S2 Episode 1: 2024 Kick Off w/ RFK Racing's Brandon Lee

[00:00:05] Speaker A: This is raise rowdy racing with Caleb Conrady and Dawson Edwards. [00:00:12] Speaker B: Up, everyone. We are back. [00:00:15] Speaker A: What's going on? Glad to be back. [00:00:18] Speaker B: 2020 foe. [00:00:20] Speaker A: 2020 foe. [00:00:21] Speaker B: This is first podcast of 20 2024 and first time ever having three people on the podcast. [00:00:28] Speaker C: Everyone, this is Mr. Brandon Lee. [00:00:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. Of RFK fame. [00:00:35] Speaker C: Mr. RFK himself. [00:00:38] Speaker D: Yeah, thanks for having me. It'll be fun. I know we've probably caught up in the past, but maybe not formally like this. And to your .3 people on at once. So I know it took me just about ten minutes to get connected. So here we are. First time for everything. [00:00:53] Speaker A: Yeah, we're all learning as we go here. I literally just bought all of my equipment brand new, some of it even as soon as today I got the new interface in because that house fire we had, we've had to replace everything. So I'm sitting here with this new. [00:01:06] Speaker C: Set up, sitting on my bed, even recording this. So everything is just ad hoc as it stands, but we'll make it work. [00:01:14] Speaker B: I would have never guessed you were sitting on a bed right now. It doesn't appear that you're in a. [00:01:18] Speaker C: Bedroom or on a bed. [00:01:19] Speaker A: Freaking memory foam, man. [00:01:21] Speaker C: You could jump over here and have. [00:01:23] Speaker A: A wine glass over there and not spill it. [00:01:25] Speaker B: I like the old school commercials. [00:01:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I remember those being on tv. [00:01:28] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Except I don't look good in the nightgown that the girls are usually wearing. [00:01:33] Speaker C: When they're doing the jumping. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not as pretty of a sight. [00:01:37] Speaker C: Yeah, for real? Heck, yeah. [00:01:39] Speaker A: Well, yeah. So to kind of introduce what we're doing today, we promised y'all guests, and we almost didn't deliver until right just now. [00:01:47] Speaker C: So we've been kind of planning this. [00:01:49] Speaker A: With Burrell and Nikki T and obviously. [00:01:51] Speaker C: With Brandon here, we wanted to start. [00:01:54] Speaker A: Getting some guests on here to talk. [00:01:56] Speaker C: About what they do in the sport. [00:01:58] Speaker A: These are some of our really good buddies we'll be having on. [00:02:00] Speaker C: And obviously, Brandon, you're the first that. [00:02:03] Speaker A: We'Re having here, and we've known you for a couple years. So if you just want to kind. [00:02:06] Speaker C: Of introduce yourself to the people that. [00:02:08] Speaker A: Might not know you, I know we talk a lot about you on social media. We talked a lot with our buddies. [00:02:13] Speaker C: And everything, but for those that don't. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Know you, what do you do at RFK? [00:02:18] Speaker C: And if you don't mind going into kind of a description of how you. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Got started in the sport and what. [00:02:25] Speaker C: You'Re up to now. [00:02:27] Speaker D: Absolutely. Yeah. Well, first off, thanks for having me. I know to your point, I listen quite often, and I know you guys mentioned us and my name personally, so appreciate the shout out. We'll take all this for what we can get. I've been doing this for going on. This will be my 7th race season, actually, which is kind of wild to think about because I started back in the fourth race of 2018, and here we are so many years later. It feels like it flew by. But, yeah, for the folks out there that maybe don't know, I handle all things pr, comms, team liaison and drivers for our team here at RFK. So I know that's a lot of words and a lot of descriptions most people probably don't understand. But, yeah, basically it's handling all things media relations, driver logistics, managing driver calendars. Obviously, there's two different ways I kind of look at it. You got their during the week obligations, which is more pr focused, and then once we get to the racetrack, it's all logistics, man. It's getting people to where they need to be. And actually, I've told a lot of people in the music business that I think it's pretty close to tour manager. So hopefully, I don't offend any tms out there by saying that, but the ones I've talked to, they feel like it's pretty close. Yeah, it's fun. Obviously, it takes you all over the country, as you guys do. There's so many similarities to what we do, our two worlds, and we've discussed that offline, but certainly you get to see a lot of places we travel, you guys know, but 38 weekends, well, 38 race weekends, we don't travel to all those, obviously. [00:04:04] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:04:05] Speaker D: And I go at all, but about four or five, so it's grueling. But right now is the offseason, which is slowly winding down. I reminded myself a minute ago, doing some work, and I'm like, oh, man, we leave in two weeks, so here we are. Yeah, no, it's a good time, I guess. To answer your last question, if I go way back, how did I get in? So I came from college athletics, which is another very vague description, but kind of did the same thing in college sports before this. And long story short, my now boss is best friends with the guy who formerly handled pr for Talladega. Every track kind of has a pr rep, and those two were best buddies growing up. So I saw this job come open on LinkedIn, actually, it was the Sunday night of the 500. I think it must have been in 2018. Yeah, it had to be, because that's when I started. Saw it pop up applied for it. Two days later, a member of the staff here called me. He was like, hey, you want to come up for an interview? And I did, and that was it. So little did I know then. But now, like I said, my now boss, he was buddies with the guy at Talladega. The guy at Talladega calls me, he's like, hey, what's this deal? What are you applying for? I was like, that's actually, I was calling you. So he told me what it was and that was it. Moved up here and been doing it ever since. And obviously there's been some transitions and different drivers over the years, but the role is the same. It's a good time. Obviously, when we get to see folks like you guys out on the road, it's even better. So that was very long winded. Hopefully I answered it, but we can obviously dive in more as we go along. [00:05:43] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:05:44] Speaker B: What I think is a cool thing about your story, and you can elaborate on this more if you want to. But Brandon did not live in North. [00:05:52] Speaker C: Carolina when he got the offer, the. [00:05:57] Speaker B: Interview, you know what? [00:05:58] Speaker C: Had to. Were you in Mississippi at the time when that happened? You work for. [00:06:07] Speaker D: I was, we were there. Me and my wife have been there like two, two and a half years. So when I got the job, actually, I had to ask my dad. I'm like, hey, do we know about in Charlote? And he was like, yeah, my cousin lives up there. Well, I haven't seen said cousin in ten years at the time. So he reached out to him and it was kind of ironic and funny at the same time. He's like, yeah, we got plenty of room. We're used to hosting people. So the short story is I moved up here, lived with them for a couple of years until we got settled in. But yeah, I had never really been here, didn't know the area at all, so kind of just figured it out. Our first house, we bought side unseen wife bought it over facetime while I was actually working my last baseball game at Ole Miss. So it all happened so fast. But just as soon as I say that seven years are going by fast, so it's all the same. [00:06:56] Speaker A: You're not kidding. [00:06:57] Speaker B: That's the craziest part to me. People moving to Nashville or stuff like that. [00:07:04] Speaker C: It's like, pretty. [00:07:06] Speaker B: Some you go visit colleges or you go visit some things a couple of times. It's somewhat planned, and then your situation is like you were doing a job and then two days later you're getting the interview, and then four weeks into. [00:07:19] Speaker C: The season, like you said, it started at the 504 weeks you're rocking and rolling. [00:07:24] Speaker B: That just blows my mind. And moving from Mississippi to Charlote, North Carolina. [00:07:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a little different transition. [00:07:31] Speaker D: Yeah. The crew guys up here, the ones that work on the car and all that, they've been here most of them their whole life. Right. And that's what they know how to do. So they'll bounce around team to team, but they live here. They know all the people in the circles, that type of deal. We all see each other at the racetrack, but, yeah, at the time, Dawson, to your point, I was brand new. Had no idea. And as it turns out, I maybe knew, like, one other person but didn't obviously realize that back. So, yeah, it was a little different, a little daunting to get up here, but it's been good. We've enjoyed it. [00:08:01] Speaker C: So looking forward to more. That's awesome. Heck, yeah. [00:08:06] Speaker A: I still remember back whenever we first met you, that was back. Gosh, what year did we go down to Charlote? Was that 2018 or was that 2019? [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:14] Speaker A: I always throw those two together. [00:08:16] Speaker C: Me and Brandon met just over social. [00:08:20] Speaker B: Media, talking back and forth. And then I remember I went to. [00:08:27] Speaker C: Daga in 2018 or, no, 2019. [00:08:31] Speaker B: Sorry. And we had talked or whatever, and I sent some pictures. We were up in the stands or whatever. And then later that year at Kentucky is when I got to do that stuff with Toyota. And that was like the first time I think I actually met you in. [00:08:45] Speaker C: Person was that, and that had nothing to do with RFK or anything. That was just that Toyota stuff. [00:08:51] Speaker B: And then it would have been me. [00:08:53] Speaker C: And Caleb came all star race weekend. [00:08:57] Speaker B: So what is may around Memorial Day? And so then we came down and you gave us a tour of the shop and we got to see all the stuff that we had never seen before, which was super badass. [00:09:10] Speaker C: And then since then, we've went to a good handful of races. [00:09:18] Speaker A: You've come up and visited in Nashville? [00:09:20] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. [00:09:21] Speaker B: With the banquets and stuff. I remember we went around BMG that time. I gave a tour, like the record label. They had just moved into that new building and had the big label and all the big fancy. Anybody that's seen BMG in the last few years, that was cool. [00:09:36] Speaker C: And then the awards are in Nashville, so you're there for that. [00:09:43] Speaker B: And then also the race is in Nashville, so you're also there for that. So you're in know a couple times. [00:09:48] Speaker C: A year either way. [00:09:49] Speaker D: Yeah. And it's funny even you say that now. And I thought about it even before then. Before I worked in this, we used to go to Nashville like two or three times a year, mostly over the summer just to hang out and go see people we knew. And then we quit going, moved here. But as it turns out, I still go twice a year, so I'll never get away from that town in some way. But I don't hate that either. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Don't worry. [00:10:10] Speaker A: I think we both feel that in the same way. [00:10:13] Speaker B: That was another thing I wanted to bring up. You're also an avid country music fan and we also talk a lot about, obviously because our world country music, it's like the NASCAR country music podcast. So that's also pretty cool too, getting to come to Nashville, being a massive. [00:10:29] Speaker C: Country music fan as well. I think in our world, we work in the country music thing and it's. [00:10:36] Speaker B: Like we ooh and awe of the. [00:10:37] Speaker C: NASCAR thing and then, not to put. [00:10:39] Speaker B: Words in your mouth, but you get to ooh and awe at the country music thing and we get to bring you in to know cool stuff. I don't think you've actually came to a Travis show yet, though, right? Your wife? [00:10:50] Speaker A: No, to a couple back in the Brooks. [00:10:53] Speaker C: And. [00:10:55] Speaker A: Yeah, started. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Actually, that was before I was even there. [00:10:57] Speaker D: Yeah, it's pre Dawson, but yeah. It's funny you say that, Dawson. You would think that I'd go to everyone that's around here, but if anybody hadn't figured out yet, we're typically gone when you guys are gone. The dates rarely match up, so. Yeah, you know what? I actually have one on the calendar in like a couple of months that we need to talk about. That earmarked. I think it's like during the week. [00:11:18] Speaker A: I already know exactly which one it is too. [00:11:21] Speaker D: Yeah, we'll get there. [00:11:21] Speaker A: I know exactly which one it is because we've been researching too. We were looking at our dates on our calendar that we have tentative for the year and the dates of where the NASCAR races is. [00:11:31] Speaker C: We kind of try to plan it out beforehand. [00:11:34] Speaker A: And I know we've already got at. [00:11:35] Speaker C: Least one date worth looking at, possibly. [00:11:38] Speaker B: We did that last year, as was. [00:11:40] Speaker A: Towards the end of the year. [00:11:41] Speaker B: It was odd. We were close. Not close happen, but we were in. [00:11:47] Speaker C: The same state a couple of times. [00:11:50] Speaker B: That NASCAR was in. Whatever state y'all were in, we were in that same state maybe on a Friday or a Saturday. [00:11:57] Speaker D: Yeah, it's funny. I do that too. I think, like a couple of times a year I'll just go into an app or whatever and be like, all right, where we're going to coming up. And naturally you'll find one show here or there that adds up. And sometimes we'll go to them, sometimes we won't. Just depends on what's going on. There's always somebody in town. Yeah, exactly. [00:12:17] Speaker B: There's a lot of people playing music around the country, so there's bound to be one close when you all are. [00:12:23] Speaker C: In 38 different places throughout the year. [00:12:26] Speaker E: Yes. [00:12:27] Speaker A: Heck, yeah. It always cracked me up back to what we were talking about. I think me and Dawson have talked about if we can't make this freaking music thing work for some reason, let's. [00:12:40] Speaker C: Just move to Charlote and try to. [00:12:41] Speaker A: Bulk up and become jackman. Or once we ended up meeting with you, you're always asking like, man, I wonder if there's anything I could take over in the music world if this doesn't work out. It's hilarious how much of an overlap. [00:12:54] Speaker C: That has become in the way that. [00:12:56] Speaker A: We all talk to each other nowadays. It cracks me up. [00:12:59] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:12:59] Speaker E: And even outside of this group, too. [00:13:01] Speaker D: I know, like my wife's cousin, she works in industry and we've even talked about it before. There's so many similarities, which again, we could go into too real deep. But, yeah, it's just crazy because basically you match up. You add travel and logistics and people and it's all the same thing at the end of the day. [00:13:19] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:13:20] Speaker A: How much of the travel do you actually take part in planning? Do you put together flights? Do you put together any kind of transportation? Or is there some travel booking agent that you all have somewhere that does that kind of stuff for you? [00:13:32] Speaker D: We're pretty much spoiled. We've got like a travel coordinator that she handles everything from rental car, hotel, plane all the way up. I would say the part where I kind of get in the weeds is on anything related to drivers. So a lot of times, basically she's going to book their flights based off the track schedule. If there's anything else drivers have to do, that's where I get in the middle and try to figure out what makes the most sense and timing and routing and stuff. And that happens probably once a month. [00:13:58] Speaker C: To be honest with you. [00:14:00] Speaker D: But yeah, to answer your question, it's a one team effort on her behalf. She manages basically around 50 people that travel every week. And she doesn't travel with us is the best part. So she kind of does it from afar. Says, here you go. And we figure it. [00:14:18] Speaker A: So here's unbelievable. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Here's a random question, if you would handle this or she would handle this. So it was one race towards the end of the year, last year, when Brad's wife was having their kid and he left on, I want to say, like Saturday, Cole Custer, was this the. [00:14:35] Speaker D: Last race of the year? Maybe? Cole Custer, yeah. [00:14:38] Speaker B: So did you handle that like getting him back to Charlote or wherever the baby was born? I assume Charlote. But did you handle that or is that something she handled or they have that pre made in that it could possibly happen? [00:14:51] Speaker D: No, that's a good question. That one, actually, he handled all on his own. Now, look, don't get me wrong. We were two weeks out. We're like, hey, what's the plan here? What's the, you know, knowing brad, entrepreneur, businessman. He's always got a plan. And yeah, he didn't really know what the timing was going to look like, but obviously, who would in that situation. But when it came down to getting back, oh, yeah, he made the phone call, did it all himself. And I was basically out of it other than we were almost to the point where Sunday morning coming back, that we were about to go pick him up on a golf cart because traffic was getting so bad, and we're like, hey, man, I'm getting ready to go here. And he's not at the racetrack. But it all worked out. Yeah. In that situation, he kind of did it himself, and rightfully so. I would have done the same thing. [00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah, that's just stressful. I can't even imagine. Those kind of moments are just something. [00:15:40] Speaker C: You can't really plan for and just. [00:15:42] Speaker A: Getting that dropped in your lap, just knowing what we deal with on our. [00:15:46] Speaker C: End of things with you all, it's. [00:15:47] Speaker A: Got to be even worse because you. [00:15:49] Speaker C: Want to talk about playing some places. [00:15:51] Speaker A: That are out in the middle of nowhere. We've done a little bit of that, but that seems to be 90% of. [00:15:55] Speaker C: The time where you all are as. [00:15:56] Speaker A: Far as all hell away from anything close enough to be able to get out. [00:16:00] Speaker D: Yeah, when you say that, it reminds me, because we talk about this all the time. I guess this is similar for us and you guys, and maybe golf is the only other sport, but other sports have home games, home events, built in home crowds. We don't have that. And you could say Charlote's one, but we still don't own, know, we don't own the rights to it. We don't go over there every day. We don't work in there. So our crowd travels, as do we, just like you guys. You pick up and move. Traveling circus is what we call all. It's all a road game. There is no home game. And like I said, I think golf probably makes the most sense because they don't have home matches either. To your point. You're always on the move no matter what. [00:16:43] Speaker C: Yeah, for real. [00:16:45] Speaker A: There's no such thing as sitting still around here. [00:16:47] Speaker D: That's right. [00:16:51] Speaker A: I guess. [00:16:51] Speaker B: Is it 20 people total that we do. [00:16:56] Speaker A: Last year it was 17 on the regular and at max. [00:17:00] Speaker C: Yeah, 20 to 21, yeah. So, I mean, you all are doing double that. [00:17:06] Speaker B: It's like herding cats. Even as much as everybody can get along and all be together and pretty much on the same schedule, it still feels like to me it'd be like herding cats, getting 21 to 50 people all coordinated, going to the same place at the same time. I'm sure you all run into hotel issues. We run into that more often than not. [00:17:29] Speaker C: But just random little bumps in the road that you got to talk to. [00:17:34] Speaker B: 50 different people about, or 21 different people. I just couldn't imagine. [00:17:38] Speaker A: Hope that lady. [00:17:40] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:17:42] Speaker A: Shout out to you, lady. [00:17:44] Speaker D: Yeah. You all know this part, but the difference is, in our deal, we don't all go together. Thankfully, we've got the road crews, which is anywhere from ten to twelve guys. Multiply that times two. In our case, if you're super Hosser Hendrick, multiply that times four. Those are the guys that go in on Friday and stay there all weekend. Then the pit crews just come in for the most part on Sunday morning. So there are different times that we travel. We don't necessarily always go together out, but coming back, we're always know. Most race teams that don't have their own airplanes are sharing the same charter company. So we're flying with track house every Friday. Our pick crews are traveling with like Penske and other guys coming in on Sunday. Either way, we're landing at the same FBo, we're getting the rental cars into the same parking lot. You land, plane door opens, and there's 300 rental cars sitting there. We're not individually traveling, but in some ways we're so much together that it feels like you're all on the same team even though you don't work at the same place the next guy does. Yeah, it's definitely wild, friendly competition. [00:18:50] Speaker E: That's right. [00:18:51] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Hell yeah. Here's one more logistical nightmare question that I have. [00:18:59] Speaker B: I've heard funny little stories through other podcasts and driver interviews and stuff. [00:19:05] Speaker C: So say your team wins or the team, one of the four. [00:19:11] Speaker B: One of the two. Somebody in that team wins. [00:19:13] Speaker C: Does everybody have to wait on that. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Team to get done with all the. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Media and all of those things, or how does that work? [00:19:21] Speaker D: Yeah, so in our case, I would say half the time at least somebody's going to have to wait. It's just a matter of, is it your own teammates or is it some other team that may be sharing the plane with you? Like, when we come home every Sunday, we fly back our two road crews for both our cars, then their two pick crews accordingly. And then you've got, I don't know, five to seven of us, a couple of competition guys, two or three it people, drivers one or two, depending, know where Brad and Chris may fly at the time. And then we also fly back two more pickers, which we also pit other cars in the cup series on Sunday. So we're filling up a plane no matter what, every Sunday or Saturday. So, yeah, last year, when we know the six guys are actually, at the time, I think we were all going through pretty extensive post race tech, so it didn't necessarily matter as much on, like at Daytona, we finished one and two. Here's an example. Either way, they both had to go through tear down in tech. So no matter, even though the ₩17, the six guys were still in the tech line right behind them at the end of the night, so that part didn't really matter. But, yeah, I could see a scenario where there might be another team that wins, say a legacy or something like that, and they might be sharing a plan with somebody else, and you might have a couple of people waiting. But for the most part, the charter companies we work with, they do a good job to move everybody around and say, look, we're not going to keep people sitting here for two or 3 hours because we always said the biggest race of the day is the race of the airplane. So it comes through every Sunday, everywhere. [00:20:54] Speaker A: Dr. Kyle Bush, about that one. [00:20:56] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, there are stories, too. [00:20:59] Speaker C: I'm sure there are. [00:21:01] Speaker A: I'd love to hear them. [00:21:02] Speaker C: That's hilarious. [00:21:03] Speaker B: And it's a lot different now than it used to be, right? [00:21:05] Speaker C: Because back, what, ten to 15 years ago, most of the drivers had their own planes. Correct. [00:21:13] Speaker B: And then now I think only a few drivers have their own planes. [00:21:18] Speaker D: Yeah, there's probably four to six, maybe. And those guys, sometimes they'll jump on with each other, but there's even other, like, you got all kind of folks that there's like a spotter deal. Some spotters jump on a plane together and go out to the west coast trips, and then every now and then you have to go commercial funny enough, which I say that. And I realize we're spoiled because our media friends and partners and some industry folks go commercial every week. So I actually don't mind it at all. But if I had to do it that many times, I'd probably be over it. Yeah, it's crazy, man. And I know what I sound like. I sound awful because I'm talking about how different commercial flying is, but it's an experience. But I don't hate it, so I'm not that snoopy about it. [00:22:07] Speaker A: That's part of it. If you get the perks, you got to take them for as much as they're worth. [00:22:11] Speaker D: Absolutely. [00:22:12] Speaker B: Especially when you do that much traveling. I mean, it would drive me bonkers. [00:22:18] Speaker C: Like, just flying every now and again is totally fine. But, like, may of a couple of years ago, I think I had 15. [00:22:28] Speaker B: Or 17 total flights in the month of May. [00:22:32] Speaker C: But for Travis was playing acoustic shows on the west coast, and so, like, caleb and the acoustic crew is out. [00:22:38] Speaker B: There, and I only do full band. [00:22:40] Speaker C: Stuff, so they would fly the band and I guess just me and Dean, our front house all, which is a group of, like, it was always a group of, like eight to nine people, and we were obviously commercial, and we flew to every show back home and then back out to the west coast. And it's like, you do that 17 times in one month, and it's like. [00:23:06] Speaker B: Man, I'm over this. This sucks. Just you deal with so many people half the month. [00:23:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it is. [00:23:13] Speaker B: And it throws off the whole schedule. We had to get up at, like, 03:00 in the morning for a flight out of Orlando one time. [00:23:20] Speaker D: Just, like, weird. [00:23:21] Speaker B: You can't get everything perfect where you wake up at 08:00 and you're on a 10:00 flight. It just doesn't work out that way. So it really messes up the whole dynamic of the weekend, really. [00:23:34] Speaker C: And I remember it was the Nashville race. [00:23:38] Speaker B: I guess this was probably 2021. We were somewhere, and I want to say you texted me, I'd asked you before, and I was like, there's no way we'll be able to make it. And then you text me right at the end, and you're like, dude, we actually have a couple of passes left or something like that. Do you think anybody would want them? And I was like, oh, yeah, let me talk to Scott and see if we're flying, because we were way off somewhere. And I was like, it would actually work better if we drive because I'll be back in Nashville, it was like 10:00 in the morning or something. I think that was the year. The race was at nighttime or something like that. It worked out, whatever it was. And I was like, if we're flying, I'm screwed because Scott said the flight. [00:24:13] Speaker C: Is not till like twelve or something. And I was like. [00:24:17] Speaker B: And I went and asked him and he's like, no, we're busting it back. And I was like, all right, let's do it. Called my dad and he drove up. [00:24:23] Speaker C: From Georgia and boom, there we were. [00:24:26] Speaker D: Yeah, I do remember that. You're right, because that was the Nashville night race, and you all got in like early that morning. You're like, all right, I'm going to Nashville. See you there later. [00:24:33] Speaker C: Book it. [00:24:35] Speaker A: Yeah, we had to book it over there. [00:24:36] Speaker D: It was right, but see, I think the same thing. You guys talk about flying all the time. Yeah, it's long and it's grueling, but I don't really see any difference in you all jumping on a Bus on a Wednesday at 09:00 p.m. And riding for 8 hours. That sounds awful to me, which I know, at least you get on there and you go to sleep. Yeah, I guess that's the difference. Right? And it's not always 10 hours. [00:24:56] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. [00:24:58] Speaker A: Depends on the driver. Depends on where you're going. If you're going through Louisiana for any reason whatsoever, you can kiss your sleep goodbye. It's always something. You just never know what it is. [00:25:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. [00:25:09] Speaker D: People always talk about like, can you guys feel the bumps? Are you heavy sleepers? Light? [00:25:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm a heavy ass sleeper, so it usually doesn't wake me up. It's got to be something pretty substantial. Like sometimes we'll hit one of those weird spots where the whole bus will just kind of jump up in the. [00:25:26] Speaker C: Air for a half second and drop you back down. [00:25:29] Speaker A: That'll wake me up. But it's not the little stuff. It's not the side to side. It's the major moves that get me. But there's some guys on there that complain just about the way the driver breaks is enough to get them and they can't sleep almost at all. Yeah, if you're a light sleeper, it's a rough time. [00:25:46] Speaker C: And honestly, we travel on average. [00:25:50] Speaker B: I'd say average is six to 8. [00:25:52] Speaker C: Hours a night from show to show. [00:25:55] Speaker B: And because there's so much traveling, I would say an average of at least. [00:25:59] Speaker C: One time per night there's a bump. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Or someone cuts somebody off, something like. [00:26:05] Speaker C: That, where it's like you notice it. [00:26:07] Speaker B: Like, you're like, oh, what was that? [00:26:08] Speaker C: You know what I mean? [00:26:09] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:26:09] Speaker B: It's not crazy, because I'm also a heavy sleeper, but I'd say at least once a night, something just because normal road wear and tear, whatever it may be, you're going to get woken up. [00:26:19] Speaker C: And just be like, oh, God. Yeah. [00:26:22] Speaker A: One of the funniest things I've ever done is back when I first started, I was smoking cigarettes. [00:26:27] Speaker C: And of course, in the rest of. [00:26:30] Speaker A: The bus, you can't. Well, you can't end the bus. Like, the lounges, obviously, are off limits. Not everybody does. So we had a driver at the time, and I would go up there. [00:26:42] Speaker C: His name was Ray Martin. This man. [00:26:44] Speaker B: Cigarettes like you wouldn't believe. [00:26:46] Speaker A: Chain smoke, palm oil, whatever, the orange pack of palm. [00:26:49] Speaker C: That man had them always. And so you'd go up to the. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Front, and we had a door at the time, so you can close the door. He'd open a window, and we'd both just sit up there and smoke cigarettes. [00:26:58] Speaker C: So every time that we'd be coming. [00:27:01] Speaker A: Home, I would sit out there next. [00:27:03] Speaker C: To the buddy window and let the smoke roll out the buddy window. [00:27:07] Speaker A: If you've ever watched a bus driver drive in the middle of the night, you understand why it feels a lot smoother than you'd assume. Because you would think if you were just watching this bus drive and you were off of it in a car. [00:27:17] Speaker C: Passing by, you'd honestly think, these guys were drunk. [00:27:21] Speaker A: They'll start on the outside of the turn, just like they're turning through three and four. They'll start on the outside of the two lanes of the road, and then they'll swerve all the way down to. [00:27:29] Speaker C: The yellow line and then come back. [00:27:31] Speaker A: Out onto the banking, back up to the white line on the outside, crossing. [00:27:35] Speaker C: Both lanes of traffic, doing it, then. [00:27:37] Speaker A: Going about 45 miles an hour. So they'll smooth the road out for. [00:27:41] Speaker C: You, so they're taking care of you while they're driving. [00:27:44] Speaker A: But it's really funny to watch them. [00:27:46] Speaker C: Drive because they're breaking every rule in. [00:27:49] Speaker A: The book, just trying to make sure. [00:27:50] Speaker C: That your ride is nice and smooth. [00:27:53] Speaker A: It's really fun to watch it because you just wouldn't realize sitting up there, a lot of the times you're jostling around, you're feeling it, you're thinking, damn, this guy's just all over the road. [00:28:01] Speaker C: And doing too much. [00:28:03] Speaker A: And then you get up there and you realize he's really doing his best. It's just highways every now and then are just going to be awful. [00:28:09] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what I was. [00:28:10] Speaker A: It's fun to watch them drive it because they're having their best. [00:28:14] Speaker B: You're going to fill it. And another thing with the drivers, you can't just jerk to miss something or. [00:28:21] Speaker C: Hot hole, whatever, because in that one. [00:28:23] Speaker B: They'Re top heavy so that you don't have a flip risk, obviously. But then also, there's 15 living humans in there as well. You don't want to get thrown out of your Bunk. [00:28:32] Speaker D: Absolutely. [00:28:33] Speaker B: These guys have been driving, have been driving forever, most of them. [00:28:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:37] Speaker B: And they're very good at their jobs. Me and Caleb have heard stories of these guys. They've always been on the road for 30 years. They have some good war stories about drivers, but luckily the guy that came. [00:28:50] Speaker C: In after Ray, his name's Chuck, and. [00:28:53] Speaker B: He'S have nice, we don't really have many problems. [00:28:57] Speaker D: Heck yeah. [00:28:58] Speaker E: Smooth sailing. [00:28:59] Speaker A: Trying to be so back onto the NASCAR kind of stuff. So, Brandon, with your job, where you've. [00:29:05] Speaker C: Been at RFK this entire time, all. [00:29:09] Speaker A: Of your experience has been there. The wildest part about it is the. [00:29:12] Speaker C: Path that RFK has taken since you. [00:29:15] Speaker A: Started to where it is now. I mean, the K wasn't there. Your driver was completely different. [00:29:20] Speaker C: You've been with the six car for. [00:29:22] Speaker A: Pretty much the entire time. As far as I understand it. You do most of your work through the six. Obviously the 17 has got to have. [00:29:28] Speaker C: A part in that as well. But your driver started out with Ryan Newman and now is transferred into Brad Kislowski. How has that transitioned, what you do. [00:29:38] Speaker A: And how has RFK changed along the way? I know that's a lot all at once, but between the change of the driver, the change of the ownership, and the level of success that you all. [00:29:48] Speaker C: Are reaching right now, how has that. [00:29:51] Speaker A: Changed the everyday of your job going from where you were back in 2018 to 2024 now? [00:29:56] Speaker D: Yeah, that's a good question. The biggest thing, whenever you get a new driver, and I would say this is the case with working with any kind of talent, probably across the board, sports, entertainment, you name it. The biggest thing is just learning personalities and who's who and how they operate. Every guy is different in how they approach stuff about how they make decisions, about how they want to be on race day, how they want to answer you, they want to text, call, email. All those little things add up. So really I wouldn't view it as much as what's the biggest change, as much as it is enduring the changes over time. Right. So, yeah, back in 2018, we had Trevor Bain. When I started, I was on the six car. Then we moved on. We had Matt Kenzoth for a short period of time, moved on to Ryan Newman, obviously, now moved on to Brad, and in the middle of that, also picked up the 17 car. So now I'm representing both and Chris Busher as well. Which Texas boy as you are? Caleb. [00:30:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:59] Speaker D: It's interesting because I tell people all the time, man, this job isn't really hard. It's just keeping track of a lot of little things and making sure you're on your p's and q's and it's really being ready for what's next and not necessarily reacting to so much. I mean, don't get me wrong, I say that nobody was ready to react to Ryan Newman's wreck in 2020. I wasn't. No. But in some ways you had to be right, because you have to have that mentality and know what to do. But most everything we do is proactive, and that's just knowing your guys and knowing who they are. There are so many little things that you could look at. But like this week, we've been at production days, probably three days all week, and I know how Brad's going to be when we get in the room. I know he's going to want to get through as quick as he can, but I also know he's going to joke around with the folks in there. [00:31:50] Speaker C: And talk to him, shake their hand. [00:31:51] Speaker D: When he leaves, give good answers. Whereas Chris might be a little more quiet, back of the room guy, but he's still going to do the job and do it well. But in the middle of that, you're dealing with all the other drivers around, and those guys each have their own personality. So production week is an interesting dynamic because it's probably the one time all year that they're all together and they're interacting in weird ways because we'll walk in a room, do stuff on camera for ten minutes, next guy comes in, and then next thing there's 30 of us standing there in a doorway, and it's like, all right, what's going on? I went down a rabbit hole there. But, yeah, that's probably the biggest thing that I've noticed over time is just adapting to people, really. And that goes for all the way down to people you travel with, people I work with on my hallway, people I oversee, like our content guys, all kind of stuff, not just the driver itself. Crew chiefs change over time, and those guys are obviously different. That's what I say. At the end of the day, there's a unique personality in everybody. And no matter what you do, you've got to deal with that and figure out how to work with it. And that's really all it boils down to. Now, the flip side of that, to your point, Caleb, we've obviously made the changes over the last couple of years, and I think that's paid off, especially last year. So the biggest thing really, that we've adapted to is just learning how to deal with Brad as a driver and an owner at the same time. And that sounds pretty cliche and pretty vague, but you never know. He might come to the table as an owner or he might come to the table as a driver. And understanding how that is and what perspective he's coming from is really important just to know. All right, which Brad am I dealing with here? And I would tell him that he knows I say that, so I'm not saying anything there that he doesn't know. And then, even then, on Chris's side, he obviously isn't that. He's just a driver. Right. He's still young, even though there's kids that are barely 20 these days, but he's been around, so he's a little bit of a seasoned veteran, even though age wise he's still young. And he's just right there in Brad's wing, just taking it all in. But he's also very under the radar, respected, obviously successful. So it's a good balance. Probably the best balance. It's been my time here, but it's been good. We'll see how we can keep balancing it all out this year. [00:34:11] Speaker A: Heck yeah. I mean, the results are there. The results show everything that you're saying is completely true. Watching the entire growth of it, obviously, we had a little bit more of a microscope from our end. Just knowing you, to be able to watch as everything has kind of changed. It was amazing to see what 2023 brought you all. So kind of moving into 2024. What are you all's expectations? What are the long term absolute trying to hit it goals that you all. [00:34:38] Speaker C: Are setting for yourselves by the end of the year? [00:34:40] Speaker D: Yeah, really, it's much of the same. I think Brad, when he first got here, he said we wanted to compete for championships. And again, that's so cliche. But it's pretty simple, right? In our sport, if you win a few races a year and you're pretty consistent, top ten, sprinkling top five, you're going to do that no matter if you're in the talk or not, obviously you win races at the right time and you're already in the championship hunt. It takes care of itself. So knowing what we did last year combined, especially, I think we probably ended the year way stronger than what I even remember. Know the success throughout the year was obviously good. And Chris winning three races in and going way back to his first win in the year prior. But really, like those last 710 races where we were winning a stage here and there in the top five, it's a whole lot different feeling to be in the top five throughout a whole race as opposed to kind of sneaking in late, finishing 7th. Those are two different things. And it's funny because we haven't really had that and everybody knows that. That's no secret. I'm not saying anything there. Nobody doesn't know. Yeah, I think really for this year, the goal is probably just to keep doing that, but actually add on top of it because we know what's left out there. We knew where we came from and we got to, what, 7th and 8th points that fast. So if we did that in one year or a year and a half, then all right, where can we go from? [00:36:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah. It's been a lot of fun to watch, I think. Me personally, I want to see Brad Kay and victory lane. That's like my personal what I want. [00:36:22] Speaker C: To see happen for RFK this year. [00:36:25] Speaker B: Obviously, as many wins as possible, but I want to see the 6th car with Brad K in there. Two things I wanted to say. [00:36:34] Speaker C: First. [00:36:37] Speaker B: I think I've heard other people. [00:36:38] Speaker C: Say this, but I also agree 110%. I feel like there's not two better. [00:36:45] Speaker B: Teammates in perfect personalities than Brad Kezelowski. [00:36:49] Speaker C: And Chris Busher together under one roof. Do you agree with that? [00:36:55] Speaker B: And do you see that in the shop? Like you kind of said, under his wing? I think that's exactly what it is. He's just taking it all in and they work perfectly together. [00:37:06] Speaker D: Absolutely. Yeah. And I don't even view it as much as a veteran guy and a rookie because obviously Chris. No, not me neither. But it's kind of a nice mix of the two. You know what? Just, just in seeing them interact in the shop, in the office, production days, like photo shoots, stuff like that, they both know, obviously, what they're doing on the racetrack. They've been there, done that, successful, obviously have different upbringings, but everybody does, right? Like Brad, Chris aren't the same, and neither is Eric Jones and John Hunter Nemuchek. Neither is Kyle Larson and Chase Hilly. Like nobody's the same guy. They all got to where they got to for different reasons. But yeah, I would just. Brad, like I said, has that ownership mindset and just approaches things differently, whereas Chris just kind of stays in his lane and does what he needs to do and is really successful and doesn't really ever cause trouble. He's pretty to himself, but he's got a respectable following and it's actually getting better, which is cool to see. I'll give you an example. So he goes to a fast and all show in December every year. It's down in Orlando, and we've gone years prior, actually, I think in 2022, Brad went down there to fill in whenever Chris's child was being born. So Chris goes down there in Orlando, December. I didn't make the trip. I was getting this third hand. And he said, he walked in, there's like an expo floor, like a few hundred people there, and he couldn't get in the door. Like, everybody that saw him was like, hey, that's the guy. He won races in our car. [00:38:45] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:38:45] Speaker D: Those are little examples where. And he even said, he's like, yeah, three years ago, I basically had to tell people what I was there to do, whereas now it's just fully recognizable. So again, those kind of stories kind of resonate and pretty much show how. [00:39:02] Speaker C: Far along we've come. [00:39:04] Speaker D: But, yeah, they're very different, but in a good way. It's very much a veteran guy, future hall of Famer, owns overseas in the weeds on everything from team apparel to paint schemes to how the cars run. And then you've got Chris, who does his thing, but he does it well. So it's a nice. [00:39:27] Speaker B: Went to. I went to three or four races. [00:39:31] Speaker C: Last year, and from Atlanta last year. [00:39:35] Speaker B: To the last race of the year being whichever one it was towards the. [00:39:39] Speaker C: End of the year, the amount of. [00:39:42] Speaker B: Chris Busher and RFK gear just in. [00:39:46] Speaker C: Like I pointed out to Caleb, I was like, dude, I was like, about. [00:39:50] Speaker B: Every fourth or fifth person here is. [00:39:51] Speaker C: Wearing Brad or Christopher or a lot of people. I feel like this is kind of a new thing, and I feel like. [00:39:59] Speaker B: RFK does a great job with this also. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Track house, maybe 20, 311. But, like, people wearing RFK gear or. [00:40:08] Speaker B: Track house gear, not just like, it's kind of like they support the whole team. I don't recall ten years ago going to races and people being just wearing. [00:40:17] Speaker C: A Hendrix shirt or just wearing a Joe Gibbs shirt. So I feel like that's an interesting. [00:40:23] Speaker B: Thing that's kind of changing, but I feel like that's super cool that people. [00:40:26] Speaker C: Are supporting RFK as a whole. [00:40:30] Speaker B: I had a second question to go along with the previous one. So you brought up content and you kind of just said, almost maybe answered my question with Sam. [00:40:40] Speaker C: Brad's in the weeds and picks know. [00:40:44] Speaker B: Hands on with merch and whatever it is. [00:40:46] Speaker C: So content wise, do you approve what. [00:40:51] Speaker B: Goes on social media? Does the driver approve what goes on social media? Is it a mix of both? [00:40:56] Speaker C: I know one of your social media people, Elijah. I don't know him personally, but I've. [00:41:02] Speaker B: Fought him on social media since he had that super viral graduation video from like, oh, yeah, before he was with Ganassi. I think that's how he got his. [00:41:11] Speaker C: Job, if I'm not mistaken. [00:41:12] Speaker D: Yep. [00:41:13] Speaker E: Spot on. [00:41:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:15] Speaker B: So I've followed him on social media and that was probably five years ago or more. I don't know exactly how long that was. Does he make up? And I've seen his posts, like, I'm getting better at Photoshop and I'm doing this, and he's made posts about his progress of what he's done graphically and stuff. [00:41:32] Speaker C: But I guess my main question is. [00:41:34] Speaker B: Who approves what goes on there? Does Elijah just get to post whatever. [00:41:38] Speaker C: Or you or the driver or. [00:41:41] Speaker D: Yeah, overall, no. It's a good question and everybody's different. But for the most part, I would say this is kind of the we. Elijah works with Thomas on our team. Thomas basically handles shooting and capturing all of our content. Elijah handles posting it, managing it, reacting to fan sentiment, stuff like that across our channels. So those two really are our content machine. Fortunately, myself and my boss, Kevin, we get to pitch in at the track and stuff like that. Obviously, all four of us don't go every week, but it's funny because every week one of us will touch the various channels and you might not ever know who's doing it. We try not to make it seem like you know who's touching it because we have a voice that we like to stay within. Yeah, that's kind of the team of four that makes it up. But the two of those are definitely. They're the superstars. I'm not going to steal their content. Fortunately, I oversee them, so I do have to help them make some of the decisions. But, yeah, to answer your question, it's really just a group effort. Dawson the driver never sees it, to be honest with you. It's really those two kind of, they direct the ideas and then we'll pitch know to each other and kind of talk up and down the hallway. And that's essentially it. And actually, I would even say sometimes it's really just the two of them because you have to be so quick and ready to go and reactionary to that kind of stuff and there might not be time to do it. And I tell people all the time, people I work with directly, I'll get home and I'll catch up at the end of the night on what we posted because I don't always see it, which fortunately, we have a lot of trust built in there, so I don't have to see everything. I like it that way. But, yeah, it's a group effort. And on the driver front, I would say, I know you guys know this, but they're different in how they manage and post their own content. I mean, now that's a whole different discussion. You've got videographers and content guys walking around with drivers dedicated to them. That's what they do. We manage Chris's channels mainly. That's Elijah doing that. And Thomas will shoot content for him. On Brad's side. He's got an agency that handles his. So Brad will actually approve a lot of the stuff that's on his specific channels. And every now and then we'll text Chris about stuff that's on his. But for the most part, Chris knows how we operate on behalf of him and he respects. Yeah, it's a good time to. You have to really pay attention to what's going on. And Elijah and Thomas are so good at that, and I'm not as good at that. But you also have to just be good at checking the boxes of what our partners and sponsors need and what we need to do. So, yeah, the content ballgame is never ending. It's ongoing every day and it's fun to keep up with. [00:44:35] Speaker B: And it's such a big part of everything nowadays. You have to have content, content, content. I didn't really know. In 2020, the guy that signed me to my BMG deal went to another company and I was doing some work with them. And they had a social media person. [00:44:55] Speaker C: And it was my first ever introduction into. [00:45:00] Speaker B: I've had social media since I was in high school, obviously. [00:45:03] Speaker C: And that's kind of late to the. [00:45:04] Speaker B: Game for kids nowadays. They get Facebook and Instagram when they're. [00:45:10] Speaker C: Uh. [00:45:11] Speaker B: It was my first introduction of they're. [00:45:13] Speaker C: Up to date on memes and what's. [00:45:17] Speaker B: Funny and how to use it in your world. And they give you kind of a blueprint and you have a lot of say so in what you do, but it's a talent like social media and. [00:45:30] Speaker C: Content is a talent, and it just. [00:45:32] Speaker B: Gets more and more important every single. [00:45:34] Speaker C: Day that goes by, which is mind. [00:45:36] Speaker B: Blowing to me, but it's very true. And I've seen people make posts. I'm pretty sure Dell Jr. Has talked about it. But, like, RFK social media is, like, one of the top tier social medias, especially on Twitter, just like you said, the fan interactment and funny stuff they post and even throwing it back to NASCAR Thunder 2003 and just, like, stuff like that. I feel like Elijah specifically was kind of raised like me and Caleb. Well, not Caleb, because he just got into racing in the last seven or. [00:46:06] Speaker A: Eight years, but I'm a late bloomer. Yeah, I remember. Take it for what it's worth, but. [00:46:13] Speaker B: I grew up playing all those video games, and they'll post something from a super iconic race from, like, 2004, and it's like, oh, I remember that. Or have a meme of an RFK card doing something that was an iconic moment, stuff like that. I feel like that really resonates with a lot of the fan base, which. [00:46:30] Speaker C: I think is super cool when not all social media people are doing that for race teams. [00:46:36] Speaker B: Not that you have to, but it. [00:46:37] Speaker C: Is super cool to see. [00:46:39] Speaker D: Yeah, no, thankfully. And this is implemented well before my time, their time. Kevin, that oversees our hallway, he kind of instilled that voice way back when, and he's basically just trusted the people over time to carry it on. So I'll give credit to him because we don't really nitpick a lot. We kind of just say, hey, here you go. You're talented. Go with it. And fortunately, it works, which is super cool. [00:47:06] Speaker B: Super cool. People kind of spread their wings and do what they got to do, and it's a big respect thing, too. They know what they're representing. This wouldn't be said here. They wouldn't say, you know what I mean? Stuff like that just shows that you all have, like, a great team. Great mesh of everybody on the same page. [00:47:24] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:47:24] Speaker C: Yep. No doubt. [00:47:26] Speaker A: The level of trust definitely has got to be high. Just watching my fiance, Allison go through that sometimes, listen to them talk about different social media posts, different things that they're putting up, the level of decision. [00:47:38] Speaker C: Making that they have to be involved in to be able to make stuff. [00:47:43] Speaker A: Like that work blows my mind. And then the fact that y'all have people that y'all can trust enough that you don't even have to go over those secondary checks and balances to make. [00:47:51] Speaker C: Sure everything is working. [00:47:52] Speaker E: Yep. [00:47:53] Speaker A: Honestly, it's amazing that you all have been able to put that kind of stuff together, which is a testament to why you all are doing so well now as a business, you all have so much trust and built into each other. It makes sense that everything has been going well. [00:48:04] Speaker C: So much for the last year and year and a half, two years, and. [00:48:08] Speaker A: How much of that has snowballed into. [00:48:11] Speaker C: All these huge wins and huge moments. [00:48:13] Speaker A: And the push into the playoffs that you all had that nobody would have. [00:48:16] Speaker C: Predicted but everybody was super excited to watch? [00:48:18] Speaker E: Heck yeah. [00:48:23] Speaker A: So this is a bit of a tougher question, but I've been wanting to ask it of you and feel free to answer however you want to. [00:48:30] Speaker C: But as a fan and watching it. [00:48:33] Speaker A: From the outside, and I know we've brought it up on the podcast before, watching the way that different teams get covered and different drivers get covered, it seems to me like a lot of times the folks in the NASCAR media are focused so much on Hendrix, Stuart. [00:48:49] Speaker C: Haas, your Joe Gibbs teams, y'all come. [00:48:52] Speaker A: Along with this hot streak that's going on. And honestly, obviously we have a direct line into the business. We hear about it all the time. We love to hear about it and we're watching it closely. [00:49:01] Speaker C: But it seems like a lot of. [00:49:02] Speaker A: Times when you get onto your race hubs, post race coverage and different things. [00:49:07] Speaker C: Like that, there's a surprising lack of. [00:49:10] Speaker A: RFK in any of that, despite the. [00:49:13] Speaker C: Level of success you all reached last year. [00:49:15] Speaker A: And I can't imagine the frustration that's got to feel as you're going through that as somebody that's part of the organization. Is that like a politics thing? Is that something that's inherent to old school NASCAR of just that? Well, it just takes a second before. [00:49:32] Speaker C: That kind of stuff kicks. I mean, can you speak to any of that? [00:49:37] Speaker A: Does that exist? Is that true? Is that something that we're just seeing. [00:49:40] Speaker C: Because we want to see more of you all? How does that work? [00:49:45] Speaker A: As if someone NPR like trying to get your name out there, what's that like and what's the push and how do you get more of that kind of coverage for yourself? [00:49:54] Speaker D: No, it's a fair question, for sure. And I guess the way that I look at it as, and you guys know this and you can tell this from way far away, the people that cover the sport, they love drama, and they love to cover the drama of the drivers and the storylines and the teams and anything new and shiny. So you look at the last, I don't know, couple years of the teams that have added third cars or added fourth cars and brought in guys from Australia, all those things, that's what's going to get the attention, right? And I say that we just did that ourselves on the 60 program side and obviously we garnered a lot of attention there. We wanted that. But yeah, I think a lot of times those type of storylines cover up what actually might be underlying. I've never really thought about this, but if I think back to earlier last year, like in the summer, we were in the mix both in the playoff hunt, never really left it, and we were getting decent. Then, you know, you win one race, you get some coverage, win two, it's like, all right, eyes are open. Then you get a lot of people reacting to you, right? So the way that I look at it as from my seat and my role is you're always going to get people reacting to, hey, you won two races in a row. Can Chris come on and do race hub or whatever the request may be, just using that as an example. But yeah, it's such a fine line to walk because I don't know what the answer is ultimately. I know that, like I said, the media love the drama and they love to cover what's what. But also know that in my role, if I wanted to go out and say, hey, can you all cover x story? They have every right to say no. But if I'm being honest, I don't know that that's happening a lot anymore in the sport. I know years ago you would pitch a lot of stuff. I know in you guys'world you have to pitch songs when they come out, you're always pitching albums, stuff like that. In our world, it kind of is what it is. Basically, your product on track is a result of your work, right? Yeah. Don't get me wrong, when you do win and you have success, the requests come in and your workload definitely increases. But after three weeks went by for those two wins in a row and it was back to the norm, you know what I mean? There was nothing really different. Yeah, you're still kind of relishing in the win and you're making sure you get the trophies in and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, it's an ebb and flow. And in terms of tv, I was going to say this too. I know a lot of people always, I'll see reactions and heck, I'll even get texts from people I work with and they'll say, hey, we finished eigth. Where was our interview after the race? And I'm like, look, you got to understand how this works. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean they didn't tape it. Right? I mean, we tape interviews all the time and I will literally be standing there and the driver will do an interview after a race, and I have no idea if it's live, if it's taped. I don't know if it's even going anywhere to tape until well after the fact. And somebody will say, you know, we didn't get any coverage for our sponsor. I'm like, look, we have zero control over that, right? Whereas I can't control if they're going to go talk to the 14th place guy for whatever reason they might be talking to him for. I also don't control that. So, yeah, it is frustrating in the moment a lot of times, because you just don't know what the reasonings are. To your point, Caleb, I don't know if it's politics, storylines. Who knows? End of the day, you only control what you can control. You try to promote your guys the best you can. So that's where a lot of times we kind of come in on our own team content. So I just try to play it up because, look, if nobody else is, I mean, we control our own deal, right? So we can promote ourselves all we want. I don't care if anybody else does. So hopefully that's somewhat of a roundabout answer for you. [00:53:57] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's just the funny part for us is, of course we understand what we go through on our end and we don't see everything that you. [00:54:05] Speaker C: All go through on yours. [00:54:07] Speaker A: I didn't even honestly know how many times that you all were taping interviews that don't even get aired. That part just blows my mind that they just end up lost in the ether somewhere. I mean, it makes sense now hearing about it, that that does happen, but, yeah, because it is fun. It's obvious it's working on y'all's end. Your social media pushes and your content is all going. [00:54:26] Speaker C: Yeah, just like Dawson said, you go. [00:54:28] Speaker A: To the tracks, you see RFK stuff everywhere. Well, that's working. [00:54:32] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:54:32] Speaker B: On the tv, a lot of problems, too. You force them to talk about you when you win three races in a season. [00:54:39] Speaker D: Absolutely. Yeah. And you don't know, like, a lot of times the tv window might be up in two minutes when we get to post race. Right. Or they might need to fill 45. So if they will know, like, we'll have an idea of, hey, tv is filling 30 minutes here and they'll sweep the top ten, at least on pit road tape every interview. Now, it could just go to Twitter or like a digital platform might not go to actual tv, but if they're in the last ten minutes of that tv window, you're lucky if you're getting on there. That doesn't mean you don't get interviewed. That just means it might not make it so. It's a crap shoot always, and you can't control it. [00:55:14] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Well, you all are doing everything right on the back end, which is the best part about it. So we get to talk to you and still get to see a bunch of RFK stuff. If you're selling merch, you're making a lot better money than you are taking interviews on tv anyway. [00:55:25] Speaker E: That's right. [00:55:27] Speaker B: I was going to kind of say that. Talk about drama being what pushes. They're always following the drama, and I'd agree with that 100%. But you all have two drivers who aren't dramatic. They go out and just let what they do on the racetrack do their talking. Chris Busher isn't coming out in a pair of flashy jordans and leather pants. [00:55:47] Speaker C: And weird stuff like that, which, hey, there's nothing wrong with that, but if he did that, people would be, hmm, that's interesting. [00:55:56] Speaker B: Chris Busher is the guy that comes out that shiny thing, blue jeans and boots, and goes and races the. [00:56:02] Speaker D: There's. [00:56:03] Speaker C: I think, me personally, I think there's. [00:56:05] Speaker B: Nothing wrong with going out and getting the job done. I mean, he had a lot more wins than other people that get a lot of coverage. Yeah, I think that's just fine. [00:56:15] Speaker D: Absolutely. [00:56:15] Speaker A: Yeah, no doubt. It's just fun to talk about the what if. Sometimes I always enjoy it. [00:56:22] Speaker D: Exactly. [00:56:24] Speaker C: Nothing like it, man. [00:56:27] Speaker A: But no, it's been fun watching the last year and a half and how everything has kind of worked out in you all's favor. And it's even more fun to get to text you about it and see how you all are all reacting because I know you all have taken a lot of pride in everything that you all put together over the last race. [00:56:39] Speaker C: Season, and I know this next year. [00:56:41] Speaker A: Ain'T going to be anything different. [00:56:43] Speaker C: So we're definitely looking forward to seeing what you all can put together and. [00:56:47] Speaker A: See if we can get another one two push at Daytona. Just one race earlier in the season. [00:56:51] Speaker B: That's right, baby. Car up there, too. [00:56:55] Speaker A: One, two, three. [00:56:56] Speaker D: Let's make it that at this point. Yeah, if we got the 60 in the mix, I think we're doing good. I know that's not the whole reason why we're doing that. But obviously, look, at the end of the day, if that 60 car is in there, in the top five with two to go or whatever, we'll take it helping. Absolutely. [00:57:13] Speaker B: That's just putting extra insurance, in my opinion. It's just an extra car. Have extra help. I mean, in a plate track, that's exactly what you want. The 60 car is going to be 99% going to be locked up to either the six or the 17. [00:57:28] Speaker C: Exactly. [00:57:29] Speaker B: All three drivers know that. [00:57:31] Speaker C: I think it's cool. [00:57:33] Speaker B: I think I actually heard Brad say that or something in an interview about having that insurance, that third car, just. [00:57:40] Speaker C: Like, knowing it's there and you can. [00:57:42] Speaker B: Make more moves and all that. [00:57:44] Speaker C: So I think it's really cool. And I also have a question about that sponsor. [00:57:49] Speaker B: What is buildsubmarines.com? [00:57:51] Speaker C: What is that? [00:57:52] Speaker D: Oh, man. That's a good question. You put me on the spot. No, not really. Essentially, you've got the submarine industrial base, which is. They're essentially trying to recruit the next generation of folks to work on submarines. And I know that's a lot of jargon in there, but it really is what it sounds like. So the government, they've realized that there's an extreme lack of folks working on stuff like that. And because of it, we're at like an extreme shortage of submarines to build up, survive in the military circles in the next 10, 20, 30 years. So essentially, the program is actually through a parent company called Blue Forge alliance, and they're based out of Texas. They work with the Navy directly. So basically what happens is if you go to that website right now, you click on careers or opportunities, and it's got everything from engineers to pipe fitters to laborers to, you name it, anything. There's a lot of manufacturing, like additive manufacturing stuff in there, which is Brad's side business, funny enough. So it's essentially all these opportunities that are filtered through this one website to drive awareness for the fact that we need people to go in that workforce and help build things that build submarines. Now, you might sign up for one job at Dow, right? You might be working in the paint industry or, I don't know, like an aircraft industry. So it might not feel like it's related to submarines, but at the end of the day, it all in some way ties in. So that's the gist of it. I'd say it's been pretty successful. I think the first, let's see, we announced that deal last may around the 600. And I don't remember the numbers. Off top of my head, so I don't want to lie. But their website traffic skyrocketed. Right. And I think they've seen a lot of sign ups since then. We've actually had people internally that their kids have signed up through it and are, like, starting that school in the next few weeks. So it's a cool deal. It's something different. And that's one of those things that people, they look at partners in the sport and they're like, all right, what's on this car? What's on that car? And a lot of times you forget, but obviously we're more closely attached to it being in the weeds on it. But, yeah, it's a good deal. Obviously, anything that ties back to the military in some ways, a lot of it resonates with a lot of people. So, yeah, we'll see how many more people we can recruit this year via their social content and living on our race cars. [01:00:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:00:30] Speaker B: That's actually incredible. I had no idea about any of that. [01:00:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:00:33] Speaker B: And I wish I was just thinking about this as you were saying that they're few and far between, but there are a couple of sponsors or a couple of things that pop up throughout the season you see on a car. [01:00:44] Speaker C: I wish tv, even social media would elaborate more on. [01:00:50] Speaker B: Exactly. [01:00:51] Speaker C: I feel like you just pitched that. That was like, perfect. [01:00:54] Speaker B: That made me fired up about something. [01:00:58] Speaker A: Too, along the way. [01:00:59] Speaker B: I'm sure there's more of those, not exactly that, but like more sponsorships in NASCAR that people would be like, oh, well, if I'd have know that could get somebody behind a, that literally what you just said could get someone like they believe in that. That's awesome. I'm behind Brad Kozlowski now because of that. You know what? [01:01:20] Speaker D: Incredible. [01:01:20] Speaker C: I think that's super cool. [01:01:21] Speaker D: I'll tell you the, that's the stuff that we're tasked with, like me and the folks I work with. After we announced that deal last year, this peek behind the curtain, we were like, all right, we got the announcement out. Race happened, and they didn't have another race for like a couple of weeks, I think it was. And I was sitting there and I'm going, all right, what have we actually done to promote what it is other than here's a release, here's a cool announcement, which the announcement was really cool, very unique. So we kind of went back to the drawing board and we're like, all right, we need to educate people on what we're actually talking about. So we basically came up with all these very simple marketing platforms on social that explain that. So sometimes you have to just take a step back and realize you're in the mix of it every day. And just because I know doesn't mean that everybody watching the race knows. So a lot of times it's just education and getting people up to speed on stuff like that. And I was going to add, too, because we tell the story to a lot of partners and a lot of folks in the industry. The way that came about this will blow your mind. So a guy on our sales team, Justin, this was March Madness last year. He was at a sports bar down in Charlote. He was sitting there by himself at the bar watching one of the March Madness games, and he saw the ad pop up for buildsubmarines.com, kind of in the lower third on the bottom. Didn't know what it was, googled it, went to the website. Next day cold, reached out to somebody on their team, found an email address. [01:02:47] Speaker C: And that was it. [01:02:48] Speaker D: And here we are. And. [01:02:50] Speaker A: You're kidding. [01:02:51] Speaker D: It's a multi year deal. Oh, yeah. It's one of our biggest partner announcements we've had in a long, long time. Wow. [01:02:59] Speaker A: Shout out to that sports bar. [01:03:00] Speaker D: Yeah. You never know where stuff like that know people. That's really the thing that drives this whole sport. [01:03:07] Speaker C: Right. [01:03:08] Speaker D: Obviously you guys know that and most everybody does at this point, but you can find people that want to be in it, but you got to find people that really want to invest in it to be able to sustain it. Unfortunately, Dustin found those guys, and this is their first full year. I think they're on the car, like, to combine 18 or 19 races, so they're excited and looking forward to a full year with us. [01:03:31] Speaker C: That's incredible. Yeah, that's really cool. [01:03:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I think a lot of teams could benefit from posting even if, like I said, if tv doesn't do it, like doing a video or little pinpoint things. [01:03:46] Speaker C: About businesses and stuff. [01:03:49] Speaker B: Not that this is anywhere near as cool as that, but I saw where Kyle Bush, his new sponsorship is like zone nicotine pouches or something. [01:03:58] Speaker C: And that's like his primary main sponsorship for this year. It's like, yeah, what is that? [01:04:03] Speaker B: I've never heard of that in my whole entire life. And the car is like super elaborate and got a lot of crazy colors on it. It's going to pop. I feel like on the racetrack, but especially since that's his primary sponsor, they should do something like what? This is what they stand know something like that. [01:04:21] Speaker A: Even better. I just saw him on a Morgan and Morgan commercial. So if y'all end up going out and wrecking him, you might want to be careful about it because he's got a good guy in his back pocket. [01:04:29] Speaker D: That's true. You never know. [01:04:34] Speaker A: But no, that's all. Honestly, the value creation, I feel like is the hardest part for y'all. [01:04:38] Speaker C: Now when it comes to trying to woo a sponsor over, it's so difficult. [01:04:42] Speaker A: To be heard anymore because it's so easy to put your voice out there. It's hard to rise above the rest. And you can hear the story. [01:04:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:04:53] Speaker B: Sponsorship wise and stuff, you can consume it in so many different ways. So it's like, what's that unique pitch. [01:04:58] Speaker C: For a NASCAR team? [01:05:00] Speaker D: And here's the reality, too. [01:05:01] Speaker A: You'd think it'd be so easy because it's badass. Loud engine cars run around a circle and tons of fun. Bunch of drunk rednecks out there. [01:05:09] Speaker C: You'd think there was a huge boom. [01:05:11] Speaker A: But it's not the same as it. [01:05:12] Speaker C: Was back in the day. [01:05:13] Speaker D: Yeah, and see, a lot of people don't realize too. Dawson, to your point, you're talking about telling people what your brand is. A lot of sponsors come into the sport and they have very different goals and objectives than maybe what our other sponsor does. Actually, that's what we do a lot of times when we get a new one on board, we start from the beginning and say, all right, what do you want out of this deal? Because if we don't understand what you want, how are we going to activate it and let fans know? Which then drives the value for the money you're paying. Right. We have like build subs. They came in last year and they bought, golly, they bought in car cameras. Felt like every other week they were buying additional hospitality, which is, these are pretty significant investments right on top of what they've already paid for, for the actual sponsorship itself. And then you have partners of ours that have been with us for more than a decade, and they're great, and they've obviously sustained our company a lot, but they just kind of do the run of the mill. They're on the car, they do some social content, and that's it. And they entertain and host folks in a VFP capacity pretty much every other week. So there's a very wide range of what folks are doing in the sport, and that's okay. Fortunately, we're not in a scenario where you come in and you have to do these same three or four things. We're kind of flexible to where we can kind of take whatever a sponsor wants and say, all right, let's custom mold it, make the content they want, make the activation platforms they want, and run with it. So that's the part that's fun that everybody on our team that I work with in the non competition side, that's what we're tasked with doing, which is always interesting to try to figure out how we promote all those folks in a different way. [01:06:59] Speaker B: That's super cool and something that I don't think even me, and I consider myself more than the average fan, but the average fan has no idea, you. [01:07:09] Speaker A: Know what I mean? [01:07:09] Speaker B: They just see the logo on the car and that's about it. Even, like, you don't think about all those people coming in like vips that are sitting on y'all's pit box or doing like, I remember Atlanta last year. Kings Hawaiian had that whole entire setup and Brad was out there doing the question and answer and they were like. [01:07:30] Speaker C: Grilling little burger sliders and stuff. Oh, yeah, that's super cool. [01:07:33] Speaker D: Yeah, that's the fun stuff right there. [01:07:35] Speaker C: Awesome. [01:07:35] Speaker D: Yeah, I love when they do that. [01:07:37] Speaker C: Yeah, totally. [01:07:38] Speaker A: Oh, no doubt when they get into it, too. I remember some of the Solomon guys coming off the pit box when we were there at Talladega when we came off so they could have some spots. And right after it happened was when that wreck came down and they immediately turned back around and you could tell they were fired up. They wanted to see their car doing well. Y'all were running up front, everything was going great. And then the wreck happens, takes you. [01:08:01] Speaker C: Out, and they were coming off the pit box and they were cussing up a storm. [01:08:06] Speaker A: They were having a great time of it. You could tell they were fired up. They hated to see the wreck, but they had a great time the whole time. [01:08:12] Speaker C: So you could tell that there's value. [01:08:14] Speaker A: That you're creating there for them. They want to be a part of it, and they are fired up and they are ready to be there, excited. They're paying attention. So you can tell you're engaging with them well. And it's a tough thing to do, especially whenever these guys maybe never been to a race before, know anything about it. Now all of a sudden, you're thrusting. [01:08:30] Speaker C: Them into this new situation and it's working. Yes, that's right. [01:08:35] Speaker B: And I feel like you have to do not to keep going on this topic, but certain sponsors are easier to promote, like just kings of wine, like going and doing those burgers. That's super easy. [01:08:46] Speaker C: Super. [01:08:47] Speaker B: Everybody gets that going and doing the build submarines thing. How do you do something like that? It just proves like every single one is. Each deal is custom. [01:09:00] Speaker C: That's super cool to even think about. [01:09:03] Speaker D: Exactly. Yeah. Which is way different, too, than probably ten years ago, especially 20 years ago. Every team basically had one. Right? Like you had Home Depot or Coca Cola or Budweiser or Lowe's. So imagine doing that back then just for one. Right. Like per car, per team. Now we've got, I don't know, 12, 13, 14 partners for two cars. So you take that same approach and you multiply it and you somehow don't piss anybody off and make sure everybody gets the same value out of it while balancing making sure that you're respectful to who's on the car that week versus who might have a social campaign that's coming up, but they might not be on the car, but you still have to do it. It's a fun battle and that's obviously what we're here for, to make sure we walk that line accordingly. [01:09:56] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely a tightrope you're walking there. Cool. [01:10:02] Speaker E: Always. [01:10:02] Speaker A: I give it to you. [01:10:03] Speaker C: Always. [01:10:04] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:10:05] Speaker C: Well, I feel like we've been going. [01:10:07] Speaker B: At this a little over an hour. I feel it's pretty solid. First episode, boys for raise rowdy racing. [01:10:12] Speaker A: Heck yeah. Definitely. [01:10:13] Speaker D: Well, before we go. [01:10:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:16] Speaker D: Where are you guys headed to? I know we're in like the heart of January. It's a dead of winter outside, so you might tell me it's two more months, but I wasn't going to let you talk for an hour without talking about yourself. Where are you guys headed to? [01:10:30] Speaker A: Coming up, actually, I think our first show is on March 1 in Nashville. The very first show we don't even have to leave for. It's an acoustic, so I'm going to be there. I don't think, Dawson, unless you're coming up to go watch is. [01:10:44] Speaker B: I'm coming to watch one of the acoustic shows. [01:10:46] Speaker C: I don't know which one you got to do. Pellham. [01:10:49] Speaker B: We have in the cave. [01:10:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:10:52] Speaker A: So the acoustic tour that we do usually takes place for like a month at the beginning of the season. [01:10:57] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:10:58] Speaker A: And it's just a bare bones crew of me, tour manager, lighting director, and video person and maybe a merch person. So it's a very bare bones crew. [01:11:05] Speaker C: Nice. [01:11:06] Speaker A: Go and just do him. And a guitar and maybe a second. [01:11:09] Speaker C: One that's tuned somewhere different. [01:11:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we're starting that up in March and we have, I think, twelve dates in March that we're doing. [01:11:16] Speaker C: So we're going to start it off. [01:11:18] Speaker A: Strong, and then after that, I think. [01:11:19] Speaker C: We have 50 full band shows throughout the year. [01:11:22] Speaker A: What we're planning on, and that's when Dawson will kick back up. But we do have one show that I'm definitely looking forward to. [01:11:28] Speaker C: It's in Pellham, Tennessee. [01:11:30] Speaker A: There's apparently some caves that they've created. [01:11:33] Speaker C: A stage inside of. [01:11:35] Speaker A: So you play in a cave under the. [01:11:39] Speaker C: I'm. [01:11:39] Speaker A: I'm excited just to see what that's like. I'm glad we're doing it acoustic because I can imagine it's a nightmare. Full band. [01:11:45] Speaker D: Oh, I'm sure. [01:11:45] Speaker C: But we're hitting that one, so that's. [01:11:47] Speaker A: Definitely my highlight reel right now. And also, I found out I think we might be doing Billy Bob's this year. [01:11:53] Speaker D: Nice. [01:11:53] Speaker A: So I'm definitely stoked. Been going there my entire life. [01:11:56] Speaker C: Yeah, definitely excited to finally work it. [01:11:59] Speaker A: And mark it off the list. [01:12:01] Speaker D: Yeah, I love that place. I think I went for the first time in the last five or six years and then took my wife a couple of years ago. Yeah, I wanted to go back, like, the next night because somebody different was there. [01:12:13] Speaker C: What did you see? [01:12:15] Speaker D: Diamond Rio. [01:12:17] Speaker A: Nice. That have been a ton of fun. [01:12:20] Speaker D: Yeah. Probably not the answer you expected, but it was awesome. [01:12:23] Speaker C: I loved it. [01:12:24] Speaker A: No, that's the answer. Exactly what I expected because that's perfect. What a great band to see at a great venue. [01:12:30] Speaker B: Diamond Rio at Billy Bob's is like top tier country music. You know what I mean? That's like, exactly what you're going for. [01:12:37] Speaker D: Exactly. Yeah, we got lucky that weekend. [01:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I think my 21st, it was whenever Robert Earl Keane played there. And watching him get up there in front of a bunch of Texans is hilarious because everybody just loses their mind and tries to do their best. Robert Earl Keane interpretations, it's like just getting absolutely. [01:12:59] Speaker B: Interpretation. [01:13:00] Speaker D: You know what that comparison is? That's like Riley Green going to play the Talladega infield concert. Same thing. [01:13:05] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. [01:13:06] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:13:07] Speaker A: Which, by the way, I can't imagine that shit. [01:13:09] Speaker D: If we just made that happen every year, I think everybody would be happy just to recur. [01:13:14] Speaker A: I don't think anybody complains. [01:13:15] Speaker C: Yeah, totally, man. [01:13:18] Speaker A: What a time. I'm just waiting to see who. Does they announce who the Daytona 500 performer is yet? [01:13:24] Speaker D: They probably did, and I probably missed it. [01:13:26] Speaker B: But people keep asking Bob and he keeps saying he doesn't know, so I don't think it has been. [01:13:33] Speaker D: Got you. [01:13:33] Speaker A: Come on, Bob. [01:13:35] Speaker D: They're holding out on it. [01:13:36] Speaker A: Bob don't know. I assume nobody. [01:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah, Bob doesn't know. Nobody knows, man. [01:13:40] Speaker D: Bob's always the first. [01:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah, he always is. Yeah, we're doing that. I actually just had my first phone call right before I got on this podcast. I was on my very first phone call of the year, so, heck yeah. We are just now starting to kick it back off. It's waited a little later than usual, but we're here. [01:13:56] Speaker C: Awesome. [01:13:57] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:13:57] Speaker B: Then we start full band in March. And since this is the first podcast of the year, on a personal note, and I feel like I can say this now because I sent back the. [01:14:08] Speaker C: Contracts this morning at like 10:00 signing another pub deal for yo. You write songs for a living? [01:14:17] Speaker B: I'm still doing the Travis thing, obviously. [01:14:19] Speaker C: But dream three and cobalt music, this. [01:14:25] Speaker B: Is my new home for the next four years. Super pumped about that. [01:14:30] Speaker D: Good deal. [01:14:31] Speaker A: Long time coming. [01:14:32] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll make the official post and we do the pictures and Music Row magazine and all that. That'll be in the next month or so. [01:14:38] Speaker C: But sent back all the stuff on. [01:14:41] Speaker B: The contract this morning. [01:14:43] Speaker C: They offered the deal in. [01:14:47] Speaker B: October, November of last year. I can't remember exactly when, but takes. [01:14:51] Speaker C: A long time to do all the contract work, but, yeah, nobody knows about. [01:14:57] Speaker B: That except for a couple buddies here and there. [01:15:00] Speaker C: But, yeah, by the time this comes out, the ink will be drying on that, which would be cool for the. [01:15:07] Speaker B: Ten people that listen to this. [01:15:08] Speaker C: They'll know now. [01:15:10] Speaker A: It'll spread around. [01:15:12] Speaker D: That's right. [01:15:12] Speaker A: The ten people that listen to it and get to the hour 15 mark. Yeah, that's a small subset of our audience. [01:15:19] Speaker B: That's a small chunk of the people. I'll make a big social media post. [01:15:23] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [01:15:24] Speaker D: Yeah, those are the big Dawson Edwards fans right there. [01:15:27] Speaker A: Exactly. [01:15:28] Speaker D: The hour 15 committee. [01:15:29] Speaker A: This is the part of the podcast where we have you, Brandon, tell us one thing that you are going to do in the future. To cheat up one of your cars just to see if anybody's paying attention. [01:15:39] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [01:15:41] Speaker A: Less weight. Always. [01:15:43] Speaker D: No secret, by the way. Everybody does that. [01:15:46] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. [01:15:47] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:15:48] Speaker A: Oh, man. Oh, lord, that's funny. [01:15:52] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be a good year. Well, I'm excited for all aspects on the road, writing songs, rage, rowdy racing, NASCAR. [01:16:00] Speaker A: I'm excited if it could beat the end of 2023. Honestly, it wouldn't have to try too. [01:16:05] Speaker B: Hard much to beat the end of year 2023. [01:16:08] Speaker C: No, not at all. Love it. Oh, shoot. [01:16:14] Speaker A: Well, Dane, Brandon, we appreciate you coming on. I know we've already kind of teased it a little bit, but we'll probably have you back sometime this year, probably right after the first win of the. [01:16:23] Speaker C: Season, so maybe right after Daytona or something. [01:16:27] Speaker A: Coming up here soon, Atlanta. I know Brad's always going to have. [01:16:29] Speaker C: A strong run, so, yeah, we may. [01:16:32] Speaker A: Be hearing from you sooner rather than later. [01:16:33] Speaker D: Yeah, we'll always be here. [01:16:35] Speaker C: I'll be at Atlanta. [01:16:37] Speaker D: Love it. [01:16:38] Speaker C: Hell yeah. Nice. [01:16:40] Speaker A: I'll have to see what I can make it to. Since we're starting up early, I'm not sure what I'm going to be available for. [01:16:44] Speaker D: I was about to say, don't forget that's week two now, so that comes sooner than later. [01:16:49] Speaker C: I know. [01:16:49] Speaker A: You're going to have to get used to it. [01:16:51] Speaker B: Again, my sister has never been to a race, and I guess I knew that, but I didn't realize it until she said something last year and I. [01:16:58] Speaker C: Was like, damn, I got to get you to a race. [01:17:01] Speaker B: And so I bought her ticket, me and her tickets to Atlanta for. [01:17:05] Speaker E: So that's awesome. [01:17:06] Speaker A: Very nice. [01:17:06] Speaker B: Good for you there to freeze our ass off like we were last year. [01:17:09] Speaker D: Let's go. [01:17:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:17:12] Speaker A: Nothing like cold hotlanta. [01:17:13] Speaker D: I know, right? [01:17:15] Speaker A: Nothing like it. [01:17:17] Speaker B: Heck yeah. Well, Brandon, thank you a ton. I know we've told you that, but thanks for coming on. And obviously we've said it, but Brandon's going to be on here a bunch this year, so go follow RFK for. [01:17:26] Speaker A: All the best tweets, Instagram posts, TikToks you'll ever see in your entire life. [01:17:30] Speaker C: It's a lot of fun. [01:17:32] Speaker A: Brandon, what's your handles on everything? If you want anybody following you. [01:17:35] Speaker D: Oh, man, you put me on the spot. So since I have such a common name, I have to put so many underscores on my stuff on Twitter or X, whatever we're calling it nowadays. I believe it's at underscore b, underscore Lee. Underscore. So there's more underscores and letters, Instagram. I'm Br Lee, and then I think three underscores. So, yeah, if you just search the name, it should pop up. Should be fine there and then. Yeah, on RFK, it's pretty standard, RFK racing across the board. So we'll take all the support we can get. [01:18:09] Speaker C: Heck yeah. [01:18:10] Speaker A: Well, we'll get all, like 17 of the people that even know this podcast exists to send it on over to you, give you a good follow. [01:18:17] Speaker D: Heck yeah. [01:18:17] Speaker A: It'll be a good time. And don't forget, we got at raised rowdy racing on Instagram, TikTok, and then at RZD rowdy racing on Twitter. [01:18:29] Speaker C: My handle is at Caleb Conrouty. [01:18:31] Speaker B: Mine is Dawson. [01:18:32] Speaker C: Average music across the board. You can find me anywhere. Heck yeah. [01:18:37] Speaker A: Well, thanks again, Brandon, for coming out and joining us, and we'll see you on the next one as soon as we can. But for everybody else, we appreciate you all listening. Let's get a good 2024 season started off here strong. Appreciate you all listening, and we will come back at you all here real soon after the 500. [01:18:54] Speaker D: You got it, boys. Thank you. [01:18:55] Speaker A: See it, got it. [01:19:01] Speaker E: I don't drive a Monte Carlo and my truck ain't painted black it ain't got a big white number three turning left around a track but you can hear me coming from a mile and a half away these good years can't handle dirt don't need no curves with banks what I like in horses I make up with four by four I'm in and out of track until I make it to your door checkers record my foot hammered on the gas I'm making my way to you girl earn hard bathroom.