HARRISON BURTON

NASCAR driver Harrison Burton has racing in his blood. In case his family tree or impressive track record isn’t enough to prove it, he’s in the studio to talk about superstitions, and being the new kid on the track. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is cut to It with Steve Smith Senior at
production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm
Steve Smith Senior and I'm ger Little John and this
is cut to it. Good do it, Good do it.
Let's get down to do it. Good do it. We
asked the questions you always want to know, but no

(00:22):
one ever asked, let's cut to it. You ain't heard
about it? Then we're about to left you. Now it's all.
We got one of Charlotte's own, born and raised in Charlotte.

(00:45):
He's racing with one of the oldest race teams known
the mankind, right, the Wood Brothers Racing Team. They have
been around for centuries. They were racing cars when the
Roman Empire was still raising. Might as loven you? Yeah?
So we have NASCAR Cup Series driver the number twenty one,

(01:10):
I mean could have been a number anyway, number twenty one,
Ford Mustang. Welcome to the Cut to a podcast, Harrison Burton.
Let's get to it. I got some goat ones. Alright, Um,
what three what three places would you love to travel to? Oh,
that's a good question. I love going to the Bahamas,

(01:32):
so probably go there be one. Uh, A lot of
my families from Poland and I went there when I
was a little kid. Was pretty cool. So I've been
there pretty neat what what how old were you when
you went too? Probably eleven or twelve? Oh that was
like two six months, probably two years, two years at max. Yeah,

(01:53):
so it's crazy. That's not that long ago, right, it
really is, but it is to me. But uh, number three,
number three probably go to Italy. I've never been there.
That'd be cool. Check it out. Being a NASCAR driver
stick shift or automatic, stick shift all the way. Why,

(02:14):
it's just better. It's just well it's not better, it's
more fun. It's your store. So so the stick shift
the automatic nowadays, like if you buy a sports car,
it's gonna be automatic because it's faster than any human
could be. Right. Uh, but there's something cool about having
a tool in the car that you can have more

(02:35):
control over. Um, so if I was to buy a
car that was Are you allowed to buy a car
at this young age? I have I bought a car
for Yeah, you just bought it to No, I didn't
just buy it. I bought it two years ago. That's
just bought. They might not they might not sponsor us,
So don't say the name that don't sponsor me anymore,
So I can't then definitely don't sus right, I wasn't.

(02:57):
I wasn't gonna ask um what did they automatic? Yeah?
It was they didn't have a manual. They didn't have
a manual. They didn't have So the manufacturer I drove
for at the time was Toyota, and they came out
with the Super and it didn't have a manual option.
So I got the automatic and then now drive for Ford.
So I have a big f two fifty I drive
around and that doesn't have that's not a stick show. No, no,

(03:20):
it's not six shifts. But my race card is I'm
gonna get with that. Al right, So go ahead, and
you know, be biased. Does it look like I've ever
driven a stick shift? Yeah, I'd say so. I feel
like I feel like I could see it. I took
my driver's test in with a stick shot. Look at
that as a Ford Focus Ford Focus. You like how

(03:41):
I dropped that home? That's nice? It was green green
Ford Focus. You know, racing green is bad luck, but
just trying. I'm just trying to be a legal drive racing.
I don't know no idea. There's a about thirty thousand

(04:05):
different superstitions, and I've heard them all from the Wood,
the Wood family, because they, yeah, exactly, they were from
you know, they started racing in nineteen fifties. So yeah,
so the Roman Empire and all that was there, like
you said, and uh, hard to change a granite wheel,
wasn't it. So the speaking of that, when they used

(04:27):
to race, you would just buy the car from the
showroom and then go take it to race. So how
do you know that? These people, the Woods told me,
and it's just that's right, Yeah, I gotta listen to
your elders, right, So, um, they you know, they would
buy them and then just go race them. And when
they would have to change parts, they had a an
old oak tree out in Stewart, Virginia, which is where

(04:49):
this all started, where they would hoist the engine out
of the car with an oak tree over the limb
and pull it out like just crazy stuff like that.
Where it is it's literally like changing granite wheels like
they It was from you know, stage one where they
started it. And uh, now where our sport and motor
sports in general is pretty nuts compared to that. All right,
She'll give me one of the superstitious, superstitious that they

(05:15):
told you thousand. Yeah, the most recent one was fifty
dollar bills is bad luck. And we had a pretty
rough start to our rookie season. Was leading the Dayton
of five hundred and flipped. Uh. The next week got
into a crash. Someone spun in front of me and
I hit him. The next week it was Bubble Wallace

(05:38):
who spun out and lots of smoke and then I
hit him in the side. Yeah, so not his fault.
He obviously didn't want to spend out. I'm actually gonna
text Bubble he's he came up to me after he
said where are you going? I said, well, apparently into
your door? But what else? Right? So, uh yeah, a
whole bunch of bad things happened, right, and uh Eddie
would one of the Wood brothers. So I'm texting Bubba.

(06:02):
I just said, hey, Harrison said you left up his
race the other day? What's up with that? That was
not what I said, but it was okay, we got
the recorded one. I want to get my phone out.

(06:22):
I don't fix this situation. That's why we can edit
stuff that's true. Yeah, it's true, dang many So all right,
So what's another So so the superstitionous. Yeah, so all
this stuff is going bad, and uh, Eddie would just
one of the Wood brothers, Eddie Eddie Eddie Tobacco. No, no,

(06:44):
I'm just trying to get it. He's he's pretty tall,
he's you know, six one, gray hair kind of guy. Right,
he's uh, pretty country guy. Tobacco though, from a guy
from Charlotte, but continued, Yes, he's hey, man, you know,
I know what's going wrong. Why we've had a bad

(07:04):
couple of races. Why is that founded fifty bill in
his wallet? And uh so Eddie's the problem. Eddie was
the problem. He even said. So, yeah, I'll tell you that.
He's texting me, man, what are you doing that fifty?
We'll take you. He I don't know what we don't,
but I didn't know it. I didn't know his bad luck. So, like,
you know, it's bad luck. He's not have no money.

(07:26):
That's really bad luck. Yeah, that's really bad. Yeah. Beggars
can't be choosers, right. I ain't never seen a broke
brother got good luck. Green peanuts is bad luck. I'm
not sure why that one. What peanuts like if you're
eating peanuts before the race, you're gonna crash. Man, this

(07:47):
this sounds like a lot of excuses. Said how I'd say, California,
when you crash and I hit you, that's you're a
rookie though. Yeah, so I don't have that many people
I don't like yet, that's right exactly. There's a big
yellow stripe on her bumper. It might as well be
a target. It's like, hey, kie, you have a yellow stripes,

(08:07):
two yellow stripes on your back bumper, which those two
yellow obviously? Yeah, so it's I guess the old tradition was, hey,
this guy is the beginner, go easy on him now, right,
But now it's should they should put a student driver? Yeah?
So now that's hey, there's blood in the water because
this guy is this first year, so go hit him

(08:29):
out of the way. It's a complete opposite of what
the old tradition was. Uh. And now guys when they
get to cup are ready, right, It's not like, hey,
you're ready, I hope. So yeah, you know, I think
I'm gonna get better as time goes for sure, but
you know you're ready. You know how to drive a car.
It's really small details at that point. So it used

(08:49):
to be like I think I'm just guessing. How do
you know what he used to be? I think just
because my dad raced for so many years, and uh,
I heard stories from him, A generation of racing. Would
you would you would? Would you say you are because
there's a lot of family members. Yeah, I'd say I'm

(09:12):
a second generation racer. So my my granddad, my dad's
dad did some racing locally, nothing too much. Uh, and
then my dad and my uncle both went the cup
and made it a cup. You're talking about my you know,
my grandpa did some You never got beyond local to

(09:33):
be considered a professional racer. You have to go beyond local?
Is the standard? I don't know. I don't, I don't,
It's it's different. I'm always interested in, like the different dynamics,
the levels of of sports. You know, you obviously you
have the weirdness you need, so hey, you gotta do this,
you got, but there's so many other there's so many

(09:56):
more deep texture to the detail of what's considered a
true blue racer. Like you know, listening to and this,
these are my words, and this is some of what
I heard before when he first came on the scene,
Joey Logano, he was considered a you know, he was
not considered a real racer. He was considered a a

(10:18):
money racer or a video game racer William Bryan or
or this guy is you know, just not hearing that.
We've had Jeff Gordon on here and listening to how
he had to open up the phone book and call
his sponsors. Right, what's considered the standard to be considered
a racer? Like, so you're saying the second but technically

(10:41):
the first guy did a little bit locally that got
the second guy, which is your dad, the taste of it, right.
He may not have been as successful, but he got
he started to taste so and then now you're in it,
you know, as your first. And there's certainly the local
guys that like when I was coming up through the
ranks that I raced with that I'm like, oh my gosh,

(11:03):
this guy is so good. A guy named Bubba Pollard's
one that I think of off the off the top
of my head. Uh. Race caused super late models. It's
a local, short trip. So imagine what you see on Sunday, right,
the cup cars a little bit sleeker, a little bit,
a little bit lighter, so it is light it's honestly

(11:26):
one of the fastest cars I've ever driven. Uh it's
like uh so it's got six d fifty horsepower and
it weighs under less than three thousand pounds. So it's
he that's that's pretty light. So for as far as
as far as the car right now, So it's two
hundred more pounds. Ye, So why is that significant? So

(11:49):
any weight that you bring with you is more that
you have to basically pull when you get on the gas,
right per driver? Know, how did they adjust for you,
like say, say like after things given? Yeah, So it's
actually a big game that gets played. Now. There's a
way in every every start of the year at Daytona. Hey,

(12:13):
we're gonna wait the drivers. Why because every car passed
away the same walk off music before you weigh in, Like,
you know, it's not like us'd be cool though. It's
in a it's in a little infield care center where
you go after you crash. So do you bear? Do
you strip down like the guys in the combine? Yeah?
And they because there used to be stories of a

(12:35):
lot of non muscle individual it's all separate. It's all separate. Yeah,
So you don't exactly exactly. You wouldn't want people. You
guys will flown. You'd be flounders at the if we
had the combine. Oh dude, can you imagine, Oh my god,

(12:57):
can you imagine some of these dudes. What's crazy? I
work out four or five days a week doing what running? Lifting?
You're lifting uh, base weights like real weights or like
jazzer size weight. Yeah, tell me show me your workout.

(13:18):
So a lot of it was was well. So I
was at a facility with wait moved forward. So when
I was with Toyota, wherever is that wherever you used
to being currently, I'm looking at you. I don't think
you're using either one of those weights. Man, I'm just

(13:40):
listen this. I'm just having fun with you because you literally, yeah,
I mean you're not I'm not a built guy. It's
not secret. No, no no, no, I was. I was about
to say, you literally just got on the scene. Right
as far as what you've been on the scene for
a long time. Your second I think third generation racer, right,
you know this this game, you know this sport. However,

(14:04):
you just have to master your craft. You you know
all the tricks of the trade, but doing the tricks
of the trade actually in the trade and doing it
at the right time and doing it at the right place.
That's how you master your craft. You haven't mastered it,
but because you were rased by the the the guy
who's mastercrafted. Yeah, what's what's crazy is it's changed so much.

(14:25):
So when my dad was racing, it was, hey, this
this driver is super smart at knowing what shocks and
springs and all sorts of measurement, whatever you want to say,
goes into the car. And now they have engineers that
are the smartest people I've ever talked to, that you know,
can do it all on the computer, can say, hey,
this is what's gonna you know optimal. This is what

(14:49):
is optimal for this weekend. We think we're gonna go
try it and then you're gonna feel it, and then
you're going to relate to us the information. Well, now
the driver, that driver that hey, I know what shock
goes in the car, that's sleep Because the engineers are
so good that you can't keep up with them. You
didn't go to college and learn what they've learned. And
so now it's how can I be the best driver

(15:11):
I can be? Obviously those guys worked on being better
drivers but now it's Hey, we're watching film of every race,
I'm watching data on every race I'm working out I'm running.
How does that play for you to be an optimum Yeah,
race card, the biggest thing is the more of your
heart rate is elevated and the worst your mental capacity is. Right,

(15:34):
So for us, it's a lot of decisions. You were
saying that as for me to confirm, No, that's that's
what people have told me, at least that that I've
worked with. What's interesting about what you just said. The
people in racing are the smartest people. Yeah, and then
I go to football and their legs people are the

(15:55):
smartest people. You go to baseball and there you guys
are the smartest people. But yet you know, not anything
with you is. But yet it's like, but the other
two you want the super Bowl? You know, It's just
like it's the game of sports has made it. Who

(16:18):
can have as many people that can give them as
much information? But the end of the day, you have
to do it right. Yes, yeah, absolutely, and and you
know that's that's what makes it awesome. At the end
of the day, you can have Tony Stewart who looks
how he looked and he kicked everyone's ass like he
just did. He was awesome. And you have guys like
Jimmy Johnson Carl Edwards that go run marathons, are ripped

(16:41):
and they kick everyone's ass. They're not ropped. Carl was, man,
do you ever see Carl Edwards? Well, I mean he's
probably not you compared to people you seeing, compared to
people I've seen. Okay, I just wanted to make sure
we weren't in that room at Carl Edwards said ripped.
I'm like, I ain't never seen a rip. Yeah, man,
what do you think my heart rate was when you

(17:03):
were playing after a different place, or every play, after
a big play or not that. So that's why when
you said that, if you go back, if you go
back and look at any of my pictures. When I played,
I wear my watch on my right hand, so I

(17:23):
used to wear a heart rate monitor and you could
look and see and I could look at see, and
depending on how my heart rate was going, there would
be times where I come off the field to let
it get that calm down. Because when I trained, like
if I was in off season right now, if I
was playing, I would train and he would make sure
based on these numbers, we would phase in the intensity

(17:47):
of my workout so I would not peek too early.
It makes sense. That's why sometimes being a gym rat
in an organized scheduled sport, it's not good because you
can overtrain, you can you can actually do too much.
So you probably if you're you're saying that thinking about it,

(18:07):
you're probably you probably need to, like you're doing m
M A or some of that stuff, need to add
something else to it to maybe just kind of push
or remove something to take it back. Explain to me
why the simulating part is such a key key component
to racing. Yes, it's certainly newer. Um Like back in

(18:29):
the day, they howl, do you one? Okay? Continue? I
looked twelve one. I'm gonna need some I d Yeah.
If I were trying to order a beer, it's a
long process. They gotta scan it, you know. Yeah. Yeah,
because you look like you don't even you look like
you have your learner's permit. Yeah, I was racing. I

(18:49):
have my learners permit that So I was all right,
look how he's just smile. He's like, idiot, I've been
doing a lot. I've been doing a lot more things
than you have. It's a good story because my driving instructor,
when I was, you know, fifteen or ever get my
driver's license, fell asleep when I was driving, like driving
him around because he knew I was a driver somehow,

(19:10):
and he's like, oh, you're good. You know how you
know how disrespectful this is that you at your driver's
permit probably had like you're driving a car like we've
had a few NASCAR guys now and it's literally like
guys are driving cars in Nascar, like still in pull ups,

(19:31):
still still in pull ups, and that's remarkable to me.
It's crazy. I started when I was five. When you
look like you look like you wore a night pull
up to use like seven or eight. That was a
chuckle of Steve. You're absolutely I love cut to It

(19:57):
and I love it even more when you that load
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(20:18):
dot com where you can buy merch and you can
subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got
all my answers questions. Um, yeah, I got all my
questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother cut
to a podcast dot com. This past weekend was the
hottest race we've had all year. And there's a lot

(20:39):
of guys that can You can run different stuff to
help you stay cool in the race. I ran just
a fan in my helmet. You can run a suit
that you plug in that runs water through. You can
run a fan to your back. So I said, hey,
it's a little weird. As a little weird. It's like
when you turn the cool seed on your cars and

(20:59):
kind of feels like you beat yourself or something. You
know what I mean. It's not good when you're full
sweat and you turn that sucker on. It's like yeah yeah,
so uh yeah. So this weekend I was pretty hot,
Like the HoTT I've been in a long time. Was
the temperature I would imagine in the car. It wouldn't
want to imagine, I just want I don't know. I
don't know for sure, there's no thermometer something in the

(21:22):
old car. Yeah, for sure, in the old car, it
would get on the hottest, hottest days you could get
two hundred forty on an average day, you get two
D inside the car. Okay, yeah, I can see you imagine. Okay,
so yeah, there's there's no thermometer, right, but uh, they
did put something in and that's what they came up with. Yeah,

(21:43):
so it's it's it's super hot. There's no airflow in there.
There's so that's why you know, the helmet fan is
a big deal, because it's just any fresh air. You
get that air that sits still in the car, and
it just gets hotter and hotter and hotter. That's when
you start kind of you know, you'll start having that
mental fatigue where you can't make good decisions you're just

(22:03):
focused on Um I just thought about it. People getting
mentally fatigued. Oh yes, if anybody feigning while driving, not
while but after pass out after races you just water
obviously not driving, not driving, not that I know of.
Have you ever got delirious so kind of like seeing doubles.

(22:23):
The worst I got I had when I was younger.
I had asthma really bad, and so I'm allergic to dust.
And so I was at a road course and their
sand on either side of the course and so they
get kicked up, and so I had an asthma tack
in the car. So about two to three laps ago
it was bad. I had kind of fallen out of

(22:45):
the car or deal and then uh finished the race
and got out got my tailor. I don't know, I
just kept going. Yeah, I don't remember, you know, it
was probably I was probably fifteen sixteen, but yeah, it
was just you know, a race that got had had
gotten really spread out. So I was thankful I wasn't

(23:06):
really racing hard with anybody, and I could just kind
of pace myself. Uh and uh, I still finished like
third or something, So it's okay. It was only with
a few laps ago that it happened. So so stuff
like that that will jump up on you. And I
think if you're I think if you're prepared physically for that,
it affects you less. Let's get into a little funny stuff, right,

(23:28):
you're a family history, Yeah, man, what is the dinner
table looking like? What things given? With all of that
race knowledge. It's funny because we don't really talk racing much.
Um me and my dad in particular drew up loving

(23:49):
sports and and he we obviously both love racing. So
when I was at the racetracker he was, we would
talk about racing a lot of time. We just like
to watch basketball or football together. What's just what's what's
what's she? What's your dad's team? My dad's. My dad
likes the Horntson Duke, so I'm the same way. I
like the Hornetson Duke and the Panthers obviously really like
the Panthers. Yeah, no, you can't tell. You could not tell. Yeah,

(24:13):
I love it though. Yeah, I had this one since
I was like thirteen, so two months ago, up some
paper route money, yeah, yeah, throwing off my huffy bike, yeah,
the whole deal. So yeah, I always wear it to
the stage. So what about things giving on? Like grandpa, cousin,
you gotta you got a cousin, brother, everybody's who? First

(24:37):
of all, who does not like race? Who is there
anybody in a family that does not like racing? My
mom certainly doesn't like that. I do it. I don't think, Okay,
that's safety and that's safety mom, right, But she loves
she she likes. But there's always there's always one family member,
Uncle Leo, like no, I don't think no, like everyone

(24:58):
does it? Like well, We've got four people that have
done it professionally in our family. My cousin who yep,
Jeff Burton, he races right now in Xfinity. Um my
uncle Ward, Uncle Ward, Uncle Ward was in cup for
number number years one the Dayton of five hundred. Yeah,

(25:20):
he's pretty legit. And then uh, my dad was was
in cut for twenty years. And now yep, Jeff, yes, sir,
Jeff Burton, and uh and then you and then me yep.
So four of us have done it professionally. How many
of how many have tried it and not succeeded for
various reasons. Uh So, the only one I can think

(25:42):
of is my there's two brothers. There's three brothers. There's
three brothers. So the two everyone in racing knows of
his Ward and my dad. And then there's a middle brother, Brian.
Brian was the man in go karts one more State
champ Aint been chips and everybody and go karts. And

(26:03):
so when my dad and my uncle tried to go
racing to do it as a job, he said, you're dumb, like,
what are you guys doing? So he went and he's
he's running. Our family comes from a really small town
in South Boston, Virginia, and they run a construction business
up there. So he took that over and then my
to my my dad and my uncle went racing and

(26:25):
it worked out for him. But he was rumored to
be better than both of them, which is pretty crazy
that he decided. Yeah. So, but he's done awesome with that. Uh.
And it's pretty cool because that's kind of some of
our family legacy that he's carried on as well. So
at the family table, when you all when when your
hand and stuff is it only left? Only left? I

(26:48):
only left cassing master potables on the left. Yeah, it's
a long way around the table. There's a lot of us,
but left only Man, how many people? How many people
are your family? Oh gosh, so I've got on my
my dad's side, I've got well just big one side,
one side because not both sides mingles, no, yeah no,

(27:09):
But so like what side do you claim? Oh gosh,
that's a heart that's a loaded question. Man. I don't
like any no kid, but I dad's side of your mom.
So I'll say if I go from my dad's side,
he's got obviously two parents, he's got a step mom,
he's got three brothers who have one of them has

(27:33):
three kids, one of them has one kid, and then
my dad has me and my sister, and then my
my dad ward his daughter has two daughters and that's
the only grandkids so far. So yeah, something like that. Yeah,
I haven't really, I don't know the number off the
top of my head, which I guess is bad. But

(27:53):
so I spent a lot of time with my my
dad's family, my grandma and so he was one of four.
But then my mom so during the holidays, but like,
so I went up over my dad's and spent with
my grandmother and stuff. Holidays, but like summer and all
that stuff, you know, spent with my mom. My mom

(28:14):
is one of thirteen kids, like brothers and sisters. I
have thirteen aunts and uncles. And then it's so it's
like you have a giant family. It's like sixty of us.
That's really it's terrible. You think, so it's terrible. I think, no,
here's why it's terrible. When there's so many people and

(28:38):
so many adults. People are coming and going, so when
you see them, it's a great reminder that maybe you
haven't followed up. It's like, damn, I haven't talked to
my my my cousin Evett, but Evett has like two kids. Yeah,
and you feel bad because you're like, well, I haven't

(28:58):
talked to my my my cousin, but I'm kind of
looked at it like they're my nephews. But then there's
my my uncle Tim, who's more like my brother m right,
and who is I think a eight years older than me.
I have an uncle who's eight years over right, So
so it's just kind of you know, So it's it's

(29:19):
like when we have a family reunion. There's times I
have I have seen people I probably haven't seen, like
especially I imagine when you were playing too, it was
I was much busier, and you know you had to
pick and choose, like you know, which events are we
going to because we only have this amount of time.

(29:40):
Like for you, your off seasons, how many six weeks?
I believe three weeks shorts, like six weeks in the winter,
six weeks in the winter, so you've got six weeks
to also stay in shape, train and also dollar back
to relax, relax, Like that's that's counterintuitive, Like how do
you stay in shape and then get away and clear

(30:02):
your mind? Yeah? What do you do for that? Uh,
he's still trying to figure it out. Rookie season busters
are like, yeah, last year I was BBNJ party. What
do you do to boys only seventh grade party in
my house? You know? Yeah? So they were they were

(30:25):
dancing like they got COVID six ft oh man? Yeah,
so what do you do before relaxing? Oh man? And
the winner? This winner was the least relaxing off season
I've ever had, because there wasn't. This is actual. All
the other ones weren't off season because you weren't. You

(30:46):
weren't a professional. You were a professional, but you weren't.
I wasn't at the top, right, So this is actually
that wasn't at your off season. That was you thought
of the off season. It was actually your transition to
become actually so so I ended my season last year
on an affinity team, right, which is the middle level,

(31:06):
the step right below cup, which is where I am
now at the top. Yeah, yeah, no more. I haven't
one yet or won a championship yet, so I'm not
I don't see myself as at the top. But you
know what I'm saying that the top level. Yeah, I
wasn't calling you that. I appreciate you. Yeah, I wasn't.
I was just talking about the Yeah, I'm with you, yep.

(31:27):
So I mean I'm in the top series for congratulations,
thank you. Yeah. I take a lot of pride in
it because four year old. Yeah exactly, And it's crazy.
I do feel like a four year old. These guys
are like, man that's watching the hundred year old dudes. Yeah,
this is not a hundred but you know there's guys

(31:47):
that are in their forties and that's cool though. Yeah,
it's really cool. The transition was crazy because I had
a new manufacturer, uh, so meeting all those people. I
had a new race team, uh, which is part of
an alliance. So I'm racing for the Wood Brothers, which
has helped from Team Penskey, which you can see Ian
has a Team Penskey sweater on. It's not on my

(32:08):
podcast right now. Well he's over there, you know, beans
behind the scenes. No no free take shirts and hats. Yeah,
that's what I'm saying. You come here, no, no, no,
largest you see these mediums. Dr dude. Yeah, we actually
talked about that. We were like, damn, we forgot what

(32:29):
you did. Now we didn't just on the probably bottom
tier your guest list, now didn't taking notes were good? Okay, yeah,
what's the address? Will say no. But but the all
the people I would imagine is um, you know, it's
hard to understand for a lot of people that haven't raced,
But there's like a million engineers that worked just for Ford,

(32:49):
and then there's a ton of people that work just
for the Wood Brothers, and a ton of people that
work at Penske, and so I had like three new
companies that yeah, and so I spell before you even
got hid in the wheel, before I got anything behind
the wheel. And then this offseason NASCAR went to our
next gen car. So it's an updated car with a

(33:11):
new a new transmission, a new whole new chassis, whole
new engine package, whole new arrow package. Everything's new on
this car. The only thing that you could change was
that you could bring from the old car to the
new car was the seat and the steering wheel. Everything
else was new components. So learning that car and then

(33:32):
learning how to drive that car. We had some tests
over the offseason. Like I talked about, NASCAR had banded well,
since this is the first year of that, we got testing.
So it's traveling all over testing this car. Uh, and
then we just traveling all over different different racetracks so
you can start it. So so NASCAR, since it's the

(33:53):
new car, NASCAR allowed the teams to do it with
their They were there watching with their superission. So we
were in Charlotte, Phoenix, Daytona, all kinds of different tracks
trying to learn how this car was gonna raise what
you got. They fly out there and test them on commercial, private, uh,

(34:13):
commercial for a few of them, private on team Pency
playing first. Yeah. Just a fan just listening like you're like,
oh man, I get to draw a car like private
commercial first coach. Yeah yeah, no, yes, I flew a
commercial quite a bit. So okay, question here's the veteran

(34:36):
in me, right, yeah, so do you have UM when
you fly? Do you use your frequent fire mills? What
about when you stay at the hotels? Do you get
to pick the hotels? So so it's all booked through
the team, So can you tell the team what you prefer? No,
who's the big name in your on the on the

(34:57):
team on the like on the Wood Brothers are in
the whole Lion Steel because we've as far as like
the I got you, I'm sorry. So okay, Wood brothers.
So Wood brothers. It's Lynn and Eddie Wood are the
two guys in Leonard Wood? Who's I'm talking about the racers?
Like in your group? Oh, I'm the only driving? So
who who? Who? Who designates the hotels in not me?

(35:22):
Have you? Have you ever? I haven't asked no talent? Well, man, yeah,
you guys needed Yeah, talk to him. I'm not saying
I'm stay in great hotels. By the way, what do
you consider a great hotel? Give me a go on?
That's great to me, man, I mean, yeah, we stayed

(35:47):
in terrible. Yeah. The nicest one I stayed in was
the Venetian in Vegas. That was pretty sweet. That's nice. Okay,
that was pretty nice. Well, I was just gonna say, man,
make sure you're getting your get your memberships rewards. That's
a lot because at some point, oh, this is gonna
go away, young man. And so right now I'm knocking
on lifetime platinum with a marry with a Marriott. What

(36:12):
is what's you gotta stay there a couple more times
and you've got lifetime platinum. Well, because so I've I
have stayed, I still got to talk to them too,
because Marryott did not award on my thing. It says
um eight days, but I went and physically counting my
state eleven days in the Marriott day. I gotta get
your days. You gotta get you do. You want to

(36:32):
know why? Why is that? Because at some point when
it all shuts down and I'm no longer Steve Smith,
the media guy, I gotta pay for my own stuff.
But when I pay for my own stuff, I'll be
lifetime this so I get it out of sea, getting
free life lessons and heart rate rate and so I've

(36:57):
been fifteen years as silver or higher. Okay, so right
now my lifetime status is as silver. I'm on my
way to go to elite slash platinum. The way things
are going back, I'll be right there, so I should.
I'm on pace with Marriott, American and Delta to have

(37:19):
a pretty good like. I won't be like there, but
you know, yeah there. Yeah. Did they give you wings
when you get on the plane, the pilot or anything. Yeah?
They give me a little pilot hat with a glass
of milk in my hand. Yeah, Harrison, you cannot sit

(37:39):
on the pilot's lap, not just stop. Can you flyplane?
Can I flyplane? I think you could. So. Actually, in
Daytona this year, we I flew with the Thunderbirds. Did
you fly to the plane? I flew the plane. I
did a loop? Yeah what aileron role? What? What aileron role? OK?

(38:02):
So that's the two flaps on the way. I learned
this all from the guy that was fighting the plane.
I say, no, nothing about good. Let's getting down to
do good. Hey Gerard, why did you get that T shirt?
You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from
cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise.

(38:23):
Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot.
But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt,
subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. What are
some of the tips that your dad has has taught us?
I think that's worth that's worth trying. Is there something
like with all that all that knowledges has is no
way some of the things that he's probably told you

(38:46):
be like, man, I can't well a lot of it.
It's all different for every driver, right, And so he's
helped me a ton, Hey, this is how to attack
this and that as a driver. But I think the
biggest thing he's helped me add out with is the
mental side of the sport. And and there's a lot
of opportunities to do things, um that could have short

(39:07):
term help you, but maybe long term hurt you, right, Um.
And so I think my dad has always kind of
helped me with like you know, say, yeah, so say
I'm gonna say I'm racing this guy for third and
I'm gonna hit him out of the way and then
I'm gonna pass him and I'm gonna get third place.
But then the next time, maybe I'm leading and he's

(39:30):
in second, what is he gonna do to me? But
you should ram the body somebody anyway to get first
because you're right there to be able to get first.
So so that's what I mean, is it? Is it?
There's a there's a total that you're right. It's true,
like there's there's a line where it's like, hey, I
just gotta win, right, But there's also a line of

(39:52):
knowing that there's you have to race against the same
guys every week, Yes, exactly. And so when you're first
starting out, you have to earn respect to those guys.
But you have to do it. You can't do it
by being a pushover, right because if if they're going
to see blood in the water when they see your car,
so I think recently so if they see blood, what

(40:15):
is blood in the water? Actually mean this guy, if
I get you know, he's easily intimidated. If I get
bumped out of the way, he's gonna let me go.
There's no repercussion for that stuff like that, where there's
guys that you know will be taking advantage of that,
And as a rookie, you're like, oh, I don't want
to hurt anybody's feelings, but you kind of have to to.

(40:36):
You're going to It's it's competition, right, It's you have
to go and try and take it from these guys.
So recently it's been that, right, Hey, just go attack
these guys like it's nobody that anybody you normally would um.
But always doing it to where when you lay your
head down at night you feel like you did the
right thing. I think that's been the biggest thing for

(40:57):
me and and I feel like I've kind of ran
my whole racing career like that. And I don't really
have many things I regret. Obviously made mistakes, but I
don't have any decisions I regret. Have you ever. Have
you ever laid your head on a pillow at night?
I'm not able to sleep well for sure. What was that? Uh?
You know a lot of times it's easy. It's like,

(41:19):
oh I just made a mistake and this gonna bother
me in the race, or say you did kind of
just wreck somebody. Uh, sometimes it doesn't sit right. I've
gotten into fights on pit road. Like I've heard about
the fight. Oh no, this isn't a push fight. We
were swinging and stuff did so, so here's so, here's

(41:46):
what happened. We It was a kind of the worst.
It was. Hey, at least we threw something at each other.
Now I'm friends with the guy, but at least we
threw stuff with each other and we both missed. So
you so you threw it through what like did you
throw like that? Did you throw it knowing you didn't
want to connect? Or no? You like I gotta do something?
So so so like was it the old school? Like

(42:08):
you know you're going to circle shoulder to shoulder? Yeah,
like Manama, Yeah, so you know it started like little
Harrison really don't want to fight Steve right now, he
really don't want you. I wouldn't have walked up there.
I'm just saying, like you or they or they push
like like like, so so this I'll tell you the

(42:30):
whole story, tell me the whole I gotta push. It
was too so this is kind of a pushy story.
So two weekends in a row, we got together, crash.
I was piste off. I went over. He was mad,
he took his crust. Yeah, so I went up to
his car. Uh guys know, Gregson is his name, friends
with him now, so, uh, you know I was mad.

(42:54):
So I was talking to him. So you you were yelling, cursing, cursing, talking,
you know, you get mad and big words. That's right,
as twelve year old me, arm Did your mom here
you talking like that? No, she probably would have said
the same thing though if you knew her, she's pretty feisty. Yeah.

(43:15):
So so your mom's got a potty mouth. No, not,
because she's just she gets angry about racing. So so
we start talking back and forth. This is not a
good fight. We start talking back and so we're like
chirping at each other, right, and then I'm like he's like,
all right, we'll just do something about it. I'm like, hey, man,
get out of here, shove bad deal. And then he

(43:36):
swung at me. Did you duck? Went around my head
and you got mm, so you slipped it and then
went for the takedown. Didn't do it? Oh? We went
down to the ground. You left this straight tackle form?
Really yeah, but it didn't work out because my head
underneath his arm not facing the concrete the whole deal.

(43:58):
And then we were just like punching each other on
the ground. Then they pulled apart and punching each other
like in a rib shot. Yeah, that's how I could reach.
I don't know if he was hitting me or not,
but so that was that was it. And then and
then I regretted that because I felt like, yes, I
needed to, I needed to take a stand and say, hey,

(44:20):
I can't be race like this anymore. But I also
regretted the way I handled it. Uh. I felt like
I could have not done a little push that would
have instigated a fight and probably got the same point across.
So I regretted that. And then that was something that

(44:40):
it didn't sit right. I wasn't upset, like, oh, I
didn't mean to fight with this. It wouldn't. It wasn't.
It wasn't quiet in a senior spirit. Right. It didn't
feel like it was something I would have done. So
I regretted that that had That was hard to sleep
on for a little bit m them on Instagram. So
I'm sorry. I wasn't sorry for what I said or
what I did. I just felt like I handled it poorly.

(45:02):
And uh and uh yeah. Now every buddys we hang out. Yeah,
you know it's a competition and tempest flair. And is
it fair to say that most racers are from now
from Charlotte or quite a bit of them or have
to move to Charlotte. Yeah, most of them live here
for sure. Almost all of them live here. Now are
there any racers? I mean, yeah, well you in Virginia.

(45:25):
Who where's a Georgia? Right? We heard an interesting story
and we had Jeff Gordon being from California. Yeah, and
he actually had to come south, you know, did in
Indiana first and then you know, I had to hook
up with Mr Hendrick come here to Charlotte. So that's
a pretty unique story. Yeah. Yeah, he came from a
completely different path than most guys did at that time.

(45:48):
It's pretty neat. How now, there's a lot of talent
that comes from different racing disciplines, the dirt racing, short
track racing, what about the IE racing? Were you ever
in so I have, I have a ulator. I was
never into it until after I started racing. So like
William never was racing until after he was already a

(46:09):
similar not necessarily true. He actually was racing. He just
didn't get a lot of He's kind of lived up
to him. But he was racing a little bit. Oh
was he? I thought he had just started on the
computer and then went to let's let the podcasts. But
also I talked to Dale, who told me to okay, yes,

(46:31):
Dale knows more than well. He was just saying that
he it isn't he wasn't just learned how to race
and then went to the big league and went to
the big league. He he was going to He was
doing the NASCAR on a video game and I and
the simulator. However, that led to is this for real?

(46:53):
Can he really race? Or is he just really good
on the simulator? So at some point you gotta see
it is a similar later numbers accurate, Yeah, to what
he's doing, And he did okay job racing. And I
think they went to a simulator, and I think the
simulator enhanced it to where the the next time he
was in there he was able to apply. So it

(47:14):
was pretty cool. It was pretty cool story to hear um,
but to just say that he went from simulator all
the way to write like so he so I was
I was racing when I said that, man, I had
raced for in lower levels. Well, a lot of fans
think you just go to the top. Yeah, a lot

(47:35):
of fans think that, just like they think that he
was he never raced other than a simulator and then
he went the cup Like yeah, so that's a great story,
but that's little bit you're leaving out a stepper two. Yeah.
And and I raced with him when he was first
getting into like real stock car racing, and uh, he
was really fast. He did a great job. I lost

(47:56):
to him a couple of times and oh for sure,
Yeah that's all right, and and uh and yeah, so
but I had I had raced before, and so my
when I did it, it was kind of just I
didn't do it as like this is work. I did
it as fun, like I'm gonna get all my buddies
and we're gonna go race at whatever racetrack with whatever
car we want to, We're gonna have fun. And and

(48:19):
I think when he started doing it he used it
as it was his gateway into racing, and then it
turned into a Legend car, which is a small car
that he started, and then to late model, then the
Cannon and then the trucks and the Xfinity. So there's
obviously a ton of steps after the simulator. But I
think I have one and I use it, but it's
more and I use it now as a tool. But

(48:40):
when I first got it, it it was like, Hey, this
is fun. I can go race on the internet with
my friends. And it wasn't. I didn't use it like
he did. I don't think so do you do you
think that utilizing the simulator, um, obviously on a rainy
day now here, and that that's kind of really the
only way you can stay sharp. Yeah, um in racing. Yeah,

(49:05):
it's it's crazy. It's crazy when you think about it,
because almost every other sport you can go practice it
somewhere and do something, But to never be able to
get behind a realistic car, it's against the rules. Yeah,
it's it's super tough. You know, you get now. You
used to get a lot more practice than you do now.

(49:25):
To now you get the way it works. There's twenty
minutes of practice. You go run for twenty minutes, you
come in, make a change, qualify which is who you're
talking about? Real racing or simulating real racing? Yeah, it's
it's confused, back and forth, get lost. I've been in
a simulator so long that you start driving your car

(49:45):
home and you're like, is this real or not? Like
what am I doing? But no? But uh yeah, but yeah,
So that you have twenty minutes, and if you spend
the first five minutes of the twenty minutes off the pace,
well the car doesn't react the same way as you
do when you drive it at its limit, And so

(50:07):
it's really hard to go out there, no practice, no
real world experience, especially now with this new car, and
go on the first lap and go drive it as
hard as you can and be aggressive, knowing that you
might crash and the backup car is not as fast,
and so that's a really hard challenge. How many cars

(50:29):
do you, guys, uh transport for each particular driver. So
so with the new car, for a while it was
there was four guys in our team and there was
two cars. So say all four of us crashing practice.
Who's gonna have what car, who's gonna race, who's gonna not? Well,
now it's starting to catch up. The inventory is getting

(50:50):
better because the new cars getting farther along and we're
able to build more of them. Uh. But yeah, for
a while it's pretty sketchy, and and now it's every
driver has one backup car basically, Um, so you have
one that needs to use a backup car in the
middle of a race? No? Yeah, no, so once you
once you qualify, you're oh, you qualify that vehicle. Yep,

(51:14):
So you qualify like with your primary cars. Yes, you
can't go qualify with your primary car and then run
it back up and let and if you do, you
have to go to the back and starting last, and
then once the race starts, if you do it, you can't.
You can't do it. How difficult it is it to
to get in top three starting off a racing last?

(51:36):
Extremely difficult. Why so the farther back in the field
you get I can tell that by eyesight, But tell
it tell Layman's terms. Kiss, keep it simple, Steve, Well,
how like like I understand you got how many racers racers'
carte d you can bump, at least some of them,

(51:59):
some of them. Yeah. So so the farther back you get,
the more turbulent the air is. So the less there
the air, so you have less down force. Black folks
getting back all the time. So it's the it's it's

(52:20):
the worst the farther back you are, because it's it's
whoever your one their their car has no so every
car leaves awake. Yes, yeah, the heat. Yes, So the
the air. If the guy's leading, he has all just
normal air, clean air, clean airs, the most wonderful thing

(52:40):
in the world. And then second is probably a little
bit worse. And then third's a little worse, and it
forced a little worse, and it feels a little all
the way back to fort So so why is that
clean air? Why is that bad air? Bad for your car?
So the way the cars are shaped, imagine whoever the
folks in the back just getting crop dust is brutal. Yeah,
So the way it's the way it the cars are shaped,

(53:03):
there's a pocket of air that gets left behind, like
a neutral zone here. Right, So say you have my
fist is in the wind and this one has less
wind on it. So when you're going in a straight line.
That's awesome because there's less drag on your car and
you can draft up to him Ricky Bobby style, shaking
bake deal. And then when you get in the corner

(53:24):
and your grip limited and you're kneading down force, you're
needing grip, then all that stuff that was helping you
on the straight away is now hurting you because you
don't have the same amount of weight pushing down on
your car, smushing your tires to the racetrack and giving
you grip. So on the on the straight away you're like, oh,
this is awesome. Then you get to the corner and you're, oh,
my gosh, this car is really loose or tied or

(53:45):
whatever because I have no down force. Um and and
that makes it super hard. And you'll see guys playing
games with that, like to keep a guy behind you,
you can look up in your mirror and say, oh,
he's running the second lane. I'm gonna move to the
second right in front of him, and he's gonna get
all this dirty air in front of him, and he's
gonna get tight and I'm gonna drive away. And so

(54:06):
there's a lot of of mind games you can play
with that or not my games, just technical games. You
can play with that to keep guys behind you or
or try and pass. Should thirty seven, thirties five through
forty that dirty air? Is that also restricting speed? Um

(54:26):
you know, or just or just a gravity of force
pushing you just more or less the force pushing you down.
It should be best for your top speed to be
in the very back, but you get to the corner,
you can't do anything with it. So it almost compounds
the issue, right, because the one thing you can do
to keep grip in your car is to modulate your

(54:48):
speed to take speed out of the entry of the corner. Well,
when you're in the back, you get all this giant
run into the corner because you have no friction on
your car and you drive off in there and you
can't do anything with it, so you get tied or
whatever happens. So um, yeah, you end up almost compounding
issues that way. Um. So yeah, the back is not

(55:08):
a good place to be. There's guys that are super
talented at using the air or finding clean air in
the middle of the pack and they can pass guys,
and there's guys that that don't do it as well. Um,
And it's definitely a skill you've got to learn. As
we'll say, is that where the more you do it,
the more you learn tricks and tips for sure. And
and it's crazy how every car will handle differently in that.

(55:33):
Uh So there's a truck series, right, which was the
first like top three series of NASCAR. That's the first
step into it. Yeah, so I started. That was my first.
That's like the first time that you're like, car have
you not driven in like a stock car in general?
Over your over your young twenty one years of life?

(55:56):
What car have you not driven? I've driven the truck,
I've driven stock car, truck, stock car, go kart, moped.
I've driven a TV, a TV four wheeler, four wheeler, scooter,
elect your scooter or razor scooter both burst. The razor
scooters are rough on your shins, you know what I mean,

(56:17):
Like when you try and whip them around here, think
you're getting fancy. We're not talking about do you think
this brothers driving razor skins or they weren't They weren't
out When I was younger, I had a duke. Duke's
a hazard, uh big wheel that's bad at Big Will
and the car they had there no Daisy was ever

(56:38):
in the hood though, but there's some pressure on you
and you don't know this as we start to wind
this thing down. So we had William Byron on. Yeah,
very next race he won, Oh boy, he had he
want a cop race. The next race, very next we
had Chase. We had Chase Elliott on and the week

(57:01):
after was the last race of the championship. And what
happened talk about it. So now we're I'm just saying.
And when we were in California, William Byron's people did
they come down, absolutely came down and say hello, we're
all standing in the saying I won't tell you at
this j W aren't you Ah? So as I past

(57:22):
your curfew though, it's like, yeah, I was probably sleepy.
So folks came down, dapped him up, said hello, Chase.
He didn't come down, and then what happened got hit
in the wall. You say, So it's saying we have
an impact on this. I'm saying also, and I know, yeah,

(57:42):
I got a reputation to hold not the same team.
So earlier that day, who whose team we're talking to
that the morning Joey Logano who won that race boom talk, Yeah,
I'll try my hardest. That's you know that. I know
you'll try your hard There's nothing that says you won't
try your hardest, is what we've learned from this podcast.
There you have it, man, Well we really appreciate. Hopefully

(58:03):
I didn't geek you out, but I like I like
to learn very quick. Yeah, I love I love telling
people about it. Yeah, that's what I love. So it's
easy for me to talk about it. That's for sure.
You are a unique person. You are well worth it,
you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm

(58:25):
Steve Smith Singior, I'm Gerard Little John and this is
cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior.
That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC,
Baal Tool, Creative Media, The Black Effect, and I Heart Radio.
For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I

(58:47):
Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve
Smith Singor, co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking
manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John
Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut Too It is produced

(59:09):
by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by
Alex Lebrek, Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson,
Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then,
we're about to let you. Now it's all