2025 Champion (ft. Justin Ward)

Record breaking year for the man in the number 8. Justin Ward has a statement year, that won't be touched for a very long time.

Justin is now a 6 time champion, including the last 3 in a row, and for Justin and his team this is monumental. Putting forth the effort every single race weekend. The work pays off at the track.

Tune in to hear Justin and I break down his 2025 season.

Thank you everyone for tuning in to season 3. We are ready for season 4 of the podcast, and the 2026 racing season!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

From the fast lane to the pit lane, we got you covered for all things racing, where every lap is a chance to make history. With some of the talents you may know and some trying to make a name. This is Fourth and Racked. And I'm your host, Matthew Rieger. Hello everybody. My name is Matthew Rieger. We are on the final points interview of the 2025 Great Lakes Lightning Sprint season. And with the final interview comes the interview you guys have all been waiting for. Let's hear it for sixth time defending series champion Justin Ward. Justin, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Thanks, man. How are you doing tonight?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Well, I was doing good until my cat just unplugged my light. So um the the the the struggles of having a cat. Anyways, I'm doing good. I I am. Um season's doing good so far. We're getting uh things compiled. Gotta dig into driver stats still, unfortunately. Um so that's uh one thing that comes with off-season. Uh what what about off-season for you guys? Uh, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Yeah, I mean it's been pretty busy. A lot of things um in our life have changed. Uh you know, one, we uh we sold our business, uh, just signed the papers on the 10th of March and uh no longer owner, but we're gonna continue to stay on board for we signed the two-year agreement, but uh I love what I do, so want to stick it out for another five or ten years before I retire. And uh other than that, just been working on the race cars. Um just finished up one tonight. The other one we're waiting on the fresh bullet to come back from California, and then uh we got the uh the war admiral, the new car con and a new bullet with that one. That's one's uh yeah, that one's out at hyper. They'll dyno the motor on that one, and then we'll go out and get that, and uh we'll be uh prepared for 2026.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

So what's in California? I feel like I've heard I know this before. What's this? That's where our engine builder is. Okay, that's what I thought. Yeah, Yoshimura. Because uh doesn't yeah, doesn't Cascaden get his uh engines from Yoshimura? Who who doesn't?

SPEAKER_03 2:25

You know, I'm not sure who all does. Um I know Brendan got an exhaust from out there. Yeah, but I think Hud did his motors in the past. Um and I know a couple years ago when Jake was uh running, uh he blew up. I gave him Yosh's number, and then I think him and his car owner got a motor from him out there.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

That's good, that's good. Not that he blew his motor, but that he um he was able to get a replacement. No, but uh I've heard Yoshimura ever since I was um a rookie uh with the lightning sprints. What uh it's the engine builder you guys go through.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Yeah, his name's Rhett um out there, and uh he's he's a darn good engine builder. I mean um we had uh excuse me, we had a few if a few issues this year or last year. Um, I think we had eight races on my motor, started overheating. Um, so we went to the backup car. Um I think Arlie had an issue with his, and then uh talking to Yosh, we found out that uh could have been a head gasket issue. Um so it sold you a two barrel engine? Yeah, yep. So they had some issues, so now they're um sticking directly to uh the manufacturers, you know. Uh Yosh has one, so head gasket, so yeah, Japanese one. So they're gonna stick with that and uh should be ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Now who who built your shocks for the silver bullet race?

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Who built the shocks?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

That's what you said? Yeah, I was just kidding. Oh yeah, we run after shocks. Um yeah, but yeah, on that race, uh what had happened um is if you remember, I think it was the week before at Mount Pleasant, I actually clipped a tire coming out of two in qualifying, I think it was. And uh I didn't inspect the axle good enough, you know, as for the after that night. And uh we went to silver bullet and I was leaving the race with I think three to go. And I believe Artley spun out, caused a caution. And as soon as I let off the gas, the front end come down, and it actually broke the the tab off that holds the shotgun. And yeah, so I kind of I I was gonna pull it in, but I'm like, you know, points are points, you know. It's all valuable when you're out there, points are ising. So we uh I decided just to hold it together and you know, cut my same line, and and it was hard to steer, you know, but we uh I think we managed to get what an eighth.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

I was just looking at that now. Give me a second. I think that was the worst finish all year. I think it was. I I'm gonna think it was a seventh. Uh that's what I gotta go with. Yeah. Hold on. Yeah. Ah. I lied. An eighth. Yeah, you got seventh the year before at uh millstream.

SPEAKER_03 5:40

Yeah, when the clutches went out.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Yep. No, but uh off season, uh you said war admiral. I know you told me the names. So war admiral. Yeah, the second one, I the one that started with an S, I can't remember. And then what was the third one?

SPEAKER_03 5:56

C Biscuit.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah. And then what was the other one?

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Oh man, I'm drawing a blank now.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

You it's you said it was like the fastest horse.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Yeah, Jason can tell you.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Is he with you? No, he's not. Oh, okay. Yeah. No, like I said, you told me, and I looked it up, and I was gonna tell my wife about it, but then I was like, oh, that one's it, and then I like it's like the the toughest one to remember.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

I know, I'm drawing a blank right now. But yeah, that was my first car. Um the very first car we got, 23. And then uh C Biscuit. It used to be Frank and Weenie. Yeah. And then uh, yeah. Which, you know, we got that one out uh after the engine kind of fell was laying down on us. And I think we put three wins on that car this year.

unknown 6:57

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah, you would have had 11 horses. Uh I'm looking on horses. 11 wins if uh if it wasn't for that Mount Pleasant race, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:11

So we yeah, I mean, we uh we had a good year. I mean, 10 wins. Um, you know, that one at Silver Bullet. I wish we could have got that one back, but you know, congrats on Jerry on his first win. Um and then uh the second one, I think, was uh, you know, Dalton beat us, which congrats on on his first win this year, too.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

You know, um he ran a he ran a good race. I mean, no doubt. I mean, it did kind of stink that they shortened the race, but hopefully next time we can start a little sooner and you know get a full 20, but can't take nothing away from them. You know, he he drove his butt off, and you know, it's good to see that, you know. Um and then the the third one, the third race that we lost this year was if you remember it was that crystal.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Um yeah, you guys had to start at the rear.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Which was Chad's first win, which congrats to him.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

Um on that, you know, he ran a good race too. But so we went out, qualified, won our heat race, and uh we had to go to a backup car, so we pulled the backup car out and we had to start in the back. And I think we drove from the back to what third?

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Third, correct, yeah. I was really looking at the stats. Every race you didn't win, a new driver clocked into Victoria Lane, so yeah, it's good for them, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:38

Uh yeah, now I will tell you, I truly believe if I would have been able to start because I think I started up on the front row of the feature. I think I redrew for which one for that race, but I had to fall back because I made the redraw. And then we were hee-han in the pits, uh, me and Jason and my dad, and we're kind of going back and forth about you know, running that car, potentially blowing the motor, or just pulling the backup car out and running that one. And I made the decision that, you know, let's save the motor, pull the backup, start in the back, and see what we can do. And I think what in the first lap I passed six cars.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah, I think that's what you told me after the uh after the fact. But yeah, I I actually no, that wasn't the very last race. No, Owen, Owen Rausch made a funny comment. Um, what's what'd he say? We were we were talking, and I was like, how do you feel about the winning the race today? And he's like, uh, I feel like we feel like uh we could win. We feel good pretty good about winning today. And I was like, uh, well, Justin's starting from the back, and he's like, Yeah, definitely winning. And then actually, I don't know if it was that race. But anyways, after I said you were starting up front, he's like, uh, oh, we feel really good about finishing second place. So I thought it was pretty funny. So that one he ran a good race. But um, yeah, you guys uh the only three places you didn't go to Victory Lane was that silver bullet, Ionia, and that one crystal race. Other than that, you you swept house. But you did have a lot of good finishes. I will tell you that uh Mount Pleasant race earlier this year, uh with you and Ryan Lanfield, those were that wasn't like incredible.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Love calls. Yeah, that was a that was a fun race. Um that was probably one of the funnest races this year besides uh millstream. Millstream, uh, I think Jerry was almost what three quarters of a laugh ahead.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:42

Yeah. And I don't know, I just uh I couldn't see a thing out there to be honest with the event. I was uh I couldn't grab my tear off and there was a big bump in turn one, and the only way I knew I was in turn one is if I hit that bump. Otherwise I didn't know didn't know what corner I was on.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:01

But I just uh we stuck it down and uh we started gaining traction. I think there's like five to go. I'm like, all right, he's in front of me. And then uh before you know it, what two laps to go? I think I passed him and two other cars on the front track.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

And then and then pulled away.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, I will tell you, Jerry was uh very disappointed about how this year went. Um I talked to him earlier in the year, and he was like, Man, we keep getting beat. He's last five laps, can't capitalize on it. Which I was happy that he was able to capitalize on that one silver bullet one. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

Needless to say, I'll tell you the biggest thing. Yeah, the biggest thing that I see, you know, a lot of guys, um, no one in particular, but a lot of guys want to blame, you know, um lap cars for them losing the races. But I gotta tell you, every single one of us out there have to pass the car to get by them. And you gotta put the blame on yourself for taking the wrong line. You know, it's if you're trying to run behind somebody and follow them and you can't pass them and you get mad about you know not passing and getting beat, I mean that that's on you. You can't blame the guy that's out there busting his butt on the track, trying to keep the position, you know. Yeah. Um, but I mean, if you're if you're a faster car, find a way around, you know. Um, but I can tell you this much, don't wait too long. Because if you do, someone behind you is gonna get you.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Yeah, may or may not be that eight guy, but uh we'll figure that out this season. Um I heard the competition is definitely gonna be uh up there this year. Uh Shabbai's coming back. Uh LCA Motorsports is Shabbai Listerman, and they got a new driver, Grayson Thompson. I heard he was 13 years old. Uh, but I think behind by the time the season starts, he should be uh old enough to race.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

So that's good. You know, more cars the better. Um, you know, like we always say, I mean, you better bring your A game because uh there's a lot of other guys that are bringing their A game this year. And you know, our team will be one of them, you know, whether it's a one car, two cars, three cars, who knows? There might be four out there. Yeah. Um but uh you know it all starts in the garage. You know, it depends on how much time you're putting in. And uh I can tell you our team here, you know, we we put a lot of time in. And you know, we we know what we're doing. Um, you know, we're always we're always trying new stuff. I mean we uh we deal with hyper, you know, on a weekly basis, talking to them guys, you know, um tuning the cars. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. And I mean, if you want to win, you gotta put your time into it. Yeah, that's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Yeah, absolutely. Uh hate to sidetrack on you. Uh was the name Secretariat?

SPEAKER_03 13:55

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Yeah, I just looked it up.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

You got it. Yeah, that was the first car.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

I had it in my back.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

Secretariat, speedbits, yeah, and then the war admiral.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

War admiral. I don't know why. For some reason I thought uh Warhawk, that's what it was. But I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Yeah, we'll have a different look this year on two of the cars.

SPEAKER_01 14:16

You do it in a different paint scheme or what?

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Uh to be determined. I mean, it'll be different. Yeah. You know, we uh we picked up uh I picked up some really good sponsors this year uh for my car. So um high point construction out of West Virginia. Um West Virginia. They teamed up with us this year. Yeah. Wow. So yeah. Um, but they're they're pretty big, you know, great company, um great owners, really good people. That's good.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

How'd you get them?

SPEAKER_03 14:52

Uh they're involved in the oil and gas. Um, they're the ones that actually acquired us and bought us out.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

So yeah, you know, so I got talking with them and and uh one of the owners, Tyler, or uh Travis, um he's into the racing stuff as well. So he doesn't I don't think he races but anymore, but he's uh he's a dirt guy. So he offered to come on board and and uh very appreciative.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

That's good. That's good. And I know we were talking about your uh 2025 season. Um on a scale of one to ten, how old you guys write that season?

SPEAKER_03 15:31

I mean, it's been the best season yet, you know, as far as how a season went. I mean, you know, we didn't have no DNF, uh finished what the worst finish was seventh, eighth, and then third and or eighth, then third, then second, and then the rest of our wins. I mean, I would say it's probably a 10. I mean, can we can we get any better with a competition coming? Uh it's it's gonna be tough, you know. Um what if we put it down and see what we can do, you know? It's it's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, and I know you guys you have a lot of contacts with a lot of the drivers. Do you know anything about Ericksons coming back or is that just rumor? Because I know there's rumor around Cascadin.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Yeah. Um I talked to the Ericssons a little bit ago, probably last week, I think it was maybe the week before, and a little bit of uncertainty there, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

Um, you know, we hope they can come back. Um maybe if not all of them, maybe some of them can, you know. Um they're a good family-oriented um team. You know, it's always fun to have them out there running.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Yeah, for sure. I know my first ever race, Mac Erickson won it. So he hasn't been back. It was at Silver Bowl, it was. And then Lindsay won it, the only crystal the only crystal race that I've missed.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah. Yep. I think uh to date, the only girl to go to Victory Lane with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

So yeah. I think that was a fun race, too.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

I wish I could tell you it was, but uh, I was not there. I heard Owen went over the banking though when he flipped.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Yeah, I think so. I I know I was following Lindsay the whole way. Oh, yeah. So I was trying to catch her, but she just she ran a good line.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

I will tell you the Erickson set up their cars to be super fast. Um, I know and like in qualifying, they're always like top ten every single time. Yeah. No matter the track. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

So yeah, I tell you who's got qualifying down is Bill.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

Bill has definitely got qualifying down.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

He swept qualifyings at Crystal all this entire year.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Nobody could beat him.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

You think you go out there and put a good lap down, you're like, man, that felt good. You come back in, and Bill's like four tenths faster. It's like, man, all right, they gotta do something different.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Yeah, and then the the one race that we're gonna race with uh Colin Sivia. Uh Bill was fast that day. I really thought he was gonna win that one. Yeah. So but uh I just uh looked at it in pictures. Uh did you see the uh victory lane, uh the podium picture for that one with Colin Sivia?

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Yeah. Yeah, we all laugh about it. It's a funny one.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Yeah, I it's it's only funny because like the the height difference is like ridiculous, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 18:43

So yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, he went out to my knees, I think.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Something like that. It was funny.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

Oh yeah, yeah, that was that was a funny.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

It was, it was, and he did definitely show it out. Uh I got really wanted to come back. He said he was gonna come back during the summer, but he didn't end up doing it. But I think, um, if I'm correct, didn't Chad buy his car?

SPEAKER_03 19:11

Yeah, so we actually went and and uh purchased that buyout uh out there and then uh buying it from us.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

JWR Speed Shop, your place to buy race cars.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Yep. Well, you know, it's uh as you know, we've sold a lot of cars out there, you know, uh a lot of fast cars. Um, you know, we take pride in what we do, that's for sure. I mean, you know, one thing we always tell guys, you know, when they get a car from us is it's got the same exact setup as what we put in our cars. And what we do tell them is when you get that car home, double check that car over and make sure everything's 100% right. You know, um it's just the way it is, you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Uh I mean, you can't expect just to take a car uh from anywhere and you know, put some stickers on it and go to the track and try and win. I mean, I even got my brand new cars from Piper. We bring them to the shop, we go through everything on them, even after Hypers put them together. And have we found stuff that have been loose or not correct? Yeah, you know, it's just the way it is. I mean, maybe it's correct to them, but maybe it's not correct to the way that we do it, you know. So that's one recommendation I have for everybody is you know, if you buy a car, make sure you go through it. Just don't take it to the track. And uh, you know, one recommendation.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Yeah, that's for sure. I will tell you at work, um wire up electrical panels. Uh one of the panels I had to do that was like almost complete had a bunch of missing tags, and I went and requested all these missing tags, and when I went to go put them in, I realized I missed a couple, you know, and I was like, oh, dang it. So I had to re-request more tags, and you know, I thought I got all of them in the first round through, but then I realized I didn't. So, you know, it's um it is what it is, but you know, we're excited for 26.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

Yeah, you know, oh for sure. You know, we we put a lot of time and effort into our into our operation. I mean, it shows, you know, look at our results. You know, they show what kind of team we are here. I mean, uh, we don't really like to mess around on our maintenance program. You know, that's number one. You've got to do your maintenance. Um, if you're gonna just push your car out for the week, wash it, and throw it back in, you know, good luck. That's all I can say. I mean, you should be going through that car every single time it's on the track, just to make sure your stuff is is correct and tight. And, you know, if if I would have inspected my front axle better, would have been a different story. I silver bullet.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, absolutely. You know.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

But also if our leading spin, then it may have, but you know, maybe it saved me from flipping too. You never know. Um But I will tell you that we did find on the hyper axles um where they weld that tab on. It's not, it's it's welded right, but it's not it's not a very strong gust up there. So we're uh we're requesting hyper to to change that a little bit. You know, make the gust a little bit stronger and the weld better. Uh that way it holds up. Because there's a lot of pressure on that. You know, you got your shocks and depending on how many turns and everything you have on it. You know, for your for your springs, putting that much more weight down on that front end.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

Yeah, where'd you guys get the welder at Crystal? Did Arlie have that or who had that?

SPEAKER_03 22:53

Yeah, so Arlie went over to Brandon Thoroughby's trailer, and uh he runs a late model there. And yeah, they they had a welder there, so Arlie welded up my my engine mount there. Um and uh it cracked just uh I think it was like three quarters of the way through. And we were gonna run it, you know, just what you know, whatever. But Arlie said, no, let's just get it welded fast. So he uh he welded it and um and it lasted a whole race, and then after that, we uh I think we brought it over to my welder, and then he welded uh like kind of like a gusset around it, and it's still on the car today. It's a lot stronger.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

So that's good. That's good. I know I really do trust Arlie. Uh what'd he weld on my exhaust? I was kind of happy about that. So shout out to Arlie.

unknown 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Yep. So good guy. Really good guy. But uh, you wanted all the tracks except uh one, and that was Ionia. Uh, did you have a favorite track from this season?

SPEAKER_03 24:06

I you know, I I like uh Silver Bullet and Crystal. Um I mean, as you know, everybody's always says every track's nice, but uh Crystal, um, they've done a lot of improvements to that track. You know, LeBaron's there, they're good people, and uh, you know, they they know how to put on show. I mean, taking over for Ron Flynn there, you know, they're doing a they're doing a great job. Uh track surface is always good. Um but I mean that'd probably be my favorite. And then you still got Mill Stream, Mount Pleasant. You know, we returned to 96 this year. Um not afraid of it by no means. Um the only thing I'm afraid of is how many motors are gonna go. Yeah. Uh just because of how big it is.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Are you doing the Tess and tune there on the 21st?

SPEAKER_03 24:59

So that was my goal. Um but I think the weather's not gonna be too good next weekend, so I'm probably probably gonna hold off, and then the following week we go to Minnesota for a week, so Minnesota. Yeah, my wife and a sister lives out there, so it's my daughter's pre-break, so we're gonna head out there for a week. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

You're not going another cruise just before the season starts? Uh no, I'm just kidding. We definitely talked about it, but don't make me jealous. I'm just kidding. They're probably not as cheap uh and not as expensive as uh some people might think. Um think uh we don't pay for them anymore. You don't?

SPEAKER_03 25:42

No, no. How do you get them? If you gamble, take a hundred bucks. If you go on the next cruise, take a hundred bucks into the casino every day and play it, you'll get free offers all the time.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Free offers?

SPEAKER_03 25:59

Yeah, like free cruises.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Are you serious?

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Dead serious, yeah. You just have to pay your pay your taxes, but that's about it. Oh, okay. So your pork fees or whatever it's called, and then your gratuity. Yeah. But I mean a couple hundred bucks to go on a six six-night, seven-day cruise. That's bro.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

No, um, Poseidon was one of my favorite movies growing up, Poseidon and Ghost Ship for some reason. Um, so I've never really wanted to jump on a cruise because a 40-foot rogue wave could flip the boat, so just uh yeah. Also never thought about it either. So yep.

unknown 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

But no, I like I like Crystal too. Uh Silver Bullet's just near and special to my heart because it was the first draft I ever called. Um yeah, and definitely have expanded from there. I remember the first time I went out to announce at Silver Bullet Speedway. I was like, Oh yeah, I got this, and then I announced and then I posted it on Facebook, and then everybody's like, Yeah, you're so good, you're doing great. And I'm thinking to myself, like, that thinking to myself looking back at it now, and I'm like, that was awful. Appreciate the wonderful feedback, but that was terrible, you know. But it's how we grow, you know.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Oh, for sure. Yeah, no, you're doing a good job, you know. We appreciate you what you're doing. Yeah, you know, you're uh you're good at what you do, you just gotta keep it up.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah. And uh more things coming to the podcast. Um, talking to my friend Brandon, and I think we might have uh another co-host on the podcast. So we want to do some outreach, uh, talk about indie car, maybe sprint car racing next year. Just more than the just the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. Uh, hopefully outreach uh to the uh the world of outlaws, uh the high limit series, just to try to get more outreach for the podcast so that way when people go to click on it, they're like, oh, it's just about the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. And we're like, no, it's just it's about everything.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

So Yeah, no, that sounds good. Hope an hour. Anything that we can do to help you out, you know, which we've already talked.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:16

So behind the scenes, we'll we'll help you out on that the best we can and and uh see if we can't get more uh more people out there listening to you.

SPEAKER_01 28:23

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's gonna be great. Uh I'm excited what we got in store for the season. Uh it's gonna be one uh one heck of a season, but uh we're ready for it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

For sure. So we're almost ready.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Gonna buy another car?

SPEAKER_03 28:39

No, I'm just kidding. I'd sell one.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

No, um I need to sell it, might need to sell a kidney for it.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

Yeah, right. I got a good thing I got four of them, so we're good. So yeah. So you guys looking back at this season, what was your uh favorite racing memory from this entire season? I know you went to victory line 10 times, but did you have a uh one that stuck out? A memory that stuck out this season?

SPEAKER_03 29:10

I just say having my family there, you know, most of the season. Um, you know, it means a lot when they show up. You know, not sure how to see how long I'll be doing it for, but you know, last year is supposed to be my final year, two years ago was, but we just we have a lot of fun doing it, and it's hard to give it up. But you know, selling the business now, um, you know, moving on to different ventures and stuff, we'll see how much longer we're gonna do it for. Um, but uh, you know, hanging out with everybody, you know, at the track, uh, you know, um Chad, you know, Chad and Sheila. Um, we normally always park next to each other, you know, have Harley there. Um we just have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Yeah, that's awesome. I always like when my uh my wife joins me. Um Sheila mentioned that I'm always happier when my wife comes to the track. Do you see it?

SPEAKER_03 30:06

I guess I really didn't notice, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Okay. My wife said she knows it. I'm like, uh I don't know. But I mean, I'm always happier when my wife's there. I know. I know. I got a partner that uh can sleep in the uh passenger seat as I'm driving home. That's uh that's my take on it.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

I just get a bunch of Red Bulls.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Would you uh bounce off the white line? Is that what you told me?

SPEAKER_03 30:34

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I bounced off the white and yellow line.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Yeah. My uh my winner this entire season, uh, thanks to Sheila was Alani. Uh Alani energy drinks really drove me through this season, tell you what. That and Mike Mike Pipgrass, Pipgrass Racing. So really uh thankful that for this season.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

So a lot of great people in the series, you know, that's for sure. Yeah. You know, look at how many look at how many people in the series help one another or help the whole series out, you know. I'd say that there's a select few in the series that are trying to help build this thing to something that's a lot bigger, you know. And I'd say Pim Grass obviously is one of them guys that's willing to help out, you know, with whatever he can do. You know, Arlie's the same way. I know myself, Chad, you know, look at Bill Dunham. I mean, you know, Bill, Bill is really good at what he does. And, you know, if you need a part, uh, you know, Bill he can normally cover it, you know, or build something and make it, you know, he's he's uh he's good. Um I know I'm probably forgetting people early, you know. Um it's just it's a good group of guys.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yeah, it's a great group of guys. We'll tell you that. And for all the drivers that are listening, uh next season we're kind of gonna do a little bit more outreach uh for myself. Um so there will be a lot more pit interviews than just victory lane. Um, so second, third, fourth people that um fortunately get in accidents, wrecks, uh they're gonna be interviewed just so we can get those posted up on Facebook, you know, that way we can get a little bit more outreach. Because a lot of people like to hear what the drivers say after the race, you know, more than just on a podcast, you know, because we can do an interview at the track, and me and Dalton can throw it in on a podcast, but um the behind the scenes and you know, they can post it when they post qualifying. You know, hey, they posted qualifying. Here's an interview from Bill Dunham for the fifth time this season, you know. So yeah, that's that's awesome. So look out for me. If you see me, then uh you're probably gonna go interview you. So just gonna be it's gonna be straight.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

So yeah, that's that's good.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Yeah, absolutely. Now do you have an all-time favorite racing memory from this from I was gonna say from this season. All-time favorite racing memory.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

There's been a lot, but I'd say last year. Um not gonna be mean about it, but I think it was last year when Jake was running with us. Um, the last race of the season. Uh silver bullet, my wife came, and I know all they had to do was start the race to win the championship, but what made it better is me winning the race and having my wife and daughter there to go into the winner's circle as well. Yeah, and uh that was it was kind of nice, you know, having them there, uh, enjoying that one. And uh yeah, it's yeah, that's probably one of the best ones. Um the whole family was there, you know, my brother, my dad, wife, daughter. So it was pretty fun.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

Yeah, I will tell you I did enjoy Silver Bullet Speedway that uh Victory Lane. That was the first time I've actually been down in Victory Lane for Silver Bullet, so that was uh really cool to do. And everybody had already left for um as far as the classes are concerned, so we were the last ones down there. So we we tried to what shoot off a confetti canon and throw up money and try to get a picture. I don't I don't know how well it worked out, but uh that was an enjoyable moment. I was like going down to Victory Lane, talking to you drivers and being a part of the action, you know. So it's what I like doing.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

No, I know like uh a fundraising memory this year, another one would be at Merritt when Arlie and I were I mean Arlie and I we're battling it out, you know. I was out front the whole time, but he was still right behind me. And uh I think the bump coming into three and four is what got him the most.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

It was uh out of turn four, uh, because I remember that because yeah, no offense, Arlie was definitely faster than you were that race. Um hated to be that guy, but uh he was definitely faster, and I was really pulling for Arlie on that one.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

But that was you know, it just it goes to show you, and that goes back to me talking about lap cars. It doesn't matter about how fast you are, it matters about how fast you get on that track. And I that bit him that night, you know, turn four. But um, you know, with with lap cars as well. I mean, a lot of guys get frustrated and mad, you know, behind the scenes at the lap car as well. They're out there fighting for positions too. If you're faster, find a way to get around them.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

Um, and the only thing I can say is don't put yourself in a position that's gonna hurt yourself or somebody else. You know, you don't want to just wing it in the corner and and wild up somebody else's car. I mean, yeah, it doesn't matter if you've got a$8,000 car or a$40,000 car. You don't want to see it. I mean, you know, one little mistake can can cause you know a driver to not race anymore. You know, yeah, costs a lot of money to do what we do, and and uh yeah, it's good to use your head.

SPEAKER_01 36:06

For sure, for sure. No, it's um yeah, like I said, that merit race was um incredible. I still look back at that. That was probably one of the best races that we've ever had, the lightning sprints, you know. There was yeah, so many battles all over the racetrack. There was battling for the lead, there was not a single caution. We got through that race in like six minutes, so that was incredible.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Yeah. I I think I heard from past uh couple past uh podcasts that if I was hearing it correctly, there wasn't that much competition out there last year. I'd have to disagree with that because it just seemed like everybody out there that was running was fighting for something. Whether it's third place, fourth place, eighth place, tenth place, there was so much competition out there between the whole field last year, which is what made it a lot of fun. I mean, I think having we averaged what, 14 cars this year, 15 cars?

SPEAKER_01 37:11

Yeah, 13 to 15 cars.

SPEAKER_03 37:12

I think I think we put on better shows this year than we did the year before and the year before that.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Oh, yeah. I walked away every single race with a smile on my face, and I was like, that was the best race. And then we go to next week, and I was like, that was the best race, and then we go to Merritt and like nothing can top that, and then we go to the next race. I'm like, nothing could top that. And then we go to the championships race, and we're like, nothing can top that. You know what I'm saying? Like the races kept getting better and better and better. That was one thing. Um, I rode with the Pipgrasses last year, and that was the one thing we talked about, like every single race was that the races just keep getting better every single race, and then you know, there's a three-wide battle with you, and then uh with you, Arlie, Dalton, then you guys got it with in with Chad, and then there's a four-wide on the front. Oh I mean, I couldn't sit down. Yeah, there's a reason why I announced on the balcony at Crystal because Crystal always puts on amazing races, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Yeah, so oh yeah, yeah. It was uh it was really good, really good.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

It was, it was great, and uh like I said, I'm excited for the racing this year, and the drivers that we have are next level, you know. We got Jake back, we got Chad Listerman, you know, he came out the gate hot, you know, just as a rookie, you know. Jerry Dalton is getting better. Chad is getting better, he's got a new car. Different things happen with a new car, but I guarantee you Chad's gonna be up there. It's gonna be such a battle for the top ten that whoever goes to victory lane is gonna step out of their car and take a deep breath, you know.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

Yeah, it's gonna be the only thing I can say about this year is if you think you're gonna come into the series and start walking away with shows, you got another thing coming.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

Yeah, it ain't gonna have to.

SPEAKER_03 38:54

It's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough to do every single night. I mean, yeah, it doesn't matter who it is either. I mean, it showed last year, just it doesn't matter. I mean, yeah, I won ten races, but it doesn't matter, you know. Look at look at Jerry. I mean, Jerry had top threes almost weekly, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:17

I mean, Chad Lesterman did really good, you know. Um Arley, you know, he's he's another one. I mean, he's he's gonna get his first win. You know he is. I mean, he's pushing his car, you know, changing some setup stuff that he's doing, you know, that that's better suiting his driving style. And uh it's just you're probably gonna have 10 or 12 cars this year every single week that's fighting for that lead.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Yeah, absolutely. Seriously, I'm I'm super excited for it. I really am. Um seriously, it's gonna it's gonna be great. Tell you that. Yeah. Tell you that. No, Jerry did good um just looking at his stats. Uh there was ninth, a couple fourth place finishes, a fifth, a tenth, and a twelfth. So we had one finish outside of that. This is two. Two finishes outside of the top ten, but I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 40:20

For some reason, now if you take a look at if you take a look at my stats from this year to last year, there's only two races outside the top five, right?

SPEAKER_01 40:29

Yes. Um for you there was only one, and I think it was the same last year.

SPEAKER_03 40:35

Yeah, yeah, eighth and seventh, eighth this year and seventh last year.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Yes, sir. Let me look at it. No, I got the schedule pulled up uh oh, okay, that was 234. I'm like, what? You had uh fourth at Mount Pleasant, and then you had a uh seventh at Millstream, so two finishes outside of podium, other than that, you you're there. So like I said, it's gonna be uh it's one heck of a season, you know?

SPEAKER_03 41:08

Oh, for sure. It's gonna be fun. A lot of changes on our end, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

Yeah. Now a lot of people listen to podcast the podcast when uh Justin Ward's name came up, but a lot of people don't know about what your history in racing is. Why don't you let the fans know? What uh how'd you how'd you come about? How'd you get to the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints?

SPEAKER_03 41:35

So way back in 2008, I started with the Mora Mini Outlaws, Modified Outlaw Racing Association. Ran with them guys for quite a few years, I think it was. Um my very last race with them, finally picked off a feature win, and that was at Thunderbird Speedway. And then the next year we went into lightning sprints, which we um myself and a few others, uh, we went down to Jackson Speedway with the micros to try and get some of them guys to come up and run with us. So we uh we corraled quite a few of them up here and and uh started running lightning sprints up in Michigan, and you know, it was uh forget the years, but 15 was my last year in a lightning, and we've already won three championships then. And then we went into these full-size sprint cars in the 410s and 360s, and uh had a blast doing it. Um, you know, you gotta you gotta have a lot of seat time in them cars um if you want to be up front. And you know, we we could have kept doing it, um, but with my business ventures, you know, the wife and I bought the oil field business, and uh we had to put more time into that. So we decided to take a step back and go into the lightning sprints, which I wouldn't say a step back because it's still moving forward because these cars are I mean, they're they're awesome. Um, but it kind of fit more of our style. Um and we still tinkered around with the full size, the non-wing as well, I think back in 22. And then when we finally sold out our whole operation of of full size, we had a big coat, our own trailer, all that stuff. But we just we sold it all and went out, got a hyper, and uh and then here we are today winning back to back to back championships. Yeah, 23, 24, and 25.

SPEAKER_01 43:31

So you got three championships for 2015, and then you got three in the last three years.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

Yeah, yep. And to be honest with you, probably could have been four championships before, but the higher's lightning sprints kind of dismantled um before the end of the season and I was leaving points then. So I just kind of scratched that one off anyway. But um still that's when we move forward and kind of Um, I think Merritt took over their the lightning sprints of the weekly class, so they got rid of the high-rooms part.

SPEAKER_01 44:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

And uh we had fun in the full size. I mean, it was I felt like my last few races that I actually ran, which was Tri-City and Merritt, um, in uh wing cars is when I finally started to get comfortable. And then non-wings are enjoyable. Four ten non-wing. Um I worked finishing those as a sixth in a feature. So I mean we did fairly well for three times out there.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

Yeah, seriously.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

But yeah, but you know we're where we're at today, and and uh keep plugging away.

SPEAKER_01 44:43

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

But a lot of people, a lot of people gotta thank, you know, all the sponsors, you know, throughout the years, um, all the help from friends and family, my wife, my daughter, uh, my brother Jason, my dad, you know, Arlie, um, you know, all play a big role in in uh who we are today and and how we compete and perform on the track. I mean um stats uh stats proven, you know.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

For sure. For sure. We'll tell you going for that uh do you have it, the all-time win list leader? Are you a leader? I think I have it. In Michigan? No, with uh with lightning sprints. Oops, nope. Nope, okay, hold on.

SPEAKER_03 45:35

Oh wrong one. Oh, you mean with uh with uh Great Lakes? Lightning Sprints? What am I, one short?

SPEAKER_01 45:44

Uh I think I still gotta update it. You got ten this year, you got three the year before. Let me go back to stats. Yeah, there's sixteen, so oh, so then you're two behind. Brennan's got to be. Yeah. So trying to break that this year.

SPEAKER_03 46:03

Yeah, we'll see what happens, you know. Not gonna put down, you know, yeah, not gonna put down, you know, or where we want to be this year, just go out there and have fun, you know. There's really nothing, nothing else to prove, you know. Um go out there and enjoy and have fun, help others out, and and uh, you know, or you're gonna do just that to help us block a few people out that we wanna help try and succeed out there and and uh see where the cards fall.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

Yeah, absolutely. Now you said you've been racing uh since 08, that was correct. Okay. So you've got a lot of experience in racing. You probably want me to have more racing experience than I've been alive. Just kidding. But uh, what's one piece of advice you'd want to give to drivers who want to start racing?

SPEAKER_03 47:00

Man, there's a lot of advice I can give, but um don't uh I I would say look past your nose. You know, if you're gonna sit there and stare at your nose, you're not gonna go nowhere in life. Um you gotta look 10 feet out, 20 feet out in front of your nose. You know, you gotta kind of uh kind of predict what's gonna happen, you know, not just today, but you want to look ahead into the future a little bit, a few days down the road. I mean, but getting into racing, um, you know, you want to do good, you know, you wanna you wanna have a few sponsors that can help you out. Um, you know, and you want to treat your sponsors with the utmost respect, you know. And not only that, if you're racing for somebody, you want to respect them. You know, you don't want to go dogging them, you know. Uh, you know, you're kind of just gonna chew your own face off at that point, you know. Um, but uh, I would say just be you as well, you know, go out there, have fun, see what you can do. Um, and I would definitely say, uh, you know, if you like somebody's getting in the lightning sprints, I'd have to say go go talk to the people that are that are willing to talk to you for one, but the ones that are doing really good, you know. Um, I know our team's willing to help anybody out. Um, you know, we're we're here to help people along. And you know, a little bit of information that we might be able to give to you might help you out uh in the future, go a long way. I mean, we've helped a lot of drivers out in the past, you know. Um, you know, for instance, look at Jay, you know, he was running the henchcraft there for a while. You know, his car owner came up and bought a very, very nice hyper off of us and uh had great motor package in it. Um had I mean it had the best of the best on the car. And um, what do you do the next year? You know, he went out there and he was dominating.

SPEAKER_01 49:06

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 49:07

You know, um, but you know, we're we're trying to help as many people out as we can to get them to the front, you know, more competition the better. So we're always there to help out.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, I'm excited uh for the season. Also, do you know of any other rookies uh beside Grayson Thompson uh that is uh racing with us for 26?

SPEAKER_03 49:34

We're trying to get another driver out there, um, but that's to be determined.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

Okay. Just because um this is the final episode of Fourth and Wrecked season three. Uh so I wanted to do two kind of introductory episodes, uh, the one that we talked about, and then I might do a rookie class episode to talk about the new drivers coming in and see how they're um if they're excited for it and um what racing experience they have and you know help them out, you know, because um it's it's a great series to race with the lightning sprints, you know. But um sometimes you need a little insight before you start, you know. So gonna try to help them out and uh try to hopefully get their name out there and see where it goes from there, you know?

SPEAKER_03 50:23

Yeah, for sure. If if there's anybody out there that's listening, um, you know, get a hold of us, get a hold of anybody in the series, you know. Uh there's always cars out there available. I know the track owner, Crystal, has a a good uh starter car out there for sale. Um really reasonable. Um, but I mean we're willing to find cars as well. And uh, you know, we've we've done that in the past. I think we've sold probably over 20 leggings for in snow in uh since we started. So we're uh always willing to find a car and to suit your needs and and uh get you out there.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Yep. And if you're wondering who to contact, if you tune to the end of this video, you'll know exactly who to contact. So yes, sir. Like I said, I'm excited uh for 26. Uh definitely am. Uh hopefully new things coming to the podcast. Um, like I said, got that uh new co-host um hopefully coming in the works. And yeah, it'll be uh it'll be good. And yeah, I want to start doing something different. I was gonna think of like instead of kind of talking, we'll talk a little bit about the race, but uh have like a driver of the week, you know, from the Lightning Sprints. Yeah. So excited for that. So see what we come up with, you know. So a lot of new things coming to Fourth and Rect. Um, I got stickers with me. So if I see you guys at the racetrack, um, I got stickers. Um, you guys can have one, but don't take them all. So yeah, we're uh yeah, put them on the car, put them on your computer, uh, put them on your parents' car with permission. Um, so yeah, super excited for uh 26. How about you?

SPEAKER_03 52:13

Oh, yeah, we're excited. You know, we're gonna see where turns fall and and uh go out there every every night and you know know that we'll be fighting for that lead.

SPEAKER_01 52:23

Absolutely. You hope though, right? I'm just kidding. No, we're super excited. Thank you everybody for tuning in for season three. Uh it's been a blast. Uh, hopefully, to see you guys in season four. Um, look for episodes mid to late April. Uh we'll and to find us on Facebook, Fourth and Rect. And if you can't find my Facebook, Fourth and Rect, check my Facebook. Uh my name is Matthew Riegert. Uh, I post a lot of the stuff there for my content on the Fourth Rec page. So tune in there to see when new episodes are dropping. And like I said, hope to see you guys at the racetrack. So signing out for now.

SPEAKER_03 53:12

We appreciate you, Matt. Hey, you know, keep doing what you're doing. You're doing good. So I'm sure we'll be talking to you soon.

SPEAKER_01 53:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

All right. Thanks, Matt.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

Alright, yep. Peace. Have you ever gone to the racetrack and saw a paint scheme that you fell in love with? Well, look no further than DCR Graphics. Where are your graphic designs from wraps to banners, stickers, die cast, hats, hoodies, shirts, and even flags? Turn to DCR Graphics. Find DCR Graphics on Facebook or by calling 419-308-9523. Are you looking to get in the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints and needed a fast car? Well look no further than JWR Speed Shop. JWR Speed Shop joins Fourth and Rec in 2025 to help you get to the track. If you want a car, contact the five-time champ Justin Ward at 231-383 0947. Justin Ward is a man to talk to for everything, Lightning Sprints, and Everything, JWR Speed Shop. Thank you for all the support in 2025.