November 10, 2025 • 64 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Oliver Askew — a former IndyCar and Formula E driver who’s lived at 200 mph and still somehow found peace in the slow moments. We talk about growing up homeschooled in Florida, chasing adrenaline through motorsport, and the lessons that come from burnout, belief, and beginning again.
Oliver opens up about the mental demands of racing without power steering, the pursuit of flow state, and what it’s like to carry both pressure and purpose inside the cockpit. He also shares how faith, friendship, and reflection have reshaped his definition of success beyond the track.
It’s a rare, honest look at what happens when the helmet comes off — a conversation about drive, discipline, and discovering who you are when the race ends.
Oliver’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/oliveraskew/
Episode #200 Survey: https://forms.gle/s72MemFFdHuL7g8DA
Support the Pod: https://stupidquestions.show/pages/sq-merch
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
How's it going everyone? And welcome back to the Stupid
Questions Podcast. Today in the pub, we're going to
be talking with Oliver Askew. He is a race car driver who has
participated in the sports of Formula E, IndyCar racing, Kart
racing, and a number of other things.
Really awesome guy. Great getting to connect with
him and hear his story a little bit.
And this is a new type of an episode because it's a different
sport that I have not been able to interview someone from in the
(00:22):
past. So very excited for him to have
sent out with me and give me theopportunity to get to know him a
little bit. If you are here listening to the
podcast, thank you so much. Really appreciate you.
Make sure to check out the show notes.
Episode 200 is coming up. So if you want to throw in some
ideas in the show notes, there are is a link where you can
submit your ideas there. Make sure to check out all of
(00:44):
all of our stuff there that I will link from his website to
his Instagram. And I think that's it.
Thank you guys so much for beinghere.
Really appreciate the opportunity to do this.
And so without further ado, and I introduce you to Oliver Askew.
Oliver, thank you so much for jumping on man.
Yeah, I really appreciate the time.
I would say you are a new type of guest for me.
So I am very looking forward to this interaction, getting to
(01:07):
know your story. But yeah, thank you so much for
being on the Humble Podcast. How you doing today?
I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me.
When you sent the invite. I did some research and listened
to a few episodes and I have to say they're a great listen, easy
listen and you're doing a good job.
So. Thanks man I appreciate it.
What what episodes did you listen to or part of?
(01:29):
The one of Luke. Luke.
Fest Yeah. So you know Luke from riding, I
guess. I just met him a few weeks ago
at the track, both him and and Lucas.
OK, nice, nice. So they are planning to have a
cycling, I don't know how much Ican talk about, but they're
having a cycling event at the track.
(01:52):
So. At the Concourse Club in Miami.
And so they're just coming out to check it out and and see what
they can, what can make happen. So I'm a big cycling fan.
It's the, I'd say it's the number one sport that I that I
follow European cycling. So and I also follow the crit
scene in the US. So it's really, it was really
cool for me to meet those guys. That's cool.
(02:12):
How did you guys get connected if you don't mind me asking?
Through a mutual friend. OK, nice.
Cool man. Sweet.
Well, I'll try not to ask too many questions around the the
cycling event, but look forward to seeing what's coming down the
Pike. That's pretty sweet.
Yeah. So I guess the first question
that I just want to open up with, it's a pretty deep 1.
(02:32):
I don't know if you heard me askthis to other people before or
not, but the question is, according to Oliver, Who is
Oliver? Oh boy, have you hit her right
off the bat? Yeah, I'd say that I am your
quintessential adrenaline junkie.
I'm introverted, but can also turn it on and off.
(02:53):
I love to experience new, new things.
Anything that pushes my body as an athlete, even after, you
know, I haven't, I haven't racedin a few years.
I'm still looking for that fix, whether if it's from cycling,
surfing, training, running. I love all those things.
And yeah, just just enjoying newexperiences.
(03:15):
That's awesome. So when you said, you know, you
can turn the introvert versus the extrovert side off, has that
always been the case? And have you leaned more one way
or the other as you've gotten older?
I'd say I'm beginning to open up.
Well, not beginning. I have been, you know, through
my early 20s as well as as a youngster, I was very sheltered
(03:35):
and, and quiet and stuck in my shell.
I think that's common, common for for most people.
I was homeschooled in in high school so that maybe has
something to do with it. Unpack that for me.
What do you what do you believe about homeschoolers and what is
what is true, what is not true? It's very situational.
My home schooling was all virtual, so all of my classes
(03:58):
and my teachers were virtual at the same time.
I was spending every week, everyweekend racing go karts.
And so that was my school of Hard Knocks.
And you know, my, my childhood was, you know, being around
those people and, and those friends I still have to this
day, but it's, it's a difficult 1.
You know, I think the social aspect of school is extremely
(04:21):
important. And like I said, I kind of I
found that through racing. So.
If you don't have that growing up, I think it can, it can
become an issue later on in life.
So, but yeah, it's, it's, it's very situational, I'd say.
Yeah. Where did you grow up?
What part of the US? Jupiter, FL where I am now and
(04:43):
and it's back here. So yeah.
So you must. Family, just the four of us, my
parents and and my sister and yeah, yeah.
Would you do it again from growing up living in Florida?
Like are you sold on Florida? Do you like it?
I do, but I'm not afraid to to venture out and and experience
(05:04):
new cultures. My mom's Swedish and so we we
try to visit, visit Sweden, the South of Sweden where a lot of
my extended family lives. And yeah, I would love to live
somewhere different in the future.
I did spend some time in Indianapolis as well while I was
racing Indycars. So probably want to end up back
(05:26):
here later in my life because it's, it's paradise, You know,
I've a lot of different culturesand I've traveled all over the
world and I always loved coming home and I can really appreciate
where I came from when I speed different places.
So, so obviously what you do is a pretty big piece of who you
are and finding your path forward, but I'd be curious to
(05:46):
know a little bit of the background and story for, you
know, how did you even get involved with karting before
that? Was there anything else?
When did it become your first orI guess like your love or the
thing that you wanted to push? Forgive me some of that context
and background. Yeah.
So it started when I was seven years old.
It was just a father son hobby. We had a Ford Excursion that we
threw the go Kart in the back ofand that was just our our
(06:10):
weekend hobby. I was so young, I didn't, didn't
know what it meant to build a career or build a build a job.
I was just having fun and, and Ithink my dad was was doing the
same. It wasn't until I was 13 or 14
when it started to become serious.
(06:31):
I picked up some sponsors, beganto travel a lot more, winning
races. And that's why started to to
think, OK, this could, could be something.
So it's been, it's been my wholelife.
I've been by motorsport my wholelife.
Yeah. But it doesn't run in the form.
My dad was a air traffic controller.
He's been retired now for almost10 years.
(06:52):
He's he spent 30 years there working for the government in
the FAA. And yeah, I think that was sort
of his his way to escape as well.
Just, you know, being at the track with me.
So yeah. So I was going to say cycling,
sorry, not cycling, racing, likekarting and stuff like that.
Was that a big passion of his I guess from even before he kind
(07:16):
of introduced you to it? Or is it a thing that he think
you think that he was like, oh maybe I see a future for my kid
in this or like how did it grow and become to what it is it
became? Yeah, she, he is extremely
supportive. Both of my parents are.
So when I gravitated towards that lifestyle and and that
(07:37):
sport, I mean they were fully, fully behind me and I think they
appreciated the, the family likeatmosphere.
And I think I heard Luke speak about that as well, you know,
going, going to the bike shop and, and being around those
people all the time, I think, I think they gravitated towards
that as well. So yeah.
(07:58):
That's awesome. So does anyone in your family do
any sort of racing other than you?
Nobody, no, which is in common racing in itself is not a common
or an easy sport to fall into. And so most people, most, most
kids, they grow up, you know, after their family with or their
father and motorsport or, or having something to do with
(08:22):
motorsport, whether it's, you know, engineering mechanic.
Yeah. And so, yeah, it was, it was,
and that's been my life to the, to a tee.
It's like I, I don't tend to follow the the typical path, you
know, And yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change anything about
that. Yeah.
Do you like, you don't follow the typical path you're saying,
(08:44):
is that something that like, areyou, are you proud of that?
Like is that the way that you typically operate just like, oh,
whatever's kind of in front of me, I'll kind of go with it.
Or are you a little more calculated?
I I would say that. It's not a great question now
that I'm thinking about it. Looking back at at my life and
(09:06):
how it's unfolded, I, I tend to go with the flow.
Yeah, I'm trying to become more calculated with what I do now
that I'm in my later 20s. Yeah.
But I think, I think until now in my early my, my teens in my
early 20s, I was just, I was going with the flow and, you
know, it brought me to the to the pinnacle of motorsport.
(09:27):
And so I wouldn't, I wouldn't change anything about that.
Yeah. So you said like, you know,
usually it it's uncommon for it to be, you know, you don't have
your father or somebody who has done this type of a thing.
Knowing that now and knowing where you want to go in the
future, is it something that youwill be interested in passing
down to your children someday? Assuming you want children.
(09:47):
Yeah, I think so. I definitely do.
Yeah. I think, I think, you know, God,
God has a plan for each of us, you know, and I and I think, you
know, you just have to, I find out a lot of who you surround
yourself with as well plays it plays a big role in who you
(10:09):
become in the future. So I think that's, that's the
number one aspect of life that Iwould like to pass on is like
definitely try to make sure you surround yourself with the right
people and people who you won't become.
I think that's extremely important.
And I think, I think something that, I mean, I'm, I'm no
parent, right? I, I haven't experienced that,
but that's definitely something out that I would like to, you
(10:30):
know, push on other people as well.
It's just critical. Yeah, for for that life lesson.
Like it's one thing to kind of know that and believe that, but
another thing to experience it, you know, to kind of solidify
that belief. So do you have any stories for
situations where you know you, you feel like you chose the
right friends or you had to let certain friends quote UN quote
(10:51):
friends go because of just the way they were influencing you?
I think I, I generally tend to gravitate towards people who
are, who are doing great things.That's, that's been common for
me throughout my life, those whoare off the beaten path as well,
(11:12):
making a name for themselves and, and different industries.
My best friend is now a president of a he's, he's a year
younger than me and he's the president of a of a fuel startup
company. He has a terminal and, and, and
a very high performing individuals and people, people
who I tend to think are doing a better job than me, which really
(11:34):
pushes me to become a better person than myself.
So yeah. So what are some of the like
biggest inner critic voices thatyou have about yourself?
Oh, that's a good one. Well, one.
I think it's it's good to have an inner critic.
I definitely do. If not, then you don't.
(11:55):
I find I find that it's a blessing to have that inner
critic because it's it's constantly pushing you to wake
up every day and and become or do things make sure that you're
better than the day before. I had an old manager that would
constantly text me every single day and ask me the same
question. OK, what did you do today that
was better than than the previous?
(12:17):
Yeah. And, you know, it takes it takes
small steps, you know, whether it's running an extra mile or
spending, spending more time studying or whatever it is that
you're doing in your life. I think it's in the in the end,
it pays off. Yeah, do.
You think that it could ever become something where it wasn't
healthy? The inner critic.
(12:38):
Yes, definitely. I've, I've always put a lot of
pressure on myself, sometimes toa fault.
Yeah, yeah, I think there's a fine, a fine balance.
That's a good question. Through my last few.
(12:59):
So my last race in motorsport was in 2022 and formally and I
think through my last couple of races, I'm not, I'm not retired
by any means. I will race again.
I just don't know and, and, and what capacity, but I was putting
a lot of pressure on myself and I and, and I think it started to
burn me out. You know, that overthinking.
I'm very self critical and maybea control freak as well.
(13:24):
I wanted to make sure that everything's perfect,
visualizing my races and and performance all the time.
So yeah, I think there can be a fault to that.
And my best performances, looking back, I was in a flow
state and letting everything just come to me naturally.
(13:46):
And that, that's the best part about racing and the best
feeling in racing. And I can imagine it's the same
for the guys and and cycling or any.
Other musicians. Yes, any other sport or or high
performing industry. The best feeling is when you can
just let your experience take over and it's like, it's like
(14:07):
time becomes slow and you know that the race finishes and
you're like, you know what just happened?
Yeah. It's just, it's such a cool
feeling. Yeah, it's so fascinating, like
that topic of flow state, because I feel like it's kind of
been a buzzword or buzz phrase or buzz topic for a little
while, but I don't know if that many people have truly
experienced it. Then when I have truly
experienced, it has been usuallyin like a music performance to
(14:32):
some degree, like playing piano and singing or doing something
that could be considered hard. But then it's whenever, at least
for me, whenever I let the fear settle in to where like I start
hyper analyzing the small details that like you start to
focus on one thing and then you lose sight of kind of the bigger
picture what's going on. And I can only imagine for your
type of profession, you know, going very fast, lots of data
(14:53):
coming in to your field of view very quickly.
You're hearing, smelling all these different things.
And then how to kind of shut that off to just be in the zone,
like you're saying, like in thatflow state, what can, is there
something that somebody can do to learn how to 1st find that,
like a figure out what that is? And then to, to be able to OK,
(15:13):
so I will whenever this light turns off and you know, the the
race starts, I want to make surethat I'm there in that moment
the whole time. Yes, it's a muscle that you have
to train with within your mind. And for me, everyone has their
little quirks and, and niches and, and how to find that.
(15:34):
But for me, it was just something as simple as just
squeezing the wheel once. And, you know, that kind of
brought me back to focusing on, on the task at hand.
I, I tended to struggle on, on, on that, on that side of things
on tracks with long straightaways, like straight
line portions of the track whereyou're not doing anything.
(15:56):
You're, you're full throttle, maybe checking the gauges,
checking your mirrors, but you have time to think.
And that's when my mind could wander.
And so squeezing the wheel and, and, and brain, it's like a
swing thought basically. And, and golf, those guys have
typically have a swing thought, you know, to, to get them out of
(16:18):
the emotions of being where theyare and just to lock in on, on,
on their swing. The same thing.
There's so many parallels between golf and motorsport.
Yeah. So who are some of the mentors
or people that you've gotten to know within it can be within
your industry or outside of yourindustry, but that serve that
serve you in that capacity to like learn how to be, you know,
(16:41):
the best version you could be onand off the track.
Like who are those people and why are they your people?
Yeah, still many. I wouldn't say there has been
one, but I, I tend to find good relationships with, with people
within my team. And it's important to to form
(17:03):
those relationships outside of the track, you know, so when
you're in the moment, you know that those people have your back
and, you know, maybe you're off daydreaming or having having a
bad day, you know those people. Playback.
Point, point you back down the right path.
And I, I, I can't point to one person, to be honest, that has
(17:27):
been my mentor over over the last 20 years on motorsport.
But I mean, there's been so manypeople and people that I've
looked up to as well who have made it and who have stayed at
the top. I might not have a have a
relationship with those people, but I know how they work.
Maybe sat beside them and I'm very analytical and and
(17:50):
interested in to see how how they go about things in the
sport. So on the sponge and that way.
Yeah, so, so with your upbringing, I'm curious to know
because you know, your, your dadwas air traffic controller.
Your mom, I'm not sure what she did.
What did she do? So she, she didn't work for a
long time and now she's working in a, in a real estate
(18:13):
investment office, a sweet family, a very, very close
family to ours. So she struggled with lupus her
whole life and now she is in into remission, I believe, which
has been fantastic for us and her.
But I think finding that purposewithin a work environment has
also helped her as well. So.
(18:35):
Yeah, that. That's crazy.
OK, well, we'll talk about that here in a moment because I do
want to ask some questions aboutthat.
Yeah. So your mom being a good mom
sounds like your dad having the the skills that he has.
I'm super. Lucky.
Yeah. So you have these parents that
have, in a lot of ways, given you pieces of nature and nurture
to kind of bring you to where you are today.
Like we said, they don't have any like background in, you
(18:58):
know, high performance Motorsports.
But I'm curious to know what aresome of the characteristics that
you feel like you got from your mom and dad that serve you well
in your profession? Yeah, that that's, that's an
easy one on my, on my dad's side.
I mean, he's just so calm with everything that he does.
And I think that has served me well and, and life and my
(19:18):
career. I'm not sure if he grew up that
way, but say, you know, maybe maybe in his work environment
has an air traffic controller, you know, he, he can't have any
sort of emotions and he's very even keel.
So maybe that kind of turned himinto that person.
And that's definitely transferred over to everything
that I've done. I am emotional, but I tend to
(19:42):
keep them to myself, right, Or raise my voice.
I don't get too angry or too happy on the other side as well.
And I think that's important in any, any kind of sport.
Whereas even in motorsport, the emotions can be so up and down
all the time. Most of the races you're not,
(20:02):
you're not winning. And you know, maybe it's maybe
it's second or third, but you know, it's, it's not, it's a
very competitive sport. So to be dominating is, is very
rare. And if you're not winning, it's,
it's a bad day. So to keep those, keep those
emotions in check has been critical to to my success.
(20:23):
And I think that transfers off the track as well.
And my mom, she's just, she's a jump.
She's extremely strong to to have been dealing with the lupus
her whole life. Yeah, I think, I think I'm very,
very lucky. I know that I'm very lucky to
have them, yeah. Yeah, that's phenomenal.
(20:44):
Who do you think that you're more like, your mom or your dad?
I look just like my mom. I'm a copy of my mom.
Who am I? More like I'm.
I'm a combination between the two.
I couldn't pick one or the other.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's amazing.
So would did she struggle with that like all through your
growing up? I think she was diagnosed right
(21:07):
right after she had me. What was she, 2025?
Maybe around then? Yeah.
Maybe even earlier, yeah. Yeah.
Can you, I mean, when you found out about that, I guess you were
obviously very young, but as yougot older, did you notice just
the way that it affected the, the dynamic in the household
like did was it a pretty big thing where you guys talked
(21:29):
about it a lot, had to focus on it, change plans, do different
things for that? I don't think so.
I mean, like, like I said, she'sshe's extremely strong and she
kind of she kept it under wraps for a long time and it's it's
just been it's been so common for us in the household.
I guess I don't. I haven't seen a difference
until lately. He's on a different medicine.
And finally she's she's now tan for the first time I've ever
(21:56):
seen her, because now she's ableto be outside and.
Amazing. And the sun.
So lupus, I don't, I don't know how it works, but this the sun
can definitely trigger inflammation in the ball or
people who have lupus and and she was struggling to be at the
(22:17):
racetrack. I remember, you know, having
having to be under the tent and her joints and and skin would
would flare up on on Asian. So but that hasn't happened in a
while. So I'm so happy for her.
That's awesome. That's so cool.
So going forward a little bit, like going more up to modern
(22:37):
day, I guess I would love to know what you felt in the 1st
instances where you realize like, oh, you know, you're going
to get to go race at the pinnacle of racing, like Formula
E, That's pretty prestigious. I'm sure you didn't just go from
karting to OK here one day. Someone asked you, come on up,
take this driver's seat. So what was that?
What was that? What were the building blocks
(22:59):
like for you to get to that point?
And what did it mean to you? Like was it a pinch me moment?
Did you, were you prepared enough to be like, Oh yeah,
whatever. Like, I'm going to just kind of
do my thing. But I think I was the first
driver, at least in the modern era of IndyCar racing, to go
from karts to IndyCar within only four years.
(23:19):
What was that was extremely accelerated.
Maybe in hindsight, I probably got there too quickly, but I, I
didn't, I didn't have a choice because I was relying on the
scholarship system that there isin the Road to Indy, the junior
series, basically like the AA, AAA of, of baseball in the major
(23:40):
leagues. So I had to win the
championships in order to move on because we didn't have the
funding or the sponsorship to tomake it there in any other way.
So yeah, over I think it was yeah.
Over that, that three years, that three-step ladder system
(24:01):
won a lot of money in scholarship to move on to the to
the next level. So I didn't have that choice
again to to stay back and maybe really hone in on my on my
skills on on the level before I got to IndyCar.
And I got there, I was picked upby one of the top teams and, and
McLaren. And that was in in 2020.
(24:23):
So I was expected to perform right away.
And then there's, you know, COVID and there's just a lot of
a lot happening. Yeah, that's one thing.
If I were to go back and and change something, I would, I
would, I mean hindsight's 2020, but I would spend more time at
the AAA level or maybe with a team in IndyCar that wasn't
(24:46):
expecting to challenge for race wins right away.
Just so that I can, I can get my, you know, ground ground
myself a little before before I,I was really expected to, to win
races so. Yeah.
What, what is something that youthink you would go back to your
2020 self and know when you're stepping into that role?
What are some things that you would tell yourself to maybe
(25:07):
prepare for or some things that you wish that you'd known
because you said, you know, you maybe you went a little too
fast. Like what are some of the core
principles or just lessons that needed to be learned, you think,
to enable you to be successful at that level?
I, I probably would have trustedthe process a little bit more
looking back at it, put less pressure on myself, not, not try
(25:34):
so hard. I was, I was really pushing
myself both physically and mentally to a level that I
haven't, you know, I hadn't experienced before.
So that car was also, so that was the, the first year of the,
the Halo and the, the arrow screen.
And so the cars were extremely you can talk to any of the guys
(25:56):
there very, very hot. And I'm, I'm a big, I'm a
sweater. So when, when I'm in a, when you
have, you know, 3 layers of Nomex, you're sitting in the car
and that that sweats not it's not going anywhere.
It's not evaporating. And so I'm just sitting and.
Pools. A pool of of hot boiling water
(26:17):
for up to 2 1/2 hours, 2 hours. So it was it was very difficult.
I would have probably started mytraining at at at a very high
level, training at a very high level earlier on in my career.
So that maybe I was that was more paced for for that
(26:38):
environment. Yeah.
What, what does training look like?
Are we talking like, you know, mentally, physically?
I know that you guys do things for reaction time, like just
senses and stuff like that. What is what?
What would that have looked like?
It like training at such a high level.
Yeah, it's it's a tricky 1. So because racing is so
(26:58):
expensive over the last decade, the series has reduced the
amount of testing time that we had before the first race and
and March. Most series start in March and
even Formula One has these rulesas well.
They don't allow teams to test for any more than two or three
days season. So, and those are muscles that
(27:21):
we can't, we have a really hard time targeting outside of the
car because you don't force, youdon't have that, that violent
environment that is, that is therace car outside of the track.
We just can't, can't really findit anywhere, you know, unless
you're spending money to drive other cars in a private setting
or I did a lot of go karting andcontinues to do a lot of go
(27:41):
karting. Just to simulate some of that.
Yeah, exactly. But there are there are a few
gyms in Indianapolis where whereIndyCar is was born and and
still is today. A lot of the teams are based
there and there are several gymsthat focus solely on on racing
drivers. And so that's a lot of neck
(28:02):
training reaction. As you mentioned heat as well,
you know, training inside of a hot environment.
And I think I think definitely helps.
So, and that's when I found, I found cycling as well because
that's it started targeting a similar heart rate and sustained
heart rate. So I think those guys in, you
(28:22):
know, in IndyCar now, they're averaging 100 and 160 BPM.
That's. Insane dude.
Few hours in a in a very hot environment, so you're losing so
many fluids during that time, so.
Yeah, Is it is to get to that heart rate, like for those who
may not understand, like that's relatively high, especially for
guys and like they're, you know,late 20s, early 30s, that's not
(28:46):
nothing. That's like 6070% potentially
depending on the person. Is it because of, I mean, I
understand the acceleration, I understand the deceleration, I
understand like the tight corners, but it like, are you
tense everywhere that you need to be tense like constantly
because I'm trying to just understand from, because you're
sitting down, but obviously you're working very hard.
Like where? Where is all the work coming
(29:06):
from? So those cars don't have power
steering. The only formula car in the
world I believe right now that has power steering is Formula
One. So IndyCar, Formula E is all
mechanical steering. And so you, you feel everything
within the wheel. It's very, very heavy.
There were certain tracks, I, I remember specifically that
(29:32):
there's a track in, in Detroit, Belle Isle, where the Firestone,
you know, brought a very soft red tire, the soft compound
tire, grippy combined with that,with the tarmac that was, you
know, building grip throughout the weekend.
I remember in the race there I was, I was turning the wheel.
I was, I had to slow down because I couldn't, I couldn't
(29:54):
turn the wheel hard, hard enough.
Like I, I physically had to, hadto slow down and lift off the
bottle. I, I could not turn it enough.
So imagine holding, you know, 50pound 60 LB dumbbells and and
you know, trying to turn into the corner.
Holy smokes, dude. Yeah.
So and then you're doing that for for two hours, so.
(30:16):
Why do the Why do the pansies inFormula One get powered
steering? Because of the downforce that
they have is just. Because it would be impossible,
yeah. Yeah.
So, well that that's not sustained.
So that's, you know, over a few.Corners.
It's in bursts. So you do have time.
It's in bursts. You do have on to on the
(30:37):
straights, you know, to, to overthink and, and relax your
hands and, and breathe, take a few deep breaths.
I'm doing a lot of coaching now that I'm not not racing.
And that's something that I try and nail into the the drivers
that I'm with is just to take the time on, on the straights to
just relax. You know, for people when it's
(30:58):
their first time, they're extremely tense, white knuckled,
you know, their eyes are starting to drop and you just
have on this. And every moment you can, you
need to relax your your body andtake a few deep breaths.
Yeah. When you say eyes drop, you mean
like eyes drop off the horizon and looking closer to in front
of you? That's so interesting.
Like it really is like a feel thing.
(31:18):
Like you have to obviously have some skill that you built up
over time. But it's it seems to me, is this
accurate to say? It's like you understand it
enough to shoot from the hip andbe accurate.
Like is that make sense? No.
Can you explain? Yeah.
So like professional, I would people who really understand the
gun that they've been working with for a while.
You know, I would imagine guys even in war, like unless they're
(31:39):
a sniper, I guess. But like if you're running and
gunning, like you kind of know where you need to shoot and and
you know, you can kind of shoot from the hip or kind of, yeah,
it's sort of there. But then for you guys, you know,
like you're saying, if you're looking really close in front of
you, you're like trying to calculate all of these visual
calculations within like feet infront of you versus like looking
out in front of you and kind of taking it all in and kind of
knowing the feel. OK, this is when I should start
(32:00):
to break. This is what I should
accelerate. This is when I should turn this
on, turn that off, that kind of thing, yeah.
Eyes are everything. You know, a lot of the people on
the roads, you know, if you, youknow, you pull up next to your
grandma at the, at the love our grandma's, but you know, fully
up on the wheel and they're likelooking in front of they're
trying to, you know, look at their, their front bumper.
(32:23):
You know, at, at speeds, at any speed, you need to be looking
far ahead so that you have time to react to what's what's about
to happen. Yeah, yeah.
And, and that's, that's criticalfor and very difficult to break
that habit. You know, so for, for drivers in
their junior career, you know, if they're, if they're
(32:44):
consistently, you know, droppingtheir eyes and looking too close
in front of them, it's very hardto, to knock that out of
themselves. And, and to, to fix that habit.
It's, it's very difficult. And there are now simulators and
training facilities that have glasses that can watch your eyes
and they they look like red and like looking back at the video,
(33:06):
they look like red dots on the track.
And that's that's one way that, you know, there's these junior
driver facilities are are tryingto trying to yeah, support.
Yeah, if you if you could take some of the the best drivers
from the past 50 years and then bring them up to modern day with
the tools and the analytics thatyou guys have, how do you think
(33:28):
that they would react? It would look alien to them.
The the amount of technology that we have in motorsport now
on the simulation side is is incredible.
I do, I still do some work for the Android Formula E team in
England and the weekend starts in the simulator and a lot of
(33:51):
what we find set up energy strategy, that's all copy and
pasted to the race weekend. And if there's anything wrong or
a mess with our homework like that, that's a direct
translation to that performance on on the race weekend.
So it's become very critical. The money saved from teams not
(34:14):
testing before the season has gone straight to simulation and,
and, and building these. And I think you know the Formula
One teams, it's probably half a million and, and, and hardware
just to build the simulator and then the monthly cost is is
through the roof. Yeah, Yeah, that's nuts.
(34:37):
Do you do you feel like it's good for these sports?
Like I, I, I hesitate to say good because I know it's not
black and white, but for example, with triathlon and
cycling, I guess European cycling, there's quite a bit of
money goes into it. But really like if you're really
looking into it, you know, the guys that are below 5 on the
roster, they're not get paid in a ton of money and they're,
there's still a lot of money that goes into the hardware and
(34:57):
things like that. Don't get me wrong.
But then you have a sport that'slike obviously much bigger
audience. So the advertising dollars are
there and ticket sales are there.
But Formula One, it's like, or even Formula E, you guys are
spending millions of dollars on here, $1,000,000 there, you
know, and it's like just these massive expenses that really I
feel like can change the environment for like the culture
(35:19):
of a sport and how people interact with each other as
competitors, even interact with each other.
It's like teammates, how do you,is there a way like to kind of
put your pulse on how that is? And like, does does money end up
making the sport better or worse?
Like what's your assessment on that?
That's a good question. I often wonder where it comes
(35:41):
from because the amount spent isinsane.
I think for a Formula E team A2 car team, it's a top team.
It's well over 10 million a yearfor Formula One.
It's 150. It's crazy.
And it's also similar in IndyCar.
It's probably 15,000,000 a year now for, for even a mid mid tier
(36:04):
team, 2 car team. Yeah, it's there are teams that
that that cost either makes or break.
It can make or break a team. You know, it's very difficult
for those bottom tier teams to, to catch up and, and motorsport
money equals performance, whether it's hiring the best
(36:27):
drivers, the best engineers, thebest hardware and equipment.
If you don't have that funding, then you're, you're not
competing at the top. And it's a, it's a vicious
cycle. Definitely.
And that's, there's been a lot of talk around, you know,
viewership numbers here in the US, whether it's NASCAR or, or
(36:48):
IndyCar, that that is a direct translation as well to how much
corporate sponsorship that is available within the series.
And so, you know, Fox taking over the audience and, and, and
TV with IndyCar was a big deal because they're really behind
pushing, pushing the, the sport and, and the spectacle.
(37:12):
And so that's been cool to see. And everyone's kind of looking
after or looking at Formula One as, as the perfect example right
now because, you know, Liberty, Liberty Media and the companies
behind, you know, getting them to Netflix.
And that has been massive for Formula One and, and motor sport
across the board. But with social media nowadays,
(37:34):
it's been very, very important to try and promote.
And it's, it's a big fight in itself amongst teams to, to get
the most engagement. And I think I'm going off on a
thread now. I love it, keep going.
At the end of the day, yeah, like, like I said, it's money
equals performance. Yeah, that's it.
(37:54):
Yeah. And and and.
You know, you can pay for the best, best driver, and that's
going to get you to the end of the game, just to the last hole.
It's it's not. It's not like that, No.
Yeah. It's not why I feel like too
like winning, you know, equals the money.
So it's like the amount of pressure that a driver and the
team must fill, but especially driver because they end up being
(38:16):
by just the way that media works, like they end up being
the face of the team oftentimes.And then you have this a
tremendous amount of pressure because I don't know how many
people are on your team or the teams that you've raced for, the
ones that you sit and reserve for, you know, whatever.
Like, but there's a lot of people and their jobs in a lot
of way are dependent upon how well at the end of the day,
you're able to control that car to do what it needs to do.
(38:37):
So it's like, and a lot of ways,I feel like they should be the
CEO's of the team. You know, it's crazy.
It's performance based across the board from the drivers to
and the people working in NPR and media engineers.
You know, if you're not, if you're not hitting your marks,
it's, you know, you're out the door.
And it's just a revolving door of, of people every single year.
(38:58):
It's it's very rare that a team stays the same from year to
yeah, I guess you can see that. And, and you know, the corporate
America as well. It's very, extremely, yeah,
performance based, so. There's two questions for you.
Why, why? Why do you want to do it?
What drives you? And then two, where do you want
(39:19):
to go? Like what is, what is the
success look like to you? Maybe that's changed over time,
but so why and where, Yeah. Yeah, like, like I said, I
haven't raced in a few years, but I'm still and still still
involved and I still will race again.
I just don't know at what capacity.
So that is continuing to be the goal.
(39:41):
I have recently looked at other passions and, and avenues career
wise, you know, whether it's looking at entrepreneurship or I
took a few, a few pilot lessons as well.
Now my dad and I have bonded over that for the first time as
we haven't we haven't talked about aviation at all in our
(40:01):
lives and until now. So.
Cool. Yeah, it's been cool.
Yeah, look, looking at differentpassions and and, you know,
finding, finding something outside of motorsport has, has
been interesting for me recently.
But I do see myself continuing in, in the motorsport industry.
(40:22):
I hope that it's that involves racing a car.
I think I'm I'm very good at it and, and, and continue to make
it a career. Why it's been the only thing
that really that's really made me tick over the years.
You know, that that passion I haven't been able to find
anywhere else for the most part.And, you know, winning, winning,
(40:46):
racing and winning races and, and experiencing that, that joy
within the team has been a feeling that that we all chase
as as drivers. Yeah, yeah, and, and, and, and
finding that flow state as well.I I really, I really enjoy.
So that's that's what continues to draw me back to to the sport.
And you know, I wake up most days thinking about it.
(41:08):
Yeah. So then practically like I would
imagine in, in order to get backin the driver's seat, there's,
there's some combination which Idon't know what it is and I'd be
curious to hear your take on it.But what is the combination
between like, well, this is whatI can do.
This is what I can hustle to getthere, you know, my performance.
And then like this percentage iskind of luck.
So performance kind of knowing people and then luck like what
(41:30):
what is the, what is the percentage split you think in
order for that to happen, like what needs to happen practically
for you to get back in a driver's seat?
I'm not a big believer in luck, but I I definitely believe in
being in the right place at the right time with the right
preparation. Right now, I think my Ave. back
to the driving seat is probably through coaching and instructing
(41:55):
a lot of these these drivers at the at the club tracks across
the country. They're popping up everywhere,
have a lot of wealth and investment that you know, that
they want to put towards motorsport and that often times
includes a a Co driver. So we're looking at the sports
car, the MC Sports car championship is it's very common
(42:16):
to see that happen. And and then once I once I get
my feet on the ground there, I'mI'm confident that I can perform
in and stay in an industry or a series like that one.
So that's how I see that going maybe with my reserve role and
formally as well, it could amount to getting back into the
seat. So that's, you know, work on the
(42:37):
simulator and then I also go to the races.
I'll go to the go to the at least the first three this year.
And then if, you know, if the main drivers get sick or
injured, then then I'm thrown inthe car.
So yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll see.Yeah, that's got to be a tough
place to be in because it's likeyou don't want somebody to get
sick. But at the same time, maybe a
little bit, Yeah, probably not allowed to say that.
(42:59):
Yeah, there's been a lot of intrusive thoughts out of there,
but of course I don't. I don't wish there were
somebody. Sure.
So let me ask you this question.Would you rather be paid
hypothetically $1,000,000 a yearto be a reserve or $50,000 a
year to be racing? To be racing, definitely yeah,
the runway as a reserve driver can be can be very short as it
(43:22):
is in racing, but I think I can control my own my own destiny in
in the seat aside from yeah, aside from the reserve stuff.
So that's a good one. That's a good question.
Yeah. What what is the entrepreneur
side of you thinking about? So I, I've met a lot of new
friends who are in that space who have, you know, piqued my
(43:44):
interest. And, you know, whether it's, I
don't know, starting my own business or maybe maybe even
starting my own business within the realm of, of motorsport.
I think that could be interesting because I, I know a
lot of people in the industry. So yeah, there's been, there's
been a couple of ideas floating around, yeah.
(44:07):
Are you afraid I. See myself sitting at a desk at
a, at a nine to five. Yeah.
So that's, that's off the table.Yeah, yeah.
Well, if I may pry a little bit and ask about some of your
ideas, because like just some ofthe stuff you told me I I feel
like I have an idea, but I don'tknow anything about the
industry. So it's probably already been
tried. But what are some of your like
ideas that you have that you youthink might be worth exploring
(44:30):
an entrepreneurial bandwagon forlike the industry that you find
yourself in? So I think it's a really good
one and I don't, I don't want anyone to take it.
So, and I'm going to stay quiet on that.
Aside from, yes, it involves exotic cars.
That's OK. That's all it involves.
(44:52):
That's all, Yeah. Got the buggy off there because
I'm curious to know what it is now of.
Course, yeah, at the at the track that I work out of Miami,
it's they have a lot of garages and and lofts and I I have to
think it's the most concentratedplace definitely in Florida,
maybe the US of nice cars, yeah.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(45:16):
You got a lot of opportunity to play around too.
And then your experience. Yeah, I feel like with the we've
had the chance to experience just from the driving to doing
simulators to, you know, to eventhe stuff you were telling me
about of like sweating to death in your own, boiling in your own
sweat. Like I'm wondering why they
don't have nitrogen filled self filtering, throw it back in your
(45:38):
mouth as clean filtered water systems like for these cars.
But they may have some of that stuff, I don't know.
They do, but you have to get it in you over the first 20-30
minutes of the race because it'sliterally the the bladder or the
the camelback is sitting right next to the radiator in the car,
so. It's it's literally a heat sink
sucking all of the heat from theengine.
(45:58):
Yeah. If if you need fluids at the end
of the race, it's boiling hot water and.
Literally. It's just to get your mouth wet,
that's it. Dude, it's horrible.
Yeah, it's horrible. You have a mix of electrolytes
or something like. Imagine that, just hot and
sticky. It's terrible.
That is terrible. Well, it's so interesting to me
(46:19):
because I'm, I know that like you guys can lose, you know,
anywhere from 5:10 for a longer race, probably even more pounds
of like water weight. And I know it's similar for an
Iron Man obviously for over a longer period of time, but that
can be like severely dangerous if you don't, because then you
start losing electrolyte function.
And I'm thinking of you guys going 200 miles down straight,
you know, or more and you're coming in and out of
(46:41):
consciousness or you're like, oh, I feel like I'm bonking.
Like, that's what a dangerous thing.
It's happened to me on several occasions.
And if another driver says it hasn't, they're lying.
A lot of the training that thoseguys do in an IndyCar now is
just prolonging that state of fatigue.
Like it's going to come at some point, but you get a prolong for
(47:02):
as long as possible, you know, and then pace, depending on the
track, you're, you're kind of pacing yourself as well, knowing
that that's going to happen at some point, like you're not
pushing flat out. And maybe that can also help,
you know, entire life as well. So.
Do you guys spend a great deal about like on race nutrition,
like how, because you know, you're talking about sticky
(47:23):
stuff because, but obviously it gets to a point where you can't
take it in. So like what is what is a pretty
typical regimen? Do you guys shoot for grams per
hour and a number of milligrams per liter of fluid or?
Yeah, depending on So we test ourselves for how much, how much
salt we're losing in our sweat. And if I remember correctly,
(47:43):
mine was very average. And yeah, you're just drinking
as much electrolytes through theday and up until the event.
Carb loading, hitting the macros.
You know, we'll have meals laid out for us in a meal plan for
the weekend, when to eat, how much to eat.
That was critical to not eat toomuch before the races because I,
(48:07):
I, I become so slow and fatigued.
And. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting because the brain is so connected with
the body and the ability to process things quickly, it seems
so key. Definitely, yeah.
And I'm my body fat is extremelywell.
So I don't, I don't have a lot of reserve and, and fat to burn,
whereas other, other drivers, I think that that can be a strong
(48:29):
suit, especially on the double race weekends where you're
racing on Saturday for two hours, then again on Sunday for
two hours, you know, Saturday night I'm just replenishing the
fluids that I've lost. And then your stomach's full and
it's like it's hard to, it's hard to find that appetite to
get the calories. Body had the same going on with
(48:52):
cycling. Like I started to lose weight
because I didn't have the appetite after drinking much
fluid and this, you know, the Florida heat as well.
Yeah, yeah, you got to train thestomach, train the body in every
way. That's so crazy fascinating.
So, you know, interesting to me.I'm also going back a bit.
You mentioned earlier, you know,you think you, you feel like God
has a plan kind of for everything and everyone.
(49:13):
And, you know, we talked about luck and you're like, yeah, I
probably don't believe in that as much.
It's, it's a bit more like providential is what I was kind
of hearing a little bit in your voice.
Who is God to you? Like what has got to you?
So this has been, this has been a new discovery for me over the
last, I'd say six months or so cool.
(49:37):
Just being more spiritual and surrounding my, surrounding
myself with more spiritual people.
I think has has been really cooland enlightening for me.
Yeah, God is everything. He's what?
God is everything. He's.
He's everyone of us. Yeah, yeah.
You yeah. Well, what is, what has been
(49:58):
attractive to you? Like, because, you know, you
said you're trying to surround yourself with more of those
people or you have been surrounded with some of those
people. And obviously there's a, there's
a quality that like, you know, you're into this and it's, I
don't ask this to like, hey, canyou give me your list of
fundamental beliefs and how theyhave shaped you and, or anything
like that? But like, what are you, what is,
what is attractive about it? Like what are you learning?
(50:18):
So surrounding myself with people who have the values that,
you know, I see for myself and my family, I think has been
attractive. There is, there's sustainability
in that as well. And I can, I can see, you know,
(50:42):
a lot of runway and happiness surrounding myself with, with
those, you know, kinds of spiritual and unholy people.
So yeah, that's that's been a great experience over the past
short amount of time. Yeah, so you didn't grow up
religious at all? Or spiritual.
(51:03):
No, no, my, my family is, is Christian and we believe in, in
Christian values. But, you know, it was rare for
us to, to go to church. And there wasn't really anyone
in my life who was, you know, pushing me in that direction.
Yeah, Sheena's maybe the wrong, the wrong word, but not enabling
me to find. Yeah.
(51:25):
So there is a time again this year, a few months ago, where
all of a sudden, like these new people that I'm meeting are
Christian. And there's never been a time in
my life where like it has been that obvious that, OK, I need, I
need to like look in this direction and see, see if
(51:45):
there's a, you know, anything new that I can that I can learn
about myself and, and the world.So it's been, it's been cool.
Yeah. Do you feel like you're learning
some new things about yourself even outside of like the
Christian aspect? Yeah.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
May I ask what those are? What those things are?
Yeah, I think, I think understanding maybe the habits
(52:11):
that haven't been so good for meand and enlightening me to
realize that they're there and then and then knowing to to make
the change. I think it's a very, very bland
way. Have you been media trained?
I thought actually I just spent a lot of time around a
microphone. I haven't had, I haven't had an
(52:31):
interview like this in a long time.
So it's it's been cool. Yeah, no, thanks for working
with me on it. Yeah, no, I think it's good.
I'll just share just briefly. I did grow up Christian.
And, you know, my parents lived a very interesting life in that,
you know, one week it was, at least from how I observed it,
(52:52):
one week it was like weird aboutChristian.
The next week it's like Dad's doing drugs and, you know, he's
got a keg and drinking probably way too much alcohol in the
house. And, you know, it kind of went
off kind of both sides of these tangents.
So as I grew up, I got to this place when I was like 21.
I was like, OK, well, what? What do I believe and why do I
believe it? And as I went through that
similar what you're saying, likeI learned a lot about myself.
(53:12):
And I think the biggest things for me that I realized like
we're probably not good for the life that I wanted to live for
like from a point of happiness and fulfillment and joy was
like, dude, I just say it straight up.
I've been free from pornography now for in two weeks, it'll be
almost seven months, which is like some people don't think
it's bad. And that's fine if you want to
(53:32):
think that. But in terms of like my
upbringing, I was like, OK, that's just during my life.
Way too many video games. I don't think video games are
inherently bad. And maybe some of them, but
like, you know, that kind of stuff.
So if for me, like those were a few of the things that are a
couple of the big things, I think we're like really truly
holding me back. And when I started to pursue
that, you know, relationship with a God of creator of
(53:55):
something I believe greater thanmyself is when my life started
to like, I think have more clarity.
So that's why I like pressing about that questions because
it's really fun to know. Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah.
Thanks, man. So what is something, I have one
more kind of pretty deep question for you.
So what is something difficult that you're going through that
most people don't often see? That's it.
(54:22):
That's a hard one. I guess it's nice for me not to
have a quick answer because you know.
Yeah, my lifetime. I think my life has been, you
know, pretty good and I'm, I'm thankful for what I have.
That's a hard one. Can you repeat?
(54:43):
Yeah, Yeah. What is something difficult that
you're going through that most people don't, people don't often
see? Or it could rephrase it a little
bit because it has to do with like the perception of you.
So maybe a better way to ask us would be like, what when people
look at you, what do you, what do you think they see?
And then what do you want them to see?
(55:07):
Well, if you look at my social media, it all looks fun and and
happy. I think that's pretty much the
case for everyone, right? We don't really share the bad
parts of our life. And if if you are like, I think
we all appreciate that too. That's cool.
Yeah. Finding, I think we're all
(55:27):
always looking for, at least forme, like sustainable happiness,
right? Finding a purpose.
I have been, you know, I'm not in my late 20s now, about to
turn 29. And I feel that every year up
(55:48):
until this point of my, you know, professional life has been
a different journey. Like there hasn't been, there
hasn't been much stability. And I think that's something
that I'm now looking for. The income's been, it's been
fine. You know, I've kept myself busy,
but like, I'm not sure where, where I'm going to be a few
(56:11):
years from now, right? I know, I know where I want to
be, right? But I don't know if that's going
to be the case. So yeah, I think that's an
indirect answer to that. Yeah.
Well, let's pretend like, again,a little bit of like, well,
whether you do get there or you don't get there, what do you
(56:32):
want to feel like? What do you want to, what do you
want your life to feel like whenyou get to that spot?
And maybe you're already there, but you know, I'm kind of
assuming a little bit. Yeah.
You know, by the time I'm 50 or 60, I want to look back and feel
like I got the most out of myself.
I think failure would feel like looking back and thinking, oh,
(56:55):
like I should have done. I should have done more, right?
Or I should have spent my time wiser.
Yeah. Yeah.
There's so many distractions nowadays, it's it's so easy to
to get caught up and and stroll scrolling or just wasting time.
(57:16):
And the older I get, I find thatthe faster it goes by.
So that's a, a change that I think that it's that's good to
make for. Yeah.
A a lot of people right now, I think are so addicted to their
screens. I don't want to look back and
feel like I wasted so much time just doing nothing.
Yeah, yeah. That's a, that's a, that's a
(57:37):
scary thought for me. So trying to trying to stay
active. Yeah, I think that's so good,
man, because, yeah, this the world that we're currently find
ourselves in, obviously just outside of the whole whatever we
see on our screens. But it's so fascinating to me
that everything that we do see on our screen, we're now
entering an age of time where you might pick up the phone
(57:57):
tomorrow. And it could say, you know, mom
and you answer the phone and your mom's telling you some
crazy story about how you need to do this or that she's about
to die or someone's going to take her hostage.
But now we live in a place whereit's like, oh, was that actually
her? Like anything that's not like
physically manifested in front of us that we can touch she and
smell. It's like, how do I know that's
(58:18):
real? So like that's a super
fascinating topic of conversation because it's like
that. I feel like that's what that's
what how society would collapse is when we can no longer agree
on what's real and what's not outside of what we're Hey, I'm
shaking your hand, Oliver, how'sit going?
You know, probably. Happening, yeah.
Yeah. It's crazy.
I could go on about that, but I'll I'll save it for a later
(58:39):
day. Yeah, it it involves politics.
So I'll just stay. I'll stay out there.
Well, you're welcome to share any way you want.
No judgement from me. I mean, it's a, it's a wild
time, yeah. Politics and AI and not knowing
what's real I think is very scary.
Yeah, I feel like it's like, OK,do you know how to garden?
(59:02):
Do you know how to grow food? Do we have a place that we can
go and do that? That's kind of what's becoming
more and more important to me because I live in Northern
California just for the past year now.
And we came out here to have a little adventure.
My wife took this fellowship program because she's a nurse
practitioner. And, yeah, as the world
continues on and, you know, withthe topic of what you were
(59:22):
bringing up, time going by faster.
And she's pregnant with my little daughter now who, you
know, we're just six months in. Yeah.
Thanks. It's like a lot of these things
that I used to really stress over and care about.
It's like, oh, wow. What what really matters, It's a
less and less what's on this phone and it's more and more of
like what's going on in front ofme because it's so fascinating
(59:43):
to me too. Dude.
It's like whenever we go to worknow at the age that we live,
we're going to work so that whenwe open up our phone, we see a
couple of pixels that are black that show numbers.
And like, that's what I'm earning.
Like I'm earning numbers on the screen so that I can exchange it
with these numbers on another screen to get a physical good,
usually food. That's what matters most.
And it's like, well, maybe I just have my relationship with
(01:00:04):
the dirt and like, I that's where I get all my ones and
zeros. Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
Yeah. Yeah, and knowing there there's
a show on Netflix that I or a documentary that everyone should
watch and, and, and continue watching.
But it's, you know, it, it talksabout the companies and you
(01:00:25):
know, Apple, Facebook, Instagramand, and their whole MO is, is
to get us to continue interacting with their products.
And it's like, how can we make this as maybe this isn't, you
know, what their board meetings are all about, but it's
essentially what they're doing is getting us to continue to use
(01:00:48):
their products and disassociate us with the real world.
So, you know, there's a reason why our phones and screens are
so colorful. It's because that's, you know,
that's, that's what's addicting to our eyes and our
subconscious. So.
What's the name of the documentary do you know?
I forgot the name. I have to go.
(01:01:08):
It's not dirty money, is it? No.
No, no. I have to check it out.
Be an easy one to Google, but I'll.
Look it up. It's about social media, yeah.
OK, yeah, I'll check it out. Yeah, it's super interesting,
man, Super interesting. Well, dude, I really appreciate
you taking the time, letting me kind of be sporadic with the
interview and just ask questionsas they come up.
But I'd spend a true honor. I enjoyed the time.
(01:01:32):
Thanks, man. Well, I do have just one final
question for you actually as like a piece of advice for any
youngster who is looking to go and be a professional race car
driver, what would you tell thembut as they embark upon that
journey? Yeah, I've had that question
before and for me it's it's an easy one.
(01:01:54):
There's a two-part answer. One, have as much fun as you can
and enjoy the process. And and two, it's so important
to network and meet the right people and make good first
impressions. It's it's a business at the end
of the day, and it takes a lot of money to to achieve those
(01:02:16):
goals and make it to the top of the sport.
You're not going to do it by yourself.
Yeah, just be as as professionalas possible and grow up quickly.
I think that's grow. Up quickly.
Quickly. Yeah, yeah.
You do get. Most of these kids are starting,
you know, I was, I was a little bit late to the game.
(01:02:39):
I think my first car race I was like 17 or 18.
That's late nowadays. So you know, these kids are
starting to race formula cars atat 1413 or 14.
Yeah, so pretty soon it's going to be 8 and 9.
It's a sport that forces you to to grow up quickly, Yeah,
whether you like it or not. Yeah, interesting, Interesting.
(01:03:01):
Well, cool, man. Thank you so much.
I have to have you on again. Maybe we can dive into some of
those topics a little bit more. But I guess, yeah, thank you so
much. You too, man.
Thanks. Thanks so much, Oliver, coming
on for coming on the podcast. Really good interview.
Really appreciate it getting to cover our new sport.
But at the end of the day, really every person I've ever
interviewed, people are people and that continues to shine
(01:03:24):
through. And I love having deep
conversations with people. So thank you guys for being here
to listen to that. Thank you to Oliver again for
coming on. And yeah, it's really cool.
Like, you know, he said something and stuck with me that
I'd like to have a future episode on.
And that was, you know, with race car driving, he car
driving. He was saying that it forces you
(01:03:45):
to grow up a little bit. And that's something I want to
dive into more because I guess forcing is a is a tough word for
me because with my history and background, you know, losing dad
at 16, I feel like it forced me in a lot of ways to grow up
really fast or kind of robbed meof my childhood.
So I'm very protective about people getting to experience
their childhood childhoodness infull.
(01:04:07):
So I'm curious to ask him what he meant by that and go a little
bit deeper. So if you are also looking
forward to that, let me know in the comments and we'll try to
have him on here, but sooner rather than later.
But it's coming up to the end ofthe year very fast and I cannot
even believe it. So 200 is going to come out and
I'm probably going to have a fewmore episodes to kind of slow
release throughout the break as I take a break over the
holidays. But yeah, we'll see how it goes.
(01:04:27):
But anyway, I've ran with long enough.
Thank you guys for being here. Really appreciate it.
Thanks again to Oliver and we'llcatch you guys in the next one.
Peace.
How's it going everyone? And welcome back to the Stupid
Questions Podcast. Today in the pub, we're going to
be talking with Oliver Askew. He is a race car driver who has
participated in the sports of Formula E, IndyCar racing, Kart
racing, and a number of other things.
Really awesome guy. Great getting to connect with
him and hear his story a little bit.
And this is a new type of an episode because it's a different
sport that I have not been able to interview someone from in the
(00:22):
past. So very excited for him to have
sent out with me and give me theopportunity to get to know him a
little bit. If you are here listening to the
podcast, thank you so much. Really appreciate you.
Make sure to check out the show notes.
Episode 200 is coming up. So if you want to throw in some
ideas in the show notes, there are is a link where you can
submit your ideas there. Make sure to check out all of
(00:44):
all of our stuff there that I will link from his website to
his Instagram. And I think that's it.
Thank you guys so much for beinghere.
Really appreciate the opportunity to do this.
And so without further ado, and I introduce you to Oliver Askew.
Oliver, thank you so much for jumping on man.
Yeah, I really appreciate the time.
I would say you are a new type of guest for me.
So I am very looking forward to this interaction, getting to
(01:07):
know your story. But yeah, thank you so much for
being on the Humble Podcast. How you doing today?
I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me.
When you sent the invite. I did some research and listened
to a few episodes and I have to say they're a great listen, easy
listen and you're doing a good job.
So. Thanks man I appreciate it.
What what episodes did you listen to or part of?
(01:29):
The one of Luke. Luke.
Fest Yeah. So you know Luke from riding, I
guess. I just met him a few weeks ago
at the track, both him and and Lucas.
OK, nice, nice. So they are planning to have a
cycling, I don't know how much Ican talk about, but they're
having a cycling event at the track.
(01:52):
So. At the Concourse Club in Miami.
And so they're just coming out to check it out and and see what
they can, what can make happen. So I'm a big cycling fan.
It's the, I'd say it's the number one sport that I that I
follow European cycling. So and I also follow the crit
scene in the US. So it's really, it was really
cool for me to meet those guys. That's cool.
(02:12):
How did you guys get connected if you don't mind me asking?
Through a mutual friend. OK, nice.
Cool man. Sweet.
Well, I'll try not to ask too many questions around the the
cycling event, but look forward to seeing what's coming down the
Pike. That's pretty sweet.
Yeah. So I guess the first question
that I just want to open up with, it's a pretty deep 1.
(02:32):
I don't know if you heard me askthis to other people before or
not, but the question is, according to Oliver, Who is
Oliver? Oh boy, have you hit her right
off the bat? Yeah, I'd say that I am your
quintessential adrenaline junkie.
I'm introverted, but can also turn it on and off.
(02:53):
I love to experience new, new things.
Anything that pushes my body as an athlete, even after, you
know, I haven't, I haven't racedin a few years.
I'm still looking for that fix, whether if it's from cycling,
surfing, training, running. I love all those things.
And yeah, just just enjoying newexperiences.
(03:15):
That's awesome. So when you said, you know, you
can turn the introvert versus the extrovert side off, has that
always been the case? And have you leaned more one way
or the other as you've gotten older?
I'd say I'm beginning to open up.
Well, not beginning. I have been, you know, through
my early 20s as well as as a youngster, I was very sheltered
(03:35):
and, and quiet and stuck in my shell.
I think that's common, common for for most people.
I was homeschooled in in high school so that maybe has
something to do with it. Unpack that for me.
What do you what do you believe about homeschoolers and what is
what is true, what is not true? It's very situational.
My home schooling was all virtual, so all of my classes
(03:58):
and my teachers were virtual at the same time.
I was spending every week, everyweekend racing go karts.
And so that was my school of Hard Knocks.
And you know, my, my childhood was, you know, being around
those people and, and those friends I still have to this
day, but it's, it's a difficult 1.
You know, I think the social aspect of school is extremely
(04:21):
important. And like I said, I kind of I
found that through racing. So.
If you don't have that growing up, I think it can, it can
become an issue later on in life.
So, but yeah, it's, it's, it's very situational, I'd say.
Yeah. Where did you grow up?
What part of the US? Jupiter, FL where I am now and
(04:43):
and it's back here. So yeah.
So you must. Family, just the four of us, my
parents and and my sister and yeah, yeah.
Would you do it again from growing up living in Florida?
Like are you sold on Florida? Do you like it?
I do, but I'm not afraid to to venture out and and experience
(05:04):
new cultures. My mom's Swedish and so we we
try to visit, visit Sweden, the South of Sweden where a lot of
my extended family lives. And yeah, I would love to live
somewhere different in the future.
I did spend some time in Indianapolis as well while I was
racing Indycars. So probably want to end up back
(05:26):
here later in my life because it's, it's paradise, You know,
I've a lot of different culturesand I've traveled all over the
world and I always loved coming home and I can really appreciate
where I came from when I speed different places.
So, so obviously what you do is a pretty big piece of who you
are and finding your path forward, but I'd be curious to
(05:46):
know a little bit of the background and story for, you
know, how did you even get involved with karting before
that? Was there anything else?
When did it become your first orI guess like your love or the
thing that you wanted to push? Forgive me some of that context
and background. Yeah.
So it started when I was seven years old.
It was just a father son hobby. We had a Ford Excursion that we
threw the go Kart in the back ofand that was just our our
(06:10):
weekend hobby. I was so young, I didn't, didn't
know what it meant to build a career or build a build a job.
I was just having fun and, and Ithink my dad was was doing the
same. It wasn't until I was 13 or 14
when it started to become serious.
(06:31):
I picked up some sponsors, beganto travel a lot more, winning
races. And that's why started to to
think, OK, this could, could be something.
So it's been, it's been my wholelife.
I've been by motorsport my wholelife.
Yeah. But it doesn't run in the form.
My dad was a air traffic controller.
He's been retired now for almost10 years.
(06:52):
He's he spent 30 years there working for the government in
the FAA. And yeah, I think that was sort
of his his way to escape as well.
Just, you know, being at the track with me.
So yeah. So I was going to say cycling,
sorry, not cycling, racing, likekarting and stuff like that.
Was that a big passion of his I guess from even before he kind
(07:16):
of introduced you to it? Or is it a thing that he think
you think that he was like, oh maybe I see a future for my kid
in this or like how did it grow and become to what it is it
became? Yeah, she, he is extremely
supportive. Both of my parents are.
So when I gravitated towards that lifestyle and and that
(07:37):
sport, I mean they were fully, fully behind me and I think they
appreciated the, the family likeatmosphere.
And I think I heard Luke speak about that as well, you know,
going, going to the bike shop and, and being around those
people all the time, I think, I think they gravitated towards
that as well. So yeah.
(07:58):
That's awesome. So does anyone in your family do
any sort of racing other than you?
Nobody, no, which is in common racing in itself is not a common
or an easy sport to fall into. And so most people, most, most
kids, they grow up, you know, after their family with or their
father and motorsport or, or having something to do with
(08:22):
motorsport, whether it's, you know, engineering mechanic.
Yeah. And so, yeah, it was, it was,
and that's been my life to the, to a tee.
It's like I, I don't tend to follow the the typical path, you
know, And yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change anything about
that. Yeah.
Do you like, you don't follow the typical path you're saying,
(08:44):
is that something that like, areyou, are you proud of that?
Like is that the way that you typically operate just like, oh,
whatever's kind of in front of me, I'll kind of go with it.
Or are you a little more calculated?
I I would say that. It's not a great question now
that I'm thinking about it. Looking back at at my life and
(09:06):
how it's unfolded, I, I tend to go with the flow.
Yeah, I'm trying to become more calculated with what I do now
that I'm in my later 20s. Yeah.
But I think, I think until now in my early my, my teens in my
early 20s, I was just, I was going with the flow and, you
know, it brought me to the to the pinnacle of motorsport.
(09:27):
And so I wouldn't, I wouldn't change anything about that.
Yeah. So you said like, you know,
usually it it's uncommon for it to be, you know, you don't have
your father or somebody who has done this type of a thing.
Knowing that now and knowing where you want to go in the
future, is it something that youwill be interested in passing
down to your children someday? Assuming you want children.
(09:47):
Yeah, I think so. I definitely do.
Yeah. I think, I think, you know, God,
God has a plan for each of us, you know, and I and I think, you
know, you just have to, I find out a lot of who you surround
yourself with as well plays it plays a big role in who you
(10:09):
become in the future. So I think that's, that's the
number one aspect of life that Iwould like to pass on is like
definitely try to make sure you surround yourself with the right
people and people who you won't become.
I think that's extremely important.
And I think, I think something that, I mean, I'm, I'm no
parent, right? I, I haven't experienced that,
but that's definitely something out that I would like to, you
(10:30):
know, push on other people as well.
It's just critical. Yeah, for for that life lesson.
Like it's one thing to kind of know that and believe that, but
another thing to experience it, you know, to kind of solidify
that belief. So do you have any stories for
situations where you know you, you feel like you chose the
right friends or you had to let certain friends quote UN quote
(10:51):
friends go because of just the way they were influencing you?
I think I, I generally tend to gravitate towards people who
are, who are doing great things.That's, that's been common for
me throughout my life, those whoare off the beaten path as well,
(11:12):
making a name for themselves and, and different industries.
My best friend is now a president of a he's, he's a year
younger than me and he's the president of a of a fuel startup
company. He has a terminal and, and, and
a very high performing individuals and people, people
who I tend to think are doing a better job than me, which really
(11:34):
pushes me to become a better person than myself.
So yeah. So what are some of the like
biggest inner critic voices thatyou have about yourself?
Oh, that's a good one. Well, one.
I think it's it's good to have an inner critic.
I definitely do. If not, then you don't.
(11:55):
I find I find that it's a blessing to have that inner
critic because it's it's constantly pushing you to wake
up every day and and become or do things make sure that you're
better than the day before. I had an old manager that would
constantly text me every single day and ask me the same
question. OK, what did you do today that
was better than than the previous?
(12:17):
Yeah. And, you know, it takes it takes
small steps, you know, whether it's running an extra mile or
spending, spending more time studying or whatever it is that
you're doing in your life. I think it's in the in the end,
it pays off. Yeah, do.
You think that it could ever become something where it wasn't
healthy? The inner critic.
(12:38):
Yes, definitely. I've, I've always put a lot of
pressure on myself, sometimes toa fault.
Yeah, yeah, I think there's a fine, a fine balance.
That's a good question. Through my last few.
(12:59):
So my last race in motorsport was in 2022 and formally and I
think through my last couple of races, I'm not, I'm not retired
by any means. I will race again.
I just don't know and, and, and what capacity, but I was putting
a lot of pressure on myself and I and, and I think it started to
burn me out. You know, that overthinking.
I'm very self critical and maybea control freak as well.
(13:24):
I wanted to make sure that everything's perfect,
visualizing my races and and performance all the time.
So yeah, I think there can be a fault to that.
And my best performances, looking back, I was in a flow
state and letting everything just come to me naturally.
(13:46):
And that, that's the best part about racing and the best
feeling in racing. And I can imagine it's the same
for the guys and and cycling or any.
Other musicians. Yes, any other sport or or high
performing industry. The best feeling is when you can
just let your experience take over and it's like, it's like
(14:07):
time becomes slow and you know that the race finishes and
you're like, you know what just happened?
Yeah. It's just, it's such a cool
feeling. Yeah, it's so fascinating, like
that topic of flow state, because I feel like it's kind of
been a buzzword or buzz phrase or buzz topic for a little
while, but I don't know if that many people have truly
experienced it. Then when I have truly
experienced, it has been usuallyin like a music performance to
(14:32):
some degree, like playing piano and singing or doing something
that could be considered hard. But then it's whenever, at least
for me, whenever I let the fear settle in to where like I start
hyper analyzing the small details that like you start to
focus on one thing and then you lose sight of kind of the bigger
picture what's going on. And I can only imagine for your
type of profession, you know, going very fast, lots of data
(14:53):
coming in to your field of view very quickly.
You're hearing, smelling all these different things.
And then how to kind of shut that off to just be in the zone,
like you're saying, like in thatflow state, what can, is there
something that somebody can do to learn how to 1st find that,
like a figure out what that is? And then to, to be able to OK,
(15:13):
so I will whenever this light turns off and you know, the the
race starts, I want to make surethat I'm there in that moment
the whole time. Yes, it's a muscle that you have
to train with within your mind. And for me, everyone has their
little quirks and, and niches and, and how to find that.
(15:34):
But for me, it was just something as simple as just
squeezing the wheel once. And, you know, that kind of
brought me back to focusing on, on the task at hand.
I, I tended to struggle on, on, on that, on that side of things
on tracks with long straightaways, like straight
line portions of the track whereyou're not doing anything.
(15:56):
You're, you're full throttle, maybe checking the gauges,
checking your mirrors, but you have time to think.
And that's when my mind could wander.
And so squeezing the wheel and, and, and brain, it's like a
swing thought basically. And, and golf, those guys have
typically have a swing thought, you know, to, to get them out of
(16:18):
the emotions of being where theyare and just to lock in on, on,
on their swing. The same thing.
There's so many parallels between golf and motorsport.
Yeah. So who are some of the mentors
or people that you've gotten to know within it can be within
your industry or outside of yourindustry, but that serve that
serve you in that capacity to like learn how to be, you know,
(16:41):
the best version you could be onand off the track.
Like who are those people and why are they your people?
Yeah, still many. I wouldn't say there has been
one, but I, I tend to find good relationships with, with people
within my team. And it's important to to form
(17:03):
those relationships outside of the track, you know, so when
you're in the moment, you know that those people have your back
and, you know, maybe you're off daydreaming or having having a
bad day, you know those people. Playback.
Point, point you back down the right path.
And I, I, I can't point to one person, to be honest, that has
(17:27):
been my mentor over over the last 20 years on motorsport.
But I mean, there's been so manypeople and people that I've
looked up to as well who have made it and who have stayed at
the top. I might not have a have a
relationship with those people, but I know how they work.
Maybe sat beside them and I'm very analytical and and
(17:50):
interested in to see how how they go about things in the
sport. So on the sponge and that way.
Yeah, so, so with your upbringing, I'm curious to know
because you know, your, your dadwas air traffic controller.
Your mom, I'm not sure what she did.
What did she do? So she, she didn't work for a
long time and now she's working in a, in a real estate
(18:13):
investment office, a sweet family, a very, very close
family to ours. So she struggled with lupus her
whole life and now she is in into remission, I believe, which
has been fantastic for us and her.
But I think finding that purposewithin a work environment has
also helped her as well. So.
(18:35):
Yeah, that. That's crazy.
OK, well, we'll talk about that here in a moment because I do
want to ask some questions aboutthat.
Yeah. So your mom being a good mom
sounds like your dad having the the skills that he has.
I'm super. Lucky.
Yeah. So you have these parents that
have, in a lot of ways, given you pieces of nature and nurture
to kind of bring you to where you are today.
Like we said, they don't have any like background in, you
(18:58):
know, high performance Motorsports.
But I'm curious to know what aresome of the characteristics that
you feel like you got from your mom and dad that serve you well
in your profession? Yeah, that that's, that's an
easy one on my, on my dad's side.
I mean, he's just so calm with everything that he does.
And I think that has served me well and, and life and my
(19:18):
career. I'm not sure if he grew up that
way, but say, you know, maybe maybe in his work environment
has an air traffic controller, you know, he, he can't have any
sort of emotions and he's very even keel.
So maybe that kind of turned himinto that person.
And that's definitely transferred over to everything
that I've done. I am emotional, but I tend to
(19:42):
keep them to myself, right, Or raise my voice.
I don't get too angry or too happy on the other side as well.
And I think that's important in any, any kind of sport.
Whereas even in motorsport, the emotions can be so up and down
all the time. Most of the races you're not,
(20:02):
you're not winning. And you know, maybe it's maybe
it's second or third, but you know, it's, it's not, it's a
very competitive sport. So to be dominating is, is very
rare. And if you're not winning, it's,
it's a bad day. So to keep those, keep those
emotions in check has been critical to to my success.
(20:23):
And I think that transfers off the track as well.
And my mom, she's just, she's a jump.
She's extremely strong to to have been dealing with the lupus
her whole life. Yeah, I think, I think I'm very,
very lucky. I know that I'm very lucky to
have them, yeah. Yeah, that's phenomenal.
(20:44):
Who do you think that you're more like, your mom or your dad?
I look just like my mom. I'm a copy of my mom.
Who am I? More like I'm.
I'm a combination between the two.
I couldn't pick one or the other.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's amazing.
So would did she struggle with that like all through your
growing up? I think she was diagnosed right
(21:07):
right after she had me. What was she, 2025?
Maybe around then? Yeah.
Maybe even earlier, yeah. Yeah.
Can you, I mean, when you found out about that, I guess you were
obviously very young, but as yougot older, did you notice just
the way that it affected the, the dynamic in the household
like did was it a pretty big thing where you guys talked
(21:29):
about it a lot, had to focus on it, change plans, do different
things for that? I don't think so.
I mean, like, like I said, she'sshe's extremely strong and she
kind of she kept it under wraps for a long time and it's it's
just been it's been so common for us in the household.
I guess I don't. I haven't seen a difference
until lately. He's on a different medicine.
And finally she's she's now tan for the first time I've ever
(21:56):
seen her, because now she's ableto be outside and.
Amazing. And the sun.
So lupus, I don't, I don't know how it works, but this the sun
can definitely trigger inflammation in the ball or
people who have lupus and and she was struggling to be at the
(22:17):
racetrack. I remember, you know, having
having to be under the tent and her joints and and skin would
would flare up on on Asian. So but that hasn't happened in a
while. So I'm so happy for her.
That's awesome. That's so cool.
So going forward a little bit, like going more up to modern
(22:37):
day, I guess I would love to know what you felt in the 1st
instances where you realize like, oh, you know, you're going
to get to go race at the pinnacle of racing, like Formula
E, That's pretty prestigious. I'm sure you didn't just go from
karting to OK here one day. Someone asked you, come on up,
take this driver's seat. So what was that?
What was that? What were the building blocks
(22:59):
like for you to get to that point?
And what did it mean to you? Like was it a pinch me moment?
Did you, were you prepared enough to be like, Oh yeah,
whatever. Like, I'm going to just kind of
do my thing. But I think I was the first
driver, at least in the modern era of IndyCar racing, to go
from karts to IndyCar within only four years.
(23:19):
What was that was extremely accelerated.
Maybe in hindsight, I probably got there too quickly, but I, I
didn't, I didn't have a choice because I was relying on the
scholarship system that there isin the Road to Indy, the junior
series, basically like the AA, AAA of, of baseball in the major
(23:40):
leagues. So I had to win the
championships in order to move on because we didn't have the
funding or the sponsorship to tomake it there in any other way.
So yeah, over I think it was yeah.
Over that, that three years, that three-step ladder system
(24:01):
won a lot of money in scholarship to move on to the to
the next level. So I didn't have that choice
again to to stay back and maybe really hone in on my on my
skills on on the level before I got to IndyCar.
And I got there, I was picked upby one of the top teams and, and
McLaren. And that was in in 2020.
(24:23):
So I was expected to perform right away.
And then there's, you know, COVID and there's just a lot of
a lot happening. Yeah, that's one thing.
If I were to go back and and change something, I would, I
would, I mean hindsight's 2020, but I would spend more time at
the AAA level or maybe with a team in IndyCar that wasn't
(24:46):
expecting to challenge for race wins right away.
Just so that I can, I can get my, you know, ground ground
myself a little before before I,I was really expected to, to win
races so. Yeah.
What, what is something that youthink you would go back to your
2020 self and know when you're stepping into that role?
What are some things that you would tell yourself to maybe
(25:07):
prepare for or some things that you wish that you'd known
because you said, you know, you maybe you went a little too
fast. Like what are some of the core
principles or just lessons that needed to be learned, you think,
to enable you to be successful at that level?
I, I probably would have trustedthe process a little bit more
looking back at it, put less pressure on myself, not, not try
(25:34):
so hard. I was, I was really pushing
myself both physically and mentally to a level that I
haven't, you know, I hadn't experienced before.
So that car was also, so that was the, the first year of the,
the Halo and the, the arrow screen.
And so the cars were extremely you can talk to any of the guys
(25:56):
there very, very hot. And I'm, I'm a big, I'm a
sweater. So when, when I'm in a, when you
have, you know, 3 layers of Nomex, you're sitting in the car
and that that sweats not it's not going anywhere.
It's not evaporating. And so I'm just sitting and.
Pools. A pool of of hot boiling water
(26:17):
for up to 2 1/2 hours, 2 hours. So it was it was very difficult.
I would have probably started mytraining at at at a very high
level, training at a very high level earlier on in my career.
So that maybe I was that was more paced for for that
(26:38):
environment. Yeah.
What, what does training look like?
Are we talking like, you know, mentally, physically?
I know that you guys do things for reaction time, like just
senses and stuff like that. What is what?
What would that have looked like?
It like training at such a high level.
Yeah, it's it's a tricky 1. So because racing is so
(26:58):
expensive over the last decade, the series has reduced the
amount of testing time that we had before the first race and
and March. Most series start in March and
even Formula One has these rulesas well.
They don't allow teams to test for any more than two or three
days season. So, and those are muscles that
(27:21):
we can't, we have a really hard time targeting outside of the
car because you don't force, youdon't have that, that violent
environment that is, that is therace car outside of the track.
We just can't, can't really findit anywhere, you know, unless
you're spending money to drive other cars in a private setting
or I did a lot of go karting andcontinues to do a lot of go
(27:41):
karting. Just to simulate some of that.
Yeah, exactly. But there are there are a few
gyms in Indianapolis where whereIndyCar is was born and and
still is today. A lot of the teams are based
there and there are several gymsthat focus solely on on racing
drivers. And so that's a lot of neck
(28:02):
training reaction. As you mentioned heat as well,
you know, training inside of a hot environment.
And I think I think definitely helps.
So, and that's when I found, I found cycling as well because
that's it started targeting a similar heart rate and sustained
heart rate. So I think those guys in, you
(28:22):
know, in IndyCar now, they're averaging 100 and 160 BPM.
That's. Insane dude.
Few hours in a in a very hot environment, so you're losing so
many fluids during that time, so.
Yeah, Is it is to get to that heart rate, like for those who
may not understand, like that's relatively high, especially for
guys and like they're, you know,late 20s, early 30s, that's not
(28:46):
nothing. That's like 6070% potentially
depending on the person. Is it because of, I mean, I
understand the acceleration, I understand the deceleration, I
understand like the tight corners, but it like, are you
tense everywhere that you need to be tense like constantly
because I'm trying to just understand from, because you're
sitting down, but obviously you're working very hard.
Like where? Where is all the work coming
(29:06):
from? So those cars don't have power
steering. The only formula car in the
world I believe right now that has power steering is Formula
One. So IndyCar, Formula E is all
mechanical steering. And so you, you feel everything
within the wheel. It's very, very heavy.
There were certain tracks, I, I remember specifically that
(29:32):
there's a track in, in Detroit, Belle Isle, where the Firestone,
you know, brought a very soft red tire, the soft compound
tire, grippy combined with that,with the tarmac that was, you
know, building grip throughout the weekend.
I remember in the race there I was, I was turning the wheel.
I was, I had to slow down because I couldn't, I couldn't
(29:54):
turn the wheel hard, hard enough.
Like I, I physically had to, hadto slow down and lift off the
bottle. I, I could not turn it enough.
So imagine holding, you know, 50pound 60 LB dumbbells and and
you know, trying to turn into the corner.
Holy smokes, dude. Yeah.
So and then you're doing that for for two hours, so.
(30:16):
Why do the Why do the pansies inFormula One get powered
steering? Because of the downforce that
they have is just. Because it would be impossible,
yeah. Yeah.
So, well that that's not sustained.
So that's, you know, over a few.Corners.
It's in bursts. So you do have time.
It's in bursts. You do have on to on the
(30:37):
straights, you know, to, to overthink and, and relax your
hands and, and breathe, take a few deep breaths.
I'm doing a lot of coaching now that I'm not not racing.
And that's something that I try and nail into the the drivers
that I'm with is just to take the time on, on the straights to
just relax. You know, for people when it's
(30:58):
their first time, they're extremely tense, white knuckled,
you know, their eyes are starting to drop and you just
have on this. And every moment you can, you
need to relax your your body andtake a few deep breaths.
Yeah. When you say eyes drop, you mean
like eyes drop off the horizon and looking closer to in front
of you? That's so interesting.
Like it really is like a feel thing.
(31:18):
Like you have to obviously have some skill that you built up
over time. But it's it seems to me, is this
accurate to say? It's like you understand it
enough to shoot from the hip andbe accurate.
Like is that make sense? No.
Can you explain? Yeah.
So like professional, I would people who really understand the
gun that they've been working with for a while.
You know, I would imagine guys even in war, like unless they're
(31:39):
a sniper, I guess. But like if you're running and
gunning, like you kind of know where you need to shoot and and
you know, you can kind of shoot from the hip or kind of, yeah,
it's sort of there. But then for you guys, you know,
like you're saying, if you're looking really close in front of
you, you're like trying to calculate all of these visual
calculations within like feet infront of you versus like looking
out in front of you and kind of taking it all in and kind of
knowing the feel. OK, this is when I should start
(32:00):
to break. This is what I should
accelerate. This is when I should turn this
on, turn that off, that kind of thing, yeah.
Eyes are everything. You know, a lot of the people on
the roads, you know, if you, youknow, you pull up next to your
grandma at the, at the love our grandma's, but you know, fully
up on the wheel and they're likelooking in front of they're
trying to, you know, look at their, their front bumper.
(32:23):
You know, at, at speeds, at any speed, you need to be looking
far ahead so that you have time to react to what's what's about
to happen. Yeah, yeah.
And, and that's, that's criticalfor and very difficult to break
that habit. You know, so for, for drivers in
their junior career, you know, if they're, if they're
(32:44):
consistently, you know, droppingtheir eyes and looking too close
in front of them, it's very hardto, to knock that out of
themselves. And, and to, to fix that habit.
It's, it's very difficult. And there are now simulators and
training facilities that have glasses that can watch your eyes
and they they look like red and like looking back at the video,
(33:06):
they look like red dots on the track.
And that's that's one way that, you know, there's these junior
driver facilities are are tryingto trying to yeah, support.
Yeah, if you if you could take some of the the best drivers
from the past 50 years and then bring them up to modern day with
the tools and the analytics thatyou guys have, how do you think
(33:28):
that they would react? It would look alien to them.
The the amount of technology that we have in motorsport now
on the simulation side is is incredible.
I do, I still do some work for the Android Formula E team in
England and the weekend starts in the simulator and a lot of
(33:51):
what we find set up energy strategy, that's all copy and
pasted to the race weekend. And if there's anything wrong or
a mess with our homework like that, that's a direct
translation to that performance on on the race weekend.
So it's become very critical. The money saved from teams not
(34:14):
testing before the season has gone straight to simulation and,
and, and building these. And I think you know the Formula
One teams, it's probably half a million and, and, and hardware
just to build the simulator and then the monthly cost is is
through the roof. Yeah, Yeah, that's nuts.
(34:37):
Do you do you feel like it's good for these sports?
Like I, I, I hesitate to say good because I know it's not
black and white, but for example, with triathlon and
cycling, I guess European cycling, there's quite a bit of
money goes into it. But really like if you're really
looking into it, you know, the guys that are below 5 on the
roster, they're not get paid in a ton of money and they're,
there's still a lot of money that goes into the hardware and
(34:57):
things like that. Don't get me wrong.
But then you have a sport that'slike obviously much bigger
audience. So the advertising dollars are
there and ticket sales are there.
But Formula One, it's like, or even Formula E, you guys are
spending millions of dollars on here, $1,000,000 there, you
know, and it's like just these massive expenses that really I
feel like can change the environment for like the culture
(35:19):
of a sport and how people interact with each other as
competitors, even interact with each other.
It's like teammates, how do you,is there a way like to kind of
put your pulse on how that is? And like, does does money end up
making the sport better or worse?
Like what's your assessment on that?
That's a good question. I often wonder where it comes
(35:41):
from because the amount spent isinsane.
I think for a Formula E team A2 car team, it's a top team.
It's well over 10 million a yearfor Formula One.
It's 150. It's crazy.
And it's also similar in IndyCar.
It's probably 15,000,000 a year now for, for even a mid mid tier
(36:04):
team, 2 car team. Yeah, it's there are teams that
that that cost either makes or break.
It can make or break a team. You know, it's very difficult
for those bottom tier teams to, to catch up and, and motorsport
money equals performance, whether it's hiring the best
(36:27):
drivers, the best engineers, thebest hardware and equipment.
If you don't have that funding, then you're, you're not
competing at the top. And it's a, it's a vicious
cycle. Definitely.
And that's, there's been a lot of talk around, you know,
viewership numbers here in the US, whether it's NASCAR or, or
(36:48):
IndyCar, that that is a direct translation as well to how much
corporate sponsorship that is available within the series.
And so, you know, Fox taking over the audience and, and, and
TV with IndyCar was a big deal because they're really behind
pushing, pushing the, the sport and, and the spectacle.
(37:12):
And so that's been cool to see. And everyone's kind of looking
after or looking at Formula One as, as the perfect example right
now because, you know, Liberty, Liberty Media and the companies
behind, you know, getting them to Netflix.
And that has been massive for Formula One and, and motor sport
across the board. But with social media nowadays,
(37:34):
it's been very, very important to try and promote.
And it's, it's a big fight in itself amongst teams to, to get
the most engagement. And I think I'm going off on a
thread now. I love it, keep going.
At the end of the day, yeah, like, like I said, it's money
equals performance. Yeah, that's it.
(37:54):
Yeah. And and and.
You know, you can pay for the best, best driver, and that's
going to get you to the end of the game, just to the last hole.
It's it's not. It's not like that, No.
Yeah. It's not why I feel like too
like winning, you know, equals the money.
So it's like the amount of pressure that a driver and the
team must fill, but especially driver because they end up being
(38:16):
by just the way that media works, like they end up being
the face of the team oftentimes.And then you have this a
tremendous amount of pressure because I don't know how many
people are on your team or the teams that you've raced for, the
ones that you sit and reserve for, you know, whatever.
Like, but there's a lot of people and their jobs in a lot
of way are dependent upon how well at the end of the day,
you're able to control that car to do what it needs to do.
(38:37):
So it's like, and a lot of ways,I feel like they should be the
CEO's of the team. You know, it's crazy.
It's performance based across the board from the drivers to
and the people working in NPR and media engineers.
You know, if you're not, if you're not hitting your marks,
it's, you know, you're out the door.
And it's just a revolving door of, of people every single year.
(38:58):
It's it's very rare that a team stays the same from year to
yeah, I guess you can see that. And, and you know, the corporate
America as well. It's very, extremely, yeah,
performance based, so. There's two questions for you.
Why, why? Why do you want to do it?
What drives you? And then two, where do you want
(39:19):
to go? Like what is, what is the
success look like to you? Maybe that's changed over time,
but so why and where, Yeah. Yeah, like, like I said, I
haven't raced in a few years, but I'm still and still still
involved and I still will race again.
I just don't know at what capacity.
So that is continuing to be the goal.
(39:41):
I have recently looked at other passions and, and avenues career
wise, you know, whether it's looking at entrepreneurship or I
took a few, a few pilot lessons as well.
Now my dad and I have bonded over that for the first time as
we haven't we haven't talked about aviation at all in our
(40:01):
lives and until now. So.
Cool. Yeah, it's been cool.
Yeah, look, looking at differentpassions and and, you know,
finding, finding something outside of motorsport has, has
been interesting for me recently.
But I do see myself continuing in, in the motorsport industry.
(40:22):
I hope that it's that involves racing a car.
I think I'm I'm very good at it and, and, and continue to make
it a career. Why it's been the only thing
that really that's really made me tick over the years.
You know, that that passion I haven't been able to find
anywhere else for the most part.And, you know, winning, winning,
(40:46):
racing and winning races and, and experiencing that, that joy
within the team has been a feeling that that we all chase
as as drivers. Yeah, yeah, and, and, and, and
finding that flow state as well.I I really, I really enjoy.
So that's that's what continues to draw me back to to the sport.
And you know, I wake up most days thinking about it.
(41:08):
Yeah. So then practically like I would
imagine in, in order to get backin the driver's seat, there's,
there's some combination which Idon't know what it is and I'd be
curious to hear your take on it.But what is the combination
between like, well, this is whatI can do.
This is what I can hustle to getthere, you know, my performance.
And then like this percentage iskind of luck.
So performance kind of knowing people and then luck like what
(41:30):
what is the, what is the percentage split you think in
order for that to happen, like what needs to happen practically
for you to get back in a driver's seat?
I'm not a big believer in luck, but I I definitely believe in
being in the right place at the right time with the right
preparation. Right now, I think my Ave. back
to the driving seat is probably through coaching and instructing
(41:55):
a lot of these these drivers at the at the club tracks across
the country. They're popping up everywhere,
have a lot of wealth and investment that you know, that
they want to put towards motorsport and that often times
includes a a Co driver. So we're looking at the sports
car, the MC Sports car championship is it's very common
(42:16):
to see that happen. And and then once I once I get
my feet on the ground there, I'mI'm confident that I can perform
in and stay in an industry or a series like that one.
So that's how I see that going maybe with my reserve role and
formally as well, it could amount to getting back into the
seat. So that's, you know, work on the
(42:37):
simulator and then I also go to the races.
I'll go to the go to the at least the first three this year.
And then if, you know, if the main drivers get sick or
injured, then then I'm thrown inthe car.
So yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll see.Yeah, that's got to be a tough
place to be in because it's likeyou don't want somebody to get
sick. But at the same time, maybe a
little bit, Yeah, probably not allowed to say that.
(42:59):
Yeah, there's been a lot of intrusive thoughts out of there,
but of course I don't. I don't wish there were
somebody. Sure.
So let me ask you this question.Would you rather be paid
hypothetically $1,000,000 a yearto be a reserve or $50,000 a
year to be racing? To be racing, definitely yeah,
the runway as a reserve driver can be can be very short as it
(43:22):
is in racing, but I think I can control my own my own destiny in
in the seat aside from yeah, aside from the reserve stuff.
So that's a good one. That's a good question.
Yeah. What what is the entrepreneur
side of you thinking about? So I, I've met a lot of new
friends who are in that space who have, you know, piqued my
(43:44):
interest. And, you know, whether it's, I
don't know, starting my own business or maybe maybe even
starting my own business within the realm of, of motorsport.
I think that could be interesting because I, I know a
lot of people in the industry. So yeah, there's been, there's
been a couple of ideas floating around, yeah.
(44:07):
Are you afraid I. See myself sitting at a desk at
a, at a nine to five. Yeah.
So that's, that's off the table.Yeah, yeah.
Well, if I may pry a little bit and ask about some of your
ideas, because like just some ofthe stuff you told me I I feel
like I have an idea, but I don'tknow anything about the
industry. So it's probably already been
tried. But what are some of your like
ideas that you have that you youthink might be worth exploring
(44:30):
an entrepreneurial bandwagon forlike the industry that you find
yourself in? So I think it's a really good
one and I don't, I don't want anyone to take it.
So, and I'm going to stay quiet on that.
Aside from, yes, it involves exotic cars.
That's OK. That's all it involves.
(44:52):
That's all, Yeah. Got the buggy off there because
I'm curious to know what it is now of.
Course, yeah, at the at the track that I work out of Miami,
it's they have a lot of garages and and lofts and I I have to
think it's the most concentratedplace definitely in Florida,
maybe the US of nice cars, yeah.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(45:16):
You got a lot of opportunity to play around too.
And then your experience. Yeah, I feel like with the we've
had the chance to experience just from the driving to doing
simulators to, you know, to eventhe stuff you were telling me
about of like sweating to death in your own, boiling in your own
sweat. Like I'm wondering why they
don't have nitrogen filled self filtering, throw it back in your
(45:38):
mouth as clean filtered water systems like for these cars.
But they may have some of that stuff, I don't know.
They do, but you have to get it in you over the first 20-30
minutes of the race because it'sliterally the the bladder or the
the camelback is sitting right next to the radiator in the car,
so. It's it's literally a heat sink
sucking all of the heat from theengine.
(45:58):
Yeah. If if you need fluids at the end
of the race, it's boiling hot water and.
Literally. It's just to get your mouth wet,
that's it. Dude, it's horrible.
Yeah, it's horrible. You have a mix of electrolytes
or something like. Imagine that, just hot and
sticky. It's terrible.
That is terrible. Well, it's so interesting to me
(46:19):
because I'm, I know that like you guys can lose, you know,
anywhere from 5:10 for a longer race, probably even more pounds
of like water weight. And I know it's similar for an
Iron Man obviously for over a longer period of time, but that
can be like severely dangerous if you don't, because then you
start losing electrolyte function.
And I'm thinking of you guys going 200 miles down straight,
you know, or more and you're coming in and out of
(46:41):
consciousness or you're like, oh, I feel like I'm bonking.
Like, that's what a dangerous thing.
It's happened to me on several occasions.
And if another driver says it hasn't, they're lying.
A lot of the training that thoseguys do in an IndyCar now is
just prolonging that state of fatigue.
Like it's going to come at some point, but you get a prolong for
(47:02):
as long as possible, you know, and then pace, depending on the
track, you're, you're kind of pacing yourself as well, knowing
that that's going to happen at some point, like you're not
pushing flat out. And maybe that can also help,
you know, entire life as well. So.
Do you guys spend a great deal about like on race nutrition,
like how, because you know, you're talking about sticky
(47:23):
stuff because, but obviously it gets to a point where you can't
take it in. So like what is what is a pretty
typical regimen? Do you guys shoot for grams per
hour and a number of milligrams per liter of fluid or?
Yeah, depending on So we test ourselves for how much, how much
salt we're losing in our sweat. And if I remember correctly,
(47:43):
mine was very average. And yeah, you're just drinking
as much electrolytes through theday and up until the event.
Carb loading, hitting the macros.
You know, we'll have meals laid out for us in a meal plan for
the weekend, when to eat, how much to eat.
That was critical to not eat toomuch before the races because I,
(48:07):
I, I become so slow and fatigued.
And. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting because the brain is so connected with
the body and the ability to process things quickly, it seems
so key. Definitely, yeah.
And I'm my body fat is extremelywell.
So I don't, I don't have a lot of reserve and, and fat to burn,
whereas other, other drivers, I think that that can be a strong
(48:29):
suit, especially on the double race weekends where you're
racing on Saturday for two hours, then again on Sunday for
two hours, you know, Saturday night I'm just replenishing the
fluids that I've lost. And then your stomach's full and
it's like it's hard to, it's hard to find that appetite to
get the calories. Body had the same going on with
(48:52):
cycling. Like I started to lose weight
because I didn't have the appetite after drinking much
fluid and this, you know, the Florida heat as well.
Yeah, yeah, you got to train thestomach, train the body in every
way. That's so crazy fascinating.
So, you know, interesting to me.I'm also going back a bit.
You mentioned earlier, you know,you think you, you feel like God
has a plan kind of for everything and everyone.
(49:13):
And, you know, we talked about luck and you're like, yeah, I
probably don't believe in that as much.
It's, it's a bit more like providential is what I was kind
of hearing a little bit in your voice.
Who is God to you? Like what has got to you?
So this has been, this has been a new discovery for me over the
last, I'd say six months or so cool.
(49:37):
Just being more spiritual and surrounding my, surrounding
myself with more spiritual people.
I think has has been really cooland enlightening for me.
Yeah, God is everything. He's what?
God is everything. He's.
He's everyone of us. Yeah, yeah.
You yeah. Well, what is, what has been
(49:58):
attractive to you? Like, because, you know, you
said you're trying to surround yourself with more of those
people or you have been surrounded with some of those
people. And obviously there's a, there's
a quality that like, you know, you're into this and it's, I
don't ask this to like, hey, canyou give me your list of
fundamental beliefs and how theyhave shaped you and, or anything
like that? But like, what are you, what is,
what is attractive about it? Like what are you learning?
(50:18):
So surrounding myself with people who have the values that,
you know, I see for myself and my family, I think has been
attractive. There is, there's sustainability
in that as well. And I can, I can see, you know,
(50:42):
a lot of runway and happiness surrounding myself with, with
those, you know, kinds of spiritual and unholy people.
So yeah, that's that's been a great experience over the past
short amount of time. Yeah, so you didn't grow up
religious at all? Or spiritual.
(51:03):
No, no, my, my family is, is Christian and we believe in, in
Christian values. But, you know, it was rare for
us to, to go to church. And there wasn't really anyone
in my life who was, you know, pushing me in that direction.
Yeah, Sheena's maybe the wrong, the wrong word, but not enabling
me to find. Yeah.
(51:25):
So there is a time again this year, a few months ago, where
all of a sudden, like these new people that I'm meeting are
Christian. And there's never been a time in
my life where like it has been that obvious that, OK, I need, I
need to like look in this direction and see, see if
(51:45):
there's a, you know, anything new that I can that I can learn
about myself and, and the world.So it's been, it's been cool.
Yeah. Do you feel like you're learning
some new things about yourself even outside of like the
Christian aspect? Yeah.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
May I ask what those are? What those things are?
Yeah, I think, I think understanding maybe the habits
(52:11):
that haven't been so good for meand and enlightening me to
realize that they're there and then and then knowing to to make
the change. I think it's a very, very bland
way. Have you been media trained?
I thought actually I just spent a lot of time around a
microphone. I haven't had, I haven't had an
(52:31):
interview like this in a long time.
So it's it's been cool. Yeah, no, thanks for working
with me on it. Yeah, no, I think it's good.
I'll just share just briefly. I did grow up Christian.
And, you know, my parents lived a very interesting life in that,
you know, one week it was, at least from how I observed it,
(52:52):
one week it was like weird aboutChristian.
The next week it's like Dad's doing drugs and, you know, he's
got a keg and drinking probably way too much alcohol in the
house. And, you know, it kind of went
off kind of both sides of these tangents.
So as I grew up, I got to this place when I was like 21.
I was like, OK, well, what? What do I believe and why do I
believe it? And as I went through that
similar what you're saying, likeI learned a lot about myself.
(53:12):
And I think the biggest things for me that I realized like
we're probably not good for the life that I wanted to live for
like from a point of happiness and fulfillment and joy was
like, dude, I just say it straight up.
I've been free from pornography now for in two weeks, it'll be
almost seven months, which is like some people don't think
it's bad. And that's fine if you want to
(53:32):
think that. But in terms of like my
upbringing, I was like, OK, that's just during my life.
Way too many video games. I don't think video games are
inherently bad. And maybe some of them, but
like, you know, that kind of stuff.
So if for me, like those were a few of the things that are a
couple of the big things, I think we're like really truly
holding me back. And when I started to pursue
that, you know, relationship with a God of creator of
(53:55):
something I believe greater thanmyself is when my life started
to like, I think have more clarity.
So that's why I like pressing about that questions because
it's really fun to know. Yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, yeah.
Thanks, man. So what is something, I have one
more kind of pretty deep question for you.
So what is something difficult that you're going through that
most people don't often see? That's it.
(54:22):
That's a hard one. I guess it's nice for me not to
have a quick answer because you know.
Yeah, my lifetime. I think my life has been, you
know, pretty good and I'm, I'm thankful for what I have.
That's a hard one. Can you repeat?
(54:43):
Yeah, Yeah. What is something difficult that
you're going through that most people don't, people don't often
see? Or it could rephrase it a little
bit because it has to do with like the perception of you.
So maybe a better way to ask us would be like, what when people
look at you, what do you, what do you think they see?
And then what do you want them to see?
(55:07):
Well, if you look at my social media, it all looks fun and and
happy. I think that's pretty much the
case for everyone, right? We don't really share the bad
parts of our life. And if if you are like, I think
we all appreciate that too. That's cool.
Yeah. Finding, I think we're all
(55:27):
always looking for, at least forme, like sustainable happiness,
right? Finding a purpose.
I have been, you know, I'm not in my late 20s now, about to
turn 29. And I feel that every year up
(55:48):
until this point of my, you know, professional life has been
a different journey. Like there hasn't been, there
hasn't been much stability. And I think that's something
that I'm now looking for. The income's been, it's been
fine. You know, I've kept myself busy,
but like, I'm not sure where, where I'm going to be a few
(56:11):
years from now, right? I know, I know where I want to
be, right? But I don't know if that's going
to be the case. So yeah, I think that's an
indirect answer to that. Yeah.
Well, let's pretend like, again,a little bit of like, well,
whether you do get there or you don't get there, what do you
(56:32):
want to feel like? What do you want to, what do you
want your life to feel like whenyou get to that spot?
And maybe you're already there, but you know, I'm kind of
assuming a little bit. Yeah.
You know, by the time I'm 50 or 60, I want to look back and feel
like I got the most out of myself.
I think failure would feel like looking back and thinking, oh,
(56:55):
like I should have done. I should have done more, right?
Or I should have spent my time wiser.
Yeah. Yeah.
There's so many distractions nowadays, it's it's so easy to
to get caught up and and stroll scrolling or just wasting time.
(57:16):
And the older I get, I find thatthe faster it goes by.
So that's a, a change that I think that it's that's good to
make for. Yeah.
A a lot of people right now, I think are so addicted to their
screens. I don't want to look back and
feel like I wasted so much time just doing nothing.
Yeah, yeah. That's a, that's a, that's a
(57:37):
scary thought for me. So trying to trying to stay
active. Yeah, I think that's so good,
man, because, yeah, this the world that we're currently find
ourselves in, obviously just outside of the whole whatever we
see on our screens. But it's so fascinating to me
that everything that we do see on our screen, we're now
entering an age of time where you might pick up the phone
(57:57):
tomorrow. And it could say, you know, mom
and you answer the phone and your mom's telling you some
crazy story about how you need to do this or that she's about
to die or someone's going to take her hostage.
But now we live in a place whereit's like, oh, was that actually
her? Like anything that's not like
physically manifested in front of us that we can touch she and
smell. It's like, how do I know that's
(58:18):
real? So like that's a super
fascinating topic of conversation because it's like
that. I feel like that's what that's
what how society would collapse is when we can no longer agree
on what's real and what's not outside of what we're Hey, I'm
shaking your hand, Oliver, how'sit going?
You know, probably. Happening, yeah.
Yeah. It's crazy.
I could go on about that, but I'll I'll save it for a later
(58:39):
day. Yeah, it it involves politics.
So I'll just stay. I'll stay out there.
Well, you're welcome to share any way you want.
No judgement from me. I mean, it's a, it's a wild
time, yeah. Politics and AI and not knowing
what's real I think is very scary.
Yeah, I feel like it's like, OK,do you know how to garden?
(59:02):
Do you know how to grow food? Do we have a place that we can
go and do that? That's kind of what's becoming
more and more important to me because I live in Northern
California just for the past year now.
And we came out here to have a little adventure.
My wife took this fellowship program because she's a nurse
practitioner. And, yeah, as the world
continues on and, you know, withthe topic of what you were
(59:22):
bringing up, time going by faster.
And she's pregnant with my little daughter now who, you
know, we're just six months in. Yeah.
Thanks. It's like a lot of these things
that I used to really stress over and care about.
It's like, oh, wow. What what really matters, It's a
less and less what's on this phone and it's more and more of
like what's going on in front ofme because it's so fascinating
(59:43):
to me too. Dude.
It's like whenever we go to worknow at the age that we live,
we're going to work so that whenwe open up our phone, we see a
couple of pixels that are black that show numbers.
And like, that's what I'm earning.
Like I'm earning numbers on the screen so that I can exchange it
with these numbers on another screen to get a physical good,
usually food. That's what matters most.
And it's like, well, maybe I just have my relationship with
(01:00:04):
the dirt and like, I that's where I get all my ones and
zeros. Yeah, it's kind of crazy.
Yeah. Yeah, and knowing there there's
a show on Netflix that I or a documentary that everyone should
watch and, and, and continue watching.
But it's, you know, it, it talksabout the companies and you
(01:00:25):
know, Apple, Facebook, Instagramand, and their whole MO is, is
to get us to continue interacting with their products.
And it's like, how can we make this as maybe this isn't, you
know, what their board meetings are all about, but it's
essentially what they're doing is getting us to continue to use
(01:00:48):
their products and disassociate us with the real world.
So, you know, there's a reason why our phones and screens are
so colorful. It's because that's, you know,
that's, that's what's addicting to our eyes and our
subconscious. So.
What's the name of the documentary do you know?
I forgot the name. I have to go.
(01:01:08):
It's not dirty money, is it? No.
No, no. I have to check it out.
Be an easy one to Google, but I'll.
Look it up. It's about social media, yeah.
OK, yeah, I'll check it out. Yeah, it's super interesting,
man, Super interesting. Well, dude, I really appreciate
you taking the time, letting me kind of be sporadic with the
interview and just ask questionsas they come up.
But I'd spend a true honor. I enjoyed the time.
(01:01:32):
Thanks, man. Well, I do have just one final
question for you actually as like a piece of advice for any
youngster who is looking to go and be a professional race car
driver, what would you tell thembut as they embark upon that
journey? Yeah, I've had that question
before and for me it's it's an easy one.
(01:01:54):
There's a two-part answer. One, have as much fun as you can
and enjoy the process. And and two, it's so important
to network and meet the right people and make good first
impressions. It's it's a business at the end
of the day, and it takes a lot of money to to achieve those
(01:02:16):
goals and make it to the top of the sport.
You're not going to do it by yourself.
Yeah, just be as as professionalas possible and grow up quickly.
I think that's grow. Up quickly.
Quickly. Yeah, yeah.
You do get. Most of these kids are starting,
you know, I was, I was a little bit late to the game.
(01:02:39):
I think my first car race I was like 17 or 18.
That's late nowadays. So you know, these kids are
starting to race formula cars atat 1413 or 14.
Yeah, so pretty soon it's going to be 8 and 9.
It's a sport that forces you to to grow up quickly, Yeah,
whether you like it or not. Yeah, interesting, Interesting.
(01:03:01):
Well, cool, man. Thank you so much.
I have to have you on again. Maybe we can dive into some of
those topics a little bit more. But I guess, yeah, thank you so
much. You too, man.
Thanks. Thanks so much, Oliver, coming
on for coming on the podcast. Really good interview.
Really appreciate it getting to cover our new sport.
But at the end of the day, really every person I've ever
interviewed, people are people and that continues to shine
(01:03:24):
through. And I love having deep
conversations with people. So thank you guys for being here
to listen to that. Thank you to Oliver again for
coming on. And yeah, it's really cool.
Like, you know, he said something and stuck with me that
I'd like to have a future episode on.
And that was, you know, with race car driving, he car
driving. He was saying that it forces you
(01:03:45):
to grow up a little bit. And that's something I want to
dive into more because I guess forcing is a is a tough word for
me because with my history and background, you know, losing dad
at 16, I feel like it forced me in a lot of ways to grow up
really fast or kind of robbed meof my childhood.
So I'm very protective about people getting to experience
their childhood childhoodness infull.
(01:04:07):
So I'm curious to ask him what he meant by that and go a little
bit deeper. So if you are also looking
forward to that, let me know in the comments and we'll try to
have him on here, but sooner rather than later.
But it's coming up to the end ofthe year very fast and I cannot
even believe it. So 200 is going to come out and
I'm probably going to have a fewmore episodes to kind of slow
release throughout the break as I take a break over the
holidays. But yeah, we'll see how it goes.
(01:04:27):
But anyway, I've ran with long enough.
Thank you guys for being here. Really appreciate it.
Thanks again to Oliver and we'llcatch you guys in the next one.
Peace.
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