April 10, 2020 • 33 mins
Rico Elmore and Ken Stout welcome the NHRA 2018 Funny Car Champ JR Todd to the studio, along with call-in guest Ron Capps, the 2016 NHRA Funny Car Champ. This conversation was so entertaining that we kept going for 2 episodes! Check out part one here!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm JR. Todd and this is the Skinny, Ron Caps
and this is the Skinny from fat Head Studios and Speedway, Indiana.
This is the Skinny. And what you don't see is
Carl in the background giggling and laughing telling us it's
(00:21):
time to start the show once again. Rico Elmore kin Stout,
Welcome to the Skinny, and we've got a couple of
big guys that are gonna join us here today n
h R A Superstars. Both of them are champions. Ron
Caps is gonna join us from California, the two thousand
and sixteen Funny Car Champ and the two thousand eighteen
Funny Car Champs sitting in the studio. JR. Todd Welcome, gentlemen,
(00:43):
hey man, thanks for having us. Great to have you
as well, for sure, And of course Caps, you've been
doing this thing for ever and ever and ever. Man second,
winning this driver in Funny Car that is quite an accomplishment.
And as we kick off this uh, this sketchy two
thousand twenty season, it's your twenty sixth year in the business.
Did you ever imagine being in the business this long? No,
(01:07):
you know, I was a crew member and I was
pretty much gonna be okay being a crew member even
you know, even though I had aspirations to drive growing up,
racing go karts and riding motorcycles my whole life, but
it was just that one moment where somebody had some
faith in me and took me under their wing and
let me get a license in their alcohol drags. He
and much like Jr. We kind of saying, took the
(01:28):
same path. And the cool thing for me is I
can I can say I've done this for twenty something
years and I've never had to bring a sponsor or
cash to a ride, which is rare in motorsports period,
but especially we're in drag racing and uh, to get
that phone call for Don Prudom. You know that that
first time to go drive for him was one of
(01:49):
those moments you never forget and it just kind of
set my path and my career. And um, here I
am twenty something years later, still doing it. That's it.
Caps is dead to me. He's never had to chase
the answer warrants. I don't even know who that got.
You know, I chased chased and I had to bring
money for a seat. So second winning ist, we know
(02:09):
who the winning ist is so what caps if you
run until you're about ninety years old, do you think
you can? I mean, we're going to get him. Never happened.
Nobody will ever pass John Forrest, and that's hey, I'm
okay with it to be second to that guy and
what he's done throughout, you know, really for the sport.
I mean, he's kind of become a guy that I
was just the grocery store this morning and some lady,
(02:32):
you know, she looked over at me and saw my
racing stuff on the first thing she asked about was
John Forrest and she didn't follow it except maybe saw
the reality show and then watched drag racing because of
his daughters. But you know, he has been drag racing
for a long time, and uh so, yeah, nobody's ever
gonna catch that guy. He's he has set a record
that is astronomical. And as far as wins a Jr. Todd,
(02:53):
you're actually following right in suit. I mean, he's had
an incredible career and you know, going along with that
long career as well, sixteen years with John with Don
Schumacher is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Anytime you can
stay with a team that long and we were just
talking with Scott Dixon. I think he's been with Canassi
for nineteen years, but that that relationship is so difficult
to pull out. I mean, it's difficult to make it,
(03:15):
you know, but to pull off a relationship like that
is is really phenomenal. Yeah, Ron talking, you know that
none of us are ever gonna catch John Forrest. Well
at the rate that Capps is going. He's not that
old and he's still kicking everybody's but it's gonna be
hard for some of us to even catch you know,
the number two guy, which is him, and uh, he's
It's funny. I feel like he kind of gets aggravated
(03:37):
or upset you like you bring up stats and he's
been doing it forever because like I said, it's not
that old. It's just that he wins a lot, and
you know, every year. So he's definitely set the bar
high for us, younger guys than him to to try
and catching. He's definitely a one of my heroes and
the guy that I I set out to h to
be like. And we all know that we're not gonna
get two wins or what. You know. John Forrest is
(03:58):
he's in a different category. And I don't want to
raise on seventy something years old either. Well, well you
might change your mind on that one. Some of these
young guys, you have to get a littlehead of yourself
right there. You might be happy to still be doing it,
for sure. But uh, and you look at John Force.
I did, and I didn't mean to get off on
the John Force tangent. But how do you not talk
about the guy when you're talking about n hr A.
And I agree with ron Um, but when you take
(04:19):
a look at him. Here we are two thousand twenty,
he's top five on the points again, and Brittany is
already running career best number, not career best best ever numbers.
So I mean, it's not like that team has even
thought about laying down, No, not at all. I mean
they they got a heck of a brain trust over
there between all their teams, and they work really well together.
And it seems like every year, you know, Ron and
(04:41):
myself and the rest of us were kind of chasing
Robert Hight and Jimmy Prok and those guys, and that, uh,
that information, you know, it spills over to Force his car,
and uh, you've got a guy that's been around as
long as he has, and that's a combination that equals
success and wins, and like I said, he's still still
getting the job done at his age. I'd love to
get both of your thoughts on on the head games
(05:03):
that he plays at the starting line, I mean to
me and other forms of racing, which is what my
career has pretty much been made up of. It's it's
games all the time. I mean, it's no different if
somebody putting a bumper on you, driving you a little
bit wide in the turn, maybe slamming the door on you,
and he rolls in. In the world of drag racing,
he's like game on, guys, I'm I'm gonna do whatever
I can do to try to beat you. But I
(05:24):
don't remember it being I don't remember him doing it
so much earlier in his career, and he certainly plays
those games now and he does it really well. Yeah,
Ron's compete against him more than I have, so he
could definitely tell you how far back he's been doing it.
But I've definitely gotten a little taste of it. And
it's not fun to be on the opposing end of
those games. You just you have to know ahead of
(05:44):
time that there's a chance he's gonna do something, Just
prepare yourself for it because it's bound to happen. Is
it all all fair in love and war on? Yeah,
you know I've had I've had quite a few times.
Forrest has been probably overall one of my better friends.
You know, he quit drinking and quit all that stuff
after his bad wreck, But we've had a lot of
good times. And he kind of took me under his
(06:05):
wing when I was a rookie and top fuel and
then when I went to Funny Car, I went there
with Don Prudome to beat John Force. That was the
reason Don Prudom got that whole program together with a
Copenhagen car. So back then, yeah, he still did it,
but everybody did it back then. My rookie year and
probably my first four or five years, man, I was
rolling in shutting Top. I used to go in and
(06:26):
try to flicker the top light off, which is not
easy to do, and try to distract people and get
him to red light. And that was the kind of
games that was going on back then. But then it
was guys like Al Hoffman and Chuck Etchells, and it
was a different time of the racing where there's lots
of times, even with John Forrest, where he messed with
me the Star Line, I've gotten out and gone almost
(06:46):
a blows with him and pushing and we had to
be separated several times down there because he might have
done it to me. And qualifying where I don't think
it's it should be done. It should be our cars
out there trying to get our best run, not somebody
playing head games and qualify and trying to hang you out.
So there's been times where you know, not that it
wasn't PC, but you got out of the car and
(07:07):
I was ready to throw down, and you know, it's
just like a dirt race. You get somebody on a caution,
there's a few laps left, and you know you're running
the pace laps and somebody comes up and gives the
gas and just kind of goes up shows you they're there,
you know, somebody to intimidate you. And it's that same
type of thing. I just think Forest doesn't have the
confidence sometimes in himself that he can cut a good light,
and he thinks he needs to roll it in as
(07:29):
we all do at different times to make our reaction
times look better. But I think he would be just
fine if he didn't. But he's gotten to be a
sort of his badge of honor. And he messed with Jr.
Last year and he got to him. He's done it
to me in my career a lot, and he's gotten
to me in my career when I was younger. So
you know, you just you gotta be ready for it.
(07:51):
And it sounds easy, and JR. Knew it going in
there when he messed with him last year, and you're
ready for it, and you're like, I'm gonna stamp this
old man. And then the next thing you know, it
catches you and you're like, how did I let that happen?
You know, it's like you got Tony Stewart on the
two laps to go on a cous and they chose
you a wheel and you're like, oh man, you know
I got smoked next to me. What's what's he gonna
(08:12):
And you're more worried about the opponent than you're anything else.
I remember back in the day, and it was a
really big deal. When you guys would hang each other around,
the clutch would get a little too hot and they
would go one to one to second. You hit to
throw at and you knew you were gonna knock him
out of the race right off the bat and and boy,
people were pissed at the other end and they were
ready to throw down. I'd say that's still the case.
And like going back to what Iran said and qualifying,
(08:33):
someone does that to you. I mean, there's no rule
that says that you can't do that. I mean, we
know that you got seven seconds to stage after the
first guy does, but seven seconds that seems like an hour,
even if a guy takes three or four seconds, Like
that's too long, man, Like what were you doing over there?
So if it happens in qualifying, you may let somebody know.
But my opinion is like I don't want to go
show them that that pissed me off. I'm just gonna
(08:54):
return the favor, maybe not the next time I run him,
but down the road, like when I put it in
park next like they might remember why I did that,
you know, Like that's kind of how I look at
Like I remember Joey saw Day and I telling me that,
you know, guy might flip him out of the park
one night. He's not gonna go get in his face
or whatever. But when that guy flipped out the park
six months down the road. Who remember what he did?
(09:15):
You know, did Joey a long time ago? So I
kind of like telling myself that and drag race and
just think about it before you go say something. If
you're gonna say something, just put that in your memory,
bake and use it when you can. It's kind of
It's kind of funny what Ron was saying about Stuart,
you know, showing a wheel. Well, remember him talking about
Kruzman at the Chili Bowl for Tony, for Tony's first
(09:38):
Chili Bowl win. He was talking about how he goes.
I know that I was holding you up because we
have cruizmen on remote and uh, Cruzman is like, listen,
I couldn't get to you, you know. And Tony said
he kept getting you know, showing him and showing him,
and he's like, he's like he's not getting by me.
You know. Said Cruzman was too nice. He said, you're
too nice. If it was the other way around, he said,
(09:59):
I had to put a bumper on you. It's a
Chili Bowl. I mean, you gotta go. Why not? Man?
Speaking of Chili Bowl, Ron, You've ran the Chili Bowl, right, yeah?
And speaking of fighting I forget the first year I
ran as a regular midget, it was on a team.
Listen to the guys on this team. It was Dan
(10:19):
less Oski, it was Tony Stewart's team, and it was
Dan less Osky, myself, Kenny Schrader and Josh Wise and
all the cars, if you remember, they're all orange and
painted the same um. And you know, that was cool
to walk in that building and see my name on
a midget with Kenny Schrader and and Josh Weisse at
the time. Was this new kid coming out of California
and uh. And of course Dan Lestoski, I'll never forget
(10:41):
the crew guys that he had working on my car.
They nicknamed me Coutter, and they put it on the
car instead of my name. They said, you get out
there and don't let anybody mess with you, and if
they do, you pull in the pits and leave your
helmet on and we'll take care of it. So I
only remember that rules of dirt car racing. We were
running sprint cars with my son for a couple of
(11:01):
years and we had the two mechanics were that that
were on the car. Um. We're big farm boys, man,
and we never used the jack stand. They would just
grab the front bumper and pick the front, pick the
front of the car up, look at me, and I
would roll the stands underneath the car, you know. So
they were the same way as like, if anybody wants
to throw down, just make sure you get back here
to the pits and it'll all be just fine. That's
(11:22):
one thing I learned from my dad racing the dirt
track motorcycles. I was always small, and I'm still small,
and say, hey, man, if you ever get into the
guy like you're gonna get into a fight, keep your
helmelet on. Do not take your home witht off, because
you know, at least protect yourself. So that's one thing
I always try to, like cup the caps, keep my
helmet on. You know, all this stuff has happened over
the course of your careers. You know, certainly, Ron, you've
(11:44):
been around long enough. I mean, the fisticuffs things, I
think was a little more prominent back in the day
than it is now. But uh, when when you take
a look at what happened to Torrents at the end
of last year, boy, it's really I mean, they really
crucified him over that thing. And I'm not saying he
was in a good place to do that, you know,
(12:04):
and he's certainly apologized for it since that time. But man,
oh man, the fans really got Piste off about that
whole scenario. Yeah, you gotta remember and JR. Can attest
to this. What our fans failed to get, what really
motorsports fan failed to remember is the cup. Guys, they
go around, you get the checkered flag, You've got two
(12:25):
or three minutes to go around, do your burnout. By
that time, you've kind of thought about what you want
to say in your interview, You've relaxed a little bit.
Indy car, same thing, right, You win a race, you
go around the pace lap and you've got time before
you go to winter circle. We make a run three
point eight second run at three thirty miles Prouder. Who
knows what's going on the cockpit, especially a funny car.
You're trying to man handle this thing to the finish line,
(12:47):
hoping you can get it between the cone and the
wall of the finish line. Pull the shoot, and within
another thirty seconds you're around the corner and you're getting
out of this thing, and they've got Fox television cameras
on you. The minute you get out, so you don't
have a lot of time. You you talk about these,
you know, fisticuffs and things in the past where I've
gotten out. You don't have time to sometimes sit back
(13:08):
and think, well, maybe I should think about this and
go look at the replay. Maybe he didn't hold me up.
And there's so many times I've gone apologize to people
later because I get out and I'm emotional when I'm
going down the track and somebody held me up. I'm
telling you and Jay probably say the same thing. You're
at half track and you're thinking, I can't wait to
get out and knock this guy out, like you're so upset,
and that's all you're thinking about. But not just that happening.
(13:31):
I mean we literally come around the corner, you pop
out of the roof hatch and there are the cameras
and somebody asking you your thoughts to what just happened
where you've gone six geese and then negative nine ges
when the shoots come out. So all had emotions. You're
tied into this thing. You're strapped in. This adrenaline is
ready to pop out of the top of your head,
and you don't have time to compose yourself. So I'm
surprised it doesn't happen more often. I think not enough
(13:54):
credits given to us and drag racing to where we
don't get out and just start through the blows sometimes
or throwing up or you know, or going after somebody
or or not saying the right thing. Um, So it it.
It's tough. It's not as easy as it looks. I agree,
because after that happened in Pomona with Torns, you know,
(14:15):
like I'm getting tax from you know, my buddies, Kyle Larson,
a lot of my dirt track fans like, what the
hell's wrong with you guys? You make a run down
the track, you get out, you're mad at each other,
right to fight. Well, there's a lot that happens, like
the TV show doesn't cover, Like it might not analyze
what happened on the starline why this guy might be mad.
They didn't go, you know, interview Torns right away to
see why it was mad. Just like like Ron said,
(14:35):
there was a lot that goes on. I'd say in
that whole five minute time from the ton of car
starts up till you get out the end of the track.
And usually if if they know you're mad, they're coming
over to interview right away, came ring your face and
you don't only have time to even process what just
happened on the run, let at them, think about what
you're gonna say, and nine times out of ten, you
know that the wrong stuff comes out of your mouth
(14:56):
or you might slap somebody what you definitely would have
thought that they would have learned from Stewart that that
you definitely you definitely don't want to uh, you know,
you don't want to get to get a hot mic
on somebody a little too quick. When I always loved
that Matt Yoakum would walk up and ask him something.
He's like, He's like, well, why the hell do you think?
(15:16):
I'm Matt right man, Matt Big Andy Stewart's friends. So
he could have got away with it, right, Yeah, because
j R. Got a guest with him. Now, how did
that guy come from? I promise I didn't bring this
with me. You're on I am not I am not
that guy. But I don't have I don't have that one.
(15:43):
That Indy One the only race track I've never won at,
and I won there on Saturdays and I've done it
on Sunday when he had the big Bud shootout, but
I've never won the big race on Monday, so appreciate
you teasing me. I have I have a march Mate trophy. Yeah,
those are really hard to come by and rare to
come by, and that's pretty awesome trophy. So congrats on that.
(16:06):
First African American to win in fuel, first African American
to win in funny Car, and both of you guys
one of seventeen drivers who win in both categories. Some
really some some big credicals for both of you guys,
and well earned of course. And they're just talking about
one of the U S Nationals. Mantel Man, that's that's
a big deal. And you talked to anybody in drag
racing and that rivals a championship. To win the U
(16:27):
S Nationals rivals a championship, Yeah, I mean, I guess
it depends what you ask if they haven't won Indi
or they haven't won a championship at the time when
you know I won India, like, yeah, this was the
biggest biggest thing I had ever accomplished. But I don't
know if I would give up winning a championship either.
I mean, that's something you would have to ask Ron,
But yeah, I'd say I don't know a lot of
(16:50):
a lot of the legends say like their career is
not complete. Lists you've got one or the other and
maybe both, you know. So I'm very fortunate and lucky
to have a the one Indie twice and and a
cha apiing chip, but you know, you always want more.
And coming out of the junior dragster ranks, I mean
you are the true poster child of starting off at
ten years old, staying in there, running the course of
(17:11):
time to seventeen years old, coming out of it, getting
your eight ninety class licensed, then going to frank College
school to think you uh, you also were in an
alcohol car for a little bit, and then up to
the big ranks. I mean you ran the whole gamut
of what you're supposed to do. Yeah, there's definitely a
few of us that you know, took the road to
the junior drags or path what it was designed the
(17:32):
dude who hopefully get you the professional level someday, But
it's really hard, just like any sport, Like I compare
it to a kid playing Little League baseball or peewee
football that makes it to the major leagues of the NFL.
You know, it's uh, it's a really tough road and
I'm lucky that I met the right people along the way,
and my parents sacrifice a lot for me and when
(17:53):
I was a kid to take me racing across the
country to meet certain people, and and uh and what
have you, and just you know, really worked at it
even when I wasn't driving. Became a crew guy just
to show other teams out there that knew that I
had driven in the past, like, hey, this is what
I want to do. And at the time, I really
didn't like being a crew member, but looking back at it,
I feel like it's made me a better driver because
(18:13):
I understand how the cars work and what goes into him.
Just gives you a lot more respect for those guys,
you know, spending those long hours preparing that think for
you to go out there and tear it up in
three point eight seconds. But uh, yeah, it's uh. I've
a few of us like I started living proof that
kids out there racing today that you can take the
path that we did if this is what you want
(18:34):
to do, but it's gonna take some work and you
gotta stick with it for sure. Yeah, man, that that's
where it all started for sure. I mean it's a
it's pretty crazy to think, you know, a little five
horse briggs and strapping when the pool starter basically something
you could take off your lawnmower and put on this little,
uh almost go kart chassis that's extended into a draction.
(18:54):
That's what it started out as. And we hauled mine
to uh Edgewater Sports Park outside of sense to Ohio
on the back of my dad's truck for my very
first race. I think it went fourteen or fifteen seconds
at like forty miles an hour, and I thought I
was hauling ass man, great stuff. And you've had wonderful
family support all all along the way. Yeah, absolutely, man.
(19:15):
My mom and dad they've been there from day one
and uh they still uh go to majority of my
races today, and when they're not at the track, you know,
keep our words uppings alling. Hey, ye, how are your
parents where? They? Like many they still got jobs back
at home. They gotta go go ten too, So yeah,
they have a lot of fun and it's nice having
that kind of support. And uh, you know, from day one,
my dad's told me, hey, I'm a hundred percent behind you.
(19:36):
And this stuff. But if you ever want to quit,
I'm a hundred and ten percent behind you. So it's
nice to uh not have that pressure from you know,
my dad, my mom and dad to make this happen.
They they're always there no matter what I wanted to do.
In life caps, you've done some other stuff. You've actually
been in a lot of different race cars all along
the way. Of course, everybody knows you for a funny
car and that great relationship you've had with Nappa for
(19:58):
so many years now as well. But uh, we were
kind of joking at the start of the show. As
Screen Actors Guild, you've been you've been involved with that.
You were a racquetball player, which I was not aware
of to the point that you're in the open division
back in the day. But what I like best, as
we're talking about fift fisticuffs a little bit earlier, is
(20:18):
you were a freestyle and Greco Roman wrestler. So I'm
thinking you and Gary dinsch Um. I know Gary's a
little bit older now, but but he used to throw
down as a wrestler as well. Man, there could be
a good little sidebar going on here. Gary's got legs
like an oak Tree. That's a big dude. He was
actually a power lifter, believe it or not. But uh, yeah,
I think wrestling for me growing up, you know, through
high school and greco and freestyle, it taught you a
(20:40):
lot about life. It was one of the best sports
I could have ever competed in. And yeah, so then
teaching racketball, I did that through college and that's that
was my job, working at health clubs in the area,
three of them, and then I played tournaments for money
on weekends. So um, but my aspirations are always to race,
and I was going off on weekends and helping Blaine
and Allan Johnson prior to blame getting killed, and so
(21:02):
I've known those guys a long time and it's just
it's sort of worked out. But yeah, I always had
the passion growing up go karting and all that that
I wanted to drive. And back then it was indy cars,
you know, or or sprint cars. Um growing up in
in San Louis Obispo and Santa Maria, and there was
a great race track there in Santa Maura that's still there.
And uh, and so going to watch the sprint cars
and the dirt cars was it so fast forward to
(21:25):
getting to drive for Snake and then getting these offers
to go dirt racing was a dream and so another
you know, another unique thing about me and j R.
H we both loved racing dirt. I really enjoyed watching
when he jumped into Christopher Rebell's car um I got
to go test with Iraq before that folded at Talladega
in Chicago, Land, which was cool. Had a blast doing that.
(21:47):
So yeah, I've been real lucky to go do stuff
that I love to do because of where I'm at
in the drag race world and who I've driven for,
so that that part, as you know, I love doing that.
So j R give us a play by playing Christopher
Bell's car. I think I know what I Yeah, I was.
I was nervous as hell to hopp in that thing.
You know, it's uh Keith Coon's Prepare Midget and it's
(22:09):
Christopher Bell's car. Like this is uh Wednesday or Tuesday, Yeah,
Tuesday before the BC thirty nine, which I thought, maybe
we're dragged out a couple of spare cars for us
to go out there and mess around and it's gonna
be uh Doug kletta uh Eric Jones and myself. Nope,
you guys are driving these cars and Christopher is gonna
help you. Like each driver, how to you know, I
(22:30):
think a Logan Cbe and Tucker class Marrow with the
other guy's helping. So getting that thing and they're like, yeah,
I just you know, make a couple of laps around
till you get the hang of it, and you know,
do whatever. I got there in idle around for a
couple of laps as soon as they say go like
pedal to the floor. That's what Lawresen and Christopher told me, like,
hey man, don't mess around this thing, like get after you.
(22:52):
Like okay, So like two or three laps, like I'm
on the fence, like dirts flying everywhere, Like oh good,
I need to back it down a little bit. Come
back in. Keith say hey man, don't do that anymore.
I'm like, oh, I really didn't mean to do that. Key,
but it made for a cool picture that I got
hanging in my true if you're ruined it. They all autographed.
(23:13):
So yeah, it was a lot of fun. And to
back up like what Ram was saying, like I wish
that I was a little older. My career got started
a little, you know, further back, so I could do
possibly do the things that he's done, like Iraq and
prelude to the dream and just different, you know, outside
of drag racing. Not that I would give up my
day job, but I love the opportunity now to be
(23:33):
able to go and drive things like Christopher Bell's car
or a wing sprint car, just anything, uh that I
think can help me become a better drag racory because
I think all those things really do help. Okay, Caps,
I'm gonna put you on the spot here. You can't
drive for the Snake and not give us a good story,
at least one or two good snake stories. I mean,
talk about legendary status. That guy that cat is something else,
(23:56):
and to have him behind the scenes and inside the
trailer with you for years to be remarkable. What was
always the best was sitting around at the end of
the day when the race was over and having legends
in our hospitality area, having a beer and just listening
to these stories that I might have read about or
heard about and hearing it from the same people that
might be hanging out there. Probably the first one that
comes to my mind that I can remember was the
(24:18):
first Snake just had hired me, and we went to
SEMA show and I was getting ready to drive the
next year for him, and uh, we ran into Mario Andretti,
who was probably my biggest idol grown up, and uh,
next thing, I know, we're going to this Italian restaurant
that everybody would go to right near the SEMA event
and as a legendary. And we walk in there and
(24:38):
and of course the owner comes out and he's got
tears in his eye when he meets Mario and it
kiss each other on the cheek. We sit at the
owner's table. Um, We're heading back to the hotel afterwards,
and I'm having these pinch me moments, like God, I'm
hanging out with Don Prudom. Then I remember I'm driving
for the guy now who's one of my idols, And
(24:59):
we're out to dinner with Mario Andretti, and never forget,
We're in the cab on our way back, and the
guy driving was this old Italian guy, and I could
tell Snake new he was a big time Italian guy.
And I just remember the guy didn't realize it was
Mario Andretti sitting in the back and I was sitting
up front, and uh, I just remember Snake telling the guy, hey, man,
(25:19):
you know you're talking about you're driving, and he says, man,
you drive like Mario Andretti, and the guy goes on
and on, Oh my god, Mario Andretti is my favorite,
and he does this whole thing. And then when we stopped,
the guy tells him Mario is in the back of
the car, and the guy got out and got on
his hands and knees and just started crying in front
of Mario Andretti. So moments like that were for me,
(25:40):
just you know, I'll never forget being able to be
around these legends. But driving for Don Pradom turned me
onto a lot of those moments. And fortunately I've got
a lot of stories. Unfortunately can't tell most of the stories.
Carol Shelby ride to the airport with Snake after leaving
Gamesville one time. I'll never get that. If you ever
(26:00):
met Carol Shelby, you know what kind of guy that was.
And uh, that was probably eight minutes of the most
f bombs and s bombs I ever heard in my
life of them telling stories of the old days. And
you know, now that he's passed and being able to
spend that time with him in Snake. Um, it's another
one of those moments. Oh my god. I mean I
had goose bumps telling me that that story about Marion
(26:21):
and Drettie, that's just incredible stuff. Talk to me about.
Talk to me about how passionate and how competitive Snake was.
When you're in the trailer, you're in the middle of
the dog fight on a Sunday afternoon. Give me, give
me a feel. Uh, it's all he's ever known to do.
And I was told he's calmed down. I was told
by a j I was told by Mario, was told
(26:42):
by Connie Colletta. All these guys said, Man, it's good
thing you're driving for Snake now and not ten years ago,
because he is as intense as you would think. Um,
he just feels like he's scratching for everything like he
was is in nineteen sixty three when he first got
his first job dry ivan or first chance to drive.
And it's all he's ever known. He was a car painter.
(27:04):
And he doesn't have, like a lot of these other owners,
a big business at home where they run during the week,
you know, like a Pinski or Don Schumacher, and these
guys have all this this other stuff going on. This
is all he's ever known, so it's everything to him.
And I mean that the smallest little thing. I learned
how to dress. I learned how to pack clothes for trips,
how to the minimal amount of things to pack. I
(27:26):
learned how when you're sponsored by a beer company and
your dinner, when you finish that bottle of beer, and
it was Miller Lite back then, you don't let them
take the bottles of way. You leave them on the table.
If somebody walks by, you want them to see that
you've been drinking Miller Lite. And just little things I
never would have thought of as a kid, you know,
growing up, and when you got these big sponsors, and boy,
(27:47):
he notices everything. He wants his scooters in front the
pit are he lined up the way Roger Pinsky scooters
are lined up when you walk into his area at
an Indy car race. And just things that you you.
I have over the years kind of taken and putting
into my brain. And uh, my wife laughs at me
all the time. I'll do us. She calls it a
snake is um I'll say something or do something, or
a mannerism I do will be something that she saw
(28:09):
a snake do and and it's just it's instilled in me.
And you know, he couldn't ask for a better person
that that hated to lose. And I was there at
the beginning and a guy that I played with his
hot wheels as we all did growing up. Um, you know,
to have something like that to emulate and be around. Uh,
it definitely was something that made my career what it
(28:29):
is today. He was talking about the talking about the
beer bottles. My wife seems to get piste when I
leave him all over the table like that, trying to
get her over that deal. It's our sponsor deal. But
but now, I mean, you know, so you shouldn't do
a bottle for James. I'm talking. Yeah, it's bottles of bourbon.
(28:52):
Actually she's wondering why there's three. But anyhow, you know,
I always laugh because Snake would be up on the
line and j R. Was run and um, I think
you were running at Lucas at the time, and you know,
Snake would always say some of the craziest like he
always still does. I mean, he's definitely a shock factor guy, right,
And he says, uh, he says, have you ever seen
(29:14):
j R. Todd and Lewis Hamilton's at the same place.
And I'm like, uh no, Like, I'm like, I'm completely baffled.
And where he's ended with this, right, I can see it, right,
and you've never seen the same place. And he's going
on and on and on and on about well, the
last time I saw him was you know, uh, you
(29:35):
know at our late great friend Bill, Bill Simpson sweet
and I think I shared this with j R. But
you know Bill always had you know, Bill always had
a good looking blond on his arm to the to
the bitter end, literally to the bitter end. And uh,
you know Snake and and uh and Bill of course
growing up together as kids. You know, Snake would be
(29:58):
down there. He knew every button to push with Simpson,
and I mean he mashed all of them with his feet,
with his hands, and I mean he was going he
was driving him crazy. And I'm sitting down there watching
it and I said to Snake, I said, I said, hey, Snake,
I'm going back down to our suite. I said, I said,
stop by on your way out. He goes abby down there.
(30:18):
In an hour or two. I'm like, okay, so Bill's
got one of his girls in there and Snakes asking Bill.
He says, he says, Bill, how does she do it?
And he says, he says, like, what are you talking about, Snake?
You know, he's irritated because Snakes firing him up again,
and he says, how does she do it? He is, he's,
I don't know what you're talking about. He goes, how
(30:40):
does she keep it all in? Is it with spanks
or what does she wear? Simpson lost his day, threw
him out of the suite. So Bruno comes down to
our suite like about fifteen minutes later. I go, what
are you doing? I thought you weren't leaving for a
couple of hours. He goes, you have Bill threw me
out and proceeded to tell the story. So, but yeah,
(31:00):
he's he's one of a kind, which you know, that's
you know, you've got people like him, you got people
like Connie, you know, and and some of these legends
that were around forever, and and you know that's we
always talk about the you know, we always talk about
the health of motorsports, you know when we're on here,
(31:21):
and you know, as we said, you know, every one
of them needs each other. You know, NASCAR needs Indy
Car Indy Car needs you know the nhr A. I mean,
if you're a race fan. Yeah, there's different factions of it,
but at the end of the day, a lot of
people are just race fans, you know. And and I
love the nhr A. I mean, listen, if if if
people have never went, uh, if you watch it on TV,
(31:46):
you can fancy it's somewhat like hockey. You know, it's
it's it's cool on TV, but it's nothing like being there,
you know what I mean. And uh, you know, the
nhr A, they've you know, they've got and the management
there has some things in front of them they need
to get straightened out, because it's about bringing a younger
(32:07):
fan out there. It's about bringing a younger person out
there that gets it. That's like, man, this is remarkable.
And I think a lot of that feeds back into
having trades in the high school and people getting interested
in the auto shop and you know the things that
used to drive that that that sport so and I
hope they do because it's it's a badass for man,
(32:29):
there ain't nothing like it. Thanks for watching this episode
of The Skinny. Be sure to check out all the
latest Son an optical I wear at fat heads dot
Com special thanks to our sponsorship partners at Elliott's Custom
Trailers and Carts. Thanks for listening to this episode of
(32:52):
the Skinny. To watch the video versions of all of
our shows, please visit our YouTube channel, fatheads Tv. This
has been a production of Badhead Studio. Please remember the
subscribe
I'm JR. Todd and this is the Skinny, Ron Caps
and this is the Skinny from fat Head Studios and Speedway, Indiana.
This is the Skinny. And what you don't see is
Carl in the background giggling and laughing telling us it's
(00:21):
time to start the show once again. Rico Elmore kin Stout,
Welcome to the Skinny, and we've got a couple of
big guys that are gonna join us here today n
h R A Superstars. Both of them are champions. Ron
Caps is gonna join us from California, the two thousand
and sixteen Funny Car Champ and the two thousand eighteen
Funny Car Champs sitting in the studio. JR. Todd Welcome, gentlemen,
(00:43):
hey man, thanks for having us. Great to have you
as well, for sure, And of course Caps, you've been
doing this thing for ever and ever and ever. Man second,
winning this driver in Funny Car that is quite an accomplishment.
And as we kick off this uh, this sketchy two
thousand twenty season, it's your twenty sixth year in the business.
Did you ever imagine being in the business this long? No,
(01:07):
you know, I was a crew member and I was
pretty much gonna be okay being a crew member even
you know, even though I had aspirations to drive growing up,
racing go karts and riding motorcycles my whole life, but
it was just that one moment where somebody had some
faith in me and took me under their wing and
let me get a license in their alcohol drags. He
and much like Jr. We kind of saying, took the
(01:28):
same path. And the cool thing for me is I
can I can say I've done this for twenty something
years and I've never had to bring a sponsor or
cash to a ride, which is rare in motorsports period,
but especially we're in drag racing and uh, to get
that phone call for Don Prudom. You know that that
first time to go drive for him was one of
(01:49):
those moments you never forget and it just kind of
set my path and my career. And um, here I
am twenty something years later, still doing it. That's it.
Caps is dead to me. He's never had to chase
the answer warrants. I don't even know who that got.
You know, I chased chased and I had to bring
money for a seat. So second winning ist, we know
(02:09):
who the winning ist is so what caps if you
run until you're about ninety years old, do you think
you can? I mean, we're going to get him. Never happened.
Nobody will ever pass John Forrest, and that's hey, I'm
okay with it to be second to that guy and
what he's done throughout, you know, really for the sport.
I mean, he's kind of become a guy that I
was just the grocery store this morning and some lady,
(02:32):
you know, she looked over at me and saw my
racing stuff on the first thing she asked about was
John Forrest and she didn't follow it except maybe saw
the reality show and then watched drag racing because of
his daughters. But you know, he has been drag racing
for a long time, and uh so, yeah, nobody's ever
gonna catch that guy. He's he has set a record
that is astronomical. And as far as wins a Jr. Todd,
(02:53):
you're actually following right in suit. I mean, he's had
an incredible career and you know, going along with that
long career as well, sixteen years with John with Don
Schumacher is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Anytime you can
stay with a team that long and we were just
talking with Scott Dixon. I think he's been with Canassi
for nineteen years, but that that relationship is so difficult
to pull out. I mean, it's difficult to make it,
(03:15):
you know, but to pull off a relationship like that
is is really phenomenal. Yeah, Ron talking, you know that
none of us are ever gonna catch John Forrest. Well
at the rate that Capps is going. He's not that
old and he's still kicking everybody's but it's gonna be
hard for some of us to even catch you know,
the number two guy, which is him, and uh, he's
It's funny. I feel like he kind of gets aggravated
(03:37):
or upset you like you bring up stats and he's
been doing it forever because like I said, it's not
that old. It's just that he wins a lot, and
you know, every year. So he's definitely set the bar
high for us, younger guys than him to to try
and catching. He's definitely a one of my heroes and
the guy that I I set out to h to
be like. And we all know that we're not gonna
get two wins or what. You know. John Forrest is
(03:58):
he's in a different category. And I don't want to
raise on seventy something years old either. Well, well you
might change your mind on that one. Some of these
young guys, you have to get a littlehead of yourself
right there. You might be happy to still be doing it,
for sure. But uh, and you look at John Force.
I did, and I didn't mean to get off on
the John Force tangent. But how do you not talk
about the guy when you're talking about n hr A.
And I agree with ron Um, but when you take
(04:19):
a look at him. Here we are two thousand twenty,
he's top five on the points again, and Brittany is
already running career best number, not career best best ever numbers.
So I mean, it's not like that team has even
thought about laying down, No, not at all. I mean
they they got a heck of a brain trust over
there between all their teams, and they work really well together.
And it seems like every year, you know, Ron and
(04:41):
myself and the rest of us were kind of chasing
Robert Hight and Jimmy Prok and those guys, and that, uh,
that information, you know, it spills over to Force his car,
and uh, you've got a guy that's been around as
long as he has, and that's a combination that equals
success and wins, and like I said, he's still still
getting the job done at his age. I'd love to
get both of your thoughts on on the head games
(05:03):
that he plays at the starting line, I mean to
me and other forms of racing, which is what my
career has pretty much been made up of. It's it's
games all the time. I mean, it's no different if
somebody putting a bumper on you, driving you a little
bit wide in the turn, maybe slamming the door on you,
and he rolls in. In the world of drag racing,
he's like game on, guys, I'm I'm gonna do whatever
I can do to try to beat you. But I
(05:24):
don't remember it being I don't remember him doing it
so much earlier in his career, and he certainly plays
those games now and he does it really well. Yeah,
Ron's compete against him more than I have, so he
could definitely tell you how far back he's been doing it.
But I've definitely gotten a little taste of it. And
it's not fun to be on the opposing end of
those games. You just you have to know ahead of
(05:44):
time that there's a chance he's gonna do something, Just
prepare yourself for it because it's bound to happen. Is
it all all fair in love and war on? Yeah,
you know I've had I've had quite a few times.
Forrest has been probably overall one of my better friends.
You know, he quit drinking and quit all that stuff
after his bad wreck, But we've had a lot of
good times. And he kind of took me under his
(06:05):
wing when I was a rookie and top fuel and
then when I went to Funny Car, I went there
with Don Prudome to beat John Force. That was the
reason Don Prudom got that whole program together with a
Copenhagen car. So back then, yeah, he still did it,
but everybody did it back then. My rookie year and
probably my first four or five years, man, I was
rolling in shutting Top. I used to go in and
(06:26):
try to flicker the top light off, which is not
easy to do, and try to distract people and get
him to red light. And that was the kind of
games that was going on back then. But then it
was guys like Al Hoffman and Chuck Etchells, and it
was a different time of the racing where there's lots
of times, even with John Forrest, where he messed with
me the Star Line, I've gotten out and gone almost
(06:46):
a blows with him and pushing and we had to
be separated several times down there because he might have
done it to me. And qualifying where I don't think
it's it should be done. It should be our cars
out there trying to get our best run, not somebody
playing head games and qualify and trying to hang you out.
So there's been times where you know, not that it
wasn't PC, but you got out of the car and
(07:07):
I was ready to throw down, and you know, it's
just like a dirt race. You get somebody on a caution,
there's a few laps left, and you know you're running
the pace laps and somebody comes up and gives the
gas and just kind of goes up shows you they're there,
you know, somebody to intimidate you. And it's that same
type of thing. I just think Forest doesn't have the
confidence sometimes in himself that he can cut a good light,
and he thinks he needs to roll it in as
(07:29):
we all do at different times to make our reaction
times look better. But I think he would be just
fine if he didn't. But he's gotten to be a
sort of his badge of honor. And he messed with Jr.
Last year and he got to him. He's done it
to me in my career a lot, and he's gotten
to me in my career when I was younger. So
you know, you just you gotta be ready for it.
(07:51):
And it sounds easy, and JR. Knew it going in
there when he messed with him last year, and you're
ready for it, and you're like, I'm gonna stamp this
old man. And then the next thing you know, it
catches you and you're like, how did I let that happen?
You know, it's like you got Tony Stewart on the
two laps to go on a cous and they chose
you a wheel and you're like, oh man, you know
I got smoked next to me. What's what's he gonna
(08:12):
And you're more worried about the opponent than you're anything else.
I remember back in the day, and it was a
really big deal. When you guys would hang each other around,
the clutch would get a little too hot and they
would go one to one to second. You hit to
throw at and you knew you were gonna knock him
out of the race right off the bat and and boy,
people were pissed at the other end and they were
ready to throw down. I'd say that's still the case.
And like going back to what Iran said and qualifying,
(08:33):
someone does that to you. I mean, there's no rule
that says that you can't do that. I mean, we
know that you got seven seconds to stage after the
first guy does, but seven seconds that seems like an hour,
even if a guy takes three or four seconds, Like
that's too long, man, Like what were you doing over there?
So if it happens in qualifying, you may let somebody know.
But my opinion is like I don't want to go
show them that that pissed me off. I'm just gonna
(08:54):
return the favor, maybe not the next time I run him,
but down the road, like when I put it in
park next like they might remember why I did that,
you know, Like that's kind of how I look at
Like I remember Joey saw Day and I telling me that,
you know, guy might flip him out of the park
one night. He's not gonna go get in his face
or whatever. But when that guy flipped out the park
six months down the road. Who remember what he did?
(09:15):
You know, did Joey a long time ago? So I
kind of like telling myself that and drag race and
just think about it before you go say something. If
you're gonna say something, just put that in your memory,
bake and use it when you can. It's kind of
It's kind of funny what Ron was saying about Stuart,
you know, showing a wheel. Well, remember him talking about
Kruzman at the Chili Bowl for Tony, for Tony's first
(09:38):
Chili Bowl win. He was talking about how he goes.
I know that I was holding you up because we
have cruizmen on remote and uh, Cruzman is like, listen,
I couldn't get to you, you know. And Tony said
he kept getting you know, showing him and showing him,
and he's like, he's like he's not getting by me.
You know. Said Cruzman was too nice. He said, you're
too nice. If it was the other way around, he said,
(09:59):
I had to put a bumper on you. It's a
Chili Bowl. I mean, you gotta go. Why not? Man?
Speaking of Chili Bowl, Ron, You've ran the Chili Bowl, right, yeah?
And speaking of fighting I forget the first year I
ran as a regular midget, it was on a team.
Listen to the guys on this team. It was Dan
(10:19):
less Oski, it was Tony Stewart's team, and it was
Dan less Osky, myself, Kenny Schrader and Josh Wise and
all the cars, if you remember, they're all orange and
painted the same um. And you know, that was cool
to walk in that building and see my name on
a midget with Kenny Schrader and and Josh Weisse at
the time. Was this new kid coming out of California
and uh. And of course Dan Lestoski, I'll never forget
(10:41):
the crew guys that he had working on my car.
They nicknamed me Coutter, and they put it on the
car instead of my name. They said, you get out
there and don't let anybody mess with you, and if
they do, you pull in the pits and leave your
helmet on and we'll take care of it. So I
only remember that rules of dirt car racing. We were
running sprint cars with my son for a couple of
(11:01):
years and we had the two mechanics were that that
were on the car. Um. We're big farm boys, man,
and we never used the jack stand. They would just
grab the front bumper and pick the front, pick the
front of the car up, look at me, and I
would roll the stands underneath the car, you know. So
they were the same way as like, if anybody wants
to throw down, just make sure you get back here
to the pits and it'll all be just fine. That's
(11:22):
one thing I learned from my dad racing the dirt
track motorcycles. I was always small, and I'm still small,
and say, hey, man, if you ever get into the
guy like you're gonna get into a fight, keep your
helmelet on. Do not take your home witht off, because
you know, at least protect yourself. So that's one thing
I always try to, like cup the caps, keep my
helmet on. You know, all this stuff has happened over
the course of your careers. You know, certainly, Ron, you've
(11:44):
been around long enough. I mean, the fisticuffs things, I
think was a little more prominent back in the day
than it is now. But uh, when when you take
a look at what happened to Torrents at the end
of last year, boy, it's really I mean, they really
crucified him over that thing. And I'm not saying he
was in a good place to do that, you know,
(12:04):
and he's certainly apologized for it since that time. But man,
oh man, the fans really got Piste off about that
whole scenario. Yeah, you gotta remember and JR. Can attest
to this. What our fans failed to get, what really
motorsports fan failed to remember is the cup. Guys, they
go around, you get the checkered flag, You've got two
(12:25):
or three minutes to go around, do your burnout. By
that time, you've kind of thought about what you want
to say in your interview, You've relaxed a little bit.
Indy car, same thing, right, You win a race, you
go around the pace lap and you've got time before
you go to winter circle. We make a run three
point eight second run at three thirty miles Prouder. Who
knows what's going on the cockpit, especially a funny car.
You're trying to man handle this thing to the finish line,
(12:47):
hoping you can get it between the cone and the
wall of the finish line. Pull the shoot, and within
another thirty seconds you're around the corner and you're getting
out of this thing, and they've got Fox television cameras
on you. The minute you get out, so you don't
have a lot of time. You you talk about these,
you know, fisticuffs and things in the past where I've
gotten out. You don't have time to sometimes sit back
(13:08):
and think, well, maybe I should think about this and
go look at the replay. Maybe he didn't hold me up.
And there's so many times I've gone apologize to people
later because I get out and I'm emotional when I'm
going down the track and somebody held me up. I'm
telling you and Jay probably say the same thing. You're
at half track and you're thinking, I can't wait to
get out and knock this guy out, like you're so upset,
and that's all you're thinking about. But not just that happening.
(13:31):
I mean we literally come around the corner, you pop
out of the roof hatch and there are the cameras
and somebody asking you your thoughts to what just happened
where you've gone six geese and then negative nine ges
when the shoots come out. So all had emotions. You're
tied into this thing. You're strapped in. This adrenaline is
ready to pop out of the top of your head,
and you don't have time to compose yourself. So I'm
surprised it doesn't happen more often. I think not enough
(13:54):
credits given to us and drag racing to where we
don't get out and just start through the blows sometimes
or throwing up or you know, or going after somebody
or or not saying the right thing. Um, So it it.
It's tough. It's not as easy as it looks. I agree,
because after that happened in Pomona with Torns, you know,
(14:15):
like I'm getting tax from you know, my buddies, Kyle Larson,
a lot of my dirt track fans like, what the
hell's wrong with you guys? You make a run down
the track, you get out, you're mad at each other,
right to fight. Well, there's a lot that happens, like
the TV show doesn't cover, Like it might not analyze
what happened on the starline why this guy might be mad.
They didn't go, you know, interview Torns right away to
see why it was mad. Just like like Ron said,
(14:35):
there was a lot that goes on. I'd say in
that whole five minute time from the ton of car
starts up till you get out the end of the track.
And usually if if they know you're mad, they're coming
over to interview right away, came ring your face and
you don't only have time to even process what just
happened on the run, let at them, think about what
you're gonna say, and nine times out of ten, you
know that the wrong stuff comes out of your mouth
(14:56):
or you might slap somebody what you definitely would have
thought that they would have learned from Stewart that that
you definitely you definitely don't want to uh, you know,
you don't want to get to get a hot mic
on somebody a little too quick. When I always loved
that Matt Yoakum would walk up and ask him something.
He's like, He's like, well, why the hell do you think?
(15:16):
I'm Matt right man, Matt Big Andy Stewart's friends. So
he could have got away with it, right, Yeah, because
j R. Got a guest with him. Now, how did
that guy come from? I promise I didn't bring this
with me. You're on I am not I am not
that guy. But I don't have I don't have that one.
(15:43):
That Indy One the only race track I've never won at,
and I won there on Saturdays and I've done it
on Sunday when he had the big Bud shootout, but
I've never won the big race on Monday, so appreciate
you teasing me. I have I have a march Mate trophy. Yeah,
those are really hard to come by and rare to
come by, and that's pretty awesome trophy. So congrats on that.
(16:06):
First African American to win in fuel, first African American
to win in funny Car, and both of you guys
one of seventeen drivers who win in both categories. Some
really some some big credicals for both of you guys,
and well earned of course. And they're just talking about
one of the U S Nationals. Mantel Man, that's that's
a big deal. And you talked to anybody in drag
racing and that rivals a championship. To win the U
(16:27):
S Nationals rivals a championship, Yeah, I mean, I guess
it depends what you ask if they haven't won Indi
or they haven't won a championship at the time when
you know I won India, like, yeah, this was the
biggest biggest thing I had ever accomplished. But I don't
know if I would give up winning a championship either.
I mean, that's something you would have to ask Ron,
But yeah, I'd say I don't know a lot of
(16:50):
a lot of the legends say like their career is
not complete. Lists you've got one or the other and
maybe both, you know. So I'm very fortunate and lucky
to have a the one Indie twice and and a
cha apiing chip, but you know, you always want more.
And coming out of the junior dragster ranks, I mean
you are the true poster child of starting off at
ten years old, staying in there, running the course of
(17:11):
time to seventeen years old, coming out of it, getting
your eight ninety class licensed, then going to frank College
school to think you uh, you also were in an
alcohol car for a little bit, and then up to
the big ranks. I mean you ran the whole gamut
of what you're supposed to do. Yeah, there's definitely a
few of us that you know, took the road to
the junior drags or path what it was designed the
(17:32):
dude who hopefully get you the professional level someday, But
it's really hard, just like any sport, Like I compare
it to a kid playing Little League baseball or peewee
football that makes it to the major leagues of the NFL.
You know, it's uh, it's a really tough road and
I'm lucky that I met the right people along the way,
and my parents sacrifice a lot for me and when
(17:53):
I was a kid to take me racing across the
country to meet certain people, and and uh and what
have you, and just you know, really worked at it
even when I wasn't driving. Became a crew guy just
to show other teams out there that knew that I
had driven in the past, like, hey, this is what
I want to do. And at the time, I really
didn't like being a crew member, but looking back at it,
I feel like it's made me a better driver because
(18:13):
I understand how the cars work and what goes into him.
Just gives you a lot more respect for those guys,
you know, spending those long hours preparing that think for
you to go out there and tear it up in
three point eight seconds. But uh, yeah, it's uh. I've
a few of us like I started living proof that
kids out there racing today that you can take the
path that we did if this is what you want
(18:34):
to do, but it's gonna take some work and you
gotta stick with it for sure. Yeah, man, that that's
where it all started for sure. I mean it's a
it's pretty crazy to think, you know, a little five
horse briggs and strapping when the pool starter basically something
you could take off your lawnmower and put on this little,
uh almost go kart chassis that's extended into a draction.
(18:54):
That's what it started out as. And we hauled mine
to uh Edgewater Sports Park outside of sense to Ohio
on the back of my dad's truck for my very
first race. I think it went fourteen or fifteen seconds
at like forty miles an hour, and I thought I
was hauling ass man, great stuff. And you've had wonderful
family support all all along the way. Yeah, absolutely, man.
(19:15):
My mom and dad they've been there from day one
and uh they still uh go to majority of my
races today, and when they're not at the track, you know,
keep our words uppings alling. Hey, ye, how are your
parents where? They? Like many they still got jobs back
at home. They gotta go go ten too, So yeah,
they have a lot of fun and it's nice having
that kind of support. And uh, you know, from day one,
my dad's told me, hey, I'm a hundred percent behind you.
(19:36):
And this stuff. But if you ever want to quit,
I'm a hundred and ten percent behind you. So it's
nice to uh not have that pressure from you know,
my dad, my mom and dad to make this happen.
They they're always there no matter what I wanted to do.
In life caps, you've done some other stuff. You've actually
been in a lot of different race cars all along
the way. Of course, everybody knows you for a funny
car and that great relationship you've had with Nappa for
(19:58):
so many years now as well. But uh, we were
kind of joking at the start of the show. As
Screen Actors Guild, you've been you've been involved with that.
You were a racquetball player, which I was not aware
of to the point that you're in the open division
back in the day. But what I like best, as
we're talking about fift fisticuffs a little bit earlier, is
(20:18):
you were a freestyle and Greco Roman wrestler. So I'm
thinking you and Gary dinsch Um. I know Gary's a
little bit older now, but but he used to throw
down as a wrestler as well. Man, there could be
a good little sidebar going on here. Gary's got legs
like an oak Tree. That's a big dude. He was
actually a power lifter, believe it or not. But uh, yeah,
I think wrestling for me growing up, you know, through
high school and greco and freestyle, it taught you a
(20:40):
lot about life. It was one of the best sports
I could have ever competed in. And yeah, so then
teaching racketball, I did that through college and that's that
was my job, working at health clubs in the area,
three of them, and then I played tournaments for money
on weekends. So um, but my aspirations are always to race,
and I was going off on weekends and helping Blaine
and Allan Johnson prior to blame getting killed, and so
(21:02):
I've known those guys a long time and it's just
it's sort of worked out. But yeah, I always had
the passion growing up go karting and all that that
I wanted to drive. And back then it was indy cars,
you know, or or sprint cars. Um growing up in
in San Louis Obispo and Santa Maria, and there was
a great race track there in Santa Maura that's still there.
And uh, and so going to watch the sprint cars
and the dirt cars was it so fast forward to
(21:25):
getting to drive for Snake and then getting these offers
to go dirt racing was a dream and so another
you know, another unique thing about me and j R.
H we both loved racing dirt. I really enjoyed watching
when he jumped into Christopher Rebell's car um I got
to go test with Iraq before that folded at Talladega
in Chicago, Land, which was cool. Had a blast doing that.
(21:47):
So yeah, I've been real lucky to go do stuff
that I love to do because of where I'm at
in the drag race world and who I've driven for,
so that that part, as you know, I love doing that.
So j R give us a play by playing Christopher
Bell's car. I think I know what I Yeah, I was.
I was nervous as hell to hopp in that thing.
You know, it's uh Keith Coon's Prepare Midget and it's
(22:09):
Christopher Bell's car. Like this is uh Wednesday or Tuesday, Yeah,
Tuesday before the BC thirty nine, which I thought, maybe
we're dragged out a couple of spare cars for us
to go out there and mess around and it's gonna
be uh Doug kletta uh Eric Jones and myself. Nope,
you guys are driving these cars and Christopher is gonna
help you. Like each driver, how to you know, I
(22:30):
think a Logan Cbe and Tucker class Marrow with the
other guy's helping. So getting that thing and they're like, yeah,
I just you know, make a couple of laps around
till you get the hang of it, and you know,
do whatever. I got there in idle around for a
couple of laps as soon as they say go like
pedal to the floor. That's what Lawresen and Christopher told me, like,
hey man, don't mess around this thing, like get after you.
(22:52):
Like okay, So like two or three laps, like I'm
on the fence, like dirts flying everywhere, Like oh good,
I need to back it down a little bit. Come
back in. Keith say hey man, don't do that anymore.
I'm like, oh, I really didn't mean to do that. Key,
but it made for a cool picture that I got
hanging in my true if you're ruined it. They all autographed.
(23:13):
So yeah, it was a lot of fun. And to
back up like what Ram was saying, like I wish
that I was a little older. My career got started
a little, you know, further back, so I could do
possibly do the things that he's done, like Iraq and
prelude to the dream and just different, you know, outside
of drag racing. Not that I would give up my
day job, but I love the opportunity now to be
(23:33):
able to go and drive things like Christopher Bell's car
or a wing sprint car, just anything, uh that I
think can help me become a better drag racory because
I think all those things really do help. Okay, Caps,
I'm gonna put you on the spot here. You can't
drive for the Snake and not give us a good story,
at least one or two good snake stories. I mean,
talk about legendary status. That guy that cat is something else,
(23:56):
and to have him behind the scenes and inside the
trailer with you for years to be remarkable. What was
always the best was sitting around at the end of
the day when the race was over and having legends
in our hospitality area, having a beer and just listening
to these stories that I might have read about or
heard about and hearing it from the same people that
might be hanging out there. Probably the first one that
comes to my mind that I can remember was the
(24:18):
first Snake just had hired me, and we went to
SEMA show and I was getting ready to drive the
next year for him, and uh, we ran into Mario Andretti,
who was probably my biggest idol grown up, and uh,
next thing, I know, we're going to this Italian restaurant
that everybody would go to right near the SEMA event
and as a legendary. And we walk in there and
(24:38):
and of course the owner comes out and he's got
tears in his eye when he meets Mario and it
kiss each other on the cheek. We sit at the
owner's table. Um, We're heading back to the hotel afterwards,
and I'm having these pinch me moments, like God, I'm
hanging out with Don Prudom. Then I remember I'm driving
for the guy now who's one of my idols, And
(24:59):
we're out to dinner with Mario Andretti, and never forget,
We're in the cab on our way back, and the
guy driving was this old Italian guy, and I could
tell Snake new he was a big time Italian guy.
And I just remember the guy didn't realize it was
Mario Andretti sitting in the back and I was sitting
up front, and uh, I just remember Snake telling the guy, hey, man,
(25:19):
you know you're talking about you're driving, and he says, man,
you drive like Mario Andretti, and the guy goes on
and on, Oh my god, Mario Andretti is my favorite,
and he does this whole thing. And then when we stopped,
the guy tells him Mario is in the back of
the car, and the guy got out and got on
his hands and knees and just started crying in front
of Mario Andretti. So moments like that were for me,
(25:40):
just you know, I'll never forget being able to be
around these legends. But driving for Don Pradom turned me
onto a lot of those moments. And fortunately I've got
a lot of stories. Unfortunately can't tell most of the stories.
Carol Shelby ride to the airport with Snake after leaving
Gamesville one time. I'll never get that. If you ever
(26:00):
met Carol Shelby, you know what kind of guy that was.
And uh, that was probably eight minutes of the most
f bombs and s bombs I ever heard in my
life of them telling stories of the old days. And
you know, now that he's passed and being able to
spend that time with him in Snake. Um, it's another
one of those moments. Oh my god. I mean I
had goose bumps telling me that that story about Marion
(26:21):
and Drettie, that's just incredible stuff. Talk to me about.
Talk to me about how passionate and how competitive Snake was.
When you're in the trailer, you're in the middle of
the dog fight on a Sunday afternoon. Give me, give
me a feel. Uh, it's all he's ever known to do.
And I was told he's calmed down. I was told
by a j I was told by Mario, was told
(26:42):
by Connie Colletta. All these guys said, Man, it's good
thing you're driving for Snake now and not ten years ago,
because he is as intense as you would think. Um,
he just feels like he's scratching for everything like he
was is in nineteen sixty three when he first got
his first job dry ivan or first chance to drive.
And it's all he's ever known. He was a car painter.
(27:04):
And he doesn't have, like a lot of these other owners,
a big business at home where they run during the week,
you know, like a Pinski or Don Schumacher, and these
guys have all this this other stuff going on. This
is all he's ever known, so it's everything to him.
And I mean that the smallest little thing. I learned
how to dress. I learned how to pack clothes for trips,
how to the minimal amount of things to pack. I
(27:26):
learned how when you're sponsored by a beer company and
your dinner, when you finish that bottle of beer, and
it was Miller Lite back then, you don't let them
take the bottles of way. You leave them on the table.
If somebody walks by, you want them to see that
you've been drinking Miller Lite. And just little things I
never would have thought of as a kid, you know,
growing up, and when you got these big sponsors, and boy,
(27:47):
he notices everything. He wants his scooters in front the
pit are he lined up the way Roger Pinsky scooters
are lined up when you walk into his area at
an Indy car race. And just things that you you.
I have over the years kind of taken and putting
into my brain. And uh, my wife laughs at me
all the time. I'll do us. She calls it a
snake is um I'll say something or do something, or
a mannerism I do will be something that she saw
(28:09):
a snake do and and it's just it's instilled in me.
And you know, he couldn't ask for a better person
that that hated to lose. And I was there at
the beginning and a guy that I played with his
hot wheels as we all did growing up. Um, you know,
to have something like that to emulate and be around. Uh,
it definitely was something that made my career what it
(28:29):
is today. He was talking about the talking about the
beer bottles. My wife seems to get piste when I
leave him all over the table like that, trying to
get her over that deal. It's our sponsor deal. But
but now, I mean, you know, so you shouldn't do
a bottle for James. I'm talking. Yeah, it's bottles of bourbon.
(28:52):
Actually she's wondering why there's three. But anyhow, you know,
I always laugh because Snake would be up on the
line and j R. Was run and um, I think
you were running at Lucas at the time, and you know,
Snake would always say some of the craziest like he
always still does. I mean, he's definitely a shock factor guy, right,
And he says, uh, he says, have you ever seen
(29:14):
j R. Todd and Lewis Hamilton's at the same place.
And I'm like, uh no, Like, I'm like, I'm completely baffled.
And where he's ended with this, right, I can see it, right,
and you've never seen the same place. And he's going
on and on and on and on about well, the
last time I saw him was you know, uh, you
(29:35):
know at our late great friend Bill, Bill Simpson sweet
and I think I shared this with j R. But
you know Bill always had you know, Bill always had
a good looking blond on his arm to the to
the bitter end, literally to the bitter end. And uh,
you know Snake and and uh and Bill of course
growing up together as kids. You know, Snake would be
(29:58):
down there. He knew every button to push with Simpson,
and I mean he mashed all of them with his feet,
with his hands, and I mean he was going he
was driving him crazy. And I'm sitting down there watching
it and I said to Snake, I said, I said, hey, Snake,
I'm going back down to our suite. I said, I said,
stop by on your way out. He goes abby down there.
(30:18):
In an hour or two. I'm like, okay, so Bill's
got one of his girls in there and Snakes asking Bill.
He says, he says, Bill, how does she do it?
And he says, he says, like, what are you talking about, Snake?
You know, he's irritated because Snakes firing him up again,
and he says, how does she do it? He is, he's,
I don't know what you're talking about. He goes, how
(30:40):
does she keep it all in? Is it with spanks
or what does she wear? Simpson lost his day, threw
him out of the suite. So Bruno comes down to
our suite like about fifteen minutes later. I go, what
are you doing? I thought you weren't leaving for a
couple of hours. He goes, you have Bill threw me
out and proceeded to tell the story. So, but yeah,
(31:00):
he's he's one of a kind, which you know, that's
you know, you've got people like him, you got people
like Connie, you know, and and some of these legends
that were around forever, and and you know that's we
always talk about the you know, we always talk about
the health of motorsports, you know when we're on here,
(31:21):
and you know, as we said, you know, every one
of them needs each other. You know, NASCAR needs Indy
Car Indy Car needs you know the nhr A. I mean,
if you're a race fan. Yeah, there's different factions of it,
but at the end of the day, a lot of
people are just race fans, you know. And and I
love the nhr A. I mean, listen, if if if
people have never went, uh, if you watch it on TV,
(31:46):
you can fancy it's somewhat like hockey. You know, it's
it's it's cool on TV, but it's nothing like being there,
you know what I mean. And uh, you know, the
nhr A, they've you know, they've got and the management
there has some things in front of them they need
to get straightened out, because it's about bringing a younger
(32:07):
fan out there. It's about bringing a younger person out
there that gets it. That's like, man, this is remarkable.
And I think a lot of that feeds back into
having trades in the high school and people getting interested
in the auto shop and you know the things that
used to drive that that that sport so and I
hope they do because it's it's a badass for man,
(32:29):
there ain't nothing like it. Thanks for watching this episode
of The Skinny. Be sure to check out all the
latest Son an optical I wear at fat heads dot
Com special thanks to our sponsorship partners at Elliott's Custom
Trailers and Carts. Thanks for listening to this episode of
(32:52):
the Skinny. To watch the video versions of all of
our shows, please visit our YouTube channel, fatheads Tv. This
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