September 21, 2020 • 53 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the Skinny with Rico Elmore presented by
fat Heads I Wear and Welcome to the Skinny with
your host Rico Elmore on your co host Adam Ritz.
We are coming to you live from the fat Head
Suite on the turn two of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
with special guest and Indie five legend Bobby Unser. Hi, Bobby,
(00:26):
nice to be here. Thank you. So fifty years past
winning here. I watched a little bit of the thing
that you did with Dave first. Very cool, very cool.
Could you relive a little bit of that and what
was going on that day when you ran well fifty
years Jesus number one. Doug, the big boss here, gives
(00:50):
me a call. Now, he never calls me. I call
him when I'm hustling something. You know what It's like, Rico,
I called Doug and and he'll always figure out a
way to get back to me or answer the phone whatever.
So he calls me one morning, and I thought that's
a little strange, you know, I mean, he wants something
(01:14):
like me. And and so he says, I want you
to do the parade. I says, man, guys, I don't
do those parades. I did him for years. You know.
It's that's enough, you know. I mean I don't particularly
like the parades. I guess, so, he says, Bobby, he says,
do you realize you've been here? This is your fiftieth
(01:36):
year since you won your first race here? Well, there,
I am really quick. Take him my pin out. I'm
on my desk. I'm adding and subtracting because I can't
do it in my head, like you can't. Rico can
do that. Some people can't. I can't. So there, I said, Man,
treaty been fifty years. How could there be fifty years?
(01:59):
And so I said, Doug number one, if you really
want it done, I'll always do it for you. That's good.
I mean that's your standard number. Two fifty years, I says.
I didn't think I've been been there that long. I
mean fifty years a long time. So, and I didn't
(02:19):
believe until I figured it out on my paper there,
you know, So, I says, yeah, I was coming back anyway,
but I wasn't going to do the parade anyway. And
I'll tell you we got more happy people in the parade.
I mean, talk about a turn on. My wife is
there and I brought my two daughters back this year,
and and they just liked it so much. In other words,
(02:42):
it was just a totally different deal. So told Doug,
I says, they need to be on the trailer. And
then we got Dave Shaw. Dave Shaw of all the guys,
he was the number two men until last year around
the speedway here and he quit and went to the airport.
Run the airport now. And that's all fine because Dave,
it's one of my best friends, you know. And so
(03:06):
Doug calls Dave up. That's the big boss calling what
used to be the second big boss, and he says,
Bobby's going to do the parade. I need some help.
And so Dave Shaw and one of my best friends
that I have. So he's thinking what does he need
for Bobby, And so he told him. He says, we
(03:27):
need Bobby to be in the parade, and we need
you to make sure that it all goes well. The
float gets built, they're gonna be able to float for us,
which they did is pretty nice float. And and we
just had a freaking ball. Like two daughters went with
me and my wife went with me, and they were
up there taking around on the thing and waving at
the people. And I mean the thing ends up being fun,
(03:52):
not like the old deals, old days, because Mario and
I used to go and in getting the back of
the convertibles, like now we go orange twins this year,
that's so weir. This way, it was really fun because
we had a whole flow, had the people on both sides,
and they were really I mean, I had a lot
of fans out there. Oh you're a fan favorite for sure,
(04:13):
and the answer, I mean, yeah, and you know when
you win. Uh, if they would have said, uh, in
fifty years, you're gonna have your own floats in the
five parade, what would you have said fifty years ago?
I wouldn't have believe I'd be here fifty years. Who
had ever thought the last this long, second largest parade
next to the Macy Stay Parade? Can you believe that?
(04:36):
And this is I mean Indianapolis up next to New
York City, and and I didn't remember that. It's been
so long since I've been in the parade. And and
so when when Doug calls telling me these same numbers,
and I said, uh, well, line who was big? And
I used to go in it every year, but I
(04:57):
just quit going to it, you know, so you get
started in racing, how does it start? I know about
and I want to talk about Pike's Peak because anybody
had drive that course. I was watching some stuff on
it after we were talking. Of course, you know know
about the modern day Pike's Peak and quite like what
it was then. So they can wreck anything. Just give
(05:21):
it to the people, rico and they give it. Don't
worry about So did you Where did you start at racing?
What was your original? Albuquerque, New Mexico? And uh, I
was fifteen years old, and uh they were all grown
ups that we were running against, and it was the origin.
Hot Rod Magazine did a study on this many years ago.
(05:44):
But the the whole answer was is super modified racing
started in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Then it went, of course
to Phoenix and Tucson and wherever have you. You know, Colorado.
Unbelievably fast car, Yeah, crazy fast. And just a little
fact for you, this Sweet before we bought it was
(06:06):
hot Rod magazine. Sweet. Oh, this was they used to
look over on that door over there, the sliding door.
You can see where we peeled the letters off. Hot Rod.
Hot Rod Magazine used to sponsor my older brother, Jerry,
who got killed here in and in hot Rod magazine,
(06:30):
they all of a sudden because of Jerry and Ray Brock.
It's the guy's name. It's going back a long time.
But at any rate, they just sponsored my brother and
most everything he did. So I'll bet you that's the
reason they had this sweet back. Now. I'm sure, I'm sure,
but it's so funny when we first bought it the
first year, which is this goes back five or six. Now,
(06:54):
Linda Vaughan's walking down through here. She had been down
at Bill Simpson's, you know, and she's getting down there here.
She said, Hey, Rico, are you in the hot Rod sweet?
I said, well, it was hot Rod, honey. Now it's
hard and she says, she said, oh, so they're not here.
I said, you're always welcome, but they're not here anymore.
(07:14):
She's welcome everywhere, Swedish girl, freaking racing Rico as long
as I have you. So so, so I go to
a thing at Prime forty seven, my buddy's restaurant downtown
and uh it was something to do with Mario, and
uh Mario was a guest of honor and she was
(07:35):
she was the host. I think or something like that.
And Linda's up there and she says, and I'm sure
that this is why she said it. You know how
hungry she is sometimes with the you know, the things
she says. She says, she says, and and and she
was off mike and then she said, let let me
have that mike again. She grabs the mic and she says,
(07:56):
I just want everybody to know that I have never
been actually harassed in the automotive racing business. And I thought, okay,
So so I thought to myself, so how many of
you harassed? That was better? And that was there like that.
That's why its sad, because he's always jack with people,
you know, having again Sunday. It's got to be our turn.
(08:18):
You know, I'm talking about the mail. That's all right,
that's all right. So uh but anyhow, so super modified
as the start. So it's you and who is it?
You know? There there was three brothers that were going.
Now was too young then? Yeah, I mean we were
too young, but you know in those days, the the
laws everything, drinking, everything was twenty one. But you know,
(08:42):
they really didn't care. In Albuquerque, the fans loved this.
In other words, I I was going to to school
at the time, which I didn't do very long. In
other words, as soon as I started racing, I thought,
what the heck would I go to school for going
to be a race driver? This is still but it
paid off. I mean for you it worked. It worked.
(09:06):
But I don't tell the kids that I talked to
to quit school for any reason to quit either. See
I'm proud to say that I was to seventy kids
of my graduating class. So I almost quit, but I
went ahead and finished up just third from lass. So
from I I just I just didn't. So I I
(09:31):
just quit school. I mean the only thing I did
was English and autumn mechanics in the wrestling team, so
no reason to keep doing that. The girls always did
my English for me. Some girl did it, you know.
I mean I didn't do anything in school. My autumn
kanics teacher. I mean, I knew so much more about
(09:52):
the cars than he did. He'd give me thirty five
cents to go down and go to the movie during
his time that he has me the Auto the Candy's Glass,
Yeah get lost. You know, well, I just walking little
ways down to the first year or you know, so
go and watch a movie. You know, folks wouldn't give
me thirty five cents the Duck school, but the teacher would.
(10:16):
You know, that sounds to me they were forcing you out,
so we'll go with that. So all right. Then I
started expanding my racing because I go to Phoenix every
once in a while. And then a little bit later
I got to go into California. What was the track
in Phoenix at the time, The half mild dirt, that's
(10:37):
all I ran, And and a couple of other tracks
South Mountain, a few other track Tucson, Tucson, and just
all the tracks ra and Phoenix was kind of a
boom place for racing in those days. They had a
lot of good race drivers came out of there in
some good cars basically uh C r A cars. You know.
(11:00):
It was Arizona man Zonita, that was it. Yeah, he
had a pretty good memory RCO. I remember a couple
of things and a good friend of mine ran man Zanita,
Keith uh whatever and and we were good friends. But
it didn't make it. It wasn't a political deal. It
(11:21):
was racing, and Phoenix had a lot of good race fans.
So that's where I'd go a lot more than any place.
But then I got to where I was going to
l a call it Compton, California ascot famous ascots every weekend, Sagaginion.
He was one of my really really close friends. You
(11:43):
know that guy. Oh he did a bunch. I mean,
I have one Pike speak one year. I gotta tell
you about this real quick. And it was a good
payday year, in other words, really made some money. And
it was my own car, so soon it got went home,
got my bills paid. Very few times did I ever
(12:04):
charge anything that I couldn't pay for, but with a
race car, I just couldn't afford all that at one time.
So I got to Magneto on the wheels from Halebran
and got all that stuff from somebody. Now I gotta
pay it. Well, it was a good pay year at
Pike's Beacon. I want it. And so I went to
work and uh got home and and paid the bills,
(12:28):
bought an airplane thirty three hundred bucks. That's all the
money I had left, thirty three hundred bucks for an
airplane because I had to go to California every weekend
and that yeah, yeah, and I didn't have a license,
so but I bought the airplane and I and I really,
(12:48):
really really I don't know how I could afford it,
because that was all the money that was left. But
I'd go to California and get to give me a
hundred and fifty bucks sometimes a couple of hundred bucks
for being there. And and who had it had it
in the business. Parnelli Jones, he had a he had
(13:08):
a flying club. His chief mechanic, Johnny Paulson ran the
ran the flying deal. Of course, not when they're racing
back here in the summer. But Paulson took the liking
to me. One day, I'm going out there in my airplane.
I land there at Compton, and Paulson says, now give
me the key to that airplane. Paulson was kind of
(13:30):
a strong, force, forceful guy, but a nice man. Arms
big as my legs, you know, big as yours, Rico,
and Polson said, leave that airplane. Air on my airplane.
I poured the oil in the top and I tried
to flyat while it was running out the bottom. You
don't get some plan. I really it was worn out,
(13:52):
you know. And Pulson got tired of me doing this,
and and so he just said leave the plane here
and get you playing home. It was Texas International or
something before Southwest. So I got that home. I thought, Wow,
he's going to try to stop them oil leagues for sure.
Well the engel was worn out and jump, you know,
(14:14):
so he took the whole thing out. The crankshaft was cracked,
the case was cracked, I mean, everything was junk. And
that Pulson fixed that whole thing up for me. And
he knew I didn't have any money, and so he
didn't charge me any money. He saved your life. Oh,
I tell you what, I'm flying that thing at night
half the time too. I mean talked about being in
(14:37):
no license, you know then or was ironically I didn't
meet him then. I didn't read Parnelli until Pike's beak.
Now he had seen me run some sprint cars, because
he was already what the golden haired boy in the
whole United States of America in racing. He was already
(14:58):
young allege and and and I like it. It was
look Google ided the guy, you know and and uh,
but but I didn't have a chance to meet him.
And yet he's Haga Jane Ians number one hit man,
if you want to call it that or is driver,
and I mean that was just the way it was.
And so he was probably one of the smartest of
(15:20):
I mean I mean one of not the smartest, where
there's a lot of you guys are very smart with
the way you did things. Uh, but with his investments
and all the property in California, Haga JANEI in Yeah,
I mean they owned the whole side. Yeah, I mean crazy,
crazy money. I'm amazed that you bought an airplane. About
(15:42):
about what age were you in your career when when
you went up and bought an airplane, And I mean
if you buy an airplane, now that's a pretty big deal.
Wasn't an airplane. I'm gonna tell you what. It wasn't
big whether you're gonna walk or ride with me, you know,
I mean where people like Bobby didn't even graduate from
high school and now he just bought an airplane. Well,
(16:04):
and again, this wasn't much of a plane, but it
would fly holding too. I mean I didn't know about
whether I couldn't fly bad weather, and if I run
into clouds somewhere, I just land on a little dirt
road somewhere, wait till it blows over and freak it up.
And go again. But somehow another. I always got to
(16:25):
the racetrack. That always on a Saturday night probably, and
I had to be home. And remember it was taking
me eighteen hours to drive out there, and and it
was all open range. That means the Indian didn't have
any fences. And I gotta go to all that country
with the sheep and the cows on the road, and
(16:47):
I mean, and if you hit one, you gotta pay
for it, and you gotta do it on the spot.
I don't have that much money. I can't do that.
It was cheaper to buy an airplane than hit a cow,
absolutely absolutely, And so what was it to fly? How
abuch how far to uh fly? Time to get there? Well,
I could make I had to make one stop Prescott, Arizona.
(17:09):
So so it takes me seven hours and tho the
way that could fly it in seven hours eighteen hours
to drive. So that's pretty easy. That was that's even
worth risking your life, apparently, And like all the racing,
all the hundreds of miles an hour on a track
was not the most dangerous thing you've done. It's flying
an airplane that we had some trying times and went now,
(17:36):
my you know, I got married here and there, you know.
And and so I make a little money here and there,
you know. I endorsement banners started being fairly good. And
long story short, One day I go over to the
airport and the guy that owns the airport, Mr Cutter,
Big company, right. Mr Cutter and my dad were really
(17:58):
good friends. He knew that my dad didn't have a
lot of money because some of the airport was on
my father's property. And they don't ever talk about it.
They just do it just the way it was. And
so I go over to the airport one day to
get my little thing and go someplace. And Mr Cutters
standing there and and he says, Bobby, give me the
(18:20):
keys to that He hated Sessilist because he was a
Beechcraft deal and and so he says, give me the
key to that airplane the oars out there, and said
under a tree out there, get a little shade, you know.
And so I don't know why he wants that. That's strange,
but I mean Mr Cutter's big man, you know. So
I give him the key to my plane, and he
(18:41):
gives me a key to another plane. He says that
this is your airplane. That one is mine now, and
I says, and he's given me a bonanza. This is
too high on the pecking order. This doesn't make it.
I have no money, no other words, God, I have
no way to pay for that. And so I told
(19:03):
Mr Cutter, I says, Chacutter, I have I have no money,
I says. People might think I'm rich, but I'm telling
you I'm plenty poor. I don't have any money. But
but he says, and he was probably right, I'm going
to get myself killed if I keep flying in that
airplane because he knows I don't have a license, he
knows I shouldn't be up in the sky. He knows
(19:27):
all these things. So I said, okay, I says, well,
he said, don't worry about it. I got somebody's gonna
check you out right now. So he puts his one
of his palace says, go show Bobby how to fly
this airplane. I got a bonanza. Now I can make
California without stopping at Prescott. In other words, Albuquerque straight
(19:50):
to Compton, California, with no stops in between. Now I'm
really big shot. How quick? Oh I think that one
was taking me about I'll be five hours. Yeah, yeah,
that's like setting the world record, right, Yeah, to basically
(20:13):
l A. Wow, that was a good deal. I mean
l A has always got bad. Remember in those days,
you couldn't see anywhere. You start going down into the
valley and it smells so bad you thought, I think
that you're gonna die before you get there. You're safe.
(20:34):
You can't see. You cannot see an airport five miles
down the road. I don't see it till I get
to miles. You can't see out there. It is that
way all the time. So here I am becoming an
i FR pilot because they still can't see where I'm going,
you know, And so I fly that thing. Of course,
they just never get shut off to fly five flight
(20:56):
race track and race track, race track back home. And
I had a girl je I was running those days too.
So Simpson had assessment of some sorts. I don't know
what it was. He was telling the story that well, no,
he was telling this is some plane that he had
down in Mexico. And he said, you know, I didn't
want to mess with A anymore. And he said, I
(21:16):
gave it to the to the guys at the airport
that always takes care of my stuff, and you know
there's something older. He was probably putting around in down
there or something, you know. And he said, you know,
I gave it to him like two or three years ago.
And he said, uh, he said, I went to him,
He said, how long has it been since you, uh
did the you know, the rebuild on that. They said, well, hell,
(21:40):
we haven't rebuilt that. These things have been running great,
just been flying. They've just been flying it. Never had
it rebuild. I got I got one stolen down Mexico.
I have a house down there, yeah, and still do now.
And and I jest been out in California and I
(22:01):
had a stole plane, you know, short takeoff and landing plane,
because I kind of burned out on the better planes,
flying too much. And so I go out to California.
I get a new engine, put in it, new tires on,
new brakes, new annual, done to it, all fixed up nice.
(22:23):
Flew it from there to Albuquerque, just loaded it up
with all my stuff, headed to Mexico. And when I
got down to Mexican, and I remember, I've got a
sixty five dollar bill that I haven't paid yet. Okay.
In other words, I just left California. I have an
open account with a guy anyway, he's a real close friend.
(22:43):
And I and I go to Mexico and the plane's gone.
The drunker stole it. And I hadn't even checked the
oil the first time on that brand new age down there,
and they says they stole my plane. Wow. Yeah, And
I got I got one of the head guys from
(23:05):
Volkswagen of America and his wife down there with me.
Is my guests, right? And no plan? No, I got
two cats. I don't have a wife. Then I got
two cats and those two people with me and no
airplane to take him home. So we're so, so you're
racing open well, you're doing the sprint car stuff. And
(23:28):
then how does Pike's peak come along? Well, Pike speak,
But of course would be every year for me, it
would have been for parn Alley. But but remember what
I said, he was the golden haired guy in the
whole country. So for what was he running at the
time he was here? Stock car division? Yeah, he had
just had one here yet here yet not yet had
(23:53):
one yet, yeah, and and and so he's driving for
Ford Motor Company in the stock car division. And but
it's Mercury. I always thought Ford and Mercury same, you know,
That's what I always thought. But but it wasn't so
so with Mercury is a big deal, and they hired Parnelly,
and and the thing that was really neat about that
(24:15):
whole deal, as soon as we saw each other, we
liked each other. In other words, we became friends so
fast it was just un be leavable. And and we
were together every day because I didn't have to worry
about Parnelly. He's not running I'm running race cars. He's
running stock cars. I already know he's probably the best
(24:38):
driver in the whole friend world. But Pike speaks my
cup of tea, you know, And so I can show
him and teach him everything I know at Pike speak,
which I've never done for anybody else except my own family.
And and so we were together every day doing our
practice in a passenger car, you know, and just and
(25:02):
I just show him all my little secrets and all
my little shortcuts. And through all of this we became
better friends and better friends and better friends, and it
just unbelievable. And then one day, just casually, he's talking
to me and he says he'd already been coming back
here you could see the bombs are about ready to
(25:22):
go off for PARTNELLI Jones say, agaganean. I mean there's
two really big deals, you know. And and so he
says you have to come back and and come to Indianapolis.
And he says, no, you know, I wasn't too sure
I wanted to do that. I I I didn't think
I was good enough to come to Indianapolis. And I
(25:43):
totally felt that way. You know, you don't have to
beg Bobby answer, because it was a freaking racetrack somewhere.
I'd go to it. There was any kind of a
race car, I wanted to run it. But this place
was too big for me. I mean, I wasn't my
head wasn't ready. I don't think I was ready with
my driving skills, but Parnelli thought I was. Now, isn't
(26:05):
that weird? In other words, here's a guy that just
freaking wins everything that he ever runs, and and he
thinks that Bobby answer, how to come back here? Son
four at the time, who was partner? I mean off
of the pecking order again, you know, and and so
(26:27):
and make a long story short, I just dropped the subject.
I really didn't want to talk about it anymore. It
wasn't part of what I wanted to do. And I
needed to go run a lot of print car races. Man,
I got, I can. I can drive somewhere every every week.
I can. I'm busy, you know, major races, a lot
of stuff to do. And I enjoyed that and and
(26:50):
and it did pretty good at it. But then I
get home and then the phone rings again. Parnell, he's
on the phone. He's all right, I got your car
to drive, take your driver's test in I said, Holy Macrol,
just getting too serious. This kid is not part of
(27:12):
come on, get the Indianapolis. I can't believe it. I
think this is just not my cup of tea. I'm
not I'm not ready to do this, and and and
it gets really embarrassing after that, because then somebody in Albuquerque.
Here's about now. In Albuquerque, I was already a legend
because the Lord only knows that won everything for I mean,
(27:35):
is a sixteen year old. I won the whole Southwest
Championship in the super Modified. So I was like a
child star. And all I know is it seems like
it's pretty easy, and I'm having a ball. That's the reason,
like with school, and I mean no, I mean they
forced you out. They forced me out. Well, you know
(27:57):
what would happen, Rico, that would embarrass it's so bad,
go to school Monday morning. My English was a real
pretty English teacher. I could remember that, and she'd make
me stand up in front of the class and she'd
read the newspaper articles. I'm Bobby just winning the races
that weekend, and that used to embarrassed me so bad.
(28:19):
I just said, the heck with it. I'm not going
to stand. This institution is not for me. Forced me out.
And so then that part, now he has got to
figure it out. I'm gonna come to Indianapolis and and
I really am afraid. So now, and what how old
were you then? Was probably probably around one something like that.
(28:45):
I would legal overord legal age. I'd like about my
age all my life. Every day at Albuquerque. I'm gonna
show you I did the motor about what I did
the Mexican road race when I was seventeen years old
the first year and on the on my illegal driver's
license that I had to get triple a license says
I'm twenty eight. Well that was a big lie. You know,
(29:08):
I never usually didn't lie that much, you know, stretched
throughout that hold you tell people you are right now.
I'm eighty four now. If Parnelly Jones hadn't pushed you
to come to Indianapolis, how and you were about never come,
(29:30):
you never would have I would have never come. Unbelievable.
I mean, I had my heroes it Indianapolis. Tony Bennhausen,
he was one of my big heroes. He would stop
by Alpha quick. We had had a garage to cars,
tow trucks and gas station, and I mean every year
(29:50):
he'd buy a new Cadillac every year. And I knew
he and his wife. For some reason, I'm read there
to remember, I'm a young kid, but I'm literally winning
everything in our state and there I'd already become a
legendacy as a young kid. And it didn't get to
my head because I still had no money, you know,
(30:10):
didn't get any money for for racing either. Did it
all for nothing? I bought one thirty thirty rifle because
it's really into deer hunting. That was my total racing
for probably my first four and five years. And and
and that was all right. The money you made got
you up and down the road went to the went
to the race car. Yeah, but I want all the races.
(30:33):
So it was a good car. And it was my
dad's car, and he didn't have the money to have
extra nice stuff. We had to be we built everything.
So was so did your so did your dad get
into it? As you started becoming more and more successful,
he had to be proud, right, Oh yeah, because I mean,
I mean and and my uncle had won pikes Peak,
(30:55):
Uncle Louis he had won at nine times. Now, Uncle Joe.
That's three of them. There was my dad, Jerry, then
Uncle Joe and Uncle Louis. They were all three at
one time for the Coleman C. O. L. E. M.
A and Truck in Denver, Colorado. And they what they
make it basically snow plows, four wheel or front wheel drives,
(31:20):
and so they were they built an IndyCar and just
to come to Indianapolis and they were going to have
three of them and the three boys were gonna come
back and Uncle Joe got killed on the highway when
they tested the car. They didn't have much pavement in
those days. It's hard to imagine today because we don't
have much nerd anymore. It's all paved. But in those
(31:42):
days they had the way around. So uncle Joe is
out on on the on a paved road just south
of Denver, and the car jumped off for some reason
and got himself killed. And it was only recently, all
of these years, hundred years goes by whatever. Some elderly guy,
(32:04):
really nice historical organization Albuquerque came up with newspaper clippings
that went back to nineteen and there was absolute newspaper
artic called the original where when Uncle Joe got killed
exactly where on the highway, and and we thought he
(32:26):
died on the highway, okay, but I didn't even know
what year it was. I wasn't too sure about the year.
And and so the year now came to be for
sure because my folks were both gone by then. Okay,
so a little mixed up. So there it is in
the newspaper clipping the year the exact place thought, and
(32:49):
he actually died in the hospital. We didn't know that
jumped off the road, and they that's all in the newspaper.
I mean, it can't be. These articles went back so far.
I couldn't believe it. And so it was like it
was like, really found out history, you know, and when
(33:10):
they put the first motorcycle sidecar and sidecar on the
top of Pike's Peak in history. Now there is an
article on that. What the time they left in the morning, Rico,
the time they got to Glencove's the halfway place, and
the time they got to the top, and the time
(33:32):
they got back down to the bottom. And they told
about they tore up their tires because they couldn't keep
it from going down fast, lock up the brakes there
at the tires type of fall in the newspaper. I
just couldn't believe it. I saw the picture or a
video of you on YouTube or something of running Pike's Peak,
(33:54):
and you know, I've I've I've been around racing all
my wife. I love it. It's a passion. Uh. You know,
there's there's some real genuine people in racing. You know,
for the most part, they can't be genuine assholes are
genuine great people, but they are genuine people one way
or the other. But you know, uh, we we sponsor
(34:16):
a great deal of people in the open wheels, Sprint, Midget,
silver Crown. You sacked ranks if you will, and you know,
watching them in the turns, you know, just you know,
in the tire developments that they you know that Hoosier
has come up with, you know, and uh and so forth.
You know, but it's crazy looking at that picture of
(34:37):
you going up or watching that video of you going
up Pike's Peak and you are completely crossed up coming
through one of the turns and got tires on that
are that that are smaller than you'd have on your
car today. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and uh and I
mean it was just you know, you uh, Unfortunately, there's
(35:02):
a lot, there's there's a few that are spoiled in
this business these days and that they like to bitch
and complain about, you know, everything to do about this
and that, and you know what, you have zero idea
who paved the way for this, and you need to
you need to take a little refresher course on folks
like you, Folks like a j you know, big al
(35:25):
uh and and you know Steve Rutherford. I mean, you know,
the list goes on and on and on of the
folks that went through. I mean it was you guys
were like test pilots. It wasn't like, hey, get in this,
this thing is super safe. Let's get in it, and
I hope we see after the race is over it,
you know. And uh and uh you know Rick Mire
(35:46):
as if it wasn't for uh, you know, Terry Trammell
putting him back together again, took the whole nose of
the car and crushed its feet. And uh so I
mean it's just but it's all of these developments that
have happened along the way that have made it better
that it made it safer. We were talking about Bill Simpson,
Uh the other day when you were at the shop,
(36:08):
you know, Uh, something would happen, Bill would try to
find a solution for it. He wouldn't try He would
find a solution for it. That guy is. I know
sometimes we're get mad at him and we want we
want to kill him, no doubt about that, I know it.
But he's done more to save lives it all of
(36:30):
motor racing than any single person that I can think of.
Before him, there was nothing. In other words, my brother
died right here because of burns. Today, if if he'd
have on a stuff that Simpson pioneered, pioneer that's a
better word, Jared's, it wouldn't even be a hiccuff fish
(36:53):
right now. If that's what would happen. I mean, I
mean today, they just wouldn't even pay that much attention
to it. Okay, they have a few scars from the
burns and everything, but I don't even know if you
have that anymore, you know, as as good as they've
got it, you know. And but Bill, the way Bill started,
you know, he told me the story and and I was, uh,
(37:16):
you know, Bobby and I were talking about it. Bill says,
you know, I got started in the safety business. I said, no,
I have no idea. And of course I love it.
I want to hear this stuff, you know, this is
this is awesome stuff. And he said, well, I was
seventeen years old. I think he said seventeen. He said,
I was seventeen years old. And uh, he goes. We
were testing out this parachute. I said, yeah, he goes, yeah,
(37:39):
and he goes, he goes. I had my station wagon
and we had the back window rolled down in the
station wagon and in the parachute hooked onto the onto
the back of it, and we were throwing it out
of the back of the car to see if it
would catch the car and slow it down. I said, well,
how the hell did you come I mean, where did
that come from? He said, well, you know, a parachute
(37:59):
the air, And I mean, he's got an unbelieva That's
what we were talking about the other day. A beautiful mind.
I mean, the way he would think of things like that.
So anyhow, he's talking about that, and he goes, he goes, so,
so I start, you know, in him and perd home.
We're childhood friends and grew up together. So here you
got the snake and Simpson, right, which is quite the
(38:20):
duel in itself. And uh, and he's talking about it
and he goes, yeah, you know who my first customer
ever was? He said, first big test for I said, no,
who's that? I mean? And I can relate to this
because you know what, our first ever big customer was Walmart?
You know, and when they called I thought it was
a joke, nothing nothing different. I thought it was somebody
(38:41):
jacking with me. I really did, you know, And nothing
different than what Simpson went through. And you know, he
gets his phone call. This guy says, uh, are you
the guy's making those parachutes? And he says, well, yeah,
he says, I want three of them. He said, well
you want three of them? He said, yes, I want
three of them. I mean, hell, everybody could hardly have
four to buy one a three? Right, he says, send me.
(39:03):
He goes, He goes, I want three of them. He goes, well, how,
and he goes, where are you? He said, well, I'm
in Lincoln, Nebraska. He said, well, how the hell am
I gonna get him there? I'm in California. And he says,
go down to the Grayhouse station. Now keep in mind,
there was no ups, there was no fat ax. That's
what you got to remember. The mail did not carry parcels.
(39:24):
The mail carried mail. Okay. Uh So he said, go
down to the Grayhound station. He said, put it on
this Greyhound bus and tell it needs to be at
the Lincoln, Nebraska stop and they'll get it to me.
So this thing goes through a series of of buses
(39:45):
to get there. Well, Bill says, okay. He goes, well,
how am I gonna get paid? He says, I guess
I'll send you a check if you send me a bill. Right,
you know, it's like you know, I'm gonna go I
go to races and somebody just give me the money.
I give one, right, and uh So, anyhow it turns
out to be a gentleman by the name of Speedy Bill,
(40:06):
and Speedy Bill owned Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Nebraska. It
is I would have to assume as the largest in
the world in in that you don't have to assume that, father,
because they are the largest in the world. And the
catalog racing pieces they make everything and they've got to
(40:29):
use them there. So this is what we got got
is talking about. It was kind of tied it all
together what we were talking about. They have a museum
there in this museum has been curated by Speedy Bill
from all of the years. Right, he has the original
race shop of help me out who it is the
(40:50):
any card? Did we figure out who that was? What
was it Shaw or somebody? The original race shop they
took out and built back in s I didn't know.
I didn't know Speedy Bill or any of the kids
at the time. Yeah, And in other words, it's another
story how I met him. Yeah, So so anyhow, I
(41:10):
don't remember where who this was. But Bill bought all
this stuff when they were going to sell off this
old any car shop, you know it would be you know,
it would be much like and I'm losing my thought here,
on who it is. I'll think of it a minute,
but one of the local guys here, you know, that
built the old cars and stuff like that. Well, anyhow,
(41:32):
so Bill's walking us through there and I'm with Forrest Lucas.
Now we've flown in from Topeka or a Brainer and
I can't remember which one it was, but we went
to We went there, and Speedy pulls up at the
airport and he's in this old old Cadillac limo. Now,
(41:52):
Speedy Bill wore a campaign hat all the time, like
you know, tilted tilt yellow and his whole life and
yellow glasses his whole life. That was him. That was this.
You never had a wonder who that guy was. That
was Speedy. Okay. Anyhow, he pulls up there and his
(42:14):
son is driving the limo. Now, let me make it clear.
They had enough money that they could have They could
have sent anybody anything that they wanted to pick us up.
But it was built and one of his boys that
runs the company for him at the time, it still
does at that at that but they're picking us up.
(42:36):
So then Forrest, myself, Forest and Morgan Lucas get in
the get in the limo, and Speedy starts. He starts going,
and he walks us through this museum. He's got the
largest pedal car collection in the world, in the world,
and I'm telling you, they all look brand new. It's ridiculous,
(42:57):
the old metal pedal cars. Uh. I would venture to say,
there's five million plus dollars worth of pedal cars in
that museum. And uh he's got a Mercedes Indy car
engine that that absolutely Roger Pinsky doesn't even have one
of these engines. Okay, it's theoretically you can't get one.
(43:21):
They're like government, you know, it's like Chevy engine or Honda.
You can't get one of these engines. They will not
give you one of these engines. They're afraid somebody would
take it reverse engineering and steal some of their proprietary information.
So anyhow, he's going, he's going on and on and
on and for start going back to the airport. He says,
he says to me, he goes. He says, he's proud
(43:46):
of himself at me. I said it forest as a jokester,
you know, he's joking around. I said, I said that
dude has done it. Man, he has done it because
he was the one. He was the first one I
ever knew to tell me about. I used to ship,
he said. I used to show up the Greyhound station
with small block or short blocks, fly them on the
(44:06):
belly pan. He sent in a lazy ass. Uh, bus
drivers just sat there watching me out the window. I'd
be raining like hell, and I'm you know what I mean,
he's and he was a great storyteller. Unfortunately, his wife
passed and he passed shortly thereafter. But uh, you know
it's it's people like him, people like you know, Simpson Body,
(44:30):
the people that have made this business what it is today.
They had this, you know, this exciting thing what it
is today. And that's a lot of times people don't
get where it comes from, how it got here. I mean,
it just didn't show up on the front doorstep, all right.
There was a lot of people. Unfortunately, his brother, you know, perished,
(44:50):
you know, Dale Senior perished. You know, there's a lot
of people that have given their lives for this, you know,
to to make it what it is today. So but
remember one day Speedy Bell again, my my youngest son,
Robbie needed to progress up. You know, we did the
god cards and then the late model dirt track stocks
(45:13):
and and want all of them. And and all of
a sudden I had heard that Speedway Motors, Speedway Bell
is interested in. They're gonna start a new series. Take
the old Indy cars, put chevallet engines in them and
raise them. Now that one made a lot of sense.
(45:35):
No more expensive engines, well expensive but not that bad.
Or they naturally aspirated? Is that just totally norm the
asperate you know, let's print car engines come on all,
I think, I don't know. I think we limited them,
or they did to three fifty I think not. It
(45:56):
really makes sense now, the old Indy cars you could
buy for almost nothing in those days. You know how
times change. Today you couldn't, But in those days you could.
You know, you could five thousand bucks that buy almost
any any car that's a transmission. The trendy cost more
than that, you know, any right, So I put my
(46:19):
young son in my airplane there one day and we
flew all the way to Lincoln. Now, naturally I had
seen Speedy Bill because I worked the hot rod shows.
If you want to call him, but I didn't, you know,
I didn't have to do that. And and and there
was no reason to know him because come on, he
raised Brent cars. That's all, you know, nothing past that.
(46:42):
So so I needed to go to work and meet
this man and I and I needed to talk to
him because a museum is gonna come up in Albuquerque.
So when my brother has so you gotta learn. Now,
here's a smart man. Here's a really smart bid this man.
So I flew all the way to Lincoln, Nebraska, met
(47:04):
that man and ask him in detail, how are we
going to do a museum? And the biggest problem is
what are you gonna do with it when you die?
I know I'm not trying to start a morbid conversation here,
but but it's real. Nobody's gonna make it forever. So
(47:25):
my interest is what are you gonna do when you die?
What are you gonna do with all of this? Got
a lot of money, okay, but his museum, Now that's
what I'm interested in. Museum. Just like he says, millions
of dollars these little cars, I can't believe it. How
about the engines he's got? I mean, I mean, he's
got a fortune there. Remember the hot Wheels car that
(47:46):
had the German helmet on it? He has that car,
the car I mean, so I mean, so I flew
all the way to Lincoln just to meet not to
meet Speedy Bell. But he knows who I am. He'll
he'll be honest with me. I already know that. And
so I have a conversation with him. What are you
(48:07):
gonna do now you die? What are you gonna do? What? What?
The kids are all gonna fight over your money? I
hated to do it, but I got into into the
into the hard to talk, you know, and that man
had an answer for the whole freaking thing. I mean,
I couldn't believe it. I mean, and he bit them
answers out faster than I could ask the questions. And
(48:29):
what it is. It's the Smithsonian. He teamed up with
the Smithsonian in Washington. So in other words, hey, there's nobody,
no relatives, no no, I promised, none of that stuff
will overcome the Smithsonian. So the day he died, that's
(48:49):
who became the technical boss. Like it or not, they
are the boss. Now the kids are on it. Oh,
I mean, so now I have the answer, you know,
I mean I did. I would have never thought of
that because because you were thinking, you guys were thinking
about doing it. Yeah, we were already already into thinking
(49:13):
about it. But but you're not there, and you don't
know what to do, do you. You know, Al's got
what he's got. You got two daughters he starts out with,
and the sun. Well the two daughters die, Okay, so
now he's got his son left, and so what's he
going to do with his I mean, he's not a
poor man anymore, so what's he going to do the
(49:33):
same thing. You got to learn this stuff, and you
don't learn it by talking to the poorest people. Go
talk to the ones that really made a couple of
stuff exactly. And that's how I that's how I started
Speedie Bell. Of course they ended up with Carson is
one of his kids, and he and Robbie hooked up
(49:55):
into racing together and I'd help him do Pike speak
cars and stuff like that. But it it was ended
up being a real fun deal. And Robbie still works
there today. You said he shows up right, or does
it shows up? Well, no, I didn't see it, but
I know he's the one word that's late the other day.
(50:16):
But they're they're a great family and and and you know, um,
I of course have got to know you, and I've
got to know your wife, and uh, it was it
was pretty It's pretty awesome. The other day, I was
I was in Arkansas for a meeting, uh with with Walmart,
and uh, Lisa's texting me, Hey, we want to make
(50:39):
sure we see you, want to make sure we see you.
And I'm just sitting around killing time because we we
had a later meeting that day. Exhume me just second.
Yeah you can't remember now. He's already sent me a
fair amount of glasses, hasn't charged me a penny for it.
I did try to paint, but yeah, not charging that
ain't gonna happen. He's got a forward. I had to
(51:02):
come and say hi to it. No matter what you're like,
I'd rather buy the glasses so I don't have to
say hi to Recae that's you at But anyhow, but
the next thing, you know, my phone rings and it's
an Albuquerque number and I'm like hello. He says, hey,
it's Bobby. I said, what are you doing? And then
we just start talking and he says, I want to
(51:23):
make sure we get together. I said, well, I'll be
back on I'll be back in the office Wednesday. I said,
I'm out Monday, Tuesday, and head. Well, I want to
make sure I get together. I said, Well, yeah, I
said Lisa, and I, I guess, said, well, she didn't
tell me that we're meeting with you. Yeah, only the boss.
Sometimes they forget to tell me. Yeah. So anyhow, I
(51:47):
know you have some things to finish up, and maybe
we can get together and talk again when you get
here for the Vintage Car Race which is coming up
here in a couple of months. And that's the fun time.
Recall that is that is now one of our fun times.
I should yeah, we may. We make it fun no
matter what. So that's the that's the best part. But
(52:08):
thank you for being a friend and uh and uh
your support with our products and anything we can ever
do for you or if we're here. You got the
good stuff because you got your head. That's where the
good stuff comes from, you know, that's where it is.
It's like we talked about Simpson. It's all the same way.
If there isn't a leader, it doesn't happen. So I
(52:32):
got the leader. I found him and that's the commercial again.
But anyhow, so we'll wrap it up, Adam all right, Well,
three time in champion, Bobby Yunzer, thank you so much
for stopping by the Fathead Suite and being a guest
on The Skinny with Rico and I'm Adam Riss. Thank
you so much for joining us, Thanks for listening, and
(52:55):
be sure to check back off and for more of
the Skinny with Rico Elmore, founder and CEO of Fatheads,
I Wear the Skinny available now on iTunes and Rico
Elmore dot com.
You're listening to the Skinny with Rico Elmore presented by
fat Heads I Wear and Welcome to the Skinny with
your host Rico Elmore on your co host Adam Ritz.
We are coming to you live from the fat Head
Suite on the turn two of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
with special guest and Indie five legend Bobby Unser. Hi, Bobby,
(00:26):
nice to be here. Thank you. So fifty years past
winning here. I watched a little bit of the thing
that you did with Dave first. Very cool, very cool.
Could you relive a little bit of that and what
was going on that day when you ran well fifty
years Jesus number one. Doug, the big boss here, gives
(00:50):
me a call. Now, he never calls me. I call
him when I'm hustling something. You know what It's like, Rico,
I called Doug and and he'll always figure out a
way to get back to me or answer the phone whatever.
So he calls me one morning, and I thought that's
a little strange, you know, I mean, he wants something
(01:14):
like me. And and so he says, I want you
to do the parade. I says, man, guys, I don't
do those parades. I did him for years. You know.
It's that's enough, you know. I mean I don't particularly
like the parades. I guess, so, he says, Bobby, he says,
do you realize you've been here? This is your fiftieth
(01:36):
year since you won your first race here? Well, there,
I am really quick. Take him my pin out. I'm
on my desk. I'm adding and subtracting because I can't
do it in my head, like you can't. Rico can
do that. Some people can't. I can't. So there, I said, Man,
treaty been fifty years. How could there be fifty years?
(01:59):
And so I said, Doug number one, if you really
want it done, I'll always do it for you. That's good.
I mean that's your standard number. Two fifty years, I says.
I didn't think I've been been there that long. I
mean fifty years a long time. So, and I didn't
(02:19):
believe until I figured it out on my paper there,
you know, So, I says, yeah, I was coming back anyway,
but I wasn't going to do the parade anyway. And
I'll tell you we got more happy people in the parade.
I mean, talk about a turn on. My wife is
there and I brought my two daughters back this year,
and and they just liked it so much. In other words,
(02:42):
it was just a totally different deal. So told Doug,
I says, they need to be on the trailer. And
then we got Dave Shaw. Dave Shaw of all the guys,
he was the number two men until last year around
the speedway here and he quit and went to the airport.
Run the airport now. And that's all fine because Dave,
it's one of my best friends, you know. And so
(03:06):
Doug calls Dave up. That's the big boss calling what
used to be the second big boss, and he says,
Bobby's going to do the parade. I need some help.
And so Dave Shaw and one of my best friends
that I have. So he's thinking what does he need
for Bobby, And so he told him. He says, we
(03:27):
need Bobby to be in the parade, and we need
you to make sure that it all goes well. The
float gets built, they're gonna be able to float for us,
which they did is pretty nice float. And and we
just had a freaking ball. Like two daughters went with
me and my wife went with me, and they were
up there taking around on the thing and waving at
the people. And I mean the thing ends up being fun,
(03:52):
not like the old deals, old days, because Mario and
I used to go and in getting the back of
the convertibles, like now we go orange twins this year,
that's so weir. This way, it was really fun because
we had a whole flow, had the people on both sides,
and they were really I mean, I had a lot
of fans out there. Oh you're a fan favorite for sure,
(04:13):
and the answer, I mean, yeah, and you know when
you win. Uh, if they would have said, uh, in
fifty years, you're gonna have your own floats in the
five parade, what would you have said fifty years ago?
I wouldn't have believe I'd be here fifty years. Who
had ever thought the last this long, second largest parade
next to the Macy Stay Parade? Can you believe that?
(04:36):
And this is I mean Indianapolis up next to New
York City, and and I didn't remember that. It's been
so long since I've been in the parade. And and
so when when Doug calls telling me these same numbers,
and I said, uh, well, line who was big? And
I used to go in it every year, but I
(04:57):
just quit going to it, you know, so you get
started in racing, how does it start? I know about
and I want to talk about Pike's Peak because anybody
had drive that course. I was watching some stuff on
it after we were talking. Of course, you know know
about the modern day Pike's Peak and quite like what
it was then. So they can wreck anything. Just give
(05:21):
it to the people, rico and they give it. Don't
worry about So did you Where did you start at racing?
What was your original? Albuquerque, New Mexico? And uh, I
was fifteen years old, and uh they were all grown
ups that we were running against, and it was the origin.
Hot Rod Magazine did a study on this many years ago.
(05:44):
But the the whole answer was is super modified racing
started in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Then it went, of course
to Phoenix and Tucson and wherever have you. You know, Colorado.
Unbelievably fast car, Yeah, crazy fast. And just a little
fact for you, this Sweet before we bought it was
(06:06):
hot Rod magazine. Sweet. Oh, this was they used to
look over on that door over there, the sliding door.
You can see where we peeled the letters off. Hot Rod.
Hot Rod Magazine used to sponsor my older brother, Jerry,
who got killed here in and in hot Rod magazine,
(06:30):
they all of a sudden because of Jerry and Ray Brock.
It's the guy's name. It's going back a long time.
But at any rate, they just sponsored my brother and
most everything he did. So I'll bet you that's the
reason they had this sweet back. Now. I'm sure, I'm sure,
but it's so funny when we first bought it the
first year, which is this goes back five or six. Now,
(06:54):
Linda Vaughan's walking down through here. She had been down
at Bill Simpson's, you know, and she's getting down there here.
She said, Hey, Rico, are you in the hot Rod sweet?
I said, well, it was hot Rod, honey. Now it's
hard and she says, she said, oh, so they're not here.
I said, you're always welcome, but they're not here anymore.
(07:14):
She's welcome everywhere, Swedish girl, freaking racing Rico as long
as I have you. So so, so I go to
a thing at Prime forty seven, my buddy's restaurant downtown
and uh it was something to do with Mario, and
uh Mario was a guest of honor and she was
(07:35):
she was the host. I think or something like that.
And Linda's up there and she says, and I'm sure
that this is why she said it. You know how
hungry she is sometimes with the you know, the things
she says. She says, she says, and and and she
was off mike and then she said, let let me
have that mike again. She grabs the mic and she says,
(07:56):
I just want everybody to know that I have never
been actually harassed in the automotive racing business. And I thought, okay,
So so I thought to myself, so how many of
you harassed? That was better? And that was there like that.
That's why its sad, because he's always jack with people,
you know, having again Sunday. It's got to be our turn.
(08:18):
You know, I'm talking about the mail. That's all right,
that's all right. So uh but anyhow, so super modified
as the start. So it's you and who is it?
You know? There there was three brothers that were going.
Now was too young then? Yeah, I mean we were
too young, but you know in those days, the the
laws everything, drinking, everything was twenty one. But you know,
(08:42):
they really didn't care. In Albuquerque, the fans loved this.
In other words, I I was going to to school
at the time, which I didn't do very long. In
other words, as soon as I started racing, I thought,
what the heck would I go to school for going
to be a race driver? This is still but it
paid off. I mean for you it worked. It worked.
(09:06):
But I don't tell the kids that I talked to
to quit school for any reason to quit either. See
I'm proud to say that I was to seventy kids
of my graduating class. So I almost quit, but I
went ahead and finished up just third from lass. So
from I I just I just didn't. So I I
(09:31):
just quit school. I mean the only thing I did
was English and autumn mechanics in the wrestling team, so
no reason to keep doing that. The girls always did
my English for me. Some girl did it, you know.
I mean I didn't do anything in school. My autumn
kanics teacher. I mean, I knew so much more about
(09:52):
the cars than he did. He'd give me thirty five
cents to go down and go to the movie during
his time that he has me the Auto the Candy's Glass,
Yeah get lost. You know, well, I just walking little
ways down to the first year or you know, so
go and watch a movie. You know, folks wouldn't give
me thirty five cents the Duck school, but the teacher would.
(10:16):
You know, that sounds to me they were forcing you out,
so we'll go with that. So all right. Then I
started expanding my racing because I go to Phoenix every
once in a while. And then a little bit later
I got to go into California. What was the track
in Phoenix at the time, The half mild dirt, that's
(10:37):
all I ran, And and a couple of other tracks
South Mountain, a few other track Tucson, Tucson, and just
all the tracks ra and Phoenix was kind of a
boom place for racing in those days. They had a
lot of good race drivers came out of there in
some good cars basically uh C r A cars. You know.
(11:00):
It was Arizona man Zonita, that was it. Yeah, he
had a pretty good memory RCO. I remember a couple
of things and a good friend of mine ran man Zanita,
Keith uh whatever and and we were good friends. But
it didn't make it. It wasn't a political deal. It
(11:21):
was racing, and Phoenix had a lot of good race fans.
So that's where I'd go a lot more than any place.
But then I got to where I was going to
l a call it Compton, California ascot famous ascots every weekend, Sagaginion.
He was one of my really really close friends. You
(11:43):
know that guy. Oh he did a bunch. I mean,
I have one Pike speak one year. I gotta tell
you about this real quick. And it was a good
payday year, in other words, really made some money. And
it was my own car, so soon it got went home,
got my bills paid. Very few times did I ever
(12:04):
charge anything that I couldn't pay for, but with a
race car, I just couldn't afford all that at one time.
So I got to Magneto on the wheels from Halebran
and got all that stuff from somebody. Now I gotta
pay it. Well, it was a good pay year at
Pike's Beacon. I want it. And so I went to
work and uh got home and and paid the bills,
(12:28):
bought an airplane thirty three hundred bucks. That's all the
money I had left, thirty three hundred bucks for an
airplane because I had to go to California every weekend
and that yeah, yeah, and I didn't have a license,
so but I bought the airplane and I and I really,
(12:48):
really really I don't know how I could afford it,
because that was all the money that was left. But
I'd go to California and get to give me a
hundred and fifty bucks sometimes a couple of hundred bucks
for being there. And and who had it had it
in the business. Parnelli Jones, he had a he had
(13:08):
a flying club. His chief mechanic, Johnny Paulson ran the
ran the flying deal. Of course, not when they're racing
back here in the summer. But Paulson took the liking
to me. One day, I'm going out there in my airplane.
I land there at Compton, and Paulson says, now give
me the key to that airplane. Paulson was kind of
(13:30):
a strong, force, forceful guy, but a nice man. Arms
big as my legs, you know, big as yours, Rico,
and Polson said, leave that airplane. Air on my airplane.
I poured the oil in the top and I tried
to flyat while it was running out the bottom. You
don't get some plan. I really it was worn out,
(13:52):
you know. And Pulson got tired of me doing this,
and and so he just said leave the plane here
and get you playing home. It was Texas International or
something before Southwest. So I got that home. I thought, Wow,
he's going to try to stop them oil leagues for sure.
Well the engel was worn out and jump, you know,
(14:14):
so he took the whole thing out. The crankshaft was cracked,
the case was cracked, I mean, everything was junk. And
that Pulson fixed that whole thing up for me. And
he knew I didn't have any money, and so he
didn't charge me any money. He saved your life. Oh,
I tell you what, I'm flying that thing at night
half the time too. I mean talked about being in
(14:37):
no license, you know then or was ironically I didn't
meet him then. I didn't read Parnelli until Pike's beak.
Now he had seen me run some sprint cars, because
he was already what the golden haired boy in the
whole United States of America in racing. He was already
(14:58):
young allege and and and I like it. It was
look Google ided the guy, you know and and uh,
but but I didn't have a chance to meet him.
And yet he's Haga Jane Ians number one hit man,
if you want to call it that or is driver,
and I mean that was just the way it was.
And so he was probably one of the smartest of
(15:20):
I mean I mean one of not the smartest, where
there's a lot of you guys are very smart with
the way you did things. Uh, but with his investments
and all the property in California, Haga JANEI in Yeah,
I mean they owned the whole side. Yeah, I mean crazy,
crazy money. I'm amazed that you bought an airplane. About
(15:42):
about what age were you in your career when when
you went up and bought an airplane, And I mean
if you buy an airplane, now that's a pretty big deal.
Wasn't an airplane. I'm gonna tell you what. It wasn't
big whether you're gonna walk or ride with me, you know,
I mean where people like Bobby didn't even graduate from
high school and now he just bought an airplane. Well,
(16:04):
and again, this wasn't much of a plane, but it
would fly holding too. I mean I didn't know about
whether I couldn't fly bad weather, and if I run
into clouds somewhere, I just land on a little dirt
road somewhere, wait till it blows over and freak it up.
And go again. But somehow another. I always got to
(16:25):
the racetrack. That always on a Saturday night probably, and
I had to be home. And remember it was taking
me eighteen hours to drive out there, and and it
was all open range. That means the Indian didn't have
any fences. And I gotta go to all that country
with the sheep and the cows on the road, and
(16:47):
I mean, and if you hit one, you gotta pay
for it, and you gotta do it on the spot.
I don't have that much money. I can't do that.
It was cheaper to buy an airplane than hit a cow,
absolutely absolutely, And so what was it to fly? How
abuch how far to uh fly? Time to get there? Well,
I could make I had to make one stop Prescott, Arizona.
(17:09):
So so it takes me seven hours and tho the
way that could fly it in seven hours eighteen hours
to drive. So that's pretty easy. That was that's even
worth risking your life, apparently, And like all the racing,
all the hundreds of miles an hour on a track
was not the most dangerous thing you've done. It's flying
an airplane that we had some trying times and went now,
(17:36):
my you know, I got married here and there, you know.
And and so I make a little money here and there,
you know. I endorsement banners started being fairly good. And
long story short, One day I go over to the
airport and the guy that owns the airport, Mr Cutter,
Big company, right. Mr Cutter and my dad were really
(17:58):
good friends. He knew that my dad didn't have a
lot of money because some of the airport was on
my father's property. And they don't ever talk about it.
They just do it just the way it was. And
so I go over to the airport one day to
get my little thing and go someplace. And Mr Cutters
standing there and and he says, Bobby, give me the
(18:20):
keys to that He hated Sessilist because he was a
Beechcraft deal and and so he says, give me the
key to that airplane the oars out there, and said
under a tree out there, get a little shade, you know.
And so I don't know why he wants that. That's strange,
but I mean Mr Cutter's big man, you know. So
I give him the key to my plane, and he
(18:41):
gives me a key to another plane. He says that
this is your airplane. That one is mine now, and
I says, and he's given me a bonanza. This is
too high on the pecking order. This doesn't make it.
I have no money, no other words, God, I have
no way to pay for that. And so I told
(19:03):
Mr Cutter, I says, Chacutter, I have I have no money,
I says. People might think I'm rich, but I'm telling
you I'm plenty poor. I don't have any money. But
but he says, and he was probably right, I'm going
to get myself killed if I keep flying in that
airplane because he knows I don't have a license, he
knows I shouldn't be up in the sky. He knows
(19:27):
all these things. So I said, okay, I says, well,
he said, don't worry about it. I got somebody's gonna
check you out right now. So he puts his one
of his palace says, go show Bobby how to fly
this airplane. I got a bonanza. Now I can make
California without stopping at Prescott. In other words, Albuquerque straight
(19:50):
to Compton, California, with no stops in between. Now I'm
really big shot. How quick? Oh I think that one
was taking me about I'll be five hours. Yeah, yeah,
that's like setting the world record, right, Yeah, to basically
(20:13):
l A. Wow, that was a good deal. I mean
l A has always got bad. Remember in those days,
you couldn't see anywhere. You start going down into the
valley and it smells so bad you thought, I think
that you're gonna die before you get there. You're safe.
(20:34):
You can't see. You cannot see an airport five miles
down the road. I don't see it till I get
to miles. You can't see out there. It is that
way all the time. So here I am becoming an
i FR pilot because they still can't see where I'm going,
you know, And so I fly that thing. Of course,
they just never get shut off to fly five flight
(20:56):
race track and race track, race track back home. And
I had a girl je I was running those days too.
So Simpson had assessment of some sorts. I don't know
what it was. He was telling the story that well, no,
he was telling this is some plane that he had
down in Mexico. And he said, you know, I didn't
want to mess with A anymore. And he said, I
(21:16):
gave it to the to the guys at the airport
that always takes care of my stuff, and you know
there's something older. He was probably putting around in down
there or something, you know. And he said, you know,
I gave it to him like two or three years ago.
And he said, uh, he said, I went to him,
He said, how long has it been since you, uh
did the you know, the rebuild on that. They said, well, hell,
(21:40):
we haven't rebuilt that. These things have been running great,
just been flying. They've just been flying it. Never had
it rebuild. I got I got one stolen down Mexico.
I have a house down there, yeah, and still do now.
And and I jest been out in California and I
(22:01):
had a stole plane, you know, short takeoff and landing plane,
because I kind of burned out on the better planes,
flying too much. And so I go out to California.
I get a new engine, put in it, new tires on,
new brakes, new annual, done to it, all fixed up nice.
(22:23):
Flew it from there to Albuquerque, just loaded it up
with all my stuff, headed to Mexico. And when I
got down to Mexican, and I remember, I've got a
sixty five dollar bill that I haven't paid yet. Okay.
In other words, I just left California. I have an
open account with a guy anyway, he's a real close friend.
(22:43):
And I and I go to Mexico and the plane's gone.
The drunker stole it. And I hadn't even checked the
oil the first time on that brand new age down there,
and they says they stole my plane. Wow. Yeah, And
I got I got one of the head guys from
(23:05):
Volkswagen of America and his wife down there with me.
Is my guests, right? And no plan? No, I got
two cats. I don't have a wife. Then I got
two cats and those two people with me and no
airplane to take him home. So we're so, so you're
racing open well, you're doing the sprint car stuff. And
(23:28):
then how does Pike's peak come along? Well, Pike speak,
But of course would be every year for me, it
would have been for parn Alley. But but remember what
I said, he was the golden haired guy in the
whole country. So for what was he running at the
time he was here? Stock car division? Yeah, he had
just had one here yet here yet not yet had
(23:53):
one yet, yeah, and and and so he's driving for
Ford Motor Company in the stock car division. And but
it's Mercury. I always thought Ford and Mercury same, you know,
That's what I always thought. But but it wasn't so
so with Mercury is a big deal, and they hired Parnelly,
and and the thing that was really neat about that
(24:15):
whole deal, as soon as we saw each other, we
liked each other. In other words, we became friends so
fast it was just un be leavable. And and we
were together every day because I didn't have to worry
about Parnelly. He's not running I'm running race cars. He's
running stock cars. I already know he's probably the best
(24:38):
driver in the whole friend world. But Pike speaks my
cup of tea, you know, And so I can show
him and teach him everything I know at Pike speak,
which I've never done for anybody else except my own family.
And and so we were together every day doing our
practice in a passenger car, you know, and just and
(25:02):
I just show him all my little secrets and all
my little shortcuts. And through all of this we became
better friends and better friends and better friends, and it
just unbelievable. And then one day, just casually, he's talking
to me and he says he'd already been coming back
here you could see the bombs are about ready to
(25:22):
go off for PARTNELLI Jones say, agaganean. I mean there's
two really big deals, you know. And and so he
says you have to come back and and come to Indianapolis.
And he says, no, you know, I wasn't too sure
I wanted to do that. I I I didn't think
I was good enough to come to Indianapolis. And I
(25:43):
totally felt that way. You know, you don't have to
beg Bobby answer, because it was a freaking racetrack somewhere.
I'd go to it. There was any kind of a
race car, I wanted to run it. But this place
was too big for me. I mean, I wasn't my
head wasn't ready. I don't think I was ready with
my driving skills, but Parnelli thought I was. Now, isn't
(26:05):
that weird? In other words, here's a guy that just
freaking wins everything that he ever runs, and and he
thinks that Bobby answer, how to come back here? Son
four at the time, who was partner? I mean off
of the pecking order again, you know, and and so
(26:27):
and make a long story short, I just dropped the subject.
I really didn't want to talk about it anymore. It
wasn't part of what I wanted to do. And I
needed to go run a lot of print car races. Man,
I got, I can. I can drive somewhere every every week.
I can. I'm busy, you know, major races, a lot
of stuff to do. And I enjoyed that and and
(26:50):
and it did pretty good at it. But then I
get home and then the phone rings again. Parnell, he's
on the phone. He's all right, I got your car
to drive, take your driver's test in I said, Holy Macrol,
just getting too serious. This kid is not part of
(27:12):
come on, get the Indianapolis. I can't believe it. I
think this is just not my cup of tea. I'm
not I'm not ready to do this, and and and
it gets really embarrassing after that, because then somebody in Albuquerque.
Here's about now. In Albuquerque, I was already a legend
because the Lord only knows that won everything for I mean,
(27:35):
is a sixteen year old. I won the whole Southwest
Championship in the super Modified. So I was like a
child star. And all I know is it seems like
it's pretty easy, and I'm having a ball. That's the reason,
like with school, and I mean no, I mean they
forced you out. They forced me out. Well, you know
(27:57):
what would happen, Rico, that would embarrass it's so bad,
go to school Monday morning. My English was a real
pretty English teacher. I could remember that, and she'd make
me stand up in front of the class and she'd
read the newspaper articles. I'm Bobby just winning the races
that weekend, and that used to embarrassed me so bad.
(28:19):
I just said, the heck with it. I'm not going
to stand. This institution is not for me. Forced me out.
And so then that part, now he has got to
figure it out. I'm gonna come to Indianapolis and and
I really am afraid. So now, and what how old
were you then? Was probably probably around one something like that.
(28:45):
I would legal overord legal age. I'd like about my
age all my life. Every day at Albuquerque. I'm gonna
show you I did the motor about what I did
the Mexican road race when I was seventeen years old
the first year and on the on my illegal driver's
license that I had to get triple a license says
I'm twenty eight. Well that was a big lie. You know,
(29:08):
I never usually didn't lie that much, you know, stretched
throughout that hold you tell people you are right now.
I'm eighty four now. If Parnelly Jones hadn't pushed you
to come to Indianapolis, how and you were about never come,
(29:30):
you never would have I would have never come. Unbelievable.
I mean, I had my heroes it Indianapolis. Tony Bennhausen,
he was one of my big heroes. He would stop
by Alpha quick. We had had a garage to cars,
tow trucks and gas station, and I mean every year
(29:50):
he'd buy a new Cadillac every year. And I knew
he and his wife. For some reason, I'm read there
to remember, I'm a young kid, but I'm literally winning
everything in our state and there I'd already become a
legendacy as a young kid. And it didn't get to
my head because I still had no money, you know,
(30:10):
didn't get any money for for racing either. Did it
all for nothing? I bought one thirty thirty rifle because
it's really into deer hunting. That was my total racing
for probably my first four and five years. And and
and that was all right. The money you made got
you up and down the road went to the went
to the race car. Yeah, but I want all the races.
(30:33):
So it was a good car. And it was my
dad's car, and he didn't have the money to have
extra nice stuff. We had to be we built everything.
So was so did your so did your dad get
into it? As you started becoming more and more successful,
he had to be proud, right, Oh yeah, because I mean,
I mean and and my uncle had won pikes Peak,
(30:55):
Uncle Louis he had won at nine times. Now, Uncle Joe.
That's three of them. There was my dad, Jerry, then
Uncle Joe and Uncle Louis. They were all three at
one time for the Coleman C. O. L. E. M.
A and Truck in Denver, Colorado. And they what they
make it basically snow plows, four wheel or front wheel drives,
(31:20):
and so they were they built an IndyCar and just
to come to Indianapolis and they were going to have
three of them and the three boys were gonna come
back and Uncle Joe got killed on the highway when
they tested the car. They didn't have much pavement in
those days. It's hard to imagine today because we don't
have much nerd anymore. It's all paved. But in those
(31:42):
days they had the way around. So uncle Joe is
out on on the on a paved road just south
of Denver, and the car jumped off for some reason
and got himself killed. And it was only recently, all
of these years, hundred years goes by whatever. Some elderly guy,
(32:04):
really nice historical organization Albuquerque came up with newspaper clippings
that went back to nineteen and there was absolute newspaper
artic called the original where when Uncle Joe got killed
exactly where on the highway, and and we thought he
(32:26):
died on the highway, okay, but I didn't even know
what year it was. I wasn't too sure about the year.
And and so the year now came to be for
sure because my folks were both gone by then. Okay,
so a little mixed up. So there it is in
the newspaper clipping the year the exact place thought, and
(32:49):
he actually died in the hospital. We didn't know that
jumped off the road, and they that's all in the newspaper.
I mean, it can't be. These articles went back so far.
I couldn't believe it. And so it was like it
was like, really found out history, you know, and when
(33:10):
they put the first motorcycle sidecar and sidecar on the
top of Pike's Peak in history. Now there is an
article on that. What the time they left in the morning, Rico,
the time they got to Glencove's the halfway place, and
the time they got to the top, and the time
(33:32):
they got back down to the bottom. And they told
about they tore up their tires because they couldn't keep
it from going down fast, lock up the brakes there
at the tires type of fall in the newspaper. I
just couldn't believe it. I saw the picture or a
video of you on YouTube or something of running Pike's Peak,
(33:54):
and you know, I've I've I've been around racing all
my wife. I love it. It's a passion. Uh. You know,
there's there's some real genuine people in racing. You know,
for the most part, they can't be genuine assholes are
genuine great people, but they are genuine people one way
or the other. But you know, uh, we we sponsor
(34:16):
a great deal of people in the open wheels, Sprint, Midget,
silver Crown. You sacked ranks if you will, and you know,
watching them in the turns, you know, just you know,
in the tire developments that they you know that Hoosier
has come up with, you know, and uh and so forth.
You know, but it's crazy looking at that picture of
(34:37):
you going up or watching that video of you going
up Pike's Peak and you are completely crossed up coming
through one of the turns and got tires on that
are that that are smaller than you'd have on your
car today. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and uh and I
mean it was just you know, you uh, Unfortunately, there's
(35:02):
a lot, there's there's a few that are spoiled in
this business these days and that they like to bitch
and complain about, you know, everything to do about this
and that, and you know what, you have zero idea
who paved the way for this, and you need to
you need to take a little refresher course on folks
like you, Folks like a j you know, big al
(35:25):
uh and and you know Steve Rutherford. I mean, you know,
the list goes on and on and on of the
folks that went through. I mean it was you guys
were like test pilots. It wasn't like, hey, get in this,
this thing is super safe. Let's get in it, and
I hope we see after the race is over it,
you know. And uh and uh you know Rick Mire
(35:46):
as if it wasn't for uh, you know, Terry Trammell
putting him back together again, took the whole nose of
the car and crushed its feet. And uh so I
mean it's just but it's all of these developments that
have happened along the way that have made it better
that it made it safer. We were talking about Bill Simpson,
Uh the other day when you were at the shop,
(36:08):
you know, Uh, something would happen, Bill would try to
find a solution for it. He wouldn't try He would
find a solution for it. That guy is. I know
sometimes we're get mad at him and we want we
want to kill him, no doubt about that, I know it.
But he's done more to save lives it all of
(36:30):
motor racing than any single person that I can think of.
Before him, there was nothing. In other words, my brother
died right here because of burns. Today, if if he'd
have on a stuff that Simpson pioneered, pioneer that's a
better word, Jared's, it wouldn't even be a hiccuff fish
(36:53):
right now. If that's what would happen. I mean, I
mean today, they just wouldn't even pay that much attention
to it. Okay, they have a few scars from the
burns and everything, but I don't even know if you
have that anymore, you know, as as good as they've
got it, you know. And but Bill, the way Bill started,
you know, he told me the story and and I was, uh,
(37:16):
you know, Bobby and I were talking about it. Bill says,
you know, I got started in the safety business. I said, no,
I have no idea. And of course I love it.
I want to hear this stuff, you know, this is
this is awesome stuff. And he said, well, I was
seventeen years old. I think he said seventeen. He said,
I was seventeen years old. And uh, he goes. We
were testing out this parachute. I said, yeah, he goes, yeah,
(37:39):
and he goes, he goes. I had my station wagon
and we had the back window rolled down in the
station wagon and in the parachute hooked onto the onto
the back of it, and we were throwing it out
of the back of the car to see if it
would catch the car and slow it down. I said, well,
how the hell did you come I mean, where did
that come from? He said, well, you know, a parachute
(37:59):
the air, And I mean, he's got an unbelieva That's
what we were talking about the other day. A beautiful mind.
I mean, the way he would think of things like that.
So anyhow, he's talking about that, and he goes, he goes, so,
so I start, you know, in him and perd home.
We're childhood friends and grew up together. So here you
got the snake and Simpson, right, which is quite the
(38:20):
duel in itself. And uh, and he's talking about it
and he goes, yeah, you know who my first customer
ever was? He said, first big test for I said, no,
who's that? I mean? And I can relate to this
because you know what, our first ever big customer was Walmart?
You know, and when they called I thought it was
a joke, nothing nothing different. I thought it was somebody
(38:41):
jacking with me. I really did, you know, And nothing
different than what Simpson went through. And you know, he
gets his phone call. This guy says, uh, are you
the guy's making those parachutes? And he says, well, yeah,
he says, I want three of them. He said, well
you want three of them? He said, yes, I want
three of them. I mean, hell, everybody could hardly have
four to buy one a three? Right, he says, send me.
(39:03):
He goes, He goes, I want three of them. He goes, well, how,
and he goes, where are you? He said, well, I'm
in Lincoln, Nebraska. He said, well, how the hell am
I gonna get him there? I'm in California. And he says,
go down to the Grayhouse station. Now keep in mind,
there was no ups, there was no fat ax. That's
what you got to remember. The mail did not carry parcels.
(39:24):
The mail carried mail. Okay. Uh So he said, go
down to the Grayhound station. He said, put it on
this Greyhound bus and tell it needs to be at
the Lincoln, Nebraska stop and they'll get it to me.
So this thing goes through a series of of buses
(39:45):
to get there. Well, Bill says, okay. He goes, well,
how am I gonna get paid? He says, I guess
I'll send you a check if you send me a bill. Right,
you know, it's like you know, I'm gonna go I
go to races and somebody just give me the money.
I give one, right, and uh So, anyhow it turns
out to be a gentleman by the name of Speedy Bill,
(40:06):
and Speedy Bill owned Speedway Motors in Lincoln, Nebraska. It
is I would have to assume as the largest in
the world in in that you don't have to assume that, father,
because they are the largest in the world. And the
catalog racing pieces they make everything and they've got to
(40:29):
use them there. So this is what we got got
is talking about. It was kind of tied it all
together what we were talking about. They have a museum
there in this museum has been curated by Speedy Bill
from all of the years. Right, he has the original
race shop of help me out who it is the
(40:50):
any card? Did we figure out who that was? What
was it Shaw or somebody? The original race shop they
took out and built back in s I didn't know.
I didn't know Speedy Bill or any of the kids
at the time. Yeah, And in other words, it's another
story how I met him. Yeah, So so anyhow, I
(41:10):
don't remember where who this was. But Bill bought all
this stuff when they were going to sell off this
old any car shop, you know it would be you know,
it would be much like and I'm losing my thought here,
on who it is. I'll think of it a minute,
but one of the local guys here, you know, that
built the old cars and stuff like that. Well, anyhow,
(41:32):
so Bill's walking us through there and I'm with Forrest Lucas.
Now we've flown in from Topeka or a Brainer and
I can't remember which one it was, but we went
to We went there, and Speedy pulls up at the
airport and he's in this old old Cadillac limo. Now,
(41:52):
Speedy Bill wore a campaign hat all the time, like
you know, tilted tilt yellow and his whole life and
yellow glasses his whole life. That was him. That was this.
You never had a wonder who that guy was. That
was Speedy. Okay. Anyhow, he pulls up there and his
(42:14):
son is driving the limo. Now, let me make it clear.
They had enough money that they could have They could
have sent anybody anything that they wanted to pick us up.
But it was built and one of his boys that
runs the company for him at the time, it still
does at that at that but they're picking us up.
(42:36):
So then Forrest, myself, Forest and Morgan Lucas get in
the get in the limo, and Speedy starts. He starts going,
and he walks us through this museum. He's got the
largest pedal car collection in the world, in the world,
and I'm telling you, they all look brand new. It's ridiculous,
(42:57):
the old metal pedal cars. Uh. I would venture to say,
there's five million plus dollars worth of pedal cars in
that museum. And uh he's got a Mercedes Indy car
engine that that absolutely Roger Pinsky doesn't even have one
of these engines. Okay, it's theoretically you can't get one.
(43:21):
They're like government, you know, it's like Chevy engine or Honda.
You can't get one of these engines. They will not
give you one of these engines. They're afraid somebody would
take it reverse engineering and steal some of their proprietary information.
So anyhow, he's going, he's going on and on and
on and for start going back to the airport. He says,
he says to me, he goes. He says, he's proud
(43:46):
of himself at me. I said it forest as a jokester,
you know, he's joking around. I said, I said that
dude has done it. Man, he has done it because
he was the one. He was the first one I
ever knew to tell me about. I used to ship,
he said. I used to show up the Greyhound station
with small block or short blocks, fly them on the
(44:06):
belly pan. He sent in a lazy ass. Uh, bus
drivers just sat there watching me out the window. I'd
be raining like hell, and I'm you know what I mean,
he's and he was a great storyteller. Unfortunately, his wife
passed and he passed shortly thereafter. But uh, you know
it's it's people like him, people like you know, Simpson Body,
(44:30):
the people that have made this business what it is today.
They had this, you know, this exciting thing what it
is today. And that's a lot of times people don't
get where it comes from, how it got here. I mean,
it just didn't show up on the front doorstep, all right.
There was a lot of people. Unfortunately, his brother, you know, perished,
(44:50):
you know, Dale Senior perished. You know, there's a lot
of people that have given their lives for this, you know,
to to make it what it is today. So but
remember one day Speedy Bell again, my my youngest son,
Robbie needed to progress up. You know, we did the
god cards and then the late model dirt track stocks
(45:13):
and and want all of them. And and all of
a sudden I had heard that Speedway Motors, Speedway Bell
is interested in. They're gonna start a new series. Take
the old Indy cars, put chevallet engines in them and
raise them. Now that one made a lot of sense.
(45:35):
No more expensive engines, well expensive but not that bad.
Or they naturally aspirated? Is that just totally norm the
asperate you know, let's print car engines come on all,
I think, I don't know. I think we limited them,
or they did to three fifty I think not. It
(45:56):
really makes sense now, the old Indy cars you could
buy for almost nothing in those days. You know how
times change. Today you couldn't, But in those days you could.
You know, you could five thousand bucks that buy almost
any any car that's a transmission. The trendy cost more
than that, you know, any right, So I put my
(46:19):
young son in my airplane there one day and we
flew all the way to Lincoln. Now, naturally I had
seen Speedy Bill because I worked the hot rod shows.
If you want to call him, but I didn't, you know,
I didn't have to do that. And and and there
was no reason to know him because come on, he
raised Brent cars. That's all, you know, nothing past that.
(46:42):
So so I needed to go to work and meet
this man and I and I needed to talk to
him because a museum is gonna come up in Albuquerque.
So when my brother has so you gotta learn. Now,
here's a smart man. Here's a really smart bid this man.
So I flew all the way to Lincoln, Nebraska, met
(47:04):
that man and ask him in detail, how are we
going to do a museum? And the biggest problem is
what are you gonna do with it when you die?
I know I'm not trying to start a morbid conversation here,
but but it's real. Nobody's gonna make it forever. So
(47:25):
my interest is what are you gonna do when you die?
What are you gonna do with all of this? Got
a lot of money, okay, but his museum, Now that's
what I'm interested in. Museum. Just like he says, millions
of dollars these little cars, I can't believe it. How
about the engines he's got? I mean, I mean, he's
got a fortune there. Remember the hot Wheels car that
(47:46):
had the German helmet on it? He has that car,
the car I mean, so I mean, so I flew
all the way to Lincoln just to meet not to
meet Speedy Bell. But he knows who I am. He'll
he'll be honest with me. I already know that. And
so I have a conversation with him. What are you
(48:07):
gonna do now you die? What are you gonna do? What? What?
The kids are all gonna fight over your money? I
hated to do it, but I got into into the
into the hard to talk, you know, and that man
had an answer for the whole freaking thing. I mean,
I couldn't believe it. I mean, and he bit them
answers out faster than I could ask the questions. And
(48:29):
what it is. It's the Smithsonian. He teamed up with
the Smithsonian in Washington. So in other words, hey, there's nobody,
no relatives, no no, I promised, none of that stuff
will overcome the Smithsonian. So the day he died, that's
(48:49):
who became the technical boss. Like it or not, they
are the boss. Now the kids are on it. Oh,
I mean, so now I have the answer, you know,
I mean I did. I would have never thought of
that because because you were thinking, you guys were thinking
about doing it. Yeah, we were already already into thinking
(49:13):
about it. But but you're not there, and you don't
know what to do, do you. You know, Al's got
what he's got. You got two daughters he starts out with,
and the sun. Well the two daughters die, Okay, so
now he's got his son left, and so what's he
going to do with his I mean, he's not a
poor man anymore, so what's he going to do the
(49:33):
same thing. You got to learn this stuff, and you
don't learn it by talking to the poorest people. Go
talk to the ones that really made a couple of
stuff exactly. And that's how I that's how I started
Speedie Bell. Of course they ended up with Carson is
one of his kids, and he and Robbie hooked up
(49:55):
into racing together and I'd help him do Pike speak
cars and stuff like that. But it it was ended
up being a real fun deal. And Robbie still works
there today. You said he shows up right, or does
it shows up? Well, no, I didn't see it, but
I know he's the one word that's late the other day.
(50:16):
But they're they're a great family and and and you know, um,
I of course have got to know you, and I've
got to know your wife, and uh, it was it
was pretty It's pretty awesome. The other day, I was
I was in Arkansas for a meeting, uh with with Walmart,
and uh, Lisa's texting me, Hey, we want to make
(50:39):
sure we see you, want to make sure we see you.
And I'm just sitting around killing time because we we
had a later meeting that day. Exhume me just second.
Yeah you can't remember now. He's already sent me a
fair amount of glasses, hasn't charged me a penny for it.
I did try to paint, but yeah, not charging that
ain't gonna happen. He's got a forward. I had to
(51:02):
come and say hi to it. No matter what you're like,
I'd rather buy the glasses so I don't have to
say hi to Recae that's you at But anyhow, but
the next thing, you know, my phone rings and it's
an Albuquerque number and I'm like hello. He says, hey,
it's Bobby. I said, what are you doing? And then
we just start talking and he says, I want to
(51:23):
make sure we get together. I said, well, I'll be
back on I'll be back in the office Wednesday. I said,
I'm out Monday, Tuesday, and head. Well, I want to
make sure I get together. I said, Well, yeah, I
said Lisa, and I, I guess, said, well, she didn't
tell me that we're meeting with you. Yeah, only the boss.
Sometimes they forget to tell me. Yeah. So anyhow, I
(51:47):
know you have some things to finish up, and maybe
we can get together and talk again when you get
here for the Vintage Car Race which is coming up
here in a couple of months. And that's the fun time.
Recall that is that is now one of our fun times.
I should yeah, we may. We make it fun no
matter what. So that's the that's the best part. But
(52:08):
thank you for being a friend and uh and uh
your support with our products and anything we can ever
do for you or if we're here. You got the
good stuff because you got your head. That's where the
good stuff comes from, you know, that's where it is.
It's like we talked about Simpson. It's all the same way.
If there isn't a leader, it doesn't happen. So I
(52:32):
got the leader. I found him and that's the commercial again.
But anyhow, so we'll wrap it up, Adam all right, Well,
three time in champion, Bobby Yunzer, thank you so much
for stopping by the Fathead Suite and being a guest
on The Skinny with Rico and I'm Adam Riss. Thank
you so much for joining us, Thanks for listening, and
(52:55):
be sure to check back off and for more of
the Skinny with Rico Elmore, founder and CEO of Fatheads,
I Wear the Skinny available now on iTunes and Rico
Elmore dot com.
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