WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.200 This week on the I Racing down Shift, it's a firecracker four hundred s 2 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:09.080 best. I hope that my forty three driver when we get to Wednesday that 3 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:13.080 they're just sick. Parker Clickerman and Landing Castle talk about well Nich their race 4 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.640 unique. You went to someone in real racing and said we're gonna make a 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.679 almost month long event, they would look at you like you're insane, and 6 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.600 some of their different approaches to watch. I have enough children to go between 7 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:27.320 us. Landing's got enough FI to start the Landing Castle from the one team 8 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:32.719 all this Mars strap In Welcome to the I Racing Down Shift, Tommy host 9 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.280 Greg West. So I'm back of the boys, Kevin Bobbitt and Chris Leone 10 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:41.560 episode fifty and a half. It's the first time we've ever done a half 11 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:46.479 episode. It's awesome. It's almost like we just have a two really good 12 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:51.119 guests and we have a really big event on I Racing this week, so 13 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.280 we kind of had to do it right now and we didn't have time to 14 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:55.880 do the rest of the fun yes, so it was like with this way 15 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.399 or not right and now Steve won't yell at us for this hill of us 16 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:04.599 for other things this week. Oh yeah, yeah this out if Chris edits 17 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:11.640 it in time, that's all on Chris's shoulders. And you people wonder why 18 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:18.480 I'm in therapy, don't. I don't wonder why boy you really toss that 19 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:23.359 soft. So lots going on. I racing U you know Spot twenty four 20 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:27.000 last weekend. We've got the the Firecracker four hundred coming on this week, 21 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.640 and we have the Race for More two point four coming up on August third. 22 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:34.599 That's a Thursday night. So a bunch of big special events coming up. 23 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.480 MS Society fundraiser ranks, Yes, that is the fundraiser. But where 24 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.280 you told me to be brief? Alright, so brief, but check the 25 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:48.480 forum post near you, check out the MS Society's website, and uh be 26 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:51.879 ready to save your money up so you can give Steve Myers and Chadkin assad 27 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:57.519 penalty because that's just fun for everybody, really, absolutely so, without further 28 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.760 ado, though, let's get our great guests on the podcast. So once 29 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.959 again, Parker Clickerman Landon Castle and they're here to talk about get Firecracker four 30 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.520 hundred an Irish. All right, we're back with all three of us this 31 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:14.800 time. Kevin and Chris have joined for the interview portion along with Parker Clickerman 32 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:21.280 and Landon Castle here to talk about some oval race coming up something like that. 33 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.840 Chris, why don't you take it away? Yeah, just when I 34 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:30.360 got out of interviews, you guys have dragged me back in other duties as 35 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.960 assigned. Yes, Parker, Landon. Awesome to have you guys on here 36 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:39.080 to talk about the third edition of the Firecracker four hundred and an awesome event. 37 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.759 I've been able to be involved a couple of times over the years, 38 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:45.759 but I kind of want to start all the way back at the beginning, 39 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:50.199 because I don't even know the story of how you guys kind of met up 40 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:52.800 and started working together. So I kind of want to go back to the 41 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.280 beginning. When did you two meet in racing and how did you guys kind 42 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:01.039 of strike up a friendship in the first place? Take Away? Yeah, 43 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.039 we so well. Parker and I've always kind of had shared experiences as in 44 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:14.400 the sport as professionals. We both kind of were brought into NASCAR as young 45 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:20.240 drivers attached to large organizations. We were both tasked around the same time period 46 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:23.639 as well as test drivers for these big organizations. Parker being at Penske, 47 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:29.639 myself being at Hendrick Motorsports, and so our journeys were very similar. And 48 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:34.400 we also even you know, had similar experiences that through those early years in 49 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:39.520 the Bush and nationwide Axfinity series all one series but three different names there. 50 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.479 We had different or similar experiences through those series because you know, we were 51 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.960 kind of given chances, but they weren't proper, you know, full time, 52 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.360 fully invested. It's we just had interesting experiences and a lot of alignment 53 00:03:55.400 --> 00:04:00.919 there. So we were kind of always adjacent friends. I think, um 54 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:04.879 even you know when we racing the Cup Series against each other when he was 55 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:13.120 at swan Um and obviously we're both you know, strikingly handsome. So uh 56 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:18.439 that's so nobody can see that in a tank top. Yes, that's right. 57 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:21.680 Let be known for the record. More weeks of summer's almost over, 58 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:26.360 So I gotta follow up question. You guys are such good friends on track, 59 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.279 Does that mean you've never had any contact on track like ever? I 60 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:30.839 don't know. I think we've raced the Yeah, I don't think we've ever 61 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.040 ran into each other. Never good for you've never had any you know, 62 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:43.439 major maybe an eye racing now Attom set the You know. The funny thing 63 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.399 is like we yeah, we both also have an affinity for eye racing, 64 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:50.120 and I think I racing is ultimately what what really you know, hit off 65 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:55.000 the friendship or helped it bond the most. UM. You know, through 66 00:04:55.160 --> 00:05:00.399 that time period, we were both big SIM racers and had our hands in 67 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:05.639 the earliest editions of eye racing UM. And so when the pandemic came around, 68 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:12.560 UM, we both maybe because we think alike and we have similar career 69 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:16.839 trajectories and and everything, we both saw the opportunity to race UM, to 70 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.600 use the time in the pandemic UM to hone our skills on eye racing. 71 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:28.279 And so we both not just participated in in the Pro Invitational series and and 72 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:31.279 even beyond Pro Invitational just the whole platform itself. We didn't just participate in 73 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:33.879 that. I think you know, both of us fully invested in it, 74 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.920 UM and and I think you can see how we reap the benefits. I 75 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.639 mean, the partnerships that came out of that for myself with UM, you 76 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.920 know, Blue EMU and UM Parker with UH with the E NASCAR team and 77 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:54.720 UM and really all that that kind of synergy is what formed Eracer in the 78 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.720 summer of twenty twenty. Um, and so we were just fully invested in 79 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:04.040 in sim racing and uh and then obviously are the continuation of our similar lives 80 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.000 has continue to pan out. The only the biggest difference in our two lives 81 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:14.879 is I have enough children to last to go between us while he's still you 82 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:19.399 know, the single life. Not single. He's in a healthy relationship, 83 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:26.240 but for a married guy would clarify there quickly, right, Yeah, basically 84 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.480 Landing has enough. Yeah, Landon's got enough kids to start the Landing Castle 85 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:36.560 from the one team. Yeah, I've kept it lean over here. Yeah, 86 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:41.000 he can have a full pit stop. So I think one thing just 87 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:45.160 to expand on that, like in that period of summer twenty twenty to give 88 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.519 you credit. Um, you know, and as you mentioned, we were 89 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:53.199 part of the earliest I was on an email chain of the original first email 90 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:55.839 that was like, hey, when the pandemic hit, we should do an 91 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.079 eye racing race with all the cup with all the cup drivers, everything was 92 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:04.079 Steve and everyone. So uh, I felt very attached. What's that. 93 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:09.959 I know. I'm sorry, it's true. Um, that's a great point. 94 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:12.480 We should do that. But then you know, from that moment onward, 95 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.040 uh As Landon said, we really you know, leaned into the Provitational, 96 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.759 which was a cool experience considering what was going on in the world the 97 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:24.199 time, right and um, from that moment, you know, just struck 98 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.600 up a friendship. We practiced a lot, and then Landing came to me 99 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:31.959 and said, hey, I want to do like a big event. I 100 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:35.360 want to He's like, what would because he had done the lc QC many 101 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:40.600 if you remember back the Lending Jaw Castle's Qualifying Challenge, which I think I 102 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:44.120 participated back Landing when you were you know, qualifying in the Cup Series all 103 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:46.800 the time. It was a really cool idea where hundreds of sin racers had 104 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.800 to do, you know, try to go through this bracket to become you 105 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.800 know, do one lap for a huge amount of money and off that, 106 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.519 I think it spawned your idea of like doing an even bigger event. And 107 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:01.560 that's when the eighty seven car was coming out and it was like you just 108 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.720 said, I want to do the Firecracker four hundred and I thought, well, 109 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.040 that's really cool. I'm it. So that's you know, that's the 110 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:13.160 genesis of it, and you know, it's been cool to see it come 111 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.639 to life. And then that first year I couldn't I could not believe the 112 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:22.879 response, and I could not believe how much money we spent thinking it happened, 113 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.279 and how well it worked on this service and you know, the platform 114 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:28.240 that I Racing provided to do it, and it was so cool, and 115 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:33.080 I think over three hundred and fifty competitors that year or something. And then 116 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.360 to see what it became came in twenty twenty one was insane. And now, 117 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:41.159 you know, in the third edition, I was just saying earlier, 118 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.799 I feel like, to me, you know, this is the second amount 119 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.240 second highest amount of competitors, so more than twenty twenty not quite as many 120 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.080 as twenty twenty one, but the enthusiasm and the dedication of the competitors this 121 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:58.279 time around, and even the recognition amongst just viewers and people in the racing 122 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.240 industry that have come up to me of the last couple of week they've been 123 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.519 paying attention, it's unbelievable. You know what this has become and sort of 124 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:09.399 the brand and what it's you know, what's known to be and so it's 125 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.000 just a really cool event. But I got to give Landing credit in that 126 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:15.480 you know it came from his brain. You know, it's funny going into 127 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.360 the original some of the original goals of the Firecracker four hundred when we were 128 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:24.480 like, let's make this event huge. One of our main guiding principles of 129 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:31.120 this event, you know, as Eracer, right, not just even beyond 130 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:33.320 just Parker and Landon putting on the Firecracker four hundred, like the Eracer team 131 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:39.000 and everybody that puts the event on, one of our guiding principles is that 132 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:48.519 we wanted to make our competitors feel important. We wanted them, we wanted 133 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.120 to make celebrities out of them if we could. We wanted to make superstars 134 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:56.039 out of them if we could maybe maybe superstars is a better word, because 135 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.639 we wanted the event to be so big and so important that that it meant 136 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:03.799 something to these drivers and it wasn't just another fun sim race. And that 137 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:09.759 goes down to every detail, like the format of the event and how difficult 138 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:13.840 it is to navigate through the event and just just making it to the Firecracker 139 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.399 four hundred itself isn't just reserved for the best sim racer. It's really just 140 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.200 the best sim racer of that day, and the one with the most luck. 141 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.440 Maybe at times, you know, we talk about weather vara variation and 142 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:31.399 things like that, but also our promotion of the event. Um. You 143 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.039 know, one of the original things that we did in the days leading up 144 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:39.279 to the event of the original Firecracker was we made hero cards for each starter 145 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:43.480 in the race because we wanted them to to a have something special that like 146 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:50.039 recognize their accomplishment that they would promote on social media and use to promote the 147 00:10:50.039 --> 00:10:54.440 event because you know, again, our goal is that we want to make 148 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:03.120 make these competitors superstars. And it's funny because as this then the second edition 149 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.320 and now you know, two years later in this third edition of the Firecracker 150 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:13.200 four hundred, one of the the biggest accomplishments or maybe biggest satisfaction I get 151 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:18.080 out of that goal is when I see our competitors with sponsors for the Firecracker 152 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:20.919 four hundred, and these are we don't again it get you know, we 153 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.120 have our own partners of the event and our own sponsors that you know, 154 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:26.600 because we spend it, like Parker said, We've spent a lot of money 155 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.919 to put on this event, and we help subsidize that with sponsorship. We 156 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:37.200 get nothing out of our competitors getting sponsorship. But it's so cool to see 157 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.399 them out there fundraising for their paint schemes and promoting partnerships and legitimate you know, 158 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.000 partnerships across the industry, whether they're racing endemic or non racing endemic. 159 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:52.360 We've seen it all and we see them promoting on our timelines, and to 160 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:58.320 me, that is like one of the ultimate signs that that our initiative is 161 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:03.879 working, that we want this to be, you know important, to the 162 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:07.840 point that maybe Corporate America is going to look at this and be like, 163 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:13.039 how can we be involved in this event? For sure? I want to 164 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:16.120 go back to that format just for a second, because by the time this 165 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.600 comes out, we're going to be preparing for the big show, the four 166 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:24.360 hundred miler. But it's three weeks to get to that Wednesday night race. 167 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:30.679 So the forty three drivers that are there, I want to go back to 168 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.000 the beginning, how did they get there? Because it's a very complex and 169 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:39.440 detailed qualifying over multiple weeks. You mentioned weather variables, There's so much going 170 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:43.200 on. How did these drivers get there? You want to take this or 171 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.919 me? Yeah, I've been doing a lot of talking, but I will 172 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:52.600 I will start with I will take this one too. So the if you 173 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:56.159 I think it's to go all the way back to the beginning, I do 174 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:00.279 want to start with the race itself. The spirit of the racist of is 175 00:13:00.279 --> 00:13:03.960 that we wanted to replicate the original Firecracker four hundred. It's very similar to 176 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:09.200 the thought of replicating an Indy five hundred on I Racing or a Daytona five 177 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:11.919 hundred on I Racing. You know, you want to have those important elements 178 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:18.399 like the duels and you know those the twin races or the four lap qualifying. 179 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:22.279 You know, for the Firecracker back then in nineteen eighty seven, it 180 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:26.679 was two rounds of qualifying, or at least that was a hallmark of that 181 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.720 period, was two rounds of qualifying. You know, obviously with these cars, 182 00:13:30.759 --> 00:13:35.600 they're very special because just running an eighty seven car round Daytona fully trimmed 183 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:39.039 out at two hundred miles an hour, is actually no easy task. So 184 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:43.039 that was the most important thing, was like, Okay, we want to 185 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:46.759 have a forty three car field that was made up from two round qualifying, 186 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.600 right, but we also want an event that can support hundreds of competitors. 187 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:54.399 So we had to figure out how do we go from three or four or 188 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:01.720 five hundred competitors down to let's say eighty eight competitors so that those eighty eight 189 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:05.360 competitors can do our two round qualifying and then they can be split. You 190 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:07.200 know that can eighty eight is a meaningful number, and it has a lot 191 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:09.840 to do with the size of the servers and things like that, but it 192 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:13.720 was a meaningful number that said, hey, a lot of guys are going 193 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:16.039 to invest in single car qualifying, not all of them are going to make 194 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:24.639 it right. So we basically custom created this format, this tournament bracket to 195 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:28.360 go from four hundred, five hundred, you know it can it can manage 196 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:33.440 up to about almost five hundred competitors. And that is very similar to what 197 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:39.559 you would see at like the Knoxville Nationals or or the Chili Bowl, where 198 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:45.960 the competitors are grouped into prelimb sessions, prelimb events. You know, at 199 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.679 the Chili Bowl, it's everybody runs Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, 200 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:52.159 Thursday night. And within those prelimbs, I think we fill out an 201 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:56.759 entire server. So there's sixty two drivers and each each prelimb, and there 202 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:01.600 is where they have to go through single car qualifying, a heat race where 203 00:15:01.639 --> 00:15:05.159 there's no cautions in the heat race, so those are a little bit wild, 204 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.840 and then a consolation race. If you don't transfer through your heat race, 205 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:16.240 there's a there's a consolation race which has soft cautions, so lenient cautions. 206 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.120 Lenient cautions, I think is our is our actual terminology for that. 207 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.240 And then that field gets narrowed down into a somewhere around thirty six to forty 208 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:30.480 car field where we take the top eleven out of that prelim feature forty lap 209 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.399 feature. There's a pit stop, you know, we adjust the fuel loads 210 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:37.480 so that there's has to be some strategy involved. We take the top eleven 211 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:41.200 out of that. That's what gets our eighty eight car two round qualifying fields. 212 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:48.600 So the reason it takes three weeks is because one of our original our 213 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.879 other original principles of this was we wanted to take time. We want to 214 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:56.000 consume IE racing for three weeks. We want to take up everybody's time for 215 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:00.600 three weeks because because we feel like that is part of this emotional commitment that 216 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:07.279 it that makes the event important. I hope that my forty three drivers when 217 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.279 we get to Wednesday, after all of the prelim stress and the open qualifying, 218 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.159 and they went from fixed setups to open setups and all this stuff. 219 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.799 That they get to Wednesday and they are so exhausted that they're just sick and 220 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:25.559 they're nervous and and and when the race is over, I want the depression 221 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:29.480 to set in. But it's over, because that's what makes things important. 222 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:33.080 That's what makes things feel um, you know, that's what brings out the 223 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:36.240 emotion, and that's what you know, you enjoy the whole you you you 224 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:40.279 ultimately you enjoy it. I'm being a little dramatic, but but that commitment 225 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.679 is what makes the event important. You guys have definitely done a lot about 226 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:47.840 in terms of making it like leaving it into the fabric of some racing. 227 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.840 It's it's really amazing. And if I could just add on to that, 228 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:56.559 you know, the three weeks also allows storylines to play out content. You 229 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.360 know, that was as Landon said, consume I racing, but like consume 230 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:03.000 the common station for that time period to us was something that you know, 231 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:07.200 in real racing, they've gotten away from that, right with the eighty five 232 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.400 hundred used to be a month long the Daytona five hundred speed Weeks was a 233 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:15.000 month. It's all now being condensed because of costs and financial reasons and that 234 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.319 sort of thing to shorter time periods. And for us, one of the 235 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:22.160 other guiding principles of working with you guys at Eye Racing and the amazing platform 236 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.200 you provide to us is allows us to do what real racing can right and 237 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:30.599 right now, If you went to someone in real racing and said we're gonna 238 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:34.039 make a almost month long event, they would look at you like you're insane 239 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:37.400 because that would cost of bajillion dollars and no one could feasibly do it. 240 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.440 And on I Racing, we can do that. So I think that's one 241 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:45.920 part that really, you know, allows the sim racing sort of motorsport tournament 242 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.079 to play out. I know that you've got the Chili Bowl and you've got 243 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:51.599 Naxo Nationals that sort of thing, but I think for this, you know, 244 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:53.480 the idea of a stock car race and four hundred miles and that sort 245 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.400 of thing, it can live on as a month long event basically in Eye 246 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.039 Racing, and the tournament aspect, to me is my favorite part because I 247 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.000 know I've been a part of you know, the all the great special events 248 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:08.799 you guys do. I've done the D five hundred, I've done the U 249 00:18:10.079 --> 00:18:11.200 you know, Towy fo Hours in Daytona, which is one of my favorite, 250 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.160 Towy Fer hours of Dumber, granging at the bathrooms, twelve hour those 251 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:18.240 are awesome. And there's you guys, you know, have thousands and thousands 252 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.319 and thousands of people around on the world all competing simultaneously. You know. 253 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:26.519 I think the firecracker is in the I is sort of the idea of, 254 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:30.839 hey, how can we have almost everyone feel like they're in the same race, 255 00:18:30.920 --> 00:18:33.880 right, and they're going towards one race in general, And so maybe 256 00:18:33.880 --> 00:18:36.759 there's a little bit of limitation in terms of the size that could get to 257 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:40.799 in the scale, but it it does allow it to feel pretty big when 258 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:42.559 hundreds of people are posting about it and that sort of thing. So well, 259 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:45.880 it's more exclusive, I mean that was yeah that you know. It's 260 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:48.839 it's not in nothing against leagues, because leagues are a very good thing and 261 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:53.519 they serve a great purpose. But leagues are almost by definition exclusive, right 262 00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:59.119 because you have to you have a limited number of field and it's the same 263 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.720 drivers over and over weeks kind of achieving a goal of a points championship or 264 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:07.359 something. It has to sort of limit itself to that group of drivers. 265 00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.359 Where we're taking the same concept of a league, right, because we're taking 266 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:15.480 weeks to promote and put on this event. Even the weeks before the event 267 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:19.359 actually starts. There's practice races and this like community building around it because people 268 00:19:19.480 --> 00:19:23.319 get together and they race together. It actually almost operates as if we came 269 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:27.200 to the public and said, hey, we want to put on a six 270 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:33.519 week league where the nineteen eighty seven car runs, right Where in this league, 271 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:37.079 we're just going to run Daytona with the nineteen eighty seven car for six 272 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.119 weeks straight. Except it's not a league. It's a tournament, right, 273 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:44.519 So it's way more inclusive. It's scalable, you know, the scale, 274 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:48.960 the flexibility of the competitors is way more scalable. We can support hundreds of 275 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.839 competitors and they're all racing against each other regularly through their practice races and the 276 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:57.440 prelimbs and qualifying and things like that. But it's not exclusive like a league. 277 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:00.440 It's funny you say that because one of our big things this year, 278 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.400 one of the big pushes of I racing is community building. You know, 279 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:08.079 there's already enough real world barriers to entry to real world racing. You two 280 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:12.240 have lived that life. That's why people got involved in SIM racing, because 281 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:17.440 they didn't have the financial means, you know, or the luck to make 282 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:19.400 it to the big show. Yet there's you know, other places where now 283 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.000 that you're seeing more and more barriers be put up in SIM racing, But 284 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:26.519 with I racing special events or events like this, the barriers dropped. If 285 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.039 if you can wheel it, you can get in the race. And that's 286 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.400 why I think this is such a cool event. Even though it's not one 287 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:37.839 of our our you know, regular Eye Racing official special events, it kind 288 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.039 of falls into it. This might be the only sort of private event that 289 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.160 we've ever promoted, like you know, I mean we could talk about when 290 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:45.880 we get excited about usually we're like, oh, we want to talk about 291 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.119 our stuff. But this was really cool. But it's such an added value 292 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:52.319 to the community, and you guys do such a great job promoting it, 293 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:55.720 and it's a ton of fun. And you're right though, you guys take 294 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:59.960 over I racing, especially the oval side for this period of time. That's 295 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.200 all anybody's talking about. That's all social media is talking about. You know, 296 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:08.880 it spalls over and now it's firecracker and you know, be rated you 297 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.279 guys to get on a on a podcast at you know, eleven o'clock on 298 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:17.079 it. I love it so yeah. I just think it's super cool. 299 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.400 And just the way you've set some of these things up. I mean, 300 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:25.519 you know, landing, You've got such a history with qualifying on I Racing, 301 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:27.319 and these two rounds are qualifying. But I think my favorite part is 302 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:33.079 the weather variable and when you go into second round qualifying and you've got to 303 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:34.880 gamble if you're not in the top twenty, that's already made it in. 304 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:37.759 And is it going to be a cooler day? Is it going to be 305 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.319 a warmer day? And we saw some surprises this year and setting the grid? 306 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.759 Yeah wait real quick, go on. Have you hung out in our 307 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:48.119 discord though, in the competitors chat, because I don't know if they agree 308 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:55.319 with the weather variation, competitors don't like the rules. Yeah, it's so 309 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.680 so. I don't want to, you know, make fun of competitors anyway, 310 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.119 but just so they know, as real race car drivers, you know, 311 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:06.319 we deal with as everyone knows in racing immense amount of variables. I 312 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:10.759 like to say racing is the art of basically managing unlimited variables, right, 313 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.359 And that's part of the Firecracker four hundred lores that this was a grueling race, 314 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.319 right, that was incredibly tough, and so we want that to be 315 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:22.640 a part of the sim racing version. And part of that is making it 316 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.519 as realistic as possible with the you know, the weather variation you guys provide 317 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.839 on the platform and therefore using that and that means you're not always going to 318 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:37.519 get the ideal conditions, which is a wonderful discussion on our discord each and 319 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:41.759 every Firecracker four hundred and this year here maybe more spectacular than ever, but 320 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:44.519 for us we love it because it's like, hey, you know, as 321 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.640 much as you guys are frustrated, that is everything we go through weekend and 322 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:52.319 week out in real life racing. One of my favorite competitor moments on that 323 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:59.599 discussion was when our dear friend Blake McCanless, who obviously you guys know him 324 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:03.839 well at eye Racing and we know him well at Eracer because of his how 325 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:11.400 much he helps out. Um he's uh, you know an absolute staunch supporter. 326 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:14.640 I think it's at the right word of of what we do at ERACER 327 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.240 and participates in everything we do. When he finally made a comment in our 328 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:23.160 discord and a frustration with the weather variability and felt like it was too high, 329 00:23:23.400 --> 00:23:26.079 um and at the weather variable was just too high, and the weather 330 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:30.079 was changing too quickly and the track was changing too quickly, And I simply 331 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.519 just responded to his message and said, you either die a hero or you 332 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:41.839 live long enough to complain about Eraser weather format qualifying formats. But you know, 333 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:45.160 it's funny the other the other thing, um and not. You know, 334 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.200 I'm not trying to just minimize any complaints about that because because our you 335 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:51.799 know, our rule book is a living, breathing document, and that's one 336 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:55.000 thing that we do with these events that that is difficult, you know that 337 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.240 that Eye Racing can't do or doesn't do with the official events. You know, 338 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:04.240 the operations of this event isn't entirely scalable. It's it's very labor intensive. 339 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:08.039 You know, we're we're taking on this manual task of adjusting some rules 340 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:12.680 and formatting and using certain parts of the service to create this sort of custom 341 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:18.039 event and it fits just perfect for this audience that we're trying to make. 342 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:22.880 But you know, our everything is living and breathing and nothing is perfect, 343 00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:26.240 and so we're constantly trying to improve it. But for a lot of the 344 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.920 weather complaints that I've gotten this year, especially because the weather was so volatile 345 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:34.240 in Daytona, in real Daytona over the course of two days and that translated 346 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:40.720 into our weather for that Firecracker four hundred qualifying, you know, we had 347 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.519 some people that were just just truly critical of it, and We're like, 348 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.440 you just need to be fixed weather, or they want to blame Eye Racing 349 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.440 and say that, you know, Ie Racing has a you know, issues 350 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.799 with their weather. And my response to that is like, Hey, anybody 351 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.039 who has an issue with the weather changing and it changing the speed on you 352 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:00.200 know, and you're qualifying and from one car to the next has never or 353 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:04.799 tried to qualify at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at ten o'clock in the morning because a 354 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:10.839 single cloud on a day that is it's seventy five degrees but the forecast is 355 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:15.359 going to be ninety in two hours and there's some clouds in the sky and 356 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:18.799 you're trying to make one lap round two and a half mile racetrack. You 357 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:23.799 will the variation. And here's another actually thing that puts this all together. 358 00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:27.480 Our field and I in a Firecracker, four hundred is so tight. It 359 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.880 is so competitive. We're talking about hundreds of a second, right, well, 360 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.240 in real life at Indianapolis Motor Speedway or any of these big tracks. 361 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.839 The reason I use Indias and examples because it's a big track that we used 362 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:42.640 qualify in the morning. A single cloud could swing your lap three tenths of 363 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:47.680 a second or four tenths of a second, not three or four hundreds, 364 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.200 right, And so for these drivers in the Firecracker to be upset because they're 365 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.759 like, man, I had a pull winning car. Somehow I went from 366 00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:59.359 having a top five capable car and I didn't even make the cut. I'm 367 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:02.359 like, we'll shoot the cut from first to twentieth, and our race is 368 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:07.720 only two hundreds or a couple hundreds. So you know, it's in my 369 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:10.599 mind. I look, I see some of the weather variability that's on the 370 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.559 platform and that's happening, and I'm like, I don't know, I still 371 00:26:12.599 --> 00:26:18.640 think it's realistic. It's a features, not a bug. We've been there. 372 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.240 I, Kevin and I have had this discussion and then on the receiving 373 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:30.480 end of this argument. Remember we tried changing the qualifying open qualifying for a 374 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:34.480 special event a couple of years ago and had had a variable weather on and 375 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.200 I think I'm still getting similar conversations. Yeah, it's tough though, like 376 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:41.279 you, it's one of those things and not you know, I know we 377 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.039 want to keep the talk about firecrackers stuff, and I want to keep talking 378 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:47.119 about but I do want to make a point that this is where it's tough 379 00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:52.559 to make decisions, you know, and rely on driver feedback, because the 380 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.839 drivers inherently want what's most comfortable, most predictable, you know, what makes 381 00:26:57.880 --> 00:27:00.599 them feel best behind the wheel. It's just like I used to see have 382 00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:06.240 this frustration when we would do Good Year tire tests because I was racing full 383 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.359 time in the Cup Series. We'd go do a good Year tire test and 384 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:12.319 you as the driver, you're you're driving these different tires and they're giving you 385 00:27:12.359 --> 00:27:15.440 these tires and you're out there by yourself, you're not in a racing environment, 386 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:18.039 and they go, which tire did you like better? And it's like, 387 00:27:18.119 --> 00:27:21.319 well, you ask me that question. I'm going to tell you I 388 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:22.920 like the one that had the most grip, that was the fastest, that 389 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:26.119 had the least amount of fall off. You know, in my car, 390 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:30.880 drove the best on that tire. Like it's inherent for me to say I 391 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:33.640 liked that tire. It was more fun to drive, it had more grip. 392 00:27:33.400 --> 00:27:36.240 But then you get in the race and you go, oh, this 393 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:37.680 tire sucks. We can't race in traffic. It's got too much grip. 394 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:41.799 It's got there's no fall off. It's you know, like we can't. 395 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:45.039 We never change the tires or we only take right sides. It's like, 396 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:48.200 well, that's the tire we picked because at the test you just asked me 397 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.200 which one I like better. So it's tough. It is tough to to 398 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.640 rely on drivers. I don't you know. We deal with it enough with 399 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.720 the Firecracker. I can only imagine trying to build a whole platform and satisfy 400 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:04.839 them. Try try setting an incident limit for the spot twenty four but we 401 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:10.440 got close. But the roles the day twenty four hours we've had, we've 402 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:12.519 run into that it's limit a couple of times, so we know all about 403 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:17.960 it. Steve, Yeah, stand the track. That's key, That is 404 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.519 the key. Nope, yeah, we won't go down track limits. Don't 405 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:25.200 even bring that up. Forty five minutes later, bus stop, I'm guessing 406 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:32.960 exit the bus stop. That's back to life. That's right. We should 407 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:34.480 just bring in you know, dynamic suspension where you hit it enough it he 408 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.720 just ripped your suspension off eventually, you know, really nobody would ever get 409 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:44.440 mad about that. Ever. There you go. All right, guys, 410 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.559 well, we appreciate you guys taking the time to come on. Super stoked. 411 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:51.519 Firecracker four hundred qualifying four is ongoing. We got the big event coming 412 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.799 up this week. What times the main race? It's Wednesday? Right, 413 00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:00.400 what time? Yes, Wednesday eight am eight pm is close, which yep, 414 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:04.519 all right, that's perfect and we will be well. Parker and I 415 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.480 will be back in the studio with suits and ties with David Shieldhouse for the 416 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.599 main event. The Firecracker is dressed like you're dressed now come on. No 417 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:17.759 no, no, no, I'm not. And the two hundreds tonight as 418 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:21.880 we're recording this on Monday, so which is you know, just the one 419 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:23.319 last thing on that is obviously the top eighty eight that make it to that 420 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:27.160 second round, I'll get a chance at a race because aside for a couple 421 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:32.960 alternates, because we do the Firecracker two hundred, which as a full fuel 422 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.000 and they race for considerable prize in that as well. And and then you 423 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:41.200 know they we have the Firecracker for on on Wednesday, so and the broadcast 424 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:42.880 for the two hundred is usually a different crew, and we got a different 425 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:47.160 crew tonight, so we try to give a little different flavor. Cool. 426 00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:48.640 So Chris a little bit of pressure, do you get this edited and out 427 00:29:48.759 --> 00:29:52.680 today so that we can promote their race tonight? Yeah? Come on, 428 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.680 He's like, stops talking so I can get this editor. Well. I 429 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.319 do have one more question though, Are you going to bring the suits and 430 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:03.960 ties to the next recording of the Money Lap? We should? We should 431 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.880 just go we should go straight from Money Lap into Firecrackers. So we're wearing 432 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:11.039 uh so we're in our full suit and ties. Yes. Listen to the 433 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:14.240 Money Lot podcast. Thank you for the plug there. Chris Parker and I 434 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:18.079 do have a podcast. We talk about all motorsports, not just NASCAR UM 435 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:19.599 as well as the money Lab newsletter that goes out three times a week. 436 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:25.160 So that's been fun. Building that out. Very cool. All right, 437 00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:29.319 well, yeah, thanks a lot. Guys over each other for a little 438 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:30.960 bit. That's what we usually do. Yeah, usually just him and I 439 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:36.720 arguing on this podcast. All right, park figurem atlantic Castle, thanks a 440 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:38.880 lot. Looking forward to the show this week and uh yeah we'll have like 441 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:44.559 to keep you guys back on and talk about other I raising endeavors. Also 442 00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.079 we need to tell Parker about the time I took this place car the Lime 443 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:51.119 Rock, but that's another story. Training. See you guys, Thank you. See