#137 Navy Racing

Navy Racing is not just about going fast, it’s about learning how to perform when everything is on the line. We sit down with Kevin Burnett to debrief a huge year for motorsports at the Naval Academy, from legitimate NASCAR exposure to the real, gritty work of building a Formula SAE car that can survive the hardest event on the schedule. If you care about leadership under pressure, mechanical engineering that actually gets used, or how great teams operate, this conversation delivers.

We talk about what it meant to see Navy Racing represented on a NASCAR car and why that kind of visibility matters for recruiting future midshipmen, connecting with sponsors, and showing the country what project-based learning can look like at USNA. Kevin also lays out the military-to-motorsports parallels that are impossible to unsee once you hear them: logistics, comms, crew roles, precision, and trust when stress spikes.

Then we get into the Formula SAE details that engineering-minded listeners will love: why “brilliance in the basics” beats flashy fixes, how serviceability and manufacturability change everything, and how NR26 fought through rain and adversity to finish endurance for the first time in a decade. We also zoom out to the human side, including Kevin’s motorcycle racing and how motorsports becomes a family bond and a focus reset in a distracted world. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves cars or leadership, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

For any real estate questions, please text me at 650-282-1964

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The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.

This podcast is independently produced and reflects the views and opinions of its creators. It is not officially affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of the United States Naval Academy or its affiliates.

Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all.  He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.

He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that matches service academy families with trusted real estate teams all across the country.  Text (650) 282-1964 with any real estate questions.

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Transcript

Welcome And What We Cover

SPEAKER_00 1:22

I've first

Kevin Burnett’s Path Back To USNA

SPEAKER_00 1:23

been just directly in the public affairs office. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And I hope to have a great question to kind of thank you so much for coming back on the Academy insider podcast. I'm so excited to debrief basically this previous year and all this incredible stuff that's been happening. And in relation to the Navy and the Naval Academy and motorsports, right? Whether that be Formula or whether that be NASCAR, there's been a lot of things going on. And so I'm excited to get you back on to talk a little bit more about how motorsports has impacted your world, what you're doing at the Naval Academy to support midshipmen who are interested in this realm as well. And for anyone who may have not heard the first episode, if you don't mind just giving a quick rundown about you, how you ended up back at the Naval Academy, and a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Awesome. Well, hey, like last time, Grant, thanks for having me on, buddy. I really appreciate it and honored to talk with you today. So, yeah, just for the group, I'm uh Kevin Burnett grew up in Delaware, so not far from the Naval Academy. Uh 9-11 happened when I was in high school, knew I needed to serve my country, and Service Academy was right here. It made sense. Didn't know what I wanted to do. Um, struggled as a midshipman, uh, but adversity made me who I am and and uh was supposed to be a sub-officer. Unfortunately had a medical issue last time. We chatted, so we won't need to we won't go into depth there, but became a civil engineer corps officer, CEC for short. I know you have another CEC guest on, and he chatted about the CBs and what we do, so we're there to support that warfighter. Did my operational time and needed a staff billet, and ended up coming here and um have been an instructor on and off for quite a quite a few years now. Became a reservist uh about halfway through, so I'm a recalled reservist on a fixed set of orders, and I'll finish my my time out here. So that's how I ended up um at the academy, taught taught. I guess now this will be my ninth year teaching uh once we start the fall semester, and was formally made the faculty advisor for the Navy Racing Formula team last year. So a brand new advisor with the NR26, so the Navy Racing 26 team. All of those who have just graduated, you had one of those guests on, uh, Gabe Iglesias. He was on our vehicle dynamics team. And uh yes, that's that's where we're at right now.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Yeah, I saw a picture of the two of you together uh at some type of racing event. You mind giving us a rundown on like where you've been and where again your association with the formula team and and you know, again, Navy Motorsports has taken you in this past um you know, past bit of time.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Yeah, so

Pocono NASCAR Sponsorship And Visibility

SPEAKER_02 3:56

we'll start with that. I think you I think you probably saw uh Gabe and I at Pocono. We had an incredible opportunity with one of our sponsors, Mr. Ron Witt. He he is in uh a backbone of our organization. He loves racing, he loves capstone. He um has an opportunity where he sponsors a NASCAR team four races out of the year. Uh he supports Ryan Ellis, that's the driver, and Young's Motorsports. And just we we built a relationship and and and we got to the point where it was it was a win-win for both. Uh Ron's dad, Ron Wood Sr., retired captain, um, was a 1966 grad, loved the academy, loved project based learning. And he said, Hey, not only do I want to help the car team from a capstone standpoint, I'd love to give up basically my my livery, which is what you put on a race car, the livery, the real estate of logos. He said, I'm gonna give that up. Uh sweetwater construction is gonna take a small portion of the car, but I want to give a big portion of the car to the Naval Academy and Navy Racing in particular. And we want to represent you and and just just an incredible opportunity for us to be on a a legitimate NASCAR at a big race. And that's that's like that's the branding and the marketing that that leadership here that the superintendent wants, um, especially when it's academics and engineering, like like it's cool stuff, and to be able to show it off in that arena of a of a race car and in motorsports, it really sharpens the the focus that students should be looking at this place um for a lot of other reasons in addition to service. I mean, it's to be able to do a hobby like that. I mean, come on now, like hang out with a race car team on a Saturday and and compete at the highest level of automotive engineering is uh pretty cool. So Gabe and I went, I had uh actually four other recent graduates from NR26 were there. We had about five underclass, or now firstys, rising firsties, who are on NR27. We had uh the chair of the mechanical engineering department showed up. We had tons of fans and faculty. Heck, even some kids who were in my summer school thermo class uh showed up that day and watched the NASCAR.

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably smart of them. They want that air carried forward as a grade the thermo final exam dog.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Exactly. They they must have known I was uh yeah, I was given the final, and they they were trying to butter me up a little bit. But no, outstanding students who showed up and they said they had a good time. And really the goal is for my big vision is to show the parallels of the military and motorsports, and there's so many of them from the the level of competition that that that high stress environment, whether it's a pit crew doing a pit stop, right, in the last lapse of a race that they need a nice stop to finish well, or it's a military operation outside the wire. Those are very similar types of things, right? Where you're counting on you and your buddies to get a job done, you need one another. Um, you can talk about the logistics, right? A NASCAR team rolls into a track, they got to bring spare parts, a spare car, a trailer, food, water, communication gear, right? They set up their pit box, all this stuff similar to us, right? CBs, we attach to a unit, we push forward with them. What do we need to operate? And then guess what? We pack up and we move again and we do it again. Um the communications, right? I mean, picture a NASCAR driver's like the aviator in the cockpit, right? They're the ones flying, people are talking to them, they're radioing. Like you want to be comfortable, you want to be fast, you want to be precise. Like these are all similar similarities that are actually pretty scarily, you know, it's scary how similar they are. And um, I want to make sure folks know that because it could be a student who wants to come to the Naval Academy, serve their country, but also maybe start a career in motorsports. Or what about that young enlisted personnel who who person who gets out after four or five years? They they they're a gearhead, they they maintained equipment in the in the military, you know, diesel engines or gas turbines, and they have that attention to detail. Why why are NASCAR teams or other forms of racing not recruiting those students or those individuals more? And I'm trying to just amplify that. And and we heck, we had the pocon roast, and then a week later, right last weekend, we're in Coronado.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

With that opportunity, right? So I live here in San Diego, and it's been it's been a madhouse uh over here, right? They again, the amount of work that went into everything. This was this was an incredible event to have uh basically again the Naval Air Station in North Island, um, you know, the the kind of premier military base here on Coronado uh adjusted around, moved around, however you want to like to support a full-on NASCAR race, you know, a full three-day event, which was you know truly, truly incredible. And again, much to your point, I think just a

Why Motorsports Mirrors Military Ops

SPEAKER_00 8:45

continued um, you know, combination uh tailoring, working together of like the military and motorsport, um, and the things that that combine and comprise. And to your point, I think it's really interesting. Like I I feel the same way, and it's it's really special again, all these parallels, in my opinion, is how I feel about sport, how I feel about like having been on the basketball team, right? Like all these things that we talk about with racing, again, this attention to detail, the logistics, the communication, the working as a team, the understanding your role, doing everything super well, figuring out how we're gonna do it as a team, you know, instead of like engineering problems, like our technical levels, it's your ability to pass dribble, like whatever the case is, but these things have really concrete parallels that I think make people incredible uh uh contributors to high-level tools in in in whatever your interest or your passion may be. And I think the fact that the academy has this opportunity for young people who are interested in racing and motorsport and engineering and all these things, I think is incredible. And again, with that, I'd love to turn it back to you just to ask about like how did the Formula A D A E team do this year? Because again, in our our past episode, we knew they were preparing for a race, right? Preparing for that capstone event. How did that go? And how do you see the future of Navy racing? Like, how's NR27 looking, you know, coming for this next year?

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Yeah, uh it would I mean, I I actually couldn't ask for more. I mean, being a new advisor, like I I had a heavy lift myself. There's a lot of unknowns, and and the guy I replaced, uh retired Captain Uh Len Hamilton. I mean, he did it for 20, 21 years, I believe, and just he kind of knew it in and out, and I still leaned on him, but I basically, you know, I took what he put in front of me and I said, okay, this works, but we're gonna just clean it up a little bit more, we're gonna polish a little bit more, we're gonna we're gonna do the basics. And and I I use the word foundational a lot, and you know, if you talk to the students, they'll probably get tired of it, you know. Like do all the little stuff that's not fancy, just keep doing that well, and the the big stuff falls into place, right? Put your tools away, document your notes. If something doesn't go well, like really write it out. Tell everyone why this engineering process approach you you applied failed. That's not a failure if you write it down and you share it so that someone doesn't have to go down that road. You know, like go talk to faculty, go talk to the the staff, the technical support division. And so I harped it all year. And what's nice is the provost, she's all about brilliance in the basics.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

I was I was gonna say, do boring better, brilliance in the basics. Like these ideas, they will continue, these men will continue to see for the rest of their lives and in the military career, right? Brilliance in the basics.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

So I got you know, I I hear her saying it. I'm like, look, I know I'm not wrong. She's saying it, I'm saying it. Like, again, back to that CB world, the house world. You build a house, the foundation needs to be right. We'll worry about the granite and the hardwood and the light fixtures later. Just let's build a solid house and then we'll spruce it up later. So we did that, and it was, I think, uh an incredible success. Um, we finished higher than we did in 25, and we wouldn't have done that without NR25, right? They gave us a they gave us a stepping stone, and we took that, we improved it. We uh improved our acceleration run, so that's one of the um dynamic events you do. So our car got faster.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

We did a lot better in what they call skid pad, that's like a figure eight, a very technical driving event. We did a lot better in that, and that is due to the midshipmen building the car in in early enough timeline that they got a chance to drive it. Yeah, they got a chance to test a little bit, feel it out. It'd be like you playing basketball for for or not playing basketball for a year, and I'm like, get on the court. You're like, no, I need to shoot a couple free throws, a couple three points, dribble. Let me warm up, right? And we sometimes don't get to do the warm-up, you know, and we did that. And um, that paid dividends. But what what I was most proud of was the aesthetics, the fit and finish, the serviceability and manufacturability of the car. These are engineering terms that when young engineers focus on things, they don't think about how it's going to be made or how it's gonna be serviced. And I harped that. I really made sure they they got connected with the shop personnel. Again, I I call them the senior enlisted without uniforms.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Talk to them. You're designing this part. It could be a hey Gabe, perfect example. Your guest Gabe, he he redesigned a pedal box assembly. And he had to talk with the technicians, whether it was Brandon or Mike or Mika or the machinists or the the anyone in the shop, and I'm I'm gonna I want to make sure I list some of their names because without them, we we wouldn't have done this. And those folks dove into those basics, those brilliance in the basics. They made stuff that was manufacturable, but in my opinion, serviceable because what happens is when you drive, you're gonna break stuff. Can you replace that stuff in a timely manner so you can keep driving? You know, if you build a one-off part that's hard to take off or you have no replacement, you did not design a very good part. So we love you know, strength

Coronado NASCAR And Big Navy Momentum

SPEAKER_02 13:55

the weight and we love all that kind of stuff, all good, but let's make sure stuff's you know has longevity and reliability. So we we did a really good job at that. And what happened is we finished the the endurance event, which we hadn't finished in a decade. The last time we finished, yeah, 2016, last Navy team to finish the endurance event. We not only finished it, we did it in the rain. Um, we were one of the few teams, maybe 10 or 12 of us, who had to drive it in the rain. And you don't control the weather. And unfortunately, that hurt our final score because when it's raining, you're driving a lot slower.

SPEAKER_03 14:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

But the car didn't fail. Um, a testament to the powertrain team, no water you know has gotten in the engine, a huge testament to the to the systems team. They built a wiring harness that is open to mostly the elements, right? And it lasted for 30 minutes in the rain. I mean, they had to change the tires when it was pouring down right. I was honestly most proud of them. It's dry. We're we're watching the clouds, and it just starts unloading, and they're looking at me like, what do we do? And I'm like, You gotta, you gotta go. Like, this is your time now, right? So they they swap on rain tires, never driven in the rain all year. Like, didn't have no idea how the car was gonna act. And not only do they they prep it, they completed it, but what was funny to me is uh I have this umbrella, right? And I and I go to hand it to one of the kids, Zach Wooden. I'm gonna call him out because he's the man, he's the man, he's our systems lead. He's he's I mean he's soaked. He's he's in this downpour, and he walks over to the toolbox. I'm on the other side of the fence. I can't help him, I'm an advisor, I can't do the work.

SPEAKER_03 15:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 15:24

And I'm like, Zach, do you need anything? Hey, I got this umbrella. And he goes, I don't need that, sir. I'm a I'm a Marine, right? He's he's a respected Marine. And I was like, I got like goosebumps. I was like, oh yeah, dude, right. Motivated warrior, let's go. Here's what's funny. One of the I won't call it now, I won't call it the other person. A Navy person, right, who commissioned in the Navy comes over about two minutes later. How you doing? You need anything? Nah, sir, I'm good. You want this umbrella? Yeah, I'll take that. I'll take that.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Yeah, I'll take that. Yeah, it sounds great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yeah, so uh no, it was funny. I I laugh about it because it just was like very impressive to see them not quit. They battled adversity. We know adversity is coming. It's not if, it's when. And it could not have happened at any worse of a time.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Like it it it cost us 15, 20 spots in the endurance event. But hey, you did not quit, and I'm most proud of you for that. So huge step in the right direction. 27 is chomping at the bit right now. Um, they want to make some big uh a couple big engineering changes, which I'm okay with, right? We we now did the brilliance and the basics. We set that foundation, and they want to go walk out on that limb a little bit, and I'm alright with that. Now we can't do 10 things, we got to do one or two things.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

And we'll try. And that's that's the process, right? Process over product.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

So that's it. Uh look, I uh I and I know you called it out, but again, each team that has gone through, like you're saying, uh just builds a foundation for the next year to tinker and to iterate, right? And again, when you

NR26 Results And Endurance Breakthrough

SPEAKER_00 16:55

have that foundation, when you build that, again, when you have brilliance in the basics, when a group has done boring well, like they do boring better each and each year, it allows people to kind of tinker and take those chances and take those risks and do things to continue to try and then increase and improve and do everything moving forward. And it's a testament to everyone who has come before you and building that culture and and building that program, right? Again, I just I love again, it's fun fact that obviously I am who I am. The parallels to a sports program, right? Like the team who went to change for 2026. Guess what? The team that was a part of 2021 that was losing and figuring it out and working and building the foundation. They play a huge part in where you arrived to in 2026 and a culture that was built to arrive to that process, right? And so um it it's very cool to see that. And um, you know, as you move forward, and again, like just another hit to people who may be interested. Like, why should people be a part of this? Like, why should people want to come and try and be a part of Navy Formula SAE and be a part of this capstone project and contribute?

SPEAKER_02 18:06

Yeah, I know I want to add some details on that because I think it might get a little technical here, but I I know there's probably a listener out there who might like this gearhead stuff or this engineering stuff, and they still hear a word that'll click and they'll love it. But back to your piece about the teams, I tell them too, I was like, we never step on a previous team, we build upon them.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Because a lot of people, and you've heard the turnover briefs in the military, right? Oh, the person before me. Don't talk like that, right? Like no, that that person did what they did with what they had at that time. Now you have hindsight 2020 vision, and you think you would have made different decisions. That's fine. Yeah, no, it's like we're building on one another, and that mindset is what really makes teams successful, and we're heading in that right direction. So for students who want to do this, I mean, just even in the brilliance and the basics, I can list off things we changed. For instance, from the leadership standpoint, Jackson, um, Ali, and Patrick, they were the vision, right? People who want to be project managers and technical organizers and administrative um, you know, folks who can keep everything in line. They took that and they cut out all the fat and said, we got a decent car from 25, let's build relationships with the shop, which they did. And they allowed the five subteams to do work some magic. So, for instance, our arrow team, we had Gabe, uh, another Gabe, we had Gabe, Ba and John. They got an Aero package on the car, which we hadn't had in the past, and it makes a car look complete, you know, wings and nice body work. It was actually pretty impressive. We unloaded our car, and I won't name the team, because they're a top 10 team, they're awesome school. And it was it was nice what they said, but at first, we rolled the car out, and one of them stands next to me, they have no idea who I am. And they're like, is that Navy? No, that can't be Navy's car. Look how, whoa, it's got Arrow on it. Oh my, look how clean it is. Like, like they came to play, you know, and it was like that alone, uh, a huge testament to Arrow and the folks in the shop, Travis and Roy and Katie, they spent hours working on fitting body panels and making sure the wings were as you know, as professional um as they could be. And the design judge loves it, loved it. They said these are the best wings we've seen. Now, they might not have the from a manufacturing standpoint, they might not be the the lift or the down force and drag relationship that we want. Maybe we can work on that from an engineering standpoint, but the construction and the manufacturability of them was impressive. The frame and ergo guys that that that was um Philip and Don, they I've never seen two students dive into the like the technical stuff like I saw with those. Like classes that a youngster would take, strength of materials, material science you might take, and that no one wants to take those again. Some those kids dove into that, they grabbed grabbed former professors or professors they had, uh Prof. Summer Malik and folks like that, and they say, Hey, I need to dust off that textbook a little bit. Let me apply it. So they took our frame, built this great simulation model that now that 27 can use. So if there's kids out there who've used SOLIDWORKS before, maybe they used it in high school. Well, you get to use that and you get to make your own frame. You

Brilliance In The Basics In Action

SPEAKER_02 21:10

design your own frame. How torsionally rigid is it? Does it provide you the feedback that you want? Is it ergonomically satisfying? It's like you with with basketball shoes, right? A certain brand, a certain fit, they gotta fit you know your feet and they gotta feel right. If they don't feel right, good luck playing, right? I mean, it's it's tough. Um, so the the frame ergo guys did excellent there. Powertrain, everyone gets excited about engines. Powertrain, I think you're you're was a Christian was on Powertrain, your roommate?

SPEAKER_03 21:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Yep. So engines, everybody loves engines, and and that was Miles, Kate, uh, Nikki, and John. What I loved about what they did is they cleaned it all up, right? It was like a fresh engine completely rebuilt. They repackaged things, like they moved weight around the car. They didn't save a ton of weight, saved a few pounds, but they moved the weight in the right spots, and that's important, right? You only have So much real estate, and you're and if you can't eliminate things, well, where is it packaged? And they did a great job of presenting that. And um, the car was reliable, it lasted the events, which we've struck, like I said, we've struggled to do. Uh, systems, that's all you're wiring, folks. Like anyone who likes wiring and electric electricity and wiring diagrams and troubleshooting, right? Voltage and amperage and resistance, all this stuff you probably had at double E one time, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah, you're saying a lot of words that I left back in in second class here, my guy. Yeah, we grabbed the case. I know you left them.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

Well, they're hey, they they're they're coming back, and uh we had uh Zach, uh two Zachs, Zach and Zach, and then Jay and Chris. Those guys did an excellent job again. We had a wiring harness that that withstanded the the elements, and that's something that I don't think we would have been able to do in years past. Or recent years past. We really we really amped that up. And um, and then last but not least, which is a really hard aspect, is the vehicle dynamics. So, Gabe, who was your guest, he was uh on the vehicle dynamics team, Solomon was the lead there, and and Grace and Eli were the last two members on the team. And that's hard part, man. That's tires, that's traction, that's brakes, right? That that is the hardest part. You're always chasing it. Different, I mean, it goes down to the the aggregate in the in the concrete or the asphalt. Like if you race at Michigan International Speedway, where we were versus Sykesville versus Summit versus um Nicholson, where all these places we drive, the the gra the the asphalt's different, the car reacts different, the tire maybe different tire pressure, different camber caster. So if kids get all excited about that kind of stuff, brakes and pedal assemblies and all that, there's something for you. So all those kind of nerdy technical things, guess what? That stuff's cool. And I think big Navy, they saw that Pocono, right? Superintendent is all about that that now, right? Marketing and branding is one of his principles. And guess what? We did that. We were on a NASCAR on a national stage amplifying how cool engineering and academics could be. So if you're a sophomore, a junior, a high school and high school, uh senior in high school, and you're like, I want to serve my country, but I love cars or I love trucks or motorcycles or jet skis, snowmobiles, whatever you're into, you can do both. You can come here and do both. And and my thing is we're not waiting to be seniors on capstone anymore. We want a club, right? We want to you come in as a plea, youngster, get down to the shop, go to some drive days, wrench on some stuff, meet the personnel in the shop. And um, that's that vision. And we're gonna grow. And and and I don't want the teams surprised anymore when Navy rolls their car out of the trailer. Oh, that's I can't believe that's Navy. I want them to say, yo, keep an eye on Navy. They're yep, they're legit, right? Like we we don't want to play Navy, right? This kind of in whether in and even a big basketball team who should beat you guys in battle, you don't if they don't want to play you, that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

It's a good sign. It's a good sign. It's a good sign. But we we went through that, right? Like again, what it was funny. Like originally, my time when I first came to the Naval Academy, yeah. No, like we we we got all the big teams that wanted to play us because they knew they were gonna beat the crap out of us, and it was good PR, right? Like we we played uh in North Carolina, we played uh Florida, we played Michigan State, right? Like we're playing all these all these big teams and it was and then by the time again I was a junior senior and then a couple of classes after me, right? Like nobody wanted to play us anymore, right? Like that was the best compliment that you could get because people the teams were no longer like no no no no no, like we don't want to run the risk of like actually losing an early game, right? And like if I earned the Naval Academy a year or two after I left, like they went to the University of Pittsburgh, you know, at a team in the ATT FB on their home floor, right? And so it's just like you start to get to that, like again, to your point where it's like, no, you're no longer just like good VR, like, oh, look at Navy and look at how cool it is. Like, no, you're there to compete, right? You're there to you're there to be in the mix with everybody. And it's really cool to see you building that out, like building that true program here within Navy Racing, and and wanting to get people who are interested and enthused in this and and give them something to do, right? Like take that, all that interest, all that academic brilliance, all that, you know, desire, proactivity and motorsport and all this different stuff, and like channel it into something to represent Navy, right?

SPEAKER_02 26:29

And I think that's really, really cool. Well, I think what's uh in this is like me playing, you know, I don't play checkers, man. I'm playing chess. I'm thinking even more steps out. We hear a lot, you know. I've been in a structure again, eight, nine years instructing. You hear a lot of times, I'm tired of the textbook. I want to apply this stuff right here. Like this is this is it. Or again, uh if you're a youngster in that talent, or you're a second class in that challenging Meki course or that Aero course or that electrical engineering course. If you're on the club and you're hanging out with us, you're seeing that thing be applied right then and there. And that

Subteams That Built A Better Car

SPEAKER_02 27:05

theory that you're learning in the classroom will stick. It'll stick with you forever because you'll you'll you'll relate it to something tangible and it won't go away. Or you'll see it in action at a NASCAR event or an IMZO event or drag racing or dirt bikes, whatever you're into. That's what real learning is. It's taking the words on those papers that most people don't get excited about and making students excited about it. And it's actually not that hard. And I feel like that's when you really start learning, when you start getting excited about it and seeing stuff fail. Well, guess what? You're passionate about it, you won't quit, and you'll fall you'll solve it. It might take you two weeks, three weeks, but that's learning, man, and that's life. That's why motorsports, because we know life's gonna do the same thing to us. We think we got it figured out, and you get hit with a roadblock. Then you iron that out, and two weeks later, another thing. Or you're helping a family member, you're helping a spouse, it's just you're helping your kids. That is the process over the product. And motorsports it tests you because it's hard and it's it's uh cutting edge, it's razor thin, right? Sharp. You're on you're on the cusp of failure because you're trying to make things fast, right? And when you when you're pushing it, stuff breaks, and that's okay. And um yeah, we're the clubs where it's gonna, that's the next big move. Establishing a club, getting the underclass involved. I think it sparks the interest, it gets more PR, more marketing, more branding. And where that really helps is it it builds the relationship with those shop folks. And and I want to list some of them. Like Mike, Mike's the the TSD director. Without this guy, we we wouldn't make, you know, him and I have built a relationship and we wouldn't be able to do what we do. And um, Brandon, who who from uh all-around jack of all trades, I mean this guy, he I don't care if it's machining, welding, composites, he he built a great relationship with not only the car team, but some of the underclass. Now they know who this guy is, right? So now they're not afraid to go into the shop and shake a hand. It's like going and talking to a chief. Once you talk to one chief, right, and they know you care. Guess what? There's a couple more chiefs that are going to help you.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Exactly. Now you go to the to knock on the chief's quarters and they're like, hey, Ensign, ALT, come on in, right? Like 100%.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

So I I am I'm they these kids are JOs, right, in training. Well, you're act like a JO now then. Go talk to these people who know way more about the subject than you do, even though you're supposed to make the decision, and let them humble you, let them show you some stuff. I promise you, two heads are better than one. You're gonna think something out. So yeah, Mike and Brandon, kind of from that leadership standpoint. Micah, he's the guy who helps fabric fabricate a ton of stuff, helps weld and all that. That guy's backbone with us. Um uh Charlie, Andy, and Jordan machine stuff. Like our kids are one year, so they can't do all the technical skills that a lot of teams can, but they got to be there and they got to design parts, and they worked with them. And then uh, yeah, the the composite folks, like I said, the car was the most beautiful Navy car they've seen in a while. And that was testament to Travis Roy and Katie for doing that. And then um Dan uh in the aero department, he just helped wind whether it's wind tunnel testing or talking about air fuel designs, he helps those guys out. Then last but not least is like propulsion, so your drive your your engine stuff, and that's Kelly, Dan, and Brian, and those guys really helped there, and that leads into kind of the wiring as well. So, like we had an uh ET2 Zach Bell, um heck enlisted folks. Here's a plug for that. We got this, we've got a new senior chief who who's pulling in great enlisted folks to teach here. If you're a gearhead and you're in the fleet and you want to do instructor duty, come here.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Come here, right?

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Like you want to help midshipmen learn how to tune an engine, rebuild an engine, talk about vehicle dynamics. Maybe you're a great welder and you you build hot rods on the side and you're that E6 out in the fleet. Come here, right? We need guys and gals here who have real Navy skill, but also have some of those hobby skills because I think that's very well-rounded, and the mids need to be around sailors who show them that like we're real people with real hobbies.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

And um, that's the team. It's not just the 20, the 20 mids on the car team, and that's why I'm listing these people off.

SPEAKER_03 31:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:02

It's everybody around you, right? So again, you get your commission, you think you're the boss, check yourself real quick, right? Like you need the mess, you need the you need the E4 to E6s who are who in my world, right, swing a hammer. You know, they're swinging the hammer, they're play, they're pouring the concrete. I need them. I might procure the concrete, right, and rent the the CB equipment, but no, no, no, no, no. Those cats are who they're doing it, and we need them to be successful. So the Navy racing program is the greatest thing we have here, in my opinion, for the military preparation process. Like, like I said, you got a budget, you got a timeline, you got people, you got resources, go for it. How good are you at communication, peer leadership, documentation? Oh, and by the way, you get to build a race car while you're doing it. What better projects are exist, you know?

SPEAKER_00 31:54

So and Annapolis is pretty good duty.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Yeah, for all my people in the fleet, like come hang out in Annapolis for a couple years. That's not bad.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Absolutely. And here's the other thing, too, right? If you're in the fleet right now and you think you can make a difference in shaping the future leaders of the Navy and Marine Corps, well then come here and get your claws in them when they're midshipmen.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

Right? Because it's it's it's our responsibility, whether it's former naval officers, former senior, you know, senior enlisted or current folks, uh even junior sailors. You are all, we are all part of this process, right? And the training environment is the low risk, low stakes. Like help teach whether you're helping a EM300 lab about thermo or you're helping building the race car. You get a chance to interact with those future leaders and they'll remember you and they'll remember what they've learned and those sound brilliance and the basics types of things. And when they get in the fleet, they're going to be dynamite, and and and that's that that cyclic reciprocating relationship that we need. So yeah, great duty here if you want to come here.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

That's it. Um, well, I again I I love every bit of this. And what I want to do to kind of end this out is just make this super personal as well, right? Like we can talk about at a high level how this impacts people, but I want to talk about how motorsports has impacted your life and and why you would why again, why you would continue to encourage people to pursue this path, knowing what it's done for your life. And again, I know that you and your family are involved in motorsports, and I just kind of want to turn it over to you to talk about like what this means to you and how has this impacted you and your life and your family.

SPEAKER_02 33:32

Yeah, so for folks that that don't know, I mean, motor, you know, it's not just that I'm a Mecke or an engineer in the Navy. Like, I I love all things motorsports, and a big one for me is is motorcycles. I I did a little dirt biking growing up, me, me and my dad, and my brother, and we traveled around and it was always hard. It was a it was not the main sport. It it right, it was football and wrestling and all and academics first, and it was like, we'll mess around with dirt bikes, but it taught us to get you know, it to deal with adversity because we didn't have the budget, we didn't have the new race bikes, we didn't have all the stuff that the track time that a lot of our competitors did. So it was a great way to ground yourself. Well, I stuck with it, yeah, and I and I got into road racing. I love that, and it's a family thing for me, and it's it really is a chance for my family and I to bond. And I it's to some people that might sound cliche, but you get to travel to a place like Georgia or Florida or South Carolina, and you're in the truck for a lot of hours, right? And you're talking and you're laughing and you're hanging out, you're at the track at night and you're playing a board game. It's it's just a conduit, it's a way that me and my family can can hang out. My wife Renee, my son Jackson, my daughter River, they want to see me compete too. And it's something cool, I would think, is seeing your dad out there struggle, right? My kids are probably like, hey, my dad,

Building A Club And Shop Relationships

SPEAKER_02 34:50

he's dealt with some stuff and he doesn't quit. Look, he's battling this problem with the bike, or that race didn't go as well. He's not stopping, right? And he's he's challenging himself. And I think parents, if you're not doing something where your kids can see you kind of vulnerable, then you're missing an opportunity to show them that it's okay. Um, I mean, am I built like a motorcycle racer? No, they're 150 pounds, I'm 245 pounds, right? Like it's a huge disadvantage. I don't race fast bikes, I don't have the budget for those very expensive new bikes. That's okay. So, yeah, road racing is really important. Our team is is got your six racing, GY6R for short. It's all about having people's back and having their six. And I think a lot of people say it, but you need to mean it.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 35:39

Right? You need to really mean that. I have your back, I have your six, whether that's in the military or not, whether you know family, spouses, like I said, kids, your friends, be a person who has everyone else's back. I promise you, you'll feel good about what you're doing. And if we all did that, no one would be left alone. Everyone would be taken care of. And that's all the racing racing is is my family has my back. You know, my son is the kid, he's the guy who's putting the warmers on my tires and taking the bike on and off the stands and helping me fill it up in between races. And my wife's right, she's helping making sure I'm drinking some water and staying hydrated. My daughter's there, maybe she's taking some pictures or cheering me on. It's just we have each other's back. And dude, like motorsports is a way to do that for us. And um, yeah, it it pushes me, it keeps me keeps me sharp. I I think it's great for your motor skills, right? It and and it clears your head, because I promise you, when you're motorcycle racing, you cannot think about anything else. Sure. Like you cannot daydream your it is there are few things in life that we do that, right? You know, outside the wire missions and in Afghanistan, things like that, and um and motorcycle racing, those are the two where I'm like, there is nothing else. Like, I'm sorry, I love my wife, right? I love Renee, but I can't think about her at that moment. I'm about to go into turn one at a hundred and whatever miles per hour. Like so it's good. It's a good, it's a good clear, and it's honestly people think racing's dangerous. It's safe, safer than the street. You know, like we're all going the same direction, right? We're we're incredible safety gear. The technical inspection to get your bike on track is of the highest level. Um, yeah. The asphalt's nice and groom, there's no potholes and manhole covers, and it's actually a really safe way to compete and and like I say, stay focused and for me ultimately hang with my family.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:28

And um, yeah, you meet great people that way. And and that's kind of, I guess, to tie it back in the formula. Who who can these midshipmen meet while they're building race cars now?

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Right? They're gonna serve. Maybe they've served five years, seven years, ten years. Do they meet a future employee? Do they meet a future spouse? Yeah, they travel to a race and find a place they want to live one day. They didn't realize that this certain state was so beautiful or that people were so friendly. Like, get out and see what's out there. And racing is a cool way to see the country and learn a lot about yourself and your family and and and what you're really into. So, yeah, that's how I tie it together. But yeah, we uh we're gonna keep doing it. I'm getting faster still. So uh come on now. Yeah, we're on the ground, we're just together in the back.

SPEAKER_01 38:14

Yeah, we we're not at our peak. You haven't reached your peak. Come on, we're moving.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

I tell everyone what if I when I retire, if I could do this, like maybe do 10 or 12 races a year and like the fitness and the and get some budget in the bikes. I'm like, watch out, man. I might I might run some people down. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Come on. Let them know, dude. Let them know. Uh no, I think uh look, I um it's cool to see just in general, right? Like I love people seeing uh or I love seeing people find that that thing that they can devote their attention to, especially in today's world, again, where it's so easy to be distracted so constantly. And it's attention economy where like you could be moving seven different ways, you're having a conversation in person, but you're looking at your phone, you're scrolling, you're doing this, you're on the phone, but you're talking about like there's so much distraction in the world of to find something that can truly lock you into I'm gonna focus on this one thing and only this one thing and I'm gonna execute. I think it's still healthy for us. And again, I found that funny enough, I found that in basketball associating now. Again, I knew I needed basketball. And it's like when I'm on the floor and I'm refereeing a high-level basketball game, and there's people, there's bodies banging into each other, there's people flying around the gym and up near the rim and all this stuff. Like you have no choice but to like lock in and be like, this is my job, and this crew of three, I have a responsibility and I need to do my responsibility for the good of the game, right? Like if we want the game of basketball to be as good as it can be, then the referees need to be as good as they can be. And in order for us to be as good as we can be, then I need to be great in my third. I need to be great in my segment, and I need to focus on the one thing that I should be focusing on for the good of the game. And uh to like have that, and again, it's here those parallels in exactly to you, right? Like your team, your family unit, like each person has their role. And if your role is adjust, right? Like if your role is uh like adjust clearing you on, tiering data on or being there, like that's so important. That's so important to the data. And like it just brings everything together and it's so fascinating to get for people out there. Like I love bringing in fact you want to talk about this and do things that I think probably are left thought about by uh by a majority of people to like get on and know that there are things out there to find your thing. And if you have your thing, and again, this is a great opportunity for the Naval Academy as well to get people into their thing to help your development as a person, as a leader, as a team member, as a community member. It's really cool. It's great all around. So I'm just like so grateful for you coming on and talking about your experience because I think it's just another phenomenal avenue to do all of those things that we talked about. And it's way cooler. And I appreciate it. Thank you, brother. Thank you, brother. Yeah. Yeah. Um any last thoughts, any words, anything you want to leave the audience

Motorcycle Racing As Family And Focus

SPEAKER_00 41:05

with about anything that we've that we've talked about?

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Um I I would just say like if you keep pushing yourself, it may be hard, but you end up having more fun. Whether that's building race cars, whether that's trying to race a motorcycle, whether that's working on a uh a degree, whether that's building a home, whatever your thing is, like you're like, man, this is gonna be hard. I promise you, you're gonna have more fun because it's hard. Yeah, like it's just it's weird how that works, but it always does, right? When you're in the gym with somebody and you have that hard workout, you're so proud of it. Right? When we go to a racetrack and it didn't start out well, but then we somehow miraculously get through it, and then I I end up with a decent finish and the and the family's proud, or some like like someone comes by and stops by the pit and congratulates us, like that's a win for all of us. Um so find that thing that challenges you and don't stop. I mean, it it keeps you young at heart, it it shows that you're you're humble enough to get humble, but you're confident enough in yourself that you're okay with it.

unknown 42:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:06

Because who's watching you? Here's my kind of the big picture for whether you're a midshipman, you're you just commissioned, whether you're thinking about coming here, or you're just you're a leader in your own community or your own your your own um maybe your job or a sports team, who's watching you? And don't be afraid to keep trying, be vocal about it, don't be loud about it, but be vocal, meaning like be visible and and mentor whoever's around willing to listen. Because I promise you, when we're at the racetrack, at Pocono or Coronado or me at a local track, there's some young kid who's watching you, whether it was a sailor that was a Coronado this weekend or me at the track at a next race, and they're thinking, that's cool. I kind of maybe I want to be like him or her. And you you can be a role model in those daily actions, and that's that brilliance in the basics things. Just be genuine, challenge yourself, look to be humbled, and I promise you, you're gonna have a ton of fun with it. And that's what I strive. I get bored if I'm not doing that, man. I I I keep trying to make myself better. So there's my there's my last last piece, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 43:09

Love it, dude. Well, you're the man. It's always so fun having you on. I'm sure it won't be the last time if I had to guess. We'll figure we'll find a way. We'll figure it out. So uh I appreciate you coming on and sharing all this. And uh again, we'll put all of the information to like reach out to to Kevin directly if you have interest in in Navy racing or motorsports, or there's any information in the show notes in the YouTube description. We'll get all that information out there. And um, again, genuinely thank you, man. It's so fun having you on.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Thank you, brother. I mean, a as a true friend, dude, you for for what you're doing for the community as well, you are you are shaping that next wave, and we need more folks like you. And I'm just glad I I get to to speak a little bit with you, man. It's it's that's the community. This is the process, dude.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

That's the process. Yeah, that's the that's the process. This is the community and and everyone coming together to share what makes Annapolis so dang special. Like that's that's what it is. That's the whole purpose of this platform, man, is to bring everyone together and just

Final Lessons And How To Connect

SPEAKER_00 44:05

show how special this place is. So uh I appreciate it, man. Thank you, brother. All right, take it easy. To everyone listening, I hope you have a good day. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Academy Insider Podcast. I really hope you liked it, enjoyed it, and learned something during this time. If you did, please feel free to like and subscribe or leave a comment about the episode. We really appreciate to hear your feedback about everything and continue to make Academy Insider an amazing service that guides, serves, and supports midshipmen, future midshipmen, and their families. Thank you.