In the sport of auto racing, going fast and winning is a straight forward goal. But achieving that goal is a million step team effort each time. Listen in on a fun and open conversation with Topcon sponsored professional driver, James Roe, Jr.
Kara Matsune and Oscar Cantu discuss with James what it takes to enter and thrive the highly competitive sport of auto racing. We get the answers you want to know at the end with a rapid fire Q & A session that you wont want to miss.
To find out more about Topcon's partnership with James, please visit: https://www.topconpositioning.com/james-roe-jr
In the sport of auto racing, going fast and winning is a straight forward goal. But achieving that goal is a million step team effort each time. Listen in on a fun and open conversation with Topcon sponsored professional driver, James Roe, Jr.
Kara Matsune and Oscar Cantu discuss with James what it takes to enter and thrive the highly competitive sport of auto racing. We get the answers you want to know at the end with a rapid fire Q & A session that you wont want to miss.
To find out more about Topcon's partnership with James, please visit: https://www.topconpositioning.com/james-roe-jr
All right. Welcome to a Topcon talks, construction podcast session. Um, my name is Oscar I'm with Topcon. I'd like to introduce my friends that will be with us in this session. Um, our friend, Kara, I Kara, I asked her how's it going? Doing well, and, uh, you're a good friend. Uh, joining us today is our friend James Rowe, Jr. Hey James. Hey Oscar. How are ya? Hey car.
Speaker 2:Hello, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think this is for all of us getting together on a, on such short notice and to put together a fun session. I, this is going to be a good one. I have a pretty good feeling about it. And, um, we're here today to talk about, um, multiple things, the free conversation among all of us. Kara, can you tell us a little bit about what you're thinking about today's podcast?
Speaker 2:I'm really excited to be joining you guys. I've obviously been listening to all of the top con talks, construction, um, episodes, and, um, I'm really excited to be part of one. So, um, just a little bit of background about BI I've been working with James, um, since 2019, since the beginning of our, his partnership with Topcon and it's, it's been a wild ride, um, from the very beginning for me, at least getting to understand what racing is and in all of its entirety, I was had no idea what I was getting myself into, I guess. And then, um, last year with the pandemic and everything, and not being able to go to a race, we're really excited to kind of kick things off this year and it's been a journey for sure. So, um, yeah, moving on our third year of, of partnership together and it's been, it's really exciting. James, do you want to tell us a little bit about you before we get started and start asking you some questions?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So, yeah. Thank you guys for having me on today. Super excited about this. Obviously we've been following the top gun talks podcast for awhile now and find it super interesting. So to be on it now is, is, is pretty cool. And yeah, um, James Rowe, a 22 year old professional racing driver from Ireland and proudly partnered with Topcon for last three years, as you mentioned, Cora, uh, something that, um, I'm very proud of because it's, it's been a rotation, does being grown over the last number of years. You know, it's not as if we just came on to scene two to this level. It's something that we started off at three years ago and builds on it every year. And now here we are, and to have tough gon come with me for three years straight and be a huge part of my program is, is very unique in, in, in this world. And also I've only been racing for six years. So you could say for 50% of my career, top gun is being a partner, which is quite unique, um, on that point alone. So it's very exciting. There's a lot of things happening right now, which, which I'm sure we're going to touch on in the podcasts and, you know, for us to be, as I say, going on the Indy car package together, I think is, is the most exciting thing it's, it's dependent of us motor on to be doing it together is, um, very, very cool. So I'm looking forward to a talk about a farther into podcasts. I'm having some fun with you guys.
Speaker 1:Well, I think for the listeners, James, the first thing I would want to know, um, I think a lot of people listening would, might have a pretty good idea of who Topcon is and what Topcon does and the industry, but, uh, about yourself, James, um, you said you've been racing for six years, so w what, uh, how did things start if you could give us a quick summary, how you got into racing and up to now?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, I started racing at 15 years of age in Ireland, which is very, very late for your average indie car or from low-end drive. If you will, they all start go-karting at maybe four or five years of age. So the trend was very, very different with me. Um, family's always been involved in motor sport. My uncle was a professional race driver back in the eighties and nineties. He'd done on Japanese sports cars, Daytona, uh, indie 500, all the, the usual stuff at a high level. So not Sri growing up. I had an interest in motor sport from his, his career and his, his, his standpoint. Um, my grandfather raised back in Ireland and stuff. And then the family business in Ireland is, uh, is a motor repair shop. So since I could walk, I've been around cars and around the family shop, uh, with motor sports, not the cheapest sport in the world. Unfortunately you don't go out and buy yourself a pair of boots on a way you go. It's, uh, a lot of diff different things that got to come together to, to go motor racing, whether it's car engineers, mechanics, hollers, crew tires, engines, the list goes on and on and on. So for the cost factor, we just couldn't get involved whilst I wanted to growing up, um, always wanted to get into it as I said. So the deal was that my uncle and dad basically turned around and said, well, look, uh, we'll run you. We'll we'll we look after we have the family shop here with all the tools and the equipment and Swan support and the knowledge, and then your uncle kind of coach you and engineered a car and everything in between. He's done it all, but you gotta buy your, your race car. So at this time I'm 12 years of age. Um, my dad and uncle just told me you gotta buy a race car.
Speaker 1:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:Oh, I basically just, um, went and started working every hour that I could wear that was after school, summer holidays, weekends, you name it, uh, doing different stuff in, in my area, 90% of it around cars. And, uh, eventually got the money to get her when I was 14 years of age. So it took me two years and then bought the race car. I went to race when I was 15. So a very unique story on how I, how I came into it and I'm quite different. And then, you know, it was my first race at a local track in Ireland. Uh, the series called Janetta juniors. It's a class for 14 to 17 year olds, and I never raced before. So we said, okay, let's just go have fun and see what happens. But the first race were on the podium and then naturally we're like, okay, we got to take this a little more serious. There's, there's something here we have to utilize the first year. We just, we just went and had fun. And then the second year I spent in, in Ireland again, and we had a number of wins and podiums and pole positions and lap records that year, and then went to the UK for two years in a class called formula Ford 1600, which is the entry level into single Cedar open wheel racing, which is what I'm in right now. Again, two years there would, would wins and up records. And, uh, then in 2018, I always had in my head, you know, a goal that I wanted to come to America, don't ask me why my family were out here many years ago. Uh, my uncle was either here, as I said, for a phrase career, but no one ever said, okay, you got to go to America. I just wanted to, for whatever reason, hadn't even been to America at this stage, you know, I was never into country. So throughout all my racing, as, as a youth in Ireland, both in heart and under the UK, the dealer, as well as you got to finish school, you know, I was getting that stage a race and was going well. I was away from school a lot. So I was starting to like, let some hints after school might be for me, you know, I don't want to get after his racing career, but the deal was with my family that, okay, you got to get past school and at least have some sort of, of, um, qualification or papers. So I got, um, got through school. And then once I finished school at 18 years of age in Ireland, I said, okay, that's it. I said, next up America. And, um, came out here in 2018 to compete in a champion scholar called after thousands with a team out of Wisconsin who were new to the championship, how to seed available. But again, it was a unique scenario where it was on a race by race performance deal is what it was called. So I didn't have a year contract. I just, we, we were going on a race by race dealer. If you perform, we're going to bring you again. And just because it was on that type of a contract, it was, it was a major deal. Things subsidized. So literally, yeah, well they're really sustained myself. You know, only racing to make a point, prove myself. I was new to America. James rode his kid from Ireland who was a, you know, big country. Um, so it was a, it was a big, big experience. I left Ireland, as I said, 18, never been to America, never lived by myself, packed. My bags, went to Dublin. Airport, landed in Chicago. Um, as I even remember when the plane landed and remember, I come from Ireland, there's 4 million people. It's an Island North, South, East, West four hours. That's it on the plane, landed in Chicago and was like a 15 minute, 20 minute taxi to the gate. I'm jeez, this place is huge. This is just my here. Um, and yeah, I remember I arrived and then just went and met the team, figured everything out for myself. And thankfully that year it went very well with, um, wins podiums and opera records. And after that, I was in, so that was the key to what sparked everything here in the States, because that year was so crucial. The first year on the ground, you got to hit the ground running and it paid off. And then following year I got a scholarship from, um, Leejay who are the manufactured performance, three cars here in North America to go and do ways, but a bit of support from Honda Angie manufacturer on when to donation. And thanks for that year, we had a win out of road America, and that was the first year that top gun came on board. So it was the first year of the top comp partnership and also my first year at a professional level. So after I was in the form of three, was the switch from like, semipro assess, I'm mature to professional. And, um, yeah, the rest, the rest is really history have done a second year. And I have three last year was a very, very tough year, but learned a huge amount. A lot of guys came back down from Indy lights, which is level below car. So we're at the right end, degrading and got through it. I'm a lot better off because of it. And the now here we are ready to do in prototype thousand. Um, in 2021 on the Indy car pack is your official support series to Indy car. And to have top gun onboard, once again is, is really, really exciting. You know, it's, it's something that, as I said at the start, that I'm proud of every step of the way Topcon's mean there. Um, that's something for me is a huge, a huge, huge thing. You know, it's pretty much what we rely on as drivers or as teams is to have partners involved who are committed to programs and see value in it and to be doing a with, with a company like Topcon's extremely, extremely exciting.
Speaker 1:So in listening to you say that it reminds me of a very old saying and racing that if you want to make$2 million in racing, start with$4 million, very, very experiment, right. It is. And, and what I've also heard in your story there, or what you were mentioning a little bit of luck, right? A little bit of luck of a seat to be available in that team that you mentioned in the beginning, but then after luck, it's about results. It really is about results. Like you said, the lap speed records and a few podium finishes, then it's not just good friends and relationships it's results. And it sounds like your results have brought you up to where you are. So that's fantastic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, absolutely. It's, it's, it's a results based business, you know, there's, it's probably the only it's, it's, it's a sport sport and sport in general, but motor sport in particular, where it's a driver on a car, every session, there's a results sheet, you know, every practice session, there's results sheets, every test daters, there's those sheets, there's data, there's onboard videos. So every second that we are on track or in that car, you're being scrutinized, you know, everything's being analyzed by data engineers or performance engineers. You yourself are analyzing it. If spotters on track, you have a result sheet printed off at the end of every session, everyone around the globe can see that results sheet and so on and so forth. So it's, it'd be like, uh, you know, saying to someone in an office or a big job, every 30 minutes, we're going to print off just what you're doing and see where you stack up to your competitors and right. It's just insane that, so to, to my point being results-based, it's about resilience and that's the bottom line. So then the thing is, okay, well, how would you get those results? How do you achieve this? And it's always, you're always in a pressure cooker because it's a results based business. You know, there's never a, there's no such thing as an off day or Hey, I'm, you know, I was out last night, I'm tired. I'm going to take it easy this morning and we'll have a slow start to the day. Like there's no, no such thing. So that's what makes it Dysport that it is. And I think that's where a lot of it ties into high-performing businesses because business people at the end of the day are results driven. You know, you've big companies out there and end of every year and every quarter or every month, whatever it is, whatever language they speak and they look at results, okay, where are our sales for our costs, but where things go and you know, how are stocks doing so really Motorsport sport on sports, but specifically motor sport, because every session is broadcasted to the, to the globe. It there's a huge amount of mindset or crossovers that can be brought into the business world to get those high achievers. So that's, that to me is, is, is what makes it exciting when it comes to partnerships because you get a high achievement company like Topcon or a company that's always been performing year in, year out and constantly growing. And I can see that mindset, or when I speak to, you know, Ray, Ray, O'Connor CEO, top gun, and he's talking about quarters and resilience, I'm pushing an idea Cheevers and performances and stocks. It sounds crazy initially. But then when I stepped back and think about his, his Todd process, it's results space, and that's how I think, or any, any driver thing. So it's, it's amazing, you know, we could, we could sit here for, for hours and really just think about the crossovers and the parallel is phenomenal. Yeah. It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1:Respect is I was thinking of from a crew perspective, if I was on your team that one of the car engineers and physics and mechanics are just what they are. In other words, this car is not as fast as the competition. It's not, it is physically not. However we've got James behind the wheel and we know that this driver can get more out of that car than maybe what it can do. So not all cars are equal that our drivers are equal. And I think I've always thought of the same with race car drivers. You're going to have some that are going to get that little bit extra out of the car and it may not even. Yeah,
Speaker 3:Yeah, no. And that's, that's something that as you move up the ladder that's required more and more. So the championship that I'm in this year is the toughest championship. I've, I've been in to date. There's 17 drivers. And I am so far for the first round, the entry sheet, can I last night between us all? There's like, I think 183 open-wheel wins. So there's a huge amount of talented guys together. And as you go up, that number is just going to get bigger. You're right. Your level has to go up every year. So the way in which we look at it, um, as drivers is, yes, we're all given the, the same package, the same card, the same engine, the same dumpers and the same tires and so on, so forth. So it comes down to me as a driver, my performance engineer on the crew, around it to come up with the best possible package to put on that racetrack on that given day, and then sound to me as a driver to get the most out of that package of what it's capable of. But if it's not capable of being on pole position or winning races, I have to give feedback to the engineer or the team. Okay, what does it need? Does it need, you know, I won't get too tactical, but drive in terms, what does it need more front and grip doesn't need more rear grip. Do we need to change the spring rates in the car? The way you transfer, it's all physics at the end of the day, as you said, weight transfer and you four tires on an engine on the steering wheel. And you could say it's as simple as op, which is a lot of the things that come in between two to get the most out of it on naturally, as I say, when you're going up a level and, and the guys that you're competing against are on a higher level, your game has to come up with that because they are on that, they're on that the whole time. And, uh, that's where it becomes interesting. And that's where the reward comes from. Um, and yeah, to your point of the good guys, get that lap out of it. That's not necessary necessarily. There is exactly right. That's the difference between, you know, if you have a car that's two or three tenths of a second off, the pace is what we deal in 10 seconds. And motor sport are really, really good guy for one lap may be able to just do something that probably isn't really physically possible or is obsolete in his world to get that extra bit out of it. So, you know, for, for us as drivers, there's certain areas on tracks where it's so high speed there's the risk reward is, is far much of a risk factor to under reward factor. But for one lap you got absolutely, as we can say, send it and just go for it on hope to get that bit out of it. And, um, that's where the, the nerves come in and that's where the, the differences in drivers. And, um, that's just what a hospital and it's, it's an uncomfortable stage that you're in. It's a state where you're arriving at a corner, maybe flat out in sixth gear, dune, I don't know, 180 200 miles an hour might be two 20. Um, there's a wall in front of you and your mindset. And, you know, not as not good, if you put, you've got to just stay on it and get through it. And hopefully you gain up that little bit of time that you're looking for, but you can't do that every lap. And that's the difference. If you do that on a one-off lap, that's the difference between being, um, polled or under front row or being, um, down the down to field, if your package isn't up to it. So
Speaker 2:Do you feel like the drivers who started at a younger age, as you mentioned, like some most drivers start between the ages of like four and five and you didn't start until you were 15. I mean, the number of years of experience that other drivers potentially have to get to know cars to understand those like little tiny things that can make the second difference between pole position and the next position down, you know, what do you feel like that has a huge impact on your current career and like your trajectory?
Speaker 3:Uh, you know, it's, it's, it's certainly something that has to be taken into consideration, but I think you get to a certain level. Um, and then there's such small margins. So yes, the, we deal with like 1% it's across the board. When you get to a certain level, there's no more big gains in any area. It's like 1% here, 1% there, maybe half a percent here, and hopefully you get an 8% gain on your opposition and that's, that's the way that you use when you get to certain levels. So, yeah. Okay. You know, the first three years, everything was great wins, lap records, podiums. Then you come to a certain level and you're at a really high level. So those big chunks are very, very subtle to see. Um, and of course being more experienced in anything, whether it's motor racing or whether it's business or whether it's whatever your, your industry or sport is. Um, whether it's drive on a dozer or a Digger, you know, if you're driving one 15 years or you're driving one, five years, the guy who's been driving a 15 years has probably seen more things than the guy who's been driving a five years, but that's not to say over the course of a given day that that guy is going to be any better. It's just in certain scenarios, the guy who's been at it for 15 years may have seen one or two things. And he, and he learned from his mistakes. Whereas the guy who's just been added for five years is kind of thinking on his feet and just going with what he naturally thinks is right. So experience[inaudible] experience and to your point or your question, it's, there are certain times, yes. For where it is a difference, but it's not seen every day. Um, so like me going into this championship, I'm not saying, I'm going to race in five or six years. We're done, you know, don't, he might as well not show up. It's I know it's going to be a task. I know there's going to be days or sessions or certain conditions where it's going to be new to me. Like I've never raced on an oval. We've two oval races this year. I never raced in street. Right. So we got really two straight races coming up this year. So me going into those weekends, I have to be like an open book and taking everything in and put myself in a position with good people. Who've been in those environments before and just feed off their information. So yes, we're going to be at a disadvantage on paper, but I think as a, not as a competitive person or as someone who you got to believe in yourself and know that, okay, we're able for days and just get offered, it might not be ideal, but you gotta, you gotta start swimming someday. Let's see. Uh, let's see how it goes.
Speaker 2:Totally. Do you have the ability and after you practice before the race, or do you show
Speaker 3:The helmet and go for it? So we got test sessions and practice sessions at each event. And that's say Barbara, which is round one this year. Uh, we have a lot of track time on days prior to it, but then you go to St. Petersburg as a street race, right in the middle of downtown St. Pete. So it's city is closed off for three day window. So to track, time is far less, uh, we got one 30 minute practice session on the Friday morning and then bumped straight into qualifying time to get on with it. So, um, that's amazing to think about that. You go out there pretty much know what the terms are, then go for it. We walked and we walked the track and look out for, you know, uh, well I'm scraps in the roads, comers surface changes, uh, areas where there's
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's I say, how do you prep for each one of those races? Then if you have like the oval and then the row, and then there's just regular track. Is your prep different for each one? How do you, if you can't get on the track, like you can for barber, how do you even gauge? Yeah, no, I know exactly what you're saying. Where are you, where are you going to turn? And when you're second, you're going to turn your wheel and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's a, it's a good question. And it's something that, um, is a lot, a lot of it's about mindset. So, you know, a barber, I know the track, everyone in America knows which way the track goes and the surface has been the same for the last year or two years. So anyone who's been in the industry knows it. And, um, the set ups are all pretty much similar and we know what to do. So we go there and it's repetition and we're fine tune little bits, but then you come to a track like St. Pete, and we kind of get on it as, as I said. So all of that week, prior to it, we watched an onboard videos from last year and the year prior of the teams car that drove over there, or other videos that are online or other guys have offered to us to watch and try and study certain things. But that's not a given because it's a street circuit it's temporary and altered every year. You know, that manhole cover might be moved or that, um, dip in the road might've been filled by the St. Pete council, like two months ago. So everything's constantly evolving. So we prepare ourselves as best we can. From an on-board standpoint, we do some simulation, the, uh, my own simulator here, here at home, which is like a
Speaker 2:Intense version of Mario kart,
Speaker 3:An expensive version of that. But, um, yeah, so we, we use it, um, there's online servers that, that supply to racetracks, which are scanned, which may tie into a top gun conversation later down the line, um, of SCADA, racetracks that are submitted online and they create an online version of it. So we compete on them just to get field for it, which is not ideal. But again, it's just like repetition. You're taking everything in and then you get to the race event and, um, you walk the race track, you take it all in, and it's very quick pace. You know, you've got to process information quickly because you walk it maybe on a Thursday evening, Friday morning, you're on that track and you start things in. So then you get into the mind, mind frame, switch of the way in which you approach a street. Race is very, very different the way in which you approach a road course race because in a street course, literally on corner entry to the concrete wall on your side and at the apex, there's a concrete wall and exit. There's a concrete wall. It concrete wall is a Holy round history. Um, so how you build up to that race weekend is, is completely different than, as I said, a barber where, you know, what's there, you know what to expect. There's runoff, there's exit curves. You can make a little mistake and your time to react the same piece. You make a mistake here in the wall. Session's over
Speaker 1:Many of the races I've been listened to. They'll have the last five laps of the race. There's a full second between first and second place. The leaders in the front. This is it, right. It looks like he's going to win. And the famous stories are when you're in that position, know when you're in that position, all of a sudden the driver feels like the car's going to break. Something's going to go wrong. I hear that weird sound. Why do I have a weird vibration? Used your mind goes, it goes crazy. And what the 10 usually tells the driver just hit your marks, just hit your marks. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about anybody else, race the track. And then you've got it from there. It's usually whatever,
Speaker 3:That's really, it just hit your marks. That's the, we, we use that phrase numerous times. It's it's it's it's yeah. I hit your marks and it's as simple as that. And that's, that's even more important on a street course because we don't hit your marks. You're going to end up in the water, maybe a coffee shop.
Speaker 1:[inaudible] just real quick. If I could ask, you had mentioned that the number of the race courses, so street, oval, and road, what is your most dominant? Where are most of your experience on
Speaker 3:I've only done road? So that's my point. I've never done over their streets. So, uh, yeah, everything's been on road courses right now, so it's going to be a huge, huge, huge learning curve and, and thanks to have good people around me. Um, team owner want to be huge race, uh, in, in the lights. I have a lot Indianapolis motor Speedway here in, in, in Indy. So these huge mines we experience, um, on ovals and then he's also race and Sri course. And my, my, uh, performance engineer has, has done a lot on the street courses. So basically, as I said, I'm just going to be like a sponge taking information in, at a very fast pace and just, just trust the process and see where we end up. It's as simple as that,
Speaker 1:That asks you about a mentor, James, who have you had, if you couldn't have as a mentor, kind of TA who have you found as a mentor lately,
Speaker 3:It's, it varies as you get to certain level of sometimes, you know, not in a, in a bad way, but sometimes you bypass mentors. Um, so in the early days was my uncle because it was at a home level. And then obviously as I moved away, he's been huge to my career and silly is, um, speak to him regularly, but absolutely he's been through it all, whether it's indie car on old street courses, road course, or whatever, that may be different cars all around the globe. Um, he's been huge, but he's been out of the industry for so long. And the industry has came on so much since he's been out of it that a lot of stuff has changed and stuff that maybe he's probably forgotten more than he actually knows. Like he knew so much, but it was back in the eighties and nineties. And then he went out of the industry for 15 years and came back. I was like, Whoa, this is different. Like there was no telemetry in his day. You have hundreds of sensors on a car. So everything's, you're able to process stuff a lot more. So then that brought me on and the mentor standpoint, you know, I've, I've been fortunate enough to have guys in my corner and every team that I've went to, that I've worked for a very closely with me in the sense that they have been in this, this championship for a number of years, that I've been new to. So I, I hooked myself with them because they've seen everything before. They've seen drivers come through it. They've been on this car for 10, maybe 12 years. They've seen all the tracks and everything. So I hook onto them and just take everything in. And then right now with the team I'm with, um, as I said, my, my, my team owner, um, and, uh, the performance guy, um, are, are really it because performance guys in 20 years, racing in the Japan, a super formula, which is the highest level of open wheel racing in Japan. And, uh, then the team owner has raised under[inaudible] years, back and years prior, and got up to the new lights level and he's huge amount of experience. And then the engineer that's put into team overall engineer has been involved in motor sport for 50 years, but as came up with the industry, um, when many, many championships. So at this current time it's team that I'm in, I've multiple mentors that we, we all get together. And it's very much a group effort. Um, there folks, obviously on me as a driver representing their team to perform at the highest level, um, I utilize their experience. So I'm fortunate enough to have that. And then obviously here in Indianapolis, the, the GMI gym I train out is, is just for indie car drivers and lucky enough to train there. So through it, got it, got to know a lot of guys and bounce, certain questions off guys and, and more so just guys to look up to and, you know, appreciate for what they've done and guys to who I want to be one day ultimately. And, um, just use that as a, as the goal and to bounce questions off, not on a, on a serious level, as in, at the track and focused on me solely, but purely just, uh, you know, Hey, what about this? Or what about that? You know, quick stuff. So, yeah, I've been fortunate to have a lot of different people.
Speaker 1:When you say a gym that mostly is made up of those types of drivers. I pitched her in the parking lot. People competing just the park and people competing to get to the door and people competing in that constant competition with personnel.
Speaker 3:So it's honestly is constant combination, to be honest, the reason why so many, it's very, very strange, like imagine setting up a gym where all the NFL teams trying to get her, that doesn't make sense. You're out of rivals while you guys trained together. So it's very unique where you have all these drivers under one building training under the same is Monday to Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday, they're competing against each other and taking lumps out of, we should. Her, the reality is, is that because it's a solo sport, you always need to know what the benchmark is or who's doing well. So it is this you're like the, you know, okay, whatever this guy done, uh, uh, so we do all sorts of crazy stuff and there's, you're always push yourself to the limit, but this guy had done this in three minutes, 19 seconds, and you've done it in three 21. And then you're like, you know, the next day you come back, even if it's not in your program, he say, I want to do that again. You know, you can see them pulling the trash can over where you're going to get sick a minute later. Cause you're pushing yourself so much. So, uh, yeah, that goes on a lot, but that's what it's about. And us as drivers, it's our competitively, but that's what, that's what you breed off really. You know, that's what makes you get up in the morning and get off to your day because you know, there's more there, you know, you're, you're curious, you're, you're looking into stuff you want to know, how can I be better? What can I do here? And that's, that's what makes it the sport. It is,
Speaker 1:It's a unique thing. I always thought, because with football in America, you have the Kansas city chiefs and you have that. That's a team of all these people and the way that team is. But in racing, you can have a racing team with multiple cars in one team. So like you said, Monday through Friday we're teammates, but when we put the helmets on, on the weekend, it's a different relationship. And that's, I've always found so slippery and racing that if I'm on the racetrack and I have a teammate as another car is my teammate, the expectation is the teammate owes me something. He's going to let you buy, or he's going to let whatever, but that's not the way in racing man and racing is yeah, we're we're teammates throughout the week. But I, I suggest in racing, you're not teammates your business partners throughout the week, but when you're on the race track, we're very much competitors.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. Uh you're right. Until you got to a point where you're representing Maddy, be a manufacturer, an engine supplier, or a high-end team who then team orders start coming into it. You know, let's say if you're, if you're representing Chevrolet, I'm driving for Chevy and my ride was driving, or my teammates also driving for Chevy, two laps to go in the Indy 500. I know I can win, but I know it's going to be very, very hard to get by them. It's going to be a risky move. I may be. Honda is in third place. The Chevy guys are going to come over to radio and say, guys, we want Chevy to win. You guys. You're you're, you're under, you're under contract from us to represent Chevy. You've got to make sure Chevy finishes one two. And if we come together, which was about, I wanted to win, I'm going to do whatever I can to, to get by that guy. You know, it's kind of like a very much a killer be killed out a shoot in this game. Once you get to those kind of last lap scenarios. But then on the other hand, you know that, okay, if we get taken on Honda wins on Chevy's on the, on the sidelines, my job might be here next year. So it's, it's, it's, uh, it's a very strange dynamic and you hear a lot of heat in the moments explanations and, um, and in motor sports and you know, the, the Mason and you say, Oh, that guy was just full of mess. Cause his visor went down and he forgot about everything. And he was just focused on himself, but there's not to a point don't get me wrong. He certainly at this level, uh, when you're trying to prove yourself and put yourself on the map and give yourself a reputation, that's the case. But when you come to a higher level on you're representing a global brand or global organization, that is still the attitude with the rains after you pulled in areas, and that's what you see and you hear it every day, a week and formula one, you know, team orders, or, you know, you got to let this guy buy Mercedes, got a win today, or, you know, red bull, we got to win today. Whatever that may be no difference in Indy car. And, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's weird though, in that aspect, for sure. Because then after the race, you got to sit down with that guy who you just bet you, or hopefully you bet him, but you two guys got to sit down together and the team's going to ask you, well, how can we go better guys? And you know, whatever you share is going to benefit to guide to just let's use the example, just bet you, so now you're giving the guy who's bet you information to go better. It's just a very, very strange dynamic. So you always kind of got to hold your cards close to your chest to this game, but I watch you have to from your obligation, but hopefully the really good guys can keep the other ones very close. So it's a huge amount of, of buying games is probably very mentally challenging. It's just,
Speaker 1:I'll be honest. That's what pulls me in James. That's why I watch on the weekends. When I watch racing. That's exactly what I'm not looking to see cars going in circles. I'm looking to see the teams. I know what's driver moved teams and what sponsor got picked up and lost and the dynamics and the story behind it is what pulls me in. And then, Oh, by the way, they drive fast. They'll also,
Speaker 3:The driving is actually the, I don't want to say this, but it's really, when you think about easy part, like it's what we all love. It's why we get into sports. It's the stuff that goes around the driving that that gets challenging. And that's where the, the good and the grades come in. You know, any guy who gets to a certain level can drive that's okay,
Speaker 1:Kara. And I said the same thing we were talking about this yesterday, Kara and I, that if you're not able to drive at that speed at the, at the pace for that car on that track, then you have no business being there. But the real challenge is, like you said, is all the other stuff that goes into the race. I almost get the sense then for you as a driver, that when you finally climb in the car and buckle up and put the helmet on and it's quiet, it's like, finally, it's all the other stuff goes away. It's like, now I can do this. You know what I mean?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Oh, it's true. It's true. Maybe for five minutes. Honestly, if some guy trying to I'm down here. Yeah. Come down. You're inside. Or even an engineer over here, ear saying, come on when you need to get on with it or whatever that may be. So it's lucky it's a pressured business and it's as simple as that, but we, we all love it. And um, it's why we do it. And it's, it's what, it's what it's about. And you know, it's really no difference. And I'll go back to what I said at the start is really no different than a high-achieving businessman or a high end CEO, or high-performers within companies. It's exactly what you got to do. If you want to be a high achiever, no matter what you're doing. You know, if I put it as a, if I was put into a job and whatever that may be, and I took the mindset or the pressure on the seven days a week out of chew it and no such thing as a nine to five or whatever, to my job, you know, you would right away blow a lot of people out of your way who think it's nine to five and, you know, holidays, uh, taking it easy and this stuff. So it's, it's just, it's, it's the difference between guys who perform at a high level or girls who perform at a high level and the guys who don't and that the, you basically get, they get whittled out as you move up the ladder. And that's, that's, that's what we're seeing right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. With the, with the, with obviously like the Netflix series, I've watched every single episode. And I mean, it's taught me a lot about racing in general. Right. And like, in the past couple of years you've been with formula three. So I've been trying to learn a lot more about that racing. And then you made us switch on me to[inaudible] in a whole nother series, but like, do you feel like, do you feel like shows like that, like the formula one drive to survive? I feel like that opens up or it makes that type of information about the teams and all the drama that goes on behind the scenes that we don't necessarily get to see. Right. It highlights that almost in a way. And do you feel like that that puts more pressure on you as a driver to, to kind of get that side of your career or like that side of your job in check? Because eventually it could be more public in that way?
Speaker 3:Yeah. No, for sure. There's, there's two ways to look at that. And as you say that it's funny, I was watching a theater day, um, a little bit of it when I had some time, but in some ways it's a positive that the show was broadcast to that degree because the mind of people that I speak to say, geez, we didn't realize your sport was like that. We just taught you to this drove. Then you nothing about what you see on the show, you know, and that it's so accurate and everything that you see there is no difference, um, at the level that we're at right now, or, uh, an Indy car level or any lights to have only two levels of load right now. So, um, yeah, but to your point, you know, it certainly, certainly just makes you aware of, of what's out there on, on what goes on within the industry. Um, how you gotta look after yourself and how there's a lot of soul focus people within this world, which, which is the reality and that it doesn't matter who you are. You're only as good as your last race or your last comment or your last, um, or what you said last to that team owner or what you said last. So that sponsor what you said, lots of that CEO, whatever that may be, you're only, you're only as good as what you've just done. And that's the thing that I take from a most. Um, and that's what I try and apply here to everyday life. You got to always just be as good as your last and that's that's I think if you take that mindset to this game, hopefully you'll, it will carry you a long way. It's the guys that get sloppy and areas are the guys that, you know, don't cover all avenues that you see being spat out. So it's it's look, I I'm, I don't know it all. I'm just learning as I go. And, um, it's from what my experience right now, and from what I see in Nathan, from people that I speak to me down these roads, before that you never know what's around the corner. You never know when your day's over and you never know what goes on. There's so many variables and it's, it's again, it's what we love. And I don't know why, but it's
Speaker 1:One of the things that I saw in my, uh, me as a race fan is when I see champions and from my background as a NASCAR fan, Jimmy Johnson, seven time champion. When I see him and I watch him go through as a whole season, the difference I saw the champion is they make mistakes, but they recover quickly. The folks that make mistakes and say, why did I make a mistake? You is your fault. It's not my fault. And finger-pointing, they're the ones that fall to the back. But the ones that make those mistakes and recover quickly are the ones I see love that. Make a difference, have a champion.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I agree. And that's, that's very, very true because you know, there's, there's so many guys on, especially in this industry, like we're all human at the end of the day, we're doing something that's super high speed. We're on the opposite limit. Everywhere we go. We're pushing a machine to the absolute limit. There's going to be mistakes at times. And that's just a given and there's a lot of variables. There's a lot of guys work on your car. Those guys may even make mistakes. Uh, so the, the thing that, that I've found, or do you think that I've noticed in this game is that as you said, the real good guys, snap out of it very quickly and get on with it, you know, it's, it's, it's always, what's next. What's next. What's next. And that's whether that's a bad race in a Sunday, okay. You analyze it for whatever time it takes. Hopefully it's not too long. You learn from it. But when you wake up Monday morning, that was the past. It's right. Okay. What's next? Where we go on that. That's what I've learned from the guys have spoken to me. Um, that's the mind frame that is, that is, is taken maybe in top gun was world. If, if for whatever reason, Topcon didn't have a great week on sales, you're not going to sit for two weeks analyzing why did we have about a week of sales as you'll analyze for a shorter amount of time, as possible as to why the sales are bad, but the next two weeks better be your best week sales you work to do. That's exactly
Speaker 1:Right. It's a mental attitude about it. The bad times happen. Shake it off, move on.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it's, it's no different than any sports and yeah, there's a lot of good books out there about it for performance. Coaches are high achievers have that mindset too. So, um, yeah, I mean, I keep saying that I'm like a broken tape recorder. It's no different, this sport isn't unique. It just ties into a lot of other stuff that, you know, you say Jimmy Johnson, uh, uh, seven time NASCAR champion now coming to Indy car to compete an Indy car. He's probably not going to change his mindset just because in Indy car, he's in a whole new environment, a whole new industry, completely different type of racing, but I guarantee you his mindset of how he deals with stuff is very, very similar.
Speaker 1:Kara and I were talking about yesterday, we were hoping to ask you, speaking of, as an athlete, some American baseball players are quite superstitious. Do you find yourself superstitious before a race? Do you do the same things over and over and over or anything like that?
Speaker 3:Uh, not really. So sometimes I'm a little bit too laid back and guys say, tell that to me. Like, I'm kinda like, all right, okay. We'll just deal with it, whatever, get on with it. No big deal. But then as I started going up the levels, I noticed how important that was in the early days, by the way, then as I started going up, um, and your game had to be pushed up, I noticed that little margins made a big difference and that, because I wasn't finding any big margins, then I then had to start focusing on the one percenters, um, um, that, you know, there's so much prep that goes into a weekend, whether it's a pre-race briefing, uh, post race, following a PR, a previous one sitting down, then one-on-one with your engineer, just run plans. What you're going to do in each session, every lap is, is outlined what our goals is. So when that mindset start coming in at a professional level, I said, wow. I said, if they're doing this at this level, I, as a driver must be able to up my game outside of the car. So no superstitions to the point of, I got into this, got into that, but super superstitious, probably in the sense that I know I got to prepare. And if I, if I don't prepare, because it's at a certain level, I know that I don't have a right to be up there front. Um, so my superstition isn't on like very weird stuff. The superstition is that just prepare some stuff. Um, and then
Speaker 1:Five jumping jacks before you get into the car every time[inaudible]
Speaker 3:No, no, no. But yeah, it does. And then again, I always got the car from the left-hand side. Now, as you say, getting into the car, that's just done. That was, seems normal. That's I didn't even think of it at the start. No. Right. Honda don't know why. Um, yeah, I just get on to the left. Everything else. Doesn't matter. You could give me whatever odd gloves I'd choose. There's a make a difference. Don't know why that's a good thing too, because if for whatever reason, my gear doesn't get to attract someday, I won't be a freak and I have to be some guys out there that will be panic attacks. So that won't be me.
Speaker 1:What do you think about, uh, some fast round questions for our friend, James?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I love that. So we've prepared some, um, rapid fire questions for you. So the expectation is that you,
Speaker 1:So for the, uh, the audience out there, James has no knowledge of these questions whatsoever. Part of this,
Speaker 2:Here we go. So we expect like very short. Hopefully they will throw you off too much. Um, but Oscar, do you want me to just go through them?
Speaker 1:Sure. Cool.
Speaker 2:Um, all right. So what do you do in your free time?
Speaker 3:Well, free time, not a lot of free time right now, but usually, um, I mean, when I get home in Ireland over the Christmas and I had three weeks off, spend a lot of time with friends and family and, uh, we just basically do as much watersports as we can when the weather allows for like jet skiing, wake surfing, uh, anything like that
Speaker 2:I've seen on your social media that you've taken up biking very far distances. So
Speaker 3:That's part of the train and resume. I wouldn't say that's my, my hobby or my pastime that I had to lose 10 pounds for this job, but chips. So that was part of the job, um, at that, unfortunately wasn't a huge fan of it at the start, but then I actually started to get into it because took me to nice places and got to see cool parts of America on a bike, uh, would have just easily drawn through and not even noticed. So, um, but yeah, no, to answer the question, spare time is just hanging out with friends and the summers here in America as much water sports as we can do. And then back in Ireland, um, we just hang out and not to sound like an alcoholic, but a lot of time is spent in bars in Ireland. Uh, are you serious?
Speaker 2:As I would expect from my 22 year old
Speaker 3:Socializing in Ireland is basically that. But, um, yeah, that that's, uh, that's how we get upset.
Speaker 1:Well, I've been very fortunate at Topcon that I've traveled around the world multiple times and I have never found an Irish pub. I did not like, I've just learned that.
Speaker 3:So
Speaker 1:Rabbit rabbit question for you then also, um, you had mentioned of the different road court road or racing, uh, courses, which is your favorite, which is your least favorite road.
Speaker 3:Of course wise. I got to say road America because, uh, no road America and Wisconsin was because when I first moved to America, it's an Elkhart Lake. And that's where I lived the first year when I moved to American to team. And I was, it was based out of Wisconsin. So that was like my home track. And then when he came back at three, I got my first form of three win, which was my first professional. Uh, I've heard it was like prize money and stuff involved to it to a good degree. And then it was with NASCAR. So yeah, it's cool. It's known around the globe. Anyhow, on top of that, like prior to coming to America, everyone knows about road America. It's like four mile track surrounded by threes. It's like the national park of speed is what they nickname. It's just a very, very cool place in an area that's known around the globe. It's probably like up there with, you know, Suzuki in Japan or Lamont and France or Silverstone UK. It's one of those ones that just old school, everyone loves it. So it's, it's a go-to favorite.
Speaker 1:No, but that's the second part was, what's your least favorite track boy? Um, not to get you in trouble, but like why would it be,
Speaker 3:Um, least favorite? There is, um, that's a tough one. You know, I don't have a least favorite, but there's, there's a track in, um, in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh international complex. I'm not, not even remembering the name of it, but yeah, it's just very, very bland. Not a lot to, it it's any, any tractor has character, any driver, a low, but you get these, you get these tracks every now and then that are just landed in a random area where there's nothing in that doesn't really have anything to it. It's just kind of, no, we call it flow. You know, there's nothing better than when you're in a car on the limit, but it's flowing and you can really lean on it and feel stuff out. But you get tracks that are just like, I think some guy will go, boom, okay, I'd love a racetrack. How do we do this? Kind of draw it out over a cup of coffee and then to send some guide out to lay asphalt, it gives you one of those fields. There was no top into it. So yeah, Pittsburgh wouldn't be a, a fan favorite, but um, yeah. Other than that, then there's a track in Savannah, Georgia called a rolling road that believe it or not, its surface has seashells in it. So it's like razorblades on it. It's really, really weird and unique. So as a driver, we call it show green. Yeah. When we're testing, um, trying to improve a car, we went there the first time in our entire life. Our tired degradation in Chicago was massive. Like thighs are falling off and what the hell is going on. So we soon figured ice there was shelves in it. Um, so that track basically was for us when you're really leaning on a car on putting an ice age was not ideal. So I think it's attractive. It needs a bit of smoother ride.
Speaker 1:That's three minutes at the resurface. That would be the fastest you've ever been in a race car.
Speaker 3:Oh, uh, maybe two 20, 290 miles an hour or whatever that is in kilometers. I don't know.
Speaker 1:And what's the fastest you've ever been? Not in a race car,
Speaker 3:Not in a race car, I guess in an Airbus. No,
Speaker 1:[inaudible], we're trying to set you up or driving fast. Okay.
Speaker 3:Um, no, on a highway. Jesus. I don't know if that's confidential. I won't put that out there.
Speaker 1:Their competence will pass. They're going to skip the
Speaker 3:Exactly. Okay. Um, next question, who is the first person you call when you win? Wow. I'm going to get in trouble for this. Uh, after my first, when I didn't call my mom and I got in big trouble before I don't ask me why, but I just didn't, maybe it's for, I'm probably not with sometimes about area. I didn't think of anything of it. Um, but no, I call, call, call family first. It's always, usually they ring me. Usually I just, I, when I get to a race, get my phones away, you know, it's in a locker or it's in a bag or whatever. So whenever I got my phone, it's either a lot of text messages, maybe some emails and um, then it's a call home for sure. Or maybe in previous times is called from, uh, the team owner, um, of, of see JJ Motorsport, Shawn camp, you know, is it a dear friend? And we were very, very close and he used to call me and we had a great relationship. So he was, he was always on it because I was driving for him. I was under contract for him. He was the best friend. So we had a unique relationship. You'd be like on admitted men. And he he'd be pounded with like five calls until I picked up. Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, no that's family, family is family is number one. That makes sense. What about when you lose, who's the first person you call?[inaudible] not trying to publicize that airplane. Airplane mode. Oh, usually usually ganged on this, which is family because my uncle or my dad, who've been involved in a motor sport for a long time and have a real understanding of it. I kind of like my, uh, what's the way I'd use someone who I can bounce something off that I know no matter what they say, it's my interest at heart and it's bottom line. So I use them as, you know, saves. Obviously you have a lot more bad days and good days and motor sports. That's just a given. Um, that's a given in sports, you know, you don't go out and win every golf tournament or win every round of a PGA just doesn't happen or you don't go out and win every race and motor sports. I mean, if you look at the number of days that you win, it's a such a small percentage to the overall, the overall picture. So you actually rely on that person, you, in theory, you lose a lot more than you win in sport. So that, that person or that, that, that contact is very, very important. And um, yeah, just, just my, my family, her uncle, her dad, and, you know, you're, you're always wondering why I didn't, and that's, that's where the results place mindset come in, you straightaway analyze what could we have done different to win. So we have a quick conversation, then they give their hearsay and sometimes it's not what you want to hear. And sometimes it is. And then that's really it. Then as, as we touched on in the podcast, you spend it, maybe whatever amount of time was required, some sometimes it's only an hour. Sometimes it could quantify the following morning analyzing it, and then you just get on it. And the next one,
Speaker 1:Another last one here, James is, uh, what about beyond, uh, um, this class of racing? What about like Baja racing in the, in Mexico or truck racing or dirt or any other style of racing? You're interested in
Speaker 3:Really anything with an engine I love, you know, there's nothing you need go really, really fast. Yeah, there we go. Um, no, honestly, I didn't, I really mean this I, anyone at a high level or any sports or not even motor sport or anything even okay. From a motor sport standpoint, any motor sport at a high level, whether that's motorbike racing or it's a snowmobile racing, whatever, whatever it is, because I know what it takes to, to perform at a high level and what, what has to go into it. So it's more of just the appreciation more than anything, you know, or guys in indie car or guys and NASCAR or whatever that may be. Um, I just, I just love when, you know, you even down to meeting successful people in real life or super high-performing executives or, uh, you know, businessman, I, I, anything at a high level, I just, I just love and that's really, really well. I bought a watch. You're in it for, you know, there's something different that you can spot between an average person on the street or a high achiever on a, on a, on a, on a very high level, whether that is sports or whether that's business or whatever that may be, that I just, I follow it all. It doesn't matter. You could say, okay, we're going to speak to some hall of fame, ice hockey player right now. And even though I know nothing about ice hockey, I'd be so indulged. And so intrigued to hear why is he a hall of Famer? And why, why is he so good at his game? That that's what, that's what makes it for me. And that's what I think it's all about.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I have to tell you a quick joke about that. I'm as anybody may know, I live in Austin, Texas, and for Topcon, I've traveled all over and I used to give training classes and, uh, Toronto, Canada, I've been to Alberta many, many times. And, um, I being the Texan would say, Oh, I would love to see an ice hockey game or isn't ice hockey. So interesting. And the Canadians would say, Oscar ice is implied. It's just hockey.
Speaker 3:Gotcha. Gotcha. Texted me. You don't think that way? That's funny because, uh, a friend of mine here, I went to my first ice hockey game. Uh, two months ago here in Indianapolis. One of my good friends plays for a team. Uh, my, my, my best friend here is Swedish guy. Um, and obviously that's big in Sweden. Then under Canadian guy, one of our friends moved here. So with all these hockey guys, we went to a game and we watched it and it was, it wasn't a big, big league game, but it was a final. And, uh, I couldn't believe how crazy ice hockey is. I know they were March-ish or hockey.
Speaker 1:I couldn't believe
Speaker 3:That crazy hockey was. And I was just so induced by the pace that it was at and then how aggressive they were like this wasn't even at a high level. This was just like some club game or whatever. And after that, and now I'm hooked hockey or ice hockey or whatever we're going to call. It is on the, to do list of things. Uh, I got to do here in America. There's a lot of stuff that I still have to see or experience. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Well, I guess last question then, um, and then we can kind of get into closing and where people can find you and touch on your racing season and stuff like that. Um, but last question. What are you most excited for about this upcoming season?
Speaker 3:Really? It's, it's the new challenge, you know, that unknown, this have not known how certain things will feel, and also being at a certain level, you know, and not knowing where you're going to stand before you go into a season, it's all on you. Everything is new and new team, new tires, new championship, new car, new environment, everything is new. And that, that to me makes it exciting. And that's what, but I'm just looking forward to is going, getting on with it, seeing where we play out, hopefully it's where we hope to be. And, um, then as I said, the new experience of street courses and oboes, they're going to bring new things that I never experienced, never felt before and never thought I could do because I've never done it. So to get over those hurdles and get a feel for them is, is, is very, very exciting. And, uh, yeah, just a lot of new stuff. I mean, I, I thought I was on top of it. And then you go into a new thing and you realize you never, you never, you never known if every day is,
Speaker 1:But that's what keeps it exciting. He really does. And plus like, we've been saying this whole podcast, it's a lot about attitude and it sounds James, like you have the right attitude for it. If you, rather than saying, I don't know what's going to happen. I'm afraid of the, what I'm anxious about what this could bring. You're twisting it and saying, because it's new, let's get on.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's really, that's really it in a shell. You're you're you are so right. Nathan that's that comes a lot from the people or the mentors that are around me that I noticed that it's what they do. And, um, yeah, it's, it's what it's all about.
Speaker 2:And I know from the top con side, we're really excited to get fans back in the stands. And, um, I know all of our staff and customers and dealers and anyone who maybe is listening to this podcast is really excited to come and cheer you on and experience you learning all of this new stuff. And really, like I said, experiencing all the new series with you. Um, and we're really, we're really excited to continue this partnership. And, um, it's been a pleasure working with you thus far. And, um, like I said to, to be able to just physically be back at some your races, it's going to be so, so nice. And I could only imagine what it's going to be like for you guys to actually have people cheering. And here are the crowds and stuff like that. So,
Speaker 3:So going to be so good to have a backup now, did you say, I hadn't even thought of that because we've done a whole year without it, it came to norm, as you say that that's going to be awesome because I remember when I first came here, again, going back to 2018, I came here, um, I went straight to an Indy car race. It was that St. Petersburg in Florida. And I couldn't believe the fans that were there. You know, the excitement downtown St. Petersburg quota was like all the people that are around the place, the buzz, you know, you're in a city with all these cars roaring around the echoing noise for all the buildings. It's crazy. People are under buck and he's looking down to racetrack. It's just insane. And now to be putting myself in that environment where I'm part of that package and on track is, is, is very, very exciting. And to be doing a Woodstock, talk on a on-board and the clients and guests that are going to be joining us is even more exciting. So it's going to be a hell of a time in St. Petersburg. What I've heard is it's, it's a great party. And if you pay attention, there's a race in there somewhere too. Yeah,
Speaker 2:It's funny. Um, I guess in closing, if you want to just drop where people can follow you, um, we have stuff on our social media for, from a Topcon perspective. We've been, um, if anyone follows us, um, every now and then we're posting about you and tagging you and stuff like that. Um, but it might be helpful for, um, any listeners to, if they're interested, follow you on social media. And, um, if you could just drop your handles and stuff like that, that would be helpful.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, uh, all the social media channels, Instagram it's, uh, James Rowe nine, and then I'd Facebook and Twitter, it's James RO, uh, or ROAS spelled Roe. A lot of people go over Adobe. Like we kind of find you. And I said, Oh, it's Roe. Uh, yeah, you can get me on all of the, all the channels mentioned. And then obviously as you said, through Topcon we'll, uh, w we'll crossover between channels at times and be sure to, um, each of the followers will follow one another. So yeah, it'll be good.
Speaker 2:Correct. Well, we're excited. The season starts, um, at barber on the weekend of the 15th of April. Um, so we're really, really excited, um, to get that going. And if anyone, um, wants any more information, you can go to Topcon, positioning.com as well and find some of that information. So, um, thank you so much for joining us, James. This is great. Um, we'll have to have you back so that you can tell us, um, what track you liked to race on the most, whether it's oval or road, or
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Absolutely. Let's touch let's touch base at the end of the season, then we can discuss, uh, what went on and the year prior. Yeah. So it's going to be great. Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 4:All right. See you guys there.