pro Am Turbo Megan and Adam: Yeah. Just add turbo. Amanda Van Den Elzen: now. You could race Pro Am Turbo. That's true. Megan and Adam: Yeah. So we just stop being I just need I don't have the skill yet to do Pro Am and Champ. And so that's kind of where I'm like, well hey, there's still two races left. Like I need to work on my skill as a driver. We probably need to build a new car or two. or two. Like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: I love racing Ultra Four. It's I I like the seat time. It's just a lot longer race. I I like being in the car for a long time. Ultra Four is super expensive. It's super expensive and you you destroy your parts. Ultra four super expensive. Like you're guaranteed to break. You trash a car. Like it it's It's kinda disheartening how rough it is on the machines. Even during the race you're just like, there and I really enjoy it. I wanna do it for sure, the Central Series next year. I didn't have good luck this year. I wanna give it a honest chance, be prepared. And then after that I I don't know. I guess. It it's it's really hard trying to race two different things. W and Yeah. 'Cause like this year well, y Chris, you had to help Megan out at Wheatland one weekend 'cause I was racing in Indiana and like that sucks. She's calling like this is wrong, this is wrong. Like I I'm like twelve hours away. Like I cannot do anything for you. Like I I can't. I that that sucks. Yeah. I like I literally don't know what I would have done if you guys weren't there. Like I would not have been able to fix the car. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I mean you did a pretty good job. Like Megan and Adam: Yeah. They thankfully it was just a couple bolts to change out some parts. We don't have to like take stuff off the car. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: but so yeah. I don't know about how long I'll do ultra four. I mean, it is definitely not a moneymaker. It's it's a Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: No. It it's it takes a lot of money. I don't know. Short course it there's a lot of work in short course too, as you obviously know. But it's way less wear and tear than a ultra four race. It's it's cheaper to build a car up front. In in side by sides, I mean you're in a whole nother level, you know. It's a whole nother tax bracket. But e even side by sides are expensive to build. I mean so luckily I got marketing whiz here that helps figure some of the she gets a lot of help. Or we get a lot of help, but it that's all her. Like I've I go to work every day and I I work hard so I can go race and have fun. 'Cause to me it's if I'm not having fun, like I don't care to do it. And she looks at it different and she, you know, just do drag racing and do the marketing with that, you know, she's like, Well, I can, you know, bring value to these companies in return, you know, they can help us out with racing and I I don't have the marketing mind. I have the I need to go work Saturday so I can pay for a new front diff, you know. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: mindset. Like it's just totally it's just totally different. But we get stuff starts going wrong at the track and we start getting upset with each other and like I'm just like Yeah I'm not having fun when you're yelling at me. And if I'm not having fun like I'm not loading up the motor hall I go to the races. Like I I do struggle with that because like and this might sound like I'm entitled or whatever, but coming from like a professional team in drag racing where you have a whole crew, you have every spare part that you need, spare motors ready to go. Like you can change everything out in 30 minutes. Like I am coming from that down to it's it's just us, like grassroots racing, and we don't have all the spare parts or we have to take it off of our other machine and then our other machine only has three wheels and now we can't get it out of the trailer. That's the the so Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: the Arctic Cat ribs But that is one problem with racing an Arctic cat where you're the only one you're the only one at the track that has not because there's a second one. Okay now there's a second one. Still there's not 30 other teams that like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: hey man my upper control arm broke. Like I'll pay you whatever you need you know to to buy it or borrow it. Whatever it may be. You don't even have that availability. with the smaller brands. Yeah. Unless we Or even like a Honda. Unl unless we did just go to Articat and buy all these extra parts so that way just in case you know, but that but we didn't we didn't do like we do have some extra parts but not obviously not everything you need. Coming from a drag racing mine where dad has spent the last forty years building this team. Yeah. You know, he didn't he didn't do that overnight or in two or five years. It took forty years to get to that point. Yes. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I mean yeah it's it's a completely different thing. Yeah. It's just for it's just yeah, complete opposite for me in like every aspect and then but then I do blame you and I get upset with you when the car breaks, even if it is my fault. I don't break the car. I don't break a car and I get in trouble. A bolt that you put in broke so I blamed you for that. And I did make a deal with her when when we started racing short cars, they said you're gonna have to learn how to work on the cars as well. And you're gonna have to know how to check over the car before you go out and race and and do all this. And I tried zero of that has happened. No, I wouldn't Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan and Adam: say zero. So I can do some sort of I'm sorry, does she does check the tire pressure? I'll I'll check the airfield number. Fill it up. Amanda Van Den Elzen: She also she swapped the weights out on the clutches. I was there. Saw it. Megan and Adam: Yeah, I know how to do that now. I can do that. Well that that was a nine one one deal. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha. Megan and Adam: It wasn't but now now I'm I'm learning about the clutch. But I'm also I also have to be mom at the track. And I'm also trying to be the marketer and content creator. So I'm not my priority is not working on the car. And then but then yes, I'm but then I also I get very frustrated with myself because I need a lot more experience in seats. I am on the track because like it looks a lot easier to race than it actually is. And it's like, like I'm coming into the like whenever you were spotting me, Amanda like learned that like I was going into the corners too late, and then I'm coming out too wide, and then it like, but then that messes me up on the second turn, because then I'm not in the spot where I'm supposed to be. And then like then it just like this ripple effect. It's like, Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: okay, like I I need to work on this stuff, but then it's like, I don't know. I just try Because it's like I've got so many different things going on. It's like I just want you to take care of the car. Like I don't want to Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: have that. I'm I'm fine taking care of but that's goes back to what I was saying. It's easier for me not to worry about racing my own race and just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: worrying about her because then but like my mentality is so different because like I run a small business every day and I have employees and racing is my outlet, like to go have fun and get away from dealing with stress and everything. And then when she stress with me, I'm like, I should have just worked and actually made money instead of spending money if Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: I you know, like it it's just I'm just at the point in my life I've worked really hard for us to be able to do stuff and like I just want to go have fun. And that sounds simple and stupid, but I just wanna have fun. And if I'm not having fun, like I don't wanna do it. It it's just and when I'm racing, it's fun. Because you are good at it. But like Yeah, I I don't know. I I don't think Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I'm great. I just wanna have Yeah. I know everyone wants to have fun, but it's like and I know there's gonna be stressful points and like, yeah, stuff breaks and I I don't know. I don't know. It it's just I if if something breaks and happens and we don't finish race, like I'm not that upset about it. Like I'm that's that's what happens in racing. And she just I mean, it'll eat at her for days. And it's just like I mean, we're not racing for money. Like No, I just I feel like I don't wanna let down our sponsors because even though like they're not relying on results, but it's like I didn't put on a good show, like I didn't represent them well because I'm crashing the car. Yeah. And then I and then I'm like, I can't finish the races. And I don't I just I guess I don't have the right mindset that like she has marketing brain and I I don't know what my brain is, mush or something. I I don't know. But like I I just it's just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Well, honestly, I think what you guys are describing is something that a lot of racers really struggle with in general, right? Is this a hobby or is it a profession? Because those are two very different things. And like, Adam, what you're describing is like this is something that I don't mind paying for, I don't mind working hard to get the money for, I'm just gonna fund it myself, and if it doesn't go well, I don't have to answer to anybody but me. And Megan, you're looking at it from more of like that professional lens of, you Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: know, this is my job and my employers are these companies that I'm marketing for. So like this really has bigger stakes than than just like what it would be if it was a hobby. And I think especially those people who are trying to grow their programs, but maybe are still kind of like in that hobbyist mindset. I think they struggle with the exact same thing as what you guys are describing. We should start a racing couple podcast. Megan and Adam: No, and I appreciate the help we get I wanna do good. Like I I but like I mean But you're not you're not doing the content and yeah yeah Nope. Trying to put two and two together. Nope. And I mean I'm just the one that Do you wanna do you wanna trade and do our social media and I'll work on the car? Do you want to wear nail bags and pay for all the stuff? No, I'll just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: work on the car. I'm not gonna do your job. like not your job job. you said the job on the car. Yeah, yeah, Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha I thought Adam was gonna ask, Do you want me to do social media? Megan and Adam: yeah. I don't think that would be a good I we'd lose everyone real quick. But I don't know. Yeah, because you post the worst pictures of me. He does. But I I put up just real Amanda Van Den Elzen: Okay, Chris does too. It's not just Adam, you're not being blamed alone. Megan and Adam: real real world, we went fishing and like she caught this fish. But I caught I caught like this big. Yeah, it's funny. It's funny to me. She's like, I look horrible. I'm like, I don't think you look horrible. Like that I I don't I don't I don't know. But as far as the Amanda Van Den Elzen: Legit. I feel Megan and Adam: the the racing and the marketing, like I totally get it. I understand it. Yeah, we're just but yeah, like you said, like we're kinda in between the two and it's like I don't I'm not gonna quit my job and and I don't see a world where it's actually ever gonna make money for us, the racing. i if it gets funded or whatever, awesome. Like awesome. but I have to have fun or it's not worth it to me. Like it it's even if it is funded or whatever, if I'm not having fun, if I'm pulling my hair out to do it, like w why am I even doing this? That's my mindset. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Well and you struggle with that too. Megan and Adam: Good good or bad, like that's my mindset. Like I Amanda Van Den Elzen: I mean, at least you know it. Like that's that's a crucial thing. Most people don't know what that what that is. But I mean, yeah, like Amanda said, I s I struggle with it as well because the reason I get into ra or got into racing initially and in motorsports and cars and everything else is because it's fun, right? But Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: then it was like, All right, I wanna live out this dream of making it a profession and now it's the balance of am I having fun or am I losing my fucking mind because you know, we Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: have to make all of these things work. But for Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: me at least, it has been such an adventure that like the takeaway for me, the enjoyment, has not even really been the racing. The Racing been really cool, but the building of our program has been the adventure and the fun that I didn't expect to really have going into it all. So it's a totally different outlook for me at this point, but but that's that's ever since I've been little, that's what I wanted to do. So I have a totally different mindset on it. Ever since I've been this little kid, I always wanted to be a race car driver and now I'm doing that, but good god, they don't tell you what goes into actually doing that. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And I think that's crazy. Like it's crazy to see where it's been, what it is, what it takes to transition into that role. It's not it's not like a one to five year I made it, I'm famous. It's like you commit everything to it. So I mean, I get Adam's side of it where you're like, dude, I just wanna I just wanna have fun and just go like, I'm just gonna go race a race car because I gotta go back to work. I get Megan's side of it 'cause like Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: that's what you know. Right. And and that's where you've made your success is off of the the motorsports partnerships and the marketing side of it and understanding what a value is in return and how to fund what what you're doing with racing and tell a story with it. So And sometimes you have to put fun aside to make that happen. I'm I'm thinking about like Glen Helen, you know, you kind of alluded to it didn't go how you wanted it to, and Saturday After your race, we still had a deliverable. We had to get we normally have our t-shirt canon. Our t-shirt canon unfortunately took a poop at Crandon. So we were just throwing t-shirts out to the crowd at Glen Helen. But we had promised Amzoyle that we were going to go do this and we were gonna get some media for it. And Chris was not in a mind space where he would normally want to go out and interact with the crowd, but he had to, you Megan and Adam: Yeah, pressure. Amanda Van Den Elzen: know? And like I mean, it cheered me up, but it's still a job. Like in the end, the way I look at it is like, Adam, you go to work, you do your job, so you can pay for it. So do I. Right. And that's how that's that's Megan and Adam: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. Amanda Van Den Elzen: but my job is I go to I go and have to have deliverables. I have to make the connections. I have to do all that. So it's just a different job, really, what is what it comes down to it all. But Megan and Adam: absolutely. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I get to say Like I'm having fun sometimes at my job. Most of the time. Most of the time at my job. and like you find your little groups and your your your niche things that like make it all worth it. Even if you have a garbage weekend, you find like the good things. Just like I mean, Adam, you do construction, right? I mean you with your world, you're not having a good time most of the time doing that. But you find your people, Megan and Adam: Mean Amanda Van Den Elzen: your group, your friends, right? Megan and Adam: I do finished carpentry. so I don't I'm inside, I don't deal with the weather. I work with some fairly high-end clients that like in the summertime I'm in the air conditioning. I'm I'm pretty spoiled now. I've had to work a long time to get to that point, but I don't have a ton of stress. Like I do my employee and actually I have great employees now. It's taken a long time to get there too. But Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I don't have a ton of stress anymore and I enjoy that. I'd hate stress. Like I I don't know. I don't I don't deal well with stress and I I don't I don't bring it home. Like I leave work at work too. when I get home I'm it's like a new day when I get home, you know. I I if something bad happened, I don't bring that home. Prepping race cars is the most stressful part of my life for the last Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: f ye year or two. Like it it's just it's always something. It's all and I'm not good at it yet. I don't know if I'll ever be good at it. You know what We just don't have like a system down of like a pre race like routine, like a maintenance like checklist. The biggest thing right now probably is that our cars are not at our house. We don't have a shop at our house. And we have My father in law's shop is twenty minutes away every resource in the world there. It's just hard to get home at five thirty or or five at night and then you know And then Henry has to go to the gym on the way home from work and stop and then you get home and it's like if I c if I could just have an hour or two just to run down into the garage or the shop and tinker with stuff, that'd be great. But it's and then it's a whole nother deal to go out there. We're looking for a new house so we have everything at home. That'll make stuff a lot easier. Well and that's like yeah, another thing, like we're trying to save up the money so we we're not trying to like spend all our racing budget 'cause yeah, we want to save up to be able to have like a h house with a shop too. So that's why Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: we're we're also like, man, you know, what if we do go to a race and end up breaking and have to spend like another five grand on parts. It's like, well that's like house money we I think I'm from the dirt bike world where I could race the dirt bike for a year and I gotta change some tires and a chain and throw a piston in here or there. Like there's not a whole lot of maintenance in dirt bike racing. Compare I mean there is, but comparable It's cars, it's not even in the same world. Yeah. And Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: like I'm just not used to like just all the stuff you got. I mean, I see what you guys do, and like I ain't cut out for that, man. Like all Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: the stuff you gotta do. I'm getting better at it. It's just it's so well I we're learning. Yeah, we're just we're we're learning. Well and then I guess like also for us we're thinking long term because like Henry just turned five. But like he has not shown any interest in wanting to get a little one seventy tried for his fourth birthday and a week before he said he'd rather have Legos. Yeah. And I'm like, okay. So we're like we're thinking like, okay, we want to try to grow something if it's what Henry wants to do. My deal is when I was a kid, I would have given anything for a new dirt bike. I mean, I would have done anything in the world. My parents just I don't know. that maybe they couldn't have afforded it but it just wasn't a necessity and I don't want to I don't want to raise my son thinking that A five thousand dollar birthday present like is the norm when you're five years old. You know what I mean? I don't want Amanda Van Den Elzen: Right. I love that actually. Megan and Adam: I don't yeah. I want him to know how hard it is to acquire things in life and like how hard you have to work for everything. I didn't get my first brand new dirt bike 'til I was twenty four years old, you know, and I I paid for it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: I don't I just There's a problem today. Maybe there's always been a problem. Kids getting everything they want and not having a work ethic. And I just the last thing I want in the world is for my son to be lazy. so I just I think no matter what life throws at you, if you have a good work ethic, like you'll get through it. You'll figure you'll figure it out. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Let's be Megan and Adam: I mean, maybe you gotta go dig a ditch. I don't know. But like you'll figure it out. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I just I want him to be begging, just begging, Dad, I want this, dad, I want I dad you know what I mean? And then I'll do anything for you. But like I just I've had friends that, you know, done spot their kids new dirt bikes every year and this and that and then halftime they don't even want it anymore because it was just It was just thrown at him and they're like, Yeah, yeah, dirt bikes are cool, but it's not really my thing or or razors or what whatever it may be. Like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I just want him begging for it and then I'll I'll do whatever he wants, but like I want him to have a passion for it. And and then Yeah. So he's not he's not Racing. Yeah, he he digs Legos and that's cool. Yeah. You know? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Honestly, like I think it's great. That's my parents raised me very similar, Adam, and and it was like you work for what you get. Like that's that's everything. But also my dad stepped away from racing when I was three years old to raise us and let us kind of be kids and create our own path. Right. They never forced it. Actually my dad told me quite the opposite my whole life is We'll go watch the races, stuff like that, like short course and stuff like that. We'd go there and I'm like, this is really cool type thing. And then my whole life he was like, just don't get into short course off-road. Like off-road Racing dirty, it's a ton of work. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And then what do I do? I get into it, right? but it was, I think, more important for my parents to not fund and do all of that and make me work for it and understand. Because now I have like a true path and vision of where I wanna go. And and hot take, I'm sure people probably won't love this statement, but I think there's a lot of parents out there that are putting their kids in and setting them up for failure because Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: they it's like I'm gonna give my kid the best everything and they're gonna go win and they're gonna get big sponsors. But the issue is, and this kind of ties back to the marketing side, once the funding from mom and dad dries up. Have you set those kids up to understand how to build their own program and how to fund it? Because once that funding dries up, that's it. And you see that over and over and over in every motorsport where this phenom of a racer kid comes through and then disappears because it's the yes, you can drive. I mean, we're all in racing. Most of us can drive pretty freaking well. The issue is how are they building the program? And kids, most kids don't understand that. And I have a lot of respect for parents that either put their kids in and treat them like an adult when it comes to building a program. Or they have the reality of you're not gonna have the best of the best. You're not gonna have all this stuff and go into it and say, All right, you're gonna have to fix it and figure it out. Mm-hmm. but you're committed to this now. Like this is what you wanted. You told me you wanted this. Treat them kind of like an adult in that regard of This is your business that I just gave you, make it make it blossom. Yeah. You know who I think does a really good job of that and you guys know them as well, are the Hills, like Carson Hill and his dad Terry. Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: Yeah. I was gonna say that. But Carson like knows how to work on stuff and he Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah, yeah. Megan and Adam: you see him at the track, like we're I I love that kid. I think he's rad. I their family's their family's awesome. And it's yeah, Amanda Van Den Elzen: He's the best. Yep. Yeah. Megan and Adam: I really like how they do things. They're good people. I mean, Terry is like track helper to everybody. I I mean Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan and Adam: you know, he's all they're they're a great family. I like how they do stuff. Like but Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: but I like that Carson is involved in working on the car. And y you know, it's not just sit back and I just show up and arrive and drive. Like that's the stuff I don't like. Because then Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: mom or dad loses their job or whatever and it you know, the kid doesn't know anything then y exactly what you said. Like but they're doing it right, in my mind. I mean Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. You know what I love about Carson too? He's not just working on the cars. Carson is the face of his own social media, right? It's not mom and dad and by the way, here's Carson. Also, like Carson at one point was talking to Chris. He really wanted his pro spec when it was up for sale. And who came over to talk to Chris about that was Carson, not Terry. Right, Carson came over and said, Well, what do you want for the prospec? Like, can you tell me a little bit more about it? Like, Carson was doing the recon on that. And also for media, they were looking for a videographer who came over. Carson came over and said, Who do you use for media? We got him in touch with Jay Will. He talked to Jay Will, right? He's bringing it back to his parents. Obviously, like Carson's not out there writing checks or you know, buying race cars. But he was so involved in it that he intimately knew what was going on. He understood what money was involved and the value of that and how to get that, right? You know that I think goes a long way is just having the kids be the professionals, not just like some facade in front of mom and dad running a professional program. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a huge Van of that family. Megan and Adam: So so the first the first race we ever do, Wheatland and we're at they do all the registration. Well no, they do all the podiums at the end. They you know, they give out the trophies to all the classes at at the end of the race. And I don't remember what Carson I don't remember what class he had pro am maybe or sportsman. He was either it was either like yeah, a sportsman or youth 'cause he didn't do pro am until this year. either either way, whatever. He gets up on there on the box and he he had won. And he gets up on the box and he's throwing out koozies and all swat swag and all this stuff. Who is this kid? Like this kid's the like the little kids were like going crazy. They're like, my gosh, Carson. Yeah. And it was like it was our first race. I'm like, Okay, is this the norm? Like, do I need to get like gift bags ready to go? But like No, but like nobody else had it. You could tell like that kid like He's different. Like he yeah, he's he gets it. Y you know, like he he's gonna do good things in the sport if he chooses to continue 'cause he's but he seems hungry, you know, he's got a seems to have a real drive and a passion for the sport. And he's got great parents, I think that will help him. it he's just he's a cool kid. And I I hope the best for him. Yeah. I hope he was a pro light, is that what he bought? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: I hope the class stays around. I hope he gets a chance to drive his truck. but Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. He had it out at Cramden. He was doing all right in it. Yep. Yep. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Well his dad I talked to his dad a little bit. He said he's picked at home or whatever. He's he's getting the the hang of it and learning the truck, so we'll see. I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: mean, the kid's a driver, so I'm I'm sure Amanda Van Den Elzen: yeah. Megan and Adam: he's not gonna have a problem. But I'm I'm excited to see what he does. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And I think there is like a certain benefit to being able to get a kid into that really early in life, right? Like Chris, you were talking about, well, my parents didn't push me into that. Like I got into it on my own. That's that's true and it's good because now you're an adult with drive that knows how to sustain your own program. But imagine how much further ahead kids like Carson are because you know, they have been put into it. earlier and at the age of what he's like thirteen years old, I think, right? And his program and his skills as, you know, an ambassador for the companies he represents, you know, they're darn near at the point where we are. Yeah. You know, and and he's a third of your age. Yeah, a hundred percent. I mean, there's no question. Like I'm glad I went down the path I did, but I think they're doing it right. And I'm not saying all kids getting into racing is a bad thing. I think it's an amazing thing to do, but do it with tact, do it with strategy and understanding and put the time into it instead of saying, My kid's gonna win and that's it. Yeah. I think they're doing it spot on. Like Yeah. My kid needs to learn. Yep, needs to learn. involve themselves, understand it and own it. And own it. But also the the media. Like his their social media is great. And he's got such good following. I I'm I'm always rooting for him. I'm sure there's gonna be a day that we're competing together and stuff like that. So yeah. I'm excited to see where they go. Megan and Adam: Yeah. So so you're talking about s starting young. I unless I race the VDE class, when it comes to podium time, I'm standing up there with people literally a third of my age. I'm I'm Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: forty I'm forty six and I'm standing beside a a sixteen year old on one side and a fifteen year old are looking over at a sixteen year old and like, God, this is kind of weird. It's just weird. Like I mean, it's different. But Yeah, they're they Amanda Van Den Elzen: That's that's like how prospec is for me, honestly. You got like a Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: couple older guys, older guys, I'm thirty-six, but then you have like thirteen year old, fifteen year old, and I'm just like, I feel Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: like I just went to like a middle school and just like won a dodgeball tournament. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Well you you c you can't get out and throw fists if something goes wrong. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Right. Not that I ever would, but still it's like, okay, dad, do I go to I don't know. I don't know. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I think there are certain people that would. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Same. Megan and Adam: Yeah. I'll leave that alone. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I will as well. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. I feel like I feel like we I said it a little bit earlier, but this is like a solid like couples therapy podcast. Racing couples therapy podcast. Watch out Dale and Amy. Yeah. Megan and Adam: It has, yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I love it though, 'cause like the you it's it's weird because like Adam, you're kind of on the side of like you're the spouse to the racer in a sense. Not that I'm saying you're not not a racer, but Amanda's the spouse to the racer. So it's it's interesting just to kind of see like we've talked plenty, obviously, in the past, but just the dynamic of of where And how things all work out. I think it's such kind of a it's kind of cool and and interesting. I see so many parallels even as Adam's talking about, he's like, Well, I don't care if I race, like I I'd rather just be there to support Megan and the same thing, like at Crandon, when I told you to get in my car on Saturday. So good. I love Beatles. Sell everything Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: and buy a class eleven and come race it at Crandon. They're so Megan and Adam: Ha ha ha. Amanda Van Den Elzen: fun. But anyways. I told you I was like, just race my car tonight. And you were like, Well, if I break it then you won't be able to race it on Sunday and I was like, I guarantee you will have more fun in my car tonight than I will tomorrow, so just do it. Just do it, you know? Yeah, I was giggling. I was giggling driving that thing. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Sh she gets mad 'cause I'm good at it, but Yeah, he's good at it and then he's like, Well I don't care. It's like you would you would do so well if you actually like just tried. Like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I always do well. No, I know, but like if you actually like not not not sounding like co arrogant or like you're just naturally gifted. I can just drive the car. Yeah. But I'm to where like would have more fun watching Henry race than than me race at this point. Like, Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I don't know. It's just in my mind, like, I've done a lot of cool stuff and I'm it's it's my kid's turn. Or I guess she's my other kid, I guess. I'm not as old Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha. Megan and Adam: as you so when I when I turn forty five then I can reevaluate but I still have like twelve more years left. But like to me I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: don't know. We'll see what happens. I I I would probably build another short course car and have two of It's just a it's a lot of work for me to maintain two cars in a weekend and not that there's a ton that you have to do, but the second Henry says he wants it and like I'm I'm out. Like it's Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: your like I'd just rather watch him. So that's just where I'm at. But Amanda Van Den Elzen: Megan, where are you at? Megan and Adam: she still wants to race. I yeah, I wanna race. I'm also it's like I don't I don't know where I'm at on the drag racing side either, and that can take priority over short course depending on the schedule and it's like, hey, I mean, I don't think IHRA is coming back. So I don't think that's something we have to worry about for schedule next year. But if you know, if Gunk and if my dad are like, hey, we still want you to drag race, because that's like the last two years that was part of the agreement. It wasn't a set number of how many races, but it's like they like Gunk still wanted me to make appearances and and do some events. but we're up for renewal now, so it's like okay, do I include that in the contract now or will it just only be with Randy Meyer Racing and whoever those drivers are? so like I need to have a conversation with my dad about that. But I mean I've made it kind of obvious that I have been over the drag racing side, I have moved on. because yeah, short course is more fun for me in that sense, because to me, drag racing is just a job. Like, I don't know. Like I know people will hate me for saying this, but like I don't get much enjoyment out of it. Like, I mean, yeah, it's cool to drive a car fast. But then it's also like it's only for five seconds. And it's like at least in short course, you get like Den minutes in the car. So it's just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: it's just different. So I gotta like, I gotta figure that out. but also like my dad, I don't know how much longer he's gonna do it, honestly, because like he's on year 47. He just turned 69. So it's like I don't know what his long-term plan is, like how much longer he's planning to do it. So I don't know. We need to figure that out. Yeah, I would love to keep up doing short course as long as I can continue to learn how to drive and get better at that. and be able to not break my car. It's just it's just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Best of luck. Megan and Adam: frustrating like this year has sucked 'cause like I I don't think I've finished a race at all this year 'cause like there has always been something broke or I crashed the car. So we've just kind of had a really crappy year and it's like, okay, like this car now has been crashed twice, like the frame's been welded up twice now. So it's like, is the integrity of the car still good? Or do we need to look at a different platform? Or the car's fast. Yeah, the c but yeah, that's the thing. Like we we bought a good car, like it's fast. but now it's like we had clutch problems all year. Yeah, there there's been stuff out of our control that has broke, but then also, yes, I've also caused a lot of problems too. we literally had a cam R Amanda Van Den Elzen: It was probably those clutch things from Wheatland. Somebody put in wrong. I don't know. Megan and Adam: No. We had a cam arm literally come out of the basket. Like or that was the one you helped on, I think. No. Amanda Van Den Elzen: It it cracked. The one she had cracked and fell apart. Megan and Adam: Okay, we had another one like that. At the last race. No, at the la wasn't at the last race? I don't remember. Yeah, another race, like those new one of those new ones broke also. But like those aren't like those aren't Articat. I won't say the brand, but like they generally make very good parts. It's a good brand and like these are breaking and I don't know if there's another brand we can use. But then also it's like we did okay, we I don't know if that's champ legal though, because we went with another brand and it's not on what? Then stock. With like the clutch. Or like some there's some parts on on there where we have they w they would not pass tech for champs. So that's like another thing like if we do want to do champ next year then we are gonna have to change the setup no that car's parts. Well yeah. Here nor there. But yeah. I don't think that car will be making a champ appearance. it'll be a new car if she wants to do champ. But sh she is it Amanda Van Den Elzen: She's racing Crandon next year is what I heard. So yeah. I decided for her though. Megan and Adam: Well maybe she should race it in a class eleven. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I'm not opposed. Megan and Adam: If if you guys got two class eleven's to rent next year, we can How about that? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Just run mine. Megan and Adam: How about we just lease a class eleven from you for Brandon? Yeah, and then that then at Amanda Van Den Elzen: Come out and race with me. Megan and Adam: least get some seat time that way. I like that idea better. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I'm just They're really tippy. Yep. But there's Megan and Adam: Okay. She's good at she's bicycle queen. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And my roof's already smashed in, so it's a good mix. True. They're so fun though. God, I love Megan and Adam: Yeah. We could we could set something up like that. Amanda Van Den Elzen: those things. Megan and Adam: some friends of ours used to go out to The race in Vegas, the mint four hundred. They used to go out there every year just to watch it. And they're like, You get in a class eleven, you know, pretty cheap. And like that was actually the first thing we thought about. And then I was like, I don't I don't know about that. And that's when you bought we bought the short course car soon after that. Yeah, we just kinda like jumped into it. Yeah. Like we we didn't like Yeah we went out to a race at Wheatland and I was like, well this is rad. Like let's I I'm all in for this. Well like because we didn't know much about it and then I talked to you guys at PRI when we did that one Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: dinner and I was like, you can race side by sides in this. Like I didn't I didn't like know much about that. Like I thought it was like just like the trucks and buggies. then yeah, then I talked to Justin and set up the testing with him and then it was like a month later we bought the car. Yeah. So it was like within six months, yeah, we were all in. So It's crazy. We live two two hours and change from Wheatland. And it's in my opinion one of the best facilities in the country for for off-road racing and and they have other stuff there too. And nobody even knows about it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: It's just it's weird to me. It's like because you you can go out there and watch short course racing, then they usually have like oval track. you know, it it's it's cool for like families to go out and like check it out and they don't do any marketing. They don't do it like I don't know. We we tell friends like, Yeah, we're going to do this. Like, where do you do that? What's Wheatland? And like, Luke Lucas Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan and Adam: told the Speedway. They're like, I don't I Well, hey, when we were went to Crandon this year, we had some trailer tire problems on the motorhome and we were all ready to We're at the Dells. Yeah. But we had to go back to Madison to go to a discount tire 'cause it was the only place open on a Saturday or whatever it was. But where are you guys going? I'm like, going to Crandon. for the and they're like, What's Crandon? Crandon. Like you you live here and you don't know what Crandon is? And they're like, Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I have no idea what you're talking about. And we're we're like off road racing, like trucks. And he's like, What's that? And like only the coolest thing ever. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. We have a track forty five minutes from our house and people here have no idea what the sport is. Yeah. That's that's Megan and Adam: Yeah. It's wild. Amanda Van Den Elzen: like that's like my life goal at this point is to make it bigger and better. And I'm doing everything in my power because right now it's not good enough. Yeah. It's not good at all. It's not yeah. Megan and Adam: It's so much fun though. And like it it's like Amanda Van Den Elzen: For the fans too. Megan and Adam: I got a buddy the other night that asked me, he's like, hey, like, is that side-by-side racing? You is that fun? And he's got a side-by-side just on a farm, you know, just they mess around with it. I'm like, dude, it's so much fun. Like, anyone would love it. And and it It it's not cheap, but you you can get into a sportsman like the local series, like you can get out there and rate he's like, Do you gotta be good? I'm like, I mean if you wanna win, I went out and did good like pretty quickly and I don't think I have some special talent. Like I think if you know how to drive a car, like you can kind of figure it out pretty and like yeah, there's a learning curve like to be the better or to get to where Chris is, you know, in a you know, prospect level, like that's different. But just to go out and race in the sportsman side by side class, like I think most people can just go do it. And and it might take you a little bit to learn, you know, technique and stuff, but you can jump right in and race it. And and it is awesome. It's so much fun. It's safe for the most part. Compared to the dirt bike world or other things, super safe. And they just there's not enough marketing for it or like I don't know why the side by side companies don't do more marketing for the racing stuff. And Amanda Van Den Elzen: Well, see I mean CF Moto just came on board with with Glen Helen race with champ. So there's more of it, but it's still Yeah, right. But man, Megan and Adam: But they don't even they don't even make an NA car. You know? Amanda Van Den Elzen: their entry level car is the same price as or cheaper. Like their turbo three cylinder is the same price as like an entry-level NA car. Which is wild. Megan and Adam: no, they're yeah. I was looking at their like for our farm, I was looking at their whatever their work utility Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: equivalent to like a Polaris Ranger. Dude, they are nice. And they make one with a turbo on it. They make one with a turbo on it. And it's Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yep. They're really nice. Yeah. Megan and Adam: like, well, this is kinda sweet. But and it wasn't like a third of the price? Not a third, but a lot cheaper. Yeah. But I Amanda Van Den Elzen: So Megan and Adam: I just like that there's competition in the market because then Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: Polaris and everyone can't keep going, Well, we're now it's seventy thousand dollars for a freaking side by side. You know, they more competition's always better for everyone. It it Amanda Van Den Elzen: I learned a lot about about CF Moto because Van Eprins who are CF Moto Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: sponsored, like they are essentially CF Moto at this point when it comes to just short course off-road and and off-road stuff. their shop, I ship my engines to it for my race truck, but also we're pretty tight with with Rodney and and Owen. They live like Den minutes from here. Yeah. And I was at the shop. and I got to see behind the scenes when they're putting everything together before they released them at Crandon. And Rodney and I were sitting there talking about like the the different U T Vs and the value and everything else and giving me like the behind the scenes of it. And apparently like it's a really cool company where they have like a ton of the engineers that were from Can Am and a ton of engineer engineers from Polaris that are just doing all the designing work and like It's impressive to see what they're throwing at it right now and what the price point is. Like it's to a point where like it got it has my wheels turning on like, do I go and build a like a turbo U T V because it like it's such an exciting thing. Like I think it's really cool and it's such amazing quality. And now seeing Rodney and Owen do really well with them out of the box, it's like dang. And it would set you up to build skills for Pro Four eventually too. Yeah, as long as Pro Four stays around. Right. Megan and Adam: But in my mind, the turbo UTV class is the most bang for your buck in short course racing. Because Yeah, you're you're almost Amanda Van Den Elzen: They're mini pro fours. They're so fast. Megan and Adam: you're almost as fast as a Pro Four for a tenth of the price. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: You know, like it it's the most I call smiles per mile. It's just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Okay. Megan and Adam: like that that that is rad. Like Yeah, we probably will end up doing something with the turbo. Just I like to go fast. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Or I mean Pro R's been doing really well too, so they got those dialed in pretty decent, but yeah. Megan and Adam: Pro R's are sweet, but you're talking about forty five grand before you even touch before you make it race ready. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Before you put another sixty into it. Yeah. Megan and Adam: Right, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So dude if if they keep I'm assuming CF Moto will get a bigger aftermarket, you know, following and that's that's when things get a lot cheaper, as soon as aftermarket company and and and like quality it just stuff improves once the aftermarket world gets into it. And Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: that's the thing that Articat, which we're with Robbie Gordon's got a whole deal against Articat where there can be basically no aftermarket companies that do anything for So there's no innovation. There's no furthering the the product. Well, and that's Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: with like speed, like yeah, there's no no aftermarket for speed. Well, there's no you're not like even speed. Even tires though, are like speed tires. Or they're Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: just like branded that like I don't know where what they're actually made. But like yeah, like he he controls every single part on that car. And I mean like yeah like they're cool cars but I think they're the best in a out of the box car there is. I don't know how much they cost. They don't cost nothing now because they don't make No, the speed Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: speeds are expensive. Like if but like yeah if speed wanted to get into short course racing like they don't there's not there's no there's no aftermarket for that. Nope. Nope. So Amanda Van Den Elzen: They they dabbled in it. Max Gordon came last year to Glen Helen and raced Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: and he was fast. But Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: it was he they essentially took a like a desert setup and came and raced short course and it looked so wonky, but that kid was fast. He was fast, but he was limited by his equipment. Yeah. Megan and Adam: Yeah. He rips. Amanda Van Den Elzen: 'Cause that suspension was not set up for short course. It was so flowy. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: He was like picking up a wheel in the corner. Yeah. Megan and Adam: I remember him racing that Yeah. He did good. I mean, yeah, for yeah, taking a desert car and which that's what they're built for. So and they're cool cars. I just Amanda Van Den Elzen: Well, and we were talking 'cause they were pitted right behind us and like shared some of our pit space. We were talking to the guys and they were like, yeah, we were up till two o'clock this morning swapping this over to short course setup because they decided we were going short course racing yesterday. Yeah. Megan and Adam: Okay. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: K I kinda love that actually. Yeah, it was kinda cool. Megan and Adam: Yeah. I I would actually like to do a desert race, but then me and Megan had a deal. It was kind of a well it was a health yeah. It was a health related challenge. That did not go anywhere. yeah. Well I think I won and then I didn't but So she was gonna get to do cr if if she won, she wanted to do the Crandon Paul race. And if I won, I wanted to go do a desert race. But then I'm like, I don't I don't wanna go down that road because then, you know, that's another $70,000, $80,000 I'm gonna wanna spend on a desert side by side car, you know, and like I just I just need to learn to be a Van and I'm just a doer. Like when I see something I wanna do, like You get into it. Yeah, I want to do it. Yeah. Like I'm not a I'm not an observer. I'm not an observer. I'm a doer. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Same way. I'm the same way. How do you how do you feel about a class eleven? 'Cause we I mean by we I mean Dave. Dave has a desert class eleven Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: in storage right now. Megan and Adam: I think my back would never forgive me. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dude, okay. I thought the same, but they're not bad. Like I've never raced one in the desert. I think you just have to be smart if you do a desert race. But short course and like hucking Linda off of some jumps and stuff. It I wasn't in pain after it. And I thought for sure I'd be like, There's no way that I have six inches of travel. My truck has fourteen in back, twelve in front, like But like they're so light and well set up that they just kind of they work. I don't know how else to put it. Like they beat you up, but it's not bad. I don't know. Maybe it's just like me like just loving the Beatle too much because I'm a buggy dork and by heart, but like they're so fun and they didn't they didn't beat me up that much. Megan and Adam: So what There's a ultra four race this year in Oklahoma. And my co-driver's done like King of the Hammers and stuff and he's raced everything. And there was probably a five minute stretch where I'm on someone's bumper and I can see nothing. You know, we're just going and he's basically just looking at a screen and telling me when it turns kind of stuff. And I did not like it. I mean I'm you gotta keep going, but it's like there could be a tree coming right. I don't know. He's like, You still wanna race desert? And I was like, I don't think so. I don't I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha. Megan and Adam: don't like it. You know, and and and we were going fifty, not ninety five a hundred, you know, which they're Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: doing in the dead like those dudes are crazy. Like that's a that Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dude, when we raced the mint, we hit in a 1600 buggy. We actually passed the same like out of the same team or same pit, we passed the 10 car in the the desert in the open lake bed, thank you, of when we were doing the mint in a 1600 buggy. We hit ninety-two miles an hour in that thing. And we passed this Den car because Megan and Adam: Holy crap. Amanda Van Den Elzen: it got dusty and we ran a different line around it. And it was like that was I was so impressed by that thing. But ninety-two in this little Volkswagen powered. sixteen hundred car. It was wild. We were Megan and Adam: my goodness. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: it's like the whole time we were just sitting there cheering. We thought it was hilarious. It was good. It was good. But it was it was crazy. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Like desert is I I come from like co driving for rally racing, right? The closest Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: thing that I can put together is desert is essentially rally racing with longer stages or with some without stages, frankly. But It's a survival thing. It's a different mindset. It's probably kind of like Ultra Four, where you're in the car and it's like it doesn't matter what you have to do, you survive that race. And that's the cool thing about desert and even rally is is the press on regardless mentality. you roll it, you gotta fix it because you're in the middle of nowhere. You know, you break something, you gotta fix it, you're in the middle of nowhere. You have to get out of it. And there's something to be said about that experience, but man, does it not even compare to short course. The intensity of short course just wins it every time for me. Megan and Adam: It is more short course is more intense for sure. It's yeah, it's like racing motocross versus doing like an enduro. It it's it's short, fast, heart rate spike the whole time. it's two different worlds. I don't know which I like more. I I like them both. I just the ultra four, I like that you're in the car for an hour and a half to two hours and you're actually it's more seat time. Like short course. Yeah, I don't know. They're both awesome. I wish I could afford to do everything. Right? Right? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Same. Same here. Megan and Adam: Yeah. my peddling. Get back on that. Amanda Van Den Elzen: We talked a lot. Do you have any like questions, hot takes, anything? Well I'm curious. so Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: All of our guests, whenever they're on, and I'm gonna consider you guys guests, we always ask them what their one piece of advice would be for our listeners. So I'm curious what you guys have for that. I don't know who wants to go first. Megan and Adam: How about you go first? As far as what? we've already figured out that I'm not a marketing genius. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha. Megan and Adam: But okay, what what have you observed that has worked for us or for other teams? well, I guess what I would say is I always thought results or what gets sponsors and y you know how you do on the track. And I figured out through my wife that results are a small part of marketing and what sponsor the the social media thing and the consistency and posting and getting their name out. I I think that's probably way more important than your actual results on the track. Like maybe not. It it's just my mentality is so If you if you win every race, like people are gonna be banging at your door to put your name their name on the side of your car. That's not the truth at all. I figured out you have to bring value to them. Like you have to they're not just gonna sponsor you because you're a badass. Like that that there's no ROI just because you're a badass or whatever. Like you actually have to do something for them. And it's I've never really been in the sponsorship world, but Megan's taught me a ton about how people just go up and well, you should sponsor me 'cause I'm good. I got a cool car or whatever, you know, and it's that's that's not it. It it's it needs to be a partnership. You gotta figure out what you can do for each other. That is yeah, that's what I've learned. You listen. There you go. Yeah. So yeah, as far as marketing, which I'm not good at it. I I I mean that's her department. I I work on the cars and race the cars sometimes when she lets me. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Most people are not innately good at it, just so you know. You have to it's like learning how to ride a bike. Sometimes you just gotta figure it out. Megan and Adam: Yeah. Yeah. But I would tell people, since this is I guess a marketing show, it's yeah, you're not you're not just gonna go win your local race or whatever and get some national company to sponsor you or it's it's way it's way, way more about relationships and yeah, i it it's a relationship, it's a partnership. It's not it's you know, f fuel factory is my biggest sponsor by far, you know, and it's it's 'cause we know them. You know, it's Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan and Adam: it's not it's not 'cause I'm some badass. I I mean it's gunk. all these people are it's It's from the relationships, it's from Megan doing social media and actually promoting their products and it it's has nothing to do with my results. If I don't finish a race or whatever, they're not pissed off, you know. They still get their name out there, still do what we can for It it it's it's all about relationships. It's that's what I've learned. Okay. And that's why I go to the shows to build those relationships. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Not because she hates deer hunting. Megan and Adam: Not because I just wanna go hang out with my friends. She loves deer hunting. She just whenever. Yeah. No, I g yeah, but yeah, seriously, like Megan, you know, has done courses and trying to teach people about sponsorship and stuff and Well I I won this race and I'm gonna call whoever, Am's oil and and why why won't they sponsor me? It's like, well what do you do for them? Like what do you bring into the table for them? Well whatever why are they gonna give you thousands of dollars of product a year for not you you know like that's what people don't think about. Like that's that's the biggest thing. You gotta think about what what am I I mean I'm a business owner. So like I get from looking at it like Why am I gonna give you money or product? What am I getting out of it? You know? Like well, you know, NGK's been one of their biggest sponsors for years. It's like she's gotta do cool stuff to keep NGK happy because it's not like NGK is a new new company and nobody knows what NGK is. I mean, they're the biggest. They got They're not gonna sell more spark plugs because they put a little sticker on the side of some racer's car. You know, like you gotta choose Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: something for them to wanna sponsor you. Whatever the company is. I mean, so it yeah, it's it's relationships. It's relationships are more important than results, is what I've learned. Which is not what I thought. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Are you sure that you're not like wanting to get into doing this professionally? Cause dude, you like you nailed that on the head. Megan and Adam: Yeah. No. It's like no. Well, it just but but that's not what I thought. I mean I'm from I don't we didn't even call old school. I guess it's just race or mentality that like I do good. Sponsor me. That's not it Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: that that that doesn't do nothing for P that's not how it works. It's not But you're not interested in pursuing those relationships and building those relationships and it's not like that. It's like I I'm Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: I enjoy talking to people. You just want me to No, no. And only because Well here's the I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Whoa. Megan and Adam: already have I already have one business. I don't need another. But like I've seen how much time and work you guys have to put into being a full time racer. And my father in law. My father in law has I mean It's unbelievable. And the amount of people that he needs on his team to help him and sustain that. And you know, it's my God, my father in law and he's amazing at what he does. But you know, you're Megan runs a lot of it, most of it, but you're booking flights for crew people. You're the logistical aspect of it, the Beyond the financial, just the logistics and everything is a full time job and making sure these people and the scheduling and then we blew a motor up. Well there's thirty thousand dollars. It's like, geez, like I I I just th the you've said you've had a dream since you were a kid of, you know, racing. I I've just I just like to go race. I've never really had a dream of being, you know, professional, elite level. It's awesome to me. but like we've talked with like the Hendersons and like what what that dude goes through and spends and the people he's got to be ha and he runs a business too. Like, I don't know how he's got time, you know, to do all that stuff. Like, I'm it's rad. I but I'm not envious of like the time and the commitment that that takes to do all that. It's it's a lot. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: And I'm I don't know. If we were independently wealthy and I could just foc I didn't have to focus on work over here and then it'd be completely different. But like I just Yeah. It I don't know. To me to be great to be great at anything, that's gotta be the thing. I I can't I couldn't like really focus on trying to be a professional side by side racer and keep my business going too like one of 'em's gonna suffer. So I have to keep the racing as fun and just a side gig. Yeah. It's my it's my release. It's my I get out and have fun. So Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: Until I break something. Yeah, and then it's not fun. It's not even when she breaks that she gets mad at me. It's when she gets mad at me and like don't mess I'm the one that's gotta fix it. Like I'm have to let my frustration and anger out somehow. It just happens Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: to be on you because you're my partner. Well Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan and Adam: you're my best Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha. Megan and Adam: friend. I feel like that's what my life partner gay guys say to each other he's my partner. Well, but you are my partner in life. I'm your husband. Yes, you're my husband. And I I guess definitely you're See now she says par now she says partner because when we're at the races, I talk to her like she I don't talk to her like she's my wife. I'm like this is I'm just factual, like this is what needs to get done to fix the car so you can get back out there. And she's like, You could be nicer. I'm like I'm just speaking facts. Like this is what we gotta do. Like you talk to me like I'm one of your employees. Well Amanda Van Den Elzen: Okay, okay, fair. Because that's I mean, we deal with that often as well, where it's like We have different like facets of of our relationship where it's lovey dovey husband and wife mode, then you have get Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: shit done business mode, then you have Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: divide and conquer, then we have like strategy strategy. It's so dynamic, like it's just crazy to think about. So at times like okay, now you're a business partner. Now you're now you're somebody that's just has to get shit done and like an employee. Now it's I love you, let's go on a date. And it's like it's just it never it's never consistent. It's just a very fluid dynamic. Yeah. But Megan and Adam: Yeah. It's hard. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I don't know if I could live any other way. But okay. So transitioning back in to the question though Megan and Adam: No. We haven't kid. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Your biggest piece of advice. Biggest piece of advice, thank Megan and Adam: yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: you. is be genuine to who you are and build off of that. Don't act like somebody you're not. Don't think you have to be out there being this flashy loud voice. You don't have to be an influencer to influence people. The days of that, in my opinion, are going away. The fake, the flashy, the that kind of thing is starting to go away. People want genuine, real connection. Who are you? What's your story? What are you trying to achieve? And stay true to that. Don't don't always try to follow the trends, the the stupid trends, the trendy, like do this, do that. Instead, do the do what's genuine to you. Find things that are new, different, and exciting, but just be engaging. Like engage with people, create the relationships, echoing off of what what Adam was saying. relationships are everything. And being a genuine person, your genuine self is what your brand in my opinion should be. and that's how you form real lasting relationships that actually matter with with partners, with companies in the future and really allow your growth to happen and that shit's not gonna happen overnight. So be be genuine to yourself. Do what you gotta do on that side and know it's not gonna happen overnight is kind of my my big takeaway. Mm-hmm. I like that. That's a good note to Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I think wrap up on. So Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I am I we've been talking about doing this husband episode for I don't know this is episode twenty six. This is our one year episode. Do you realize that? Megan and Adam: it is. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well yeah, 'cause Crandon last year was our first one. So but yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. And then we didn't release it until October. This is our one year episode. So Dang. That's exciting. We've literally been talking about bringing you guys on though since the beginning. So we finally did Megan and Adam: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: it a year later. And I think this has been a lot of fun. Probably a little bit different than what we normally do, but I think there's a lot of really good nuggets in here. just really about about how to approach this as a racer and come out as a professional, right? I mean, everything that we talked about really hinged around that mindset shift, right? About about going into it for fun, but like how do you make it fun and professional? So thank you guys so much for coming on. You didn't have a choice. I just scheduled it for you. But I've been wanting to get on anyway. I know, I know. Megan and Adam: So what so you you do podcasts. This is my first podcast. First ever podcast or interview? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dang, look at you. I mean, it didn't feel like it at all. No, it was good. It was really good. Megan and Adam: Yeah, they're easy. Megan told me just to pretend like we were just like hanging out with you. Like she's like don't we're back Amanda Van Den Elzen: We are, which is why we talk so much. Megan and Adam: at what was the restaurant called? The crappie hole. We're back at the crappie hole. Yeah. Yep. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Of the coffee Yep. Megan and Adam: The crappie hole ribs, dude. That place is awesome. Yeah. Yeah. We need to go back. Yeah. Alright. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dude, yes. I would go back. I would go back. Yeah. Next Wheatland. But yes, thank Megan and Adam: Thanks. Thanks for having us. Amanda Van Den Elzen: thank you guys so much for coming on. This has been a lot of fun. And thank you to the listeners for sticking around and and hanging out with us as we got to chat with our our favorite people. So We are so excited to release Megan and Adam: My teammate my teammate. Amanda Van Den Elzen: another new episode every other Thursday. So you'll hear from us again in two weeks. But until then, we love you. Bye.