September 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Brandon Kennedy returns for part 2 of his interview with Roostertail Talk. He will share news on the future of the Madison Racing Program as well as other fun stories along the way. He also talks more about his own weekly podcast called Chasin' Tails.
Next week we'll be back with more interviews and surprises... enjoy!
Chasin' Tails Podcast
*Photo from Brandon Kennedy Collection
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all lovehydroplane racing.
I am your host, david newton,and it's time once again, so sit
back, relax and welcome.
Rooster tail talk, we'll talk.
(00:48):
Hello race fans, and welcomeback to the podcast.
Today is September 9th 2025,and this is episode 161.
This week's episode is part twoof my interview with Brandon
Kennedy.
If you didn't get a chance tolisten to part one, please go
(01:09):
back and listen to episode 160,as he went into more of his
background in racing and alittle bit more about talking
about his career, especiallywith inboard racing and Grand
Prixs, and this week we're goingto talk more about his future,
specifically future with H1.
And we got off on some othertangents about some other fun
stuff, but there's no need forme to drone on about what's in
(01:31):
this episode.
Let's just jump in.
Listen to part two and theconclusion of my interview with
Brandon Kennedy.
Well, they made an announcementnext year, the Madison course
will be back to its originallayout.
It'll be underneath theMadison-Milton Bridge.
What are your thoughts aboutthat?
Are you excited for that?
Yeah, I mean going under thebridge?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
not really, I don't think so.
Going under the bridge isiconic.
I feel like that's why itdidn't work out.
I think too many fans enjoythat like seeing them go under
the bridge work out.
I think too many fans enjoythat like seeing them go under
the bridge.
Um, obviously me, coming fromthe hrl.
We've seen that going tosmaller courses usually does
create better racing um, bigfirst turn, small second turn,
(02:15):
like our detroit course with thegrand prix was almost perfect
for deck-to-deck racing.
So I get where they were tryingto try it and I just feel like
people had their minds made upbefore it happened.
Um, going to a smaller courseand the water not dispersed, and
everyone had that in their mindgoing out there.
So I think that kind ofhindered some of the what it
(02:37):
could have been show wise and Ijust don't think the the weekend
materialized to to give it afair shot.
But I think the fans spoke andthey almost have to listen yeah,
well, it's, uh, it is iconicfor madison.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Uh, so many pictures over the years.
The boat's going underneath thebridge and I've also heard it
was a little bit rougher in thatfirst turn this year than years
prior, moving the course down alittle bit, did you?
Did you notice than yours priormoving the course down a little
bit, did you?
Did you notice that in thegrand prix at all?
Um, talk to anyone else aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
nah, I don't.
I don't think it was anyrougher in the grand prix.
Um, the turn area, yeah, andthe first turn in madison I
didn't, I it's.
It's hard to tell, because whenyou're behind as a trailer
you're in rough water anyway,but you're also not in between
boats.
So I can't go out there and say, oh, the first turn was no
problem.
Well, I wasn't in a pressuresituation like Corey was in in
(03:29):
the final, where you have toturn it, so it's a little bit
different.
I can't really give an opinionwithout getting bashed.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, anything you say, but yeah, you'll get bashed
by someone, that's for sure.
We talked about your regimen,like your workout.
What do you normally do toprepare for racing that way?
I don't hear drivers talk aboutthat, but I've seen a lot of
social media on F1.
Drivers do different reactiontests and different workouts.
What's your go-to for yourregime?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Mainly upper body and cardio.
I've kind of lost it over theyears of since having kids.
It's been harder to fit it in,but here recently, the past
couple years I've, especially atgrand prix, I feel like it
takes a toll on you.
I I always say I hold my breathfor two minutes while we're
racing and I think that's aproblem, but you, you just.
(04:22):
It's the only way to explaindriving a boat and I'm sure the
unlimited is going to be thesame way is just go out and do
the hardest workout you can like, raise your heart rate as hard
as you can to 200 for threeminutes, and that's what it's
like and it's.
It's weird because it doesn'tlook that hard, but that's just
(04:42):
what your body goes through.
It's just so a lot of upperbody stuff.
The GPs were hard to drive whenI first got into it, so they
would pull coming off a corner.
So just trying to work on allthat to at least not be the
reason the boat isn't performing.
I still don't do it as well asI should with the workouts, but
I think this winter will improveupon it.
(05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Do you notice yourself not breathing when
you're out there A lot of times?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, I seem to hold my breath or I don't know.
I always tell my mom that she'son my radios and she's like why
, I don't know, you get in thislike just vision and focus, that
you just don't do it.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Well, I've heard interviews before from other
athletes.
Uh, sean alexander um, he was arunning back for seattle
seahawks.
Uh, he noticed that he didn't.
He held his breath on long,long runs and I remember him
coming out and talking about howhe worked on that and he was
very mindful of that and heactually noticed improvements in
his, in his average yards andhis endurance throughout the day
.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So I want to keep that in mind, Definitely.
Yeah, it's a lot of mental workfor sure and I know for me I
I've had sinus surgery, so inthe past couple of years I've
been starting to use like nasalstrips while I race and I'm like
that's definitely a big, bighelp.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh, interesting, Okay Well that sounds like a good uh
um sponsorship there for you toget some.
Oh, interesting.
Okay, that sounds like a goodsponsorship there for you to get
some of those things.
Yep.
Breathe Right opens your nosefor nasal congestion relief.
You can feel right away helpingyou breathe better, day or
night, here or there.
Breathe Right Script on whatabout next year?
This is going to air inSeptember.
(06:22):
Like I said, I'm not going tosurprise you, but can you
release anything now?
Plans for next year is this isgoing to air in september.
Like I said, I'm not going tosurprise you, but can you really
say anything now?
Plans for next year?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
you got something big for the fans um, I'd say
september, should I don't haveno clearance, but I'll tell you
to edit it out, if we have toyeah, um, we will be back.
We will be in the same boat.
Um, we're gonna have byseptember the boat will be being
gone through um, um, front toback.
It's going to be flipped over,get all redone on the bottom.
Trey Holt's going to lead thatup with the whole crew.
(06:49):
Um, we have a really big,really good crew coming back.
It was really cool having, uh,bill and Bob Katapovic there
just helping us to just havingthat senior lead for me never
doing it Don't know a thingabout a turbine like to be able
to lean on them for some of thequestions, especially starting
it.
That was my biggest fear of notbeing able to start one.
(07:10):
So it's been cool to have that.
And yeah, I think we're goingto definitely have speed next
year.
We're making a few changes andI think we shocked ourselves in
Madison with the speed we had.
I know the qualifying gotthrown out from the end too, but
if we have the right gearbox, Ithink we'd still go that same
speed.
So it's really exciting.
That's definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I don't know if we're going to compete with the
strong and the the bwr, butwe're definitely going to throw
our hat in the ring for surewell, I mean, it's great to hear
that you're going to add to theprogram and you're going to
build on it and I think, as yougo, go on, continue to do that.
I think one thing it'sunfortunate it's such a short
season that you can't get outthere more and get more
comfortable with the boat andcontinue to add to that, because
(07:52):
when I think back to like the90s, when they had 10, 11, 12
races and the money to do that,that it just helped out so much.
With the racing in general ohfor sure, for sure.
Well, with the racing ingeneral oh for sure, for sure.
Well, I'm glad to hear for nextyear A lot of things to look
forward to.
That's fun.
Oh yeah, definitely it's goingto be an exciting year.
Yeah, well, I know you've racedon a lot of different courses on
(08:19):
HRL and I'm curious you don'thave enough experience, I think,
in H1 to know a favorite course.
I think you say madison, rightnow for h1 right but what's?
What's your favorite course torace on with hrl, with grand
prixs?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
um, it's, it's got to be valley field.
It has the.
It's kind of like a bristolwhere you have fans on each side
.
Um, it's to me the mecca ofboat racing and limited inboard
hydroplane racing and the.
The course is set up to be adriver's course.
It actually is a disadvantageto get lane one for a final,
which is where we were sittingthis year and really wish that
(08:52):
final got off.
But tight turn two.
It's really hard to flat footit through there, but it's a
driver's course for sure.
And that's what I like, whenyou actually have to do your job
as a driver and not just relyon horsepower or what the boat
setup is yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's fun for a fan as well to see that, because you
get more, more competition outthere and it's, it's impressive
and I've heard nothing but greatstuff from valley field from
every perspective and reallyhoping to make it out there next
year for the first time uh,yeah, yeah, yeah it'll.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It'll be a big one.
They haven't had a final in twoyears because of weather and
other issues, and I'm sure it'sgonna be.
Everyone's gonna be antsy if weever get to a final again.
So it'll be a good show towatch then, right, oh, yeah, for
sure, then that's.
I keep trying to tell them inhrl.
I'm like re-rack the final wehad from this year in Grand Prix
and let's just run it Fridaymorning, because that was the
(09:47):
best front line I've ever seenwith all five fast boots and it
would have been a show.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Well, too bad.
Hopefully next year we'll getthe whole thing through.
Well, you've won a lot of races, like you said 10 at
Valleyfield, but you've won atother places as well 10 at
Valleyfield, but you went toother places as well.
Do you have a favorite win thatyou've had so far?
Is there one that you'd thinkback on?
Maybe it gives you goosebumpsstill to this day to think on
that.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
What's your favorite?
It'd be a tie between two.
My first Nationals win inT-Boot was my third weekend of
driving.
It just kind of came as a shock.
I hit a real good start, was onthe outside and got around them
for the lead and it was.
It was just really cool to winit that soon and to see, like I
think, the shock in my dad'sface to like, okay, my kid might
(10:38):
have something here, um, it wasreally cool there.
And then, moment I still gotthe picture of me and little
tyke there, um, and actually putit next to a picture.
Same trophy from 20 years agowhen I was a kid, next to my
dad's trophy.
Same place at hampton it.
There were identical trophiesso they never changed anything
(11:00):
that long, but it was reallycool to see um and just be a
part of that.
And then the other one wouldhave to be 2013 in Valley Field.
Um, I was dating my now wifeand I knew going into that week
and I had a good shot to win 350um in Valley Field and so I'd,
if I won, I was going to proposeto her and I was able to win
(11:21):
and propose to her in front ofthe 20 30,000 fans there.
So that was a super cool moment.
And then I had to rush out ofthat because I was driving the
GP in the next heat and Istarted in lane four and was
running down the leader and hebroke and was able to win my
first valley field win and grandprix.
And then it was again one ofthose like you're not the
(11:42):
favorite but you get it done andit was just an incredible
weekend.
It's hard to top that one.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
That's like a storybook race right there.
I mean win a race propose hopanother boat, win again in
Valleyfield.
That's probably the mostprestigious race in Isherrell,
right, valleyfield, yes, yeah,for sure.
So I mean, could you write thatany better no most prestigious
race in israel right valleyfield.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So I mean, yeah, I mean, couldyou write that any better?
No, no, I couldn't.
I would, I would have waited topropose till the grand prix I
thought I had a shot, but yeahit was.
It was really cool, man.
Yeah.
So that's one that definitelyI've won there since in grand
prix, but it's not really thesame as that one.
That one meant a lot to us as afamily.
(12:25):
We didn't really have a bigbudget in Grand Prix then we
were kind of shoestringingthings together.
We just had the change of motorright before that final.
So it was really cool that justall the hard work finally paid
off.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, wow, yeah.
Well, I'm just spitting firequestions at you now at this
point, but just things I love toknow about different drivers.
But do you have anysuperstitions or rituals that
you have race weekend?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Not so much race weekend.
The only thing?
Because I've been asked thisquestion a few times.
The only thing I know I do is Ialways enter the boat from the
right side.
I never get in from the leftside.
And I couldn't even say I haveto do it, it's just something I
do, yeah yeah, so watermelons inyour pits are fine then?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah, anything and everything, all right, it don't
matter.
Have you heard aboutwatermelons with hydroplane
Unlimiteds?
No, no, I have not.
There's some teams out therethat they will.
If you come close to it withtheir pit with the watermelon,
they'll kick you out of the pits.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, there's many stories of someone bringing
watermelons to the crew forlunch and then the boat flips.
So there's some people have asuperstition about that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I could see that there was one in the dirt track
race and when my grandpa wasinvolved in that was peanuts and
I was young and I broughtpeanuts over.
But could see that there wasone in the dirt track race and
when my grandpa was involved inthat it was peanuts and I was
young and I brought peanuts over, but then they won, so peanuts
were allowed, then All right.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
But next year, if you go to Unlimited Race and
someone offers you peanut orwatermelon from a different camp
, they're not being nice, I'mjust letting you know that right
now, yeah, now and now.
I know some other drivers, likeJim Kropfeld, always had a chew
ice before the race.
Chip had to be away from peoplein his camper and kind of just
(14:16):
mentally focus.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah, I just try to stick to a normal routine.
I'm always around my family, my, my kids, and just stick to
normal.
There's there's very rare timesthat I have to get focused, and
that's.
It would be a time like thatwhere the steering broke and I
had to get into another boat orI flipped, and you know I need
that time, that space, but otherthan that, I just try to make
(14:39):
it like any ordinary day.
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, being so involved with HRL, being on the
other side of the other coast ofUS, you know a lot of great
names that are racing right now,and I didn't prep you for this
question, but, being out on theWest Coast, we are so divided
and separated from a lot of theracing.
Fortunately now we're seeing alot of HRL racing through
(15:04):
streaming, but not everyone thatlistens to this podcast might
not know the big names out there.
Who are some drivers that weshould look out for to either
rise the ranks to Grand Prix oreven go on to Unlimiteds that
you're taking note of right now?
What are some names that weshould be paying attention to
right now?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I would say well, I got to keep it with the family
first, my cousins Kyle andAustin Hayes.
They didn't race when theyfirst turned 14, like us.
And they were 20-something, theyjust started racing three years
ago and I mean they'veimpressed me.
We built a new boat last yearand they've learned how to set
(15:45):
up a new boat and that's.
That's a lot of this game isknowing what a boat feels and
what it needs.
And their driving is reallygood and getting better.
Next year they're they're gonnamove up to the formula 2500
class, so they're gonna get arude awakening that lanes are a
lot tighter and everything's alittle bit more aggressive.
But I'm sure they'll do fineand hopefully I hope they have a
(16:07):
long career and go up throughthe ranks and we'll see where
they wind up.
But other than that, um, we goteddie camphush.
He's a really good driver,comes from a father that has
major success in the sport.
Uh, grant letty code, samething.
His dad was in unlimited.
Um he's he's turned into areally good driver.
I mean was good right out ofthe box.
Um, we'll see what he continuesto do on 350 next year.
(16:30):
I feel like 350 is one of thoseproven ground classes that as
long as you have the rightengine, you can prove something
as a driver.
And again, back to setting up aboat.
Um, a lot of that comes, yourboat setup is what's going to
win races up there.
And then let's see Well, bobbyKing's already been in it, so
(16:51):
he's out.
There's some Canadians, I think, that are doing good.
That'll make it to Grand Prixat least.
I feel like the H1 stuff.
It's really hard to get us EastCoast guys in there.
But Mark Lalonde, he's doingreal good Older guy, not older,
he's probably 40, something likethat.
(17:11):
Paul Barber he's a good driver.
And then back to a young one,tommy Shannon he's really
aggressive, finally getting agood shot and a good boat.
So, yeah, that's about the sixor seven of them there, all
right, yeah, that's about thesix or seven of them there, all
right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, it's interesting to hear because,
like I said, we're so separatedfrom that and you can go back
throughout the years and there'sso many great drivers that,
unfortunately, the fans of H1don't know and appreciate
because they didn't get a shotin H1.
But they, I'm sure, deserved itmore than some of the people
that had a chance in h1 somegreat talent out there and that
(17:49):
that's kind of one thing.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I think the new regime of h1 and hrl they're
they're working together, likeI've seen our live stream from
hrl on h1s and vice versa, andthat's that's what the sport
needs is just a unison.
Someone told me once they'relike we only have 150 boats
across all of North America.
We can't go against each other,we have to work together, and I
(18:11):
think that's something thesport's needed and it's finally
getting, and I believe if theycould ever get to a road day H1
like they do with IndyCar, it'dbe great.
Follow the guys, see theirprogression, even if they never
make it.
Obviously, like you saidearlier, there's not that many
rides out there.
At least you kind of followedtheir journey to wherever they
(18:32):
wound up.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
oh, yeah, definitely yeah, and, and not have races on
the same weekend as well, right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
exactly, there's no need to be fighting over a
weekend race no, because I meanit hurts everyone, even if, like
, the same boats aren't racingat each race.
A lot of times it's the drivers, like if they're saying
detroit's coming back andbrockville's that same weekend.
Well, that splits me up,because the gp was probably
going to go to brockville andnow we?
Now what do we do?
(18:59):
Does the gp go to brockville ordoes it come to detroit?
And obviously I'll have to bein detroit, so it just, it just
makes a mess, and I mean that'snot how we can market a sport,
the.
The sport needs to be marketedwith the drivers first, that
these are our drivers.
They come to each race and youexpect to see them, get to know
them on.
I feel like a lot of thedrivers are getting better about
(19:20):
social media.
Even Andrew Tate's coming out ofhis shell a little bit,
although he won't come on mypodcast.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He's scared.
Maybe someday Well, maybe afterhearing this he might change
his mind, I don't know.
Yeah, well, that's great.
Yeah, humanizing the sport, Ithink, is key.
I mean fans need to get to knowthe drivers better, because
when they're out there on thewater, I mean you see the boats
but you can't really see thedriver out there.
So there's a disconnect.
And getting to know the drivers, uh, I think would be huge for
the sport yeah, it was cool wedid in madison this year.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I don't golf and they had to put that embarrassing
video of me on h1's page but itwas really cool just to go golf
and with some guys from madisonand we just told stories and BS
the whole time and that's allthat stuff.
We have a ton of content comingout this winter from that, just
enjoying the moment with somepeople.
And same thing when Madison hadtheir win delay on Sunday and
(20:15):
obviously the unlimited wasalready done but we were
supposed to run a GP final and Ijust went up and was like hey,
put me in the dunk tank, likesell some, get some money in
this thing.
They were doing it for afundraiser.
So Jeff Ehlers and Hounson, Ihad everybody try to come dunk
me, even Tanner Faust, he missedthough he's not a baseball
player.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
All right, throw some shade to Tanner there.
I like that.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I was heckling everybody.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was having a good time.
Well, I did a dunk tank earlierthis year after the school year
got out.
I wasn't so lucky.
The kids I was teaching they'repretty good at throwing the
ball.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
We had some kids that they hit it like 10 in a row.
I was like, all right, I'mdrowning here, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Well, I love hearing some of those names, though,
from HRL and some people to lookout for, yeah definitely, and
I'm sorry if I missed you.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's hard to do that stuff on the spot.
The roster is so big up therewith 24, 350s and 20-some
two-and-a-half stocks.
There's a lot of people and Imean that's the good thing about
social media.
Is any of your viewers go watchhrl races on youtube?
Their live streams pretty danggood this year.
Um a lot of content, and Ithink that's another thing.
(21:32):
That's cool is our sportsintermingling.
We have brian montgomery frommontwork working with almost
every series now, so you'regetting that same quality
content come out from everydivision and hasn't that been
huge in the last few years?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
um, it's probably even more than that.
He's been doing it now, butthat drone footage at the races,
I mean just got some incredibleshots.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, it's.
It just gives you thatuniqueness that you can't get
from a shoreline camera andpeople see like how the boats
turn and go in the y'all and allthat stuff.
It's really cool.
He definitely he's gonna loseone here shortly because he
keeps getting closer and closerbut that'll just make good
content, right?
Yeah, exactly exactly as longas that footage uploads, we're
good yeah just don't, just don'tgo through the air scoop.
(22:17):
I think any other part of theboat's fine at that point, all
right.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, we touched on your podcast.
We talked about it early whenwe got on here, but chase and
tails, and I believe is it ayear now it's been out.
How long has it been out?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
yeah a little yeah, we're a little over a year we're
on.
Uh, I think next week will beepisode 60 for us.
It's just been fun.
I think it was kyle andaustin's idea wanting to give
back to the sport.
Yeah and um, bobby and I joinedin and was like we had a couple
episodes.
Our first episode was just ustesting systems and it was kind
(22:53):
of a lot of fun, just bs andabout boobers and we have a ton
of stories to bring to the tableand then a lot of the people we
have on have a lot of storiestoo and I think us being racers
get them out of their shell alittle more.
Or we know a lot of the insidestories to kind of sneak out of
them that are not always prfriendly.
But that's kind of what it is.
(23:14):
It's loose, have fun and it'sbeen really cool.
It's been eye-opening for me asa driver and I've always
marketed and got sponsors andall that.
But to see the other side of itlearn more about event
management, about all that kindof stuff, has been really cool
yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Uh, it's been fun to see that grow.
And how did how did it start,though?
You said you had a couplefriends that were curious about
it, but you wanted to give backto the sport that you, that you
love.
Yeah, asking for some yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So my cousins kyle and austin, they kind of came up
with the idea one day in agroup text and I was like, hey,
let's do this and we're likemight be a lot of work and like
a lot of time.
So we we started, we decided toget all the equipment and start
it, and then we're trying to dothe videos and do it in four
different locations.
So trying to jump those hurdleswas a little hard.
(24:05):
And then the time managementfor us, like editing the videos
and stuff like that, but got toomuch time.
So now we went live Tuesdaynight.
There is no filters.
Sometimes that's a good thing,sometimes that's a bad thing,
but it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Well, I like that it's live, though, because, like
you said, it's what you're.
Well, I like that it's live,though, because you, like you
said, it's uh what you're gonnaget.
It's what you're gonna get,because I've had some interviews
where I had to go back and, uh,the person said, you know, I
probably shouldn't have saidthat, let's go back and delete,
you know, 10 minutes out of theinterview.
So that's that's fun, that youcan have that live and and get
the the first reaction out ofyour interviews yeah and it
(24:44):
helps.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I mean, people get on there and they comment if we're
talking.
We really try to utilize theplatform right now as trying to
build up the sport.
Um, we've learned a lot aboutwhat an event needs, especially
limited high board and inboardevents, that they can't just be
a boat race.
It has to be more of a festival.
We have a lot of ideals, umcoming out over just just
(25:07):
chatting.
Um, we've talked more as afamily than we ever have.
Um, and we all some good ideals, some bad.
I think next year we're gonnatry to put on a boat race
ourselves out of chasing tails.
Um, if everything comes tofruition.
It's one of them put ourthoughts where our mouths are,
kind of deal and maybe makesomething unique a little out of
the box and see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
That's fun.
That's fun.
Well, I know you've had quite aguest list so far.
Who's been a favoriteinterviewer that you've had or
interview that you've had so far?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
there's been some good ones.
But I'd have to say steve david,just his perspective over the
course of the years andobviously knowing him as a, a
friend, my dad actually boughthis first t-boat off steve david
, so okay, and then then thestory of that my dad got mad and
punched a hole through the deckand so steve david told that on
the, the podcast, and just justas insight from the t-boats all
(26:04):
the way to unlimited and wherethe failures have been and where
you can make things better, andhow, how the sport kind of just
keeps going in a circle, thatif we can break free of that it
can do some good things, and um,yeah, it's just, it's really to
me insightful.
And then us as a group trying totake that and expand upon it
and actually put some things inplace is what we're trying to.
(26:26):
Like I said, give back to thesport.
We've been in it for so longthat a lot of people always look
at us and they're like, well,you've been given a ride, you
shouldn't have an opinionbecause you've never put money
into a boat, and it's like we'veput our life into this and
we're going to try to make itbetter.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, I mean I think anyone who's involved in the
sport, whether it's a crewmember, driver, owner I mean
everyone's doing what they canto help the sport.
Yeah, so everyone's got andeveryone's got their own stories
right.
And I think you've seen on myshow that similarly, I've had
people from every corner of thesport come on to share their
stories and it's fun gettingthose different perspectives out
(27:05):
there for the fans.
Yeah, so what would be yourfavorite, my favorite.
Well, this interview is notdone so I can't.
I can't say you your name.
Uh, steve David was a great one.
Um, I really was kind of wowedby Dave Vilwock, actually when I
had him on.
Um, he had some reallyinsightful stories that he
didn't hold back on.
(27:25):
I always enjoy the people whodon't have those filters on and
will just kind of tell themtheir perspective on it, so that
was pretty insightful.
When he came on, I wasimpressed with some of the
stories he shared.
But also Chip was probably oneof my favorites as well.
He invited myself to his houseand was on Lake Washington there
(27:47):
and got a lot of time.
We chatted about his career.
It was a lot of fun.
That's awesome, yeah, and alsothe people that are very open
with it.
It's not like pulling teeth toget an answer right, exactly the
people that actually want totalk.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
They're not just there to be there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
All right, I love that your podcast is supporting
the sport.
I mean, I started my podcast todo the same.
Give back where I can, becauseit's a long off-season for each
one and it's a long off-seasonfor HRL as well and just any
content that we can get outthere I think is beneficial for
the fans and beneficial for thesport yeah, it's definitely
incredible.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It's been a a fun journey and, like I said, I
thank people like you.
That kind of started we have bjmidori did one out here on the
east coast as well and just it'skind of showed us that we can
and just be natural a lot oftimes.
Some you could try to do thesethings and they feel forced, but
you guys make it seem sonatural, like we're buddies
hanging out at the boat race,drinking a beer, and that's kind
(28:51):
of what makes the sport what itis.
And now we're getting to shareit on these platforms.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, I like having a natural feel as well.
It just makes it more fun forthe listener.
But that's a time commitment,isn't it?
It takes, it takes up a goodchunk of time.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, it definitely is, and that's that's why I said
, like our group, we had todecide to go live because the
the time consuming trying toedit the videos and get whoever
was speaking to be up first Likewe really wanted to do the
video.
That was like our we're.
We're not doing it.
If it's not video, we justwanted our faces out there.
I don't know, maybe we wantedto be popular or something, but
(29:29):
but yeah, just, it's definitelytime consuming.
It's like, especially when wedo race recaps, it's like are we
really getting on this tuesdayor should we wait till next
tuesday?
Right, if we don't get on,there's a lot of people
messaging like hey, what's goingon?
Are you guys?
Okay, we're just taking a break, yeah, yeah but it's worth it.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Oh, it's definitely worth it.
Yeah, yeah, and I figured out.
It's, I think, for every minuteof content I have, it's like
eight or ten minutes of my time,uh, so that time racks up
pretty quickly and I'm not evendoing video and that if you do
video on top of that, that'sjust widen the doors right open.
So, yeah, appreciate everythingthat you guys are doing over
there and if you ever need me onas a as a guest, I'm happy to
(30:09):
come on and give a perspectivefrom the other side of the us.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
But yeah, definitely, yeah, we'll definitely have to
sort that out.
I will say you are way moreprepared for these things than
we are.
We just wing it half the timewell, I'm also a school teacher.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
So I think that's my, that's my persona coming out
for that makes sense it makessense checks out.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We're just racers, core and core, and we just we
started out with all the likeall right, we're gonna do this
agenda and then bobby would belike I'm bored, so we just roll
with it well, you get adifferent flavor.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
That way too right.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
All right.
Well, I wish you good luck therest of the HRL season.
I wish you could be there forSan Diego, but hopefully next
year it'll be on a full circuitfor both series.
Hopefully you can get time offfrom your day job from that as
well.
But do all that.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Luckily I work for my dad, so it comes natural if he
leaves, I leave there you go,perfect.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Well, appreciate the having you on and good luck the
rest of the year.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Well.
Knuckleheads once again.
That's all the time we have forthis week.
I hope you enjoyed my interviewwith brandon kennedy, as you
got to know a little bit moreabout his background and his
passion for racing.
We We'll be back next week.
(31:28):
I have some more interviews onthe way, as well as some other
fun surprises along the waybefore we wrap things up for the
season, big weekend coming upBoats are back on the water in
Mission Bay.
H1 Unlimited returns with otherclasses of inboard racing on
Mission Bay.
I'm excited.
I'm going to be back there thisyear.
I believe this will be thefirst time since I've been down
(31:50):
in Mission Bay since COVID.
Really excited to get away forthe weekend, and what's a better
way than spending it at a race?
If you're down there in thearea, please say hello.
I love talking with other fansof the sport and collaborate and
talk about what we lovehydroplanes.
Don't forget we're on socialmedia Facebook, instagram.
(32:14):
We're online roosterteltalkcom,and until next time, I hope to
see you at the races.
Ruchetel Talk, the podcast dedicated to everything
about the sport that we all lovehydroplane racing.
I am your host, david newton,and it's time once again, so sit
back, relax and welcome.
Rooster tail talk, we'll talk.
(00:48):
Hello race fans, and welcomeback to the podcast.
Today is September 9th 2025,and this is episode 161.
This week's episode is part twoof my interview with Brandon
Kennedy.
If you didn't get a chance tolisten to part one, please go
(01:09):
back and listen to episode 160,as he went into more of his
background in racing and alittle bit more about talking
about his career, especiallywith inboard racing and Grand
Prixs, and this week we're goingto talk more about his future,
specifically future with H1.
And we got off on some othertangents about some other fun
stuff, but there's no need forme to drone on about what's in
(01:31):
this episode.
Let's just jump in.
Listen to part two and theconclusion of my interview with
Brandon Kennedy.
Well, they made an announcementnext year, the Madison course
will be back to its originallayout.
It'll be underneath theMadison-Milton Bridge.
What are your thoughts aboutthat?
Are you excited for that?
Yeah, I mean going under thebridge?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
not really, I don't think so.
Going under the bridge isiconic.
I feel like that's why itdidn't work out.
I think too many fans enjoythat like seeing them go under
the bridge work out.
I think too many fans enjoythat like seeing them go under
the bridge.
Um, obviously me, coming fromthe hrl.
We've seen that going tosmaller courses usually does
create better racing um, bigfirst turn, small second turn,
(02:15):
like our detroit course with thegrand prix was almost perfect
for deck-to-deck racing.
So I get where they were tryingto try it and I just feel like
people had their minds made upbefore it happened.
Um, going to a smaller courseand the water not dispersed, and
everyone had that in their mindgoing out there.
So I think that kind ofhindered some of the what it
(02:37):
could have been show wise and Ijust don't think the the weekend
materialized to to give it afair shot.
But I think the fans spoke andthey almost have to listen yeah,
well, it's, uh, it is iconicfor madison.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Uh, so many pictures over the years.
The boat's going underneath thebridge and I've also heard it
was a little bit rougher in thatfirst turn this year than years
prior, moving the course down alittle bit, did you?
Did you notice than yours priormoving the course down a little
bit, did you?
Did you notice that in thegrand prix at all?
Um, talk to anyone else aboutthat?
Speaker 2 (03:08):
nah, I don't.
I don't think it was anyrougher in the grand prix.
Um, the turn area, yeah, andthe first turn in madison I
didn't, I it's.
It's hard to tell, because whenyou're behind as a trailer
you're in rough water anyway,but you're also not in between
boats.
So I can't go out there and say, oh, the first turn was no
problem.
Well, I wasn't in a pressuresituation like Corey was in in
(03:29):
the final, where you have toturn it, so it's a little bit
different.
I can't really give an opinionwithout getting bashed.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, anything you say, but yeah, you'll get bashed
by someone, that's for sure.
We talked about your regimen,like your workout.
What do you normally do toprepare for racing that way?
I don't hear drivers talk aboutthat, but I've seen a lot of
social media on F1.
Drivers do different reactiontests and different workouts.
What's your go-to for yourregime?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Mainly upper body and cardio.
I've kind of lost it over theyears of since having kids.
It's been harder to fit it in,but here recently, the past
couple years I've, especially atgrand prix, I feel like it
takes a toll on you.
I I always say I hold my breathfor two minutes while we're
racing and I think that's aproblem, but you, you just.
(04:22):
It's the only way to explaindriving a boat and I'm sure the
unlimited is going to be thesame way is just go out and do
the hardest workout you can like, raise your heart rate as hard
as you can to 200 for threeminutes, and that's what it's
like and it's.
It's weird because it doesn'tlook that hard, but that's just
(04:42):
what your body goes through.
It's just so a lot of upperbody stuff.
The GPs were hard to drive whenI first got into it, so they
would pull coming off a corner.
So just trying to work on allthat to at least not be the
reason the boat isn't performing.
I still don't do it as well asI should with the workouts, but
I think this winter will improveupon it.
(05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Do you notice yourself not breathing when
you're out there A lot of times?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah, I seem to hold my breath or I don't know.
I always tell my mom that she'son my radios and she's like why
, I don't know, you get in thislike just vision and focus, that
you just don't do it.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Well, I've heard interviews before from other
athletes.
Uh, sean alexander um, he was arunning back for seattle
seahawks.
Uh, he noticed that he didn't.
He held his breath on long,long runs and I remember him
coming out and talking about howhe worked on that and he was
very mindful of that and heactually noticed improvements in
his, in his average yards andhis endurance throughout the day
.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
So I want to keep that in mind, Definitely.
Yeah, it's a lot of mental workfor sure and I know for me I
I've had sinus surgery, so inthe past couple of years I've
been starting to use like nasalstrips while I race and I'm like
that's definitely a big, bighelp.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Oh, interesting, Okay Well that sounds like a good uh
um sponsorship there for you toget some.
Oh, interesting.
Okay, that sounds like a goodsponsorship there for you to get
some of those things.
Yep.
Breathe Right opens your nosefor nasal congestion relief.
You can feel right away helpingyou breathe better, day or
night, here or there.
Breathe Right Script on whatabout next year?
This is going to air inSeptember.
(06:22):
Like I said, I'm not going tosurprise you, but can you
release anything now?
Plans for next year is this isgoing to air in september.
Like I said, I'm not going tosurprise you, but can you really
say anything now?
Plans for next year?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
you got something big for the fans um, I'd say
september, should I don't haveno clearance, but I'll tell you
to edit it out, if we have toyeah, um, we will be back.
We will be in the same boat.
Um, we're gonna have byseptember the boat will be being
gone through um, um, front toback.
It's going to be flipped over,get all redone on the bottom.
Trey Holt's going to lead thatup with the whole crew.
(06:49):
Um, we have a really big,really good crew coming back.
It was really cool having, uh,bill and Bob Katapovic there
just helping us to just havingthat senior lead for me never
doing it Don't know a thingabout a turbine like to be able
to lean on them for some of thequestions, especially starting
it.
That was my biggest fear of notbeing able to start one.
(07:10):
So it's been cool to have that.
And yeah, I think we're goingto definitely have speed next
year.
We're making a few changes andI think we shocked ourselves in
Madison with the speed we had.
I know the qualifying gotthrown out from the end too, but
if we have the right gearbox, Ithink we'd still go that same
speed.
So it's really exciting.
That's definitely.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I don't know if we're going to compete with the
strong and the the bwr, butwe're definitely going to throw
our hat in the ring for surewell, I mean, it's great to hear
that you're going to add to theprogram and you're going to
build on it and I think, as yougo, go on, continue to do that.
I think one thing it'sunfortunate it's such a short
season that you can't get outthere more and get more
comfortable with the boat andcontinue to add to that, because
(07:52):
when I think back to like the90s, when they had 10, 11, 12
races and the money to do that,that it just helped out so much.
With the racing in general ohfor sure, for sure.
Well, with the racing ingeneral oh for sure, for sure.
Well, I'm glad to hear for nextyear A lot of things to look
forward to.
That's fun.
Oh yeah, definitely it's goingto be an exciting year.
Yeah, well, I know you've racedon a lot of different courses on
(08:19):
HRL and I'm curious you don'thave enough experience, I think,
in H1 to know a favorite course.
I think you say madison, rightnow for h1 right but what's?
What's your favorite course torace on with hrl, with grand
prixs?
Speaker 2 (08:30):
um, it's, it's got to be valley field.
It has the.
It's kind of like a bristolwhere you have fans on each side
.
Um, it's to me the mecca ofboat racing and limited inboard
hydroplane racing and the.
The course is set up to be adriver's course.
It actually is a disadvantageto get lane one for a final,
which is where we were sittingthis year and really wish that
(08:52):
final got off.
But tight turn two.
It's really hard to flat footit through there, but it's a
driver's course for sure.
And that's what I like, whenyou actually have to do your job
as a driver and not just relyon horsepower or what the boat
setup is yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's fun for a fan as well to see that, because you
get more, more competition outthere and it's, it's impressive
and I've heard nothing but greatstuff from valley field from
every perspective and reallyhoping to make it out there next
year for the first time uh,yeah, yeah, yeah it'll.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
It'll be a big one.
They haven't had a final in twoyears because of weather and
other issues, and I'm sure it'sgonna be.
Everyone's gonna be antsy if weever get to a final again.
So it'll be a good show towatch then, right, oh, yeah, for
sure, then that's.
I keep trying to tell them inhrl.
I'm like re-rack the final wehad from this year in Grand Prix
and let's just run it Fridaymorning, because that was the
(09:47):
best front line I've ever seenwith all five fast boots and it
would have been a show.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Well, too bad.
Hopefully next year we'll getthe whole thing through.
Well, you've won a lot of races, like you said 10 at
Valleyfield, but you've won atother places as well 10 at
Valleyfield, but you went toother places as well.
Do you have a favorite win thatyou've had so far?
Is there one that you'd thinkback on?
Maybe it gives you goosebumpsstill to this day to think on
that.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
What's your favorite?
It'd be a tie between two.
My first Nationals win inT-Boot was my third weekend of
driving.
It just kind of came as a shock.
I hit a real good start, was onthe outside and got around them
for the lead and it was.
It was just really cool to winit that soon and to see, like I
think, the shock in my dad'sface to like, okay, my kid might
(10:38):
have something here, um, it wasreally cool there.
And then, moment I still gotthe picture of me and little
tyke there, um, and actually putit next to a picture.
Same trophy from 20 years agowhen I was a kid, next to my
dad's trophy.
Same place at hampton it.
There were identical trophiesso they never changed anything
(11:00):
that long, but it was reallycool to see um and just be a
part of that.
And then the other one wouldhave to be 2013 in Valley Field.
Um, I was dating my now wifeand I knew going into that week
and I had a good shot to win 350um in Valley Field and so I'd,
if I won, I was going to proposeto her and I was able to win
(11:21):
and propose to her in front ofthe 20 30,000 fans there.
So that was a super cool moment.
And then I had to rush out ofthat because I was driving the
GP in the next heat and Istarted in lane four and was
running down the leader and hebroke and was able to win my
first valley field win and grandprix.
And then it was again one ofthose like you're not the
(11:42):
favorite but you get it done andit was just an incredible
weekend.
It's hard to top that one.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
That's like a storybook race right there.
I mean win a race propose hopanother boat, win again in
Valleyfield.
That's probably the mostprestigious race in Isherrell,
right, valleyfield, yes, yeah,for sure.
So I mean, could you write thatany better no most prestigious
race in israel right valleyfield.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Yes, yeah, yeah.
So I mean, yeah, I mean, couldyou write that any better?
No, no, I couldn't.
I would, I would have waited topropose till the grand prix I
thought I had a shot, but yeahit was.
It was really cool, man.
Yeah.
So that's one that definitelyI've won there since in grand
prix, but it's not really thesame as that one.
That one meant a lot to us as afamily.
(12:25):
We didn't really have a bigbudget in Grand Prix then we
were kind of shoestringingthings together.
We just had the change of motorright before that final.
So it was really cool that justall the hard work finally paid
off.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, wow, yeah.
Well, I'm just spitting firequestions at you now at this
point, but just things I love toknow about different drivers.
But do you have anysuperstitions or rituals that
you have race weekend?
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Not so much race weekend.
The only thing?
Because I've been asked thisquestion a few times.
The only thing I know I do is Ialways enter the boat from the
right side.
I never get in from the leftside.
And I couldn't even say I haveto do it, it's just something I
do, yeah yeah, so watermelons inyour pits are fine then?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Yeah, anything and everything, all right, it don't
matter.
Have you heard aboutwatermelons with hydroplane
Unlimiteds?
No, no, I have not.
There's some teams out therethat they will.
If you come close to it withtheir pit with the watermelon,
they'll kick you out of the pits.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, there's many stories of someone bringing
watermelons to the crew forlunch and then the boat flips.
So there's some people have asuperstition about that, yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I could see that there was one in the dirt track
race and when my grandpa wasinvolved in that was peanuts and
I was young and I broughtpeanuts over.
But could see that there wasone in the dirt track race and
when my grandpa was involved inthat it was peanuts and I was
young and I brought peanuts over, but then they won, so peanuts
were allowed, then All right.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
But next year, if you go to Unlimited Race and
someone offers you peanut orwatermelon from a different camp
, they're not being nice, I'mjust letting you know that right
now, yeah, now and now.
I know some other drivers, likeJim Kropfeld, always had a chew
ice before the race.
Chip had to be away from peoplein his camper and kind of just
(14:16):
mentally focus.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Yeah, I just try to stick to a normal routine.
I'm always around my family, my, my kids, and just stick to
normal.
There's there's very rare timesthat I have to get focused, and
that's.
It would be a time like thatwhere the steering broke and I
had to get into another boat orI flipped, and you know I need
that time, that space, but otherthan that, I just try to make
(14:39):
it like any ordinary day.
Yeah, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, being so involved with HRL, being on the
other side of the other coast ofUS, you know a lot of great
names that are racing right now,and I didn't prep you for this
question, but, being out on theWest Coast, we are so divided
and separated from a lot of theracing.
Fortunately now we're seeing alot of HRL racing through
(15:04):
streaming, but not everyone thatlistens to this podcast might
not know the big names out there.
Who are some drivers that weshould look out for to either
rise the ranks to Grand Prix oreven go on to Unlimiteds that
you're taking note of right now?
What are some names that weshould be paying attention to
right now?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
I would say well, I got to keep it with the family
first, my cousins Kyle andAustin Hayes.
They didn't race when theyfirst turned 14, like us.
And they were 20-something, theyjust started racing three years
ago and I mean they'veimpressed me.
We built a new boat last yearand they've learned how to set
(15:45):
up a new boat and that's.
That's a lot of this game isknowing what a boat feels and
what it needs.
And their driving is reallygood and getting better.
Next year they're they're gonnamove up to the formula 2500
class, so they're gonna get arude awakening that lanes are a
lot tighter and everything's alittle bit more aggressive.
But I'm sure they'll do fineand hopefully I hope they have a
(16:07):
long career and go up throughthe ranks and we'll see where
they wind up.
But other than that, um, we goteddie camphush.
He's a really good driver,comes from a father that has
major success in the sport.
Uh, grant letty code, samething.
His dad was in unlimited.
Um he's he's turned into areally good driver.
I mean was good right out ofthe box.
Um, we'll see what he continuesto do on 350 next year.
(16:30):
I feel like 350 is one of thoseproven ground classes that as
long as you have the rightengine, you can prove something
as a driver.
And again, back to setting up aboat.
Um, a lot of that comes, yourboat setup is what's going to
win races up there.
And then let's see Well, bobbyKing's already been in it, so
(16:51):
he's out.
There's some Canadians, I think, that are doing good.
That'll make it to Grand Prixat least.
I feel like the H1 stuff.
It's really hard to get us EastCoast guys in there.
But Mark Lalonde, he's doingreal good Older guy, not older,
he's probably 40, something likethat.
(17:11):
Paul Barber he's a good driver.
And then back to a young one,tommy Shannon he's really
aggressive, finally getting agood shot and a good boat.
So, yeah, that's about the sixor seven of them there, all
right, yeah, that's about thesix or seven of them there, all
right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah, it's interesting to hear because,
like I said, we're so separatedfrom that and you can go back
throughout the years and there'sso many great drivers that,
unfortunately, the fans of H1don't know and appreciate
because they didn't get a shotin H1.
But they, I'm sure, deserved itmore than some of the people
that had a chance in h1 somegreat talent out there and that
(17:49):
that's kind of one thing.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
I think the new regime of h1 and hrl they're
they're working together, likeI've seen our live stream from
hrl on h1s and vice versa, andthat's that's what the sport
needs is just a unison.
Someone told me once they'relike we only have 150 boats
across all of North America.
We can't go against each other,we have to work together, and I
(18:11):
think that's something thesport's needed and it's finally
getting, and I believe if theycould ever get to a road day H1
like they do with IndyCar, it'dbe great.
Follow the guys, see theirprogression, even if they never
make it.
Obviously, like you saidearlier, there's not that many
rides out there.
At least you kind of followedtheir journey to wherever they
(18:32):
wound up.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
oh, yeah, definitely yeah, and, and not have races on
the same weekend as well, right, yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
exactly, there's no need to be fighting over a
weekend race no, because I meanit hurts everyone, even if, like
, the same boats aren't racingat each race.
A lot of times it's the drivers, like if they're saying
detroit's coming back andbrockville's that same weekend.
Well, that splits me up,because the gp was probably
going to go to brockville andnow we?
Now what do we do?
(18:59):
Does the gp go to brockville ordoes it come to detroit?
And obviously I'll have to bein detroit, so it just, it just
makes a mess, and I mean that'snot how we can market a sport,
the.
The sport needs to be marketedwith the drivers first, that
these are our drivers.
They come to each race and youexpect to see them, get to know
them on.
I feel like a lot of thedrivers are getting better about
(19:20):
social media.
Even Andrew Tate's coming out ofhis shell a little bit,
although he won't come on mypodcast.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
He's scared.
Maybe someday Well, maybe afterhearing this he might change
his mind, I don't know.
Yeah, well, that's great.
Yeah, humanizing the sport, Ithink, is key.
I mean fans need to get to knowthe drivers better, because
when they're out there on thewater, I mean you see the boats
but you can't really see thedriver out there.
So there's a disconnect.
And getting to know the drivers, uh, I think would be huge for
the sport yeah, it was cool wedid in madison this year.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I don't golf and they had to put that embarrassing
video of me on h1's page but itwas really cool just to go golf
and with some guys from madisonand we just told stories and BS
the whole time and that's allthat stuff.
We have a ton of content comingout this winter from that, just
enjoying the moment with somepeople.
And same thing when Madison hadtheir win delay on Sunday and
(20:15):
obviously the unlimited wasalready done but we were
supposed to run a GP final and Ijust went up and was like hey,
put me in the dunk tank, likesell some, get some money in
this thing.
They were doing it for afundraiser.
So Jeff Ehlers and Hounson, Ihad everybody try to come dunk
me, even Tanner Faust, he missedthough he's not a baseball
player.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
All right, throw some shade to Tanner there.
I like that.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
I was heckling everybody.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I was having a good time.
Well, I did a dunk tank earlierthis year after the school year
got out.
I wasn't so lucky.
The kids I was teaching they'repretty good at throwing the
ball.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
We had some kids that they hit it like 10 in a row.
I was like, all right, I'mdrowning here, all right.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Well, I love hearing some of those names, though,
from HRL and some people to lookout for, yeah definitely, and
I'm sorry if I missed you.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's hard to do that stuff on the spot.
The roster is so big up therewith 24, 350s and 20-some
two-and-a-half stocks.
There's a lot of people and Imean that's the good thing about
social media.
Is any of your viewers go watchhrl races on youtube?
Their live streams pretty danggood this year.
Um a lot of content, and Ithink that's another thing.
(21:32):
That's cool is our sportsintermingling.
We have brian montgomery frommontwork working with almost
every series now, so you'regetting that same quality
content come out from everydivision and hasn't that been
huge in the last few years?
Speaker 1 (21:47):
um, it's probably even more than that.
He's been doing it now, butthat drone footage at the races,
I mean just got some incredibleshots.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Yeah, it's.
It just gives you thatuniqueness that you can't get
from a shoreline camera andpeople see like how the boats
turn and go in the y'all and allthat stuff.
It's really cool.
He definitely he's gonna loseone here shortly because he
keeps getting closer and closerbut that'll just make good
content, right?
Yeah, exactly exactly as longas that footage uploads, we're
good yeah just don't, just don'tgo through the air scoop.
(22:17):
I think any other part of theboat's fine at that point, all
right.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Well, we touched on your podcast.
We talked about it early whenwe got on here, but chase and
tails, and I believe is it ayear now it's been out.
How long has it been out?
Speaker 2 (22:32):
yeah a little yeah, we're a little over a year we're
on.
Uh, I think next week will beepisode 60 for us.
It's just been fun.
I think it was kyle andaustin's idea wanting to give
back to the sport.
Yeah and um, bobby and I joinedin and was like we had a couple
episodes.
Our first episode was just ustesting systems and it was kind
(22:53):
of a lot of fun, just bs andabout boobers and we have a ton
of stories to bring to the tableand then a lot of the people we
have on have a lot of storiestoo and I think us being racers
get them out of their shell alittle more.
Or we know a lot of the insidestories to kind of sneak out of
them that are not always prfriendly.
But that's kind of what it is.
(23:14):
It's loose, have fun and it'sbeen really cool.
It's been eye-opening for me asa driver and I've always
marketed and got sponsors andall that.
But to see the other side of itlearn more about event
management, about all that kindof stuff, has been really cool
yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Uh, it's been fun to see that grow.
And how did how did it start,though?
You said you had a couplefriends that were curious about
it, but you wanted to give backto the sport that you, that you
love.
Yeah, asking for some yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So my cousins kyle and austin, they kind of came up
with the idea one day in agroup text and I was like, hey,
let's do this and we're likemight be a lot of work and like
a lot of time.
So we we started, we decided toget all the equipment and start
it, and then we're trying to dothe videos and do it in four
different locations.
So trying to jump those hurdleswas a little hard.
(24:05):
And then the time managementfor us, like editing the videos
and stuff like that, but got toomuch time.
So now we went live Tuesdaynight.
There is no filters.
Sometimes that's a good thing,sometimes that's a bad thing,
but it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Well, I like that it's live, though, because, like
you said, it's what you're.
Well, I like that it's live,though, because you, like you
said, it's uh what you're gonnaget.
It's what you're gonna get,because I've had some interviews
where I had to go back and, uh,the person said, you know, I
probably shouldn't have saidthat, let's go back and delete,
you know, 10 minutes out of theinterview.
So that's that's fun, that youcan have that live and and get
the the first reaction out ofyour interviews yeah and it
(24:44):
helps.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
I mean, people get on there and they comment if we're
talking.
We really try to utilize theplatform right now as trying to
build up the sport.
Um, we've learned a lot aboutwhat an event needs, especially
limited high board and inboardevents, that they can't just be
a boat race.
It has to be more of a festival.
We have a lot of ideals, umcoming out over just just
(25:07):
chatting.
Um, we've talked more as afamily than we ever have.
Um, and we all some good ideals, some bad.
I think next year we're gonnatry to put on a boat race
ourselves out of chasing tails.
Um, if everything comes tofruition.
It's one of them put ourthoughts where our mouths are,
kind of deal and maybe makesomething unique a little out of
the box and see how it goes.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
That's fun.
That's fun.
Well, I know you've had quite aguest list so far.
Who's been a favoriteinterviewer that you've had or
interview that you've had so far?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
there's been some good ones.
But I'd have to say steve david,just his perspective over the
course of the years andobviously knowing him as a, a
friend, my dad actually boughthis first t-boat off steve david
, so okay, and then then thestory of that my dad got mad and
punched a hole through the deckand so steve david told that on
the, the podcast, and just justas insight from the t-boats all
(26:04):
the way to unlimited and wherethe failures have been and where
you can make things better, andhow, how the sport kind of just
keeps going in a circle, thatif we can break free of that it
can do some good things, and um,yeah, it's just, it's really to
me insightful.
And then us as a group trying totake that and expand upon it
and actually put some things inplace is what we're trying to.
(26:26):
Like I said, give back to thesport.
We've been in it for so longthat a lot of people always look
at us and they're like, well,you've been given a ride, you
shouldn't have an opinionbecause you've never put money
into a boat, and it's like we'veput our life into this and
we're going to try to make itbetter.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, I mean I think anyone who's involved in the
sport, whether it's a crewmember, driver, owner I mean
everyone's doing what they canto help the sport.
Yeah, so everyone's got andeveryone's got their own stories
right.
And I think you've seen on myshow that similarly, I've had
people from every corner of thesport come on to share their
stories and it's fun gettingthose different perspectives out
(27:05):
there for the fans.
Yeah, so what would be yourfavorite, my favorite.
Well, this interview is notdone so I can't.
I can't say you your name.
Uh, steve David was a great one.
Um, I really was kind of wowedby Dave Vilwock, actually when I
had him on.
Um, he had some reallyinsightful stories that he
didn't hold back on.
(27:25):
I always enjoy the people whodon't have those filters on and
will just kind of tell themtheir perspective on it, so that
was pretty insightful.
When he came on, I wasimpressed with some of the
stories he shared.
But also Chip was probably oneof my favorites as well.
He invited myself to his houseand was on Lake Washington there
(27:47):
and got a lot of time.
We chatted about his career.
It was a lot of fun.
That's awesome, yeah, and alsothe people that are very open
with it.
It's not like pulling teeth toget an answer right, exactly the
people that actually want totalk.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
They're not just there to be there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
All right, I love that your podcast is supporting
the sport.
I mean, I started my podcast todo the same.
Give back where I can, becauseit's a long off-season for each
one and it's a long off-seasonfor HRL as well and just any
content that we can get outthere I think is beneficial for
the fans and beneficial for thesport yeah, it's definitely
incredible.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It's been a a fun journey and, like I said, I
thank people like you.
That kind of started we have bjmidori did one out here on the
east coast as well and just it'skind of showed us that we can
and just be natural a lot oftimes.
Some you could try to do thesethings and they feel forced, but
you guys make it seem sonatural, like we're buddies
hanging out at the boat race,drinking a beer, and that's kind
(28:51):
of what makes the sport what itis.
And now we're getting to shareit on these platforms.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, I like having a natural feel as well.
It just makes it more fun forthe listener.
But that's a time commitment,isn't it?
It takes, it takes up a goodchunk of time.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, it definitely is, and that's that's why I said
, like our group, we had todecide to go live because the
the time consuming trying toedit the videos and get whoever
was speaking to be up first Likewe really wanted to do the
video.
That was like our we're.
We're not doing it.
If it's not video, we justwanted our faces out there.
I don't know, maybe we wantedto be popular or something, but
(29:29):
but yeah, just, it's definitelytime consuming.
It's like, especially when wedo race recaps, it's like are we
really getting on this tuesdayor should we wait till next
tuesday?
Right, if we don't get on,there's a lot of people
messaging like hey, what's goingon?
Are you guys?
Okay, we're just taking a break, yeah, yeah but it's worth it.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Oh, it's definitely worth it.
Yeah, yeah, and I figured out.
It's, I think, for every minuteof content I have, it's like
eight or ten minutes of my time,uh, so that time racks up
pretty quickly and I'm not evendoing video and that if you do
video on top of that, that'sjust widen the doors right open.
So, yeah, appreciate everythingthat you guys are doing over
there and if you ever need me onas a as a guest, I'm happy to
(30:09):
come on and give a perspectivefrom the other side of the us.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
But yeah, definitely, yeah, we'll definitely have to
sort that out.
I will say you are way moreprepared for these things than
we are.
We just wing it half the timewell, I'm also a school teacher.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
So I think that's my, that's my persona coming out
for that makes sense it makessense checks out.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We're just racers, core and core, and we just we
started out with all the likeall right, we're gonna do this
agenda and then bobby would belike I'm bored, so we just roll
with it well, you get adifferent flavor.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
That way too right.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
All right.
Well, I wish you good luck therest of the HRL season.
I wish you could be there forSan Diego, but hopefully next
year it'll be on a full circuitfor both series.
Hopefully you can get time offfrom your day job from that as
well.
But do all that.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Luckily I work for my dad, so it comes natural if he
leaves, I leave there you go,perfect.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Well, appreciate the having you on and good luck the
rest of the year.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Well.
Knuckleheads once again.
That's all the time we have forthis week.
I hope you enjoyed my interviewwith brandon kennedy, as you
got to know a little bit moreabout his background and his
passion for racing.
We We'll be back next week.
(31:28):
I have some more interviews onthe way, as well as some other
fun surprises along the waybefore we wrap things up for the
season, big weekend coming upBoats are back on the water in
Mission Bay.
H1 Unlimited returns with otherclasses of inboard racing on
Mission Bay.
I'm excited.
I'm going to be back there thisyear.
I believe this will be thefirst time since I've been down
(31:50):
in Mission Bay since COVID.
Really excited to get away forthe weekend, and what's a better
way than spending it at a race?
If you're down there in thearea, please say hello.
I love talking with other fansof the sport and collaborate and
talk about what we lovehydroplanes.
Don't forget we're on socialmedia Facebook, instagram.
(32:14):
We're online roosterteltalkcom,and until next time, I hope to
see you at the races.
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