4th and Wrecked
Podcast for the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints, and everything about my announcing career
4th and Wrecked
Off Week (ft. Noah Longyear)
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Off week with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints is never a good thing. However, finding another dirt race to go to is even better.
I was up at Limaland this past Friday working alongside Noah for Super Sprint production, and just knew he needed a spot on 4th and Wrecked.
So here we are the Podcast with Noah and I. Tune in to hear us talk about Limaland, including some of Noah's background in racing!
From the fast lane to the thick lane. We got you covered for all things racing. Wherever laugh is a chance to make history. With some of the talents you may know, and some trying to make a name. This is Forth and Ract. And I'm your host, Matthew Rieger. Hello, everybody. My name is Matthew Rieger. We got another episode of Fourth and Right coming at you. We got a special guest on the podcast. He's never been on the podcast before, and I think we might have mentioned him once or twice on a previous podcast. But now he's joining us here live. Welcome to podcast. Noah Long Year.
SPEAKER_00Hey, what's going on? Happy to be on the podcast.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Happy to have you on. It's uh I'd say it's off week, but it's not. Uh, the only reason why I say it's a not because we rained out, so it turned into off week, but it wasn't. I got mixed feelings about it. I'll tell you that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. Okay, okay. Yeah, well, it wasn't an off week for me. You know, we had uh Lima land on Friday for the Ron Calla Memorial. That was six grand to win, and Lawrenceburg on Saturday, which was awesome. So I hope you had fun. You came up on Friday and hung out with me at Lima Land. That was awesome.
SPEAKER_02I will say it is it was awesome. Uh it was awesome seeing how much you do. Uh, we'll get into that later in the pod, but it was awesome being there at Lima Lin. That was the first time I ever been up in that air-conditioned booth. And I'm not gonna lie, it got to the point it was so cold there. My arm or my arm was freezing. Never yeah, it's like what 85 degrees. My arm is freezing up in the top of the the tower there. But it was no, it was cool, kind of cool to see uh everything going on. And what really helped was that it was like five minutes down the road. I left at what 1146. I pulled in my driveway at like 11.53. So right before midnight. Not even too bad.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we we were trying to coax you to come out to frickers with us.
SPEAKER_02Well, I I didn't hit the uh what the parlay. I couldn't go to frickers.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna leave with that for this episode. Uh you you have to gamble if you want to go out to eat with us. I got no, I got take controller. Matthew looks over at us. We're not even in the hot laps yet. And he goes, So who do you guys think's gonna win? And now typically, me and our videographer for Great Lakes Press.tv, Cody Geyer, we pick as we're pushing out for the feature. So it kind of caught me off guard. And we start talking, oh, maybe this guy, maybe that guy, Matthew goes, So what do we want to put in? 10, 20 bucks? I was like, oh my god. What? So we all did. We all put in like 10 or 20 bucks uh for for this best, and um yeah, I didn't win, neither did Matthew. So I guess he uh he couldn't go to out to eat with us. He didn't hit the parlay because we continue to change throughout the night. Um, because you picked, I think, Darren Nyda and Tim Schaefer go wrecking in the one during the eat race. So you're going, no, hold on. Let me take this guy for an added five dollars. And I was just amazed at your commitment to trying to win some money on the box.
SPEAKER_02Oh my word. No, I'll be honest. Uh, that was actually day one of me starting to save money for uh me and my brother are going to Martinsville Speedway for the entire weekend for the Cup Series Xfinity and O'Reilly series. So I'm a starting to save money, so I was kind of hoping to get a little bit more for the race there. But unfortunately, I ended up losing five bucks.
SPEAKER_01No, it did not work out good for you.
SPEAKER_02But what kind of was funny a lot more was that my sec my first pick actually did better than my second pick, and my first pick wrecked in the heat race. Well, I don't get it. How good Darren Nita is. You know what the funny thing is, Darren Nyta actually is a uh winner with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. I know that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, really?
SPEAKER_02I know that. That's uh that's kind of why I knew him. You know, when he came to the track, everybody was talking about the uh Great Lakes Sprints uh group chat. They're like, oh yeah, everybody uh Darren Nyta's coming to Lima Land. I was like, wait a second, where do I know that name from? Yeah, he's on the uh Great Lakes all-time win list. The uh lightning sprints. Let me look it up. I think he's got one. I got it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_00It was cool because he wasn't one of the only uh you know, 410 guys. I mentioned Tim Schaefer, him and him reps, but yeah, Tim Schaefer, the Steel City Outlaw, threw a 360 in. Of course, Nate Dussell won. He put the 360 in. Uh, there were a couple of cars that I hadn't even seen this year that came out to line the land. It was a really good show.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and let me tell you what, Nate Dussell. Oh my word. Well, I remember when we were talking up to the guys, we're like, man, we had to take this car. This uh he blew the doors off the entire, he blew the wings off everybody uh in the field.
SPEAKER_00I thought that was he was fast, and uh, you know, Van Gurley Jr. was second, and he he tried to stay with them, but all Van needed was one more night to get that car set up because he turned around into Lawrenceburg and was able to take the lead there and lead by almost a full straightaway, if not a little more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. I mean, once uh Dussell started hitting lap traffic, I thought like uh Mike Ketzer could no, he it just kept going and going, going. But I will tell you, driver of the week, though, I think you're gonna agree with me here. Dustin Daggett. That Lima.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, we were Lima Land. I don't normally have the suite up there to myself with a broadcast. Typically, there are some uh Lima land locals who have a certain relationship to where they can get up and get in the suite. Sometimes it's a family with their child, and so they'll come up there and sit with me. And that booth was getting around he watching Dustin Daggett go from I mean, what was it, like 14th to 4th or something crazy?
SPEAKER_02I think it was like 16th to 15th.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, 16th to 5th, because I think Darren Ida went uh 15th to 2nd and got him the hard charger. But yeah, he was the only driver putting it up in the fluff, and it looked like he had a stuck throttle the way he was driving that car. He might have been, he might have never lifted, and he he flew past everybody because everybody was on the bottom, if they weren't comfortable, on the cushion where you know Dussell was running, and then you had Dustin Gaggett up in the fluff, ripping. That was a really good show.
SPEAKER_02Now, I I know you're probably not a huge NASCAR fan, uh, but I am. Do you remember 2020 Martinsville when Chastain drove it off the fence?
SPEAKER_00I mean, you can't say, oh, I don't know if you're a big fan, then bring up one of the most notable moments in NASCAR history, of course. Well, Chastain wall ride the heel millennium.
SPEAKER_02That's exactly without him brushing up against the wall, that's exactly what it looked like. It looked like he was going so much faster than anybody else. You know what I'm saying? It was it was unreal.
SPEAKER_00The speed difference, yes, that's a really good comparison.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. Like he'd be like ripping the top and just go around like two or three people. Now I wish he had that speed in um no, I think he did have that speed in the B-main trying to fight Kelsey, but that was Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, he uh I think something broke on the 85 in his heat race. You didn't oh yeah, so a red cap, it was Tim Schaefer and Darren Knight a Rekee. He goes to avoid in his right front, grabs the outside wall in the turn one, and you know, the officing's gonna break that right front axle or maybe the suspension. Yeah, he has to start towards the back, maybe the very back of the B-main, and drive his way into a transfer spot, and that's what he did.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. That's why I'm saying driver of the week is probably Dustin Daggett. I mean, yeah, I I mean, I feel like we don't give him enough credit for how well. I mean, Darren, like I said, went from 17th to fourth, but like with Dustin up in the fluff, and didn't uh Chase Dunham do that a couple years ago? No, that was Nichols that did it, right?
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm not sure about Nichols, but Chase Dunham was doing it last year before him and uh Casey Jedzek made contact and ended Chase's night, but he was up there in the fluff last year, and so I wouldn't be surprised if Nichols was doing the same thing in his race.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, I I think uh Zach was mentioning it that uh that was something that was Chase was doing, but I thought it was like interesting to see, and especially uh was it WD's first uh first sprint car race?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so uh Winston Deal, you might know him as WD Broadcast Network. He he's a friend. Uh we've been working together a little bit on some other things involving the 500 sprint car tour, but he came down all the way from Laganier, Indiana for his very first dirt strip car race, and he loved it.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I would have loved it. If that was my first sprint car race and I was watching Daggett do that, I would have been like, okay, when when's the next time they come in here to Lime Lan? You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Seriously. It's really great. Really great. Well, as we take the pause here just a second, I just want to take some of the time to thank some of my sponsors. If you're looking to get in the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints and you need a fast car, look no further than JWR Speed Shop. JWR Speed Shop is back on the boards in 2026 and wants to help you to get racing with us. If you want a car, contact the six-time champion Justin Ward at 231-383-0947. Justin's a man to talk to for everything Lightning Sprints and everything JWR Speed Shop. And if you go to talk to Justin and let him know that the good folks over there at Fourth and Rect led you over to JWR Speed Shop, then Justin's willing to give you a free t-shirt. This is confirmed. Free t-shirt if you want to go get a car from Justin. No, but seriously, like the the that was that was great. It was a great night. And definitely I would have gone to Frickers with you. For sure. Would have.
SPEAKER_00Only if the parlay hit.
SPEAKER_02Only if the parlay hit, yeah, for sure. So no man. No, I do want to go to talk into little, delve into a little bit more about what you do. Uh, I know I talked with Aaron this entire season, uh, and he said you do announcing for the traditional sprints. Do you you you enjoy announcing? And what got you into announcing in the first place?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, we didn't do it like an official introduction when we started this deal. We got right into Lime Land and talking, having a good time. So, yeah, my name's Noah Longyear. I've been working with the Great Lakes Sprints. This is my second year. And um basically, I got into announcing in general. Um, I want to say back, maybe it was junior year, senior year of high school, I was uh doing competitive speech and um later on did collegian debate, but uh I was doing competitive speech, extemporaneous public speaking, prepared public speaking, um, demonstration stuff like that. And I felt like I needed to learn how to talk better on the fly. Well, I've always been obsessed with one mask car, but B, I was really um involved uh in esports when I was a kid. You know, I was raised on a farm and uh did a lot of cowboy stuff, and so you might not think that of me, but uh when I'd get to go on breaks from school, you know, spring break, summer semi-break, fall break, and go to my grandparents and would play on my computer and play a game called Counter Strike. And so I used to do this thing where if my teammates were in a clutch, you know, some of my friends, I'd hold down my push to talk key in game and pretend I'm calling what they're doing like it's a professional match. And when I was about a, I think a junior or senior year of high school, uh, we had an esports club. Well, just kind of like any other sport in the school, you have a home team and you have an away team, the home team typically has to, in some form or fashion, produce a live video, uh, a live stream of the game. And so you had to do that for esports. And so I asked, can I do the commentating? And they were like, Yeah. So I would commentate uh a game that I didn't even know or never played at the time. So you can imagine that, Matthew. Remember your first day ever commentating a race? Yeah. It was called League of Legends. And I'm having a call that's doing some of the players said, Hey, just focus on this and on this and say this, and you'll be good. And I did that for their quote unquote home games, and I loved it. And so by the time I had graduated uh high school, um I was started calling iRacing races, and that kind of put me on the trajectory of I want to get into motorsports broadcasting. I did commentate livestock shows and rodeos and was broadcasting those from like uh maybe like 2023 to 2020, yeah, 2023 actually was that year. And there was no lateral jump from broadcasting rodeos and livestock shows to motorsports. They're just not one doesn't really recognize the other in terms of what you're doing. And uh I would say, even right now, having somebody commentate livestock shows is very primitive to the overall comparison of like racing. You're always gonna have somebody commentating a race. Sometimes you watch a livestock show broadcast, and unless it's a big show, there's no audio. And so I said, I gotta make a jump, I gotta get in the motorsports. Well, I'm fortunate enough to live 30 minutes away from Eldora's feedway. I tell everybody I live just down the road, but it's uh, you know, it's in the backcountry of Ohio. So I turned my car four times to get to the racetrack in a 30-minute drive. And and I was like, all right, well, how about I go apply Eldora? And how hard would that be? And um I go to their website and you can go to the broadcasting tab, and I said, Okay, I put in an application. Um, again, I have the only thing I have on my application is like here's public speaking uh experiences through organizations. And I have the one semester of college I did, I did collegiate debate, and I have a championship in that, and and then I have the livestock stuff, and they were like, you know, Jonathan Bateman called me back, and he goes, It really he took a shot on me, is what he did. You know, there is absolute if they needed somebody to do victory lane interviews, they couldn't have anybody else that they knew of, they could have called, but he took a shot on me. So I'll always be grateful to Eldor Speedway and Jonathan Bateman, all the guys there. And about a week and a half later, my very first event that I worked was the rain out redo of a 2024 or 2023, now the 2024 Dirt Track World Championship. And by the way, some people don't know this. Um, that was my very first time at a dirt track. Was doing victory lane interviews for that event. It gets worse, Matthew. That was my very first time ever seeing dirt racing for more than maybe a video on YouTube. I didn't watch it avidly at all. It was and and I don't know, you're like, didn't you call iRacing races? That was around, you know, four or five months prior, and it was strictly like NASCAR racing. I didn't even touch the dirt stuff on iRacing at this time. It was my very first time ever seeing a superstar. I kind of knew what a modified was, maybe. And it was my second ever time at a racetrack. My first time was going to a NASCAR race when I turned 18 for the Chicago street course. So, so now you gotta get a better idea of how much I am as a fish out of water at this event. But I don't know if it's that naiveness or the lack of experience. But I I went head first, dove in with my personality and just eager to learn. And that's what I did. So by the time I finished the events that I worked doing hint reporting and victim interviews for outdoor speedway, uh, the sprint car series showed up for the very last event that I worked, Family Fireworks Night called the Great Lakes Super Sprints. And I said something inside me just told me, apply, figure out how to get a job with them. I we the USAT V2 midgets were there. We had other events there, right? But for some reason, I it was just screaming at me. Great Lakes Super Sprints, you've gotta figure out what you can do there. I had all this experience of broadcasting iRacing for about a year at that point, um, you know, setting up productions and calling stuff from a livestock show side. I said, why can't I do this? And so I just like what I did with Eldora, I went to the website, found a phone number, called, called Barry Marlowe, and left him a voicemail. And he called me back when I was at a stock show uh down in Louisville, and he I kind of pitched myself. I didn't really know what I was pitching myself for. I kind of just said, hey, this is what I've done. This is what I want to do. I said, my dream is to call a Daytona 500, which is my goals to get to the booth on Sunday for a NASCAR. And whatever I can do for you guys, I'd love to continue to climb that ladder. And just like with Eldora, um, you know, I had a conversation with Zach while I was working at the feed mill, and he hired me while I was sitting there on the feed mill, and I started freaking out, jumping up and down. And my um my uh boss, he's German Baptist, so he only has a flip phone. He don't play no games. He thought I was playing on my phone. He yelled at me. I said, No, man, I just got a job, I think. And so um they uh they had me out and we talked, and and basically the deal was to kind of get to the end of this. What I do for Great Lake Sprints is I produce GreatLakesprints.tv, the live broadcast production for the Great Lake Super Sprints. And in turn, my bargaining chip was well, I gotta try to have some on-the-mic time. So on dates where the two series don't conflict, I call the non-wing series the Great Lake Traditional Sprints. So sometimes I'll do about five races a year with them. I think is gonna be what it turns out for this year. I already got the one in the books, I think. So yeah, that's what it is. And now going into 2026, I'm doing uh almost all the social media, a bunch of the marketing, making ads. And Zach has really brought me on to Horsepower Happenings. If you guys watch Horsepower Happenings live show on Monday nights, I'm producing maps. I'm making all the clips that you might see pop up on your page, like when we had Arlene Cooper Jr. on, which was an awesome episode. So I'm doing all of that. So if any of you drivers or uh other people in the industry end up on HPH Live, I'll see you there on Monday nights. And of course, we have the 500 Sprint Cast for the 500 Sprint Car Tour on Wednesday nights. So um, I I would say that I'm getting my end of the deal and then some. So I'm very blessed to be able to work with you know, but the number one 360 touring series in the country. We've been able to do so much. We're now officially part of the Four Crown Nationals. You know, this this is a great sprint car series and just a great motorsports entity to work for.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Dude, that's awesome. Like I I never would have thought that. And you definitely said you grew up on a farm. Yeah, never would have guessed that. Nope. Far from it. You know, um, but seriously, that's you you never know what people's stories are. Um, but I'm very much along the same lines with you. Uh I've been told I got a voice for radio. Uh so I'm trying to make it for on the motor race.
SPEAKER_00My dad told me I have a face for radio.
SPEAKER_02I've heard that before too. Uh by a couple other people, yeah. I mean, first time I ever heard that, I like I was like, oh, thanks. And then I like realized it like a little bit later.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, dang it. No, but uh my like I've told been told, I got a voice for radio and I wanted to work for the motor racing network or the performance racing network. Uh, that was one of my goals growing up. So, I mean, yeah, and you never know what people, what area of life you come from. And Eldora for your first victory lane, how how difficult was that?
SPEAKER_00Well, and and I mentioned it earlier, you know, being being naive to the dirt racing world and to Eldor Stevie. You're like, no, you live 30 minutes away, you never went to a race. That that was just never something that ever was like I knew I could do or had the opportunity to, or somebody trying to get me to go. You know, I'm my grandpa loved racing. Um, back when every short or back when every small town had a short track. You know, he was racing old school stock cars of you know the 60s and 70s. And he was kind of the only person in my entire family that loved racing. Racing. And you know, he passed away the year that I got to work for Eldora. And so it's always just kind of ever been me involved in racing and my family. So, you know, going into my first day at Eldora Speedway, you walk in, you go, wow, this place is massive. But also, Eldora Speedway is the number one dirt track in the world. And so it's going to have all the amenities. Everything's going to be up to date. Everything is going to work. And something that I had to learn my first year with Great Lake Super Sprints doing this production where you know we don't have a production hauler. Everything's in my car. You've seen my car, see how low it sits to the ground, and everything that's in the truck. I was going from a place where you're very catered to and what you needed. So, you know, you show up to a racetrack and they don't even have a spot to put a camera guy. You know, I'm throwing Cody up in the grandstand and running wires down from him, right? So I've been able to that that's been the challenge is learning how to work in environments after Eldora because you are so pampered and catered for the update and everything because they are the number one dirt track in the world. So, you know, the the hardest thing with Eldora and doing interviews on the spot, I have an issue with remembering names um when it's like the first day or like the second day working with drivers. You know, um, I can very well remember. Um, there's a modified driver uh out of Ohio, his name's uh Drew Charleston. And I go to say, winner here at Eldora and the you know, the modified division, give it up for a Drew, sure, uh, you know, so like little things like that. Now with you know, GLSS, GLTS, I'm learning names, I'm learning numbers, I'm memorizing cars. So it's getting easier, but the those are the biggest challenges uh from working at Eldora.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. Wow. I mean, I will say it is uh I I've never been to Eldora. I live like an hour and 15 minutes away. And I I hear it a lot of times like, yo, you've never been to Eldora, you've been in Ohio since 2020. I was like, Yeah, I didn't like dirt racing until 23 until I started announcing for it, you know. I was more on the pavement side than I was on the dirt side. But now I realize here in Ohio and Michigan that the what the pavements to get there and the dirt's to what you drive on.
SPEAKER_00That's what uh they say. And and also in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, uh, and even most of the Midwest, we have more dirt racing than pavement racing. And that's just how it is, at least in my opinion. You know, I don't have a pavement track near me at all to have that option. My closest pavement track um that I can think of is uh drive to Toledo. I mean, I'm not gonna go work Indianapolis motor speedway, but my closest short track, you know, would be Toledo, you know, or go up to Angola, New Paris. So dirt is the only avenue that I had to start out with. And I'm very, very happy about it. I'll have an ego about dirt racing too. I'll make some comments and you know, and have my own preference of what I like in racing, but there's still so much more to learn. I'm always talking to my strength car guys, just trying to learn so I can call races more efficiently. But dirt racing is pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. And you remember you told me uh you went from going to Eldora to then working with uh you get you know, get you gotta bring everything, you gotta find places to put Cody. Well, that's kind of how it was back in 2022. Before I started announcing, uh, I used to work for Ventrini Motorsports. Uh, worked for two races. Uh got to well, like we'd pull the car off the holler and we'd get jump in line for tech. You know? Uh they unfortunately let me go. That's uh besides the point. But I went to a lower team where we pulled the car off the holler and it's a like half put together, you know what I'm saying? So that's I feel like I kind of know and understand where you're coming from, you know what I'm saying? Having to put in that extra work and effort, but it teaches you that like to be grateful, you know what I'm saying, for all the things and especially working with the great like s uh sprint series, you know, it's been great. It's been a it's been a blessing for the past uh couple of years, and especially with the working with the lightning sprints, and we've talked about it like the relationship that we have with our drivers. Like I always wanted to work for NASCAR when I grew up, but then I was like, if I work for NASCAR, I can't be friends with the drivers. So let me announce what the drive let me announce for them, then I can be friends with them. And now look, basically, everybody in my series, like go from Justin to Arlie to Chad down to Dalton, uh, even some of the new guys like Kevin, Chad Listerman, um, Al Stanton, like all those guys, like we're we're friends outside of racing, you know what I'm saying? So it's it's more of like the opportunities and the experiences that you get. It's it's so amazing, you know.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. And I mean, you know, there's that thing about, you know, I always wanted to be in the booth. Well, I got to do uh pit report and victory late interviews for the Bob Federal Memorial at Alasso this year, and uh that's an outlaw late model race, and I didn't realize how much I really enjoy doing pit reporting there. Um, and not that I didn't get the same ability at Eldora, but pavement racing, you know, the guys pull into pits, they start working on the cars, or they retire. You're pulling into the infield, and they'll throw it down to me, and I get to interview drivers, and then I talk to them when I'm not interviewing them. And there's just something about being with the drivers or being in the pits, like at Eldora, where um you it's just a different vibe than being up in the tower. And yeah, you go down to the pits before the race, and then after the race, when you're announcing, you need to be if you're not, but uh being down there the entire time in the pits, knowing what's going on, it's really neat. So if I went less of a direction being in the booth and more pet recording, even if I don't think I'm good enough for it compared to others, I wouldn't mind it because you do get to learn a lot in these situations and grassroots racing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. For sure. It's crazy. Like I said, where we uh the different uh areas that we come from and where we go to, for sure. Right. Have you ever had an automotive question, but you don't know anyone to ask? Well, you've come to the right place. ARS Automotive joins Fourth and Rect in 2026 to help you get to the track. Just give Arlie Cooper Jr. a call at 231-357-2835, and he'd be happy to help you out. And also, if you're looking to schedule an appointment with Arlie and you do give him a call, let him know the good folks over there at Fourth and Rect sent you, and you can get $25 off any service. Actually, might be just uh an oil change, but we'll we'll we'll figure out if I get yelled at or not. So $25 off service if you mention uh Fourth and Rect when you go to schedule an appointment with ARS Automotive. But no, like I said, it it's crazy the different avenues that people come from and you know where we get to and what our all of our dreams are, you know, because like you you know, you're a little kid and you're like, okay, what do I want to do? I want to be a firefighter, and then you grow up and you're like, I want to work for NASCAR, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Seriously, dude. I I it's great. I I like I said, I enjoy working with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. It's been a great couple years, and you know, I'm very happy and very blessed uh to be where I'm at right now. And like I said, a lot of the drivers, like I'm I'm super friends with all these drivers. Like, I I I couldn't ask for anything more, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's been one of my favorite parts about working for the series that I didn't really expect to, I don't know, experience or were to happen, but I'm starting to have genuine friendships and good relationships with these drivers. And, you know, sometimes you really do see it, I might be the person that a certain driver wants to gripe and complain to about something versus another official, right? And it's like, oh, they trust me, or they know they can and come and talk to me about how the race went or about how something happened, and then you know, being able to work on the horsepower happenings, I get an availability to kind of talk to Max Fanball and I'll ask him questions. And I know that I can ask him about sprint cars if I need it. You know, when I'll show up to the track and I see, you know, Mike Keegan or or Keith Shefford Jr., Mason Hannigan, I know that I could give him a dab them up and say what's going on and have a good conversation with them. And so I think as I continue to work in the series and do more and shake more hands, you know, it is really cool to get to know these drivers on a personal basis because, you know, I could be up in the crowd and and have a personal connection with a driver out there, and the person next to me almost only ever seen them as a you know Michigan famous sprint car driver. And it's like, hey, I know that guy, you know, it's I got his t-shirt, you know, I got his number. Right. So it's uh so it is that's well one of the cool parts about this series. Uh I don't think many people talk about when they're in that uh situation, but being able to just learn and talk to the drivers and kind of it's a straight from the source kind of thing, yeah. It's really neat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I will tell you, um, I've been starting to become friends with a couple of Super Sprint guys, uh, Max Stambaugh and uh Jared Horsman. Me and Jared actually go to the same church. Um, we have like conversations like regularly, you know, like before church and then after church, you know. It's kind of cool um just to have a conversation with Jared. And like every time I saw him uh at Lima Lynn, I got a selfie with him, you know, because I needed it. No, I'm just kidding. Um, but no, like I it's like wow, I blanked. I blanked, but we're still good. All right, your turn. We're good.
SPEAKER_01Sorry.
SPEAKER_02No, I I was just saying that like it's cool just to see these drivers because like can you imagine like growing up and then you're like, oh, I'm a huge Kevin Harvey fan, right? And then like, what if you had like a personal relationship with Kevin Harvey? You know what I'm saying? Like as a little kid, like there's a lot of kids that like look up to these guys, you know, like, oh, I'm a huge Jared Horseman fan, and like meeting them for the first time would be like starstruck, you know what I'm saying? I uh I'm a huge announcer uh huge MRN and um PRN fan, and I got Jeff Streel's phone number, and the first time I had a conversation with him, I couldn't like find the words to talk, you know, because we would always drive around in like Wyoming, across country, my family, and I would listen to just like Jeff and all the guys in the MRN crew just talk, and being able to talk to him like over the phone was like it was starstruck for me, you know what I'm saying?
unknownMan.
SPEAKER_02No, but seriously, being an ouncer is a different level of excitement, you know.
SPEAKER_00It's crazy. I don't know what next year looks like, but working with Horsepower Happenings and doing the podcast, now I'm starting to create friendships and recognizing and talking to pavement guys, whether it's late models or pavement sprint cars, you know. I I have that avenue that I can go down with asking guys questions and learning and having a friendship, you know. So uh that is pretty neat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. And like I said, you know, being in the sport, you never know who you'll meet.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02You never know. Who's the most famous person you ever met?
SPEAKER_00I don't even know if I can answer. I really honestly I I don't know. Because there's meets and then there's like you're at like a NASCAR event and you get to run into a guy. But uh, I guess uh I don't know how much time do we have left? Can I tell my Chicago street race story? I guess.
SPEAKER_02I mean you you can. I'm all plugged in and charge for everything. You're good. You're good.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Um, so the most famous people that I've met were all within about a 10-15 minute window. Um, so the first year that NASCAR races on the streets of Chicago, that's my by the very first race of anything I've ever gone to. You know, I never could get a parent or a family member to take me to a race of any sorts. It's just not something that my dad wanted to do. So I turn 18, I get a little bit of money, and the first thing I do is I go to a NASCAR race. What's the closest NASCAR race that fits my schedule? Happens to be the Chicago Street Course race. So I go there and I'm like, you know what? I want to get to the track as early as possible. I show up at right around 8 a.m. outside the track, and it's it's in the streets, so it's not like you're walking into a gated facility. And if you guys kind of follow NASCAR uh back then, this is 2020. 2024? What was the first street race? 2323?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_0023. And so uh if you guys were following along, then you know there were a lot of security issues with that event. Uh, I guess in the middle of the night on like Saturday night, um, some Chicago locals moved one of the cinder block entryways into the track and were driving around and their Dodge Drudgers and Nissan Ultimas racing around the course. Um how bad they were at security. Yes, if you'll look it up, that's proven. NASCAR officials on Chicago PD. And so I get there at eight o'clock. General admission gates don't open until 10 a.m. I got there before security. The people that are there are NASCAR crew members and stuff. Well, I'm walking in through the main gate that's not manned, and here comes a dude on a bicycle, and it's none other than the kid that I grew up washing since I was in middle school, his very first truck ride at KBM, Noah Gregson. And he's going out on a bicycle ride. So I got a selfie with Noah Grayson. We had a nice conversation, that was awesome. And so I was like, hey, you got a Sharpie? I don't have a Sharpie. So you get this autograph because I don't have one. I said, All right, all good. Um, because I the day before I went to a popular pizza place there in Chicago and I got this pizza box. And I ate the pizza that night and thought, you know, it'd be cool. It's Chicago themes. I'm gonna get autographs on this pizza box. So I didn't get Noah's. Well, I walked into the shreck and it's the last corner. So you get to the front straightaway, is where it's open for teams to bust their stuff in to the makeshift setup garage area. And lo and behold, I think it's what the NBC SN at the time was doing, was just finishing up a little promo segment of like Dale Jr. and Jeff Burton driving around the track in the pace cars. And so they're all done, and there's a group of them, and there's Richard Schilderus, Rick Allen, Dale Jr., uh uh the Burtons, you know, MBCSN people and that kind of thing. Austin Dillon, Ryan Vargas, like there's just a whole group of who there. And so I'm just standing there and they're all wearing polos and suits, and I'm on the sidewalk in a Kyle Bush cutoff t-shirt, backpack, cowboy hat, blue jeans, pizza box. And uh I had found a Sharpie on the way in because the NASCAR XVI series official hauler was right before. And I walked up and asked if they had a Sharpie, and they gave me one. So now I got a Sharpie, and I was waiting for people to walk to the sidewalk. And the first person to walk over was Richard Shieldress. And so I and people aren't gonna believe this, but it's true. Swear. All right, right hand on the Bible. This happened. Richard Childress walks up to the sidewalk. I told him, Richard Childress, can I do an autograph, please, on my pizza box? Guys, it's like 8 15 in the morning. Richard Richard goes, sure, it's gonna cost you. He takes the tab of the pizza box and opens it. And he goes, Where's the pizza? And I said, Well, I ate it all last night. And he goes, All right, so he signs it. I just want people to realize Richard Childress met a random fan that he knows shouldn't be there, that snuck in and was going to slam a random piece of pizza at 8 15 in the morning. I just think that's the coolest thing ever. So shout out Richard Childress. Dude, that's a picture.
SPEAKER_02Awesome. Do you have the pizza box?
SPEAKER_00Uh yes, the pizza box is in my room. Um, the autographs I got on it were, of course, Richard Shildress, Austin Dillon, Ryan Vargas, and then Rick Allen. And this is neat. Of course, you know Rick Allen. Oh, for sure, yeah. And he steps over and I talked to him, and I told him in my college and careers class in high school, I had to do a project about him for career day or whatever, because you couldn't do an athlete, but I would have done NASCAR driver. So you had to pick a career that you could do that wasn't a sport. So I said, Well, I'll be a sports palbertine. And I showed Rick Allen the project that I'd done for him, and he loved it. And we take a picture and we talk, and he goes, and I don't know if I regrett it or not. I think I made the right decision. You know, Rick's a little goofy guy. He goes, Well, you know, Dale Dale Jr.'s over there. You want to go meet Dale Jr.? And it's just him and a group of all these people, you know, Dale Jr.'s a main character guy. So he has all these people around him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And I looked at him and I said, I don't know, he seems pretty busy. And Rick Gallon goes, Oh, yeah, you're right. See, I was like, okay. So we didn't even meet Dale Jr., which is fine. I don't need to. But they were busy. And I got an autograph of Ward Burton. And the way Ward talked to me, it might have been the first autograph he signed in a decade. Because I go, Mr. Burton, can I have your autograph? And he just kind of looks at me and goes, Oh, okay. And then he signs it and thank you, Ward. And you say thank you. But yeah, that was uh a pretty awesome event. So the most famous people I met were in that chat. Dude, that's awesome. Those 15 minutes or so I spent uh sneaking into the Chicago Street course.
SPEAKER_02Now, here's the thing: you gotta send me a picture of that pizza box, and I'll post it to my page and then see if anybody gets it. And if anybody does get it, and everybody's listening right now, I'll put it in a giveaway for 20 bucks. So if anybody gets the wait, what?
SPEAKER_00Parlay, dude. He's doing everything he can to go to flickers with us next week, huh?
SPEAKER_02Uh no. Seriously, I do explain.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and um, yeah, and uh we kind of cap off that weekend. Um, if you post it on Facebook, I'll post the two videos in the comments. But NBCSN had a social media guy going around and he did an interview with me, and I had a cool little moment where I had the pizza box and showed it, and that got posted on NBCSN social media. And then walking out Sunday after the race, I got stopped by a local Chicago news station and did an interview with him, and I have that video as well. So I'll spread those in the comments. But yes, I'll I'll share those. So it was an awesome weekend for me, I think. Top 10 moments in my life, uh getting rained on the entire weekend during the Chicago street course and seeing SVG go one for one.
SPEAKER_02Oh, for sure. Dude, he dominated for sure. Dude, now I gotta now I really want to see that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, also the two after this.
SPEAKER_02Dude, that is so awesome, dude. Uh man. I will tell you that that story is like ten times better than mine. Uh, I worked for Van Alts Motorsports at Daytona uh earlier in 2022 when I worked for Arca, and we had to take the stuff from the garage and bring it off to Pit Road while I was going, and there's so many people because we're getting ready, you know, for the Arca race, so and it's Daytona, right? You know, everybody's there. Uh I was walking, there's a dude in front of me, and I was like, excuse me. Didn't move out of the way, didn't hear me. And I was like, excuse me. Nothing. Still nothing. I'm like, I got this like cart, it's got like two fuel cans on it, so like a bunch of stuff. This was like a back marker team at the time, so like we there there's no really real way to get stuff from pit road or the garage to pit road, like quickly and efficiently. You know what I'm saying? Uh I'm thinking of like this is my third time. I was like, excuse me, can you get out of my way? And then he finally steps to the side, and then you ever just like look back and like you want to see people's face, and like, who is that guy? You know?
SPEAKER_00Well, I know it's driving on the highway and seeing. You had to cut around in the left lane.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of those numbers. Well, I pulled the cart past, finally stepped out of the way, and I look back. You know who it was? It was Joe Gibbs. Not even kidding you.
SPEAKER_01Oh no. Oh no.
SPEAKER_02I'm not even kidding. I dude, my heart dropped. I was like, oh. But with him being a team owner in NASCAR, he understands because there's a lot of people coming through with a lot of equipment that gotta get by. So, you know, he he totally understands. So that was a cool moment that I had. Uh, but my most famous person I ever met was probably uh Jeff Stregel. Uh, like I said, uh we have conversations pretty regularly. So yeah, I know. Racers, are you ready to join Winter Circle in 2026? Start your season strong with no limit carts and parts, your trusted source for everything go-karts and mini wedges. From expert chassis setup services to engine building and dyno tuning, plus a full inventory of complete chassis, parts, and tires. We've got what it takes to put you up front. Don't leave speed on the table. Call No Limit Carts and Parts today at 248-866-9109 and take your program to the next level. No limit carts and parts where winning starts. Have you ever went to the racetrack and saw a paint scheme that you fell in love with? Well, look no further than DCR Graphics. For all your graphic designs, from wraps to banners, stickers, die cast, hats, hoodies, shirts, and even flags. Turn to DCR Graphics. Find DCR Graphics on Facebook or by calling 419-308-9523. No, but that's great, dude. That you're Chicago. I'm I gotta see that pizza box, bro. Please tell me you're home.
SPEAKER_00I will show you the pizza box. I am home. I will send you a picture of this deal.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I'll post it to my page when I post this podcast. But dude, that's awesome. That makes me laugh. No, but you like, oh, do you know Rick Allen? Rick Allen and Dave Moody are like were literally my two favorite announcers growing up. Dave Moody, like the stuff that he talks about, or like the calls that he has is like off the wall. One of his calls from Michigan this weekend, it was like the funniest thing ever. I'm listening to him. And he's like, here it goes by Wallace down and return number one so low. Any lower need the shortcut through the campground. I'm like, there's no way. No way. No, but it was great, dude. It was great.
SPEAKER_00And I'm glad you're uh listening to other announcers is like really good for just like poning any of your crap because you'll never want to like obviously copy somebody else. And uh, I don't know if I should get into a really bad gripe that I have on this because I don't want to make somebody mad. I think I'm gonna dodge it now. Or if you think you got a racetrack, ask me and I'll remember. But there are some things you can pick out from other commentators, you know, there's little little sayings or cadences that can you can use in certain situations because you know it is kind of neat to go back and watch NASCAR races on NASCARClassics.com from like the 70s and the 80s, and how those guys called races and exciting moments. Sometimes you can grab uh a few things that they say that are like, well, like I've never heard it uh be phrased like that, or that's such like an old school way of speaking in a time where you know we don't talk as the same way our grandparents or great-grandparents did, as the blingo and whatnot. So I that's something that I really enjoy doing, just kind of being in the tower and listening to Zach during the productions is like, what is Zach doing in this specific moment? And uh, you know, how did Zach call this? And if you listen to me call races, you might hear me say, you know, green flag is up, green flag is out, we're back underway. I got that from Zach, and I can't help but say it because I've been listening to it for you know 30 weeks and years. So um there's a lot of uh copycat stuff that goes on in our industry, even in uh you know, our region and people we know, but I there's a lot in studying what others do to make yourself better instead of just trying to rip somebody else's um personality, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. Oh, and uh what's it called? You were talking about his uh four wide salute. You said you knew that by heart.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's like three different iterations to it, but it's kind of all one long speech. And so doing all those races with Zach and even the race fans, you know, we'll get uh, you know, I I manage all the social media, so sometimes I'll get videos of people like on TikTok and our DMs, like doing their own impression of the four wine salute. Now, nine times out of ten, these people have been intoxicated, so it's kind of like I don't know if I really want to like share this and repost this or be like, hey, everybody, look at this person, but like it is neat that people have picked on it from just going to sprint car races, and Zach's very good at it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Like his sound and how he does it is as synonymous in you know, Michigan, Ohio sprint car racing as you know, uh Gibson's four-wide call is for the world of outlaws.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, seriously. No, I I just I've been trying to think of my four-wide call, but or my actually, we've only ever once had a four-wide for the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints, and it ended up with two cars DNF DN DNFing. Yeah, really, yeah, two cars right during the four wide salute. So that's the last time that we've ever done it. It was at uh Mount Pleasant. But you've you've been to Mount Pleasant, it's not really a wide track for four wide anyway, so sure. But Noah, yeah, there is uh like some different things that I pick up on. Uh, you remember the video that uh Reva created for me earlier this season? Do you remember the the Noah the the bonus word Noah? That one uh I stole the Noah's Ark formation. That was uh something I stole from Moody. I was like, I didn't know other how to well how else to incorporate Noah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, really? I thought it was really good. I liked it.
SPEAKER_02I know. I uh he said that during uh the 2023 Daytona 500. That was the uh first 500 that I ever been to. So I thought it was really cool. So but yeah, like I said, it's been uh it's been great and uh loved having you on for real.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, thank you. It's such a pleasure to be asked.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Well, like I said, it's off week, so I got nobody else to call. I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00Okay, copy.
SPEAKER_02No, totally playing. But maybe if I had a parlay, you might have for you on the podcast again.
SPEAKER_00Could have could have afforded somebody better if you hit your parlay.
SPEAKER_02No, it's just like no. No, seriously. No, it's been great. Just um getting ready. We got Crystal Motor Speedway coming up uh this Saturday for all you lightning sprint guys. Got Butler on Saturday. What do you guys got? Tri-city tomorrow. Are you going?
SPEAKER_00Yep. Well, gotta produce the broadcast. The Tri-City will be tomorrow, Friday, and then Saturday we roll into Butler. Of course, Lightning Sprints at Crystal and traditional sprints will be at Winston for the first time. So it's gonna be one heck of a weekend. I'm gonna be busy on the social media.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, seriously. So I am gonna be sending over photos if I can. And if uh if I get slack, if I get slacky, just let me know. Just remind me.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Ten four.
SPEAKER_02You can. Or how far is Butler from Crystal? You might as well just drive over and beat me, beat me. Just kidding. Yep. No, but like I said, it's been great having you on. I really appreciate um you taking the time and just um having a good uh almost hour, hour conversation.
SPEAKER_00Good deal. I'm sure uh we'll probably do this again sometime, and maybe my even my own show sometime in the future. We'll see.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Love this, dude.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Have a good one, brother. Thank you, you too. Peace out, everyone.
