HARRISON BURTON

the mankind, right, the Wood Brothers Racing Team. They have been around for centuries. They were racing cars when the Roman Empire was still raising. Might as loven you? Yeah? So we have NASCAR Cup Series driver the number twenty one, I mean could have been a number anyway, number twenty one, Ford Mustang. Welcome to the Cut to a podcast, Harrison Burton. Let's get to it. I got some goat ones. Alright, Um, what three what three places would you love to travel to? Oh,

that's a good question. I love going to the Bahamas, so probably go there be one. Uh, A lot of my families from Poland and I went there when I was a little kid. Was pretty cool. So I've been there pretty neat what what how old were you when you went too? Probably eleven or twelve? Oh that was like two six months, probably two years, two years at max. Yeah, so it's crazy. That's not that long ago, right, it really is, but it is to me. But uh, number three,

number three probably go to Italy. I've never been there. That'd be cool. Check it out. Being a NASCAR driver stick shift or automatic, stick shift all the way. Why, it's just better. It's just well it's not better, it's more fun. It's your store. So so the stick shift the automatic nowadays, like if you buy a sports car, it's gonna be automatic because it's faster than any human could be. Right. Uh, but there's something cool about having a tool in the car that you can have more

control over. Um, so if I was to buy a car that was Are you allowed to buy a car at this young age? I have I bought a car for Yeah, you just bought it to No, I didn't just buy it. I bought it two years ago. That's just bought. They might not they might not sponsor us, So don't say the name that don't sponsor me anymore, So I can't then definitely don't sus right, I wasn't. I wasn't gonna ask um what did they automatic? Yeah? It was they didn't have a manual. They didn't have

a manual. They didn't have So the manufacturer I drove for at the time was Toyota, and they came out with the Super and it didn't have a manual option. So I got the automatic and then now drive for Ford. So I have a big f two fifty I drive around and that doesn't have that's not a stick show. No, no, it's not six shifts. But my race card is I'm gonna get with that. Al right, So go ahead, and you know, be biased. Does it look like I've ever driven a stick shift? Yeah, I'd say so. I feel

like I feel like I could see it. I took my driver's test in with a stick shot. Look at that as a Ford Focus Ford Focus. You like how I dropped that home? That's nice? It was green green Ford Focus. You know, racing green is bad luck, but just trying. I'm just trying to be a legal drive racing. I don't know no idea. There's a about thirty thousand different superstitions, and I've heard them all from the Wood, the Wood family, because they, yeah, exactly, they were from

you know, they started racing in nineteen fifties. So yeah, so the Roman Empire and all that was there, like you said, and uh, hard to change a granite wheel, wasn't it. So the speaking of that, when they used to race, you would just buy the car from the showroom and then go take it to race. So how do you know that? These people, the Woods told me, and it's just that's right, Yeah, I gotta listen to your elders, right, So, um, they you know, they would

buy them and then just go race them. And when they would have to change parts, they had a an old oak tree out in Stewart, Virginia, which is where this all started, where they would hoist the engine out of the car with an oak tree over the limb and pull it out like just crazy stuff like that. Where it is it's literally like changing granite wheels like they It was from you know, stage one where they started it. And uh, now where our sport and motor

sports in general is pretty nuts compared to that. All right, She'll give me one of the superstitious, superstitious that they told you thousand. Yeah, the most recent one was fifty dollar bills is bad luck. And we had a pretty rough start to our rookie season. Was leading the Dayton of five hundred and flipped. Uh. The next week got into a crash. Someone spun in front of me and I hit him. The next week it was Bubble Wallace who spun out and lots of smoke and then I

hit him in the side. Yeah, so not his fault. He obviously didn't want to spend out. I'm actually gonna text Bubble he's he came up to me after he said where are you going? I said, well, apparently into your door? But what else? Right? So, uh yeah, a whole bunch of bad things happened, right, and uh Eddie would one of the Wood brothers. So I'm texting Bubba. I just said, hey, Harrison said you left up his race the other day? What's up with that? That was not what I said, but it was okay, we got

the recorded one. I want to get my phone out. I don't fix this situation. That's why we can edit stuff that's true. Yeah, it's true, dang many So all right, So what's another So so the superstitionous. Yeah, so all this stuff is going bad, and uh, Eddie would just one of the Wood brothers, Eddie Eddie Eddie Tobacco. No, no, I'm just trying to get it. He's he's pretty tall, he's you know, six one, gray hair kind of guy. Right,

he's uh, pretty country guy. Tobacco though, from a guy from Charlotte, but continued, Yes, he's hey, man, you know, I know what's going wrong. Why we've had a bad couple of races. Why is that founded fifty bill in his wallet? And uh so Eddie's the problem. Eddie was the problem. He even said. So, yeah, I'll tell you that. He's texting me, man, what are you doing that fifty? We'll take you. He I don't know what we don't, but I didn't know it. I didn't know his bad luck. So, like,

you know, it's bad luck. He's not have no money. That's really bad luck. Yeah, that's really bad. Yeah. Beggars can't be choosers, right. I ain't never seen a broke brother got good luck. Green peanuts is bad luck. I'm not sure why that one. What peanuts like if you're eating peanuts before the race, you're gonna crash. Man, this this sounds like a lot of excuses. Said how I'd say, California, when you crash and I hit you, that's you're a rookie though. Yeah, so I don't have that many people

I don't like yet, that's right exactly. There's a big yellow stripe on her bumper. It might as well be a target. It's like, hey, kie, you have a yellow stripes, two yellow stripes on your back bumper, which those two yellow obviously? Yeah, so it's I guess the old tradition was, hey, this guy is the beginner, go easy on him now, right, But now it's should they should put a student driver? Yeah? So now that's hey, there's blood in the water because this guy is this first year, so go hit him

out of the way. It's a complete opposite of what the old tradition was. Uh. And now guys when they get to cup are ready, right, It's not like, hey, you're ready, I hope. So yeah, you know, I think I'm gonna get better as time goes for sure, but you know you're ready. You know how to drive a car. It's really small details at that point. So it used to be like I think I'm just guessing. How do you know what he used to be? I think just because my dad raced for so many years, and uh,

I heard stories from him, A generation of racing. Would you would you would? Would you say you are because there's a lot of family members. Yeah, I'd say I'm a second generation racer. So my my granddad, my dad's dad did some racing locally, nothing too much. Uh, and then my dad and my uncle both went the cup and made it a cup. You're talking about my you know, my grandpa did some You never got beyond local to be considered a professional racer. You have to go beyond local?

Is the standard? I don't know. I don't, I don't, It's it's different. I'm always interested in, like the different dynamics, the levels of of sports. You know, you obviously you have the weirdness you need, so hey, you gotta do this, you got, but there's so many other there's so many more deep texture to the detail of what's considered a

true blue racer. Like you know, listening to and this, these are my words, and this is some of what I heard before when he first came on the scene, Joey Logano, he was considered a you know, he was not considered a real racer. He was considered a a money racer or a video game racer William Bryan or or this guy is you know, just not hearing that. We've had Jeff Gordon on here and listening to how he had to open up the phone book and call

his sponsors. Right, what's considered the standard to be considered a racer? Like, so you're saying the second but technically the first guy did a little bit locally that got the second guy, which is your dad, the taste of it, right. He may not have been as successful, but he got he started to taste so and then now you're in it, you know, as your first. And there's certainly the local guys that like when I was coming up through the ranks that I raced with that I'm like, oh my gosh,

this guy is so good. A guy named Bubba Pollard's one that I think of off the off the top of my head. Uh. Race caused super late models. It's a local, short trip. So imagine what you see on Sunday, right, the cup cars a little bit sleeker, a little bit, a little bit lighter, so it is light it's honestly one of the fastest cars I've ever driven. Uh it's like uh so it's got six d fifty horsepower and it weighs under less than three thousand pounds. So it's

he that's that's pretty light. So for as far as as far as the car right now, So it's two hundred more pounds. Ye, So why is that significant? So any weight that you bring with you is more that you have to basically pull when you get on the gas, right per driver? Know, how did they adjust for you, like say, say like after things given? Yeah, So it's actually a big game that gets played. Now. There's a way in every every start of the year at Daytona. Hey,

we're gonna wait the drivers. Why because every car passed away the same walk off music before you weigh in, Like, you know, it's not like us'd be cool though. It's in a it's in a little infield care center where you go after you crash. So do you bear? Do you strip down like the guys in the combine? Yeah? And they because there used to be stories of a lot of non muscle individual it's all separate. It's all separate. Yeah, So you don't exactly exactly. You wouldn't want people. You

guys will flown. You'd be flounders at the if we had the combine. Oh dude, can you imagine, Oh my god, can you imagine some of these dudes. What's crazy? I work out four or five days a week doing what running? Lifting? You're lifting uh, base weights like real weights or like jazzer size weight. Yeah, tell me show me your workout. So a lot of it was was well. So I was at a facility with wait moved forward. So when I was with Toyota, wherever is that wherever you used

to being currently, I'm looking at you. I don't think you're using either one of those weights. Man, I'm just listen this. I'm just having fun with you because you literally, yeah, I mean you're not I'm not a built guy. It's not secret. No, no no, no, I was. I was about to say, you literally just got on the scene. Right as far as what you've been on the scene for a long time. Your second I think third generation racer, right, you know this this game, you know this sport. However,

you just have to master your craft. You you know all the tricks of the trade, but doing the tricks of the trade actually in the trade and doing it at the right time and doing it at the right place. That's how you master your craft. You haven't mastered it, but because you were rased by the the the guy who's mastercrafted. Yeah, what's what's crazy is it's changed so much.

So when my dad was racing, it was, hey, this this driver is super smart at knowing what shocks and springs and all sorts of measurement, whatever you want to say, goes into the car. And now they have engineers that are the smartest people I've ever talked to, that you know, can do it all on the computer, can say, hey, this is what's gonna you know optimal. This is what is optimal for this weekend. We think we're gonna go try it and then you're gonna feel it, and then

you're going to relate to us the information. Well, now the driver, that driver that hey, I know what shock goes in the car, that's sleep Because the engineers are so good that you can't keep up with them. You didn't go to college and learn what they've learned. And so now it's how can I be the best driver I can be? Obviously those guys worked on being better drivers but now it's Hey, we're watching film of every race, I'm watching data on every race I'm working out I'm running.

How does that play for you to be an optimum Yeah, race card, the biggest thing is the more of your heart rate is elevated and the worst your mental capacity is. Right, So for us, it's a lot of decisions. You were saying that as for me to confirm, No, that's that's what people have told me, at least that that I've worked with. What's interesting about what you just said. The people in racing are the smartest people. Yeah, and then I go to football and their legs people are the

smartest people. You go to baseball and there you guys are the smartest people. But yet you know, not anything with you is. But yet it's like, but the other two you want the super Bowl? You know, It's just like it's the game of sports has made it. Who can have as many people that can give them as much information? But the end of the day, you have to do it right. Yes, yeah, absolutely, and and you

know that's that's what makes it awesome. At the end of the day, you can have Tony Stewart who looks how he looked and he kicked everyone's ass like he just did. He was awesome. And you have guys like Jimmy Johnson Carl Edwards that go run marathons, are ripped and they kick everyone's ass. They're not ropped. Carl was, man, do you ever see Carl Edwards? Well, I mean he's probably not you compared to people you seeing, compared to

people I've seen. Okay, I just wanted to make sure we weren't in that room at Carl Edwards said ripped. I'm like, I ain't never seen a rip. Yeah, man, what do you think my heart rate was when you were playing after a different place, or every play, after a big play or not that. So that's why when you said that, if you go back, if you go

back and look at any of my pictures. When I played, I wear my watch on my right hand, so I used to wear a heart rate monitor and you could look and see and I could look at see, and depending on how my heart rate was going, there would be times where I come off the field to let

it get that calm down. Because when I trained, like if I was in off season right now, if I was playing, I would train and he would make sure based on these numbers, we would phase in the intensity of my workout so I would not peek too early. It makes sense. That's why sometimes being a gym rat in an organized scheduled sport, it's not good because you can overtrain, you can you can actually do too much.

So you probably if you're you're saying that thinking about it, you're probably you probably need to, like you're doing m M A or some of that stuff, need to add something else to it to maybe just kind of push or remove something to take it back. Explain to me why the simulating part is such a key key component to racing. Yes, it's certainly newer. Um Like back in the day, they howl, do you one? Okay? Continue? I looked twelve one. I'm gonna need some I d Yeah.

If I were trying to order a beer, it's a long process. They gotta scan it, you know. Yeah. Yeah, because you look like you don't even you look like you have your learner's permit. Yeah, I was racing. I have my learners permit that So I was all right, look how he's just smile. He's like, idiot, I've been doing a lot. I've been doing a lot more things

than you have. It's a good story because my driving instructor, when I was, you know, fifteen or ever get my driver's license, fell asleep when I was driving, like driving him around because he knew I was a driver somehow,

and he's like, oh, you're good. You know how you know how disrespectful this is that you at your driver's permit probably had like you're driving a car like we've had a few NASCAR guys now and it's literally like guys are driving cars in Nascar, like still in pull ups, still still in pull ups, and that's remarkable to me. It's crazy. I started when I was five. When you look like you look like you wore a night pull up to use like seven or eight. That was a

chuckle of Steve. You're absolutely I love cut to It and I love it even more when you that load us and subscribe And you can follow us on social media too, Smithie where where at that's at? Cut to It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At cut to It? Facebook? Cut to It featuring Steve Smith singr. What about online? And you can follow us at cut to It podcast dot com where you can buy merch and you can subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got

all my answers questions. Um, yeah, I got all my questions answered. That's what I'm here for. A brother cut to a podcast dot com. This past weekend was the hottest race we've had all year. And there's a lot of guys that can You can run different stuff to help you stay cool in the race. I ran just a fan in my helmet. You can run a suit that you plug in that runs water through. You can run a fan to your back. So I said, hey,

it's a little weird. As a little weird. It's like when you turn the cool seed on your cars and kind of feels like you beat yourself or something. You know what I mean. It's not good when you're full sweat and you turn that sucker on. It's like yeah yeah, so uh yeah. So this weekend I was pretty hot, Like the HoTT I've been in a long time. Was the temperature I would imagine in the car. It wouldn't

want to imagine, I just want I don't know. I don't know for sure, there's no thermometer something in the old car. Yeah, for sure, in the old car, it would get on the hottest, hottest days you could get two hundred forty on an average day, you get two D inside the car. Okay, yeah, I can see you imagine. Okay, so yeah, there's there's no thermometer, right, but uh, they did put something in and that's what they came up with. Yeah, so it's it's it's super hot. There's no airflow in there.

There's so that's why you know, the helmet fan is a big deal, because it's just any fresh air. You get that air that sits still in the car, and it just gets hotter and hotter and hotter. That's when you start kind of you know, you'll start having that mental fatigue where you can't make good decisions you're just focused on Um I just thought about it. People getting

mentally fatigued. Oh yes, if anybody feigning while driving, not while but after pass out after races you just water obviously not driving, not driving, not that I know of. Have you ever got delirious so kind of like seeing doubles. The worst I got I had when I was younger. I had asthma really bad, and so I'm allergic to dust. And so I was at a road course and their sand on either side of the course and so they get kicked up, and so I had an asthma tack

in the car. So about two to three laps ago it was bad. I had kind of fallen out of the car or deal and then uh finished the race and got out got my tailor. I don't know, I just kept going. Yeah, I don't remember, you know, it was probably I was probably fifteen sixteen, but yeah, it was just you know, a race that got had had gotten really spread out. So I was thankful I wasn't really racing hard with anybody, and I could just kind of pace myself. Uh and uh, I still finished like

third or something, So it's okay. It was only with a few laps ago that it happened. So so stuff like that that will jump up on you. And I think if you're I think if you're prepared physically for that, it affects you less. Let's get into a little funny stuff, right, you're a family history, Yeah, man, what is the dinner table looking like? What things given? With all of that race knowledge. It's funny because we don't really talk racing much. Um me and my dad in particular drew up loving

sports and and he we obviously both love racing. So when I was at the racetracker he was, we would talk about racing a lot of time. We just like to watch basketball or football together. What's just what's what's what's she? What's your dad's team? My dad's. My dad likes the Horntson Duke, so I'm the same way. I like the Hornetson Duke and the Panthers obviously really like the Panthers. Yeah, no, you can't tell. You could not tell. Yeah,

I love it though. Yeah, I had this one since I was like thirteen, so two months ago, up some paper route money, yeah, yeah, throwing off my huffy bike, yeah, the whole deal. So yeah, I always wear it to the stage. So what about things giving on? Like grandpa, cousin, you gotta you got a cousin, brother, everybody's who? First of all, who does not like race? Who is there anybody in a family that does not like racing? My

mom certainly doesn't like that. I do it. I don't think, Okay, that's safety and that's safety mom, right, But she loves she she likes. But there's always there's always one family member, Uncle Leo, like no, I don't think no, like everyone does it? Like well, We've got four people that have done it professionally in our family. My cousin who yep, Jeff Burton, he races right now in Xfinity. Um my uncle Ward, Uncle Ward, Uncle Ward was in cup for

number number years one the Dayton of five hundred. Yeah, he's pretty legit. And then uh, my dad was was in cut for twenty years. And now yep, Jeff, yes, sir, Jeff Burton, and uh and then you and then me yep. So four of us have done it professionally. How many of how many have tried it and not succeeded for various reasons. Uh So, the only one I can think of is my there's two brothers. There's three brothers. There's three brothers. So the two everyone in racing knows of

his Ward and my dad. And then there's a middle brother, Brian. Brian was the man in go karts one more State champ Aint been chips and everybody and go karts. And so when my dad and my uncle tried to go racing to do it as a job, he said, you're dumb, like, what are you guys doing? So he went and he's he's running. Our family comes from a really small town in South Boston, Virginia, and they run a construction business

up there. So he took that over and then my to my my dad and my uncle went racing and it worked out for him. But he was rumored to be better than both of them, which is pretty crazy that he decided. Yeah. So, but he's done awesome with that. Uh. And it's pretty cool because that's kind of some of our family legacy that he's carried on as well. So at the family table, when you all when when your hand and stuff is it only left? Only left? I only left cassing master potables on the left. Yeah, it's

a long way around the table. There's a lot of us, but left only Man, how many people? How many people are your family? Oh gosh, so I've got on my my dad's side, I've got well just big one side, one side because not both sides mingles, no, yeah no, But so like what side do you claim? Oh gosh, that's a heart that's a loaded question. Man. I don't like any no kid, but I dad's side of your mom.

So I'll say if I go from my dad's side, he's got obviously two parents, he's got a step mom, he's got three brothers who have one of them has three kids, one of them has one kid, and then my dad has me and my sister, and then my my dad ward his daughter has two daughters and that's the only grandkids so far. So yeah, something like that. Yeah, I haven't really, I don't know the number off the

top of my head, which I guess is bad. But so I spent a lot of time with my my dad's family, my grandma and so he was one of four. But then my mom so during the holidays, but like, so I went up over my dad's and spent with my grandmother and stuff. Holidays, but like summer and all that stuff, you know, spent with my mom. My mom is one of thirteen kids, like brothers and sisters. I have thirteen aunts and uncles. And then it's so it's like you have a giant family. It's like sixty of us.

That's really it's terrible. You think, so it's terrible. I think, no, here's why it's terrible. When there's so many people and so many adults. People are coming and going, so when you see them, it's a great reminder that maybe you haven't followed up. It's like, damn, I haven't talked to my my my cousin Evett, but Evett has like two kids. Yeah, and you feel bad because you're like, well, I haven't talked to my my my cousin, but I'm kind of

looked at it like they're my nephews. But then there's my my uncle Tim, who's more like my brother m right, and who is I think a eight years older than me. I have an uncle who's eight years over right, So so it's just kind of you know, So it's it's

like when we have a family reunion. There's times I have I have seen people I probably haven't seen, like especially I imagine when you were playing too, it was I was much busier, and you know you had to pick and choose, like you know, which events are we going to because we only have this amount of time. Like for you, your off seasons, how many six weeks?

I believe three weeks shorts, like six weeks in the winter, six weeks in the winter, so you've got six weeks to also stay in shape, train and also dollar back to relax, relax, Like that's that's counterintuitive, Like how do you stay in shape and then get away and clear your mind? Yeah? What do you do for that? Uh, he's still trying to figure it out. Rookie season busters are like, yeah, last year I was BBNJ party. What do you do to boys only seventh grade party in

my house? You know? Yeah? So they were they were dancing like they got COVID six ft oh man? Yeah, so what do you do before relaxing? Oh man? And the winner? This winner was the least relaxing off season I've ever had, because there wasn't. This is actual. All the other ones weren't off season because you weren't. You weren't a professional. You were a professional, but you weren't. I wasn't at the top, right, So this is actually that wasn't at your off season. That was you thought

of the off season. It was actually your transition to become actually so so I ended my season last year on an affinity team, right, which is the middle level, the step right below cup, which is where I am now at the top. Yeah, yeah, no more. I haven't one yet or won a championship yet, so I'm not I don't see myself as at the top. But you know what I'm saying that the top level. Yeah, I wasn't calling you that. I appreciate you. Yeah, I wasn't.

I was just talking about the Yeah, I'm with you, yep. So I mean I'm in the top series for congratulations, thank you. Yeah. I take a lot of pride in it because four year old. Yeah exactly, And it's crazy. I do feel like a four year old. These guys are like, man that's watching the hundred year old dudes. Yeah, this is not a hundred but you know there's guys that are in their forties and that's cool though. Yeah, it's really cool. The transition was crazy because I had

a new manufacturer, uh, so meeting all those people. I had a new race team, uh, which is part of an alliance. So I'm racing for the Wood Brothers, which has helped from Team Penskey, which you can see Ian has a Team Penskey sweater on. It's not on my podcast right now. Well he's over there, you know, beans behind the scenes. No no free take shirts and hats. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You come here, no, no, no, largest you see these mediums. Dr dude. Yeah, we actually

talked about that. We were like, damn, we forgot what you did. Now we didn't just on the probably bottom tier your guest list, now didn't taking notes were good? Okay, yeah,

what's the address? Will say no. But but the all the people I would imagine is um, you know, it's hard to understand for a lot of people that haven't raced, But there's like a million engineers that worked just for Ford, and then there's a ton of people that work just for the Wood Brothers, and a ton of people that work at Penske, and so I had like three new companies that yeah, and so I spell before you even got hid in the wheel, before I got anything behind

the wheel. And then this offseason NASCAR went to our next gen car. So it's an updated car with a new a new transmission, a new whole new chassis, whole new engine package, whole new arrow package. Everything's new on this car. The only thing that you could change was that you could bring from the old car to the new car was the seat and the steering wheel. Everything else was new components. So learning that car and then learning how to drive that car. We had some tests

over the offseason. Like I talked about, NASCAR had banded well, since this is the first year of that, we got testing. So it's traveling all over testing this car. Uh, and then we just traveling all over different different racetracks so you can start it. So so NASCAR, since it's the new car, NASCAR allowed the teams to do it with

their They were there watching with their superission. So we were in Charlotte, Phoenix, Daytona, all kinds of different tracks trying to learn how this car was gonna raise what you got. They fly out there and test them on commercial, private, uh, commercial for a few of them, private on team Pency playing first. Yeah. Just a fan just listening like you're like, oh man, I get to draw a car like private commercial first coach. Yeah yeah, no, yes, I flew a

commercial quite a bit. So okay, question here's the veteran in me, right, yeah, so do you have UM when you fly? Do you use your frequent fire mills? What about when you stay at the hotels? Do you get to pick the hotels? So so it's all booked through the team, So can you tell the team what you prefer? No, who's the big name in your on the on the team on the like on the Wood Brothers are in the whole Lion Steel because we've as far as like the I got you, I'm sorry. So okay, Wood brothers.

So Wood brothers. It's Lynn and Eddie Wood are the two guys in Leonard Wood? Who's I'm talking about the racers? Like in your group? Oh, I'm the only driving? So who who? Who? Who designates the hotels in not me? Have you? Have you ever? I haven't asked no talent? Well, man, yeah, you guys needed Yeah, talk to him. I'm not saying I'm stay in great hotels. By the way, what do you consider a great hotel? Give me a go on? That's great to me, man, I mean, yeah, we stayed

in terrible. Yeah. The nicest one I stayed in was the Venetian in Vegas. That was pretty sweet. That's nice. Okay, that was pretty nice. Well, I was just gonna say, man, make sure you're getting your get your memberships rewards. That's a lot because at some point, oh, this is gonna go away, young man. And so right now I'm knocking on lifetime platinum with a marry with a Marriott. What is what's you gotta stay there a couple more times

and you've got lifetime platinum. Well, because so I've I have stayed, I still got to talk to them too, because Marryott did not award on my thing. It says um eight days, but I went and physically counting my state eleven days in the Marriott day. I gotta get your days. You gotta get you do. You want to know why? Why is that? Because at some point when it all shuts down and I'm no longer Steve Smith, the media guy, I gotta pay for my own stuff.

But when I pay for my own stuff, I'll be lifetime this so I get it out of sea, getting free life lessons and heart rate rate and so I've been fifteen years as silver or higher. Okay, so right now my lifetime status is as silver. I'm on my way to go to elite slash platinum. The way things are going back, I'll be right there, so I should. I'm on pace with Marriott, American and Delta to have a pretty good like. I won't be like there, but you know, yeah there. Yeah. Did they give you wings

when you get on the plane, the pilot or anything. Yeah? They give me a little pilot hat with a glass of milk in my hand. Yeah, Harrison, you cannot sit on the pilot's lap, not just stop. Can you flyplane? Can I flyplane? I think you could. So. Actually, in Daytona this year, we I flew with the Thunderbirds. Did you fly to the plane? I flew the plane. I did a loop? Yeah what aileron role? What? What aileron role? OK?

So that's the two flaps on the way. I learned this all from the guy that was fighting the plane. I say, no, nothing about good. Let's getting down to do good. Hey Gerard, why did you get that T shirt? You mean this thing? Oh? Yes, I got it from cut to a podcast dot com where we have exclusive merchandise. Shout out to our guys at seven or four shot. But yeah, you can go on, buy you a T shirt,

subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. What are some of the tips that your dad has has taught us? I think that's worth that's worth trying. Is there something like with all that all that knowledges has is no way some of the things that he's probably told you be like, man, I can't well a lot of it. It's all different for every driver, right, And so he's helped me a ton, Hey, this is how to attack this and that as a driver. But I think the biggest thing he's helped me add out with is the

mental side of the sport. And and there's a lot of opportunities to do things, um that could have short term help you, but maybe long term hurt you, right, Um. And so I think my dad has always kind of helped me with like you know, say, yeah, so say I'm gonna say I'm racing this guy for third and I'm gonna hit him out of the way and then I'm gonna pass him and I'm gonna get third place. But then the next time, maybe I'm leading and he's

in second, what is he gonna do to me? But you should ram the body somebody anyway to get first because you're right there to be able to get first. So so that's what I mean, is it? Is it? There's a there's a total that you're right. It's true, like there's there's a line where it's like, hey, I just gotta win, right, But there's also a line of knowing that there's you have to race against the same

guys every week, Yes, exactly. And so when you're first starting out, you have to earn respect to those guys. But you have to do it. You can't do it by being a pushover, right because if if they're going to see blood in the water when they see your car, so I think recently so if they see blood, what is blood in the water? Actually mean this guy, if I get you know, he's easily intimidated. If I get bumped out of the way, he's gonna let me go.

There's no repercussion for that stuff like that, where there's guys that you know will be taking advantage of that, And as a rookie, you're like, oh, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but you kind of have to to. You're going to It's it's competition, right, It's you have to go and try and take it from these guys. So recently it's been that, right, Hey, just go attack these guys like it's nobody that anybody you normally would um.

But always doing it to where when you lay your head down at night you feel like you did the right thing. I think that's been the biggest thing for me and and I feel like I've kind of ran my whole racing career like that. And I don't really have many things I regret. Obviously made mistakes, but I don't have any decisions I regret. Have you ever. Have you ever laid your head on a pillow at night? I'm not able to sleep well for sure. What was that? Uh?

You know a lot of times it's easy. It's like, oh I just made a mistake and this gonna bother me in the race, or say you did kind of just wreck somebody. Uh, sometimes it doesn't sit right. I've gotten into fights on pit road. Like I've heard about the fight. Oh no, this isn't a push fight. We were swinging and stuff did so, so here's so, here's what happened. We It was a kind of the worst. It was. Hey, at least we threw something at each other. Now I'm friends with the guy, but at least we

threw stuff with each other and we both missed. So you so you threw it through what like did you throw like that? Did you throw it knowing you didn't want to connect? Or no? You like I gotta do something? So so so like was it the old school? Like you know you're going to circle shoulder to shoulder? Yeah, like Manama, Yeah, so you know it started like little Harrison really don't want to fight Steve right now, he really don't want you. I wouldn't have walked up there.

I'm just saying, like you or they or they push like like like, so so this I'll tell you the whole story, tell me the whole I gotta push. It was too so this is kind of a pushy story. So two weekends in a row, we got together, crash. I was piste off. I went over. He was mad, he took his crust. Yeah, so I went up to his car. Uh guys know, Gregson is his name, friends with him now, so, uh, you know I was mad. So I was talking to him. So you you were yelling, cursing, cursing, talking,

you know, you get mad and big words. That's right, as twelve year old me, arm Did your mom here you talking like that? No, she probably would have said the same thing though if you knew her, she's pretty feisty. Yeah. So so your mom's got a potty mouth. No, not, because she's just she gets angry about racing. So so we start talking back and forth. This is not a good fight. We start talking back and so we're like chirping at each other, right, and then I'm like he's like,

all right, we'll just do something about it. I'm like, hey, man, get out of here, shove bad deal. And then he swung at me. Did you duck? Went around my head and you got mm, so you slipped it and then went for the takedown. Didn't do it? Oh? We went down to the ground. You left this straight tackle form? Really yeah, but it didn't work out because my head underneath his arm not facing the concrete the whole deal. And then we were just like punching each other on

the ground. Then they pulled apart and punching each other like in a rib shot. Yeah, that's how I could reach. I don't know if he was hitting me or not, but so that was that was it. And then and then I regretted that because I felt like, yes, I needed to, I needed to take a stand and say, hey, I can't be race like this anymore. But I also regretted the way I handled it. Uh. I felt like I could have not done a little push that would have instigated a fight and probably got the same point across.

So I regretted that. And then that was something that it didn't sit right. I wasn't upset, like, oh, I didn't mean to fight with this. It wouldn't. It wasn't. It wasn't quiet in a senior spirit. Right. It didn't feel like it was something I would have done. So I regretted that that had That was hard to sleep on for a little bit m them on Instagram. So I'm sorry. I wasn't sorry for what I said or what I did. I just felt like I handled it poorly.

And uh and uh yeah. Now every buddys we hang out. Yeah, you know it's a competition and tempest flair. And is it fair to say that most racers are from now from Charlotte or quite a bit of them or have to move to Charlotte. Yeah, most of them live here for sure. Almost all of them live here. Now are there any racers? I mean, yeah, well you in Virginia. Who where's a Georgia? Right? We heard an interesting story

and we had Jeff Gordon being from California. Yeah, and he actually had to come south, you know, did in Indiana first and then you know, I had to hook up with Mr Hendrick come here to Charlotte. So that's a pretty unique story. Yeah. Yeah, he came from a completely different path than most guys did at that time. It's pretty neat. How now, there's a lot of talent that comes from different racing disciplines, the dirt racing, short track racing, what about the IE racing? Were you ever

in so I have, I have a ulator. I was never into it until after I started racing. So like William never was racing until after he was already a similar not necessarily true. He actually was racing. He just didn't get a lot of He's kind of lived up to him. But he was racing a little bit. Oh was he? I thought he had just started on the computer and then went to let's let the podcasts. But also I talked to Dale, who told me to okay, yes,

Dale knows more than well. He was just saying that he it isn't he wasn't just learned how to race and then went to the big league and went to the big league. He he was going to He was doing the NASCAR on a video game and I and the simulator. However, that led to is this for real? Can he really race? Or is he just really good on the simulator? So at some point you gotta see it is a similar later numbers accurate, Yeah, to what

he's doing, And he did okay job racing. And I think they went to a simulator, and I think the simulator enhanced it to where the the next time he was in there he was able to apply. So it was pretty cool. It was pretty cool story to hear um, but to just say that he went from simulator all the way to write like so he so I was I was racing when I said that, man, I had raced for in lower levels. Well, a lot of fans

think you just go to the top. Yeah, a lot of fans think that, just like they think that he was he never raced other than a simulator and then he went the cup Like yeah, so that's a great story, but that's little bit you're leaving out a stepper two. Yeah. And and I raced with him when he was first getting into like real stock car racing, and uh, he

was really fast. He did a great job. I lost to him a couple of times and oh for sure, Yeah that's all right, and and uh and yeah, so but I had I had raced before, and so my when I did it, it was kind of just I didn't do it as like this is work. I did it as fun, like I'm gonna get all my buddies and we're gonna go race at whatever racetrack with whatever

car we want to, We're gonna have fun. And and I think when he started doing it he used it as it was his gateway into racing, and then it turned into a Legend car, which is a small car that he started, and then to late model, then the Cannon and then the trucks and the Xfinity. So there's obviously a ton of steps after the simulator. But I think I have one and I use it, but it's more and I use it now as a tool. But when I first got it, it it was like, Hey, this

is fun. I can go race on the internet with my friends. And it wasn't. I didn't use it like he did. I don't think so do you do you think that utilizing the simulator, um, obviously on a rainy day now here, and that that's kind of really the only way you can stay sharp. Yeah, um in racing. Yeah, it's it's crazy. It's crazy when you think about it, because almost every other sport you can go practice it somewhere and do something, But to never be able to

get behind a realistic car, it's against the rules. Yeah, it's it's super tough. You know, you get now. You used to get a lot more practice than you do now. To now you get the way it works. There's twenty minutes of practice. You go run for twenty minutes, you come in, make a change, qualify which is who you're talking about? Real racing or simulating real racing? Yeah, it's it's confused, back and forth, get lost. I've been in a simulator so long that you start driving your car

home and you're like, is this real or not? Like

what am I doing? But no? But uh yeah, but yeah, So that you have twenty minutes, and if you spend the first five minutes of the twenty minutes off the pace, well the car doesn't react the same way as you do when you drive it at its limit, And so it's really hard to go out there, no practice, no real world experience, especially now with this new car, and go on the first lap and go drive it as hard as you can and be aggressive, knowing that you might crash and the backup car is not as fast,

and so that's a really hard challenge. How many cars do you, guys, uh transport for each particular driver. So so with the new car, for a while it was there was four guys in our team and there was two cars. So say all four of us crashing practice. Who's gonna have what car, who's gonna race, who's gonna not? Well, now it's starting to catch up. The inventory is getting better because the new cars getting farther along and we're

able to build more of them. Uh. But yeah, for a while it's pretty sketchy, and and now it's every driver has one backup car basically, Um, so you have one that needs to use a backup car in the middle of a race? No? Yeah, no, so once you once you qualify, you're oh, you qualify that vehicle. Yep,

So you qualify like with your primary cars. Yes, you can't go qualify with your primary car and then run it back up and let and if you do, you have to go to the back and starting last, and then once the race starts, if you do it, you can't. You can't do it. How difficult it is it to to get in top three starting off a racing last? Extremely difficult. Why so the farther back in the field you get I can tell that by eyesight, But tell

it tell Layman's terms. Kiss, keep it simple, Steve, Well, how like like I understand you got how many racers racers' carte d you can bump, at least some of them, some of them. Yeah. So so the farther back you get, the more turbulent the air is. So the less there the air, so you have less down force. Black folks getting back all the time. So it's the it's it's the worst the farther back you are, because it's it's whoever your one their their car has no so every

car leaves awake. Yes, yeah, the heat. Yes, So the the air. If the guy's leading, he has all just normal air, clean air, clean airs, the most wonderful thing in the world. And then second is probably a little bit worse. And then third's a little worse, and it forced a little worse, and it feels a little all the way back to fort So so why is that clean air? Why is that bad air? Bad for your car? So the way the cars are shaped, imagine whoever the

folks in the back just getting crop dust is brutal. Yeah, So the way it's the way it the cars are shaped, there's a pocket of air that gets left behind, like a neutral zone here. Right, So say you have my fist is in the wind and this one has less wind on it. So when you're going in a straight line. That's awesome because there's less drag on your car and you can draft up to him Ricky Bobby style, shaking

bake deal. And then when you get in the corner and your grip limited and you're kneading down force, you're needing grip, then all that stuff that was helping you on the straight away is now hurting you because you don't have the same amount of weight pushing down on your car, smushing your tires to the racetrack and giving you grip. So on the on the straight away you're like, oh, this is awesome. Then you get to the corner and you're, oh, my gosh, this car is really loose or tied or

whatever because I have no down force. Um and and that makes it super hard. And you'll see guys playing games with that, like to keep a guy behind you, you can look up in your mirror and say, oh, he's running the second lane. I'm gonna move to the second right in front of him, and he's gonna get all this dirty air in front of him, and he's gonna get tight and I'm gonna drive away. And so there's a lot of of mind games you can play

with that or not my games, just technical games. You can play with that to keep guys behind you or or try and pass. Should thirty seven, thirties five through forty that dirty air? Is that also restricting speed? Um you know, or just or just a gravity of force pushing you just more or less the force pushing you down. It should be best for your top speed to be in the very back, but you get to the corner,

you can't do anything with it. So it almost compounds the issue, right, because the one thing you can do to keep grip in your car is to modulate your speed to take speed out of the entry of the corner. Well, when you're in the back, you get all this giant run into the corner because you have no friction on your car and you drive off in there and you can't do anything with it, so you get tied or whatever happens. So um, yeah, you end up almost compounding

issues that way. Um. So yeah, the back is not a good place to be. There's guys that are super talented at using the air or finding clean air in the middle of the pack and they can pass guys, and there's guys that that don't do it as well. Um, And it's definitely a skill you've got to learn. As we'll say, is that where the more you do it, the more you learn tricks and tips for sure. And and it's crazy how every car will handle differently in that.

Uh So there's a truck series, right, which was the first like top three series of NASCAR. That's the first step into it. Yeah, so I started. That was my first. That's like the first time that you're like, car have you not driven in like a stock car in general? Over your over your young twenty one years of life? What car have you not driven? I've driven the truck, I've driven stock car, truck, stock car, go kart, moped. I've driven a TV, a TV four wheeler, four wheeler, scooter,

elect your scooter or razor scooter both burst. The razor scooters are rough on your shins, you know what I mean, Like when you try and whip them around here, think you're getting fancy. We're not talking about do you think this brothers driving razor skins or they weren't They weren't

out When I was younger, I had a duke. Duke's a hazard, uh big wheel that's bad at Big Will and the car they had there no Daisy was ever in the hood though, but there's some pressure on you and you don't know this as we start to wind this thing down. So we had William Byron on. Yeah, very next race he won, Oh boy, he had he want a cop race. The next race, very next we had Chase. We had Chase Elliott on and the week after was the last race of the championship. And what

happened talk about it. So now we're I'm just saying. And when we were in California, William Byron's people did they come down, absolutely came down and say hello, we're all standing in the saying I won't tell you at this j W aren't you Ah? So as I past your curfew though, it's like, yeah, I was probably sleepy. So folks came down, dapped him up, said hello, Chase. He didn't come down, and then what happened got hit in the wall. You say, So it's saying we have

an impact on this. I'm saying also, and I know, yeah, I got a reputation to hold not the same team. So earlier that day, who whose team we're talking to that the morning Joey Logano who won that race boom talk, Yeah, I'll try my hardest. That's you know that. I know you'll try your hard There's nothing that says you won't try your hardest, is what we've learned from this podcast. There you have it, man, Well we really appreciate. Hopefully I didn't geek you out, but I like I like

to learn very quick. Yeah, I love I love telling people about it. Yeah, that's what I love. So it's easy for me to talk about it. That's for sure. You are a unique person. You are well worth it, you are competent, and most of all, your lovable. I'm Steve Smith Singior, I'm Gerard Little John and this is cut to It. Cut to It with Steve Smith Senior. That Is Me is a production of Cut to It LLC, Baal Tool, Creative Media, The Black Effect, and I Heart Radio.

For more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows from Cut to It. Executive producer Steve Smith Singor, co host Gerard Little John, talent and booking manager Joe Fusci, Social media team Wesley Robinson and John Show from Balto Creative Media. Cut Too It is produced by Brian Baltaschevic and Meredith Carter, with production assistance by Alex Lebrek, Production coordinator Taylor Robinson. Theme music by Alex Johnson,

Lyrics and vocals by Anthony Hamilton. You ain't heard about it, then, we're about to let you. Now it's all