What happens when you mix life, racing, and a diagnosis of diabetes? It's a blend of resilience, determination, and powerful life lessons that you wouldn't want to miss. Join my heartfelt chat with George Hammel, a professional UTV racer and fellow type 1 diabetic, as we peel back the layers of our public personas and share our personal journeys through mental health struggles, diabetes management, and the exhilarating world of racing.
Hold your breath as George recounts his terrifying accident, a true testament to his unwavering spirit and self-awareness. His story is a stark reminder that adversity is not synonymous with defeat, but rather an opportunity to rise and redefine limits. We also delve into the world of diabetes, dissecting the impacts of sugar, the importance of water intake, and the crucial role a supportive team plays. Together, we traverse the delicate tightrope of managing a high-octane, adrenaline-fueled racing career, while simultaneously keeping type 1 diabetes in check.
We extend this conversation to you, our listeners, inviting you to join us in our candid reflections on life, mistakes, accountability, and personal growth. As we draw to a close, be inspired by the power of progress, the importance of perseverance, and the transformative capacity of constructive criticism. Let our stories serve as an affirmation that life's challenges, no matter how insurmountable they may seem, are merely starting points to a journey of strength, resilience, and personal growth. So fasten your seatbelts, folks, and get ready for a deep dive into a chapter that transcends racing and speaks to the human spirit at its core.
DM us anytime. Let us know what you want to hear. Join in the convo!
Hang with us on Social
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What happens when you mix life, racing, and a diagnosis of diabetes? It's a blend of resilience, determination, and powerful life lessons that you wouldn't want to miss. Join my heartfelt chat with George Hammel, a professional UTV racer and fellow type 1 diabetic, as we peel back the layers of our public personas and share our personal journeys through mental health struggles, diabetes management, and the exhilarating world of racing.
Hold your breath as George recounts his terrifying accident, a true testament to his unwavering spirit and self-awareness. His story is a stark reminder that adversity is not synonymous with defeat, but rather an opportunity to rise and redefine limits. We also delve into the world of diabetes, dissecting the impacts of sugar, the importance of water intake, and the crucial role a supportive team plays. Together, we traverse the delicate tightrope of managing a high-octane, adrenaline-fueled racing career, while simultaneously keeping type 1 diabetes in check.
We extend this conversation to you, our listeners, inviting you to join us in our candid reflections on life, mistakes, accountability, and personal growth. As we draw to a close, be inspired by the power of progress, the importance of perseverance, and the transformative capacity of constructive criticism. Let our stories serve as an affirmation that life's challenges, no matter how insurmountable they may seem, are merely starting points to a journey of strength, resilience, and personal growth. So fasten your seatbelts, folks, and get ready for a deep dive into a chapter that transcends racing and speaks to the human spirit at its core.
DM us anytime. Let us know what you want to hear. Join in the convo!
Hang with us on Social
Instagram - @thedirtlifeshow
Facebook - The Dirt Life Show
YouTube - The Dirt Life Show
Welcome to the Dirt Life Show with your host, george Hamill. Welcome to the Dirt Life Show. I am Bella Rashard, your host for the evening. We are filming episode four of Bella's Corner. So today we're taking a little bit of a different approach. We are interviewing the man, the myth, the legend, george Hamill, who interviews everybody else, so it should be exciting. Behind us we have Zach. He's producing this episode. So if you guys have any questions or comments, just leave them down and we will get to him.
Speaker 2:I think it's going to be pretty fun Bella. I like your idea of having the show in a more intimate environment. I think it's going to be pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:And well, the guys at Vision Cannabis, Kyle and the whole crew, let us stay here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much for letting us post up and talk about some racing and some good conversations. Yeah, we're really excited to get started.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's really cool because they have a nice comfy couch in an off-road spot like a shop with all these cool products, right.
Speaker 1:Well, you got to chill somehow.
Speaker 2:What's on the roster for today, man? So, should I be nervous?
Speaker 1:No, no, no. No. We're keeping it chill, but today we're going to just get a little more intimate. You know, some deep conversations kind of not steer away from racing, but, you know, get more on a personal level. So I'm pretty excited. But before we dive into that, let's thank some sponsors. I we have some pretty similar sponsors, but I'll start with the ones that I got. So thank you Motul for everything, and KMC wheels and Evolution Power Sports.
Speaker 2:So hey, All right, we have let's see here Max's tires. I don't know if you have mentioned them, but there's a guy's over at Shock Therapy too. You can use a discount code Dirt Life over at Shock Therapy, USAcom. You can save a whole bunch of money on limousine scraps during races. They just came out with some new pro r parts too, so that's pretty sweet. The guys over at JL Audio, they supported us big time at Camp Razor, so it was cool to see those guys. They got a bunch of new products for Can-Am cars, Like you were saying. Evolution, Power Sports, Bella they have all the cool trick stuff and they even have a new turbo kit for the pro hours.
Speaker 2:It's insanely cool. We saw them doing some I don't know what you want to call it like sand drag, drag racing Dude. It was like almost wheeling those cars.
Speaker 1:Those are fast.
Speaker 2:I know it's pretty badass. There's older racing products, guys. You can use the code Dirt Life, tyrods, radius Rods, all that stuff Match up with your Shock Therapy steering rack and all those other parts, man, I really like. I like to thank our sponsors so much, because that's the only way that we get to have these cool shows, like they bring Zach down from Washington and all that stuff. It's pretty nice. Did you already tell everybody where they could see the show?
Speaker 1:No, I didn't. So Facebook, YouTube, Google Play, Spotify, Share and with all your friends and family so they can watch us.
Speaker 2:Yep, and slide into the DMs anytime too. Yes, so, and if you guys have DMs for Bella, send them to the Dirt Life show. We'll get access for Bella so that she can do it, but if not, up until then, you can send it in and one of us will check it and we'll send it over to Bella so she can answer your guys's questions too. Some of the people on Instagram might not have seen the intro that you just did, so tell them what we got going today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so today we're getting a little more intimate and personal, just kind of talking about, you know, mental health and like we do want to bring up diabetes because it's something we do have in common. But yeah, we're just we're taking a different approach today.
Speaker 2:So I'm really excited to get to learn more about George and a little bit more about me and kind of just you know it's funny is like I really like that you're doing this, because the reason that I started the Dirt Life show was because I've always been so into, well, different action, sports and stuff right, but like off road in general, and I always felt like, wow, like I really know all these people like because I see them on social media and stuff. And then I was thinking to myself one day it's like I don't really know them, like I don't know anything about them personally, like I know what their last race was, right, but I really have zero idea Like are they a loving person? Are they caring? Like what have they been through in their life? So when you said like let's do it, I was like, oh my gosh, it's perfect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's so cool getting on a personal level and just getting kind of like to know people, because then when you do go race with them, you know like, OK, I can be cool with this person off the track, or you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. And plus I get to wear one of my favorite bands American Nightmare T-shirt. I don't have to wear sponsored T-shirts as I'm the guest today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yelp.
Speaker 2:So what's your favorite music?
Speaker 1:I like everything there's no favorite.
Speaker 2:You can't say that oh there's no favorite. You can't say you can't have a favorite of everything.
Speaker 1:I have a playlist that's at least like, oh like, probably 100 hours long.
Speaker 2:I'm not, no way.
Speaker 1:You could drive from like here.
Speaker 2:All the way across the country.
Speaker 1:Yes, and still have songs left over.
Speaker 2:Holy crap, like you don't have any songs that are just like on repeat. No, no way, ok, I got to turn my phone off, sorry.
Speaker 1:You're good. I know it's kind of weird interviewing you.
Speaker 2:I guess there's no audio, zach. Ok, you want to keep going, or OK?
Speaker 1:Got it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we can reduce some of the stuff, zach, if you want, it's no problem. We're in a loose program over here. Bella, I don't know if you knew that.
Speaker 1:It's more chill today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Still professional but chill, so we make mistakes, that's OK.
Speaker 2:I'll let these super fans know that Zach is working on it. Yeah, all right. So if there, if there's no audio, then we're going to have to wait a little bit, but we can have a conversation together. Yeah, once it. Once it comes up.
Speaker 1:Oh, you realize.
Speaker 2:So I think there's a marker over there in the right hand corner of the screensack, that's a yellow marker for the audio next to the live output. Ok, got it. Check, check, mike. Check, one, two, three, one, two, three. I can't hear it on my left ear. Turn it up Blue 22 said Hi. Yeah, my mom said no audio. On YouTube too, she's watching. I'll just wave to her.
Speaker 1:Hi George's mom.
Speaker 2:OK, all right, Bell. So how about we do this? Let's give it one more go. Let's start from the top Three. Two, one go.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Dirt Life Show. I'm Bella Bressard, your host. We are filming episode four of Bella's Corner Today. Behind us we have Zach, the producer for this episode. So if you guys have any questions or comments, leave them down below and we will get to them. We are taking a different approach today. We are going to get to know the interviewer, the man, the myth, the legend, george Hamill.
Speaker 2:So Well, thank you. I don't know about the whole legend status, but, like, let's just try to figure it out, see if anybody likes what kind of stuff we talk about today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So today we are getting more on a personal level, kind of just getting to know me, getting to know him and, you know, steering a little bit away from the racing and more of like deep conversations and just kind of talking about life in general.
Speaker 2:So I love the idea. Like we just talked about this a little bit before the audio was fixed and like I think it's so cool, like the reason that we started the Dirt Life Show a while back was because, like I always went to the races and I'm like, oh, I, I know German and graph, like I see him on social media or I know, like I don't know Bryce Menzies or whoever it was, but like do we really know them? You know, like we know their public persona, like we know them on social media, but truthfully, we don't know, like what they do, like where they go eat, what their favorite foods are. We don't know, like, how they are, if they're loving, they're caring, or if they're mean or they're, you know, great, like whatever human beings they are. So when you said, like dude, I want to get like a little bit more in depth, I was like that's amazing that you want to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I definitely want to get to know you guys and have you guys know us, and Well, I think it's cool too, because you're giving yourself an opportunity to really connect with people, and I can only imagine you probably already have other people on your list or in your head that you want to interview to oh yeah, I got a whole list.
Speaker 1:You guys will just have to stay tuned and wait for that one.
Speaker 2:Oh, look at you doing the plug, so people come back. Yes and yeah, so we do have Zach behind the scene. So if you guys want to send in comments or whatever, ask them to Bella. And we also have social media platforms too. So like how can they hit us up on social media if they want?
Speaker 1:They can hit us up through Facebook and YouTube and Google Play and Spotify Share with your friends and family and through Dirt life DMs.
Speaker 2:So yeah, if you slide in the DMs for the dirt life. You know, if you have a question for Bella directly, we need to give you the password for that so you can access it too. But yeah, for now just send it in, so you have a question and we'll forward it over to Bella and she can talk to you and answer your guys's questions too. It's really cool that she's doing all this stuff and we're really proud of her. Thank, you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a, it's a learning experience.
Speaker 2:It really is, though, but you're doing so good. I mean, you're four episodes in your audio professional. You're like better than all of us.
Speaker 1:Well, I do learn from the best.
Speaker 2:Oh hey.
Speaker 1:Well, before we dive in, we should probably think some sponsors and first of all, thank Vision Canopies for letting us use this beautiful spot so that we're comfortable and, you know, able to record and stuff. Oh, that's me.
Speaker 2:There you go, OK. Ok. Yeah, it was really nice of Kyle and everybody over here at Vision Canopies. We got to talk with them a little bit today too, so now we can see some of the comments that are coming up on Instagram too, so all right. So the sponsors that we share are who?
Speaker 1:Sponsors that we share are Motool. Thank you guys. You guys have amazing products, evolution Power Sports wearing them right now.
Speaker 2:That's a six sweater.
Speaker 1:I know right, I thought it was pretty cool, and then KMC Wheels. You guys are the best out there, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we actually got the Hoonigan's KMC and all those guys we got to go to a Ken Block video premiere yesterday. Obviously everybody was a little bit sad like going out there, but it was really cool. Like it was a lot of heart wrenching times but it was really cool to just see like everybody had a smile on their face because he brought together so many people.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:It's like one of those things that you know it's exactly what you're doing here. You're communicating with people and you're really touching people and getting Intimate with people and sharing stories and stuff like that, and it was cool that he's done that his whole life too, right, so it's a lot of similarities there. Okay, so let's thank the rest of the sponsors. Thank you, guys, or, excuse me, thank the guys over at shock therapy. You can always go over there and use the code at dirt life To save on any other pro products at the website. So please use that code. It'll obviously save you money. So it's really good for you and it also helps us too, because then they can track it for us.
Speaker 2:Thanks to the guys over at jail audio For supporting us. A camp razor that was pretty sick, but they have all kinds of new cool stuff for the new can, a MS with a maverick R for every all the vehicles. So just crank it up. Let's see here is all into racing products. Thanks all those boys. Use the code the dirt life and save on all their hard parts as well.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys. So what do we start?
Speaker 2:I don't know, man, what do you got?
Speaker 1:Oh, I got PowerPoints and questions and Lot you want to start with a little intro?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, go for it, we'll let you go with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a for you. Well, george Hamill is always the interviewer, but I never really see him get interviewed, so this is a little different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, usually it happens like in a non-off-road I don't know context, I guess you could say because a lot more people are less Interested in my off-road racing than they are about my life, like a lot of people like to hear about that because of so many of the things that we're gonna get into tonight.
Speaker 1:Right. So you have experienced a lot a lot of accidents, a lot of racing, a lot of, a lot of life in general. So it'll definitely be fun to unpack everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it has been, while it's actually getting my brain going already.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we do, yeah. So I guess we can start with question number one that I kind of want, like this question kind of like applies to me too, I guess, but I mean I guess for every really any racer out there with like pressure and stuff, but I want to bring up feeling the pressure from others in your support system and success. Are you type of person that works well under pressure?
Speaker 2:I would say it's one of the things that drives me. I saw an interview the other day Well, actually, I saw two. I saw one with Elon Musk and I saw one with Dana White from the UFC, and what? The boards that are gonna come out of my mouth are gonna sound very Egotistical and self-centered when I say this, but let me follow it up with what I actually feel, right. So both of them said Do they care what people think about them? And their answer was the same as mine no, I don't give a fuck.
Speaker 2:I got all what people think right, because my general consensus is is that everybody lives their life in a normal state and I say that in quotes. Right, they think certain things are normal, or they think acting a certain way is normal, or they let people judge them and say, oh, you or look ugly, or you're big or you're small or whatever it is right. Well, those don't. Things don't really matter, right? Those things don't actually Pertain to the way that you should feel. They only do because you let them.
Speaker 2:So if you don't give an F, then it doesn't matter. Like you can actually make a lot more progress in life, and I was actually having a conversation today that a lot of the things that I've done in my life and a lot of the things that I've overcome or achieved have been because I'm naive, and what that means is I just don't understand, or I don't know what I don't know, so I just go for it right. And so if somebody tells me I can't, I don't understand. When they say that, like it doesn't, hit me because I know like that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 2:When you say that like I know, I can yeah like I should be able to do this and you should be able to. You're just limiting yourself, so it's kind of weird when you think about it in an open perspective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I totally agree. I think that you have like Control over you, know what you let affect you and what you don't let affect you, who you listen to, who you take advice from, who you you know steer clear from. You have control over all of that.
Speaker 2:So I I definitely agree with you and if you, if you live your life like that, with an open perspective, I do a little bit of motivational speaking, sometimes with kids and with big businesses and stuff like that right, and I always tell people I live my life by three things and those three three things are perspective, choices and accountability.
Speaker 2:If you have an open perspective, you can see things clear, like Everything is infinite right. You can see things clearly like you have no limitations. But if you mess up and your choice was wrong or your choice was right, as long as you're accountable For that bad choice, you're not gonna make the same mistake again. Yeah, so you can go around and round and keep making yourself better. So the circle keeps completing itself and you keep raising yourself up as an individual Because you're not limiting yourself and you're not telling yourself that you did something bad and letting it sink and set in Right. You're just being like, okay, you know what I messed up, I'm accountable, I'm going forward with it and my perception is clear that I'm not gonna make that same choice and mistake again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I 100% agree. I think even like especially being like open-minded and you said, like just having a big perspective, like especially with racing and Anything in life, if you have an open mind or, like you know, willing to learn more and willing to experience more, you'll grow so much more it would just sit there and think like Like, oh, you know I'm the best, or oh, that's, this is my limit, this is my, my peak.
Speaker 2:That's too close-minded, huh Right, you know what that's? A funny like a, a great thing to bring up, and I I think I probably learned a lot of that from racing. Yeah because racers, like one of the crazy excuse me, racers one of the craziest things is they have a very short memory span. For good reason, because they don't want to know that they messed up in the last corner. They just move on and don't make that same mistake again.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 2:if you dwell on something, you're never gonna be ready for the next thing, you know how many times have you been on the track and been like, oh dude, I totally blew that last corner and then, like, all of a sudden, you're like, well, not making that mistake again, you just like keep shredding after that exactly, it goes in and out the other.
Speaker 1:I made a mistake, but I'll recover and so there you go.
Speaker 2:That was your perception choices and accountability, and one single racer sentence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I guess we are gonna tie racing into everything, because that's what we do right, right, and it teaches us just. I Guess we've learned a lot of traits from it and I don't know is that some of the stuff that you've learned?
Speaker 2:the same stuff we're talking about?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think so. I definitely think that I wouldn't be the person I am today without all the racing experiences that I've had.
Speaker 2:Do you have like one thing that really like you know that it changed you.
Speaker 1:I would. I would say the California 300 last year.
Speaker 2:What was the thing that made it so, I don't know, heartfelt or specific for you.
Speaker 1:It was a pretty big accident for me. I mean just even getting like physically hurt in general, but more of like I feel like I was pretty close-minded and like you know, I'm really getting somewhere in racing, which I really was, but After that happened, it kind of like set me back like wow, I do have some learning to grow, I do have.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean and it opens up your perspective, right.
Speaker 1:Right, so you can make me yeah, change my point of view and like it's kind of what it's kind of wild to think that, right yeah, I'm.
Speaker 2:Somebody wants a shout out real quick. Can you see it? No, I can't read that it says red off-road, shout out to red off-road. Please shout out to red off-road. Thank you for watching, guys. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for everybody for watching when you're doing this without you guys.
Speaker 2:So yep, exactly.
Speaker 1:Just all right, I do have some more questions.
Speaker 2:Let's go.
Speaker 1:Racing is something that has shaped us in humans, as humans, in many ways, but what's one thing that you will take from racing into the rest of your life? We kind of just talked about this, but I Think, one of the main things.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I've taken a lot of little things, but I think one of the main things is I guess it sounds cliche, but the never give up attitude right, because no matter what, like, your goal in racing especially in long-distance endurance, off-road racing is to never give up.
Speaker 2:You want to always cross the finish line. They say, to finish first, first you must finish, and I think that's something that everybody should know. Like I said, it kind of sounds cliche, but it's a very, very true statement and that's the same thing that happens in life To finish first, first you must finish right, like so, if you go out there and you just kill yourself right away Like I thought I could when I was young you start slowing down very quickly and it starts showing you very, very deep life lessons. Yeah, and so racing has taught me To be able to manage things in a different way so that you can actually reach the finish line. I mean, I've gotten hurt so many times, I've probably shortened my lifespan by 20 years at least, but I'm still going to do every single thing in my power to live the best, longest possible life from here on out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly you speaking about like being in an accident and stuff like that. You got into an accident at ETV World Championships in 2019, and I think I have a question about this actually. But after experiencing something like that, like how did that specific Incident change your perspective on life in general, like not just racing?
Speaker 2:so that this is a pretty big question to be honest with you, because it requires a little bit of backstory, right, to be able to get to lead up to it, right, like. So I was hurt a million times before this like, but I decided I wanted to become a professional UTP racer, right, I had gone through a professional dirt bike racing. I got paralyzed, I got all of these crazy things like I completed an Iron man, I did the X games, like All of these crazy cool things. I was business partners with Mark and Tom from blink 182, like. I had all of these different life experiences in between because I was hurt then and it made me. It made it taught me so many lessons and just made me into a different person.
Speaker 2:But I still had that racing blood in me, right, and so I wanted to race you TVs and I decided that, okay, well, I'm gonna race you TVs at the highest possible level I can and I couldn't like.
Speaker 2:I'm not able-bodied, I can't move my legs very well, I was locked, walk with a lamp and I was told by the doctors I would never walk again.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden I start racing you TVs and we have these special hand controls like these, the shifter on the steering wheel in the clutch and just give me on the Center console in the clutch so I could use my legs and limited capacity, but I Was still fast, like I was fast enough to get a factory Yamaha ride, like it was awesome, right, and I Did really well. You know we were Winners like Zach has some pictures like we were winners on the top of the podium, like all kinds of crazy, cool stuff. Zach can probably show some of the stuff that we've done in the past, like in the racing, but it was just cool. Like it was cool because I got the family vibe, the, the team vibe. Like I learned so much but I wanted to Excel and off-road more and build off-road as a whole. I Didn't see very much value in doing all of these different racing series.
Speaker 2:So I thought, okay, well, if I'm gonna create value for my sponsors, I need to do all these special events right and start getting more notoriety and doing more social media and all of the things that we talk about on the dirt life show all the time. And when we started doing that, we decided that we were going to race the UTV World Championship. And in 2019 which is what? Four years now, yeah, yeah. So it's crazy. And I was.
Speaker 2:We had to work on the car. You know how, like when, when you have stuff go wrong and you still have to get it done before you start like take off, like everybody's working on it overnight. No, that's not. So. I was really tired. The starting line. I'm like really tired because we had a such a long night the night before. But we had a car in a decent spot, but I got a really crappy whole shot. So I ended up Having to pass. Probably 15 people or so they have at the UTV World Championship. They start you in rows like it's a staggered start. So you have, like I don't know, 10 people or 20 people in each row and you take off and Then they have the next guys go 60 seconds later or whatever it is.
Speaker 2:And so I took off and I had to pass, and I think by about a quarter of the way through the first lap I was probably past most of the people, as I think, maybe in second or third, third or fourth, and we're coming over this little. It was like a little bump into a berm Right like, where you kind of like scrub a car and hit the brakes over and then you crank into a turn. And when we went in the turn I was getting ready to come to the inside and like pass this next driver, and they checked up a little bit so my one of my tires barely nick, like barely nicked one of their tires. So I kind of got the car a little bit upset and I bicycled it. You know what that is when you get up on two wheels. And I bicycled it so lightly that I rode it all the way and I was about to put it back down on all four wheels but the berm kind of nudged it just a little bit. It tipped over enough where I didn't even scratch, it barely even tipped over and I was like dang it, man, like that sucks. But I was thinking like dude, I might be strong enough to push it back on all four wheels.
Speaker 2:So I waited till I already passed by, like everybody, like in the row, passed by and Down the way a little bit, there was a photographer and he was like Letting us know if it was clear or not, and I walked to the side of the track. And when I walked to the side of the track it was fine, like I was just gonna wait there for a little bit, and I was like, all right, let everybody pass by again for the next row. And then I walked down there to like see if I could push it over. And I was like crap, and I can't push it over, like it's too heavy. So my race is pretty much done right now. Like I got to wait for the safety crew or whatever to get my car out of the way. So I was like, okay, well, screw it, I'm just gonna go wait on the side of track and pop a squat and just wait for a little while.
Speaker 2:And All of the stuff that I'm telling you right now is what I learned afterwards, because I don't I don't remember really this in my brain, but I Started walking to the side of the track and I went behind my car. So I don't know if this is gonna make a good audio representation on on iTunes or whatever, but the are in podcast land but if you want to check it on YouTube, my car was flipped over on its side, like what my cell phone is positioned here and this is the bottom of the car, and I walked around this way. The berm was here and I walked around this way and the side of the track was over here. So I'm just gonna walk to the side of the track and then just hang out. Everybody was coming over this way and going through the turn, so all the guys had cleared and they went through and then I Walked. It was clear no, didn't hear anybody or whatever. I walked through and I was coming through and right as I stepped to the side of my car, somebody came over and they were just like right by me and they cleared me. But right as they cleared me, somebody rammed into the back of them and when they ran to the back of them, it put that car right into me, in between my car and their car. So I got squished in between.
Speaker 2:And you know how, on a race car where you would put your hand on the window sill of your like passenger car, there's a door bar right and it's all chrome, molly or steel and there's an window net.
Speaker 2:Well, there was so much of an impact that my body broke through the window net and the door bar, went through my neck brace and Up through my helmet and uppercut me to the jaw.
Speaker 2:And when I uppercut me to the jaw it shattered my jaw, it shattered the sides of my skull, my eyes fell out of my head, broke all my nasal cavities and shattered my ears. So it completely like disrupted my whole skull, yeah, and as it smushed me, it broke my collarbone and a couple other bones too. So I laid, I talked to the driver and I laid dead in his lap and he said he didn't know what to do. So he sat there for a couple seconds and he finally peeled off and I just fell on the ground and he thought I was gone and he said, okay, well, the only way that anything is gonna happen that I can benefit him is if I turn around and I go block people from running him over. So he turned around and went over, but by that time, you know, I don't know how many people five, ten, 15 people had already ran me over yeah and he was flagging people to not run me over anymore.
Speaker 2:And At some point one of those people woke me up when they ran me over. So I don't know if that's like a miracle or whatever it was, but so they woke me up and I was sitting pretty close to my car, like I was still pretty close, maybe five feet or ten feet away from the car, and I knew like I was really fucked up man, like really really bad. And During dirt bike racing I had always learned like if you break your ankle, you take off your boot right away because otherwise You're not gonna be able to like get your boot off because it's gonna be so much pain, right? So you kind of take inventory on the things that are messed up. You'd like know, like, oh my god, something's wrong, what's wrong? You try to figure it out.
Speaker 2:Well, for me, I couldn't see, I Couldn't hear and I didn't know anything. I was in like the amount of pain is like Undescribable. How bad it was right. And all I did was like I go what is all this like? Is there fuel on me? Like there I'm wet, like you have a fire suit on, and I was like the fire suits soaking wet like what's wrong, right, and a fire suits thick like you like. And then I tasted it because I couldn't see her, couldn't, and I was like that's blood, yeah. So I immediately knew the first thing that I had to do was take off my helmet, and I'm so glad I did, because my head would have exploded inside of my helmet.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, because it swelled up so quickly. So I took off my helmet and then I started feeling around because I couldn't see anything and I find, and I felt the bumper of my car and I was like, okay, if that's the bumper, that means that I'm racing, like I'm an race. And I was like I remember, like I had enough self-awareness to be like I got to go protect myself. So I just went to the back of the car like crawled over, like on my knees or whatever, and I just leaned up against the skid plate of my car and just sat there and then Finally, like I don't know how long it was or whatever, but finally, because again I I'm only telling you this because of what people told me happened Do you know who Brett Carpenter is?
Speaker 2:Brett Carpenter was the marketing guy at rigid Industries and now he's the I think he's a race director. Is his title for Polaris. He had never raced a UTV race in his life. Just want to go check it out. Mike and Danielle Gardner let him use their car and he was the only one out of 300-400 entries that stopped for me.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And when he stopped he had some medical training in the military and he helped yeah.
Speaker 2:And so he supported me until the Emergency crew could get there. No one see emergency crew got there. Then it was all hands on deck, threw me in the helicopter and they actually took me to Bullhead City and Bullhead City is not a hospital where you take that bad of a person. So I ended up going to Las Vegas and starting to get you know stuff done there. But the crazy part about it is is that's barely the surface like this craziest part about my life starts two weeks after that or like a week and a half after that.
Speaker 1:What happened?
Speaker 2:So you, you know, going through all this stuff, right, like in a normal situation, you get to the hospital and they can fix broken bones and they can, like, get you back to normal, right. Well, in certain situations you have you're so messed up that they have to wait for your body to do certain things before they can touch you. And One of the things that I learned was that you have Fluid around your spinal cord and around your brain and that fluid is what protects it, like it's kind of like a cushion. Well, unfortunately for me, I damaged a lot of that stuff and all that stuff was leaking out of my face, so it would leak out of my nose like. So my nose was broken and all these things are like Bad inside my head. And they said the only way we can do surgery is Wait to for that to stop, because otherwise, if we do surgery and it keeps going, we're gonna kill them right.
Speaker 2:So I think it was roughly about a week, maybe a little bit longer than a week. I had to sit there in the bed with just being broken like super broken yeah and it was bad, like it was really. I'm so lucky this is one of the things that we'll probably talk about tonight to have a strong support mechanism With family and friends like I wouldn't have made it had it not been for them.
Speaker 2:It was tough, but I Feel weird talking about this still, like I've done so many interviews and I've said the same stuff that I'm gonna say right now, but like it Feels weird for me to say it because I most of the time feel like people don't believe me when I say it, like it's getting me Teared up just thinking about it. But I Was sitting in the hospital bed or laying in the hospital bed one night and have you ever had like a really bad nurse that you were just like, oh my gosh, she was such a bee like I can't, I can't deal with this girl like, or guy or whoever it is? I had one of those and I Always asked her I'm like, dude, I'm hurting so bad, can I please have some pain medicine? She's like no, you didn't wait, your wait, your turn. Like you got to wait four more hours or whatever it is. And I'm like, oh god, like. And then I would wait four hours and I'd ask her again and she's like no, you have to wait longer, you have to wait longer. It was horrible and so I hated her and I Was in so much pain.
Speaker 2:This one night it was probably One o'clock in the morning, two o'clock in the morning, like a middle of night, right shoot, it could have been eight o'clock for all I know, because it was just dark out. But I Kept asking her and she said no, no, no. And then, as I'm laying there, I just all of a sudden I'm just like, oh my god, she must have gave me pain medicine, because I feel great. This is the best I felt in years. Like I've never felt so good, like I feel liberated, I feel free, I don't have a headache, my body feels good, like all of these things. Like I feel like I could run a mile right now.
Speaker 2:And I just look and I'm like Wow, that guy looks so happy, like he looks so peaceful and calm. But it was me. Yeah, I was looking at me and I was like what the heck? Like Wow, I've never felt this good before. And he looks amazing, like I'm in the best place I've ever been, like this is so awesome. And I still, to this day, can't explain the amount of I Don't want to say pleasure, but the amount of euphoria that I've ever felt. I mean, it still is like me feel goosebumps or whatever, but anyways. So I Don't know how long it was, but all of a sudden I hear all these Alarms going off and all this stuff and I hear, like this other guy that was like the nurse's assistant Going, he's back, he's back, he's back, he's back. I'm like looking around, I'm like who's back? Like I was the only one in here.
Speaker 2:Yeah like I didn't, wasn't sharing a room with anybody Like, and I asked a dude I'm like what's wrong? He's like you're okay, you're okay. I'm like what do you mean, dude? Like, of course I'm okay, I'm talking to you like duh, yeah and.
Speaker 2:Then the nurse that sucks, she rolls in, she's like what's going on? And the guy's like he was gone. But now he's back, like all the machines are back to normal, and she goes oh, that's cool. He goes. What do you want me to do? Do I need to, like call it in or something? And she goes no, he's fine and that was it. There was nothing else. Like it was such a weird situation. They don't.
Speaker 2:But the only thing that I can tell you about what the question that you asked was is like how did it change my life and what were the things like? I Don't know how to explain these words or how to get these points across, but from that experience I learned that Almost nothing else matters, yeah, except for what you do, because everybody's gonna have that same moment. Every single person on the planet's gonna have that same moment. So the only thing that matters is how good of a person you are until you get to that moment. That's it, nothing else. Your car doesn't matter, how much you bitch because somebody did something that none of that matters Matters how much you love people. Matters how much you Do to help people, and it matters how much happiness you provide for yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's it like. It's so simple all these other little things are I don't want to say this because again, this is another cliche statement they're nominal.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's very, very crazy. What Situations can teach you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, like a literal pause in time. I didn't. I guess I didn't know the full Story or really, like I mean I knew the story but not into that depth, I would say, but that's insane, I mean there's a lot of little details that go on, and in between all that stuff, right.
Speaker 2:Very meaningful stuff to right, like people come in to visit you, right, conversations that happen, things that impact you. But the story still blows me away all the time. I even told Zach when we're getting ready for the show because I was thinking about, like, giving him pictures so he could show people. And when I gave him some of those pictures of the accent I go dude, I can't look through my phone anymore. Yeah, like this is all you get.
Speaker 1:Dude, like I can't do it and yeah.
Speaker 1:But it is what it is and I'm happy to be here with you today right me too but I think definitely, like I don't know, that I wouldn't say that some people are supposed to go through stuff like that, but I do want to say that because I think, like, at the end of the day, everything happens for a reason and I mean, yes, sometimes you're dealt cards that you know Either you didn't deserve or you didn't. You worked all so hard for something and you didn't get it and you got the complete opposite, like you. But I think, yeah, everything does happen for a reason, whether you know it taught you to meet new people or like to Change some of your ways, or to you know.
Speaker 2:But I definitely would say that it puts you on a different life path.
Speaker 1:That's for sure, yeah, like, if I mean even like I Guess for me it's a little different because I've never really had like an experience like that, but like even with getting diagnosed with type one, like I would say that was, yes, pretty altering, but more of like Altering my brain and not necessarily like the way I should be eating or the way you know. It was more of like wow, like I have to.
Speaker 2:Explain to everybody what just happened. You know and like well it, it changes your, your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah like it's a life changing thing. I don't know if anybody's ever told you this, but I learned at a young age that everybody goes through at least one what they call Significant emotional events in their life, and for you, that's clearly one, right? Yeah, some people go through multiple, but those things are literally their life altering. Yeah, situations in their life and I think anybody like a broken leg, type 1 diabetes, a heart attack, cancer, like all of these things are, whether they're tests or whether they're detrimental to your life Are very life-changing, right. Like the only way that you can get through those things is if you give it your all Like for the rest of your life. Having type one is not going to be easy, no, but it doesn't mean that you're any different. Yeah, you're 100% capable of still living a fantastic life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I sometimes constantly like have to remind myself of that, but Somebody that you know is very close to you just commented in Just for charges, said something much bigger than us all made their presence known and Gave you some peace in that moment of extreme pain. Yeah, absolutely incredible story. Thanks, we really appreciate it. Yes, but like everybody has these right, like I Think they just may not have it the same way, or I Want everybody to make sure that they understand and absorb those emotions and those events. If you push it away, that's the worst thing you can do, right, because if you bottle it up and you push it away, it's never going to help you as a human being.
Speaker 1:It's only gonna damage you or limit you from learning new things.
Speaker 2:Well, just think about it. What if you said now, after I don't have type one, yeah, I could eat sugar, I just got to take more insulin. Well, you'd gain weight, you'd be lazy, you wouldn't have a good mindset, you'd want to be like Breaking the rules all the time. That doesn't teach you anything right. It only teaches you how to do the wrong thing right.
Speaker 2:So if you go forward with it like what you're doing you stick to the rules, you make sure that you're on top of your schedule regimen for your medicine, you eat the right things it's actually gonna benefit you more because now you're Into food, now you might be more into fitness than you were before.
Speaker 1:That's life-changing, on a good note or even meeting new people, like I can't tell you the amount of Different people that I've met, including you, who, like through type one diabetes you know, like I wouldn't have built these relationships and known these people if I didn't get diagnosed, and I think that's 100% of blessing in disguise.
Speaker 2:Have you ever had anybody reach out to, or do you have any examples of people that have reached out to you that are like you're like, wow, that really helped me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so one person that reached out to me through Instagram DMs her name is Saviana, but she's type name, I know. But she's type one diabetic and I learned so much from her I don't I don't think I can necessarily like be the diabetic that I am today without her. For sure Like, there's just like little tips that she's taught me, but not only that. Just to like not let people like get to me and like sometimes you know people make comments that they don't necessarily mean, but it's or maybe they just don't know right, they don't know or they're just trying to, you know, be a kid and joke about something that's not really like a joke necessarily.
Speaker 1:so she's really taught me how to like handle situations like that and Just yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So even Birdman was saying like you have to embrace it. Yeah embrace the situation and just like what does he say? Power your life. Positive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I 100% agree.
Speaker 2:What are some of the things that you had to do, because, I mean, you had to change a lot?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I Obviously the physical side of it, like I had to change the way a little bit and well, a lot of it, and like you know, I have to need to worry about medicine and if it's cold or going through airports and like just Stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Is it a pain in the butt to go through airport now?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh, because you were the monitor.
Speaker 1:Yes, I would do so. One monitor monitors my blood sugar.
Speaker 2:No, no, like. What is it like the check point do at airport?
Speaker 1:Oh, so if you go through like one of the medical like not medical, but the scanning device, like metal, the TSA.
Speaker 2:Thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it'll like some. It sometimes it could deactivate some of like the next comms or like Wig out or shut, like it kills it. Yeah, pretty much because it's like a whole sensor in you. If it goes through another thing, it like message.
Speaker 2:So you like go around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you go around, if you get pad down Like search through it's, it's a mess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, since I walk all messed up. I get cavity search every time at the airport. It sucks, I hate it. Yeah it's just the way it goes, though, dude.
Speaker 1:It is, that's our new normal, I know hey, what if we go through it together?
Speaker 2:We can just hang out.
Speaker 1:I know it's. It becomes second nature once you like, you know, once you get settled in and Start to really like live it through.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 3:Zach has a question so we got a question coming in asking about what race prep looks like when you're a type one diabetic versus a normal racer.
Speaker 2:I feel like a dude. Who's that from?
Speaker 3:That is from the realmers, mrs Realmers.
Speaker 2:That's a great question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is a great question. I feel like we could both very well answer this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why don't you go first?
Speaker 1:Okay, um so, Before I got diagnosed race prep kind of wasn't really a prep, like you know it's just some uncrossables in there, bro, let's go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was uncrossables, it was dr Pepper, it was. You know, no sleep like just full, full ham, like nothing, really like Cross my mind, I guess. But after being diagnosed, like Constantly having to check my blood sugars, you know like making sure that I eat exactly what I'm supposed to, at least two days in advance before race, because Everything affects it. Like you could eat something and then it affect you hours later, like it's crazy, and like even having like put sugar in the car and make sure, like that my Codriver knows, like the circumstances, that if something were to happen, like he would know exactly what to do. Like it does look a lot different and it's a couple steps that you have to take, but it's worth it in the long run.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally Well, we actually share the same Concepts with all this with Mandy McLaren. She's a type one as well, she's from Tennessee but she also races side by sides. But I Kind of have a little bit similar answer. I was a little bit further along in my diabetic journey when I started racing side by sides but, like so my crew chief and my rest of my picker, they all knew, and so Along with the tools and tires and everything that they would have skittles, yeah, and the reason is I use skittles is because it's not chocolate, doesn't melt.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sugar, right, and I had figured out how many Skittles it takes to Combat my blood sugar and how I felt right. So Usually they would have a whole bag and if I was nervous or whatever, or I had low blood sugar, I would say give me three skittles, give me five skittles, whatever it is. And there would be times I come off the track and I was a little bit shaky, you know like. But for the most part we managed it pretty well and as the team grew and I think you're probably a lot like this too I know that your family pays a lot of attention. Your dad just had a healthy breakfast, like those kinds of types of things. Right, they start understanding a little bit more of the flow, so to speak. Right, and they know how to help you by what they see coming from you. Right? So they go. Bella, is your blood sugar a little bit low?
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks, dad, for noticing like yeah or thanks mom, like, yes, it is like, and then so they'll give you whatever you need to treat or whatever, and then you can kind of get back in the normal flow of being, because if you're in a situation Like a race, it's very hard to think about your own body. Yes so there might be something missing. You might not know. Your blood sugar is low, so I think that having that good support mechanism around you and also understanding your body are basically the only two things that you can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you don't realize how much you rely on I mean, a lot of people do rely on a co-driver. But yeah, especially like big shout out to Dylan Lumberg, because he'll be sitting there and I'll tell him he's something's funky, something doesn't feel right and even at Vegas Torino, like we had to get out.
Speaker 1:I was supposed to switch and co-drive for him racing but I ended up having to get out of the car fully because I Was low and I didn't realize it until I started making small mistakes. And he was like I should probably check, yeah, and he checked and it was like 80 and dropping and I was like, oh, like, and once you go low, it's so hard to recover so quickly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. So, and I mean well, in Rex Road actually said do you carry anything in your door bags just in case of an emergency?
Speaker 1:Yes, I do, I carry a glucose tablet. Just can be a little disgusting sometimes.
Speaker 2:But are those orange ones?
Speaker 1:Yes, they're so suck so they're like little like powdered tablets, but like little gel pack yeah, I have your eight.
Speaker 2:Those like fizz, like yes, that's like those things, but they suck like they're horrible you choke on them and they're just.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like eating like chalk like, yeah, like unflavored baby powder in a smarties Like form, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and, and I always carried Skittles. So yeah, yeah, man. He says she carries gummy bears. So that'd be a pretty easy one to do too. Don't carry chocolate.
Speaker 1:No, it melts. I actually don't Do well with gummy bears, they never really work or like gummy stuff and I think it's because like the gelatin in it, like yeah, maybe.
Speaker 2:So that's actually a good point to bring up. So if you're talking about just type one stuff, um I yeah it not everything works for everybody the same way right, there's different Diabetics out there, which is crazy, because Not everyone uses the same thing to raise their blood sugar.
Speaker 1:Not everyone has the same Carbed insulin ratio, like it's just a lot to learn and a lot to.
Speaker 2:It dude totally and it's a schooling on like biology in your human body and you can actually feel these things happening Like you're the test patient.
Speaker 1:Yes, the guinea pig the.
Speaker 2:Like things that affect me a lot, or bananas, pineapples like all it, like dude, like I'll die if I eat that stuff.
Speaker 1:It's so bad, yeah, but some people no problem right, it's crazy, and learning, like talking to different diabetics about it too, like makes like my mind just even expand more, like Hearing that you know I can eat things that sometimes bug you or you can eat things that sometimes don't work for me.
Speaker 2:It's so. Side note, we got a little secret. I got a message the other day from someone I forgot who it was from but there's sugar free horchata. I Know. I don't know if we should try it or not, but I kind of feel like maybe one of us should. But they said it might taste like crap. Yeah, even if it sucked, it would still be worth the pain just. Hoping in anticipation that it's delicious.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, I love horchata.
Speaker 2:I heard something beeping, was that you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was me.
Speaker 2:So there you go. Life is taking a turn.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:How do you feel? Good, you feel okay. Yes, we should keep going, or you once not oh work, we're going, we're going. Hey, if you need one, I got a piece of Do you want it, I'm good.
Speaker 1:Okay, so yeah, but I do agree with you. I think that like Stuff just happens for a reason, and I mean, obviously we're all on this planet to grow.
Speaker 2:So do you think it's made you grow?
Speaker 1:Yes, I think there's been times where, like it's obviously frustrating dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah especially if people are eating cheesecake around you, you just want to punch them. Oh, come on, man, let me get a piece. How supportive is your family and your brother and stuff?
Speaker 1:very supportive. They're always there for me. They're always. You know, either the sugar or the insulin, or you know even not even just my family, but my close friends too, like they always usually know what's going on. They got my dexcom.
Speaker 2:They see my numbers has anybody ever tried to eat like the sugar-free stuff, like you do, and be like?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think Cruz did it for a little bit Well, like I was first diagnosed, and he was like and I can't do this, but I'll I'll watch you do it dude, it's so crazy like it does.
Speaker 2:It does exactly what we're talking about. It affects other people's lives, but sometimes for a lot better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, it is. It is a trip. I think more of what affected me the most was kind of just learning like that some people are gonna say things that they you know that just like being buff faces about it right that just come off wrong and they don't mean it. At least I don't think so. But you know it's. It's just like stuff like that that I think I've had to learn to have some patience with is it like?
Speaker 2:does that open up your brain to be like, well, that person sucks, but like it's 2023.
Speaker 1:I'm just gonna brush it off right at first I used to really take it to heart and really like be super sensitive about it. But, like you said at the beginning, you know, like you control what affects you or not.
Speaker 2:So yeah, exactly Ariana said you're the first person in the family To have type one and have taught us how to be more aware of everyone around us. Yeah, see so like you're helping other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you Ari. But yeah, I definitely like with all my family on both sides, but even just my bigger family, not just my immediate they they were very supportive when I was first diagnosed, like my grandma and everything. So it's just, it really just depends on, like, who you let affect you and not, you know.
Speaker 2:I think it can affect people in a positive way though, too, cuz like there's been a million times, people are like dude, you're so skinny and I'm like bro.
Speaker 1:I don't eat sugar. Yeah, like what do you expect?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like it's so easy to just like. And then then they asked me like how do you like? Do you work out a lot?
Speaker 2:I'm like, well, no, like I mean I should, but yeah, like if you just don't eat sugar, you could help yourself a lot too right, yeah and it's crazy, though, too, like we were just having the conversation I remember who was with the other day but, um, every single thing that you do in the world that I has sugar in it. Yeah, you drink a glass of milk. It's like almost eating like half a Snickers bar a coffee, a dr Pepper.
Speaker 1:It doesn't make dude Drink could equal like the amount of sugar you need for the entire day, or like dude even more than that, right?
Speaker 2:Like, it's just crazy the amount of sugar that's taken over us. Have you ever heard the? I don't know if I told you, but it's a, it's an analogy and you can test it. You know what a saltine cracker is, right? Yes, so if you take a saltine cracker and you put it in your mouth and you just let it sit on your tongue for the amount of time it takes to dissolve when you swallow, your body takes it in the same way it would a pack of sugar, because it takes all of those carbohydrates and converts them into sugars right, and then when it gets into your body, then it gets dispersed. Yes, and there's tricks to this, though. So if you do that just on, the empty stomach goes in pure sugar. You do that after you've eaten 10 pieces of broccoli. The broccoli lines the inside of your tummy and your guts and the sugar bypasses right past it. Yeah, and only a little bit gets absorbed. Yeah, so it's stupid because it's true, but, like, if you eat your vegetables first, your body can process all the food better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's crazy the amount of stuff that you learn about yourself, like Even with just like food, like that. But, zach, what do you got for us?
Speaker 3:Beach girl at heart, wanted to kind of explain the difference between type one and type two diabetics and how it affects you guys when you are out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so who? This is a lot. I do get a lot of like this though, like when people say what's the difference, you know, between one and two, and like well, and there's even different levels of each one, but yeah, right. So I guess type one diabetics it's Permanent, there's no cure right and that in your body requires insulin.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, so yeah your pancreas is what produces insulin. Yes, and that is like so for any normal human being that doesn't have diabetes, your pancreas Will go into effect like, let's just say, you eat a piece of cheesecake, like we're just talking about. Your pancreas goes on like double duty, yeah, and starts combating it with the insulin that you produce normally. And it's just a normal human being. Well, somebody with diabetes Doesn't really have that opportunity, because their pancreas either works halfway or doesn't work at all. Yes, and then you take some sort of injection, or your pump or whatever it is, and you put in what's usually pig insulin and that pig insulin is what fights it. But the pig insulin doesn't work as good as human insulin. Right, and you have to be very vigilant on the way that you do your calculations to make sure that you're getting the right recipe To combat what you've just intake, right. So it's just. It's a freaking science project every day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, literally it's either a math calculation or a science project, yep, but type 2 it's more of I Don't want to say self like doing, but it's more of like choices that you make For your body, whereas type 1 it's not something that you choose to do to yourself, but yeah, I would say that that's. That's a big deal, like all of the, the math that goes into it and everything right, and what also falls into type 2 is People's pancreas.
Speaker 2:Is that overproduced? Yeah, and it makes it so that they have to eat more sugars to be able to combat against it? Yeah, so there's different ways of of qualifying it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Dr Wood AZ wanted to know if drinking or not drinking water while you're eating your meals or in between makes any difference on your body's effects of all of it what you go first, bella, does it help you or do anything for you?
Speaker 1:usually for me. Yes, water is a big big deal for me. I, if I don't drink water, I get pretty messed up, especially my blood sugars, like it usually always lowers them or levels them out. But yeah, during meals I try to like make sure that I stay on top of that, because that's that's a big deal too. Like when you're a diabetic, everything so much more Sensitive and so much more, like, important. Like your, your body's not as strong as it used to be, so Water is very important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also to go along with that, like water is important to everybody.
Speaker 1:Yes, everyone.
Speaker 2:But if you're unhealthy and well, I've been known to do this to drink too much soda, or drink too much caffeine or Ice tea or coffee or whatever it is, and then your body is not Getting the amount of electrolytes or nutrients that it needs from the water, yeah, so it throws everything into a vicious circle, right?
Speaker 2:And then it just it doesn't function as good. But there's also other things that you can do right, like how do I say this? Like electrolytes affected a little bit too, like the way you sweat and you know when you're working out, and all these different things. So it sounds stupid, but you should really like, if you don't know, then ask your doctor, like doctors said, and have them help you with the way that you feel. But if you do do that, make sure you're 100% Open and honest with every single thing that you talk to them about. Yeah, because you can't diagnose a person unless you know all of the Stuff yeah, and if you're completely honest, you're only bettering yourself.
Speaker 1:You know so.
Speaker 2:But I think it's. I just think it's important for people to know yeah, yeah, I agree, but what are the questions we?
Speaker 1:got. We got a lot that was. That was a lot of unpacking that we just did, though.
Speaker 2:We really did.
Speaker 1:Hmm, well, I do wanted to talk. I did want to talk about. Actually, I had a really good question About. We always talk about the success that comes out of working hard, but what about the hard times that we have to push through to get to the top? Sometimes we can lose motivation or struggle to get back up After we fail. What do you keep on? What do you do to keep on going?
Speaker 2:Well, this is actually something that's been really near and dear to my heart. Lately, too, I've been working my butt off doing All of these different things that I want to do to help progress off-road in general, and it's led to some really cool business stuff that's happening. But the the main thing that I can say For that question is when I was racing, I always wanted to win. That was the goal. Progress is winning right. Progress is winning right. Progress is being on top of the podium. Progress is having your whole team standing with you. I'm proud of you. Progress is getting more sponsors. Progress is building this stuff like. So I always thought that Winning was the number one thing like you got to do, better, you got to win.
Speaker 2:You got to win, right. Well, now I noticed that that wasn't what I was addicted to. I was actually addicted to the progress part of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I make myself happy when I'm moving forward, and I think it's a general Statement for all of human beings, right Like, just think about it from well, your standpoint. You're young, but your next step might be going to college yeah right, that's gonna be progress. Your next step might be meeting somebody special and getting married that's gonna be progress. Your next step might be having children that's gonna be progress, right. Your next step might be starting your own podcast. That's progress. Like all of these different things, right like. And Sometimes it gets twisted in the middle. Sometimes you might be just completely addicted, wanting to start a podcast. You just focus on that, right, yeah, but as long as you're making progress, I think it makes you feel better, it makes your heart feel better, it makes your body feel better, it makes people around you feel better. So, for me, with all the things I've learned in my life, gosh darn it like progress, always progress. I think those are the biggest ones that I can always tell people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do agree with that. I think it's not. It's not necessarily that like what you do when you get to the top, it's what you do like on the way there, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, rex Road 925 was actually asking what your favorite food is now that you've had diabetes.
Speaker 1:Favorite food is probably okay. Sushi has always been my favorite food.
Speaker 2:Big sushi girl.
Speaker 1:But like, even like not being able to, I don't have to take insulin for like all the raw fish and stuff, so that has been like sigh relief. But yeah, I'd say that, what about you?
Speaker 2:People are always just gonna say tacos.
Speaker 1:I'm a big salad guy, though, too.
Speaker 2:Really, yeah, I love salads.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had a taco salad?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. They'll pull a local all day.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:They have good taco salads.
Speaker 3:BLT.
Speaker 2:Oh, there you go, zach, chiming in with the BLT. Okay, okay, so the BLT, you got to add avocados and sprouts.
Speaker 1:I agree.
Speaker 2:Dump some ranch on there. Perfection.
Speaker 1:I like BLTs, but I don't like tomatoes, so I do everything but not the tomatoes.
Speaker 2:What if you ditch the tomato? Do you like cucumber?
Speaker 1:I do.
Speaker 2:Maybe throw a cucumber on there.
Speaker 1:I've never tried that, but I will.
Speaker 2:So it'll be BLCAS, cucumber, avocado and sprout.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You can make all kinds of different ones. You know what pisses me off, though, to get on this subject, I went to a restaurant the other day and they only offered a BLTA with turkey. Right, like I just want a BLT, like I don't need the turkey.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I hate when restaurants charge you for the turkey and they don't give it to you. Wait, what Like? Why can't you just give me a BLT? Yeah, I was so pissed.
Speaker 1:That makes no sense.
Speaker 2:So pissed.
Speaker 1:Ruins the whole experience.
Speaker 2:That's why I like your polo, because you just pay for what you get. Yeah, that's true, I like your polo too, but what do you get at your polo then with type?
Speaker 1:one. Well, that I do take a lot of insulin for, because your polo is worth it, but I usually get the bowl with, like all the rice and the beans, the stuff I shouldn't have, but I just go for it.
Speaker 2:All done, just eat your veggies first.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Give yourself a better chance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but at one point that I did want to like kind of bring up was what about some of the people that don't have as big of a support system in the racing program, like they're kind of just the manager, the mechanic, the marketer for everything? Talk about the passion that comes from those people, because there, yes, it is amazing to have a big support system, but when you know you got you and maybe two or three other people, like that has to be so much more demanding.
Speaker 2:My first suggestion to anybody that's in a position like that and it doesn't matter whether it's a race program or whether it's just life in general yeah, is, my family always taught me to eat the elephant one bite at a time. Do you know what that means? It means an elephant's huge right. Yeah, if you go to try to eat the whole thing, you're never going to succeed at it, but if you eat the elephant one bite at a time, you will eventually get to the end, right? So basically, what it means is prioritize, focus your energy on one specific thing. So what I used to do because we had a small team and in the beginning it was just me, my dad was working, my crew chief wasn't my crew chief at that time Like it was small.
Speaker 2:Like there was the only the amount of effort we put in was the rewards that we got back right. So I would say, you know I had to work eight to five, so that's a 40 hour week right, and I own my own business at the time, so it's more like a 60 hour week, but I would devote as much time as I could to the racing program. So I would be roughly 80 to 100 hours deep on a normal week.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so that leaves very little time to sleep. But I was willing to sacrifice the sleep to make that progress or goal happen.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And the only way I could do it was to focus on little chunks. So one week I would focus on race prep, the next week I would focus on, like let's just say, sponsorships or media, and then the next week I would focus on something else and focus on something else Eating the elephant one by the time. Yeah, and it works. It's very difficult, very difficult, but if you want to achieve your goals, you have to put in the effort.
Speaker 1:Right. You have to be passionate about it to be able to succeed in it. For sure. You'll find out quickly, like if something's not for you. When you do want to put everything into something to do it, then you realize, man, I must, I should have more motivation for this. Maybe it's not my thing, or maybe you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good point. Like, what do you? What do you tell people that are just like fed up with it, like, dude, this is too much work. You tell them like to stick with it. Or do you like try to diagnose it and see if they're actually passionate about it?
Speaker 1:Pretty much diagnose it Like I think, if you're genuinely not passionate about something, you find out real quick, like that, you're not going to put the time in, you're not going to, you know, sacrifice things and stuff.
Speaker 2:So what if somebody's like in it and they're just like ready to give up? What do you tell them?
Speaker 1:Well, if you really love something, you won't give up.
Speaker 2:So let's see here. Wyatt said have there been days that you haven't felt so motivated to shoot towards your goals? Yeah Well, it's kind of what we're talking about right now. And how have you gotten past that? Keep pushing forward.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Do you want to go first on that one?
Speaker 2:I'd like you to.
Speaker 1:There has been days where I felt like that. I mean I get in a lot of funcs like that, mostly just because I spread myself out pretty thin.
Speaker 2:So I you know you're a busy girl.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pretty busy for a 16 year old, so there's just a lot of stuff going on. So I really have to balance my time. But I think on the days where I don't feel as motivated to like get up or do something that I actually do care about and need to get done, I really just kind of take the time and focus on myself. You know, maybe do something that's more recharging, like go and get a coffee, but just me. Or you know, like go maybe talk to my mom a little bit, or go to church, or you know, pray about it, because that's really important to me too.
Speaker 2:But yeah, just getting all those recharging your batteries anyway, you can, it's so important but and to answer your question, bud.
Speaker 2:Like I, almost every single day I wake up. It is very difficult, very difficult, like I don't want to wake up, like I don't because I'm so broken, right, so it's very difficult. So for me to get through those times, which happen numerous times a day, I do stretching and the stretching usually what it does for me is it makes my body feel better and I have allowed more blood flow, so that I can actually get like a little bit of more energy, like if even if it's one percent, it still helps. I do breathing exercises so that I can like recharge my body with oxygen, because that helps you feel better. And then I try to do simple things like ride my bicycle. Yeah, because when you do that you get your endorphins going, it gives you a little bit more motivation to do things. But during all that stuff I still have it in my head the baseline is progress, progress, progress, yeah. So I know that if I feel bad in the morning, if I don't do anything, I will feel even worse at night.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I don't ever want to get worse. I always want to get better Move forward. So that's a lot of the times I drive myself crazy because I'm going back and forth in my head.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But it works for me Right, like that's what helps me and drives me past it. But, like you said, you do it a certain way. I feel like why it might do it a little bit different to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:Thank you, wyatt, for that really good conversation, but yeah, and so whatever works for you dude, yeah, take some motivation from other people, for sure.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I completely agree. But who Well? Do we want to end on a good note or do we want to keep another conversation going?
Speaker 2:Well, let's keep it going. We got Zach here all the way from Washington. I think, we should put him to work, man, yeah.
Speaker 1:We do need to thank Zach for everything, because he's sitting behind there really.
Speaker 2:Dude, he's got like 69 screens going like all kinds of different stuff, right, but.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but he's doing a fantastic job, and I will say this, though, too, is like along those lines of progress. One of the things that makes me very happy is seeing other people progress, right. So we talked about the racing portion of what we've seen difficult. Right, we've had our own struggles, yeah, but you know what? Everybody has their own struggles. Everybody wants more sponsors, everybody wants to get to the track, everybody wants off road to be bigger. Zach has been a very big help in a driving force that I've started, or we've started, to help showcase off road more, and that's it's called Star Stream, and so we put, like these, streaming cameras in people's cars, and I'm really proud of where it's going, because this is the whole progress thing that we were talking about in 2022, which was a year ago, for the Baja 1000. There was no live in car cameras. This year, we had roughly 40 or 50 live in car cameras, and we reached almost 750,000 people.
Speaker 1:Progress Boom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but these are all passionate people like you.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Like Zach, like a bunch of other people around us Brian Moore, everybody, like all of these people, they care about sharing off road and building it up, and that's exactly what you want to do by doing these interviews with Dirt Life. And I really like the way that off road has positioned itself, because it can be such a massive entity and get so many people involved, if it's just a right showcase.
Speaker 1:It's. It's definitely a community for sure. Like being able to group up with people that, like you guys, share the same passion, and like putting the drive and the work into it. It's definitely worth it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and like how many people do you know that are like your best friends for life because of off road?
Speaker 1:Oh, literally Everyone, I know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like literally yeah.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I do agree.
Speaker 3:Rex wants to know what your guys's favorite part of racing is, besides the going fast part I don't know the horsepower going fast is pretty sweet.
Speaker 1:I think so too.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I like most is the I think it goes full circle, but is the teamwork and the amount of payback that your team gets when you win or when you do well, because that's like a victory in itself, right? When you see smiles on other people's faces, boom, makes it all worth it, right? Yeah, but one of the things that actually drives me the most is like people always just ask me if I get nervous. I don't have that in me. Like I don't get nervous, I get excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like really excited, like to the point where I forget to breathe. Excited like so happy, like jumping out of my seat. Happy right, but I love that feeling.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because, like I guess it's the adrenaline, you know how, like when you get on a roller coaster and you're just like oh yeah, like yeah that's how I get, like before race. I just get so amped. I'm so pumped up to do it. That's one of the best feelings that a human being can feel, right, it's like flying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:So what like what's your fave, though, is it going faster Like.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I can narrow it down to a favorite, but I'd say one of like. Definitely one of the highlights of racing is, I feel like we've got this progress thing going on. But, definitely progress, being in the middle of a race and just all the anticipation like, oh my gosh, I don't know what's going to happen in this next corner. But I know I just did the best corner of my life back there.
Speaker 1:You know that he's now going to do it better, exactly Like sitting there in the car, just turn after turn, straight after straight, going through the actual racing part, the whole race, the start, the beginning, the middle. Yeah, I love it all, like it's all just.
Speaker 2:So that brings it up another. I have another answer to this question. When I raced dirt bikes one of my favorite moments of all time I was on 80s, so I was just a kid at the time and I remember I fell down in the first corner and it was like did you ever seen that? What's the Will Ferrell movie where he's like, oh, that's a GoPro? What's the Will Ferrell movie where he's having the spelling bee and they're like what happened? He's like I don't know, I just blacked out and then he nailed the whole thing. He like aced everything and everything was like the most perfect. He just nailed it. He was totally in the zone the whole time.
Speaker 1:I feel like I've watched this movie, but I can't. I forgot what it was.
Speaker 2:But he was competing against little kids so it was like super funny, right. But I was just like I fell down in the first turn and I was like shoot, my race is toast. Like there's no way I'm going to be able to catch up. By the time we crossed the finish line I was three feet from winning the race, like I was so in the zone. It was like I've only, I think, maybe two or three times I've ever felt that same like level of focus. But that level of focus is what I feel. Like Michael Jordan, tiger Woods, like these guys have a way to just hone that skill set to that level of intensity. And I only got that a couple of times in my life. But, holy cow, I would love to have that it's like. Or the movie that where he like swallows the red pill or the blue pill and he's like laser focused.
Speaker 1:I know that movie.
Speaker 2:Like that. Yes, I know what you mean. I wish I could get that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think kind of like an analogy, but like when you go down like a tunnel and like you know, like how you don't have sometimes you don't have like peripheral vision or something Like narrowing down to something so specific, like when you're racing, sometimes like I could be thinking about something else. But there's some races where, like literally all I have in my sight or in my head is just how I'm going to make it to this next corner, how I'm going to make it to this, like constantly, just you know what I mean. Nothing else is distracting you, nothing else is getting in the way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a special power that you have, then.
Speaker 1:It's. It happens rarely, but like mostly because I just overthink a lot, so I like constantly thinking about a bunch of different things, but when you're really in the zone you really like in it to win it. Like everything just slows into like a tunnel.
Speaker 2:Not going to lie. When I started racing side by side, I remember being at Wild Horse Pass, going up the first straight way thinking about a turkey sandwich. Like it wasn't good yeah.
Speaker 1:It was not good. Sometimes it's like that and sometimes it's like feel like you're on fire.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, and so that's one of the things that I wish I could have gotten. More is like that level of focus, like what you have.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Well, you still got opportunities to do that, dude.
Speaker 1:We're working on it.
Speaker 2:I wonder how people like that are like, let's just say, rob McCacken, or like Bryce Menzies, because I feel like they've got just a little bit more of that than all of us.
Speaker 1:They're on a whole other level, but one person that I do want to get on soon is Kayden McCacken.
Speaker 2:Ooh, that'd be cool. So Kayden and Brock Hager are supposed to do a show, I think actually maybe next week. So if you want to do that with us, you can yeah? I would love to Talking about Baja.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So Desert Squadron was saying tunnel vision.
Speaker 1:Tunnel vision.
Speaker 2:Just like what you were saying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, I guess that's one word to put it, but that's exactly what I mean Really, just like Laser focused. Also, being passionate about something like gives you the energy to be able to do something like that Not a lot of people can say. Or a lot of people say man, I've never really focused that hard on something. But if you really care about something, oh, you will. Yeah, you will.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You find superpowers in yourself that you don't realize you have until you really care about something.
Speaker 2:That's exactly what I was talking about, about the normalcy. What you think is normal does not have to be normal.
Speaker 1:You can go way above that level. Yeah, oh yeah, there's limits. I don't think there's a limit to anything, but even for everybody. Everybody just has a different capacity of something.
Speaker 2:Well, how about this? What we should tell people is if you think there's limits on you, you can always slide into the DMs for the Dirt Life or Bella's DMs and ask what she thinks that your limit is. I guarantee she's going to say there isn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there probably isn't one. It'd be cool to hear other people's stories though too. Yes, I do agree.
Speaker 2:Like how they've bypassed things that they thought were limiting them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like there's definitely some questions that we should move with for the future, for more Bella's Corner episodes.
Speaker 2:Like ask Caden McCackrim what he thought was a limit.
Speaker 1:Because, yeah, thinking this whole topic that we got going on with things, this more intimate conversations and stuff like that, we've never really, I've never really thought about to ask other racers these I wanted to start off with you, obviously, but I think it'd be really cool to kind of get to know what is their superpower, that they found out.
Speaker 2:I think it'd be so fantastic if you asked people let's just say Bryce Mendes, he just won the Baja 1,000 overall right. Yes, you could ask him those same questions and see you learn from the best right.
Speaker 1:Right, so you have advice and you can take it with you.
Speaker 2:Dude totally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:I can't wait for some of this stuff dude.
Speaker 1:You got plans.
Speaker 2:Wait, what were they saying? Progress.
Speaker 1:Progress. I think that needs to be the new title of this show.
Speaker 2:Bella's Corner, AKA Progress.
Speaker 1:AKA Progress. Well, is there anything that you want to bring up?
Speaker 2:No, I just like having these conversations because it makes me feel like, well, I even know you better now, right, but like when you talked about the support mechanism stuff, one thing that I know about you is that you're very open, you're honest and you are able to take constructive criticism, whether it's well, even negative criticism. You're able to accept it right, like you're open and willing to accept it. Is that easy for you? Because there's a lot of stuff that people could say that could feel totally mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But if you have an open perspective like you do, does it make it easier for you to move past certain things or learn from that?
Speaker 1:Yes, I think it's definitely an advantage for me personally, because being able to take something in and know that they don't mean it unnecessarily to bring me down or degrade me. They mean it to see me succeed and it just depends on how you take it. Somebody could say something to two different people and one could be super sensitive about it and the other person could strive with it. It really just depends on how you take something in and how you process it. That's all in your control.
Speaker 2:So when you let's just say I told you right now, ha ha, you can't eat a piece of cheesecake, how do you take that? Give me an example.
Speaker 1:I probably laugh a little bit, I probably.
Speaker 2:But to me I would laugh too and I would just be like I'll screw that, but it hurts a little bit. Dude, I want a piece of cheesecake.
Speaker 1:I want a piece of cheesecake. But yeah, I totally get that. But that's where I say progress. Before I used to be wanting to cry, you know, like ha, that's funny, and then probably go in the corner and tell my mom my feelings were hurt. Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:But then I also think about it too. I have this weird thing and you're learning it. I feel like you're doing a very good job at it In my head where I go, you know what I do want a piece of cheesecake, but it's better that I don't have it. I'm actually winning more than them eating the cheesecake. It's kind of funny how it turns back around. But it might kind of sound like a trick in my head to me, but there is some sort of truth behind it.
Speaker 1:It is. It's going to benefit you in the long run.
Speaker 2:so it's weird, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is weird.
Speaker 2:So maybe sometimes the answer is you've got to trick yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do agree with that, though.
Speaker 2:But I think that it's good that the way you're dealing with all that stuff, especially with all the I don't know if you don't want to call it like Zach and I were actually talking about it the other day Like it's difficult for younger people to grow up these days because there's so many things being said, you know, like there's so much noise from the outside, like social media and all this shit that people are saying like, oh, it's a place, like it's difficult.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really difficult and you're learning very quickly that some of the noises you could be a sponge and accept it and it makes you a better person, and the other noise you just throw it in the trash.
Speaker 1:Right. It's definitely something that you learn as you grow up, especially in the racing industry. Like that, you know, like to decide is this worth like taking advice from? Is this source like good for me? Is this good energy? Is this, you know, that's really important, like what you let in your life and what you don't let in your life.
Speaker 2:If you're like listening to this show right now, either on iTunes or about as a podcast, or if you're watching it. What do you tell people to do? Like to decipher whether it's going to be good for them or bad, or, I guess, how do they deal with it?
Speaker 1:I would say I mean, I totally believe in like instincts. I think that you know, like you know what's good for you and you know what's not good for you, especially as you get older and you learn, and you learn from your parents. But I think a lot is which is like experiencing like you. That's the whole point of living. Like that's when you find out oh, this isn't good for me, this is good for me you know, I should hang around these people.
Speaker 1:I shouldn't be around these people, Like that's just a part of growing up. The older you get, the wiser you are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what You're right. It does like and I don't know. I feel like you should listen to everything, whether it's good, bad or indifferent, but take the things that you think are going to make you progress.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, 100% agree.
Speaker 2:That's wild man. Yeah, I don't know how much whether people can take this and make it better for themselves, but I think you did a really good job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think some people like that also comes with it, like taking in stuff, like some people can be, like we said at the beginning, more open-minded to taking in, like constructive criticism, and like, oh yes, I can grow, I can progress, I can be a better person.
Speaker 2:Actually, that's a good question to ask then too, Like what if you're a stubborn kid, or a stubborn adult for that matter? You just don't want to listen to people. Do you think it's going to help or hurt you?
Speaker 1:No, it's going to hurt you 100%. I think you have. We're all put here to learn from each other and to grow with each other and build relationships and stuff. So ignoring you know constructive criticism will harm you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. Desert Squadron just said that like take it all in.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's how you process it and what you do with it that actually determines your outcome and happiness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree 100%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really does, man, this is a pretty intense episode.
Speaker 1:I like it. Yeah, me too. Well, one thing I did want to say was the greatness of positivity and how powerful it can be, especially in racing and just in life in general, but being able to find the good in a difficult situation and turning mistakes into learning experiences 100%.
Speaker 2:I had a very difficult time. I don't know if you want me to expand on that, if you want to end, but I had a very difficult time with finding the good in that last accident that happened to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It was very difficult, right, because when I got out of the hospital, I was still blind. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear anything Like all those little things that I was telling you about. Like they had to put my eyes back in the socket. It's like my right eye still doesn't work, right, and I don't know if you've seen me, but I turned my head really far. When I look at you, it's because I can't see out of my right eye. They had to cut my ears off. My ears are built out of titanium now. Because I couldn't hear. They had to drill through my head and open up my ear holes again, like when I still hear every day. I can hear, but I can hear about 40% of what you have. It's like I'm in a fishbowl all the time.
Speaker 2:So, like all of these different things that you're saying, like you have to understand and respect the life that you're given and how much it means, because there's no way that you can make progress unless you realize how good you already have it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's crazy.
Speaker 1:I completely agree. Like you know, you have room to grow, but you have to appreciate what you've gone through to be able to grow.
Speaker 2:Yeah 100%. Exactly.
Speaker 1:Just being thankful that you know you've gone through some of this stuff and very life-threatening stuff and still like oh, I'm still here. You know, there's a reason why I'm here.
Speaker 2:So Exactly, and it's not just me Like. Everybody goes through their own stuff, yeah, but it always helps to understand what other people go through too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I get it for sure.
Speaker 2:So what's next on your schedule?
Speaker 1:Next on my schedule? Well, there's no racing for me till January.
Speaker 2:Dude, that's like coming right up.
Speaker 1:That's a long time, but next up is probably more Bella's Corner action. I'm really excited for the future for this. I think bringing more people that we know and don't know is really going to at least try to grow the sport.
Speaker 2:So I have a question for Zach, then. Since you're talking about Bella's Corner, he's going to have to answer it. So he's going to have to press that little red button on the audio thing.
Speaker 3:OK.
Speaker 2:So, zach, after being here producing a Bella's Corner episode, what's your constructive criticism for Bella's Corner?
Speaker 1:Well, hear it.
Speaker 2:Other than George needs to get some more computers, george, you have way too many computers.
Speaker 3:You've got to slim it down a little bit. But the cool thing is is that in this type of arena it succeeds out of passion, and when you are able to have a connection with your audience and those that you're interviewing with a passionate mindset, you know that's where you succeed. So I think that you're right on track with wanting to pursue that and you've taken quite the prepared approach to the way you think about your questions and things like that you're going to do fine.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you so much. That means a lot.
Speaker 2:See, he said it way better than I could. I just think you're kicking ass, dude.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate both of them. Yeah, I mean, it's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but like he said, passion and progress.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:It's the name of the game.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's what keeps people going is passion.
Speaker 2:Totally Like your brother is really passionate about doing 12 o'clock wheelies on his sarong.
Speaker 1:Cruz is passionate about Fortnite.
Speaker 2:Is he probably playing Fortnite right now? I don't need to listen to Bella's dumb podcast. I'm going to play Fortnite.
Speaker 1:What goes through his brain. You really yes, just quoted it.
Speaker 2:I love it. That's so awesome. All right, let's thank everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, we'd love to thank you guys first, because you are why we do this. So thank you to everybody that chimed in. You know, with all the comments and stuff like that, everyone that viewed it took the time to listen to what we had to say. It means a lot, and we couldn't do it without you. So the best part about it is.
Speaker 2:You know what we should do? Let's do this because I keep forgetting. We have a Maxis hat that is similar to this. You guys can't see it unless you're watching on YouTube or Instagram, but if you are watching on here, let's put it right here. If you are listening on, let's see iTunes or any of the social excuse me, audio platforms. We have a Maxis hat like that, but it's signed by Jeremy McGrath. We should give it away pretty soon. So maybe you want to do that on a Bella's corner.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm down.
Speaker 2:Okay, so how about this? For everybody that sends in a message to Bella, you're automatically entered to win, and we're going to do a social media promo too. We'll do like a story or something, so that we can get a little bit of information to Maxis and to us. But yeah, I think we should start it off like that, and we'll try to get some more people to watch Bella's corner next time too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll make sure you guys stay tuned with stuff like that. We'll post about it and keep you guys updated too.
Speaker 2:So tune in to all the social media networks Facebook, YouTube, all the iTunes and Google play and all of the audio platforms. Hit us up at the Dirt Life show on any of the social channels, especially Instagram, because that's where we answer most of the stuff and, like Bella said at the beginning of the show, please share the show with all your homies.
Speaker 1:Yes, all the homies need to know.
Speaker 2:Oh, fun fact or stat that I just noticed this week we're almost to 9,000 people organically Never, ever, paid one penny and we got almost 9,000 people on the Dirt Life.
Speaker 1:Look at that, you guys are real homies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. I think we're like 10 away or something. But like dude, we should be asked how about this? Ain't nobody getting this hat until we reach 9,000. So you better hurry up and go like be a friend of the Dirt Life show.
Speaker 1:Progress Dude yes.
Speaker 2:All right, let's thank the sponsors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd love to thank MoTool KMC Wheels for everything you guys do for us and Evolution Power Sports wrapping them right now. But you guys are the power that we need, Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that sweater too. Thanks to the guys over at Maxis Tires, kmc Wheels, shock Therapy, jail Audio, enzo and Racing Products as well. All right, bella, sign us out, girl.
Speaker 1:Well, this was episode four of Bella's Corner. We'll be back for more in January, but thank you to George for sharing a little bit about your life and yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank you to Zach.
Speaker 1:Thank you to Zach, of course for producing this episode we are at Vision Sport Cannabis, so thank you so much for letting us rent out this little place for the night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks, guys, we really appreciate it. So catch us on the next Dirt Life show, probably going to be a Baja 1000 Recap show. We love you, guys, good night. Thanks for listening to the Dirt Life show.
Speaker 1:See you next week.