March 11, 2025 • 40 mins
This week on Throttle Therapy, Katherine makes her Cup Series debut in Phoenix for Live Fast Motorsports. Driver Andy Lally joins to discuss how Katherine is using sim racing to prepare, and to get some expert advice as she enters yet another world of racing. Following the race, Katherine discusses the changes made to the car after qualification and the challenges she faced on the track.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to Throttle
(00:22):
Therapy with Me Catherine Legg. For this episode, it's going
to be NASCAR based, and it's going to be all
about my NASCAR Cup debut in Phoenix, and you're gonna
hear from me the Thursday before the race and all
my preparation. Then you're going to hear a discussion between
myself and my good friend Andy Lally about what I
(00:43):
should be doing in preparation for Phoenix, and then you
will get the recap on Monday after the race. So
today it's March sixth, it's Thursday, and tomorrow Friday morning,
I fly to Phoenix for my first ever Cup race.
(01:04):
I literally drove off, I think on Tuesday. I drove
up to North Carolina to meet with my brand new
NASCAR team, their Fast Motorsports, and I did a seat
fit in the seventy eight Droplight car and sat in
the car. Luckily, we were able to use my seat
from ARC at Daytona. So Billy and the SPS team
(01:27):
are the bust and they sent over my mold to
BJ McLeod, who runs Live Fast owns the Fast. Actually
BJ sourced a shell for it, which means the bit
that bolts into the car and then the seat that
you make that molds around your body goes into that shell,
(01:47):
and then you basically move the pedals in the steering
wheel to it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
So I sat in the.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Car and obviously the seat still feels great from Daytona.
The pedals were a little bit close, I would say,
and the serum wall was a little bit far away.
But there's not much you can do when the car
leaves the very next day to go to Phoenix. So
we pushed it forward a little bit, called it good,
and I think we're going to be AOKA. So that
(02:13):
started off my week in North Carolina, and it's been
a crazy ride. Since I've done static sims, I've done
motion sims at the DL in Chevrolet in the GM
Tech Center. I've done pitstop practice, I've had meetings, I've
hung out with a bunch of people. Engineers like RCR
(02:34):
have helped me. Calig helped me. I've been Honestly, I've
had the best week. I feel very well supported, I
feel very well prepared. Well, I feel as prepared as
I can be without having driven the car.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Let's say.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And it's just been great. So I got in the
sim for the first time, the static sim at RCR
and Richard Children's Racing for those of you who aren't
specifically NASCAR up on your knowledge, and the guys there
were amazing. So I am not one of those drivers
(03:07):
who grew up doing much EE racing or rFactor or
SIM driving. So I am not a gamer by any
means of the imagination. And it took me a minute
to get used to driving the sim. But once I
was used to it, it was really interesting and it was
really great, and I'm hoping beyond hope that it translates
to real life. I've only ever done it one time
(03:31):
before in preparation. I've done some work for the IndyCar
Honda sim, but I've never done sim work in preparation
for a race apart from one time. And that one
time was when I was doing the World Endurance Championship
week and we did it for Barcelona, and it messed
with my head like.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It didn't translate in my mind, and so it made
me worse.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So I've got that in the back of my mind
and that's kind of freaking me out a little bit.
But everybody I speak to, all the other drivers, it's
really realistic in terms of feel.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So I'm really.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Hoping so because I did a bunch of work on
the static sim for a couple of days actually, so
actually that brings me to another point. We had a
question from a listener from down under, Mitch Hi. We
had a question about generations and sim racing, and actually
it's a very good question. I'm going to shorten it
and say, how does your age dictate how much sim
(04:30):
work you do? And I would say quite a lot
because my generation, and I'm going to age myself a
little bit here, did not grow up necessarily and I
don't know that it's necessarily a generational thing, but a
lot of my generation did not grow up on simulators.
The now generation are all on simulators. And I can
(04:51):
tell you from my time working with the Prodigy League
that the sim races are awesome and their level all
of car control set up, talent, et cetera, et cetera,
is out of this world and that's because they've got
so much experience, because you can test and practice NonStop
(05:14):
and it not cost you any more money, Like it
doesn't cost you a set of tires, it doesn't cost
you putting more fuel in the car. You just reset,
you crash, it doesn't cost you any money. So this
generation have a lot more experience than simulators than my generation.
Although having said that, people like Justin Wilson, AJ Almendinger
AJM racing against now unfortunately we lost Justin really awesome drivers.
(05:38):
They did grow up, don't I racing, And so maybe
it's less of a generational thing and more of a
way you grew up thing, and I just was not
into gaming. But I think definitely my generation and older
we didn't have sophisticated simulators these days. I drive the
(05:59):
dil At Chevrolet and it's a multimillion dollar uber realistic
grig right, whereas in my day we had a Sega
game gear that we would use to as a serial Well,
so I think it's both generational and personality based. I
(06:21):
think a lot of modern day drivers use it as
a tool. I don't know how many of them love
it or not. I personally don't love it, but I
love the opportunity to use it because it makes me better.
So therefore I make myself do it and it make
myself be positive about it. BJ's been an absolute Rockstaran
talked me through everything that I need to know from
(06:41):
his standpoint. It has fried my brain and I am
exhausted by this week because I think we've squeezed into
three days what I should have learned in three years
in the latter series of doing.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Stock car racing.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So it's been a lot of fun. I feel very
well supported. The Cowld guys have been amazing. They've been
very supportive of what I'm trying to do as well,
like literally every Chevy team and Chevrolet themselves have been
so cool and so I got to even Hendrix, I
got to do some pitstock practice, So I drove maybe
six to eight pit stops and tried to get used
(07:21):
to everything's different. So when I'm driving in sports cars,
especially sports cars, I.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Don't think about it.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I like my subconscious just takes over. I don't think
about leaving pit lane. I don't think about what happens
under yellow I wait for radio communication. I don't think
about what gear I'm supposed to be in I don't
think about how I leave pit lane. I don't think
about any of that stuff consciously. It just happens because
I have so much experience and I just kind of
know what I'm doing. And so I got to even Hendrix,
(07:52):
I got to do some pitstock practice. So I drove
maybe six to eight pit stops and tried to get
used to everything's different. So in INDYCO and in sports cars,
actually in pretty much every single other form of racing
apart from STOCKGA Nascar, you have pitleyan spin, the Matornia
(08:13):
seering mael. You have a button, and so you break
the pit lane like you practice coming in pitlane.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Every pit stop you do.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
You practice where your brake marker is, how are you
gonna stop in time for the line? How you get
down to the speed and then you put your foot
back on the gas because your finger's on the button,
and you ride down at fifty miles an hour, sixty
miles an hour, forty miles an hour, whatever the speed
lane may be. You have a button right and you're
in a gear first second, whatever that may be, and
(08:40):
so you turn in to your pit box, put your
foot on the clutch handle, the clutch depending on what
kind of car it is, select the gear that you want,
wait for the guys, and then go again. It's not
that hard like my grandma could do it. And a
stock car you have to look at lights, I mean
at least it's lights and not attack anymore.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So you're looking at lights.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
To make sure you know speed. And pit lane you
have lots of lines on pit lane that you have
to not speed on. And it's not that easy to
get the car slow down because I don't have the
experience of knowing how the car's going to stop. Also,
you have a lot of what we call wedge in it,
which is off weight corner weights for the oval, so
(09:22):
when you break, the car doesn't break evenly. The car
wants to turn under breaking or lock up underbreaking because
you have a lot of weight on one side rather
than the other because you want that kind of ride
high and weight to turn.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
On the oval.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
So you have that.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You also have to look at the tech like the
whole time, as well as looking at the car in front,
as well as looking for your pit stol. And by
the way, there's like thirty six other pit stols. It's
not like in any car where you have maybe twenty
four and the pit stols are small, and then you
have to get up to speed without speeding. On the exit,
there's no pitling speed limited to catch you. There's no
(10:00):
you're pushing a button to switch it off and get
back on the banking and go again. So you're literally
in holding the revs exactly where they tell you to
hold the revs in order not to speed. And then
if you're not going fast enough by a little bitty bit,
you get pushed down pit lane. So I've been warned
about people pushing you down pitlan if you're not going
fast enough to you. So I this will be a
(10:23):
new experience for me. I'm excited to try it. I'm
apprehensive to try it, but also I'm told it's not
that hard once you get used to it, So maybe
after the first time I'll feel a little bit more
secure in knowing what to do. But right now it's
very conscious. Okay, steering will slightly to the right when
I stop when they're doing the right hand tires because
they also jack one side of the car up at
(10:46):
a time, whereas what I'm used to is the whole
cargoes in the air by an air jack that gets
plugged in and then they change all full tires. The
car drops on the ground and you go. But no,
you do right sides drop the car, you select a gear,
do left sides drop the car, you go. So it's
just a different process and it's not one that you
can rely on your self conscious for. So I practiced
(11:06):
pit stops with Hendrix and I hope that my conscious
mind can keep up. And tomorrow we leave super early
seven point thirty out of Concord, North Carolina to fly
to Phoenix, and then obviously we've got a day at
the track tomorrow before we have the race weekend, and
there's been a lot of media coverage of it. I
was really hoping to fly under the radar. I was
(11:28):
really thinking my first cut race with love Fast Motorsports
would kind of go unnoticed and I just ease into it.
And it has not worked out that way at all,
in any way, shape or form. Also did not realize
that my debut is the first time in seven years
that a woman has driven in NASCAR and it's on
(11:49):
International Women's Day. Didn't think that one's very weirdther today,
so lots of coverage, which is great for the sponsors,
droplight chef that companies like there's super happy. Obviously, I'm
super happy about it too, Chevrolet. I just it's a
lot of pressure, and so I am not flying under
the radar. I don't have any expectations. I'm just trying
(12:11):
not to make any mistakes. But I hope that I
do a good job, and I hope that I prove
that I'm competent enough to do more, because I'm super
passionate about it and I think I have balls for
trying it, and I want to prove that I belong
or I will belong with some experience, and yeah, it
(12:32):
means a lot to me. I am very lucky to
have such a great friend in Andy Lally, who has
a ton of stock car experience and all kinds of
rating experience and has helped me tremendously through the years,
taught me everything I know about how to drive a
(12:53):
gut car and hopefully a lot of things to know
about how to drive a stock car. I'm joined by
one of my best friends and also very famous race
(13:17):
car driver, Andy Lally.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Hi, Andy, Hello, how are you today?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I'm gravy actually, so one of the many reasons I
think that our listeners need to hear your voice is
because of what you've been doing to help me this
past couple of months. And I will preface that by
saying I just got to North Carolina. I asked for
(13:43):
your help and support in so many things over the
years because we were friends and teammates and all sorts.
But for lately, I should say I asked for your
help in all things stock car racing, because you have
a lot of experience in stock car racing. And it
started in twenty eighteen when I did some Infinity races
that you helped me. And then I called you in
(14:04):
January and said, I'm going off racing at Daytona.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
What do I need to do?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Who We sat and we watched a bunch of old races,
and you tried to impart your knowledge to me. But
I'm going to ask you to tell the listeners what
you have raced, not just in the stock car world,
but like a little bit of your background and also
what you are doing now before I jump into the
stocklast stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
A long story short. I have been racing cars for
thirty three years, starting go carts a long time ago
in the eighties and moved my way up to sports cars,
some open wheel stuff. There was a hot minute where
I wanted to be an indie car driver for a second,
but for the most part, my eyes were always on NASCAR.
(14:47):
My opportunities came in sportscar racing that started in New
York at Bridgehampton, at Limerock, and a lot of the
stuff in the Northeast. I race SECA, moved up to
the USF two thousand series, moved up to the Barbadage
Pro Series, moved up to Atlantic, and at the same
(15:08):
time I was doing touring cars in the Motorola Cup,
which was what Firehawk was. And then I got an
opportunity to race prototype in two thousand and that led
to an opportunity to race the Daytona twenty four in
two thousand and one. We won that and that got
me a ride for the rest of the season and
(15:29):
the championship, and that pretty much solidified my direction of
what I was going to do for the next twenty
some odd years. And I've been full time in IMSA
since then. It's had a bunch of names along the way,
but it's been full time in IMSA for twenty twenty
five years now. Along the way, I've always tried to
race Nascal, So I did my first ARCA truck and
(15:54):
bush race all in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Versus expinite is now.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, acting exactly and basically I bounced back and forth,
had opportunities here and there when I thought I was
going full time, didn't kind of came back, thought I
was going to have a full truck deal, didn't. I
bounced back to sports cars, had a full time Cup
deal that was just a mega low budget single car team.
We didn't have an engineer. It was me, a crew
chief and a skeleting crew of hard working guys on
(16:23):
my crew, but just low budget. And I jumped back
to sports cars just before the end of that season.
And I've been in sports cars full time pretty much
full time this whole time, except for twenty eleven. But
I jump in some Exfinity road course cars every once
in a while, got a Cup deal. But I recently
also just hung up the helmet, retired and became president
(16:44):
of the trans Am series and.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Growing up with a proper job.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah, I love the series and that's really what matters.
I want to get that series going in the right direction.
I think it's got so much potential.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Do you want me to come in?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I would love you to come and drive.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I think we should make that a reality.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
We absolutely can make that a reality. If you like
stock car road racing, you'll love transit.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
So you taught me everything I now know in GT cars.
You took me from an open wheel driver to relatively successful.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
GT driver love that counts and races.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
So you taught me everything I know in GT cars,
and I was hoping that you would teach me everything
that you know in stock cars.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
How has that process been for you?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
You don't listen to anything I say. I do too
now I think it's I mean, the biggest thing that
I'm trying to impart is as much as people want
to think an indie car or a sports car or
whatever is the hardest thing to drive because it goes
really fast through the corners, and that it is, It's true.
(17:56):
I mean, those guys are guts, you have all the
respect in the work form. A stock car at the
limit is the hardest thing in the world to drive.
I've driven just about everything, and the biggest challenge of
my life has always been stock cars, especially on sketchy ovals.
(18:17):
So you're going to relatively flat oval, which is good,
but it is going to be very difficult to pick
up and it's going to be quite a challenge. And
so I think that's the biggest thing is getting you
yourself you can drive.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Do you think I've got what it takes to make
it relatively successfully and start cause on it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Absolutely, But you've got to consider what's happening right now
this weekend. So this weekend is going to be one
of those deals where you have to check your ego
and chill because you've never driven a next GENI car.
You've driven one stock car race on an oval six
years ago, right, and you've never raced at Phoenix.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
And you're going I did I did occer at Daytona
as well them.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, it doesn't count that super speedway stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I don't know the same.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Sure it counts a little bit, but you really get
like twenty minutes of practice of which you're probably going
to drive for twelve minutes of that, and if they're smart,
they're just gonna send you out of pit lane and
let you go do laps of laps and laps and
then talk to them when you get in. Because figuring
out the nuances of this car, it's up. It's a
(19:34):
much higher CG car to very low profile tires. So
when you get a very low profile tire, you get
so much less wiggle room, which is why when these
guys went to the next gen cars, you started seeing
cars off turn two, off turn four under big load
when they would normally be used to a big I
don't want sloppy sidewall because it's still a good sidewall.
I love thin with your tire back then that it
would flex, it could move around and you can get
(19:55):
some yaw into it and miss. With a low profile tire,
you get to the much less yaw before it gives up,
so you'll have higher peak grip, but then much quicker
snap at the exit of the corner. So exited two,
exit of four at Phoenix, both of those areas or
as you're just committing to power is tricky, and it's
it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Snap or a flat sline.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
It'll usually be a flat snap. You've got a much
shorter time period between a little bit of slip and
sea later.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It doesn't Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's very catchable
because when it catches people out, like literally puts the infense,
it doesn't seem like you can play with the slide
that much.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You get guys that overcorrect a lot with this time
because you know they know how snappy it is, have
big input on it. And we saw that last year
actually with the fifty four. Have a big catch release
and snap into the wall, and you know it's going
to happen to somebody. So this weekend for you, you're going
(20:58):
in with a part time team that is not a
big budget team. Great guys. BJ's awesome, one of my
good buddies, love them, but it's it's not You're not
Connor Zilli's rolling in with track House who's wonted CODA
before and going to have teammates to help them. You know,
you're solo, going to rely on a handful of hopeful
new friends that'll give you a two breaking markers in
(21:22):
the one and in the three, and then maybe a
little advice on what's going on. And you're in a
chevy right.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Yeah, I'm hoping that AJ will also give me some
great markers and sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Honestly, relying on a guy like AJ and and really
anybody else in the field that's willing to give you
some advice as far as specifics like they were their
last November. Here's how the track through, Here's what happens,
Here's what it feels like when you get up into
the PG one, if that's what they still call it,
and all the other things that come with that. You're
going to have twelve minutes to learn and then put
(21:55):
in a semi conservative like not going for it because
it won't matter qualifying lab and then try to log
labs in the race. And it's a one mile track,
so inevitably you're going to get lapped. And then once
you start to when you're trying to be a good
new person in the field and try not to get
in the way. Once they get to lap you, once
(22:16):
you lift a little bit, the next person's on you,
next person's on your, next person's on you, and you're
going to spend a day looking in your mirrors at
the way. But there's still a lot of learning to
do there, and that's what I think needs to be
at the front of your head.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I just don't want to make any mistakes and I
just don't want to look silly. I want to just
do the day looking competent. I guess whilst I learn,
and one of the biggest things. So going into arkat Daytona,
I remember we sat there and we watched the race,
and then we watched the last year's race and the
year before the race, and you were telling me about
how to drive the car, but also about how to
(22:50):
race the car and all the things. And one of
the things you said was when you leave pitt lane,
you have to be on it, on it, and you
won't believe how fast they go out. And so I
was thinking, Okay, I want to leave pit lane in
a sports car. I'm I'll be on it, on it
like it's cold tires.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I know I can do it.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And then the first time we left pit lane, I
was like, Holy.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
What are these guys doing?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Like no, just just wait a second, like this is
that was the biggest shock to me. In practice, I
was like, Okay, everything else I got, but the pit
lane stuff and the procedural stuff. That's all the stuff
that you don't feel comfortable pushing. Like you and I
both know that we drive race clubs for a living.
There it's all got four or five wheels and goes
(23:34):
in the direction like we can get up to speed
on track by ourselves in anything relatively quickly, but it's
being on track with everybody else. It's the pit lane stuff,
it's the pit stops, it's the it's the stuff that
you don't do.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
One hundred laps of. That is.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Is kind of things that plan on my mind. And
I came up to North Carolina and I'm going to
drive in the SIM tomorrow. So what, in your opinion
should I focus on in the SIM to make myself
as prepared as I could possibly be for the for
the race.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
For the race long runs, like what that tire is
going to feel like going off. The trickier thing to
get used to is that in NASCAR, essentially the first
rotation of the tire is the gripsies. It's going to
get you know, you roll out of pit lane. By
the time you're a pit exit, the tires there. And
that's why these guys go out and come to green
(24:30):
and throw down one lap qualifying lands and they wouldn't
even bother with a second lap because they know the
tires already off. So for you, like you might underdeliver
on that, which is fine.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Do I have to back off the tire on the
outlap to make sure that it's still good for the
one lap or anything, or I just hammer down.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
You pretty much just hammered down, you know, give it
a little bit. When you qualify there, you'll be especially
it's kind of odd the way you exit pit lane
at Phoenix. You're going to al wad be on the straight,
so it's not like you come out and go into
turn one two. You'll come out of the exit of two,
so you'll you'll fly up to speed and be pretty
(25:11):
darn that you'll be at ninety eight percent going into three.
By the time you come out of four, you'll be
one hundred percent, and it'll be way grippier than it
was when you were in practice because you won't get
to really feel what it's like in practice because you'll
be going out on your first lap. Your first four
(25:31):
or five laps will be so exploratory because you've never
driven a next gen car, you haven't driven in an
Xfinity car in years, you've done a total of like
four stock car races, you're in your entire life, and
so your learning curve is going to be so steep.
You're not going to be able to take advantage of
what the new tire feels like. But if they run
you for that whole session. Then you'll at least get
(25:55):
some laps, see what the tire feels like fallen off.
And I think that's going to be the biggest thing
for you in the SIM is to do a bunch
of laps as well, find the markers, if you can
talk to AJ, if you can talk to any friends
that you make at the SIM that might be another
driver at the SIM that says, hey, or here's how
I do this. In three and four, you can run
it way under the yellow line. In one and two
(26:16):
two and he's before he's running a bunch and actually
I think he's done pretty well there at that point.
So all of those you use every bit of information
that you can get and take it to a but
really in the back of your mind has to be
stay out of trouble. To five hundred miles.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I'm going to be so tired. I'm going to be
Eyeland still. Five hundred miles insane. I've never ran a
cool suit before.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
It's nice if it functions, you know, every once in
a while. I went out on Kaslowski last weekend. That's
not a good deal. But have a backup. Playing with ice.
It'll be tough because you know in that first hundred miles,
you're probably going to be squeezing the heck out as
much as you know how to chill in races, and
you've done hundreds of races before. This is going to
be different. This is gonna be more adrenaline pumping than
(27:04):
the day, than the Indy five hundred. This is probably
going to be the biggest challenge in a race that
you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Because you don't just jump in at the five hundred.
You do any lights or Atlantics, and then you do
other races and you kind of work way up to it,
Whereas I feel like you.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Still get to Indian go fully cap but and then
this is what's gonna happen here. You've skipped, you're skipping
a lot of steps. So you're your biggest positive impression
that you can make this weekend, because anybody in the
know will know that this is your fourth ever stock
car race, and so your biggest thing that you can
accomplish here is if you make this the whole way
(27:41):
without any issues, you're probably going to be eight laps down,
not for nothing. If you can get over.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
For relatively happy with that, honestly, like if I can
finish and I'm a lumps down, but I haven't made
any mistakes.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I would be okay with that.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, for for day one, one, for weekend one. In
a cup car. Ever, I mean, we've seen big stars
come out and have horrible first races.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
But then like SBG comes out and wins his first
race or what makes Yeah, but he's.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Been driving something so similar to what these cars are.
You have not you know this is opposite. I mean,
the GT car is the closest thing, and that's not
close enough. It's too light, it's too grippy, it's too
much downforce, and it's not on an oval, which is.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Also another thing you said to me today was don't
look at the comments. So I was looking when we've
posted the announcement and yeah, well so I wasn't. Actually
I was getting ready to leave for North Carolina, and
I don't normally because I'll do Indy and I'll get
really shitty comments and people will just be awful for
(28:52):
the sake of being awful, and I just don't get it,
because you're out there and you have the guts to try, right, Like,
this isn't just to walk in the park. This isn't
like oh yeah, jolly, I'm going to go do this
like I really want it and I really want to
do well, and I'm trying. And so I think that
takes a lot of guts to be able to do that,
and it takes a lot of preparation, and it takes
a lot to set it up, and it's like commercially
(29:13):
a lot, and people don't realize physically it's a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Why Why are you paying attention to gutless people? This
egg that said some twelve year old or some some
door that's an armchair racer. There's no idea what he's
talking about, or just trying to troll the group because
(29:37):
he's got no other interaction in his life. Don't listen
or pay attention. Let the haters fuel it, but pay
them zero mind.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I know.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
But when you said don't look at the comments, then
my mind goes straight to, oh, krike, what did the
comments say?
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And yeah, it was brutal. That was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I've had a good experience in the now Skyle Paddock
so far that everybody's been really kind and really welcoming,
and I've loved it and I've got this new like
passion for it and like Honestly, Daytona was amazing. The
team were phenomenal. Like I loved it so much and
I wanted to do more. And then I'm like, Okay,
maybe they don't want me to do more, Like I
don't know, it seems it seems like the wholebody sport
(30:21):
that I'm cracking.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Nobody making those comments is in the garage. That's true,
and you're going to get I mean, you're going to
get hitters. I had a ton like if you haven't
come up the traditional route, then people will just think
you didn't earn your way in there, that you haven't
been driving for twenty something years. It's just nonsense. Don't
(30:44):
you can't pay attention to I won't.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I won't look anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
But I do very much feel like it's my first
day at school. I'm like, oh, I wonder if.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I'll make friends.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I wonder if I'll be able to learn all the things,
you know, Like it's a different sport in a way.
It's not like going from prototypes to GT or from
any cars of sports. Cause even it's like a whole
different world with different people. And I know that you
are used to that world, but for me, it's all
new and shiny, but also a little bit scary.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
It's good that it's scary. It's good that it's intimidating.
That's only natural. You have a gigantic challenge to even
finish that race, to get twenty minutes in a car,
and then expect to go up against some of the
best stock car racers on the planet on a track
that you can't hound, and it's a track that you
can't hide. So it's not like you just settle into
(31:35):
the groove at the back of Talladega and just chill
out and wait for the big one and can learn
along the way without getting run over. This is just
slightly bigger than a short track. I mean, it actually
drives like a short track. So you're going to be
busy and driving the hell out of the car all
day while having to be cognizant of who's around you
(31:57):
and who's coming.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Well, I'm sure you're going to have lots of phone
calls and messages over the course of the next week.
Thank you for the past few weeks that were going
through numerous videos and all the random questions that I
got to ask you, so I don't feel stupid asking
somebody else because you're already you know no that I'm stupid.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I appreciate you. My pleasure don't relate to drives, meeting,
see you later. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
So just back from Phoenix and processing, processing everything. It's
been an emotional roller coaster. I would say felt very
well prepared going in considering we literally had a week.
Felt very well supported and by the team, by other teams,
(32:59):
by nast Car, by Chile, and I was very grateful,
and I was very grateful to be there. There was
obviously a lot of attention because it was International Women's
Day and it's Women's History Month, so all the spotlight
was on me, and I really wanted to kind of
fly under the radar for my first Cup race, so
(33:20):
I never actually felt nerves like I did there because
driving a car that you've never driven. After literally forty
five minutes of practice, and we didn't even go out
for the whole of practice because we waited a while
because they don't want to get in the way, but
then practice went really well. I got up to speed,
keeping out of everybody's day, got up to relatively decent speed.
(33:41):
I would say, you know, the team are awesome because
they're a good team for like starting your Cup debut
with They're very supportive. They I mean, BJA helped me
all week get ready and get prepared. They're not known
for being the most competitive team because they just don't
have the budget, but they are definitely like a gateway
(34:05):
team to CUT racing. So massively grateful to them, and
I think we did a good job in practice and
in qualifying. I went out and I drove around, and
I could have honestly gone a lot harder and maybe
a decent chunk faster, but we wanted to start in
the back anyway and just chill, so that's what I did.
So I started in the back and I didn't even
(34:26):
push the start. I just waited to see what happened.
But we'd changed the car, so we changed the rear
of the car. We lifted it to get it off
the bump stop, and for the first stint in the race,
it was evil loose, so it was pushing in the
middle and then coming off super loose. When I talk
about being loose or having understeer or being tight, we
(34:48):
describe it differently across different forms of racing, but effectively
it's all the same thing. And the way I would
describe it is, if you are turning the wheel and
the back is sliding, you're loose, and if you're turning
the wheel and the car is not turning, you're tight.
And tight is understeer and loose is oversteer. However, push
(35:11):
is also understeer and tight, but I think push is
created more by the rear of the car pushing the
front of the car rather than the front of the
car washing, and it's just a slightly different feel. So
that's the quickest way that we can give feedback to
the engineers so they know what to change to make
the car better, to make us more comfortable so we
(35:31):
can drive faster. So I had the same tendencies all week,
which was loose in, which as a driver, is not
that confidence inspiring. So I was trying to be okay
with that loose in, tight in the middle, and then
loose off because I think I was loose off because
I had so much steering input in the car would
snap to oversteer on the exit. So we kind of
(35:56):
messed the car up overnight, I would say. And it
wasn't the car they qualified, so I spun on. I
guess it was lap four or five or something like that,
and I was massively embarrassed about it. Managed to keep
it off the wall, which was positive, but really felt
like all eyes would be on me and everybody would
(36:16):
be judging me for it, and it was definitely not
my best work. So recovered from that, made some changes
to the car. So the first time I went back
out after that still super loose, like ridiculously loose, and
I was hanging on to it and I was thinking,
I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
I don't want to drive this car. This is awful.
It's just so loose.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It was.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
It was brutal. And then we made.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Some changes and we made it better, and we were
getting faster and we were getting more racy, and I
was settling in and I was thinking, okay, getting pretty comfortable,
and we weren't a bunch of lats down. I think
the maximum we went down was like three laps or something,
and we got one back, and I thought, okay, we're
(37:01):
not fast. I was actually really slow letting all the
cars go by to start with, because I really didn't
want to be in the way. I didn't want to
be one of those guys, and I wanted to show respect,
so got used to the process of being lapped like
that because that's a new experience for me too, and
managed to speed up my laps at the same time
(37:21):
as kind of letting the leaders go by.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
And then I was really.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Settling in and getting used to it, and I just
made a mistake.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I came out too, we were a racy, came up
and touched Josh Berry and then went around and collected Suarez.
So I have a couple of phone calls to make
to apologize for ruining. For ruining Daniel's day, wasn't my intention.
I know that doesn't help, but I really was trying
(37:51):
to do my best to keep out the way. And
I know they probably just think that I'm there and
it's all a bit of a circus with all the media,
and I can understand that they think it's a pain
to have cars that are a bit of a wild
card coming in. But that's how we all learn. Yes,
I didn't come through the Traditionalank Sfinity truck ranks, but
(38:16):
you know, I have just as much right to be
out there as they do in a way, and I
think a lot of them have been super understanding, but
a lot of them probably resent it a little bit too,
And I understand it, like I've been in that position
where the new people come in, You're like.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
What are they doing. They're just coming in.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
They're buying a ride or whatever it is, and you're like,
just stay out of the way. Just don't ruin everybody
else's race. But I tried to earn their respect and
show them respect, and I hope that. I hope that
in some way I did. I think I've still got
a long way to go to prove it, but you
(38:57):
know what, I am a decent race card driver and
I will prove it and I will get better. And
there was a lot of positives. You know, we were
relatively fast. I did a bunch of pit stops, we
got used to doing that, got used to the restarts.
Lots of really good things too, And I hope that
(39:18):
I'm not judged on that performance because it wasn't my
best work and I am embarrassed about it. But you
know what, there's nothing I can do about it now
apart from comeback stronger and better and focus on how
to minimize the mistakes and be better. Thanks for listening
(39:39):
to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next week with more updates.
And more overtakes.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
We want to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts and tell us
what you want to talk about. It might just be
the topic for our next show. Throttle Therapy is hosted
by Katherine Legg. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, and
our supervising producer is Grace Fuse. Listen to Throttle Therapy
on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free
(40:06):
iHeart app and search throttle Therapy with Catherine leg and
start listening.
Throttle Therapy with Catherine Legg is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, and welcome to Throttle
(00:22):
Therapy with Me Catherine Legg. For this episode, it's going
to be NASCAR based, and it's going to be all
about my NASCAR Cup debut in Phoenix, and you're gonna
hear from me the Thursday before the race and all
my preparation. Then you're going to hear a discussion between
myself and my good friend Andy Lally about what I
(00:43):
should be doing in preparation for Phoenix, and then you
will get the recap on Monday after the race. So
today it's March sixth, it's Thursday, and tomorrow Friday morning,
I fly to Phoenix for my first ever Cup race.
(01:04):
I literally drove off, I think on Tuesday. I drove
up to North Carolina to meet with my brand new
NASCAR team, their Fast Motorsports, and I did a seat
fit in the seventy eight Droplight car and sat in
the car. Luckily, we were able to use my seat
from ARC at Daytona. So Billy and the SPS team
(01:27):
are the bust and they sent over my mold to
BJ McLeod, who runs Live Fast owns the Fast. Actually
BJ sourced a shell for it, which means the bit
that bolts into the car and then the seat that
you make that molds around your body goes into that shell,
(01:47):
and then you basically move the pedals in the steering
wheel to it.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
So I sat in the.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Car and obviously the seat still feels great from Daytona.
The pedals were a little bit close, I would say,
and the serum wall was a little bit far away.
But there's not much you can do when the car
leaves the very next day to go to Phoenix. So
we pushed it forward a little bit, called it good,
and I think we're going to be AOKA. So that
(02:13):
started off my week in North Carolina, and it's been
a crazy ride. Since I've done static sims, I've done
motion sims at the DL in Chevrolet in the GM
Tech Center. I've done pitstop practice, I've had meetings, I've
hung out with a bunch of people. Engineers like RCR
(02:34):
have helped me. Calig helped me. I've been Honestly, I've
had the best week. I feel very well supported, I
feel very well prepared. Well, I feel as prepared as
I can be without having driven the car.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Let's say.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
And it's just been great. So I got in the
sim for the first time, the static sim at RCR
and Richard Children's Racing for those of you who aren't
specifically NASCAR up on your knowledge, and the guys there
were amazing. So I am not one of those drivers
(03:07):
who grew up doing much EE racing or rFactor or
SIM driving. So I am not a gamer by any
means of the imagination. And it took me a minute
to get used to driving the sim. But once I
was used to it, it was really interesting and it was
really great, and I'm hoping beyond hope that it translates
to real life. I've only ever done it one time
(03:31):
before in preparation. I've done some work for the IndyCar
Honda sim, but I've never done sim work in preparation
for a race apart from one time. And that one
time was when I was doing the World Endurance Championship
week and we did it for Barcelona, and it messed
with my head like.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
It didn't translate in my mind, and so it made
me worse.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So I've got that in the back of my mind
and that's kind of freaking me out a little bit.
But everybody I speak to, all the other drivers, it's
really realistic in terms of feel.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So I'm really.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Hoping so because I did a bunch of work on
the static sim for a couple of days actually, so
actually that brings me to another point. We had a
question from a listener from down under, Mitch Hi. We
had a question about generations and sim racing, and actually
it's a very good question. I'm going to shorten it
and say, how does your age dictate how much sim
(04:30):
work you do? And I would say quite a lot
because my generation, and I'm going to age myself a
little bit here, did not grow up necessarily and I
don't know that it's necessarily a generational thing, but a
lot of my generation did not grow up on simulators.
The now generation are all on simulators. And I can
(04:51):
tell you from my time working with the Prodigy League
that the sim races are awesome and their level all
of car control set up, talent, et cetera, et cetera,
is out of this world and that's because they've got
so much experience, because you can test and practice NonStop
(05:14):
and it not cost you any more money, Like it
doesn't cost you a set of tires, it doesn't cost
you putting more fuel in the car. You just reset,
you crash, it doesn't cost you any money. So this
generation have a lot more experience than simulators than my generation.
Although having said that, people like Justin Wilson, AJ Almendinger
AJM racing against now unfortunately we lost Justin really awesome drivers.
(05:38):
They did grow up, don't I racing, And so maybe
it's less of a generational thing and more of a
way you grew up thing, and I just was not
into gaming. But I think definitely my generation and older
we didn't have sophisticated simulators these days. I drive the
(05:59):
dil At Chevrolet and it's a multimillion dollar uber realistic
grig right, whereas in my day we had a Sega
game gear that we would use to as a serial Well,
so I think it's both generational and personality based. I
(06:21):
think a lot of modern day drivers use it as
a tool. I don't know how many of them love
it or not. I personally don't love it, but I
love the opportunity to use it because it makes me better.
So therefore I make myself do it and it make
myself be positive about it. BJ's been an absolute Rockstaran
talked me through everything that I need to know from
(06:41):
his standpoint. It has fried my brain and I am
exhausted by this week because I think we've squeezed into
three days what I should have learned in three years
in the latter series of doing.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Stock car racing.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So it's been a lot of fun. I feel very
well supported. The Cowld guys have been amazing. They've been
very supportive of what I'm trying to do as well,
like literally every Chevy team and Chevrolet themselves have been
so cool and so I got to even Hendrix, I
got to do some pitstock practice, So I drove maybe
six to eight pit stops and tried to get used
(07:21):
to everything's different. So when I'm driving in sports cars,
especially sports cars, I.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Don't think about it.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
I like my subconscious just takes over. I don't think
about leaving pit lane. I don't think about what happens
under yellow I wait for radio communication. I don't think
about what gear I'm supposed to be in I don't
think about how I leave pit lane. I don't think
about any of that stuff consciously. It just happens because
I have so much experience and I just kind of
know what I'm doing. And so I got to even Hendrix,
(07:52):
I got to do some pitstock practice. So I drove
maybe six to eight pit stops and tried to get
used to everything's different. So in INDYCO and in sports cars,
actually in pretty much every single other form of racing
apart from STOCKGA Nascar, you have pitleyan spin, the Matornia
(08:13):
seering mael. You have a button, and so you break
the pit lane like you practice coming in pitlane.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Every pit stop you do.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
You practice where your brake marker is, how are you
gonna stop in time for the line? How you get
down to the speed and then you put your foot
back on the gas because your finger's on the button,
and you ride down at fifty miles an hour, sixty
miles an hour, forty miles an hour, whatever the speed
lane may be. You have a button right and you're
in a gear first second, whatever that may be, and
(08:40):
so you turn in to your pit box, put your
foot on the clutch handle, the clutch depending on what
kind of car it is, select the gear that you want,
wait for the guys, and then go again. It's not
that hard like my grandma could do it. And a
stock car you have to look at lights, I mean
at least it's lights and not attack anymore.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
So you're looking at lights.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
To make sure you know speed. And pit lane you
have lots of lines on pit lane that you have
to not speed on. And it's not that easy to
get the car slow down because I don't have the
experience of knowing how the car's going to stop. Also,
you have a lot of what we call wedge in it,
which is off weight corner weights for the oval, so
(09:22):
when you break, the car doesn't break evenly. The car
wants to turn under breaking or lock up underbreaking because
you have a lot of weight on one side rather
than the other because you want that kind of ride
high and weight to turn.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
On the oval.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
So you have that.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You also have to look at the tech like the
whole time, as well as looking at the car in front,
as well as looking for your pit stol. And by
the way, there's like thirty six other pit stols. It's
not like in any car where you have maybe twenty
four and the pit stols are small, and then you
have to get up to speed without speeding. On the exit,
there's no pitling speed limited to catch you. There's no
(10:00):
you're pushing a button to switch it off and get
back on the banking and go again. So you're literally
in holding the revs exactly where they tell you to
hold the revs in order not to speed. And then
if you're not going fast enough by a little bitty bit,
you get pushed down pit lane. So I've been warned
about people pushing you down pitlan if you're not going
fast enough to you. So I this will be a
(10:23):
new experience for me. I'm excited to try it. I'm
apprehensive to try it, but also I'm told it's not
that hard once you get used to it, So maybe
after the first time I'll feel a little bit more
secure in knowing what to do. But right now it's
very conscious. Okay, steering will slightly to the right when
I stop when they're doing the right hand tires because
they also jack one side of the car up at
(10:46):
a time, whereas what I'm used to is the whole
cargoes in the air by an air jack that gets
plugged in and then they change all full tires. The
car drops on the ground and you go. But no,
you do right sides drop the car, you select a gear,
do left sides drop the car, you go. So it's
just a different process and it's not one that you
can rely on your self conscious for. So I practiced
(11:06):
pit stops with Hendrix and I hope that my conscious
mind can keep up. And tomorrow we leave super early
seven point thirty out of Concord, North Carolina to fly
to Phoenix, and then obviously we've got a day at
the track tomorrow before we have the race weekend, and
there's been a lot of media coverage of it. I
was really hoping to fly under the radar. I was
(11:28):
really thinking my first cut race with love Fast Motorsports
would kind of go unnoticed and I just ease into it.
And it has not worked out that way at all,
in any way, shape or form. Also did not realize
that my debut is the first time in seven years
that a woman has driven in NASCAR and it's on
(11:49):
International Women's Day. Didn't think that one's very weirdther today,
so lots of coverage, which is great for the sponsors,
droplight chef that companies like there's super happy. Obviously, I'm
super happy about it too, Chevrolet. I just it's a
lot of pressure, and so I am not flying under
the radar. I don't have any expectations. I'm just trying
(12:11):
not to make any mistakes. But I hope that I
do a good job, and I hope that I prove
that I'm competent enough to do more, because I'm super
passionate about it and I think I have balls for
trying it, and I want to prove that I belong
or I will belong with some experience, and yeah, it
(12:32):
means a lot to me. I am very lucky to
have such a great friend in Andy Lally, who has
a ton of stock car experience and all kinds of
rating experience and has helped me tremendously through the years,
taught me everything I know about how to drive a
(12:53):
gut car and hopefully a lot of things to know
about how to drive a stock car. I'm joined by
one of my best friends and also very famous race
(13:17):
car driver, Andy Lally.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Hi, Andy, Hello, how are you today?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
I'm gravy actually, so one of the many reasons I
think that our listeners need to hear your voice is
because of what you've been doing to help me this
past couple of months. And I will preface that by
saying I just got to North Carolina. I asked for
(13:43):
your help and support in so many things over the
years because we were friends and teammates and all sorts.
But for lately, I should say I asked for your
help in all things stock car racing, because you have
a lot of experience in stock car racing. And it
started in twenty eighteen when I did some Infinity races
that you helped me. And then I called you in
(14:04):
January and said, I'm going off racing at Daytona.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
What do I need to do?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Who We sat and we watched a bunch of old races,
and you tried to impart your knowledge to me. But
I'm going to ask you to tell the listeners what
you have raced, not just in the stock car world,
but like a little bit of your background and also
what you are doing now before I jump into the
stocklast stuff.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
A long story short. I have been racing cars for
thirty three years, starting go carts a long time ago
in the eighties and moved my way up to sports cars,
some open wheel stuff. There was a hot minute where
I wanted to be an indie car driver for a second,
but for the most part, my eyes were always on NASCAR.
(14:47):
My opportunities came in sportscar racing that started in New
York at Bridgehampton, at Limerock, and a lot of the
stuff in the Northeast. I race SECA, moved up to
the USF two thousand series, moved up to the Barbadage
Pro Series, moved up to Atlantic, and at the same
(15:08):
time I was doing touring cars in the Motorola Cup,
which was what Firehawk was. And then I got an
opportunity to race prototype in two thousand and that led
to an opportunity to race the Daytona twenty four in
two thousand and one. We won that and that got
me a ride for the rest of the season and
(15:29):
the championship, and that pretty much solidified my direction of
what I was going to do for the next twenty
some odd years. And I've been full time in IMSA
since then. It's had a bunch of names along the way,
but it's been full time in IMSA for twenty twenty
five years now. Along the way, I've always tried to
race Nascal, So I did my first ARCA truck and
(15:54):
bush race all in two thousand and seven.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Versus expinite is now.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Yeah, acting exactly and basically I bounced back and forth,
had opportunities here and there when I thought I was
going full time, didn't kind of came back, thought I
was going to have a full truck deal, didn't. I
bounced back to sports cars, had a full time Cup
deal that was just a mega low budget single car team.
We didn't have an engineer. It was me, a crew
chief and a skeleting crew of hard working guys on
(16:23):
my crew, but just low budget. And I jumped back
to sports cars just before the end of that season.
And I've been in sports cars full time pretty much
full time this whole time, except for twenty eleven. But
I jump in some Exfinity road course cars every once
in a while, got a Cup deal. But I recently
also just hung up the helmet, retired and became president
(16:44):
of the trans Am series and.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Growing up with a proper job.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah, I love the series and that's really what matters.
I want to get that series going in the right direction.
I think it's got so much potential.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Do you want me to come in?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I would love you to come and drive.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I think we should make that a reality.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
We absolutely can make that a reality. If you like
stock car road racing, you'll love transit.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
So you taught me everything I now know in GT cars.
You took me from an open wheel driver to relatively successful.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
GT driver love that counts and races.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
So you taught me everything I know in GT cars,
and I was hoping that you would teach me everything
that you know in stock cars.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
How has that process been for you?
Speaker 3 (17:35):
You don't listen to anything I say. I do too
now I think it's I mean, the biggest thing that
I'm trying to impart is as much as people want
to think an indie car or a sports car or
whatever is the hardest thing to drive because it goes
really fast through the corners, and that it is, It's true.
(17:56):
I mean, those guys are guts, you have all the
respect in the work form. A stock car at the
limit is the hardest thing in the world to drive.
I've driven just about everything, and the biggest challenge of
my life has always been stock cars, especially on sketchy ovals.
(18:17):
So you're going to relatively flat oval, which is good,
but it is going to be very difficult to pick
up and it's going to be quite a challenge. And
so I think that's the biggest thing is getting you
yourself you can drive.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Do you think I've got what it takes to make
it relatively successfully and start cause on it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Absolutely, But you've got to consider what's happening right now
this weekend. So this weekend is going to be one
of those deals where you have to check your ego
and chill because you've never driven a next GENI car.
You've driven one stock car race on an oval six
years ago, right, and you've never raced at Phoenix.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
And you're going I did I did occer at Daytona
as well them.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Yeah, it doesn't count that super speedway stuff.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
I don't know the same.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
Sure it counts a little bit, but you really get
like twenty minutes of practice of which you're probably going
to drive for twelve minutes of that, and if they're smart,
they're just gonna send you out of pit lane and
let you go do laps of laps and laps and
then talk to them when you get in. Because figuring
out the nuances of this car, it's up. It's a
(19:34):
much higher CG car to very low profile tires. So
when you get a very low profile tire, you get
so much less wiggle room, which is why when these
guys went to the next gen cars, you started seeing
cars off turn two, off turn four under big load
when they would normally be used to a big I
don't want sloppy sidewall because it's still a good sidewall.
I love thin with your tire back then that it
would flex, it could move around and you can get
(19:55):
some yaw into it and miss. With a low profile tire,
you get to the much less yaw before it gives up,
so you'll have higher peak grip, but then much quicker
snap at the exit of the corner. So exited two,
exit of four at Phoenix, both of those areas or
as you're just committing to power is tricky, and it's
it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Snap or a flat sline.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
It'll usually be a flat snap. You've got a much
shorter time period between a little bit of slip and
sea later.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
It doesn't Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's very catchable
because when it catches people out, like literally puts the infense,
it doesn't seem like you can play with the slide
that much.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
You get guys that overcorrect a lot with this time
because you know they know how snappy it is, have
big input on it. And we saw that last year
actually with the fifty four. Have a big catch release
and snap into the wall, and you know it's going
to happen to somebody. So this weekend for you, you're going
(20:58):
in with a part time team that is not a
big budget team. Great guys. BJ's awesome, one of my
good buddies, love them, but it's it's not You're not
Connor Zilli's rolling in with track House who's wonted CODA
before and going to have teammates to help them. You know,
you're solo, going to rely on a handful of hopeful
new friends that'll give you a two breaking markers in
(21:22):
the one and in the three, and then maybe a
little advice on what's going on. And you're in a
chevy right.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Yeah, I'm hoping that AJ will also give me some
great markers and sure, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Honestly, relying on a guy like AJ and and really
anybody else in the field that's willing to give you
some advice as far as specifics like they were their
last November. Here's how the track through, Here's what happens,
Here's what it feels like when you get up into
the PG one, if that's what they still call it,
and all the other things that come with that. You're
going to have twelve minutes to learn and then put
(21:55):
in a semi conservative like not going for it because
it won't matter qualifying lab and then try to log
labs in the race. And it's a one mile track,
so inevitably you're going to get lapped. And then once
you start to when you're trying to be a good
new person in the field and try not to get
in the way. Once they get to lap you, once
(22:16):
you lift a little bit, the next person's on you,
next person's on your, next person's on you, and you're
going to spend a day looking in your mirrors at
the way. But there's still a lot of learning to
do there, and that's what I think needs to be
at the front of your head.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
I just don't want to make any mistakes and I
just don't want to look silly. I want to just
do the day looking competent. I guess whilst I learn,
and one of the biggest things. So going into arkat Daytona,
I remember we sat there and we watched the race,
and then we watched the last year's race and the
year before the race, and you were telling me about
how to drive the car, but also about how to
(22:50):
race the car and all the things. And one of
the things you said was when you leave pitt lane,
you have to be on it, on it, and you
won't believe how fast they go out. And so I
was thinking, Okay, I want to leave pit lane in
a sports car. I'm I'll be on it, on it
like it's cold tires.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I know I can do it.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
And then the first time we left pit lane, I
was like, Holy.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
What are these guys doing?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Like no, just just wait a second, like this is
that was the biggest shock to me. In practice, I
was like, Okay, everything else I got, but the pit
lane stuff and the procedural stuff. That's all the stuff
that you don't feel comfortable pushing. Like you and I
both know that we drive race clubs for a living.
There it's all got four or five wheels and goes
(23:34):
in the direction like we can get up to speed
on track by ourselves in anything relatively quickly, but it's
being on track with everybody else. It's the pit lane stuff,
it's the pit stops, it's the it's the stuff that
you don't do.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
One hundred laps of. That is.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Is kind of things that plan on my mind. And
I came up to North Carolina and I'm going to
drive in the SIM tomorrow. So what, in your opinion
should I focus on in the SIM to make myself
as prepared as I could possibly be for the for
the race.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
For the race long runs, like what that tire is
going to feel like going off. The trickier thing to
get used to is that in NASCAR, essentially the first
rotation of the tire is the gripsies. It's going to
get you know, you roll out of pit lane. By
the time you're a pit exit, the tires there. And
that's why these guys go out and come to green
(24:30):
and throw down one lap qualifying lands and they wouldn't
even bother with a second lap because they know the
tires already off. So for you, like you might underdeliver
on that, which is fine.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
Do I have to back off the tire on the
outlap to make sure that it's still good for the
one lap or anything, or I just hammer down.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
You pretty much just hammered down, you know, give it
a little bit. When you qualify there, you'll be especially
it's kind of odd the way you exit pit lane
at Phoenix. You're going to al wad be on the straight,
so it's not like you come out and go into
turn one two. You'll come out of the exit of two,
so you'll you'll fly up to speed and be pretty
(25:11):
darn that you'll be at ninety eight percent going into three.
By the time you come out of four, you'll be
one hundred percent, and it'll be way grippier than it
was when you were in practice because you won't get
to really feel what it's like in practice because you'll
be going out on your first lap. Your first four
(25:31):
or five laps will be so exploratory because you've never
driven a next gen car, you haven't driven in an
Xfinity car in years, you've done a total of like
four stock car races, you're in your entire life, and
so your learning curve is going to be so steep.
You're not going to be able to take advantage of
what the new tire feels like. But if they run
you for that whole session. Then you'll at least get
(25:55):
some laps, see what the tire feels like fallen off.
And I think that's going to be the biggest thing
for you in the SIM is to do a bunch
of laps as well, find the markers, if you can
talk to AJ, if you can talk to any friends
that you make at the SIM that might be another
driver at the SIM that says, hey, or here's how
I do this. In three and four, you can run
it way under the yellow line. In one and two
(26:16):
two and he's before he's running a bunch and actually
I think he's done pretty well there at that point.
So all of those you use every bit of information
that you can get and take it to a but
really in the back of your mind has to be
stay out of trouble. To five hundred miles.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
I'm going to be so tired. I'm going to be
Eyeland still. Five hundred miles insane. I've never ran a
cool suit before.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
It's nice if it functions, you know, every once in
a while. I went out on Kaslowski last weekend. That's
not a good deal. But have a backup. Playing with ice.
It'll be tough because you know in that first hundred miles,
you're probably going to be squeezing the heck out as
much as you know how to chill in races, and
you've done hundreds of races before. This is going to
be different. This is gonna be more adrenaline pumping than
(27:04):
the day, than the Indy five hundred. This is probably
going to be the biggest challenge in a race that
you've ever had.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Because you don't just jump in at the five hundred.
You do any lights or Atlantics, and then you do
other races and you kind of work way up to it,
Whereas I feel like you.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Still get to Indian go fully cap but and then
this is what's gonna happen here. You've skipped, you're skipping
a lot of steps. So you're your biggest positive impression
that you can make this weekend, because anybody in the
know will know that this is your fourth ever stock
car race, and so your biggest thing that you can
accomplish here is if you make this the whole way
(27:41):
without any issues, you're probably going to be eight laps down,
not for nothing. If you can get over.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
For relatively happy with that, honestly, like if I can
finish and I'm a lumps down, but I haven't made
any mistakes.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
I would be okay with that.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, for for day one, one, for weekend one. In
a cup car. Ever, I mean, we've seen big stars
come out and have horrible first races.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
But then like SBG comes out and wins his first
race or what makes Yeah, but he's.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Been driving something so similar to what these cars are.
You have not you know this is opposite. I mean,
the GT car is the closest thing, and that's not
close enough. It's too light, it's too grippy, it's too
much downforce, and it's not on an oval, which is.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Also another thing you said to me today was don't
look at the comments. So I was looking when we've
posted the announcement and yeah, well so I wasn't. Actually
I was getting ready to leave for North Carolina, and
I don't normally because I'll do Indy and I'll get
really shitty comments and people will just be awful for
(28:52):
the sake of being awful, and I just don't get it,
because you're out there and you have the guts to try, right, Like,
this isn't just to walk in the park. This isn't
like oh yeah, jolly, I'm going to go do this
like I really want it and I really want to
do well, and I'm trying. And so I think that
takes a lot of guts to be able to do that,
and it takes a lot of preparation, and it takes
a lot to set it up, and it's like commercially
(29:13):
a lot, and people don't realize physically it's a lot.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
Why Why are you paying attention to gutless people? This
egg that said some twelve year old or some some
door that's an armchair racer. There's no idea what he's
talking about, or just trying to troll the group because
(29:37):
he's got no other interaction in his life. Don't listen
or pay attention. Let the haters fuel it, but pay
them zero mind.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I know.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
But when you said don't look at the comments, then
my mind goes straight to, oh, krike, what did the
comments say?
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And yeah, it was brutal. That was absolutely brutal.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
I've had a good experience in the now Skyle Paddock
so far that everybody's been really kind and really welcoming,
and I've loved it and I've got this new like
passion for it and like Honestly, Daytona was amazing. The
team were phenomenal. Like I loved it so much and
I wanted to do more. And then I'm like, Okay,
maybe they don't want me to do more, Like I
don't know, it seems it seems like the wholebody sport
(30:21):
that I'm cracking.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Nobody making those comments is in the garage. That's true,
and you're going to get I mean, you're going to
get hitters. I had a ton like if you haven't
come up the traditional route, then people will just think
you didn't earn your way in there, that you haven't
been driving for twenty something years. It's just nonsense. Don't
(30:44):
you can't pay attention to I won't.
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I won't look anymore.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
But I do very much feel like it's my first
day at school. I'm like, oh, I wonder if.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I'll make friends.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
I wonder if I'll be able to learn all the things,
you know, Like it's a different sport in a way.
It's not like going from prototypes to GT or from
any cars of sports. Cause even it's like a whole
different world with different people. And I know that you
are used to that world, but for me, it's all
new and shiny, but also a little bit scary.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
It's good that it's scary. It's good that it's intimidating.
That's only natural. You have a gigantic challenge to even
finish that race, to get twenty minutes in a car,
and then expect to go up against some of the
best stock car racers on the planet on a track
that you can't hound, and it's a track that you
can't hide. So it's not like you just settle into
(31:35):
the groove at the back of Talladega and just chill
out and wait for the big one and can learn
along the way without getting run over. This is just
slightly bigger than a short track. I mean, it actually
drives like a short track. So you're going to be
busy and driving the hell out of the car all
day while having to be cognizant of who's around you
(31:57):
and who's coming.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
Well, I'm sure you're going to have lots of phone
calls and messages over the course of the next week.
Thank you for the past few weeks that were going
through numerous videos and all the random questions that I
got to ask you, so I don't feel stupid asking
somebody else because you're already you know no that I'm stupid.
Speaker 2 (32:18):
I appreciate you. My pleasure don't relate to drives, meeting,
see you later. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
So just back from Phoenix and processing, processing everything. It's
been an emotional roller coaster. I would say felt very
well prepared going in considering we literally had a week.
Felt very well supported and by the team, by other teams,
(32:59):
by nast Car, by Chile, and I was very grateful,
and I was very grateful to be there. There was
obviously a lot of attention because it was International Women's
Day and it's Women's History Month, so all the spotlight
was on me, and I really wanted to kind of
fly under the radar for my first Cup race, so
(33:20):
I never actually felt nerves like I did there because
driving a car that you've never driven. After literally forty
five minutes of practice, and we didn't even go out
for the whole of practice because we waited a while
because they don't want to get in the way, but
then practice went really well. I got up to speed,
keeping out of everybody's day, got up to relatively decent speed.
(33:41):
I would say, you know, the team are awesome because
they're a good team for like starting your Cup debut
with They're very supportive. They I mean, BJA helped me
all week get ready and get prepared. They're not known
for being the most competitive team because they just don't
have the budget, but they are definitely like a gateway
(34:05):
team to CUT racing. So massively grateful to them, and
I think we did a good job in practice and
in qualifying. I went out and I drove around, and
I could have honestly gone a lot harder and maybe
a decent chunk faster, but we wanted to start in
the back anyway and just chill, so that's what I did.
So I started in the back and I didn't even
(34:26):
push the start. I just waited to see what happened.
But we'd changed the car, so we changed the rear
of the car. We lifted it to get it off
the bump stop, and for the first stint in the race,
it was evil loose, so it was pushing in the
middle and then coming off super loose. When I talk
about being loose or having understeer or being tight, we
(34:48):
describe it differently across different forms of racing, but effectively
it's all the same thing. And the way I would
describe it is, if you are turning the wheel and
the back is sliding, you're loose, and if you're turning
the wheel and the car is not turning, you're tight.
And tight is understeer and loose is oversteer. However, push
(35:11):
is also understeer and tight, but I think push is
created more by the rear of the car pushing the
front of the car rather than the front of the
car washing, and it's just a slightly different feel. So
that's the quickest way that we can give feedback to
the engineers so they know what to change to make
the car better, to make us more comfortable so we
(35:31):
can drive faster. So I had the same tendencies all week,
which was loose in, which as a driver, is not
that confidence inspiring. So I was trying to be okay
with that loose in, tight in the middle, and then
loose off because I think I was loose off because
I had so much steering input in the car would
snap to oversteer on the exit. So we kind of
(35:56):
messed the car up overnight, I would say. And it
wasn't the car they qualified, so I spun on. I
guess it was lap four or five or something like that,
and I was massively embarrassed about it. Managed to keep
it off the wall, which was positive, but really felt
like all eyes would be on me and everybody would
(36:16):
be judging me for it, and it was definitely not
my best work. So recovered from that, made some changes
to the car. So the first time I went back
out after that still super loose, like ridiculously loose, and
I was hanging on to it and I was thinking,
I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
I don't want to drive this car. This is awful.
It's just so loose.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
It was.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
It was brutal. And then we made.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Some changes and we made it better, and we were
getting faster and we were getting more racy, and I
was settling in and I was thinking, okay, getting pretty comfortable,
and we weren't a bunch of lats down. I think
the maximum we went down was like three laps or something,
and we got one back, and I thought, okay, we're
(37:01):
not fast. I was actually really slow letting all the
cars go by to start with, because I really didn't
want to be in the way. I didn't want to
be one of those guys, and I wanted to show respect,
so got used to the process of being lapped like
that because that's a new experience for me too, and
managed to speed up my laps at the same time
(37:21):
as kind of letting the leaders go by.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
And then I was really.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Settling in and getting used to it, and I just
made a mistake.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Man.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I came out too, we were a racy, came up
and touched Josh Berry and then went around and collected Suarez.
So I have a couple of phone calls to make
to apologize for ruining. For ruining Daniel's day, wasn't my intention.
I know that doesn't help, but I really was trying
(37:51):
to do my best to keep out the way. And
I know they probably just think that I'm there and
it's all a bit of a circus with all the media,
and I can understand that they think it's a pain
to have cars that are a bit of a wild
card coming in. But that's how we all learn. Yes,
I didn't come through the Traditionalank Sfinity truck ranks, but
(38:16):
you know, I have just as much right to be
out there as they do in a way, and I
think a lot of them have been super understanding, but
a lot of them probably resent it a little bit too,
And I understand it, like I've been in that position
where the new people come in, You're like.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
What are they doing. They're just coming in.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
They're buying a ride or whatever it is, and you're like,
just stay out of the way. Just don't ruin everybody
else's race. But I tried to earn their respect and
show them respect, and I hope that. I hope that
in some way I did. I think I've still got
a long way to go to prove it, but you
(38:57):
know what, I am a decent race card driver and
I will prove it and I will get better. And
there was a lot of positives. You know, we were
relatively fast. I did a bunch of pit stops, we
got used to doing that, got used to the restarts.
Lots of really good things too, And I hope that
(39:18):
I'm not judged on that performance because it wasn't my
best work and I am embarrassed about it. But you
know what, there's nothing I can do about it now
apart from comeback stronger and better and focus on how
to minimize the mistakes and be better. Thanks for listening
(39:39):
to Throttle Therapy. We'll be back next week with more updates.
And more overtakes.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
We want to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (39:45):
Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts and tell us
what you want to talk about. It might just be
the topic for our next show. Throttle Therapy is hosted
by Katherine Legg. Our executive producer is Jesse Katz, and
our supervising producer is Grace Fuse. Listen to Throttle Therapy
on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free
(40:06):
iHeart app and search throttle Therapy with Catherine leg and
start listening.
Host
Katherine Legge
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