EPISODE 9

He’s called “The Rocket Man” and in Episode 9 of “The Modified Minute” Jack Arute check’s in with Former Dayton 500 Champion Ryan Newman and talk about his 2nd act racing in Modifieds. Newman explains why he loves to drive the open wheelers and shares his thoughts about possibly winning the 2026 SMART Modified Championship.

Nick Anglace races an SK Light and has forged a marketing and engineering alliance with the University of Connecticut. He breaks down how that relationship has taken his racing to a new level. He also announces some big plans for him in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series later this season

For almost 30 years Mike Pettit has been building powerplants for modifieds. He shares some of his “horsepower philosophies” as well as how he started building SK engines and how that has blossomed into big blocks and other high speed ventures.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Coming your way on this week's Modified Minute.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Uh kind of stepped away from racing as a whole because I really didn't like it. I I did not enjoy racing. You didn't like no, I hate it.

SPEAKER_12 0:14

I just enjoy the cars. I enjoy the type of racing, the length of the race, the quality of the racing, the cars, the the way that they race, bumpers, you know, bumper to bumper, wheel to wheel. You know, you can you can jump tires, but at the same time you can nerf and uh move move things around a little bit if you need to. I would like to go back to that.

SPEAKER_18 0:33

I like the way that was that was really hard to make a power with that cast on we would we'd have to get kind of created. We've really we've we really pushed the rule if you know what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

All that plus up to speed, hot dog of the week, throttle down and either or it's next. They're called the mod squad. Ground pounders, the men that live by the grace of God at 600 horsepower. This is the modified minute. Go inside the world of modified waists with that. Five minutes is time to develop. By Humble Brothers Quality Meet. Build smarter, build better, by New England Racing Fuels, New England's authorized distributor of Tonoco Fuels and products, and by Ferguson contractors, building excellent since 1925. Here's Jack.

SPEAKER_10 2:15

Welcome back. I'm glad that you decided to return for some more modified racing action. Now this week I get to visit with Ryan Newman. He's a NASCAR Cup star that during his career won the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, but now guess what? He's racing modifies and absolutely loving it. Mike Pettit of the Pettit Racing Engines is also going to stop by and we're going to talk about what goes into providing the giddy up for his clients. And you're also going to hear from an SK light driver named Nick Anglais, who's chasing track titles with the help of engineering students at the University of Connecticut. But first, hey, there was a ton of racing action this past weekend. So let's dive right in with this week's Up to Speed.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Time to get you up to speed in the modified world. Up to Speed is brought to you by Mid-State Site Development. Mid-State safety, knowledge, and innovation.

SPEAKER_10 3:25

Weekend started Wednesday night for RJ Marcot with OBS8 Light option. And every eight Space 2-year-plus wheelage rate. Like 12 to 50 laptops. David Arudo.

SPEAKER_15 4:08

This is unknife. The last time I won, we had the car park and said there and it just turned into a dominated performance.

SPEAKER_10 4:26

35 laps at S8 modified speed.

SPEAKER_16 4:50

Young! I'm gonna go!

SPEAKER_10 4:53

Over the speed on speed play. It was the J and I think 150.

SPEAKER_04 5:05

Number one as they come down. We've got a fit. It's the defending champion. And it's all beers that goes around here. Going to the muscle. Here's the fifth point. Will it take?

SPEAKER_05 5:28

Bottom of those one. Up six. Eight. And it's almost worked.

SPEAKER_04 5:37

We've got leader number three. Enemy put a couple fight down there on the bottom. Up six without five sides. Now it's in the final fifty left.

SPEAKER_14 5:55

The outside!

SPEAKER_05 5:56

John McKennedy is all the upper way. We've got a brand new winner, but it's just win! But now the kennel! It is away! Just kidding! It's back in the window! It's a big massive kennel! It's okay! It's gonna be kennedy move down the wind! It's a day on the one race for the freak.

SPEAKER_06 6:25

Uh a little bit tight. I was fast till we get tighter, need to get tighter. But I was able to move my line around a little bit, up a little higher, and the car just honestly came to me. I felt like the last 50 laps, and it was really good.

SPEAKER_10 6:38

It was Kennedy's first victory. In the wheel and modified tour as a car. Seymour Connecticut's Nick Anglais runs an SK Light at the Stafford Speedway and occasionally in other area tracks as well. He does, however, have a secret weapon. You'll find out what it is in this week's SK Soundings.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

This is SK Soundings. News from the SKE and SK Lights. SK Soundings is brought to you by Wheelers Auto Services. The finest in top-level automobile makes and models specializing in European, Japanese, and domestic vehicles.

SPEAKER_10 7:22

Nick, so good of you to join me here on the Modified Minute. Welcome. Thank you for having me. All right, before I you came on board here, in my introduction to SK Soundings, I said you are an SK Light Racer that runs with a secret weapon. And that's located up there on the campus of the University of Connecticut and their engineering department. Tell me about the sponsorship, slash marketing, slash engineering expertise, cooperation you're getting from the state of Connecticut's primary university.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Um Yeah, uh our partnership with the University of Connecticut is extremely unique and I'm very, very fortunate to have that. Um you know, I I can't think of any other college in the entire country that's involved in motorsports as much as uh the University of Connecticut is. So um you know, working with the engineers and the people at the Format SE program and just being able to pick their brains and uh, you know, just knowing that they have a passion for what we're doing just as much as we have a passion for what we're doing is really cool. Um It's kind of a a change of pace, I'd say, 'cause it's we went from not having uh, you know, practically any crew help to now it's like we have two hundred kids at our disposal that we can, you know, pick their brains and whatever else.

SPEAKER_10 8:44

So how how does your performance amp them up?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Um I constantly get emails like on a on a weekly basis of like uh you know, just more and more people that are interested in getting involved. Um and obviously everyone likes winning, so uh, you know, when we a couple weeks ago, um you know, my Instagram was getting DMs and Facebook and just everybody was all, you know, congrats, this is this is awesome, and and just everyone's really excited to be a part of it. And it's something that uh if you asked me five years ago, I'd never see anything like this. Like I I figured at some point I'd land a sponsor, but to be this ingrained in it and to just have this relationship, I could have never even dreamed this up.

SPEAKER_10 9:29

Well, uh we're gonna talk a little bit about what some of the future plans are for that that collaboration later this season. But I want to go back because, like so many of your peers, you first climbed or began the climb up the racing ladder on Monday nights in the Wild Thing Karts. Is was that your first exposure racing uh you know, racing for with with your fellow kids?

SPEAKER_01 9:58

It was actually the Berlin Fairgrounds. Yeah. It was the uh back when they were in Sheldon, uh, Connecticut. That's what we did. So uh I actually I raced against like Andrew Muller. So I raced against people and I've had a relationship with people that race at Stafford uh you know for pretty much my entire life. But uh yeah, I I have the typical story that everybody else has. You know, I was in a go-kart at the nutmeg car club uh at six years old. So I did that for a few years, probably two or three years. Uh kind of stepped away from racing as a whole because I really didn't like it. I I did not enjoy racing. You didn't like it? Nope. No, I hated it. And uh my father was racing at Stafford uh during that time period. So every Friday he's going there and I'm like calling everybody, Hey, can can I come to your house? Can I come hang out with you guys? I don't I don't wanna go to the the racetrack. And for some reason I hated it. And a lot of it was the grind of like you're six years old, seven years old, and it's like, yeah, I wake up at five thirty or six o'clock in the morning on a Sunday and I'm like, dude, I can I'd rather be sleeping right now, I'd rather be doing anything else. So, uh eventually luckily, eventually that love for racing showed up, but it took uh probably nine years for it to come back.

SPEAKER_10 11:09

Can you recall a a point in time when that love for racing clicked?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Uh probably when I was about fourteen. Um I started to get more into cars and then I started to go my father was racing SK Lights at Stafford, so it was twenty fifteen, uh, twenty sixteen. And every week it was like he was on the podium. It was like second, third, second, second, third. And uh it was just really, really cool to go and just see the amount of people that were showing up and being around the cars and it's like, why did I hate this? Like I don't understand why I hated this. And I finally got the opportunity to drive his car in 2017 and uh from that point on never never went anywhere.

SPEAKER_10 11:55

Got those competitive juices flowing and now you're a regular you're a regular NESK light.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

It helps that I didn't win a race. So like when we first got into it, he for uh we started at Waterford in 2018, it was our first full season. So he has me every restart, go to the back. You know, go and learn how to pass, and and every restart I'm going to the back. If they started me on the poll, he wants me to go to the back. Yeah, great advice. It was like, we're not gonna end up with wreck race cars, and you're gonna learn how to pass cars and get comfortable with this. And uh you know, we didn't win a race until 2021, so it took four or three years uh to do it.

SPEAKER_13 12:33

Excitement here in SK Lite Victory Lane as we are speaking to Nick Anglais for the first time, his first ever Stafford SK Light win, and how exciting that was. I think it was the best finish of the season so far, at least in the SK Lights, won by at least a nose over Alexander Pearl. Take us to those last few laps, had to deal with a couple green white checkers.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yeah, um, you know, I like to race everyone clean and you know, race is my first win. We just started beating and banging. I'm doing everything I can to win, and you know, it sucks that I had to take the win from him. I love racing the guy, but you know, it sucks that I had to take the win from him. Uh but I I just can't say enough about all these guys that are standing right here. You know, it's this car has a lot of man hours put into it, and my dad makes everything on it, and it's just you know, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win, and you know, he deserves the win, so I it's hard. It's 50-50.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

So it's like every week you're going back trying to get that first win and trying to get it, and then it's like you want to keep going until you get it, and then once you get it, you want to keep going because you want another one. So it's like every week you're going back trying to get that first win and trying to get it, and then it's like you want to keep going until you get it, and then once you get it, you want to keep going because you want another one.

SPEAKER_10 13:41

You know, Nick, I don't think the average fan sitting in the stands realizes the vast canyon between an SK Lite and the way you must drive those, and an SK, and God forbid, even a tour-type modifier. It's it strikes me that what you're driving demands what I call a momentum approach. You can't be on and off the gas and on and off the brakes. How do you how do you acquire that skill?

SPEAKER_01 14:12

Um, it really just comes down to having good radius cars. But at the end of the day, you have to be able to drive it. So for me, um I like running the top, which actually works out even better because you're keeping the momentum up, and I charge the corner so hard that it keeps the R it keeps it in the RPM range. So everything I do kind of benefits a 602 grade motor. But um Yeah, you know, you just have to just understand what you're doing. And it's like you have to learn how to set up passes, and it sounds stupid, but I think it's it's harder to win an SK Light race than it is a lot of other divisions, because it practically every Friday everybody has the exact same race car. And then they start you, you know, with the fifteenth, sixteenth, if you're lucky and you start in the handicap, you start all the way back there, and you have to pass people with pretty much the exact same race car. So it's not like you can say that you have a a bigger motor like in a tour car, you could have or you can outspend somebody. So you could have just flat out with better equipment and and make it to the front. This all comes down to driver. So driver and crew, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_10 15:20

Well, you you made some news recently with the uh when you revealed that uh you're going truck racing. Tell me about it.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Yeah. Uh that was in the works for a really long time. And i i there was plenty of times where I thought about giving up on it because it just uh, you know, even my own father was like, dude, we don't have the money for that, and it's not a secret that everything is money related in in the registry. So, um there was plenty of times that I wanted to give up on that, and it sounds like a cliche, but it's like you can never give up on it because I'm in a much better spot today than I ever could have dreamt I would be, you know, a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_10 16:02

So so what's the deal? Tell me a little bit about what what you're going to run, where you're going to run, and again, how you're gonna get the help necessary to uh to excel at that level.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Yep. It goes back to doing it ourselves. You know, it's wow. It's kind of that thing of if the door doesn't open for you, you just kick it open and knock it down. So um we came to the realization that we'd never have the the money probably to get into a top tier truck, you know, it's it's like a hundred and twenty, hundred and thirty thousand to get into a top tier truck for one race. So we're like, I can't see anybody spending that amount. So the idea came up of, you know, going to somebody that maybe isn't necessarily a top team and to try to use um you know, the little funding that we have and all the connections that we have to try and make the car run better. So we're partnered with Mike Harmon Racing and he is basically giving us a truck. So we bought the motor, he owns the truck, and we're teaming up and the plan is to bring it back to Connecticut and between myself, my team, you know, the the people at Stafford Speedway, all the the good smart people that we have at Stafford Speedway, because 95% of the uh population that works on these NASCAR National Series race cars all came from modified racing at some point or something like that. So uh you know, we have a lot of smart people in the modified community. And uh obviously the engineers and everybody involved at the University of Connecticut is is fully on board, so we have a lot of advantages going our way that typically I think the climb would be a lot steeper to do something like this. But we have a lot of advantages that I think are gonna help it out a little bit. And we still probably you know no, I don't think anybody expects to go out there and win in this equipment, but if we can run good or halfway decent, it'd feel better than you know, finishing dead last or something like that.

SPEAKER_10 18:02

Or sitting in the stands wishing.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Right. Yeah, that that helps out.

SPEAKER_10 18:07

So as you explained to me, your plan is to get the get this mount ready for LimeRock. Dude, you have never raced on a road course. So how are you gonna prep if you got if you got I racing? What are you going to do to get ready for turning left and right?

SPEAKER_01 18:26

There's iRacing. So the reason I got this idea is because I'm I'm pretty good at at i racing and and road course is there. Um, you know, one of my most winning tracks is is actually Watkins Glen, so um, you know, that that helps. But then a couple weeks ago, uh, we went to New Jersey and I was driving Lamborghinis and uh Nissan GTR on a road course. Oh wow. So I was learning the lines, learning how the car handles, and you know, obviously it's not a NASCAR truck, but it it's you know, you're getting road course experience, you're seeing the braking zones and everything else, and uh so that's something that's going on. I've even talked with Travis Hyder about building uh like five hundred dollar uh like crap cars and going to Lyme Rock on like a Tuesday or something like that, and just going and just turning laps. Uh so that's something we've talked about and honestly it it it's nice to have a challenge, it's nice to have something where you really don't know what to expect. Um, you know, I was talking to Mike Christopher on Friday about it, and he's like, dude, I could give you advice on like going to an oval with the truck. Like when you go to New Hampshire, just call me up and I'll give you some advice. But uh as far as line rock goes, you're on your own. I know nothing about road course racing in a truck. So it's something different. Um it wasn't originally in the plans, but uh we ended up I didn't know I was even approved to do road courses. NASCAR called me one day and was like, uh you know, yeah, you're you're approved for road courses too. So when I heard that, I'm like, well, the only NASCAR race in Connecticut, which makes sense for you guys, and for you know, everybody that supports us is in Connecticut. So it's Lime Rock. That's my only option.

SPEAKER_10 20:09

So Well, and the good news is you're gonna have uh an entire modified racing community that will be pulling for you, and you'll be able to tap into all of that, as you said, that wealth of knowledge. Look, we wish you nothing but the very best. We know you're also chasing that elusive SK like title in 2026, and I do personally appreciate the way you go about racing, what your the messaging is, and uh especially appearing here on the Modified Minute.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah, not a problem. Uh as far as that championship goes, we're trying, but there's gonna be one flaw in that system, and that's New Hampshire, because New Hampshire for the Truck Series uh practice and qualifying is on Friday. So I got something in the works. So I've stayed to a lot of companies about uh trying to get them to come on board with like a helicopter flight and hopping on a helicopter, flying from New Hampshire, coming to Stafford. I don't want to miss Stafford. It's very important that I'm at Stafford every day. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_10 21:10

Well, if anybody out there has an available helicopter or has a connection or knows a guy that knows a guy, get a hold of Nick Ackley. Thanks so much. Thank you. I hope you won't hold my feet to the heat for this week's selection of a hot dog of the week. Yeah, it may be a little nepotism, but it was one whale of a performance.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

It's now time to reveal this week's modified minute hot dog of the week. Someone who stood above the rest. Brought to you by Hummel Brothers, Quality Meets. The top dog in modified racing. 100% quality since 1933.

SPEAKER_10 21:52

David approved for 22 bucks. And his early season results, well, they resulted in a Ninth place finish in the season opener at Sisler and an 11th on the first Friday night outing. Last Friday, though, the driver of the Monaco Ford number 75 was involved in a heat race tangle that left him with a wounded car.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

Here we go. Trouble up the corner passer nearly gets turned in the field, and the 63 almost went over for Flamia David Arut right in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_10 22:27

But quick work by his crew. Let him answer the bell for the 40 lap main event. And answer the bell.

SPEAKER_05 22:39

Up turn number four, the Monaco 14 is back in winning form here at Stafford. David Arut is our winner tonight in the SK Modified.

SPEAKER_17 22:50

David, you're no uh stranger to Victory Lane, but it's been a while. Kyle's reminded us about 22 months. What's going through your mind right now in terms of what just happened out there tonight?

SPEAKER_15 23:03

I'm I'm speechless right now. Like you said, 22 months. I haven't even sniffed a podium last year. Not to mention just a vic a victory like this. I'm speechless. I can't believe we're in victory lane again. The the hard work that went into this car this year, last year for my team is I can't even put words on it. I don't know what to say.

SPEAKER_10 23:27

For his turnaround performance, this week's hot dog of the week is David Arut. How many times have you heard your favorite driver thank his engine builder for the awesome horsepower when he's in victory lane? Well, this week's Crew Call visits with one of Modified Racing's very best, Mike Pettit from Pettit Racing Engines.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Time to drop into the race shop and get the dope from the guys that twist the wrenches. It's Crew Call. Brought to you by Ferguson Contractors, building excellence since 1925.

SPEAKER_10 24:16

Well, Mike, tell me how you actually got started in the engine building business.

SPEAKER_18 24:22

Um when I was nine years old, uh my dad had a machine shop, and I was all I was around him. I mean, I spent my whole all my time with my father when I was a kid. He taught me how to do valve jobs when I was nine. And he put me to work in a shop, and I pretty much that was it. I started, you know, I went to work for my dad. And um when he when I was about 18, he passed away, and I just I kept just kept doing it. And then I ended up what ended up happening is I was drag racing. I used to drag race up Lebanon Valley, and I met these two brothers that ironically they were my neighbors, and they wanted to build a late model to go to Stafford, and I ended up doing an engine for him. That was 1990. Wow how that all started. And it's all I've ever done, you know, and um I kind of did it as a hobby, and around 1997 I opened up my business and then I'd say 98, 99, I um hooked up with Ted Christopher. Everybody you know knows that, and that's kind of when everything really started, really took off. You know, and then shortly after that, Keith Rocco, who I met, you know, he was a kid helping Ted, he became my right-hand man in the shop for 21 years, and really, you know, I guess the rest is history from there.

SPEAKER_10 25:41

Well, in a way, the rest is history, but also when I called you to set this this visit on the modified minute up, you blurted out to me, I just love the modified.

SPEAKER_18 25:53

Well, I love modified racing. Absolutely love it. Why? Um well the level of competition for one, you know, especially you know, the SKs at Stafford. Um I've been into a lot of different racetracks, and you know, now my business is kind of going into a little different um a little different direction, but I'm still focused on what I was doing. And the competition's still pretty tough where you go, but it's nothing like Stafford with the SKs. And I also I like how they look, and I just I I I love it, you know, and I I love building those engines.

SPEAKER_10 26:32

You know, I trace my history back when it was the modified were the unlimited ones. Yeah, open modifieds. You had open modified, but we're talking about true open modified with fuel injection stacks with a big block, with an aluminum block, a McLaren uh Z T.

SPEAKER_18 26:51

I wish they were still there. I wish they were still there.

SPEAKER_10 26:54

You you do look wish that you were still able to tinker at that level.

SPEAKER_18 26:57

Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah. I mean we could get pr fairly creative with what we're doing, you know, and I still do. I do a lot of open modified stuff, you know, tri-track, and then we got I don't know how many races we got at you know, open races other than that tri-track, and we had the open race at the beginning of the year, and I believe there's one at the end of the year, and then there's a couple of Thompson. So I still got my hands into that. And I do a lot I do quite a bit of big block stuff too now. I do uh you know, big block dirt modified stuff and super modified stuff. That's it. That's it. I was talking to you before John McKennedy. I was finishing his engine up for the super there. But um, as far as though the honestly, the hardest engine, I tell everybody, the hardest engine to build and make power with is an SK modified because of that two-barrel carburetor and the way to you know the rules restriction.

SPEAKER_10 27:48

You know, Mike, as I said, you started and your footprint was where you could be as creative as you wanted. Today, today, uh and it's and it's a word that we use, it's a spec motor. Okay. Basically, what they've done for creative people like you is they've shrunk the box to where you can only do so much.

SPEAKER_18 28:11

Well, the camshaft, camshaft and valve job. I don't want to give away my secrets, but no, you better not. You know, that's everything. And I design all my own camshafts. I mean, I'm truly an engine builder. There's guys out there, they go beat themselves on the chest, they get technologies from guys like myself, or there's other guys, you know, I won't mention names, but but there's other engine builders out there, but but I consider myself an engine builder, not an engine assembler. And there's guys that are engine assemblers that get other guys' technologies, and then they they go from there. But I'm like I design all of that, and it's that's what I like about building the SK motor because it's you're in this box and you really gotta work hard to get the most out of it. And that's where it all comes down to is camshaft, keeping the engine sealed up, valve job, and I work real close with all of that, you know, keeping everything, you know, to work.

SPEAKER_10 29:06

Well, without without giving away any of your proprietary secrets, uh a novice like me, okay, I want to I want to go SK racing and I I want power by Pettit. What's it gonna cost me?

SPEAKER_18 29:20

Um brand new top to bottom.

SPEAKER_10 29:23

I guess. Let's go. Let's go to Full Monty, right?

SPEAKER_18 29:26

Yeah, well, I'll say it if you need it, headers and everything, headers, carburetor, uh everything minus um, you know, no clutch and no right bell housing and all of that. It's like about 24,000.

SPEAKER_10 29:39

Well, that's not bad. That's not bad.

SPEAKER_18 29:42

I remember hearing rumors I was getting 35,000 to do an engine. It's they're 24, it's like 24 and change. You know, you you and then you put sales tax on it and about 20, right around 24.

SPEAKER_11 29:53

All right.

SPEAKER_18 29:53

I actually have to be honest with you, the last brand new SK engine I did it was last year. So I everything's gone up because you know how everything is in the world with getting parts and oh the supply chain is just terrible, yeah. So that's a whole nother problem. Every day, that's a whole thing. That's a quarter of my day on chasing parts, um, getting stuff that's coming in wrong. I'm calling vendors, I'm screaming at them. I'm like, I can't believe that you guys are making mistakes like this, but you got stuff that's wrong, and then it trickles back to us guys that are building the engines, and the customers say, I get some really good, I got great customers and they understand, but it gets frustrating sometimes, you know, when you when you're going through all of that. But yeah. But we try I also at the same time, sometimes I think I could charge a little bit more money, but I also don't want to price this board out of existence either.

SPEAKER_10 30:46

Well, that goes back to your true love for modify racing.

SPEAKER_18 30:49

You know, honestly, I wish the you know what the worst part of the job for me is doing the bill. I hate to, you know, I love doing it, you know, but I gotta make a living and I gotta keep, you know, the shop going and everything. And yeah, I think that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_10 31:02

Well, the other the other thing that m a lot of people that frequent the paddock areas of our our northeastern racetracks, they see you there all the time. One case in point is I I see I hear you being paged to go to car such and such. And and it's almost like uh uh you know, on-site uh troubleshooting.

SPEAKER_18 31:25

Yeah, I haven't missed it. So I went to Stafford. It was 90 was the first time, but 91 religiously I went. So I went from 1991 till um I want to say 2018 was the first time I ever missed a race, and that was because of something that was going on in my life. You know, everybody knew Shannon and she was sick, and we had an appointment in the city, and um, so I went to New York City and I'll never forget we left the city, and she was like, you know, we can still make it to Stafford. Probably miss everything lot, and at least you won't miss a Friday night. You know, so I missed a couple Friday nights then, and um, but yeah, no, I go I'm there every Friday night. This year is gonna be a little bit different because um I got to juggle my racetracks around, and I'll still go to Stafford three Fridays a month, and then I gotta go to Albany, Saratoga one Friday. But the kid that works for me, Anthony Farino, everybody loves him and knows him, and they love the kid. He's a great kid, and he is very good at what he does, so he'll be there, you know, taking care of our customers.

SPEAKER_10 32:32

Yeah, but that there's that's that's the pettit touch, but it isn't Mikey Pettit.

SPEAKER_18 32:38

You have to be there, you know.

SPEAKER_10 32:39

Exactly.

SPEAKER_18 32:41

Yeah. Yeah, you know, I love it.

SPEAKER_10 32:45

It's it's obvious that it's a love and it's a passion for you. So I'm gonna make you king for a day. If all of a sudden you could do one thing to the box that you're operating in now as it applies specifically to the SK rules and regulations for engines, what would it be?

SPEAKER_18 33:05

You mean what would I change?

SPEAKER_10 33:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_18 33:08

Um you as you say, could we like build an open motor, or what could we do to the engine itself?

SPEAKER_10 33:19

Well, no, we want to stay within what my father had conceived of as a controlled environment.

SPEAKER_18 33:25

I I like building when we used to run the motors with the cast iron intake, and the rules were a little bit different. We could run any length connect and rod. I like, I really, really like, I mean, I love building these, but I really those engines I love to do.

SPEAKER_10 33:41

Well, that's because you're the professor. That's because you like to very much, thank you.

SPEAKER_18 33:46

I would say if we could do anything, I would like to go back to the to that. But the thing is, is well, the spec motor, um, the way you know the way the rules are, it's a great package. Very I don't want to jinx myself or anybody else. We don't have really any failures. Occasionally somebody will lose a motor, but um yeah, but I would I would like to go back to that. I like the way because it was that was that was really hard to make power with that cast iron intake.

SPEAKER_09 34:16

Makes sense.

SPEAKER_18 34:17

And we would we'd have to get kind of creative. We'd really we we really push the rule book, if you know what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_10 34:24

Yes, I do. And but that's that's what racing is all about, exactly. Listen, Mike, it's a it's a real pleasure. I hope my my viewers get a little bit of insight into well, what goes into when your winning driver sits there and says, Hey, I want to thank Mike Pettett for the awesome work.

SPEAKER_18 34:42

Oh, I love it. I love it. I know you did. I love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_10 34:46

But Mike, thanks for joining me today.

SPEAKER_18 34:48

Yeah, thank you very much, and thank you. I I'm look I'm glad that you asked me to come on.

SPEAKER_10 34:53

So, you want to know what it's like to drive a modified? Well, we can take you inside one and at the very least, let you experience the sights and sounds. We call it Throttle Down.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

This is Throttle Down Time, where you get to ride along inside a modified. Brought to you by Wattell Communications, your Northeast trackside dealer for radios and repair. This week you ride with Tyler Chapman at the Stanford Motor Speedway.

SPEAKER_10 39:39

But now he's turning left in his racing's second act, driving modifies.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

It's Racer Spotlight time. Brought to you by Riverhead Building Supply. Build better, build stronger.

SPEAKER_10 39:57

Well, his accomplishments at the upper level of NASCAR in the cup division are well documented, but that's not why I've asked him here. It's his second act in racing that is what I've invited Ryan Newman to become by to visit with us here on the Modified Minute, as he is a wheel man now in Modified. Ryan, thanks so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_12 40:20

Thanks, Jack. You uh the modifieds are the closest thing I have in my zip code to uh kind of parallel my open wheel racing from back in the Midwest. I mean growing up racing sprint cars, silver crown cars. I mean if you don't know it, um um the leftover tire on the sprint overcrown car is basically the same tire we use all the way around the modified. So um I I just enjoy the cars, I enjoy the type of racing, the length of the race, the quality of the racing, the the cars, the the way that they race, the bumpers, you know, bumper to bumper, wheel to wheel. Uh you know, you can you can jump tires, but at the same time you can nerf and uh move move things around a little bit if you need to. And you know, it's just it's just good short track racing to me, it's the best.

SPEAKER_10 41:06

So tell me how you and Bono Mannion got together. This was while you were still driving in cup.

SPEAKER_12 41:13

Yeah, this is about 2009. I don't remember exactly what ball dropped first, but in the end, uh Bono Mannion and Gary Putnam and myself um put together a deal. We had aggressive hydraulics on the car, which is still one of my sponsors. And um we raced down in um in um my first race, I won. And I beat Teddy Christopher. He was driving, I think it was a red and white 33 car. Somebody told me it was a pretty famous car back in the day, but no matter what, I still beat Teddy and I had no idea um how big of a deal that was um you know, 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_10 41:49

And your career has been on a part-time basis until you decided to tackle the smart modified tour a couple of years ago, and uh you came so close one year ago to winning the championship. What was that like?

SPEAKER_19 42:02

This is all now going on over a second and a half, now two seconds behind Baldwin as Coulterman Ward almost touched Newman way up top. This battle for a second is unbelievable! Contact there.

SPEAKER_14 42:15

Luke Baldwin will win the race and the war today here at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He is now a two-time champion of the smart mode.

SPEAKER_12 42:24

Yeah, North Wilkesboro is a great racetrack, especially for modified. That kind of it's almost to me kind of like Stafford of the South. And um, you know, I think that um the size of the racetrack, the character of the racetrack, and we were close. We had a good car. We just came up too short. We ended up side by side for a second at the end, and uh Luke Baldwin won the race, which won the championship. They've they've changed the point system up this year, and they say if they would have used this season's point structure last year, I would I would have been the champion. But they could say that back in 2014 or 2003 when I won a bunch of cup races too.

SPEAKER_10 42:57

Yeah, if bits and butts were candies and nuts, we'd all have a terrific Christmas.

SPEAKER_12 43:02

That's right.

SPEAKER_10 43:03

Uh I do want to take a look though at your performance this year in the smart tour. It's on a hiatus now until the end of the month. Is the championship within your grasp?

SPEAKER_12 43:14

Do you believe Oh, for sure, yeah. I think we're in a good spot points-wise, especially with the structure of the way they're doing the playoffs with basically the last few races and a handful of drivers. So I think we're we're definitely good there. The problem is with our good season is Danny Bones having a great season because he's won three of the first six. And we haven't made it to victory lane yet, unfortunately, but we've had lots of top five. Um worst finish was eleventh in Dominion, uh, where we had a reference to go down after halfway in the race and you know was able to wasn't able to fall our way back. But um, you know, it it it's um it's just a lot of fun. Um you know, we start off the season really heavy, like you said, and then we have a little bit of a break. And our next race will be in Franklin County here at the end of the month, and then we have another little break, and um you know it's just um It's kind of sporadic um throughout the bow and grave season and then we kinda get going again towards the end of the you know, come September or October, which is fine with me because um gives us an opportunity to go race with my daughter Brooklyn. Um gives me an opportunity to go do other races in different places. I'll go up to Minnesota and run some dirt races, uh places like that. So I I um I don't mind it. I mean I I think if I um if I look back towards my cup career, we always complain about racing thirty-six races in a season and how busy it was. So um, you know, racing, you know, fourteen or fifteen races with a smart car, running a few wheeling races here and there, and you know, a tri-track race here or there, coming up to visit you in Stafford. It's a lot of fun and I can kind of control my own destiny when it comes to the schedule.

SPEAKER_10 44:44

I want to talk a little bit about Brooklyn. It was a couple of years ago when you were up here for SRX. I had the pleasure of interviewing you and her together for uh my wind tunnel podcast, and she was very forthright in saying that her goal was she was going to beat you in a race. And now she's climbing up the ladder, you've got her in a crate modified. Tell me a little bit about where you think her strengths lie.

SPEAKER_12 45:11

Uh, you know, her her natural ability behind the wheel is pretty phenomenal. She lacks a lot of um experience, just uh, you know, racecraft and knowing how to you know handle different situations because every situation is a little bit different. Um, she's running the Crate 602 here um in Carolina. And then this weekend, I don't know if you even know this or not, this weekend we're running up in Berlin in their payment modified program up there. So this is the first time we're actually gonna race against each other. So this is where the bragging rights are gonna either gonna stay in check or they're gonna get out of control. We'll see.

SPEAKER_10 45:46

Hey Ryan, are you a helicopter dad? Do you hover over her racing career?

SPEAKER_12 45:51

Absolutely. I've got um I've got uh four four of her race cars in the shop out here, a couple of mine. The car I ran at Stafford, and then Glenn Styres is modified in the shop, and and um, you know, I I feel like with my experience, um there's no better helicopter out there.

SPEAKER_10 46:07

You got a degree in engineering from uh Purdue, so you're a boilermaker through and through. You talk about your Midwest heritage, but I wonder, because there aren't a lot of engineers that are either building, fielding, repairing, or god no knows, driving modified. Have you been able to introduce any of your engineering ideas into some of the modified cars you drive?

SPEAKER_12 46:34

Um, you know, I I don't I don't know that I have so much. I think engineering's played a big part of um the setups um since we have gone to the uh the no ride height rule a few years ago. I don't remember exactly when that was, but I remember the times that we went to Louden trying to everybody's trying to cheat the ride height rule, right? So eventually they just said let's just not have a ride height rule, and and I think things got a little bit more technical then, and we're still developing. Um and I see it as the modified uh making the transition that the stock cars did because the stock cars, the cup cars went through that same thing. Yeah, I want to say 2013, 2014 or something like that, where we went from having to have ride heights to no ride heights, and then you know, adapting your suspension points and pivot points and things like that, roll centers to to um idealize your ace car. So I think that um that's been done, but not by me. Guys like Ryan Stone and and other guys that have, you know, other guys that are crew chiefs and engineer like-minded guys that have you know stepped up the program, have have um closed that window. Not closed it, but I mean they've they've answered a lot of the questions.

SPEAKER_10 47:40

They they filled the void.

unknown 47:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_12 47:43

Some of the voids, yeah. There's always there's always little nooks and crannies here and there that we're trying to search for.

SPEAKER_10 47:47

Well, well, sit back. You may be or you may not be aware of the fact that I have it on good authority, an unnamed modified team actually put their race car in the wind tunnel. Have you ever heard of that?

SPEAKER_12 47:59

I've heard I've heard of that. There was guys down here that have talked about it, but I've never seen a picture to prove it.

SPEAKER_10 48:05

Hey, I I would be remiss because you really struck me when you were up here and we talked a little bit about that horrific accident that you had. And you talked about how blessed you are because you don't remember a damn thing about it.

SPEAKER_12 48:29

No, I don't. Nope. Yeah, it's it's crazy how um how the brain works, or in this case doesn't work, and um how how it can I can only assume that God has figured out a way to delete those chapters or delete those sections or that part of the hard drive, however you want to call it, to um to make you forget or not remember or have no recollection of the you know tragedy, the travesty, the the the all the negative things that happened on that day. So um I'm fortunate for that. I you know I feel blessed to have and I've said it, I said it to you, uh several several layers of angel's wings wrapped around me. Um if you saw the race car and the helmet, uh you wouldn't believe that I'm real. You'd think I was a ghost right now talking to you.

SPEAKER_10 49:12

So I know you're not a ghost, my friend. I know that. Hey, listen, I appreciate you stopping by. Good luck to you in Brooklyn up in Berlin and uh hope to see you soon back up north here. Or maybe if I'm lucky, I can get down. I'm loving the smart modified tour. I need to get down there and catch a couple of them in person.

SPEAKER_12 49:31

Franklin County is uh, I think May 29th, something like that. It's a Friday night race, I believe.

SPEAKER_10 49:36

I can't do Fridays. Come on, you know that it's staff right now.

SPEAKER_12 49:39

No, I I know, I know, I know. But either way, like if you do if you have to call in sick, Jack, just call in sick. I never thought you might know a guy.

SPEAKER_10 49:46

I do know a guy that knows a guy. Ryan, thanks so much.

SPEAKER_12 49:49

Thank you.

SPEAKER_10 49:52

Before the show ends, I want to let you know that we set up another contestant for our either-or segment. And this week, the lucky contestant is Jonathan McKennedy, winner at Seaconk in the Wheel of Modified Tour 150 this past weekend. Well, Jonathan McKennedy, I hope that you are ready to participate in what we call either or.

SPEAKER_02 50:22

All right, then let's go. It's either or, where our guest must choose one or the other. Brought to you by New England Racing Fuels, New England's authorized distributor of Sonoko fuels and products. Sonoco, the official fuel of NASCAR.

SPEAKER_10 50:43

First question I think's easy for you. I already know the answer. Supers or modified? Supers. No question. Okay. This one's gonna be a little harder. Bentley Warren or Richie Evans?

SPEAKER_07 51:02

That's a good one. Um I'm gonna go with Bentley Warren. Just um Yeah, I'm going with Bentley. Someone I'm trembling with, a lot of respect for. Got to see him race, race with them. Obviously, Richie was another great, but overall I picked Bentley Warren.

SPEAKER_10 51:23

Steak or lobster?

SPEAKER_08 51:27

Going with steak.

SPEAKER_10 51:30

Okay, boots or sneakers.

SPEAKER_08 51:34

I guess it all depends what you're doing that day, uh, but for the most part, I I'd have to say uh sneakers.

SPEAKER_10 51:43

And finally, rap or country.

SPEAKER_07 51:50

Definitely not rap. We'll go we'll go on country.

SPEAKER_10 51:55

Well, congratulations. You made it through either or unscathed. Jonathan, thanks so much for doing us today.

SPEAKER_07 52:02

Yes, thanks, Jack. It's good seeing you.

SPEAKER_10 52:06

Well, that's a wrap on this week's show. My special thanks, as always, goes out to this week's guests. But I also want to tell you that the podcast continues to grow each week. Well, that's a wrap on this week's show. My special thanks goes out to our guests of this week, but I also want to let you know that the podcast continues to grow, and I can use your help. Please spread the word and encourage your friends to subscribe. So until next week, I'm Jack Aroot. Join me yet again for another episode of the Modified Minute.

SPEAKER_02 52:45

It has been the Modified Minute. The Modified Minute has been five minutes.