January 7, 2025 • 47 mins
Motorsport pioneer Katherine Legge speaks with Brent Cox, owner and founder of Abacus Racing about what she should expect racing on dirt for the first time at the upcoming Chili Bowl. Brent shares how he transitioned from being an accountant to a team owner, and discusses the similarities between the Chili Bowl and the Indy500.
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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. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome
(00:23):
to this episode of Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Today. I am honored.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm very lucky to be joined by Brent Cox, team
principal of Abacus Racing and also soon to be my
boss for the Chili Bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome brands.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Thanks Catherine, very happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So I have so many questions and I am super
I can't tell you how excited I am about the
Chili Bowl and driving the Midget. We will delve into that,
and I thought, what better way of getting all the
info than I know than to get it in front
of hundreds, maybe thousands, who knows of people, and get
(01:05):
to know you and what's expected of me and tell
you my apprehensions and how excited I am to also
be doing this. So I will, I will dive straight
in and just say, what do you think is going
to be my biggest challenge?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Getting to know you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Getting to know the team, getting to know the car,
getting to know all the things that I know nothing
about because I come from.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Driving on tarmac.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, I think that's the biggest thing, right, Dirt is
just it's different and there's different tendencies to how that
surface is compared to obviously what you've been used to
with Indie car, sports car, NASCAR, everything that you've driven.
I think that race car drivers are race car drivers.
You guys figure things out. I was not a driver,
(01:55):
so strangely enough, I own a race team, but I've
never been a driver.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
How did you become a team owner? By the way, Like,
what drove you into that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I've been a fan of racing since I was a
little kid. I grew up in a little town just
north of Minneapolis, so I've been a fan of the
five hundred. I was just a fan of racing. Got
involved in racing round two thousand and two thousand and
nine from the business front, and then just kept at
it and got to a point where I had been
(02:22):
fortunate enough to be involved in racing. I've been involved
in promoting some IndyCar races, both on my own and
with other promoters. In what way, so I actually started
a company that did sponsorship Activation eight and then in
twenty ten we were actually approached by IndyCar to own, promote,
(02:46):
and run the twenty eleven Milwaukee IndyCar Race. The race
had not run in twenty ten, so IndyCar wanted to
get it back on the calendar. My partner and my
sponsor Activation Business had had experience with Milwaukee and with
his father who was part of the promoting group back
in the eighties and nineties, so we accepted that challenge.
(03:08):
And that's exactly what it was. It was a very
difficult re entry into the market. Milwaukee proved to be
a very difficult a very difficult market because it's they
had been burned by the prior promoter number one, and
then it was just not We really thought we turned
the ticket link on, it would just fell up, and
it just didn't happen. And as a young promoter, we
(03:29):
didn't have a lot of sponsors and contacts and our
rolodex to do the things we needed to do. So
the event ran. It was a success on track, but
it was not a success financially. So I had kind
of decided that maybe I had kind of reached my
end of being a businessman in racing. But then a
very strange thing happened in the sense that Dan Weldon.
(03:53):
When Dan was killed in Las Vegas later that year,
I kind of a feeling that IndyCar would go back
to Milwaukee. They had said they weren't coming, so they did,
and Andretti Sports Marketing, which was a new company, had
been formed, and I actually knew the chief marketing officer
very well. So I got brought up a consultant, helped
them with that race for the next few years along
(04:13):
with Baltimore, and so we gained a lot of experience
in the world of race activation and made tons and
tons of contacts in the sport, and so that really
helped me. I started to pick up driver clients, and
so the rest was kind of history. And so the
long story short, COVID hit. I started to get back
into short track racing, kind of grown up, going to
(04:34):
a lot of short track races at places like Winchester
Anderson Speedway in the Astraceway Park, and I just had
this all of a sudden, this epiphany to start a
USAC team A SACK for those who don't know, that's
United States Auto Club. So in twenty twenty one I did.
I started Advocus Racing and then it's been a success.
(04:55):
It's been I can't tell you of it, how much
fun it's been to build the team, And honestly, what's
been most fun for me is the people that have
driven for us and will drive for us. But I
just did it, honestly out of my love of the
sport and I kind of felt like if I didn't
do something more directly involved in racing, I was probably
going to regret it, so that was kind of time
(05:15):
to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that's how you got to where we are now,
and you've had some success.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
We have. Yeah, So basically we started in twenty one.
Our first driver was Maria Koefer. So I am no
stranger to having female drivers, which I want to support
and in every way that we can. You will actually
be the fourth female to drive for our team.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I'm not even special.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So it's important.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Do you see any differences between the female drivers and
the male drivers having experienced so many of them now?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
No, I think the ones that we've had drive for us,
both male and female, have just they've all had the
same goal. They're they're very driven, no pun intended, but
their desire to succeee in the sport. It doesn't matter.
I want to be the best female. They want to
be the best driver. And so when I look at
(06:13):
you know how it was when Maria dreu Forrest and
then we had a younger girl named Lacy Ferno that
drove forst for a little bit, and now we've had
Kaylee Brice and drive for us. The constant is that
they just wanted to succeed on track that was one
to win. They wanted to do the best that they could.
And what I find is that they all endeared themselves
(06:34):
to the team. Our team is a very tight knit group.
You're going to figure that out. But what's nice about
our team is that once you sort of show your passion,
show your desire, you know, Like when Kaylee came in,
Kaylee was a fairly known commodity. She had been the
first female to ever qualify for the A main at
the Chili Bowl earlier this year's being the first female
(06:57):
in the history of USAK to win a national event
when she won a silver corner race at Bellville. So
she came in with a pedigree that you know, but
they still didn't know her. And so they're always a
little bit cautious, and then an hour after she spent
some time at the shop, you know they're immediately the
team manager as Colin said, hey, we've got her locked
(07:17):
in for chili Bowl, right. So once they became endeared
to her and they saw her commitment, dedication, and then
they saw it when she ran the BC thirty nine
for US at indianasm Or Speedway this year that I've
just noticed that I think with all of them, we've
enjoyed working with all three of them. I know we'll
enjoy working with you, and they've all just fit in
super well with the team.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So I have waited also with some female drivers and
obviously a bunch of male drivers, and in my experience, the.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Approach has been different.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Like I think that the female drivers I've worked with
at least have come they've kind of stepped up to
it in a very conservative, methodical way, whereas the guys
have come at it a little bit more from a
confident not overconfident some of them, but definitely they can
(08:11):
go above the limit and then bring themselves back down,
whereas the girls seemed to kind of creep up to
the limit. But I have had no experience obviously on
dirt racing, so I don't know whether it's the same
there too, like the approach is different.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Well, I think what I used to always say about
Maria when Maria drove for us, the best thing that
could ever happened to Maria is for you know, in
dirt track racing, right, there's there's slide jobs, and if
a driver gave Maria a wheel, so if they took
their right rear and hit her front, that fired her up,
like you'd see her like, because at that moment she's like, Okay,
(08:46):
let's let's go. Lacey was our most inexperience. She was
she was good, she was consistent, but her experience level
was not. Maria had been driving midgets in California for
years and then Kaylee was kind of the same way.
Kaylee is very methodical. You look at when she made
the A main in twenty twenty one at the Chili Bowl,
(09:10):
she it was you know, it was in the bee.
She was kind of and all of a sudden she
found a high line and just started I remember sitting
in my couch because I was not there, and watched
her just make history. Once she found no one else
would run up there. Once she figured it out, she
just blew past ten cars and took the lead one
of the b main and made history. So again, I
(09:33):
do think and that's what you know. Logan Ceevie has
been our primary driver. We've now won all three USAC
championships with Logan in the last two years, only the
second team in history USACK to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Congratulations.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
But Logan is very calculated. If he has a fifth
place car, he always feels like I'll finish fifth. He
doesn't push the car beyond its limits. He is very
very fast. He's also very calculated. So I kind of
since that the women that driven force have been a
little bit more probably controlled is a great example, but
very fast, but very controlled.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, you haven't what with me yet because that's definitely
not me. I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
That's so hard to do, is not overdrive a fifth
place car, right, just accept that that's what it's always
going in it. That's one of the best ways of
maturing as a driver, I would say. But it's also
incredibly hard to do. So I don't know how I'm
going to.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Take to it well.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And that's the thing with dirt, it's like, you know,
it's a surface that can be different from a Wednesday
to a Thursday. Right, I mean how much moistures in
the track? Is there have their ruts that have developed?
Is there a whole you know, is there somewhat of
a cushion kind of building at the top that you
can run that right rear on. It's again, I only
(10:48):
know this from listenings. I don't know what from practical experience,
but dirt is something that you'll hear the drivers talk about.
I found a silver of moisture in turn three. That's
where I put my tire. I found certain things and so,
but it's no different than the different settings and things
you probably do. And whether it's again the sports car,
you're ready car, whatever you're driving, there's just certain things
(11:09):
that you'll see that the track is giving you drivers
or drivers, and you'll figure it out. So, but the
biggest thing you'll need is its laps.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Do you think that the driving will be the hardest
thing for me to figure out or do you think
it would be all the auxiliary stuff like what I
want from the car, how and when to pass people?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Like the slide jobs that you were just talking about.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
On all of that, because I'm more I think I'm
a little bit more concerned about all that other information
and making sure I've got it all as opposed to
the actual driving part, because I'm pretty sure if it
was just me out there alone and you gave me
a bunch of laps, I'd figure that part out, right.
I hope, I hope that's not me being overconfident there
(11:52):
now and now I'm second guessing myself.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But it's all the stuff that I don't know that
I don't know, right.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I think that's what interesting about dirt racing is from
the outside end, people look at a dirt car, whether
it's a midget or a sprint car or a wing
sprint car or whatever, and to them it looks a
bit archaic, right, It just looks like it's, you know,
four big tires on a chassis. But the settings are
so different than you know. There's obviously tire pressures, and
you know how far your wheel is out or in,
(12:20):
and the different things the shock settings. You know, it's
a shock step or a loose or whatever, what's the rebound
like again, things I've heard the team talk about. What
I know our team will do with you is you know,
certainly as you come in and say like how should
I drive the car, throttle response, things like that, and
that's where having experienced drivers around are going to help, right,
So whether it's Kaylee or Logan, if he's helping us,
(12:43):
it's it's a matter of how you make that car.
I think the hardest thing for you is going to
be And there's obviously one of your teammates is obviously
coming from sort of the same element of as you
would say Tarmac driving with Santino Ferucci. If you talk
to Santia, you know he would say the same thing.
The thing for him, it's it's trusting how you can
(13:05):
get that right rear to sort of rotate around right,
so as you're going through a turn, it's the old
you know, turn right to go left right, So you're
getting that car to come around and get that wheel spin.
And that is probably not intuitive, not that you don't
have roll in your car right because you but not
like a like a dirt car.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Our entire live so we spend trying not to go sideways.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Exactly whereas in a dirt car, you know, now wing
car you put a wing on, it's a lot different
right wing cars. Your your nose are going to stay
more straight. There's so much downforce. But with a dirt
car without a wing on it, you know you're but
then other factors come into how the track, you know,
does it rubber up, So now all of a sudden
you're not really running high, you're kind of running low.
(13:48):
So it's going to probably drive a little bit more
like you were on on pavement. So it's it's these
are things that I've observed, and I think those are
the things that coming from sort of a Formula base
driving where your cars are are nimble, you know, it's
about marrying them to that surface, right, which is why
as a team we do run some payment races, we're
not as good at pavement because my crew is a
(14:10):
halt has all come through dirt, so you go to
pavement's completely different, right, So we've had experienced pavement drivers
drive for us are like, you know, it's getting your
car to marry to that track, and we're getting closer,
but we just don't quite have that setup yet where
you look at the guys who are up front, it's
like their cars are on rails and ours is on
(14:32):
a bit of a skating rink. So we're still a
little bit loose, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We have a myriad of things that we can change
on cars and sports cars in IndyCar and everything else
I've driven, Is it the same? Like, are we still
dealing with tie, precious suspension, dampa settings, cost of canber
or ride heights, all of that kind of thing in
that quite.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Too, one hundred percent all of it. It's the same thing.
So you know, I've watched them make so many changes
to the car. I've seen Logan, for instance, come in
and he's not happy with the car. He tells them,
he talks about it, and then they make changes and
we go out and we hope that just like what
(15:14):
you've gone through, did these changes work? Did they give
us what we wanted? The track surface probably similar to say,
especially like say any you know, you might practice it
two o'clock when the track temperature is in pavement could
be ext degrees and then maybe you're qualifying two hours
later and it's high or lower whatever clouds have come in.
(15:36):
It's the same thing here, the surface changes. So as
we're watching, especially in our world when we might run
three different classes of cars, you know, we might look
at like, well, sprint cars are out there, We're only
running our midget sprint cars are putting a lot of
rubber down, so it's going to change how we want
to set the car up. Whereas no different than you guys,
right sports serias ly different rubber down, right, So then
(15:58):
you're like, well, now we have to do this rubber
which is ours. So's it's all those things that your
engineers are making changes to try to compensate for that.
It's the same thing in dirt racing.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So is it set up the same as well?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Like you'll have the crew and the mechanics and like
a chief mechanic kind of an engineer, and a team
manager and it's the same. It's the same theory basically,
just a different stuff it.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Is it is Now we have a team manager, Kirk Simpson,
and then we have some crew, so we have different
people on our crew. So Johnny Koefer will help us out.
That's Maria's father who still helps out with the team.
And then we've got Daniel Whitley and others that will
help us out. A lot of what they do is
it's not as structured. So we don't have like a
(16:41):
computer that gives us data. We have shock settings and
so we have Dino sheets, so we know, like if
we look at the surface and we say this is so,
we've got a book. So we go back to race tracks,
we have all of our setup sheets. We know it
worked the last time we were there. So sometimes we
go to a new track, we're a little bit of
a disadvantage. We'll look at that track and be like
this track is similar to this track or that, and
(17:02):
we'll use a setup it's similar. But with the Chili Bowl,
we've all been there, right, but it is a temporary
dirt track, right, so every year they bring in dirt
and it's all brand new. So it is going to
be closed, but it's going to be a little bit different,
and then they're going to work that surface all week.
So your pre lim night and we can get into
how the Chili Bowl works, but your prelum night, your
(17:25):
surface could be one complete way. And then by the
time you get to Saturday, when you're running in whatever
main you're running in to try to make it to
the A, the track could be completely different because more
cars are on it. The track's trying to stay ahead
of it. But the team tries to see that. So
when they'll go and watch the other races, to see like, Okay,
the track's doing this, track's doing that. I think we
(17:46):
need to make settings to the car. But then like
you'll see, like drivers like when you line up, it's
one of the neatest things. So like you're lining up
to run your race, there's a race usually going on,
you know, to your right, and all the drivers are
holding phones watching the races going on to see what
(18:07):
the track is doing. So you'll see. I know the
first year had Christopher Bell behind us other drivers and
Christopher Bell, just like Maria, is sitting there staring at
his phone to see what the track is doing, so
when he goes out, they can kind of get a
feel for what it's already doing.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So if there's no telemetry, can you also watch me
in my car and tell me what my car needs?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, so they will, so they will. The crew will
do that. So the crew, and it's amazing the things
they pick up. I don't. I'm an accountant by trade, right,
I'm a CPA by trade. There are things I will
say and they will come off and be like we
had this issue, we had that issue, and they'll know
like immediately, like the first race we ever run in
(18:51):
USAC Midgets, Logan had a right rear shock failure, so
he was using other tools in his car to compensate
the fact that's right where a shock is broken. I
have no idea. I'm over having a heart attack, hoping
to God that we're going to win this race. And
as soon as we go up there, they're like, the
right or shock was broken. How they picked these things
up when he's running around at speed because they're so intuitive,
(19:13):
So when you would come off from a session, they
would probably say to you the car, look think it
was doing this, or look think it was tight, and
you would say like yes, or I couldn't get it
to do this or do that, and then they'd make changes.
And then we will use GoPros. So a lot of
times we'll put a go pro camera on there so
they can see your hands and howl the car. So
then we've used that a lot, especially for newer drivers,
(19:34):
to say like your entry points and things like that.
I only know this as I've watched it, But I
don't necessarily ever tell the drivers these things. I just
hear them when they talk about it.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
So do we have radio comes when we're out there
with the pants?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
You do not? So you will hear from race control,
so it's a one way to you. You have no communication.
So the biggest thing, and and this is you will
have to feel what's behind you based on one thing
only and that is sound or what you see. So
if you see a.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Car on your inside, there's no mirror.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
There's no mirrors. There are no mirrors on these cars,
so you will hear it from sound, so you'll know,
like if you're depending on where you're running, you'll hear
a car to your right or maybe to your left,
and you'll kind of know. Now. One of the tricks
and one of the things there is a huge screen
at the Chili Bowl. Drivers use that screen so they
(20:33):
will look up to see if they are on TV,
and they will see where so especially the leaders, they
will come out of turn two. I think it's it's
in turn four, so I know Logan has told me,
like he comes out, he'll look up at the screen
to see what the car behind him is doing where
they're at, and so it's it's amazing, But you guys
(20:54):
all have one thing in comedy of amazing and eye control,
so you know it's it's not the speed of which
you guys have to do things. But intuitively, I think
it's just you'll hear the cars and you'll know they're around,
and then you just have to kind of feel your
race craftsmanship sort of come together as you pick up laps.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I'm going to do a lot of studying and I'm
going to watch a lot of races and try and.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Try and learn as much as I can.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
But the teammates that we're going to have, so Santino
and I are going to probably want to learn from
whoever your most experienced driver is, right.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Which will be Kaylee. Kaylee Brison will be your third
team mate, It will be you, Kaylee Santino. Logan actually
drives for Kevin Swindell, so it's an interesting situation. He's
driven for Kevin for years, and so one of the
things that we knew when we retained Logan is that
for now he's going to drive for Kevin, especially if
he keeps winning. So Logan is the two time defending
(21:58):
Chili Bowl champion, So certainly Logan comes into me and
if I'm like, hey, when did the Chili Bowl next year,
He's kind of like, well, I'm not gonna walk away
from a car that I know. It's winning And it
is not to say that he knows he couldn't win
in our car, because obviously we won a midget championship
last year. We've won ten races in the midget news
that in the last two years. So, but him and
(22:19):
Kevin have a very special bond. But Logan will hang
around our pit a lot, and certainly he is there
to help and to guide, and so I know that
was his intention with Santino because in Tia was supposed
to drive two races and are said when unfortunately weather
hit forced both races to verneserday, and so Santino did
I get to run. He had to go back for
(22:40):
a sponsor commitment. And that's tough because what he wants
to suck you would want is laps and so to
be able to learn to talk to the team, to
talk to Logan, But it was tough because as drivers,
what's the one thing you want? Time in a car?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Absolutely, speaking of time in a car, when I go
test and Indy is that IRP, No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It's a small So we are slated to drive a
small dirt track just north of it's probably about an
hour north of Indianapolis. It's called US twenty four. The
only thing that will hold us back on that is
just like any other test, is weather. So we just
hope that But that track is actually we've tested there before.
It's a great little track. It's about as close as
you're probably going to get to a track the size
(23:26):
of the track that'll be at the Expo Center in Tulsa,
So it'll be a great training ground for you. And
I do believe Santino is going to be there as well.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
What about a logan or somebody that will tell us what.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We go the goal is. We're definitely going to have
some folks there with experience. That is something that I
think will be great for you guys, because again it's
about laps. I don't know if you saw recently, Kyle
Busch just did the same thing. Kyle Busch got into
a car and they just had a session where he
just kept going out, He kept talking to his team,
kept going out, and you know, again, it's about gaining
(23:58):
comfort in the car, understanding how the car reacts to
the things that you wanted to.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Do, yeah, and knowing whether you're going down the right path.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
What you don't want to do is build the wrong
foundation and do something wrong and then it becomes habit,
and then it's even hard to go out. So I've
learned that if you can learn from the best of
the best, and obviously Logan is as damning close as
you're going to get to that right now. So I'm
looking I'm very much looking forward to working with him
and Kaylee obviously her too, but it's definitely going to
(24:30):
be a steep learning curve. I think I will feel
a little bit more settled after I've done the test,
so I know what to expect and I know how
it works, because right now. I looked at the entry
list for the Chili Bowl the other day and I
was scrolling down and I'm like, still scrolling, and I'm
still scrolling and I'm still scrolling.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
And I'm like, oh, holy moly, how many cars are
going to be there? Like, I had no idea. There's
literally hundreds of cars there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
So by time it's done on the first day, there
should be probably about three hundred and seventy cars entered.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I had no idea. It's just absolutely bonkers to me.
So how me through. You're there for a week, right,
so you turn up, you unload. How does it work?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
So the first day is Sunday. Sunday is practice, so
Sunday is the first day that you would be able
to hit the track and you'll have a chance to
do multiple sessions. Not very long, they're going to be
five six laps, but it will be an opportunity for
you to go out and work the track. What's interesting
about a midget is that it has to be push start,
(25:39):
so and it is direct drive, so there's no gears,
so it is once it's running, it's running. If you stop,
it's going to stall, and then you have to be repushed.
So there's a lot of nuances there that you're going
to have to learn just to get the car started,
get a moving, But the team will walk you through
all that. There is opportunities a lot of times outside
(26:01):
that when you get set up, you can push start cars.
I think the track is they sometimes want to make
sure it's not completely chaos in the parking lot as
people are waiting, but you'll see lots of different things
that will happen to help you get acclimated. You'll start
to learn those things very fast. You engage the car
and then there's a release and then they push you
and then the car fires up and you'll lied ale
(26:22):
around until they tell you go green. You go green,
you run your lapse, you come back, talk about it
another session. Then what happens is there's five prelim nights
is what they call them, and then we will decide
what night to run your prelim, so we'll probably run.
Usually what I like to do is if we have
the three drivers, we usually try to run consecutive nights,
so like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so we may run you
(26:44):
like Wednesday or Thursday night. The goal for you, I
think we try to be around as much as possible
given your schedule, but just to take in the event.
Number one. It feels like a big event from the
second to walk in because you walk into the expo
center and there's just trailers and cars and people. It's
a neat experience. You can go up into the stands,
go up into the viewing areas to watch the race,
(27:05):
and you feel very You can just feel it's a
big event very quickly. So on your prelm night, you
go through a heat race, you have a qualifying race,
and then you accumulate points, and the more points you
accumulate these races and it's based on your finishing a
position and how many cars you pass is what sets
you up for that night. And your goal is is
(27:25):
to obviously try to make your prelm night a main.
If you make your prelm night a main, then you're
going to be in pretty good shape. No matter where
you finish for Saturday, you're going to be fairly high
up on what they call the alphabet suit because they'll
probably be like an inn or even an O main.
Then you've got to work through those mains, So finish
the top of the oh, to get to the back
(27:46):
of the end, get to the as far up in
the end as you can get, and to just go through.
It's a tough day if you're starting way way down
and the alphabet there. But there's always epic runs. Every
year someone who makes a rhyme goes through seven, eight, nine,
ten of them. But then you work through your night.
There's various seamans and b maines on your prelm night
(28:07):
to try to make the A. If you don't make
the A, then wherever you finished up the night is
where it'll tell you go on Saturday, and then you
wait till Saturday, and then you run your Saturday mains
and you see how far you go. It's crazy because
everything I will liken it to this, Catherine. It's very
much like the Night five hundred to win the NY
five hundred. It's not about the fastest car, right. How
(28:29):
many times has the powl car won? It's won a lot,
but has them won the most right? I mean there's
been more that haven't been won by the pulseitter. It
is about getting through your night clean, not having any
mechanical issues, nobody hitting you, not getting caught up in
somebody's accident, having just a smooth night. When you look
at the guys that win the Chili Bowl, they just
(28:49):
don't have any issues. A great example last year was
Tyler Courtney. He was probably one of our best chances.
We had three really good drivers last year. Tyler was
cruising along, somebody hit his right front, bent his shock
and it just made the car very difficult to drive.
He finished a little farther back in his heat and
just spent the rest of the night trying to make up.
(29:10):
Ended up in the beam and on Saturday the track
was not great, was very non conducive to passing, so
he really couldn't go anywhere. And it was still a
great run, you know, still a great chance, but one
little thing went wrong kind of threw his night off.
So it's just like the five hundred you need to
finish two hundred laps, have a fast car, have seven
clean pit stops, not get caught up in somebody's accident.
(29:32):
Call the right strategy. It's kind of what takes the
one of the chili bowl. All that same thing has happened.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
So you say night, So does it stop in the
evening and finish in the evening, there's no practice during
the day or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Nope, it'll start around It'll start probably around five o'clock,
I think, and it goes through. So your typical kind
of kind of like almost like a U SAC feature night.
There's hot lapse, then you go into heat races, races,
and then there's a cea maine of being made and
an a main and so and you just everybody's trying
to make that first thing is to make your prelim
(30:08):
night amines and different drivers drive different nights. Like Logan
is always a Friday night guy. He was like on
Fridays and we'll split, We'll want to run one of
you a.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Night, So you get to choose which night you run on,
but then all the other people also get to choose
what night they run on. So how how does that
not end up with just everybody on Friday?
Speaker 3 (30:27):
For you, Hung, I think I think the Chili Bowl
will do some rebalancing, so they will say, like, hey,
we've got too many on say Thursdays, we're going to
move some. I don't know how they do that, so
I don't know if it's sort of based on a
you know, a ranking or a priority or whatnot. But
I do know that I think they've had that where like, hey,
we've got forty guys running Monday, but we've got ninety
(30:48):
running on Thursday. Well let's rebalance out a little bit
so that we don't and you do want it to
be fairly balanced. So if you've got three hundred and
say sixty seventy cars, you run about seventy some cars
a night, and it's just it's constant. That's why I
would say, for you, make sure you're there at night,
you know, like maybe we run Kaylee Wednesday night, you
run Thursday. Santino is asked to run Friday for a
(31:10):
couple of sponsor commitments. You know, maybe you come Thursday
and experience or Wednesday, sorry, experience what it's like. You
can stay all week, but experience what it's like, because
it is. It's just it's just one of the neatest
things you'll ever be a part of.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I think, Yeah, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm definitely if we're practicing on Sunday, I'm definitely gonna
stay on Monday and watch on Monday and then I'm like, oh,
do we run Tuesday, because then I'll know. Otherwise all
we got me there watching and I'd be like, Okay,
that's what I gotta do.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
But I know that I will learn also, so it's tough.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
It is tough.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Can I say Tuesday and then if I don't like
how I did, can I go, Okay, we do Wednesdays?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Well?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, And it was funny when I talked to Brian
Holbert because I called about your number and he told
me that I think he said that you will be
only the second UK based driver to ever enter the
Chili Bowl. That's crazy, yeah, which I was. I don't
know why I was surprised. If it's figured over the
course of time. But there's another one, a gentleman named
(32:14):
Tom Harris, and he still shows up as some spread
car races, in various midget races. But he told me
that you would be only the second UK warn driver
to run the Chili Bawl, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yeah, that's very cool. I guess I am surprised to.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
You because there's a lot of race car drivers that
come out of England and you would think that more
of them would want to run it. I mean, it
is an iconic race. It's one of the races that
goes down in history. Okay, so you've got the Indy
five hundred, and you've got Charlotte, you've got Daytona, dayton
in twenty four hour, you've got the more you've got
and like the Chili Bowl is that for dirt racing,
(32:51):
and so I am surprised that it hasn't enticed people
from all walks of racing, honestly, and more British.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
It's funny you get a lot of Australia New Zealanders
that do it because that form of racing, midgets and
sprint car is very popular down there. So like last
year we had Michael Pickenstrow for US and he was
from New Zealand. You get a lot of New Zealanders
and a lot of Australians it'll do it. But yeah,
the UK, it just wasn't. I know other UK drivers
(33:22):
who are fascinated by it would love to do it,
but they just haven't decided to make that that decision
to give it a shot like you have.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I think it's the not knowing part right, Like the
unknown is very uneasy. I, on the other hand, have
done a lot of racing with the unknown, Like I think,
I've literally driven everything apart from a sprint car, like
I've done the electric racing. I tried rally, I, open wheel,
(33:59):
sports cars, NASCAR, you name it. I've wanted to drive
it and I wanted to experience it.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So I am driven.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I have been to a few dirt races in my time,
and I love going as a spectator and I'm fascinated
by them, and I think that there's a lot of
talent over there that is probably underrated.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
And even even not there, even going.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
To my local place, the one opposite road, Atlanta. I
love to watch it and I love to see how
they approach it and the camaraderie and the it's still
like a community, you know. It's just it's really neat
to see. So I am very much looking forward to it.
I feel a little bit like I'm copying Kyle Larson,
(34:44):
you know, being a copycat.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Oh copycat, there you go.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Literally, I wish I was him, right like I wish
I wish I could do as well as he does.
So I think it will make me a better driver.
I think it will make me more wor rounded driver.
And maybe I'll fall in love with it and decide
that that's something that I want to pursue. Or maybe
I'll be like never again Brent like that and just knows. Well,
(35:11):
I don't know until I experience it, but I'm very
much looking forward to experiencing it. I just I hope
I am capable of taking on board all the things
in the very little amount of time that we have.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
I think the thing that I've always said is if
you go into it with the sense of humility and
the ability and decide to want to learn, I think
that's the biggest thing that will endear yourself, not only
to the team, but to the fans, because they do.
For a lot of these folks that are there, their
favorite drivers are some of these dirt racers, right, it's
not people in an IndyCar and NASCAR, it's the people
(35:46):
that do the dirt racing all year. And Kyle Kyle
was fortunate enough. He grew up on dirt, right, that
was his thing, So he went from dirt to pavement.
And I think it's a matter of the multi discipline.
But that's what made AJ four, That's what made Tony Stewart,
that's what made Jeff Gordon. So those guys all came
through you Sack, as did Kyle Larson, and so to
(36:08):
have those multiple disciplines, it's amazing because I think a
lot of people say that, you know, in dirt racing,
the pavement or tarmac is good for one thing, and
that's getting into the track. You know, a lot of
people think that pavement racing in the dirt world is
not And I grew up going to payment races because
all the races I love going to as a kid,
we're all pavements. So it's not going to be easy.
(36:29):
But neither's the Daytona five hundred, neither is the twenty
four hours of Daytona. Neither's the applispy. It's all hard,
it's all Pike's peak. These are things you've done. These
are not easy things. If they were, everybody would do them.
Everybody would just hop in a car and do them.
It's very difficult, but it's also the challenge that I
think you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
I think it's definitely something that's been missing from my repertoire.
And when I got the opportunity to do it and
drive for you, I was like, oh my gosh, yes,
why would I even have to think about it? And
they're like, well, you know, big Year, blah blah blah,
Like nope, I'm doing it.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I want to do it. This will be amazing.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
So I can't tell you how excited I am. I'm
jumping at the bit to get going. I can't wait
to drive the car. I can't wait to sit in
the car. I think it would be amazing. I just
need to do a bit of studying this week. I
think I'm gonna watch past chili bowls on YouTube like
it's my job. Yeah, whenever I get a sperm minute,
or as soon as I get into bed in the evening,
(37:28):
instead of scrolling Instagram or doom scrolling news, I'm gonna
I'm gonna watch chili bills.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
I think one of the things that's going to be
most interesting for you, Catherine, is that you're probably used
to sitting in a car and the wheel is in
front of you, right, the wheel is going to be
more in your lap, you know, and so it's just
a whole different field. Flatter too, yeah, flatter, yeah, so
more like I remember, like a truck. Yeah, almost like
(37:54):
a truck. I remember the first year we ran the
BC thirty nine, Marcus Erickson came over, as did Jack
and a few other drivers that I knew. And when
Marcus came over to look at the car, he looked
down and he goes, you sit in this, and Maria's
like yeah, and he's like, so the wheels like this,
and you know, the way the wheel was positioned like
a truck. He goes, I don't know how you do that,
(38:16):
and she goes, well, I don't know how you do
what you do right where you're down and you're super low.
So it's again relative to the things that you're used
to driving, it's going to be different. But still race
car drivers are race car drivers, and with time you
will start to figure things out. But that's what's toughest
about this level of the sport, the laps you get,
(38:38):
it's just trying to find time to get those last weather.
Test days are going to be so important.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
So speaking of the test days, will you just test
on whatever day is weather?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yep, Okay, So that's basically what we did. When I
talked to the track, I said, on a book, all
four days and then we're gonna we can hedge a
bit on what days are going to work. It's leading
into pri which is you know, which is nice if
you have anything to do with that. I know Santino does.
But we're just going to kind of wait and see
and then hopefully we get one or two great days
(39:08):
and then we'll just go get a boatload of tires
and start running bowload of tires and a tank of
fuel and a big drum of fuel and just start running, run,
running laps.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Laps and more laps, and then maybe if all of
the days are nice, then we can do more.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
We'll do as much as we feel like we can
absolutely do.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
So amazing, So four days are testing. I'm putting it
out there to the universe. The weather, the weather gods
are going to be on my side.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
I hope.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So, speaking of tires and new tires, definitely, again do
they go off to how long do they last?
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Tires is one of those things I see them. There's
a lot of things with tires. Your right rear is
everything right, the right rear like your left front. Like
I've asked the guys like how often we changed in
the left front tire, and they are like rarely because
the way the car, you know, sort of pitches on
the right rear, the left front really it doesn't hardly
have much contact. So your right rear and your left
(40:04):
rear are going to be the tires that we're replacing
pretty frequently. I definitely know is zefin a game changer
because the tire, especially as it's rotating on the dirt,
especially right, were's gonna wear a lot faster, which I
don't want. A wing car. You primarily drive off your
inside rear tire because there's so much downforce. It's the
inside rear. But they definitely won't change tires throughout the day.
(40:28):
They look at different staggers, so they'll start to sense like, okay,
the track's tights loose cars, so they'll look at different staggers.
So again It's one of the many things that they
will They will work with you on to make sure
that the car is set up the best that they
can based on whatever the track is giving them.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
What about other rules like blocking and if you touch
somebody then you get disqualified and the clock of the
coolest kind of.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
If you guys disqualified every time you ran into somebody,
they'll probably be about five cars left at the end.
But I'm joking, it wouldn't be that bad. But they're
certainly going to keep an eye on folks, especially if
they feel like they're reckless, but they'll be. They'll definitely
be drivers that are a lot more aggressive than others.
A lot of people will drive other drivers based on
how they've driven them Logan. What I love about Logan
(41:16):
is that he's a very clean driver, and so most
drivers raise him very respectfully, and usually if they don't,
they'll be over at our trailer afterwards apologizing saying, I
know you wouldn't do that to me, so I'm sorry,
and Logan, you know, usually upset. He had a couple
times last year where I remember one in particular, he
was really upset and the driver came over and and
(41:38):
but there's going to be a lot of little heads,
little bumps. You know you've got a Johnny Kocher always says,
they give you a front bumper for a reason. He says,
what is it. We'll pay for the front bumper, you
pay for the rear or something like that. So it's
a joke in the sense that, you know, the little
front bumpers come on and off pretty easy, but it's
(41:58):
a contact, a bit more contact you're going to be
used to and some of your other racing.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
But well, I remember when I first did the NASCAR
expency races. I think everybody was out to teach me
a lesson or prove a point in the first couple
of like welcome to NASCAR kind of thing, because I
felt like I was a punching bag. And then I
gave it back and I thought, this is ridiculous, Like
everybody's just hitting each other for the sake of hitting
(42:24):
each other because you hit me. And so I was
hoping that they wouldn't really notice that the Chili bowl,
who's in what car and doing what and they would
all race each other relatively the same and fairly just
to be able to get to the main and there
wouldn't be any of that.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
I think you're going to get a little bit of both.
You're going to have some people are going to race
you very respectfully and some that aren't. I know, we
raced the BC this year. Kaylee was I think her
qualifying race was having a good race and a driver
at the end made a really stupid move hit her,
cost her and him two spots. And when she got
out of the car, Kaylee's not a pretty quiet and
(42:59):
sent you know, not a lot of language, but she
got out and said that guy's an ass. And her
boyfriend said that's about the most you're going to get
out of her. But she was really upset because she's like,
I'm mining my business. In the two spots that we
end up losing, it was significant and where she ended
up in the A and it would have moved her
up probably two rows. And so those spots are important
(43:21):
and it's important to defend them. And that's one of
the things you'll hear a lot of guys. So one
of the things you'll hear is called a protector line.
So like if you know, like, hey, the track is
moving to the bottom, then you'll start to go down
to the bottom because the guy behind you, whoever's behind
you may not be able to pass you up top,
so you'll hear them say, well, I went down to
the bottom to run a protector line because I know
(43:42):
they're going to have our time passing me up top.
So I've seen Logan do that a lot, where it's like, Okay,
I got passed this driver. Now I'm going to go
low because I know that driver is not going to
be able to go on the high side of the track,
so I can protect my line pull away from them,
and I think once he maybe hears that that engine
has sort of distanced, then he can start to maybe
move up and change his line a little bit. So
(44:02):
it's more technical than it looks on TV from the
normal fan, but there's a lot to it.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, I'm excited to learn all the nuances. Honestly. Do
I need to get a license or credentials or how does?
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Nope? No, I already talked to the Chili Bowl about that.
And I think, you know, it was funny when I
called Brian about you driving. I said, does she need
any special licensing? And He's like no, And I said, well,
I think she's just a step under a super license anyway,
so with what you've driven, I think their whole goal
is just to make sure that it's someone who has
(44:41):
been in racing enough that they just know that anyone
who's driven the Indy five hundred and driven in sports cars
and all the things that you've done, they know that
from a racing pedigree, there's not an issue there.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
I hope that proved right.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
It just reminded me that I need to get my
next Shears racing license done then.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
So honestly, my.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Goal is to make it through to the final. Like
if I can get in the final, then I think
I would be like a win to me.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
I know that's a long chalk, Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
If you make it to the final is more than
a win. And I'm just telling you it's not easy.
Is it is difficult. A lot of it doesn't even
have anything to do with overall talent and that versus
anything else. It's just like Kyle Arson showed up last year,
he wasn't going to run it all of sudden decided
to chose up Thursday, Keith Konzata car gets in it. Now.
(45:33):
Kyle was in a weird situation because Kyle needed to qualify.
He needed to make I think at least the C
main or maybe even the B main on his prelim night.
So he had to finish and he wasn't there because
he couldn't because he had NASCAR commitments, I believe or something.
So he ended up flipping his car because he was
driving so hard because he was like, I mean, he
(45:57):
was like hanging it out there. And so it's just
there's a lot of things that go into winning, you know.
For you, I think it's going to be about gaining
that experience, figuring the car out, and then hopefully when
you're done, you say that was fun. I want to
get better. I want to go again.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Well, thank you so much for all
that information, And I guess the listeners have kind of
written along with our first this is what this is
what we're going to do, which is kind of cool
that it's like nobody gets an experience where they hear
the team owner discuss something like this when it's completely.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
New to a driver.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
So I think that I appreciate it, and I think
that they'll find it as interesting as I have. And
I'm sure that I'm going to have a million more
questions to come back with but I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
I think it's be a lot of fun that you're
going to enjoy it. I'm so excited to go along
all the ride with you.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Thanks. Friends, I appreciate it, and I will speak to
you very soon.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next
week with more updates and overtakes. 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 me Katherine Legg.
Our executive producer is Jesse Katz. Our supervising producer is
(47:21):
Grace Fus. Listen to Throttle Therapy on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search
for 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. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome
(00:23):
to this episode of Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Today. I am honored.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I'm very lucky to be joined by Brent Cox, team
principal of Abacus Racing and also soon to be my
boss for the Chili Bowl.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome brands.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Thanks Catherine, very happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So I have so many questions and I am super
I can't tell you how excited I am about the
Chili Bowl and driving the Midget. We will delve into that,
and I thought, what better way of getting all the
info than I know than to get it in front
of hundreds, maybe thousands, who knows of people, and get
(01:05):
to know you and what's expected of me and tell
you my apprehensions and how excited I am to also
be doing this. So I will, I will dive straight
in and just say, what do you think is going
to be my biggest challenge?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Getting to know you?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Getting to know the team, getting to know the car,
getting to know all the things that I know nothing
about because I come from.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Driving on tarmac.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, I think that's the biggest thing, right, Dirt is
just it's different and there's different tendencies to how that
surface is compared to obviously what you've been used to
with Indie car, sports car, NASCAR, everything that you've driven.
I think that race car drivers are race car drivers.
You guys figure things out. I was not a driver,
(01:55):
so strangely enough, I own a race team, but I've
never been a driver.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
How did you become a team owner? By the way, Like,
what drove you into that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I've been a fan of racing since I was a
little kid. I grew up in a little town just
north of Minneapolis, so I've been a fan of the
five hundred. I was just a fan of racing. Got
involved in racing round two thousand and two thousand and
nine from the business front, and then just kept at
it and got to a point where I had been
(02:22):
fortunate enough to be involved in racing. I've been involved
in promoting some IndyCar races, both on my own and
with other promoters. In what way, so I actually started
a company that did sponsorship Activation eight and then in
twenty ten we were actually approached by IndyCar to own, promote,
(02:46):
and run the twenty eleven Milwaukee IndyCar Race. The race
had not run in twenty ten, so IndyCar wanted to
get it back on the calendar. My partner and my
sponsor Activation Business had had experience with Milwaukee and with
his father who was part of the promoting group back
in the eighties and nineties, so we accepted that challenge.
(03:08):
And that's exactly what it was. It was a very
difficult re entry into the market. Milwaukee proved to be
a very difficult a very difficult market because it's they
had been burned by the prior promoter number one, and
then it was just not We really thought we turned
the ticket link on, it would just fell up, and
it just didn't happen. And as a young promoter, we
(03:29):
didn't have a lot of sponsors and contacts and our
rolodex to do the things we needed to do. So
the event ran. It was a success on track, but
it was not a success financially. So I had kind
of decided that maybe I had kind of reached my
end of being a businessman in racing. But then a
very strange thing happened in the sense that Dan Weldon.
(03:53):
When Dan was killed in Las Vegas later that year,
I kind of a feeling that IndyCar would go back
to Milwaukee. They had said they weren't coming, so they did,
and Andretti Sports Marketing, which was a new company, had
been formed, and I actually knew the chief marketing officer
very well. So I got brought up a consultant, helped
them with that race for the next few years along
(04:13):
with Baltimore, and so we gained a lot of experience
in the world of race activation and made tons and
tons of contacts in the sport, and so that really
helped me. I started to pick up driver clients, and
so the rest was kind of history. And so the
long story short, COVID hit. I started to get back
into short track racing, kind of grown up, going to
(04:34):
a lot of short track races at places like Winchester
Anderson Speedway in the Astraceway Park, and I just had
this all of a sudden, this epiphany to start a
USAC team A SACK for those who don't know, that's
United States Auto Club. So in twenty twenty one I did.
I started Advocus Racing and then it's been a success.
(04:55):
It's been I can't tell you of it, how much
fun it's been to build the team, And honestly, what's
been most fun for me is the people that have
driven for us and will drive for us. But I
just did it, honestly out of my love of the
sport and I kind of felt like if I didn't
do something more directly involved in racing, I was probably
going to regret it, so that was kind of time
(05:15):
to do it.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So that's how you got to where we are now,
and you've had some success.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
We have. Yeah, So basically we started in twenty one.
Our first driver was Maria Koefer. So I am no
stranger to having female drivers, which I want to support
and in every way that we can. You will actually
be the fourth female to drive for our team.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I'm not even special.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So it's important.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Do you see any differences between the female drivers and
the male drivers having experienced so many of them now?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
No, I think the ones that we've had drive for us,
both male and female, have just they've all had the
same goal. They're they're very driven, no pun intended, but
their desire to succeee in the sport. It doesn't matter.
I want to be the best female. They want to
be the best driver. And so when I look at
(06:13):
you know how it was when Maria dreu Forrest and
then we had a younger girl named Lacy Ferno that
drove forst for a little bit, and now we've had
Kaylee Brice and drive for us. The constant is that
they just wanted to succeed on track that was one
to win. They wanted to do the best that they could.
And what I find is that they all endeared themselves
(06:34):
to the team. Our team is a very tight knit group.
You're going to figure that out. But what's nice about
our team is that once you sort of show your passion,
show your desire, you know, Like when Kaylee came in,
Kaylee was a fairly known commodity. She had been the
first female to ever qualify for the A main at
the Chili Bowl earlier this year's being the first female
(06:57):
in the history of USAK to win a national event
when she won a silver corner race at Bellville. So
she came in with a pedigree that you know, but
they still didn't know her. And so they're always a
little bit cautious, and then an hour after she spent
some time at the shop, you know they're immediately the
team manager as Colin said, hey, we've got her locked
(07:17):
in for chili Bowl, right. So once they became endeared
to her and they saw her commitment, dedication, and then
they saw it when she ran the BC thirty nine
for US at indianasm Or Speedway this year that I've
just noticed that I think with all of them, we've
enjoyed working with all three of them. I know we'll
enjoy working with you, and they've all just fit in
super well with the team.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So I have waited also with some female drivers and
obviously a bunch of male drivers, and in my experience, the.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Approach has been different.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Like I think that the female drivers I've worked with
at least have come they've kind of stepped up to
it in a very conservative, methodical way, whereas the guys
have come at it a little bit more from a
confident not overconfident some of them, but definitely they can
(08:11):
go above the limit and then bring themselves back down,
whereas the girls seemed to kind of creep up to
the limit. But I have had no experience obviously on
dirt racing, so I don't know whether it's the same
there too, like the approach is different.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Well, I think what I used to always say about
Maria when Maria drove for us, the best thing that
could ever happened to Maria is for you know, in
dirt track racing, right, there's there's slide jobs, and if
a driver gave Maria a wheel, so if they took
their right rear and hit her front, that fired her up,
like you'd see her like, because at that moment she's like, Okay,
(08:46):
let's let's go. Lacey was our most inexperience. She was
she was good, she was consistent, but her experience level
was not. Maria had been driving midgets in California for
years and then Kaylee was kind of the same way.
Kaylee is very methodical. You look at when she made
the A main in twenty twenty one at the Chili Bowl,
(09:10):
she it was you know, it was in the bee.
She was kind of and all of a sudden she
found a high line and just started I remember sitting
in my couch because I was not there, and watched
her just make history. Once she found no one else
would run up there. Once she figured it out, she
just blew past ten cars and took the lead one
of the b main and made history. So again, I
(09:33):
do think and that's what you know. Logan Ceevie has
been our primary driver. We've now won all three USAC
championships with Logan in the last two years, only the
second team in history USACK to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Congratulations.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
But Logan is very calculated. If he has a fifth
place car, he always feels like I'll finish fifth. He
doesn't push the car beyond its limits. He is very
very fast. He's also very calculated. So I kind of
since that the women that driven force have been a
little bit more probably controlled is a great example, but
very fast, but very controlled.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
Okay, you haven't what with me yet because that's definitely
not me. I was going to say.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
That's so hard to do, is not overdrive a fifth
place car, right, just accept that that's what it's always
going in it. That's one of the best ways of
maturing as a driver, I would say. But it's also
incredibly hard to do. So I don't know how I'm
going to.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Take to it well.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
And that's the thing with dirt, it's like, you know,
it's a surface that can be different from a Wednesday
to a Thursday. Right, I mean how much moistures in
the track? Is there have their ruts that have developed?
Is there a whole you know, is there somewhat of
a cushion kind of building at the top that you
can run that right rear on. It's again, I only
(10:48):
know this from listenings. I don't know what from practical experience,
but dirt is something that you'll hear the drivers talk about.
I found a silver of moisture in turn three. That's
where I put my tire. I found certain things and so,
but it's no different than the different settings and things
you probably do. And whether it's again the sports car,
you're ready car, whatever you're driving, there's just certain things
(11:09):
that you'll see that the track is giving you drivers
or drivers, and you'll figure it out. So, but the
biggest thing you'll need is its laps.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Do you think that the driving will be the hardest
thing for me to figure out or do you think
it would be all the auxiliary stuff like what I
want from the car, how and when to pass people?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Like the slide jobs that you were just talking about.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
On all of that, because I'm more I think I'm
a little bit more concerned about all that other information
and making sure I've got it all as opposed to
the actual driving part, because I'm pretty sure if it
was just me out there alone and you gave me
a bunch of laps, I'd figure that part out, right.
I hope, I hope that's not me being overconfident there
(11:52):
now and now I'm second guessing myself.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
But it's all the stuff that I don't know that
I don't know, right.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I think that's what interesting about dirt racing is from
the outside end, people look at a dirt car, whether
it's a midget or a sprint car or a wing
sprint car or whatever, and to them it looks a
bit archaic, right, It just looks like it's, you know,
four big tires on a chassis. But the settings are
so different than you know. There's obviously tire pressures, and
you know how far your wheel is out or in,
(12:20):
and the different things the shock settings. You know, it's
a shock step or a loose or whatever, what's the rebound
like again, things I've heard the team talk about. What
I know our team will do with you is you know,
certainly as you come in and say like how should
I drive the car, throttle response, things like that, and
that's where having experienced drivers around are going to help, right,
So whether it's Kaylee or Logan, if he's helping us,
(12:43):
it's it's a matter of how you make that car.
I think the hardest thing for you is going to
be And there's obviously one of your teammates is obviously
coming from sort of the same element of as you
would say Tarmac driving with Santino Ferucci. If you talk
to Santia, you know he would say the same thing.
The thing for him, it's it's trusting how you can
(13:05):
get that right rear to sort of rotate around right,
so as you're going through a turn, it's the old
you know, turn right to go left right, So you're
getting that car to come around and get that wheel spin.
And that is probably not intuitive, not that you don't
have roll in your car right because you but not
like a like a dirt car.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Our entire live so we spend trying not to go sideways.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Exactly whereas in a dirt car, you know, now wing
car you put a wing on, it's a lot different
right wing cars. Your your nose are going to stay
more straight. There's so much downforce. But with a dirt
car without a wing on it, you know you're but
then other factors come into how the track, you know,
does it rubber up, So now all of a sudden
you're not really running high, you're kind of running low.
(13:48):
So it's going to probably drive a little bit more
like you were on on pavement. So it's it's these
are things that I've observed, and I think those are
the things that coming from sort of a Formula base
driving where your cars are are nimble, you know, it's
about marrying them to that surface, right, which is why
as a team we do run some payment races, we're
not as good at pavement because my crew is a
(14:10):
halt has all come through dirt, so you go to
pavement's completely different, right, So we've had experienced pavement drivers
drive for us are like, you know, it's getting your
car to marry to that track, and we're getting closer,
but we just don't quite have that setup yet where
you look at the guys who are up front, it's
like their cars are on rails and ours is on
(14:32):
a bit of a skating rink. So we're still a
little bit loose, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
We have a myriad of things that we can change
on cars and sports cars in IndyCar and everything else
I've driven, Is it the same? Like, are we still
dealing with tie, precious suspension, dampa settings, cost of canber
or ride heights, all of that kind of thing in
that quite.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Too, one hundred percent all of it. It's the same thing.
So you know, I've watched them make so many changes
to the car. I've seen Logan, for instance, come in
and he's not happy with the car. He tells them,
he talks about it, and then they make changes and
we go out and we hope that just like what
(15:14):
you've gone through, did these changes work? Did they give
us what we wanted? The track surface probably similar to say,
especially like say any you know, you might practice it
two o'clock when the track temperature is in pavement could
be ext degrees and then maybe you're qualifying two hours
later and it's high or lower whatever clouds have come in.
(15:36):
It's the same thing here, the surface changes. So as
we're watching, especially in our world when we might run
three different classes of cars, you know, we might look
at like, well, sprint cars are out there, We're only
running our midget sprint cars are putting a lot of
rubber down, so it's going to change how we want
to set the car up. Whereas no different than you guys,
right sports serias ly different rubber down, right, So then
(15:58):
you're like, well, now we have to do this rubber
which is ours. So's it's all those things that your
engineers are making changes to try to compensate for that.
It's the same thing in dirt racing.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
So is it set up the same as well?
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Like you'll have the crew and the mechanics and like
a chief mechanic kind of an engineer, and a team
manager and it's the same. It's the same theory basically,
just a different stuff it.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Is it is Now we have a team manager, Kirk Simpson,
and then we have some crew, so we have different
people on our crew. So Johnny Koefer will help us out.
That's Maria's father who still helps out with the team.
And then we've got Daniel Whitley and others that will
help us out. A lot of what they do is
it's not as structured. So we don't have like a
(16:41):
computer that gives us data. We have shock settings and
so we have Dino sheets, so we know, like if
we look at the surface and we say this is so,
we've got a book. So we go back to race tracks,
we have all of our setup sheets. We know it
worked the last time we were there. So sometimes we
go to a new track, we're a little bit of
a disadvantage. We'll look at that track and be like
this track is similar to this track or that, and
(17:02):
we'll use a setup it's similar. But with the Chili Bowl,
we've all been there, right, but it is a temporary
dirt track, right, so every year they bring in dirt
and it's all brand new. So it is going to
be closed, but it's going to be a little bit different,
and then they're going to work that surface all week.
So your pre lim night and we can get into
how the Chili Bowl works, but your prelum night, your
(17:25):
surface could be one complete way. And then by the
time you get to Saturday, when you're running in whatever
main you're running in to try to make it to
the A, the track could be completely different because more
cars are on it. The track's trying to stay ahead
of it. But the team tries to see that. So
when they'll go and watch the other races, to see like, Okay,
the track's doing this, track's doing that. I think we
(17:46):
need to make settings to the car. But then like
you'll see, like drivers like when you line up, it's
one of the neatest things. So like you're lining up
to run your race, there's a race usually going on,
you know, to your right, and all the drivers are
holding phones watching the races going on to see what
(18:07):
the track is doing. So you'll see. I know the
first year had Christopher Bell behind us other drivers and
Christopher Bell, just like Maria, is sitting there staring at
his phone to see what the track is doing, so
when he goes out, they can kind of get a
feel for what it's already doing.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
So if there's no telemetry, can you also watch me
in my car and tell me what my car needs?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, so they will, so they will. The crew will
do that. So the crew, and it's amazing the things
they pick up. I don't. I'm an accountant by trade, right,
I'm a CPA by trade. There are things I will
say and they will come off and be like we
had this issue, we had that issue, and they'll know
like immediately, like the first race we ever run in
(18:51):
USAC Midgets, Logan had a right rear shock failure, so
he was using other tools in his car to compensate
the fact that's right where a shock is broken. I
have no idea. I'm over having a heart attack, hoping
to God that we're going to win this race. And
as soon as we go up there, they're like, the
right or shock was broken. How they picked these things
up when he's running around at speed because they're so intuitive,
(19:13):
So when you would come off from a session, they
would probably say to you the car, look think it
was doing this, or look think it was tight, and
you would say like yes, or I couldn't get it
to do this or do that, and then they'd make changes.
And then we will use GoPros. So a lot of
times we'll put a go pro camera on there so
they can see your hands and howl the car. So
then we've used that a lot, especially for newer drivers,
(19:34):
to say like your entry points and things like that.
I only know this as I've watched it, But I
don't necessarily ever tell the drivers these things. I just
hear them when they talk about it.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
So do we have radio comes when we're out there
with the pants?
Speaker 3 (19:49):
You do not? So you will hear from race control,
so it's a one way to you. You have no communication.
So the biggest thing, and and this is you will
have to feel what's behind you based on one thing
only and that is sound or what you see. So
if you see a.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Car on your inside, there's no mirror.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
There's no mirrors. There are no mirrors on these cars,
so you will hear it from sound, so you'll know,
like if you're depending on where you're running, you'll hear
a car to your right or maybe to your left,
and you'll kind of know. Now. One of the tricks
and one of the things there is a huge screen
at the Chili Bowl. Drivers use that screen so they
(20:33):
will look up to see if they are on TV,
and they will see where so especially the leaders, they
will come out of turn two. I think it's it's
in turn four, so I know Logan has told me,
like he comes out, he'll look up at the screen
to see what the car behind him is doing where
they're at, and so it's it's amazing, But you guys
(20:54):
all have one thing in comedy of amazing and eye control,
so you know it's it's not the speed of which
you guys have to do things. But intuitively, I think
it's just you'll hear the cars and you'll know they're around,
and then you just have to kind of feel your
race craftsmanship sort of come together as you pick up laps.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
I'm going to do a lot of studying and I'm
going to watch a lot of races and try and.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Try and learn as much as I can.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
But the teammates that we're going to have, so Santino
and I are going to probably want to learn from
whoever your most experienced driver is, right.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
Which will be Kaylee. Kaylee Brison will be your third
team mate, It will be you, Kaylee Santino. Logan actually
drives for Kevin Swindell, so it's an interesting situation. He's
driven for Kevin for years, and so one of the
things that we knew when we retained Logan is that
for now he's going to drive for Kevin, especially if
he keeps winning. So Logan is the two time defending
(21:58):
Chili Bowl champion, So certainly Logan comes into me and
if I'm like, hey, when did the Chili Bowl next year,
He's kind of like, well, I'm not gonna walk away
from a car that I know. It's winning And it
is not to say that he knows he couldn't win
in our car, because obviously we won a midget championship
last year. We've won ten races in the midget news
that in the last two years. So, but him and
(22:19):
Kevin have a very special bond. But Logan will hang
around our pit a lot, and certainly he is there
to help and to guide, and so I know that
was his intention with Santino because in Tia was supposed
to drive two races and are said when unfortunately weather
hit forced both races to verneserday, and so Santino did
I get to run. He had to go back for
(22:40):
a sponsor commitment. And that's tough because what he wants
to suck you would want is laps and so to
be able to learn to talk to the team, to
talk to Logan, But it was tough because as drivers,
what's the one thing you want? Time in a car?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Absolutely, speaking of time in a car, when I go
test and Indy is that IRP, No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It's a small So we are slated to drive a
small dirt track just north of it's probably about an
hour north of Indianapolis. It's called US twenty four. The
only thing that will hold us back on that is
just like any other test, is weather. So we just
hope that But that track is actually we've tested there before.
It's a great little track. It's about as close as
you're probably going to get to a track the size
(23:26):
of the track that'll be at the Expo Center in Tulsa,
So it'll be a great training ground for you. And
I do believe Santino is going to be there as well.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
What about a logan or somebody that will tell us what.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We go the goal is. We're definitely going to have
some folks there with experience. That is something that I
think will be great for you guys, because again it's
about laps. I don't know if you saw recently, Kyle
Busch just did the same thing. Kyle Busch got into
a car and they just had a session where he
just kept going out, He kept talking to his team,
kept going out, and you know, again, it's about gaining
(23:58):
comfort in the car, understanding how the car reacts to
the things that you wanted to.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Do, yeah, and knowing whether you're going down the right path.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
What you don't want to do is build the wrong
foundation and do something wrong and then it becomes habit,
and then it's even hard to go out. So I've
learned that if you can learn from the best of
the best, and obviously Logan is as damning close as
you're going to get to that right now. So I'm
looking I'm very much looking forward to working with him
and Kaylee obviously her too, but it's definitely going to
(24:30):
be a steep learning curve. I think I will feel
a little bit more settled after I've done the test,
so I know what to expect and I know how
it works, because right now. I looked at the entry
list for the Chili Bowl the other day and I
was scrolling down and I'm like, still scrolling, and I'm
still scrolling and I'm still scrolling.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
And I'm like, oh, holy moly, how many cars are
going to be there? Like, I had no idea. There's
literally hundreds of cars there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
So by time it's done on the first day, there
should be probably about three hundred and seventy cars entered.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I had no idea. It's just absolutely bonkers to me.
So how me through. You're there for a week, right,
so you turn up, you unload. How does it work?
Speaker 3 (25:16):
So the first day is Sunday. Sunday is practice, so
Sunday is the first day that you would be able
to hit the track and you'll have a chance to
do multiple sessions. Not very long, they're going to be
five six laps, but it will be an opportunity for
you to go out and work the track. What's interesting
about a midget is that it has to be push start,
(25:39):
so and it is direct drive, so there's no gears,
so it is once it's running, it's running. If you stop,
it's going to stall, and then you have to be repushed.
So there's a lot of nuances there that you're going
to have to learn just to get the car started,
get a moving, But the team will walk you through
all that. There is opportunities a lot of times outside
(26:01):
that when you get set up, you can push start cars.
I think the track is they sometimes want to make
sure it's not completely chaos in the parking lot as
people are waiting, but you'll see lots of different things
that will happen to help you get acclimated. You'll start
to learn those things very fast. You engage the car
and then there's a release and then they push you
and then the car fires up and you'll lied ale
(26:22):
around until they tell you go green. You go green,
you run your lapse, you come back, talk about it
another session. Then what happens is there's five prelim nights
is what they call them, and then we will decide
what night to run your prelim, so we'll probably run.
Usually what I like to do is if we have
the three drivers, we usually try to run consecutive nights,
so like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so we may run you
(26:44):
like Wednesday or Thursday night. The goal for you, I
think we try to be around as much as possible
given your schedule, but just to take in the event.
Number one. It feels like a big event from the
second to walk in because you walk into the expo
center and there's just trailers and cars and people. It's
a neat experience. You can go up into the stands,
go up into the viewing areas to watch the race,
(27:05):
and you feel very You can just feel it's a
big event very quickly. So on your prelm night, you
go through a heat race, you have a qualifying race,
and then you accumulate points, and the more points you
accumulate these races and it's based on your finishing a
position and how many cars you pass is what sets
you up for that night. And your goal is is
(27:25):
to obviously try to make your prelm night a main.
If you make your prelm night a main, then you're
going to be in pretty good shape. No matter where
you finish for Saturday, you're going to be fairly high
up on what they call the alphabet suit because they'll
probably be like an inn or even an O main.
Then you've got to work through those mains, So finish
the top of the oh, to get to the back
(27:46):
of the end, get to the as far up in
the end as you can get, and to just go through.
It's a tough day if you're starting way way down
and the alphabet there. But there's always epic runs. Every
year someone who makes a rhyme goes through seven, eight, nine,
ten of them. But then you work through your night.
There's various seamans and b maines on your prelm night
(28:07):
to try to make the A. If you don't make
the A, then wherever you finished up the night is
where it'll tell you go on Saturday, and then you
wait till Saturday, and then you run your Saturday mains
and you see how far you go. It's crazy because
everything I will liken it to this, Catherine. It's very
much like the Night five hundred to win the NY
five hundred. It's not about the fastest car, right. How
(28:29):
many times has the powl car won? It's won a lot,
but has them won the most right? I mean there's
been more that haven't been won by the pulseitter. It
is about getting through your night clean, not having any
mechanical issues, nobody hitting you, not getting caught up in
somebody's accident, having just a smooth night. When you look
at the guys that win the Chili Bowl, they just
(28:49):
don't have any issues. A great example last year was
Tyler Courtney. He was probably one of our best chances.
We had three really good drivers last year. Tyler was
cruising along, somebody hit his right front, bent his shock
and it just made the car very difficult to drive.
He finished a little farther back in his heat and
just spent the rest of the night trying to make up.
(29:10):
Ended up in the beam and on Saturday the track
was not great, was very non conducive to passing, so
he really couldn't go anywhere. And it was still a
great run, you know, still a great chance, but one
little thing went wrong kind of threw his night off.
So it's just like the five hundred you need to
finish two hundred laps, have a fast car, have seven
clean pit stops, not get caught up in somebody's accident.
(29:32):
Call the right strategy. It's kind of what takes the
one of the chili bowl. All that same thing has happened.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
So you say night, So does it stop in the
evening and finish in the evening, there's no practice during
the day or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (29:46):
Nope, it'll start around It'll start probably around five o'clock,
I think, and it goes through. So your typical kind
of kind of like almost like a U SAC feature night.
There's hot lapse, then you go into heat races, races,
and then there's a cea maine of being made and
an a main and so and you just everybody's trying
to make that first thing is to make your prelim
(30:08):
night amines and different drivers drive different nights. Like Logan
is always a Friday night guy. He was like on
Fridays and we'll split, We'll want to run one of
you a.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Night, So you get to choose which night you run on,
but then all the other people also get to choose
what night they run on. So how how does that
not end up with just everybody on Friday?
Speaker 3 (30:27):
For you, Hung, I think I think the Chili Bowl
will do some rebalancing, so they will say, like, hey,
we've got too many on say Thursdays, we're going to
move some. I don't know how they do that, so
I don't know if it's sort of based on a
you know, a ranking or a priority or whatnot. But
I do know that I think they've had that where like, hey,
we've got forty guys running Monday, but we've got ninety
(30:48):
running on Thursday. Well let's rebalance out a little bit
so that we don't and you do want it to
be fairly balanced. So if you've got three hundred and
say sixty seventy cars, you run about seventy some cars
a night, and it's just it's constant. That's why I
would say, for you, make sure you're there at night,
you know, like maybe we run Kaylee Wednesday night, you
run Thursday. Santino is asked to run Friday for a
(31:10):
couple of sponsor commitments. You know, maybe you come Thursday
and experience or Wednesday, sorry, experience what it's like. You
can stay all week, but experience what it's like, because
it is. It's just it's just one of the neatest
things you'll ever be a part of.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
I think, Yeah, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm definitely if we're practicing on Sunday, I'm definitely gonna
stay on Monday and watch on Monday and then I'm like, oh,
do we run Tuesday, because then I'll know. Otherwise all
we got me there watching and I'd be like, Okay,
that's what I gotta do.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
But I know that I will learn also, so it's tough.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
It is tough.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Can I say Tuesday and then if I don't like
how I did, can I go, Okay, we do Wednesdays?
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Well?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Yeah, And it was funny when I talked to Brian
Holbert because I called about your number and he told
me that I think he said that you will be
only the second UK based driver to ever enter the
Chili Bowl. That's crazy, yeah, which I was. I don't
know why I was surprised. If it's figured over the
course of time. But there's another one, a gentleman named
(32:14):
Tom Harris, and he still shows up as some spread
car races, in various midget races. But he told me
that you would be only the second UK warn driver
to run the Chili Bawl, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yeah, that's very cool. I guess I am surprised to.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
You because there's a lot of race car drivers that
come out of England and you would think that more
of them would want to run it. I mean, it
is an iconic race. It's one of the races that
goes down in history. Okay, so you've got the Indy
five hundred, and you've got Charlotte, you've got Daytona, dayton
in twenty four hour, you've got the more you've got
and like the Chili Bowl is that for dirt racing,
(32:51):
and so I am surprised that it hasn't enticed people
from all walks of racing, honestly, and more British.
Speaker 3 (33:01):
It's funny you get a lot of Australia New Zealanders
that do it because that form of racing, midgets and
sprint car is very popular down there. So like last
year we had Michael Pickenstrow for US and he was
from New Zealand. You get a lot of New Zealanders
and a lot of Australians it'll do it. But yeah,
the UK, it just wasn't. I know other UK drivers
(33:22):
who are fascinated by it would love to do it,
but they just haven't decided to make that that decision
to give it a shot like you have.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I think it's the not knowing part right, Like the
unknown is very uneasy. I, on the other hand, have
done a lot of racing with the unknown, Like I think,
I've literally driven everything apart from a sprint car, like
I've done the electric racing. I tried rally, I, open wheel,
(33:59):
sports cars, NASCAR, you name it. I've wanted to drive
it and I wanted to experience it.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
So I am driven.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
I have been to a few dirt races in my time,
and I love going as a spectator and I'm fascinated
by them, and I think that there's a lot of
talent over there that is probably underrated.
Speaker 2 (34:18):
And even even not there, even going.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
To my local place, the one opposite road, Atlanta. I
love to watch it and I love to see how
they approach it and the camaraderie and the it's still
like a community, you know. It's just it's really neat
to see. So I am very much looking forward to it.
I feel a little bit like I'm copying Kyle Larson,
(34:44):
you know, being a copycat.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Oh copycat, there you go.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
Literally, I wish I was him, right like I wish
I wish I could do as well as he does.
So I think it will make me a better driver.
I think it will make me more wor rounded driver.
And maybe I'll fall in love with it and decide
that that's something that I want to pursue. Or maybe
I'll be like never again Brent like that and just knows. Well,
(35:11):
I don't know until I experience it, but I'm very
much looking forward to experiencing it. I just I hope
I am capable of taking on board all the things
in the very little amount of time that we have.
Speaker 3 (35:22):
I think the thing that I've always said is if
you go into it with the sense of humility and
the ability and decide to want to learn, I think
that's the biggest thing that will endear yourself, not only
to the team, but to the fans, because they do.
For a lot of these folks that are there, their
favorite drivers are some of these dirt racers, right, it's
not people in an IndyCar and NASCAR, it's the people
(35:46):
that do the dirt racing all year. And Kyle Kyle
was fortunate enough. He grew up on dirt, right, that
was his thing, So he went from dirt to pavement.
And I think it's a matter of the multi discipline.
But that's what made AJ four, That's what made Tony Stewart,
that's what made Jeff Gordon. So those guys all came
through you Sack, as did Kyle Larson, and so to
(36:08):
have those multiple disciplines, it's amazing because I think a
lot of people say that, you know, in dirt racing,
the pavement or tarmac is good for one thing, and
that's getting into the track. You know, a lot of
people think that pavement racing in the dirt world is
not And I grew up going to payment races because
all the races I love going to as a kid,
we're all pavements. So it's not going to be easy.
(36:29):
But neither's the Daytona five hundred, neither is the twenty
four hours of Daytona. Neither's the applispy. It's all hard,
it's all Pike's peak. These are things you've done. These
are not easy things. If they were, everybody would do them.
Everybody would just hop in a car and do them.
It's very difficult, but it's also the challenge that I
think you're looking for.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
I think it's definitely something that's been missing from my repertoire.
And when I got the opportunity to do it and
drive for you, I was like, oh my gosh, yes,
why would I even have to think about it? And
they're like, well, you know, big Year, blah blah blah,
Like nope, I'm doing it.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I want to do it. This will be amazing.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
So I can't tell you how excited I am. I'm
jumping at the bit to get going. I can't wait
to drive the car. I can't wait to sit in
the car. I think it would be amazing. I just
need to do a bit of studying this week. I
think I'm gonna watch past chili bowls on YouTube like
it's my job. Yeah, whenever I get a sperm minute,
or as soon as I get into bed in the evening,
(37:28):
instead of scrolling Instagram or doom scrolling news, I'm gonna
I'm gonna watch chili bills.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
I think one of the things that's going to be
most interesting for you, Catherine, is that you're probably used
to sitting in a car and the wheel is in
front of you, right, the wheel is going to be
more in your lap, you know, and so it's just
a whole different field. Flatter too, yeah, flatter, yeah, so
more like I remember, like a truck. Yeah, almost like
(37:54):
a truck. I remember the first year we ran the
BC thirty nine, Marcus Erickson came over, as did Jack
and a few other drivers that I knew. And when
Marcus came over to look at the car, he looked
down and he goes, you sit in this, and Maria's
like yeah, and he's like, so the wheels like this,
and you know, the way the wheel was positioned like
a truck. He goes, I don't know how you do that,
(38:16):
and she goes, well, I don't know how you do
what you do right where you're down and you're super low.
So it's again relative to the things that you're used
to driving, it's going to be different. But still race
car drivers are race car drivers, and with time you
will start to figure things out. But that's what's toughest
about this level of the sport, the laps you get,
(38:38):
it's just trying to find time to get those last weather.
Test days are going to be so important.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
So speaking of the test days, will you just test
on whatever day is weather?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yep, Okay, So that's basically what we did. When I
talked to the track, I said, on a book, all
four days and then we're gonna we can hedge a
bit on what days are going to work. It's leading
into pri which is you know, which is nice if
you have anything to do with that. I know Santino does.
But we're just going to kind of wait and see
and then hopefully we get one or two great days
(39:08):
and then we'll just go get a boatload of tires
and start running bowload of tires and a tank of
fuel and a big drum of fuel and just start running, run,
running laps.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Laps and more laps, and then maybe if all of
the days are nice, then we can do more.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
We'll do as much as we feel like we can
absolutely do.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
So amazing, So four days are testing. I'm putting it
out there to the universe. The weather, the weather gods
are going to be on my side.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
I hope.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
So, speaking of tires and new tires, definitely, again do
they go off to how long do they last?
Speaker 3 (39:41):
Tires is one of those things I see them. There's
a lot of things with tires. Your right rear is
everything right, the right rear like your left front. Like
I've asked the guys like how often we changed in
the left front tire, and they are like rarely because
the way the car, you know, sort of pitches on
the right rear, the left front really it doesn't hardly
have much contact. So your right rear and your left
(40:04):
rear are going to be the tires that we're replacing
pretty frequently. I definitely know is zefin a game changer
because the tire, especially as it's rotating on the dirt,
especially right, were's gonna wear a lot faster, which I
don't want. A wing car. You primarily drive off your
inside rear tire because there's so much downforce. It's the
inside rear. But they definitely won't change tires throughout the day.
(40:28):
They look at different staggers, so they'll start to sense like, okay,
the track's tights loose cars, so they'll look at different staggers.
So again It's one of the many things that they
will They will work with you on to make sure
that the car is set up the best that they
can based on whatever the track is giving them.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
What about other rules like blocking and if you touch
somebody then you get disqualified and the clock of the
coolest kind of.
Speaker 3 (40:53):
If you guys disqualified every time you ran into somebody,
they'll probably be about five cars left at the end.
But I'm joking, it wouldn't be that bad. But they're
certainly going to keep an eye on folks, especially if
they feel like they're reckless, but they'll be. They'll definitely
be drivers that are a lot more aggressive than others.
A lot of people will drive other drivers based on
how they've driven them Logan. What I love about Logan
(41:16):
is that he's a very clean driver, and so most
drivers raise him very respectfully, and usually if they don't,
they'll be over at our trailer afterwards apologizing saying, I
know you wouldn't do that to me, so I'm sorry,
and Logan, you know, usually upset. He had a couple
times last year where I remember one in particular, he
was really upset and the driver came over and and
(41:38):
but there's going to be a lot of little heads,
little bumps. You know you've got a Johnny Kocher always says,
they give you a front bumper for a reason. He says,
what is it. We'll pay for the front bumper, you
pay for the rear or something like that. So it's
a joke in the sense that, you know, the little
front bumpers come on and off pretty easy, but it's
(41:58):
a contact, a bit more contact you're going to be
used to and some of your other racing.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
But well, I remember when I first did the NASCAR
expency races. I think everybody was out to teach me
a lesson or prove a point in the first couple
of like welcome to NASCAR kind of thing, because I
felt like I was a punching bag. And then I
gave it back and I thought, this is ridiculous, Like
everybody's just hitting each other for the sake of hitting
(42:24):
each other because you hit me. And so I was
hoping that they wouldn't really notice that the Chili bowl,
who's in what car and doing what and they would
all race each other relatively the same and fairly just
to be able to get to the main and there
wouldn't be any of that.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
I think you're going to get a little bit of both.
You're going to have some people are going to race
you very respectfully and some that aren't. I know, we
raced the BC this year. Kaylee was I think her
qualifying race was having a good race and a driver
at the end made a really stupid move hit her,
cost her and him two spots. And when she got
out of the car, Kaylee's not a pretty quiet and
(42:59):
sent you know, not a lot of language, but she
got out and said that guy's an ass. And her
boyfriend said that's about the most you're going to get
out of her. But she was really upset because she's like,
I'm mining my business. In the two spots that we
end up losing, it was significant and where she ended
up in the A and it would have moved her
up probably two rows. And so those spots are important
(43:21):
and it's important to defend them. And that's one of
the things you'll hear a lot of guys. So one
of the things you'll hear is called a protector line.
So like if you know, like, hey, the track is
moving to the bottom, then you'll start to go down
to the bottom because the guy behind you, whoever's behind
you may not be able to pass you up top,
so you'll hear them say, well, I went down to
the bottom to run a protector line because I know
(43:42):
they're going to have our time passing me up top.
So I've seen Logan do that a lot, where it's like, Okay,
I got passed this driver. Now I'm going to go
low because I know that driver is not going to
be able to go on the high side of the track,
so I can protect my line pull away from them,
and I think once he maybe hears that that engine
has sort of distanced, then he can start to maybe
move up and change his line a little bit. So
(44:02):
it's more technical than it looks on TV from the
normal fan, but there's a lot to it.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Yeah, I'm excited to learn all the nuances. Honestly. Do
I need to get a license or credentials or how does?
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Nope? No, I already talked to the Chili Bowl about that.
And I think, you know, it was funny when I
called Brian about you driving. I said, does she need
any special licensing? And He's like no, And I said, well,
I think she's just a step under a super license anyway,
so with what you've driven, I think their whole goal
is just to make sure that it's someone who has
(44:41):
been in racing enough that they just know that anyone
who's driven the Indy five hundred and driven in sports cars
and all the things that you've done, they know that
from a racing pedigree, there's not an issue there.
Speaker 2 (44:53):
I hope that proved right.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
It just reminded me that I need to get my
next Shears racing license done then.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
So honestly, my.
Speaker 1 (45:01):
Goal is to make it through to the final. Like
if I can get in the final, then I think
I would be like a win to me.
Speaker 2 (45:09):
I know that's a long chalk, Don't get me wrong.
Speaker 3 (45:12):
If you make it to the final is more than
a win. And I'm just telling you it's not easy.
Is it is difficult. A lot of it doesn't even
have anything to do with overall talent and that versus
anything else. It's just like Kyle Arson showed up last year,
he wasn't going to run it all of sudden decided
to chose up Thursday, Keith Konzata car gets in it. Now.
(45:33):
Kyle was in a weird situation because Kyle needed to qualify.
He needed to make I think at least the C
main or maybe even the B main on his prelim night.
So he had to finish and he wasn't there because
he couldn't because he had NASCAR commitments, I believe or something.
So he ended up flipping his car because he was
driving so hard because he was like, I mean, he
(45:57):
was like hanging it out there. And so it's just
there's a lot of things that go into winning, you know.
For you, I think it's going to be about gaining
that experience, figuring the car out, and then hopefully when
you're done, you say that was fun. I want to
get better. I want to go again.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, Well, thank you so much for all
that information, And I guess the listeners have kind of
written along with our first this is what this is
what we're going to do, which is kind of cool
that it's like nobody gets an experience where they hear
the team owner discuss something like this when it's completely.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
New to a driver.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
So I think that I appreciate it, and I think
that they'll find it as interesting as I have. And
I'm sure that I'm going to have a million more
questions to come back with but I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
I think it's be a lot of fun that you're
going to enjoy it. I'm so excited to go along
all the ride with you.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Thanks. Friends, I appreciate it, and I will speak to
you very soon.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
Thanks for listening to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next
week with more updates and overtakes. 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 me Katherine Legg.
Our executive producer is Jesse Katz. Our supervising producer is
(47:21):
Grace Fus. Listen to Throttle Therapy on America's number one
podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search
for throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg and start listening.
Host
Katherine Legge
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