June 4, 2020 • 36 mins
Driver of the #15 Ford for Tony Stewart Racing, 10-time World of Outlaws Champion & 10-time Knoxville Nationals Champ Donny Schatz joins us from Fargo, ND. Hosts Rico Elmore and Ken Stout also welcome Cory Eliason to the studio, All Star Circuit of Champions driver of Rudeen Racing’s #26 and the recent winner at Port Royal Speedway.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Donal Shots, I'm Corey Lysson, and this is the
skinny from Fathead Studios and Speedway Indiana. This is the skinny.
Hey guys, once again, welcome to the Skinny. Kent Stouton
Rico Elmore as always, and two great sprint car drivers
(00:21):
have joined us in the studio. The guy that finished
third in the Points where the All Star series one
year ago, it's Corey Eliasson. And then out from North Dakota,
one of the fat Cats, I mean, one of the
greatest of all times. Certainly put his name in the
top of the charts with the Hall of Famers. We
also welcome the ten time World Outlaw Champ Donnie Shots,
(00:41):
Don House. Things going out westward there didn't to be
expected there far here and go down the road. There's
not much happening. I'm saying, funny, busy games. The project
that I can dump everything out of the pity drawer
and put it back in a hundred times and pay.
So that's called insanity, but we get it. Uh so
(01:07):
are you uh your guys? Truck stop still open right, absolutely?
The duck stops are both open. The restaurants are obviously
take out only forced to I'm not be having anybody
sit down, but the early still operations normal. As far
as anything else, I mean about truck dras, you don't
(01:28):
get anything suffer in it. I guess so thankful for that.
And we do think, uh, the truckers out there, because
I got news for you right now, what's going on.
There will be no way to catch up with all
these supplies and everything that would need to go out.
I'm a former trucker, Ken as a former trucker, and
(01:49):
Corey is aspiring to be a trucker, but he can't
pass the test. Honey. We hear about the young guns
that are coming through the ranks these days, and it's
not uncommon to hear of a fourteen year old sprint
car driver. Fifteen year old sprint car driver. It's I'm
not gonna say it's common, but it's certainly not uncommon.
It's been done so many times. But I remember, I
(02:12):
want to say, back in the early two thousands, there
was a kid that came up through the ranks. Really,
I want to stay around two thousand four, two thousand five,
somewhere in that area, somebody that was fifteen years old,
and boy, they were just getting pounded like their parents.
Why are their parents putting them in a sprint car
at such a young age fourteen fifteen years old? There's
no way he has the knowledge to compete against the
(02:33):
veterans without making a big mistake causing a wreck, getting
somebody hurt. And then I'm reading a little bit on
this guy named Donnie Shots and back in nineteen three
you were fifteen years old in your first sprint car race.
So the question is, did you guys get any flak
because you were so young and in a sprint car.
(02:54):
No matter what you do, you're gonna as uh, you know,
they they caught black for it. But if it's something
we all love to do, still still love to do
it this day, and you know, obviously whatever m fifteen
might be, Uh, you know, that's how long I've been
going around. So I'm glad that he allows me to
(03:15):
do it. You know, day's so little. Uh Uh, you
don't think of a reperfection that I got nieces of
my own that the two years old there we got
four or five years. Um, this are best and today then,
But I had great friends back in the lot. Do
you feel any different about it? And now that you're
(03:36):
on this side of that, that equation and looking at
putting a fourteen or fifteen year old inside of a
car is if you know that they've they've had the
experience and they've worked their way up to it, do
you do you have any issues with it? I have.
I have an issue with the attitude that goes with it. Um,
the team thinks that you could get in and uh,
(03:59):
you go at at any cost whatever it takes to win,
whether it's drew someone over someone. Uh, that's that's not
something that I That attitude of that mentality is not
something I'm gonna standfoor. I've had to deal with my
own uss. You know, they're utorious for putting each other,
moving someone out of the way just because they thought
(04:19):
they'd be in trouble if they didn't think that for this,
you know, I've done as much as a load of
things up and took them home on a Monday night
and London actually that they were different things. So, UM,
it's just the way it's the way I was brought
up to race and UM, you know I think it's
you have that attitude that they don't care what they
did or what they care up because of no respect
(04:41):
for anyone on or off the race track. And I'm
not saying of that, but you can't be everybody's parents.
You can know me parents, your own or those that
goes along with the entire issue, right, I mean, when
do they become mature enough to understand, Okay, you can't
just drive through somebody, you can't take that that risk
all the time, and knowing when it's the right time,
(05:03):
when it's the wrong time to take it, and becoming
of age. That's that's the big part of the issue,
A big part of the equation is their fourteen and
fifteen years old. They haven't quite figured that out yet.
And they find themselves racing next to a Donny Shots
or anybody of that stature, if you will, and there
in their mind they're like, this is my chance, man,
I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it right here, and
(05:25):
I'm gonna beat this guy and show him proved to
him that I belong out here. But they're just not
quite mature enough. And I'm not knocking it. I'm really
not knocking it, because there are some young talented drivers
out there that that do possess the ability to do
it and make really good decisions, amazing good decisions, to
be honest with you. But man, it's so hard to
draw that line because you can't get one without getting
(05:48):
some of the other. Absolutely. Uh, you know, I put
it back to the pats. I can relate to you
how my father was. My father was very hard. Um.
You know, he wasn't wring it in out and did
something uh one time and did something liver. He's standing
there with uh you know, campaign and flapping hands and
pat me on the back. I very remember got a
(06:10):
pat on the back. Uh. You know, the older I get,
the more facts on the back I get. But um,
when I did something wrong, I certainly did did not
get the bat and I expected. Um if I did
something wrong, I got a boot. Me. That's just the
way it was back then. Um. In today's d eight uh,
you know, kids get their feelings hurt, and mom and
(06:31):
dad tell them it's okay no matter what. And that's
something that when it relates to racing, me never really
learned the difference between right and wrong. And that's something
I can control. But you know it step was something
different to see in today the day. So Corey, tell
us how you got started. Where did you start? Out
what'd you start running? First? When I was I think
(06:52):
it was my sixth birthday, my dad got me a
go kart um and we just kind of went out
to the parking lots because that's when stores were closed
on Saturday and Sunday still, so he got m Yeah,
we'd go out there and UM, I just ripped laps
through whatever, you know, all the stalls or they'd have
the trolley returns or that, you know, the dividers in it,
(07:15):
um up until I pushed a little too hard and
I spun out and I smoked the cement curve and
I blew the end out of the thing. That's when
he decided that it was time to quit messing around there,
and he um for Christmas, I ended up getting a
junior sprint I started when I was nine. Um and
from there I just kind of progressed up, you know,
(07:35):
in the ranks of micro's moved forward, um until sixteen,
and that was I think it was more of a
time you know, avoid and keeping me busy and keeping
my parents busy with me so they didn't have to
really worry about me. So UM. Basically, once I turned sixteen,
it was kind of if you still want to do this.
You need to go out and find money to help
(07:57):
because we can't keep doing it. It was more of
a I think this will be good to keep him busy,
but they didn't expect it to go as far as
it did. So you were friends with the Swanson's, which
was hilarious. I had no idea. Uh, Corey went to
the track with us, out to our suite. Uh, Cody
Swanson's there, which you know we've been involved with for
(08:19):
many years. Great great guy, great family. They start talking
and I'm like, oh, you guys know each other and like,
oh yeah, man, we used to ramp BMX bikes into
Cory's in ground pool. I'm like, I would kill you.
I would kill both of you, all of you that
we're doing that. It was fun, It was I mean,
we survived. Obviously. Cody was a good parent. I guess
(08:40):
back then when he was fifteen or sixteen, was not
letting us, yes, not letting us completely kill ourselves. But
you know, we still ended up. Somebody got hurt every time. Yeah,
we're your parents excited that you were jumping the bikes
into the pool or did they ever know that part?
It was after when I think actually we ended up
with motorcycle in the pool, so that was it's easy.
(09:04):
It's easy to fish the Yeah, you can fish the
bikes out, no problem. But when you got a little
dirt bike and you launched off in there and then
the pool is full of oil and gas, that's a
bit harder to wide black marks down the side of
it because the tires. Yeah, that probably wasn't our smartest choice,
but I mean we're out there in the rain draining
the pool and scraving it clean. Johnny, I read on
(09:24):
there that you're a third generation race or do you
remember your grandfather racing? I'm guessing you you probably went
with dad a little bit. But what about gramps racer.
He was a farmer and he was in the war.
I think he really wanted to rob banks. And uh,
my grandfather's played the same. Was he took a team
(09:48):
of his horses in the stageboats and drove his horses
all the way from his house to the Mexican border back. So, um,
that's his same and was carving on the way. Everybody
has their own little things they want to do, but
that was my grand thought. It was more real horse power. Yeah. So,
(10:09):
and I also read that one of the things that
you've done in the course of your lifetime is is
riding behind one of those man with the Belgian Uh
draft horses with your dad. Absolutely. Um, my family was
involved with draft horses a long time. Uh. They grew
up on the farm of courses were a big thing. Uh.
(10:30):
You know, mobile advertising was something that in the truck
stop business. My parents were uh something they were big
onf just like what we do with racings today. Racing
its outfield our truck stop businesses from the state in
North Dakota across the country, and they did it with
horses as well. So, um, from this time I was young.
(10:50):
I think the first time I drove a horses was
was five years old the Denver stop show and uh,
we had some pretty good outings over the year. And um,
you know obviously you can picked in the face by
one and I had a lot of fun with fa
but they're coming that time when uh they're back right
from you, which what you lit some green and my
(11:12):
parents pretty well parked on the horses, and um, that's
what we did was focused on. So the first time
you flip a sprint car and you ring your bell,
you're like it's no worse than being kicked into that.
That's exactly what I was thinking immediately where I was
gonna go with that. Actually, uh, the worst thing about
flipping the first time. Back then, I had one of
them electric hair off machines and they were clogged in,
(11:36):
empowered by a phone card. And I got out and
I didn't unplucking. I got about ten foot from the car,
went straight to the ground, closing, phone card run out.
So that was on a whole lot of fun. I
think I was more injured emotionally from that phone ca.
You know, I remember when I was a kid, all
(11:57):
the cool kids had the really really long phone card
and I never got along phone cord, and apparently you
didn't either, So yeah. Well, and the other thing was,
remember the tearoffs. Where had the poll string? You pulled
the string on it? Well, hell, that's that's top notch
what he had, the high end stuff. Yeah, we didn't
have a little the little poll string. Yeah. So, Donnie,
you've done some crazy stuff along the way. Did you
(12:20):
ever did you ever imagine being in the same company
as the Doug Wolf Gangs, the Sammy Swindell's, the Steve Kinser's,
I mean, the absolute kings of the sport, and certainly
that is where you're sitting right now. I mean, ten
times winning the Premier Championship with the World Outlaws. I mean,
(12:40):
it just doesn't come any bigger than that. And if
that's not enough to make somebody believe that you're the
best out there right now, the guy to beat, and
I'm Brad Sweeten might want to argue that, but you
know what I'm talking about here. But to say that
you Bosso won Knoxville ten times, I mean, dude, you
are absolutely the king as it stands here today. And
uh and your name is synonymous with those guys, those
(13:04):
other kings of the sport. Did you ever think you'd
get here? You know when I started all this, Um,
you can agree with the things if you want, but
I really thought when I saw my name my feature
the first time, I went, yes, I've made it. But
the reality is it doesn't mean a damn thing. Um.
You know, you can just get in these cars and
the here throw and excitement um isn't present. And it's
(13:30):
the first couple of times I've got and stared on
my there's no way I'll It's like riding a bull.
You don't know what to expect. I've done that too,
So UM no, I didn't never pictures five years later,
I um, like I said, you can dream it. Um,
I wasted ten years of my career the first ten
(13:51):
years I came out in here, I was I'm more
worried about playing video games some days and traveling for
maybe got caught up in the lifestyle. I didn't really
pay attention to results and focus onwhere I need to
focus on. Um just had to come to run into
the wall and then and say, hey, you you want
(14:12):
to do you want to do this for the next
thirty years and just be somebody who you know, find
a way to uh better than that. I mean, the
stats that you continue to wrack up are certainly incredible,
and you won those two titles, and I'm guessing that
really paved the way to open up the door to
start driving for Tony. Is that correct? Yeah, it's it
(14:34):
opened a lot of doors. Um started to build a
little confidence and UM, yeah, that's the stuff that everybody
needs a little conferencing and to be able to have
time to favorite things out. That's uh, that's the unfortant
part of the support of everything's feeling so fast and
sometimes it takes a little time and you want to
build on Thames and a lot of corners want to
builds now And sometimes you think it's the driver, Cham
(14:57):
do another Cham. You're a Catholic energy and it was
really five major components that used to be a big
factor in that drivers, car, engine, entire and now, um,
there's one problem eliminated. Corey. I'm sure you are paying
(15:19):
attention to everything this guy is doing out there, and
uh in North Dakota certainly at the race track, but
you've had a couple of a couple of good years.
You're picking your way up through there, and I know
it's an expensive ride. Certainly you'd love to be chasing
the World of out Laws championship. But two thousand seventeen
you were fortunate enough to grab your first win with
with the World of out Laws. Had to be a special,
special night and did it from the pole. Uh yeah,
(15:41):
you know as um Ross, they Dennis and Tracy kind
of you know, took that step. I guess that lead
to kind of give me the opportunity to see if
I could kind of produce Um, you know, I traveled
with Harley Van Dyke a little bit before that he
kind of a fresh one that took me out to Knoxville,
and I got to see that and realized I've got
(16:01):
a lot of work to do, you know, coming from California,
we have one half mile and I never go to Calistoga. So, um,
you know, I was able to win in Stockton. Um,
it worked out in our favor, and you know, we
we're still strong to most of the California swing, I think. Um,
you know, I kind of struggled when I got out
Midwest a little bit and it just took it took
(16:22):
some time. Just like you know, I didn't really have
the experience. I still go to tracks that I've never
been to before, and it's like me and I I
try to get caught up quickly, you know. The first
the first goal is to figure out where I'm supposed
to get on the racetrack, and one I'm let's get
off the racetrack would be good. It's funny that you
say that, because it seems like those tracks in California.
You say you have no experience, you know, in the Midwest,
(16:43):
or you had no experience, you know, and you're still
still earning that. But the same thing applies for the
Midwest guys that go out west. We just did an
a S C S race at the beginning of this year.
At Mer said, and boy, I'm telling you it was
a cowboy race track. You know, it was rough in
the beginning. Once the don't you've got to the feature,
it wasn't too bad. A couple of holes that you know,
(17:03):
if you don't have your car set up right. The
car was not happy, but there was a top, there
was a bottom. It was a racy little quarter mile
for sure. But I'll tell you, man, through the through
the qualifiers, it was a handful being that I'm able
to come from California and have the rough, big curb,
cowboy up tie style racetrack um or mentality. I think
it it's gonna help, you know, as the more races
(17:27):
I get a run out here, and the more opportunities
I have. It's I think as myself as a driver,
it's helped me tremendously, just because when we get in
those situations where it's a big curve or it's rough
hooked up most of the times, you know, you don't
get that out here. So I'm able to say, okay,
well this is what we can do or this is
what I think we need to do, and it's it's
easier for the crew chief to say, okay, yeah, we'll
(17:48):
try that, just because you know that's more of my
background than his. So um, you know it. Everyone has
to work together, and that seems to be you know,
kind of the spot that I can you know, close
in on and bring to the team when you see
somebody like shots out there and and uh, you have
an opportunity maybe to watch him in a heat race
or a qualifier or something like that, or you're up
(18:08):
on the fence. Is that is that a guy you watch?
What are you looking for? You kind of look like
I watch all forms of racing, and when you watch
all different drivers, it's amazing what he's able to do
with the race car as far as when you watch
it could go out there and it could be complete
disaster and you're like, oh boy, and after two laps
it's fixed and you know he's figured it out. So
(18:30):
he's more of a perfectionist. It's you know, it's a
lot of people, you know Boom don't like him just
because he's winning, but they need to realize, you know,
this is this is the Lewis Hamilton's of sprint cars.
You know, he's a perfectionist. The way he runs the car,
the way he runs his laps. You know, it's everybody
probably idolizes to be able to do what he does
in the race car, and I definitely know I do. Um.
(18:52):
You know, it's it's nice to see that there's people
that are able to start being a part of that.
As far as you know, Brad Sweet, David Gravel there,
they're getting up there, they're fast, they're consistent. Logan shoeheart
what he's doing with his it can be fast at
you know, any given time. So it's nice to be
able to to see that, you know, you put your
(19:12):
hard work in that you can get there. So, um,
every racetrack I go to, you always watch the fifteen
or forty nine. That's just kind of where they run,
what they do. It's you know, you have to watch,
you have to learn. And um. Unfortunate enough that Kevin
is very relaxed as a car owner, and he is
definitely giving me everything I need to do to win
and everything that I need to be out there. So
(19:34):
as far as that, it makes it a lot easier.
There's a lot less stress that way. I can focus
more on driving the race car instead of figuring out
what's going to happen if I lose my ride. You
know you mentioned you mentioned Harley van Dyke before, and
you did qualify for the amain of the Knoxville Nashals
in two thousand seventeen. Congrats on that struggle in your
(19:55):
prelimb night and then had a really good run on
the hard knox Friday night, finished up. Four of them
transferred in right at the top. Four I believe transferred in.
But then the story got drastically different. Comes Saturday morning,
crook Um Saturday, Harley calls and tells me that his
daughter was involved in the car accident. She passed away,
so he said he has to go to the airport
(20:16):
right now. He doesn't know what's going to happen, and
I'm I was just like, well, I mean you need
to go, like whatever we gotta do, don't worry. He's like, well,
I want you to race. I remember talking to Harley
right after that after we ran that main, I had
the crew guy had him on the phone because we
had to run the World Challenge race also, so we
(20:37):
were in the same car, and he was so excited
he was yelling and screaming in the airport. He said,
everybody was looking at him and he's like he was
very emotional, which was good for him because he never
made Knoxellent Nationals. And you know, he needed something good,
you know, after what he just went through. He needed
something good to kind of uplift his spirit and you know,
keep him going. And that did. And that was that weekend, right,
(21:00):
there was everything for him. You have to receive that
phone call your your daughter passed away, and I mean,
that's just disastrous. And then the turn you guys lose
and have you keep chugging forward. I was curious. And
that's what I love about this racing community is somebody's
gonna come over and help you out. They won't just
let you guys hang out the dry, especially if you've
been digging hard and showing that you really care and
(21:23):
that you want to work hard. And that's why I
wanted to bring my son out. That's why I love
working this industry. I wanted to bring my son up
in this industry because it's loaded with extremely successful people
with a really hard work ethic and UH and they're
not afraid to come over and help somebody when they
need help, when they're down. They want to beat you
on the racetrack. They they want to get you out
there on that racetrack, you know, and and then let
(21:44):
the cards forward they where they may. And uh, yeah,
I read that story and I was like, man, oh man,
that had to be one hell of a weekend. He
was going under, you know, unprecedented times. It was the
most emotional thing you could possibly go for. I can
imagine it is your you know, my father, losing your daughter,
your kid. It's pretty hard to throw some have somebody
throw you a curveball much bigger than that one, you know,
(22:04):
And whenever you get to the next scenario, you're like, no,
I've been there, done that. Man. Well we made it
through and we'll do it again. Donny. So you've you
went through a little bit of stuff with with your dad.
How's he doing now? He's doing really good. Um, you know,
obviously getting very third nineteen or in Australia and um,
(22:26):
I got a phone call from my sisters you want
stage four. Wasn't sure what that meant. H started doing
some research. And when you get stage for any cancer,
and most people don't look through it, dont me staying
race that my heart, my mind wasn't there. I wasn't
I stayed, but um it was a long trip home. Um,
(22:47):
you know, got with the doctors you needed to. I
got lined out on PBO. Uh. He knows the gap
in the final very well. He had a normalize. He's
doing everything easy to do right now. We've got him
underground bunker TI to stay away from catching Miss Nasty's autos.
So it's very unlike with him. But here we are, Um,
(23:12):
you know, nearly eighteen months later, like I said, you
could had happen to it. Well, hopefully you can get
out in his mood her home this summer and enjoy
some races and enjoy what you're talking about. The chemo
and you're talking about things like that, and of course
it's uh something that is uh you know, very very
(23:33):
close to me as well with my daughter and leukemia.
Uh you're talking about your dad being in an underground bunker.
Uh you know it's I get it. My daughter just
went through bone marrow transplant. I guess it's been two
weeks ago now. Uh. We did receive word uh two
(23:54):
days ago that it's starting to take that our numbers
are going the right way now. But I'm telling you, man,
there's nothing guaranteed in life. Um, you know, and and
everything that we've went through with it, I know, I
know what you're dealing with. And Ken dealt with something
very similar with his his daughter, say, when she was
(24:17):
an infant. And I'm telling you it doesn't matter if
you're an infant, if you're twenty eight like my daughter,
you know, you're at the age of your father at uh,
it doesn't give it, man, It'll come after you. And
and uh you know that that that you know, I
admire you. You you're spending the time and everything out
(24:38):
there and making that time. I I you know, I
you know, not to get on the get on the
down side of things, but you know I lost my
dad in two thousand eleven and my oldest brother all
within the same month. And you know, there isn't a
day that I don't think about it, you know. And
and to go through this with my uh, with my
oldest daughter, has been has been you know that. I
(25:02):
say that those incidents, you know, those things with my
brother and my dad definitely uh defined me. It changed me.
It changed my life. And and then when this whole
thing happened with my daughter. It definitely opened my eyes
to a lot of a lot of things didn't really
mean as much as you really thought they did. So I, uh, yeah,
(25:25):
I hope your old man can get out there and
and uh and and uh get doing this thing out
on the out on the road. I know you guys
have spent many years out there doing that and uh
and uh you know, uh, maybe you can help Corey
win more races in Australia since you want all of
yours and he barely could win one of his. Listen
(25:47):
to the dnnis story and you wouldn't have to tell
me that dad was Dennis. And I could have told
you it was, but it should have just said a
dnnis old my beer goes in and use them, make
sure it's cold, get out there. God, if I could
have that much confidence, and you know, you just don't
know what what to expect, so that the confidence. Usually
(26:08):
I can be, you know, kind of a smartass at
most times, um or at my worst time. You know,
it's so um, I just didn't know really what to say.
I'm just like, yeah, okay, we'll see after the after
the checker and I'll meet you down there and that's
all I did. Put my helmet on, and I'm like,
dear Lord, I hope that's over. Hey, you know, Donnie,
that's that's actually a great question. When do you let's
(26:28):
see if you go. I don't know if you can
pinpoint it, but there's probably a time in your career
where you go from feeling like Corey is right now.
Corey wants to be he wants to deliver, he wants
to be really respectful. He's gonna go out there and scrap.
He's gonna fight as hard as he knows how to fight.
But he doesn't have that confidence that you have when
you walk out there onto that track and you get
in that car. You you sit down in that car
(26:50):
and you're like, yep, the rest of these bastards better
look out because I'm here to kick some ass tonight.
And and at some point in time that switch flips
and you've got that confidence and when you get in
the car, man, it's worth at least four or five
spots right off the bat. Well, he's delivering. He's doing
a great job. I mean, I know where he grew
(27:11):
up in California, and it takes a different, uh different
mindset and what you're you know, racing California Tract all
the time. And well, I mean I was the same way.
You know, you had a lot of things when I
was younger. I just wanted to raise wide open all
the time and um, you know, just put the meat once.
Uh have you ever see the Naxio Nationals wide open
(27:32):
on the football Christian? There's a huge oil. I mean, uh,
those races that pay all the money, aren't that you know,
and that that makes your breaks for a whole year,
but uh, there's no substitute for extinis and or getting
at that point where he's getting more and more experience
and he's doing a phenomenal job. I think what they're
what they've done was going and running the All Star deal, um,
you know, getting the race those races and the outlaw
(27:54):
races you can go to do both. I think it's
it's probably a better scenario than being locked down to
one national touring series like the World of Art lost
with your guarantee the ninety five nights, because the problem
with that is when you're trying to race ninety five
nights a year for a championship or points or whatever,
(28:15):
there's no reset by everybody's going to go to a
stage where something doesn't happen right, and you're stand of
cards when you're doing this, but you can't hit pause
or up, up, down, down the a select start like
you're putting Super Mario Brothers back in the day, and
let you start where you want to. You know, it's
everybody pretty much has to do it on the road
from from motel parking lots motel parking lot and with
(28:37):
a group of guys that get the snob and things
don't go right, so um, there's no substitute for that.
So when you can go and not be committed to something,
I think that's your best opportunity to get the most experienced.
And obviously it's worthing wealth for him because I don't
see anybody else, uh in Corey's position right now it's
doing any better. Government. Yeah, solid effort last year, by
(28:58):
the way, congratulations up three there in the All Stars
and a couple of winds along the way of the year. Dude,
I agree with him. You know, I think one of
only three guys, the top three guys to make the
feature every night and forty features um along the way,
and then an amazing number of rainouts and there were
twenty rainouts last year, which is unbelievable and heard of really,
(29:21):
but still a great effort there, man for sure. Congratulations,
how did you run up Folution this year? You know what,
I'm gonna let you off the hook here. Let's let's
let's let the dams know that you were on. You're
on the podium three of the first four races, So okay,
now you can talk about Volusha. Yeah. Yeah, I just
(29:41):
want that dem Gator. That's all I want. Tries how
long he signed taking down flight? Sure are trying to
(30:04):
protect your look and Sure Energy Drink Sporting Car Series. Man,
one lap, that's it, But that's what that's to get
you to drive, to keep coming back for one lap
(30:25):
from the Gator. Yeah, well that's why hopefully next year.
I mean, it's you know, you always find those I'm
sure Diana saying that there's those tracks that it's like
I just want to win. Here. I mean, it's stunt
He's won it, probably most all of them, but there's still,
you know, those those tracks that I just have to win.
I finally want a port Royal and that was really
cool over a month ago, probably now, but I still
(30:46):
that one was that one Kevin didn't even know you're racing. Yes,
that is when he didn't even know that we were racing. Um.
He called his car owner and they're telling me he
want he goes on, Hell, I didn't even know you
were running. Yeah, but it's still you know, Eldora, um Felucia.
There's just something Kalistoga. I wanted to win there forever.
I only was able to run there twice, so I
was cool. And then the next time I was there
(31:07):
in a wing car was the outlaw show. Um that
we ended up winning. Thankfully for a yellow that came
out that gave me the lead back when I slipped
out of the ruver and that I think it is
green at that time. Fifteen come right by me. Noll
race grew three and four and down to the white flag.
Downy Shots has one lap to make it up when
(31:29):
they touched on a turn four and the caution flag
ways for Brent Marks who stops in turn too and
Coy Eliason will maintain a race lead. Eliason three Corelans
in front of Shot six fans and to me cor
Lansdell the back straightaway Corey Elias and into turns three
and four for the final time. He got an our
(31:50):
all win in March. He'll get you a second in September.
He lives Fine Country classic. Don you remember that? Uh
that happening? I do. I almost know anymore. When the
yellow comes out, I'm not gonna gain a spot, retain
a spot in the way. So it just happens that way.
When you raise him up and you're in that position enough,
(32:14):
if you get it seems like you get stuck in
a worse spot. You know about it. Listen, we know
that you've got You've got a family there you're hanging
out with and everything. And yeah, we get you here
in the area, get you back here in uh, in
the neighborhood. We got to get you in the studio,
and we'll do this whole thing again. Man. Yeah, we'll
(32:35):
bring you in the Boston and pound him in story.
We can do that. Okay, it's got I got lots
of good Tony. You're in. You're in all right, Donnie,
have a good one, man. Thanks for coming on. Thanks funny, Thanks,
(32:55):
thank you guys. Corey back to you. And so how
many shows were you to run this year? What do
you know what the number was? I think it was
a dred and eight before that stopped at Trophy Cup.
Before all this, you know it happened. What did you
run last year? Do you remember? Eighty three? Wow? A few?
That was my biggest year. Yeah, I mean up until
(33:18):
it's a it's tough to you know, say the numbers
and because people don't believe it. But up until Harley,
you know, took me out on the road in two
thousand seventeen. Um, I think the most the most I
was able to race the spring car in one year.
It was twenty five nights. Talked about because now you've
seen both sides of it, you know, the team or
the drive that doesn't have the big budget to go
(33:39):
out there and run the better part of a hundred
times a year. You get in the car twenty times
and you kind of remember what that was like. And
maybe it takes the first the first practice session or
two to kind of shake the roast, try to figure
out what's going on. And you're exactly what you just said.
You're more reactive than proactive. It's like, Okay, the card
did this, so I need to fix this rather than
(33:59):
I think the track is gonna do this. Let's go
here with the car, you know, to get ahead of it,
versus the same guy that you have been now climbing
in the car eighty times in a year, where now
it's just like walking down the sidewalk. I mean before
it's like now finally I'm back in the car, and
now it's like boom, I'm in this thing again. I
just did this a few days ago. I'm ready to go. Yeah.
(34:20):
That's um, that's probably been the biggest part of helping
my experienced laps or everything out there. Um, you know
this up until we had this pandemic. Um, I had
a three week break I think from the time I
quit racing in the States until I went over to Australia.
I went race in Australia, come back, run all of Florida,
(34:43):
run Volucia and East Bay, then East Bay three sixties
and that Sunday I flew out and flew back to Australia. Yeah.
And it's no easy task down there. Of course, you know,
rib on you about it, but I mean it's people
don't get it. You know, w on your a stranger
in a strange land, even if you've been there three
or four years, right, but you're a stranger in a
(35:05):
strange land. You've got a different group of people that
you're working with. It's totally different than the people you
work with all year for eight whatever races. There's more
teams there that have the nice rigs, have all the
good equipment, and face as much as they can. They're
absolutely crazy about it over there. Yeah, I mean, like
that is there, if there were, that is their NASCAR
(35:26):
indiecar deal. You know, there's a lot of good talent
down there, and it's still nice that there's still teams
that want to bring drivers from America over to still
race Blex Brol Yes, thank you. Well, we're gonna wrap
it up here, Carl, give you the rest of the
day off. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Skinny.
To watch the video versions of all of our shows,
(35:47):
please visit our YouTube channel, fatheads TV. Be sure to
check out all the latest son An optical I wear
at bath heads dot com. Special thanks to our sponsorship
partner at Elliott's Custom Trailers and Cards. This has been
a production of bath Head Studio. Please remember to subscribe
I'm Donal Shots, I'm Corey Lysson, and this is the
skinny from Fathead Studios and Speedway Indiana. This is the skinny.
Hey guys, once again, welcome to the Skinny. Kent Stouton
Rico Elmore as always, and two great sprint car drivers
(00:21):
have joined us in the studio. The guy that finished
third in the Points where the All Star series one
year ago, it's Corey Eliasson. And then out from North Dakota,
one of the fat Cats, I mean, one of the
greatest of all times. Certainly put his name in the
top of the charts with the Hall of Famers. We
also welcome the ten time World Outlaw Champ Donnie Shots,
(00:41):
Don House. Things going out westward there didn't to be
expected there far here and go down the road. There's
not much happening. I'm saying, funny, busy games. The project
that I can dump everything out of the pity drawer
and put it back in a hundred times and pay.
So that's called insanity, but we get it. Uh so
(01:07):
are you uh your guys? Truck stop still open right, absolutely?
The duck stops are both open. The restaurants are obviously
take out only forced to I'm not be having anybody
sit down, but the early still operations normal. As far
as anything else, I mean about truck dras, you don't
(01:28):
get anything suffer in it. I guess so thankful for that.
And we do think, uh, the truckers out there, because
I got news for you right now, what's going on.
There will be no way to catch up with all
these supplies and everything that would need to go out.
I'm a former trucker, Ken as a former trucker, and
(01:49):
Corey is aspiring to be a trucker, but he can't
pass the test. Honey. We hear about the young guns
that are coming through the ranks these days, and it's
not uncommon to hear of a fourteen year old sprint
car driver. Fifteen year old sprint car driver. It's I'm
not gonna say it's common, but it's certainly not uncommon.
It's been done so many times. But I remember, I
(02:12):
want to say, back in the early two thousands, there
was a kid that came up through the ranks. Really,
I want to stay around two thousand four, two thousand five,
somewhere in that area, somebody that was fifteen years old,
and boy, they were just getting pounded like their parents.
Why are their parents putting them in a sprint car
at such a young age fourteen fifteen years old? There's
no way he has the knowledge to compete against the
(02:33):
veterans without making a big mistake causing a wreck, getting
somebody hurt. And then I'm reading a little bit on
this guy named Donnie Shots and back in nineteen three
you were fifteen years old in your first sprint car race.
So the question is, did you guys get any flak
because you were so young and in a sprint car.
(02:54):
No matter what you do, you're gonna as uh, you know,
they they caught black for it. But if it's something
we all love to do, still still love to do
it this day, and you know, obviously whatever m fifteen
might be, Uh, you know, that's how long I've been
going around. So I'm glad that he allows me to
(03:15):
do it. You know, day's so little. Uh Uh, you
don't think of a reperfection that I got nieces of
my own that the two years old there we got
four or five years. Um, this are best and today then,
But I had great friends back in the lot. Do
you feel any different about it? And now that you're
(03:36):
on this side of that, that equation and looking at
putting a fourteen or fifteen year old inside of a
car is if you know that they've they've had the
experience and they've worked their way up to it, do
you do you have any issues with it? I have.
I have an issue with the attitude that goes with it. Um,
the team thinks that you could get in and uh,
(03:59):
you go at at any cost whatever it takes to win,
whether it's drew someone over someone. Uh, that's that's not
something that I That attitude of that mentality is not
something I'm gonna standfoor. I've had to deal with my
own uss. You know, they're utorious for putting each other,
moving someone out of the way just because they thought
(04:19):
they'd be in trouble if they didn't think that for this,
you know, I've done as much as a load of
things up and took them home on a Monday night
and London actually that they were different things. So, UM,
it's just the way it's the way I was brought
up to race and UM, you know I think it's
you have that attitude that they don't care what they
did or what they care up because of no respect
(04:41):
for anyone on or off the race track. And I'm
not saying of that, but you can't be everybody's parents.
You can know me parents, your own or those that
goes along with the entire issue, right, I mean, when
do they become mature enough to understand, Okay, you can't
just drive through somebody, you can't take that that risk
all the time, and knowing when it's the right time,
(05:03):
when it's the wrong time to take it, and becoming
of age. That's that's the big part of the issue,
A big part of the equation is their fourteen and
fifteen years old. They haven't quite figured that out yet.
And they find themselves racing next to a Donny Shots
or anybody of that stature, if you will, and there
in their mind they're like, this is my chance, man,
I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it right here, and
(05:25):
I'm gonna beat this guy and show him proved to
him that I belong out here. But they're just not
quite mature enough. And I'm not knocking it. I'm really
not knocking it, because there are some young talented drivers
out there that that do possess the ability to do
it and make really good decisions, amazing good decisions, to
be honest with you. But man, it's so hard to
draw that line because you can't get one without getting
(05:48):
some of the other. Absolutely. Uh, you know, I put
it back to the pats. I can relate to you
how my father was. My father was very hard. Um.
You know, he wasn't wring it in out and did
something uh one time and did something liver. He's standing
there with uh you know, campaign and flapping hands and
pat me on the back. I very remember got a
(06:10):
pat on the back. Uh. You know, the older I get,
the more facts on the back I get. But um,
when I did something wrong, I certainly did did not
get the bat and I expected. Um if I did
something wrong, I got a boot. Me. That's just the
way it was back then. Um. In today's d eight uh,
you know, kids get their feelings hurt, and mom and
(06:31):
dad tell them it's okay no matter what. And that's
something that when it relates to racing, me never really
learned the difference between right and wrong. And that's something
I can control. But you know it step was something
different to see in today the day. So Corey, tell
us how you got started. Where did you start? Out
what'd you start running? First? When I was I think
(06:52):
it was my sixth birthday, my dad got me a
go kart um and we just kind of went out
to the parking lots because that's when stores were closed
on Saturday and Sunday still, so he got m Yeah,
we'd go out there and UM, I just ripped laps
through whatever, you know, all the stalls or they'd have
the trolley returns or that, you know, the dividers in it,
(07:15):
um up until I pushed a little too hard and
I spun out and I smoked the cement curve and
I blew the end out of the thing. That's when
he decided that it was time to quit messing around there,
and he um for Christmas, I ended up getting a
junior sprint I started when I was nine. Um and
from there I just kind of progressed up, you know,
(07:35):
in the ranks of micro's moved forward, um until sixteen,
and that was I think it was more of a
time you know, avoid and keeping me busy and keeping
my parents busy with me so they didn't have to
really worry about me. So UM. Basically, once I turned sixteen,
it was kind of if you still want to do this.
You need to go out and find money to help
(07:57):
because we can't keep doing it. It was more of
a I think this will be good to keep him busy,
but they didn't expect it to go as far as
it did. So you were friends with the Swanson's, which
was hilarious. I had no idea. Uh, Corey went to
the track with us, out to our suite. Uh, Cody
Swanson's there, which you know we've been involved with for
(08:19):
many years. Great great guy, great family. They start talking
and I'm like, oh, you guys know each other and like,
oh yeah, man, we used to ramp BMX bikes into
Cory's in ground pool. I'm like, I would kill you.
I would kill both of you, all of you that
we're doing that. It was fun, It was I mean,
we survived. Obviously. Cody was a good parent. I guess
(08:40):
back then when he was fifteen or sixteen, was not
letting us, yes, not letting us completely kill ourselves. But
you know, we still ended up. Somebody got hurt every time. Yeah,
we're your parents excited that you were jumping the bikes
into the pool or did they ever know that part?
It was after when I think actually we ended up
with motorcycle in the pool, so that was it's easy.
(09:04):
It's easy to fish the Yeah, you can fish the
bikes out, no problem. But when you got a little
dirt bike and you launched off in there and then
the pool is full of oil and gas, that's a
bit harder to wide black marks down the side of
it because the tires. Yeah, that probably wasn't our smartest choice,
but I mean we're out there in the rain draining
the pool and scraving it clean. Johnny, I read on
(09:24):
there that you're a third generation race or do you
remember your grandfather racing? I'm guessing you you probably went
with dad a little bit. But what about gramps racer.
He was a farmer and he was in the war.
I think he really wanted to rob banks. And uh,
my grandfather's played the same. Was he took a team
(09:48):
of his horses in the stageboats and drove his horses
all the way from his house to the Mexican border back. So, um,
that's his same and was carving on the way. Everybody
has their own little things they want to do, but
that was my grand thought. It was more real horse power. Yeah. So,
(10:09):
and I also read that one of the things that
you've done in the course of your lifetime is is
riding behind one of those man with the Belgian Uh
draft horses with your dad. Absolutely. Um, my family was
involved with draft horses a long time. Uh. They grew
up on the farm of courses were a big thing. Uh.
(10:30):
You know, mobile advertising was something that in the truck
stop business. My parents were uh something they were big
onf just like what we do with racings today. Racing
its outfield our truck stop businesses from the state in
North Dakota across the country, and they did it with
horses as well. So, um, from this time I was young.
(10:50):
I think the first time I drove a horses was
was five years old the Denver stop show and uh,
we had some pretty good outings over the year. And um,
you know obviously you can picked in the face by
one and I had a lot of fun with fa
but they're coming that time when uh they're back right
from you, which what you lit some green and my
(11:12):
parents pretty well parked on the horses, and um, that's
what we did was focused on. So the first time
you flip a sprint car and you ring your bell,
you're like it's no worse than being kicked into that.
That's exactly what I was thinking immediately where I was
gonna go with that. Actually, uh, the worst thing about
flipping the first time. Back then, I had one of
them electric hair off machines and they were clogged in,
(11:36):
empowered by a phone card. And I got out and
I didn't unplucking. I got about ten foot from the car,
went straight to the ground, closing, phone card run out.
So that was on a whole lot of fun. I
think I was more injured emotionally from that phone ca.
You know, I remember when I was a kid, all
(11:57):
the cool kids had the really really long phone card
and I never got along phone cord, and apparently you
didn't either, So yeah. Well, and the other thing was,
remember the tearoffs. Where had the poll string? You pulled
the string on it? Well, hell, that's that's top notch
what he had, the high end stuff. Yeah, we didn't
have a little the little poll string. Yeah. So, Donnie,
you've done some crazy stuff along the way. Did you
(12:20):
ever did you ever imagine being in the same company
as the Doug Wolf Gangs, the Sammy Swindell's, the Steve Kinser's,
I mean, the absolute kings of the sport, and certainly
that is where you're sitting right now. I mean, ten
times winning the Premier Championship with the World Outlaws. I mean,
(12:40):
it just doesn't come any bigger than that. And if
that's not enough to make somebody believe that you're the
best out there right now, the guy to beat, and
I'm Brad Sweeten might want to argue that, but you
know what I'm talking about here. But to say that
you Bosso won Knoxville ten times, I mean, dude, you
are absolutely the king as it stands here today. And
uh and your name is synonymous with those guys, those
(13:04):
other kings of the sport. Did you ever think you'd
get here? You know when I started all this, Um,
you can agree with the things if you want, but
I really thought when I saw my name my feature
the first time, I went, yes, I've made it. But
the reality is it doesn't mean a damn thing. Um.
You know, you can just get in these cars and
the here throw and excitement um isn't present. And it's
(13:30):
the first couple of times I've got and stared on
my there's no way I'll It's like riding a bull.
You don't know what to expect. I've done that too,
So UM no, I didn't never pictures five years later,
I um, like I said, you can dream it. Um,
I wasted ten years of my career the first ten
(13:51):
years I came out in here, I was I'm more
worried about playing video games some days and traveling for
maybe got caught up in the lifestyle. I didn't really
pay attention to results and focus onwhere I need to
focus on. Um just had to come to run into
the wall and then and say, hey, you you want
(14:12):
to do you want to do this for the next
thirty years and just be somebody who you know, find
a way to uh better than that. I mean, the
stats that you continue to wrack up are certainly incredible,
and you won those two titles, and I'm guessing that
really paved the way to open up the door to
start driving for Tony. Is that correct? Yeah, it's it
(14:34):
opened a lot of doors. Um started to build a
little confidence and UM, yeah, that's the stuff that everybody
needs a little conferencing and to be able to have
time to favorite things out. That's uh, that's the unfortant
part of the support of everything's feeling so fast and
sometimes it takes a little time and you want to
build on Thames and a lot of corners want to
builds now And sometimes you think it's the driver, Cham
(14:57):
do another Cham. You're a Catholic energy and it was
really five major components that used to be a big
factor in that drivers, car, engine, entire and now, um,
there's one problem eliminated. Corey. I'm sure you are paying
(15:19):
attention to everything this guy is doing out there, and
uh in North Dakota certainly at the race track, but
you've had a couple of a couple of good years.
You're picking your way up through there, and I know
it's an expensive ride. Certainly you'd love to be chasing
the World of out Laws championship. But two thousand seventeen
you were fortunate enough to grab your first win with
with the World of out Laws. Had to be a special,
special night and did it from the pole. Uh yeah,
(15:41):
you know as um Ross, they Dennis and Tracy kind
of you know, took that step. I guess that lead
to kind of give me the opportunity to see if
I could kind of produce Um, you know, I traveled
with Harley Van Dyke a little bit before that he
kind of a fresh one that took me out to Knoxville,
and I got to see that and realized I've got
(16:01):
a lot of work to do, you know, coming from California,
we have one half mile and I never go to Calistoga. So, um,
you know, I was able to win in Stockton. Um,
it worked out in our favor, and you know, we
we're still strong to most of the California swing, I think. Um,
you know, I kind of struggled when I got out
Midwest a little bit and it just took it took
(16:22):
some time. Just like you know, I didn't really have
the experience. I still go to tracks that I've never
been to before, and it's like me and I I
try to get caught up quickly, you know. The first
the first goal is to figure out where I'm supposed
to get on the racetrack, and one I'm let's get
off the racetrack would be good. It's funny that you
say that, because it seems like those tracks in California.
You say you have no experience, you know, in the Midwest,
(16:43):
or you had no experience, you know, and you're still
still earning that. But the same thing applies for the
Midwest guys that go out west. We just did an
a S C S race at the beginning of this year.
At Mer said, and boy, I'm telling you it was
a cowboy race track. You know, it was rough in
the beginning. Once the don't you've got to the feature,
it wasn't too bad. A couple of holes that you know,
(17:03):
if you don't have your car set up right. The
car was not happy, but there was a top, there
was a bottom. It was a racy little quarter mile
for sure. But I'll tell you, man, through the through
the qualifiers, it was a handful being that I'm able
to come from California and have the rough, big curb,
cowboy up tie style racetrack um or mentality. I think
it it's gonna help, you know, as the more races
(17:27):
I get a run out here, and the more opportunities
I have. It's I think as myself as a driver,
it's helped me tremendously, just because when we get in
those situations where it's a big curve or it's rough
hooked up most of the times, you know, you don't
get that out here. So I'm able to say, okay,
well this is what we can do or this is
what I think we need to do, and it's it's
easier for the crew chief to say, okay, yeah, we'll
(17:48):
try that, just because you know that's more of my
background than his. So um, you know it. Everyone has
to work together, and that seems to be you know,
kind of the spot that I can you know, close
in on and bring to the team when you see
somebody like shots out there and and uh, you have
an opportunity maybe to watch him in a heat race
or a qualifier or something like that, or you're up
(18:08):
on the fence. Is that is that a guy you watch?
What are you looking for? You kind of look like
I watch all forms of racing, and when you watch
all different drivers, it's amazing what he's able to do
with the race car as far as when you watch
it could go out there and it could be complete
disaster and you're like, oh boy, and after two laps
it's fixed and you know he's figured it out. So
(18:30):
he's more of a perfectionist. It's you know, it's a
lot of people, you know Boom don't like him just
because he's winning, but they need to realize, you know,
this is this is the Lewis Hamilton's of sprint cars.
You know, he's a perfectionist. The way he runs the car,
the way he runs his laps. You know, it's everybody
probably idolizes to be able to do what he does
in the race car, and I definitely know I do. Um.
(18:52):
You know, it's it's nice to see that there's people
that are able to start being a part of that.
As far as you know, Brad Sweet, David Gravel there,
they're getting up there, they're fast, they're consistent. Logan shoeheart
what he's doing with his it can be fast at
you know, any given time. So it's nice to be
able to to see that, you know, you put your
(19:12):
hard work in that you can get there. So, um,
every racetrack I go to, you always watch the fifteen
or forty nine. That's just kind of where they run,
what they do. It's you know, you have to watch,
you have to learn. And um. Unfortunate enough that Kevin
is very relaxed as a car owner, and he is
definitely giving me everything I need to do to win
and everything that I need to be out there. So
(19:34):
as far as that, it makes it a lot easier.
There's a lot less stress that way. I can focus
more on driving the race car instead of figuring out
what's going to happen if I lose my ride. You
know you mentioned you mentioned Harley van Dyke before, and
you did qualify for the amain of the Knoxville Nashals
in two thousand seventeen. Congrats on that struggle in your
(19:55):
prelimb night and then had a really good run on
the hard knox Friday night, finished up. Four of them
transferred in right at the top. Four I believe transferred in.
But then the story got drastically different. Comes Saturday morning,
crook Um Saturday, Harley calls and tells me that his
daughter was involved in the car accident. She passed away,
so he said he has to go to the airport
(20:16):
right now. He doesn't know what's going to happen, and
I'm I was just like, well, I mean you need
to go, like whatever we gotta do, don't worry. He's like, well,
I want you to race. I remember talking to Harley
right after that after we ran that main, I had
the crew guy had him on the phone because we
had to run the World Challenge race also, so we
(20:37):
were in the same car, and he was so excited
he was yelling and screaming in the airport. He said,
everybody was looking at him and he's like he was
very emotional, which was good for him because he never
made Knoxellent Nationals. And you know, he needed something good,
you know, after what he just went through. He needed
something good to kind of uplift his spirit and you know,
keep him going. And that did. And that was that weekend, right,
(21:00):
there was everything for him. You have to receive that
phone call your your daughter passed away, and I mean,
that's just disastrous. And then the turn you guys lose
and have you keep chugging forward. I was curious. And
that's what I love about this racing community is somebody's
gonna come over and help you out. They won't just
let you guys hang out the dry, especially if you've
been digging hard and showing that you really care and
(21:23):
that you want to work hard. And that's why I
wanted to bring my son out. That's why I love
working this industry. I wanted to bring my son up
in this industry because it's loaded with extremely successful people
with a really hard work ethic and UH and they're
not afraid to come over and help somebody when they
need help, when they're down. They want to beat you
on the racetrack. They they want to get you out
there on that racetrack, you know, and and then let
(21:44):
the cards forward they where they may. And uh, yeah,
I read that story and I was like, man, oh man,
that had to be one hell of a weekend. He
was going under, you know, unprecedented times. It was the
most emotional thing you could possibly go for. I can
imagine it is your you know, my father, losing your daughter,
your kid. It's pretty hard to throw some have somebody
throw you a curveball much bigger than that one, you know,
(22:04):
And whenever you get to the next scenario, you're like, no,
I've been there, done that. Man. Well we made it
through and we'll do it again. Donny. So you've you
went through a little bit of stuff with with your dad.
How's he doing now? He's doing really good. Um, you know,
obviously getting very third nineteen or in Australia and um,
(22:26):
I got a phone call from my sisters you want
stage four. Wasn't sure what that meant. H started doing
some research. And when you get stage for any cancer,
and most people don't look through it, dont me staying
race that my heart, my mind wasn't there. I wasn't
I stayed, but um it was a long trip home. Um,
(22:47):
you know, got with the doctors you needed to. I
got lined out on PBO. Uh. He knows the gap
in the final very well. He had a normalize. He's
doing everything easy to do right now. We've got him
underground bunker TI to stay away from catching Miss Nasty's autos.
So it's very unlike with him. But here we are, Um,
(23:12):
you know, nearly eighteen months later, like I said, you
could had happen to it. Well, hopefully you can get
out in his mood her home this summer and enjoy
some races and enjoy what you're talking about. The chemo
and you're talking about things like that, and of course
it's uh something that is uh you know, very very
(23:33):
close to me as well with my daughter and leukemia.
Uh you're talking about your dad being in an underground bunker.
Uh you know it's I get it. My daughter just
went through bone marrow transplant. I guess it's been two
weeks ago now. Uh. We did receive word uh two
(23:54):
days ago that it's starting to take that our numbers
are going the right way now. But I'm telling you, man,
there's nothing guaranteed in life. Um, you know, and and
everything that we've went through with it, I know, I
know what you're dealing with. And Ken dealt with something
very similar with his his daughter, say, when she was
(24:17):
an infant. And I'm telling you it doesn't matter if
you're an infant, if you're twenty eight like my daughter,
you know, you're at the age of your father at uh,
it doesn't give it, man, It'll come after you. And
and uh you know that that that you know, I
admire you. You you're spending the time and everything out
(24:38):
there and making that time. I I you know, I
you know, not to get on the get on the
down side of things, but you know I lost my
dad in two thousand eleven and my oldest brother all
within the same month. And you know, there isn't a
day that I don't think about it, you know. And
and to go through this with my uh, with my
oldest daughter, has been has been you know that. I
(25:02):
say that those incidents, you know, those things with my
brother and my dad definitely uh defined me. It changed me.
It changed my life. And and then when this whole
thing happened with my daughter. It definitely opened my eyes
to a lot of a lot of things didn't really
mean as much as you really thought they did. So I, uh, yeah,
(25:25):
I hope your old man can get out there and
and uh and and uh get doing this thing out
on the out on the road. I know you guys
have spent many years out there doing that and uh
and uh you know, uh, maybe you can help Corey
win more races in Australia since you want all of
yours and he barely could win one of his. Listen
(25:47):
to the dnnis story and you wouldn't have to tell
me that dad was Dennis. And I could have told
you it was, but it should have just said a
dnnis old my beer goes in and use them, make
sure it's cold, get out there. God, if I could
have that much confidence, and you know, you just don't
know what what to expect, so that the confidence. Usually
(26:08):
I can be, you know, kind of a smartass at
most times, um or at my worst time. You know,
it's so um, I just didn't know really what to say.
I'm just like, yeah, okay, we'll see after the after
the checker and I'll meet you down there and that's
all I did. Put my helmet on, and I'm like,
dear Lord, I hope that's over. Hey, you know, Donnie,
that's that's actually a great question. When do you let's
(26:28):
see if you go. I don't know if you can
pinpoint it, but there's probably a time in your career
where you go from feeling like Corey is right now.
Corey wants to be he wants to deliver, he wants
to be really respectful. He's gonna go out there and scrap.
He's gonna fight as hard as he knows how to fight.
But he doesn't have that confidence that you have when
you walk out there onto that track and you get
in that car. You you sit down in that car
(26:50):
and you're like, yep, the rest of these bastards better
look out because I'm here to kick some ass tonight.
And and at some point in time that switch flips
and you've got that confidence and when you get in
the car, man, it's worth at least four or five
spots right off the bat. Well, he's delivering. He's doing
a great job. I mean, I know where he grew
(27:11):
up in California, and it takes a different, uh different
mindset and what you're you know, racing California Tract all
the time. And well, I mean I was the same way.
You know, you had a lot of things when I
was younger. I just wanted to raise wide open all
the time and um, you know, just put the meat once.
Uh have you ever see the Naxio Nationals wide open
(27:32):
on the football Christian? There's a huge oil. I mean, uh,
those races that pay all the money, aren't that you know,
and that that makes your breaks for a whole year,
but uh, there's no substitute for extinis and or getting
at that point where he's getting more and more experience
and he's doing a phenomenal job. I think what they're
what they've done was going and running the All Star deal, um,
you know, getting the race those races and the outlaw
(27:54):
races you can go to do both. I think it's
it's probably a better scenario than being locked down to
one national touring series like the World of Art lost
with your guarantee the ninety five nights, because the problem
with that is when you're trying to race ninety five
nights a year for a championship or points or whatever,
(28:15):
there's no reset by everybody's going to go to a
stage where something doesn't happen right, and you're stand of
cards when you're doing this, but you can't hit pause
or up, up, down, down the a select start like
you're putting Super Mario Brothers back in the day, and
let you start where you want to. You know, it's
everybody pretty much has to do it on the road
from from motel parking lots motel parking lot and with
(28:37):
a group of guys that get the snob and things
don't go right, so um, there's no substitute for that.
So when you can go and not be committed to something,
I think that's your best opportunity to get the most experienced.
And obviously it's worthing wealth for him because I don't
see anybody else, uh in Corey's position right now it's
doing any better. Government. Yeah, solid effort last year, by
(28:58):
the way, congratulations up three there in the All Stars
and a couple of winds along the way of the year. Dude,
I agree with him. You know, I think one of
only three guys, the top three guys to make the
feature every night and forty features um along the way,
and then an amazing number of rainouts and there were
twenty rainouts last year, which is unbelievable and heard of really,
(29:21):
but still a great effort there, man for sure. Congratulations,
how did you run up Folution this year? You know what,
I'm gonna let you off the hook here. Let's let's
let's let the dams know that you were on. You're
on the podium three of the first four races, So okay,
now you can talk about Volusha. Yeah. Yeah, I just
(29:41):
want that dem Gator. That's all I want. Tries how
long he signed taking down flight? Sure are trying to
(30:04):
protect your look and Sure Energy Drink Sporting Car Series. Man,
one lap, that's it, But that's what that's to get
you to drive, to keep coming back for one lap
(30:25):
from the Gator. Yeah, well that's why hopefully next year.
I mean, it's you know, you always find those I'm
sure Diana saying that there's those tracks that it's like
I just want to win. Here. I mean, it's stunt
He's won it, probably most all of them, but there's still,
you know, those those tracks that I just have to win.
I finally want a port Royal and that was really
cool over a month ago, probably now, but I still
(30:46):
that one was that one Kevin didn't even know you're racing. Yes,
that is when he didn't even know that we were racing. Um.
He called his car owner and they're telling me he
want he goes on, Hell, I didn't even know you
were running. Yeah, but it's still you know, Eldora, um Felucia.
There's just something Kalistoga. I wanted to win there forever.
I only was able to run there twice, so I
was cool. And then the next time I was there
(31:07):
in a wing car was the outlaw show. Um that
we ended up winning. Thankfully for a yellow that came
out that gave me the lead back when I slipped
out of the ruver and that I think it is
green at that time. Fifteen come right by me. Noll
race grew three and four and down to the white flag.
Downy Shots has one lap to make it up when
(31:29):
they touched on a turn four and the caution flag
ways for Brent Marks who stops in turn too and
Coy Eliason will maintain a race lead. Eliason three Corelans
in front of Shot six fans and to me cor
Lansdell the back straightaway Corey Elias and into turns three
and four for the final time. He got an our
(31:50):
all win in March. He'll get you a second in September.
He lives Fine Country classic. Don you remember that? Uh
that happening? I do. I almost know anymore. When the
yellow comes out, I'm not gonna gain a spot, retain
a spot in the way. So it just happens that way.
When you raise him up and you're in that position enough,
(32:14):
if you get it seems like you get stuck in
a worse spot. You know about it. Listen, we know
that you've got You've got a family there you're hanging
out with and everything. And yeah, we get you here
in the area, get you back here in uh, in
the neighborhood. We got to get you in the studio,
and we'll do this whole thing again. Man. Yeah, we'll
(32:35):
bring you in the Boston and pound him in story.
We can do that. Okay, it's got I got lots
of good Tony. You're in. You're in all right, Donnie,
have a good one, man. Thanks for coming on. Thanks funny, Thanks,
(32:55):
thank you guys. Corey back to you. And so how
many shows were you to run this year? What do
you know what the number was? I think it was
a dred and eight before that stopped at Trophy Cup.
Before all this, you know it happened. What did you
run last year? Do you remember? Eighty three? Wow? A few?
That was my biggest year. Yeah, I mean up until
(33:18):
it's a it's tough to you know, say the numbers
and because people don't believe it. But up until Harley,
you know, took me out on the road in two
thousand seventeen. Um, I think the most the most I
was able to race the spring car in one year.
It was twenty five nights. Talked about because now you've
seen both sides of it, you know, the team or
the drive that doesn't have the big budget to go
(33:39):
out there and run the better part of a hundred
times a year. You get in the car twenty times
and you kind of remember what that was like. And
maybe it takes the first the first practice session or
two to kind of shake the roast, try to figure
out what's going on. And you're exactly what you just said.
You're more reactive than proactive. It's like, Okay, the card
did this, so I need to fix this rather than
(33:59):
I think the track is gonna do this. Let's go
here with the car, you know, to get ahead of it,
versus the same guy that you have been now climbing
in the car eighty times in a year, where now
it's just like walking down the sidewalk. I mean before
it's like now finally I'm back in the car, and
now it's like boom, I'm in this thing again. I
just did this a few days ago. I'm ready to go. Yeah.
(34:20):
That's um, that's probably been the biggest part of helping
my experienced laps or everything out there. Um, you know
this up until we had this pandemic. Um, I had
a three week break I think from the time I
quit racing in the States until I went over to Australia.
I went race in Australia, come back, run all of Florida,
(34:43):
run Volucia and East Bay, then East Bay three sixties
and that Sunday I flew out and flew back to Australia. Yeah.
And it's no easy task down there. Of course, you know,
rib on you about it, but I mean it's people
don't get it. You know, w on your a stranger
in a strange land, even if you've been there three
or four years, right, but you're a stranger in a
(35:05):
strange land. You've got a different group of people that
you're working with. It's totally different than the people you
work with all year for eight whatever races. There's more
teams there that have the nice rigs, have all the
good equipment, and face as much as they can. They're
absolutely crazy about it over there. Yeah, I mean, like
that is there, if there were, that is their NASCAR
(35:26):
indiecar deal. You know, there's a lot of good talent
down there, and it's still nice that there's still teams
that want to bring drivers from America over to still
race Blex Brol Yes, thank you. Well, we're gonna wrap
it up here, Carl, give you the rest of the
day off. Thanks for listening to this episode of The Skinny.
To watch the video versions of all of our shows,
(35:47):
please visit our YouTube channel, fatheads TV. Be sure to
check out all the latest son An optical I wear
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