Elbows Up - Dirt Kart Podcast
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Elbows Up - Dirt Kart Podcast
Reyne Leeson - The man behind the camera, behind the mic!
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We yarn with Reyne Leeson about the long road from Claremont Speedway memories to buying an LS1 sprint car with no real seat time, then grinding through breakdowns until the results finally land. We also dig into iRacing as a real training tool, plus how Reyne turns grassroots motorsport media into momentum for drivers, clubs, and sponsors.
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reyneleesonmedia
Or you can email reyneleesonmedia@gmail.com.
Welcome And Meet Rain Leeson
SPEAKER_00Welcome everybody. You've got Matt here with the Elbows Up Podcast. Our guest today, I have Rain Leeson joining us. How are you tonight, mate?
SPEAKER_01I'm really good, man. I'm uh I'm actually nice and warm in my bed, actually, because uh the little modular home that I live in is uh is freaking freezing. So I'm uh I'm tucked in nicely. The the missus has given me the bedroom to be nice and warm and comfortable in while we talk, so I'm ready to go.
SPEAKER_00Oh, awesome, man. Good to hear that you're nice and warm. It has been a bit a bit chilly lately, so yeah. Uh hopefully it's not too late for you, mate. So I've had a day at work and uh yeah, got home when I could. So yeah, so basically, look, I have no you've been noticed by me as somebody that I've seen doing a bit of the media work out there. And I just thought, you know, as a different angle to some of our listeners, we'll put we'll catch up and have a have a yarn about uh go-karting, how you see it from through your lens, pardon the pun. And and you know, just find a bit about more about you. So
Claremont Speedway Memories That Last
SPEAKER_00tell us about your, I suppose, how you got involved in all sorts of racing.
SPEAKER_01Well, so I was born in 1990 and I was around sprint cars a little bit when I was a kid, but I'm actually very lucky in the sense that I think if I was born not even two years later, I probably wouldn't have been old enough to have conscious memories of Claremont Speedway. Yeah, and you know, so Claremont closed, it's his last year was the year that I turned 10 years old. And there's you know, I don't I don't have a ton of your memories there, but there's a few that really stick out. Like so um, you know, the the the slight the silence salute and the day after the cricket accident, you know, was at Claremont. So that was that's something that sticks out in my mind. And even though I was a kid, I kind of weirdly understood the the magnitude of of sort of what had happened just because of the kind of your vibe in the room, so to speak. Yeah, um, so that's one that sticks out. Was the first Clamont show after the Cricket boys passed away. A story that I I really love telling people just because I do find it even to this day really funny. I was dead tired at the end of a race night at Clamont one night. Uh you know, as as you do, you're a kid, you're running around the stands, you're picking up tear-offs, you're taking to the drivers, getting them signed. And I uh I fell asleep on who I thought was someone I knew, but I sort of came to after falling asleep, standing up, leaning against this person. I look up and it wasn't the person that I thought it was, but it was Kenny Jacobs um looking down at me with his big mustachio smiling. How are you doing, little man? I'm like, oh, you're not who I thought you were. And uh, so yeah, that's um that's one of my kind of like favorite weirdly vivid memories. I'd like I mean, I kind of been more than probably six or seven when that happened, but it it's burned in my brain forever. And you know, you know, during during that period, my my mom has a really cool video of um of her lifting me into uh like you know, Jenny, Kenny Jacobs and Randy Hannigan spring cars when they were on display at the older Revolution shop out in Osborne Park, which I think was in or around that time, somewhere between 95 and 97 in there somewhere. So yeah, I just grew up thinking that sprint cars were just the coolest thing in the world, and you know, that never really changed, to be fair. And even though there was there was a period from when I was probably about 10, when Claremont closed, actually, I didn't actually really connect again with with dirt track racing until I was probably about 18 or so. And I I you know I realized I could take myself to the track. And and you know, I would I would just come to you know a motorplex show a year for the first year or so, and then it turned into three or four shows a year. And then by the you know, after a few years, it was it was kind of where I'm at now where I just I wouldn't miss a show at the motorplex. And then it's like, oh, you know, I haven't been to Bunbury in a few years. Let's I I have you know a few memories of you know of Bunbury as a kid. I seen uh I seen Andrew Shirley take a really bad flip at uh at Bunbury, you know, in my I I can't even remember what year it was. I had to have been, you know, around sort of eight to ten years old in there somewhere. Just one of those like, you know, those nothing memories that just for some reason just stick because they're seeing such a unique place and unique setting. And and yeah, so and then you know, I'd start going to Bunbury shows, and then yeah, it just it kind of I've had a lot of different sort of uh I'll I'll call them obsessions just because I think I can't
Obsessions, Hobbies, Then The Big Leap
SPEAKER_01think of another word to use, you know, in the exact in this exact moment. But you know, there's been periods of time where I've been hyper obsessive over different things. So when I've when I when I was from like 13 to roughly 22, 23, like music was everything. So like I all I did between that time was play instruments and playing bands and put on shows and play shows and record music and just you know, that was everything. That was all I wanted to do between, you know, sort of 13 when I started learning how to play guitar and in my early 20s, and then I fulfilled yet another sort of childhood fantasy of picking up hockey, like or like ice hockey, and started that when I was 22 and did that for a few years, worked out of the Kobo, and I ran a pro shop for a few years, and then like golf took over. That became my obsession for a few years, and then I got back into skateboarding, like, and then that was and then like then the wild card out of the whole thing was when I bought my my spring car in 2020, uh 2020, well, what would it have been, 2022? I think it was. Yep, and that was that was far and away the biggest leap I took for sure. And that was kind of a just to circle back to where this question really started was you know, I mentioned that as every kid does, there's every kid that hangs around, you know, speedway and dirt track racing when they're a kid, they think that sprint cars are the coolest thing ever. And I would have given 10 years off of my life to have driven a sprint car when I was a kid.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then when I separated from it, and it just it just never, never not once crossed my mind that it would ever be a possibility to get in one. It was just one of those things that I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this, just seems so unattainable because they see the magnitude of, especially where 410 racing is right now, and they're like, this is so, so unbelievably unreachable. It's not even worth fantasizing about now because the insane cost that goes into racing now just makes it seem so unattainable.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But as luck would have it, I I ran into Ron Burgess at the the Langley Park car show a few years back, and he explained to me what an LS1 spring car was and how cost effective they were. And and you know, a couple of weeks later, I made the best and worst decision of my life and took out a loan from the bank and I had a spring car as sitting in my in my uh in my car port. So that's kind of the that's the you know, a very highly condensed sort of story about where it sort of began to to where it's at now.
SPEAKER_00So so before you sat your ass in a spring cart, or what driving or racing experience did you have like behind the wheel?
Sim Racing As The Closest Thing
SPEAKER_01I hadn't driven so much as a rental cart by that point. I had you know the plunge. I had, you know, yeah, yeah, I'll say, you know, and you know, how how to rip around a rental carts on the occasion, you know, when when someone has a birthday party, or if you know, you give you and your buddies are just looking for something to do one Saturday. And I'm not sure how many folks actually know this because it seems like ancient history at this point. But my YouTube channel before I bought the spring car was actually a sim racing channel. I would post up like i racing content and it never really took off anywhere. It never, I never get I never got any kind of traction, you know, for by any stretch of the imagination. But that's what I did because at that point in time, that was the that was the pinnacle for me because even at that point, having a sprint car and racing in real life was completely unattainable. So the next closest thing was to was to be on i racing. I can actually still, I can't remember exactly what it was. I think it was probably about a year before I bought my sprint car. I didn't even know what ice i racing was.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But one of my buddies, the two of my buddies actually, Sam and Simon, who I both knew through music, we ended up going, we ended up going to the track together because me and Simon didn't even realize that we were both speedway people. So we started going to the track together, and and then they introduced me to iRacing. And so we went to Simon's house one day and uh he had a VR headset. And so I like I drove like a simulation sprint car with a headset on, and it was actually this is I'm not people think it's corny or whatever, but it was actually a hugely emotional experience because it was the the closest like thing that I could fathom at the time to being in a real sprint car. And I was like, man, is that what kind of I've been sort of watching my entire life, but not really having that that viewpoint of it? Yeah, and so that was really cool. And then I was like, well, I have to get a gaming PC and I have to get a steering wheel and I had to get into iRacing, which is exactly what I did because I'm a I'm a doer, so to speak. Um I at the detriment of my of my bank accounts my entire life, I I'm a hyper obsessive and and very like sort of driven person. Whereas if I if I have a if I want to achieve something that I think is attainable, then I will go for it. If it if it seems unattainable to me, I probably won't bother with it. But there's if I if I have something in mind that I want to go and try, do, make, achieve whatever it might be, there's not a whole lot that can stop me. I've been stopped from doing a lot of things in my life, mainly by financial restrictions, to be honest with you, because I've always just I've never had money to be honest. But you know, getting a computer and a steering wheel and an iRacing subscription, that was very attainable. Um so that was that was kind of how I that was how I kind of made it there. And and then, you know, just yeah, a year or a year and a half, however long it was later, I again I mentioned before, I made the biggest mistake and the best decision I ever made, and took a loan out of the bank to go and buy my race car, and that started the the roller coaster of a journey that I've been on for the last you know nearly four
Why iRacing Actually Makes Drivers Better
SPEAKER_01years.
SPEAKER_00Unreal, unreal. Yeah, the first time I used iRacing was actually with the VR headset, and nobody told me to close my eyes when I put it in the fence. Instantly mainly turned down and built. If I had to get out of the end of the they built it into a midget chassis, so it was like a proper, you got into the car and then you put the midset on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they are really cool. I think there's a there's a few of them kicking around, but there's actually uh there's a like a proper like business out of New Zealand. I think it's called like out outlaw simulations, something like this. He takes you know, spring car chassis and makes like you know, and makes the sim rigs out of them. They're they're pretty unreal. And uh, I'm sure that there's like you know, I'm sure someone could make one for themselves if they were so inclined, but I'm I'm not really savvy like that. So I'll have to stick with the uh with the with the bench top. I can. Yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_00See in the back of the room.
SPEAKER_01Oh, there you are on the corner. There you go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was my uh COVID addiction when we weren't allowed to race backgrounds.
SPEAKER_01I desperately wish that I was into iRacing during COVID because I heard about like the the tournaments and stuff and the and the like titles that were held in iRacing. Apparently it was off the chain, but I just kind of wasn't wasn't tuned in enough to uh to to kind of um to see it all.
SPEAKER_00There was one event that they had, and it was the the dirt stock cars or dirt street stocks or whatever you call it. And from memory, there's like 300 or more nominations, and there was like two preliminary nights, and you you basically had one heat to move forward, and then they'd rank you like if you think uh like a chili bowl format, and then obviously you know, then you went into the the mains, and yeah, it was it was so cool. Like it's really hard to be that, but yeah, there was all sorts of stuff going on through COVID, which kind of kept us sane, so yeah, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_01And like they they still kick around, like there is still like you know, um series and tournaments that that are still held on iRacing, just to tie it in with the with the with the dirt cutting. I'm pretty sure uh Bentley Summers actually commentates a midget series, if I'm not mistaken. I couldn't tell you the name of it right off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure he's a commentator for one of the midget series.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all of those little turds from dirt trackers and all that, they're all on the iPhone for Sim Racing. I'll be on there just a moment. Yeah, well, I mean I I like it. My I find it very useful for concentration. So, you know, like you go on I'm not super good at it, but for me to go and do 30 laps in, say, a sprinkler or a midget or whatever and not make a mistake about just hitting your marks with 30 laps straight, I feel like that's something you can translate to any other racing. So I can set up the right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, not not so much, but I I I will say I will vouch firsthand that that i racing genuinely does help. And I I won't let anybody tell me otherwise. I I'm like to the I'm actually of the opinion that that driving a spring car on i racing is weirdly harder than driving it in real life because at least in the real life car you can you can feel like you can feel the tires and you can feel the track and you can feel when the when the rear is getting away from you a little bit. You can't really feel those things on iRacing unless you're in some kind of like you know, motion rig sort of situation. So if you can get good on on iRacing, there's a deaf, like there's a well-documented history of of people being good on iRacing and them being good in sprint cars, so or just racing in general. So it's a hugely underutilized tool, you know. Christopher Bell, Logan Seavy, Carl Larson, like all those guys, all those guys came from sim backgrounds, and you cannot tell me that that's a coincidence. They all ended up like absolute weapons in in real life cars, and coming from a sim background, that's that's not a coincidence at all.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. No, I agree. That's cool. So, okay, so you've got yourself a spring car, and you've done what, so three or four seasons?
Two Years Of Breakdowns To P2
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so three. Well, I mean, it depends on how you look at it. Like my my first two seasons were basically complete washes because the yeah, I bought what I thought was yo, was a race-ready car, but it just it just didn't work. It it it wouldn't make it to the end of a race to save me. You know, we it took uh two and a half years for me to finish my first feature. And we we don't even finish, we we don't even run like long features in the LS ones at the Motoplex. We have like 12 or 15 lap features, and I couldn't like my car wouldn't even make it to the end of them because it was it if it wasn't one thing, it was another. And I I like even even now I feel like I know nothing, but I knew way less back then. And so we we would attack one thing thinking that was the issue, and then the issue would continue, or something else would pop up, and yeah, it was it was just it was it was so unbelievably, I can't even think of an adjective right now to to to describe it. It was it was everything, it was terrible, like it was not fun, like it the never finishing anything just sucked. Like it was it was the worst. I wanted to quit so bad. I wanted to quit way, way, way more than I wanted to keep going. But like every time I reminded myself of what I'd lost and what I sacrificed to to get it in the first place, I'm like, I can't let this thing beat me twice. And then and then as I don't know, eventually I just found the right help. Like the right help found either either I found the right help or the right help found me. I got I got um I got hooked up with all fire garage, Cameron Alfirovic and Jack Alfirovic, and they like we we kind of I had experienced help to to isolate and attack the issues that we were having. And then by extension, that was where Rock Azeminik came in and helped us with our fueling. And it was just I finally got the experienced help that I needed to to get over the to get over the hump. And then in in February of last year, so what uh yeah, February of 2025, finally finished my first feature. Then a week later we ran second, Cricky Boys, which was like life highlight to yeah. I mean, it's that's I I still I'm I'm no I'm a D-grade, you know, sort of quote unquote celebrity of the track. But generally speaking, that's if if someone if someone knows who I am, then there's a lot like a lot, it's largely because of that night, because they were there and they kind of saw my reaction to that and sort of were like, wow, that's I've never I I doubt I doubt many people would get that emotional for a second place finish, but that was just two and a half years of built-up like frustration and anger and sleepless nights and dumping money into this car to try and make it work, and just it was it was it was relief, is what it was. It was like it was finally all worth it at that point because I'm like, wow, like not only did we finish, but we ran good, and we ran good all night too. And it was just, I was like, wow, like it's it just made it all worth it. Every every time I've every every every second, every minute, every hour, every day that I wanted to quit, just suddenly just you know what, that was all worth it. And I I I haven't said this in a while, but the that night was the night that I I kind of converted my thinking. The two and a half years before that was a curse up until that point. Yeah, but that night was when it sort of switched into I started to perceive it as a learning curve, a really, really long learning curve. And it was, I kind of weirdly feel like the the speedway gods were balancing things out in a way because I now I now perceive it as the speedway gods were like, hey, you cheated and you bought a race ready car and you didn't know anything about it, and you didn't take the time to learn how to tear it down or put it together or or understand how it works. So we're gonna make you start fresh. You know, you're gonna you're gonna learn how this thing operates, you're gonna learn about its motor, and you're gonna learn how to maintain it and and sort of treat it, you know, the way that a race car should be treated. And then finally, after you know, two and a half years of what I now consider a long learning process, I was finally rewarded with with a finish in a second. So it's yeah, it was it was just yeah, that that is uh like an absolute life highlight. It'll be very, very hard to top that. Like that's I feel like only a win, like in the well, like an outright win in the LS1 class would probably top that. But even then, like just I remember the feeling that I had after I came across the line and after like you know, getting like going up on the podium and seeing my guys afterwards. I feel like even a win would probably only match that, it would be very, very hard to top it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, and it's a long road, and and you know, like the learning you have to do, considering you've come from not racing at all. Yeah. Um, I mentioned you earlier we've got young Jack on our team who's hopping in the sprint car for the first time at Ellenbrook this weekend, whether permitting. And you know, like Jack and his father have been around Speedway for well as long as I've known them. So, you know, there's a little bit of knowledge there, but it's still his first time steering a car, you know.
SPEAKER_01So Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00What advice would you give young Jack after what you've been through?
Advice For A First Sprint Car Drive
SPEAKER_01Hmm. That's a good question. I'd I understandably I don't get asked for a lot of advice, so I will uh I will I won't I won't go too overboard because yeah, I definitely don't feel qualified to give too much. But from from the driving perspective, there are a few things that like that definitely benefit to understand before you go before you go into a spring car for the first time. It's it's very counterintuitive, but you they and people say this all the time, and it rings 100% true. They do handle better the the harder you drive them. Like the the the quicker you're going, the more air that's hitting the wing, it does drive better. And a lot of folks, when they first start, they have a hard time handling these things because they won't rotate, they won't turn, because they won't keep the tires spun up, and there's not enough air, there's not enough like air on the wing to to make it do what it's supposed to do. So once someone has driven it into a corner like hard for the first time and it reacts the way that it should, if you were watching it from the outside, you would be like, Oh, that car did what it was supposed to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Once you've done that for the first time, you're like, Oh, I get it now. I understand. Like it's and then you and then you sort of repeat that. You're like, okay, drive it in, keep the tires spun up, you know, be quick on your counter turn, but you know, again, you've just you've got to stay in it because on the contrary to excuse me, on the contrary to our road cars or I'm sure a lot of other you know, racing types, if the tires aren't spun up on a dirt car, the car's not gonna rotate, it's gonna push, and it's gonna be a bad time for everybody because it's just it's it's it's never gonna Do what you kind of see it do from the outside watching. So yeah, look, that that's the thing. Like once once someone really commits and drives it in hard for the first time and stays in it and keeps keeps the foot planted and and just I mean, not you're not obviously up to have to you know foot down and steer the entire time. There's obviously throttle control in there, but once, yeah, I've I really generally once someone's driven it in hard for the first time, then they understand what they're supposed to accomplish with the next corner, and then it just becomes easier and easier and easier. And then, you know, then eventually you start to okay, cool. Okay, so this is how I attack the bottom, this is how I attack the the higher parts of the track, and you start to look for look for look for the grip in the track, like you can physically see it, and then like then you go, okay, cool. Like I had a bit of I had a bit of grip there, but and and okay, let's go and find that in the next time around. And there, and I ran through that part of the track and there was nothing there, so I can't hit that again because I'll just I'll end up either looping it or just getting blown my my doors blown off by someone who's in the grip. Yeah, it's so unbelievably multifaceted because the thing that I love the absolute most about dirt track racing or dirt oval racing, or you know, I'll just call it speedway because that's what we call it in Australia, yeah. Is that there's on the on the on the on the contrary to a circuit track, there's no one best way to run around the track, which I personally think is the absolute best thing about speedway, about dirt track racing, is that there is a constant search for the best way to run what looks like a simple track. It's a it's an oval, like how how how complicated can it be? But it's so unbelievably multi-dimensional. No, there's not. And and you might you might think you're running the same two laps, but you could be half a tire off of the grip and you're running a completely different lap to what you ran, you know, the the time that you hit it. It's it looks so simple from the from from someone who is watching from the outside, but inside, like you know, the inside of a race car, whether it is a spring car, a midget, a street stock, it does not matter. There is so much extra like you know going on in there because a circuit track, there is a best way to run it. Then there's apexes and there's you know the the the curbs that you run over, like it's that that's just circuit racing. It's and you've got you've almost kind of weirdly got to make wait for someone to make a mistake before you can pass them in a way, because if someone's ahead of you, they're probably running the best way there is to run that that that particular track, and you can't pass them if you're behind them. And so if you're on a dirt track and you're behind them, and if you're in a especially if you're in a wing car, that's not gonna work for you because even in our little LS1 sprint cars, we still get aerotight. Like I remember the first time I entered a corner behind someone and I had no air in my wing, and I'm like, oh my god, this thing isn't turning because there's just no air on it. So you have to adjust. You've either gotta you've either got to enter the corner above or below them and and make sure there's air on your wing. And and other that, or like I'm of the opinion that you know, I've always treated you know every lap as if I can't pass someone if I'm behind them. So I'm not gonna follow them in because I'm not gonna pass them. I I have to go and find some grip elsewhere. So that's um uh I I got way, way, way away from your original question there. But yeah, look, keep it just just to simplify it, drive it in, keep the tires spun up. And generally speaking, if there's enough air on the wing and if it's going in quick enough, it'll it'll it'll do what it's supposed to do. And then you don't have to follow this particular bit as gospel, but the heart the bottom of the track is oftentimes way, way, way harder to run than the top of the track. And I'm not saying you must go on, you know, pound the fence, like you know, your first time out, but you know, during hot laps and when there's some space on the track, you don't have to hug the curb, like you know, hang out like a a car length or two sort of off of it just to give just so you're not you know glued to the bottom, like you know, and because the the bottom's really hard to hit sometimes, especially if it's slick. And so yeah, just just be, you know, the track's yours too. You know, people will find their way around you, but you know, just like maybe, maybe, maybe some good, some good advice that I'm thinking of in the moment would just be learn how to hold your line. Yeah, you know, because that that way, that way, you know, if and when the time comes where someone's kind of lap you or pass you, at least you're predictable. At least uh at least they know where you're where you're gonna go and they can trust you to kind of to to hold your position as they as they look to to yeah after the weekend.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that well that's good advice. I'm sure well Jack's obviously been listening to people forever, but uh you know it all helps at the end of the day. So your racing career currently, what's your your short-term, long-term kind of goals there?
LS1 Sprint Cars And The 410 Reality
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I just to just to keep racing, I guess. I I don't I don't really have I don't really have the ambition to to uh expand or sort of grow, or sorry not grow, but to progress into any other sort of class, if I'm honest, because the LS1 sprint cars are so great in their affordability, it's a way for your regular folks like you and I to get into a form of sprint car racing that is still fun and competitive and like super social and it's a great time and most people get along and you know we we still we still get to strap into a sprint car the same way that everybody else does. We just get to do it on a way more affordable level. And you know, the numbers will never be there, and the racing will never be quite as cutthroat as what a as what a 410 race will be, but like no one can watch one of the LS1 uh races from this past season at the Motoplex and say that it's not entertaining. There were some really good races there, you know, throughout this year. I'm I'm of the opinion that the the the racing that the LS1 sprint cars put on this year was the best that I've ever seen from the club. And like I think it's only gonna get better because the everybody is striving harder than ever to be consistent and be competitive. And there was also, you know, here's another thing that I'll I'll plug the the LS1 club about is that unfortunately the club has been known in the past for being a bit of a graveyard when it comes to like feature races. There's been a lot of DNFs and a lot of mechanical failures. This year was the like the least amount of DNFs and engine failures I've I've seen from the club by a significant amount. The only like real bloodbath this year was unfortunately the state title at the motorplex, but it's the state title, so people are gonna be going a little harder than uh than what they would on your your standard Fast Friday. And but yeah, there was there was minimal to no engine failures on any given night. And it's just yeah, the the it's just so good to see the trajectory that the that the club is on. And and to tell you the truth, 100% honestly, man, I have no ambition to to drive like to to to progress to 360s or 410s because excuse me, it's just the folks will I get asked all the time when you're gonna get a 410, when you go on 410 racing. It's like, well, when someone drops like a million and a half in my account, yeah, because it's like it's you okay, so let let's say let's say that I want to go 410 racing next season. So I've got to go on buy a 410. If I'm gonna get a new one that's 120 Australian, 120,000 Australians landed, and then well, I've got to get a second one because that one's gonna get refreshed after 15 to 20 shows. Yeah, and then so I need one to sub in when that one goes out, and each one of those refreshes is about 20 grand, somewhere between 15 and 20k. Please don't take these numbers as gospel anybody. This is just kind of what you know, what gets set around the pits, yeah. Or I've been told these numbers by by someone who's actually involved in in 410 racing. Then I've got to go and change my shock package completely because the the shocks that I have on my car now would not be suited for a for a 410 competition. And then I've got to put new tires on every show. So there's 30 grand a year in tires. The the nomination fees like are more expensive every week. I've got to get a fancy freaking hauler, like you don't have to, but you know, it certainly helps to have a good hauler to get your stuff around in. I have to get, you know, a couple of you know rear ends for a summing break and a bunch of front ends in case something breaks and spare wheels and spare hubs and you know, it's spare wings and spare chassis. And I'm like, it's it's literally I have to get a bigger a fuel cell. I have to get a bigger fuel cell because the the little like the fuel cell that's on my car isn't it wouldn't physically wouldn't hold enough methanol to get me through a 30 lap feature if I just so happen to trip and fall into an A-main at the motorplex. Yeah, and and a and a and a fuel cell is for five grand. Like it's just it's it's it's not as simple. Oh I have to get a bigger fuel pump and different fuel lines and a and a different, you know, probably uh probably completely redo the entire fuel system because there's no way that my fuel system is currently set up that would be suitable for a 410. It's it's it's really not, it's not even close to as being as simple as taking out my LS1 out of my sprint car, dropping a 410, and okay, yeah, cool, let's go 410 racing. It's not, it's it's such an unbelievably massive endeavor. And that's I'm not saying any of this to deter anybody else from doing it. If you have the drive and the and the means to do it, yeah, by all means, like you know, go for your life. It's your life, it's your money, you do with what you wish. But it's just not, I I I'm a driven person, but I'm also a realist. And I just I won't let myself kind of daydream about something that will quite literally is just is just not attainable for me. So I am and to now uh just just to rewind to back to where the question started, so very content in the LS ones because it's cost effective, it's affordable, and I get to strap it to a spring card 10 10 or so times a year and have an absolute blast doing it. And I don't, and I thankfully, because of the help you know that I've gotten from my from my sponsors, especially this past season, it's more it's more affordable than ever because so so much of the financial burden has been taken off my shoulders because of the support that I've gained. And so, you know, and you know, I I also think sorry, I'm I'm I know I'm kind of going off on this question a little bit here, but here's something that that I think a lot of people forget when they're talking about someone going 410 spring car racing. You stepping into the Formula One equivalent of dirt track racing, yeah. And driving the car is one thing. You like most people can comfortably get a 410 spring car around you know the motorplex, for example. It's you know, I've I've I'm I'm I'm very lucky. I've gotten to drive the uh the merger motorsport 79 a few times at uh at sponsors nights, yeah, and it was a blast. And I'm pretty sure I barely got to you know 8,000, 7.5, 7,500 revs when I did because they are so unbelievably terrifying when you get in there. Like these things, they want to like when you step on the on the on the gas pedal, it drills you into the back of the seat. And then when you come off the accelerator, it wants to throw you through the rock screen. Like these things are absolute monsters, right? It's but it's one thing to just drive the thing around you know, around any given track, yeah, but it's a whole other thing to be in this on this on the track at the same time as you know, seven other cars in the heat race or you know, 25 other cars in a feature. It's I think that there is something to be said for taking the steps to get to that point. I think that there you could someone could gain a lot from having a really good campaign in the limiteds and then having a really good campaign in the 360s, and then make your way into the 410s. And I I have to make this clear, I'm not coming after anybody who's jumping from your support class into a 410. It's it's I'm I'm fully supportive of what you're doing. I think it's I think you're you're you're gutzier than me, like put it that way. But I I really do think that that's that's something could be said for if you go and get a couple of wins in the limited, and you go and get a couple of wins in a 360, I guarantee you're your the time that it's gonna take you to get competitive in a 410 is going to be much shorter if you if you had taken those steps to if you just jumped out of a support class and went into the 410s. Yeah. You know, I I think I think one of the I think one of the good examples right now would be there's there's two that come to mind. There's Cody Nash and Mikey Green. Yes. So, you know, Mikey Green didn't spend a ton of time. He he had he had a he had a couple of LS1 races in Belly Beckingham sprint car, and sure enough, I'm pretty sure he won one night. Shocker, Mikey Green's an absolute weapon, and and then he won a couple of 360 races, and sure enough, he goes into the four tens, and yeah, he goes out in his first night and he drills the wall in qualifying and you know makes a backout for the feature, thankfully. But look at the season that he just had. You had a couple of top fives, he started qualifying really well, had a couple of rip a heat races. That right there, I think is is is two is two things. One, it's natural talent. Undeniably, Mikey Green's one of the most talented drivers there is in WA. And he he took those steps, you know, ran a few times in an LS1, ran a few times in the 360s, dabbled in the 410, you know, at the end of the season, and then had a good goal out of the next year. It was a quick, it was a very quick transition, mind you, but I still think that like there's something to be said for the steps he took. And then you go and look at Cody Nash, was really good to midget, stepped over into the limiteds, had a really good package out of the gate, wasn't was immediately competitive with a really good program, and sure enough, knocked off a few wins in the in the limiteds, got himself a 360, goes and wins the 360 state title in his first attempt. Awesome. And then a few weeks later, jumps to the 410. And, you know, I'm I I haven't sp I I I'm gonna speak on like you know, Cody's behalf. I shouldn't because I shouldn't, I haven't actually spoken to him directly about this, but you know, I'm sure if I spoke to him, he would probably say, hey, like the the transition even from 360 to 410 is massive. Yeah. And I'm sure that I'm sure that he's like, man, like this is this is a whole other thing, and this is gonna take me a while to to to get like competitive because he's he's got the equipment, he's got great stuff, and he's definitely got the talent. What he needs is experience laps, and because he's he's he's now he's now in he's now in the same ranks as guys who have been doing this for five, ten, fifteen years, right?
SPEAKER_00We just have to look and see and see the time it took for Dane Kingshot, like an established racer gets in there. Yeah, it took him a few seasons to get him there as well. Yeah, and he just chipped away, chipped away from Kelly for an apprenticeship. He's in the best gear in the field, effectively, but it still took him time and lapse and experience to get there. And he's such a good guy, and you know, he obviously works really harder, and it's a wicked opportunity for him, and he now it's paying dividends, but he had to do the lapse.
SPEAKER_01That's that's actually the that's actually the perfect example. Uh, and I wish now I had used that as the example. But and you know, oh, you know what? Here's another good one, AJ Nash getting his first 410 win this season, you know, and you know, the just just rewinding back to the Dano one. That's crazy because you know, um, I I I'm sure a lot of us were there that night that he was, you know, you know, 100 meters away from his first ever win, and then he got Velcro into the wall and and dumped it, you know, with with quarter of a lap to go. And I can't imagine you know what what like how it would have felt when that happened. But you know, now now look at him, he he it feels like he never loses now. And that's because the like he invested the time, the cricket motorsport team invested the time, like they're just you know, it that that whole five-year apprenticeship that everything that everybody talks about is dead on the money. That's it's it's so unbelievable.
SPEAKER_00From the get-go, but to be able to put that time into him and give him that opportunity, they've got to drive, you know, 10 years that's gonna be most likely loyal and be able to put results on the board, you know.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, 100%. I mean, and uh, you know, it I know he didn't have the season that he kind of wanted to this year, but Jack Williams is the same thing. He's been in about four like three or four seasons now, and he's he's you know, he's qualifying well. He's heat race, he's he he's racing his heat rates well. And yeah, I I think it's not a matter of time with Jack off, I'm honest. Like, um I think this probably could have been the season. Yeah, yeah. He's it's there's WO has such good, such good drivers. Well, those those two drivers. So many of them are quite young, too.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Jack and Mikey, both dirt trackers car club members when they were little sh little kids, mate. I can remember running around the country.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_00So that's right. It's amazing what the grounding they get from the carts, how far it takes them.
SPEAKER_01No question.
SPEAKER_00All right, well, that's good stuff.
Turning Filming Into A Full-Time Job
SPEAKER_00What about so obviously doing the racing, and you've got involved in the media side of things. So, how how did that come about for you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so the the the media stuff is actually an extension of I have documented everything that I've ever done. Um I mentioned before that my my YouTube channel was a sim racing channel before I started racing, and then the years like two, three years before that. Two, three years um before that, I was filming skateboarding. Yeah, because that was what I did, you know, before before I started racing. And then, yeah, I was always like, you know, just set up my set up my phone and film shots that I would take or like out on the golf course, and I would set up and then film like true like drills when I was like when I had the ring to myself at the at the Coburn Ice Arena. I just like sort of film myself training and and kind of review it that way. And but the the big one was like I I've like I mentioned before that I spent a lot of time you know in doing music sort of between my early teens and my and my mid-20s. I had a video camera that I would you know take to to local shows, like local punk and hardcore shows, and I'd film set and and you know make videos there. And so I've I've I I claim to have been documenting things for the better part of about 15 or 16 years at this point. But if I'm gonna be dead set honest with you, I really only got like any kind of good at it in the last probably 12 yeah, 12 months, I would say. So in June, June and July last year, sorry, pardon me. June, July, yeah, June, July last year. I was very lucky in that I got I got to go over the US with the Link Chassis, Australia team, uh Jake Robinson and Tom Payet. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I did this was crazy. I got the call with six six days before they were departing. Jesus. They they they had something lined up and then it it it didn't really work out. And so Buddha texts me, messaged me on Instagram Tuesday morning. It was about 10 o'clock. I think I just finished Schmocker, and he's like, hey man, someone's gonna call you in a minute, like you know, make sure you make sure you pick up. And I'm like, oh, okay. So sure enough, 10 bit 10 or so minutes goes by, phone rings, I step out of the warehouse to go and take the call. Hey man, it's Jake. And I didn't know Jake that good, to tell you the truth, up until that point. I'm actually not even sure that we'd ever spoken in real life. We might have been in the same like circle of conversation, but yeah, we we we we we didn't really know each other that well. He's like, hey man, look, we need we need a media person for the America trip. Do you want to come? I'm like, yeah, that sounds good, man. When are you gone? He's like, Tuesday. No, yeah, it was like Monday. I got the call on a Tuesday. He's like, Yeah, we're leaving Monday. I'm like, bro, that's six days away. Like, I I my passport isn't valid anymore. Like, I gotta find someone to look after my dog. Like, you know, I need to find out if I can get the timer for work. And he's like, he did like the he did everything in his power to make sure that you know I could I could make the trip. And then by the end of that day, I had the I had to leave approved. I had someone look after my dog. And um, and by that Thursday, Thursday afternoon, my my passport had been renewed because like you know, they paid for the uh the the sort of rushed the the the quick turnaround kind of thing for the for the passport there. And yeah, man, six days notice. Six days notice I was uh I was off to uh to Indiana Midget Week and that like that was an unbelievable experience, like in in in and of itself. But what it did, and I actually just spoke to Jake about this yesterday, what it did was put into perspective how painfully mediocre my stuff was at that point. Because I just I I I just for the time at the time I just felt like what I was doing was good enough. And there wasn't a ton of competition out there, especially at the dirt track. So I I wasn't people were happy and so was I but I wasn't actively learning and I wasn't actively trying to get better because what I felt like I was doing at the time was just was just good enough and I I to tell you the truth I I didn't think that I had I didn't think that I had it in me to get better I just didn't believe at the time for whatever reason this I just didn't think I could learn anything more I I suffered from crippling you know sort of self-doubt issues and inadequacy issues but I yeah but then that so what the trip did was like being around the photographers and the videographers in the US I was like man these guys are way better than me and it gave me it really kicked in my imposter syndrome and I did the best that I could with what I knew at the time but when I got home I was like I need to get better at this because now there is competition there's other people around the pits with cameras and yeah and it's not just me anymore. So like you better get better at this otherwise someone's gonna come and take your business so over the last 12 months I have been actively like learning how to set up my camera better how to like use different settings in different so yeah like different settings in different circumstances how to you know I've upgraded my equipment like pretty significantly over the last sort of what what what months we in June? Yeah about the last six months I've I've invested uh quite a bit of money into some better equipment like lenses and things like this. Yep and yeah between all those things that's kind of that's kind of got me to to where I'm at now which like I I I just left my full-time job think this is my third week as a full-time sort of media content creator videographer I haven't really figured out what to call it yet to be honest because I think I don't think that the term content creator is corny I just for some reason I just I don't really feel like that's it's suitable to what I'm trying or what I'm doing but I also have a figure content creator comes with a like a you've got to have an opinion on everything as well whereas you're more of a you're still you're putting a product out there yeah I think that there's some truth to that because I I I I definitely create content in a way but just not in the sense that not in the way that I when I think of content creator it's just it just doesn't sort of attach itself to what I to what I uh what I'm doing. So I just I I I think recently I've just been using the term videographer and even that kind of triggers my my imposter syndrome because you know someone that I really I really admire and for lack of a better word look up to is Jeremy Hammer and he like what he puts out with with his like Hammer Creative and Evergood Studios what they do is something that I could only dream of you know putting out the the quality of things that they do for for people but I think what's what's helping me with that recently is that I have found my I've found my niche and that's actually okay if it's not large scale production things. Like I'm doing small scale at like you know on site sort of content for drivers teams clubs you know tracks whoever it may be that week and it doesn't it doesn't really bother me anymore that it's not like cinema grade if that makes sense. Like I I think I I I struggle with that for a while because I feel I feel I I looked at what Jeremy Hammer puts out and I thought I can't do that. And should I really be calling myself this or that or should I really be quitting my job and pursuing this full time if I can't put out the same stuff you know the especially the same quality that he can but then I realize that not everybody can do that. And I also realized that there is a place for everything and I've absolutely found my place is in providing small and affordable like content packages for for individuals for teams for drive like you know tracks series clubs whatever it may be and it took a long time to get to that point. My business model has changed significantly a thousand times over over the last like three or four years. An edit cut to music a handful of singles and a full length YouTube video for 500 bucks and I would I wouldn't do half of that for that amount of money anymore because the amount of time and effort that goes in that went into making all that stuff was astronomical even for even for the quality that I was putting out of the time but but that that's just what you do you you you that when you start you give more than what your than what your time is kind of worth because you're trying to build your client base you're trying to build your relationships and you're also trying to build your skill set too and then you kind of shift and adjust and then I was like oh I can offer the GoPro as its own as its own sort of service and the edits can be its own service and the singles can be its own service. So I started doing them individually and I was like okay the GoPros aren't that popular and the edits take absolutely ages to to make and they're just not worth the kickback that I'm getting for them. And that was where the singles thing came from and that's actually largely what I'm what I'm sort of focused on now because it's affordable for individuals and it works great for future promotions for clubs, teams, tracks because they can put it in their archive and you know put it and post up when they've got events coming up or during the off season when there's when there's no racing to be saying okay cool let's dig into the archives yep cool we got videos let's do that and like I feel like everything every I was thinking about this the other day everything I've done up to this point has been for the for to to benefit where I've gotten to now and like even even like skateboarding like it's it's so far away from what I'm doing now. But one thing that I took away from skateboarding was patience because you could be you could be out in the streets and we could be at a spot and like this whoever I'm filming with that day could be killing themselves like over this trick at this at this spot getting hammered by like bad concrete and getting slammed on ledges and rails and whatever else and I have to sit there hunched over this camera for hours and hours and hours on end for the just on the off chance of this one trick gets landed like if three or four seconds worth of footage could take hours to get to but I never not once complain because I loved doing it and I was I was happy with the with the final product and I mean that's just one example but like I feel like everything that I've done and tried and learned over you know my you know my lifetime has really really benefited me to to where I'm at now and I've I'm extremely I'm equal parts terrified and equal parts excited for this this that to call it my full-time job now because there's absolutely no guarantees of success but they're like I'm having an unbelievable amount of fun with it and every new thing that I try seems to be working really well and the like now I've tapped into the dirt like the dirt cart sort of scene which you know which is obviously why we're talking today. Yeah
Dirt Kart Clips And Viral Growth
SPEAKER_01and you know I I was very hesitant to be like man is is winter the right time to be quitting the job and and pursuing this full time you know given that it's it's like off season for Speedway. But then like man the the the dirt carts like man I've I've found my people like you know for sure and every and and I've I pretty much since is it the Ken assess was one of your first big shows I would guess uh something on that uh no there there was one there was one before that I I think there there might have just been a club day yeah at uh at where I had a handful like literally I think I had three things three three or four bookings written down on my hand for like for for people who requested clips that day because I I think I announced I was coming down on pretty short notice. And then by the end of the day my hand was full to the brim of people who who wanted clips from the day I was like okay there's there's something here and then Kenneth says like I was you know I wasn't maxed out but like there was there was a really good number of bookings and then I think I got about like some I think it was like 25 30 people like messaged me afterwards like hey did you get one of me and and then that just that became its whole thing and I'm like yeah after Kennon says I was like okay the the the dirt carts are an untapped market and I'm here to take I'm here to take advantage of that because yeah the the the reason why I've come to love like coming to the dirt carts is because not only is it a great you know you know opportunity for me like for to you know for for for for the business you know perspective but I love I love the enthusiasm that I get from from like the dirt cart scene and this can and the same thing can be said for the support classes like your street stocks proddies you know micros all that kind of stuff the the enthusiasm that I get from the people who get these clips because people like generally speaking not many folks come down with with cameras like not that often not with any consistency anyway so and and when they do it's predominantly photo based so having someone come down to the track with it's still a it's still a camera but to take videos instead of photos they go oh dang that's like that's sick like and we need to like yes cool I'll have a package I'll have a package I'll have a package and it works for everybody because they get their content I get my you know I get to obviously my my money and then like all in a big circle everybody wins because the club's getting exposure the tracks getting exposure the drivers are getting exposure I'm getting business and contributing to this like really niche awesome little sport that I've come to that I've come to love over the last few months and the the the my one thing that I've been really really stoked on is not only the enthusiasm from the drivers but the actual reaction online has been off the chain. That's what I was going to say like so I had um yeah like I'm sure like one my feed is absolutely just full of your videos and I'm like I might have to message you as well you know like yeah well actually I think you did didn't you I said we got you some Christmas canon says didn't we we did um but man like what what I'm what I'm absolutely stoked on at the moment is is the the the actual numbers that the videos they're getting the ones that I like so there there's two there's two examples that I'll give right now uh one I I got this really awesome clip of William Douglas like just wheels up like you know the whole way around that that that that corner that comes into uh into the pit uh the pit exit and the pit entrance at uh at dirtrack is and that was it oh I forget if it was that one or the one that followed it it got it's at like a million and a half views yeah which is insane like for for a for a cut and then this this is this is I think this is actually a bigger a bigger feather in my cap uh than than that that William Douglas wheelie video getting a million and a half Tyler McQuilkin yeah uh his his McWilken Motorsport Instagram when they bought uh singles from the when that he bought a single like one single clip from me at Kennon's S I put it in my Instagram story because it was the best clip I got that week and I had no idea who it was and I was like man I hope whoever like I hope whoever this is like finds me and buys this clip because this is so sick. And so eventually a few people messaged him and be like hey hey look you know look at Rain's story. So he messaged me he's like yeah yeah cool send it over so yep called 20 bucks there's your single they posted to the McQuilkin Motorsport Instagram which at the time had 70 followers right some 6000 views or something later they now have like I think like 800 now nearly 800 followers now off of that one clip and then they go like they grab another single from me out of well actually they grabbed a couple uh but they post another single from the waging show the waging 40 lapper like uh maybe three weeks later that one takes off and it gets over half a million views and another 20 000 likes that would that that actually gets me way more stoked than like if my if my numbers are good that makes me happy I don't I don't get any monetization off of my online stuff so I don't care but it it it it gets me stoked when something takes off I love that for me what makes me more stoked is when somebody else's video gets like gets big numbers and that that's that's driving me so hard right now like that watching those watching those those clips get good numbers it just it's fuel on the fire every single day because I I realized after I started like consistently coming to the dirt carts is that way more people have carts than what they do have sprint cars or late models or micros or midgets. So naturally your naturally your audience is already bigger and then you pair that up with the fact that dirt dirt cart racing is unless you tell me otherwise it's it's kind of specific to Australia. So when when people see it they go what the hell is that they've got a cart but they're like they're sideways around the corners and they're wheeling all over the place like and so they watch it a few times over the only go-karts they have in the US it's awesome on dirt are oval stuff there's no circuit stuff at all yeah is our outlaw cars yeah exactly and so and and that's that spins them out because like the amount of comments that I get on these videos they're going the wrong way it's like my man like you you just they see the one corner and they think that that's the direction they're going in I have to comment every single time like it's a circuit track they have left and right hand turns it's either that or they accuse my videos of being AI which drives me up the freaking wall because I want to go with that I oh I absolutely loathe AI and like having my stuff being accused of being AI absolutely makes my blood boil. Yeah but um but yeah they they see it's like they they see something that they they they they've never seen before and they can't understand so they just assume they just they just accuse it of being fake and that oh god it drives me up the freaking wall but I can't you're getting the vir the virality is that a word being viral people you're getting it to people that just don't know what it is so they're questioning it which you know it's a science word yeah yeah I think and I think that's a good thing when you're when you're reaching a different audience I think that is a huge positive for everybody but I I think that like it I just wish that like if someone saw something they didn't understand it they just wouldn't assume that it just wasn't real yeah you know like that then it's and why not ask the question like what's going on here as opposed to being oh this is AI crap I'm like well no it's not I it's that's not please don't please don't accuse myself of being that but again I I can't control people's keyboards that's that's that's not I think that's not something I have control over so I just have to yeah the the customers that you are getting uh it's it's it's really cool for their like sponsors and their friends and family and it it's just taking us to another level because obviously race minions we'd have a photographer down there from time to time and you just click through their library and you'd get the odd really nice still shot like I've got I've got a a directory on my computer here that would probably have every time I've seen a photo of myself I'll just copy and paste it to that directory.
SPEAKER_00So I've got you know hundreds of photos.
SPEAKER_01But obviously this is taking it to another place which is really exciting for the sport so yeah 100% because like you know the photos will always have their place because you can't you can't hang uh a video on a wall like you know at your at your yeah you you can't hand a sponsor a a framed video you know from from from the day you know you can't you can't make a video your your profile picture uh for your race teams like Facebook account or Instagram account yeah so photos I have I have huge respect for photographers because it is a completely different discipline to to videos and there's a reason why so few people cross over into the other one because they actually require a completely different sort of approach and like settings on your camera. Like there's very very little crossover. So we we very much like sort of respect each other's contribution because I can't take a photo to save my life and a lot of the photographers wouldn't know what your frame rate or shutter speed to to set their camera to if they need to take a video so but but the the to to what what I started saying before I got sidetracked there was that with every major social media platform largely being video based now yeah I'm not I'm I'm absolutely not saying that that photos are dead or dying or anything like that.
Accessibility, Gatekeeping, And Growing The Sport
SPEAKER_01I tapped into video for a reason. One it's because it's what I've always done anyway but it's also because you have to adapt because photos just don't get pushed that occasionally if if if one is controversial enough or if it's clickbaity enough or whatever then if you get enough people commenting on it it might find its way into other people's feeds but there's no there's it it won't get pushed into people's feeds half as much like not even a quarter a tenth as much as what as what a reel does so that's not to say that someone should you know switch their photo over to photo camera over to a video it's like because again they will always have their place and we desperately need as much media coverage in every form um on every sort of sport that we have especially in dirt racing because it is still so very niche and so under underexposed I think and so everybody that is contributing in any way shape or form videos photos these podcasts for example shout out the work area podcast is doing it as well for the for the speedway stuff. Yeah just everybody everybody yeah 100% everybody contributing is is only beneficial to everybody and it it drives me up the freaking wall when you know when access is denied and limited you know from from for one reason or another it's just it's detrimental to everybody. When we need as many eyes on the on every single sport as we can in a desperate attempt to gain interest bring people to the track get people involved gatekeeping just is helping no one at all it's it's it's it's and I I I have no answers for it because you can't change people's minds but it it really does disappoint me when when when access gets limited everybody loses yeah and there's just there's there's and then when when we're in a time where we have to compete with like asphalt carts and F1 and supercars and NASCAR like dirt is still so very niche we will like I would argue that dirt is 10,000 times more entertaining and cooler than anything on asphalt and I will take that to my grave. Until until we until we can you know actively we until we have a good archive of stuff that we can show people and be like hey look like you know I I actually made it I actually made a YouTube video a couple of years back of like I think it I think I think it was like five reasons why someone should come to a dirt track or why an F1 fan should come to a dirt track and I started the video with three three like photo finishes from a from dirt like from dirt track races that happened that very weekend like days before I recorded the video there was like oh you know what it was it was the it was the 2020 what would have been the 2024 360 Knoxville nationals where Brian round at Brian Brown and Aaron Riceall were just drag racing to the line there was a late model like a water outlaws or was it LucasOil either way there was a late model show that went down to the wire like photo finish there and there was the I I forget what the other one was I think it might have been an outlaw show I don't I forget what it was but you you have to go back decades to get like even a even a half close finish in an F1 race they're they're like the the next competitor is half the track behind like from anything that I've ever seen isn't it I mean and you know I I'm not gonna turn this into a you know into an anti F1 you know whatever because like you know I I think what they do is incredibly impressive but the you I just don't find the actual racing entertaining at all if I'm if I'm to be dead said honest.
SPEAKER_00A racetrack that you can see from standing still and you basically don't need to move to see the whole race and you see all 30 laps of it and it's all right in front of you and it's all over in 20 or 30 minutes it's a bit of a different thing to digest compared to a a 90 minute track that you can only see something just races past you you know when it's live so it's very I actually made I made that very point in the in the video you know that I made like that's one of the you know many points that I that I made but it you know I think I think the one of the one thing that's coming to mind right now that the that every aspect of dirt track racing needs to needs to push a little harder is accessibility.
SPEAKER_01You can't you can't you wouldn't get within spitting distance of an F1 car like at an F1 event.
SPEAKER_00Nope.
SPEAKER_01Man, for for 45 bucks at the motorplex, you know, you can rip down the pits and say good day to your favorite driver and go and hang out near the car. And I mean, if you're lucky at the end of the night, you might even get to go and sit in it. It's like, and you know, and there's that that is a level of accessibility that is so very unique, maybe not specifically to dirt track racing, but it's for sure more prevalent. It's former sure more prevalent than uh in dirt track racing than anything else. And I think that is, I think we need to sell that a little bit harder collectively. Is hey, look, you can come and watch this awesome racing, but if you want, we can go for a rip down the pits between the races and go and you know have a chat to a couple of drivers and go and buy a shirt and go and check out the car and stick your nose in the cockpit and no one says boo. So and like what more is a race fan could you want than that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, absolutely. All right, so next question I have for you. So
How To Book Rain And Improve Sponsors
SPEAKER_00to all the dirt carters out there, um, how do they connect with you? How do they know you're going to a particular meeting? How do they find out more about what you're up to?
SPEAKER_01That's a good question. So I I guess the obvious answer is is the social media platforms. Yeah. You you can find andor follow me the same handle everywhere. It's Rain Lee Media. Uh Rain is spelled R-E-Y-N-E. I do have the motorsport page as well, but for the sake of you know, this this podcast and this purpose, we'll we'll we'll localize the media one. Generally, I I I haven't because this is all very new and because I'm I'm learning how to kind of run this new business sort of effectively, I don't really have a set schedule at this point, but given that you know dirt cards you know race you know pretty pretty frequently throughout the winter, and you know it's it's it's proven to be very fruitful for me. You can bet your last 10 bucks that this that if there's a uh that if there's a dirt cart show in in in WA over the winter, I'm probably gonna be there. And I will advertise most likely in a story the sort of the week leading up to it, being like, hey, I'm gonna be at this track this weekend. I'm taking bookings for like five clips for a hundred bucks, you know, DM to lock in. And that's pretty much how I'm kind of running things right now, just because again, it it's it's early days, and I'm sure I'll streamline it in the future on how I can advertise where I'm gonna be and what packages packages are available. You know, if uh that that and that's also the best way to get a hold of me as well, is is through the uh social media accounts or you can email me rainleesammedia at gmail.com. And if if you have something non-track related or you want to do some behind the scenes stuff, obviously I'm very open to that as well. Love being at the track, but love you know doing track related stuff just as much. So I think that's um that's that's kind of my avenue now.
SPEAKER_00I think I think there's yeah, for for yourself to expand on as well, is obviously helping guys put together the kind of spot sponsorship package and give them the content that they need to make them look as professional as possible. So, you know, yeah, even in the sponsorships make it go along a lot further, you know.
SPEAKER_01So 100%. Like it's that, and that's that's everybody's goal, right? Is to not have to race out of their own pocket anymore. And you you know, as some some folks, generally the the sort of older generation don't really haven't quite gripped on to just how important and a good online presence is now. And and uh but but one thing that a lot of teams, drivers, tracks, clubs, generally the biggest sort of mistake that I or faux par, I guess, that I see made is is quality control. And that is hugely important. I'm not saying that you must post cinema grade your photos and videos at at like at every every every opportunity, but there is something to be said for making sure there's not like sort of iPhone four grade, you know, sort of pixelated nonsense on your page because if if God forbid that's the first thing somebody sees, yeah, the likeness that they're gonna go deeper than that is dramatically decreased. Um, that's right. And actually, you know, probably worth mentioning that um I I haven't I'm actually gaining interest, expressions of interest. If anybody hears this and they're interested in it, I'd love to hear from you. I'm actually going to build basically a presentation, like a kind of a grassroots, grassroots racing social media masterclass, so to speak. Uh masterclass makes it sound like I know everything. It really does have a kind of better word for it yet.
SPEAKER_02Instagram.
SPEAKER_01And I have had some good interest. I've had I've got a good a good list of names that are that are interested in it now. So that'll be that'll be an in-person event, most likely at varsity, I would say, because not only they're a sponsor of mine, but I love going to varsity. So I'll look for any any opportunity to go there. Matt, it's that that place does not miss. It does not miss. And so, you know, I I I don't know everything. I don't know, I don't have the answers to to how to how to make people be interested in you or how to make your numbers go big or how to gain followers. But what I do have is now about roughly just shy of four years of learning um how to because I won't go into my whole backstory, but people would pip over if they knew just how little was in my bank account at some points, you know, during my during my racing uh sort of tenure. And but I managed to keep it going because people were interested enough to come on board as sponsors because I had a good online presence. They sure as hell weren't do weren't jumping on board because of my results. Like I said, it took me two and a half years to even finish a race. But by the time I finished that race, I had, you know, roughly, I think, I think by that time I had about eight or so sort of sponsors on the car. Yep. And they weren't there because I was getting results. They were there because they saw someone who was really, really just trying and not giving up and you know, was posting good quality stuff consistently and being vulnerable and showing the highs and the lows of the whole process. And and they just they they wanted to be there, you know, when things started to go good. And then so when things started to go good, they got to ride that wave too. So and so they these are all the things that I kind of like I plan on sort of working into that masterclass. So there's I I I just I just I I've learned a lot of things over the last couple of years that I think would be largely beneficial to people across the board, but especially people who may not be so sort of like savvy on how to use the the social media platforms effectively. And that like just like little loopholes and and how to like sort of how to streamline the process and how to get around music licensing and all these all these just little tiny things that I've learned over the last four years by trial and error, I feel like I can help people sort of streamline that their learning curve to a much shorter period of time by just like by just kind of putting this one class together and putting together what I know and then taking questions to like that people might have in the in the process. So if anybody's interested in that, I'd love to hear from you because I'm just shy of the amount of sort of interested names that I need to like really put it into motion because I have all the ideas, I've got, you know, I've got how I want it to be laid out, and I've even got a venue that I want to go and host it at. I just I need a few more people to be involved to to make it kind of worthwhile because it will be a paid event because of just because of how much time you know is going to go into uh into putting it together. But I I do genuinely believe that it will be very, very helpful to anybody that attends.
SPEAKER_00Nice, that's awesome. So everybody just jump on, make sure you jump online and check out Rain's pages, as he said. I'll put them in the uh show notes as well so people can link up to that. And yeah, I suppose if anyone's interested, obviously getting on getting some awesome media, mate, which you've all obviously seen, reach out and
Passion, Belief, And A Go-Kart Plan
SPEAKER_00get it done. You know, we've been talking for over an hour, mate.
SPEAKER_01So I reckon. Yeah, no, I totally believe that. Because what what do we say? What did we say at the start of this? Like we we've both we've both got the gift of the gab, and I I can think of four different occasions on this podcast alone where I've where I've gone you know way too long on a question just because I'm honestly man, that's just how I'm wide, unfortunately. It's just it's uh yeah, especially, especially when you get me, when you get me going on something that I really care about, like and that I that I genuinely love and and and I'm passionate about, it's it's really hard to get me to slow down. I've hated that element of myself, like you know, in in different parts of my life, but I I now like there's I wouldn't change a damn thing because if I heard someone talk about their their passion and their like the things that they love the same way that I talk about the things that I love, I would never interrupt them because like that would just it would just make my day to it make my day to to to to see someone that loves something, you know, as much as I love videography and and dirt track racing and speedway and my spring car. And it's like I and I feel I know I'm going off again on this one, but like I really do feel like it's it's it's it's hard to find that now. I uh when I when I talk to people, like generally it's it's it's I ask them what they sometimes I'll ask someone, it's like hey, what do you like, what do you do for fun? Like what do you what do you care about? Like what do you really love doing? Like, what do you do with your spare time? And I don't know, it just it it it feels like we're we're just in a place right now where people are so sort of trapped in their in their especially their work life. Yeah, surviving that they yeah, they're they they're quite literally in where we're all in like kind of survival mode, and it's just I feel I can feel this kind of decline in in people pursuing things that they they they really love and that they're passionate about. And I'm not saying that like you have to go and turn your passion or your your your your uh your hobby into your job. You don't even have to be good at it. Like I wasn't good at skateboarding, but I love doing it. And uh that's why I became a filmer because I was no good at it. But it you know, it's just it's like I I I find that in my experience, life is just way more enjoyable and fun and just tolerable, like you know, because man, love kind of sucks sometimes. Like it's it's not fun a lot of the time. And and but but if if if I I've always I've always like had this thing where if I have something to look forward to at the end of my day, that's what gets me through my day. Like if I like if I'm if I have something, or it doesn't even have to be the end of that day, but if I've just got something to that I really really love that I can cling on to and like that I can feed off of just to get me through all the things that I don't want to do, that's what sort of keeps life kind of fun and interesting. And you've gotta have 100%. You got you gotta have you gotta have like joy and you've gotta have passion. If you haven't found it yet, go and find something. Go and try something. Like go go join a pen pin bowling league or go and like try underwater basket weaving. Like you know, go and find your go and find your thing, and then like you know, it if that's not your thing after a year, don't worry about it. Go and find the next thing. Like just just be have joy, have joy, have passion in your life, because man, it's it it really does make things a whole lot more fun.
SPEAKER_00And as your spring car wing says, believe.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, it's I mean, yeah, we didn't run that this year, but oh look, it uh it's actually a really short one. It's actually just a sign from my favorite TV show, Ted Lasso. If anyone hasn't watched Ted Lasso yet, please jump on that. It's uh I found that show exactly what I needed it, needed to find it. And I didn't have a sponsor in my top wing. And I was like, you know what? There nothing could be more apropos uh to my story and my team and how my first couple of years sprint car racing went than that than that symbol. And so that became our little that's what we kind of rallied around, you know, that for for when things weren't going good, we rallied around believe, and we just we sort of never like we we f- I mean, I definitely wanted to, but we didn't give up. And then like then it, you know, after that season, I feel like it ran its course and it's always around, like it's still on my race suit, for example. But like it's just I I don't feel like I needed to cling on to that anymore, so I kind of let it go. But that believe like sign symbol will always be sort of around in some way.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. So, mate, to wind things up, I've got one more thing I'm gonna ask you. When are you when are we gonna see you in a go-kart? Do I have to organize to get you a ride or what?
SPEAKER_01No, you don't. I've got some lined up actually. Oh, good. But but unfortunately, unfortunately, I think uh I think old Mother Nature might throw away throw a spanner in the works. So this weekend, actually, I'm supposed to be having a rip in a 125 at Jenna. But yeah, it unfortunately looks like uh old uh old Mother Nature is gonna is gonna rent on the parade, so to speak. So I I do actually just real quick, I just want to do a shout out Josh Dale, who uh who offered me up that ride. And he actually even organized a uh a second part for my buddy Keith. He's my buddy Keith, he's been here, he's my like day one helping me on the spring car. And I've um I've yet to really properly be able to say thanks for all the help that he's given me. So this is one of the ways that I've tried to sort of incorporate thanks into uh into you know into that is to help to come and have a rip in a dirt cart with me. I desperately, desperately wish that the uh that the weather's gonna clear up for this weekend because I would absolutely love to have a go because they look like so much fun, dude. Um I think I'm gonna I think I'll I've got I'll get the I think I'll get the left hand turns okay, but man, I'm I don't know if I'm gonna be able to turn right that good, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00So uh if you get pedal spring turns, that will come naturally, mate. You'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, maybe. I don't know, man. It's because spring cars don't turn right that good. So we'll uh we'll see. Good stuff.
SPEAKER_00All right, mate. Well, I really appreciate your time. But yeah, I think we've had a good, good, a good chat. And like I said, all the people out there that have been utilizing your services, keep up, keep the support up. And it's great to have you down there, mate. It's added another dimension to what we're doing in the carts, and hopefully we see you at a lot more events in the future. And it's I think it's great how dirt carts in WA, especially, doesn't cross too much with the speedway season. So there's only a month or two by the side that it kind of does battle each other a little bit, but not heaps. So it should it should work well for you, mate.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think so too, man. And you've actually triggered something uh that I should definitely do, and that's to say thank you actually to uh to the dirt karting sort of community for being so enthusiastic and being so welcoming, and it's it's made the early stages of of treating this as and this being my full-time job way more manageable and way less daunting. Just uh you know, the the business that I get and the enthusiasm that I get has been huge and it's been like so just it's I can't even think of an adjective, it's just been awesome, it's been so cool, man. And uh, and you know, the the the the relationships I've developed, like you know, with with like some of the drivers and and like the tracks and stuff, like it's it's only gonna get better. And and I'm just I'm very I'm very thankful like that um that I've been sort of welcomed into uh into this awesome little sort of niche you know sport. And like I I look forward to sort of continuing to work with everyone and contributing to to exposing it where possible and sort of helping people you know sort of enhance their online presence. And I think like honestly, man, everybody wins. Everybody wins when sort of you know, when we can all sort of contribute to each other, and and I think we're onto something good here for sure.
SPEAKER_00Awesome, mate. All right, thank you so much for your time, and uh we'll see you at a racetrack soon, I take it.
SPEAKER_01Hopefully on the weekend. So this weekend, hopefully. Hopefully this weekend, mate.
SPEAKER_00All right, mate. Appreciate your time, thanks very much.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, boss, appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00Cheers, man. Bye.