Latest / Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast / The Racing Zone: Vegas’ New High-End Racing Simulator Experience | 326

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The Racing Zone: Vegas’ New High-End Racing Simulator Experience | 326 · Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Brandon, we're back once again.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: We are another episode of the Hey Big Head Show.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome back, boys and girls.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: You know, Vegas never has anything not to do.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: There's always something going on in Vegas.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: There's always something new.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I'm gonna be honest, the newest thing to do, the newest date night, the newest casual night out, the newest night out with the boys is the racing zone.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: I am very excited for the racing zone because I'm very competitive.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: Brandon, are you competitive?
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I am.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: I think you are too.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we are.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: I think I'm more competitive than you are, though.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I'm very excited because we have two people from the racing zone that are responsible for this incredible attraction that's here in town.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: Don Hemrick, the CEO, and probably the coolest name I've ever heard of in my life, Aaron Casanova the third, the CEO.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the show, boys.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: This is gonna be great.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Good to be here.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, Aaron, is that really your your full name?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it is.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_03: Do you and do you introduce yourself to people as Aaron Casanova III?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: Just Aaron?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just Aaron.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: Let me tell you something.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: If I had the name Aaron Casanova the third, I would say that everywhere I go.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Everywhere.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: I go to Panera Bread and they ask my name, I'd say the full name.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but yes, very excited for the both of you here.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I know you guys are opening.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: Your grand opening is tomorrow, is that correct?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Ribbon cutting and the whole thing.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: The ribbon cutting and the whole thing.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I know you I know you have a thousand things to do today, I'm sure, before the final, the final deadline here.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm excited for you guys to make some time.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: For those of you that maybe aren't familiar with the racing zone yet, could you mind sharing a little bit more info about what the racing zone is?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron, go ahead and take that.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Casanova, the third.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, the racing zone is the most advanced sim racing center in the world.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: We really set the bar for what a sim racing center could be.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: We um really focused on the driving experience, and um we have made an effort to um really push the envelope in terms of offering the latest of the available tech.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like you're racing an actual car, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we have 22 machines.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh eight of those are called uh ProSims.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So they uh they're built on a chassis that has four degrees of freedom.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it moves up and down, outside, back and forth, and it also has a yaw.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: 14 of them are uh esports, so it's kind of the same setup, it has the same force, but it has three degrees of freedom instead of four.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh yeah, they're all connected with each other.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you can have up to 22 people racing against each other.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and um besides the the motion that you get, you also have force feedback from the wheel.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's uh it you I don't I don't want to get too technical, but you get up to bring it on seven new meters of force feedback.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So these machines are able to replicate pretty much any car on any track with a level of um uh intensity, and um that's really unparalleled.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so the beautiful thing about driving one of these rigs is that you really notice how different the different cars are.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you sit in a McLaren, a re road car, and then you move into a formula car, and then you move to an indie car, it's gonna feel like being in a different vehicle because the the machine gives you a total different feedback in terms of how the car rides, the heaviness of the wheel, and um while sitting in the same simulator.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: While sitting in the same simulator, yes.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, absolutely.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes, you know, especially on race night, which we do every Thursday night, we jump from car to car and track to track, yeah.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like literally jumping into a complete different car.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so as you uh keep developing your skill, you're gonna get a feel uh for for the different types of uh of racing that's that uh that you can do.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: How many tracks do you guys have?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh hundreds, I can't even count them.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't even run all of them.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: Andrew, you've got the ability to race virtually any car on virtually any track.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think we've done the the numbers and just given it an overview.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's about 400 cars and about 200 tracks.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: So the technology that's out there now, and you see it, you you you get a chance to look into these things on a regular basis.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: But the the computers have this capability now, the systems, they shoot these tracks with LIDAR for our machine.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: So they catch undulation, they catch banking, they catch all these things.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: So when you're driving the car, you literally will feel bouncing and bumps, and it's it is so immersive, so realistic, that we have people that can sometimes get motion sickness from the whole thing.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're you've got a cockpit that's got a a surround screen or three screens.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: So everywhere you look, you're seeing a track that your car is on.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then the other capability of the computers is as Aaron pointed out, to replicate the car.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: So you're driving a Porsche, rear engine.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: When you drive that car into a turn, you let off the accelerator, the SN comes around perfectly and it drives like a Porsche.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're driving the Mazda MX5, which we use uh on a regular basis as well.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: It drives like a Mazda MX5.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: It replicates the vehicle very, very accurately.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so we've had people, this is the same unit, the ProSems that Aaron just described, are the same ones that people like Verstappen and Leclerc and Hamilton use to train.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: So they train on these six, seven, eight hours a day, and then they're able to go onto the track and they know exactly where the turns are, where the apex is, where they accelerate, where they decelerate.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: So they're able to train without spending millions of dollars, maybe wrecking a car or going through tires or brakes or fuel or a team.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: They're able to do this just one person on the track and learn everything, then they go and they replicate it on the track and make it work for them.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: So it's basically the same simulator that these F1 drivers and that's incredible.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's quite extraordinary.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it it was it was not inexpensive to do.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: As Aaron mentioned, we've got 22 of these machines.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, we've set it up in a nice uh space there on Tropicana and Paradise, and we have a little bar there, so it's one of the few places you can legally drink and drive.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can't you can't hurt yourself, and so you may get a little motion sickness.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you may get a little motion sickness.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody has different tolerance.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: But um, as you've pointed out, we've been able to create a what we think is a very unique space in Las Vegas that'll be very entertaining for people doing bachelor or bachelorette parties, team building events, just you and a bunch of buds getting together.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're finding, and and you noticed uh there were women in the indie car races, they've got a whole women's program for uh for F1 now.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're finding women are enjoying this just as much as the men.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: That competitive streak is not just limited to guys.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're a little stronger about it, maybe than they are, but women are competitive and they love this program.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's incredible.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, are you able to add in the future add more cars or add more racetracks to it, or is it what you have is pretty much set in stone?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: No, we can add it.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: If the track exists, there's a good chance there's a mod for it.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in fact, a couple of weeks ago, a gentleman came in and he had a race at an obscure in an obscure racetrack in Michigan that he was gonna go to the following week.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And he came in and asked if he could train on it.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, I was like, give me a minute.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: We ended up finding it.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: We loaded it up, that's it.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he ended up practicing for for the whole week before going in.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when he came back, it was like, gosh, this was amazing.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I came in and I knew the track, and so yeah.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, scouting.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_03: Is the is the Vegas track on there?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I love it.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, you can drive around that spear, and let me tell you, it's it's tough.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tough truck to drive.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is it?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of a lot of tight turns, and and you know, because it's F1, I mean it's it's a narrow pathway.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, you're doing 200 miles an hour down that that strip.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And and so here's the thing you're doing that, and you're looking to see the Vellagio fountains on your right and the Eiffel Tower on your left.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: It is legit, you'll look into the stands and think you see somebody you know.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's it's that realistic.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's incredible.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm so excited for this.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes, Brandon, we are absolutely doing this.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh, this is gonna be great.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, who's a better driver between the two of you, buddy?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, Aaron, undoubtedly.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: So Aaron, so Aaron's the brainchild behind this.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, let me give credit where credit's due.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron has wanted to be, so he grew up in Italy and Germany, hence the Casanova, you know.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: So um the it was something he wanted to do as a he wanted to be an F1 driver growing up and idolized those guys, and uh that wasn't in the cards for him.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So he became a sim racer.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: He started doing this, he had a setup in his in his basement, which is where a lot of these people do.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: But what we've done is take that and elevate it completely.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have people that come in and they've done sim racing, and they've got the little Logitech wheel, and you know, what they have sits on the ground and there's a TV screen in front of them.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: You come into our setup and you see these Pro Sims, and they're where they're more expensive than actually buying an automobile.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, sure.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: The Pro Sim setup, you know, soup to nuts is 60,000 plus.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and the and the and the esports about 40 all done.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're really quite extraordinary because of the way they replicate that experience.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: So Aaron's a far better driver than I am, no question.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, we've had guys come into the to the racing zone and participate in our race nights, and they beat Aaron.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: And and we've got some, so we we have a gentleman, is it Dino's?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Dino, yeah.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Dino's a professional.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he he posted to the I've seen some of his stuff, yeah.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: And he went like, I'm just gonna give you my credit card, let me race because I I don't want to leave this place.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: He it was so realistic.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: The word he used was visceral.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he said, This is the most visceral experience I've ever had in a sim race.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Is this by the race or is it by the hour?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: How does it how does it go about when you're yeah, we have a wide range of offerings?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: So at the most basic level, you can come in and by the by the hour, and you can decide whether you want to try the esport or uh the pro sim.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: We also have a pro sim VR, which we'll touch base on that, because that's a whole different thing.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but yeah, you can come in and you can practice on your own if you want.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can pick your track and your car.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we also have a fantastic experience, it's called the Path of Speed.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is our it's our career mode.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we built it on an adaptive AI.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's an AI that adapts to your skill level and driving style.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: That way you're neither left in the dust nor you're way ahead of the of the computer.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh what that does is it takes you on a path from rookie to pro.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you will start in a Mazda MX5 Cup car, which is a very fun car to drive.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's very easy to uh to learn but hard to master.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the good thing about that car is anybody from rookie to pro has a good time driving it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh so we put you in that car, it starts with the with the basics.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: So your first task is to do five laps without flying off track.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you can do that, the system puts you in a race with the AI.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you do well in the race, it puts you in a race with 20 other cars.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you manage to do well in that race, it gives you a faster car, and then the progression goes from there.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: It takes you all the way up to F1.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's a fantastic experience.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the good thing about the path of speed is that you can come in for an hour or two and see how far you go, and when you come back, it's it has your progress.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it saves your data.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: It does.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you can come back and pick it up from where you left, and hopefully, you know, you get all the way through.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: And if you make it all the way through, you're gonna be a good driver.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_03: That's incredible, right?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then um, all our rigs have uh headsets, so during the race, we have live commentary.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for sure.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And we also broadcast the race on the screens uh at the zone.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if you come in with some friends and you drive, and your friends rather just come to have a beer than follow you racing on the screens, and it looks like a real race.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: Who's doing the commentary?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: What is that?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: How does that work?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we have uh this fantastic guy, his name is Caden.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he has a background in streaming and um also in sim racing.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So every time it's live commentary.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's live commentary.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, crazy.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: We could make you handle that one time.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you like to talk.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: I can't shut up.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: You like to talk smack.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: You guys are having an influencer night tomorrow, right?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: Or like the the VIP night tomorrow.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so tomorrow morning we're doing our ribbon cutting.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: We've done a soft opening.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we open the place first portion of April, get our team up to speed, sure, learn how everything operates, ensure that we're able to offer a real quality experience to our guests.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um tomorrow is the official ribbon cutting.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: We've got representatives from the governor's office, our commissioners.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they really have been very supportive.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, this is such a unique offering for our city, and we feel like um even though we're really focused towards supporting our local community and building up a community that's going to be, you know, race fans and into that, we're also gonna have an element for our our visitors on the strip.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're positioned, we're just a half a mile from the strip.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_03: You're so close, you're right behind Mirage.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh not Mirage.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: MGM.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: MGM, MGM, yes.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right down from MGM, we're close to where the new Ace Ballpark will be.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you guys from the F1 paddock, yeah.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: From UNLV, which is where Aaron and I hired most of our uh employees are UNLV engineering students.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they came in and they there's actually, if you may you may not even realize it, UNLV has two race teams.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that, no.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Most people don't.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden we've started hiring these people from their race teams and they love it.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, one of our fastest drivers, Nathan, is a a UNLV engineering student.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um we've been so fortunate that we've you know had so much local support.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that is tomorrow morning for the ribbon cutting.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Tomorrow evening is, as you mentioned, our our VIP party.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: A number of influencers have asked to come in and we've we've created space for them.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then Friday, Saturday, we're doing something that will be really great for people that that have uh a lot of interest.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be doing free rides.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, half an hour free rides.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: You go to our website, you log in, or go to the landing page, and if you use the code free ride at checkout, you can you can book a half an hour and not pay and just come and enjoy it.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we've already got between the two days, Friday and Saturday, close to 200 people confirmed.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So really, yeah.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: So um they're going fast, but hopefully some people have an opportunity.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Certainly, we'd love to see your listeners take advantage of that.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, absolutely.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: Free ride on what is it, the the racing zone.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: Let me let me get the website.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: The racing zone.com.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: Let me pull this up here, the racingzone.com forward slash LP.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: All right, I will put that up there.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: Reserve your free drive.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we will definitely get our listeners involved.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: This is gonna be great.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_03: You guys, I feel like you you you hit the the nail on the head, not only with the location, because you're in a perfect location that's that's growing.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like if there's anywhere on the strip that is, I mean, as weird as it is to say, like a prime location that's going to be a hot spot more so than it is now, it's where you're at because of the ballpark opening up, because of of so much going on in in that part of the strip there.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's easy to get there.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then on top of that, with F1, that is is relatively new to Vegas, and it's I feel like I was telling Aaron before we we started recording.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like racing now in the US is as hot as it's ever been.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, more and more people are talking about F1, NASCAR, etc.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: That you guys are perfect timing, perfect location.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was a very unique idea, and and as you say, the timing um and and in our city, so you know, we we have a relationship with an organization out of California, and and they're doing well with this same type of a format, very similar format.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: We've taken it to the next, we've taken it to the Vegas degree.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_03: Why did you choose Vegas as the first one?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: I live here, have been here since 1978.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: You're you're well established in town.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I've been in town a long time.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and um, so I I love our city.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: I've had opportunities to go outside of Las Vegas and do other things, and um you know it's intriguing, but Vegas is where my my it's my power base.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's where I know a lot of people, it's where I've been in for since I was 19 years old.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to start all over, and um and and I just know that this is the it's the most fertile economic soil in the country.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you plant it, you tend it, you take care of things, good things grow out of this city.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: As you pointed out, racing is growing leaps and bounds.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: We have two NASCAR races in Las Vegas.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: We have F1, which has become one of the premier events on the circuit.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: We have had the Mint 400 in Las Vegas since way back when I was with Dotson and Nissan, we were a sponsor of the Mint 400.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if you remember, years ago we used to have a race at the Caesars Palace.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: The Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: That was also sponsored by Nissan.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: I drove the pace car on that track one time as a kid, and I was probably in my early 20s, but I lost it on that track two or three times, okay?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I am not the driver that I would have liked to have been.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's it's there's a lot to learn.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for me, I'm excited to be a part of this.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: Las Vegas is my town, it's a town I've had tremendous appreciation for.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: My brothers are here in Las Vegas.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: I have all my family here.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is where we're at, and this is if we're gonna do anything big, it's gonna be in Las Vegas, and we expect the racing zone to be a big part of that.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well said.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_03: If anything, Vegas locals love supporting other Vegas locals too.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's it really is a great community here, and I'm very excited.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: Very excited to see what the racing zone happens with it.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: Is it 18 and over or is it all ages?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's all ages.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: We really we look for kids 12 and up.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's really about size.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think what is the minimal height?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: 52 inches.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: 52 inches.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just so that you need to be able to reach the pedals.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so we've had some kids that are a little younger too.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh, turns out the younger they start, the faster they get.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh sometimes I see kids 10, 11, 12 years old, and I'm like, wow, where is that speed coming from?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but no, it's just a function of uh being able to um to reach the pedals and be comfortable in the seat.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and also, you know, the wheels do have a lot of force feedback.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's not a dangerous uh activity, but if you lose it and you end up in a wall, the the steering wheel will snap back.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to make sure that you're old enough to understand if you're about to hit the wall, take your hands off the wheel that way, you know, it doesn't snap your wrist or anything.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but no, otherwise, it really this important.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: It has it has well, let me tell you the one thing that the the most uh consistent feedback that we get in the Google reviews is I was not expecting it to be this intense.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is intense.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, motorsports is it's a sport, yeah, right?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you uh if you drive for an hour, you're gonna feel it the following morning.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so uh, you know, it it especially depending on what car you drive, uh you're gonna activate your core quite a bit because you gotta fight against the movement of the chassis and the wheel, you know, you gotta fight the wheel.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta you gotta keep it on track.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta drive the car, otherwise it's gonna drive you.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: And uh no, it's an in it's an intense experience for sure.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: How many laps is each race?
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, you're setting up how many laps is each race?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, it depends on the track, it depends on how long you're going for, it depends how fast you are.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: What uh we we usually go by timing.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: So uh on Thursday nights, for example, we do uh four sessions each of 14 minutes of qualifying.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then we do an 18 minutes race.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, which it's a good it's a good length for a race.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I feel like that that's a proper amount, too.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm sure it goes by fast when you're in there too.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it does.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a little over two hours.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you just stop and think about it, a little over two hours.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so Aaron has designed the race nights.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we've got a team of people, and as we've laid these out, so to give you a little bit of an example, we had German night the other night.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: So these were German race cars on German tracks.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I think Porsche, Audi, Mercedes Benz, BMW.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Love that, on the Nerba Gring, on you know, these these historic German tracks.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Then we followed that up with British night, British race cars.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh McLaren, Jaguar Lotus on you know, Silverstone, on Brands Hatch, on iconic British tracks.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: What's coming up Sakuro Sunsets?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is that what you're doing?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Sakura Sunsets.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Which is Japanese cars on Japanese tracks.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And and for people that are into racing, Andrew, when they see how involved these Japanese cars on these Japanese tracks, and we we will pick some unique type of automobiles.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: When we did the um uh the British ones, we actually had a Ford Escort, one of the Ford race cars on a Ford uh on one of the British tracks, and people loved it.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: They said when I saw this, I was going like, Wait, I'm gonna be driving an escort, but everybody's in the same car.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it really comes down to driving skills and that's the part that you know, so you kind of level the playing field.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: People, you know, it's not like they get a car that goes faster.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and you know, like Aaron had explained about the force feedback, all of that can be dialed up or dialed down.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: So we have the ability to because it's like a real race car.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: When you see the steering wheels, they have the ability to adjust ABS sensitivity, traction control, throttle control, everything can be dialed in.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where these pro sims are used by these real racers because they will set the car up like they want it, print that out and give it to their track lead, and then he makes the car just the way they turn their fastest lap.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's that realistic.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so um we think that when people get an opportunity to experience it, like Aaron said, the feedback from people has been like, whoa.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, they'll come out and they might be a little dredged, you know what I'm saying?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's that kind of involvement.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: So um yeah, we're really looking forward to you getting a chance to experience.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Then when you talk about it, you'll probably be bubbling over first.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: When I first tried it, when when When Aaron came to me with the idea, I was like, geez, I don't know.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I did it with the one in his basement, right?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I went like, holy cow, man, this is awesome, right?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: And and then we we you know investigated further and investigated further, and then you know, we curated the machine.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: So not only is it the machine, it's you know, you know, it's a specialized seat, it's a racing seat, carbon fiber seat, specialized steering wheel, F1 style steering wheel, the wheelbase that provides all the field back, the pedals.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so the machines come in a state where you have to put all of your peripherals on there, and then the computers, each of these computers are five, six thousand dollars each because they're handling such uh uh a tremendous amount of data, and they need to be able to take all that and set it up to where the machine responds properly, to where again it knows that a McLaren from a Mercedes from a Porsche.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's wild.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's that it's that wild, that intense, that involved.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_03: So let me ask you a question.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: A year from now, uh what would a successful first year for the racing zone look like for uh both of you?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Good question.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, so you know, for us, I I really just want to see a a community that is working and enjoying what we're what we're providing.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um we expect that we're gonna see a number of people coming in from outside of Las Vegas and using it.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: We've already reached out to a number of our contacts concierges at the respective hotels, people that are running some of these clubs that want to have you know more opportunities for people to do things besides lay out by the pool and drink, uh, our party at night and drink.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's we want to offer more experiences for Las Vegas.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um our convention and visitors authority is behind this as well.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: They feel like this is a tremendous opportunity.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that what would make make this successful is a grown community.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: We're offering also one of the things we haven't mentioned yet, we're offering memberships.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not expensive to do.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're far, far less than than similar experiences in the city.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: But what we've done now is is created a situation where people can become members of the racing zone and actually have access to our programs for far less money.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Love that.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so um we want to see a community in Las Vegas that's grown and supports the racing zone and feels like it's a regular part of their life.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: Well said.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron, what about you?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_03: What's a successful first year look like?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we definitely want to become the name for sim racing.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: We're also working on recruiting drivers into our own racing team.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely want to organize national level races, endurance races.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: So there is a bunch of different things that we're working on.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have a whole Skunkworks operation.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you know, there's a lot of stuff going on.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, at the end of the day, it's about building the community.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, this enterprise has been a dream come true because this is what I wanted to do.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had a successful career in uh advertisement for 15 years, and I all the money that I was making, I was spending it on sim racing, and um, so to be able to share that passion with other people is just something fantastic.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: And um, to touch base on what Donnie was saying earlier, the we have the ability to create such amazing experiences because we can have a race night where we start with a car from the 1950s on a track from the 1950s.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you cannot just do that in real life.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't even think about going back in time.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that that's it's such an experience because you get to you get to live the way that racing evolved throughout the years, right?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you an example.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: The the car from the 50s that we drove, it was at a Ferrari F1 car.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Back then they already had big engines, you could get up to 200 miles an hour already, but carbon fiber wasn't a thing, okay, right?
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: They had steel brakes, so you have to approach racing in a way different way.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh, so you gotta adapt to that and you gotta almost relearn how to drive.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_03: Will there be a race where at the Caesars Grand Prix where I can drive in the pace car and be just like Don?
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: Back in the back in when he was in his 20s.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: I remember when they did that car.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: That car was a Nissan, they called it the 300 ZXR.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it was a limited edition, it had a whale tail on it.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: And the car was not an attractive automobile in my eyes, but you know, it was it was done for this for this particular uh race.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, not the greatest handling car either.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: But like Aaron's pointing out, when you think about guys like Nicki Lauda, Michael Schumacher, Kimi.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: Kimi, Kimi Antonelli.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Kimi Antonelli that just went, he's this guy just won four in a row, kid's 19 years old, phenomenal.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, you pop him in the car that Nicki Lauto is driving, you know, he's not even gonna be qualifying, right?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's the technology has become so different and so advanced, and so um it's really fun to kind of look at how that was and how it is.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: And we have, you know, we have these Lotus open-wheel cars that are, but they drive completely different, but they're really, really great to drive.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and they're engaging.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And as you move from one car to the other and you start to realize you drive it on the same track with a different car, and you go like, holy cow, this is dramatically different.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I think for our clients that are gonna come in and experience this, they're gonna have an appreciation that they probably didn't have before.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's gonna be a lot of fun for us to watch.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: So um we've got just a myriad of opportunity and a myriad of uh different offerings for our clients that's just gonna keep it fresh.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: And you really cater to the experience.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I've seen people with driving gloves on.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: And then you also cater to the beginners and the you know, the the granny drivers like myself.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, as much as it may look like I have the need for speed, I definitely drive the speed limit, and I have I keep things legal here.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: But last question before I get you guys out of here, and this is probably the most important question: what cars are you guys driving when you're in the racing Sims?
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: What's your go-to car?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so let me think what so is it the TARDIS?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Is that the one?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's TARDIS.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, TARDIS.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love that car.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: It um it's just you know, if first of all, it handles amazingly well.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: It it takes the speed.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it's a very forgiving automobile.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I need a lot of forgiveness as I drive.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not good at it.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron could drive anything and could drive it fast, but that's the one that works for me.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm a big fan of the 992 uh Porsche Cap cars.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's a unique car.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's the only car in North America that's has the engine in the back behind the real Axle.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of a go-to.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: But also the Tatus.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: The TATOS is an open-wheel car, it's very well balanced, it's fast, uh, but it's not crazy overpowered, so you can get into the rhythm.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and really, you know, you can be in that car for an hour without having, you know, being worried about making too many mistakes and putting it in the wall.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also part of it.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there is a reason why it's called the racing zone.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost uh racing is almost a therapeutic uh activity because when you get into the car, after a while, you start to tune out everything else.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you really get into the zone where you almost get into a flow state, and if you can keep doing it long enough, everything becomes almost automatic, right?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every every gear change, yeah, every breaking point that you find, it becomes a thing that you do without thinking.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: And once you reach that state, that's where you want to be.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because meditative.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's meditative.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Everything else turns out, you forget about your worries, you forget about work, and you're just in the moment enjoying life.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm I'm excited to not only race, I'm excited to beat all of Aaron's records on it.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: You are competitive.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm very competitive.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: It may take me a while.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_03: It may take me a while to get there, but I'll get there, Eric Casanova the third.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_03: Don't you worry.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, gentlemen, this is awesome.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much for coming in.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_03: I know you guys are super busy today, but this is awesome.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for coming in and sharing uh the journey that you guys have had and you know where you're headed to next.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm really excited for this.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Big journey ahead of us.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_03: We're looking forward to it.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks again, Andrew.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: Eric Casanova the third, Don Hemrick, boys and girls.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_03: We'll be right back for more Big Head.