June 27, 2025 • 21 mins
Do you love exploring Why?, road rally racing, big engines and general Maker Shop Talk?
If so, join Tamara Robertson (Mythbusters, Seekers of Science) as she revs up the fun in this all new mini-season dedicated to the Hemming's Great Race and the amazing team of Trailblazing Creators assembled by Riley's Rebuilds!
As a shout-out to Race Sponsor KnKut, this episode kicks off with a Tech Talk about Drill Bits before Tamara sits down with Drag Racer, Trailblazer and Maker Extraordinaire Payton ( @racinpayton_ )!
Topics they cover include (but are surely not limited to):
- Knkuts
- Drag Racing
- Muscle Cars
- Finding the "why"
- Stick Shift Racing
- Breaking Social Media Stereotypes
- Shoutout Shirley Muldowney
- Learning the Hardway
- Hemmings Great Race
- Being a Trailblazer
- Riley Rebuild's
- Jessi Combs and the Jessi Combs Foundation
- Debunking Financial Barriers to Fast Cars
- Payton's pointers for those starting in Drag Racing
- Redefining Car Girls on the Internet
- Shoutout Sears & Craftsman
.. and so much more
As we dig into Season 3's 29th episode of Tinkering Belles you're surely not going to want to miss it!
So join in on Tamara's adventure as a Maker as she works to amplify the BAMF Females Behind the Builds one interview at a time!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoyed the show join in on the Maker adventure with Tamara and her guests on the Tinkering Belles Instagram page.
You can follow Payton's adventures here, here, and here:
Linktree - https://linktr.ee/racinpayton
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/racinpayton_
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@racinpayton
Tiktok - https://tiktok.com/@racinpayton
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/racinpayton
Music for this Episode was provided by Bill Trowell Music. Visit BillTrowellMusic.com to hear more and to subscribe to Bill's Patreon, where he covers favorite showtunes, movie themes, classic rock and jazz, as well as requests from Patron's.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tamara Robertson (00:00):
Greetings, shopmates, and welcome to
Tinkering Belles, a show aboutDIY, design, and all things
hands-on.
The sky's the limit as we talkprops, metalwork, cosplay,
woodwork, leather, electronics,and so much more.
I'm Tamara Robertson, yourhost, so strap on your tool
belts because we're about to getinto some skill sharing, y'all.
Today I'm going to be joined bya maker who's been sharing her
(00:27):
love of engines and all thingson four wheels since she was 15.
I don't want to give away toomuch, but this maker is
currently rebuilding not one,but two cars aiming for a first
place dragster.
So if that doesn't make youwant to stick around and hear
more, then you might be at thewrong podcast.
But first, let's go ahead andhave our tech talk of the day.
(00:50):
So we're going to be talkingall about the Hemmings Great
Race and the awesome greatpartners who helped us prep the
fair lane inside and out.
This includes KNKut, whodonated drill bits and the spot
weld cutters, tools we could nothave made it through the
rebuild without.
So let's back it up.
Where did drill bits get theirstart?
Well, the first drill bit waspatented in 1861 by Stephen A.
(01:21):
Morse.
Yes, that Morse of Morse Taperfame, which remains a standard
in machining today.
Before that, drilling was doneby bow drills or hand-turned
augers dating back to ancientEgypt and Mesopotamia, primarily
for stone and wood.
Now, modern drill bits are madefrom high-speed steel, cobalt
(01:45):
alloys, or carbide tips, eachengineered for different
materials and precision.
KNKut specializes inAmerican-made Jobber-length bits
that are known for durabilityand reduced walking, perfect for
chassis work, body panels, andvintage restorations where
accuracy matters.
Their spot weld cutters make iteasy to remove factory welds
(02:08):
without damaging underlyingpanels, which saved us hours on
this build and is a veryimportant thing when it comes to
precision and accuracy whenworking with vintage cars like
our 66 Fairlane.
Well, that's it for our TechTalk.
As always, you can join in onthe conversation with my maker
friends and me on the TinkeringBells Instagram and X pages.
(02:29):
Just search for BellesTinkering, hit follow and share
your DIY adventures togetherwith us.
Have a tool you want to learnabout?
Let me know and it may befeatured in a future episode.
Tell us what you liked, whatyou hated or possibly even what
we missed.
So now we're going to be gettinginto the main event and I'm so
excited to introduce you to ournext maker.
(02:51):
So drum roll, please.
Presenting Peyton.
Peyton, thank you for joiningme.
How are you?
Payton (02:57):
Hi. I'm good.
I'm excited.
I'm a little nervous because Italk too much sometimes.
So...
Tamara Robertson (03:04):
I am sure everything that you say will be
great.
Our audience loves all thetangents that we go on and all
the crazy stuff we talk about.
So bring it all.
We love quirky.
Believe me, they're stuck withit when they listen to anything
with me on it as it is.
So I love to start up theepisodes by telling people where
(03:24):
to find you, follow you, andgiving them a little bit of a
hint of what they're going tosee when they go there.
Payton (03:30):
Okay, so you can find me on all social medias at
racinpayton.
Most of the social media isjust race and Payton, just
regular.
And then the other one is withan underscore at the end because
somebody had that already onInstagram.
If you were to follow me,basically you'd see everything,
I guess like Chevy powered.
That's like really my thing.
is i am building a 1988 foxbody with an ls engine to go
(03:54):
stick shift drag racing i ambuilding a uh 2017 chevy ss
that's getting a 416 very soonso it's i'm kind of all over the
place but also not i basicallyi love anything with an engine
so i do dirt bikes trucks cars imean if literally if i can
figure out a way to work on itit's on my list
Tamara Robertson (04:15):
I love that.
And so I'm a superheroscientist, which means origin
stories are my jam.
You and I haven't met in personyet.
We'll be meeting soon on TheGreat Race, which I'm super
stoked about.
But can you share with theaudience your gearhead origin
story?
What got you started and why doyou still love it today?
Payton (04:34):
To back up to me as a child, one of my first words was
why, which I think is whatabsolutely just made me run into
cars.
My dad and my grandpa both ourgearheads.
I didn't grow up working oncars, though.
It was about age 15.
And I was like, wait, I don'tthink I just want to drive any
car.
I think I want to knowsomething about it.
(04:55):
And I think I wanted to becool.
And so I got a 96 Mustang GT.
And from then on, I justfigured out the small things I
could do and learn how to workfrom there.
And that very much fueled mywhy that I continuously asked
since I was a child.
And so I basically just fellinto a rabbit hole of okay,
well, how does this work andwhy?
And how, how do I do it?
(05:15):
And I basically have decided inmy life that I'm not going to
take, I can't do it for ananswer.
I'm going to figure out.
It doesn't matter if I mess itup 12 times, I'm going to get
thereeventually.
Tamara Robertson (05:26):
I love that.
It reminds me of, I don't, thismay, this may be aging me, but
there was this little cartoon onAnimaniacs with this little
girl, but be like, why, why,why?
Okay.
I love you.
Bye bye.
And like, for me, I was like,that's me.
That's my spirit animal.
Payton (05:46):
Literally, my mom was like, one of your first words,
she was like, aside from no, shewas like, your other one is
why.
And I was like, oh, well, thatactually tracks like 100%.
Tamara Robertson (05:56):
I love it.
So it sounds like youdefinitely achieved your goal of
not driving boring cars.
And currently, like you said,you're not rebuilding one, but
two cars.
And one of them is drag stripbound.
What draws you to dragsters andwhat do you hope to accomplish
there?
Payton (06:16):
So basically one of my first like experiences outside
of just like car meets was goingto the drive drag strip.
We had a local one like 45minutes away.
Whenever I went out there, Iwas like, there's a lot going
on.
I was like, I want to do that.
My dad was like, I had a 2010V6 Mustang at the time.
My dad was like, you're nottaking that car out.
I was like 16 years old.
And I was like, okay.
(06:37):
So at 18, I bought a 2013Mustang GT six feet car.
And I was like, well, this ismy car now.
So I'm going down and I'm goingto make a pass.
And I made a few passes, wentout racing.
And I was like, okay, I lovethis.
But then I broke mytransmission.
Um, because I had radials on abone stock car and those MT-82s
(06:58):
don't hold up well.
So I broke it.
And after that, I was like,okay, I need to like build a car
that if it breaks, it's not mydaily driver getting me to and
from work.
And so then I decided I wantedto build a car.
And after stick shift racingand changing up the platform
that I was going several times,like I started off with, I was
going to build a 5.3 and have apower glide.
(07:21):
And then I was going to do afive, three with a, you know, a
turbo 400.
And then I was like, no, justsix, two.
And then I was like, wait, whatabout a belt six, two?
And I was like, wait, I want togo stick shift racing.
I was like, that, that is myorigin story of drag racing.
I was like, I need to, I needto get to that.
So that's basically kind ofwhat like determined that.
And I've always had Mustangs.
And I was like, at the time,whenever I started it, I was
(07:43):
like, I can't afford to put acoyote in one of these cars.
I was like, there's no way.
And I was like, I can do an LS.
And then it developed into, atthis point, I could have also
had a coyote with all the moneyI have in it.
But LSs are...
basically all I drive.
And I was like, if one carbreaks, I have that same part on
four other cars.
Tamara Robertson (08:01):
I remember rebuilding my Trans Am with my
dad when I was younger.
And like, same thing.
My mom's like, put a governoron it.
I don't want to racing it.
And of course, he had meinstall it.
So I knew how to uninstall it.
And so the transmission was thefirst thing that went because I
just had a lot to prove, Iguess, when I was younger, and I
(08:24):
smoked everyone off of you knowevery red light I was at and it
was something that I lost mydaily driver and it made me
really sad after all the work wehad put into it but some
lessons we have to learn thehard way yeah
Payton (08:39):
exactly my dad was like I told you not to do that I was
like yeah but like I had tofigure it out.
You could just tell me that.
Tamara Robertson (08:46):
So speaking of racing, we are going to all be
taking part in the Hemings Creekrace, which I had never, I had
heard about because Jesse hadbeen a grand Marshall, but I had
never like had the ambitionmyself to like go and do it
mostly because you have to havea vintage car.
Is this a race that you, youknew about?
(09:06):
I had, you had ambitions to bein it.
Like what were your thoughtswhen you got the initial
invitations?
Payton (09:11):
So I had actually never heard of it.
I think it's probably becauseI'm stuck to drag racing.
That's my thing.
I hear about that.
And that's about the circlethat I run in.
But once I heard about it, Iwas like, okay, that seems like
a really cool thing.
Of course, same with me.
I don't have a vintage car.
So I was like, this probablywouldn't have been on my list
for a while, at least until Ihad one of those.
(09:33):
But I was really excited whenRiley reached out.
So I was like, this could be socool.
And whenever she was like,We're going to make it like a
powerhouse woman.
I was like, absolutely.
Even more.
I already was already in likeeven more count me in because I
got so excited of like theability to sit there and meet
other cool women in the industryand like make a point, I guess.
(09:53):
I really, really loved thewhole thought process behind
what she wanted to do.
Tamara Robertson (09:57):
So I love the kind of joke that Riley has
assembled all of us, like herAvengers, you know, she made
sure that she's got this groupof females that are the real
deal that can work on vehiclesthat are creators that are
genuinely just connected to herin some way.
So I have to ask, like, what isyour connection with Riley?
(10:18):
How did you guys originallymeet?
Payton (10:20):
So I saw her whenever she was like in the beginning
stages of getting on likeInstagram and Facebook, whenever
she, basically started to havestories talked about with her
and Maribel and Carburetors andbeing 16 or 17 years old and
having her own business.
So whenever I saw that, I waslike, wow, that's amazing.
At 16, 17 years old, I was notdoing anything that great.
(10:41):
And so I reached out to her andI was like, hey, I actually
have a shirt that says the bestman for the job is a woman on
the back of it, which was aarticle about Shirley Muldowney,
which was one of the firstwomen in drag racing.
And so I was like, let me sendyou some of these shirts.
I was like, I love what you'redoing.
Like Like I said, at that age,I was not doing anything cool.
(11:04):
And I was just like, soastounded by her.
So whenever she reached out, Iwas like, absolutely.
Like, you know, we have stillhaven't met yet.
And I'm super stoked for that.
But yeah, that's my story ofmeeting Riley.
Tamara Robertson (11:15):
So obviously we're all going to be a part of
this race.
And one of the things that Ilove, you know, I met Riley
because we were signingautographs together at SEMA and
the She Shed booth, which waslike the Jesse Combs Foundation,
Real Deal Revolution, and AllGangs Garage.
And so when we were there, Igot to learn about her like
(11:37):
being Jesse's rising star andall of these different things.
And she has just been such anamazing proponent to lifting the
girls that are part of thefoundation.
But We are actually going toget the honor of having the
Jesse Combs Foundation as ourcharity partner on this race.
So we'll all be rocking thedots.
We'll be following in Jesse'sfootsteps because Jesse was the
(11:59):
Grand Marshal for this eventback in 2016.
Had you ever gotten a chance tomeet Jesse or what is your
connection to Jesse Combs?
Payton (12:10):
So I unfortunately never got a chance to meet her.
Um, but all I've ever heard isof her stories, like just that
she walks in room, she lit itup.
That's exactly how she was.
And you know, I always like,when you hear the fastest woman
on four wheels, you're like, Iwant to be that one day, like,
you're just absolutely likeastounded by that.
So unfortunately, I never gotthe chance to meet her.
(12:33):
But every single story I'veheard about her just like makes
me wish even more that I had tohad had the chance to meet her
at one point in my life, becauseI'm like, that's the kind of
woman you like look up to andyou want to be eventually.
Tamara Robertson (12:45):
I love that.
And one of the things you know,speaking at events with Jesse
through the years and knowingher as a friend, prior to
joining the board, she was oneof the things I used to love
that she would say when young,young people would be like, I
want to be you one day is shewould share.
She's like, no, be you.
Like, you're really cool.
Did you know how cool you are?
And it's one of those thingsthat like in looking through
(13:07):
your profiles and learning aboutyou coming into this interview,
like one of the things that Ireally, really love is that you
are lifting the veil andapproach of being able to come
into rebuilding cars and takingaway the, fear of not having
enough money down to the toolsthat you're using you know
(13:27):
you're debunking that myth thatyou have to have a ton of money
to get into this and I just youknow as a kid of two military
parents you know like getting myfirst car from a junkyard and
having to rebuild it to be ableto even get it on the road to be
my daily driver like I justlove that you're sending that
message out there because I dothink that there's so many young
(13:49):
people especially that don'ttend to get into motorsport and
don't tend to get into carrebuilds because they don't have
that, the money that they thinkthat they need to have it.
So can you share with theaudience some of the pointers
that you give to people that arelooking to first get in this
where that might be one of thebarriers that they're facing?
Payton (14:08):
So one of the things that I always give people like
any information is that wheneverI first started working on
cars, I went to Sears beforethey closed and I got a
craftsman toolkit on sale forlike 30 bucks.
So like my start of cars and Iwas able to just do the basics,
you know, change my oil, learnhow to, you know, change my
(14:29):
tire, all that sort of stuff.
So it's like, I guess my thingis at the end of the day, like,
yes, if you want to build a fastcar, eventually you're going to
have to have a lot of money.
It's not, you can't just gointo drag racing and be like,
I'm going to be the fastestperson out there for $3.
But it's a matter of, you haveto learn a lot more in between.
So it's like, it's going totake time.
Like you shouldn't go out thereand be like, I only want to be
(14:49):
the fastest person.
Don't you want to be one of themost knowledgeable people?
Don't you want to be like,okay, like, yeah, that person's
faster than me, but like, I wasable to learn how to do this
with the bare minimum.
You know, I really...
try to show people that I havebeen building this car.
I owned it since 2018, my Foxbody Mustang.
It has been a very longprocess.
It's still not done.
(15:10):
I absolutely wish it would.
I remember whenever I wasgrowing up and I bought the car
and people were like, Oh yeah,an LS swap is easy.
It's so cheap.
And then whenever you come downto it, you know, you're like,
okay, but do I want to do itcheap?
Do I want to do it right?
I think it's a matter of likelearning patience.
Like, yes, you can absolutelydo it, but it depends on what
(15:32):
level you're wanting, you know,a car to be.
Like my car absolutely couldhave been done, you know, two or
three years into it.
But then I changed my mind somany times.
So it's really like dedicationand pushing through it, I think
is like the hardest thing is,no, you don't have to spend a
lot of money to learn how to dothe basic things.
I try like on TikTok to teach alot of people, like, you know,
(15:53):
here's how to jump a car if yourbattery dies.
Here's how to diagnosesomething simple because there's
a lot of things that Peoplehave not learned anything.
They're paying for people todo.
And I hate whenever I see thatif I see someone like our local
county page and they're like,does anyone know how to change
this?
I'm like, give me your addressbecause I'm not going to let you
pay for someone to change that,you know?
So I think it's just a matterof understanding that you can
(16:17):
get into it with the bareminimum.
and just evolve with whatyou're doing.
You know, like maybe you have alittle money eventually that
you can make that car faster,but like you can start off and
learn all the basics with reallynothing.
I've gone to Ross and gottentoolkits before too.
Like there, there's no stoppingyou except for like what you
(16:39):
plan in your own mind.
Tamara Robertson (16:40):
I love that.
And so one of the things thatthe foundation has really been
trying to hammer out home forall of the young ladies on this
group is that we are alltrailblazers in our own ways and
so I have to say like growingup next to a quarter trip and
like being out there for raceslike I never saw drag racers
(17:02):
like you so I just can imaginethat it must be such a big deal
for little girls to see you sowhat does it mean to you to be a
part of you know this thistrailblazing group but also to
know that you're a trailblazerwithin you know the drag
community
Payton (17:17):
so it doesn't feel like I am I feel like I've watched so
many women do cool thingsbefore me so it doesn't make me
like I don't ever think like ohyeah I'm doing something that
you know not a lot of peoplehave but like I really hope that
I can set and instill themindset of you know the younger
generation of women that if Ifigured it out and like I said
(17:37):
no my dad and my grandpa weregearheads but I didn't grow up
in a shop I didn't grow upworking on my cars but 15 and 16
I picked this up and I was ableto figure it out then you can
too the internet is in some waysone of the most horrific things
but in other ways it really isone of the most amazing places
because that's why i've learneda lot of stuff you know if i
(17:59):
can't figure it out i'm going tojump on the internet and google
it until i mean until it's theend of me um so i really hope
like i can show people it's notgoing to go perfect the first
time you know you have to learnum you're going to make mistakes
i i I've made so many mistakesand I'm posting them and I'm
like, Hey, I messed up.
Um, so I really just hope thatI can instill that and then
(18:22):
instill into women somethingthat like for me growing up, I
had gotten an Instagram.
It wasn't too new.
And every time I saw a woman,it was, you know, just pictures
of woman with cars.
And I was like, Oh, like, youknow, is that the only way like
anyone's going to, you know,want to be a part of following
(18:42):
you?
And then I realized, no, peoplereally just care at the end of
the day, like the cool thingsthat you're doing.
Like, that's really it.
You know, I hope that I caninstill that as long as you're
sharing your passion and you'redoing what makes you happy, like
everything else is going tofollow.
You're going to find your ownhappiness.
You are going to get your carbuilt the way you want to get it
built.
People are going to be like,Oh, that's amazing.
(19:03):
Like, you know, the same thingI said where I saw Riley at 16,
17 years old doing that stuff.
And I was like, I needed thatinspiration whenever I was
younger, because whenever I wasyounger at her age on Instagram,
that is not what I was seeingon Instagram.
And it definitely, you know,made you feel a little less and
you're like, But like, I don'twant to only model in front of a
car.
Like I want to work on them.
(19:24):
And so I really love this nextgeneration and seeing everybody
post about like, hey, I don'tknow what I'm doing.
I love that.
I love it so much.
Makes me so happy because I'mlike, hey, me too.
And I've been doing this for 10years now.
Tamara Robertson (19:38):
I do think to your point, like getting to see
all the different types of womenand men that work on cars and
not having that stereotypicalimagery being the only thing
that you see, it's so empoweringto be able to know that there's
other options.
And so we're getting near time.
There's one question that Ilove to ask every guest that
(20:00):
comes on the show.
And that is if you could have asuperpower, what would it be?
And why?
Payton (20:07):
Hmm.
If I could have a super power,would it be to have more
patients to work on my car?
Maybe actually, if I could justlike change my body temperature
and, To camouflage betterwhenever it's way too hot
outside or way too cold outside,I actually would, that would
probably be, if I could controlthe weather in some way.
Tamara Robertson (20:29):
I like it.
I like it.
My first, well, my favoritesuperhero when I was little was
Storm because she could controlthe weather.
So I like it.
I like that answer a lot.
Well, amazing.
The Hemings Great Race kicksoff June 21st in St.
Paul, Minnesota, and will runall the way until we hit the
finish line.
hopefully on June 29th inMoorpark, Irmo, South Carolina.
(20:52):
Follow us on Instagram to stayup to date with all things
Creator Race as we tackle thisiconic vintage rally road race
one mile at a time.
That's it for Tinkering Bells.
This episode is assembled andready for delivery.
Peyton, this has been soincredible.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Payton (21:10):
Thank you so much.
I had a blast.
Tamara Robertson (21:12):
I want to thank you for choosing Tinkering
Belles as your user's manualfor all things Maker on a
bi-weekly basis.
If you want to continue to hearmore, don't forget to rate and
review the show on yourpodcasting app of choice, as
well as sharing it with yourfriends.
I look forward to seeing younext week.
Until then, don't forget tokeep making.
Greetings, shopmates, and welcome to
Tinkering Belles, a show aboutDIY, design, and all things
hands-on.
The sky's the limit as we talkprops, metalwork, cosplay,
woodwork, leather, electronics,and so much more.
I'm Tamara Robertson, yourhost, so strap on your tool
belts because we're about to getinto some skill sharing, y'all.
Today I'm going to be joined bya maker who's been sharing her
(00:27):
love of engines and all thingson four wheels since she was 15.
I don't want to give away toomuch, but this maker is
currently rebuilding not one,but two cars aiming for a first
place dragster.
So if that doesn't make youwant to stick around and hear
more, then you might be at thewrong podcast.
But first, let's go ahead andhave our tech talk of the day.
(00:50):
So we're going to be talkingall about the Hemmings Great
Race and the awesome greatpartners who helped us prep the
fair lane inside and out.
This includes KNKut, whodonated drill bits and the spot
weld cutters, tools we could nothave made it through the
rebuild without.
So let's back it up.
Where did drill bits get theirstart?
Well, the first drill bit waspatented in 1861 by Stephen A.
(01:21):
Morse.
Yes, that Morse of Morse Taperfame, which remains a standard
in machining today.
Before that, drilling was doneby bow drills or hand-turned
augers dating back to ancientEgypt and Mesopotamia, primarily
for stone and wood.
Now, modern drill bits are madefrom high-speed steel, cobalt
(01:45):
alloys, or carbide tips, eachengineered for different
materials and precision.
KNKut specializes inAmerican-made Jobber-length bits
that are known for durabilityand reduced walking, perfect for
chassis work, body panels, andvintage restorations where
accuracy matters.
Their spot weld cutters make iteasy to remove factory welds
(02:08):
without damaging underlyingpanels, which saved us hours on
this build and is a veryimportant thing when it comes to
precision and accuracy whenworking with vintage cars like
our 66 Fairlane.
Well, that's it for our TechTalk.
As always, you can join in onthe conversation with my maker
friends and me on the TinkeringBells Instagram and X pages.
(02:29):
Just search for BellesTinkering, hit follow and share
your DIY adventures togetherwith us.
Have a tool you want to learnabout?
Let me know and it may befeatured in a future episode.
Tell us what you liked, whatyou hated or possibly even what
we missed.
So now we're going to be gettinginto the main event and I'm so
excited to introduce you to ournext maker.
(02:51):
So drum roll, please.
Presenting Peyton.
Peyton, thank you for joiningme.
How are you?
Payton (02:57):
Hi. I'm good.
I'm excited.
I'm a little nervous because Italk too much sometimes.
So...
Tamara Robertson (03:04):
I am sure everything that you say will be
great.
Our audience loves all thetangents that we go on and all
the crazy stuff we talk about.
So bring it all.
We love quirky.
Believe me, they're stuck withit when they listen to anything
with me on it as it is.
So I love to start up theepisodes by telling people where
(03:24):
to find you, follow you, andgiving them a little bit of a
hint of what they're going tosee when they go there.
Payton (03:30):
Okay, so you can find me on all social medias at
racinpayton.
Most of the social media isjust race and Payton, just
regular.
And then the other one is withan underscore at the end because
somebody had that already onInstagram.
If you were to follow me,basically you'd see everything,
I guess like Chevy powered.
That's like really my thing.
is i am building a 1988 foxbody with an ls engine to go
(03:54):
stick shift drag racing i ambuilding a uh 2017 chevy ss
that's getting a 416 very soonso it's i'm kind of all over the
place but also not i basicallyi love anything with an engine
so i do dirt bikes trucks cars imean if literally if i can
figure out a way to work on itit's on my list
Tamara Robertson (04:15):
I love that.
And so I'm a superheroscientist, which means origin
stories are my jam.
You and I haven't met in personyet.
We'll be meeting soon on TheGreat Race, which I'm super
stoked about.
But can you share with theaudience your gearhead origin
story?
What got you started and why doyou still love it today?
Payton (04:34):
To back up to me as a child, one of my first words was
why, which I think is whatabsolutely just made me run into
cars.
My dad and my grandpa both ourgearheads.
I didn't grow up working oncars, though.
It was about age 15.
And I was like, wait, I don'tthink I just want to drive any
car.
I think I want to knowsomething about it.
(04:55):
And I think I wanted to becool.
And so I got a 96 Mustang GT.
And from then on, I justfigured out the small things I
could do and learn how to workfrom there.
And that very much fueled mywhy that I continuously asked
since I was a child.
And so I basically just fellinto a rabbit hole of okay,
well, how does this work andwhy?
And how, how do I do it?
(05:15):
And I basically have decided inmy life that I'm not going to
take, I can't do it for ananswer.
I'm going to figure out.
It doesn't matter if I mess itup 12 times, I'm going to get
thereeventually.
Tamara Robertson (05:26):
I love that.
It reminds me of, I don't, thismay, this may be aging me, but
there was this little cartoon onAnimaniacs with this little
girl, but be like, why, why,why?
Okay.
I love you.
Bye bye.
And like, for me, I was like,that's me.
That's my spirit animal.
Payton (05:46):
Literally, my mom was like, one of your first words,
she was like, aside from no, shewas like, your other one is
why.
And I was like, oh, well, thatactually tracks like 100%.
Tamara Robertson (05:56):
I love it.
So it sounds like youdefinitely achieved your goal of
not driving boring cars.
And currently, like you said,you're not rebuilding one, but
two cars.
And one of them is drag stripbound.
What draws you to dragsters andwhat do you hope to accomplish
there?
Payton (06:16):
So basically one of my first like experiences outside
of just like car meets was goingto the drive drag strip.
We had a local one like 45minutes away.
Whenever I went out there, Iwas like, there's a lot going
on.
I was like, I want to do that.
My dad was like, I had a 2010V6 Mustang at the time.
My dad was like, you're nottaking that car out.
I was like 16 years old.
And I was like, okay.
(06:37):
So at 18, I bought a 2013Mustang GT six feet car.
And I was like, well, this ismy car now.
So I'm going down and I'm goingto make a pass.
And I made a few passes, wentout racing.
And I was like, okay, I lovethis.
But then I broke mytransmission.
Um, because I had radials on abone stock car and those MT-82s
(06:58):
don't hold up well.
So I broke it.
And after that, I was like,okay, I need to like build a car
that if it breaks, it's not mydaily driver getting me to and
from work.
And so then I decided I wantedto build a car.
And after stick shift racingand changing up the platform
that I was going several times,like I started off with, I was
going to build a 5.3 and have apower glide.
(07:21):
And then I was going to do afive, three with a, you know, a
turbo 400.
And then I was like, no, justsix, two.
And then I was like, wait, whatabout a belt six, two?
And I was like, wait, I want togo stick shift racing.
I was like, that, that is myorigin story of drag racing.
I was like, I need to, I needto get to that.
So that's basically kind ofwhat like determined that.
And I've always had Mustangs.
And I was like, at the time,whenever I started it, I was
(07:43):
like, I can't afford to put acoyote in one of these cars.
I was like, there's no way.
And I was like, I can do an LS.
And then it developed into, atthis point, I could have also
had a coyote with all the moneyI have in it.
But LSs are...
basically all I drive.
And I was like, if one carbreaks, I have that same part on
four other cars.
Tamara Robertson (08:01):
I remember rebuilding my Trans Am with my
dad when I was younger.
And like, same thing.
My mom's like, put a governoron it.
I don't want to racing it.
And of course, he had meinstall it.
So I knew how to uninstall it.
And so the transmission was thefirst thing that went because I
just had a lot to prove, Iguess, when I was younger, and I
(08:24):
smoked everyone off of you knowevery red light I was at and it
was something that I lost mydaily driver and it made me
really sad after all the work wehad put into it but some
lessons we have to learn thehard way yeah
Payton (08:39):
exactly my dad was like I told you not to do that I was
like yeah but like I had tofigure it out.
You could just tell me that.
Tamara Robertson (08:46):
So speaking of racing, we are going to all be
taking part in the Hemings Creekrace, which I had never, I had
heard about because Jesse hadbeen a grand Marshall, but I had
never like had the ambitionmyself to like go and do it
mostly because you have to havea vintage car.
Is this a race that you, youknew about?
(09:06):
I had, you had ambitions to bein it.
Like what were your thoughtswhen you got the initial
invitations?
Payton (09:11):
So I had actually never heard of it.
I think it's probably becauseI'm stuck to drag racing.
That's my thing.
I hear about that.
And that's about the circlethat I run in.
But once I heard about it, Iwas like, okay, that seems like
a really cool thing.
Of course, same with me.
I don't have a vintage car.
So I was like, this probablywouldn't have been on my list
for a while, at least until Ihad one of those.
(09:33):
But I was really excited whenRiley reached out.
So I was like, this could be socool.
And whenever she was like,We're going to make it like a
powerhouse woman.
I was like, absolutely.
Even more.
I already was already in likeeven more count me in because I
got so excited of like theability to sit there and meet
other cool women in the industryand like make a point, I guess.
(09:53):
I really, really loved thewhole thought process behind
what she wanted to do.
Tamara Robertson (09:57):
So I love the kind of joke that Riley has
assembled all of us, like herAvengers, you know, she made
sure that she's got this groupof females that are the real
deal that can work on vehiclesthat are creators that are
genuinely just connected to herin some way.
So I have to ask, like, what isyour connection with Riley?
(10:18):
How did you guys originallymeet?
Payton (10:20):
So I saw her whenever she was like in the beginning
stages of getting on likeInstagram and Facebook, whenever
she, basically started to havestories talked about with her
and Maribel and Carburetors andbeing 16 or 17 years old and
having her own business.
So whenever I saw that, I waslike, wow, that's amazing.
At 16, 17 years old, I was notdoing anything that great.
(10:41):
And so I reached out to her andI was like, hey, I actually
have a shirt that says the bestman for the job is a woman on
the back of it, which was aarticle about Shirley Muldowney,
which was one of the firstwomen in drag racing.
And so I was like, let me sendyou some of these shirts.
I was like, I love what you'redoing.
Like Like I said, at that age,I was not doing anything cool.
(11:04):
And I was just like, soastounded by her.
So whenever she reached out, Iwas like, absolutely.
Like, you know, we have stillhaven't met yet.
And I'm super stoked for that.
But yeah, that's my story ofmeeting Riley.
Tamara Robertson (11:15):
So obviously we're all going to be a part of
this race.
And one of the things that Ilove, you know, I met Riley
because we were signingautographs together at SEMA and
the She Shed booth, which waslike the Jesse Combs Foundation,
Real Deal Revolution, and AllGangs Garage.
And so when we were there, Igot to learn about her like
(11:37):
being Jesse's rising star andall of these different things.
And she has just been such anamazing proponent to lifting the
girls that are part of thefoundation.
But We are actually going toget the honor of having the
Jesse Combs Foundation as ourcharity partner on this race.
So we'll all be rocking thedots.
We'll be following in Jesse'sfootsteps because Jesse was the
(11:59):
Grand Marshal for this eventback in 2016.
Had you ever gotten a chance tomeet Jesse or what is your
connection to Jesse Combs?
Payton (12:10):
So I unfortunately never got a chance to meet her.
Um, but all I've ever heard isof her stories, like just that
she walks in room, she lit itup.
That's exactly how she was.
And you know, I always like,when you hear the fastest woman
on four wheels, you're like, Iwant to be that one day, like,
you're just absolutely likeastounded by that.
So unfortunately, I never gotthe chance to meet her.
(12:33):
But every single story I'veheard about her just like makes
me wish even more that I had tohad had the chance to meet her
at one point in my life, becauseI'm like, that's the kind of
woman you like look up to andyou want to be eventually.
Tamara Robertson (12:45):
I love that.
And one of the things you know,speaking at events with Jesse
through the years and knowingher as a friend, prior to
joining the board, she was oneof the things I used to love
that she would say when young,young people would be like, I
want to be you one day is shewould share.
She's like, no, be you.
Like, you're really cool.
Did you know how cool you are?
And it's one of those thingsthat like in looking through
(13:07):
your profiles and learning aboutyou coming into this interview,
like one of the things that Ireally, really love is that you
are lifting the veil andapproach of being able to come
into rebuilding cars and takingaway the, fear of not having
enough money down to the toolsthat you're using you know
(13:27):
you're debunking that myth thatyou have to have a ton of money
to get into this and I just youknow as a kid of two military
parents you know like getting myfirst car from a junkyard and
having to rebuild it to be ableto even get it on the road to be
my daily driver like I justlove that you're sending that
message out there because I dothink that there's so many young
(13:49):
people especially that don'ttend to get into motorsport and
don't tend to get into carrebuilds because they don't have
that, the money that they thinkthat they need to have it.
So can you share with theaudience some of the pointers
that you give to people that arelooking to first get in this
where that might be one of thebarriers that they're facing?
Payton (14:08):
So one of the things that I always give people like
any information is that wheneverI first started working on
cars, I went to Sears beforethey closed and I got a
craftsman toolkit on sale forlike 30 bucks.
So like my start of cars and Iwas able to just do the basics,
you know, change my oil, learnhow to, you know, change my
(14:29):
tire, all that sort of stuff.
So it's like, I guess my thingis at the end of the day, like,
yes, if you want to build a fastcar, eventually you're going to
have to have a lot of money.
It's not, you can't just gointo drag racing and be like,
I'm going to be the fastestperson out there for $3.
But it's a matter of, you haveto learn a lot more in between.
So it's like, it's going totake time.
Like you shouldn't go out thereand be like, I only want to be
(14:49):
the fastest person.
Don't you want to be one of themost knowledgeable people?
Don't you want to be like,okay, like, yeah, that person's
faster than me, but like, I wasable to learn how to do this
with the bare minimum.
You know, I really...
try to show people that I havebeen building this car.
I owned it since 2018, my Foxbody Mustang.
It has been a very longprocess.
It's still not done.
(15:10):
I absolutely wish it would.
I remember whenever I wasgrowing up and I bought the car
and people were like, Oh yeah,an LS swap is easy.
It's so cheap.
And then whenever you come downto it, you know, you're like,
okay, but do I want to do itcheap?
Do I want to do it right?
I think it's a matter of likelearning patience.
Like, yes, you can absolutelydo it, but it depends on what
(15:32):
level you're wanting, you know,a car to be.
Like my car absolutely couldhave been done, you know, two or
three years into it.
But then I changed my mind somany times.
So it's really like dedicationand pushing through it, I think
is like the hardest thing is,no, you don't have to spend a
lot of money to learn how to dothe basic things.
I try like on TikTok to teach alot of people, like, you know,
(15:53):
here's how to jump a car if yourbattery dies.
Here's how to diagnosesomething simple because there's
a lot of things that Peoplehave not learned anything.
They're paying for people todo.
And I hate whenever I see thatif I see someone like our local
county page and they're like,does anyone know how to change
this?
I'm like, give me your addressbecause I'm not going to let you
pay for someone to change that,you know?
So I think it's just a matterof understanding that you can
(16:17):
get into it with the bareminimum.
and just evolve with whatyou're doing.
You know, like maybe you have alittle money eventually that
you can make that car faster,but like you can start off and
learn all the basics with reallynothing.
I've gone to Ross and gottentoolkits before too.
Like there, there's no stoppingyou except for like what you
(16:39):
plan in your own mind.
Tamara Robertson (16:40):
I love that.
And so one of the things thatthe foundation has really been
trying to hammer out home forall of the young ladies on this
group is that we are alltrailblazers in our own ways and
so I have to say like growingup next to a quarter trip and
like being out there for raceslike I never saw drag racers
(17:02):
like you so I just can imaginethat it must be such a big deal
for little girls to see you sowhat does it mean to you to be a
part of you know this thistrailblazing group but also to
know that you're a trailblazerwithin you know the drag
community
Payton (17:17):
so it doesn't feel like I am I feel like I've watched so
many women do cool thingsbefore me so it doesn't make me
like I don't ever think like ohyeah I'm doing something that
you know not a lot of peoplehave but like I really hope that
I can set and instill themindset of you know the younger
generation of women that if Ifigured it out and like I said
(17:37):
no my dad and my grandpa weregearheads but I didn't grow up
in a shop I didn't grow upworking on my cars but 15 and 16
I picked this up and I was ableto figure it out then you can
too the internet is in some waysone of the most horrific things
but in other ways it really isone of the most amazing places
because that's why i've learneda lot of stuff you know if i
(17:59):
can't figure it out i'm going tojump on the internet and google
it until i mean until it's theend of me um so i really hope
like i can show people it's notgoing to go perfect the first
time you know you have to learnum you're going to make mistakes
i i I've made so many mistakesand I'm posting them and I'm
like, Hey, I messed up.
Um, so I really just hope thatI can instill that and then
(18:22):
instill into women somethingthat like for me growing up, I
had gotten an Instagram.
It wasn't too new.
And every time I saw a woman,it was, you know, just pictures
of woman with cars.
And I was like, Oh, like, youknow, is that the only way like
anyone's going to, you know,want to be a part of following
(18:42):
you?
And then I realized, no, peoplereally just care at the end of
the day, like the cool thingsthat you're doing.
Like, that's really it.
You know, I hope that I caninstill that as long as you're
sharing your passion and you'redoing what makes you happy, like
everything else is going tofollow.
You're going to find your ownhappiness.
You are going to get your carbuilt the way you want to get it
built.
People are going to be like,Oh, that's amazing.
(19:03):
Like, you know, the same thingI said where I saw Riley at 16,
17 years old doing that stuff.
And I was like, I needed thatinspiration whenever I was
younger, because whenever I wasyounger at her age on Instagram,
that is not what I was seeingon Instagram.
And it definitely, you know,made you feel a little less and
you're like, But like, I don'twant to only model in front of a
car.
Like I want to work on them.
(19:24):
And so I really love this nextgeneration and seeing everybody
post about like, hey, I don'tknow what I'm doing.
I love that.
I love it so much.
Makes me so happy because I'mlike, hey, me too.
And I've been doing this for 10years now.
Tamara Robertson (19:38):
I do think to your point, like getting to see
all the different types of womenand men that work on cars and
not having that stereotypicalimagery being the only thing
that you see, it's so empoweringto be able to know that there's
other options.
And so we're getting near time.
There's one question that Ilove to ask every guest that
(20:00):
comes on the show.
And that is if you could have asuperpower, what would it be?
And why?
Payton (20:07):
Hmm.
If I could have a super power,would it be to have more
patients to work on my car?
Maybe actually, if I could justlike change my body temperature
and, To camouflage betterwhenever it's way too hot
outside or way too cold outside,I actually would, that would
probably be, if I could controlthe weather in some way.
Tamara Robertson (20:29):
I like it.
I like it.
My first, well, my favoritesuperhero when I was little was
Storm because she could controlthe weather.
So I like it.
I like that answer a lot.
Well, amazing.
The Hemings Great Race kicksoff June 21st in St.
Paul, Minnesota, and will runall the way until we hit the
finish line.
hopefully on June 29th inMoorpark, Irmo, South Carolina.
(20:52):
Follow us on Instagram to stayup to date with all things
Creator Race as we tackle thisiconic vintage rally road race
one mile at a time.
That's it for Tinkering Bells.
This episode is assembled andready for delivery.
Peyton, this has been soincredible.
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
Payton (21:10):
Thank you so much.
I had a blast.
Tamara Robertson (21:12):
I want to thank you for choosing Tinkering
Belles as your user's manualfor all things Maker on a
bi-weekly basis.
If you want to continue to hearmore, don't forget to rate and
review the show on yourpodcasting app of choice, as
well as sharing it with yourfriends.
I look forward to seeing younext week.
Until then, don't forget tokeep making.
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