This week on the Racing Insiders Podcast, Kate and Jimmy welcomed Benji Cole, from Train Chassis. With over 30 years of experience in the racing industry, Benji's expertise shines through in every aspect of his work. What began as a family hobby has turned into a full-time career, with Benji now dedicated to providing his customers with the best quality racing equipment.

Benji's the guy. When were you kicking everybody's ass in the sports car? 2004? So he shows up, and kind of like out of nowhere and then the Carolina Clash at that time had been dominated by the whole Jeff Ricky Rambo. That's like what That's one word. For he Rambo. Right? Jeffrey? Yep. Ricky and Rambo, Rambo. He doesn't have a name Dennis Franklin. Right? Okay, so then Benji comes out of nowhere at the end of the Oh, four season, and just lays it on everybody. And everybody's talking about it, like what's this cat doing and that's the first time I'd ever heard of anybody running a Stax ring setup. He just was he just was doing his own own thing. And I just admired Benji from that point of just coming in to to an established gig and just really not caring about the establishment and just kind of laying it to them and so when I met him and I really liked him, he's as authentic as you can be. And and when I started doing the wraps, it was like Benji was one of my first guys that I talked to and he's the reason why I ran the dirty white boy cars and and probably the person I talked to the most when it came to me when I start first started running the crate car and everything like that. So I have the utmost respect for Benji and has been a great influence for me on my on my racing. And, and so I mean, I appreciate his friendship. And so it was kind of funny when Kate asked me says Well, yeah, do you know Benji Cole? I'm like, do I know Benji Cole? Way back with Benji Cole. So so this is a it's an honor to have you on here. And and I guess we're only you know, probably 20 years later and, and older gray or fatter and, and ready to talk about the good old days, right? (1:35)

Yes. And I loved it. I enjoyed it. I always wanted to be different. When I go to run in the sportscar down here and this area I don't know that nobody had even heard it. And I just I've always been different I didn't want to run but everybody else was running. And like you say it I kind of I've kind of learned the old school way. I've always done my own thing. You know, I've pretty much with the help from my dad. And I have I have good sponsors, and good help, you know, in the later part of my years, but for years and years, it was just me and my dad and we we just done our own thing, learn how to set cars up didn't know nothing about it. We just we had set it up and if it didn't work the next week, we'd go back a different way. And we finally got it to where it would work.

Well it worked for you, that's for sure you got everybody's attention. And at that time, as well as your running and I would have liked to have seen you run some even bigger races. I mean you were really good in the class but I think you could at that time I think you could bind up with those guys in Tampa and and all that you know, especially in your backyard. (4:36)

And that was my dream. It is I just done the best I could with what I had. And Mr. Stray and I drove for him. He was the last big person that I drove for. And I'm we run a couple of big races and, and I play like, I had my first world outlaw race one at Screvens. And we had some bad luck with a flat tire. But I've enjoyed it. I've had no regrets with my race. And you know, I kind of walked away from it from my kids. And I don't regret it.

Yeah, so similar to Jimmy, right. I mean, you know, kind of spend more time with your kids and your family. And not that you've gotten away from racing, but not racing yourself? (5:38)

(Jimmy) Oh, it's, it's certainly a choice. I mean, there's no greater resource hog. When it read when I talk about a resource hog, I'm talking about not just money, people want to talk about money. It's beyond money. It's time, energy, effort, obsession, your thought processes. And if you want to compete on the highest level, you better be 100% in on every one of those things. And, you know, and that means that, you know, there's no room, I mean, to do it great. There's no room for, you know, a family, there's no room for a marriage, there's no room for a job, really. I mean, you know, I just I'm just saying the way it is, if you want to be really that dedicated, and that good for good at it, and, and it takes that and so I wasn't willing to do that, and in my life, and it's really cool to see people like Benji, and I look at like, Petey Ivy's the same way, you know, Petey, you know, like Benji, when you stepped away, you're still winning races, you know, and, and Petey when Petey stepped away, PD was, was was still good. You know, it wasn't like he was running in the back or nothing, but they made the conscious decision, they said, you know, what, I'm gonna stop and help my kid. And, and that's, that's, you know, and that's pretty cool to see when your family's involved and all that stuff. Because you're able to, you know, take two of your loves, and put them together at the same time, peanut butter and jelly.

(Benji) That's kinda all how this started. Because when my kids started driving, I want to keep my kid and new equipment and new stuff. But it didn't get to the point to where, you know, you're, you're spending 50 grand to do that every year. And I'm, I'm like, I can do this myself. Let's just build one. So we built one second race out, we won with it. And then it just started from there. I had buddies that always hung around me like, would you build us one so I built the next one make some room did and then it just grown in the waters grow I never intended for to grow into what is grown into it kind of just started as a joke. And then two and a half years later, 60 something cars later, we were going wide open. 

I know you well enough, though, that a big money was one part of it. But you had to be different. I know that you couldn't just you couldn't just go in and buy something off the shelf and wait for him to tell you what load numbers to run and show up at the racetrack. I know you that's not good enough for Benji. (8:09)

I'm always been that person I want to do I want to do my own thing. You know, I ain't got crazy with cars. I'm not gonna say that. But we still, you know, we, we were hooked in with shock people, but we're kind of let's build our shocks this way. And let's do things this way. And sometimes it's worked out sometimes it hasn't. But I agree with that. I'm gonna I'm a different part. I don't know what everybody else has got.

Tell me though. Like tell them I think the listeners really need to know this from a guy like you who is you were you were definitively you know, like, committed to being different. And when you are committed to being different and that's what you want to do. Like tell the listeners how you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to being on your own island. (8:58)

Yes, that's you have to understand going into it, which we do a lot of testing now so that but I mean, we are used last Thursday as an example we went and tested for half a day. Half of the stuff we did was a second slower. Half the stuff we did we was three quarters of a second faster. So you just have to you know you just have to keep digging and try. I mean like you said you hear well, this person does I had or that person does that. But There's always a puzzle. It's not just that one particular thing, that one particular finding might be hard at the moment, but there's six more things to go with it.

I think a lot of people get hung up, a lot of people get hung up with the fact that they can't handle the losing part, or they can't handle running in the back. And so when they go off and do their own thing, and it's bad, you know, because not not all, like r&d is r&d, right? Some of it works and some of it doesn't work. And so when you try something that doesn't work, and you run like a monkey's ass, and you know, everybody's laughing at you, it's like, some people can't handle that. That's a it's a mindset. I think that going into that you have to know that there's two sides to the coin. (10:14)

It's no different than being a racecar driver and racing on the road. You got to understand when you go on the road, probably for a while there's gonna be more downs than there's gonna be ups but you got to lay up through that if you want to do this you got to live through and I mean, it's the same way with the chassis business. I mean, we've done stuff to what we've struggled for two or three months trying stuff and you thinking man, what am I doing and then you just have to keep digging through it and you know, it is a mindset playing and it's a chassis building or Bayona side is a lot different than the car the car driving because you you you have a lot of different personalities so you have to learn how to deal with the different personalities you know, and what's good for one person might not be good for this person, you have to understand that you can say what this car is when and and this man is doing me as well. He's a different driver than this man. So you might have to go a totally different shot direction spraying direction to make this man comfortable. Over what this man is winning.

Chris Cheek is here. He says "I hear the train coming. In the words of the Carolina cClash announcer around 2004 2005". Oh, so that was your nickname. I guess it tell us about your nickname. And of course, your train chassis today.(12:49)

I had a man here at our local track, he just started calling -because my last name is Cole. He started calling me Coal Train. Right. And it is stuck for as long as I can remember. It is just stuck with that. So and it actually worked good. Because when I was racing, it really made for some good tshirts.

Yeah, so you're you're thinking about branding when nobody else was thinking about branding. That's awesome. Look at that. Benji Cole the marketing genius Every announcer likes to have a nickname or some catchphrases that they can do but "I hear the train a coming", you know Johnny Cash right there. And I see Alex Hendren is here "can't be to train. As long as he's building them. I'll be racing them". So of course Alex got has one of your cars. He's had a couple of them. I think over the course of time. If I'm not mistaken. Maybe just one I'm not sure. Yeah, no, Alex has great job for somebody that has doesn't have a lot of races under his belt. You know, so obviously your cars must be pretty good.(13:30)

And I'm gonna tell you that is one race. Because when he first started driving my cars, I promised his grandma, I said he's gonna win a race. Just stick with me. He will win a race and when he called me, and he had won that first race. I don't I think I was happier than he was.

Here's Haley, I'm assuming this is your daughter, she says, "so proud of you Dad chasing your dreams", and lots of heart heart emojis here. That's, that's wonderful. I mean, that's something you know, we don't talk about a lot. But, you know, a lot of times you forego, as adults, a lot of adults will forego their own dreams to about their kids. And then you kind of come full circle a lot lot of people just let their dreams die. But for you to spend time with your kids, you know, with your family and then you know, you've been building chassis and opened up your chassis company. I mean, not that far. Not that long ago. I mean, it's not like you've been doing chassis for years. (15:40)

And it's it's a family thing. I mean, my my wife is bookkeeping and keeping checkbooks and basically keeping me going straight still going crazy and my kids sell T shirts and so it's a family thing. I mean, it's you know, and I do it you know, I do enjoy I gotta get to do a lot of other things man with the kids and with my wife and it's it's good I missed you know, I missed a lot of stuff when my kids growing up because of this but they love all my kids love my mind. A lot of them still go to the races and watch the race when we're racing. So it's it's it's a cool thing.

Now you've also added something new that has to do besides the chassis please tell us a little bit about what you're doing with bodies these days because I think that's very exciting. (17:14)

Yes, we seen the direction of where this you know, the laser cut and stuff is going and that kind of stuff. So now we're into laser cutting our own bodies and decks and and it's a it's a lot neater work and it's actually sped the process up that's the good thing about it is we're took you a week the hand cut a body and that kind of stuff now and basically a day and a half you can do a complete car body wise. It's just amazing you know, big, big, big both ways. It's sped it up and you know a lot neater looking work that kind of stuff. So we've I mean, we're adding we're you know, we're just ordered a computerized bender and notcher so to try to make speed up the process again, to where you can just load low loader roll bar tubing and hit the button on what piece you want and that means it not be ready for welding so we just that's been our next thing you know, we just we want to try to get faster that way. instead of it taking a month to do a car we can try to do a car in a week and a half - two weeks.

Sounds like the chassis business is getting to be like the wrap business, you know where you just got to push a button and then a car spits out. (18:42)

I mean, that's basically what we've got. You know I am going out take up for you wrap guys I always used to give wrap guys a pretty hard time but we do and wrapping in house. We wrapped it and that is a lot more process to that and just hitting the button. 

Now you have a house car program too, right? (19:17)

Yes, my nephew Blake Craft drives our  house card and we run 602 604 and been running limited. But this year we've teamed up with Blake Turbo and he's actually going to drive the limited car for him which we We basically work on the car it's really nothing different other than somebody else owns it and and helps us with it.

Where's he gonna run it- like a around where you guys are? (19:46)

Oh no, we're gonna run the Blue Ridge Outlaws I think they have them a semi schedule made. I know they're gonna run the first two or three Blue Ridge Outlaw races and then we're gonna run a big limited race at Needmore. So we're, I mean, we're gonna try to, you know, we're gonna try to move around and run the bigger bigger races.

Did you sign up for the $100,000 to win crate? (20:15)

We've signed up for the 100,000 to win and then we've signed up for the 50,000. We've really worked hard this winter on our 602 program, we got some new stuff that we tasted last Thursday with that I really liked and really slayed it. We we gained some speed there. So I'm really looking forward to getting that though.

Seth Speed says, "Benji made a winner out of us, our family is thankful for him". That's, that's exciting to be part of someone the success of someone else's program. That's exciting to be a part of someone's program. (20:56)

That's what makes you feel good is like they're at the end of my racing career. And I could win a $5,000 race and not gonna say I still didn't get excited. But it was, well, we can pay some bills, we can pay the tire bill, but you're letting that jump out and jump on the hood feeling that it was when I first started winning. But now when you're you're helping other guys, and you see your car win with the other guys, I get that feeling, back.

That's awesome. So it's so you get. So it's almost like you would rather have your customer or one of your kids win a race than you. (21:43)

I get a lot more enjoyment out of it. But I am going to. I've raceda long time with Keaney Harris. He's helped me for a long time. And he has been after me of building one of these new wedge cars. So he has built one of the wedge outlaws and I'm going to drive it.. I said, I don't think I'd make 10 laps, but I'll try. I think that that is gonna be a good deal. When it's all said and done. I think, I think, you know, the, Jason Smoot is doing a good job. Well, they're out there, and I think that's gonna turn me into something. You know? Well, it's just getting it back to all the cars that are set aside right now. Because the older stuff has a hard time running with the newer stuff. It's just another cheaper way of getting some of these cars back out, getting people back out that kind of fold this, I just think it's gonna be great. 

I looked at the rules on the on the wedge car thing. I was like, Oh, I didn't really see a whole lot of areas there where you could really where a guy could really come in and have a huge advantage anywhere. Really spend a lot of money and, you know, it's like some of the technology stuff I didn't see. They kinda like closed a lot of those holes up, you know? (23:17)

Well, you got to look at it. Like with are you know, 604 and above now, I mean, basically run in the same cars that were running super late model shock wise, I mean, and, you know, the shock situation is - I know it's just the times we're living in, but I mean, shocks as almost as much as a motor.

Yeah, that's insane to me. I just, I mean, there's a time and place for everything. And I just don't think there's a time and place to spend that kind of money on, you know, on that part of your car for for like, what the crates should be like a beginner or an amateur class kind of hobby class kind of thing. (24:05)

I'm a racer, and I this. I can't give all the answers, but I know the local local racer, in my opinion is in trouble. If we don't hear this all somehow not know what the answers are. But, you know, what the prices of everything that's going up and that kind of stuff, and I know things went up for the racetracks but We're basically still on the local level, you're running for the same amount of money that you run for 15 years ago. And it's so much more to go over there and race. And it just it makes it, you want to support your local track, and I will, I will always support them, whether I'm racing or not our money wise or sponsor wise or whatever. But it's just hard to, it's hard to spend $800 on tires to go run for $800. Right. You know, when? Yeah, I don't know what the answer really is. But I just wished everybody, the racing community could start putting our heads together to hear this all buckled up. I just figured that our local racers going to play out if we don't do so.

I don't know if you listened to the podcast a few weeks ago, where I likened it to the fact that I feel like I'm, I'm riding on a jumbo jet airplane, and, and if that's representative of our racing, I look out up in the cockpit. And I realize there's no pilot. And that's kind of like where our racing is going. There's nobody out there. That is that has the power. I mean, there's, you know, people like obviously, your individual promoters are doing things here or there regional things, local things, whatever. But, you know, as far as from from a top down view, you know, there's really nobody that's interested in keeping, you know, weekly racing afloat. And that's the part that scares me. (25:54)

One key word that's actually missing from a lot of this because we hear affordable a lot. But what we don't hear is fun. And, and I think What is exciting about those new wedge cars, which by the way, Jason did announced that on this podcast, which was fairly exciting, I feel very honored by that. Um, but I just had an experience this last, not this last weekend, we can before and went to race logic chassis school, and it was the hobby stock guys in Nebraska. So they're the the everything is, it's a stock car, but you can't make all these bazillion adjustments. And I'll tell you, I've been to a lot of race logic chassis schools, because I go in, I filmed them. But I learned more I enjoyed it more than any of the super high tech stuff that I've seen. And it makes me wonder like, hey, when maybe one of these simpler cars, where we're, we're everybody can get on the same page about the fact that we're here to have fun. Yes, you want to win. But are you on a trajectory where you want to go to the weekend? Like Saturday night racer, and you want to go have fun each Saturday night? Or do you want to be on the path where where you want your this career or this future and you want to end up potentially being you know, running with the outlaws or Lucas Oil guys. And maybe that's something that we can ask racers, because unfortunately, you know, we get these classes and or you get a class of cars, and they keep getting more technical. And it's like this arms race that always happens with these race cars. And then before we know it, what started off is, maybe we take the word affordable out of it by putting it in fun, is it making it more fun to have more expensive parts? I don't know if it is great, but But I kind of think that some of the fun goes away when we when we just escalate the level of technical difficulty and cost but you guys are actual racers. I mean I sell the parts but I mean I'd love to hear your perspective on those both you guys.

I mean my daddy has made the perfect comment. And and I guess just watching me he's he has told me several times son we just haven't had the fun we've had when we had these hobby cars and honestly he's right because I mean you know, it's when you take the car to the racetrack as much as it costs now. I mean when something bad happens it's just you know instead of 20 years ago when you blow the motor it was $5,000 Now when you blow a motors $55,000 You know it's and honestly the racing part of it if you want to watch, The super cars and the sick you know all of them let's play it down but all of them were so arrow dependent now. If you go to a race route now and watch a race the narrow tire street stock cars, modified cars four and five wide they put on so much of a better race. You know now with the Arrow stuff that's going on. I mean, I'm not saying that you don't still have good racing but you don't see the four and five wide racing like you seen years ago.

Well, if you look at like right now, I don't know if it's over or not, but the Daytona 500 is going on right now. And what they keep doing to those cars is they keep giving them more grip, and taken away horsepower. And the lower that ratio is the worst racing is, the greater the ratio, like you're saying, give a put a big motor on a narrow tire, and you're gonna see some good racing at the top. You know, because you can you can maneuver. (30:00)

It's, you know, definitely for me, me personally, the fun of it is not like it was years ago. And I think a lot of that is just because the cost the passion, or the passions are the same. It's always been, but like you say it. Now when you, you know, I've told some people the other day, we got to talking about this, and I can't remember exactly what year this was, it was probably 2003 but I can remember by a warrior chassis, race ready minus the transmission for 15,000 bucks you know, and that's still  a lot of money. But when it goes in the wall, or it needs to be fixed, that is not near as bad as watching you drive 45,000 into the wall. And that, I mean, theoretically, that right there, personally, just, it takes fun out of it because of the expense.

And we have people to that, like what we're really missing now. And the first people that are going away is and I hope and I think that if anything is going to bring it back, it's going to be the the wedge cars, but the guys who really race for a hobby, we're talking to guys that had a race car instead of a Harley or a boat. Or maybe they had a boat to I don't know, but they had a race car, and they could work on them and their buddies could work on it eight or 10 hours a week or something, wash it, if they washed it, show up at the racetrack and go have a really good time. Now this stuff is the like I said, the affordability comes in. It's not just money, it's time and effort and energy. If you don't have you know, if you're not if you don't spend, you know, 40 hours a week on these cars, to go run a local show. I mean, you're gonna be behind and I just think that's the part where it's like, is that even worth it? (31:38)

Just like a tire groove, I'm I mean mind you can you can have three or four days and groove one tire.

Benji, the bodies that you are able to do with the laser is it just for your chassis? Or are you able to also do those for racers who have different types of chassis? (33:18)

Right now we do it on for our cars. We have done a couple of Longhorn cars we've done one Rocket car but I mean yeah, one machine was purchased this to you know, we want to keep the machine busy. So it's not it's not just for Train Chassis you know, we we eventually want to be able to cut and meander new all the bodies you know, it's just it's just a time consuming time because ever ever cars got something that's a little different a little different day a little different body so you know, you just have to go through the program and and stuff so it's I mean, we're slowly getting there but you know where we are now and it's really took off good. I mean, you know, the body thing is staying pretty busy right now.

Jimmy, with these with these laser cut bodies, do you also find that that helps you with your not your design process, but I not everybody probably knows this, but you actually adjust your wraps to coincide even with the angles that are happening on the body. Right? Like the top and the bottom are not necessarily parallel. But when we're looking at the design, we're looking at the car, you get the sense that I mean, you make sure that you've got the logos that are all lined up along the bottom and everything's lined up along the top. Do the laser cut bodies help you with what you're doing with wraps? (34:50)

Oh, yeah, I mean, it saves a lot of time too. Because anymore, I mean, I'd say 90% of the cars that I do anymore like Longhorns, rockets, capital cars, and I have all the body templates for those things really close. So I don't have to ask, you know, to do a measurement sheet. So and so you know, you know, you can be a lot more precise with your, you know, placements. And like you said, I mean, something you told me a long time ago about something totally unrelated, which was that, if you, if you don't do something, everybody's going to notice it. But if you do it, nobody will notice it. And I think there's a lot of things that I do with the wrap stuff that nobody notices, but you notice if I didn't do them, and they take in it's just part of the the precision and the details. And knowing the templates and stuff are certainly a big, big, big part of that. 

(Benij) Now that I've seen the wrapstuff coming off this machine, and I do have a bigger space. I used to by like, oh, "why are we waiting on this wrap for Come on. Let's go. All you got to do is hit a button.", but I know now it's way more than that.

Well, what else is exciting? (36:56)

We've got a new chassis that we're building right now. It's, it's basically coming out to jig nail, it's got a lot of new features on it, gonna, you know, we're going to take it and do some tests, there'll be a lot of testing done with it, to make sure that everything we've done is what we think it's going to do. And you know, before we offer, but we have, you know, we have, we have done a lot to banking this week, this winter, and we put it on the new chassis that is that is being welded up and getting ready to go to the powder coat now. So you know, these good things come in, we're working really hard and close with HST and Penske Shocks. We got some new stuff coming with the shock program that I think is gonna be really good. But just how that was some of the stuff that we did with the 602 program, and really, really seen some big gains there with that. So just staying busy we've had a we've had a real good winter. You know, I was telling you before we come on the podcast that I really look forward to be a slow period. But so far everything is going good. And maybe this economy won't tank and we can keep it going. 

So now we talked about all the good parts of the chassis business and stuff, what has been your most challenging part of being a chassis business owner? (38:29)

I guess you want to, you want to be able to talk to everyone that calls and help everybody at that moment. And it's just hard. You, you answer the phones, you do the best you can, I had to get used to not everybody is going to win with them every time they go to the race and as me as a competitor, I'm wanting to see all of them run good. And you know, you're gonna have cars the win and have cars that run in the middle and you're gonna have to get out of cars that run in the back and you just keep keep focusing on the ones that need help and try to get them faster. And and that's that's been the biggest challenge because I want to and I know it gets harder as you get bigger. But one of my big pet peeves that I've had in the past is if people spend this kind of money, we got to be able to talk to them. I mean, you know, it's a hard deal. It's kind of like going to the dealership, buying a new truck, you got to buy a new truck and call up and tell them my engines lights on and they won't call you back. They don't give you a good feeling. So that's basically been my time Here's how to manage the you got to set that time to talk to be able to talk and try to help. But then you got to set that time to focus on building and getting cars out the door. So that's been that's been the biggest challenge is as it's grow both of them as become more work as you try and get more cars out the door and the more cars you get lower, you got more people you need to talk to.

So what's your goal? Where's Train Chassis gonna go? (40:27)

I mean, honestly, I don't know, this shouldn't be what I should do, but I really haven't set a goal. I just, I mean, like I said, this just started as fun. I want to see. I want to see some of the cars run on a big level. And and we're we're slowly getting we've Kenny Harris and Adam Smith as the driver. He's, they've run in a new late model motor in their car. And in Kenny Collins has purchased a car that he's gonna run and supers and I would just like eventually, I would just like to I would like to see if the cars can compete on that level.

Now what about the area that your cars that were you have them right now? Are they mostly in the southeast? (41:17)

Yeah, mostly it started out  in our area. And then we have a couple of cars and you know, up in Tennessee, North Georgia, Atlanta that way, couple in North Carolina, South Carolina right in that area. Kenny Collins aggravated me the other day, because the car that we fix for him, he raffled it off and it's in New Mexico. So he said, now you got your car in New Mexico. But like I said, it started locally here a lot of the drivers locally have gotten them and then we've slowly started started getting them in the bottom part of Tennessee and North Carolina and Carolina and, and that's what we're trying to we're trying to do some stuff right now to get expanded on out a little bit, you know, and a run at different tracks, we we really want to work on our slick track program. So the the house stuff this year, we're going to try to get off some of the red clay stuff and start getting to the slicker side of things and, and keep working on that real hard.

It's just a lot of work to build out a notebook for, you know, any kind of chassis. And with all of those varying conditions. So hats off to you. I'm working through all of that for sure. (42:27)

And that's all we you know, last year I have to Blake and we run the 604 car we we run 90% of the Crate Racin USA. And Blake had a baby so we had to quit running it. But he was running second in points and when we quit, so I was real proud of that as far as some of the right 90% of the racetracks is, I've never seen myself, and he had never drove them. So I was we're real pleased with the way that that went until we had to quit for his baby being born. But I mean, I honestly, you know, I think the more people we get in, the more feedback we're getting from the drivers is just gonna help us as a whole company.

So what's Benji Cole's favorite racetrack? (44:09)

I would probably have to say Tri County. 

Benji, what is your most memorable win? (48:27)

I probably would say the first big light mile race I won was a Southern All Star race at Hartwell. And I'd say that's probably my biggest just because it was my first it you know, made it all. your family was are all the people that told you you couldn't do it? They was there so that made it even better. And and that's kind of when it all started. That was a 2003 year finished it up. And then the next year we bought the Swartz and got on a good shock program and had some good help. And that's kind of you know, for three or four years, we had a pretty good run with the late model stuff.

So what racetracks are running around you now? (49:55)

We have Lavonia Speedway, which is just a couple of miles from the house. And then we have the Toccoa speedway. And I think this year, they're gonna they got a schedule, we're like kinda gonna alternate weekends and run together. One of them are on one Saturday, the other track or run the next Saturday, that way, they're kind of not running against each other. And then about 30 or 40 minutes from the house, we have Winder, and it's just a little bitty race track and everybody. I love the race. It's just little. And they pack at plays out every Saturday night so. But that's, that's really the three places that we got going it's kinda semi close to the house.

How far how far is Senoia from you? (50:43)

If you didn't have to go through Atlanta traffic. It ain't got about a two hour ride. Okay, but when you add the Atlanta traffic, it's about 3 hours. So that's an that's, you know, I think Dixie is gonna open back up this year. So that'll be another racetrack that's on this side of Atlanta. That ain't as hard to get to. So this is pretty good with racetracks online you can know Tri County, hour and a half from home or Sugar Creeks opened back up and it's an hour and 45 minutes, two hours. So it's a good many tracks within an hour and a half, two hours away. 

So Derek's got a question for you. Jimmy says, what's your favorite wrap that you did in 2023? (51:37)

Oh, this is easy. It would be the Willy Milliken like the one I did at the show. If that counts, though, like the digital camo thing, that tan color. Man, if I race again, that's what my car would look like. Now, it's kind of weird, because I think I'm maybe I'm the one that actually loved it. But I think some other people loved other people were like, Ah, I don't know, I don't really like it. But I loved it. But it's really weird. It's interesting being a wrap guy, how like, not a lot over the years. And there's raps that I've done that I just didn't feel like we're really that special or that good. And people are like, Oh my gosh, that's the greatest thing ever. You know what did you do? And I'm like, all it's a rectangular striped, it's on the side of it. You know what I mean? It's like, you know, but but then I do raps that I think are really awesome. And nobody talks about them. So but I would say definitely the Willy Milliken one. Past that one. They all kind of run together. 

Well, you do a lot of stuff that's kind of has to be on brand for like the racers are, that it just kind of part of their program. They don't want to change a whole lot from year to year. (52:57)

Yeah, I mean, like there's, you know, when you're especially in the ones that you see, like Davenport's black and green one there. You know, I mean, there's there's so many things that you can't do. When you have like a main sponsor kind of thing. It's not like you have free rein to do whatever. And I think that people have done this a lot of times with people and even though I don't do this car, I've always think that one of the most recognizable cars is always the Rocket1. You know, it's a really easy, I mean, it's like, there, the Rocket1 has always looked good. It just always has. And so I've had people that have been like I don't, you know, like, I really liked the Rocket1 car and my car doesn't look like that. Well, that's because you have a three digit number, you know, or something like that, or your numbers on the quarter panels. And I've done this, I'll be like, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take your design, and I'm gonna throw the Rocket1 on it and send it to him. Yeah, I love that. Not a lot I can do about that. You know what I mean? So let's the sponsors on the quarters and the doors, you know, like how they you know, you can't have like a real scripty font and it and you know, like and and have like 29 letters of like, you know, flowers by Mary on the on the quarter panel and and be in some dainty scrolly script he kind of deal and it's not gonna look racy, it's just not I don't care what you do. You know what I mean? Sometimes you can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit, right? Unless you're Hartwell. Well, you know, they made they made race track gold out of chickenshit.

So the show we're talking about is the CARS Racing Show, and Benji, I'd like to, you know, no pressure, but love to hear about, you know, the advantages of like having a presence at the CARS Racing Show and how that's helped your business. (54:59)

I mean, actually my first year that we did the show, I sold three cars from the show that the people that didn't even know who Train Chassis was until they walk through the show and looked and that kind of stuff.  I think putting it in the the CARS Show it because to me, the CARS Show is more of like dirt. I may not know these other stuff better, but it's more of a dirt show. And I know and like I said you just meet new people and, and stuff that maybe would never see your website or never taught you but you see them at the show. So I think it's a real good time.

I think it's been, I just see people like you and Benji Hicks, you know, really thrive at the show. Because, you know, like Benji, I've known you for a long time. And, you know, you're just a likeable kind of guy. You know, it's just something about you, that's like, when you when you talk to you just feel like you're really just as genuine and down to earth and straight shooter and, and all that stuff. And I'd imagine that when people come up to you and be like, I've never heard a train chassis, well, who's chassis this and they start talking to you. And then people are like, Man, I like that guy. I'm gonna buy a car from him. And so it's that, you know, it's like, so the show is selling yourself as much as it's selling your chassis. (55:58)

Yes, luck. Like I said, it just, it lets you meet a lot of people. And even me personally, I'm meeting vendors and stuff that I would probably never talk to if I didn't go to the CARS Show. So it also helps our brand get helped. You know, I've took away I've gotten a lot of help from drive shaft people and brake people and stuff that's come from the show. So it's worked good both ways. I mean, it's helped me as far as getting the brand out there as much as getting over help from vendors.

That's exciting to hear. And, you know, of course, of course, my question is a little gratuitous some of our show, but, but I know that it's the connections that we that we make. I know it's helpful for for Crate Insider to be of course at the at the CARS Racing Show. And, and probably you too, too, you too, Jimmy. (57:20)

Yeah. Of course. Yeah. It does. Good to see a lot of people meet a lot of people that, you know, that you have never met before. And, you know, I always think that one of the best things about it is being able to talk to people in an environment. I mean, at least for me, like right now, I mean, I'm gonna, I came in here from working and I'm gonna do this podcast for now and I'm gonna go back out and I'm gonna work till probably, you know, one or two o'clock in the morning or something, you know, so that's just the way it is this time of year. But you know, at the show, I dedicate you know, two or three days of doing nothing but the show so I can talk to people and all the that saves me a lot of phone conversations. 

Another reason I like it too is because just like we're  at Train Chassis there's a lot of people behind the scenes that you might not never hear their name and they're getting to come watch the product and see the people talking about and that might you know, like that Steve Morris is the chassis builder that does the fabricate and then the Weldon and so he comes to the show so then people that walk in looking at the car and say, Man, this looks good as well. It's it's basically a tribute to what he's doing. You know, so it's it's more than just like I said, train and big the big gets majority of the credit but you have I couldn't do this without the people in the background. And there's a lot of people that are on this. That is get help get me started in it. That has helped me grow. And I mean, I'm forever thankful for all of you.

So do you have your wedge card done yet? (59:23)

Kenny is doing a wedge car now. While I actually think he's waiting on me to come run some brake lines, but it is very close. I don't I don't know that we'll make the first one but it'll be real plus.

Well, if Jason Smoot's watching. You need to Jason you need to look at this guy's car because he's gonna bring some of that North Georgia voodoo magic stuff, whatever that you guys do. Because Benji will tell you like I'm all for rules and everything but like, I'm gonna bend them as much as anybody. (59:41)

I looked at the car at the show and he already told me some rules. So he said we're going to be checking this and that. I told Kenny while I was at the show, and I said, Don't be trying to get away with that , he's gonna be looking at that.

And I mean, I know Kenny well enough to know that's what you know that's Kenny's MO too. Kenny loves to be thinking about that stuff that nobody else has done. So getting that little advantage here and there. (1:00:20)

Looking forward to it, strictly fun. Look I don't care if we get laughed we just gonna go enjoy it and have a good time. And just have fun. It's basically one of them deals. Let's just go back and have a little fun and stuff instead of being so serious. 

So is that was that one of your old cars that you did? Or Is that Is that another chassis? (1:00:58)

No, it's actually a 2007 or 2008 Bloomquist.