Episode 18 - Billy Gregg

Episode 18 – Billy Gregg

Four-Time Street Stock Champion | Bowman Gray Stadium Car Owner

In Episode 18, Brad sits down with Billy Gregg, a four-time Street Stock Champion at Bowman Gray Stadium and one of the most respected competitors to ever come through the Madhouse. Known for his consistency and championship mindset, Billy built a reputation as a driver who knew how to win when it mattered most.

Now stepping into a new chapter of his racing career, Billy has transitioned from driver to car owner, fielding a championship-caliber team that’s moving into the Sportsman Division this season. Brad and Billy talk about the transition from behind the wheel to behind the scenes, what it takes to build a competitive race team, and the expectations heading into a new challenge at Bowman Gray.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Hey guys, Bad Rad right here with another episode of Driving Fast and Taking Chances. If you're looking to make your race car faster, micro armor racing lubricants are absolutely the way to do that. Babbitt technology outperforms everything else. Hey, don't take my word for it. Drive some and see the cheapest grease you'll ever buy. Go faster, drive longer, last longer. Microarmor lubricants are the way to go. Today's guest, our buddy Billy Greg, who actually is a microarmor user. Billy, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Hey, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 0:36

Man, we are uh we are absolutely living the dream. We know you guys are in thrash mode getting how many race cars together right now?

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Uh we got three done. We got three to go.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Three to so you manage how many race cars out of that shop every week?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

So we have six in the shop all the time.

SPEAKER_04 0:56

And the only reason we don't have seven is because it won't fit.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Well, we've had seven. Yes. We we can make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Uh but yeah, uh we have six in the shop all the time, and we have a few more that come and go. Uh probably three or four more.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

Yeah, I've been down there before on like I guess it was like a Tuesday or a Wednesday. The shop was full, and so was the driveway and yard. It looked like y'all were having a race car yard sale.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

There's always a lot of trailers in the yard. Yes. And all those trailers have cars in them.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

Have you ever considered getting rid of the grass and just concreting or paving everything out there?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

I I've considered it. My wife is not a fan.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Hey, tell Christy we'll paint it green, and she'll never, she'll never go. Hey, so uh CNC or any of our friends that are in the paving business, Billy is looking for an asphalt or concrete sponsor. I can get you the address down under the shop. As long as it can be green, asphalt, or concrete, she might be in on that, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Maybe.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

Yes, yes. Well, Billy, you have got a very storied career there at the Fame quarter mile. You guys have also raced a lot of stuff other places. Tell us about your history at Bowman Gray. Your family's been involved there for a long time. I mean, you basically grew up in the backyard or the infield at Bowman Gray, if you will. Walk us through the Bowman Gray history that you guys have. Because it's been, I mean, your dad, your uncle, I mean, it's just it's always been a Greg there as long as I can remember.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

I mean, I've I've been there since I was a small child.

SPEAKER_04 2:23

And you were how old today?

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Uh uh, 50. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 2:27

So half a century.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah, it's been a long time. Uh I don't I don't remember a lot of the earlier stuff. Um I remember always having race cars at home and playing in them and rolling down the hill and stuff catching on fire and fire department coming, that's another story. Yeah. But uh uh, you know, in the early 80s, uh we actually started to be successful. Um and uh mid 80s, I think, 85-ish, Ricky won the championship in the blunderbus. And uh I mean every couple of years after that there was a championship. And you know, I I can remember as a you know, probably 11, 12 years old living on uh Norman Chauffe Road down there and riding my bicycle to uh Gumtree Road to work on the race car in the afternoons when I get out of school and just you know uh just just like I said in the mid-80s, they've my my dad and my uncle Ricky they figured it out, and uh it's it's been it's been a fun ride ever since.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Now, your dad had uh frame shop and old Lexington Frameshop, um, people have known it for years, been around. You guys still technically run Ole Lexington Frameshop. It's actually has an Lexington address now. Uh where it didn't when it was in Winston, it was Ole Lexington Road.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Right.

SPEAKER_04 4:01

Uh but your dad had the frame shop. Well, as long as I I mean he he pulled race cars for me. So I mean, as long as I can remember, yeah, I mean y'all are the frame guys.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Uh he uh he bought the frame shop. You know, before he had the frame shop, he had another business. It was uh Greg's alignment. Um and it was on Walltown Street behind what was at the time the Wagner Tire Building.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Oh, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Um, you know, the little driveway in in the back right there. And uh he had worked for John Yoaklee at the frame shop for years before he went on his own. And uh he went back to work for John with an agreement that he was gonna buy the frame shop at on X date, you know, and uh I he he ran it until the day he died. Um and then I did it for a little while, and I'm just I lost interest.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

And uh now Nate's giving it a try.

SPEAKER_04 4:58

I was gonna say you've handed the torch off to your son, Nathan, also race car driver. Um, arguably one of the most famous uh flow videos we've ever seen. Uh we'll touch on that here shortly, but Nathan's down there running it now and turned out to be a pretty good mechanic. I used to tease Nathan that he was superhuman. Nathan and my daughter grew up together, I guess went to elementary school together. And every time I was with Nate, because let me tell you what, there ain't a harder-working human on earth than Nate Gregg. I would always take a picture of Nate and send it to my kid and say, look, here's superhuman. She's like, Why don't you just adopt him? I said, I don't think his daddy would allow that, but yes. So you've kind of handed that torch off to Nathan now, and he's sort of, I guess he's kind of man in the ship there there, though, isn't he?

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah, yeah. They're uh, well, it's actually Nathan and my other son Jaden. They're they're there together, uh trying to make it happen.

SPEAKER_04 5:43

Right on. Well, I mean, you know, uh your dad kind of threw you to the wolves at some point. I guess at some point it kind of happens and goes that way, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

Well, I uh I'm it could be better. It's always better. It could always be better, yeah. Um, but I'm willing to stand behind him until he makes it happen. Sure. You know? Um, and that's kind of where we're at now.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

What is that? It only takes 15 years to be an overnight success. Isn't that about right? Yeah. He's got a long way to go, Dad. So it's gonna be a while. So, Billy, at what point where in your career did you decide you didn't just want to drive race cars, that you wanted to basically run the program that you do? Because you really do effectively handle uh nearly a dozen cars uh for people who a don't have time. I mean, for those of you guys who don't know, Billy takes care of my race cars. Uh, for people who don't have time to do that, what point did you look at that and go, man, this looks like a really good idea, keeps me involved, that kind of thing. When did you decide to start taking care of other people's stuff, I guess, if you will?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Well, it was part of my decision to step away from the friend shop. Um, Nate and I don't work together very well. So you stay here. My my father and I have had a similar I'll go home um and you know, do the race car thing. And uh I mean it was basically just out of necessity in order to continue to race, we had to somehow make money to to race. Sure. Uh you know, the business supports our family and and takes care of our household and all that kind of stuff. But uh at the end of the day, we have to have uh sponsors, partners, people to help us get through racing. And on top of that, I I have to pull money out of my pocket that I gotta make somehow. Sure. So um, you know, you were a big part of that, helping us with the Kevin Powell deal and getting the tire machines and all that stuff set up. And uh, you know, Nathan Nathan spent two or three years in the shop every night with Randy Armstrong, sure, who taught him so much about bumps and shocks and tires and and just I mean, you know, I was paying Randy Armstrong to work on my race cars.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

But what you didn't realize you were paying him for an education.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

But I was the deal was Nate has to be there when you do it. Sure. So that Nate can learn what to do, and he's he's he's pretty good at it.

SPEAKER_04 8:16

Yeah. And he enjoys it, that's the thing. And and it appears, I mean, I've known you well, probably 40 of your 50 years, and I've never seen you as content as you are. When you're in that shop, you're in your happy place.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Absolutely. Um it's it's what I want to do. You know, it's what I enjoy doing. Uh I've done it for many years as a hobby. I figured out how to make a living out of it. Yeah. And uh that really changed a lot of things for me.

SPEAKER_04 8:46

And you guys have had success. How many, how many championships have we racked up all together now? Um five. So it's obviously working pretty well. It's and this year, you took a kid to Victory Lane multiple times and to a championship that is not your child. Let me rephrase that. You did not make this child, but you consider him a son.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

He is, he is, uh, he is a heck of a wheel man. Um but that's part of the deal. Part of the, you know, BGR isn't isn't Billy Gregg. Right. It is a it is a business that if I'm the only one that's successful, it's it doesn't really mean anything. Sure. You know? Um, and that was part of the deal with Brian Brian Sykes Jr. Um Kid is a heck of a wheel man. Uh Cooper Lowe, who owns Brian's car. Um he believes in me. He'll do anything I tell him to do. If I tell him to bolt the tires home backwards, he'll just bolt the tires home backwards and go away. Why did we do that? Yeah, don't worry about it. Yeah, you know, so I I mean it worked out good. You know, Cooper was uh he's very supportive of Brian. You know, that whole deal come together. Brian Jr. was driving one of my cars.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

And the car broke for the 50 lapper. And we decided to put Brian Sykes Jr. in Cooper Lowe's car. I was keeping Cooper Lowe's car up for Cooper, and uh Brian was leading the race on lap 48 when he blew up.

SPEAKER_04 10:17

Right, yeah. And we all thought he was gonna win. You thought he was gonna win it. He thought he was gonna win it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

We all thought he was gonna win it. Absolutely. But uh that was, you know, Cooper, Cooper decided, hey, you know, uh we can continue to ride around mid-pack, or we can put this kid in the car and he made that choice. Um Brian Sykes Jr. won the championship. Uh that was his second full season in a full body stock car.

SPEAKER_04 10:44

Yeah, the kid's got an unbelievable amount of talent. Here's the thing: he doesn't have a long go-kart career, he doesn't have a long quarter midget career. He just got into a race car, and honestly, he's just a natural talent and a good human on top of that.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

He's a he's a really hard-working kid. Very. Um, him, him and Nate make a good pair. As a matter of fact, that's part of what was so great about last year was you know, Nate, Nate took some time off because he had a kid. Um and he decided, hey, I'm gonna commit to Brian Jr. We're going to we're gonna go win a championship. And and Nate was working on the car, Brian was driving the car, Nate was spotting for Junior, you know, just just working together in every aspect, like those guys, like I work on the cars in the shop every day during the week, but those guys together made that happen.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

Sure, sure. And you know, I think one of the things that a lot of folks are kind of envious of, number one, you got very fast race cars, but when I show up at the racetrack on Saturday, it is amazing the harem of humans that you have in the pits helping out. And it's the same people, you don't see different faces. We may add a guy every now and then, but you don't lose people. It's the same people there. You feed them, you take care of them, you treat them well. Um, and I think people are probably envious of that because most people are struggling to find help. You're struggling to find places to put help, sometimes it looks like.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

We uh we I tell my guys all the time, it shouldn't cost you anything to come help me race.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Um, I feed them, I buy their drinks, I feed them at the house every night. I make sure there's you know, coolers with whatever beverage they prefer in the coolers.

SPEAKER_04 12:27

Um It's usually chocolate milk. I know it is. I've seen them cool.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

A lot of apple juice, a lot of red cups with apple juice in them sitting around. But uh you know, man, that's you know, it's a lot of young guys because you know, Nate is the boss. Nate is 22 years old. There's a not a lot of 40 and 50-year-old men out there that's gonna listen to a 22-year-old. Very true. So we've got a y'all a lot of, you know, late teens, early 20s guys that most of these guys I meant through iRacing. Um, you know, and it just works. It really works.

SPEAKER_04 13:10

It's uh it's nice because I mean honestly, we beat on your crew sometimes. I mean, we show up kind of one man band kind of deal. I don't know how the world we're gonna do this two-car thing this year. We're gonna figure it out. But yeah, it's I mean, it's always great. The guys are resourceful, they know what to do. Um, you got guys that have been with you a little longer. Gavin Smith, for example. Um, I fostered Gavin. Gavin worked for me for a while, worked for you. Very bright kid, diesel mechanic now. What he's what, 23, 24?

SPEAKER_00 13:35

20, 22, 22? 22, he's right there in that range. Right.

SPEAKER_04 13:38

Knows his way around the race car as good as anybody anymore. But he's it's like he's been immersed in that culture the whole time. So it's just nice to see the myriad of people that you've got over there doing that stuff. You know, you I see Christy there involved, I see Allison involved. I see a lot of folks doing a lot of stuff. So it really still is that family thing. It's funny because I look at old pictures of your uncle in Victory Lane and your dad in Victory Lane, man, big old Victory Lane. There's a whole lot of people down there. And you know what? You guys have carried the torch because I've seen pictures of you know Brian or seen pictures of Nate and Victory Lane. That's a big old Victor Lane again. So it takes it takes a lot of people to make it happen. And I don't I don't know that people realize that though. I I really do, I don't think people realize the number of humans that it really does take and the effort that it takes.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

There's a lot of teams out there, you know, you've got Mitch Gales and a couple of those guys, whatever. I mean, they're doing it with two or three guys, and I commend them for that. But when you roll up to the racetrack with five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten race cars, you better have a lot of people backing you.

SPEAKER_03 14:39

Very true.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

Um, and those guys are a team. Like all 10 or 12, however many of those guys it is, they are a team. And if if Brian Jr. wins, they're all gonna go out there and celebrate.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

We all won, yeah, absolutely. And you look and you see, I mean, you see a bunch of other drivers out there, and that's kind of cool in order to see that. I I think uh to me, the thing that really makes it even more special, like you say, Brian's not your kid. Uh, but you love him like a son, you take care of him, you take care of the cars, you make him guess the best of the best, right? His dad, his dad's one of your best friends, of course. Uh Brian Singer's a great guy, one of my best buddies, too, man. They're good, good people. But like this year, we watched Kyler Staley win a race. I don't know that I've ever seen you any more excited in Victor Lane. And honestly, I don't know that I've ever seen Kyler any more excited in Victor Lane. How and you know, here's the thing. We a lot, a lot of folks that don't know Kyler, that's Zach's son. Zach's got on one of our podcasts as well. They're different humans, they're not the same folk at all. No, sir. They're they're not as, you know, Zach's a little more excitable than Kyler is, but it was really good to see. And here's the thing, man, Kyler earned that win. Nobody gave it to him. He absolutely earned that win. And just to see the true joy of everybody in Victory Lane and for him, because I've been down to the shop multiple times. He's down there, he's under the cars, he's working, he's got grease in his armpit and everywhere else. He's working as hard as everybody else. Again, another kid that's not yours that you're helping to foster to kind of move along and be better.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Well, I again, another kid who absolutely has talent. Sure. You know, Zach, Zach is a friend of mine. Um I work on Zach's race cars too. Um Zach's program, you know, some cars are better than others. Kyler got some of the stuff that was just kind of leftovers, you know, from time to time. Of course, Zach had paid drivers who were getting the better stuff, and that's that's how this works. That's how this works. Um But Kyler could take whatever they gave him and go out there and make it happen. Sure. You know, um, he's he's you know, his dad is wide open and push it to the limit all the time. Every lap all the time.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

It's not even that, it's just it's it's it's from the time he wakes up, the time he goes to bed.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Kyler does that. Kyler's just so laid back and take whatever it gives him and and you know, be content. Um, two totally different people.

SPEAKER_04 17:08

Absolutely. Absolutely. So I want to touch a little bit here. You've had a pretty sporty rivalry at Bowman Gray with a particular team for many years.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

So several different teams.

SPEAKER_04 17:22

Well, one of those actually made you famous from the TV uh when they did the uh preview for the clash. I think that you actually made a statement. We even made a t-shirt. Yeah. Tell me, tell me a little bit about that. Well, first of all, what did you say? We sold a bunch of those t-shirts, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

We did, we did. We made a lot of money off those shirts.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

Yeah, we did all right. This episode brought to you by Jeff Hill Trailer Sales in Modoc, Indiana. Jeff Hill Trailersales.com has got everything you need: cargo, utility, stacker, full blown race trailer, whatever you need, Jeff and his crew will get you taken care of. Jeff Hill Trailersales.com, check them out today. What what did uh what is it that you actually said? And give us kind of the a little history leading up to that. Why the rivalry? What's going on there? Which also led to arguably still the most watched highlight reel in flow history. So, and if you guys don't know what I'm talking about, when we come on at Bowman Gray or they show the flow stuff, the two cars wrecking in the infield at Bowman Gray, one of those would be your fine young son, Nathan Gregg, and the other one would be uh Nick Wall. Nick, Nick Wall. And you and Nick's family, per se, have had a bit of a rivalry over the years. Would that be a fair statement?

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Right. So Jimmy Wall, who is Nick's grandpa. So Jimmy Wall, Doug Wall, Nick Wall. Jimmy Wall was the grandfather, then Doug Wall and Nick Wall was the grandson. So Jimmy actually owned Gene Pax cars for many years.

SPEAKER_04 18:56

Long time. Red One car, I thought we all knew. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Well, so Jimmy Wall and my Uncle Ricky are my dad owned Ricky's cars and and and Jimmy owned Jean's cars. And Ricky and Gene every week it was one or the other. They were they were always battling for the win, whatever. So so there's always a rivalry. Some sparks. When when you know it's just the two top teams, you know? Um, and so that went on forever and ever, and then me and Doug raced against each other. Uh I never really saw Doug as competitive. Sure. Um then Nick Wall. So Nick, I don't I don't recall Nick ever really running all the races except for maybe his rookie year. So I think he was just kind of a part-timer, whatever, whatever. I think he's more of a go-kart driver than a race car driver. So that kind of led up to the whole incident, the video from Flo. Two weeks in a row. Nick was leading a race, Nate was running second. Nick likes to do this thing on the start where he goes and then he stops. And then when you hit him, he goes again. Right. Well, the idea is when you hit him, you will back off, and then he will go, and he will get two or three car links on you.

SPEAKER_03 20:28

Seems like pretty good strategy.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Except that Nate knows this. And I told him, I said, when he does that, don't lift. Drive through him. So he would go and he would stop, and Nate would drive through and turn him into grass, went on and won the race. Hmm. Okay. So the next week they start one-two again. Nick gets out front, caution comes out.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Restart, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Same thing happens again. Nate turns him up in the infield. I mean, it's you know, you're doing it to get an advantage, and I know you're gonna do it, so I'm gonna do something to counter it, right? Um, then Nick decides to go and tear up the race car. Nate went in the grass because he thought Nick couldn't go fast enough to tear his race car up. Well, let me tell you, front cross memory, entire right side frame rail from front to rear, and everything from the driver's seat back.

SPEAKER_04 21:27

So the grass can still be fast enough, huh?

SPEAKER_00 21:30

Yeah. You can definitely go fast enough through the grass to tear one up.

SPEAKER_04 21:33

It was uh it was a pretty good amazing evasive maneuver overall, though. It didn't work out. No, it didn't, but uh the thought process was there. The thought process was there. So that really just added fuel to the fire with that crew.

SPEAKER_00 21:46

Well, let me tell you another thing that happened that night.

SPEAKER_04 21:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

So it's bad enough that my race car's Nate's race car is torn up. Sure. It's gotta have a rear clip, right side frame rail, front cross member. How are we gonna get this thing back together next week? Well, I won the race. So I'm awarded the trophy. Nate protests me. Nate protests the race. And they take my trophy and give it to Nate.

SPEAKER_04 22:12

Okay. All right. Well, I mean, hey, you know, I've heard people say, man, I'd wreck my grandma for winning. I've been protesting my dad. He did.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

He did. So Yeah, I never knew that part of it, man.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

That's pretty interesting. Okay. Note to self. Be careful around Nate, man. Yeah, watch your billfold. You never know.

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Yeah. Well, the sad part is he protested me with my money.

SPEAKER_04 22:32

Wow. Well, me and you need to have a discussion off the air, Billy. We need to talk about this. Help you out with that.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

So what was it?

SPEAKER_04 22:40

So uh ultimately uh our friend Greg Garrison had you and Doug come for uh a bit of a it was one Saturday morning, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Well, Doug and I parked right across from each other. Always had. Yeah. Well, still for a long time. So one night I was gonna start the race, and Doug was crying about it. So he stood over there after Nick left and went out on the racetrack to make sure I didn't get in the car. Of course I got in a car, and then they came out on the racetrack and they made me go to the pits. Well, when I went to the pits, I backed my car and Doug's trailer and I got out and I left. I went and watched the race. So there was a lot of crying about that, whatever, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 23:25

Can't imagine why anybody would want to discuss that with you.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

So week after week, of course, I mean, he's pulled in this way, I'm pulled in this way, so we're facing each other. Sure. Night after night after night, just you know, and there was some friendly banter back and forth. Yeah, it was a little banter back and forth. I may have shown my rear, like literally to him a few times.

SPEAKER_04 23:47

I understand. I've noticed a belt would be a good thing for you sometimes, so I can understand that. Yeah. It was not because of a poorly fitting drive suit. The driving suit fit great. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yep. Fire suit great. Yeah. But uh so we got called to the to the office to have a discussion, and they had to flow cameras in there, and I just Yes, they did. I did I mean, I knew it was a setup right from the beginning. But I could not, you know, and I and when I sit down you had things that need to be said. When I sit down, I told him, I said, look, Doug, like, I don't like you. You don't like me. There's really no point in us sitting here talking. But I'm gonna tell you right now to watch what you say, because I left money at home with my wife just in case I slap the shit out of you and go to jail tonight.

SPEAKER_04 24:37

Yeah.

unknown 24:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

Right up front.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

We have to have that t-shirt. You can actually buy it at Billy Graham, it's right there.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Yeah. So, but it is what it is. And and I got I got indefinitely suspended for that. Um, which, hey, I've been I've been indefinitely suspended for way less.

SPEAKER_03 24:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 24:55

Um how many times have you been indefinitely suspended?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

That was my fourth or fifth time.

SPEAKER_04 25:00

Okay, that's good. That's good. So I like that. Yeah. Yeah. There's been a lot of guys that have been indefinitely suspended. And I think sometimes in the moment or in the heat of battle, uh, would it be fair to say that sometimes we make choices and we select words that maybe we shouldn't select? I'm trying to do better. That's good. That comes with age. That comes with age and maturity, Billy. That's really good. We're proud of you that you're doing that. Uh for sure, for sure. So let's step past the rivalries and stuff like that. Obviously, we know that uh when we see the one car and the 2898, that combination usually doesn't work very well. It's like oil and water. Those things just don't blend very good. So um what's coming up? What do we got next? What's going on next? What's Nathan's plans this year? What's Billy's plans this year? What are we doing with Brian? How many cars are we running out of that shop this year? What do we got? Man, you got a you got a lot of stuff on your plate.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

So with the rule change at Bowman Gray, of course.

SPEAKER_04 25:59

And a lot of folks don't know about the rule change. So just highlight that for our racer around the country who don't understand what we're going through right now.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

So previously we've run a 603 with a 390 combination.

SPEAKER_04 26:12

And a lot of guys, for y'all, that was a motor that was between the two and the four, obviously 603. A lot of our dirt guys never saw this engine combination, they don't know anything about it.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Right.

SPEAKER_04 26:20

So steel block aluminum heads.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

The thing is, they they quit making this combination years ago.

SPEAKER_04 26:27

That was six or six or two. Six or seven years ago.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Yes. And and it's hard to show up to the track with a legal 603 when they haven't made one in seven years.

SPEAKER_04 26:37

So are you insinuating that there has been a loose interpretation of the rules in order to remanufacture or freshen these engines up? Would you say that that's probably a fair statement?

SPEAKER_00 26:49

So judging by what happened last year when they started asking guys to take pans off, uh old pans off of those 603s. There weren't a lot of 603s, illegal 603s out there.

SPEAKER_04 27:03

Was there some gray areas you feel like? No, there were some black areas, yeah. It was bad.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

That was that was a little bit more than gray areas. Yeah. But uh you know, so this year they changed the engine rule to so for the last two or three years, you've been able to run a 602, but you had to run a 390 carburetor. This year they changed the rule so that you could run a 602 with a 650 carburetor. Well, the class that we uh primarily run and dominate the street stock division runs a 602. And we probably have one of the best 602 programs at the racetrack. So we're actually gonna move all three of our cars up to run sportsmen. Brian Jr.'s gonna move up and run Sportsman, Nate's gonna run up, move up and run Sportsman, they're both gonna run a full season and and and and try to contend for a championship. I am not gonna run a full season. Um I do have a new car. I'm gonna run as many races as I want to or can or can afford to, you know, without I don't want to take anything away from Nate and Brian Jr. trying to win a a championship so that I can go out there and have fun or whatever. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, this is a a business for me. Like this is this is I don't want to say it's how I support my family because that's I feel like that's the difference between me and the other guy that does this is this is what he does for a living. This is not what I do for a living. I'm retired and this is what I just pays for your race as I want to.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Your race car business pays for your race cars.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Right, right, right. So, you know, I just I I want to I want to have fun. I want to enjoy the season. I want to man, coming off that championship run last year, Brian Jr., he did he did great all year, don't get me wrong. But one week, one week I went to the beach. It was the only race he didn't finish all year.

SPEAKER_04 29:10

So that means you can't go to the beach anymore, Billy.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Well, last time I went to the beach and left Nate to race, he knocked the front clip off the car. Uh last year I went to the beach and left Brian Jr. to race and had to come back and rebuild the whole freaking car like it was destroyed.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Like um, are you seeing a pattern here?

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Maybe the beach is not the place where I'm probably not gonna go to the beach this year.

SPEAKER_04 29:31

Uh if you're gonna be contention pre- or post-season beach trips may be a better option for you.

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Well, I went to the beach for like a month, see. Oh, and after that dilemma, I was driving home on Friday, going to the racetrack and going back to the beach on Sunday.

SPEAKER_04 29:48

So let me just say there are a lot of lovely lakes in our area that are much closer, 20, 30 minutes away. Your old buddy Bad Brad can probably hook you up with a place to stay. So maybe they could get your water fix and that kind of stuff and not have to deal with all that.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Well, you know, I I get a place at the beach, take my camper down there for a month, and I park my camper, and my kids get to go down there when they want to and take the grandkids.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Grandkids, yeah, that's the best part.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

You know, I mean, that's uh I when the when the grandkids show up at the beach and we get to go play in the ocean. Nothing better, is there? Yeah, yeah. And here's the thing I don't miss the racetrack.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

I I was just gonna say, you know, uh Donald Bradsher and I have had that conversation. A lot of my race buddies that have grandkids, Tommy Neal, but you know we've had Tommy Neal on the show, same thing. It's like, you know, man, when I'm with the grandkids, I don't really care about none of that anymore. It doesn't really seem to matter. I've told my daughter, I said, here's the deal. Uh we had some people that rented our uh lake house years ago, a couple three years ago, and they brought their grandsons, and they were five and seven, five and eight, whatever. One is one on birthday weekend. And the guy was like, I I stayed in the camper that weekend over to the campground, and um they were at the house. And he's like, Hey man, I see you got a pontoon butt here. Yeah, you want to pull my grandkids on too? Saturday, I said, No, I'm headed to the racetrack. He's like, Man, it's a it's their birthday. I'm like, yeah, no, happy birthday. Cool, get you a cupcake, whatever. I said, I'm headed to the racetrack. And he goes, I pay you$500 to drag them for an hour. I was like, I mean, now I'm going to the racetrack. And he goes, Would you do it for a thousand? And I was like, Man, wow, a thousand bucks for an hour. He said, tell you what I got. I got$2,500 cash left. You figure out how to spend that, but I really want to get my grandkid out on a tube. I'm like, so I think I called you or Jim. I said, hey man, I'm probably not gonna be there tonight. I'm gonna go drag some kids. But man, I had the best time. Number one, I did not take the guy's money. It was a great time. I got home and I told Kennedy, I said, Look, I'm really not endorsing you to get pregnant or have a baby. I really know you got a lot of stuff going away. But I am ready to be a grandpa. That was awesome, man. So I can see what you mean by that kind of stuff and getting away. And like you guys know, I mean, I come on Saturday mornings with my cars, make sure they're tuned in, check with you, make sure you've got everything you need. Your guys have got what they need to make my cars fast and my guys competitive. And you don't you don't normally see me at the racetrack on Saturday night. My Wi-Fi reaches my dock, and that 47-inch TV sits out there and I can float right there with my little frozen lemonade, and I watch it. Kennedy came one day, she goes, Hey dad. It's uh I was in the water, she goes, It's 2 30. It's on Saturday. Okay. Uh we're going to the races. To what races? No. Do they have a lake at the racetrack, baby? She said, No. I said, I'm gonna be right here. She goes, give me about five minutes. She went and got her basic on she got in the water too. So I do think that maybe as you have grown older, maybe you have begun to enjoy some of these things. And those grandkids really are icing on the cake.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

I I do enjoy the grandkids. That lake thing, however, is not for me, as you know. Yeah, you tried the lake. Yeah, yeah. I I drive the boat. Great boat driver. Great boat driver.

SPEAKER_04 32:57

You and you and the wife did enjoy the camper one weekend, though.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 33:00

Yeah, so that wasn't bad.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

But we did not get in the water.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

We did not get in the water, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

No, sir.

unknown 33:05

No.

SPEAKER_04 33:05

You're a good boat driver, though, by the way. That see, I need more retired friends. Right. Because I like to surf. And uh all my friends, you know where they are on Monday through Friday?

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Jobs. Okay. Yeah. Places.

SPEAKER_04 33:16

I called Billy, I'm like, hey man, Wednesday, two o'clock. You're like, bro, I'm there. Like there's Dr. Peppers in the corner. So it works out great. So, yes. So uh, what's next for Billy Gregg? How many more years do you think you'll be in the seat? This episode brought to you by Jeff Hill Trailer Sales in Modoc, Indiana. Jeff Hill TrailerSales.com has got everything you need cargo, utility, stacker, full-blown race trailer. Whatever you need, Jeff and his crew will get you taken care of. Jeff Hill Trailer Sales.com. Check them out today. I know it's hard to say, but Well, you know, I already retired one time. Um But you've also been indefinitely suspended four times. So that I don't know that that's relevant anymore.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

Well, I mean, you know, I don't something that sticks out in my mind, you know, Dylan Ward, he's not necessarily my rival. I don't not like Dylan Ward, but he does what I do for a living.

SPEAKER_04 34:15

He's a business competitor.

SPEAKER_00 34:17

Right, right. And uh a while back he came to me and he said this was this was part of the reason why I came back to racing. He said, so, so when did you know it was over? Wow. Wow. Wow. He said, so so when did you know it was time to step away, to get out of the car, to and I thought about it and I don't, I mean I I did what I did to help Nate, not because I couldn't do this anymore. Sure. You know? Um, so it's uh you know, when I run out of money, that's my that's my answer.

SPEAKER_04 34:59

But you're telling me when I run out of money. Stop doing it. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

We're all done. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 35:04

So at that point, will you be at the beach more?

SPEAKER_00 35:08

I know. I don't I don't like the beach either.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

I only go to the beach because that's where my grandkids want to be. Well, I have a camper. I love to take my camper, and my favorite place to go is to the mountains.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

Oh, there you go. So well, maybe the grandkids in the mountains in, yeah. So you got grandkids. Or any of the grandkids got the steering wheel thing, bug? Anybody's a bug bit anybody?

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Well, you know, Cooper. Yeah. The So there's two boys. And Cooper is the oldest, and he man, I bought him a go-kart like I guess it was his fifth birthday, and he's like eight now. And I think one time he wrote it, I had to pay him like a dollar a lap and take him to the zoo or something like that. Oh my god.

unknown 35:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 35:53

I'll drive your go-kart for a dollar a lap and take me to the zoo. Billy's got a go-kart ride available to dollar lap and a three zoo trip.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

It's the craziest thing. Not into it, though. Just not into it. Um how about the other grandkids?

SPEAKER_03 36:08

Is there a possibility there?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

Nate's Nate's daughter definitely shows interest. Like, if you're flipping through the TV and there's a race on, you better stop because she's gonna watch it. Yeah, she's gotta have it. She's gonna watch it.

SPEAKER_04 36:18

How about SRG? Saw your rose.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

No.

SPEAKER_04 36:24

Don't think so.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

No.

SPEAKER_04 36:27

Yeah, it was worth a try, right? Well, you know, that's the cool thing. You know, uh, Kyler's not yours. You're fostering that. Brian Jr.'s not yours, not fostering that. So, I mean, uh, while Billy might not be in the seat, we could potentially see you influencing some generations together.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Well, and and you know, my my dad, my dad raced, and he's he was never he didn't win a lot of races or win a lot of championships. That was Ricky. That was my uncle. He was the one that mentored me that you know I don't I wanted to do what he was doing. And you know, I I mean I want I want to see I want to see them enjoy this as much as I do. I won't, I won't, it doesn't matter if it's my kid or your kid, or you know, um thank God my kid never raced.

SPEAKER_04 37:18

Yeah, carry on, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Yeah, that's funny. You know, you know, talking about how long we knew each other or whatever, you know, I was your daughter's PE teacher when she was in kindergarten.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

In kindergarten, and you know, in third grade, I was your kid's teacher assistants. Yeah, yeah, no, it's uh it's been a while, that's for sure, man. Yeah, that's for sure. The uh the evolution of that and seeing the growth and seeing watching your child come up and race, and Nate didn't do a lot of go-kart racing either, not a lot of quarter midget racing, none of that. You had you had stock cars. Um that's kind of where he went.

SPEAKER_00 37:55

Nate did some go-kart racing, he didn't really enjoy it. I didn't like it. I don't really know anything about go-karts. Um he was around it his whole life. We had a track there at the house that he loved to ride on or whatever, but as far as competitively racing, he didn't really do it. And uh when he turned 13, I think, we bought him a car. And he wasn't old enough to race yet. So, like once a week we would go rent the track at Caraway. I would throw him in there and send him out there two or three hours. Figure it out. Yeah, you know? No, and he figured it out pretty good, pretty quick. And he's pretty good at it.

SPEAKER_04 38:37

Yeah, it was definitely, definitely in the bloodline. Touching back on your dad and your uncle's cars, so you don't realize how much of an impact. I mean, I was a kid in the stands too, how much of an impact they made. I remember uh Ricky had the baddest Thunderbird that ever rolled around Bowman Gray. And the thing that I loved about Ricky's car and your daddy's car, Jimmy's car, those cars were always clean. They were always waxed, the lettering was gorgeous. And what I mostly remember, y'all had shiny sidewalls. I didn't see no other race cars at Bowman Gray, which I bet if we could pull up some archive pictures, we're gonna see some shiny sidewalls. Those cars look good. And here's the thing about it: what color was your dad's car every year?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

I mean, at the end they were black.

SPEAKER_04 39:24

And Ricky's car? Black. What color cars do I have? Black. What color cars do I drive every day? My pickup trucks are black. My daughter's truck. They're all black. And it was because at that time I looked at it, I was like, man, that's just classy. It just looks good. And I still, my cars have shiny tires. Well, that was my race cars don't, but my street cars have shiny tires. And I used to call uh my buddy Randy's picking my time. I said, Man, that's the Ricky Gregg effect right there. Y'all just need to back off. So yeah. Those cars always looked amazing.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

That was a lot of that was my dad. My dad was, he was one time we had a when I first started driving, we were running uh friendship when it was asphalt. And we were gonna go test. Ricky was supposed to drive the car, and he ended up not coming, and I was gonna drive the car. Well, we had hung a at the time we were making the bodies out of four by eight sheets of sheet metal.

SPEAKER_04 40:25

Actually, used to fabricate cars.

SPEAKER_00 40:26

Yeah. Well, this car was bare metal. My dad was like, pull that thing up here and wash it.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

I was like, what are you talking about?

SPEAKER_00 40:34

You can't wash that. He was like, Yep, can't take it to the track like that. Get it up here and wash it. But the the shiny sidewalls thing, like the blunderbus days. Yeah. Get a quart of black paint, yeah, and and pour half of it into another can and and pour lacquer thinner in it and paint the sidewalls.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

That's what he did every week. And boy, they look good. God, they look good. Yeah, man. I was all about them shiny sidewalls as a kid.

SPEAKER_04 41:00

You know, I love that bling bling.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

That was great. Yeah, it looked uh it looked really, really super good. And at the time, probably soaking the tires without knowing it, right? Yeah, we probably were, honestly. And and and then we were doing some stuff where we were bumping those blunderbus cars and we didn't even know what it was at the time.

SPEAKER_04 41:18

Didn't even realize what you were like. That was what we were doing. And blunderbus to me was the best division ever, man. Most of those cars were from the 60s and 70s. They were huge. What kind of cars do y'all have for the blunderbus cars?

SPEAKER_00 41:29

They were the Chrysler.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

Chrysler what, so I think it was Imperial.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Imperial? Yeah, Chrysler Imperial.

SPEAKER_04 41:38

So my my cousin moved, my sister uh moved from Texas back to North Carolina uh along about the time I started racing modified, so 0102 for Brent Elliott. We borrowed Brent's enclosed trailer, and my cousin had a 1968 Chrysler Imperial two-door convertible, okay, which now would be about the size, it's about two foot longer than a suburban. Okay. We moved that car back with a three-bedroom house of furniture in a 28-foot trailer. People said, Hal, this is no lie. Go do this yourself. Open up the trunk on a two-door Chrysler Imperial. I will bet you money a queen-size mattress and box brand fits in the trunk. So just to give you an idea how big these dang cars were, man, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

Yeah, and and Ricky, he was he was so good at it. Like he was, I think one year at the stadium he won like 13 out of 15 races, and they'd make him start in the back every week. And then he he went to Caraway and they made him start in the back every week. And I remember one time we showed up to Hickory, and you know, that thing was all leaned out. Oh, yeah. It was, you know, it looked different than all the other cars. When we showed up at Hickory one night, and they were like, okay, well, we're gonna race around the racetrack backwards.

SPEAKER_04 42:50

Oh my.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

We're like, nah, we can't do that. That didn't work out so good. We can't do that.

SPEAKER_04 42:54

It don't turn right, it turns left.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Yeah. Left only.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

Now, your dad locally was a bit of a character. That'd probably be a nice uh way to say that about your dad and not to beat on your dad. And if uh if uh keep in mind this is not live. So if you don't want to talk about any of this, you can just say, let's not talk about that. Um, but your dad locally was a bit of a character. He was he was popular with the ladies. Would that be a fair statement? Yeah, he was popular with the ladies. Um, your dad passed how long ago?

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Um 2015. 10 years.

SPEAKER_04 43:30

And I know you guys were tired. Your dad taught you a lot, a lot about race and this, that, and the other. I understand, and this is not something we've ever brought up on the show, the funeral was colorful.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Yeah, it was uh it was uh it was different. We had uh we had the hearst swerving back and forth, heating up the tires, going down the highway. Yeah, we had you know, we were lined up double file behind the hearst, and he was the pace car, and it was it was it was a bit. There was a lot of burnouts.

SPEAKER_04 44:02

Celebration of life, right?

SPEAKER_00 44:03

It was definitely. If it was nothing else, it was a celebration.

SPEAKER_04 44:06

Celebration of life. So I understand also, unfortunately, I think I was out of town that weekend. That's something that I would have attended your dad's funeral for sure. I understand there could or may or may not have been some discoveries made during the funeral. Is that true? Maybe some maybe some relatives or sorts.

SPEAKER_00 44:23

Well, there was some talk of a fraternity test.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

Oh, a fraternity test, which is similar to a paternity test, but it's a little bit different. So uh was there some discovery there could be some siblings that you may or may not have known about.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

Yeah, that that actually came up at the funeral. I've heard this story.

SPEAKER_04 44:44

That's why I'm probing it, man. I want to hear this because I've I've heard it from your daughter, but I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. So yes.

SPEAKER_00 44:51

Yes, someone, someone actually stood up at the funeral and talked about taking a fraternity test, uh, you know, within with within weeks of his passing.

SPEAKER_04 45:02

Now, we are not at a wedding where they said, if there's any man here that knows why this man wants to shoot me joined, we're at a funeral, and somebody pops up and says they got a fraternity test, huh?

SPEAKER_00 45:13

I mean, I love my dad. Like he he may have done some things, um, but the the funeral was definitely colorful. There was a loan shark there. There was some it was it was all types of things, man.

SPEAKER_04 45:29

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, uh, I really feel like so. My next business venture is is I'm gonna go into the funeral business, but not like you're thinking. So we're gonna do celebration of life. Like, let's just say that you came to me and I'm the funeral director, and you're like, hey man, my dad raced, blah, blah, blah, this, that, and the other. We would actually have a raced themed funeral. We'd have bounce houses for the kids, we'd have a live band, face painting. I mean, we should celebrate the life. Am I right or wrong?

SPEAKER_00 45:52

I had I had his uh, you know, Randy Dish always played with race picture. Yeah, he he lettered the casket.

SPEAKER_04 45:58

I saw pictures. That was awesome. That was actually pretty cool, man. The casket lettered. Yeah, that's pretty cool. That's definitely pretty cool. But I really feel like uh celebration life should be a celebration life. And it's fun. You got some discovery there, you got to meet interesting folks at the funeral that you may or may not have had contact with in years, or maybe even ever. Uh, so yeah. Yeah. But uh I knew that your dad had been uh had been popular with uh with the ladies. They were uh stories, stories from uh from Southside about uh the seeds that he had strown throughout the years. Uh and your dad was a pretty good looking dude too, man. So I mean that I kind of understand.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

He uh he he definitely he had fun. Well that's what that's what we're supposed to do while we're here.

SPEAKER_04 46:40

He had fun. Yeah, that's what we're supposed to do while we're here for sure. So so moving forward, 2026, we've got the rule change on the motor. They're enforcing this tire thing, or at least they say they're gonna enforce this tire thing. You guys are geared up and ready for that. Um, how many cars are running out of the shop this year? Can you can you think about, can you name your drivers this year? Do you know who all's there? Velocity USA, the world's greatest driving suit, lighter, faster, better than what you're wearing. Suits, gloves, shoots, helmets, head and neck restraint, everything for your safety program in one location. Check us out online, velocity USA.com. Give us a call, 336-764-8502. Drive fast, take chances. For all your rodeo and western lifestyle apparel, check out rocket donkey.com. That's Rocket Donkey Apparel. You'll see these folks all over the place. You'll even pick them up at the Chili Bowl Nationals. They've got trade show boots at virtually every barrel race in America. Check them out online, Rocket Dash Donkey.com. Hey guys, this is part of the show brought to you in part by easy sponsorships.com. If you're looking for sponsorship for your race car and running into dead ends and closed doors everywhere, check out eassponsorships.com and learn from the super sponsor man, Claude Hagerty. He will show you how to find money to go racing. Can you name your drivers this year? Do you know who all's there?

SPEAKER_00 48:02

So we have myself and Nate and Brian Jr. Okay. Then we have the Jim Schoff.

SPEAKER_04 48:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

And you have another car there.

SPEAKER_04 48:14

Jaden Cordill is what it looks like right now. So we're trying to try trying to finish the sponsor deal.

SPEAKER_00 48:19

We're waiting to we haven't really released who was gonna drive that car.

SPEAKER_04 48:24

We're waiting to sign, but if everything goes like it should, go-kart fans, you're gonna love it. Jaden Cordill. We got a chance to put him in a car one day.

SPEAKER_00 48:33

And looking forward to working with Jaden. Jaden, you know, we put him in a car one Saturday morning.

SPEAKER_04 48:38

And and had Kid had never driven anything with a clutch or a streetcar.

SPEAKER_00 48:42

Pretty impressive for his first time in a full-size car. Yeah. Uh I I think he'll be, I think he'll turn some heads, you know. And then we have another car that's going to be a rental car this year. We're gonna have a we're gonna have a street stock rental car this year.

SPEAKER_04 48:58

So just out of curiosity, because there's a lot of people, there's always interest in this. What's it cost to rent the car for a week, Billy?

SPEAKER_00 49:04

So uh a full night at Balm and Gray Stadium is fifteen hundred dollars plus your crass clause.

SPEAKER_04 49:11

Will that include a Saturday morning practice?

SPEAKER_00 49:13

That includes Saturday morning practice.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

All right, guys. So right here, Billy just said it$1,500. You come on Saturday morning, you practice, which will be probably three rounds.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

Three rounds, about seven minutes apiece.

SPEAKER_04 49:23

You'll get that. You'll get Saturday night, you'll get a round of practice. One round in the afternoon, and then we get a 20-lap feature.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

And a 20-lap feature.

SPEAKER_04 49:30

Man, there you go. Crash clause money up front,$1,500 to run, and it's hands-off, walk away. That's a pretty good deal for somebody.

SPEAKER_00 49:37

We we bring the car to the track, we supply the crew, we scrape it up and put it back in the trailer when it's all over.

SPEAKER_03 49:45

You know, that's a pretty good deal, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Um and and you know, we have other deals where we do just a Saturday morning practice. Just a Saturday.

SPEAKER_04 49:55

If somebody wanted to if somebody wanted to come try it, what would that cost?$500. So they get to come over and they get to run the three five-minute or seven-minute or eight-minute rounds. And there are Saturday mornings that we do wind up with a fourth round. So just depends on time and what goes on. So there is that opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 50:10

And then we do uh another deal where we rent the track at Caraway. Okay, and we can give you more one-on-one. You're on the track by yourself. I'm on the radio telling you where to lift, where to get back in the gas, where to be on the racetrack. Sure. You know, so awesome.

SPEAKER_04 50:26

So for young drivers that are coming up out of go-karts, quarter midgets, this kind of stuff. And the thing is now is as long as it's not a NASCAR feature division, 14, I think, is the full-size division. Yes. So at 14 years old, we can do some testing. I think Caraway does have the opportunity for a waiver for a younger driver, 11, 12, 12, 13, with a miner's release. Correct. So if your kids are thinking about this, may be a really good opportunity. And you guys have got y'all got really nice equipment, man. There's Hamke cars down there, there's Clattenburg, brand new Clattenberg cars, there's Port City cars. I mean, y'all have got really nice, very, very safe equipment.

SPEAKER_00 51:01

Yes, absolutely. I mean, I I wouldn't put nobody in a car that I wouldn't get in myself. Sure. Um, there's no car that goes out of my shop that I haven't been a hands-on and been over it myself two or three times throughout the week. Um and you've driven most of those cars.

SPEAKER_04 51:19

I mean, you've you I know a couple of- I think I've driven all of them. I think a couple years ago, my driver wasn't able to make a race or make a night, and we were there and you had a problem and jumped in my car, started last or close to last, and wound up second in it. So, I mean, you've driven most all the cars and obviously have the ability to get that done. So, how much how much better do you think you mentioned Dylan? How much better do you think that makes you and Dylan at setup versus most guys because y'all have actually been in the seat and felt that change, knowing that that shim in, shim out, that raising that trailing arm, that that stagger change, how much difference do you think it makes that you guys have the ability to know what that change is going to do firsthand?

SPEAKER_00 51:58

Well, that's huge. Um being able to get in the car and drive it and know what it needs, that's one thing. Now, Nathan takes it to a whole nother level where he can tell you, you know, you got the shim and the right front upper control arm upside down. Like, I don't, I don't, I can't do any of that. But you know, um the biggest advantage that I feel like we have as BGR and DWR is having so many cars. You get so much more feedback, so much more. You know, if I do five sets of tires this week and you do one every week, I'm probably gonna learn something a little faster than you are.

SPEAKER_04 52:43

Lewis Dow, CKI. Um, if you guys are cart guys and you've been around anything, you knew competition carding. Lewis Dow said a couple things that really always stand out in my mind. You can't do something sometimes that everybody else does all the time and expect to be as good as they are.

SPEAKER_02 53:00

Right.

SPEAKER_04 53:00

He told me that when I was about 15 years old, and it didn't make sense. Today, far well past 15 years old, that really means a lot. The other thing that he told me when I was about the same age is you know, we went to a national somewhere, and I think we won a couple classes. I think we were running back in the day, we'd all run six, seven classes, we were trying to kill ourselves. And I think I did win a couple classes, and I was second or third and the other stuff. And he says, Well, where was your focus? What do you mean? Where was your focus? Stock light or stock medium and super stock. He goes, Well, you weren't focused on heavy, you weren't focused on limited, you weren't focused on limited heavy, but you had cars for those, right? Yeah. He said, Money by speed, how fast you want to go. You spend all your money on two classes, you're lucky you have top fives in them. I'd be thankful. I never thought about it like that. I'm like, dang. Right. So he talked about technology, talked about time. Oh my phone ring. So one of the things we always do on the uh podcast building is we silence our cell phones before the thing goes on. But yeah, I really got some good wisdom from Lewis there because, like I say, money by speed, how fast you want to go, and you can't do something sometimes. Everybody else does all the time. Case in point. While you're just taking care of the five or six cars that are in your shop, I know that during the week I come by, that door is rolled up on that semi-trailer, that rotisserie is constantly rolling, that tire cutter is constantly going. And I've been down there before. Well, I actually I have been by Freeman's, and every tire in the building was being loaded in your truck. So obviously, there's a tremendous amount of tire management that goes on, that kind of stuff. One of the things I want to touch on, because we do have a lot of a lot of folks are looking and watching the cars tour, this, that, and the other. How and this is this is real world because you guys did it. You're a top contender team at a NASCAR Saturday night weekly racing track, new Clattenburg cars, best of the best, premium motors. You guys got car toured seals. I think uh who was the guy you took the motors to? Rankin?

SPEAKER_00 55:02

Mike Rankin.

SPEAKER_04 55:03

Mike Rankin sealed them up, which is Rankin wins, stuff wins all the time. Premium carburetors, I mean the best of the best of everything. How did your car's debut go?

SPEAKER_00 55:14

Not too good.

SPEAKER_04 55:15

How big of a jump for those people who don't realize where that goes? How big of a jump is that? Number one, competition-wise, number two, financial wise, number three, time and commitment-wise from what you're doing right now weekly all the time.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Well, I mean, time and commitment. I mean, you can't really commit any more time than I currently do to anything.

SPEAKER_04 55:39

Sure. Um but there was a lot more running involved in that, a lot more getting in that.

SPEAKER_00 55:45

Right. So the the financial part of it is huge. Um I don't even want to talk about what we spent to go run. His my Nate's debut race was North Wolvesville. And, you know, we had to build motors, we had to hang bodies to template, we had to, you know, buy practice tires, we had to rent tracks and go, you know, just all the different stuff we had to do. And it it didn't really turn out like we wanted it to. We spent a lot of money, we spent a lot of time. You know, just by the time we were done.

SPEAKER_04 56:25

Yeah, no, no, I know um I know that that was a big step, and I know that there was uh it's one of the few times I've seen you disappointed, truly disappointed.

SPEAKER_00 56:37

Oh man, I was I was very disappointed. Um well we had we had engine trouble. We had engine trouble, you know on practice day.

SPEAKER_04 56:49

Um is that the weekend you blew up my 604?

SPEAKER_00 56:52

Yes, sir. Okay, good. Yours and mine.

SPEAKER_04 56:56

That's good. Well we I mean if you're gonna get one, we might as well get them both, right? So you're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 57:00

Right. So so we so we we had that trouble, and then we make the race, and I feel confident that my driver is as good as any other.

SPEAKER_04 57:16

Are you ringing again?

SPEAKER_00 57:17

Maybe. That's all right. Um but we just struggled. We we we had engine trouble, and then and then to top it all off on lap four of the race, I think we blew up.

unknown 57:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

Um so that was very disappointing. I mean, we had went there the year before with the modified, I think there was 40 or 50 cars there or whatever. We qualified like 19th, I think, with the modified, and uh didn't get a lot of practice, didn't get to learn a lot of stuff. Halfway through the race, they decided to stop the race and let the tour mods run. Where they told us we had just pitted before they did this, and they told us they were like, well, if you want to work on the car, you just have to go to the back. Well, my guys went over there and changed shocks.

SPEAKER_03 58:10

Yeah, we went to the back.

SPEAKER_00 58:11

Hey, yeah, we were already in the back, right? Um, I think there was 20 laps to go. We restarted like 19th and we finished fourth.

SPEAKER_02 58:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

Um, so have all the confidence in the world in my guys. It's just, you know, sometimes it ain't your day. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 58:27

And that I think that cars tour is a big step. We had Kip on and and talked a lot about that. And I really think that NASCAR has not had a grooming series in a while. Goody's Dash series is gone, KN theoretically is gone. A lot of that, the uh the you and I remember the um All-Pro series uh is gone. Um, but we didn't really have a grooming series, and I think that that maybe is kind of the direction because you look like Landon, he's truck racing this year, Honeycutt's racing.

SPEAKER_00 58:57

There's a lot of those guys that have it's a it's a great series and it's a great stepping stone. The problem is you got Joe Gibbs and you got Dale Jr. and you got you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 59:09

And those guys money by speed. How fast would you want to grow?

SPEAKER_00 59:13

Well, well, in case you haven't noticed, I don't have Dale Jr. money, and I don't have Kevin Harvey money, and I don't have to have it.

SPEAKER_04 59:23

It's the same kind.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

Right. Yes. So I mean, it just it makes it difficult. And I mean, I don't kudos to those guys. Sure. I mean, I don't hey, I don't, I'm not putting down on anybody. I don't I love the cars tour series. I wish, I wish I had the money to make it happen for Nate. I wish I had the money to make it happen for for Junior. I wish, I wish the funding was there.

SPEAKER_04 59:45

Um let me pause. Easysponsorships.com. Claude Hagery can show you how to get racing money to go racing and run the cars, Sear, just like Billy wishes he could. Back to our regularly scheduled program. So, yeah, no, I I agree with exactly what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 59:58

And we and we did that too, and don't get me wrong. I mean, I don't I mean, I ain't trying to throw no numbers out there, but but Brian Jr. for one is very well funded, yes, you know, for what he does. Sure. But but you know, you're talking about the difference in fifty thousand dollars and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Um it's just uh it's difficult. Um I I wish I was able to make it happen, but I'm not. Um but but we do what we what we can with what we have.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:28

Will you be content that at 80 years old, calm and gray, your people are still there, still winning races?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:37

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:38

Is there anything that you wish that you had done differently? Not a particular race, a particular lap, a particular crash, but overall, if we could, if you knew what you knew now and I could take you back 20 years, 25 years, what, if anything, would you change about what you've done so far? This episode brought to you in part by Schoenfeld Headers, Van Buren, Arkansas, all the way back to Daddy Schoenfeld building the best headers for all types of racing. If you need headers for your race cars, Schoenfeldheaders.com, check them out online or at any of their thousands of retailers nationwide. This episode brought to you by Bastet Racing Wheels. Whether you're looking for a 15-inch inertia wheel, rolled edge, armor edge protection, whatever it is that you need, DOT IMCA Bastet Racing Wheel has you covered. Bastet Racing Wheels is the leader in short track wheels nationwide. BastitWheels.com for all your racing wheel needs. This portion of our show brought to you by Woodleaf Raceway Park. Right on Facebook. Check out the world's greatest dirt go-kart track with a focus on kids and family. They have ungo-karted go-kart racing. Jeff Freeman and his staff work tirelessly to make sure your kids are safe and having a great time. Check them out on Facebook at Woodleaf Raceway Park. If anything, would you change about what you've done so far?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:04

I don't think I would really change a whole lot. I mean, maybe some of the indefinite suspensions and some of the things I may have done, you know, along the way. As far as my career myself, I'm I'm content. I'm happy. I mean, I I've won four championships at Bowman Gray Stadium. I I've I've won a bunch of races at a bunch of racetracks up and down the East Coast. I mean, I'm satisfied. I wish I wish I was able to do more for Nate. I think he has the potential to be, you know, a a driver in a in a higher series. It's, you know, it's just it's about funding and it's, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:48

If there was one thing that you could change about the current program and what you're doing at Bowman Gray, if you had if you we popped the genie out right now, we rubbed the lamp, he popped out. I grant you one racing wish, other than your people winning every race, what would you change? What would you make different?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:07

I don't I don't know that I would change a whole lot with with my program.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:13

I mean How about the racetrack?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

Only one. Yeah, there are definitely some things I'd like to change at the racetrack. Not so much things as people.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:26

You know. Um I've always Greg Harrison and I are not the best of friends.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:35

That's understandable. It's uh difficult sometimes to be friends um with the indefinite suspender.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

When you when I when I look back though, like I don't my at the end of the day, my problems are not with great.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:56

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

You know what I mean? And and if and if there was something I was gonna change, believe it or not, it wouldn't be great. Sure. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:04

Yeah, awesome. Good deal, man. Well, Billy, you got uh a lot of folks that are behind you, a lot of people that support you. Before we let you go, you want to thank some of the sponsors, and we also want to, how could people find how do they get in touch with you about the potential opportunity to do an arrive and drive, a test, and stuff like that? Is that something you want to give your number out for? Do you want them to contact you on social media? How would you like for them to get in touch with you guys?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

Yep, nope, absolutely. Everyone has my phone number, it's on business cards, it's all over the internet. And shout it out. Uh 336-816-6864. Um, we definitely have that uh rental program available.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:39

We've talked about people about you've got a full rental program that could be available for a full season if you wanted.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:44

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:45

And that's something you guys could negotiate on. And then you've also got potentially individual races, some other seat time, some other training, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:53

Correct, correct. Um so we have the one committed full-time rental car. Sure. And then we have a second car, and then we have my personal car. My personal car could be rented, you know, to the right person. Now, that's not something that I let uh Tommy down the street let his grandson drive, you know. That's not could uh couldn't when we when we bring Patrick Daniels in from Texas. There you go. Absolutely. That's a guy that can drive my car.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:20

Could could Nick Wall rent it?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:27

I'm not gonna say what I want to do. I'm not gonna say anything.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:30

I might be careful, I might get this left out of me here in a minute. So yeah, yeah, I'll just kill it. Uh so that's good. So you've got some rental programs available. That's awesome, man, because here's the thing a lot of folks don't know how to get in. They don't know how to get started. And I I see that a lot of times on a lot of our posts, man. How do you even get started? How do you find a deal? And you know, you tell people all the time, miss go to the track, find a crew, hang out, learn it, that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:52

And well, and the problem now is like getting started now means something different. Than it did when me and you did it. 100%. When you and I did it, getting started meant going and finding a race team and committing to that race team and you know, working with that race team and and learning.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:13

Learning the craft. Learning racecraft.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:16

Now, now getting started means how do I get in the seat? Right. How how do I become the Well everybody wants to driver, man? I don't want to work on the car. I won't name no names, but uh I had a kid come to me a couple years ago and I had a car and I said, look, here's the car, here's all the pieces. Put it together, I'll let you drive it. Oh well, I don't want to learn how to work on it. I want to learn how to drive it. Oh yeah. This is not the shop for you, buddy.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:45

Don't we all want to just drive it? Yeah. I'd love to have, I mean, uh, I really don't have any interest in racing at all. I think I was in a car. Was I was I in a car three times last year, four times maybe? I drove my car in practice a couple times.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:58

Maybe twice that I remember.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:59

I drove Justin's car one day in practice. Um, after about six or seven laps, I remember why I don't do this anymore. It's hot in there. There ain't no ashtray, there ain't no cup holder, the air conditioning don't blow so good, it's not very well ventilated. Man, I don't miss that. You know what? It is fun to get out there every now and then and run a lap or two just to see if you still can. And man, I mean, for three or four laps, I'm still fairly sporty. I'd probably be able to hold my own. But I don't really want to be there every Saturday night. Not in the car. I do want to be involved, but I just don't have that drive anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:35

I guess that's maybe how you know you're done. Like I hadn't gotten to that point yet. Like when I'm when I'm racing, I don't I'm not thinking about nothing else but racing.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:43

100%. Absolutely. Yeah. I think uh it was either maybe it was earlier this year. I ran Justin's car, one of the first races of the season I practiced or whatever. And um actually, no, it was not, is when we had Justin in the 8858 program. And um we were getting gently slower each week, and that was Justin's rookie year, and we were struggling to figure out why, and we were adjusting in this, that, and the other. And uh at the time I was not medically released to be in a race car, and also uh, don't worry, my wife doesn't watch the podcast. Um so uh she wasn't there, and I was mad, I was mad, mad. And I think I came and got Nate's suit or one of your suits. I didn't even have a fire suit with me, and I was like, I want to see what's wrong with this car because you're telling me that it's perfect, and we are literally a second slower than we were four weeks ago. And you're telling me don't change nothing, I gotta figure this out. And I got in the car and I went out there and fully intended for this car to just be a bucket of mess. I don't think I had ever turned more beautiful laps in my entire life. And that was the I was not even supposed to be in the car. I remember that night. Nathan came up and says, You need to race that car now, you probably win. I was like, Yeah, I don't have no interest in that.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

No, well, you know, we had a we had a similar situation with the Brian Jr. car, the car that he won the championship with.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My uh my driver and his defense is is in his 60s, and he has a pretty good career there. He does. So he's won some stuff, won some major events. I think he told us that the car would not turn on entry, not turn on entry, not turn on entry, not turn on entry. So I decided to liquidate that piece of equipment, and one of your guys decided, man, that's a pretty nice car. We made him a pretty good deal on it. Your driver wins the championship. I put my driver in the latest and greatest Port City house car, premium to premium. Actually, compliments my buddy old Bobby Weber right there. The best of the best of the best. First practice, what was he tell us? Tight on entry. Second practice, tight on entry. Third practice, tight on entry. We put your driver in there in a week he came in, he goes, Can I drive that one instead? I was like, Yeah, that's a pretty good car. So we finally realized what was going on there. But if you don't take that foot completely off the brake pedal, it won't, it won't turn.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:00

But we're good. I remember. I remember when we went to the first practice with Brian Jr. in that car, you were like, Man, yeah. Didn't you figure out what was wrong with it? What did you do to it? Yeah. Do nothing but change the driver.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:13

There was a short between the seat and the steering wheel. We we were able to get that grounded. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:18

But you know, that's like, you know, Nate can't drive my car.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:21

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:22

He cannot, absolutely cannot. I run a different set of shocks. I run like, I don't like nothing he likes. He don't like nothing I like. Of course, I drive with one foot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:32

So you know, every time I've driven your car, I've identified problems. You remember that? I drove it the one time. I said, man, you got a vibration, feels like a drive shaft. I wasn't wrong. Three laps later, the drive shaft falls out of it. Came in the one day, I said, it just steers hard. And you were like, Yeah, it's just the way I like it. Y'all backed it up to load up, puddle back to your boat. You're like, hey, Bram, I'm gonna stay away from my car if you don't mind. But look, look, look at the heartaches that I saved you, man. So if you just get me to just shake it down the last practice, I tell you everything's wrong with it, and you're all good to go. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:04

Yeah, that's not a bad idea. You know, I'm not I'm not big on, you know, wearing the fire suit all day and the whole thing anyway.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:11

Yeah, no, no. I don't mind getting in them for like three to five laps. My talent pool only goes about five laps, and I'm done. So yeah, maybe we can keep her out of the fence, man. So also, Billy, uh, you want to thank your sponsors, folks who have been helping you guys out for a while, folks you got coming on this year. I know you guys have got some some big stuff that y'all have done. I know that we unfortunately with the weather, we didn't get to do the clash. We had some big stuff going down for the clash, uh, but I know a lot of those partners are gonna stick with you throughout the year. So if you want to plug those guys while you're here, this is your chance, my man.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:38

Absolutely. I mean, we can't do it without the sponsor, but first and foremost, I gotta thank those guys in the shop every night. Yeah. You know, uh Trail and Gavin, you know, Brian Jr., Nate, Dominic, uh, Kyler, all those guys that show up at the shop every night, and you know, what can we do? What what what's next? You know, uh, we got Dylan back this year to help Nate. Um just so many of those guys that show up every week, and we can't do it without them. Um, but Privacy Fence Solutions, they've been good to Nate over the years. Uh they are again, they were on for the clash. Sure. And we've, you know, the clash deal. So Privacy Fence Solutions, Priority One Auto Sales, Priority One Group. Um, they're helping Nate out a little bit this year, also sponsoring Brian Jr.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:32

Dude, they got some bad to the bone trucks. If you haven't seen their stuff, man, they sell lifted dualies and all kinds of stuff. And what I was really surprised, they are very reasonably priced too. They got some really premium stuff up there.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:43

They've got some really, really nice stuff. Yeah. Um Micro Armor. Micro Armor, Bassett Wheels, uh, Swift Springs, William Baldwin, all of those guys. We, you know, they're not those are the the shocks and the you know, the carburetors and all that stuff. We can't do it without those guys either. But uh Coger plumbing, um Sykes Metal Roofing. Um Tree Service. Um I think that's about it.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:22

If you forget one, we'll we'll edit it back in, so it's okay. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:26

Right on there. And and of course, Brad at Volasson. You know, we help all we can.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:30

We we help all we can. I d I take uh I took ridicule over the uh the incident there with Nick and Nate. I was actually in California at a uh classic Volkswagen show that I attend most years when the night that that happened. And um, you know, I immediately get bashed because my decal's on the TV panel. They're like, Well, you're only chairing of this. I said, ma'am, I don't think that you read what I said. Even though I sponsor Nathan, I I actually favored Nick's feeling and emotion, can understand why he did what he did, this and uh, oh I didn't read it that way. So yeah, uh I I do take a lot of ridicule for that. And while we do help uh Billy and Nate and Brian with their program, I mean, uh you guys manage my race cars. So it's a it's kind of a win-win for both of us. It works out pretty nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:19

Well, and I, you know, you gotta be able to see it from the other guy's view, too. You know, I understand why he did what he did. I wish he had enough. I wouldn't want to do the things I want to do to him now. But right, you know, I just you know, I understand why, yeah, but at the same time, I don't actions have consequences.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:40

It is difficult to have a conversation with someone who doesn't have the ability to see another point of view, and it could be at an area where your group and the wall group may be at an impasse not being able to see each other's point of view. Would that be a fair statement?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:57

Well, no, I don't think so. I think the the big problem is I just don't like them.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:03

Okay, well, there you go. So there you go. Hey, you heard it here, not first, but that's okay, man. So awesome. Well, guys, look for uh Billy and his crew, all of his cars. If you guys are interested in the rental program, you put the number out there. Um, Eric, if you can, if you'll blast that number on the screen too, so folks can save that. A really good opportunity to come to one of NASCAR's oldest tracks, oldest weekly racing series track that they have and turn some laps where everybody from uh Richard Petty to Kyle Larson and everybody else is run could be a good opportunity to come check that out.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:34

And I've talked to some guys, you know, they just they want to try it out before they go spend$30,000,$40,000,$50,000 that it takes to purchase a car and a trailer and a truck and a crew and a you know, it's a big it's a big commitment.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:47

It's a big commitment. So yeah, I mean this is a great opportunity. I mean, uh didn't even know you were doing that program. So that was really good to hear that you guys are doing that. But uh Billy also does uh car maintenance, man. They do tire management, all that kind of stuff. You got the phone number. So if you're looking to do something great, Billy is your guy, longtime friend of mine. Uh man, his kids have worked for me, one of them full-time. Uh, just a good friend and great to have him on the show. Really appreciate all you're doing to support the kids and the growth of the sport there at Bowman Grain. Really appreciate you being on the show today.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:15

Yes, sir. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:16

Well, folks, that's gonna do it for another episode of Driving Fast and Taking Chances. If you guys need to find us online, you can always shop velocitad.com, the world's greatest safety equipment. If you don't believe it, just ask me. I'll tell you all about it. Showrooms in North Carolina and New York. We're here 24-7 online, velocitadash USA.com. Drive fast, take chances.