Episode 20 - Zack Staley

Episode 20 – Zack Staley

Street Stock Driver | Bowman Gray Stadium | Autism Awareness Advocate

In Episode 20, Brad sits down with Zack Staley, one of the most polarizing drivers at Bowman Gray Stadium. Known for his wild, no-holds-barred style, signature long beard, and unmistakable presence at the track, Zack has built a reputation as someone who’s always in the middle of the action.

But beyond the chaos, Zack is also a passionate advocate for autism awareness and getting kids involved in racing. Brad and Zack dive into the balance between his on-track persona and his off-track mission, what drives his love for the sport, and how he’s working to make a difference for the next generation.

From controversy to cause, this episode captures the full picture of one of Bowman Gray’s most talked-about drivers.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, Bad Brad right here with another great episode of Driving Fast Taking Chances, our buddy Zach Staley.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

I'm Zach Staley. I drive fast and take chances.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Today's episode brought to you by Jeff HillTrailersales.com. If you're in the market for a new trailer, whether it's custom sprint car, utility, open trailer, whatever it is, our buddy Jeff Hill is top shelf. We'll take premium care of you. Check them out online, Jeff HillTrailersales.com. If you don't know who Zach Staley is and you drive a race car, well, you've been under a rock for like the last five years. Zach Staley, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

It only took us, what, like six months to make this happen, but that's okay. We got you here, right? Yeah. For a guy, for a guy who technically doesn't have a job, you're the busiest guy that I know, but you hustle harder than anybody.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I saw um uh Corey from the stadium one time uh post. Somebody was talking about something that says, as sure as Zach Staley will have some cheap car for sale this week, this is gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

Every week, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yeah, absolutely, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Or we crush them.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

We crush, absolutely, man. So uh tell us a little bit about kind of your racing past. Everybody knows you for the uh excitement. I'm gonna just say uh you're probably one of the more passionate drivers at the stadium. I think that'd be a fair statement. I'd also say when you feel like you have been treated unfairly, your fuse may be gently shorter than others, and you are a little more animated. You're not afraid to let people know that you're upset. Would those be fair statements?

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Unfortunate.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

So for the folks who have seen you fly through windshields on flow and dash out through the infield and do all the fun stuff, uh, tell us who Zack Staley is behind the guy that we see on Saturday. Because when we're away from the racetrack, man, I've known you 30 years. That ain't the Zack Staley I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

I know. Damn.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yeah. So who's Zach Staley, man? Tell me who Zach is.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

A dummy.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Nah, I don't know that you're dumb. You're probably one of the smartest people I know. In fact, uh, you're an Eagle Scout.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

I am.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Not only are you an Eagle Scout, but there's some pieces that go with that. Tell me about your Eagle Scout.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Um, it's the first 14-year-old in North Carolina to earn it.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

Um, so obviously not a dummy.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Uh uh at an early age, uh I had to start racing. Um I don't know, just something I knew I wanted to do from going over to the racetrack, you know, as a younger kid. Um I got a I guess got my first taste with Joey Long.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Uh he was still driving a little Vega and I wasn't quite old enough. Uh, but they stuck me in that old step van he had.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Got one of those. Um, I guess that's where it started. That's when I knew I wanted to.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

So the bug bitch you when you were helping Joey. Yeah. And Joey's a good dude. I see him every now and then. He lives like literally two miles from the shop. He's right across the highway there. Yeah. I got a chance to race with Joey, because you know, in the 90s I had zero cars. I had a Pontiac Astri before the I had an Astri, which is a Vega with a Pontiac front end on it. It's just the same car. But Joey had a Vega. There was a handful of Vegas. Brent Weaver had a Vega, Clint had a Vega, I had an Astri. And uh that's how me and Jim Schoaf got to be buddies. We both had Pontiac Astries. Yeah, more aerodynamic, like it mattered back in the day. So you got started with Joey. When did you get your first race car and when did Zach first start racing?

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Well, I started go-karts right not long after the Joey going to the racetrack with Joey. Um my dad had died when I was younger. My mom had saved up some savings bonds with the money they give you. And um when I was 14, we went and bought a go-kart and a truck. And uh me and mom went racing. Got a couple sponsors, and then uh I guess my first car would be I got in some trouble, got sent away for a while, and the uh the race car is was given to me, chassis or whatever. Basically told me if I put it together and go racing. And uh I was on the curfew deal, so I had to work down there during the day on the car and didn't really know what it was doing. Got it all together. Uh we went to the stadium 2012, I think, 13, 12, 13.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

I knew it was after 2010. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

And uh got rookie of the year in the stadium stock division. And then uh that car uh got stolen uh out of the shop. We got another car, but we went got a car from Matt Hill and uh went to Sportsman, which was a nightmare. Um, but it was a learning experience. It was a curveball and made the best of that, got rid of it, couldn't afford it. Um then I don't know, man. I just had to do it again.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

You didn't really disappear, but you just weren't really there all the time. And then I remember, I guess, man, three, four years ago, man, you came back like with a vengeance. And then like, I mean, I've seen you up there with like four and five race cars, man. So what what what re-stimulated the fire or what what lit the fuse to get you to start coming back and and get serious about it?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

I don't know that doing good that first year and finishing good and won my first race and uh I didn't the first race I won, I won uh to a disqualification to the the guy who won the race and I I picked up the win, so it didn't really get the win, you know, like I wanted.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Right. Um got to take the trophy home, but the fans didn't get to see it. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah, it was it wasn't it wasn't the win. Sure. And uh then I then Steven, me and Steven Sanders uh I don't know, we got there I don't know, we got out there messing around. I got my own little house over there on uh 150 and we built a car and did decent with it, and then we built another car and we'd split the motor. We didn't have enough to do it both. And then uh I don't know, started trading around and the the hustle, I guess the hustle.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

I was gonna say, man, ain't nobody gonna beat on you about not being able to trade in the hustle. You know that I see that thing all the time. My man's gonna turn a paper clip into a thousand dollars. My money's on Zach Staley, dude, because I'm gonna tell you what, man, I have seen rich by no means. I have seen you polish turds more than anybody alive, man. And make stuff work that shouldn't work. So I mean, you know what? That's a skill, man. Anybody that ever beats something about that, they don't need it right now.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

I mean, even with the I got four cars, yeah, but I don't have four hundred thousand dollars to go spend on restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Every time I see you, your rollback's got something on it, you're headed to the bone yard, you're headed to the garage, man. You've picked something up, you've bought a deal, whatever it is.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

So sleep for the dead.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, there's been times I've called you and I'll be like, man, 2 30 in the morning, but hey bro, I'm I'm broken down. I'm on the way. I'm on the way. I'm like, were you asleep? You're like, man, I'm asleep. I'm on the way, man. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

The less sleep, the better I feel.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Well, I mean, some people work like that. So the last couple years, man, you've had you've been there. Um, Kyler got to race, your son got to race some, you've had other people, man. You actually had Mike Wallace's daughter in one of the cars. Chrissy drove some for you. You've had some rental programs going on. Give me kind of the whole feel of kind of what goes on there, man. Because, like, dude, you work uh there's 168 hours in a week. I'm convinced you work 167 of those. I don't know when you ever rest, when you see your wife, your kids, or any of that. How are you able to put all of that together and have four and five cars at the track every stinking week?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

It just happened, huh?

SPEAKER_01 8:09

It just I got good people that help me. I mean, I don't have a whole lot of help. Me and Travis do most of it, but you know, Billy helps us and all the kids and stuff. But for the most part, and the hardest part at the shop before it goes to setup and stuff, it's me and Travis. And uh, I don't know. I just if I get something that somebody else likes and I've got a little less in it and what it's worth, and I can get a motor for it for trade out, I'm that's how I've keep digging.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yeah. And all your cars kind of have that legendary smoking joe's kind of paint scheme deal. Where did that come from? I mean, obviously, we're in Winston-Salem, so I mean we're camel country, but I was born and born and raised my first 15 years, 14 years in Winston, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Um, I don't know, the we were sitting in the shop one night, and uh me and Trav was trying to come up with a t-shirt design, and uh I smoked Camel 99s. Yeah and uh I don't know that you know he was always that Jimmy Spencer was always the entertainer, you know. Um from Winston Salem, the camel, just everything, just we came up with a design and it worked, and uh I don't know, I still smoke my camels.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Yeah, I know man.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

That's uh they need to sponsor me by now.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

They probably should, man. They probably should. So uh let me a lot of folks don't know uh you are super involved in autism awareness. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

I think that's where it whenever me and Tara got together. I didn't really know a lot about it. She was uh we were just talking, you know, but it wasn't even talking like that. We were just friends through mutual people, but uh I had met Oliver.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

And that's her son.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yes, her son.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

And Oliver's how old now?

SPEAKER_01 9:55

He's 12. Okay. He was about a year and a half then. Yeah. And uh I didn't know what autism was, like a lot of other people.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Sure. And I don't even know that I'm all that familiar with I know what it kind of what it is, but not as deep as what you guys do.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

I'm still learning. Yeah. Yeah. We learn something new every day. Um I think that's what started the the want to do it at the racetrack more because there was times that when we did finally get together and we were going out to eat and stuff and doing things, and still to this day there's um we go somewhere and eat and they don't understand it and they don't know nothing about it.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

They just think your kids are being bad.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Right. Yeah. Like, you know, and I here I am not the one to to push the button and it and I've had to train myself to not do it and do it a different way. So the race car was the way for me to do it. But when you go out to eat and people don't mind their own business and they say something or it's hard because they don't know, and then when you try to explain to them, or if you do say something to them, it's a confrontation. Yeah. Um, so over the years I've uh tried to use the racing and my and everything, just basically everything I do to to raise awareness because there's still things that people don't know about it. And me and Josh was just talking earlier that they should come up with something uh for an adult or even people, anybody who has autism and some kind of way to let law law enforcement know, hey, if they're pulling this car over, there might be a non-compliant, they don't talk, they're non-verbal. Sure. They might have anger issues, they might, they they might not comply to your rules, they might not act like they can hear you, and they're not they're not doing that to avoid you, they're doing that because they don't know no better.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Right, they can't process it.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Right. Yeah so there then maybe there's some way that the government can come up with an idea to uh you know put it like some kind of holographic in their tag so that way if they know they're pulling that vehicle over, they need to get us some uh a trained officer out there that to deal with that situation.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

When we were kids, you remember the reflective thing, tots inside the kids for the fire department? Yeah, that's actually not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Even at your home, if you pull up your address, uh they pull 911 up, they automatically know hey, there's an autistic kid there, there's a special needs child there, something to warn them because there's been situations where kids had autism and they get angry. Oliver's one of those that has anger issues and he busts walls, holes in the walls, and he beats himself, he'll punch you. I mean, he's and he's getting bigger and stronger. Right. And you can't beat him up, you can't whoop him, you know. I mean he doesn't understand what's you just gotta take the beating until he's done and just kind of soothe him down. Yeah, but um the cop's not gonna do that, right? Yeah, you know, but if a trained uh officer is gonna know what was going on, he would know the situation.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Do you feel like it's really not necessarily as much autism awareness because I think we're all aware of it. Do you think it's more it's autism understanding and how to actually you know what I mean? Because I think a lot more people, especially nowadays, with uh especially the culture we're in where we're a lot more aware of things that we weren't you and I were kids, you know what I mean? Uh you know, I was a bad kid. Well, I wasn't a bad kid, yeah. I had ADD. Well, we didn't have ADD when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

ADHD.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Yeah, I was I was just a bad kid, so I got spanked a lot. Well, my grades were incredible. And what would happen? I'd get my schoolwork done, and I was just bored. So now that I'm bored, I'm gonna talk to my buddy Zach. And my buddy Zach's got ADD and he's gonna talk to me. And now we're both getting in trouble. And now we're troublemakers. Well, we both got a hundred on the test. We're both great in school, but we're bad kids because we're troublemakers, but they just didn't understand that. So I wonder if, you know, just I thought of that when you were saying that, man. I wonder if it's more autism understanding than awareness. I think sometimes we may be aware of a problem or something, but we might not understand the problem and maybe building that.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

So there's other there's other spectrums too, you know, there's there's kids that that can talk to you and have a conversation with you, no problem, you know. And you wouldn't even know it. Um, but there's also others that have other disabilities, you know. I mean, it ain't just autism around.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Absolutely. But it it seems like uh while autism has been around for a very long time, probably undiagnosed when we were kids, I think we're seeing more of it now than ever before because we understand a little bit more. I say we, the medical population understands a little bit more about it, and they're able to share with us, hey, this child is autistic, or he's got these tendencies, that kind of thing. So now you do some pretty special stuff with that. You guys do some fundraisers, y'all have done all kinds of crazy stuff. How do you how do you find the next thing? Like, how do you get those ideas? This episode brought to you by Jeff Hill Trailer Sales in Modoc, Indiana. Jeff Hill Trailer Sales.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. Because one thing you're not short of is ideas, man.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Just sit there.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

It just comes to you, huh?

SPEAKER_01 14:53

I mean, we'll like we just sit there and and think about different things and pick out a few things, and then we're like, man, this one sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Because we did the glove thing last year where we raised the money with the gloves. We did the puzzle pieces with the gloves, please. And we raised the money with that, and you guys donated money for that. Uh, the other thing that wanted the thing that is interesting, you have a cool program you do with children in t-shirts at the racetrack. Tell everybody about that. Most people would never believe this, but tell them what you do.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

All right, so uh I'll tell you how it started, maybe I guess. So the Bowman Gray, every year they have a truck that shoots out shirts. And the shirts that they shoot out are just leftovers.

unknown 15:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

They're 4X, 5X. The whole family could fit in one, you know. And those the only people that's chasing that truck is them kids. Yeah. I was one of those kids. I was one of the ones that got one of the ones that was too big. Um, so I don't know, over the years, as I was racing and I got better sponsors and we got more money to spend on different things. I took sponsor money every year and bought t-shirts and have them printed so I can give them the shirts away.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

So you can do what?

SPEAKER_01 15:58

So I can give them away?

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Give them away.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Yeah, for free? Yeah. No money. No money.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

So if a kid comes up with your car. How many shirts do you do?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

As many as many.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

How many have you done? What's the most you've done in one year?

SPEAKER_01 16:11

5,000 or something like that, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

That's crazy. So you're buying the shirt, paying to have it printed, and you're giving them away.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Giving them away.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Why would you do that?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Because that's what it's about. It ain't about winning the race, it ain't about being the most popular driver, it ain't about having the best car. It ain't none of that.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

And it's got taken away from that.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah. So uh it's pretty easy to see why uh the popularity contest and most popular driver things sort of heads your way, man. I mean, you're involved with the kids. And the kid the kids are what make it fun. You're exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

I mean, there's families that come over there and spend their money they don't have to get in the gate. They don't have the$25 to buy their kid a t-shirt. Sure. Uh so we're not gonna leave them out. We're not gonna leave the ones out that's got the money to get it either.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

And it's crazy when you walk through the grandstands, the number of little people, regardless. Their mom, mama could have on a Burt Meyer shirt, daddy could have on a Tim Brown shirt. If you see a kid in the stands, you can almost bet they guys accidentally shirt on, man. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Yeah. So yeah, that's uh that's a great deal. Are you uh you guys did a big deal with Winston Salem with the police department with uh some autism stuff, the car show?

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, they raised some money uh to give back to the Torch Run for the autism awareness. Uh and we don't need a set of gloves.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

But uh I think you wore them a couple races and autographed them.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah, but uh we didn't get to race with them, so I think I could suspend it. Gotcha. So we didn't really get to racing.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

So obviously you've got a big heart for this thing. You love the kids. Autism awareness. You just mentioned the S word. Suspended. Yeah. How many times have you been suspended now?

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Every year.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Every year. Why why are we getting suspended?

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Because I lose my cool, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 18:10

What uh what are what and everybody has their trigger? What do you think is the trigger that makes you lose your cool? I've known you for a very I've known you since you were a kid. And I've only rarely see you lose your cool outside of the racetrack. Again, I've known you for literally 30 plus years. We've been in mixed company where situations and things happened, and you may have spoke up, but you also realized, all right, man, that's you know it's a thing. It feels like it would seem like to race fans who don't know you, you just lose canon.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah, I'm a fucking idiot.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Yeah. But they don't really know you. You know what I mean? What is it about to racetrack? What is it about to race car? What changes when you get there, Zach? And here's what's crazy. So there was a night, an incident, and and it could be any number of, because there's been a few that unfortunately you've been involved in. And there was there was the exchange of some things, being back and forth with some other people, and this, that, and the other. And this is crazy. And I remember they were like, it was like a family down there with like four or five kids. And you were very animated. And I would be willing to say, uh, had situation been a little bit different, and the opportunity for you and that driver to go one five-minute round, you would have taken that opportunity right then. Those kids came up and wanted your autograph. And you went from Zack Staley loose canon, I'm gonna just take care of everybody right now. You stop and sign this kid's autograph, and it was like, man, it was the switch, it was that quick. It was literally like walking to a wall, off on, and you, oh hey, how y'all doing? I think one of the kids said something about sitting in a car or whatever, like that. You just made it happen, man, immediately. It's like it really is like there's two different people over there. And I get the passion because here's the thing about it you spend your resources on those race cars, time and money, right? Those are our resources. You've got three, four, five cars over there, your kids racing a car, you got a rental car program, you got other people over there, and when people mess with your stuff, I understand that you get upset. It appears to people who don't know you that you get a little more upset than the average guy.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

I work more than the average guy.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

I'd say you work a lot more than the average guy for sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Uh I respect my stuff a lot more than the average guy.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

How do we find that balance where Zach can come and race, not get suspended, express himself, but maybe not be as animated as you get sometimes. What is that catalyst? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 20:41

I've been working on it. I've been working on it. It's tough, man. It's tough to bite your tongue when you know you're right.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

A hundred percent. So, what do we uh what do we know about 2026? Are we gonna get to go race?

SPEAKER_01 20:57

As far as I know.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

The paper I got in the mail said 91 2025.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

So that would have been after the season was over.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

I told the gray, he said he didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to come back. I hope so. I mean, but if not, you know, I'll go get a different car for somewhere else.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

You've made some really cool flow highlight reels, which I'm sure you're probably not proud of. Um, but I wish, knowing you as long as I have, that people could see the other side of Zack Staley, could see the autism dad, could see the kids-friendly dad, could see all that. I think when we get to the racetrack, and one of the things that I used to hear my dad say all the time, my dad worked a Goodyear truck over there for many years before it was a Hoosier track, and uh they used to talk about Jimmy Johnson, sportsman driver, right?

unknown 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

I don't know how well you know Jimmy or if you ever had any dialogue with him. If you ever met or saw Jimmy Johnson away from the racetrack, I mean I think the Was a deacon in his church, just a great human. But man, he put that helmet on. He was the meanest guy on the racetrack. And it's like, wow, who is that? I heard um, oh my gosh. I can't, if maybe it was Jack Ingram, Butch Lindley, one of them guys from the old sportsman days say, Yeah, you watch that boy put his helmet on, and I swear it squeezes his brains out of his ears, man. And I thought about that, not beating on you, but the first time, uh, one of the first times that you kind of got really excited about stuff, I said, I believe it just squeezed Zach's brains out of his ears. Because I think the Zach Staley that I know, man. So and uh built up.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

It's just built up.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

I understand. And I have had some fun with some of your videos. So one of the ones you messaged me, you were like, dude, you're crazy, man. That reverse tomahawk kick. That was pretty, that was legendary right there. It was.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Yeah, and I mean it's only in velocity shoes.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Dude, and you've also been great for the arm gussets and the back guns. Nobody can flex a driving suit like Zach State. Am I wrong?

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Hey, anybody do it yet?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

You ain't tore the arm gussets out, you ain't tore the crotch, and nobody has been quite as acrobatic. Velocity USA, the world's greatest driving suit, lighter, faster, and better than what you're wearing. Suits, gloves, shoots, helmets, head and neck restraints, 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 boosts at virtually every barrel race in America. Check them out online, RocketDash Donkey.com. Hey guys, this 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 easysponsorships.com and learn from the super sponsor man, Claude Haggerty. He will show you how to find money to go racing. And nobody has been quite as acrobatic. I will say, Gerald, remember the night that he got slammed off the roof of the car and took flight upside down? He is a close second to acrobatic maneuvers in that. Do you remember uh years ago, Derek Stoltz and John Holliman got into uh fist fight at Saturday morning practice? Did you ever see the narration I did of that video? Derek was wearing her suit and I was talking about if you'll notice Derek's left hook, the garb's gonna get him. So yeah, man. I mean, you know, the suits have got to be flexible for all kinds of stuff. But I've also seen you in your suit, like literally working on other people's cars. I've seen you out there helping Jimmy Brown, grabbing the blower, doing that kind of stuff. At the end of the day, if people don't realize it, Zach Staley's not a bad guy. Zach Staley has a bad temper.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

I do.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

I mean, that's that's really what we're gonna, I don't just talk shit.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

No, you know, it's funny. Brian Sykes senior and I were talking one day, and uh it was after I think it was your most recent suspension. And uh he goes, Man, have you ever been on vacation with Zach? I said, No. He said, How long have you known him? I said, Man, I've known Zach since he was like 10. I mean, I've known Zach since he was little. And he goes, How many times have you ever seen him act like that not at the racetrack? Well I know one other time that something physical happened, but it was well warranted when you were a teenager. It was well warranted. And anybody in the same situation would have happened also. I said, But man, we all got in fights in high school, we all got in fights at you know, at a cookout, which we didn't have a cookout, we were kids, but you know, the local drive-in, whatever. I said, But it's not like he was out there starting trouble. Trouble found him. He took care of it. You know what I mean? But I said, never. It's just it's not what I see. He goes, I'm telling you, man, we've been to bike week with him and his wife, we've been here with him, we've rode here, we've done that. That ain't the same Zach Staley. I said, I agree. I've literally watched the dude grow up. I don't see that. He said, But bro, isn't this Brian? And I Brian, if I'm throwing you in the bus, sorry. He said, Man, he gets in a racetrack, he's an idiot. I'm like, Yeah, he does get kind of jacked up, don't he, man?

SPEAKER_01 26:11

So I don't know, that's my I work for that. Yeah. I mean, I live for that. I I do everything I do to buy race cars to do that.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Yeah. No, no, I get you.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

For free.

SPEAKER_00 26:23

So we got the season coming up. You guys are planning on going back racing. How many cars are we taking to the track this year? As of right now.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Me.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Just you.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Yeah, I've got cars, but they're all for me.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

I want this is this is the last year I'm gonna do it if I can't be competitive. It just ain't worth it no more.

SPEAKER_00 26:40

Street sportsmen, what are we gonna do?

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Street stuff.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Okay. You got all your stuff ready for that.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

So it's all this it's all the same, so I don't know. I just feel like if last year we took the sponsor money for the seven car and distributed it through the rest of them to make decent cars for me, my son, and my other son to all run together.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Y'all had the five car, the six car, the seven car, and the eight car. Did you have a nine-car too?

SPEAKER_01 27:05

No, we had six, seven, eight, and oh nine.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

But uh Braden ran the O nine, Kylie ran the eight. And uh it just didn't that first accident really hurt us. Yeah. And then it when I had to take the car for Braden because I felt like that the sponsor sponsored me and the money was all but for me, not for them. I didn't want to let the sponsors down by letting him run, so I run. And then it just turned into an argument and he didn't want to do it anymore.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Sure. Racing with your kids is tough. I drove for I drove for my dad when I was a kid, and when I was about 18, 19 years old, we realized we are not good business partners. So I had to kind of go do my own thing, and honestly, I learned a lot from that. I did drive for dad one time in 2000, 2001, wasn't right around there. But otherwise, honestly, he's my dad. I love him because he's my dad, but unfortunately, we just we don't work well together, you know what I mean? And sometimes that happens.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

And that's kind of I guess me and Braden, he just ain't I can't be around somebody don't have the same ambitions. I don't know. He just we don't see same eye to eye. He wants to go home and sit back and put his feet up and I can and then talk about how nice it is to have stuff. I don't I want that stuff, I'm gonna go get it.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

It's not gonna come to me.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

And everybody everybody's not attached the same though, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 28:26

I just he just don't have the same I don't know. Kyler does, he just don't he didn't help me much in the shop as he needed to, and I can't afford to to pay for us both to be competitive up front and uh he's gonna have to get his own sponsors. That's the only way he knows what to do. I mean, if the car's there, all he's gotta do is get sponsors, but that car don't pay for itself. Right. We don't get what a hundred and what's that? I don't even know how much it is to win a race.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

But it ain't a whole lot, man.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Yeah, you know, there's definitely more of that to get there.

SPEAKER_00 29:01

You'll say you can't go racing for that anymore. So so what uh so just this year it's just gonna be you all together, gonna go or be competitive, try to win a championship, I'm sure. Yeah. Uh will the kids' t-shirt program be on again this year?

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Yeah, every year. Absolutely. Every time I'm at a racetrack, it don't matter if I'm there or anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Anything we have planned coming up for autism this year, have you guys got anything in the hopper for that right now?

SPEAKER_01 29:20

We're gonna go to all the same schools we go to every year and let all the kids, better need kids, sign the car and anything else that comes up.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Yeah, that's something else you guys do. You actually allow the kids to come down and sign the car.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

So I mean, like how many schools? How many hundreds of signatures are on those bottles? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Thousands.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

So you you got Sharpie markers, let them come down and do it.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

Yeah, we buy a big box of markers and they just sign wherever they want to. Some year they sign them on the on the windshield, and then we just left it and drove through it.

SPEAKER_00 29:47

That's awesome. So you've obviously been the center of some controversy over there. You've obviously been the center of some really good things over there. If there was something that you could change, one thing only, about racing in general at Bowman Gray, what would it be? If you had one thing. 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. BassettWheels.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 we gave you the magic wand and said, Zach, you can change one thing, what would it be? It's a tough one. There's too many things to do. It's hard. I ask racers that all the time. It's uh you know, it's hard to come up with that. When it's all said and done, Zach Staley's not racing anymore. What do you want people to remember about you, most of all?

SPEAKER_01 31:24

I don't want them to remember me. I wanted them to just do things to help others. We don't all get here by ourselves. We gotta take care of the other people. That's the most important part. At the end of the day, we're all humans. We all got feelings.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

So, uh who do we have helping us as years on the thank you before we let you go?

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Uh LenderMom.com, Jamie Hart. Um if y'all are looking for a a a mortgage company, she's the she's the go-to. She'll get you hooked up. Guaranteed. Um Privacy Fence Solutions. And uh so far that's it.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

I gotcha. I'm sure because there's never a panel left on the car, so it'll be It'll be the last minute stuff.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

It always is.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

It'll be uh it'll be full come race season for sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

I guess everybody's still kind of scared that I might not get the race. No, but if it happens like that, I'll just go buy a limited car and we'll go travel.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

There you go. Absolutely. The great thing about where we are is lots of opportunities, man. Ace Speedway is right down the road, caraway's down the road, Hickory's Tri-County, Florence is not really that far.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Great place to like that place.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Yeah, they do a good job. They do a good job. Tri-County's beautiful too, since they redid all the stuff up there.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Never been there.

SPEAKER_00 32:46

Man, state of the art, man. Shannon, those guys have done wow. It is breathtaking, man. It's nicer than it needs to be. It really is. It's good stuff up there, man. Well, Zach, we do appreciate you coming out, man. I know it took a little while for us to finally get you on the show, man. Really glad you came out. Hope you guys can really take a look and see who Zach Staley really is, man. This is the Zach Staley that I know, man. I know that short fuse is there, man. Hopefully, uh you guys have worked on that. And uh we all know well, we all know there's gonna be some adversity this year, man. Hopefully, as you've grown.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

Maybe I can just stay over in my corner and man.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

I hope you can too. I hope you can too. So awesome, man.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

I'm gonna have to. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

Well, if not, the S word might show back up. You know what I mean? So you ain't scared to be suspended though, are you?

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Um yeah, I am because I don't want I want to freaking race. You want to race? Yes. That's my getaway. They don't understand that. So 20 minutes, I get to do nothing but free, be free as a bird. Yeah. No bills, no wife, no kids, no problems, no, no nothing. It's free.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Yeah, you know, Tommy Neal said something like that too. I asked Tommy, I said, Tommy, how long you gonna race? And he said, uh, you know, man, I don't really know. He said, but it's my only time, same thing. I don't have to worry about my business, I don't have to worry about my kids, my wife, my nothing. He said, for 20, 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

All I gotta do is worry about getting through here and yeah, doing my thing, man.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

So that absolutely makes sense. It's a great escape, for sure, man. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Nobody, nobody feels that feeling.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

No, man. No, and that's the thing is I think for people who don't do what we do in theory, and people that have never understand, they don't understand. They will never understand. You can and you can't explain it. You cannot explain it to somebody that's never done it, how you can truly have that escape and kind of get away. I know you also ride motorcycles. I know there's a freedom with the motorcycles, especially when you get out there ride by yourself. It's not, it gives you a little taste, a little touch of it. It's a little more accessible because you can go out there and jump on your motorcycle right now and go do your thing. You can't go jump in the race car. However, I have seen you on the street in your race car. Uh you can't, you're not really supposed to go do that. It's some level of escape. You know what? Some guys have fishing, some guys have golf, some guys have hunting. We have automobile racing. That's our escape. That's our thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Yeah. I enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Absolutely, man. Well, Zach, thanks a lot for coming on the show. Guys, uh, Balmagray season is just around the corner, man. I know we talk a lot about Baumagray and our shows nationwide. Uh, we've even got some great fans over in uh Canada and some of the other places. But I'm telling you, man, Flow Sports is gonna have all of the highlights, all the excitement, all the reels. We go racing in April. Zach Staley is gonna be back for another season and another round of excitement. Maybe we'll see if we can make it a whole season with no suspension.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

We're going to make it a whole season.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Whole season.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Hey, you heard it here first. We're gonna make it a whole season. Even if I have to pack my shit up and go home without to not have to fight with them and come back next week and restart over. That's what's gonna happen, I promise. So we'll uh have no problem done to me.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Zach's hitting the reset button.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

If they still if I if the shit gets out of hand on the racetrack on the as far as the cheating wise, I'm just gonna beat them.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

There you go. There you go, man. Well, Zach sounds like you got a good plan. Uh, folks, that'll do it for this week's episode of Driving Fast and Taking Chances. If you're in the market for a new fire suit, helmet, glove shoes, head next strain to some made crew apparel, velocity.com, velocity-usa.com has got you covered. Give us a call, 336-764-8502. Drive fast, take chances.