Rubbin'. Shuntin'. Bumpin': The world's best racing is in Texas

[MUSIC] You know in Texas racing is kind of a big deal I mean it, you can't go in any town and there not be a racetrack close by you know it's kinda. Something to do, something to have fun with, it's a redneck thing I guess is what you would say you know it's all in the South so I guess it's kind of culture, kinda. And, a lot of people see NASCAR on TV, and this like the step below it, kinda. So, they like okay, so we'll just go watch this, we can't go watch NASCAR. I think this is a lot of [LAUGH] sometimes I like to say it's a lot of pent-up aggression. I mean people come out. You, you sit in traffic all week. And, I mean you're constantly driving. So you come out to the racetrack, and there's, there's essentially out here no rules. I mean, you're driving, and you got guys running into each other. And I mean, you, you're just out here. They get to see people do the things that they wish they could do during the week while you're driving down the highway. I think that's a huge part of it. Well, I can't do it on the road. So when I get out here, you just get behind the wheel, and you just want to. Goes so fast, and sometimes it sucks because you're behind a slow car and you just wanna [LAUGH] ram it and go as fast as you can, but, I mean, being behind a race car, it's not a feeling like that. You get road rage, but here it's just when you're in control and you can make your moves, there's not really a feeling. It's, it's, it's a good feeling, it's nice. I love it when you bring new people out, to the track. [INAUDIBLE] they've never seen it before, like you guys. You'll be blown away, later on tonight when you see [INAUDIBLE], some of them will be like, oh this is so awesome, how come I never seen this before, you know? Just, and these guys, [INAUDIBLE]. Run these races, you know. None of them are professionals. We all have other jobs. We just do this on the weekends, work on the cars at night during the week and get them ready. And come racing on Saturday night just for the love of it. Yeah. You don't make any money doing this. And when you're driving a racecar on the track, it is you're driving. Being on the very edge all of the time. It's nothing like driving down the freeway. It's like driving down the freeway at bumper to bumper four lanes wide at 120 miles an hour. You can imagine how you would be kinda stressed out. Well, that's the stress level you have here. [MUSIC] I'm 43 years old. And for, for 41 years I've been at a race track. My dad and I have done this forever. He took me to the track I guess I was probably about a year and a half old. Obviously I don't remember what happened. But He raced. He went on to race for years and then he turned it over to me. I've raced for probably twelve, fifteen years and then I got in on the announcing side of it and it was when I was ready to step aside from racing so now I do the commentating and I found new life in one of these little cars. So you know, it's, I can't get away from it it seems like. You know, even after years and years of doing this the whole build up, getting ready to go get in the car. Tha, the, it's still a little nerve wracking. You, you still feel the nerves. Once you get in there and kinda, kinda cinch yourself in cuz you're so tightly affixed to the seat. You put all the safety harnesses on and the devices. I mean the nervousness goes away. I mean it's like, it's kind of like the baby mother's womb thing. You get in there it just grabs you in there, you block everything else out you go racing. It's awesome. You know it's a huge adrenaline rush. I mean I'm not gonna lie, I mean it's, most of us that do this we're pretty ego driven. I mean it's. You know? You really get a lot out of this. You're out here wheeling one of these things around at 100 miles an hour. You know, it's quite the rush. But honestly, a lot of it for me is this. I mean, talking about the sport. Keeping the sport alive. Dealing with the fans. I mean, I just love dealing with all of our race fans. We got the greatest race fans in the United States right here in Texas [MUSIC] And that's a huge part of it. That's why I love the crowd part, the announcing part, cuz I get to talk to those guys. I mean, they know me. We sit there. We have a conversation. When I'm working in the stands doing announcing, I'm just having, I'm just having a conversation with about 3,000 people. That's what it is to me. A lot of people joke around that you get it in your blood. And you just can't get away from it. And it's true, it's true. I mean it doesn't matter how mad you get at the race officials, another competitor, something bad happens here. I've quit so many times. But I'm here the next race. So it's really something, just getting, it just gets ingrained in you and you just don't know any different. We have quite a bit of power. We run a thousand PC Fuel injected motorcycle engines. They're very fun to drive, and they're very difficult because they're so quick, the handle is so quick to steer, such a short wheelbase. These cars you can work on yourself, they're very easy to handle. So most guys here don't have any pit crew as such. It's just a one man show. I'm not into football, basketball, anything else. It's racing, racing, that's all I do. Well, I started out way back in Iowa actually in 1964. That was a very new thing at that time in my hometown is to have. Multiple racing [INAUDIBLE] and the first car we had me and a couple other guys was such a piece of junk it, it was just it was right out of the junker and nobody knew anything about racing anything about doing anything it was it was comedy I guess you would say. [LAUGH] And I saw these I thought, no I think do that there. Well, I said I would do it for maybe five years. Well, that was going on my third five years plan. [LAUGH] [MUSIC] Well, I could tell you the wrecks draw people here. That's how I started cuz I actually live in Corpus but my dad races, too. So he got started by, we just went out and we saw all these cars wrecking. And it was fun. And so we started going out and he got his car and. When it was more like something to do like a hobby. You know, something to do on the weekends, something fun, speed. I've been racing for six years. This is my first year in this car. My other car was just get in and drive and go, and if you wreck it, that's okay. This one you have to, you know, go with everyone. Run and make sure everything's right because if one thing is off then the whole car is off. So, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work to do. Me and my dad work on it a lot. So, it's kind of a family thing. He races in the same class that I do. So it's kind of, let me keep up with dad or he's behind me, i'm in front of him all that stuff and work on it together, and it's kind of a family. Bonding experience kind of thing. I'd say if you like more speed and working on it and more hands, this cause is more fun. But, if you're not, if you're not really like, working on it all the time. You just want something just, like out of your garage and go. Then the Grand Sauce is fun. But this is a lot more, you get into it, you get more personal with it. Cuz you work on it all the time. Constantly something to do. You're tinkering. You're changing this, that. What works. What don't work. It's a lot of tinkering in this class. What gets me going is keep saying, well, I had this time this week. I wanna beat that time next week. And then I want to beat the time after that and after that and then keep, you know, getting better and better. And that's what keeps me in this class, is I just want to keep improving myself. Instead of, you know, everyone saying oh she can't do it because she's a girl. You know, the typical. So, I just wanna prove everyone wrong and prove myself every week and show everyone I can do it just as well as everyone else can. So, that's what keeps me in it. [MUSIC] Our dad's been doing it forever and. And we worked on his cars, and now he's finally got us mini stock. So now, we're finally racing. We've been coming out to this track since we were ten and changing tires and stuff when we were in high school and working on the cars when we were little, and now we were just itching for cars. Buy us a race car, buy us a race car! And then he finally did. So our uncle works on the car, and my mom's out. I'm here, too, so, I mean, not a lot of families get to see each other every weekend but we're out here doing this and it's a real family thing. It's a mini-stock class so it's a beginner class out here and people just, you know, take old Saturns and compact cars and you can just bring it out as-is, gut it and. Pretty much the only thing you change on it is tire pressures. And a little bit of tire [UNKNOWN] and stuff. But everything else is stock. So, it's fun. It's not really a whole lot of changing, but they. They can get pretty quick out here. The whole race was kind of, kind of crazy and. My sister was in front of me most of the race so it kinda, [LAUGH] kinda sucks, I didn't wanna see her go to the back but I ended up finishing second. That's the best I've done out here so it was really good. If I can't beat her I want her to win. But I would rather beat her. [LAUGH] So it's not really sister rivalry, I, I wanna see her do good, it sucks to see her go to the back. I wanna see her take out as many people as I can take out so. A lot of people that bring out here like. You're real into the fast noise and seeing cars get banged up and stuff. But, I mean, that is exciting. Working on it and just trying every little thing and to make it faster, especially on dad's car when you can change pressures and rings and shocks and just seeing it get faster and faster and faster. But, I mean, just being out here with my family, that's. The best thing. And I think a lot of these people they bring a lot of their families out too. And their, their kids get to see the little kids come out here and race too. So, their kids get into it and that becomes another family out here. So, I think it draws a lot of those people. [MUSIC] My names Logan Bearden. I race a NASCAR pro modified. It's an open wheeled race car. The normal is the laid model right next to us. Well we have an unlimited motor rule basically. We're allowed to run as much power as we want. The only thing that limits us is the eight inch tires. So you really have to balance the horsepower to the tire so you don't spin the tires on the straight away. They call it a 604 GM. Motor. But, it puts out around 550 horsepower stock, and then you're riled up. You have a little bit amount of patience, not much. It's supposed to be a spec engine. I've been racing for ten years now, since I was eight years old. My dad was actually a crew member out her, for a buddy of his. And I don't know, I just fell in love with it. And then, he told me if I kept my grades up in the third grade he would buy me a go kart. I was able to hold up the end of my deal, and he held up his. Motorsports has always been kind of big in Texas, but we never really had much of a track down here. We've had short tracks. The F1 track has really opened up for us, and is bringing a lot of attention. On this track, the 3/8th's of a mile track we're probably doing around a hundred on the straightaways. And there's the track at San Antonio and you're doing around a hundred and twenty on that one. It's a half mile. We ran the road course for a long time but I decided I wanted to do an oval and that's kind of what I wanted to pursue so I just, I didn't really take as much interest to the road course as I did. So the racing's different. You can get up, it's really clean and a lot of drivers have respect for each other. But you can beat and bang a little bit. You know, with the open wheel stuff like Indy or F1, you know you touch and the front wing comes off the car. I love winning. I wish I could get to do it more, but we kind of have some problems here lately that we're working out. I think we have a shot at it tonight. [MUSIC] Nascar Pro Track, we run on the 108 metric frame. It's pretty much stock components. Rear end, we can upgrade on the rear end. And we run a, pixel two crate motor. My dad used to drive in the, the late 70s. My godfather used to drive in the 80s. He started up again around 2000. So, just being around it again. Once, once we got out of high school, I knew I wanted to jump in one of these things. We do, regular full time jobs, 50, 60 hours, and then we come out here and do the fun stuff. Once the lights go out on the track and you get ready to go green. I mean, that, that just makes it all worth it right there. It just kinda don't even matter where you finish or where you started. Just, it's doing the race, that's what it's all about. It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on.