May 13, 2025 • 47 mins
On today’s episode of Throttle Therapy, Katherine is joined by B.J. and Jessica McLeod, the co-owners of Live Fast Motorsports, to talk about how they transitioned from construction and real estate to racing, how B.J. balances being a driver and a team owner, and their mission to support drivers who are new to the Cup series.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You can find us on the.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, you guys, Well, it has been a raining
for days here, so I've had a week at home,
which is unheard of, but I've had a ton of
(00:29):
things to sort out and I've got a.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Lot of work done.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I am a one man band when it comes to
doing everything here, so I'm trying to hold down my
real life and actually clean my house and catch up
with my emails and train and do all those things
that i haven't been able to do because I've been
on the road for so long. And I managed to
catch up on some podcasting too. We had a fantastic
(00:54):
talk with bj McLeod and Jessica, his wife, who are
the team owners of a Live Fast Modus who are my.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Cup team, and they're amazing and.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I feel very well supported by them and their quest
in life at the moment is to become the Cup
team that drivers like me and drivers making it out
of affinity. Drivers that are new to NASCAR Cup Series
use as a stepping stone, and so I think that
(01:25):
what they're doing is incredibly honorable. I think that BJ
feels an affinity because he got his start doing it
that way.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They make an amazing team.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
To be able to work together twenty four to seven
and have created this kind of most sport legacy, I
think is brilliant. It's nice to have a family, supportive
atmosphere where somebody's really willing you to do well, and
they certainly have been through it with me, like Phoenix
was the ups and downs and roller coaster that it was.
(01:56):
And speaking of roller coasters, they are actually doing a
mountain coaster in Tennessee and Pigeon Forge, which is another
really cool project. They're just very cool, interesting people, and
I feel like if you go into big race car
teams and you get lost, then you have people that
are for you, people that are against you within the
same team, and people who are waiting to see how
(02:18):
you do. This I felt was a great way to
start my Cup career, and I am very much looking
forward to going to Mexico with them and doing the
first road course and hopefully trying to get them the
result that they so desperately deserve. Alongside me. So I
am proud to announce this episode is about BJ and
(02:38):
Jessica mcclod. This week, I have the privilege and the
honor of having two very important people in my life
on the show. We have BJ and Jessica McLeod. They
run the Fast Mode to Sport, which of course is
(02:59):
the Cup team that I am now driving for. How
cool is that I get to say I'm driving for
a Cup team in the NASCAR Series, And I'm excited
to have them on because I think it's really interesting
to hear how the people in your life got to
the point that they're at. Obviously, I've known BJ for
a while, I've known who he is, and I've known
(03:21):
what he's achieved. But I would love for you guys
to hear how they got their Fast Motorsport into the
fast Lane pun intended, and how he juggles being a
driver and a team owner and all that good stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So welcome you guys to Throttle Therapy.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, definitely, thank you for having us. Yeah, that's a
long story as you want to make it. Jessica and
I got together when we were really young. I was nineteen,
she was twenty two. Really from the first time we
got together. We didn't take long and we were talking
about business. When the hurricanes come through Central Florida in
two thousand and four, it tore up a lot of stuff,
and that kind of allowed us to get our start
(04:00):
in doing clean up. We did some construction work, some
site work, We bought some flip thousands, we built some houses.
We did pretty much all of that for going on
and off. It was probably four to six years, somewhere
around twenty ten. You know, I'd been in an instructor
at Finish Line Racing School for seven or eight years
at that point, maybe a little longer, and it helped
(04:22):
a lot of drivers and seeing them go to you know,
other teams, and some of it went well, some of
it didn't. And I just talked to Jessica and I
was like, you know what I feel like with the
way construction's switching, and it was getting difficult to get jobs,
people were bidding stuff and doing change orders for profit,
and I just wasn't going to do it. So I
told her, I was like, I feel like we could
do a driver development company with the experience I had
(04:44):
with the school and the winds and you know the
background that I had with you know, as many championships
and all the super late model stuff that I had done.
I felt like we could do.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That so central Florida, like with tooking Seabring.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Area, right, Yeah, we're both born in Wachula, like fifteen
minutes twenty minutes from Sebring. When we started racing there
with the driver development, it was new to Earna Speedway
and then the Soto Speedway in Orlando speed World. That
was the tracks we went to.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And you had been driving since you were how old
and doing what late model dirt stuff or tarmac.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
I did all asphalt. I probably ran five or six
dirt races in my life and go karts. The first
dirt race I ran in a stock car was Bristol
dirt and a cup car and that was very entertaining.
That was a big undertaking. But bottom line, I guess
we ran all asphalt stuff, go karts, stock cars. I
did run full Wilders when I was three to five
(05:37):
years old, and all of that was on dirt. But
my whole life's been spent racing. And that's when we
were going to switch professions. I just felt like I
wanted to do something that I had worked my whole
life to learn and I'd really done every position of
the business, and it just felt like it could be
successful doing the driver development and helped some of the
kids that I was teaching anyway make sure they landed
(05:59):
a secure that did the best they could do with
the budget they had, and just make sure they were successful.
And pretty much we switched the driver development to make
a living in twenty ten. Still did a little bit
of real estate stuff, but it was really the racing
that we focused on and we wanted to build up
when we started the driver development in twenty ten, and
we saw that it could be successful, and we were
(06:22):
enjoying helping people and being around racing all the time,
and we thought, you know what, let's just try to
work up the ladder. And it was ultimately a dream
to be in Cup one day as an owner. Obviously
I'd always want to be in a Cup as a driver,
but it was a dream to be there. We were
fortunate enough over the years to have things go right
that we did go the ladder. We did Super eight Models,
(06:43):
K and N Trucks, Exfinity, then Cup and you know,
we're still doing Cup and honestly, having a lot of
fun doing it now the way we're doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
If you're from Cbring in that area and you saw
all the sportscast stuff that was going on, what made
you go the NASCAR route and stay out of like
the sports car route that you had been surrounded with.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
It's very funny that you mentioned it because we do
have the twelve hours of Seabring and Seabring right, huge
sports car race. I have never watched it. I have
never been there, and I was born Yeah seriously, I
was born and raised twenty minutes from that track in Wachula.
We actually have a house in Florida right now that
(07:25):
is only ten minutes from that race strike. I actually
offered for you to stay there the last time you
were down there. So it's really ironic that you mentioned
that because I never went. I never saw it, and
I still haven't been to this day. The reason why
we were never in that kind of racing is my
mom and dad had Late Models when I was five, six,
seven years old, and I saw those and I just
thought they were unbelievably cool, and I was like, oh,
(07:47):
I hope I get to drive on one day. And
I never ever thought about road racing. I was always
I wanted to race at Brandon, and I wanted to
race at Orlando New Samarna, and obviously when I was
a kid. It's funny because my first thing was to
be an IndyCar driver when I was a kid. That's
what I actually wanted.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I've heard you say that before and it's like mind
blowing to me. But I still think we need to
get you in an IndyCar. I still think that dreams alive.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Well, there's no doubt that I want to test one
one day. I don't know about racing one, but I
would just want to know what they drive like, because
people say they're incredible. You said they're incredible, and I
just I just like driving race cars. Right, So it's like,
sooner or later, I'm going to figure out if I
can squeeze my six foot one, two hundred and forty
pound but in one and go make some labs.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
I think you will be able to.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And I think they're only good for like another year
or two before the new one comes out, and then
there's going.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
To be a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
You could pick up relatively cheap as well, and you
could go and do a bunch of laps in it,
and then you could tell them that you'd never driven
one before. You could go test nobly like, oh my god,
Pj's amazing in an IndyCar.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, that's what I would do.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
No, that would be fun.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So you have the racing bug because you wanted to drive,
and then obviously you wanted to help other drivers develop,
and then you wanted to have a professional NASCAR team. Jessica,
did you fall in love with racing? Is it the
business of racing? Do you have any desire to drive yourself?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Like?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
How did when you came along? How did you fit
into it? Do you love it as much as Bja does.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
So it's funny. I actually did not know anything about racing.
The most I knew about it was watching my dad
always had Nascar on on Sundays. That was the typical
thing at the house. So it was something in the background.
It wasn't something that I had any experience in. Funny enough,
our first date was at Lakeland Speedway. I believe that's
what it's called. It's no longer there internet, Yeah, USA,
(09:40):
That's where he.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Took you for your first day. He's like, hey, let's
go to your.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
Well, I will say date. We went as a group
of friends.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
But yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Was I thought it was a date.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah, So that was one of the first experiences. And
just obviously we started dating, we were doing the Friday
night racing, Saturday night racing. I definitely come from more
of the business minded background of it, and I think,
hearing his history, I think you started in that when
(10:13):
you're extremely young, still one of the youngest to do it.
I do know. I asked him at one point in time,
I said, what is the long term plan here?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
What's your goal? You know, do you want to just
stay here?
Speaker 5 (10:23):
And he said, no, I want to be a NASCAR
And I'm like, all right, so then you know the
will start spinning. It's like, okay, well, how do we
do that? How do you get there? I'm highly competitive,
so being around that and the adrenaline in it, yes,
drawn to that. But the business side of it really
became interesting once we started the driver development on Okay,
(10:43):
well this is how this works. How can we make
that work? And then obviously was to build to move up.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
So Bja also had all the connections and knew all
the people and so like now with all the people
and the team and like putting those people together, because,
as we all know, what may makes a good race
team a great race team, or what makes it gel
is the people right.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
One hundred percent. And I think another thing with him too,
he has worked with other teams within K and N Trucks,
and he's done several different positions. He has spotted, which
he's an amazing spotter. It's just he's not usually on
that side. He's amazing cool. I always believe that in
(11:24):
order to be successful in business, you need to know
how to run all aspects of the business, and he has.
He's done all the positions when it comes to the inside,
I have done all the positions that you know that
I'm asking or somebody else is required to do at
some point in time. I have done it myself. So
I think that's an important thing to do if you're
(11:47):
owning your own business, is to know all the areas.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I think it makes a good race cut driver to
know a lot of the areas of how to build
and how to saprize. God, I am trying to then
the NASCAR side of things. You know, with every change
that's made, I've asked, Okay, what changes do we make
so I can make notes so I can learn, like, okay,
this is what that does on a NASCAR because you
get down the road a certain level like in sports cars,
(12:13):
for example, and I could literally ask for the changes
that I think I needed, Not that the engineers wouldn't
have been a little bit miffed at me for doing that.
They like to hear what the problem is and come
up with a solution themselves, but you kind of get
used to that, and so going into NASCAR, for me,
it's a different world. So I'm trying to do the
same thing that you do in business in racing and
(12:34):
trying to learn and put all of those like okay,
what does the track bar actually do? Because like geometry wise,
I don't understand it. Explain it to me and then
I can try and understand it a bit more well.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
And then once they adjust it, then you feel the difference.
You're not going to forget it. So that's yeah, that's
the learning side of it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I wish we had more testing so we could go
do it, run through all of these things, so I
have a bank of knowledge that I can kind of
call from, but don't so I can't.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
You'll keep gathering it at each trace. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, so BJ as a driver who is raced for
other teams and knows what you want from the car
and has all these different frame of references, when you
drive for your own team, how is it, Because I've
never done this, how is it to juggle being the
team owner and the manager and telling everybody what to
(13:25):
do and also drive the race car? Like, how do
you juggle all of that? You know?
Speaker 4 (13:29):
And in the beginning with the Xinity team, really maybe trucks,
I could go back that far. It was difficult because
we were always there was always such a financial risk
to everything we were building. We were always reinvesting everything
we had to get to the next level. We're just
trying to make things happen. And when you have a
(13:51):
large financial risk and you're in the driver's seat, it
changes the way you do.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Things and the way you drive. I would imagine.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah, Well, as a winner before I got the NASCAR
and when I drove through to eight models, I never
worried about money. We had what we needed and if
we didn't, we got it. I mean it did work
on the stuff and build it and save money. But
I never worried about a race car right. And when
we started the truck team and I was driving, and
we even did Exfinity, I had to be smart. I
pay people's payroll right, and if I didn't, you do
(14:22):
it right, maybe somebody would be able to eat. There
was a lot of pressure, right, So you know that
part back then was difficult. It was hard to get
one hundred percent out of what the great people that
we had chosen give us. But at the same time,
we made sure the financial side was correct and that
obviously has played out the right way. So I think
(14:43):
when you fast forward to starting the Cup team as
an open team in twenty twenty, before we purchased a
charter just to see if we wanted to be that busy,
if we wanted to be on that level, but if
we could compete. There's a lot of things we wanted
to find. And Jessica and I started the Cup team
during COVID, which was wild too. We ran really well.
We were out running five, six seven cars every weekend,
(15:05):
like actually better than we did in the next gener
So when you fast forward to that point in my
career as an owner and a driver, I had gotten
to the point where the financial side wasn't concerning to
me because I could wreck five weekends in a row
and it wouldn't be a big deal. There was a
couple of years we raced Exfinity and trucks. If I
(15:25):
had wrecked two weeks in a row, we'd have been
out of business, right, and cutting tires down counts right, like,
it still breaks you. It's not your fault, but it
breaks you, right. So that was the biggest challenge I faced,
you know, for several years, was driving and separating the
money side of it. I will say that when we
started the Cup team in twenty twenty, from then on
(15:47):
it was one hundred percent of what I had. Every
time I was in the car. There was scenarios at
different points that I'd say, well, you know what, this
is pretty much our day, and then I would be
smart the rest of the day, right Like I'd go
all out for on stage and you know, something happened,
then I would say, you know what, let's just take
care of the equipment. Or if the race is flowing right,
we might get a really good finish for our team.
(16:08):
Take the risk. The hardest part of owning the team
and driving it and putting the people together. You have
to make it perfectly clear to your people that you're
two different people to Davey, which is your crew chief.
Also he's my crew chief. When I race, I am
a driver and I'm an owner, and he answers differently
(16:30):
to those two people. It's really it's a relationship that
we've built. They understand that. On Monday, when I come back,
they get information from the driver. Then we talked to
an owner about what do we do right, how do
we do things better? And the owner Jessica and I
critique me as a driver. For me, I've had to
(16:51):
be able to mentally be two different people to the
people that are on my team. And my wife really
rehurs probably three to make sure that we get the
most out of every position because we're a small team,
right and I think it's always been very important anybody
that's worked to mend my crew chief. I made sure
(17:11):
that they knew they could never get fired from critiquing
the driver right like that, there's absolutely no situation where
they could lose their job over critiquing me. Or hey,
just tell me I can't drive. I'm time with that.
Show me proof that I can't drive, and I'll listen. Right,
It's like Unfortunately, at this level, we have enough data
(17:32):
that there's black and white. So I made sure that
that was always separated. And I think that's one reason
we've done as well as we have for a small team,
because we always kept that separate. And it's a difficult
thing to do, but I've always been on the side
of take responsibility for everything, whether it was your fault
or not, and I believe it makes you more successful.
(17:52):
I don't believe in dwelling in it, but I believe
to look at everything like I can make that better.
And if I look at it and I can make
that better, and then we can succeed with it. I
feel like it helps the people around me elevate, and
that's what I've always tried to do.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Having done the construction business and the racing business, you
kind of you get a frame of reference and you
learn the business as you go along along the same veins.
Having then have somebody like me come along and drive
your race car. Is giving that part of it away
to somebody else? Is that difficult? Is that weird for
(18:39):
you that you're not the driver and that you can
help me because you've done all the driver development stuff,
or is it just totally normal.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
I enjoy it, It's not just normal like I. Right now,
I have a passion to prove that Live Fast Motorsports
is the best stepping stone for somebody to go from
trucks or Exfinity end of the Cup series. That's not
going to automatically step in the twenty four, the forty
eight or one of these top cars right that They're
(19:09):
going to have to get some starts and get used
to it. Because we're in an error now where the
next Gen car is nothing like an Exfinity car, not
from a setup standpoint, not from a driving standpoint, not
from a tire compliance standpoint. Literally none of the above
does it comply. It doesn't even make sense on pitstops. Literally,
coming to Pitt Road is not even you can learn
(19:30):
the grip level of Pitt Road, but that's it, right,
Getting to pit road is different. The next Gen car versus.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
An Expenity car totally different.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
So it's like the trucks are a little bit closer, right,
So that's good. But I have a passion right now
and Jessica does as well, to prove that with this
error we're in with the next gen vehicle that if
you have somebody that is trying to win a championship
in trucks are Exfinity, They're definitely going to be a
Sunday driver one day. They don't quite have a path
(19:58):
figured out to know they're going in. Like I said,
the twenty four or forty eight three whatever, right, like
whatever are the big teams. We could take that driver,
get them ten cup starts on the same year that
they're trying to win an Eccenity Championship or a truck
championship and then speed up that one hundred race curve
for when that. We see out of almost all your superstars,
(20:22):
it's really hard to move from winning in X seventy
to winning in cups. It's very difficult.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
You saw that last weekend with Jesse Love right, he
stepped into the next gen car for the first time,
and he stepped in with another team on the smaller side,
and I'm doing it with you guys, and so I
think that it's really necessary to have those stepping stones
and those supportive I think it's really important as well
(20:50):
that it's like a supportive atmosphere where you can learn
and you're not expected to go in and do great
things straight away.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That you're expected to go in and pick your.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
You've done this a million times, so you can try
and impot that knowledge to me. And I feel like
you guys are behind me exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And the team that Jesse drove for is a great
team to do the same thing. And you see, he's
a winning Exfinity driver. I think he's in the top
three points right now. I haven't looked, and he runs
probably second or third from last all day because it's hard, right,
It's yeah, in practice, I think he was six or
seven tenths off his first practice. And I'm like, he
(21:32):
is a great driver and an awesome kid. He's great talent, right,
It's just it's cut. It is no joke. And the
second part of one reason I enjoy doing what we're
doing with you is I also want someone that has
made the Indianapolis five hundred to come drive my car.
You haven't made it once, you made it four times,
(21:52):
and you know, being an Indie fan when I was
a kid, and then obviously making it the Cup as
a driver and an owner, and then having a call
come to me that Catherine Legg's interested in driving our
car at a couple of these different tracks, and I
look up your stats because I've watched you over the years.
I want to try to help you because you've done
(22:13):
really cool things. And anybody that can drive an Indy
car at two hundred and thirty three mile an hour
around Indianapolis average, Yeah, it's average, You're right, So I
know I can work with that, right, Like, it'll take
some time to get you to learn this craft, but
I knew I could work with it. And then when
(22:34):
I met you, when I've seen your level of commitment,
and then the fact that you get in the wreck
at Road America twenty some years ago and you find
relief during this crash that the motor leaves your vehicle,
so there's going to be less fire. That showed me
that you will never be scared a day in your life.
You're another level, right, So when you told me that story,
(22:56):
I was like, I'm going to help her whatever she
needs here. But I want to see you be in
a Cup car and be able to supply your sponsors
with the correct ROI because it is a Cup Series
and compete and one thing that people miss a lot,
you know, saying I want to be able to compete
(23:17):
in the Cup Series, competing in the Cup Series is
still thirty sixth place, right like thirty six, thirty fifth,
thirty fourth. If you're out running one car, you're competing,
and that's what we have to work towards and get
you to see time. You need to be able to
do that, and it's hard to understand that. But then
when you see Jesse Love switch over to Cup and
(23:38):
run last all day, that should help you figure it out.
Austin Hill made his debut at Michigan three or four
years ago maybe, and he was in the back for
half the race. Even when a lap down, Now he
picked it up quick, he come back, got his lap
back out, Visa finished. But it just shows you the
learning curve from winning an extenity or winning in try
(24:00):
to being able to beat one car on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Well, it's also there's no testing, so you're doing all
your learning in the public eye. And I think your
comparison of Jesse Love is relevant and we've spoken about this,
like I feel like I was misjudged at Phoenix because
I feel like we did a really good job in practice.
We did a decent job in qualifying. I kept it safe,
(24:24):
I probably could have gone quicker, and then I was
learning throughout the race, and I made that mistake and
spun and it costs where as his race, but everybody
remembers that part of it. And then I look at
Jesse Love as a comparison, and I've gone back and
I've watched the race, and I'm like, okay, well he
was similar amount off to me, and he's one Exfinity racist, right,
(24:46):
And everybody seems to give him a different level of
respect or they view what he did. He made the
same mistake in the race that I did. He spun,
he didn't collect anybody, but that's not anything he can control,
and they look at that very differently to judging me.
And I think everybody made a snap judgment about me
and my ability, and I think it's kind of unfair.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Really, I feel a little bit slighted by this.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Well it goes back to he's done it the way
you're supposed to do it, right. He's done the truck starts,
he's done in Exfinity, he's done all this. He's got
all this experience before he come to Cup, so when
he makes a mistake, people can't say, oh, well he
should have ran more Infinity. Now he's already win an
Infinity races. Right, when you make a mistake, it's easy
(25:31):
to say, well, she needs to do more. But the
problem is the business side does not support you running
Exfinity and spending ten million dollars before you run a
Cup race.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yep, they want to be in Cup.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
And that's what the public eye doesn't see, right, Like
the public eye doesn't know that it takes five to
six million dollars a year to compete in accentity, right,
it takes two and a half to three million to
compete in trucks and that could get you fifteenth, right,
So it's hard when everyone doesn't know the business side
of the sport. Also, where you're trying to make stuff happen,
(26:06):
you have sponsors that are interest and Cup only. You
have a couple that like Exsnity, but the majority of
the money and the return is in Cup. And you
couple that with I have a driver. There's plenty willing
to go test that would love it, and we can't.
And that's the sport. That's the rule book we have
to abide by. It. Would it make it easier? Absolutely?
(26:28):
Would we both have preferred to take you to Coda
instead of Phoenix?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (26:33):
Right?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
And that's why your next race is a road course.
I don't think you run an over. You got four
more Cup races before you run an over again, right,
That's what we would have chosen. So obviously, like I said,
the judgment is different because he did the way you're
supposed to. But in this era that we live in,
there's not always backing to be able to do the
(26:53):
conventional ladder system. And truthfully, I don't believe when you've
ran as well as you have and IndyCar and sports
cars and the other stuff, and how long your career
has been, that you should spend a ton of time
in Excinity right now or trucks because they don't correlate
to the cup car. If the ultimate goal for the
partners that you have, because we are in a money
(27:14):
driven sport, like it or not, you have to have
partners to race, it doesn't matter who you are. If
that's the case, then you're run you're working towards cups.
So I think absolutely the Exfinity starts you're doing is great.
It's getting you more seat time, more reps, getting the
tracks you haven't been to. What I like to see.
You have a partnership that allows you to run a
truck full time and get experience. Absolutely, I'd love it.
(27:37):
I think that'd be awesome for you, and then keep
your Cup experience going with at least ten races a year.
I think that'd be a great program. So we're just
in a tough box where we're not allowed to practice.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah. I think also what people to understand is that
I'm trying to make a living as well, right, and
you get given opportunities and your sponsors want to do
a thing, and I'm really lucky that they pivoted with
me having come off of Phoenix and not doing the
five hundred this year, and so they're prepared to do
the Infinity starts that NASCAR told us we should do
(28:10):
in order to get all the steps done that NASCAR
want to see to be able to progress to the
next level of oval, you know, like start in the
road courses. You've got mile ovals, you've got mile and
a halfs, and you can build up on it. But
you basically at the mercy of the commercial side as
much as you are at the mercy of what NASCAR want.
(28:31):
And it's not like NASCAR can go, Okay, we want
to see you do this that and the other and
you go, okay, fine, it's like, Okay, do I have
the money to go do that? Do we have the
sponsors to go do that? Do we have a team
that's willing and able to go do that? And so
it's really tricky actually to put all the it's like
jigsaw pieces and to try and make them all work
(28:52):
with the hand that you've been dealt.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
It's not easy. And I've felt that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
That side of things this year has been more complicated
than it has in years past because in IndyCar, in
sports cars, you kind of.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Work your way up through the ranks.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You get paid as a professional driver by the team,
the manufacturer, et cetera, et cetera. Whereas this is commercially
viably very different. Like as a driver you have sponsors.
As a team, you have sponsors, and you have obligations.
And it's like it's not so easy just to go
from one race to the next that you have to
(29:27):
jump some steps because not all race you're not allowed
to do all of the races, right, there's no guidelines
that say, Okay, Catherine, you did really well in Talladega
in Anexfinity car, So now we're going to let you
go into a mile and a half in a cup carrier, like,
how did you get there?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
From there?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
It's complicated, Like it's been a process, and I'm very
grateful that both of you are stuck with me through
it and help me navigate it. But it's not as
easy as you would think.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Definitely not. It's very difficult to raise at the highest
level of stock car racing. It takes a lot of
work to even be on the track, just looking forward
to getting you to a road course, the place that
you've actually been before, being able to just work on
learning in the car on that track.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, right, And I think people don't understand that it
is actually the most difficult form of racing because Indy
car has got some really great racing drivers. Sports car
has got some really great racing drivers. You know, Formula
one really great race clut drivers. But NASCAR has in
each of the three top series, got like thirty really
(30:35):
really good drivers. It's not just fifteen or twenty. It's
like every single one in the bar, maybe one or
two at the back that are learning like me, are
world class, amazing race clud drivers. And so I think
that it's definitely the hardest thing that I've ever done.
I'm hoping that going to Mexico gives me a different
level of confidence, I guess, for want of a better term,
(30:57):
where I have been there before and I kind of
know what I'm doing on a road course, and so
it kind of takes away another element of learning. And
I think that's the one thing that maybe Exfinity is
helping with is the procedural stuff, you know, the choose
thing and like how it works throughout a race. But
like driving the car, I don't think correlates at all.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
No, they're so different now it's hard. I started driving
cup cars when you know they were different than Infinity.
But I felt like on a weekend when I ran
trucks Exfinity Yang, I used to do triples too, I
felt like everyone made be better at the other. Like
I would get in the truck, start practice, get an
Exfinity car, be better because I drove the truck in practice.
(31:38):
Get out of the Exfinity car, getting the cup car
be better because I drove the truck in an Extenity
car in practice. Get out of the cup car, be
better in the truck because I got the next practice
the cup car right, And it just it felt like
the whole weekend it just snowballed the right direction because
you're getting all these laps, and that's why you solve
for so long. Kyle Busch do it there Cerebral Harvid
did a lot of it, like it really correlated between
(31:59):
all three series. And then you get the next gen
car and I get out in the Xcinity car and
go to get the next gen car and it is
just there's nothing the same. Like last year, I was
eighteenth in points in Excinity when Jessica and I decided
to stop. I was doing pretty good and the cars
were it was what Cup races I was running. I
(32:22):
was out in left field when I got in a
Cup car, and then when I got back used to
that I get out of here get an Xcinity car.
I felt like I was out in left field in
that like when I say, you know, out in left field.
It was like it would take me ten or twenty
laps to adjust, and to me, that's a lifetime in
an Incinity race or a Cup race. If you take
twenty laps to adjust, your night's over and so you're
gonna be a lapped down before anything ever gets going.
(32:44):
So it's difficult because the partners. Most partners want cup
right and then you can't practice, which that's the world
we're live in. We have to abide by it, and
it makes it hard because when you go you are
looking up to find sponsors for truck or Infinity. Like
you said, it does help with the procedural stuff, there's
no doubt. But as far as advancing your capabilities in
(33:05):
the cup car, I think we see more times than not.
There's proof that it does help with some but it
doesn't do much.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So you've told me before that you don't like doing
road courses so much because you don't feel as well
versed in road courses, whereas I'm coming at it the
opposite way. We're actually doing some simwork this week to
see Mexico because I don't think it's quite the same
layout that I've done before, but I do have experience
there the last time I was there. We want in
(33:33):
the electric car, so so that's good. That gives me
another level of confidence. So are you more excited about
me running the road course to see how we get
on in that then you would have been about you
running the road course for example, No doubt.
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Yeah, clear, I had a sponsor to go to Mexico. II,
what are we go? I don't want to be in
a cup car on a road course, period, Like I
just I don't belong there. You know, I've driven that.
We figured out my knowledge when we quit in twenty
twenty three, so it's higher now, but back then, I
(34:11):
have a totally ninety five thousand miles in a NASCAR vehicle.
So the only track I haven't ran is an all
my and obviously now Mexico. But I have ninety five
thousand miles on a NASCAR vehicle, and I can tell
you for sure, I don't feel comfortable getting on a
cup track that's a road course, and I don't feel
comfortable getting on a road course in a cup car.
(34:32):
I just I don't feel like I'm there. Twenty fourteen,
Mossport and a truck for a starting park for Bobby Daughter.
Was the first time I pulled onto a road course
in my life in a street vehicle, and I'm like anything.
I'd never been on a road course, so I really
had no knowledge of it. And I got Annul aally
healthy song, and Scott Hicker helped me some, Mat Tiff
(34:54):
helped me a lot of different drivers. But it just
felt like every time I drove harder, I went slower.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
That happens a lot.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
When I slowed down, I went quicker, And I'm like,
you know what, I just don't have any interest in this.
Like for me, I've really dissected why I love racing
since we haven't been full time and I only raced
a couple of months, six seven times a year. For me,
it was number one, the speed of the cars and
filling a car on edge and that close to crashing.
(35:23):
I love it. It's really the only time I fell alive.
And then the second part was the fans, right And
in Nascar, I've never been able to give my fans
what they deserve or race at a level that I
feel accomplished at that. But with super lights and go
carts and everything before, I had a really fun time
entertaining the fans. So when I get a race car
and slowing down and pitting an apex and being smooth
(35:45):
on the throat and all this stuff, but the road
course thing, it's like it's boring in a stock car. Now,
put me in a GT three car or you know,
obviously an F one car Indy car, you'd be like,
oh my god, I gotta drive hard to go fast, right,
But it's just these big vehicles don't they don't like
road courses, and you got to be smooth as well
on them, not do two things at once, and it
(36:07):
just seems boring. So I just don't get into it.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I have the same feeling on an oval, like
that's the alien thing to me. Not in an IndyCar
because I'm used to it, but like the whole thinking
about the weight transfer and the roll in the middle,
like I have zero patients, I'm on the gas, I'm
on the brakes, Like the whole waiting for the car
to turn and take a set and go is alien
(36:34):
to me. So I'm doing the reverse learning. So between
the two of us would make a really good race
car driver.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
A really good team. Yeah I really good.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
But I will say you told me that some of
these races were really fun, and Talidata being one of them,
and I honestly can say, having never driven a super speedway, Okay,
I set out to do ARCA at Daytona, but I
made it four laps before I got taken out of
somebody else's right, I have, I have. I had as
much fun as I did in a race car at Talladega.
It was freaking awesome and I loved it so much.
(37:08):
And then watching you on this Sunday, I felt your
pain when they radiated tick you out of the race,
like I wanted it for you so badly because these
races are awesome, Like I did not know what I
was missing. Had I known what I was missing twenty
years ago, I would have done it full time for
as long as I said. I loved it so much. So, Jessica,
(37:29):
what's your favorite type of racing as an owner? Do
you have like a particular track or a particular race
that you like the best.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
So I have a particular track that I like the best.
My favorite track is Bristol, always has been. I don't
know if you've been there, but it's just it's just
the feeling. It does feel like you're inside a bowl,
and the noise in there how it echoes off. You
can see the whole race from just standing in the center,
(37:57):
so it's a good experience. I will say super speedways
make me the most nervous. I just know when they
wreck there, they're wrecking hard, and there tends to be
rerex a lot towards the end.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yeah, or at the end of stages.
Speaker 5 (38:13):
So I definitely do get nervous still on super speedways,
just knowing I have.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Been married to her for eleven going on twelve years,
been whether they're twenty two, and I had no idea
that her favorite track was Bristol.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Really, I thought, I told you this.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
It's really because I can be in the center and
see everything.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
I like how the noise bounces off.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
Yeah, it's so funny. Bad idea that makes me think
about things differently.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Now, yeah, you don't raise Bristol.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
We go, we go into Bristol. Let me say that
I can find a bunk if a Bristol does.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
I miss Bristol night bad. It's an awesome place to
go run a race.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
I'm learning all these new tracks like Martinsville and Bristol
and Rockingham and like never having experienced anything like it.
My friend of references like Iowa and Milwaukee and obviously.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Indy and well, they're all cool places. Indy is on
another level.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I'm excited to try that in a stock car.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Yeah, it's to me, it's one of my favorite places
to go. A lot of it, Like the track is insane,
it's really wild in the stock car gift a break. Yeah,
in the cup car, you will a little bit. The
cup car when I started there, it still had nine
hundred horsepower and it was a Gen six car and
I was in Q trim the first time I pulled
(39:32):
on the track ever in my life, and I went
to Landing Castle and I was like, dude, just give
me some kind of corner because we had to make
the race. And he's like, if you make it to
the one. He's like, if your car is good, you'll
get past the one. Like car length I have two
car lengths and I'm like, all right. I walked out
the tit road, looked at it and I'm like, wow,
that looks deep, got a bar and I come off
of two when I pulled out of the garage and
(39:54):
looked down to three and I'm like, I can't even
see the one marker. You're just just an awesome track.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Imagine going flat well.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Man, a cup car. It just I've never even been
able to think about that. But it was a lot
of fun making the race at that time and being
in Cutum. The first laps I ever made on Indy
were was really insane and it was a blast.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
I want you to tell our a listeners a little
bit about this super cool project that you've been doing
that I'm fascinated by.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
It's mind boggling to me. So it's really very cool.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
It's a mountain coaster, and I'm going to let you
tell everybody what it is.
Speaker 5 (40:44):
So we're doing the Pigeon Forge Mountain Coaster over in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It's obviously gravity fed mountain coaster. Very
unique aspects about it are the view first off, but
you're not really going to be thinking about that. You're
going to be thinking about who you're racing next to you.
So we've got the racing right. Yeah, it's the world's
(41:08):
first racing mountain coaster. We've had a little confusion. No,
it is not a roller coaster. It is a mountain coaster.
But yes, you get to race whomever side by side.
You will have a dedicated winner at the end and
one of the There's a couple crazy things and we
want everybody to go experience this.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
It's going to be fun.
Speaker 5 (41:27):
But you've got three sixties going off the side of
the mountain and a corkscrew finale.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
So what made you want to do a mountain coast.
I mean, it's really cool. So I did a bit
of racing in Europe and I did a mountain coaster
in Switzerland. Still one of the coolest things I've ever done.
I tried to do it without breaking, did not make it.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
I breaked. I went down breaked.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah you can't break on this one.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Okay, you just can't.
Speaker 4 (41:52):
But no.
Speaker 5 (41:53):
So for us, it obviously it's got the aspect of
the adrenaline pact, the racing and just being able to
bring that to the fans where they can experience it,
and just the community we're excited about.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
We felt like we need to do something different that
we've never done. Number One, to make it successful. Number Two,
to replace some of the excitement that we're missing not
going to the racetrack. Right, And there's many different businesses
you can get in, but to have an opportunity to
own something in Pigeon Forge means a lot to Jessica
(42:30):
and I. We love that area. I tell everybody it's
like the Vegas and the East Coast, more family oriented. Right,
There's plenty of places for the adults to have fun
and have good times. But you walk down the street
and you can have your family with you and just
feel safe and go enjoy put putt or laser tag
or yeah, there's foon time for the adults. It's just
(42:54):
wild how big it's gotten. We bought a cabin there
when they had eleven acres with it back in twenty
twenty two. We bought that, and it's because we love
the area, right. We do rent it out some, but
it was not for investment, like we're like, hey, this
is going to be another one of our homes. So
I talked to Jessica and I was like, I want
to do something like entertainment wise, and you know an
(43:16):
amusement falls under that, right. I just I didn't know
what and I got to thinking. We had a friend
that had been over there. He's lived there for I
think thirty years. He's built Mountain Coaster and sold it.
He bought another one, currently owns it.
Speaker 6 (43:30):
But he just he's got the moonshine facilities, he's got
a butt pud, He's in everything over there, right. So
I asked Jessica, I was like, you think we should
just work that direction. I called him and I said, hey,
just so you know, Jessica and I are interested in
being in business and Vision Forge. He called us back
and said, hey, I think about doing this wild race
(43:50):
and coaster and I was like, all right, tell us
more and he's like, even town. We just had to
be in town. So he come over drew it out
on a notepad.
Speaker 4 (43:59):
He's like this, this is what I'm thinking for the track,
and Jess and I looked at one another and we said,
I'm going to say it will be yes, but I
need twenty four hours to decide because I just have
learned with any of the big decisions that we make,
I will always want to wake up. I learned about
it the day before, wake up the next day. And
if I feel good about it in my gut, she
(44:20):
feels good in her gut, then we go. If one
of us doesn't, we don't, and it doesn't matter what
it is. We don't waver from that. And we woke
up at like seven thirty and said let's get the
call in.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
Well.
Speaker 5 (44:30):
And another cool thing about it is it's right on
the Parkway, So that's a big deal there location wise,
being on the parkway, so you're right in between Pigeonforge
and Gatlinburg.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
So it's easily accessible.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, and you can see it, so you drive past
it and you'd be like, oh, I want to do that.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
And that's the part of it. It's like I've written
those things. I've written almost all of them over there,
and yeah, you know, I grew up in Central Florida
with Allan's Adventure and Bush Gardens and Disney all of them. Right,
we can't afford to own a theme park or anything
of that sort. And I didn't know we could afford
to be a part of a mountain coaster. And when
he pitched it to us, even though it's you know,
(45:09):
it's an elaborate one and it's one of the more
expensive ones, it's like, Jess, can I have an opportunity
to own part of a mountain coaster? Sign me up?
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Well, will to open.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
We're shooting for right now. We're going to try to
do a grand opening in June.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Wow, that's soon.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
It's quick. We've got a couple of things that we
need to go right for that to happen. So stay
tuned because it's not far out. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
I can't wait to write it. I want to be
one of the first I'm going to come up there
for the grand opening.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
Yes, definitely, you.
Speaker 4 (45:41):
Want to do some of the testing somewhere.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Actually, yeah, that would be amazing week in.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
Practice, I want to be the first one down it.
He's like no, he's like the coaster people have to
be the first one down it. And I was like,
all right, well just let me know because I'll come.
I don't mind. I'll be a test onummy safety.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
First.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Well, thank you guys both very much for joining me
on my podcast. I'll see you this week because we're
going to do some sim work and then super excited
to get Mexico in and experience the Cup car on
a road course. So thank you for the opportunity. It's special.
I appreciate it. I will not let you down. I'll
(46:19):
make you proud, and we will change people's opinion from
Phoenix and we will by the end of the year
everybody will be impressed with your team and my driving.
Speaker 4 (46:28):
I hope definitely appreciate you having us on the podcast
and obviously behind you one hundred percent, here to see
you be successful at the Cup level and keep working
with you to keep your partners happy and get you
where you want to be in your career. So looking
forward to it. Thanks for working with us.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Thank you, thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be
back next week with more updates and more overtakes.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
We want to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Leave us a review in apple Pookas and tell us
what you want to talk about. It might just be
the topic for our next show. Throttle Therapy is hosted
by Katherine Legg. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, and
our supervising producer is Grace Fuse. Listen to Throttle Therapy
on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free
(47:19):
iHeart app and search throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg and
start listening.
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
You can find us on the.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, you guys, Well, it has been a raining
for days here, so I've had a week at home,
which is unheard of, but I've had a ton of
(00:29):
things to sort out and I've got a.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Lot of work done.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I am a one man band when it comes to
doing everything here, so I'm trying to hold down my
real life and actually clean my house and catch up
with my emails and train and do all those things
that i haven't been able to do because I've been
on the road for so long. And I managed to
catch up on some podcasting too. We had a fantastic
(00:54):
talk with bj McLeod and Jessica, his wife, who are
the team owners of a Live Fast Modus who are my.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Cup team, and they're amazing and.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
I feel very well supported by them and their quest
in life at the moment is to become the Cup
team that drivers like me and drivers making it out
of affinity. Drivers that are new to NASCAR Cup Series
use as a stepping stone, and so I think that
(01:25):
what they're doing is incredibly honorable. I think that BJ
feels an affinity because he got his start doing it
that way.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They make an amazing team.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
To be able to work together twenty four to seven
and have created this kind of most sport legacy, I
think is brilliant. It's nice to have a family, supportive
atmosphere where somebody's really willing you to do well, and
they certainly have been through it with me, like Phoenix
was the ups and downs and roller coaster that it was.
(01:56):
And speaking of roller coasters, they are actually doing a
mountain coaster in Tennessee and Pigeon Forge, which is another
really cool project. They're just very cool, interesting people, and
I feel like if you go into big race car
teams and you get lost, then you have people that
are for you, people that are against you within the
same team, and people who are waiting to see how
(02:18):
you do. This I felt was a great way to
start my Cup career, and I am very much looking
forward to going to Mexico with them and doing the
first road course and hopefully trying to get them the
result that they so desperately deserve. Alongside me. So I
am proud to announce this episode is about BJ and
(02:38):
Jessica mcclod. This week, I have the privilege and the
honor of having two very important people in my life
on the show. We have BJ and Jessica McLeod. They
run the Fast Mode to Sport, which of course is
(02:59):
the Cup team that I am now driving for. How
cool is that I get to say I'm driving for
a Cup team in the NASCAR Series, And I'm excited
to have them on because I think it's really interesting
to hear how the people in your life got to
the point that they're at. Obviously, I've known BJ for
a while, I've known who he is, and I've known
(03:21):
what he's achieved. But I would love for you guys
to hear how they got their Fast Motorsport into the
fast Lane pun intended, and how he juggles being a
driver and a team owner and all that good stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
So welcome you guys to Throttle Therapy.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Yeah, definitely, thank you for having us. Yeah, that's a
long story as you want to make it. Jessica and
I got together when we were really young. I was nineteen,
she was twenty two. Really from the first time we
got together. We didn't take long and we were talking
about business. When the hurricanes come through Central Florida in
two thousand and four, it tore up a lot of stuff,
and that kind of allowed us to get our start
(04:00):
in doing clean up. We did some construction work, some
site work, We bought some flip thousands, we built some houses.
We did pretty much all of that for going on
and off. It was probably four to six years, somewhere
around twenty ten. You know, I'd been in an instructor
at Finish Line Racing School for seven or eight years
at that point, maybe a little longer, and it helped
(04:22):
a lot of drivers and seeing them go to you know,
other teams, and some of it went well, some of
it didn't. And I just talked to Jessica and I
was like, you know what I feel like with the
way construction's switching, and it was getting difficult to get jobs,
people were bidding stuff and doing change orders for profit,
and I just wasn't going to do it. So I
told her, I was like, I feel like we could
do a driver development company with the experience I had
(04:44):
with the school and the winds and you know the
background that I had with you know, as many championships
and all the super late model stuff that I had done.
I felt like we could do.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
That so central Florida, like with tooking Seabring.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Area, right, Yeah, we're both born in Wachula, like fifteen
minutes twenty minutes from Sebring. When we started racing there
with the driver development, it was new to Earna Speedway
and then the Soto Speedway in Orlando speed World. That
was the tracks we went to.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And you had been driving since you were how old
and doing what late model dirt stuff or tarmac.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
I did all asphalt. I probably ran five or six
dirt races in my life and go karts. The first
dirt race I ran in a stock car was Bristol
dirt and a cup car and that was very entertaining.
That was a big undertaking. But bottom line, I guess
we ran all asphalt stuff, go karts, stock cars. I
did run full Wilders when I was three to five
(05:37):
years old, and all of that was on dirt. But
my whole life's been spent racing. And that's when we
were going to switch professions. I just felt like I
wanted to do something that I had worked my whole
life to learn and I'd really done every position of
the business, and it just felt like it could be
successful doing the driver development and helped some of the
kids that I was teaching anyway make sure they landed
(05:59):
a secure that did the best they could do with
the budget they had, and just make sure they were successful.
And pretty much we switched the driver development to make
a living in twenty ten. Still did a little bit
of real estate stuff, but it was really the racing
that we focused on and we wanted to build up
when we started the driver development in twenty ten, and
we saw that it could be successful, and we were
(06:22):
enjoying helping people and being around racing all the time,
and we thought, you know what, let's just try to
work up the ladder. And it was ultimately a dream
to be in Cup one day as an owner. Obviously
I'd always want to be in a Cup as a driver,
but it was a dream to be there. We were
fortunate enough over the years to have things go right
that we did go the ladder. We did Super eight Models,
(06:43):
K and N Trucks, Exfinity, then Cup and you know,
we're still doing Cup and honestly, having a lot of
fun doing it now the way we're doing it.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
If you're from Cbring in that area and you saw
all the sportscast stuff that was going on, what made
you go the NASCAR route and stay out of like
the sports car route that you had been surrounded with.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
It's very funny that you mentioned it because we do
have the twelve hours of Seabring and Seabring right, huge
sports car race. I have never watched it. I have
never been there, and I was born Yeah seriously, I
was born and raised twenty minutes from that track in Wachula.
We actually have a house in Florida right now that
(07:25):
is only ten minutes from that race strike. I actually
offered for you to stay there the last time you
were down there. So it's really ironic that you mentioned
that because I never went. I never saw it, and
I still haven't been to this day. The reason why
we were never in that kind of racing is my
mom and dad had Late Models when I was five, six,
seven years old, and I saw those and I just
thought they were unbelievably cool, and I was like, oh,
(07:47):
I hope I get to drive on one day. And
I never ever thought about road racing. I was always
I wanted to race at Brandon, and I wanted to
race at Orlando New Samarna, and obviously when I was
a kid. It's funny because my first thing was to
be an IndyCar driver when I was a kid. That's
what I actually wanted.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I've heard you say that before and it's like mind
blowing to me. But I still think we need to
get you in an IndyCar. I still think that dreams alive.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Well, there's no doubt that I want to test one
one day. I don't know about racing one, but I
would just want to know what they drive like, because
people say they're incredible. You said they're incredible, and I
just I just like driving race cars. Right, So it's like,
sooner or later, I'm going to figure out if I
can squeeze my six foot one, two hundred and forty
pound but in one and go make some labs.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
I think you will be able to.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And I think they're only good for like another year
or two before the new one comes out, and then
there's going.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
To be a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
You could pick up relatively cheap as well, and you
could go and do a bunch of laps in it,
and then you could tell them that you'd never driven
one before. You could go test nobly like, oh my god,
Pj's amazing in an IndyCar.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, that's what I would do.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
No, that would be fun.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
So you have the racing bug because you wanted to drive,
and then obviously you wanted to help other drivers develop,
and then you wanted to have a professional NASCAR team. Jessica,
did you fall in love with racing? Is it the
business of racing? Do you have any desire to drive yourself?
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Like?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
How did when you came along? How did you fit
into it? Do you love it as much as Bja does.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
So it's funny. I actually did not know anything about racing.
The most I knew about it was watching my dad
always had Nascar on on Sundays. That was the typical
thing at the house. So it was something in the background.
It wasn't something that I had any experience in. Funny enough,
our first date was at Lakeland Speedway. I believe that's
what it's called. It's no longer there internet, Yeah, USA,
(09:40):
That's where he.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Took you for your first day. He's like, hey, let's
go to your.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
Well, I will say date. We went as a group
of friends.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
But yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Was I thought it was a date.
Speaker 5 (09:52):
Yeah, So that was one of the first experiences. And
just obviously we started dating, we were doing the Friday
night racing, Saturday night racing. I definitely come from more
of the business minded background of it, and I think,
hearing his history, I think you started in that when
(10:13):
you're extremely young, still one of the youngest to do it.
I do know. I asked him at one point in time,
I said, what is the long term plan here?
Speaker 3 (10:20):
What's your goal? You know, do you want to just
stay here?
Speaker 5 (10:23):
And he said, no, I want to be a NASCAR
And I'm like, all right, so then you know the
will start spinning. It's like, okay, well, how do we
do that? How do you get there? I'm highly competitive,
so being around that and the adrenaline in it, yes,
drawn to that. But the business side of it really
became interesting once we started the driver development on Okay,
(10:43):
well this is how this works. How can we make
that work? And then obviously was to build to move up.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
So Bja also had all the connections and knew all
the people and so like now with all the people
and the team and like putting those people together, because,
as we all know, what may makes a good race
team a great race team, or what makes it gel
is the people right.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
One hundred percent. And I think another thing with him too,
he has worked with other teams within K and N Trucks,
and he's done several different positions. He has spotted, which
he's an amazing spotter. It's just he's not usually on
that side. He's amazing cool. I always believe that in
(11:24):
order to be successful in business, you need to know
how to run all aspects of the business, and he has.
He's done all the positions when it comes to the inside,
I have done all the positions that you know that
I'm asking or somebody else is required to do at
some point in time. I have done it myself. So
I think that's an important thing to do if you're
(11:47):
owning your own business, is to know all the areas.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
I think it makes a good race cut driver to
know a lot of the areas of how to build
and how to saprize. God, I am trying to then
the NASCAR side of things. You know, with every change
that's made, I've asked, Okay, what changes do we make
so I can make notes so I can learn, like, okay,
this is what that does on a NASCAR because you
get down the road a certain level like in sports cars,
(12:13):
for example, and I could literally ask for the changes
that I think I needed, Not that the engineers wouldn't
have been a little bit miffed at me for doing that.
They like to hear what the problem is and come
up with a solution themselves, but you kind of get
used to that, and so going into NASCAR, for me,
it's a different world. So I'm trying to do the
same thing that you do in business in racing and
(12:34):
trying to learn and put all of those like okay,
what does the track bar actually do? Because like geometry wise,
I don't understand it. Explain it to me and then
I can try and understand it a bit more well.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
And then once they adjust it, then you feel the difference.
You're not going to forget it. So that's yeah, that's
the learning side of it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
I wish we had more testing so we could go
do it, run through all of these things, so I
have a bank of knowledge that I can kind of
call from, but don't so I can't.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
You'll keep gathering it at each trace. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yeah, so BJ as a driver who is raced for
other teams and knows what you want from the car
and has all these different frame of references, when you
drive for your own team, how is it, Because I've
never done this, how is it to juggle being the
team owner and the manager and telling everybody what to
(13:25):
do and also drive the race car? Like, how do
you juggle all of that? You know?
Speaker 4 (13:29):
And in the beginning with the Xinity team, really maybe trucks,
I could go back that far. It was difficult because
we were always there was always such a financial risk
to everything we were building. We were always reinvesting everything
we had to get to the next level. We're just
trying to make things happen. And when you have a
(13:51):
large financial risk and you're in the driver's seat, it
changes the way you do.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Things and the way you drive. I would imagine.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah, Well, as a winner before I got the NASCAR
and when I drove through to eight models, I never
worried about money. We had what we needed and if
we didn't, we got it. I mean it did work
on the stuff and build it and save money. But
I never worried about a race car right. And when
we started the truck team and I was driving, and
we even did Exfinity, I had to be smart. I
pay people's payroll right, and if I didn't, you do
(14:22):
it right, maybe somebody would be able to eat. There
was a lot of pressure, right, So you know that
part back then was difficult. It was hard to get
one hundred percent out of what the great people that
we had chosen give us. But at the same time,
we made sure the financial side was correct and that
obviously has played out the right way. So I think
(14:43):
when you fast forward to starting the Cup team as
an open team in twenty twenty, before we purchased a
charter just to see if we wanted to be that busy,
if we wanted to be on that level, but if
we could compete. There's a lot of things we wanted
to find. And Jessica and I started the Cup team
during COVID, which was wild too. We ran really well.
We were out running five, six seven cars every weekend,
(15:05):
like actually better than we did in the next gener
So when you fast forward to that point in my
career as an owner and a driver, I had gotten
to the point where the financial side wasn't concerning to
me because I could wreck five weekends in a row
and it wouldn't be a big deal. There was a
couple of years we raced Exfinity and trucks. If I
(15:25):
had wrecked two weeks in a row, we'd have been
out of business, right, and cutting tires down counts right, like,
it still breaks you. It's not your fault, but it
breaks you, right. So that was the biggest challenge I faced,
you know, for several years, was driving and separating the
money side of it. I will say that when we
started the Cup team in twenty twenty, from then on
(15:47):
it was one hundred percent of what I had. Every
time I was in the car. There was scenarios at
different points that I'd say, well, you know what, this
is pretty much our day, and then I would be
smart the rest of the day, right Like I'd go
all out for on stage and you know, something happened,
then I would say, you know what, let's just take
care of the equipment. Or if the race is flowing right,
we might get a really good finish for our team.
(16:08):
Take the risk. The hardest part of owning the team
and driving it and putting the people together. You have
to make it perfectly clear to your people that you're
two different people to Davey, which is your crew chief.
Also he's my crew chief. When I race, I am
a driver and I'm an owner, and he answers differently
(16:30):
to those two people. It's really it's a relationship that
we've built. They understand that. On Monday, when I come back,
they get information from the driver. Then we talked to
an owner about what do we do right, how do
we do things better? And the owner Jessica and I
critique me as a driver. For me, I've had to
(16:51):
be able to mentally be two different people to the
people that are on my team. And my wife really
rehurs probably three to make sure that we get the
most out of every position because we're a small team,
right and I think it's always been very important anybody
that's worked to mend my crew chief. I made sure
(17:11):
that they knew they could never get fired from critiquing
the driver right like that, there's absolutely no situation where
they could lose their job over critiquing me. Or hey,
just tell me I can't drive. I'm time with that.
Show me proof that I can't drive, and I'll listen. Right,
It's like Unfortunately, at this level, we have enough data
(17:32):
that there's black and white. So I made sure that
that was always separated. And I think that's one reason
we've done as well as we have for a small team,
because we always kept that separate. And it's a difficult
thing to do, but I've always been on the side
of take responsibility for everything, whether it was your fault
or not, and I believe it makes you more successful.
(17:52):
I don't believe in dwelling in it, but I believe
to look at everything like I can make that better.
And if I look at it and I can make
that better, and then we can succeed with it. I
feel like it helps the people around me elevate, and
that's what I've always tried to do.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Having done the construction business and the racing business, you
kind of you get a frame of reference and you
learn the business as you go along along the same veins.
Having then have somebody like me come along and drive
your race car. Is giving that part of it away
to somebody else? Is that difficult? Is that weird for
(18:39):
you that you're not the driver and that you can
help me because you've done all the driver development stuff,
or is it just totally normal.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
I enjoy it, It's not just normal like I. Right now,
I have a passion to prove that Live Fast Motorsports
is the best stepping stone for somebody to go from
trucks or Exfinity end of the Cup series. That's not
going to automatically step in the twenty four, the forty
eight or one of these top cars right that They're
(19:09):
going to have to get some starts and get used
to it. Because we're in an error now where the
next Gen car is nothing like an Exfinity car, not
from a setup standpoint, not from a driving standpoint, not
from a tire compliance standpoint. Literally none of the above
does it comply. It doesn't even make sense on pitstops. Literally,
coming to Pitt Road is not even you can learn
(19:30):
the grip level of Pitt Road, but that's it, right,
Getting to pit road is different. The next Gen car versus.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
An Expenity car totally different.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
So it's like the trucks are a little bit closer, right,
So that's good. But I have a passion right now
and Jessica does as well, to prove that with this
error we're in with the next gen vehicle that if
you have somebody that is trying to win a championship
in trucks are Exfinity, They're definitely going to be a
Sunday driver one day. They don't quite have a path
(19:58):
figured out to know they're going in. Like I said,
the twenty four or forty eight three whatever, right, like
whatever are the big teams. We could take that driver,
get them ten cup starts on the same year that
they're trying to win an Eccenity Championship or a truck
championship and then speed up that one hundred race curve
for when that. We see out of almost all your superstars,
(20:22):
it's really hard to move from winning in X seventy
to winning in cups. It's very difficult.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
You saw that last weekend with Jesse Love right, he
stepped into the next gen car for the first time,
and he stepped in with another team on the smaller side,
and I'm doing it with you guys, and so I
think that it's really necessary to have those stepping stones
and those supportive I think it's really important as well
(20:50):
that it's like a supportive atmosphere where you can learn
and you're not expected to go in and do great
things straight away.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That you're expected to go in and pick your.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
You've done this a million times, so you can try
and impot that knowledge to me. And I feel like
you guys are behind me exactly.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And the team that Jesse drove for is a great
team to do the same thing. And you see, he's
a winning Exfinity driver. I think he's in the top
three points right now. I haven't looked, and he runs
probably second or third from last all day because it's hard, right,
It's yeah, in practice, I think he was six or
seven tenths off his first practice. And I'm like, he
(21:32):
is a great driver and an awesome kid. He's great talent, right,
It's just it's cut. It is no joke. And the
second part of one reason I enjoy doing what we're
doing with you is I also want someone that has
made the Indianapolis five hundred to come drive my car.
You haven't made it once, you made it four times,
(21:52):
and you know, being an Indie fan when I was
a kid, and then obviously making it the Cup as
a driver and an owner, and then having a call
come to me that Catherine Legg's interested in driving our
car at a couple of these different tracks, and I
look up your stats because I've watched you over the years.
I want to try to help you because you've done
(22:13):
really cool things. And anybody that can drive an Indy
car at two hundred and thirty three mile an hour
around Indianapolis average, Yeah, it's average, You're right, So I
know I can work with that, right, Like, it'll take
some time to get you to learn this craft, but
I knew I could work with it. And then when
(22:34):
I met you, when I've seen your level of commitment,
and then the fact that you get in the wreck
at Road America twenty some years ago and you find
relief during this crash that the motor leaves your vehicle,
so there's going to be less fire. That showed me
that you will never be scared a day in your life.
You're another level, right, So when you told me that story,
(22:56):
I was like, I'm going to help her whatever she
needs here. But I want to see you be in
a Cup car and be able to supply your sponsors
with the correct ROI because it is a Cup Series
and compete and one thing that people miss a lot,
you know, saying I want to be able to compete
(23:17):
in the Cup Series, competing in the Cup Series is
still thirty sixth place, right like thirty six, thirty fifth,
thirty fourth. If you're out running one car, you're competing,
and that's what we have to work towards and get
you to see time. You need to be able to
do that, and it's hard to understand that. But then
when you see Jesse Love switch over to Cup and
(23:38):
run last all day, that should help you figure it out.
Austin Hill made his debut at Michigan three or four
years ago maybe, and he was in the back for
half the race. Even when a lap down, Now he
picked it up quick, he come back, got his lap
back out, Visa finished. But it just shows you the
learning curve from winning an extenity or winning in try
(24:00):
to being able to beat one car on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Well, it's also there's no testing, so you're doing all
your learning in the public eye. And I think your
comparison of Jesse Love is relevant and we've spoken about this,
like I feel like I was misjudged at Phoenix because
I feel like we did a really good job in practice.
We did a decent job in qualifying. I kept it safe,
(24:24):
I probably could have gone quicker, and then I was
learning throughout the race, and I made that mistake and
spun and it costs where as his race, but everybody
remembers that part of it. And then I look at
Jesse Love as a comparison, and I've gone back and
I've watched the race, and I'm like, okay, well he
was similar amount off to me, and he's one Exfinity racist, right,
(24:46):
And everybody seems to give him a different level of
respect or they view what he did. He made the
same mistake in the race that I did. He spun,
he didn't collect anybody, but that's not anything he can control,
and they look at that very differently to judging me.
And I think everybody made a snap judgment about me
and my ability, and I think it's kind of unfair.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Really, I feel a little bit slighted by this.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Well it goes back to he's done it the way
you're supposed to do it, right. He's done the truck starts,
he's done in Exfinity, he's done all this. He's got
all this experience before he come to Cup, so when
he makes a mistake, people can't say, oh, well he
should have ran more Infinity. Now he's already win an
Infinity races. Right, when you make a mistake, it's easy
(25:31):
to say, well, she needs to do more. But the
problem is the business side does not support you running
Exfinity and spending ten million dollars before you run a
Cup race.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yep, they want to be in Cup.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
And that's what the public eye doesn't see, right, Like
the public eye doesn't know that it takes five to
six million dollars a year to compete in accentity, right,
it takes two and a half to three million to
compete in trucks and that could get you fifteenth, right,
So it's hard when everyone doesn't know the business side
of the sport. Also, where you're trying to make stuff happen,
(26:06):
you have sponsors that are interest and Cup only. You
have a couple that like Exsnity, but the majority of
the money and the return is in Cup. And you
couple that with I have a driver. There's plenty willing
to go test that would love it, and we can't.
And that's the sport. That's the rule book we have
to abide by. It. Would it make it easier? Absolutely?
(26:28):
Would we both have preferred to take you to Coda
instead of Phoenix?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Absolutely?
Speaker 5 (26:33):
Right?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
And that's why your next race is a road course.
I don't think you run an over. You got four
more Cup races before you run an over again, right,
That's what we would have chosen. So obviously, like I said,
the judgment is different because he did the way you're
supposed to. But in this era that we live in,
there's not always backing to be able to do the
(26:53):
conventional ladder system. And truthfully, I don't believe when you've
ran as well as you have and IndyCar and sports
cars and the other stuff, and how long your career
has been, that you should spend a ton of time
in Excinity right now or trucks because they don't correlate
to the cup car. If the ultimate goal for the
partners that you have, because we are in a money
(27:14):
driven sport, like it or not, you have to have
partners to race, it doesn't matter who you are. If
that's the case, then you're run you're working towards cups.
So I think absolutely the Exfinity starts you're doing is great.
It's getting you more seat time, more reps, getting the
tracks you haven't been to. What I like to see.
You have a partnership that allows you to run a
truck full time and get experience. Absolutely, I'd love it.
(27:37):
I think that'd be awesome for you, and then keep
your Cup experience going with at least ten races a year.
I think that'd be a great program. So we're just
in a tough box where we're not allowed to practice.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
Yeah. I think also what people to understand is that
I'm trying to make a living as well, right, and
you get given opportunities and your sponsors want to do
a thing, and I'm really lucky that they pivoted with
me having come off of Phoenix and not doing the
five hundred this year, and so they're prepared to do
the Infinity starts that NASCAR told us we should do
(28:10):
in order to get all the steps done that NASCAR
want to see to be able to progress to the
next level of oval, you know, like start in the
road courses. You've got mile ovals, you've got mile and
a halfs, and you can build up on it. But
you basically at the mercy of the commercial side as
much as you are at the mercy of what NASCAR want.
(28:31):
And it's not like NASCAR can go, Okay, we want
to see you do this that and the other and
you go, okay, fine, it's like, Okay, do I have
the money to go do that? Do we have the
sponsors to go do that? Do we have a team
that's willing and able to go do that? And so
it's really tricky actually to put all the it's like
jigsaw pieces and to try and make them all work
(28:52):
with the hand that you've been dealt.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
It's not easy. And I've felt that.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
That side of things this year has been more complicated
than it has in years past because in IndyCar, in
sports cars, you kind of.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Work your way up through the ranks.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You get paid as a professional driver by the team,
the manufacturer, et cetera, et cetera. Whereas this is commercially
viably very different. Like as a driver you have sponsors.
As a team, you have sponsors, and you have obligations.
And it's like it's not so easy just to go
from one race to the next that you have to
(29:27):
jump some steps because not all race you're not allowed
to do all of the races, right, there's no guidelines
that say, Okay, Catherine, you did really well in Talladega
in Anexfinity car, So now we're going to let you
go into a mile and a half in a cup carrier, like,
how did you get there?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
From there?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
It's complicated, Like it's been a process, and I'm very
grateful that both of you are stuck with me through
it and help me navigate it. But it's not as
easy as you would think.
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Definitely not. It's very difficult to raise at the highest
level of stock car racing. It takes a lot of
work to even be on the track, just looking forward
to getting you to a road course, the place that
you've actually been before, being able to just work on
learning in the car on that track.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, right, And I think people don't understand that it
is actually the most difficult form of racing because Indy
car has got some really great racing drivers. Sports car
has got some really great racing drivers. You know, Formula
one really great race clut drivers. But NASCAR has in
each of the three top series, got like thirty really
(30:35):
really good drivers. It's not just fifteen or twenty. It's
like every single one in the bar, maybe one or
two at the back that are learning like me, are
world class, amazing race clud drivers. And so I think
that it's definitely the hardest thing that I've ever done.
I'm hoping that going to Mexico gives me a different
level of confidence, I guess, for want of a better term,
(30:57):
where I have been there before and I kind of
know what I'm doing on a road course, and so
it kind of takes away another element of learning. And
I think that's the one thing that maybe Exfinity is
helping with is the procedural stuff, you know, the choose
thing and like how it works throughout a race. But
like driving the car, I don't think correlates at all.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
No, they're so different now it's hard. I started driving
cup cars when you know they were different than Infinity.
But I felt like on a weekend when I ran
trucks Exfinity Yang, I used to do triples too, I
felt like everyone made be better at the other. Like
I would get in the truck, start practice, get an
Exfinity car, be better because I drove the truck in practice.
(31:38):
Get out of the Exfinity car, getting the cup car
be better because I drove the truck in an Extenity
car in practice. Get out of the cup car, be
better in the truck because I got the next practice
the cup car right, And it just it felt like
the whole weekend it just snowballed the right direction because
you're getting all these laps, and that's why you solve
for so long. Kyle Busch do it there Cerebral Harvid
did a lot of it, like it really correlated between
(31:59):
all three series. And then you get the next gen
car and I get out in the Xcinity car and
go to get the next gen car and it is
just there's nothing the same. Like last year, I was
eighteenth in points in Excinity when Jessica and I decided
to stop. I was doing pretty good and the cars
were it was what Cup races I was running. I
(32:22):
was out in left field when I got in a
Cup car, and then when I got back used to
that I get out of here get an Xcinity car.
I felt like I was out in left field in
that like when I say, you know, out in left field.
It was like it would take me ten or twenty
laps to adjust, and to me, that's a lifetime in
an Incinity race or a Cup race. If you take
twenty laps to adjust, your night's over and so you're
gonna be a lapped down before anything ever gets going.
(32:44):
So it's difficult because the partners. Most partners want cup
right and then you can't practice, which that's the world
we're live in. We have to abide by it, and
it makes it hard because when you go you are
looking up to find sponsors for truck or Infinity. Like
you said, it does help with the procedural stuff, there's
no doubt. But as far as advancing your capabilities in
(33:05):
the cup car, I think we see more times than not.
There's proof that it does help with some but it
doesn't do much.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So you've told me before that you don't like doing
road courses so much because you don't feel as well
versed in road courses, whereas I'm coming at it the
opposite way. We're actually doing some simwork this week to
see Mexico because I don't think it's quite the same
layout that I've done before, but I do have experience
there the last time I was there. We want in
(33:33):
the electric car, so so that's good. That gives me
another level of confidence. So are you more excited about
me running the road course to see how we get
on in that then you would have been about you
running the road course for example, No doubt.
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Yeah, clear, I had a sponsor to go to Mexico. II,
what are we go? I don't want to be in
a cup car on a road course, period, Like I
just I don't belong there. You know, I've driven that.
We figured out my knowledge when we quit in twenty
twenty three, so it's higher now, but back then, I
(34:11):
have a totally ninety five thousand miles in a NASCAR vehicle.
So the only track I haven't ran is an all
my and obviously now Mexico. But I have ninety five
thousand miles on a NASCAR vehicle, and I can tell
you for sure, I don't feel comfortable getting on a
cup track that's a road course, and I don't feel
comfortable getting on a road course in a cup car.
(34:32):
I just I don't feel like I'm there. Twenty fourteen,
Mossport and a truck for a starting park for Bobby Daughter.
Was the first time I pulled onto a road course
in my life in a street vehicle, and I'm like anything.
I'd never been on a road course, so I really
had no knowledge of it. And I got Annul aally
healthy song, and Scott Hicker helped me some, Mat Tiff
(34:54):
helped me a lot of different drivers. But it just
felt like every time I drove harder, I went slower.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
That happens a lot.
Speaker 4 (35:02):
When I slowed down, I went quicker, And I'm like,
you know what, I just don't have any interest in this.
Like for me, I've really dissected why I love racing
since we haven't been full time and I only raced
a couple of months, six seven times a year. For me,
it was number one, the speed of the cars and
filling a car on edge and that close to crashing.
(35:23):
I love it. It's really the only time I fell alive.
And then the second part was the fans, right And
in Nascar, I've never been able to give my fans
what they deserve or race at a level that I
feel accomplished at that. But with super lights and go
carts and everything before, I had a really fun time
entertaining the fans. So when I get a race car
and slowing down and pitting an apex and being smooth
(35:45):
on the throat and all this stuff, but the road
course thing, it's like it's boring in a stock car. Now,
put me in a GT three car or you know,
obviously an F one car Indy car, you'd be like,
oh my god, I gotta drive hard to go fast, right,
But it's just these big vehicles don't they don't like
road courses, and you got to be smooth as well
on them, not do two things at once, and it
(36:07):
just seems boring. So I just don't get into it.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
Yeah, I have the same feeling on an oval, like
that's the alien thing to me. Not in an IndyCar
because I'm used to it, but like the whole thinking
about the weight transfer and the roll in the middle,
like I have zero patients, I'm on the gas, I'm
on the brakes, Like the whole waiting for the car
to turn and take a set and go is alien
(36:34):
to me. So I'm doing the reverse learning. So between
the two of us would make a really good race
car driver.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
A really good team. Yeah I really good.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
But I will say you told me that some of
these races were really fun, and Talidata being one of them,
and I honestly can say, having never driven a super speedway, Okay,
I set out to do ARCA at Daytona, but I
made it four laps before I got taken out of
somebody else's right, I have, I have. I had as
much fun as I did in a race car at Talladega.
It was freaking awesome and I loved it so much.
(37:08):
And then watching you on this Sunday, I felt your
pain when they radiated tick you out of the race,
like I wanted it for you so badly because these
races are awesome, Like I did not know what I
was missing. Had I known what I was missing twenty
years ago, I would have done it full time for
as long as I said. I loved it so much. So, Jessica,
(37:29):
what's your favorite type of racing as an owner? Do
you have like a particular track or a particular race
that you like the best.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
So I have a particular track that I like the best.
My favorite track is Bristol, always has been. I don't
know if you've been there, but it's just it's just
the feeling. It does feel like you're inside a bowl,
and the noise in there how it echoes off. You
can see the whole race from just standing in the center,
(37:57):
so it's a good experience. I will say super speedways
make me the most nervous. I just know when they
wreck there, they're wrecking hard, and there tends to be
rerex a lot towards the end.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
Yeah, or at the end of stages.
Speaker 5 (38:13):
So I definitely do get nervous still on super speedways,
just knowing I have.
Speaker 4 (38:19):
Been married to her for eleven going on twelve years,
been whether they're twenty two, and I had no idea
that her favorite track was Bristol.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Really, I thought, I told you this.
Speaker 5 (38:31):
It's really because I can be in the center and
see everything.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
I like how the noise bounces off.
Speaker 4 (38:36):
Yeah, it's so funny. Bad idea that makes me think
about things differently.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Now, yeah, you don't raise Bristol.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
We go, we go into Bristol. Let me say that
I can find a bunk if a Bristol does.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
I miss Bristol night bad. It's an awesome place to
go run a race.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
I'm learning all these new tracks like Martinsville and Bristol
and Rockingham and like never having experienced anything like it.
My friend of references like Iowa and Milwaukee and obviously.
Speaker 4 (39:04):
Indy and well, they're all cool places. Indy is on
another level.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
I'm excited to try that in a stock car.
Speaker 4 (39:11):
Yeah, it's to me, it's one of my favorite places
to go. A lot of it, Like the track is insane,
it's really wild in the stock car gift a break. Yeah,
in the cup car, you will a little bit. The
cup car when I started there, it still had nine
hundred horsepower and it was a Gen six car and
I was in Q trim the first time I pulled
(39:32):
on the track ever in my life, and I went
to Landing Castle and I was like, dude, just give
me some kind of corner because we had to make
the race. And he's like, if you make it to
the one. He's like, if your car is good, you'll
get past the one. Like car length I have two
car lengths and I'm like, all right. I walked out
the tit road, looked at it and I'm like, wow,
that looks deep, got a bar and I come off
of two when I pulled out of the garage and
(39:54):
looked down to three and I'm like, I can't even
see the one marker. You're just just an awesome track.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Imagine going flat well.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Man, a cup car. It just I've never even been
able to think about that. But it was a lot
of fun making the race at that time and being
in Cutum. The first laps I ever made on Indy
were was really insane and it was a blast.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
Before I let you go.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
I want you to tell our a listeners a little
bit about this super cool project that you've been doing
that I'm fascinated by.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
It's mind boggling to me. So it's really very cool.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
It's a mountain coaster, and I'm going to let you
tell everybody what it is.
Speaker 5 (40:44):
So we're doing the Pigeon Forge Mountain Coaster over in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It's obviously gravity fed mountain coaster. Very
unique aspects about it are the view first off, but
you're not really going to be thinking about that. You're
going to be thinking about who you're racing next to you.
So we've got the racing right. Yeah, it's the world's
(41:08):
first racing mountain coaster. We've had a little confusion. No,
it is not a roller coaster. It is a mountain coaster.
But yes, you get to race whomever side by side.
You will have a dedicated winner at the end and
one of the There's a couple crazy things and we
want everybody to go experience this.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
It's going to be fun.
Speaker 5 (41:27):
But you've got three sixties going off the side of
the mountain and a corkscrew finale.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
So what made you want to do a mountain coast.
I mean, it's really cool. So I did a bit
of racing in Europe and I did a mountain coaster
in Switzerland. Still one of the coolest things I've ever done.
I tried to do it without breaking, did not make it.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
I breaked. I went down breaked.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
Yeah you can't break on this one.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Okay, you just can't.
Speaker 4 (41:52):
But no.
Speaker 5 (41:53):
So for us, it obviously it's got the aspect of
the adrenaline pact, the racing and just being able to
bring that to the fans where they can experience it,
and just the community we're excited about.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
We felt like we need to do something different that
we've never done. Number One, to make it successful. Number Two,
to replace some of the excitement that we're missing not
going to the racetrack. Right, And there's many different businesses
you can get in, but to have an opportunity to
own something in Pigeon Forge means a lot to Jessica
(42:30):
and I. We love that area. I tell everybody it's
like the Vegas and the East Coast, more family oriented. Right,
There's plenty of places for the adults to have fun
and have good times. But you walk down the street
and you can have your family with you and just
feel safe and go enjoy put putt or laser tag
or yeah, there's foon time for the adults. It's just
(42:54):
wild how big it's gotten. We bought a cabin there
when they had eleven acres with it back in twenty
twenty two. We bought that, and it's because we love
the area, right. We do rent it out some, but
it was not for investment, like we're like, hey, this
is going to be another one of our homes. So
I talked to Jessica and I was like, I want
to do something like entertainment wise, and you know an
(43:16):
amusement falls under that, right. I just I didn't know
what and I got to thinking. We had a friend
that had been over there. He's lived there for I
think thirty years. He's built Mountain Coaster and sold it.
He bought another one, currently owns it.
Speaker 6 (43:30):
But he just he's got the moonshine facilities, he's got
a butt pud, He's in everything over there, right. So
I asked Jessica, I was like, you think we should
just work that direction. I called him and I said, hey,
just so you know, Jessica and I are interested in
being in business and Vision Forge. He called us back
and said, hey, I think about doing this wild race
(43:50):
and coaster and I was like, all right, tell us
more and he's like, even town. We just had to
be in town. So he come over drew it out
on a notepad.
Speaker 4 (43:59):
He's like this, this is what I'm thinking for the track,
and Jess and I looked at one another and we said,
I'm going to say it will be yes, but I
need twenty four hours to decide because I just have
learned with any of the big decisions that we make,
I will always want to wake up. I learned about
it the day before, wake up the next day. And
if I feel good about it in my gut, she
(44:20):
feels good in her gut, then we go. If one
of us doesn't, we don't, and it doesn't matter what
it is. We don't waver from that. And we woke
up at like seven thirty and said let's get the
call in.
Speaker 2 (44:30):
Well.
Speaker 5 (44:30):
And another cool thing about it is it's right on
the Parkway, So that's a big deal there location wise,
being on the parkway, so you're right in between Pigeonforge
and Gatlinburg.
Speaker 2 (44:42):
So it's easily accessible.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, and you can see it, so you drive past
it and you'd be like, oh, I want to do that.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
And that's the part of it. It's like I've written
those things. I've written almost all of them over there,
and yeah, you know, I grew up in Central Florida
with Allan's Adventure and Bush Gardens and Disney all of them. Right,
we can't afford to own a theme park or anything
of that sort. And I didn't know we could afford
to be a part of a mountain coaster. And when
he pitched it to us, even though it's you know,
(45:09):
it's an elaborate one and it's one of the more
expensive ones, it's like, Jess, can I have an opportunity
to own part of a mountain coaster? Sign me up?
Speaker 1 (45:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (45:18):
Well, will to open.
Speaker 4 (45:20):
We're shooting for right now. We're going to try to
do a grand opening in June.
Speaker 2 (45:25):
Wow, that's soon.
Speaker 4 (45:27):
It's quick. We've got a couple of things that we
need to go right for that to happen. So stay
tuned because it's not far out. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
I can't wait to write it. I want to be
one of the first I'm going to come up there
for the grand opening.
Speaker 3 (45:40):
Yes, definitely, you.
Speaker 4 (45:41):
Want to do some of the testing somewhere.
Speaker 2 (45:43):
Actually, yeah, that would be amazing week in.
Speaker 4 (45:47):
Practice, I want to be the first one down it.
He's like no, he's like the coaster people have to
be the first one down it. And I was like,
all right, well just let me know because I'll come.
I don't mind. I'll be a test onummy safety.
Speaker 2 (45:57):
First.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Well, thank you guys both very much for joining me
on my podcast. I'll see you this week because we're
going to do some sim work and then super excited
to get Mexico in and experience the Cup car on
a road course. So thank you for the opportunity. It's special.
I appreciate it. I will not let you down. I'll
(46:19):
make you proud, and we will change people's opinion from
Phoenix and we will by the end of the year
everybody will be impressed with your team and my driving.
Speaker 4 (46:28):
I hope definitely appreciate you having us on the podcast
and obviously behind you one hundred percent, here to see
you be successful at the Cup level and keep working
with you to keep your partners happy and get you
where you want to be in your career. So looking
forward to it. Thanks for working with us.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
Thank you, thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be
back next week with more updates and more overtakes.
Speaker 2 (46:56):
We want to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
Leave us a review in apple Pookas and tell us
what you want to talk about. It might just be
the topic for our next show. Throttle Therapy is hosted
by Katherine Legg. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, and
our supervising producer is Grace Fuse. Listen to Throttle Therapy
on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free
(47:19):
iHeart app and search throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg and
start listening.
Host
Katherine Legge
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