"Let's Be RONest" with Ron Bergenholtz

Ben Hobson on Formula Drift, Failure, and Never Stopping the Chase | LET'S BE RONest S2 #2

• Nitto Tire • Season 2 • Episode 2

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Fresh off a strong showing at Long Beach and a frustrating qualifying result at Road Atlanta, Ben breaks down the mental side of competition, why overthinking can cost you everything, and how he's learned to turn setbacks into lessons.

Ron and Ben dive into the early days, from discovering drifting in Florida and learning in an automatic Mustang to building his first 240SX on a budget and chasing the Lone Star Drift dream. What started as late nights in the garage eventually led to Pro-Am championships, a ProSpec title, and a seat in Formula Drift Pro.

They also discuss the drivers who inspired him, the people who helped him along the way, and the moments that nearly made him quit. From blown engines and borrowed cars to podium finishes and factory drives, Ben shares what it really takes to keep moving forward.

This episode features Ben Hobson discussing Formula Drift, Road Atlanta, Long Beach, RTR Vehicles, Nitto Tire, grassroots drifting, ProSpec, driver mindset, and chasing a dream through every setback.


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SPEAKER_00

Good morning from Rhode Atlanta! Welcome to the latest episode of Rhodes, and here we are at the beautiful and famed Road Atlanta for round two of the FD championship round in 2026. We have a special guest for you, Ben Hobson, Factory RTR and Nidto driver, who is acclaimed 2018 Lone Star Pro Am Champion, 2023 Prospect Champion, and now in the pro rank. We're gonna interview him and ask him about all the trials and tribulations he's had from his rise, his humble rise in 2018 to now. So we're gonna introduce him and we're gonna have a fun show. Ben option 2018 program champion 2023 Bruce Factor Champion. Come on the show! What a perfect place to do a podcast. Always a pleasure. I'm always rooting for you. I'm a fan. Dude, I've watched you, I've I've studied you from the very beginnings. Nothing but amazing words to say. And dude, we're happy to have you on the latest episode of honest.

SPEAKER_01

It's an honor, man. I always watch these. I'm like, dude, I don't wanna sit down there and talk talking, my boy, you know. So now look at here. We're staying here, we're talking brother, man.

SPEAKER_00

So we're round two, but let's let's let's go over round one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What a freaking weekend.

SPEAKER_00

First, first round to qualifying. My boy was number one for qualifying. Wall to wall, lock to lock, right? Number one qualifier for the first round, right? Absolutely. And then the second round, obviously, with James Dean. Uh yeah, Forsberg.

SPEAKER_01

Forsberg took it from me, and then it slowly just started. A couple people started inching me out here and there, but you know what? We held it for that whole first. I got to end off round, like the first set of qualifying. I'll look at my name up top, and I was like, dude, come on. I ain't seen that since 2020, baby. Let's go. Yes, sir. Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So Long Beach, you had uh Federico, top 32. Yes, sir. Showed him the door, peace out. Top 16, you made.

unknown

Fuck.

SPEAKER_00

I was I was so happy. I was screaming to the top of my logs.

SPEAKER_01

Stoked, man. That was such a good but we made a little mistake in the chase.

SPEAKER_00

We had a uh Well, uh, before you get into it, right? Yeah, yeah. He had Odie Bakes, his old boss from the 2023 Pro Am Champ Pro Spec Jam. Yes, sir. It was a eater. With that, uh huh, right? Questions I wanted to ask. Obviously, um you you had a hiccup after the fur the first wall, outer zone two.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, he clipped me. Yeah. Yeah, he clipped me. He clipped me in the whenever I was in the lead. He hit my he hit my rear wheel mid-transition. And thank God for them big old nittos, because that stood on it and drove through that deck, I'm thing. So, but yeah, um, that was the lead was good. Yeah, the lead was great. Um I made up after that. I tried to get back into the zone after that, but it it definitely stopped my rotation into uh, what is that, uh one, two, three, four under the bridge, and then trying to stretch it out to five. So it kind of made me hick up, but you know, we stayed true to the car, stayed true to the tires. I knew they were gonna stick, so I just floored it through there and uh finished up the lead. But yeah, in the chase, in the chase, it was weird, man. I don't know exactly what I did wrong, other than my timing was a millisecond off in the transition. And as soon as I as soon as I transitioned behind him going under the bridge, I shot up real quick, and then I had to break. And as soon as I did, I was deeper than him, and I got in the marbles a little bit behind him, and I was already full locked behind him, and I was just, you know, I she just didn't hold. So it was uh it was a driver error, and I should have been a little bit further forward, but you know what? I'm still learning, still learning these cars, still learning this this process, and uh, you know, every time I show up to the track, as long as I leave a better driver, then I'm happy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, making those little baby steps.

SPEAKER_01

The the the the minuscule freaking winds, the micro winds, that's that's what keeps your mental up there and not you know shooting yourself down for everything. You gotta you gotta think of all the good things that happen and not not the one bad thing.

SPEAKER_00

You know, out in Texas we call that every little step is in in every shotgun shell, there's a little BB in there, right? And each BB is that step. When you got all those little steps together in a shotgun shell, they could do some damage.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

So, question I wanted to ask you, alright, is obviously in a way, in a way, you're still a rookie amongst amongst giants. Alright? Odie, you had Odie. In my opinion, he's a Hall of Famer, right? He is, dude.

SPEAKER_01

He's an athlete.

SPEAKER_00

And right at the starting line, you're side by side, right? I want to know, right? What what do you think Odie's thinking when he's got you side to line? What do you think he's thinking?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I hope he's thinking about the lap that he's about to make and not about me, you know. Um I would I would say he is such a seasoned veteran that he doesn't, it's honestly, I don't think he's worried about who's right beside him. He knows he's gonna lay down a good lap, and he knows all he has to do is do what he's got to do, you know what I mean? So that's the mindset. In my opinion, Odie has that mindset of who, you know, I don't care who was up beside me. And I'm I finally got that mindset of, you know, only I'll tell my spotter who I'm who I'm chasing.

SPEAKER_00

Somebody's scraping up.

SPEAKER_01

Somebody's late breaking hard, right? I'll tell my spotter who I'm chasing and he'll give me feedback on them. And but I used to be like, all right, so-and-so's chasing me, but now I don't I don't care, you know. I don't not that I don't care about them, I don't let them know. I don't care. I'm going to my lap. I'm doing my lead lap out here now. So it's all about getting that mindset. I feel like um I feel like Odie definitely has that mindset of it's battle time, baby.

SPEAKER_00

Now, particular quote. You tell me your feedback on this. Competitors next to you in his head. He's gone. It's only Hobson. I got him covered.

SPEAKER_01

They're thinking wrong, brother. They thinking wrong. I love the confidence. Yeah, no. I love the confidence. I I'm I'm not a I'm not a cocky guy, but don't underestimate me ever. You know what I mean? So I I'm here for a reason. Um, I've earned my way, I've earned my spots, I've earned, I've I've taken the proper steps. I've like you said, I've won the prospect champ or pro dam championship. I won the prospect championship. I know that I have what it takes. It's just me getting my bearings right because everybody else out here, the other 32, 33 drivers, they all have what it takes as well. So it's not telling yourself, oh man, you're screwing up. It's like, no, dude, we all make mistakes. We're all human. So guess what? Live, learn. This year it's win or learn. If I didn't win this round, I learned this round. So guess what? Even if I did win, I learned every single step of the way. So this year, yeah, it's my it's my third year. My learning year was supposed to be one. My learning year, I don't give a crap. Every single year I'm still learning. Every driver out there, every single lap, they're still learning. So it's still a learning year for everybody. And if you're not learning anymore, you should hang it up. You should hang it up because guess what? You're the best of the best. You don't need to learn anymore.

SPEAKER_00

So now trying to get into that brain, right? Trying to get into that brain. That middle brain. What is going through Ben Hobson's mind? Right? What's in your mind? The raw sense. Right? Raw sense. You're talking to yourself in your head. When you got somebody like Odie next to you, what's going through your mind?

SPEAKER_01

Um, well, I read a, I'm not, I don't read a lot, to be honest with you. I'm not a reader, but I found this book called Mind Gym. Uh-huh. Um, and it is literally a mental workout for your brain. And this guy, this one of my favorite quotes, it says, if you're not good at thinking, then don't think too much. So, in those situations, I'm not good at thinking. Because thinking makes me overthink, as you saw last night. If I overthink or if I hyper-analyze something, I just I'm dumb. I can't, I go smooth brain, you know what I mean? So I literally, I will not think about the run, I visualize the run. I will I will close my eyes, I'll enter, do the handbrake, do the shifts, do whatever, do the clutch, do the brakes, whatever I know that I have to do to get to that line, that's what runs through my mind, not how to do it. You know what I mean? I used to think.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. You're not thinking about that? Nope.

SPEAKER_01

I used to. I used to, but that puts me in the wrong mindset. I try to I try to drive past them. Man, I'm gonna blow them out of the l- No, it's not about that. It's like I'm gonna go out there and drive my perfect line and hope that they give me that opportunity to chase their perfect line, you know what I mean? So it's it's more of a consistency win. So yeah, you might say I could go out there and do one bomb lap that I gap the hell out of the guy, but guess what? If I try to do that again, I might not make it. But if I if I do consistency, that's what I'm getting in my brain. I'm a hotshot, dude. I like firing off. I like throwing them big flicks, you know.

SPEAKER_00

What one thing's for sure, at Hub Beach, right? The way you drive, it looks like you're gonna, dude, I'm fuck, I'm hitting everything. Every wall.

SPEAKER_01

Every single wall. And it's consistent. It's consistent, dude. And it's that track is probably one of the scariest tracks, to be honest with you, because it's so black. It looked like you were fearing. Oh, I'm no, I'm not scared. Because whenever you get scared, you you tense up, you know what I mean? But I'll admit it is a scary track. You know what I mean? Thinking about it, you're going down the chute. Say we're doing, I don't know, what we do, 65, 70 mile an hour down that straight away. But you can't see. You can't see the zone at all. You flick in, you're like, all right, I hope it's there it is. Okay, there it is. There we go, you know what I mean? So every single lap, you can't look down the hill and see every single zone and visualize it. You have to mentally have that in your brain and have it in that muscle memory of if you go blind behind somebody, what to do? Just freaking floor it. I have pre-planned thoughts. And being the feather, just floor it through the park. Dude, that's my that's my pre-planned thought on every battle. If I get to a moment where I can't think, I just floor it. Like, don't think about it, just freaking floor it. Get through the smoke. Yeah, you can't see. Oh well. You'll get you'll you'll be able to see quicker if you get through the smoke faster. So freaking floor it. So I had that that mindset last year going into uh Long Beach 2, and it started to pay off, like transitioning behind OD or um Osbo. Transition behind I had a really good transition in little, like those areas that you cannot see, just trust them. They're all pros, they're all badass drivers. They're gonna make the transition. If they don't, then I'm gonna hit them. But if they do, I'm gonna be right in their pocket, dude. So like it's just all about knowing that you got it, you know what I mean, and knowing mentally that you can do it and not overthinking shit. That's what I do. I used I I still overthink stuff. It's if I think about what I gotta do, game over, bud. Game over, bud.

SPEAKER_00

Tom cruise goes, don't think!

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, just do exactly, exactly. That's that's what I have to do. Because if you think too much, then we don't have time to think. So shut the thinking box off, chunk it in the you know, effort bucket and send it, brother.

SPEAKER_00

The same mentality is on the follow. Yeah, try to hit them, try to hit them, dude.

SPEAKER_01

But but not hit them hard, you know what I mean? It's like try to get into that pocket to where I can hit them if I want to. But I don't like hitting people, dude. I only I only hit people's doors. Come on! Listen, listen, I only hit people's doors if they hit mine. So like it's a payback thing for me. But if I'm in the pocket and it just happens naturally, yeah, I'm gonna do it. But I'm not I'm not gonna come floping through and just smash them, you know what I mean? But a nice little rub, uh, that's satisfying.

SPEAKER_00

The famous crew chief of Tom Cruise and Days of Thunder. Hey, you didn't you didn't get hit. You rubbing. Go hit the base car. Rubin's racing, Robin's racing.

SPEAKER_01

Rubin's racing, baby. I love seeing those nittos just leave that little perfect mark on their door too. That's that's that's butamus. That's butamus.

SPEAKER_00

So um here we are, round one, fucking amazing, right? Amazing, amazing. Round two shit. Dude. Unfortunately Unfortunately, Ben, Ben, what happened last night?

SPEAKER_01

I funked too much. You what? I funk too much. I was I was thinking, I shouldn't have been thinking. So um What happened? Um in qualifying last night. Qualifying the first run, I entered in, it was a heater, dude. I was on my marks, I was coming up the thing, everything was money. But I was going into the run, I was hyper focused on filling this zone right here. I've been filling it all day, the beginning of it, but I've been leaving it a little early. So I wanted to fill the whole thing. And I started thinking about what I need to do, what I need to do, what I need to do. And then I'm conversing, and then I'm I'm talking, I'm like, you know what? Just go do your practice run that you've been doing all day because they've been killers. My practice runs were phenomenal all day, but that zone I would just leave it this much too soon. But I wanted to fill it, you know what I mean? I feel like I got a little bit too greedy. Um, but I wanted to get all the points. Um that zone, if y'all don't know, that zone is 1.5 compared to all the other ones being a little less than one. So that zone is almost money. That one means the most. Just do your normal lap. I went in, I threw it in, I came in, it was a fire run. I got excuse me. I got in that zone, and I was like, okay, I'm a little bit deeper than I've been all day in practice. Cool. I'm feeling it. That's not what my intention was to feel it more, but I did. I was like, all right, cool. So I did my normal thing, touch a little bit left foot brake there. A lot of the drivers stab handbrake in the middle of the zone, and I freaking hate that. Not not, you know, it's just it's a correction in the middle of the zone. So is a left foot brake, but at least my momentum isn't like stopping real quick. I'm still I'm still rolling through there. And I add the angle with the left foot brake to hit that next inner clip. I touched the left foot brakes a little bit too much. The the track cooled down, you know, a few degrees, so it's getting a little bit grippier. We have those brand new, amazing front tires now. They have a world of grip, and uh yeah, they stuck. And uh the rears just over-rotate around me. I almost, you know, almost, it only counts in horse using hand grenades, I know, but I almost saved it to the point where I was clutched in. I was waiting, I was waiting, I was like, come on, come on. If I had like two degrees more angle, I feel like I could have saved it and it'd have been super sick, dude. Like it'd have been nasty. I might have ran over that inner clip a little bit, you know, but I would not have spun. The next lap down. I don't know. I um I threw it in. Uh entry was was good, and all of a sudden something didn't feel right with the car. So I don't know why, but I pulled the handbrake again and it threw me on the inside. It just like I was normally like touching the rumbles, and it was I don't think I got all the way out to the rumbles. So the grip threw me in a little bit, and dude, it was over from there. I stopped. I don't I don't know what the heck happened after that. I blacked out, and uh, yeah, we we put a score on the board that time. It was a 58, it wasn't nothing. You know what I mean? But it just uh wasn't enough to get us in the show, unfortunately. Um really, really, really unfortunate, but you know what? It is what it is. Shit happens. Um like Travis Petrana says, you win some, you lose most. And uh that's how racing is, dude. Uh but if you if you think about it too much and you you beat yourself up on it, like it's it's just gonna happen again and again and again and again. So you gotta have the as a race car driver, you gotta have the mind of a goldfish, the memory of a goldfish when shit like that happens, I think. You just gotta like, you gotta yeah, you can get angry, you can get emotional, but it's not gonna help. So, five minutes, five years. This this little incident ain't gonna bother me in five years from now. So I spent five minutes on it last night, I got over it, and I moved on with it, you know what I mean? So it's on them the next day. I'm here, we're out here, I knew I had a lot more stuff I gotta do this weekend, get to hang out with my boy, do this this awesome event, uh, get to see Vaughn and James compete Saturday. So it's like it is what it is. I I get to kind of chillax, and I would rather be driving, obviously. We all want to freaking drive, but you know what? Just this weekend, it it was the other guy's turns to drive, and uh my time to sit out and stuff happen. So it's it is very unfortunate, but you know, I learned from it. I will never, ever, ever make that mistake again, and I can guarantee you that. Stop thinking. Yeah, I'm not gonna think ever again.

SPEAKER_00

Get greedy on the Philly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, stop, stop. You know, if I if I want to do that greediness, do that on round two, qualifying, you know what I mean? Just but it is what it is, dude. You gotta live and you learn, you win or you learn. And this year, like I said, I'm learning. So um it is what it is. We're uh we're um round three, we're coming back hot, you know what I mean? Orlando, I love that track. Uh I love banks, I love walls, and those cars.

SPEAKER_00

I can tell by line you love.

SPEAKER_01

And uh those uh we did testing at Orlando this year with uh with the new stuff. And uh our cars are.

SPEAKER_00

You got some muscle memory going on.

SPEAKER_01

We're very excited, and uh yeah, I just look forward to what else is to come, not not what happened in the past, and uh live in the present, not in the future, not in the past, and soak it all up, dude. Because no matter what, I'm blessed to be here. I'm blessed to have this opportunity, I'm blessed to have the support system that I do, I'm blessed to have the family that I have, I'm blessed to have the partners that I do. Like it's it's a dream come true, and I'm living my absolute dream, dude. So stuff happens along the way. It's not about what happens to you, it's how you react to each situation that uh that I believe makes you the man. You know what I mean? Makes you a better person, makes you makes you human, is how you react to each situation. It's not about it's not about what happens, it's about how the outcome is and uh how you what you what you take from it. And um, everything's a everything's a lesson in life.

SPEAKER_00

You know what's funny is um, there's a famous quote, I don't know who said it right, is character is built not when you win, but when you lose.

SPEAKER_01

You know what I mean? Yep, absolutely, dude. It shows it's it in my opinion, it shows who you really are if you when you go through that that those steps. Not not saying I'm better than anybody because I'm not better than anybody out here. I'm just me. I'm living the best life that I can and I'm being the best person that I can. You know what I mean? I treat everybody how I want to be treated. And at the end of the day, you know, if I if I see somebody sad and upset about themselves, I go talk to them. Hey, you're good, dude. You're like you can ask, you can ask Fetty after after that battle. We had a long talk. He was upset. I'm like, bro, it happens. We're human, we make mistakes, you know. Stuff breaks, and it's it's not you, it's not anything. Guess what? You got an X round. Just come back stronger, learn from this one, and it is what it is.

SPEAKER_00

And so a quick quote from this this uh this this problem this thing that happened to you last night. What's one sentence you learned from it not to do? What not to do? What not to do? Hyper focus.

SPEAKER_01

Hyperfixate. Don't hyperfixate out there. Um one zone is only one zone. I've got a lot more beforehand and a lot more after that. So don't hyperfixate. Good. Good. I learned it, I'm telling you, this this this brain is a sponge this year.

SPEAKER_00

You know what's funny is when people, you know, I'm an old guy, right? Nah, you ain't gonna be. And so with me being around there, dude, you're legendary, you do this, do that. You know what? I've been fucking up for a long time. Yep. And when you fuck up a lot, right, you know how not to do it that way, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01

100%, dude. Like you look at James, he's the the best drifter in the world, you know what I mean? He's good, he's the goat. I guarantee you, if you ask him, he's that good because he's made he's he's made that many mistakes. He's been there, he's done that. And I'm the type of driver that if I make a mistake, I'm you damn sure that that mistake is not gonna happen again. And um Do you keep a log of all these mistakes? No, I don't. I used to. I used to keep a log in my mind and I think about it. But like I said, the goldfish, the goldfish mentality of just let it out, dude. It happened, it is what it is. You can't live in the past, and you know, just just move on from it. You still have a lot of life to live in front of you. This ain't the end of the world. And this is not the end of my career, so I've got a lot more life to turn.

SPEAKER_00

You have a you you you have a track record of I gotta fuck up, fuck up, fuck up, and then it hits. Yep. Fuck up, fuck up, fuck up, fuck. And then it that's that's even from my experience. Fuck up, fuck up. Mess up, mess up, mess up, mess up.

SPEAKER_01

And then boom, it hits. 100%, dude. And it's gonna hit this year. I guarantee you we're gonna we're gonna have that car on the on the podium this year, no doubt. No doubt.

SPEAKER_00

I have not one doubt in my mind. This is where it all starts. This is where you start grassroots when you first start fucking up. You gotta start somewhere. You gotta fuck up somewhere. No signage, plane trailers. How did you start getting in the drift? Where did you find out? How did where did all this start?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my drilling addiction started probably when I was four. Starting at four years old. Four years old. I was riding motorcycles, little PW50 up there. Um then I moved on to Enduro racing and then motocross. And with age comes a cage, broke enough bones to uh you know get out of motor motorcycles for good. Um I discovered drifting late, man. I was 18, just graduated high school, and I heard about a where did you find out about drift? In Florida. So I moved to Florida in 2009. I was born and raised in Alabama. Um my dad's dealership relocated him to Panama City Beach. So I lived in Panama City Beach, graduated high school there. Um me and my buddies, we heard about this drift event going on. It was at Five Flag Speedway in Pensacola. And we were like, dude, we've we've we've watched uh you know the Drift Bible, we've watched, you know, um all of the Drift Alliance stuff because we we love the drifting stuff, but we never like got to see it. We've we played Forza, you know, all that all that jazz. Um from from watching movies, you know, Tokyo Drift, all those fast and furious dude. And um we went to this drift event and I met, which you probably know him, um longtime brother, Alec Honadel. Oh wow. He was out there, it was whenever he was still doing pro-amp, and he had his blue S-14 out there that he was uh just it was just a fun event. And I went up to him and started talking to him, and he was telling me more and more and more, and I was like, dude, I want to do this so bad. And they took me for a ride along, and I just like watched what he did. I didn't watch the track, I didn't watch anything, I just was staring at him the whole time as he was like doing everything, and I was like, huh, okay, like that looks pretty simple. Like it's it's not that hard, you know what I mean? So I would like go and I would translate the stuff. And I already like translated it from my controller to to to like you know areas that was closed off at the time. And um wait, what car were you driving back in the day? I had an automatic Mustang GT. Oh wow. I had an automatic Mustang, and uh I'm a Mustang boy, dude. I love Mustang. 2009. This was in uh 2011. I graduated in 12. So this was 2012, and I went home and I started playing around more and more and more in my car, and I turned like a oh fuck moment into like a oh fuck, okay. Like this is alright now. Like I can all you gotta do. On the game. No, in real life. Oh really? Yeah, I used to go to the skate park and all the guys were cool out there. Nobody would like, you know, call and get you in trouble, so they all loved it. They're out there shredding, I'm over here shredding. Automatic? It's automatic, yeah. I tell dude, I've got videos. I'll send you videos. I used to take it to the track and it had one, two, three drive. Uh-huh. And I'd launch it in one, I'd slap it in second, and I'd just like chunk the thing in. And I feel like that's that's why I'm a big like faint initiator driver, because that's how I've always had to initiate. Yeah, I didn't I didn't know what a handbrake was. I didn't have to clutch to clutch kick, you know. I just had to go up, turn at the wall, and then turn back, and it would like break tracks. I was like, oh shit, you know, this is fun, man, you know. And I would drive the car to the track and then drive it home. It was like an hour and a half away. And um I literally, I got tired of dreaming. I got tired of dreaming about it, and I sold that Mustang. It was my daily driver. I sold it. Um I bought a street bike with some cash that I had left over from it, and I invested all that money that I sold. I bought the 240 that I took to ProSpec. I've had it since 2014, bought it as a rolling shell, um, paid 750 bucks for it. Clean chassis, leather interior, it's an SE. I literally took everything out of it, threw it in the dumpster because I didn't, you know, I was like, this is an old car. Who cares about this stuff? Now I'm like, dang me, you idiot, why'd you throw that stuff away? But um put an RB25 in it. RB25 in the RB25. I bought I found, I didn't know why, but I just found that motor for $700. I was like, okay, this is a inline six turbo motor. It was just a it was a long block, and I drove to Tennessee throughout the night. Uh my best friend, he um, we got off work that day. We worked at the dealership together, and uh looked at him, I was like, hey, you want to go with me to pick up a motor? And he's like, he's like, yeah. And I was like, all right, cool. I'll you know, I'll meet you at the house, I'll pick you up, and we'll go. He's like, all right. We start heading out. We get like 30 minutes down the road, and he's like, Where are we going? Where are we going? Oh, he didn't even know. I said, We're going to Tennessee, dude. He's like, Alright, screw it, let's go. So we got to homeboy's house at like one in the morning, got back to Florida at like 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, and uh we started stripping that motor down, painting it, doing everything we could. I started ordering parts for it. I put a CX racing turbo kit on it because that's all I could afford. Um I had a um phase two motor trend, three-way adjustable lower control arm, and I pieced together. I had like um inner inner tie rods from something, outers from something, circuit sport pro outers, um, I don't remember what ISR inners, um Megan coilovers. Oh nice. Uh it's all I paid. It was the best that I could afford. And um I had I ended up getting a race pack, you know, it was slowly but surely building. It took me two years to build the car. I got it done in 2016, and um I started messing around in the car and I was like, all right, cool, you know, this is fun. Went to a couple grassroots thing, and then I jumped straight into Pro Am. Like straight in, balls deep, didn't know what the hell I was doing. Showed up to, I drove 18 hours to Texas to go do L-Star Drift because I've been doing research for years, and that was the that was the the the holy mecca of Pro Am. Those guys there are the best around and they are so freaking good. So I knew if I could go out there and I could hang with them, that I'm I'm actually worth something. I can, this is a sport that I can do, right? So your your first goal was to make it a was to go to Lone Star. Was to go, I wanted to drift Lone Star so bad. I watched it all the time. I could pull up DMs that I used to send to Aaron Losey back in like 2016, 20, 2015, that I was like, man, I'm gonna be at your event one of these days. I'm gonna be at your event one. Me and him talk about it all the time. So the dream. The dream, man. I I literally I have receipt seal from that. And with all with a bunch of uh substandard parts on it, but that's all.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

You gotta you gotta You gotta start somewhere. Yeah, you gotta start somewhere. So I showed up to the first ever Pro Amma Drift event for me. Um this was in 2018. I pull up to the track, go to the driver's meeting, and the first thing I hear, not the first thing, but the first thing that I like that hit me was whenever he said, Hey, if you spin out once, you know, get off the track, if you spin out twice, you shouldn't be here. And I was like, oh shit, oh shit, maybe I shouldn't be here, bud. So I was like, you know, screw it, I'm gonna go out there. And I was doing good. I was doing great, man. I had um at this point, I'm sorry, I I fast forwarded a lot. At this point, I had like um blown up the RB. I put a I put an LS in it, um, just stock LS, put it in there, and I went went to compete and um the car did great, dude. I literally used up, I brought 12 tires with me to this event. I didn't know what I needed, but 12 tires for me that was a lot, dude, because I would always bring like you know, an extra pair, burn those off, and then I was done for the day because that's it's a lot of money. So I brought 12 tires with me. I used 12 in practice, dude. I didn't even, I just kept driving and driving and driving and driving. I didn't think about it, right? I'm just out there, I am having the blast. Uh-oh. And I, time for comp, and I'm like, looking around, I'm like, look at my dad, I'm like, do we have any more tires? He's like, I don't think so. I think we use them all. I was like, uh. So he went to um this guy named Rudy Martinez, which is a good buddy of mine. You know, Rudy, okay. In Texas Tire, Texas Tire Parts. He went over there and he's like, hey, can do you have any tires? We ran out of tires. And he's like, Yeah, I've got four Kendas. And I was like, I was on Riken Raptors, they were like $70 a piece. And um he's like, Yeah, I got some I got some Kendas, and I threw the Kendas on the back of the car, and it was a whole different tire from what I didn't know. I didn't know that, you know, different tire. I was like, it's a tire. A tire is a tire, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

Tires aren't equal.

SPEAKER_01

And I learned tires aren't equal. Tires are not equal. And through the first laptop. Middle or nothing, by the way. I chunked it in and I just blew off track, dude, because the grip, it just didn't have shit compared to what I was what I was on. I was like, dude, I was on some some cheap ass tires and I could throw it in, but those tires I didn't have the tire pressure right. I just didn't know shit about shit. And I blew off track uh in my lead and then in my chase, same spot. So the first round I was like, all right, that's cool, that sucks. You know what I mean? I I suck at this. And um but your practice was good. Yeah, practice I had a blast, dude, but I just I I thumped too much and and and calm, dude. Don't think about it. Don't think. So we came back. Um, I don't even think we made it back the next round. I think something happened on my car and I couldn't get it fixed in time, like a slave cylinder or something. I made like three or four of the seven events that year. Finished 25th, came back the next year, blew my motor round what? Up in smoke, rolling coal out the back, like it was I I it was done. Um I loaded up, I was like, this freaking sucks, dude. Two years in a row, this sucks. I like I'm you know thinking like this ain't for me. This ain't for me. I'm driving 18 hours to Texas to do this shit and to do just to blow up a car? No. I'm loading the car up and this freaking heaven's angel. God sent him over there. His name's Austin Wyatt, he's a Texas boy. And he said, What are you doing? I'm like, going back to Florida, dude. I blew my motor. He's like, you were ripping in practice. I was like, yeah, until it wasn't. You know what I mean? I have no car. And he said, No. He said, You're driving mine tomorrow. And I was like, huh? He said, I brought both my cars this weekend. And he said, I'd do street legal in my Corvette, and I do ProM in my in my C.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, somebody saw your talent.

SPEAKER_01

And he said, I already did Street Legal today in my Corvette. I'm happy. He said, You go drive this my Z tomorrow. I'm like, are you sure? I didn't even know the guy. He's like, Yeah, absolutely, dude. I was like, cool. Wow. Let's try it, dude. So I came out and practiced and I put my wheels and tires on the car. Um continued on the day, so I, you know, I'm using my stuff. And um I uh got third place in his car. Wow. Third place podium in his car. Um battling uh This is getting interesting. Yeah, it was it was great. I was like, okay, this car works. Like maybe I can drive, I just need a car that allowed me to drive, right? So we started focusing on my car, getting it better, getting it better, getting it better, doing this, you know, getting rid of the Megans. We went with VCs, um, just stepping up the game, you know what I mean? Uh we went with Yes Fab, got YSFab on the car.

SPEAKER_00

Like definitely not what you had before.

SPEAKER_01

Definitely not what I had before. And then uh we finished um, we held third place for a while that year, and then I think like round five, I uh was in practice. And uh long story, as you know, practice is you go out there and you run with your buddies. If you want to do 23-car trains, we do 23-car trains. There's literally videos of us doing 23 people in a tandem, and it was insane. So practice, we're out there in trains, you know, six, seven deep, you know, just going hard, and it's not like a FD practice, you know. You just go out there and have fun. Um yeah, I got a big crash, dude. Homeboy spun out in front of the dude I was chasing, and I didn't see that because I was focused on him, and I he's trying to like get out of it, and he like over rotated like this, and I just drove straight in the front of him, bent both frame rails, dude. Everything on my car was fricked up. Both of them were like pointed in like this. No, my my my uh 240. I had that thing strapped to a concrete uh light post out there in my dually, and I was yanking that thing back straight, yanking it, because the toe was just freaking dirty in. I got it back kind of straight-ish, went out, and um uh we won that battle, and then uh I hit a guy in the next battle, and he, you know, he was very slow, and I fucking I booped him and it was my fault, whatever. So we lost that event, and um we ended up fifth place that year. And I was like, okay, that's that's an up that's an upgrade. I took fifth place and I borrowed a car for two rounds, and I got to drive my car for the other five, and I was, you know, I can do this. Came back the next year in first place, won it all. 2020. 2020, yeah, 2020. Third year in pro am. Um went to uh earn my license. Uh me and Rudy Hansen, same event, uh we earned our license together. Um I think he was uh got second place second or third, one of the two. Um but we've we've been boys for a while. Um went on to ProSpec in 2021, and uh first round um we didn't do the best, I don't remember. I don't I think we finished 10th my first year in Prospec. Second year I finished 10th again. Uh but I got my first podium. Uh Orlando, I podiumed, I got second place. Podium here too. Um in 2023 was the first year we came here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So um then that uh well Jersey that year. My 2022 year in Prospect, Odie calls me and he's like, hey. He's like, uh I just watched you at Jersey. He's like, you you were on fire all day because he had Evan Bogovich in it, you're driving his car.

SPEAKER_00

Now but pause that moment, right? Who was the guy with that loan you the Z? Oh, Austin Wyatt. Austin Wyatt saw what you're capable of. Now Odie sees what you're capable of. Well pause it there, right? We'll pause it there. Now here, I'm gonna bring up another subject, right? Going through ProAm, right? Going through Pro Am in Houston, right? And even your first guy that you met, Alec Honnadel, who ended up competing in Pro, what drivers? It's one thing to watch Fast and Furious and all that stuff and go, wow, this is cool. Was there any particular drivers in FD that that you're like, I want to be like him, or I'm gonna study how he drives? I'm a fan of his driving.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. My first time ever coming to this, to an FD to come watch my buddies that we all went to Five Flags with, we all came here. Um and I was reading through the pamphlet, like the driver's pamphlet, because I was like, This was oh man, I can't tell you. I had to be a little bit more than a lot of people. This one Alec was competing. Oh wow, this was 2016, 2017. Okay, um, long time ago. And I'm reading through, and I knew who Von Getton Jr. was. And you know, I loved watching Von. I played his uh the video game that he was like, you know, teaching you how to uh what was it, Need for Speed. Um I forgot which one it was. Um but I I've known who Von Getton Jr. was and I loved him. Um Alec, obviously, my best friend, he was competing, so I you know I always told him I'm a dude one day we're gonna bang doors out here, and he you know he was for it. Uh Kaufman, I love Matt Kaufman, I loved his driving. He was just a menace behind that SA. Um and James, I loved him.

SPEAKER_00

Usually he's still a menace now when he does great life.

SPEAKER_01

Bro, I love that guy. Um and James and Piator. Then I saw that and I was like, bro, that is the ultimate goal. That's the dream right there. Like having two matching cars, two badass drivers, and it's like that that was like the mecca. Like it was so cool. But I came here and I was watching, and I read through the pamphlet and I seen, I came up to Vaughn's name, and it said occupation. Professional fun haver. I looked at my boys, I could call them right now. They will they still remember. I said, dude, I want to be a professional fun haver one day, that'd be sick. And you know, now my occupation is whenever I write down my occupation, it's fun haver. They're like, what do you do for a living? I have fun, dude. Like I I race cars, I do demos, I'm a fun haver, so that's what my occupation is like. What? Fun hover. That's what my job is. And I just like that to me, reading that, visualizing that, and like not like getting, not saying, oh, I'm gonna be, but I I wanna be. I wanna be a fun haber. Like that, I wanna do this, I want to be able to go have fun all my life. I mean, that's what everybody wants. And if you can figure out how to have fun every day, all day, it's like, bro, you're living the dream. So that was uh, I feel like Vaughn was like a big inspiration to my career without him knowing, but so is my best friend Alec. Alec, I have to give a lot to it to Alec because I got to see him live it. I was with him before the events, and I'd be with him after the events, and I got to see him live it. You know, the the trials, the tribulations, the ups, the downs, and I was like, dude, like that's what I want. Like I came from motocross. I love that competitive nature. I have that adrenaline in me that I I searched for adrenaline, you know what I mean? I'm a junkie with that shit. I know I get it. And that shit would just, you know, it was the perfect mix of like motocross with the aspect of you get you do your line, you know what I mean? There's a line out there, you have to find the line and you choose it. But the track can change, just like motocross track. Ruts change, ruts get ran over, you come to the corner, there could be, you know, somebody just dirt drops. There could be anything, but guess what? You gotta figure it out. It's a split second, split second move that you gotta figure out. And that's what I love about drifting is you're so on edge every time that you go out of crashing or spinning or going off track that you're like, dude, literally, you're controlling the uncontrollable. And I got to see them guys do it, and I'm like, bro, this is a dream come true.

SPEAKER_00

Your style, right? Is there any particular driver that you you tend to emulate or or study or that you're a fan of?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I study I study James's in-car all the time. Every every round I study James's in-car. Um after practice, we'll we'll we get emailed our uh videos and our photos, and I'll watch mine, I'll watch his. I'm like, okay, what is he doing here? What am I doing here? What is he okay? Even back in the day, when you would back back in the day, I didn't, I didn't. I didn't like I didn't have a I just wanted to drip. So the style that I have, it's the style I have developed, I feel like it's because of that automatic car. You know what I mean? Throw it in as hard as you can just to make it work. So I don't I've never really been the type to copy people. Like, I never wanted to drive like him, I just wanted to be like him, you know what I mean? But uh Alec, uh I I love Alec, that's my that's my that's my brother, you know what I mean? Huge, huge, huge shout out to him. And that was my first discovery of living the dream, you know what I mean? Going out there, putting it on the edge, putting it on the line, and chasing your dreams, you know what I mean? Because if you they ain't gonna chase you. So I started chasing my dreams, and you know, here we are, bro.

SPEAKER_00

So I wanted to ask, right, your signature, where does 213 come from?

SPEAKER_01

So 213, I've always had that number. My my dad, whenever he raced motocross, he was 21. Ah. And me and my brother, whenever we started racing motocross, we both wanted that number. And 20 21st is my mom's birthday. Oh February 20, 21, uh sorry, uh, yeah, yeah, 20 21st. Um so my dad gave my my birthday is January 3rd, my brother's is uh June 4th, and my dad's is November 16th. So I was 213 for 21 with a three. My brother was 214 and my dad was 216. So that was our numbers for motocross, and I've always it's always been special to me because it's it, you know, it's got part of my dad's number, but which is my mom's birthday, and then it's got my birthday, so it's just always flow, you know. I've always 213 be.

SPEAKER_00

I figured you were from California because 213 area covered.

SPEAKER_01

Dude, the first time I went to uh to uh English town and all the blood masters in the in their bar, it's got 213 everywhere. I was like, what is 213 to y'all? They're like, oh boy, and told me the thing, I was like, oh. They're like, I was like, well, I'm not I'm not copying y'all, I promise. Like this this is significant to me, but uh, and then people, yeah, I get that all the time. They're like, are you from California? I'm like, no, my area goes 205, baby, St. Clair, St. Clair County. But um, no, it's uh it's a mixture of uh my mom's birthday and my birthday.

SPEAKER_00

Hey, we're walking through the place where where you constantly fuck up, okay?

SPEAKER_01

Yep. Prospect is a learning, a learning series for sure. It's uh you got your feet wet and drifting, now you get to get your feet wet by uh being judged partially. And having a lot a lot a lot of eyes on you. So this is where you this is where you learn how to deal with the nerves, to be honest with you. Everybody here knows how to drive, but you kind of forget how to drive whenever you uh you think too much. As I've said a lot. So this is like in my opinion, this the series to like get your get your bearings right, you know, learn the process, learn to drive the judge's way, not your way. And once you like can figure all that out and connect all those dots, it's it's it's super simple because all you gotta do is show up and drive and do your best to hit the marks like the judges asked for, and you're gonna do well in prospects. Um spec is a consistency thing. If you can stay consistent and consistent and consistent with it, you know, I my prospect year, I got I qualified first round one, I got second. Wow, what year was this? 2023.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Um qualified first, got second, qualified first, got fifth, qualified first, got first, qualified ninth, got first. So I was constantly like, I didn't win every single one, but I was constantly qualifying high, put myself up in the standings, and then doing as well as I could the whole the whole event. Um, but consistency wins. You know, we won by 101 points that year.

SPEAKER_00

You can't get any more consistent than your first year, yeah. Tenth? Tenth?

SPEAKER_01

Second year, tenth, third year, third year, first, hit, knock that zero off the end of that thing, brother. Knock that zero off the end of it. But uh yeah, it's consistency wins in everything. And you know, it's learning that process here, but whenever you move up, everything speeds up. So it's it's re-clicking, you know. I you where I used to look in the zones, you know, 10 feet, 20 feet here, I'm having to look 30, 40, 50 feet now because of how fast we're going. From pro-amp, from pro amp to pro spec, yeah. And then because we're all on these, you know, a spec series tire, then we're all the same tire, so we all have the same amount of grip. It's just trying to figure out how to get your tire to work better than theirs and get your suspension to work better than theirs.

SPEAKER_00

So 2021, the beginning. The beginning. You had three years, three years in Houston. Three years in Houston. And then 2021 privateer.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, sir. 2022 privateer. Privateers again. I well, Koru was my title, uh-huh, but I was still privateer. I towed myself everywhere. They they helped out uh with my uh media packages and stuff like that, and um they helped out like selling my merch, you know, put me out there more and more and more. Koru, Kourou helped set me a part of the rest because they are the type that they like style. So I got to show my style with my with my liveries and all this or that.

SPEAKER_00

And that's automatic Mustang style. That's him, automatic Mustang style.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, you gotta start somewhere. Fake it till you make it, baby. Fake it till you make it. Um but yeah, no, it's uh Prospec is it's a it's a great series, dude. I learned so much in Prospec and I still apply those those skills that I've learned, and and but having the platform of being able to come into prospect to learn that process is is amazing. You know what I mean? Not getting thrown right into the den of the wolves, straight into the fire, bro, because that that kitchen gets hot in pro one.

SPEAKER_02

It gets hot.

SPEAKER_01

So, you know, you you you get to learn how to handle the heat, handle the stress, handle the emotions, and and you know, re not have reactions, but have actions, you know what I mean, to to come with those with those things that are happening and whatnot. So you know it's a they I hate that they've been it's been referred to as like the feeder series. Because it kind of is, but at the same time it's not. I'd say it's a stepping stone.

SPEAKER_00

You're you're on the same stage. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

It's a stepping stone and it's a it's a way to like I said get your bearings right. Oh wait, who's got a car code? Uh oh. That thing will ram us, man. Yeah. Um yeah, prospect's great, dude. I had I had so much fun and uh so many good opportunities came from me for from from Prospect.

SPEAKER_00

So uh what was there any obviously the eye on the prize was pro?

SPEAKER_01

Yep, I'll prize been pro since day one.

SPEAKER_00

So the first two years, sort of so to speak, privateer, right? Yep. Was there any was there any moments that you're like fuck tenth again? Or was there any moments where you're yeah?

SPEAKER_01

Yes and no. Um by the end of that season, um 2021? By the end of 2022, uh-huh, I was I felt like I was stuck. You know what I mean? I felt like I was stuck. I was like, I'm not I'm not doing any worse, but I'm not progressing, I'm not doing any better. But I also had a lot, a lot, a lot of car issues constantly. My car would break, um I would break something, something would happen, and I'd have to drive around these issues. And um that year in in uh in Jersey was uh was a game changer for me because 2022 after that event, I was in practice, I qualified like I think I qualified sixth or seventh and I was doing really good. I was in practice. I got into the last zone in Jersey and I got in the marble, so I started to loop it, and uh Dustin Miles was behind me in practice, and I didn't want to loop it on track and cause him to hit me and his car mess up too. So I just drove it off the track, but I didn't realize that once you go in that little grass area right there and that's kind of circled in front of three, um, the curb drop-off is like this, and I was still like on throttle just to get out of his way, and whenever I dropped off the curb and came back on the other side, my wheel, it broke my wheel in half, bent my subframe. It just everything was destroyed on that side. And we, my uh crew chief of the time, Freddie, Spectoon, he uh worked his magic, dude, on that car to get it right. They had to mount my bumper an inch back on that side because my subframe was that much further back. And every time that I'd go out after that, the tire would kick the bumper off. So they mounted the bumper further back so that my tire wasn't hitting it, and then I continued on. We finished uh fifth that round. Uh-huh. Fifth or sixth or something like that. And Odie called me. He's like, hey. Odie? Yeah, Odie called me after that round. 2022? Yeah. Why do you he wanted to know what suspension I was running? Okay. He's like, I saw your car out there, it looked a little like uncontrollable, looked real bouncy, and I told him I was like, I had a broken subframe, you know, we were doing the best we could, but you know, I'm on BC's, and then he asked me, he's like, Do you have um do you have a contract with BC? Do you are you and I had a contract in 2021, but we didn't renew in 2022, but I still supported the brand, I still put the stickers on, I still wear it on my suit because I I love the company. And I was like, honestly, no, I don't. Like, I have no you know, contracts with anybody. He said, okay, I just don't want to step on anybody's toes, but I'd I wanted to be curious if you'd like to run my suspension. I was like, bro, I can't afford Phil's. He's like, they're expensive, he's like, but there's a reason. But he said, I'm gonna offer you 50% off. And I was like, 50% off? He's like, yeah, 50% off. You run a you run a fill decal, I'll get you some coils in the mail, heading your way. So we ordered some 442s and um went into Utah, had a couple more like doodads in Utah. I don't think I did good in Utah, but and that's when I was like kind of bummed. I was down. Okay. I was um I was in the shower and I was just I was just fucking mad at myself. I was back home, I was sitting there, I was like, man, what are you doing? You're wasting everybody's time. Everybody, my my whole crew, they're traveling, they're leaving their families, they're spending, you know, not money, we're paying for them, but time is money. So they're spending time away from their families. My my dad's investing all of this into me because he believes in me, and I'm doing nothing but fucking up. And then literally I get out of the shower, my phone rings, uh, I didn't I didn't have Odie's number stored in. I answer, I'm like, hello. He's like, hey, Ben. I'm like, hey, who is this? He's like calling you. This is Odie, Odie Potches. I'm like, yo, what's up, man? He's like, um, what's your plans for next year? And I was like, um, you know, run run Pro Spock again, dude. I was like, you know, I'm not real happy with my my results. I was like, but I know, I know I can do it. I just I gotta get my car more reliable, man. And he's like, yes, he's like, I agree 100%. He's like, that's why I was just wanting to call and talk to you about um my uh driving my prospect car. And I was like, whoa, whoa! And the first thing I said what's going through your mind? Well, my first thing I said was, I said, uh, Evan Bogovich. I was like, that's my buddy. I was like, well, what about Evan? Like, that's that's your driver. He said, no, he's that's we're we're done, and I'm I'm I want you to drive my car. And I was like, as long as I'm not like taking his seat, dude, then I would love to, but I don't want to take anybody's car from him. I have a car. And he's like, no, he's like, you're not taking nobody's seat. We're not we're not running next year. And look at that, that's my old dagger right there. Yeah, dogged. That's what I wanted in prospect yet. She's still running, dude. She's still going. Yup. So that that that mindset of you ain't down, dude, down in the car letters, bro. And then all of a sudden I was like, a phone call. Holy crap, Odie Bocci wants me to drive for him. I was like, what the fuck? Does he know who I am? Like, what you know what I mean? And then, dude, I went uh I went and tested his car. I was like, oh my freaking god, this car is amazing. He wanted me to go uh to Holly LS Fest and do like a shakedown, you know, competition style. First time getting a compete in the car, qualified first in it, won the event, battled him in Final Four, won the event, battled uh Matt Matt Kaufman in the finals. Um came to round one on top of the freaking world, dude, qualified first in the car, got second, came the next round, qualified first again, that's three times in a row, qualified first in the car, got fifth, qualified uh first again in St. Louis, and then it was my first ever, like I had the first ever time I competed in the car, I got a perfect event in it. But I perfect event to me is FD. If you qualify first and win that, that's that's a perfect event. St. Louis, 2023, finally, fruition happened, brother. Qualified first, won first. It was it was first year. First year in the car. Guy calls you up.

SPEAKER_00

See, it's just like what happened in Pro Am, right? Where the guy goes, look at this guy driving. Hey, I don't know you, you don't know me. Drive my Z. You kick ass with it. We somehow ended up here. Let's go see if we can find him. Is anything's here? I wonder if he's here. So what I want to ask, right? Obviously, you were doing your thing at prospects, right? And Odie used to drive for us at Nido, right? So I know I know what kind of purse he is. He's a nerd, right? And I have the greatest respect for nerds, right? How was that dynamic working for somebody like Odie?

SPEAKER_01

He had to get used to me, dude. He had to get he had to get used to my, I'm always silly, I'm goofy and whatnot, and he's like, you know, locked in, serious about everything. But I feel like I got I feel like I got under him a little bit and uh like.

SPEAKER_00

So he's he's the mad scientist.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he's the mad scientist behind it, and um I was that uh I was that little rug rat, you know what I mean? That little rug rat running in the pit. Yeah, yeah. But I feel like I brought the vibe that he didn't he didn't realize you could have that much fun and do good, you know what I mean? It's a big fan. What's up, buddy? How are you? Good to see you, brother. Good to see you. I love the shirt, brother.

unknown

Hey, favorite driver right there.

SPEAKER_01

Appreciate it, man. Matters back. So first year right off the bat with Odie. How was that? It was uh, dude, it was great. Um I had my own crew. Uh Odie towed the car, brought the car to the events for me. Um, and me and my boys from there, we'd we'd we'd take it. And you know, they would massage the car around me. You know what I mean? There wasn't much massaging to do because the car worked and I was used to S chassis. Um, but they just massaged the car around me. Uh Freddie, he would I would relay, hey, you know, it's doing this, feels this, and he would be like, all right, I know what to do, and he'd go do it. I didn't tell them, hey, go do this. I don't know, honestly. I still don't know. I don't say go add three clicks to this shock and give me a wedge here, give me a little bump there. Hey, it's feeling weird here, it's fine here, it's doing this here, and then you know, bam. Yeah. So Odie was such a good uh I don't want to mean this in a bad way, but like a good stepping stone in my path of giving me this reliable car to prove to myself, I don't even care about proving it to the world, proving to myself that I belong here. Like, give me a machine that works and I can I can make it work, you know what I mean? And then, you know, it just everything everything was simple, you know what I mean? Everything was very simple because the car is. You didn't have to think too much. I didn't think, dude. I didn't have to think. I just had to do. I just had to do. Don't don't fucking think. Don't think.

SPEAKER_00

Unless it's like financials and stuff. Same thing, you know. So you're down in 2022, and then all of a sudden, you're down and bam!

SPEAKER_01

Top of the world, dude. Top of the freaking world.

SPEAKER_00

Orlando's gonna get really interesting.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, brother. I can't wait for Orlando.

SPEAKER_00

I got a I got a hundred bucks on a long shot on Hobson for Orlando.

SPEAKER_01

Let's get it, dog, let's get it.

SPEAKER_00

Whatever that gambling website is, yeah, that's where it's at.

SPEAKER_01

Alright, a bunch of them. Hey, that's my wifey. Hey! Oh, she disappeared.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, cut that part off. This is my wife. And our our baby on the way. Congratulations, by the way. She's not just fat, okay? She's not just fat. She's not fat. So when are you expecting baby Ben? Maybe Ben. Right between Let's see.

SPEAKER_00

Round seven and eight.

SPEAKER_01

Right between Vegas and Long Beach too.

SPEAKER_00

So I was telling Ben, right? The key word when October comes is Potosin.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, I don't want Potosin.

SPEAKER_00

Because he's gotta race. I gotta race again too. No. No Potosin.

SPEAKER_01

We'll do some natural Potosin.

SPEAKER_00

Natural Potosa works. And then we'll let you guys figure that out. Yeah, yeah, you know. I got three more, so I know what that's all about. Alright, so it it it's kinda storybook, right? It's kind of weird that your humble beginnings in Houston. Somebody know there's there's a pattern, right? And three years in in the right of it, Bro Am, right? Houston, and then Odie, right? Down in the dirt, I'm not going anywhere, and then this happens. Same year as champion, right? And then lo and behold, it's kind of kind of weird out. Your ex-boss is next to your new boss. How did it, how did this happen?

SPEAKER_01

So this one, this one's a crazy one. This one is a uh, this still blows my mind, man. I was, we're at Utah, uh-huh, we just got done qualifying.

SPEAKER_00

I'm I'm a I'm I'm kind of Oh, Utah 2023, your championship year. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

At that event, we just got done with qualifying, and I wasn't too happy with my results on qualifying because I was shooting for four in a row qualifying first, right? I got round one, I got round two, I got round three. I just wanted to finish off the year all four rounds qualifying first. It was like that was my goal. And I started thinking about qualifying too much. I qualified. Don't think, guys. For real.

SPEAKER_00

When all those viewers out there driving or anything, don't think too much.

SPEAKER_01

Just do. And I ended up qualifying ninth. So I was in the trailer, I was watching videos, I was like, man, you freaking idiot, dude. You had it, it is what it is. We're gonna win tomorrow. That's what it's about. I don't care. I'm winning this event tomorrow. So I'm scrolling through Instagram, looking at my tag videos and whatnot. I always watch, love watching the videos. And I see a DM and it said Von Getting Jr.

SPEAKER_00

And I was like, This is happening again?

SPEAKER_01

Uh dude, I was like, no way. What the heck he's messaging me about? And at first I thought it was like a fake account, right? Oh shit. So I click on it, and I didn't even read the message yet. I clicked on the profile and I went straight to his profile, and I was like, holy shit, this is Vaughn. So I went back and it said uh uh summary, it was like, hey man, uh, just wanted to talk to you uh about what your plans are for next season, if you're planning on going pro or not. And I was like, oh my god, is this happening again, dude? So like I haven't even finished off the season, and I'm already like already have Vaughn hit me up like in my Instagram DMs, you know, not a phone call, you slid my DMs, yo, what up, dude? And uh so he's like, Yeah, I'd love to, you know, love to talk to you. So me and my dad like snuck over to RTR's pit and we like went in the back door into the driver's lamp.

SPEAKER_00

We uh went back to the back. Wait, wait, wait, wait, pause.

SPEAKER_01

Bro, I don't my jaw had to pick it up. I literally had to like ratchet strap my jaw up because I was like, this ain't no freaking way. Sonny, Sonny was like, what? My brother was like, what? My best friend Scott and Freddie and then was like, what? Because I sit there and I was like my dad walked in, I'm like, and he's like, his jaw was like, what the heck, dude? And he's like, answer him, answer him. I'm like, ugh. Then I texted him back, I was like, yeah, man, I'd love to. I'd love to come talk to you. So he's like, yeah, come to my rig, we'll we'll have a meeting. So I went over there, it was him, Chelsea, and James. And I was like, oh my freaking lord, dude, this is scary. This is scary. So I walked in and I sat down on the couch and I was sitting there talking to him, and he was, you know, just interviewing me type deal. What was he asking? Uh I can't even remember, bro. He was asking me so many different, like, what's your plans? You know, I was like, I want to go pro. Like uh, it's my my goal is to go pro. Um, you know. He's like, you know, what would you think about driving a Mustang? I was like, bro, that'd be a dream come true. You know, I love I'm a Ford guy. Started off with an automatic Mustang. Yeah, I started off automatic. Um that should be a shirt, automatic style. And then he um he's like, you know, I have a few other drivers that I'm that I'm looking at, this, that, and the other. I was like, I understand. He's like, so we'll we'll we'll be in contact. I was like, cool. And then I went on, you know, won the championship. Um doing uh I went to SEMA and I was doing the Hoonigan Burnyard, and Vaughn saw me out there, and he's like, hey, uh, LZ's gotta leave early and I need somebody to drive for me at CEMA. Can you can you come out here? And I was like, yeah, I'm already here, like I'd I'd love to. So I went and I drove um I drove James's. But it's not an automatic! No, it was manual, it was a six beat. I drove James's uh James's uh demo car because he had the broke collarbone from Urbendale, and L Z was driving that one, and um L Z had to fly out, so I filled in and there's the first time me driving an RTR. And I was like, dude, this is freaking sick, man, you know, out there. And then uh a few weeks later he calls me, he's like, hey, I got another demo at out in Vegas, discount tire demo. Would you like to come out there and and do that? Uh you and you and Cletus. I was like, hell yeah, dude. So went out there, did another demo with him, and you know, the word starts getting out oh Ben Ben's with RTR. And I like I can't post any of this stuff. He's like, hey, just don't post anything about it. I'm like, alright, cool. Um so I would do like sneak peeks of me like in in a car or whatnot, but I didn't like show me out there driving. And um we uh Did it feel like a dream? It felt like an absolute dream, dude. So we me, Vaughn, Cletus, and uh Cletus, dude! LS George, yeah, we we were in the truck, we were the drive-through, got some in and out after the demo, took them back to their plane, and me and Von were cruising and we parked. He's like, hey, let's call your dad. I was like, alright. So we we called dad, we get him on speaker phone, and he's like, hey, you know, this whenever I found out, he's like, hey, I decided your son is my my new driver.

SPEAKER_00

Uh you know, it's he didn't even ask.

SPEAKER_01

Bro, no, he decided to decided. That's Vaughn. Uh he didn't have to ask me, but it was here, dog.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I'm gonna have to think about it.

SPEAKER_01

I'll think about it, but uh I got some other options. No. I was like, hell yeah, dude. So he uh he told me like uh to get up and hey, this is what what we're working on. We got a contract in the brewing, this, that, and the other. You'll be receiving the contract, you know. Get have your lawyer look over it and let's let's go from here. And I was like, holy shit, this is happening. This is happening. I'm about to drive for RTR. As we got Frank the tank coming through, truck driver. Frank the tank! Frank! Frank! Got all them waters in the back.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, this is the Penske Hendricks Moore Sports Skedaria. Dude, you from from the automatic Mustang guy to this to a force-bate Mustang guy. Okay. Well, I still get chills. I still get chills. I'm coming on. And what's even crazier than that is the novel L Z Mind Ball. Now, with I mean, we just went through the prospect of it, right? That that humble, automatic Mustang guy who befriended Alec Connadell. Do this! Did this, okay? Dude, it is those names I've mentioned. These are Hall of Famers, right? The best of the best, dude.

SPEAKER_01

Any pressure. There's yes, there was a lot of pressure. Was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of pressure that I uh that was self-induced. Um thinking. Thinking. Yep. Just saying, you know, think I had to prove, I had to prove so much to everybody, you know what I mean? Because there's so many haters. I have so many haters that that don't want me to do good, and that shit motivates me. Nice! And I'm good. Now like I had to turn it from me trying to prove them wrong to I don't give a crap what they say about me. It'll come naturally. Yeah. We all have free will. We all have our own opinions. We're all entitled, so guess what? People are gonna say shit, let them say it. I don't care. Like I tell everybody that uh that hates on me, I'll literally, I'll set them a heart, I'll tell them I love them, praying praying for you, bud. You know, if you ever ever need anybody to talk to, you can talk to me, man. I'm here for you. You might hate me, but I don't hate you. So I'm just I am so blessed, dude, to have everything that I have.

SPEAKER_00

And the funny thing, here's the interesting thing, right? Is you just drove and people go, I'm gonna give this dude a call. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

That blows my mind, dude, because I I'm just a normal dude, you know. I mean, I'm just a I'm a normal freaking guy that came from a freaking blue-collar job. I used to remodel homes, you know, for a living. I've done construction my whole life, and all of a sudden I'm uh, you know, I I don't barely have calluses anymore because I'm I wear gloves and I drive a race car now. So it's like to have what I have and to be sad about anything is fucking stupid. I understand is stupid. So, and then me being able to compartmentalize everything was I had to have a come to Jesus with myself and tell myself, hey, you cannot be upset about all these things that like I have a lot of stuff that I have to do at each drift event, you know what I mean? I have partners that we have to please, we have videos that we have to do, like this is all new for me, but guess what? I prayed for this. I prayed to be here. And I can't be I can't be upset and mad about something that I prayed for. So you have to learn how to channel your inner man and compartmentalize and take away that, yeah, there has to be three different bins sometimes. There has to be the driver bin, there has to be the team bin, and there has to be the partner bin. So guess what? Figure it out, bud. You you know, the good Lord gave you this opportunity, and this is my way of building my character and uh, or his way, you know what I mean? So I'm blessed, and you know, I just have to soak it all up, dude, and just know that I'm I belong here. I'm I'm here for a reason, and guess what? Shake it off and move on to the next dog.

SPEAKER_00

Move it on. But your your record just it's it's amazing. Thank you so much, man. I don't know what other phone call you're gonna get, but it'll be interesting.

SPEAKER_01

Oh I'll call you, I'll let you know.

SPEAKER_00

You know, I'm I'm Catholic, okay? So for me, we're don't get me wrong, life is what you make out of it, right? But here I am, Lord, I come to do your will. You know what I mean? Where you put me is where you put me, right? And so your story, you know, uh what are you Christian? Yeah, okay. So with that, right, we pray, we have the utmost reverence to Jesus, right? And you can you can be that guy talking to all these people trying, hey, let me drive for you, let me drive for you, let me drive for you, right? But in a way, you just drove. And people go, hey, you you want to drive my car? And it's the same thing whether it was in grassroots, pro-am in Houston to now, it didn't matter.

SPEAKER_01

Somebody is somebody's watching.

SPEAKER_00

You didn't force the issue. God up above was looking at you and going, you know what? This guy has talent, right? And with this talent, I'm gonna have these guys notice it. You didn't solicit that guy with that Z in Houston, you didn't solicit Odie, you didn't solicit uh Vaughn. No, they saw the talent. Even even the guys I talked to, I'll give a name, Randall Waters. Randall Waters goes, that guy's naturally talented. He already knew what to do right off the bat.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. He already knew. He's a good dude.

SPEAKER_00

And they're these guys are fans of yours.

SPEAKER_01

They're they're friends. They're friends, and it's amazing that they are fans because it's like having your friends be your fan, like it's that's that's the dream come true, dude. Like having like doing so good for them, but dude, I know that guy, you know what I mean? I know that guy. I used to I used to drive with that guy, and it's it's cool, it's super fun.

SPEAKER_00

All the people I asked, all right, were like going, we're like going, you know, hey, I'm I'm interviewing Ben this weekend. Is there anything you want to hear from me? He goes, dude, that guy, that guy has it already. The guy in the Z saw it. The guy it uh Odie saw it, Vaughn saw it, and third time's a charm. Third time's a charm, baby. Third time's a charm. It's not that you should rely on that third year because everything comes naturally. You know what I mean? Everything comes naturally, um and it's the same premise. Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will, right? Faith in the mustard seed. Ha!

SPEAKER_01

You can move mountains, baby. Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Yes!

SPEAKER_01

I say that to myself before I leave the line. I got faith in the mustard seed, man.

SPEAKER_00

I getting getting to know you and hearing your story, it's it's impressive. I appreciate it. And from you, right? What goes through your mind when you get when this this journey 2016?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I I bought the car in 2014. I bought the car, yeah. I the dream started in probably 2012. And you know, we're here 14 years later, still chasing the dream, you know. So I you once you get there, people think it's easy. No, it gets way harder, man. So every bro, yes, every step of the way, it's yeah, you're you are better, but it's getting harder. And now that you're all the way up the top and pro, everything is after you. I mean, there's so many things that people don't realize that you have to do mental challenge, physical challenge, you know, so many different trainings that you have to do and keep yourself, if you have a bad weekend, you can't carry that to the next weekend. You know what I mean? You have a bad day at home, you can't bring it to work. Ah, you know what I mean? So this is this, I have to go to work here. And it is a it's a blessing, it's a dream, and that's all it is for me, you know what I mean? So now it's reality, and it's it's not living in the past, it's not living in the future, it's staying in the present. Like I've said, stay in the present, soak up everything around you, man. Soak up all these. Don't think. Yeah, don't think. Don't think. But like, you know, everybody, we're not promised tomorrow. Yeah, we're not. So why would I ruin all day today about something that happened yesterday when I don't know if I have tomorrow? It's like, no. Dude, yesterday was yesterday, today's the day, tomorrow's tomorrow. Right now is right now though. So you gotta live in right now. And I've I've finally slowly started, I'm not finally, slowly still learning how to live in that in that now. And not. Oh, we're always not not not living in the past, not living in the future. You know, it's it's not bad to have a plan for the future, but if you live, if you live in the past and you think about the future when you're in the present, I don't think I think you're just doing circles. Like you're never gonna go anywhere.

SPEAKER_00

This dude's 32 years old, and he gets it. Some wise words coming from the 32. I got some gray hairs, my friend.

SPEAKER_01

That's wisdom, dude. That's wisdom. Remember when you had hair on?

SPEAKER_00

This is two NHRA championships against GM. Yeah, not good.

SPEAKER_01

Stress. It can turn gray as long as they don't turn loose.

SPEAKER_00

So I'm a fan. I'm even more a fan hearing your story. Um, always rooting for you. Some last words, right? Two different people. For for all the prospect guys we just walked past, right? What would what would you tell? Because you're the dream. You're the dream, and he's got some good words, right? You're the dream. What would you tell all those prospect guys out there?

SPEAKER_01

Um, honestly, just have fun. Stop it. Yeah, literally have fun. Stop thinking too much. Like I've said 20 million times, have fun. You're all here because you've earned your spot here. Not you're not you're not fighting for that spot. You have to realize that you got that spot and you have to live in that spot. So being able to shut out the crowd, shut out the the sponsors, shut out everything, and just focus on driving and having fun, you're gonna win. You're gonna win every single time, and even if you didn't win, you had so much fun that how do you lose when you're having fun? You don't. So you come to the track, as long as you leave the leave this round a better driver than you showed up, you won. You might not have a trophy to take home, but guess what? You have that memory, you have that, I know what I did wrong, I know what I'm not gonna do again, and I know what I need to do. So it's all about believing in yourself, dude. Just believe in yourself and don't give up. Don't ever give up.

SPEAKER_00

Don't ever fucking give up.

SPEAKER_01

Because that that that second that you have that doubt in your mind, it's a freaking downhill roller coaster, and trust me, I know I've been there. So don't doubt yourself. Have the most fun you can possibly have with your clothes on, and you know, go home a happy person. Don't don't leave here sulking about it and just realize that you're blessed. There's so many other people out there that want to do what we get to do and would would kill to do what we get to do, and you have to realize that you have that spot. That's your spot, not anybody else's, that's your spot. So go out there and show the world that it's your spot.

SPEAKER_00

God bless you, Ben.

SPEAKER_01

God bless you, Ron. I love you, man.

SPEAKER_00

Love you too. And man, what a what an interesting podcast. What a Ronus podcast. So be sure to like and share. Check us out on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe. And don't forget to subscribe on driving line or nitto tire. Nittle or nothing. Nittle or nothing.

SPEAKER_01

Later.