August 19, 2025 • 36 mins
B.J. McLeod has it all right now between the success of his race team on the NASCAR track and the opening of his new roller coaster. McLeod returns to the podcast to discuss the best season Live Fast Motorsports has had since its inception; being a competitive Open team in the Cup Series; the dynamic of driver to driver to driver on the radio with McLeod, Katherine Legge, and Tommy Joe Martins; insight on the NASCAR testing policy; the feeling of the team running more races but not being in the seat as much; having the Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster official open; the designs and detail of the coaster; attracting race fans versus general coaster enthusiasts; the speed component to the coaster; the slogan of competing and trash talking; the unique way McLeod has solicited feedback; the plans for Live Fast Motorsports to end the season.
Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats
Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your host,
Kelly Krandall. Our guest today is Bj McLeod our. Returning
guests to the podcast because well, I always enjoy talking
to Bj, but he's always got some really great things
to say. In this podcast, we're dishing on what has
gone on for Live Fast Motorsports this season. They are
having one of their best seasons, if not the best
season since their inception just a couple of years ago,
(00:29):
and it's happening with Bj behind the wheel as well
as Catherine leg So we're gonna dig into all of that,
how it is to be a competitive open team in
the NASCAR Cup Series, the testing policy, everything just about
what they're doing on the racetrack with very little and
it's really great to get insight from Bj on that.
And then we're gonna shift and talk about roller coasters.
If you haven't heard, Bj and his wife Jessica are
(00:51):
the proud new owners and it's now open of the
Pigeon Forde Racing Coaster, the first side by side racing
coaster that you can control. You can race your friends,
your family down this coaster. It is absolutely insane and
so so cool. That's where're going to dig in today,
a little bit of everything. It's gonna be a great conversation.
I hope you enjoy it. So let's get into it.
(01:12):
Here is BJ McLeod on the Racing Writers Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
We talked.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I think it was the end of last year because
we had caught up a year after selling the charter
and kind of where you guys were at how that
went for you. So now here we are in August
and it's been, in my opinion, a pretty big impressive
year already for you guys. You've only run nine races,
but man, you guys have not a lot in those
nine races. So let me start with kind of a
broad question here of how's it going? How is it
(01:45):
right now?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Actually it's going really good. We didn't have much luck
at Walkin's Glenn, but we've had some really good stuff
happened to us with Katherine driving and obviously the big
racket Atlanta afforded us a pretty easy top twenty there.
I was happy and excited to finish sixth sat at Atlanta, but.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
We had damage.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
We got in the wreck to right and it's like
we had so much damage that I couldn't really advance
or move up or you know, compete the last three
or four laps. So I was like, wasn't that much
fun for me? But it was cool on paper, right,
So you know, it's been live Fast. Jessica and I
were talking about it a week or two ago after Dy.
This is definitely the most successful year for live fast
(02:24):
since it's been opened in twenty twenty, right, Like our
first year was twenty twenty one. But we've never you know,
had to finish as we've had compared to the amount
of starts, Like it's not even close, and some of
the finishes we've had we've never done. And Catherine's a
big part of that. So it's been really cool to see,
you know, the development of live fast even without a charter,
you know, still making friends and building networks and you know,
(02:48):
getting to where we've got more information and we get
a lot of help you know on the Chevy side,
and you know RCRS done some stuff with us, so
you know, with Catherine driving. So it's been really cool
to see, you know, how we've been able to develop
even as an open team, right, Like it's you know,
something that's very difficult to do being a singletart team,
even if you have a charter and then take the
(03:09):
charter away, and it kind of handicaps you a little
bit on what you're capable of providing. And we've been
able to advance the team and be able to get
some really good finishes with the support we've had from
you know, Chevy and everyone, and it's been really cool
to see what Catherine's accomplished and what Live fast has done.
And I really never thought I wasn't thinking about having
(03:31):
the best year for live fast after we sold the charter,
like it, that was never in my mind. I was
just playing, having fun driving and trying to help some
drivers along the way, like Catherine. That was my intent,
and you know, we've had her. She's got three Top twenties.
It's been a blast. So it's been been a really
good year for live Fast.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
That's so funny you say that, because that's exactly where
I was going to go next, because again referencing the
conversation you and I had at the end of twenty
twenty four, you said exactly that of Okay, we're the charter.
I'm happy, We're going to be in a good spot.
We just want to keep trying to find ways that
we can be competitive in our space. So to imagine
that here you guys are. Now you've run nine races
(04:11):
this year, which is more than you've ran last year,
and you mentioned the top twenties, but there's also been
a bunch of I think nine or no nine races,
four top twenty five. So it's kind of, as you said,
like unbelievable to think that all of this has happened.
And I would assume Bja, that you're still quite happy with.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That decision, is it really Yeah, we're definitely happy with
the decision to sell.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That'll never change no matter what.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
But it's been really cool to see what we're capable
of as an open team with the right help. You know,
none of that happens without Chevy and other people that
are helping us. It's just it's really cool to see
that we can keep working on building the networks and
we have those relationships in the garages. And Catherine gave
us a shot, just like we gave her a shot
and Phoenix. A lot of people are like, oh, it's
(04:55):
a rough start, and I'm like, she made one mistake
that was catastrophic there and got into it and swore
and andsarus this day, right, But it's like everything else
she did that weekend, she had to spend early in
the race. There's a lot of people to spend driving
cup cars, including champions, right, I don't even count that,
I say, you know, looking at her speed off the
(05:16):
truck at Phoenix, she'd never been in an oval.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
In a cup car, she'd never been in a cup car,
she never been in an exten car.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Like, there's so many things stacked against her, and I
feel like Phoenix was a success other than the one
really bad mistake that she owned and knows we can't
do again. Right, So it's been cool to see, you know,
what she's been capable of and how her and her
partners have helped elevate Live Fast. And you know, we're
just working together as a group collectively, and it's definitely
(05:44):
putting us to where we're We're not a top twenty
Cup car.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
By no means.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
We've been getting these finishes by strategy and attrition, but
we are absolutely a competitive cup car, and at the
beginning of the year, it's difficult for Live Fast to
say that even when we own the truck, when we
own the charger ran fulls the last year one reason
we sold is we were thirty six or thirty fifth
every week on speed and there was a huge delta
to the next car.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It was three tenths, four tenths, maybe even.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Up to seven, seven to eight tenths at some places,
and we, you know, Matt and I just didn't like that.
We didn't We just couldn't couldn't accept it because we
were trying really hard. And now you know we're seeing that. Yes,
at Walkins Glenn, she finished thirty sixth, but she was
ahead of people all day. There were still two or
three cars behind her, and the strategy didn't go our way.
(06:32):
We ran long, tried to make something happen cool again
and it didn't work and.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Cost her a lap.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
But if we didn't try the strategy game, we could
have easily finished lead lap, easily been competitive with four
other cars, which is incredibly hard to do right now
in the Cup Series. So you know, it's it's cool
to see that we've been able to elevate as an
open team, and honestly, it's it's been an eye opener
for me, like I planned on being a good stepping
(06:57):
stone for up and coming winning and send to your
truck series drivers or someone like Catherine that wants to
cross over from the handycar scene. I thought we would
be more of just a stepping stone, but I've seen
that we can get some really good finishes if things
go our way with the support we have right now.
So it's been really cool to see that happen and
looking forward to trying to keep that going.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I wanted to ask about that of the approach of
having other drivers come in and work with y'all, because
that's not new, right, You've done that before, You've done that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Next NDY series.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
What is so cool from the outside looking in for me,
Bjay is I love being on y'all's radio during races
because you're on the radio. Tommy Joe's on the radio,
which I didn't even realize he was working with y'all
until I heard him one weekend. I was like, wait
a minute. And what's so fascinating is people can listen
like myself in live time as mentoring and lessons are
(07:50):
being learned from driver to driver. What is that like
for you too? Now it's not just you and Catherine.
Now it's a triangle because you got Tommy Joe in
there as well. So how has that dynamic.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's been really cool. You know Pepper, David Pepper is
our main spotter, right, and he's been with me since
we started Lyftfast. We've loved having him and he's a
great driver coach, smatter like, and he's unbelievable at his profession.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
He's one of the best, right. And then you throw
Tommy Joe into the mix. We've had.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
We had to have some extra spotters, right because they're
doing road courses, and Tommy Joe jumped in was willing
to do it. And then you listen to Tommy Joe
and it's like, wow, this is cool, right, Like you
get another driver that you know does have his own
Exfinity team, but he's developing drivers, right, and it's like
you listen to all of it on the radio, and
Catherine definitely gets an abundance of information that sometimes I'm
sure she's had enough, but it's like we just feed
(08:39):
it to her and try to help her do the
best we can. Because Catherine's got raw talent. There's no
doubt to argue that with anybody. I don't care. It's
just figuring out the rest of this sport and figuring
out the cup car and then realizing once you're a
rock star at that you're still only thirty sixth or
thirtieth or whatever. Like it's just everybody at the cup
(09:00):
levels of rockstar Like it's just the truth. Like I mean,
it's they're so good at what they do and and
you know, Tommy Joe and Pepper and I have just
been doing the best we can because I've never won
a race, right, Tommy Joe's never won a race, but
we've done a lot of things wrong, right, And it's
like we can help her speed up, you know, the
curve of making mistakes. And I think that you see
(09:22):
that in her finishes because she constantly has us telling her,
you know, here, this mistakes happens at this track, at
this part of the race, like the rubber goes here,
the grip goes there. Like we've been around and got
so much combined experience between Tommy, Joe and I that
we can help and then throw Pepper in there with
you know, two decades bus of experience. It's just a
wild combination. It's a lot of fun to listen to.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, there was a comment on the radio during one race,
and I forget which one in particular, it was, I
think it was from Tommy to you. Where as Catherine
was out there running laps, you all were having a
discussion about, Man, if we could take her testing, Yeah,
it would speed up so much. Now that's such an
interesting discussion because on one hand, I think a lot of
us would love to see drivers like Catherine get that
(10:07):
seat time. But for you, bej, can you explain is
it a double edged sword though when it comes to
this testing, because for you guys, as an open team,
you may not have even the money to do that, right,
So I wanted to get your perspective on kind of
just your thoughts on the testing policy and how could NASCAR,
if they were open to it again, make it work
for a team such as you guys.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, I think you know they're going down the road
of and I don't even know the exact rules of
the let's say the All Star provisional or whatever they
call it at the beginning of year.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I don't remember.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You're allowed to test if you get that provisional, Like
if you if you're qualified for what they say for
you know, a one off event and you want to
go test, they've got it. So they're trying to figure
out I feel like, this is not a conversation with NASCAR,
So it's just my opinion looking from the outside, I
feel like they're trying to figure out how to let
anyone like Catherine that's coming in new to the sport,
(10:59):
trying to get used to exten car. I think they're
they're wanting to make it where you can test. But
the one thing that NASCAR always has had a problem with,
then always we'll have a problem with every team owner
and every person in NASCAR is very good at pushing
the rules. And it's like the second you make it
okay for somebody to test if they've got an open
(11:19):
car and this person has, you know, this little amount
of experience, right, well, then you'll have winning Exfinity drivers
that have never rank Cup that are all of a
sudden driving an open car for Hendrick, right like it's
just just as an example, right like it's and then
they'll be getting the testing from that, knowing that you know,
these these drivers are just as good as the people
that are winning on Sunday, just haven't got there yet, right,
(11:41):
And it just opens up a can of worms a
NASCAR they can't let happen, right And it's like if
you go back to just say okay, let's open it
up across the board. You can just test. Everybody can test. Well,
you go to that, well, now you're spending millions more
year testing. We already have a hard time keeping people
because we have a very long schedule that restricts your
(12:02):
family time and you're at home under your own rooftime
a tremendous amount. You can't add testing back like, it's
not fair to the people. It's not fair to the families. Obviously,
as an open team, I'd love to be able to
go test and a budget wise for what we do,
it wouldn't be as bad as being a full time
team and going and testing like it would actually be
worse for them.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you know, we.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Could handle it, but it just doesn't make sense. Number one,
from to me a infrastructure standpoint of your people, that's
my number one thing. I don't want them to have
to be gone more. And then number two would be financial.
It just isn't worth it. When the racing product will
see no gain, the individual will see a gain. Catherine
(12:44):
would be better if she could go test absolutely every
one of these races we went to. Her first words
are like, I wish we could have started there, right,
And it's like, not just her, it's the car, right,
Like the team. We get better through the race, right,
Like we learn stuff. And she's like, wow, I wish
we could just unload there. Well, that's that's the byproduct
of not being able to test. We just can't, right,
(13:04):
So now next year maybe where they were, we unload
there the next time we go back, right. But it's just,
you know, I understand NASCAR standpoint, and then I see
where they're putting a really tough spot to try to,
you know, enforce what is actual testing to help somebody
that's new, and what is Well, we're just going to
speed the whole sport up and cost everybody money in time.
(13:26):
And I just don't see a realistic way to make
that possible on more than a one off stand Like
guess what they have right now. You can do it
once with one driver and it keeps the other teams
from firing up and you know, figuring out how to
manipulate it every week to have somebody testing, right, But
it passed that to be a real benefit. I don't
see how you do it not cost everybody time and money.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Well, I was appreciate your perspective, So I appreciate that answer.
One last thing on the racing thing before we shift
gears to talk about roller coasters. As the car has
run more this year, BJA, I know, again you've split
time with drivers throughout, but as it's run more this year,
has there been any inklings like do you want to
be behind the wheel more? What's it like for you
to be behind to be on the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
If I had unlimited budget, I would race. I would
probably race Cup fifteen times a year somewhere in that area.
I mean, I would do it with full support from
someone like RCR and Pope Chevy would be behind it.
I love Cup racing, and you know I definitely I
just I love and respect the level of competition in
the Cup series. Exfinity is incredibly hard. Like it's I
(14:31):
tell people, I just had this conversation yesterday. Infinity is
Cup free next Gen. Like that's the level of competition
that's in Infinity in my opinion right now, Like it
is that hard, Like it is really stepped up. And
then go to trucks. You have twenty trucks every week,
if I mean, you have to kind of take Corey
him out of the equation. But if you took him
(14:52):
and his rock star team that's been together three years out,
then you have basically twenty trucks that are all close
to being able to win with a fuel strategy thing
or you know, something happening. All three series are stacked,
but the level of competition and CUP is by far
the toughest thing I've ever been a part of in
my life when it comes to building a business, you know,
just life itself, Like, no matter what, CUP is the
(15:15):
toughest thing I've ever been a part of mentally, physically,
time demanding. Like it's just hard, and I respect that
and I love being a part of it still and
you know, I wish I uh and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Still working on it.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
You never know, but I hope that, you know, one
day I could get to where I could rub fifteen
races before I quit. But you know, that's really the
ultimate goal for me.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
It wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Full time on my own I have no interest in that.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
The only way I would.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Have ever done that is if I was in a
competitive car that could win, you know, or be in
the chase like that.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I as far as my own car dream scheduled be fifteen,
and yes, I absolutely would love to be out there more,
but I wouldn't want I will say this, I enjoy
helping Catherine and splitting the team, splitting the time with
her like that, to see the team succeed with her
and I still drive some like that's the ultimate for me.
I don't want to be the driver all the time
(16:07):
because it just it's way harder to succeed with two
people than it is one. Right, And it's like we
this year have definitely, you know, been above average and
have had no matter we're going to run a couple
more races. It's like, whatever happens there, we've had a
successful year. Like we can't flip the flip it back
the other way. So I enjoy seeing that. I just
to your point, seeing the success of the team at
(16:29):
these other tracks. I love Indy, right, and I'm like
I like to it out there, you know, like it's
I just want to see it. Like Phoenix when we
unloaded out there, and her first lap she was one
point three seconds off. Her second lap, she was on
her second off, her third lap, she was within six cents.
She ended up qualifying twenty four hundreds off of I
remember at that point it was Ty Gibbs and that
would have gained her like four spots, right, And I'm
(16:51):
looking at it and I'm like, you know, I think
our stuff's gotten pretty good because it's hard to do that,
Like I mean, it's especially with someone that's never seen
a NASCAR oval and never been in a Cup car, right,
And I was I was very shocked at this being
the team brought that week with a five day notice,
and I love Phoenix, so I'm like, you know what,
we may go out there at the end of the year, see, right,
(17:12):
So it's been fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, that's awesome. Again from the outside looking in, it's
been awesome to track the finishes and what you guys
have been doing this year, and not just the finishes,
but as you were mentioning earlier, the performance through the races.
You can clearly tell the team in the car and
whether it's you or Catherine has just been more competitive.
So that's been fantastic to watch. So all right, let's
switch gears for a few minutes. Let's talk about the
(17:37):
Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster because it's open now, right, so
I know we again, we had talked about it a
little bit last year when you were just starting to
kind of reveal plans for it. So how does it
feel now to have it open, it's out there and
the public people are coming and enjoying it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Well, I can tell you, you know, the one downside of
selling the charter is it's like our most fun, active,
full time business was the charter. We have other stuff,
like we have real estate stuff, we do other things,
but Jessica and I's main interest was only the charter
and trying to make it more successful.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And we sold it.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
There's like a big gap and you know, fulfillment and
purpose and what you like to do every day. And
that was the downside, and it's like, well, let's do
something else crazy that way we fill that gap. Right,
And the coaster was absolutely not a safe investment, right,
Like it's a wild thing to be a part of
and definitely off the wall. And I've had several successful
(18:30):
people say you did what why? I've always wanted to
own one. I mean since I was raised in central Florida.
I grew up within an hour and a half of
Universal and Bush Gardens and Disney and like all the
cool places, right, And I obviously could never afford a
theme part. But it was like when we sold the charter,
(18:50):
I'm like, we can afford one attraction, Like we could
figure this out, and then it took two seconds to
put it together that it was Pigeon Forge because Jessica
and I love Pigeon Forge, a cabin and acreage over there.
We bought it five years ago, so it wasn't or
four years ago. It wasn't like we went and bought
stuff after we were going to build a business there,
Like we love the town, love the area, I love
the people. Tourism's great too, Like it's just a fun
(19:12):
place to be. And that's when you know I called
to call my guy and said, hey, if you if
you're willing to do something with us over there where
we wanted, we want to do it. It all build
off of that, right, So it helped fill that void
getting it open, because when we were building it, it's
like the fun part of like when we bought the
charter and there was people running like this is going
to be wild with the next gen car and all
(19:33):
this stuff is crazy, and you know they were scared
of the sport just going. I jumped in full speed
with Matt and Joe and went forward, and it was
the same thing building the coaster, because like I said,
I have some successful people that are like you did that.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Wine, they're questioning it completely.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So it was fun watching it be built and you know,
you know, anticipating a great opening, but you can go
either way. You can have it flop too, and it's
a multi multimillion dollar project that could turn into a disaster.
And Jessica and I liked that feeling though we've always
enjoyed it and we were in with some good people
and we felt confident and getting through the grand opening
and seeing the support of the people that go to
(20:11):
Pigeonforge and you know, in that area, it's been awesome.
So we've had had nothing but success since we've opened it,
and just looking forward to getting the year behind us,
because obviously you have seasons and you had busy times
and you know, low times, So we just want to
get through a whole season and see what it's like
whole year, and you know, just enjoying watching it actually perform.
(20:33):
Now it's cool. And then the guy that built it
for us to pull it off in nine months, Like
there's people that can't build a twenty five hundred square
foot residential house in nine months, he built a multimillion
dollar alpine coaster that covers five acres and has a
three hundred foot elevation change with two different tracks that
race one another. I mean just everything, the building alone
(20:54):
that he built for it should take you six months,
and he built it in sixty five days. Like me,
you can't build the building until after the coaster is done.
So it is really cool to see all that come together.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, you said that you've always wanted to own one,
but not you didn't buy one. You designed it and
it was built. I want to know what went into
the final design and kind of what it looks like
and all of those specifications and how involved you were
with that. You're a detailed guy.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, so it was really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
You're right, I'm very very detailed with everything when it
comes to business, and I plan for the worst and
hope for the best always. It's always been that way.
Not a pessimist, but I'm not an optimist, eire. I'm
just a realist, right, So I usually detach emotion completely
with anything to do led that, and I felt like
with this one when we had the original conversations, I mean,
this is literally talking about Napkins and Jessica and I
(21:46):
his cabin with the guy that building.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
His name is Teddy Jones. We just were having the conversation.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
He said, He's like, I want to make this racing
and theme and around you and you know and have
this you know being He's like, I believe that the
first racing coasture in the world, it would be a
huge attraction. And I'm like, there's not another one, and
he said, no, there's not a true alpine racing coaster
in the world. There is roller coasters that are side
(22:10):
by side. Diamond doesn't right, but to be able to
control your own speed and compete downhill in control to
some extent, it's just not just not anywhere. So when
he mentioned that, I was like, okay, like that that's sold.
Like it took all the five seconds to agree to that.
And then he showed us a drawing. He already had
(22:31):
drawings done, you know, just semi professional, but he had
drawings done that we could at least take to the
next step to the engineers and say, hey, is this possible.
And when he showed us that, we didn't critique anything,
but we helped with the building. The actual rails and
the coaster itself. He he just nailed it, and he's
this is the third one he's done, and I mean,
(22:52):
obviously the more you do.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
The better you get, right he just had.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I actually questioned that, you know, we had too many
turns because I'm like, these things are going to be fast.
It's too me like, that's a lot of turns, and
he's like, we want this to be different. We don't
want people to get off and say they've rode anything
like it, and you won't like it's there's there's a
lot of awesome coasters and alpine coasters and Pigeon Forge.
I love other coasters. He owns another one right now.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I ride it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I don't own any of it. There's a couple of
them in town. There are a lot of fun none
of them are in any way, shape or form like
the pigeon fordge Racing Coaster and the biggest thing that
Jessica and I had in it. We were very adamant
that we didn't want to wait in line in the weather.
It's pretty much all of them are in the weather,
or you may be covered for a split minut split
(23:38):
second before you get on the ride, but you're in
the weather, you're in the elements, and we have enough
room to hold roughly two hundred people two hundred and
twenty five people in line out of the elements while
they're getting on the ride. So Jessica and I were
very adamant on being comfortable for people to wait, because
there's just wait times over there. Even we're doing good,
(23:59):
we're running. We can run one hundred people an hour.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
No problem.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
But it's and it does have a very high run
rate because it's two coasters. It's literally two coasters on
one property, so you're feeding twice to people if anybody
else in town for the same amount of time waiting
in line. But we wanted the building to be top notched,
the best so far. We wanted all AC controlled heated.
The stairway was a little warm after we got done
to the final steps up to the launching area, and
(24:25):
I saw it on the cameras. I saw people like
waving their hands keeping heat off of them, and I
called Teddy and I was like, let's get an AC
put in that area, and he's like, all right. Literally
three days later we had an AC in that area
to make sure that nobody was hot, right, like, it's
just we've done Jessica and I have been on the
side of making sure that it is a ten of
ten experience when you go over there. As much as
(24:49):
awesome as you can make an alpine coaster, that's what
we had in it, and it's definitely with the help
of our partners, it has become a reality.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I know it's only been open a short amount of time,
maybe only a months now, but have you been able
to see bj the visitor breakdown of folks who are
coming that are race fans who know you from racing
and have heard about this, versus just the general enthusiastic
you know, coaster fans that are coming and seeing this.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You know, I don't have the exact numbers, but we're
definitely seeing a lot of race fans over there. Like
it's you kind of think we build a racing custer.
So racing fans love to go to Fission Forge, they
love to go to Gallenburg, they love to go to
the Smoking Mountains. They're always in that area and a
lot of their vacations are planned over there. You're going
to pick the racing coaster the second you get over there.
(25:35):
Number One, it's new, but number two, it's just you
get to race your family, like you can raise your kids,
you can race your wife. And it's not it's I mean,
there's a couple of spots that are even creepy for me,
and I've obviously used to do it some wild stuff,
but those points that are scary, if you want to
slow down, you can't. So you know, maybe there's someone
that just doesn't really want to be scared, they want
(25:56):
to see an unbelievable view. We have secure cameras over there,
and we have one mounted at the top that overlooks
the coaster out into looking over the parkway. I look
at it at night, sometimes two or three times a week,
just to look at the view. It's like staying in
the high rise in Vegas and looking down the strip,
like it just is an incredible view at the top
of our coaster. And it's like, yeah, we build it
(26:17):
for speed, we build it for adrenaline, we build it
to scary if you want to get scared, But at
the same time, you've got a handbreak. If you want
to just see an unbelievable view, our coaster is good
for that too, So you know, I think the racing
fans mixed with the people that love views and love
the mountains.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
For the views, you can go up.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
There and see one of the most incredible viewpoints sub
Pigeonforge from that coaster.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
All right, So the speed you mentioned, I know it's
been advertised that it can go thirty plus mile an hour.
Everybody's in control of their own speed. Do you have
an idea? What's been the top so far? What do
you think folks have hit?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
So it's actually regulated. Nothing over thirty three point four
GPS will pick in and it breaks for you. Okay,
So that is a safety stand you know, standard that
we on it didn't We don't want people getting hurt
because I mean, you let me and one of my
crew guys go over there and we're just gonna hold
it wide open and see what happens. And the ride
can only handle so much abuse, right, So it's it's
(27:12):
something where you have it's mandated anyway, but if it wasn't,
I would have to cut off. And you know, that
was actually one of my before I went and wrote
an alpine coaster, long before we decided to build this
one one of my reservations. But I didn't like that
they had a GPS cut off on the speed, you know,
and I thought, wow, that's going to suck because I
hear thirty mile an hour and I'm like, that's not
going to be like anything enter entertaining. And I go
(27:35):
and get on my first alpine coaster, not the one
I owned, and I go twenty one point two mile
an hour, and I'm like, wow, that was a little scary,
Like there was points that it didn't feel that comfortable.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And it's just because you just have to picture.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Yourself in a cart that's not as wide as you
with a lap belt, and now parts of our coaster
you're eighty feet off the ground, Like the closest thing
to you is eighty feet down, So an eight story
building is what you're looking down, and the rail that's
holding you you can't see once you don't look in
front of you, it's like underneath you don't know you're
on it, right, So it's incredibly entertaining, to say the least,
(28:09):
when you're going thirty mile an hour or thirty three
mile an hour on this coaster. And it's like when
I well, like I said, when I wrote my first one,
I was like, okay, like I get it, Like this
is this is wild. So I've been an alpine coaster
fan for probably nine years now. Like I've wrote, everyone
i've come here put it that way.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I always get home.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
One last thing I wanted to ask about the coaster
because I was exploring the website looking at videos and
pictures and it's just so cool to look at. But
there was something on the website that caught my attention.
It made me laugh. It says, built a compete design
to trash talk.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, first, the first time.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I love that. Is it living up to the expectations?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh yeah, no, it's fun. So one thing I like
to do is when I'm.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Over there, we have a whole patio area set up
with picnic tables and umbrellas and things and put TVs
out there depending on whether so I'll go out there
and sit and just sit on the bench and wait
till people get off and they'll come sit down. And
I just listened to real reviews, right, not Google reviews
or anything that you know, someone can can go one
(29:11):
way or the other, Like I want to hear the
real opinion of what they felt like when they get
off the ride. And I've got about ten hours doing
that so far. Since it opened of just sitting on
the table, sitting on a picnic table and letting people
come sit down because there are eight seat picnic tables,
so I may bee sitting with an entire family that
just got off the ride.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
They have no clue that I own it. They have
no clue that I'm a part of it.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Like, and you get the real reviews, and this, honestly,
the two most negative reviews I got was I had
two people that said, Wow, I feel a little nauseous, right,
And I have to say I took that as a compliment, right,
because it's like I've never gotten nauxious on a coaster anywhere,
And I'm like, that means we did a good job.
If you want to thrill, come to ours, right, Like
(29:55):
it's that coaster and the whole trash talking thing and
having fun, Like we run with that, because it's just
it's just a different coaster. It's not, like I said,
if you want to do the sites that you know,
the city views or the mountainviews, you've got that. But
then there's a whole other aspect to it that you
don't have on any other coaster where you can literally
tell your friend, I'm going to beat your butt down
(30:16):
down that hill, and you can either go do it or.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Get laughed at when you don't.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Right, So it's it's pretty cool to sit there and
listen to people get off the kids, how happy.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They are parents.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I mean, I've seen, you know, people singers get off
of it and be like, wow, that was awesome. And
just everybody can ride, everybody can have fun and go
at their own pace, and and it's really cool to
listen to it firsthand. And it's like when I did that,
I was like, all right, we build a cool coaster.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I love that. I love just incognitio. I mean not
even incognito, just you sitting there.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Nobody even knows. I love that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
And it's true, you're going to get just listening in right,
people watching and listening, you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Hear it's the only real way to get it right.
And it's like I want I want the real opinions.
I enjoy the positive. I am driven by the negative,
and it's what I if. I so far we've been good,
but it's like whatever is physically possible to make better,
we want this coaster to be the best for the
(31:15):
foreseeable future. And that being multiple like multiple years, like
up into a decade, right, Like it's it's just really
something that we want to focus on to make sure
that if there's changes that need to be made, we'll
make them. Like we want it to be a ten
of ten experience when you take your family there, because
that's the value in it for Jessica and I is
we own a business, but we know right now there's
(31:37):
countless memories getting made because partially of us, right and
that's that's something that's extremely valuable as business owners and
just people.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, No, it's absolutely brilliant. I love to hear you
doing that because again it's going to go so far
instead of just reading something on a website. All right,
last thing for you, be Jay to circle it back
to racing on the racetrack. What does the schedule look
like for you all for the rest of the year
terms of where you guys think you'll be, where you'll
definitely be. What's the outlook for Live Fast to end
(32:06):
the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
We're definitely running Daytona and Talladega, possibly roval Vegas, definitely
one or the other, maybe both, and then I don't know.
I'm still toying with Phoenix myself, like, I haven't decided yet,
so you know, we'll see, We'll just see where we're at.
The number one focus is making sure Catherine Finish is
strong with what she's got left, and we're still, you know,
(32:31):
still nailing that down to try to figure it out,
but we want to be behind her. And then my
focus is Daytona. I love that track, I love that area,
I love speedway racing, and I am I'm looking forward
to going and trying to make something happen, so I
should have the best car I've ever had. It seems
like we do that every time we go to the
track now, but it's true. So hopefully we can go
(32:54):
down there and do some good and then Catherine finished
strong and nail down and plan for twenty six.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Sounds good. BJ always appreciate talking to you. I know
I say that all the time, but I really enjoy
your insight And it has been so cool again since
we talked at the end of last year to see
the progress of this race team and now with the
coaster as well, So I'm glad I could just pick
your brain on all of it.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Well. I appreciate it having me on. I enjoy it.
As always, and you just have a.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Good weekend and we'll look forward to seeing it.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thanks again to BEJ for coming on the podcast, for
coming back on the podcast. If you want to hear
more from BJ, you have two options. The episode from
July twenty twenty, episode one point thirty features BJ. We
talked for over an hour on that podcast getting to
know him his career, where he came from, and how
he got here. Because BJ has a really cool background
(33:52):
because he's very successful in what he's done in racing
before he's even come to NASCAR, and we dig into
all of that as well as what it's like to
own a car team, why he is here, what he's
trying to accomplish. So that is episode one point thirty
from July twenty twenty. There is also episode two O
four from December of twenty twenty one where it was
BJ and Matt Tiff. At that time, we were talking
(34:13):
about what it was like to get through their first
year of ownership when they formed Live Fast Motorsports and
what they were aiming to do with that team, what
it was like working together because they are good friends.
So those two episodes also will be really great to
listen to. If you want more content from BJ McLeod, So, BJ,
thank you for coming on the episode. Thank you to
(34:33):
Alex Lewis as well for helping coordinate and get this
on our calendars and making it happen. If you enjoyed
the episode, please leave a rating and review. You can
also go to social media. In the show description of
this episode, there is a link tree link and it
has all of my social media accounts. That is the
best way you can reach out to me, in addition
to leaving a rating and review and letting me know
what you think. So I appreciate that and always look
(34:56):
forward to hearing your feedback. NASCAR Race Day Eats, the
official cook of NASCAR, is coming soon. We're just over
two months away from the release of that, but it
is now available for pre order. You can also find
the link to that in the show description of this episode.
It will be released in late August, but again you
can pre order and have it show up on your
door and you won't have to worry about it. Very
(35:16):
very excited about this all wonderful, fantastic food, dessert and
drinks for your tailgates or your parties at home as
you get ready to watch NASCAR Racing. So once again,
thank you for clicking and listening. Thank you for the
support every week. Thank you once again for downloading this episode.
Hope you enjoyed it. And with that, I'm going to
wrap this up and I will see you again soon
right here on the Racing Writers Podcast.
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your host,
Kelly Krandall. Our guest today is Bj McLeod our. Returning
guests to the podcast because well, I always enjoy talking
to Bj, but he's always got some really great things
to say. In this podcast, we're dishing on what has
gone on for Live Fast Motorsports this season. They are
having one of their best seasons, if not the best
season since their inception just a couple of years ago,
(00:29):
and it's happening with Bj behind the wheel as well
as Catherine leg So we're gonna dig into all of that,
how it is to be a competitive open team in
the NASCAR Cup Series, the testing policy, everything just about
what they're doing on the racetrack with very little and
it's really great to get insight from Bj on that.
And then we're gonna shift and talk about roller coasters.
If you haven't heard, Bj and his wife Jessica are
(00:51):
the proud new owners and it's now open of the
Pigeon Forde Racing Coaster, the first side by side racing
coaster that you can control. You can race your friends,
your family down this coaster. It is absolutely insane and
so so cool. That's where're going to dig in today,
a little bit of everything. It's gonna be a great conversation.
I hope you enjoy it. So let's get into it.
(01:12):
Here is BJ McLeod on the Racing Writers Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
We talked.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I think it was the end of last year because
we had caught up a year after selling the charter
and kind of where you guys were at how that
went for you. So now here we are in August
and it's been, in my opinion, a pretty big impressive
year already for you guys. You've only run nine races,
but man, you guys have not a lot in those
nine races. So let me start with kind of a
broad question here of how's it going? How is it
(01:45):
right now?
Speaker 3 (01:46):
Actually it's going really good. We didn't have much luck
at Walkin's Glenn, but we've had some really good stuff
happened to us with Katherine driving and obviously the big
racket Atlanta afforded us a pretty easy top twenty there.
I was happy and excited to finish sixth sat at Atlanta, but.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
We had damage.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
We got in the wreck to right and it's like
we had so much damage that I couldn't really advance
or move up or you know, compete the last three
or four laps. So I was like, wasn't that much
fun for me? But it was cool on paper, right,
So you know, it's been live Fast. Jessica and I
were talking about it a week or two ago after Dy.
This is definitely the most successful year for live fast
(02:24):
since it's been opened in twenty twenty, right, Like our
first year was twenty twenty one. But we've never you know,
had to finish as we've had compared to the amount
of starts, Like it's not even close, and some of
the finishes we've had we've never done. And Catherine's a
big part of that. So it's been really cool to see,
you know, the development of live fast even without a charter,
you know, still making friends and building networks and you know,
(02:48):
getting to where we've got more information and we get
a lot of help you know on the Chevy side,
and you know RCRS done some stuff with us, so
you know, with Catherine driving. So it's been really cool
to see, you know, how we've been able to develop
even as an open team, right, Like it's you know,
something that's very difficult to do being a singletart team,
even if you have a charter and then take the
(03:09):
charter away, and it kind of handicaps you a little
bit on what you're capable of providing. And we've been
able to advance the team and be able to get
some really good finishes with the support we've had from
you know, Chevy and everyone, and it's been really cool
to see what Catherine's accomplished and what Live fast has done.
And I really never thought I wasn't thinking about having
(03:31):
the best year for live fast after we sold the charter,
like it, that was never in my mind. I was
just playing, having fun driving and trying to help some
drivers along the way, like Catherine. That was my intent,
and you know, we've had her. She's got three Top twenties.
It's been a blast. So it's been been a really
good year for live Fast.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
That's so funny you say that, because that's exactly where
I was going to go next, because again referencing the
conversation you and I had at the end of twenty
twenty four, you said exactly that of Okay, we're the charter.
I'm happy, We're going to be in a good spot.
We just want to keep trying to find ways that
we can be competitive in our space. So to imagine
that here you guys are. Now you've run nine races
(04:11):
this year, which is more than you've ran last year,
and you mentioned the top twenties, but there's also been
a bunch of I think nine or no nine races,
four top twenty five. So it's kind of, as you said,
like unbelievable to think that all of this has happened.
And I would assume Bja, that you're still quite happy with.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
That decision, is it really Yeah, we're definitely happy with
the decision to sell.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That'll never change no matter what.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
But it's been really cool to see what we're capable
of as an open team with the right help. You know,
none of that happens without Chevy and other people that
are helping us. It's just it's really cool to see
that we can keep working on building the networks and
we have those relationships in the garages. And Catherine gave
us a shot, just like we gave her a shot
and Phoenix. A lot of people are like, oh, it's
(04:55):
a rough start, and I'm like, she made one mistake
that was catastrophic there and got into it and swore
and andsarus this day, right, But it's like everything else
she did that weekend, she had to spend early in
the race. There's a lot of people to spend driving
cup cars, including champions, right, I don't even count that,
I say, you know, looking at her speed off the
(05:16):
truck at Phoenix, she'd never been in an oval.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
In a cup car, she'd never been in a cup car,
she never been in an exten car.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
Like, there's so many things stacked against her, and I
feel like Phoenix was a success other than the one
really bad mistake that she owned and knows we can't
do again. Right, So it's been cool to see, you know,
what she's been capable of and how her and her
partners have helped elevate Live Fast. And you know, we're
just working together as a group collectively, and it's definitely
(05:44):
putting us to where we're We're not a top twenty
Cup car.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
By no means.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
We've been getting these finishes by strategy and attrition, but
we are absolutely a competitive cup car, and at the
beginning of the year, it's difficult for Live Fast to
say that even when we own the truck, when we
own the charger ran fulls the last year one reason
we sold is we were thirty six or thirty fifth
every week on speed and there was a huge delta
to the next car.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
It was three tenths, four tenths, maybe even.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Up to seven, seven to eight tenths at some places,
and we, you know, Matt and I just didn't like that.
We didn't We just couldn't couldn't accept it because we
were trying really hard. And now you know we're seeing that. Yes,
at Walkins Glenn, she finished thirty sixth, but she was
ahead of people all day. There were still two or
three cars behind her, and the strategy didn't go our way.
(06:32):
We ran long, tried to make something happen cool again
and it didn't work and.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Cost her a lap.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
But if we didn't try the strategy game, we could
have easily finished lead lap, easily been competitive with four
other cars, which is incredibly hard to do right now
in the Cup Series. So you know, it's it's cool
to see that we've been able to elevate as an
open team, and honestly, it's it's been an eye opener
for me, like I planned on being a good stepping
(06:57):
stone for up and coming winning and send to your
truck series drivers or someone like Catherine that wants to
cross over from the handycar scene. I thought we would
be more of just a stepping stone, but I've seen
that we can get some really good finishes if things
go our way with the support we have right now.
So it's been really cool to see that happen and
looking forward to trying to keep that going.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I wanted to ask about that of the approach of
having other drivers come in and work with y'all, because
that's not new, right, You've done that before, You've done that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Next NDY series.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
What is so cool from the outside looking in for me,
Bjay is I love being on y'all's radio during races
because you're on the radio. Tommy Joe's on the radio,
which I didn't even realize he was working with y'all
until I heard him one weekend. I was like, wait
a minute. And what's so fascinating is people can listen
like myself in live time as mentoring and lessons are
(07:50):
being learned from driver to driver. What is that like
for you too? Now it's not just you and Catherine.
Now it's a triangle because you got Tommy Joe in
there as well. So how has that dynamic.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's been really cool. You know Pepper, David Pepper is
our main spotter, right, and he's been with me since
we started Lyftfast. We've loved having him and he's a
great driver coach, smatter like, and he's unbelievable at his profession.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
He's one of the best, right. And then you throw
Tommy Joe into the mix. We've had.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
We had to have some extra spotters, right because they're
doing road courses, and Tommy Joe jumped in was willing
to do it. And then you listen to Tommy Joe
and it's like, wow, this is cool, right, Like you
get another driver that you know does have his own
Exfinity team, but he's developing drivers, right, and it's like
you listen to all of it on the radio, and
Catherine definitely gets an abundance of information that sometimes I'm
sure she's had enough, but it's like we just feed
(08:39):
it to her and try to help her do the
best we can. Because Catherine's got raw talent. There's no
doubt to argue that with anybody. I don't care. It's
just figuring out the rest of this sport and figuring
out the cup car and then realizing once you're a
rock star at that you're still only thirty sixth or
thirtieth or whatever. Like it's just everybody at the cup
(09:00):
levels of rockstar Like it's just the truth. Like I mean,
it's they're so good at what they do and and
you know, Tommy Joe and Pepper and I have just
been doing the best we can because I've never won
a race, right, Tommy Joe's never won a race, but
we've done a lot of things wrong, right, And it's
like we can help her speed up, you know, the
curve of making mistakes. And I think that you see
(09:22):
that in her finishes because she constantly has us telling her,
you know, here, this mistakes happens at this track, at
this part of the race, like the rubber goes here,
the grip goes there. Like we've been around and got
so much combined experience between Tommy, Joe and I that
we can help and then throw Pepper in there with
you know, two decades bus of experience. It's just a
wild combination. It's a lot of fun to listen to.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, there was a comment on the radio during one race,
and I forget which one in particular, it was, I
think it was from Tommy to you. Where as Catherine
was out there running laps, you all were having a
discussion about, Man, if we could take her testing, Yeah,
it would speed up so much. Now that's such an
interesting discussion because on one hand, I think a lot of
us would love to see drivers like Catherine get that
(10:07):
seat time. But for you, bej, can you explain is
it a double edged sword though when it comes to
this testing, because for you guys, as an open team,
you may not have even the money to do that, right,
So I wanted to get your perspective on kind of
just your thoughts on the testing policy and how could NASCAR,
if they were open to it again, make it work
for a team such as you guys.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, I think you know they're going down the road
of and I don't even know the exact rules of
the let's say the All Star provisional or whatever they
call it at the beginning of year.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I don't remember.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You're allowed to test if you get that provisional, Like
if you if you're qualified for what they say for
you know, a one off event and you want to
go test, they've got it. So they're trying to figure
out I feel like, this is not a conversation with NASCAR,
So it's just my opinion looking from the outside, I
feel like they're trying to figure out how to let
anyone like Catherine that's coming in new to the sport,
(10:59):
trying to get used to exten car. I think they're
they're wanting to make it where you can test. But
the one thing that NASCAR always has had a problem with,
then always we'll have a problem with every team owner
and every person in NASCAR is very good at pushing
the rules. And it's like the second you make it
okay for somebody to test if they've got an open
(11:19):
car and this person has, you know, this little amount
of experience, right, well, then you'll have winning Exfinity drivers
that have never rank Cup that are all of a
sudden driving an open car for Hendrick, right like it's
just just as an example, right like it's and then
they'll be getting the testing from that, knowing that you know,
these these drivers are just as good as the people
that are winning on Sunday, just haven't got there yet, right,
(11:41):
And it just opens up a can of worms a
NASCAR they can't let happen, right And it's like if
you go back to just say okay, let's open it
up across the board. You can just test. Everybody can test. Well,
you go to that, well, now you're spending millions more
year testing. We already have a hard time keeping people
because we have a very long schedule that restricts your
(12:02):
family time and you're at home under your own rooftime
a tremendous amount. You can't add testing back like, it's
not fair to the people. It's not fair to the families. Obviously,
as an open team, I'd love to be able to
go test and a budget wise for what we do,
it wouldn't be as bad as being a full time
team and going and testing like it would actually be
worse for them.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So you know, we.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Could handle it, but it just doesn't make sense. Number one,
from to me a infrastructure standpoint of your people, that's
my number one thing. I don't want them to have
to be gone more. And then number two would be financial.
It just isn't worth it. When the racing product will
see no gain, the individual will see a gain. Catherine
(12:44):
would be better if she could go test absolutely every
one of these races we went to. Her first words
are like, I wish we could have started there, right,
And it's like, not just her, it's the car, right,
Like the team. We get better through the race, right,
Like we learn stuff. And she's like, wow, I wish
we could just unload there. Well, that's that's the byproduct
of not being able to test. We just can't, right,
(13:04):
So now next year maybe where they were, we unload
there the next time we go back, right. But it's just,
you know, I understand NASCAR standpoint, and then I see
where they're putting a really tough spot to try to,
you know, enforce what is actual testing to help somebody
that's new, and what is Well, we're just going to
speed the whole sport up and cost everybody money in time.
(13:26):
And I just don't see a realistic way to make
that possible on more than a one off stand Like
guess what they have right now. You can do it
once with one driver and it keeps the other teams
from firing up and you know, figuring out how to
manipulate it every week to have somebody testing, right, But
it passed that to be a real benefit. I don't
see how you do it not cost everybody time and money.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Well, I was appreciate your perspective, So I appreciate that answer.
One last thing on the racing thing before we shift
gears to talk about roller coasters. As the car has
run more this year, BJA, I know, again you've split
time with drivers throughout, but as it's run more this year,
has there been any inklings like do you want to
be behind the wheel more? What's it like for you
to be behind to be on the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
If I had unlimited budget, I would race. I would
probably race Cup fifteen times a year somewhere in that area.
I mean, I would do it with full support from
someone like RCR and Pope Chevy would be behind it.
I love Cup racing, and you know I definitely I
just I love and respect the level of competition in
the Cup series. Exfinity is incredibly hard. Like it's I
(14:31):
tell people, I just had this conversation yesterday. Infinity is
Cup free next Gen. Like that's the level of competition
that's in Infinity in my opinion right now, Like it
is that hard, Like it is really stepped up. And
then go to trucks. You have twenty trucks every week,
if I mean, you have to kind of take Corey
him out of the equation. But if you took him
(14:52):
and his rock star team that's been together three years out,
then you have basically twenty trucks that are all close
to being able to win with a fuel strategy thing
or you know, something happening. All three series are stacked,
but the level of competition and CUP is by far
the toughest thing I've ever been a part of in
my life when it comes to building a business, you know,
just life itself, Like, no matter what, CUP is the
(15:15):
toughest thing I've ever been a part of mentally, physically,
time demanding. Like it's just hard, and I respect that
and I love being a part of it still and
you know, I wish I uh and I'm.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Still working on it.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
You never know, but I hope that, you know, one
day I could get to where I could rub fifteen
races before I quit. But you know, that's really the
ultimate goal for me.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
It wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Full time on my own I have no interest in that.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
The only way I would.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Have ever done that is if I was in a
competitive car that could win, you know, or be in
the chase like that.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I as far as my own car dream scheduled be fifteen,
and yes, I absolutely would love to be out there more,
but I wouldn't want I will say this, I enjoy
helping Catherine and splitting the team, splitting the time with
her like that, to see the team succeed with her
and I still drive some like that's the ultimate for me.
I don't want to be the driver all the time
(16:07):
because it just it's way harder to succeed with two
people than it is one. Right, And it's like we
this year have definitely, you know, been above average and
have had no matter we're going to run a couple
more races. It's like, whatever happens there, we've had a
successful year. Like we can't flip the flip it back
the other way. So I enjoy seeing that. I just
to your point, seeing the success of the team at
(16:29):
these other tracks. I love Indy, right, and I'm like
I like to it out there, you know, like it's
I just want to see it. Like Phoenix when we
unloaded out there, and her first lap she was one
point three seconds off. Her second lap, she was on
her second off, her third lap, she was within six cents.
She ended up qualifying twenty four hundreds off of I
remember at that point it was Ty Gibbs and that
would have gained her like four spots, right, And I'm
(16:51):
looking at it and I'm like, you know, I think
our stuff's gotten pretty good because it's hard to do that,
Like I mean, it's especially with someone that's never seen
a NASCAR oval and never been in a Cup car, right,
And I was I was very shocked at this being
the team brought that week with a five day notice,
and I love Phoenix, so I'm like, you know what,
we may go out there at the end of the year, see, right,
(17:12):
So it's been fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, that's awesome. Again from the outside looking in, it's
been awesome to track the finishes and what you guys
have been doing this year, and not just the finishes,
but as you were mentioning earlier, the performance through the races.
You can clearly tell the team in the car and
whether it's you or Catherine has just been more competitive.
So that's been fantastic to watch. So all right, let's
switch gears for a few minutes. Let's talk about the
(17:37):
Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster because it's open now, right, so
I know we again, we had talked about it a
little bit last year when you were just starting to
kind of reveal plans for it. So how does it
feel now to have it open, it's out there and
the public people are coming and enjoying it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Well, I can tell you, you know, the one downside of
selling the charter is it's like our most fun, active,
full time business was the charter. We have other stuff,
like we have real estate stuff, we do other things,
but Jessica and I's main interest was only the charter
and trying to make it more successful.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
And we sold it.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
There's like a big gap and you know, fulfillment and
purpose and what you like to do every day. And
that was the downside, and it's like, well, let's do
something else crazy that way we fill that gap. Right,
And the coaster was absolutely not a safe investment, right,
Like it's a wild thing to be a part of
and definitely off the wall. And I've had several successful
(18:30):
people say you did what why? I've always wanted to
own one. I mean since I was raised in central Florida.
I grew up within an hour and a half of
Universal and Bush Gardens and Disney and like all the
cool places, right, And I obviously could never afford a
theme part. But it was like when we sold the charter,
(18:50):
I'm like, we can afford one attraction, Like we could
figure this out, and then it took two seconds to
put it together that it was Pigeon Forge because Jessica
and I love Pigeon Forge, a cabin and acreage over there.
We bought it five years ago, so it wasn't or
four years ago. It wasn't like we went and bought
stuff after we were going to build a business there,
Like we love the town, love the area, I love
the people. Tourism's great too, Like it's just a fun
(19:12):
place to be. And that's when you know I called
to call my guy and said, hey, if you if
you're willing to do something with us over there where
we wanted, we want to do it. It all build
off of that, right, So it helped fill that void
getting it open, because when we were building it, it's
like the fun part of like when we bought the
charter and there was people running like this is going
to be wild with the next gen car and all
(19:33):
this stuff is crazy, and you know they were scared
of the sport just going. I jumped in full speed
with Matt and Joe and went forward, and it was
the same thing building the coaster, because like I said,
I have some successful people that are like you did that.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Wine, they're questioning it completely.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So it was fun watching it be built and you know,
you know, anticipating a great opening, but you can go
either way. You can have it flop too, and it's
a multi multimillion dollar project that could turn into a disaster.
And Jessica and I liked that feeling though we've always
enjoyed it and we were in with some good people
and we felt confident and getting through the grand opening
and seeing the support of the people that go to
(20:11):
Pigeonforge and you know, in that area, it's been awesome.
So we've had had nothing but success since we've opened it,
and just looking forward to getting the year behind us,
because obviously you have seasons and you had busy times
and you know, low times, So we just want to
get through a whole season and see what it's like
whole year, and you know, just enjoying watching it actually perform.
(20:33):
Now it's cool. And then the guy that built it
for us to pull it off in nine months, Like
there's people that can't build a twenty five hundred square
foot residential house in nine months, he built a multimillion
dollar alpine coaster that covers five acres and has a
three hundred foot elevation change with two different tracks that
race one another. I mean just everything, the building alone
(20:54):
that he built for it should take you six months,
and he built it in sixty five days. Like me,
you can't build the building until after the coaster is done.
So it is really cool to see all that come together.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah, you said that you've always wanted to own one,
but not you didn't buy one. You designed it and
it was built. I want to know what went into
the final design and kind of what it looks like
and all of those specifications and how involved you were
with that. You're a detailed guy.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yes, so it was really cool.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
You're right, I'm very very detailed with everything when it
comes to business, and I plan for the worst and
hope for the best always. It's always been that way.
Not a pessimist, but I'm not an optimist, eire. I'm
just a realist, right, So I usually detach emotion completely
with anything to do led that, and I felt like
with this one when we had the original conversations, I mean,
this is literally talking about Napkins and Jessica and I
(21:46):
his cabin with the guy that building.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
His name is Teddy Jones. We just were having the conversation.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
He said, He's like, I want to make this racing
and theme and around you and you know and have
this you know being He's like, I believe that the
first racing coasture in the world, it would be a
huge attraction. And I'm like, there's not another one, and
he said, no, there's not a true alpine racing coaster
in the world. There is roller coasters that are side
(22:10):
by side. Diamond doesn't right, but to be able to
control your own speed and compete downhill in control to
some extent, it's just not just not anywhere. So when
he mentioned that, I was like, okay, like that that's sold.
Like it took all the five seconds to agree to that.
And then he showed us a drawing. He already had
(22:31):
drawings done, you know, just semi professional, but he had
drawings done that we could at least take to the
next step to the engineers and say, hey, is this possible.
And when he showed us that, we didn't critique anything,
but we helped with the building. The actual rails and
the coaster itself. He he just nailed it, and he's
this is the third one he's done, and I mean,
(22:52):
obviously the more you do.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
The better you get, right he just had.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I actually questioned that, you know, we had too many
turns because I'm like, these things are going to be fast.
It's too me like, that's a lot of turns, and
he's like, we want this to be different. We don't
want people to get off and say they've rode anything
like it, and you won't like it's there's there's a
lot of awesome coasters and alpine coasters and Pigeon Forge.
I love other coasters. He owns another one right now.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I ride it.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
I don't own any of it. There's a couple of
them in town. There are a lot of fun none
of them are in any way, shape or form like
the pigeon fordge Racing Coaster and the biggest thing that
Jessica and I had in it. We were very adamant
that we didn't want to wait in line in the weather.
It's pretty much all of them are in the weather,
or you may be covered for a split minut split
(23:38):
second before you get on the ride, but you're in
the weather, you're in the elements, and we have enough
room to hold roughly two hundred people two hundred and
twenty five people in line out of the elements while
they're getting on the ride. So Jessica and I were
very adamant on being comfortable for people to wait, because
there's just wait times over there. Even we're doing good,
(23:59):
we're running. We can run one hundred people an hour.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
No problem.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
But it's and it does have a very high run
rate because it's two coasters. It's literally two coasters on
one property, so you're feeding twice to people if anybody
else in town for the same amount of time waiting
in line. But we wanted the building to be top notched,
the best so far. We wanted all AC controlled heated.
The stairway was a little warm after we got done
to the final steps up to the launching area, and
(24:25):
I saw it on the cameras. I saw people like
waving their hands keeping heat off of them, and I
called Teddy and I was like, let's get an AC
put in that area, and he's like, all right. Literally
three days later we had an AC in that area
to make sure that nobody was hot, right, like, it's
just we've done Jessica and I have been on the
side of making sure that it is a ten of
ten experience when you go over there. As much as
(24:49):
awesome as you can make an alpine coaster, that's what
we had in it, and it's definitely with the help
of our partners, it has become a reality.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
I know it's only been open a short amount of time,
maybe only a months now, but have you been able
to see bj the visitor breakdown of folks who are
coming that are race fans who know you from racing
and have heard about this, versus just the general enthusiastic
you know, coaster fans that are coming and seeing this.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
You know, I don't have the exact numbers, but we're
definitely seeing a lot of race fans over there. Like
it's you kind of think we build a racing custer.
So racing fans love to go to Fission Forge, they
love to go to Gallenburg, they love to go to
the Smoking Mountains. They're always in that area and a
lot of their vacations are planned over there. You're going
to pick the racing coaster the second you get over there.
(25:35):
Number One, it's new, but number two, it's just you
get to race your family, like you can raise your kids,
you can race your wife. And it's not it's I mean,
there's a couple of spots that are even creepy for me,
and I've obviously used to do it some wild stuff,
but those points that are scary, if you want to
slow down, you can't. So you know, maybe there's someone
that just doesn't really want to be scared, they want
(25:56):
to see an unbelievable view. We have secure cameras over there,
and we have one mounted at the top that overlooks
the coaster out into looking over the parkway. I look
at it at night, sometimes two or three times a week,
just to look at the view. It's like staying in
the high rise in Vegas and looking down the strip,
like it just is an incredible view at the top
of our coaster. And it's like, yeah, we build it
(26:17):
for speed, we build it for adrenaline, we build it
to scary if you want to get scared, But at
the same time, you've got a handbreak. If you want
to just see an unbelievable view, our coaster is good
for that too, So you know, I think the racing
fans mixed with the people that love views and love
the mountains.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
For the views, you can go up.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
There and see one of the most incredible viewpoints sub
Pigeonforge from that coaster.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
All right, So the speed you mentioned, I know it's
been advertised that it can go thirty plus mile an hour.
Everybody's in control of their own speed. Do you have
an idea? What's been the top so far? What do
you think folks have hit?
Speaker 3 (26:50):
So it's actually regulated. Nothing over thirty three point four
GPS will pick in and it breaks for you. Okay,
So that is a safety stand you know, standard that
we on it didn't We don't want people getting hurt
because I mean, you let me and one of my
crew guys go over there and we're just gonna hold
it wide open and see what happens. And the ride
can only handle so much abuse, right, So it's it's
(27:12):
something where you have it's mandated anyway, but if it wasn't,
I would have to cut off. And you know, that
was actually one of my before I went and wrote
an alpine coaster, long before we decided to build this
one one of my reservations. But I didn't like that
they had a GPS cut off on the speed, you know,
and I thought, wow, that's going to suck because I
hear thirty mile an hour and I'm like, that's not
going to be like anything enter entertaining. And I go
(27:35):
and get on my first alpine coaster, not the one
I owned, and I go twenty one point two mile
an hour, and I'm like, wow, that was a little scary,
Like there was points that it didn't feel that comfortable.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
And it's just because you just have to picture.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Yourself in a cart that's not as wide as you
with a lap belt, and now parts of our coaster
you're eighty feet off the ground, Like the closest thing
to you is eighty feet down, So an eight story
building is what you're looking down, and the rail that's
holding you you can't see once you don't look in
front of you, it's like underneath you don't know you're
on it, right, So it's incredibly entertaining, to say the least,
(28:09):
when you're going thirty mile an hour or thirty three
mile an hour on this coaster. And it's like when
I well, like I said, when I wrote my first one,
I was like, okay, like I get it, Like this
is this is wild. So I've been an alpine coaster
fan for probably nine years now. Like I've wrote, everyone
i've come here put it that way.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I always get home.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
One last thing I wanted to ask about the coaster
because I was exploring the website looking at videos and
pictures and it's just so cool to look at. But
there was something on the website that caught my attention.
It made me laugh. It says, built a compete design
to trash talk.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, first, the first time.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I love that. Is it living up to the expectations?
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Oh yeah, no, it's fun. So one thing I like
to do is when I'm.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Over there, we have a whole patio area set up
with picnic tables and umbrellas and things and put TVs
out there depending on whether so I'll go out there
and sit and just sit on the bench and wait
till people get off and they'll come sit down. And
I just listened to real reviews, right, not Google reviews
or anything that you know, someone can can go one
(29:11):
way or the other, Like I want to hear the
real opinion of what they felt like when they get
off the ride. And I've got about ten hours doing
that so far. Since it opened of just sitting on
the table, sitting on a picnic table and letting people
come sit down because there are eight seat picnic tables,
so I may bee sitting with an entire family that
just got off the ride.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
They have no clue that I own it. They have
no clue that I'm a part of it.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Like, and you get the real reviews, and this, honestly,
the two most negative reviews I got was I had
two people that said, Wow, I feel a little nauseous, right,
And I have to say I took that as a compliment, right,
because it's like I've never gotten nauxious on a coaster anywhere,
And I'm like, that means we did a good job.
If you want to thrill, come to ours, right, Like
(29:55):
it's that coaster and the whole trash talking thing and
having fun, Like we run with that, because it's just
it's just a different coaster. It's not, like I said,
if you want to do the sites that you know,
the city views or the mountainviews, you've got that. But
then there's a whole other aspect to it that you
don't have on any other coaster where you can literally
tell your friend, I'm going to beat your butt down
(30:16):
down that hill, and you can either go do it or.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Get laughed at when you don't.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Right, So it's it's pretty cool to sit there and
listen to people get off the kids, how happy.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
They are parents.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
I mean, I've seen, you know, people singers get off
of it and be like, wow, that was awesome. And
just everybody can ride, everybody can have fun and go
at their own pace, and and it's really cool to
listen to it firsthand. And it's like when I did that,
I was like, all right, we build a cool coaster.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I love that. I love just incognitio. I mean not
even incognito, just you sitting there.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
Nobody even knows. I love that.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
And it's true, you're going to get just listening in right,
people watching and listening, you're gonna.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Hear it's the only real way to get it right.
And it's like I want I want the real opinions.
I enjoy the positive. I am driven by the negative,
and it's what I if. I so far we've been good,
but it's like whatever is physically possible to make better,
we want this coaster to be the best for the
(31:15):
foreseeable future. And that being multiple like multiple years, like
up into a decade, right, Like it's it's just really
something that we want to focus on to make sure
that if there's changes that need to be made, we'll
make them. Like we want it to be a ten
of ten experience when you take your family there, because
that's the value in it for Jessica and I is
we own a business, but we know right now there's
(31:37):
countless memories getting made because partially of us, right and
that's that's something that's extremely valuable as business owners and
just people.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Yeah, No, it's absolutely brilliant. I love to hear you
doing that because again it's going to go so far
instead of just reading something on a website. All right,
last thing for you, be Jay to circle it back
to racing on the racetrack. What does the schedule look
like for you all for the rest of the year
terms of where you guys think you'll be, where you'll
definitely be. What's the outlook for Live Fast to end
(32:06):
the twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
We're definitely running Daytona and Talladega, possibly roval Vegas, definitely
one or the other, maybe both, and then I don't know.
I'm still toying with Phoenix myself, like, I haven't decided yet,
so you know, we'll see, We'll just see where we're at.
The number one focus is making sure Catherine Finish is
strong with what she's got left, and we're still, you know,
(32:31):
still nailing that down to try to figure it out,
but we want to be behind her. And then my
focus is Daytona. I love that track, I love that area,
I love speedway racing, and I am I'm looking forward
to going and trying to make something happen, so I
should have the best car I've ever had. It seems
like we do that every time we go to the
track now, but it's true. So hopefully we can go
(32:54):
down there and do some good and then Catherine finished
strong and nail down and plan for twenty six.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Sounds good. BJ always appreciate talking to you. I know
I say that all the time, but I really enjoy
your insight And it has been so cool again since
we talked at the end of last year to see
the progress of this race team and now with the
coaster as well, So I'm glad I could just pick
your brain on all of it.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Well. I appreciate it having me on. I enjoy it.
As always, and you just have a.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Good weekend and we'll look forward to seeing it.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thanks again to BEJ for coming on the podcast, for
coming back on the podcast. If you want to hear
more from BJ, you have two options. The episode from
July twenty twenty, episode one point thirty features BJ. We
talked for over an hour on that podcast getting to
know him his career, where he came from, and how
he got here. Because BJ has a really cool background
(33:52):
because he's very successful in what he's done in racing
before he's even come to NASCAR, and we dig into
all of that as well as what it's like to
own a car team, why he is here, what he's
trying to accomplish. So that is episode one point thirty
from July twenty twenty. There is also episode two O
four from December of twenty twenty one where it was
BJ and Matt Tiff. At that time, we were talking
(34:13):
about what it was like to get through their first
year of ownership when they formed Live Fast Motorsports and
what they were aiming to do with that team, what
it was like working together because they are good friends.
So those two episodes also will be really great to
listen to. If you want more content from BJ McLeod, So, BJ,
thank you for coming on the episode. Thank you to
(34:33):
Alex Lewis as well for helping coordinate and get this
on our calendars and making it happen. If you enjoyed
the episode, please leave a rating and review. You can
also go to social media. In the show description of
this episode, there is a link tree link and it
has all of my social media accounts. That is the
best way you can reach out to me, in addition
to leaving a rating and review and letting me know
what you think. So I appreciate that and always look
(34:56):
forward to hearing your feedback. NASCAR Race Day Eats, the
official cook of NASCAR, is coming soon. We're just over
two months away from the release of that, but it
is now available for pre order. You can also find
the link to that in the show description of this episode.
It will be released in late August, but again you
can pre order and have it show up on your
door and you won't have to worry about it. Very
(35:16):
very excited about this all wonderful, fantastic food, dessert and
drinks for your tailgates or your parties at home as
you get ready to watch NASCAR Racing. So once again,
thank you for clicking and listening. Thank you for the
support every week. Thank you once again for downloading this episode.
Hope you enjoyed it. And with that, I'm going to
wrap this up and I will see you again soon
right here on the Racing Writers Podcast.
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