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Kyle Steffens Races Everything | Kenny Conversation · Kenny Wallace Media

• 0:00
  Hey everyone, we are here in Tulsa, OK at the Chili Bowl and
• 0:05
  I've been watching Kyle Stephens have such a good time.
• 0:09
  You're in Shawnee, OK and an Outlaw cart last week and here
• 0:13
  you are running a Midget this week.
• 0:15
  You got a late model and what other race cars do you have?
• 0:18
  I've got silver crown cars, midgets, outlaw carts.
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  We have a modified it's for sale.
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  Anybody wants it? We're.
• 0:26
  Trying to get me to buy his modified.
• 0:27
  Yeah, we have a bad racing addiction over here.
• 0:30
  Yeah, yeah. I really wanted to talk to you
• 0:32
  because you know everybody. You, you created this cult
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  following. I kind of, I think it started at
• 0:39
  Fairbury. Yeah.
• 0:41
  Don't. You think so?
• 0:42
  It's possible. We had we two years that me and
• 0:45
  Austin lived at Fairbury basically.
• 0:47
  Where's Austin? Austin, do a drive by.
• 0:49
  Yeah. Go in the background.
• 0:50
  Wait to all your fans. Austin, England.
• 0:52
  This guy's Trusty. My trusty sidekick here, Yeah.
• 0:55
  So at Fairbury, you'd show up there, there'd be 100 cars,
• 0:59
  you'd make the A man and you would party it up with the fans.
• 1:03
  Yeah. And they all started loving you.
• 1:06
  Did you see that shift? Absolutely, Yeah.
• 1:08
  I think those couple of years of getting out and being on the
• 1:11
  road, yeah, yeah, it helped. Well, three hours away, but it
• 1:15
  was being local from Pevely in those places, going there kind
• 1:18
  of changed the fan base a little bit.
• 1:20
  So I think that helped a little bit.
• 1:22
  And then actually mixing it up with the crowd, having drinks,
• 1:25
  having a good time, I think it helped out a little bit.
• 1:27
  Yeah, you're, you're everywhere. So yeah.
• 1:30
  You race with my brother Mike back in the late 80s, early 90s.
• 1:34
  You're young. I didn't race, Mike.
• 1:36
  I'm not that old. Hey, hold on, how old are you?
• 1:39
  41. You're a young man.
• 1:41
  Yeah, 41516. I'm 21 years older than you.
• 1:45
  I know 40 is the youth of old age.
• 1:48
  Hey right, I started dirt race at 44.
• 1:50
  What's happening? That makes me feel good because
• 1:52
  that means I'm just getting started.
• 1:54
  He's got a good start. Yeah.
• 1:56
  OK, so my point is this, you ran asphalt late models?
• 2:00
  Yep, with I, I drove one of Mike's cars.
• 2:03
  OK, that's where I remember it from.
• 2:04
  Yep. So help me along here.
• 2:06
  OK, You've got a lot of experience.
• 2:09
  Yeah. You went home with dirt
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  Modifieds, Dirt Late models. You won a couple championships
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  with the Modified at I-55. Yeah.
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  Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park.
• 2:20
  Yeah. And then you won a championship
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  at Granite. Yep.
• 2:24
  And then you took off to, seems to me like, fulfill your dad's
• 2:29
  dream or Sandy Anderson's dream. Now you're over at the coin
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  running champs. Sprint cars, Yeah.
• 2:34
  Yeah, that that the silver crown deal kind of stemmed from what
• 2:37
  my dad like and it started there, but now it's kind of lit
• 2:40
  a flame under me because I do want to win AU Sack
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  Championship. Last year we were fourth in
• 2:44
  national points year before we were fifth.
• 2:46
  Then we could quit blowing up engines and having problems.
• 2:48
  We might be able to win one of these championships and be cool
• 2:50
  to put that feather in the cap, but a few more years of that and
• 2:54
  I'd be, I'd be happy to maybe go back late model racing so.
• 2:56
  I'm a fan of yours. I follow along.
• 2:58
  I see you burning Interstate 70 up.
• 3:01
  You're you're always going up to Indianapolis.
• 3:03
  Some type of dinowing. Yeah.
• 3:05
  I haven't. Really zoned in on it yet?
• 3:07
  What is it that you do? Why are you always going up to
• 3:09
  Indianapolis with your open wheel stuff?
• 3:11
  So the reason for that with these open wheel cars is you
• 3:14
  really can't run the engines. They got to get pushed off or
• 3:17
  like a Silver crown car has a front mount starter.
• 3:19
  It's hard to put load on those engines to see if they work.
• 3:22
  And the fueling systems are really important.
• 3:23
  So you've got a high speed, low speed main pill you make.
• 3:26
  You want to make sure all that stuff is just right.
• 3:28
  There's a lot of science to it. So the reason we go to the dyno
• 3:31
  is to put the car up to speed under load to test the engine to
• 3:34
  make sure it's right. So we don't drive to Port Royal
• 3:36
  or somewhere and the motor doesn't run.
• 3:38
  You're not. Going to give a plug to Midwest
• 3:41
  Dyno Services. Kyle guys are great guys in
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  Indianapolis. I'd use them.
• 3:45
  He's a great guy, so. So right now, let's count it up.
• 3:49
  We right now, at this moment, we got a now we got a late model
• 3:52
  because you ran in at the Dome. We still have a modified.
• 3:55
  We've got an we got an open wheel Midget here at the Chili
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  Bowl Champs for a car. Dirt and pavement.
• 4:02
  Yep. Yep.
• 4:03
  Five. Are we at 5 right now?
• 4:07
  We have two of each Crown car, so yeah, it's just yeah, it's
• 4:09
  out of control. So you, you just done something
• 4:13
  that you said has been the time of your life.
• 4:15
  I know we all agreed the Chili Bowl is the greatest event in
• 4:18
  Motorsports history. Yes, but you, my son in You
• 4:30
  really like that? I loved it.
• 4:32
  One of the funnest times I've had was last week in Shawnee,
• 4:34
  OK, the racetrack, Outlaw Motorsports.
• 4:37
  The place is phenomenal. It's a high bank little track.
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  We're going 8 seconds around this place.
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  And there's a bunch of young kids out there at this track and
• 4:44
  in Red Bluff, CA And there's a reason why they're so good.
• 4:47
  Yeah, skarts are fast. They're all, they're all in the
• 4:50
  mail, sly jobs left and right. That's why these kids are the
• 4:53
  next Kyle Larson. Whole different level.
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  So what's it make you feel like? And we've been watching it for
• 5:00
  years, but it's more prevalent now.
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  It's like if your kid is not in A at least a flat cart, by 5
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  years old, you're behind. I remember a Tony Yuri Junior
• 5:10
  over at Millbridge, his kid, All you could see was his helmet.
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  And I was scared for him. And.
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  And he's like, oh, he'll be all right.
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  I'm like, he's 5 now. These kids are third.
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  OK. Keelan Harvin, 13 years old,
• 5:24
  wins the snowflake at the snowball.
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  What's that make you? What's that make you think?
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  That makes me think that the evolution of the sport is
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  trending with youth. People are racing cars at
• 5:37
  earlier ages and they're advancing sooner.
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  So it's important for if you're, if you do have a racing family
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  or children, it's important to have them in race cars.
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  Now you have your one and 2% of people like William Byron that
• 5:48
  came from, you know, from I racing, things like that.
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  I think it's very important to have your kids racing flat
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  carts, outlaw carts, junior sprints, micros at a young age
• 5:59
  to hone their skills to get to where they need to be.
• 6:02
  Yeah, so. You got two boys and I see that
• 6:05
  you're doing everything you can to let them see if they like it
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  or not. Yeah, we got.
• 6:09
  Hey, we're at the Chili Bowl, so they're getting ready to line up
• 6:12
  How how many more minutes, hours until you're.
• 6:15
  I'd say one more hour, yeah, two more mains and then us, but
• 6:18
  they're all lining up for the mains ahead of us, so.
• 6:21
  OK, getting back to your kids. What are they thinking?
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  My oldest son's a huge sports fanatic, but he loves.
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  He thinks it's cool that dad races.
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  My little guy. He's 6.
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  He's all about racing. I can't keep him off the
• 6:32
  simulator. Yeah, he loves the outlaw carts,
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  all that stuff. So next week we're going up to
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  Emma in Kansas City. We're going to get racing.
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  I'm bound to determine to take them to at least 10 to 15 races
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  this year with my schedule to make sure that I give them a
• 6:44
  fair shot here. I see you using you're using
• 6:47
  Brody Pompey, my son-in-law fusion carts.
• 6:50
  I think he built you a box stock he.
• 6:51
  Did yeah, he built my son race a brand new box stock.
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  We're really excited to get next week on track so we can start
• 6:57
  building a notebook and start getting that cart going.
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  So what about mom and dad? When they see that the kids out
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  there, are they afraid or do they?
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  Does it take them back to your? Days, it's a little scary, I'm
• 7:07
  not going to lie. Yeah, you go to like a bigger
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  track where they're going fast and there's a pit wall opening
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  or something and it's like, that's a little scary.
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  So. But when you're doing it, you
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  don't really think about that stuff.
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  But once you're a kid, it's a whole different ball game.
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  I know your dad really good. Gordon Stephens, great guy.
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  He's a competitor. I watched him go from working at
• 7:27
  FedEx to now. You guys got the family company
• 7:30
  here, Global Shipping. I don't want to speak for you,
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  but I see you take Ferraris from Dubai and and send them to
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  Chicago. Tell me about this family
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  business. And it's really good.
• 7:42
  Yeah, performance plus global logistics.
• 7:44
  It's what fuels all this Motorsports.
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  It's very important to what we do.
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  We do everything from less than truckload, full truckload, car
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  moves, international, domestic. Basically we're a freight
• 7:56
  management company that handles freight for the performance
• 7:59
  industry and other industries as well.
• 8:01
  But the one of our biggest markets is this industry here.
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  I'd say we ship for 80% of the people under this roof in here.
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  We've shipped either a motor, a car or their personal business
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  needs to like a lot of guys in here have larger corporations or
• 8:13
  businesses that help fuel their operations.
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  So we help with their businesses as well.
• 8:18
  I see some similarity here. I, you know, was with my brother
• 8:21
  Rusty. Obviously my dad was a race car
• 8:23
  driver. Russ Wallace and dad raced.
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  Then Rusty started racing and I'm seven years younger.
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  So I I was with Rusty everywhere.
• 8:31
  Yeah, so. I knew the guys at Goodyear and
• 8:34
  and you know, the shock company, MSD and it seems to me like your
• 8:39
  family doing what you do, you're really able to network.
• 8:43
  I bet you know everybody. We do, I feel that way and every
• 8:46
  day I meet somebody new or like last night we're in the rowdy
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  section and like 2 guys were talking to Emily myself.
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  Hey man, you shipped this box for me last year.
• 8:54
  Thank you so much. And I'm like, did we do a good
• 8:56
  job? That's Oh, yeah, You did a good
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  job. So we pride ourself on service.
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  It's very important for what we do.
• 9:02
  We answer our phone 24/7. Sometimes it's tough, but that's
• 9:05
  what we got to do. Yeah.
• 9:07
  OK. So we got microphones, so I
• 9:11
  think we're OK. They're still lining up.
• 9:14
  What are you going to focus on this year?
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  We talked about 5 divisions you run this year.
• 9:19
  What are you going to focus on in 2026?
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  2026 is all about USAC Silver Crown, pavement and dirt 12
• 9:26
  races. We're going to try to win the
• 9:28
  championship this year. My goal is to get a podium or
• 9:31
  win one of the mile races because that's real.
• 9:33
  You're right there right now, yeah.
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  Then the pavement is just to continue getting better and
• 9:37
  pavement's been. Tough for us.
• 9:38
  And hopefully we can keep our operation rolling with no DNFS
• 9:42
  or problems and try to win a USAC championship.
• 9:44
  That's the goal. Part of the business of the
• 9:45
  sport, too, is promoting what you're doing.
• 9:47
  And you know, newspapers are kind of a thing of the past.
• 9:51
  I see you put that GoPro on your car at the coin.
• 9:55
  Yeah. And you take a lap around there
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  and then you edit all that up yourself.
• 10:00
  Yes, yeah, I do all the editing myself.
• 10:01
  I wish I knew. I'd edit itself up, yeah.
• 10:04
  It's like a hobby. I enjoy it.
• 10:06
  Yeah, a lot of the times I'm up till two or three.
• 10:08
  Yourself too, do you? Yeah, I learn a lot from it.
• 10:11
  I'll see stuff that I do driving and I say that's why you screwed
• 10:13
  up and that's why you didn't win the race, so that's why you
• 10:15
  didn't make it to the AMA and you should have done this.
• 10:17
  So sometimes it's good and bad. So sometimes it's twofold.
• 10:20
  You're putting, you're putting it out there what you're doing,
• 10:23
  but then you can watch yourself. Exactly.
• 10:25
  Yeah, it's good. It's good marketing.
• 10:27
  It's cool videos for people to watch.
• 10:28
  I feel like a lot of people don't get to see a lot of the in
• 10:30
  car stuff of what we do. So I try to put that in with the
• 10:33
  voice over from flow and it gives people more of like, like
• 10:37
  they're part of it. They're actually doing it.
• 10:39
  Yeah. We should have said this at the
• 10:41
  beginning, but St. Charles, MO, I'm in Arnold, MO.
• 10:46
  We're probably 40 minutes from each other and I think we're
• 10:51
  kind of in the, the epicenter of racing.
• 10:54
  I mean, we, we got, you know, peevely, I-55, Federated Parks
• 10:58
  Raceway, we got Granite, we got Highland, we got Brownstown, IL,
• 11:03
  we got. Quincy Belleville's coming back.
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  That's a new one. That's a new one.
• 11:08
  So I think we're lucky. We're very fortunate to have all
• 11:10
  the tracks around us and we have a lot of very good racers that
• 11:14
  live in our area all. Right, everybody, I hope you
• 11:17
  might. We we profiled my friend Kyle
• 11:21
  Stephens, his family business. By the way, you said that really
• 11:25
  good dude. Dude was it performance plus?
• 11:28
  Performance plus global logistics.
• 11:30
  Yeah, Also known as PP Global by Kenny.
• 11:34
  What, what? Whatever it it takes, but all
• 11:37
  right. Well, listen everybody, I hope
• 11:39
  you enjoyed this. And you know, one day we'll go
• 11:42
  45 minutes and we'll get you on Dirty MO Media.
• 11:44
  I would like to do that. Yeah.
• 11:47
  That be amazing. We are at the 40th running of
• 11:50
  the Chili Bowl and what what main are you in?
• 11:54
  E main today, yeah. That's a big deal.
• 11:57
  Congratulations. Thanks, Danny.
• 11:58
  I mean, I think it's one of those deals worth you start
• 12:00
  getting when you when you're getting an E, you're like you're
• 12:02
  almost there. If you're racing, at the end of
• 12:05
  the day you've done a good job. Yeah, and you go like at 4:00.
• 12:08
  Yeah, you've done. You've done good.
• 12:10
  Yeah, alright, we'll see you all next time.