January 21, 2026 • 36 mins
On this episode of Throttle Therapy, Katherine Legge is joined by racing driver Graham Rahal. They discuss his early experiences growing up in the Rahal racing family and his transition into professional racing. Graham shares his passion for cars and motorcycles, addresses the challenges of balancing team management with driving, and reflects on his business ventures outside of racing. The conversation also covers teammate dynamics, the evolving nature of motorsports, and Graham's hopes for his legacy in the racing community.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart Woman's sports production.
Hey you guys, and welcome to this week's episode of
Throttle Therapy with Me Catherine Legg And this week I
have a very special guest. Where do I start. He's
been a teammate of mine. We've been both racing for
a very long time. I've raced with him in more
(00:29):
than one series. He's also a super astute businessman and
an awesome race card driver, and I've probably missed out
a whole bunch of stuff. He's also a very good
friend of mine. His dad is super famous. I mean, like,
what can this guy not do? Super famous. Welcome to
(00:51):
Throttle Therapy. Gramary Hall, Hi, Hi Kat, thanks for having me.
You're welcome. It's my pleasure. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm good again?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
How's the family?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Girls are good? Got a fleet of them now, so
I know you guys, but they're good. You'd be proud.
I well, Santa. Santa brought them go karts for Christmas?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So, uh, how does Corny feel about that? By the way,
I think she.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Like and Julie's part of it, you know, And then
there's a part that I'm sure she wishes they were
drag racers are going to be, but we're not going
to let that happen.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So you know that the paddock, the entirety of the paddock,
has a bet on which direction they're.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Going to go in, right, I hope they go in neither.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, tennis racket, golf clubs.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
They got golf clubs for Christmas too, which they specifically
asked for. Yet, wow, it seems that then they got
them and they were like, well we didn't ask them.
I'm like, you did ask these twenty times, so now
I got to try to get them into that. Okay, although,
although here's a good one. So I go to give
Harlan clubs first. The first time. They're normal righties and
(02:01):
she starts lining up backwards and is like more of
a natural swing. I was like, oh shoot, I didn't
think about that. So anyway, she may be a lefty,
so we'll see.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, that's cool. So I want to start at the beginning,
and I want to start like, growing up, Rayhol, you
had a unique childhood in a way. You spent a
lot of time at a racetrack. Do you think that
you would have loved racing as much if it wasn't
for seeing your dad do it. Was that a fight
(02:33):
for it moment or was that a like how do
you think you would have felt?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well? I definitely had a fight for it, even with him.
You know, he he was not a fan of me racing.
I mean he was right, yeah, I was like, he
was just he didn't want me to do it at all.
I convinced him because my brother and I decided that
if we convinced Dad that together this was something that
(02:58):
we would do, that it was a fan family thing,
and that it would be hard for him to turn
us down.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Now that was smart as a kid.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
My brother Jared, who you've met, But Jared his career
lasted one weekend. He did one race and Camden, Ohio.
He didn't do well, he didn't enjoy it, and so
that was it for him. He was he was done.
The only thing I can because I don't really know
the answer to it, right, Like, I don't know if
I wasn't in the position I'm in. But the only
(03:26):
thing I can say is, and I think you noticed
and everybody knows this, that racing cars motorcycles have captivated
me my whole life and a lot of you know,
my businesses and things that I do is simply because
of that. I just I have a gross obsession with
you know, motors and wheels.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, so for me, I'm not into cars that much,
but I am into racing, So I feel it either way.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's weird too, because I've I've actually like heard that
from a lot of people and I don't really understand that.
But I'm not saying and then in a bad way.
What I'm saying is like I feel like those two
just go together. I would say the majority of guys
and girls in our sport aren't really car people. They're
just they're racing people. And I think racing people some
of that is it still has that stick and ball
(04:13):
mentality of competitiveness, and if you're a competitor, it's a
different way to get your competitive drive out and spirit
and stuff like that, much more challenging way than most
I would say. But but yeah, I mean I for me, though, cars,
I was from the word go as a little kid,
I was obsessive with cars and motorcycles and so you know,
(04:36):
it's all I ever really loved.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
The motorcycle thing is not a new thing then, it
wasn't like a second kind of because you when did
you start the motorcycle team.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, the race team I started only a couple of
years ago, but the motorcycle obsession also started as a kid.
When I was a kid, my dad he didn't have
like a lot of motorcycles, but he would have I
have like one Dukati, always do Katti's.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah. I can't imagine Bobby on Holly now.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, actually he might have had a Harty when he
responsored my Miller. I think they did give him one
or something. But I grew up, you know, Dad would
always have, like I said, one Dukatti for instance, they
were so beautiful. I mean it was sex on wheels
for me. Like and I just remember, like I just
the beauty of motorcycles for me was everything. And it
(05:28):
just never stopped. I mean it just you remember. Want
to raise them, No, never had any interest in raising
I just collect too many of them. I have too
many of them. I love them.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, I need to.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Smell, but you do need to scrambler.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You can make I know, I keep meaning. It's like
one of those things I've put in the backburn you. Yeah,
I've got a triumph.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
In a world of intensity where your mind is like
so stressed twenty four to seven about everything. I find
it to be the most free, the most relaxed, and
the least distracted that I ever am in my life.
You know, not that I would say that I'm proud
(06:16):
of texting and driving. But I'm also not gonna lie
and say I don't do it. I do it, ye,
But I'm in a comfort zone there not to say
I can't make a mistake and something goes wrong. Like
I said, I'm not proud of it. It's just I
I mean, I can't. I need you get better. Even
my daughter yells at me sometimes, But on a motorcycle
you cannot do that. Like I've tried, you, I do
(06:40):
not try. I there lock in on the road. I
pay attention because I'm look where you live right, like
in the Midwest too, and meat, you got deer, You've
got idiots driving cars, you got people mowing grass, putting
grass clippings out on the street. You got a lot
of things. Like on a motorcide, you gotta focus. And
that's what I love about it. It's just it's a
free mind. And I don't need to. I don't want
(07:01):
to go ride for a week straight that is not me,
but right if you said, hey, Saturday morning, let's go
for two hours, perfect, you know, and you get off
the bike after two hours reinvigorated. So here's what we're
going to do. We're gonna get you on a scrambler
and we're going to get Fill and everybody, and we're
going to do an ad campaign about you and then
we'll get Kayla to take you on track. How about that?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Oh my goodness, that would be awesome. So around here, though,
the roads are awesome. As long as I go away
from Atlanta and I go into the mountains, especially in
full and times like that, it's just gorgeous. There's nothing
like it anyway, I digress was there ever along the
motorcycle route? Was there ever a time where you wanted
(07:43):
to do anything different other than racing?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah? One time. There's been one thing in my life.
When I rode in an F sixteen. Oh, it was
the only time in my life that I was like, like, damn,
I wish I would have become a fighter pilot. Like
for sure, it was in my head that shoot, like
I wish I had done this. Yeah, the reality is that, honestly,
(08:09):
like I probably wouldn't have ever done that. But as
a little kid, I have videos of myself saying I
wanted to be a fighter pilot, and then later I
got the chance to like fly in it and it
was the coolest thing, Yeah, I have ever Like just
the coolest same I've ever done in my life. So
that was the only time.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Okay, interesting how old they Yeah, wasn't good enough. So
I actually went down the root of like seeing if
I could do it. And back in the day, they
weren't allowing people to have corrected eyesight, so I wasn't
because I'm blind as a back. We're going to take
(08:48):
a quick break, but we'll be right back. Welcome back
to throttle therapy. What is something that growing up in
a racing family and going to the track and doing
all that the outside people would not assume to be true? Like,
(09:11):
what do they misunderstand? What do they think that it
must be like when it's actually not.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I think that people don't realize what a family racing is.
I don't think people realize like you and I, like,
do we all want to go beat each other? We do,
But deep down racing demands or respect that other stick
and ball sports don't because other stick and ball sports
can say it's dangerous, and it can be, but racing
(09:38):
is properly dangerous, and like, you know, we've lost friends
doing this and we've been around and so it creates
an environment where like even if you really dislike somebody,
like you never want to see them get hurt. You
never want to see them at risk. You don't want
to take a chance on track to like do something
stupid because ultimately, you know, it is a big thing.
(10:00):
And that's why I think, you know, with Justin and
Dan and and others that have gotten hurd I even
mechanics or mechanics that hear everybody pitches in to the
Indie Family Fund to try to help. Like, racing is
a massive family sport and for me growing up, that's
what I love the most. My sisters, my brother, my dad,
my mom. Obviously they're divorced now, but all that time
and it's what I enjoy now, Like my little girls
(10:22):
come to me all the time, go Dad, like can
we go to the bus, Let's go, let's go to
the track. Like that's fun for me because it takes
me back to being a kid that like, yeah, my kids,
you know, love love that experience and I think they're
racing is a very strong family sport that most people
just don't presume they I think most people just think
racing is not you know, not.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Not that and everybody out for themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, and me, for me, I think racing is is
very strongly that specifically, and I think that's cool.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, and within the teens as well, it's a different dynamic.
I think people can't experience it unless they're part of it,
even watching it from the paddock or what have you. Yeah,
So along that line, thinking about teammates, obviously we were
teammates at MSR when you could barely fit in the
car and your feet had to wrap around. I know,
(11:14):
it was awesome though. It was a lot of.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Fun, Yeah it was. It was a good time.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, it was a good time. And then obviously rayhol
for the five hundred. Obviously different driver dynamics between teammates
and everything. But when you know somebody and you're bringing
somebody in, it's a very different dynamic too. Like if
you're looking for the next best thing from Europe, if
that makes sense, Like, how do you decide who you
(11:41):
want in your bubble?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
First off, I don't make all the decisions as you know,
I think Dad and Jay and that group does more
than me. But I think that the environmental fit is
the most important thing. Let's look at quarterbacks in the
NFL to relate. You got a guy like Sam Darnold
who's a quarterback for the Seahawks now, but when he
was at the New York Jets, he was terrible, but
(12:04):
he always had the talent and the ability to do it.
It just was the right fit team. And I think
for me that's the thing, Like everybody at the top
is talented, but like, where's the right fit? If you
take Alex Palo out of Ganassi, is he the same?
He's great? But is he the same? He's not. You know,
there's a thing fit Will, which is going to be
(12:26):
interesting because the dynamic's so different than what Will has
been used to for fifteen years. But I think that
that's what's intriguing about all of this. It's just that,
like when you look at a teammate, they've got to
fit into the fold of the team and they've got
to help, and they've got to have the right personality
type and they've got to be you know, selfish, but
(12:46):
unselfish in a way like yeah, you want to go win,
and you want to beat your teammates, but like you
all seed to help the team, You got to help
the greater good. And I mean, I think that's the
most important part. And when Dad or Jay or anybody
asked me about teammates, that's the first thing I always say,
just like, I don't really care, but like you know,
make sure that they are a good fit. And there's
(13:07):
been some that are and some aren't.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, and we've both experienced both extremes. Yeah, apart from
me obviously, who's been your favorite he's been your favorite
teammate over the years and why.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
From a personality perspective, I love Louis, Like I don't
know why. I did not expect. I'm not gonna lie,
but Loui and I like he just a funny little
bastard like I just I really enjoy Louis. From a
talent leadership perspective, is Justin.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
I knew you were gonna say Justin. I had I
had a feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I don't think for me, there's anybody that'll come close
because I'm in a different phase of my career now.
But you know, year one in my career, I was
with Burdette and Sebastian had won multiple championships and so on,
but he was the least helpful teammate and I don't
care like I like Sebastian, but he was so selfish
(14:10):
anytime I was close. I remember at Portland we were
testing and I was faster than him in testing in
the morning, not at not in the end of the day.
I wasn't in the morning. He was ibrate and I was.
I was seventeen years eighteen. I just remember all this
like kind of like what the hell is this? Like
I would think he'd be happy, like, oh man, you know,
good job, like rookie. So I went from him to Justin,
(14:34):
Oh wow, and Justin for me was the opposite. Justin
for me was like, hey, how can I help you?
Like what do you need life advice? Racing advice? When
I was quick or when I won Saint Pete, like
the first guy I saw was Justin, you know. And
when I was on you know, poll the year after,
(14:56):
like the first guy even wasn't teammates to me at
that time, so I was on poll, he comes, you know,
right over to me, and that's the guy I want
to be, And I hope if you ask Louis or
Christian or you know, a lot of the young guys
that I've been around, like, I hope that they would
say that you've been around me with them, but I
try to help them, like I want to beat them,
(15:16):
but like, yeah, I just really respected justin a lot
for that. I hope that down the road people think
the same of me. I mean, who knows if they will,
but I hope they do.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I genuinely think they do. And I'm not blowing smake
up your ass. I genuinely think they do, because when
they are faster than you, you're like, Okay, what can
we learn from this? What are they doing differently? How
do I do this? How do I do that? And
then you help them become faster in the areas that
you're faster, and so I think, genuinely, I wasn't sure
whether that was the team aspect in you coming out,
(15:47):
you know, like for running the team, we're going to
make the whole collective better, or whether that was driver
Graham trying to you know, make everybody penny well.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I think it's both, like the team's got to get
better with still have to get better, Like I'm thirty
seven I want these young guys to be set up
well because they may drive for us, right going down
fifteen years from month. I don't. I don't really know,
but I think when you start out in this and
you're young, you're just like, I just want to kill everybody,
Like I just want to crush him, right, But like
as you get older, you're like, I still want to
beat him all the time. But I'm not disappointed when
(16:18):
I see a young guy that's under that's grown up,
like under me have success. Yeah, I think it's I
think it's a cool thing to see and that's a different,
you know, mentality than maybe what I had once had. Yeah,
but that's how I felt like Justin was for me.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, Justin was special and I don't honestly can't put
my finger on it. I'll tell you a quick story.
We were in Fontana and I hit Justin under yellow
on the catch up lap. I didn't have any damage
and they think he did. And I was like, oh
my gosh, I'm so sorry because the last person you
wanted to disappoint was Justin because he helped you.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
So yeah it was Justin.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, I'm like, I'm so sorry to do like I
really didn't mean to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And
he turned around and he said, it's okay, Catherine, I'm
not mad. I'm just disappointed. Oh my god, I've broken Justine,
you know, like when your dad. I'm disappointed.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But I would think what would Justin do? In so
many scenarios over the years, I've been like, what would
Justin do? Because I know that whatever he would have
done would have been the best thing for everybody to do.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, speaking of those times, obviously, we were the last
of the really fortunate ones to have experienced like the
Lola Champ car and the epic time that that was.
What's been your favorite kind of year of car or
whatever it was it at the Atlantics? Was it Indy Car.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Or the Atlantic Car? For me, we just fit well together,
like we won a lot of races like that car.
For me, we just had I had a lot of success.
In fact, I've been trying to find that exact car
to restore and keep because it's a special car for me.
But yeah, I do have my seven Champ car my
Panels and I to this day think that was the
(18:09):
coolest car.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But you drove the Lola you tested the Lola. I
did drive the Lola.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
The Lola.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
You didn't think that was cooler?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
The Lola I was like magic, like for me because
I drove at Newman Has Lola, not just a Lola.
I drove the Lola in the Newman Has one won everything.
It did nothing wrong, it did nothing wrong at all.
It was brutal, like oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah.
But I thought the seven Champ Card did too in
(18:37):
many ways, like at the limit. You know that car
was really fast cornering like Montremblanc places like Road America.
But I thought that it's still had an edginess to it.
Did I really enjoyed. But I mean, you know that
was peak like the engines, the noise, the revs, like
those cars did everything great. I mean someday I'm gonna
have Donnie Hovell restoremine and go run it because I
(19:00):
would love to just tail it. It's at GRP, It's
at my shop. I have it. No, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I was gonna say, I'm just down the road from Panos,
So if you need me to go in and see
Danny and say, hey, we need a Champ car.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean, if they got any parts, it'd be awesome,
but uh yeah, I mean it's I bought it, and
you know it's still to this day. It's it's as
I ran it at Long Beach, So it's white with
a black sidepod, so which I don't love. I'd prefer
to have it in the metazone colors that I started
my career with. But someday I'll I'll restore it back
(19:34):
that way.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Do you have the close worth where as all are?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I don't, But Steve from kv's got them all now
I think, oh okay, I heard that Jerry sold everything.
Now I don't know if that's true, but Kenny, who
was with us and went to work for Jerry, still
does and maybe they still have them. But I think
Steve's got a lot of Steve Moore, It's got a
lot of them, and so be able to go to
(19:58):
him and probably probably get what's needed to run it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
If you do that, cool me because I'm going to come.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I want to drive it to Yeah. I've had a
few drivers said like will powers, like dude can figure
out do a track day?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That would be anyway awesome? See yeah, just to hear
it too, Yeah, like a seabring or something. So it
beats us up.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well Sea Ring would it would be faster than hell,
but like road America would just be with the new pavement.
It would be awesome to feel how fast it is.
It's got a hang on.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Oh goodness. Can you imagine we did that test? Where
was it in somebody near Houston where we did the
drive arounds for everybody?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
MSR right, yeahs yeah, that's right track.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And do you remember like having to hold onto the
thing in that flat out last kink corner like I
it took everything I could to like jam my elbow
in there. And it's a little bruised up and.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, we're going to.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Take a quick break, but we will be right back.
Welcome back to Toronto Therapy. Do you think that, and
you've seen obviously Dad's generation and every generation since then,
do you think that drivers are any different now to
(21:21):
how they used to be? Apart from maybe the drinking
and smoking and all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Well, the drinking is still strong, I think around the driving,
maybe the smoking not so much. I mean I just
think the physical stamina side of everybody, like now when
you're driving, I mean even champ car right, like we
used to lift and coast and save fuel. And I
mean nowadays you're just like you just it's like a
spread race the whole time. But so is an insert,
(21:48):
like so is sports car racing. It's not like you know,
it used to be so much attrition and now there's
barely any like the cars last. So I think that's
probably the biggest difference for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, do you like what's car racing too?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I love it. You've experienced this with me, but like
I just don't fit in them. Yeah, I weigh a lot.
So for me it's hard because when I'm teammates with
l e oh, and he's fifty pounds lighter than me,
Like that's a direct fifty pounds. And so what I
think that does doesn't mean I'm not competitive with him,
because our lap time's in the Accia are basically the same.
(22:22):
But what it does mean is that, like it takes
extra work for the team to fit me in. The
pit stops are a little bit harder. I weigh a lot,
so there's a performance loss that burns more fuel. And
I think nowadays when you look at the teams in
sports car racing, they all want drivers that are alike
same sort of size, same sort of weight, you know,
all this stuff, and so yeah, I would love to
(22:44):
do it more, but I feel like I've been kind
of pushed out of it, frankly because of my size.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
In Europe and what and other places. They are now
evening out all the driver weights because it wasn't fair
when you had somebody Likedrian who weighs ninety pounds, and
then you've got somebody else who it's like two thirty.
That is over half a second's worth of time right
there at a average racetrack. So they're now evening it out,
(23:10):
which is making it more fair. But yeaheah, put an
inject button in for.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
The pit stop, yeah, I mean, honestly, that would help
a lot. I mean I can still do a pit stop, no,
no problem, Like I can even in the accurate I
took the steering wheel out and they were like, oh,
we can't do it was never a problem. It was easy. Yeah,
it's now with these releases, like it's so fast and
it's actually easier even for the little guys to get
in and out because it's you know, this spline is
(23:36):
so you sound like the old champcar spline. You're like
trying to figure out where the hell to put it.
So to me, it's no big deal, but there's still
that mental aspect that it was like, oh Graham's massive. Okay,
you know, it is what it is, you know, but
I would love to do more, you know, and stay
present in it, particularly when my niecar career is done. Yeah,
(23:57):
and you know, see, uh you see what we can
do for sure?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Is there any other bucket list races the year.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Lam lamar gotta do it. Yeah, let's get Phil and
let's go do it.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Let's do let's do them. I would totally be down
for that. What about baptest in a big old b
Earle V eight?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So I love the V eights, you know. Obviously I
drove the V eight with Kelly with Rick, and uh
it was it was a riot. It was a freaking riot.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I haven't and I badly want to.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Well, I think the old car was brutal. The new car,
from what Scotty Max says, is much more like a
GT in sid GT car, Like there's still very cave
a lot of power itself. But the old car like
had a lock diff and stuff like, it was like
that thing was you know, you had to baby the
throttle pedal because of the way and it interacted very
strange sensation with weight because of the rear differential and stuff. Yeah,
(24:55):
you know, the new car I think, so says Scotty
is much more kind of normal. It's still I mean,
it's got to be. It'd be so fun to do
baths and stuff. But the one thing I would say
is to like jump in at Bathurst. People don't realize
how good those guys are, and not only like Scottie
mag Yeah, but but well Scotty was better than the
(25:16):
rest of them. Let's be real, but they're really good
at those things. Like maybe some of them would jump
into an Indy car and not be as good or
jump into insun but like those cars, they are animals
and those guys have figured out how to tame that beast.
Like it's just the truth. When you watch them at Bathursts,
that's an art. And you know, we would not jump
(25:38):
in there, and it would it wouldn't look the same,
the videos wouldn't be as cool. Like it's just it
would take a while. Hell yeah, but there's no doubt.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, I didn't even have to do the race. They
just want to drive one there.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Just it be it'd be amazing, for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
It'd be really cool jumping back to being caught the
team and being obviously a really important part of the team.
Do you struggle at any point with your two hats,
like your part owner ray hole hat and then you know,
like wanting what's best of the team and then the
driver hat. Are they ever detrimental?
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I guess I would say this, I yes, on paper,
I don't own any part of it other than my
dad does, so I guess through that you.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Kind of do it has your name over the door.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I think I struggle when I just want the best
for the team, and like we've had people come through
the doors that I just did not see. I'd eye with,
and you know, in team management in particular, and he
really pushed me away, like I felt like I have
to be here and I have to be involved, but
(26:47):
I really don't like this and I really don't like
the way it's going and I really don't like this
person or I don't whatever.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
But you know, three your boys out of the prem
and got rid of them. I would have I think
I would have been like, this is my thing, ron.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I mean, I just vocalize it in a different way, Like,
you know, there were guys that were there that for sure,
I was like, dude, you're totally wrong, Like you're just wrong,
and I would just confront them about that in a
cordial way, but daily like just don't like the way
you do business. I don't like the way you think.
And I think that's been the positive of Jay now
with us, is that like he and I think very
much alike, whether that's right or wrong, at least we're
(27:23):
both right or we're both wrong. I mean, but like that, Yeah,
that was a challenge for me, or has been a
challenge in the past for sure, But ultimately, you know,
when I'm done, it's still going to be important and
I'm involved and important. I've tried to take the team forward,
so I need, you know, deep down, I need to
make sure that we do the right things. And you know,
that's that's kind of where I'm at, is that I
(27:44):
don't have the ability to just disconnect, you know, whether
I want to I want to be in racing, I
want to drive a race guard. Do I want to
own a race team? Not really? I mean there's a
lot of stress that goes into that that people don't realize, Like, yeah, sponsorship, shortfall,
sponsors don't pay their bills, you know, hiring, firing, crashing,
(28:06):
you know, not really sure I want to be a
part of all that, but I you know, that is
certainly the path. I would say.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah, speaking about business and that aspect, obviously over the
years you've learned a lot about it. But you've built
a number of very successful businesses. Firstly, how do you
find the time to have the family do all the
businesses and be a driver and train and do all
the things? And how is it that you've been so
successful so young in sociort period of time.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I don't really know. I mean, I know that I'm
a workaholic and I am driven not only by money,
And people go, oh, yeah, it's money, money, money, Well,
I mean yeah, we want I like, I like having
the money to be able to do that I want
to do. But the reality, the reality is like even
in my big business, I didn't pay myself really anything
at all last year. What I enjoy is the chase
(28:56):
every day of trying to figure it out, the understanding
of like we've been on this call, I've already I've
had six phone calls, not exaggerating from clients that want
to talk. What I enjoy is trying to figure out
how to get deals done with them, how to grow
their collections, how to change their like, how to make
them money, how to make us money? Like there's always
this battle. And I tell our guys all the time,
(29:17):
whether it's racing, whether it's GRP Ducati Piaggio group, I
don't really care. The old saying if there's a will,
there's a way is the reality. And I enjoy trying
to figure that out, Like, Heykat, you want to come
drive for us? Okay, let's that's setting stone up. Now
how do we do this? Like who can we go after?
(29:39):
How do we find the piece of the puzzle to
make it all work together. I enjoy that challenge a lot.
And my wife's always like, what, you can just talk
to anybody? Why do you just talk to everybody? I'm like,
I don't really know, but I really enjoy that person
the person relationship, the ability to learn who somebody is
and you know, to figure out their strengths and weaknesses
(30:02):
to try to utilize them in the right places in
our business. You know, I enjoy that challenge a lot,
and that's you know, how we've really built our business,
and I think where we differentiate ourselves, particularly my car
dealership my performance show, is that I think our clients
agree that the relationship with us matters and we take
(30:24):
care of them to the core, and because of that,
they're very loyal to us, you know, and that's what's
important to me, and that's also going to carry us
through the harder times. You know. Right now we're kind
of on top of the world. Like business has just
been insane for particularly last year, but for the last
(30:45):
say five years, we've seen a lot of growth. Last
year was three x of the years before, so that
was a huge joke. Wow, But like we still have
seen this growth and so you know, for me, though,
those are the good times. But what happens if we
have a recession. I mean, not to be that guy,
but the rich are always going to have money, right,
(31:07):
you know, that's important, But that's we care about those guys.
We also care about everybody else, and like we sell
cars to everybody, we sell motorcycles everybody, And what's going
to create the loyalty and the bad times is those relationships.
And so for me, I try to really, you know,
make sure that all of our customers, who our friends
feel that we have skinning the game across the way too,
(31:29):
and so I just enjoy that and I hope that
that's that I can take to the race team down
the road when it's my time, you know. Is making
sure the sponsors feel that way more and more, making
sure that we continue to find more, making sure that
we get them what they need and what they I
ask our sponsors all day long, like, okay, you came
in any road to check, great, but like, what can
we really do to help you? How can we maximize
(31:51):
what you have invested in? Because a lot of times,
as you know, sponsors won't do it themselves. They think
they do. They think that like, oh I just put
a logo on this car, it's going to work out. Yeah,
but they don't take the next steps either often, and
so I feel like I try to motivate them and
be engaged to like, Okay, now what are we doing?
Who can I introduce you to? You know, like how
(32:13):
do we figure out how to you know? And then
if you do that, you create and this is like
my whole business model. You create an economy within yourself
that this guy pays this guy that pays this guy,
and it just all starts to come around in a circle.
And as long as you create that nucleus, then like
nothing will change. Like they're going to be loyal, they're
going to stay sponsoring the team, they're going to keep
doing business at g RP. They're going to keep whatever
(32:35):
it may be. And right, I think that's how we
we try really hard to smart.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's super smart. You have sourced some pretty spectacular, pretty
rare cause as well. Uh so is that relationship based too,
Like somebody goes, hey, I've seen this really rare car
over in Tennessee. Do you want to go get it?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yes? So I travel to see clients a lot. Relationship
maybe started like there's a guy I'm not going to
name a name, but the first deal we did, I
overpaid for this car by hundreds of thousands. It wasn't
It was a lot of money, and I knew it.
But my deal with him was, Okay, if I do this,
we're going to handshake because we're men here, we're going
to handshake on this deal that I get first right
(33:19):
to everything else in here. I get the first call
of everybody of anybody. Because he had a bunch of
really special stuff. So I said, if I get you
what you want on this one. I get all the
rest of these when the time comes. And that's now happened.
He lived up to his end. I lived up to
mine and over that whole package. Honestly, that when I
(33:40):
spent maybe two hundred grand more than I wanted to
in the first car, has ended up being maybe a
couple million dollars in profit. Literally, Oh okay, And he
knows that too. He knows what the car's retail everywhere.
But he was fair to us. He said, look, you guys,
you know you were good to me. You sa you
gave me your word. You paid on the first one.
You know you paid on time, You paid when you
(34:00):
said you would, which never happens in our business. So
now you've earned the right down a road to do everything.
And that's again kat to relate that back to racis
the same we expect in racing. If you're a sponsor
in racing and you tell us you're going to pay X,
and you're going to pay by this time, just do
it because sometimes we'll take a little less money to
have that consistency and to have that guarantee.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
And that's the difficult you went, they're out there and
some don't good to their word, right, Like it's exactly
you never know, you think it's one way and it's
not all right. If you imagine yourself at your dad's
age and you're looking back, how would you want the
nineteen year old Gramm Rayhils of the future to see you.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, I just hope that people look at me in
a way that like if they had a question, they
could come ask, like if they want an honest opinion,
they can call that. If they need somebody to rely
on that, they can rely on me that I'm going
to do the right thing for them. And I do
think people think think of my dad that way. And
(35:03):
I remember as a kid, so many people would come
to my dad and be like, hey, Bobby, you know,
what do you think about this? I hope that people
at that point in my life think the same about me,
and you know, and that's really all that matters to me.
I mean, I look, I would have loved, like you
to win a lot more races than I have. I've
(35:23):
won six. I mean, is that disappointing to me so far?
In some ways yes, in some ways no, because a
lot of people never win an IndyCar race so I
don't sit in there. I'm not embarrassed, but I also
know I have tremendous value to the sport and to
the people in the sport, and I hope that down
the road people think that.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Well. I think the key thing here is respect, and
I think everybody perspects you. So that's all that you can.
I appreciate it. Thank you so much for spending time
on my podcast. I think I'm gonna have to ask
you to come back for part two because I have
about another twenty four quest and said, I want to
ask you right now. I know I don't want to
(36:04):
be under the wrath of Kathy, you know when she
said I get.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Oh my god, bah, nor do I. But yeah, let's
do it. I'd love to anytime.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next
week with more updates and more overtakes. We want to
hear from you. Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts
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 Fus. Listen
(36:40):
to Throttle Therapy on America's number one podcast network, iHeart,
open your free iHeart app, and search throttle Therapy with
Katherine Legg and Start listening
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart Woman's sports production.
Hey you guys, and welcome to this week's episode of
Throttle Therapy with Me Catherine Legg And this week I
have a very special guest. Where do I start. He's
been a teammate of mine. We've been both racing for
a very long time. I've raced with him in more
(00:29):
than one series. He's also a super astute businessman and
an awesome race card driver, and I've probably missed out
a whole bunch of stuff. He's also a very good
friend of mine. His dad is super famous. I mean, like,
what can this guy not do? Super famous. Welcome to
(00:51):
Throttle Therapy. Gramary Hall, Hi, Hi Kat, thanks for having me.
You're welcome. It's my pleasure. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm good again?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
How's the family?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Girls are good? Got a fleet of them now, so
I know you guys, but they're good. You'd be proud.
I well, Santa. Santa brought them go karts for Christmas?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
So, uh, how does Corny feel about that? By the way,
I think she.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Like and Julie's part of it, you know, And then
there's a part that I'm sure she wishes they were
drag racers are going to be, but we're not going
to let that happen.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
So you know that the paddock, the entirety of the paddock,
has a bet on which direction they're.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Going to go in, right, I hope they go in neither.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, tennis racket, golf clubs.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
They got golf clubs for Christmas too, which they specifically
asked for. Yet, wow, it seems that then they got
them and they were like, well we didn't ask them.
I'm like, you did ask these twenty times, so now
I got to try to get them into that. Okay, although,
although here's a good one. So I go to give
Harlan clubs first. The first time. They're normal righties and
(02:01):
she starts lining up backwards and is like more of
a natural swing. I was like, oh shoot, I didn't
think about that. So anyway, she may be a lefty,
so we'll see.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, that's cool. So I want to start at the beginning,
and I want to start like, growing up, Rayhol, you
had a unique childhood in a way. You spent a
lot of time at a racetrack. Do you think that
you would have loved racing as much if it wasn't
for seeing your dad do it. Was that a fight
(02:33):
for it moment or was that a like how do
you think you would have felt?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Well? I definitely had a fight for it, even with him.
You know, he he was not a fan of me racing.
I mean he was right, yeah, I was like, he
was just he didn't want me to do it at all.
I convinced him because my brother and I decided that
if we convinced Dad that together this was something that
(02:58):
we would do, that it was a fan family thing,
and that it would be hard for him to turn
us down.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Now that was smart as a kid.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
My brother Jared, who you've met, But Jared his career
lasted one weekend. He did one race and Camden, Ohio.
He didn't do well, he didn't enjoy it, and so
that was it for him. He was he was done.
The only thing I can because I don't really know
the answer to it, right, Like, I don't know if
I wasn't in the position I'm in. But the only
(03:26):
thing I can say is, and I think you noticed
and everybody knows this, that racing cars motorcycles have captivated
me my whole life and a lot of you know,
my businesses and things that I do is simply because
of that. I just I have a gross obsession with
you know, motors and wheels.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, so for me, I'm not into cars that much,
but I am into racing, So I feel it either way.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's weird too, because I've I've actually like heard that
from a lot of people and I don't really understand that.
But I'm not saying and then in a bad way.
What I'm saying is like I feel like those two
just go together. I would say the majority of guys
and girls in our sport aren't really car people. They're
just they're racing people. And I think racing people some
of that is it still has that stick and ball
(04:13):
mentality of competitiveness, and if you're a competitor, it's a
different way to get your competitive drive out and spirit
and stuff like that, much more challenging way than most
I would say. But but yeah, I mean I for me, though, cars,
I was from the word go as a little kid,
I was obsessive with cars and motorcycles and so you know,
(04:36):
it's all I ever really loved.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
The motorcycle thing is not a new thing then, it
wasn't like a second kind of because you when did
you start the motorcycle team.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, the race team I started only a couple of
years ago, but the motorcycle obsession also started as a kid.
When I was a kid, my dad he didn't have
like a lot of motorcycles, but he would have I
have like one Dukati, always do Katti's.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah. I can't imagine Bobby on Holly now.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Well, actually he might have had a Harty when he
responsored my Miller. I think they did give him one
or something. But I grew up, you know, Dad would
always have, like I said, one Dukatti for instance, they
were so beautiful. I mean it was sex on wheels
for me. Like and I just remember, like I just
the beauty of motorcycles for me was everything. And it
(05:28):
just never stopped. I mean it just you remember. Want
to raise them, No, never had any interest in raising
I just collect too many of them. I have too
many of them. I love them.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, I need to.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Smell, but you do need to scrambler.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
You can make I know, I keep meaning. It's like
one of those things I've put in the backburn you. Yeah,
I've got a triumph.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
In a world of intensity where your mind is like
so stressed twenty four to seven about everything. I find
it to be the most free, the most relaxed, and
the least distracted that I ever am in my life.
You know, not that I would say that I'm proud
(06:16):
of texting and driving. But I'm also not gonna lie
and say I don't do it. I do it, ye,
But I'm in a comfort zone there not to say
I can't make a mistake and something goes wrong. Like
I said, I'm not proud of it. It's just I
I mean, I can't. I need you get better. Even
my daughter yells at me sometimes, But on a motorcycle
you cannot do that. Like I've tried, you, I do
(06:40):
not try. I there lock in on the road. I
pay attention because I'm look where you live right, like
in the Midwest too, and meat, you got deer, You've
got idiots driving cars, you got people mowing grass, putting
grass clippings out on the street. You got a lot
of things. Like on a motorcide, you gotta focus. And
that's what I love about it. It's just it's a
free mind. And I don't need to. I don't want
(07:01):
to go ride for a week straight that is not me,
but right if you said, hey, Saturday morning, let's go
for two hours, perfect, you know, and you get off
the bike after two hours reinvigorated. So here's what we're
going to do. We're gonna get you on a scrambler
and we're going to get Fill and everybody, and we're
going to do an ad campaign about you and then
we'll get Kayla to take you on track. How about that?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Oh my goodness, that would be awesome. So around here, though,
the roads are awesome. As long as I go away
from Atlanta and I go into the mountains, especially in
full and times like that, it's just gorgeous. There's nothing
like it anyway, I digress was there ever along the
motorcycle route? Was there ever a time where you wanted
(07:43):
to do anything different other than racing?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah? One time. There's been one thing in my life.
When I rode in an F sixteen. Oh, it was
the only time in my life that I was like, like, damn,
I wish I would have become a fighter pilot. Like
for sure, it was in my head that shoot, like
I wish I had done this. Yeah, the reality is that, honestly,
(08:09):
like I probably wouldn't have ever done that. But as
a little kid, I have videos of myself saying I
wanted to be a fighter pilot, and then later I
got the chance to like fly in it and it
was the coolest thing, Yeah, I have ever Like just
the coolest same I've ever done in my life. So
that was the only time.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Okay, interesting how old they Yeah, wasn't good enough. So
I actually went down the root of like seeing if
I could do it. And back in the day, they
weren't allowing people to have corrected eyesight, so I wasn't
because I'm blind as a back. We're going to take
(08:48):
a quick break, but we'll be right back. Welcome back
to throttle therapy. What is something that growing up in
a racing family and going to the track and doing
all that the outside people would not assume to be true? Like,
(09:11):
what do they misunderstand? What do they think that it
must be like when it's actually not.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I think that people don't realize what a family racing is.
I don't think people realize like you and I, like,
do we all want to go beat each other? We do,
But deep down racing demands or respect that other stick
and ball sports don't because other stick and ball sports
can say it's dangerous, and it can be, but racing
(09:38):
is properly dangerous, and like, you know, we've lost friends
doing this and we've been around and so it creates
an environment where like even if you really dislike somebody,
like you never want to see them get hurt. You
never want to see them at risk. You don't want
to take a chance on track to like do something
stupid because ultimately, you know, it is a big thing.
(10:00):
And that's why I think, you know, with Justin and
Dan and and others that have gotten hurd I even
mechanics or mechanics that hear everybody pitches in to the
Indie Family Fund to try to help. Like, racing is
a massive family sport and for me growing up, that's
what I love the most. My sisters, my brother, my dad,
my mom. Obviously they're divorced now, but all that time
and it's what I enjoy now, Like my little girls
(10:22):
come to me all the time, go Dad, like can
we go to the bus, Let's go, let's go to
the track. Like that's fun for me because it takes
me back to being a kid that like, yeah, my kids,
you know, love love that experience and I think they're
racing is a very strong family sport that most people
just don't presume they I think most people just think
racing is not you know, not.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Not that and everybody out for themselves.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Yeah, and me, for me, I think racing is is
very strongly that specifically, and I think that's cool.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, and within the teens as well, it's a different dynamic.
I think people can't experience it unless they're part of it,
even watching it from the paddock or what have you. Yeah,
So along that line, thinking about teammates, obviously we were
teammates at MSR when you could barely fit in the
car and your feet had to wrap around. I know,
(11:14):
it was awesome though. It was a lot of.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Fun, Yeah it was. It was a good time.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Yeah, it was a good time. And then obviously rayhol
for the five hundred. Obviously different driver dynamics between teammates
and everything. But when you know somebody and you're bringing
somebody in, it's a very different dynamic too. Like if
you're looking for the next best thing from Europe, if
that makes sense, Like, how do you decide who you
(11:41):
want in your bubble?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
First off, I don't make all the decisions as you know,
I think Dad and Jay and that group does more
than me. But I think that the environmental fit is
the most important thing. Let's look at quarterbacks in the
NFL to relate. You got a guy like Sam Darnold
who's a quarterback for the Seahawks now, but when he
was at the New York Jets, he was terrible, but
(12:04):
he always had the talent and the ability to do it.
It just was the right fit team. And I think
for me that's the thing, Like everybody at the top
is talented, but like, where's the right fit? If you
take Alex Palo out of Ganassi, is he the same?
He's great? But is he the same? He's not. You know,
there's a thing fit Will, which is going to be
(12:26):
interesting because the dynamic's so different than what Will has
been used to for fifteen years. But I think that
that's what's intriguing about all of this. It's just that,
like when you look at a teammate, they've got to
fit into the fold of the team and they've got
to help, and they've got to have the right personality
type and they've got to be you know, selfish, but
(12:46):
unselfish in a way like yeah, you want to go win,
and you want to beat your teammates, but like you
all seed to help the team, You got to help
the greater good. And I mean, I think that's the
most important part. And when Dad or Jay or anybody
asked me about teammates, that's the first thing I always say,
just like, I don't really care, but like you know,
make sure that they are a good fit. And there's
(13:07):
been some that are and some aren't.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah, and we've both experienced both extremes. Yeah, apart from
me obviously, who's been your favorite he's been your favorite
teammate over the years and why.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
From a personality perspective, I love Louis, Like I don't
know why. I did not expect. I'm not gonna lie,
but Loui and I like he just a funny little
bastard like I just I really enjoy Louis. From a
talent leadership perspective, is Justin.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
I knew you were gonna say Justin. I had I
had a feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I don't think for me, there's anybody that'll come close
because I'm in a different phase of my career now.
But you know, year one in my career, I was
with Burdette and Sebastian had won multiple championships and so on,
but he was the least helpful teammate and I don't
care like I like Sebastian, but he was so selfish
(14:10):
anytime I was close. I remember at Portland we were
testing and I was faster than him in testing in
the morning, not at not in the end of the day.
I wasn't in the morning. He was ibrate and I was.
I was seventeen years eighteen. I just remember all this
like kind of like what the hell is this? Like
I would think he'd be happy, like, oh man, you know,
good job, like rookie. So I went from him to Justin,
(14:34):
Oh wow, and Justin for me was the opposite. Justin
for me was like, hey, how can I help you?
Like what do you need life advice? Racing advice? When
I was quick or when I won Saint Pete, like
the first guy I saw was Justin, you know. And
when I was on you know, poll the year after,
(14:56):
like the first guy even wasn't teammates to me at
that time, so I was on poll, he comes, you know,
right over to me, and that's the guy I want
to be, And I hope if you ask Louis or
Christian or you know, a lot of the young guys
that I've been around, like, I hope that they would
say that you've been around me with them, but I
try to help them, like I want to beat them,
(15:16):
but like, yeah, I just really respected justin a lot
for that. I hope that down the road people think
the same of me. I mean, who knows if they will,
but I hope they do.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
I genuinely think they do. And I'm not blowing smake
up your ass. I genuinely think they do, because when
they are faster than you, you're like, Okay, what can
we learn from this? What are they doing differently? How
do I do this? How do I do that? And
then you help them become faster in the areas that
you're faster, and so I think, genuinely, I wasn't sure
whether that was the team aspect in you coming out,
(15:47):
you know, like for running the team, we're going to
make the whole collective better, or whether that was driver
Graham trying to you know, make everybody penny well.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I think it's both, like the team's got to get
better with still have to get better, Like I'm thirty
seven I want these young guys to be set up
well because they may drive for us, right going down
fifteen years from month. I don't. I don't really know,
but I think when you start out in this and
you're young, you're just like, I just want to kill everybody,
Like I just want to crush him, right, But like
as you get older, you're like, I still want to
beat him all the time. But I'm not disappointed when
(16:18):
I see a young guy that's under that's grown up,
like under me have success. Yeah, I think it's I
think it's a cool thing to see and that's a different,
you know, mentality than maybe what I had once had. Yeah,
but that's how I felt like Justin was for me.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Yeah, Justin was special and I don't honestly can't put
my finger on it. I'll tell you a quick story.
We were in Fontana and I hit Justin under yellow
on the catch up lap. I didn't have any damage
and they think he did. And I was like, oh
my gosh, I'm so sorry because the last person you
wanted to disappoint was Justin because he helped you.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
So yeah it was Justin.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Yeah, I'm like, I'm so sorry to do like I
really didn't mean to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And
he turned around and he said, it's okay, Catherine, I'm
not mad. I'm just disappointed. Oh my god, I've broken Justine,
you know, like when your dad. I'm disappointed.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But I would think what would Justin do? In so
many scenarios over the years, I've been like, what would
Justin do? Because I know that whatever he would have
done would have been the best thing for everybody to do.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, speaking of those times, obviously, we were the last
of the really fortunate ones to have experienced like the
Lola Champ car and the epic time that that was.
What's been your favorite kind of year of car or
whatever it was it at the Atlantics? Was it Indy Car.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Or the Atlantic Car? For me, we just fit well together,
like we won a lot of races like that car.
For me, we just had I had a lot of success.
In fact, I've been trying to find that exact car
to restore and keep because it's a special car for me.
But yeah, I do have my seven Champ car my
Panels and I to this day think that was the
(18:09):
coolest car.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
But you drove the Lola you tested the Lola. I
did drive the Lola.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
The Lola.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
You didn't think that was cooler?
Speaker 2 (18:16):
The Lola I was like magic, like for me because
I drove at Newman Has Lola, not just a Lola.
I drove the Lola in the Newman Has one won everything.
It did nothing wrong, it did nothing wrong at all.
It was brutal, like oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah yeah.
But I thought the seven Champ Card did too in
(18:37):
many ways, like at the limit. You know that car
was really fast cornering like Montremblanc places like Road America.
But I thought that it's still had an edginess to it.
Did I really enjoyed. But I mean, you know that
was peak like the engines, the noise, the revs, like
those cars did everything great. I mean someday I'm gonna
have Donnie Hovell restoremine and go run it because I
(19:00):
would love to just tail it. It's at GRP, It's
at my shop. I have it. No, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
I was gonna say, I'm just down the road from Panos,
So if you need me to go in and see
Danny and say, hey, we need a Champ car.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean, if they got any parts, it'd be awesome,
but uh yeah, I mean it's I bought it, and
you know it's still to this day. It's it's as
I ran it at Long Beach, So it's white with
a black sidepod, so which I don't love. I'd prefer
to have it in the metazone colors that I started
my career with. But someday I'll I'll restore it back
(19:34):
that way.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Do you have the close worth where as all are?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
I don't, But Steve from kv's got them all now
I think, oh okay, I heard that Jerry sold everything.
Now I don't know if that's true, but Kenny, who
was with us and went to work for Jerry, still
does and maybe they still have them. But I think
Steve's got a lot of Steve Moore, It's got a
lot of them, and so be able to go to
(19:58):
him and probably probably get what's needed to run it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
If you do that, cool me because I'm going to come.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
I want to drive it to Yeah. I've had a
few drivers said like will powers, like dude can figure
out do a track day?
Speaker 1 (20:13):
That would be anyway awesome? See yeah, just to hear
it too, Yeah, like a seabring or something. So it
beats us up.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well Sea Ring would it would be faster than hell,
but like road America would just be with the new pavement.
It would be awesome to feel how fast it is.
It's got a hang on.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Oh goodness. Can you imagine we did that test? Where
was it in somebody near Houston where we did the
drive arounds for everybody?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
MSR right, yeahs yeah, that's right track.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
And do you remember like having to hold onto the
thing in that flat out last kink corner like I
it took everything I could to like jam my elbow
in there. And it's a little bruised up and.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Oh yeah, yeah, for sure, we're going to.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Take a quick break, but we will be right back.
Welcome back to Toronto Therapy. Do you think that, and
you've seen obviously Dad's generation and every generation since then,
do you think that drivers are any different now to
(21:21):
how they used to be? Apart from maybe the drinking
and smoking and all of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Well, the drinking is still strong, I think around the driving,
maybe the smoking not so much. I mean I just
think the physical stamina side of everybody, like now when
you're driving, I mean even champ car right, like we
used to lift and coast and save fuel. And I
mean nowadays you're just like you just it's like a
spread race the whole time. But so is an insert,
(21:48):
like so is sports car racing. It's not like you know,
it used to be so much attrition and now there's
barely any like the cars last. So I think that's
probably the biggest difference for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, do you like what's car racing too?
Speaker 2 (22:01):
I love it. You've experienced this with me, but like
I just don't fit in them. Yeah, I weigh a lot.
So for me it's hard because when I'm teammates with
l e oh, and he's fifty pounds lighter than me,
Like that's a direct fifty pounds. And so what I
think that does doesn't mean I'm not competitive with him,
because our lap time's in the Accia are basically the same.
(22:22):
But what it does mean is that, like it takes
extra work for the team to fit me in. The
pit stops are a little bit harder. I weigh a lot,
so there's a performance loss that burns more fuel. And
I think nowadays when you look at the teams in
sports car racing, they all want drivers that are alike
same sort of size, same sort of weight, you know,
all this stuff, and so yeah, I would love to
(22:44):
do it more, but I feel like I've been kind
of pushed out of it, frankly because of my size.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
In Europe and what and other places. They are now
evening out all the driver weights because it wasn't fair
when you had somebody Likedrian who weighs ninety pounds, and
then you've got somebody else who it's like two thirty.
That is over half a second's worth of time right
there at a average racetrack. So they're now evening it out,
(23:10):
which is making it more fair. But yeaheah, put an
inject button in for.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
The pit stop, yeah, I mean, honestly, that would help
a lot. I mean I can still do a pit stop, no,
no problem, Like I can even in the accurate I
took the steering wheel out and they were like, oh,
we can't do it was never a problem. It was easy. Yeah,
it's now with these releases, like it's so fast and
it's actually easier even for the little guys to get
in and out because it's you know, this spline is
(23:36):
so you sound like the old champcar spline. You're like
trying to figure out where the hell to put it.
So to me, it's no big deal, but there's still
that mental aspect that it was like, oh Graham's massive. Okay,
you know, it is what it is, you know, but
I would love to do more, you know, and stay
present in it, particularly when my niecar career is done. Yeah,
(23:57):
and you know, see, uh you see what we can
do for sure?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Is there any other bucket list races the year.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Lam lamar gotta do it. Yeah, let's get Phil and
let's go do it.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Let's do let's do them. I would totally be down
for that. What about baptest in a big old b
Earle V eight?
Speaker 2 (24:19):
So I love the V eights, you know. Obviously I
drove the V eight with Kelly with Rick, and uh
it was it was a riot. It was a freaking riot.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
I haven't and I badly want to.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
Well, I think the old car was brutal. The new car,
from what Scotty Max says, is much more like a
GT in sid GT car, Like there's still very cave
a lot of power itself. But the old car like
had a lock diff and stuff like, it was like
that thing was you know, you had to baby the
throttle pedal because of the way and it interacted very
strange sensation with weight because of the rear differential and stuff. Yeah,
(24:55):
you know, the new car I think, so says Scotty
is much more kind of normal. It's still I mean,
it's got to be. It'd be so fun to do
baths and stuff. But the one thing I would say
is to like jump in at Bathurst. People don't realize
how good those guys are, and not only like Scottie
mag Yeah, but but well Scotty was better than the
(25:16):
rest of them. Let's be real, but they're really good
at those things. Like maybe some of them would jump
into an Indy car and not be as good or
jump into insun but like those cars, they are animals
and those guys have figured out how to tame that beast.
Like it's just the truth. When you watch them at Bathursts,
that's an art. And you know, we would not jump
(25:38):
in there, and it would it wouldn't look the same,
the videos wouldn't be as cool. Like it's just it
would take a while. Hell yeah, but there's no doubt.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, I didn't even have to do the race. They
just want to drive one there.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Just it be it'd be amazing, for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
It'd be really cool jumping back to being caught the
team and being obviously a really important part of the team.
Do you struggle at any point with your two hats,
like your part owner ray hole hat and then you know,
like wanting what's best of the team and then the
driver hat. Are they ever detrimental?
Speaker 2 (26:16):
I guess I would say this, I yes, on paper,
I don't own any part of it other than my
dad does, so I guess through that you.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Kind of do it has your name over the door.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
I think I struggle when I just want the best
for the team, and like we've had people come through
the doors that I just did not see. I'd eye with,
and you know, in team management in particular, and he
really pushed me away, like I felt like I have
to be here and I have to be involved, but
(26:47):
I really don't like this and I really don't like
the way it's going and I really don't like this
person or I don't whatever.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
But you know, three your boys out of the prem
and got rid of them. I would have I think
I would have been like, this is my thing, ron.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
I mean, I just vocalize it in a different way, Like,
you know, there were guys that were there that for sure,
I was like, dude, you're totally wrong, Like you're just wrong,
and I would just confront them about that in a
cordial way, but daily like just don't like the way
you do business. I don't like the way you think.
And I think that's been the positive of Jay now
with us, is that like he and I think very
much alike, whether that's right or wrong, at least we're
(27:23):
both right or we're both wrong. I mean, but like that, Yeah,
that was a challenge for me, or has been a
challenge in the past for sure, But ultimately, you know,
when I'm done, it's still going to be important and
I'm involved and important. I've tried to take the team forward,
so I need, you know, deep down, I need to
make sure that we do the right things. And you know,
that's that's kind of where I'm at, is that I
(27:44):
don't have the ability to just disconnect, you know, whether
I want to I want to be in racing, I
want to drive a race guard. Do I want to
own a race team? Not really? I mean there's a
lot of stress that goes into that that people don't realize, Like, yeah, sponsorship, shortfall,
sponsors don't pay their bills, you know, hiring, firing, crashing,
(28:06):
you know, not really sure I want to be a
part of all that, but I you know, that is
certainly the path. I would say.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah, speaking about business and that aspect, obviously over the
years you've learned a lot about it. But you've built
a number of very successful businesses. Firstly, how do you
find the time to have the family do all the
businesses and be a driver and train and do all
the things? And how is it that you've been so
successful so young in sociort period of time.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I don't really know. I mean, I know that I'm
a workaholic and I am driven not only by money,
And people go, oh, yeah, it's money, money, money, Well,
I mean yeah, we want I like, I like having
the money to be able to do that I want
to do. But the reality, the reality is like even
in my big business, I didn't pay myself really anything
at all last year. What I enjoy is the chase
(28:56):
every day of trying to figure it out, the understanding
of like we've been on this call, I've already I've
had six phone calls, not exaggerating from clients that want
to talk. What I enjoy is trying to figure out
how to get deals done with them, how to grow
their collections, how to change their like, how to make
them money, how to make us money? Like there's always
this battle. And I tell our guys all the time,
(29:17):
whether it's racing, whether it's GRP Ducati Piaggio group, I
don't really care. The old saying if there's a will,
there's a way is the reality. And I enjoy trying
to figure that out, Like, Heykat, you want to come
drive for us? Okay, let's that's setting stone up. Now
how do we do this? Like who can we go after?
(29:39):
How do we find the piece of the puzzle to
make it all work together. I enjoy that challenge a lot.
And my wife's always like, what, you can just talk
to anybody? Why do you just talk to everybody? I'm like,
I don't really know, but I really enjoy that person
the person relationship, the ability to learn who somebody is
and you know, to figure out their strengths and weaknesses
(30:02):
to try to utilize them in the right places in
our business. You know, I enjoy that challenge a lot,
and that's you know, how we've really built our business,
and I think where we differentiate ourselves, particularly my car
dealership my performance show, is that I think our clients
agree that the relationship with us matters and we take
(30:24):
care of them to the core, and because of that,
they're very loyal to us, you know, and that's what's
important to me, and that's also going to carry us
through the harder times. You know. Right now we're kind
of on top of the world. Like business has just
been insane for particularly last year, but for the last
(30:45):
say five years, we've seen a lot of growth. Last
year was three x of the years before, so that
was a huge joke. Wow, But like we still have
seen this growth and so you know, for me, though,
those are the good times. But what happens if we
have a recession. I mean, not to be that guy,
but the rich are always going to have money, right,
(31:07):
you know, that's important, But that's we care about those guys.
We also care about everybody else, and like we sell
cars to everybody, we sell motorcycles everybody, And what's going
to create the loyalty and the bad times is those relationships.
And so for me, I try to really, you know,
make sure that all of our customers, who our friends
feel that we have skinning the game across the way too,
(31:29):
and so I just enjoy that and I hope that
that's that I can take to the race team down
the road when it's my time, you know. Is making
sure the sponsors feel that way more and more, making
sure that we continue to find more, making sure that
we get them what they need and what they I
ask our sponsors all day long, like, okay, you came
in any road to check, great, but like, what can
we really do to help you? How can we maximize
(31:51):
what you have invested in? Because a lot of times,
as you know, sponsors won't do it themselves. They think
they do. They think that like, oh I just put
a logo on this car, it's going to work out. Yeah,
but they don't take the next steps either often, and
so I feel like I try to motivate them and
be engaged to like, Okay, now what are we doing?
Who can I introduce you to? You know, like how
(32:13):
do we figure out how to you know? And then
if you do that, you create and this is like
my whole business model. You create an economy within yourself
that this guy pays this guy that pays this guy,
and it just all starts to come around in a circle.
And as long as you create that nucleus, then like
nothing will change. Like they're going to be loyal, they're
going to stay sponsoring the team, they're going to keep
doing business at g RP. They're going to keep whatever
(32:35):
it may be. And right, I think that's how we
we try really hard to smart.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
That's super smart. You have sourced some pretty spectacular, pretty
rare cause as well. Uh so is that relationship based too,
Like somebody goes, hey, I've seen this really rare car
over in Tennessee. Do you want to go get it?
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Yes? So I travel to see clients a lot. Relationship
maybe started like there's a guy I'm not going to
name a name, but the first deal we did, I
overpaid for this car by hundreds of thousands. It wasn't
It was a lot of money, and I knew it.
But my deal with him was, Okay, if I do this,
we're going to handshake because we're men here, we're going
to handshake on this deal that I get first right
(33:19):
to everything else in here. I get the first call
of everybody of anybody. Because he had a bunch of
really special stuff. So I said, if I get you
what you want on this one. I get all the
rest of these when the time comes. And that's now happened.
He lived up to his end. I lived up to
mine and over that whole package. Honestly, that when I
(33:40):
spent maybe two hundred grand more than I wanted to
in the first car, has ended up being maybe a
couple million dollars in profit. Literally, Oh okay, And he
knows that too. He knows what the car's retail everywhere.
But he was fair to us. He said, look, you guys,
you know you were good to me. You sa you
gave me your word. You paid on the first one.
You know you paid on time, You paid when you
(34:00):
said you would, which never happens in our business. So
now you've earned the right down a road to do everything.
And that's again kat to relate that back to racis
the same we expect in racing. If you're a sponsor
in racing and you tell us you're going to pay X,
and you're going to pay by this time, just do
it because sometimes we'll take a little less money to
have that consistency and to have that guarantee.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
And that's the difficult you went, they're out there and
some don't good to their word, right, Like it's exactly
you never know, you think it's one way and it's
not all right. If you imagine yourself at your dad's
age and you're looking back, how would you want the
nineteen year old Gramm Rayhils of the future to see you.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah, I just hope that people look at me in
a way that like if they had a question, they
could come ask, like if they want an honest opinion,
they can call that. If they need somebody to rely
on that, they can rely on me that I'm going
to do the right thing for them. And I do
think people think think of my dad that way. And
(35:03):
I remember as a kid, so many people would come
to my dad and be like, hey, Bobby, you know,
what do you think about this? I hope that people
at that point in my life think the same about me,
and you know, and that's really all that matters to me.
I mean, I look, I would have loved, like you
to win a lot more races than I have. I've
(35:23):
won six. I mean, is that disappointing to me so far?
In some ways yes, in some ways no, because a
lot of people never win an IndyCar race so I
don't sit in there. I'm not embarrassed, but I also
know I have tremendous value to the sport and to
the people in the sport, and I hope that down
the road people think that.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Well. I think the key thing here is respect, and
I think everybody perspects you. So that's all that you can.
I appreciate it. Thank you so much for spending time
on my podcast. I think I'm gonna have to ask
you to come back for part two because I have
about another twenty four quest and said, I want to
ask you right now. I know I don't want to
(36:04):
be under the wrath of Kathy, you know when she
said I get.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
Oh my god, bah, nor do I. But yeah, let's
do it. I'd love to anytime.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next
week with more updates and more overtakes. We want to
hear from you. Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts
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 Fus. Listen
(36:40):
to Throttle Therapy on America's number one podcast network, iHeart,
open your free iHeart app, and search throttle Therapy with
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Host
Katherine Legge
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