Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / From Salvage Yard to Victory Lane: Garrett Walls on Dirt Track Racing and Family Legacy

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From Salvage Yard to Victory Lane: Garrett Walls on Dirt Track Racing and Family Legacy · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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  Grand Touring Motorsports started as a social group of car enthusiasts,
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  but we've expanded into all sorts of motorsports disciplines, and we
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  want to share our stories with you.
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  Years of racing, wrenching, and motorsports experience brings
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  together a top notch collection of knowledge and information
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  through our podcast, Brake Fix.
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  Hey everyone, Crew Chief Eric here, and with me today filling
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  in for Brad is Mountain Man Dan.
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  And in this episode of Brake Fix, we're going to be speaking with Garrett
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  Walls, who some of you may recognize from Chazz's Used Auto Parts, and also
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  happens to be a GTM sponsor, winning our Sponsor of the Year award back in 2018.
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  We're probably not going to talk too much about used parts or the yard, but instead
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  we plan to dive into a conversation about the world of dirt track racing.
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  And with that, welcome to the show, Garrett.
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  Thanks.
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  I'm glad to be here.
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  Before we jump into dirt track racing, why don't you tell us a little bit about the
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  family business, the history of Chaz's.
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  My great grandfather had business.
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  We've had it for generations and generations.
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  We've pretty much since like Worson Muggy, really.
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  Like the fire field in World War II.
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  They used like fly planes in and then they would fuel them up and they'd go either
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  cross the ocean or jump on the carrier.
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  Then I guess like the 50s or 60s it got switched over to Salvage Yard.
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  I think it was Fair Brothers first and then it ran over to Martel's and
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  then I want to say like 83 or 84 my grandfather bought it and then from.
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  83, 84 to 95.
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  My father ran it, but it just wasn't under his name.
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  And then 95, he finally bought it from my father.
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  So my father started 25 years ago.
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  July 1st was the 25th anniversary.
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  That was just a couple of days ago.
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  He bought it off of my grandfather when it was Martel's.
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  Now it's Chaz's.
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  Like I said, his whole life.
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  And I've done it my whole life.
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  So I really don't see myself going anywhere.
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  Yeah, I'm kind of stuck here.
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  Prior to Chaz's ever becoming a sponsor for us, I had a fairly decent history of
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  coming up to their yard and pulling parts.
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  Chaz's is a new pull yard, it's not one where you have to have
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  them pull, although they do have a side that pulls parts for you.
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  Their yard's one of the nicer yards, in my opinion, in this area because
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  they keep it fairly well organized.
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  It's not full of mud holes and everything you have to walk
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  through going out to the cars.
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  And the prices have always been good.
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  I think the one question everybody wants to know is Chaz Short for something.
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  Yeah.
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  Charles.
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  Yeah.
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  That's his first name.
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  Oh, very cool.
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  Which actually leads us into our next part of the conversation.
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  When did you actually start dirt track racing?
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  In 2013 is when I started driving late model.
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  2012 I ran good car for half a season.
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  And then 2013.
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  Switched over to ride a late model for a full season.
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  I ran until about 2016 or 2017.
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  And then I took a break for like 3, 4 years.
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  And then finally jumped back in.
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  It was going to be full time this year, but now the current virus has
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  kind of got everything messed up.
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  So this hasn't even been a full season either.
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  I hear that congratulations are in order.
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  You won your first race.
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  Yeah, very first.
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  I haven't even won qualifying either, or I haven't topped one time trials either.
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  I've, this is the first ever win, in general.
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  I mean besides go karts.
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  Go karts, I won when I was doing it up in Susquehanna Speedway.
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  I won my first race in go karts, very first race that I ran and
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  then didn't win after that.
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  So what would you say compelled you to get into the sport?
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  What, what drove you to it?
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  Uh, my dad's been doing it his whole life, my whole life.
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  So it's kind of just, it's a family thing.
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  My whole family's done it.
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  I mean, he started it.
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  06, 08, something like that, I mean, a while ago.
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  So he ran Thundercars first.
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  Between him, my Uncle Mike, they were back and forth every weekend, first and second.
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  And being there, seeing that, you know, it was just really nice.
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  Afterwards, then late models started becoming kind of bigger and bigger.
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  So he jumped up into late models, 358 stuff for a little bit.
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  And then when I got 13, he's like, You know, hey, we're gonna
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  go ahead and get you a car.
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  So I jumped into 358.
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  I think it was either that year or the next year.
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  He jumped into doing super late models like 400 cubic inch stuff Like they
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  run like lucas oil or outlaws He jumped into doing that for like a year or
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  two kind of pulled out the competition wasn't really as nice as it was In 358.
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  It's not really I don't know how to say the 358 stuff's just more fun It's
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  just more fun to run in than the Super League stuff, in his eyes anyway.
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  Which I can see that, we've known more people in the 358
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  stuff, and it's like a family.
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  You know, racing is like a family too, so, you know how it is.
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  Thunder cars, late models, super late, 358, 400, and on top of that,
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  I'll probably throw in outlaws.
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  So can you explain the difference between all of them?
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  As far as late model goes, you have super late model, 358 late
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  model, and crate late model.
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  Crate late model is just like a 604 crate.
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  It's like 400 horsepower, 450 horsepower with a crate motor in it.
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  Most time GM 604s.
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  And for those that don't understand, 604 is the cubic inch size of the engine.
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  And what's the difference between a late model and a super late?
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  What makes, what makes the difference there?
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  Is it the year of the engine or something else?
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  So the, uh, late model, or limited late model, or 358 late model, like late
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  model sports, another thing we call them, they just have a 358 motor, it's
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  basically a 350 Chevy, or, I don't know what kind of Ford motor they use for
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  them, but they're just, like, their, their limit is 358 cubic inch, some of
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  them are like 360 cubic inch, so you can run a Dodge motor, most of it just
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  Chevy, 350s that are bored out, super late model, they are kind of loose on
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  their, uh, cubic inch size, because some people run all the way up to a 440.
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  And then some people don't run anything over 400, but they're all aluminum
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  where the 358 stuff's all steel.
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  Steel head, steel block, and then the superlates all aluminum.
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  So for the, for the folks listening, I mean, if you, if you googled
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  world of outlaws cars, it's kind of the traditional dirt track car.
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  They're kind of a cigarette car or they look like a shoe, big giant
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  wing on top, you know, the kind of the classic dirt racer, but these
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  late model cars you're talking about, they're actually two frame chassis cars.
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  And in your case, they kind of look like, I hate to say this, an 80s Camaro.
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  They have that sort of wedge shape to them.
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  Go to Google and look up, look up like, World of Outlaws Late Models
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  or Lucas Oil Late Models, and you'll see what they look like.
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  World of Outlaws, that's a big organization that runs, kind of like how
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  NASCAR is, but for late models, obviously.
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  Between them, And Lucas Oil, they're both more than the same, separate
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  brands, but they do the same thing.
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  But what about the Thundercars?
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  What do they look like?
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  Thundercars were basically just anything taken off the road, really.
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  Like a, um, like a rear wheel drive, big body car taken off
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  the road, old Crown Vic kit.
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  Most of it was really just, you know, Like a third gen Camaro or box body Mustang
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  or, you know, something like that thrown together with like a Chevy 350 or a
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  Ford 5 0, you know, something like that.
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  They were just kind of thrown in the car and rolled with.
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  Because obviously you're running in basically a spec class.
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  What kind of horsepower are those cars putting down?
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  The 358s are about 550, 600 around there.
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  So it's not a lot, but it's not a little bit either.
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  How much do they weigh in at?
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  2, 300 pounds to 2, 500.
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  Depends what, it also depends on the track, because some tracks
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  are, you're allowed 22, 50 some tracks, you're allowed 2350.
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  I think my home track is 2300.
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  You're allowed is your lightest.
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  Uh, and then the heaviest you can be is like 25 or 25 50.
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  That weight, is that after you come in after a race with depleted
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  fuel, or is that weight before you start the race with a full tank?
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  That's after the race de plate of fuel.
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  And whatever mud you have on the car, you know, sometimes you can pick
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  up 20 pound of mud and actually be 10 pounds light and still pass tech
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  because you picked up 20 pounds of mud.
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  Obviously you go to impound after the race is over.
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  They look over the car, you know, it sounds very similar to some of the club
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  racing and regionals and things like that.
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  We've heard a similar story from guys with, you know,
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  formula cars and spec cars.
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  They're brought to impound or, you know, they're looked over.
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  If somebody's suspected of cheating, they're probably torn down.
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  Is the same true in dirt track?
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  I mean, they still have like a great, you might've rolled over the
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  scale at 22, nine instead of 2300.
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  If the car seems like it's all fine, you know, there's nothing like out of whack
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  enough, they'll, they'll let you roll.
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  Most tracks, most tracks around here, a lot of your smaller tracks like that.
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  Now, if you run in a big show, if you're like one pound light there, you're,
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  you're disqualified as far as tech and motors and stuff, it's really only if.
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  Somebody kind of calls you or if they suspect they have a high suspicion
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  of you cheating that'll protect your motor Somebody can call you out and
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  kind of put money on it as you're cheating So what happens if they protest
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  and they lose do you get that money?
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  I'm not 100 sure how that works I know I thought now it used to be was if somebody
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  put a thousand dollars down said you're cheating and you were cheating then They
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  kept the money and then if you weren't cheating then You got their money.
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  It's how it used to be.
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  I don't like gambling, I guess.
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  What's the safety equipment like?
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  Fire suit, fire shoes, helmet on device.
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  Just now they started to require fire suppression systems.
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  They have like little heat elements in them that detect a certain temperature.
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  One runs in the cab.
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  The other one runs the fuel tank.
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  I think if one of them goes off, they both go off, but I'm not too sure.
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  Then obviously just tube chassis, their crowbars and all that stuff.
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  Do you guys run carburetors or EFI?
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  Bye.
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  Carburetors.
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  Everything's carburetors.
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  Even the super stuff is carburetors.
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  Because the big thing, they're not running gasoline.
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  No, we run alcohol.
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  We run alcohol.
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  Vodka, gin, what are we talking about?
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  Whatever you want.
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  Whatever makes it go fast.
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  Pure green.
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  Yeah, we're up in the mountains.
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  Making champagne, huh?
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  Good figure.
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  A drum of alcohol is about 300 bucks.
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  So you go through one of those.
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  I think it took us like two races to go through a drum of alcohol.
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  Wow.
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  But that was with a full tank.
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  Yeah.
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  So we had 25 gallons in the tank and then 55 in the drum.
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  Let's talk about the driving experience.
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  What's it like being out on track?
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  Definitely different.
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  I mean, it's, you guys know how it is too.
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  It's just a rush, but especially when you're starting with like 20 other cars.
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  And if you're mid pack, even if you're, if you're up front, my, my feature
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  race, my final race, it was only six cars and it was still just like a rush.
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  It's always an adrenaline rush.
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  You guys know how it is.
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  It might be a little bit different.
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  You know, between Red Horse and here, because you guys don't
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  normally run into each other.
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  Where in Dirt Track, you use each other to get faster running into each other.
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  You use each other as a barricade or a guardrail, you know.
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  The whole term, Rubbage Racing, Rubbage Racing.
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  That's, that's, that's Right, right.
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  It's not the same as, like, hit to pass, right?
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  The, the bumping and the grinding is because guys are sliding all
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  over the place, because of the distraction and stuff like that.
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  Contact is not required.
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  It's the inevitable conclusion there.
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  Yeah, it just happens.
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  You and a bunch of guys get on the corner at 100, 120 mile an hour.
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  Normally we estimate like 120 mile an hour on straightaway,
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  which you run as your top speed.
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  So when you enter the corner, you're probably doing 100, 90, 100 mile an hour.
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  And depending if you're on the top or the bottom, that also depends on your speed.
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  You can get all the way down to 60, 70 mile an hour.
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  where you can be still probably floating like the 90 mile an
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  hour range around the top side.
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  There's multiple lanes to a track, like as far as road course goes, or even just
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  oval, it's kind of like a one lane track.
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  But as far as dirt racing, you can have a one lane track, you'd have a three
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  lane track, you could be able to fit four cars on some tracks, depends on
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  the track conditions, the weather, if it rained, if it rained five minutes
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  before you went out, or if it rained.
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  Five hours before you go out, you know, that changes everything.
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  They got a special, like dirt track Zamboni that comes out to smooth it
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  out for you guys, or it is what it is.
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  Well, they're supposed to kind of hard to smooth them out.
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  It's not asphalt.
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  It's not just smooth, you know, and there's potholes and stuff and
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  asphalt, but dirt is just hard to work with and like sprinklers and stuff.
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  They'll, they'll run up a track like crazy because they've eaten so much.
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  They don't weigh anything, spin around.
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  Like you get some small tire cars, something like, they
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  call them scramble cars.
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  That's like your front wheel drive stuff off the road, you know,
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  Neons, Cobalt, stuff like that.
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  Them small tires will tear up a track too.
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  You know, we run like 28 inch wide tires, 29 inch wide tires.
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  They kind of float over the dirt.
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  Whereas some of that other stuff kind of digs in, they
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  don't create rust, create burn.
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  You don't have anybody maintaining the track because you've got to
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  kind of cut the track up in order to get the moisture down in there.
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  That way the dirt will pack.
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  Like the ideal track to have is one that's got enough moisture in
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  it to where you can have traction.
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  But still at the same time it's not like it's so muddy that your car is
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  just kind of stuck and locked down You know like haggardstown a lot of times
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  get real slick acts like ice Is the more ideal condition for it to be dry?
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  Dirt or do you prefer it just after it rains?
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  And I mean we're talking about dirt here, but realistically it's
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  Probably more like clay, right?
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  The problem with like a dry slick is just, you'll slide around, the car doesn't want
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  to grab you and you have no traction.
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  Like I said, I like it when it's not like soaked wet or muddy, but
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  it's actually got some, you know, like a little bit of moisture to it
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  so you can still get some traction.
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  But when it's dry slick, you come out of the corner and
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  you're just spinning wheels.
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  To jump back to the track for a minute, it's always oval.
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  There's no road course version on dirt that you run.
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  It's always oval.
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  So speaking of tires, describe the tires to us.
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  Cause you know, in our world, you know, a lot of guys will start out on a ultra
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  high performance summer tire, and then they graduate to some sort of what we
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  call an R compound or a race compound.
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  And then eventually you work your way up to slicks and that's great for asphalt,
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  maximum grip, maximum speed, but in the dirt, what are your tires like?
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  Most of the time they are, uh, they're like 28 and a half inch wide.
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  We run all the way around, except for the right rear.
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  That's 29 inch wide.
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  That's actually like a softer tire.
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  Like they make it out of some sort of special rubber than the other three.
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  We don't run different compounds, 1300 all the way up to like 1600
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  compound just determines the softness.
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  So like a 1300 is softer than say like a 1400 most time.
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  We don't ever really run anything over a 13 and a quarter or 1325.
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  The compounds go up.
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  In quarters, so like 25 50 75, but yeah, we normally just stick to 113 and a
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  quarter You use like a harder tire on a slipper track if you're going like a 20
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  lap race If you're not doing anything over 20 laps, you really stick to just
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  a 1300 But that that also depends on track conditions if you have a Slick
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  track that's spitting up dust everywhere, then you're going to want to run a 13
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  and a quarter when you're right rear.
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  And if you're doing a 20 lap race, you put 13 and a quarter on
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  the left rear, uh, right front.
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  Your left front doesn't touch the ground, so you normally just get 1, 300.
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  Unlike us in the road work where we have our slicks, we have our rain tires.
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  Their tires, they'll actually cut the grooves in themselves.
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  So they're actually putting the tread pattern they designed,
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  siping and things like that, to set it up for different conditions.
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  There's different tread designs that they could cut into if they
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  want a different type of grip.
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  Is there a tread pattern that's more ideal than another?
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  Or does it really depend on the track and the conditions?
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  Let's say a, like a motorcycle tread versus a block tread, right?
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  Or that way people can kind of relate to it.
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  What, what would be better?
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  Most people just run like a regular block tread.
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  I've seen people on the right.
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  Front, they'll run an angle, run like an angle tread.
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  So they'll go from one end of the tire to the other.
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  There's these little like extra casting lines from when they, when they make
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  the mold and everything on the edge of the tires to run out at an angle
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  on each end, and you kind of just draw the dots between them, two angles that
• 14:54
  line up from one end of the tire to the other, and then they'll draw those out
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  and make them to an angle tire for the right front, we did that a while ago.
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  But it really, I didn't notice a difference in it, because we run
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  our right front block treads also.
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  I haven't noticed a difference yet, so.
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  But there's some people that swear up and down by it, and there's some people
• 15:10
  that are just like, it doesn't matter.
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  Some people say the tread don't matter at all, as long as you got threads.
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  Because our tires come, they come with a like, straight tread
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  from the factory, from Hoosier.
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  But as far as like, people's ideas, you know, they want to
• 15:22
  do that, that's, that's on them.
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  Whether they want to run straight across, or whether they want to run like
• 15:27
  an angle tread, or if they run angle, straight angle, some people do that.
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  It also depends on where you're putting the tire.
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  Most times, it's normally just blocked.
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  It's easy, it works.
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  A lot of guys that went to NASCAR started in dirt track, but realistically, the
• 15:42
  disciplines are similar in the sense that they both on an oval, but I think the
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  driving style is completely different.
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  Would you agree?
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  So like asphalt, the dirt driving style is way different.
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  And even just, well, you obviously know what road course is also way different
• 15:55
  as well, but as far as asphalt, the dirt, that's why you're not sliding around.
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  You got to be able to handle the control, handle the car under a slide, whereas
• 16:03
  NASCAR or any, you know, asphalt oval, not going to say it's any easier.
• 16:07
  It's more controlled.
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  You know, NASCAR you have more control of.
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  If you need to make a left or a right in the turn, you have enough room to do so.
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  You have enough traction that you can kind of just jerk the
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  wheel a little bit and move.
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  Whereas dirt goes, if you're mid slide and somebody spins out in front of you
• 16:23
  or two cars up, sometimes you don't have anywhere to go but into them.
• 16:27
  Your driving style's gotta change.
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  You gotta, you gotta change your distance for following.
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  Following distance is really a big thing.
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  You know, asphalt, you can be right up behind them.
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  Dirt, sometimes even like five, ten car lengths at times, depending on what it is.
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  I mentioned to Garrett previously, dirt track in a way is, it's
• 16:42
  like the original drifting.
• 16:43
  Because a lot of what they're doing is drifting just on dirt.
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  But now drifting's a big thing.
• 16:47
  All these guys ride road courses and have their cars drifting around.
• 16:50
  Dirt track's been doing that forever.
• 16:52
  So it's uh taking, I think drifting in many ways can fare closer to dirt
• 16:57
  track than like NASCAR and road course.
• 16:59
  Even rally over in Europe, right?
• 17:00
  It's the same thing.
• 17:01
  Anything that's off road with a car, you know, not like, uh, off roading in
• 17:05
  trucks where they're doing, you know, rock crawling and that kind of thing.
• 17:08
  But you know, it does conjure this image of, you know, Of, you know,
• 17:11
  Lightning McQueen, if you watch the first cars movie, where he's like,
• 17:14
  you got to turn right to go left.
• 17:16
  I would assume that the driving style is very much like that.
• 17:19
  Your throttle steering, your counter steering, you're not just kind of
• 17:22
  chucking it in there and holding the line.
• 17:24
  Like not to, not to downplay the NASCAR guys, but they're dealing
• 17:27
  with a lot of centrifugal forces because they're going so fast, right?
• 17:31
  They're on a, on that large bowl, trying to maintain very high speeds versus, as
• 17:34
  you said, your highest speed, you know, 120 mile an hour, but you're, you're
• 17:38
  You're going sideways on dirt, trying to maintain control at 90 mile an hour.
• 17:43
  That's, that's pretty impressive.
• 17:44
  You really do.
• 17:45
  I mean, the steering wheel is more to the right than it is any other way, but
• 17:49
  I mean, still the fastest way around track is as straight as you can get
• 17:52
  the steering wheel, especially in late models, because they have rear CRM
• 17:56
  basically take a four length drag set up.
• 17:58
  and they shorten up the left side bars on the gas the back of the car will pick
• 18:02
  up and it'll pull the left side the left wheel and it'll start to pull it you'll
• 18:05
  see it go under not quite under the cockpit but it'll be right behind the
• 18:09
  cockpit yeah if you look at any pictures of them when they're turning or when
• 18:12
  they're rolling you'll see the left rear is kicked up real high And the wheels
• 18:16
  pulling under the body, you know, it helps rotate the car and set the car over.
• 18:19
  And the biggest, the big thing about these cars is you have to let them rotate.
• 18:22
  The cars move a lot.
• 18:23
  You can feel the car pick up.
• 18:25
  Letting it rotate is just, is a really, really big part of it.
• 18:28
  Your driving style also will, will have to accommodate the car.
• 18:32
  Depending on the car, depending on the manufacturer, you know,
• 18:35
  and just little stuff like that.
• 18:36
  Just depends on how the car feels.
• 18:39
  I mean, it even goes down to what kind of rear you have in the car changes
• 18:42
  your setup and what kind of shocks you have, what brand of shocks you
• 18:45
  have when the car changes your setup.
• 18:46
  It's a lot of little things will change your setup.
• 18:48
  I mean, even just like an inch of stagger will make a difference.
• 18:51
  My old car, my 06 Rocket, when you go into the corner, you would just
• 18:54
  slowly let off the gas, ease onto the brake, and then the car would
• 18:58
  start to rotate itself and set up.
• 19:00
  You can pretty much just run it right out of the car.
• 19:01
  Like that didn't, it didn't matter where you were.
• 19:03
  That car just grabbed all the time.
• 19:05
  Right.
• 19:05
  That's probably the best car ever.
• 19:07
  So are they automatics or are they manuals?
• 19:09
  Paddle shifters?
• 19:10
  What do you got in there?
• 19:11
  They're kind of like a power glide, like a direct drive.
• 19:13
  You have a low and high and then reverse.
• 19:16
  It's a two stick trans.
• 19:17
  But other than that, I mean, they're basically an automatic.
• 19:19
  Basically, it's basically just a one gear.
• 19:21
  You only use high.
• 19:23
  Here, uh, Dale and I hanging out and looking the car over up close and
• 19:27
  the transmission itself is a very different concept than what we're used
• 19:31
  to because even though it's technically an automatic, it does not have a
• 19:34
  torque converter and where the torque converter would sit at, there's actually
• 19:38
  a pulley for a belt drive to come up.
• 19:40
  To run a pump, which controls, I guess, power steering is oil power steering.
• 19:45
  And you run off the pump.
• 19:46
  That's run off the shaft itself for setup stuff, the amount of shocks.
• 19:51
  They actually have a shock that mounts in the transmission tunnel, connect
• 19:55
  to it to help give suspension on the transmission itself, because the amount
• 19:58
  of movement, the chassis, so you were talking about applying the brakes in
• 20:02
  the corner, I'm assuming your left foot breaking when you're doing that, right?
• 20:05
  You're kind of ruddering the car, not.
• 20:07
  Taking your foot off of the accelerator and then hitting stabbing the brakes
• 20:10
  and then getting back on right?
• 20:11
  Yeah, like that's how that o6 car set up, you know, you were easy on the
• 20:14
  brakes You move the pedals together now this car that I have is a 2018.
• 20:18
  It's a rocket It's uh, they call it an xr1 like that's kind of
• 20:21
  like the chassis or whatever Or their model, the chassis model.
• 20:24
  That one is just set up real tight.
• 20:26
  So you kind of have to abuse the car to make it want to rotate.
• 20:30
  And you use a lot of three wheel brake.
• 20:32
  Essentially it shuts the right front brake off.
• 20:33
  So the right front brake won't lock up.
• 20:35
  So you only have the left side and then the right rear.
• 20:38
  It'll stop and it helps kick the car sideways, but the
• 20:41
  car is set up real tight.
• 20:42
  It kind of pushes up the track So you have to kind of run hard in the
• 20:45
  corner and jab the brake to get it to want to kick sideways And then from
• 20:49
  there you're kind of smooth running the brake and the gas together It's
• 20:53
  easier to do than this plane and all of this happens in a matter of seconds
• 20:56
  So it's like in the blink of an eye.
• 20:58
  It's all going down in one shot It's very it's like a dance, you
• 21:01
  know with the car and everything.
• 21:02
  I get it.
• 21:02
  That's It's cool.
• 21:03
  And I don't think the audience probably appreciates that, that there's a lot
• 21:07
  going on in the cabin of that car.
• 21:09
  You're just kind of watching it.
• 21:10
  You know, it's going around in circles, making a left turn, making another
• 21:12
  left turn, making another left turn.
• 21:14
  You're busy in there.
• 21:15
  It's not a cakewalk.
• 21:16
  That's for sure.
• 21:16
  When I first started doing it, I caught on pretty quick, but it wasn't, uh,
• 21:20
  you don't just get in the car and roll.
• 21:21
  Like, you know, a lot of people think they can just get in the car and go, but
• 21:24
  it's not, it's not as easy as it looks.
• 21:27
  I mean, it took me a couple of races for it to really keep up with
• 21:29
  even just the back of the pack.
• 21:31
  It was kind of.
• 21:32
  But, you know, the more time you put in something, the more seat time you put in
• 21:35
  something, the better you're gonna be.
• 21:36
  Very cool.
• 21:37
  Tell me about your biggest oops moment on track.
• 21:40
  Got a couple of those.
• 21:41
  We also call them Code Brown moments.
• 21:43
  Yeah.
• 21:44
  I'm gonna say probably, I started, uh, I started second
• 21:48
  in the heat race of qualifying.
• 21:50
  It actually was a time trial shift.
• 21:53
  So I laid the fifth fastest lap of the night.
• 21:56
  I beat both my father, another guy that we help out at the
• 21:59
  event and sponsor, Justin Weaver.
• 22:01
  And I was fast on him.
• 22:02
  He's, he wins there like all the time.
• 22:04
  So he's a very good driver, but I laid a faster lap than him.
• 22:07
  And I laid a faster lap than my father.
• 22:09
  And I started, started first or second.
• 22:11
  I know I started on the front row of the heat race.
• 22:14
  I led like four laps and then got too high up in the marbles and just, it just,
• 22:20
  Pulled my car up and up towards the wall.
• 22:22
  I think I ended up finishing like third in the heat race But
• 22:24
  it was it was a big oops moment.
• 22:26
  I got too happy.
• 22:26
  I got too excited Yeah, a little too confident.
• 22:29
  I couldn't control myself Kept the wheels on the ground though, right?
• 22:33
  Yeah, as long as wheels stay on the ground It's you're you're pretty good
• 22:36
  speaking of track conditions Uh, not this week from Garrett one But the week
• 22:39
  before me and some people made it out to cheer him on and there's some support
• 22:43
  his way from the crowd Luckily, it wasn't during his class running or Him
• 22:47
  particularly But a couple of the classes before him, the car actually rolled
• 22:52
  because the conditions in the track built a little bit of a rut in one corner and
• 22:55
  jacked him around and caught it wrong.
• 22:56
  Lift the car up and rolled it like three or four times.
• 22:59
  So one thing I wanted to add in is, like we mentioned earlier in
• 23:01
  this episode, he got his first win.
• 23:03
  So he was talking to me that he got pole position or things starting or
• 23:07
  got out there and he dropped back into second place and basically
• 23:10
  stayed in second majority because he, he was aware of the, the other
• 23:14
  driver being a very aggressive driver.
• 23:16
  And they were like, look, you get in front of him, he's going to just try it.
• 23:20
  So, not only is it always about leading the pack, but in that particular
• 23:24
  situation, Derek stayed in second and kept his distance until the end of the
• 23:28
  race where he came in and was managed to get by him right there at the end for the
• 23:32
  victory and sometimes patience pays off.
• 23:34
  Yeah.
• 23:35
  Yeah.
• 23:35
  And, and one of, like I mentioned before, Dustin Weaver, he's, he's a big one
• 23:39
  for patience pays off because You'll be four or five curlings ahead of the
• 23:43
  boy, and then two laps to go, he's three curlings in front of you, you know, he,
• 23:48
  he knows how to play the mind games, so, I mean, but he's a very good driver.
• 23:51
  He's been on it for years too.
• 23:53
  And sometimes that's all part of it.
• 23:54
  It's a mental game as much as it is a physical one, and that's in all
• 23:58
  the motorsports disciplines, right?
• 24:00
  Patience is a virtue, and a lot of times planning and waiting for somebody to make
• 24:05
  a mistake or whatever, and then, you know, you're not running your machine, Out 110%.
• 24:10
  You've got some leftover reserve at the end and then you pull
• 24:13
  it out and you get that win.
• 24:14
  So it's all part of the game.
• 24:16
  Yeah.
• 24:17
  Let me ask you this, since you've been doing this now for, let's say
• 24:19
  seven or eight years, what's one thing you'd like to see change in
• 24:23
  the, in the dirt track discipline?
• 24:25
  I don't know.
• 24:26
  I guess I'm just used to it all, you know, but I mean, I was, I
• 24:28
  was out of it for three years too.
• 24:30
  So a lot of stuff that I come back to is, is just change.
• 24:34
  You know, the cars are completely different, but just me being out for
• 24:37
  three years, The cars have changed, you know, you wouldn't think a
• 24:41
  change in 10 years would have caused.
• 24:43
  There's really nothing that I would change, I guess.
• 24:46
  How they've been, as long as I've known them, you know, the same concepts there.
• 24:50
  So of the changes you saw during that three year period that you weren't, was it
• 24:53
  mostly safety related items you saw change when you came back to it, or was it just
• 24:58
  the whole designs of the cars and chassis?
• 25:00
  The only safety thing I seen was just the fire extinguishers, that was it.
• 25:03
  The only safety thing that actually, that I realized.
• 25:05
  Is we used to scale our cars.
• 25:07
  I don't know if you guys ever done you ever have to do scaling right?
• 25:10
  Yeah corner balancing so we used to have to scale our cars And I mean we had
• 25:14
  all these numbers we had to get we had ride heights We had to get with we had
• 25:17
  the car had to have so much fuel in it and so much oil in it and so much You
• 25:21
  know It had to have oil in the lines.
• 25:23
  You had to basically start the car and run it for a little
• 25:26
  bit before you scaled the car.
• 25:27
  And you had to have like 20 gallon of fuel was recommended.
• 25:29
  You put it on on a set of scales.
• 25:31
  You have to have your, your rear percentage needs to be this much.
• 25:35
  Your left side percentage needs to be this.
• 25:37
  Your cross weight needs to be this.
• 25:38
  Then you have ride height.
• 25:39
  You have to measure from control arm to your bottom of the frame has to be this.
• 25:43
  You know, stuff like that.
• 25:45
  But they've, they've done away with scales.
• 25:46
  Scale is now like you don't need to do it.
• 25:49
  Now they have these things called frame smashing.
• 25:52
  And you essentially take the shock, and you put the shock on this machine,
• 25:56
  and it'll smush the spring down, and it'll smush like a certain weight,
• 25:59
  so say, like the right front, 2100 pound of pressure put on or something,
• 26:04
  and you have to measure how big the spring is, smashed like that.
• 26:08
  But yeah, they completely changed how all that works.
• 26:10
  That, that was the biggest change, that you were saying.
• 26:12
  That was probably the biggest change that I've seen, is just how they completely
• 26:15
  just, Rework the cars and the suspension set up and make it so scaling is not
• 26:20
  useless, but it's just not there anymore.
• 26:22
  It's not the way to do it anymore.
• 26:23
  What's it take to run a dirt track car?
• 26:25
  Maybe I want to jump in and I want to get started.
• 26:28
  Obviously you're not going to go and just, you know, build one yourself unless
• 26:32
  you're running those thunder cars, right?
• 26:34
  Or something like that.
• 26:35
  But if you want to get into the sport, let's kind of divide it out.
• 26:38
  What would it, where would you look for a car?
• 26:40
  How much would it cost?
• 26:41
  For a car on average, maybe, you know, not a front runner, something to get in.
• 26:45
  And what's it cost to enter an event?
• 26:48
  As far as entering the event, it's just, you, you just pay your pit admissions.
• 26:51
  So like 30 bucks on average, as far as track goes, they
• 26:54
  normally don't charge for a car.
• 26:56
  You know, you, they just bring them in.
• 26:58
  If you wanted to start with, like, say you want to start just in dirt racing,
• 27:02
  you just want to get into dirt racing.
• 27:03
  So the cheapest way is going to be what they call hobby stocks.
• 27:07
  Some tracks call them different.
• 27:08
  Basically what they they're basically what thundercars were.
• 27:10
  But they're more of like, you take Fox Body or 3rd Gen Camaro or,
• 27:14
  you know, something like that.
• 27:15
  And put 351 Windsor.
• 27:18
  Some of them run like, open motor as well.
• 27:20
  So you can run 370, you can even run 400.
• 27:23
  But, that's going to be the cheapest way to get in.
• 27:25
  You cage it.
• 27:26
  I don't know what their safety regulations are.
• 27:27
  I mean, I've only ran late model.
• 27:29
  I started in late model, so I'm not a hundred percent sure on hobby stock stuff.
• 27:33
  Can't give you a price range of what you start, but I would say as far as just
• 27:37
  the car and the tools to do it, it was probably like maybe 10, 000 to start.
• 27:42
  I'm sure you could probably go for cheaper, but I'm saying just the tools
• 27:44
  to do it and the car, not including truck, trailer, nothing like that.
• 27:48
  I would say it's probably like 10 to 15, 000 to start doing that stuff.
• 27:51
  If you want to go to late model, even just 358 late model, like I'm running.
• 27:55
  We spend forty to fifty thousand in one car.
• 27:59
  Wow between The frames now it's going just a bare frame with nothing on it.
• 28:05
  It's like five to six thousand dollars now It used to be like twenty five
• 28:08
  hundred bucks by the time you get the the rear in it And that's the star
• 28:12
  we priced out a set of shocks with sixty five hundred dollars brand new.
• 28:15
  Wow To get a motor built from scratch.
• 28:18
  You're looking at ten 12, 000, 15, 000.
• 28:21
  Transmission, they're 1, 500.
• 28:23
  We run carbon fiber driveshafts, which I think they should make everybody
• 28:26
  run carbon fiber driveshafts.
• 28:27
  So I guess that's one of the changes I would like to see.
• 28:30
  But, yeah, carbon fiber driveshafts, 800.
• 28:32
  Yeah, it's like 40, 000 to 50, 000 to run one of them.
• 28:35
  If that's, like, going for new.
• 28:37
  You're going for used we picked up was a 2018.
• 28:40
  Uh, we bought that last year at the end of the year We picked up for cheap.
• 28:43
  We picked up for under 28, 000, you know And that was a race ready you put it on
• 28:47
  the track and go actually the guy Let me take it down to two test sessions
• 28:51
  and test it before I bought it He said, you know come down to test session.
• 28:54
  You get to drive it test it.
• 28:56
  See how you like it I liked it the first night so I took it home He said,
• 28:59
  before you pay me, come run in another test session and see how you like it.
• 29:03
  Make sure you still like it.
• 29:04
  I did still liked it and ended up with it.
• 29:06
  The tires are about 200 a tire.
• 29:09
  Um, wheels are.
• 29:11
  150 to 300.
• 29:13
  They don't weigh anything.
• 29:14
  I mean, they're, they're extremely light.
• 29:15
  The material they use is very light aluminum, much like what's used on ATVs.
• 29:19
  You know, people are familiar with four wheels and stuff, how light
• 29:21
  the aluminum wheels are on that.
• 29:23
  Very similar with these cars.
• 29:24
  And then a lot of them, you guys have your bead lockers, aren't they?
• 29:27
  Yeah, we don't.
• 29:28
  The right side, we run bead lock.
• 29:29
  The left side, you can run bead lock.
• 29:31
  Interesting.
• 29:32
  My last question, talking about the racing part before we get into kind
• 29:35
  of the last section of the interview.
• 29:37
  What advice would you give someone that's starting out in dirt track?
• 29:40
  I would say, you You definitely want to get some practice sessions
• 29:43
  in before you go out and race.
• 29:44
  Susquehanna Speedway or BAP Speedway as they're known now
• 29:47
  will let you rent the track out.
• 29:48
  So you can run it with either just you or you can get a couple of people with you.
• 29:52
  We, what we would do is normally every year we rent the track out in the
• 29:56
  beginning of the year between normally me, my uncle and my cousins, you know,
• 30:00
  our whole family kind of pitches in.
• 30:01
  If you can, if you, if you can do it, rent the track out.
• 30:04
  If you never, you know, even if you, you know, Even if you've
• 30:06
  ran a race car before, I still recommend running the track out.
• 30:09
  If you're switching over from like oval or something like that, that helped me a lot.
• 30:12
  I mean, we ran probably, I probably ran like a hundred laps on that track that
• 30:16
  night that we, when I first started.
• 30:17
  Yeah.
• 30:18
  And then once you, once you get the feel for the car, once you know what
• 30:20
  the car is doing, know how it responds.
• 30:22
  I would suggest you go to a practice session with other cars on it,
• 30:25
  so you kind of get a feel for other cars on the track with you.
• 30:28
  Because they're most likely going to pass you.
• 30:30
  If you've never ran with cars before, even just on a practice session,
• 30:33
  it is still a big difference.
• 30:35
  Just from running open with nobody there, to running with people
• 30:38
  who've been doing it for years.
• 30:39
  So yeah, I would jump to a practice session.
• 30:41
  And then open up to a race.
• 30:44
  Racing is a big, big jump from normal practice because people
• 30:46
  are a lot more, uh, Aggressive.
• 30:48
  Aggressive.
• 30:48
  They're way more aggressive.
• 30:50
  Do you go into this with any sort of coaching?
• 30:52
  Cause you know, in the road racing world, a lot of people will start in
• 30:56
  high performance driving where they've got somebody in the right seat with
• 30:59
  them, you know, telling them what to do and where to go and where to turn and
• 31:02
  hit this apex break here and all that.
• 31:05
  And then graduate to something else, be it time trials and then club
• 31:08
  racing and then so on down the line.
• 31:09
  Is there a similar format for dirt track?
• 31:12
  No, it's, it's basically you just jump in the car and drive.
• 31:15
  Yeah, there's no right seat, so it's just a single seat in the vehicle.
• 31:18
  Oh, no, they do have, you can go to a school that Dale McDowell, he has, I think
• 31:23
  it's like Kentucky or Tennessee, wherever, he goes on racetrack and everything down
• 31:25
  there, and he teaches people how to drive.
• 31:28
  He has one of them two seat late models.
• 31:30
  I think what he does is he'll go out on the track with you or one of the
• 31:33
  instructors go with you, you run around the track for a little bit, and then you
• 31:36
  switch over to one seat late model, that two seat throws the weight off a lot, so
• 31:40
  then it will run, you know, like it's a one seat late model, you got that run.
• 31:43
  It's hard to Tell somebody when to brake or tell somebody when they need to gas up.
• 31:48
  If the car is not getting set up right, or even if the car is not
• 31:51
  rotating right, you're going to push.
• 31:52
  You're going to, you're going to be tight.
• 31:53
  You just got to get in and feel the track and drive.
• 31:55
  I mean, that's, that's really it.
• 31:56
  For you getting out on track, since there's not much of a coaching like it
• 32:00
  is on the road course, how much of that did you use just visual perception,
• 32:03
  watching the guys in front of you, watching where they were turning,
• 32:06
  watching how far they were kicking?
• 32:07
  How much of that did you take in when you started driving,
• 32:10
  observing how the other guys drove?
• 32:12
  Pick up and move, that sort of stuff.
• 32:13
  Kind of gonna break that down a little bit, because like, you go, when you go
• 32:16
  to the track, and you watch the people run, If you've never been in the car
• 32:21
  before, you don't know what's going on.
• 32:23
  Like, I'm being dead honest, you don't really know everything that's going on.
• 32:27
  Like, when I started, I was also, you know, 12, 13 years
• 32:30
  old before I really ran the car.
• 32:32
  So, my dad was trying to show me, you know, listen to where he picks
• 32:35
  up throttle, listen to where he brakes, listen to where he pulls off
• 32:38
  the throttle a little bit, or gets on a car, you know, stuff like that.
• 32:41
  You don't realize how much of a difference it makes when you actually
• 32:43
  drive the car to realize where Bridal is and where the break is.
• 32:47
  So like the first time I actually tried listening to a car without being in the
• 32:50
  car, I didn't really, I didn't really pick up where anything was going on.
• 32:54
  Cause you kind of don't get them cues or you can't really, you can't really
• 32:57
  visualize yourself in the car, getting them cues or, you know, when to pick up
• 33:01
  the car, when to break after I drove the car and was in the car for a little bit.
• 33:05
  I realized, you know, okay, well, he, he lets off at this pole or he
• 33:08
  lets off at this part of the wall, you know, use kind of like landmarks
• 33:13
  and judge where you want to lift.
• 33:14
  Williams Grove is really good for that because there's like three poles
• 33:17
  on each corner and you can know how the track is, know what pole to lift.
• 33:20
  So that's, that's a big thing that, that really would change it.
• 33:23
  Now, since I've been in the car for a while, you know, I have
• 33:25
  a couple of years behind me.
• 33:26
  I can go to the corner of the track and tell you exactly where I lift
• 33:29
  and where I pick up at, where I brake, you know, and how the car
• 33:32
  is going to react at that point.
• 33:34
  I can go to the track and tell you, you know, yeah, you don't want to run
• 33:37
  that line because it's going to be slick, or you don't want to run that
• 33:39
  line because it's going to be way too heavy, and you just pick that stuff
• 33:42
  up from, from doing it, being there.
• 33:43
  Even though you guys are competing against each other, there's a lot of knowledge
• 33:46
  sharing going on in the community because you just said yourself, you know, if
• 33:50
  somebody asked me where my line is, here it is, but granted, it's always going to
• 33:53
  be variable based on the dirt conditions and the moisture and the humidity and
• 33:57
  all that, but Is that a fair statement to say, you know, there's a lot of
• 34:01
  sharing of information going on before you get out there and go door to door?
• 34:04
  But I don't know how your guys teams, you know, separate teams work together.
• 34:09
  Like the way the Dirt Track thing is, if I go to the trailer next to me and
• 34:13
  I need something, most likely they're gonna give it to me, you know, they're
• 34:16
  gonna, they're gonna help me out.
• 34:17
  Like for example, I had, I had a run a couple years ago.
• 34:21
  I bent the front bumper on my car and it was just it was pretty much
• 34:24
  unusable, you know, basically kind of knocked me out of the race We had a boy
• 34:28
  come like three trailers down He came down brought us a bumper said dude.
• 34:32
  Look we want you back in the race.
• 34:34
  Here's the bumper Go ahead and get the nose back together.
• 34:36
  Well, yeah, they helped put the nose back together They helped us get it
• 34:38
  all back together ended up getting on the track So my dad goes to get
• 34:42
  ready and break it all down, you know, we're gonna he goes no Just keep it.
• 34:44
  We don't you know, we don't need it You're good.
• 34:46
  We got like three other ones in the trailer.
• 34:48
  So it's a lot of uh, They said I don't know how it is for you guys
• 34:51
  I don't know if you guys have like rival teams like that that'll
• 34:54
  just come to you and help you.
• 34:55
  Um, But the dirt track community it's it's honestly like family, you know They they
• 35:00
  do come and cater to you and help you if you need it I'll say it being like family.
• 35:04
  It's one of the things in our environment on the road course
• 35:08
  You're always helping people out, even guys that aren't in the club.
• 35:10
  And, but, uh, one thing I was talking about earlier is, and you know, I'd
• 35:14
  mentioned it, one thing that we don't see as much on the road course side is.
• 35:19
  That family tempers flare in the dirt track community where it is an uncommon
• 35:24
  that come off track of the argument and yelling Sometimes it gets a little bit of
• 35:28
  a scuffle But it's one of those things to where there's a lot more and one of the
• 35:31
  things that I always tell people for the dirt Track is there's a lot of people out
• 35:35
  there that like NASCAR and they refer, you know Dirt track as what became NASCAR, but
• 35:40
  I think there's a very distinct difference between the two for me Dirt track.
• 35:44
  I enjoy going to it because each heat might be, you know, 2025 laps.
• 35:48
  So for 2025 laps, these guys are pushing it hard as hard as they can here to
• 35:52
  the front and do what they can to full position when NASCAR, you're sitting there
• 35:57
  for 3400 laps, just watching them go.
• 35:59
  Sir.
• 36:00
  So dirt track, I find much more enjoyable and on the spectator side of it.
• 36:04
  The great thing is a lot of times it's a BYOB.
• 36:06
  So people will be sitting up in the stands with their, their coolers full of beer
• 36:09
  and just enjoying it and getting rowdy.
• 36:11
  And a great thing about it is it's not much of a difference to be able to go into
• 36:15
  the pit area and be able to hang out with the drivers and stuff in between races.
• 36:17
  I will say I was invited to go once to Lincoln to watch a World of Outlaws race.
• 36:23
  And you know, I was hesitant at first coming from my background, but then
• 36:27
  again, I've said it many times, I have an appreciation for anything
• 36:30
  with a motor and a way to steer it.
• 36:32
  So I was like, you know what?
• 36:33
  Let's go.
• 36:33
  Let's send it.
• 36:34
  I want to see what it's all about.
• 36:35
  And, you know, I took my wife at the times where we had the kids.
• 36:39
  To Dan's point, it's very family oriented.
• 36:42
  It's very down to earth, very grassroots racing.
• 36:44
  But on the same token, it was an absolute hoot to watch.
• 36:48
  And I couldn't believe how much fun it was.
• 36:50
  And now kind of looking back, you know, now that all of us have to
• 36:53
  wear masks every day, everywhere we go, that, that would have been
• 36:56
  a big plus back then because I think I ate so much dirt and sand.
• 37:00
  It wasn't even funny.
• 37:01
  Especially with the outlaw cars running.
• 37:03
  I mean, it was like watching a tornado just being formed right in front of
• 37:06
  you, but at the end of the day, it was like, wow, this is really cool.
• 37:10
  This is like raw pure racing, you know, at its best.
• 37:13
  Now, you know, it may not be for everybody, but I'll just say this,
• 37:17
  you know, give it, give it a try, you know, because you might be surprised.
• 37:20
  You know, what, how it turns out for you at the end of the day,
• 37:22
  let's switch gears a little bit.
• 37:23
  You know, you've been involved with us for a number of years now, just
• 37:26
  kind of on the peripheral, let's just say, but you've been supporting our,
• 37:29
  our addiction here to, to road racing.
• 37:32
  You know, that's been awesome.
• 37:33
  And you've come out to some events, especially our summer bash events.
• 37:36
  And I know you've done some ride alongs.
• 37:38
  And I took you out in, uh, Bowser's Miata, the, the first time it came out.
• 37:43
  I'll never forget.
• 37:43
  I was just kind of talking to you, you know, we had the headset on and
• 37:45
  we're going around, it's a Miata.
• 37:47
  It's like, whatever, you know, we're Shenandoah circuit.
• 37:50
  And, and I asked you one point, you all right.
• 37:51
  And you said to me, yeah, I just never thought we could get
• 37:54
  this much rotation on asphalt.
• 37:56
  Yeah.
• 37:57
  I didn't, I didn't realize the car moved like that.
• 38:00
  I mean, I described that experience.
• 38:01
  Now you've been on a couple of ride alongs.
• 38:04
  What do you, think of circuit racing?
• 38:05
  Yeah.
• 38:06
  Um, I mean, I like it.
• 38:07
  I was going to do it because it was more affordable for me with my own money to
• 38:11
  go and do than it would be to do this dirt stuff, especially with no sponsors.
• 38:15
  But now, you know, now we got sponsors.
• 38:17
  We got a couple sponsors that, uh, mainly the businesses,
• 38:20
  you know, really helps out.
• 38:21
  Yeah, as far as the asphalt goes, circuit racing, I like it.
• 38:24
  I enjoy it.
• 38:25
  It's something different when you're used to oval so much.
• 38:27
  It's something different to try, and I would still like to try it.
• 38:30
  Still, maybe, you know, build a car or something.
• 38:32
  I don't know what your guys season looks like with the coronavirus
• 38:35
  thing, but I think ours might be just about over, sadly.
• 38:37
  It's crazy.
• 38:38
  We've had to delay a lot of stuff and we have summer bash coming up in August.
• 38:43
  We're, we're actually pushed it this year, all the way out to Pittsburgh.
• 38:45
  Usually we do it at home base, which is some point, you
• 38:48
  know, everything's changed.
• 38:49
  Everything's up in the air.
• 38:50
  It's really difficult.
• 38:51
  But you talked about coming out and doing road course racing
• 38:54
  and potentially building a car.
• 38:55
  And I think a lot of our listeners don't realize.
• 38:58
  You're actually an avid BMW fan.
• 39:00
  So how did that happen?
• 39:02
  Yeah, well, actually it started with my father and then my
• 39:05
  father got my uncle addicted.
• 39:07
  And just between my father and my uncle, you know, got me into it.
• 39:10
  So actually we're talking about this today.
• 39:11
  My dad, the reason why he got into BMWs in the first place was
• 39:15
  because we had one come in the yard.
• 39:17
  That was totaled in the front and back.
• 39:20
  It was a seven series It was hitting the front and the back like real bad smooshed
• 39:23
  up And you could still open up the door and get in and out of the car with no
• 39:27
  issue So that was the big thing with painless safety and you know, they're
• 39:31
  they're pretty quick for what they are Especially when they weigh 4, 500 pound
• 39:35
  or whatever They're basically boats.
• 39:37
  I mean, they get out of their own way.
• 39:38
  My M5, I mean, that's a 4, 000 pound car, but it doesn't feel like it.
• 39:42
  I feel like I can, I can move that thing around the road like it's
• 39:44
  a light car and they look good.
• 39:46
  That's, that's my thing.
• 39:46
  I like the way they look.
• 39:47
  Let's talk about your growing BMW collection.
• 39:51
  So what, why don't you tell everybody what you got?
• 39:53
  Do we have enough time?
• 39:55
  Anyway, so my daily driver is my M5, 2000 M5.
• 39:58
  That's an E39.
• 39:59
  E39, yep.
• 40:00
  Um, I picked that up in, uh, Owen's mail.
• 40:02
  Some, some people that watch this might know Mike Vayner.
• 40:05
  Yeah, I got it from him.
• 40:06
  It's actually a German imported.
• 40:08
  So it's, everything's in kilometers, Celsius, and all that stuff.
• 40:11
  The craziest thing that I, that I realized with it was, in Germany, they
• 40:15
  don't have the clutch safety switch.
• 40:16
  So you can just get in it, start it, and roll.
• 40:18
  That was pretty amazing.
• 40:19
  I just figured it was just kind of like, Yeah, American cars
• 40:21
  have a lot of additional safety.
• 40:23
  Yeah, there's a lot of safety.
• 40:24
  Not to talk bad about Americans, but we need the additional
• 40:28
  things to prevent accidents.
• 40:29
  That's my daily driver.
• 40:30
  My T.
• 40:31
  I.
• 40:31
  that I've had for like three years and haven't touched.
• 40:33
  My project car that I'm going to get done eventually.
• 40:35
  That's an E36 318 T.
• 40:38
  I.
• 40:39
  Yep.
• 40:39
  Cali top.
• 40:40
  It's got canvas roof on it.
• 40:41
  Like a really big sunroof basically.
• 40:43
  It opens up to the electric convertible.
• 40:46
  Uh, Z3.
• 40:47
  I have my Z3 coupe.
• 40:48
  I got that out of Virginia.
• 40:49
  They're extremely rare as it is.
• 40:51
  And then, you know, being one from America.
• 40:53
  I think I read on the internet, it's like 6, 000 of them are
• 40:55
  brought to America and Canada.
• 40:57
  Just having one is like, I guess a neat on the A stack kind of thing.
• 41:01
  Yours is a non M.
• 41:02
  Yeah, mine's a non M.
• 41:04
  It's, but it's still got the, uh, M54 engine in it, just a three liter
• 41:09
  naturally aspirated, but they're light.
• 41:10
  I mean, the thing weighs like only some hundred pounds.
• 41:12
  Do you call it a clown shoe like everybody else?
• 41:14
  Yeah, it's a clown shoe.
• 41:16
  I think it's ugly, but it's beautiful to me, so.
• 41:18
  My dad hates it.
• 41:19
  My dad's like, man, that thing is hideous.
• 41:20
  How can you even, like It's so ugly, it looks good, you know?
• 41:24
  I remember the first time, it was shortly after you bought it, I
• 41:27
  think, you came over to my house to do some shooting, you drove that
• 41:29
  over, and I'm like, what is this?
• 41:30
  Yeah, yeah.
• 41:32
  That was, uh, that was, that was not good getting up the driveway.
• 41:35
  It's lowered.
• 41:36
  Yeah.
• 41:36
  So you got those three.
• 41:39
  Is there a, uh, a BMW on the wish list?
• 41:42
  Like something you really want?
• 41:43
  Probably e46 m3, but I think the next thing i'm buying is going to be uh, going
• 41:46
  to be a c6 corvette I'm getting away from i'm getting away from just for one car
• 41:50
  At least we're talking about building a bmw track car there for a while Is
• 41:53
  that still yeah, I mean we still I still have the car I mean I walk out going
• 41:57
  to work and see it every single day.
• 41:58
  So I don't know it might get it might get And that's an e36, correct?
• 42:02
  E46, actually.
• 42:03
  Oh, E46, that's right.
• 42:04
  E25, yeah.
• 42:05
  But I was 3M motor in anyway.
• 42:07
  Or I was, I was even just looking for another, trying to find a 332.
• 42:10
  Or we LS swap it.
• 42:11
  Or we LS swap it.
• 42:12
  Well, I mean, if we're going to talk about, if we're going to talk about
• 42:15
  engine swaps, wasn't there a BMW V12 you had laying around you were
• 42:19
  planning on doing something with?
• 42:21
  Yeah, that one's going to go in the clown shoe, actually, E3.
• 42:23
  Nobody's ever done it.
• 42:24
  Like, I can't find one anymore.
• 42:26
  Nobody's ever done it.
• 42:27
  I mean, even BMW hasn't done it, and they do crazy swaps all the time.
• 42:31
  They did a, uh, they did a Roadster, that's how I know it's gonna fit,
• 42:35
  so, I still might do it, I don't know, I mean, we'll have to see.
• 42:38
  And we'll have you on, we're gonna do a BMW owners episode, good,
• 42:42
  bad, and, and if, what do you think of the new BMWs that we have?
• 42:44
  Huh, I like, I like the M2s.
• 42:47
  They're really, really sweet.
• 42:48
  The M8s are awesome.
• 42:50
  I mean, they're all fast.
• 42:51
  You know, they're all, they're all fast as far as what the way they're never
• 42:54
  going to look like an old, an older BMW.
• 42:56
  They're never going to, to me, they're never going to be like what these ones
• 43:00
  are, obviously in time, yeah, they're going to be a classic because somehow
• 43:03
  they revolutionized the car community.
• 43:05
  I guess you could say, but as far as like an E39 M5.
• 43:08
  I don't think there's any M5 that compares.
• 43:10
  And that's even been, I think it's car and driver road and track.
• 43:13
  One of them said the E39 M5 is the best driver's sedan you can buy.
• 43:17
  And then the E46 M3 is the best driver's car you can buy.
• 43:21
  But like the modern M3, it's not that I don't like it, it's four door, but
• 43:24
  I can't say the M3s has only been coupes, but it's kind of like they
• 43:27
  throw their numbers off in general, not like they've been a hundred percent
• 43:31
  accurate the whole time, but it's now they have, I think it's a 320 Acer, 2.
• 43:35
  0 four cylinder turbo and you have a 335 is a three liter turbo and
• 43:40
  it's just they throw it all off.
• 43:42
  That and they'll throw an M badge on just about anything.
• 43:44
  Yeah, you know, it used to be that it was just the just some of the other
• 43:49
  guys that would just put M badges on them just to try to be cool.
• 43:52
  Because originally the M was a performance car.
• 43:55
  The M badge was a sign of performance and everybody wanted to do the clone.
• 44:00
  So everybody's like, Oh, that's an M.
• 44:04
  So now it's like they don't even they'll put an embed on everything.
• 44:07
  I mean you can have an mx1 I mean, it's it's crazy and they're front
• 44:10
  wheel drive m235i comes to mind right?
• 44:14
  You're like, what is that?
• 44:15
  Yeah, I don't know.
• 44:16
  I guess it's supposed to be four man's m2.
• 44:18
  I don't know.
• 44:19
  I'm sure it's quick I mean, i'm sure all of you guys know as well So I do anything
• 44:22
  coming from germany is a pretty pretty stout machine They're all they're all
• 44:25
  well built the new supra kind of like it I know i'm probably gonna have twitter
• 44:29
  fans hate me for saying that but I mean I do like it It is Basically bmw z4.
• 44:34
  Yeah.
• 44:34
  Oh, yeah.
• 44:34
  I mean, that's okay.
• 44:35
  I call it the zupra with the z It's been proven that I think like 90 of the
• 44:41
  components on it have the bmw logo So I think the new the new bmws are cool.
• 44:45
  They have some pretty cool things I like the heated and
• 44:48
  air conditioned cup holders.
• 44:50
  That's pretty cool Uh, the x7 has that if I had all the money to
• 44:53
  spend and I had to get like a new big suv I would probably buy the x7
• 44:57
  Yeah, it just looks freaking cool.
• 45:00
  You just want your drink to stay cold.
• 45:01
  I want my drink to stay cold You know when you're going down the road, you got
• 45:04
  a beer, it's gotta stay cold, you know?
• 45:08
  Do you follow BMW in motorsport like in IMSA and stuff like that or not really?
• 45:13
  Not really I don't, the only thing I follow is dirt racing, you know, and
• 45:16
  then what you guys do, you know, a little bit of like local work But as
• 45:20
  far as, I mean that's like I've seen the 24 Hours of Daytona, I've seen BMW
• 45:25
  And I think this was like the first year of them bringing that M8 out, too.
• 45:28
  This is the last year of the M8.
• 45:30
  They actually retired it because I think they were tired of all the internet
• 45:34
  memes Showing the M8 trying to swallow other cars on track because it's like
• 45:39
  It's like a school bus compared to everything else out there, but it did
• 45:42
  swallow everything else It's kind of it did surprisingly Well, they did I
• 45:48
  think the big disappointment there not to get off topic is the Corvette But
• 45:51
  we'll talk about that at a later date.
• 45:53
  I love Corvette But no, I like them I mean, I think they're all right.
• 45:57
  They just don't look, the looks aren't there.
• 45:59
  It's just to me the looks aren't there.
• 46:01
  Very cool.
• 46:01
  I think this has been a real interesting segment I mean, I
• 46:03
  appreciate you guys for having me.
• 46:05
  Yeah, when dan asked me I was like that's kind of just out of
• 46:07
  the blue But it was it was nice.
• 46:10
  We got to speak with jared here Luckily, they were generous enough to become
• 46:14
  sponsors for us in the club It's been a very positive relationship between the
• 46:18
  club and Garrett and all of us since.
• 46:20
  Yeah, and I think a lot of that has to do with the The racer connection, right?
• 46:23
  Us coming to you guys saying, Hey, we got race cars.
• 46:26
  And then you said, yeah, well we have house race cars too.
• 46:29
  And so we bonded over that.
• 46:31
  And on that note, I think, gentlemen, it is time to end.
• 46:33
  I appreciate you both coming on today.
• 46:35
  I think this has been really cool.
• 46:36
  It's going to be a new experience for all of our listeners.
• 46:38
  Hopefully they learned something new.
• 46:40
  And if there's follow on questions, we'll definitely get them to you, Garrett.
• 46:43
  And we'll, we'll see where it goes and congratulations again on your win.
• 46:46
  And we wish you the best of luck on whatever's left of this season.
• 46:50
  And if anything else, we're definitely rooting for you in 21.
• 46:53
  So good luck.
• 46:55
  Thank you.
• 46:55
  And for our listeners, uh, find a local dirt track, get
• 46:58
  out there and experience it.
• 46:59
  And see what it's all about.
• 47:00
  100 percent.
• 47:05
  If you like what you've heard and want to learn more about GTM,
• 47:08
  be sure to check us out on www.
• 47:12
  gtmotorsports.
• 47:12
  org.
• 47:12
  You can also find us on Instagram Also, if you want to get involved or have
• 47:18
  suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at 202 630 1770 or send
• 47:25
  us an email at crewchief at gtmotorsports.
• 47:27
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• 47:28
  We'd love to hear from you.
• 47:29
  Hey listeners, Crew Chief Eric here.
• 47:31
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• 47:35
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• 47:38
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• 47:42
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