← Herm & Schrader
Herm & Schrader
Doug Kalitta: Aviation Business Mogul & NHRA Drag Racing Champion
01:08:36
From running the successful Kalitta Charters family business to being an NHRA drag racing champion, Doug Kalitta's dual life is filled with so many amazing moments
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- [00:01]
Kenny Wallace
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- [01:30]
Doug Coletta
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- [02:01]
Kenny Wallace
Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny Conversation brought to you by jegs, the leader in high performance aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to JEGS.com for everything you need to fix your everyday vehicle up. Well, I told my other brother Kenny Schrader, I said, schrader, I'm gonna have a conversation with the man you're looking at right now, everybody. The great Doug Ketta and Kenny Schrader said Doug Coletta is hero material. Doug, that's. That's awfully big.
- [02:38]
Doug Coletta
A hell of a guy right there.
- [02:40]
Kenny Wallace
How you doing buddy?
- [02:42]
Doug Coletta
Doing good. Yeah. Yeah. Just here in Michigan. We're got a race this weekend in Epping, so looking forward to getting going. Head over there tomorrow to do that. But yeah, it's going good.
- [02:54]
Kenny Wallace
I wanted to talk to you. I've always wanted to talk to you. You talk about opposites attract. I'm. I'M high strung and you are soft spoken. But buddy, you drive fast. Let's introduce you to everybody. And I need your help along the way here. Kenny converse. Yeah, Kenny, conversation is just that. So what are you, 62, 63 years old? 60, 68. Damn.
- [03:24]
Doug Coletta
Zero.
- [03:24]
Kenny Wallace
You're younger than me.
- [03:28]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, you know, 60 was a tough age. 60. But no, it's all good. I'm having fun with it and yeah.
- [03:36]
Kenny Wallace
My health's good, so that's awesome. Makes me happy. You're married to Josie. You have a son Mitchell. Your daughter is Avery. And do the kids, do they go to the races?
- [03:51]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, I mean on and off throughout the years. They played soccer their whole lives. So my daughter just signed on with a professional girls team down in Louisville. It's the racing Louisville team. It's a nwsl, I think. So that's. She just got out of college, been playing soccer her whole life. So she's kind of doing her thing with that and first time moved away from, from us, which is a little different. And, and then my son's working with, with our airline stuff. He graduated with a business degree, played soccer his whole life. Super coordinated. Really proud of both of them with their soccer and I mean it's an incredible team sport. Something I never played. But you know, we encouraged him with it and. But yeah, no, it's, it's been fun having my son working with our business now he's learning to fly. He's got his private working on his multi engine or his instrument rating and then that works with our accounting stuff. So probably a good place to find out what's going on with your business. You stick them in accounting and finance. So. But he's doing good.
- [04:56]
Kenny Wallace
My, my son in laws, you know, they're in their 30s and I say these kids nowadays, they really develop quickly with the computer era we're in now. So Coletta, that name I want to celebrate today with you, you and your family and just Coletta. When I think of the name Colette, I think of badassery. All the stories about, you know, Uncle Connie and Coletta Air and so let's, let's kind of start right there. Now Schrader says your hero material and I agree and we're going to get this in a little bit. But you start out in USAC midgets open wheel dirt cars and you go to top fuel NHRA drag racing. And, and that's what we're going to celebrate. But. And Charlie's gonna drop some pictures in here of Uncle Connie's, you know, big 747s, things like that. But tell me if I'm right here you are the owner of Coletta Charters from Ypsilanti, Michigan, is that right?
- [06:04]
Doug Coletta
Yes. Yeah, that was back, you know, when I was just kind of switching from running open wheel to drag racing. Connie had sold his company to a public company. So everything kind of got, you know, so they kind of took the thing over and it just didn't work out. It was just one of those situations. So. So Connie's like, well, we're. I want to buy the 121 certificate back and let's go to maintenance facility and you know, this small airplane charter thing, you, you know, give, you know, lend you the money to buy that you can, you know, get that front end again. So that's kind of what it was. The company that Connie originally started his businesses with was this small 135. So yeah, I think I had maybe 10 airplanes and, you know, handful of people. And right now with what I've got going on with this charter thing, I've got 61 airplanes that I run about a little over 400 people. So. So yeah, so that keeps me super busy with, you know, trying to. And the trick with this, you know, and being able to race like I've always raced, you know, is, is to build it, you know, it forces you to build a good team. You know, people that can run things. You don't have to be there, you know, running there, you know, right knee deep and everything. Because it just. Besides that, I've got this thing now. It's just, it would be impossible, you know, drive yourself crazy. So. And then with. With on the Claire side, still running the 20, I guess 22 of the 747s, which is this long range flying, you know, for one of our great sponsors, dhl, we do a lot with those guys. Along with the planes that I operate, which are these 737 size aircraft. So they have a hub in Cincinnati. So we're in and out of there, you know, every day doing our thing for them.
- [08:00]
Kenny Wallace
Couple things. You remind me of Donnie's shots. Donnie. As you know, him and his family own truck stops, big truck washers. And then he jumps in the jet and flies to the world of outlaw sprint car races. Yeah, when you go racing, is it kind of a therapeutic deal for you? Gives you a weekend to get away from the planes?
- [08:24]
Doug Coletta
That's. Yeah, that's always been kind of the thing with me. Yeah, no, it's. So, yeah, we load up, we got this Nine seater jet thing that we run around in. And you know, Connie's been this year been going to all of them. Well, I should say he took, he was on a little vacation for the last race. But yeah, he goes to these things. So we, we all load up and you know, show up a couple hours before the first qualifying session. So real fortunate obviously to have. You know, I was thinking about it earlier. I mean, he has been such a supporter. You know, I've worked for him for a little over 40 years now and he has supported my racing like nobody's business. It's been, it's truly something that, you know, I just greatly appreciate and always have been, you know, and having great cars even back with, you know, running the midget in the sprint cars. And I remember one time I was down in this is. I date myself a little bit here, but it's okay down to Toledo and your brother Rusty was running down there with this ASA car. I think so. So, yeah, it goes back quite a ways that I've been kind of following you and your family. Right. With, with what you guys do. It's, you know, another obviously incredible story with the Rusty and Mike and all what you guys do. So super excited to be on with you. You know, obviously see in with St. Louis. I think you should come up to that track. So it's always good having you out there for that. But yeah, I know it. Connie's really been a big supporter of mine and you know, really.
- [10:06]
Kenny Wallace
Okay.
- [10:06]
Doug Coletta
Right now we've got some real good equipment with our three teams. Yeah. That we're running. The two dragsters and the funny cars. So have an incredible effort going on this year. So trying to make the best of it. Yeah, we're, we're running pretty good this year so far.
- [10:21]
Kenny Wallace
Let's go right there. You did it. Okay. My opinion, Uncle Connie. Okay. I'm gonna say this and you straighten me out. Okay. Your dad, Doug Senior, is Connie Coletta's brother. We lost Scott. I'm so sorry about that. Okay. So your dad and Connie are brothers, is that right?
- [10:44]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [10:45]
Kenny Wallace
Okay. We lost Scott. I'm sorry. And, and you're, you're the son under, under Doug. So let, let's celebrate your, your complete family right here. The great Connie Coletta. Uncle Connie. You know, I mean, when we go way back, I'm going to be 62 in August. Surely Cha Cha Muldani's crew chief. I mean the legend of your, of your uncle is so deep. I mean, when I, when I see him, I just almost get Scared. I'm like, oh, my God. You know, like, I know I, I know he's a tough ass. I know he's rough around the edges. I get all that. But man, oh, man, you. You brag on him immensely. How do you think somebody that's got such badassery as Uncle Connie does, How does he do the. I mean, I was at the Chicago airport and I was on a little American airplane. I looked out and one of those Coletta airplanes, bigger than the damn airport. I'm like, there it is. I took a picture and I sent it to Charlie. He's gonna drop it in. How do you think Oko, Connie was able to mix that starting Coletta Air and, and make the legend in drag racing that he has?
- [12:03]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, I know it, it's been fun to be part of it. When I started working for him back in the day, I mean, when he got his first 747, I mean, that was, that was, you know, his eyes were as big as, as the sky, really, with how excited he was. I mean, he had been operating these DC8s for years, which, you know, a four engine, you know, so we would do all this international flying with those things and the military stuff, but the 747 was really. And you can see how obviously how big those things are and the capabilities of what they are. So that's where his biggest focus is now with his day to day still. We've just transitioned into these Boeing triple seven aircraft. So we're up to eight of those now, which, it's just a two engine, carries about 80% of what the seven four will carry. But, yeah, he's, he's worked hard at, you know, everything about what we do here. I mean, he's. Even to this day, he's in the office for about three hours, comes in just to make sure everybody's, you know, somebody, you know, back in the day, I mean, somebody would get their ass to every, every day he'd find somebody. That was kind of his thing back in the day, right?
- [13:17]
Kenny Wallace
Back in the day, it was a.
- [13:18]
Doug Coletta
Lot easier to do that nowadays, politically, I don't know if you can get away with it, like. But no, he's, you know, he is certainly mellowed. He's 88.
- [13:28]
Kenny Wallace
Doug, I gotta say something. I gotta say this. I don't know what it is about that era, but I went to see AJ Foy last year and, buddy, you talk about gnarly. I think Uncle Connie and A.J. would get along real good. They do not care. They gonna tell you exactly what they think, don't they?
- [13:48]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, he has absolutely no filter now. It's. It's good stuff. And. And racing, too, with, you know, same thing with racing. I mean, it's. Especially with this, with my cousin Scott back in the day. I mean, Scott loved drag racing, and, you know, they spent a lot of time doing that together before I started, you know, with drag racing, you know, back in the days when it was probably a little harder because, yeah, it was just one of those deals, but it was never a dull moment. Never really has been a tall moment working with County. But his passion for racing and flying, you know, is. Is impressive. You know, he's definitely built, you know, you know, a lot of, you know, a hell of a team, know, on both sides right now. We've got some of the best pilots, mechanics, you know, our race teams. You know, we're real proud of the effort that, you know, our managers put to, you know, put in place with. With all of what we do. So. And we do a lot of maintenance, aircraft maintenance, engine work. So it's just not just flying airplanes. And that's something Connie kind of got from, I think, working on, you know, it was always the weak link, drag racing. You're always trying to fix something, so, you know, it kind of rolled into, you know, aircraft maintenance. So. So we got a lot of that going on, too, and no, it's. It's been a lot of fun, for sure. So it's really exciting, too, now that my son's involved. I had him running this super. Sean Langdon has the super comp car. So we had my son running that the other day, so. And, you know, he's been around it his whole life. Usually we'd fly somewhere, you know, he used to just sit over there. Ten minutes later, he's falling asleep. But now he's actually flying the thing, doing a good job, you know. And I always tell him, too, with racing, we've never really, you know, for me and, you know, it's. You better have another job a lot. So. So that's another thing, too, with my son. He's realizing that, you know, you got to get something going, you know, that you can afford to do what you, you know, you know, just your lifestyle or whatever, and then start racing. That's kind of the way I was brought up. So, yeah, it's been fun with that.
- [16:16]
Kenny Wallace
I. When I listen to you, I think of the Coughlin family that used to own Jegs, you know, all the brothers, the dad Jag, they jump in the jet and Then they get to the racetrack. Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our star stripes and beers collection available now. We've got tanks, tees, beach towels and more. Just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop.dirtymomedia.com what.
- [16:45]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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- [17:17]
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- [17:20]
Zoe Saldana
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- [17:36]
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Zoe Saldana
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- [17:42]
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- [17:43]
Kenny Wallace
Seriously?
- [17:43]
Doug Coletta
Hmm.
- [17:43]
Zoe Saldana
Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.
- [17:46]
T-Mobile Representative
Really, I'm fine.
- [17:47]
Zoe Saldana
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- [18:18]
Kenny Wallace
I want to go back to something you said a little bit earlier and I. I find it very therapeutic. You said you land, you get in the plane, a nine seater, you fly to the NHRA drag races. You get there two hours before. I find that brilliant because if you get to the tracks too early, you can over stimulate your brain. I Think getting to the tracks right on time, decompressing a little bit. Do you plan it that way? You know, getting there two hours early? I mean, is. Is this, you know, before qualifying? Tell me your thought on when do you get to the drag races?
- [19:00]
Doug Coletta
So forever, you know, when. Cause Connie used to decide when we would leave. So we would get there literally a half hour to an hour before the first session. So if you're running tight traffic, you know, this and that. So I'm probably more comfortable with like two, two to three hours before. So that's kind of what I. I gauge. And so, yeah, we get there just a little, you know, two, three hours before works obviously very well. And. And drag racing, too. It's, you know, it's Sunday. You never know when you're going to be done. So it's nice, you know, to have, you know, airplane that's ready to go and the Jags, you know, we certainly, you know, back in the day with our old Lear 25s, we used to fly those guys before they got their own. Their own jet. We used to fly those guys around and done a lot of that over the years with even the NASCAR teams and, you know, flying the pit. You know, the guys that do the pit. The pit work, you know, they would usually just fly in, like for the petties. We did that for years flying Learjets. We'd show up in the morning, pick them up, take them to the track, you know, and then get them home that night. But we're not doing much of that anymore for the NASCAR teams. But I think they've all kind of figured out something different. But. But no, it's a convenience. You know, it, you know, even with running our business, you know, and doing what we do here, or doing what I do here, you know, having that extra time on Fridays and then back Sunday afternoon, you know, it makes everything work so much easier not having to mess around trying to commercial in and out of these places and taking a couple extra days to do it. So I don't know if I could actually keep up with the schedule without it, to be honest with you. It's. It's definitely a important tool. What I do.
- [20:50]
Kenny Wallace
My brother Mike, I owned a King Air 200 for a little bit, and my brother Mike had an E90, and we were talking about money, and he says, airplanes are a convenience. I said they might be a convenience, but I have to have one. So they are a convenience. I agree with that. And nobody knows aviation any more than you do, but I. I don't know how these NASCAR teams you. You go from, you know, in its early days or even all of you, you're. You're. You know, I know Englishtown's gone now, but you. You go from Pomona to Englishtown, NHRA and nascar. We're racing from coast to coast. And with the way commercial airline is right now, I mean, commercial airline, Doug gives me a heart attack because they're delayed 24 7. You'll never get to a race. Dude, I want to put you on the spot. Do you think aviation is a convenience for racing, or is it a necessity?
- [21:52]
Doug Coletta
For me, it's a necessity. Yeah.
- [21:54]
Kenny Wallace
Right. I agree.
- [21:56]
Doug Coletta
It would be hard to do it without it, but, you know. Yeah, no, it's. It's kind of the way we always rolled back in the day. When I started working with Connie, he had a Cessna 310 that he would fly.
- [22:10]
Kenny Wallace
That's how long ago I said badassery, and I meant it. Daredevil.
- [22:16]
Doug Coletta
But I have to admit, I was really all in with, you know, learning to fly. And just when I came to work for Connie back in the. In the 80s, you know, I didn't know I knew how to weld. That was what I was going to be as a welder. My dad had a welding supply business. And, you know, and I live next to the Selfridge Air Force Base. These jets are coming in my whole life. So when I started working for Connie and realized I had an opportunity to learn how to fly, I. I jumped on that big time. And so, yeah, I've been flying the different airplanes that Connie's had over the years here and never got checked out in the 747. That. That was a plane back when I had the opportunity was kind of, you know, was when the whole merger thing was going on and I was racing. I'm like, if I end up on this airplane, I might not make it back to race on the weekend. I mean, the thing goes to where it goes. And so I never really got checked out in those, But I've always flown pretty much everything else around here that we've got. And we've got a couple simulators, too, that we train our pilots in. And so that's always fun to, you know, if you get an inkling of wanting to fly a 747 or triple seven, you just go over to this building that we have and take care of that. But now it's. And we have a King Air 200 as well. So that's what my son is actually. He's getting pretty Good with that thing. I have to admit. He. So it's, it's been kind of fun to get this other generation of Colettas into. Into the mix. My, My cousin Scott, his two boys work with our, with the airline as well. So. So between the three of them, you know, we've got a few of the Colettas running around kind of learning the business as well. So it's been, it's been fun.
- [24:05]
Kenny Wallace
I, I know the joke is that a King Air 200 goes slow, but I sure did like putting 10 people in there, all the luggage. And when I had to pee, I could pee. I, I, you know, old war plane. But I, I loved my King Air 200. And of course, they'd all beat me home. And then the jets came along and, boy, they're, they're awfully nice. You'd be home eating supper and. Okay, let's, you know, we've gone a little over 20 minutes talking about Coletta Air and, and I want to end like this. Are the stories true? Because we, we hear about Coletta Air and all the craziness and everything, you guys would deliver. I think it's a celebration of how great Coletta Air is. What all. What are some of the stories? I mean, I don't need a story, I guess, but what are you famous for hauling? I hear it all, and I don't know if it's true or not. What's the real deal? What do you haul? What do you deliver in those big old planes? And what's it about?
- [25:14]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, I mean, and it motivates our guys, you know, like that we run around in. We're doing a lot of medical work with those. Air ambulance still doing a lot of that. A lot of this organ procurement stuff, you know, so it's very rewarding, obviously, to go out and do what we do with that. You know, I've got these old falcon 20s, you know, that this is. It's kind of just something that we take a tremendous pride, especially with the Memorial Day, you know, just coming. We've. We had been flying from this Dover, Delaware, which is a military.
- [25:54]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [25:55]
Doug Coletta
Base. All the following.
- [25:57]
Kenny Wallace
We race right there.
- [25:58]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. So fallen soldiers for the last 15 years. So that's something that just still gives me chills to talk about because it's just one of those things that, you know, we're just trying to do a good job for the families and, you know, and it's all about just a dignified operation. And so we do quite a bit with the military, though. It's you know, with the 747s going in to all these different conflicts that are going on.
- [26:25]
Kenny Wallace
So it's true. We fly all this is what I heard.
- [26:31]
Doug Coletta
They have no name on them. Right. Want to put on this stuff. But, you know, that's. That's what the military's, you know, the government's got us doing is flying this stuff around, supporting whatever's going on in the world. So.
- [26:47]
Kenny Wallace
Wow.
- [26:48]
Doug Coletta
And then. Yeah, with dhl, you know, that's. They're a huge part of our business. You know, a great partner. They love racing. You know, they just won the Indy 500 with Alex there. So that was cool.
- [27:01]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [27:03]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, so that was. That was cool. That was a good race for sure. So let's see.
- [27:11]
Kenny Wallace
I heard what I wanted to hear. There you go. You do very dangerous flights. There's conflicts, obviously. I'm not putting words in your mouth, but when I hear this, you're. You're telling me you're overseas a lot. Is that right?
- [27:26]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, yeah. Those airplanes, in order to fly, you know, we fly a little over 400 hours a month on pretty much all these airplanes when they're out running. So it's. It's around the world. It's just those things are just constantly picking up. Either some of our customers are like just one way stuff that's going, you know, we tied into a military trip. It's just constantly bouncing stuff around to cover what we're doing and try to keep these things moving. It's. It's a big machine. A lot of people, so you gotta. They can't afford to slow this thing down. It's. And we've got a great team of salespeople and all of what we do. We actually. Everything that we do though, is really for other people. We don't have our own, you know, like. Like ups, we don't have our own distribution and whatnot. We're typically just fine from the folks that have the. Have the freight, so. But yeah, they're got a lot of great partners, though, so they keep us busy.
- [28:24]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Well, thank you for telling us that. I just want to brag on you and your family when I see Colette Air, you know, when I am on the tarmacs, you know, whether I'm on American Airline and I'm going to Rochester, Minnesota, and boy, when I see that Colette Air, that logo, I'm thinking, oh, man, that's as. That's as gangster as it gets. Those guys are badasses. They're. They're going. They're flying into conflicts, they're in countries and yeah, I'm like, I wonder where that one came from. You know. So thank you so much, Doug. I just want to thank you for talking to us about the aviation because as it goes, we all know that racing costs a lot of money no matter if you're running a local dirt race. There's an old saying and I've been using it a lot lately. If you're going to play, you got to pay and we got to have sponsors and you talk good of dhl, so.
- [29:19]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. And I've had Mac Tools for, for a long time with my racing now, so they've been a great partner for my, you know, for what I do. And Toyota, you know, I know you work with Toyota guys and we both.
- [29:32]
Kenny Wallace
Have the same sponsors. I mean, seven years and I got all Mac Tools, buddy, we're brothers. I like you.
- [29:38]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, man. He's still, still there with him too. Which is. Yeah, they've got a, they got a great group of people for all they do. So we appreciate them for sure.
- [29:53]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, everybody, we're trying to do it in chronological order. We talked about the great Connie, we talked about Doug's dad, you know, Doug Senior. We've mentioned Scott, we've talked about Coletta Air. And now it's time to celebrate the man you're looking at. Okay, Doug, I am going to rattle off some stats and this is where Kenny Schrader comes in.
- [30:24]
Doug Coletta
All right.
- [30:25]
Kenny Wallace
You are so soft spoken that it does shock me to read this. Okay, here we go everyone. The man you're looking at right now or listening to because this is on Dale Junior's Dirty Mo podcast right now, besides the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. All right, Doug Coletta, 1991 USAC Rookie of the Year. Now feel free to straighten me out. This is what we do.
- [30:50]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, I started out with Kenny Irwin back in the day. He, him and I started at the same time.
- [30:55]
Kenny Wallace
He worked for me. He was an employee of mine. Yes. Okay, let's keep going. 1994 sprint car champion.
- [31:06]
Doug Coletta
1:20 champion. Yeah, that was the. That was. I had Rick Ferkle working for me. He just.
- [31:11]
Kenny Wallace
What year?
- [31:12]
Doug Coletta
1994. Rick Furkle and I won the USAC sprint card championship. Yeah, that was. He was a hell of a guy, man. I love that guy.
- [31:20]
Kenny Wallace
Hold on. Won 21 USAC events. 14 in midgets, seven in sprints. Hold on now we're not done. And we're going to get into this in detail. Then you move up to Top Fuel drag racing in 1998. And we're going to talk about this. This pain in the ass right here. Runner up six times. And I know this is what you became famous for, but it made it even sweeter. You were runner up in Top Fuel 2003-2004-2006-2016, 2019. And when you finally won the Top Fuel championship, 2023, the world went nuts. And I got goosebumps. Right, damn. Now.
- [32:11]
Doug Coletta
That was a relief. I mean, there's no.
- [32:13]
Kenny Wallace
And we're going to end like this. We're going to end like this. And then we're going to go back through it all. 5th all time Top Fuel wins list 52 wins, 113 Top Fuel final round appearances. That guy you're looking at or listening to right now, the man right there. Holy moly. When I say all that, what do you think?
- [32:39]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, it's a busy schedule.
- [32:45]
Kenny Wallace
You're great. You're great.
- [32:46]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. Now it. Yeah. And it's. Yeah, it's like you say with my dad, I mean, he started me out. He was in the motorcycles. I never mentioned this to you, but started motorcycles. I started running these flat track back in the day. You know, it was actually when I was running this thing, you know, Jay Springsteen and Chris Carr and those guys, they were actually racing up in Flint, Michigan. A little kid racing this125 up there, you know, flat track racing. So my dad kind of got me going with, you know, the stuff and. Yeah, just working with Connie over the years. I mean, when I first started working for Connie, there was a guy named Don Shilling that had these sprint cars. And you know, like I mentioned, I was going to be at Welder when I first started working here. Don, he would have these run ins with Rich Bog, where, oh, Legend, the worst end of these things. Midget drag his car out of the trailer. And I would spend hours after work or whatever, help them beat these things back together. And after a while, Don's like, you know, we've gotta, you know, kind of. He's like, we gotta. If you want to drive one of these things after all the work that you've done helping me beat these things back together. So that's kind of how I got my. My start was racing fixing Don's cars. And he was running all these USC races, you know, when he built some fast, you know, super fast midgets that, you know that we would run these Saturday night thunder races or Thursday night. I think it started out as Thursday. And Don was always running up front with those. So I had Some good equipment and, you know, good people. So that's. That was definitely, you know, even now. I mean, it's. It's all about just surrounding yourself with good people and having good equipment and. And I've been very fortunate over the years with. With that. So obviously racing. You know, I just started racing midgets when. When Jeff had. Had. Was starting to move on. So. So the whole thing, you know, was just. I was. I loved every moment of all the stuff that I've done, you know, racing midgets and sprint cars and. And then obviously growing up with Connie and just the whole drag racing thing, you know, to have the opportunity to jump in that thing. It was kind of interesting, too, when. When this merger thing happened, these people come in and they go, we don't understand this midget and sprinkler stuff at all. We're like, any money.
- [35:25]
Kenny Wallace
It's not. Let's get that out of the way right now. It's therapy. It's a therapy set. What do you run a. For therapy session? Because. Yeah, Colette Air drives me crazy.
- [35:39]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. No, it was. But at the time, they were like, you know, I could still work at the. Work with the business, you know, because I was really involved with the business with this merger thing. But my cousin didn't want to drive the top or. Not that he didn't want to was just time to try something different with his business and what he was doing. So the seat opened up drag racing. So I'm like, yeah, this is the perfect time. You know, it's a perfect opportunity, especially when I just got done selling all my sprint car stuff and whatnot. So it was kind of an interesting transition there because, you know, I love racing sprint cars and midgets, and. But then I also had an opportunity to keep flying, keep working with the business. And then these folks that Connie sold his company to, they. They had agreed that we'll continue to drag race. So that was. So it was a good fit for me when all of that happened to be able to drag race and everybody not say, hey, this guy's supposed to be working. He's on driving his top fuel car. So. But it. It's been an interesting road, though. And obviously, like I had mentioned, they ran that thing into the ground. Took him like three. Three years or so. And. And Connie's passion for this, you know, drag racing is. Is always. Even to today. I mean, he still goes to all the races. You know, you bring up AJ Floyd. I mean, you're right. I think those two guys came out of the same old. I mean, AJ's still out there doing and what he's doing. Connie's probably not getting around as good as aj, but his. He's just his mind and everything else is his is right there and, you know, he stays on top of what everybody's doing and. But no, I've really. It was all relief to win that championship. I mean, I had only hoped and I've, you know, I've got Alan Johnson as my crew chief. Know it was their. I guess it was our third year. We ended up 10th in the points the first year, second, and then we ended up winning it and then last year we ended up second again. So real fortunate to have him as my crew chief. I mean, it's like that is absolutely a dream come true really, to have him and the guys that, you know. Max Savage, a guy that I've worked with for years, that worked back when I first started drag racing back with Ron Tober. You mentioned Sherlomani, her husband. Ron worked for me for a number of years and Mac, you know, worked with that team back then. So he's back with me and got an incredible opportunity this year again. So, yeah, we're having fun with it for sure.
- [38:29]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What if you could use your home equity to pay off your debt without monthly payments so you could focus on reaching your other financial goals? With a home equity investment from HomeTap, you can get access to your home equity in cash. Get closer to financial freedom and get more out of life. Learn more and see if you pre qualify for an investment@hometap.com Subject to eligibility, terms and conditions apply. Get access to your home equity in cash. Visit hometap.com to apply in minutes. That's hometap.com.
- [39:00]
T-Mobile Representative
Hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [39:04]
Doug Coletta
Thanks.
- [39:05]
Zoe Saldana
And here's my old phone to trade in.
- [39:06]
T-Mobile Representative
You don't need to trade in. When you switch to T Mobile, we'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro. Plus we'll help you pay off your old phone. Up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [39:15]
Zoe Saldana
There's always a trade in.
- [39:16]
T-Mobile Representative
Not right now. @ T Mobile.
- [39:18]
Zoe Saldana
I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma.
- [39:20]
T-Mobile Representative
That's okay.
- [39:21]
Zoe Saldana
I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.
- [39:26]
T-Mobile Representative
I'm good.
- [39:26]
Kenny Wallace
Seriously.
- [39:27]
Zoe Saldana
Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.
- [39:30]
T-Mobile Representative
Really, I'm fine.
- [39:31]
Zoe Saldana
Oh, I have raisins. I'm a Mom, wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car.
- [39:35]
T-Mobile Representative
It's our best iPhone offer ever. Switch to T mobile. Get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence on us. No trade in needed. We'll even pay off your Phone up.
- [39:44]
To 800 bucks with 24 monthly bill credits. New line 100 plus a month on experience beyond Finance Agreement 999.99 and qualifying ported for well qualified. Plus tax and $10 connection charge. Payout via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days credits, end amounts due if you pay off early or cancel CT mobile dot com.
- [40:02]
Kenny Wallace
I need to get Shirley Madani's phone number. I gotta interview Cha Cha. Okay.
- [40:07]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. I don't know. That might.
- [40:09]
Kenny Wallace
It could tell me, what would it.
- [40:11]
Doug Coletta
Be like, the whole thing and go, you know, we're talking about Connie and all the things. Oh, yeah, either one of those two. I don't know. I don't think they've talked. They don't talk at all. I mean, there's the movie.
- [40:23]
Kenny Wallace
The movie. I watched the movie. What was that? Heart of the movie with like a wheel. Oh, what a great movie. I mean, that put them world famous. I watched that just.
- [40:36]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, that was a good movie.
- [40:37]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, incredible.
- [40:38]
Doug Coletta
You can see Connie, his work ethic, you know, was, you know, pretty obvious in that thing as well. I mean, he's flying, building his company racing, you know, Fig, you know, getting in fights, you know.
- [40:49]
Kenny Wallace
Was the movie accurate?
- [40:51]
Doug Coletta
It was pretty accurate, yeah. I mean, there was a couple things about it that, you know, like him beating up as, you know, Shirley's kid or whatever. I mean, some of that stuff maybe got, in my opinion, exaggerated a little bit. But for the most part, that thing was pretty close.
- [41:09]
Kenny Wallace
Drove the point home. I want to talk to you just a little bit about yourself and Connie and the makeup of the mind. In other words, you know, when you. When you study everything about Connie and I don't know what your father was like when he was your age, but you're this incredibly calm demeanor. You remind me of Terry Labani. So you see Terry Levani, and he walks slow. He talks very methodically like you. And when we set you in a car. Holy moly. The person that I'm talking to right now, you don't match the race car driver. Where did you get this calm demeanor? From your mom or who.
- [42:01]
Doug Coletta
Pro. Yeah, probably. I think my. My daughter plays soccer the same way and plays cards the same way.
- [42:12]
Kenny Wallace
She always got an ace up her sleeve.
- [42:15]
Doug Coletta
Oh, my goodness. No, she super proud. Boy, I tell you, get around the field and with all these girls, it's like, what just happened with my little girl here?
- [42:26]
Kenny Wallace
She knocked the hell out of them.
- [42:27]
Doug Coletta
Oh, she's tough. Yeah. Well, to make it on this professional soccer girl soccer team was pretty. We were pretty proud of her. But no, it. I don't know. Years ago, you know, I. I guess, you know, just growing up with my dad and all this stuff that he worked with, this. I don't know if you ever heard of this guy, JX Palms. He had a midget back in the day and raced. So he. He kind of introduced. So I started, you know, going to the races, and I've never been to a sprint car race or a midget race, so I started watching all that stuff and just kind of watching, you know, indie cars and just. They'd have these in car camera stuff that, you know, and you realize how fast these things are going and just how cool they were. It. Yeah. I think it's just the love of racing. You know, you get to get in a car, and you. You have an opportunity to. To go out there and try to beat these guys. So it's.
- [43:29]
Kenny Wallace
But you're like your mama. You think?
- [43:31]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. Yeah, probably.
- [43:33]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. There we go, everybody. We got to the bottom of it. Yeah.
- [43:38]
Doug Coletta
I was obviously struck with that answer, so. Sorry.
- [43:40]
Kenny Wallace
Well, I mean, Connie. Connie is loved or hated. Very controversial. It's like, I can relate with you because my. My brother Rusty was rough around the edges, but would kick your ass and win. You know, it's hard to do. You know, we lost Scott Bloomquist in dirt racing, and. And Bloomquist would win the race, and he would do the crotch chop. And I would talk to Bloomquist. I said, man, I love when you do that crotch chop. And. And Bloomer would say, well, when I do that, I better win because he was a showman. Well, I think of Uncle Connie. How. You know, in A.J. foyt. I mean, you know, and maybe it's just the years they were born, but I just admire how soft spoken you are, and you're a fan favorite. Everybody loves you. And so it comes from your mama.
- [44:33]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [44:33]
Kenny Wallace
What's your mama's name?
- [44:34]
Doug Coletta
Judy.
- [44:36]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, my. I told you we was. Brother. Judy Wallace. Mom's still doing good. She's 87. Is your mom still living?
- [44:46]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, she's 83. Yeah. Yes.
- [44:49]
Kenny Wallace
Well, we are brothers. We got Toyota. We got Mac tools. Our mom's name or. Judy. I'm crazy. You're not.
- [44:57]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [45:00]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, okay. All right, so let's. Let's kind of finish up the open wheel, the, the midget rookie of the year and the sprint car. Let's. Let's kind of tie them together. What, what do you remember about just getting in those vehicles? To me, though, those are the wildest race cars in circular rotation. I'm not talking about drag race. I'm talking about circular rotation. To me, those are the most dangerous race cars ever.
- [45:35]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. Yeah. Your brother would actually come through the. We had this office at Morristown, Tennessee, and we had the sprint car pictures and he'd come through there and he'd look at those pictures and he's. Oh, man, those things. It was always fun to, to hear his perspective of, you know, what he thought, how crazy those things were. But. But now they're. That's how you start. You know, that's, that's. That was the opportunity that was. Was in front of me and, you know, like I had mentioned, with Don Shilling and Connie supporting them. And I most. I probably did better on pavement, you know, than, Than the dirt. I won. Yeah, just a couple different dirt shows home a classic. One time with my sprint car down at Terre Haute. But I won. The majority of what I did was on payment. So. But even though back in the day, though, that series was half and half pavement and dirt, so I had to run. I would run, be running close to the front, but just not getting the winds on the, on the dirt like some of these guys were. But. But the pavement balanced me out pretty good.
- [46:46]
Kenny Wallace
Well, third Thursday Night Thunder for Jeff Gordon. So for everybody that's listening and does not know, asphalt is what got Jeff Gordon at Indianapolis Raceway park or whatever they call it now. Yeah, you know, Thursday Night Thunder. So I mean, the asphalt, you know, years ago it was like, if you're gonna go nascar, if you're gonna go big time, you better get it done on asphalt now. Yeah, dirt is much more popular now.
- [47:14]
Doug Coletta
But yeah, that whole series is just all dirt now. But use X print cars. But yeah, back in the day, like you say, you know, irp, I had some good cars for irp. Don had built these cars. And so when Jeff had moved on, you know, Jeff Gordon, that's. Yeah, Jeff Gordon moved on. You know, I continue, you know, that's kind of when I got going. So I was able to win a few of those Thursday night races. We would run it Winchester, and that was probably my favorite place. Right. This place.
- [47:51]
Kenny Wallace
I loved it.
- [47:52]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, we had this car that had a rack and pinion steering in it and this thing, it would. It just hauled around there I mean, it was just real light on the wheel and you could just put that thing and just let it roll. And so I had a. I had good cars. Even my spring car, we had this wreck in that thing and you couldn't to drive it at irp it was a little harder because this thing, you know, it needed a little bit more of a bank to keep it to where you could steer the thing a.
- [48:18]
Kenny Wallace
Little bit because it was so light on the wheel.
- [48:20]
Doug Coletta
It was just so light on the wheel. But yeah, on those higher banks, that thing, it just was happy. And so that. That was good stuff.
- [48:29]
Kenny Wallace
Back in the day, I went through that. First of all, we lost the legendary and crazy Randy Sweet. I just talked to sweet steering box people a week ago or so, but I re. I remember. I can relate with you because I went to Dover in the cup series and my crew chief, Jimmy Ellage, he said. He said, herman, I'm going to put a steering box in this car for the cup race at Dover. And it's the steering box that Dale senior would. Would run. And you, you know, senior. Dale senior would be laid way back with his arms way out. And I'm like, how in the hell I. I know senior is the man in black and he's a tough ass.
- [49:09]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [49:10]
Kenny Wallace
Well, Jimmy Ella Gino, he worked at rcr. He put that steering box in that car, Doug. And oh, my God. I said, now I get it. It was like driving a Cadillac. It. It was 110 power steering and I had to get you. It took me a little bit of practice because the steering was so easy. But. But at Dover, like you're saying the high banks when it would load the wheels, but it was money for a.
- [49:38]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. So that was. So I had some good equipment back in the day on those things in those Thursday night races and what. You know, with the Thursday night thunder stuff and it was a great series. I mean, it's helped so many drivers come through the ranks and, you know. Yeah. But I have to admit, the flow racing guys are doing an incredible job with all of their.
- [50:02]
Kenny Wallace
Michael Rigsby.
- [50:03]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. So they're doing. They're doing good with keeping the sprint car and all these, you know, dirt tracks and. Yeah, they're doing a great job with all that.
- [50:14]
Kenny Wallace
So you mentioned Kenny Irwin. A little known fact. So I didn't know Kenny Irwin and his dad, you know, 1989, 1990. I'm at David if Shop in Lake Wylie, North Carolina. Brother Rusty helped me. I. I would not be where I'm at today without Brother Rusty. So this kid named Kenny Irwin, he's coming and he's. He's a crew member. He's trying to get into nascar. And I didn't know him, but every time he'd go run and open, he said, I drive midgets. And every time he'd come back, he'd say, I won. And I'm like, this kid's crazy. I had no idea that Kenny Irwin was as great as he was.
- [50:57]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, yeah, he was a hell of a driver. It was. I always thought that was cool that I started running midgets the same year here he got started. And, you know, back in the day, he drove for Steve Lewis, you know, Bobby, those guys, and had some great equipment, you know, and Tony, Tony Stewart, those two had some great battles, you know, back in the day too. So even on the dirt, you know, before kind of get going to nascar. But. But no, it's real cool for me to, you know, just to kind of grow up and be part of a lot of people that have, you know, got to know and race with and, you know, never really switched, you know, as far as, you know, going from sprint cars. You know, I've always been very content with going drag racing. You know, definitely not the same amount of seat time, but it's really. I mean, just being competitive and being able to run up front is. It's just, you know, that's. That's kind of the feel that I was able to. And to this day, you know, that's what I love about what. What we do is just being able to go out and run with this. Nowadays it's running with these new guys or younger guys and whatnot. And there's, you know, you got to definitely stay up on the wheel to beat them. So. But no, it's been. It's been definitely good. Been fun growing up with, you know, with both the open wheel and the nhra.
- [52:33]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What if you could use your home equity to pay off your debt without monthly payments so you could focus on reaching your other financial goals? With a home equity investment from HomeTap, you can get access to your home equity in cash. Get closer to financial freedom and get more out of life. Learn more and see if you pre qualify for an investment@hometap.com Subject to eligibility, terms and conditions apply. Get access to your home equity in cash. Visit hometap.com to apply in minutes. That's hometap.com.
- [53:04]
T-Mobile Representative
Hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile. Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us.
- [53:09]
Zoe Saldana
Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in.
- [53:11]
T-Mobile Representative
You don't need a trade in. When you switch to T mobile, we'll give you a new iPhone 16 Pro plus we'll help you pay off your old Phone up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it.
- [53:20]
Zoe Saldana
There's always a trade in.
- [53:21]
T-Mobile Representative
Not right now. AT T Mobile.
- [53:22]
Zoe Saldana
I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma.
- [53:25]
T-Mobile Representative
That's okay.
- [53:26]
Zoe Saldana
I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.
- [53:30]
T-Mobile Representative
I'm good.
- [53:31]
Kenny Wallace
Seriously.
- [53:32]
Zoe Saldana
Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints.
- [53:34]
T-Mobile Representative
Really, I'm fine.
- [53:35]
Zoe Saldana
Oh, I have raisins. I'm a mom. Wait, wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car.
- [53:40]
T-Mobile Representative
It's our best iPhone offer ever. Switch to T Mobile, get a new iPhone 16 Pro with Apple intelligence on us. No trade in needed. We'll even pay off your phone up.
- [53:49]
To 800 bucks with 24 monthly bill credits. New line 100 plus a month on experience beyond Finance Agreement 999.99 and qualifying boarded for well qualified plus tax and 10 connection charge. Payout via virtual prepaid. Total of 15 days. Credits and amounts do. If you pay off earlier. Cancel CT mobile.com.
- [54:06]
Kenny Wallace
We're going to leave open wheel everybody and we're going to end up the Kenny conversation with nhra. But before we do that, I want to let everybody know that we bo. We both do know about the Kenny Irwin, Tony Stewart fiasco that night. Where was that at? Was that at Terre Haute or Indiana?
- [54:27]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, yeah, they were both.
- [54:30]
Kenny Wallace
They were both driving white nines and they got to wrecking each other. Tony Stewart, Kenny Irwin. What do you remember about that?
- [54:37]
Doug Coletta
Well, I was racing in that race and yeah, I mean it was those two. I mean, they had this, I think the same personality. Right. So they're out there, they're gonna run, they're gonna win this thing or they're gonna wreck one another. So that's kind of what happened. But yeah, there was quite a rivalry between those two, you know, because they're both driving for Steve Lewis and you know, these Bobby's cars. And you know, that was a great time for sure in my life was running or, you know, running against those guys and just trying to run with them. You know, they were always very fast. But yeah, Ken was a hell of a driver, that's for sure.
- [55:19]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, I'm very sad we lost. Yeah, I had. I had talked to Kenny that morning. We said hi to each other and then he Got in his car and then he died 10 minutes later. It was very surreal to me. Yeah. And I'm sorry about Scott. You lost Scott. We lost Kenny Irwin. We've lost a few along the way. Eric Medlin. It's a tough sport, everybody. Okay, here we go.
- [55:49]
Doug Coletta
Robbie Stanley, he was one of my. One of my heroes. So. Robbie Stanley.
- [55:53]
Kenny Wallace
Robbie Stanley.
- [55:55]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, he run for the hoffman's, the number 69. It was a USEC spring car team. But anyways, yeah, he's. His family actually was a big part of building these. And even to this day, quarter midgets and they help all these kids get going. They're still building these things, so. But now he was. He won this Usex Spring Care championship. We were all running second when we were racing against him.
- [56:24]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [56:25]
Doug Coletta
But anyways, good stuff.
- [56:28]
Kenny Wallace
Great memories and thank you.
- [56:30]
Doug Coletta
Great memories.
- [56:31]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Thank you for bringing up the people that we loved and we've lost. Okay, it's time to go NHRA racing. And this is how incredible. I mean, you are a chameleon. You are a chameleon. So you move into drag racing in 1998. You glossed over just a little bit. Tell me that moment that you said, okay, I'm leaving Open wheel. I'm going nhra. When was it?
- [56:56]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, so it was at the end of 80, 1987. Went to the last drag race, decided, okay, I'm going to drive this thing. And like, the seat opens up. So I go to the left. The last race at Pomona, standing on the starting line behind this thing. Hadn't been to a drag race. God knows how long. Thing takes off, I'm like, oh, my God, this thing. I signed myself up for here.
- [57:21]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, right.
- [57:22]
Doug Coletta
So I had a month or so to whatever figure out before we actually started racing this thing and had Ed McCullough as my crew chief. Ed the Ace McCullough, which is just a legendary guy that, you know, had driven for years, you know, Larry Miner and, you know, back in the day. So it was an incredible opportunity. Was my Scott's team, you know, so these guys were very established. You know, it's not. It's not like it was a new team. These guys had been together for a long time. And yeah, so they. So we started running this thing and we tested a couple different weekends. Actually. I drove a. I went to Frank Holly's drag racing school. It's a great school for, you know, trying to just even want to just go and just feel the excitement, you know, the speed of, you know, the cars that he has. But I actually started out with that thing. I went to Bakersfield for like a day driving this alcohol dragster and. And then we hopped in this top fuel car and yeah, it was. It was certainly a little different. Obviously the. The finish line comes up pretty damn fast in these things and three seconds.
- [58:39]
Kenny Wallace
Yes. So I'm figuring it out, man.
- [58:43]
T-Mobile Representative
It's like.
- [58:46]
Doug Coletta
Driving this top fuel car. So I really never drove anything other than that one alcohol car that one time with. With Frank Alley. And he's a. Obviously a great instructor and all that. And I had surrounded with all these people that drag racing. But no, it had a good, you know, good, good group to. To train me and teach me how to. How to do what we did. And we ended up winning a race that year too with out in Sonoma. So it was. The first place that I won was in Sonoma that year. So I was fortunate to win my first year that, you know, Gary Salzi, when he started, you know, he ended up winning the championship his first year. So. Wow. Yeah, I'm like, man, if you, if I could pull it off, I was able to pull that off. Ended up getting a win. But. But yeah, we definitely thought we could do it.
- [59:40]
Kenny Wallace
But you're making me think of Tony Stewart right now. And I know Tony studies the sport. Does he come to you? Has Tony ever talked to you because you both kind of follow similar path?
- [59:55]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, we talk. We haven't really. I haven't talked to much about, you know, giving them suggestions or anything, but, you know, because he's, you know, Leah obviously is. She's a great driver, you know, and Tony, he can drive anything. Right. So it's just Tony Stewart smoke. Yeah, but you're right, he really analyzed this stuff. It was. It's interesting to listen to him in the detail that he goes into. I don't think I even think that many details of the whole process. So he's definitely analytically thinking about all the different things. I just. I think I just hopped in and you know, show me a few things and we'll figure it out as we go. So that's kind of the approach that I maybe took a little more. But I was thinking of a difference story there. It was. It was a. It was actually at the first race too, which the guys. It was something that I did that I think they realized that maybe this guy can actually drive this thing. So. So it's one of the qualifying sessions that Pomona My card gets the front end up about. I don't know. It was pretty high and so I get out of the throttle and I get right back on it. Thing sets the wheels down, runs down through there, qualify pedal it. I was doing a little bit that I ever, I think, did other than. Well, I've had a couple different things that. That, you know, make you wonder, but. But that was one of the first things that then people realized, maybe this guy, you can actually drive this thing. Because I'd show up at the start line, you know, they. They weren't sure what to expect, you know, me driving this car, so. But it was. It was a fairly smooth transition, though. I didn't do anything too stupid that year, so that was good.
- [61:59]
Kenny Wallace
Some of the greatest drag races of all time are pedal fest, Right? I mean, they're shows, but they're wild.
- [62:06]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [62:10]
Kenny Wallace
I want to do something crazy right now that I love about drag racing, and you just brought it to me. You said, ed the Ace McCullough. What is it about California, The Pomona? I mean, you know, I think of John Forces. Tell me, remind me of some of these great crew chiefs. Names. They're just. I think they're crew chief's names. All these names are. Are different.
- [62:39]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [62:39]
Kenny Wallace
You know, having fun right now. Tell me some crew chief's name. What was. What was Forces? John Forces. He won all those races with. What was that man's name?
- [62:49]
Doug Coletta
Austin Coyle.
- [62:51]
Kenny Wallace
Austin Coyle. I mean, Eddie Ace McCullough. Austin Coyle. I mean, are these real names? Austin Coyle.
- [62:58]
Doug Coletta
What a.
- [62:59]
Kenny Wallace
What a legend.
- [63:00]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [63:01]
Kenny Wallace
What's some other ones?
- [63:03]
Doug Coletta
You know, I've. So Ron Toler, he, you know, Shirley's husband. He. Yeah, he grew up as, you know, working with Connie back when, you know, Shirley was driving. He was one of the crew guys. And I mean, he has turned out, he has done very well and helped just a tremendous amount of people still out there. He was retired, but he's still out there helping Zizzo and his team group out of Chicago. Let's see. Jim Oberhofer, you know, he's like a brother to me. He's worked for Connie. You know, when I. Trying to think how many years he worked for Connie for a number of years. But Jim Oberhofer and his brother J. John, who still works on our DHL Funny car.
- [63:55]
Kenny Wallace
What a name that is.
- [63:59]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. When he quit driving. Well, I mean, back in the day when, you know, Shirley had done, you know, the championships and whatnot, Connie was our crew chief back in the day. I mean, he. He definitely was good at tuning these things, and he's still itching to if something's, you know, with particularly the car that Sean drives, because that was the last car that he really tuned. So if, if something's going awry over there, he's always ready to tell those guys what they need to do. But, but yeah, there's just. Let me see if I can think of somebody else that. Those are the guys that, that I've had work on my car. The screw Chief. So. But, yeah, but yeah, Alan Johnson, you.
- [64:45]
Kenny Wallace
Know, that's another one. Alan Johnson.
- [64:47]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. He's. He has a business that he builds a lot of the parts for the engines. So he really understands, you know, what's going on with the fuel system and just the balance of that engine. Won a lot of championships. Even back in the day with, you know, Gary Selzie. He actually, he had Alan tune in his car the first year that, you know, that he started driving the dragster and won the championship. So that was Gary's definitely interesting guy for sure. He's been a good friend of mine for a lot of years and his boy, both his kids, you know, are doing, you know, doing well with spring car racing. So that's one of the things I love watching about the real outlaws is watching Geo out there.
- [65:38]
Kenny Wallace
Geo Salzie.
- [65:39]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [65:41]
Kenny Wallace
I just get the biggest kick out of when I see these. And it amazes me. I said you, you all had to teach me. It's this relationship. Ron Capps loves dirt racing. The Selzies. What is the relationship with, with drag racing and open wheel racing? It just seems like you guys are married to each other.
- [66:04]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [66:05]
Kenny Wallace
What is that? Is there, is there something to it or is it just a coincidence?
- [66:10]
Doug Coletta
Yeah. And Austin Proc, he's, you know, race midgets and before he got, you know, he's worked on, I guess Robert Height's car for a long time and kind of got the opportunity to drive those things. So. Doing a great job. It's just, it's just another Selzie Proc.
- [66:29]
Kenny Wallace
Coletta, all dirt racers.
- [66:32]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [66:34]
Kenny Wallace
I love it. Okay, let's. Here we are. We're finally to the, the grand finale and you're famous. But you were the Harry Gant. You were the bridesmaid. You're top notch. You're a badass. You don't win 52 times in Top Fuel. You don't become the fifth all time Top Fuel wins list. You don't become 113 Top Fuel final round appearances without being a badass. But that bridesmaid deal, you run second in the championship in top fuel in NHRA 2003-2004-2006-2016, 2019. And I know there was a lot of pain along the way. And we're leading up to the 2023 Top Fuel Championship. What pissed you off the most about those second place finishes? Which one?
- [67:34]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, probably I thought I had it in the bag one year. We're down to the last round which I, I got beaten the semis get against Tony Stewart or Tony Schumacher. Yeah, he's got to set the record and win the race, right? So. And he ends up, he's got, he's.
- [67:53]
Kenny Wallace
Got to set a world record, world.
- [67:55]
Doug Coletta
Record and win the race. And he goes out there and last race, last round ends up doing just that. That was like the most heartbreaking one because I was so close, thought I had it in the bag.
- [68:10]
Kenny Wallace
What year was that?
- [68:13]
Doug Coletta
I think it was 06, something like that. Yeah, yeah, I'm terrible at. But no, that was, that was probably the, the toughest one. But yeah, the, the way the point system is now too. I mean we had the six by six race shootout comes, you know when we won in 20, 2023, I was running Leah, Bridget came down to whoever won that round, final round, was going to win the championship. So it, my Lord, you know, wasn't easy. And it never seems to be here with getting, you know, with, with the news, you know, last six race countdown thing. You gotta, you gotta go rounds pretty much in all of them to have a shot at it. So. But no, it was a huge relief as you can imagine.
- [69:06]
Kenny Wallace
So 2023, you found. What do you remember about winning that championship when you, when you, when you knew you were. When did you know you're going to win it after your round or were you in the pits? Where were you?
- [69:18]
Doug Coletta
Oh, in drag racing, they've got a win light on the, at the end.
- [69:22]
Kenny Wallace
You had to do your round.
- [69:23]
Doug Coletta
Okay, so you can. And we obviously all knew what, you know, what the, the prize was to win that round and win that race. So. But it was just a huge relief, you know, and, and the coolest thing too. I mean, and I kid with Connie about it and I'm like, I can't believe you hadn't fired me before this.
- [69:43]
Kenny Wallace
Because we had gone through all of.
- [69:46]
Doug Coletta
This stuff and hadn't won this thing. So to have him there on the starting line, you know, just being part of it. Um, and really for me it was, you know, just everybody that's helped me with all this, like Jim Overhoffer, I mean he is, you know, he has done probably the most for me, just because we worked together for so long, you know, around Tober, you know, just all these guys and all my crew guys that have helped me, you know, just. Just to kind of win. Not, you know, winning for. Obviously for me and my family, but just. It was just a huge relief for. Just a sign of appreciation more than anything for all the people that helped me, you know, get there. So that was cool.
- [70:31]
Kenny Wallace
Absolutely fantastic. Man, that hour and five minutes went fast. You. You've. You've done it all. You're 60 years young. I. I have a CPA, an accountant. His name's Ashok Chudgar from India. He's brilliant. And I've been with him 27 years, and I was. I would say I'm 60 years old.
- [70:53]
Doug Coletta
He's.
- [70:54]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, my friend. Hold on. 60 years young.
- [71:00]
Doug Coletta
Start using that, if you don't mind.
- [71:02]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Oh, please use it.
- [71:04]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [71:04]
Kenny Wallace
And you are. You're somebody that I've always been fascinated with. And I got to be honest with you, Doug, I've always wanted to talk to you on Kenny Conversation, but it was somebody on social media that said, man, Doug Coletta. I'm thinking crazy right now. I'm thinking about your daughter. I want you to know that I know how you feel about soccer, and my ADHD just did that just now. Soccer is huge in St. Louis. It always has been. Anheuser Busch is always sponsored. We are an underground soccer town. We got city stl. But the competition runs deep in your family is where I'm getting to right now. You're telling me your daughter's so soft spoken. You're. You know, I see you're soft spoken, but, buddy, you sure can light a candle. And I. I appreciate that. That logo, that Coletta logo. Did. Did Connie ever tell you where that. Where did that logo come from? Legendary. Who. Who drew that logo? It's simple, but, yeah, strong.
- [72:18]
Doug Coletta
That came from Connie. Yeah. No, I love it. Yeah. Maybe not. Yeah, no, it. But he's on the seven fours. I mean, I'm like, kind of think you got the name on there big enough.
- [72:33]
Kenny Wallace
No, I'm looking at it right now. I was on.
- [72:36]
Doug Coletta
You can't be sneaking around with that airplane.
- [72:39]
Kenny Wallace
That is for everybody on Dirty Mo Podcast. You can't see it, but I. This is me. I. I took that. I took that picture.
- [72:48]
Doug Coletta
Yeah.
- [72:49]
Kenny Wallace
And that. That's what started getting my.
- [72:52]
Doug Coletta
That's our newest paint scheme. We used to have this, like, a hockey stick thing in the rail red, and the gold would go right down through the center of the deal. And. But that's a cleaner paint job for us, and that's kind of the latest one that we've been doing. But, yeah, kind of go big or go home, right?
- [73:10]
Kenny Wallace
Well, when I. When I saw that. When I saw that plane a week ago, I said, I'm gonna call Doug Coletta. And that's my picture out the window of a little American air. But Doug, thank you so much.
- [73:26]
Doug Coletta
Thank you for having me on it. Appreciate. Yeah, appreciate you having me on. For sure. I love watching all the stuff that you do and. And obviously to be on. Dale, you had said something about the dirty. Well, so we.
- [73:41]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [73:41]
Doug Coletta
Shown that on there. So it's. I watch. Watch that as well and didn't realize that I'm gonna have it on there. So it's another cool thing that. That I could say I've accomplished was to be on your show and. And obviously that one.
- [73:58]
Kenny Wallace
So appreciate it.
- [73:59]
Doug Coletta
Yep.
- [74:00]
Kenny Wallace
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Is a dear friend of mine. He called me up and he had Mike Davis on speakerphone. He said, hermit, damn it, you're doing good with that podcast stuff. And I told Mike Davis, we need to get you to be part of this. So after a couple months of wrangling Kenny Conversations, and we're going to end like this, everybody, you can watch Doug Coletta on the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. If you want to see Doug's pretty face, go to the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. If you want to listen while you're driving down the road, all you do is you go to Dirty Mo Podcast, Kenny Conversations. They live on the Dale Jr. Dirty Mo podcast. So two ways to watch this. We gonna make you more famous. Doug. Thank. Thank you so much.
- [74:55]
Doug Coletta
Yeah, no, thanks for having me on. Appreciate it.
- [74:58]
Kenny Wallace
And that's it, everybody. Until the next Kenny Conversation. We'll see you next time. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
- [75:15]
Doug Coletta
Welcome back to Listen to youo Heart. I'm Jerry.
- [75:18]
Jerry
And I'm Jerry's heart.
- [75:19]
Doug Coletta
Today's topic, Repatha Evolocimab. Hart. Why'd you pick this one?
- [75:24]
Jerry
Well, Jerry, for people who have had a heart attack like us, diet and exercise might not be enough to lower the risk of another one.
- [75:30]
Doug Coletta
Okay.
- [75:31]
Jerry
To help know if we're at risk, we should be getting our LDL C, our bad cholesterol checked, and talking to our doctor.
- [75:37]
Doug Coletta
I'm listening.
- [75:38]
Jerry
And if it's still too high, Repatha can be added to a statin to lower our LDL C and our heart attack risk.
- [75:44]
Doug Coletta
Hmm. Guess it's time to ask about Repatha.
- [75:47]
Repatha Representative
Do not take Repatha if you're allergic to it.
- [75:49]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Serious allergic reactions can occur.
- [75:51]
Doug Coletta
Get medical help right away if you.
- [75:53]
Repatha Representative
Have trouble breathing or swallowing Swelling of.
- [75:55]
Doug Coletta
The face, lips, tongue, throat or arms.
- [75:58]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Common side effects include runny nose, sore.
- [76:00]
Doug Coletta
Throat common cold symptoms flu or flu.
- [76:02]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Like symptoms Back pain, high blood sugar.
- [76:05]
Doug Coletta
And redness Pain or bruising at the injection site Listen to your heart.
- [76:09]
Jerry
Ask your doctor about Repatha. Learn more@repatha.com or call 1-844-repatha what's up podcast listeners?
- [76:17]
Repatha Representative
It's Tanks, host of the It's Me Tanks podcast. Join me weekly on It's Me Tanks as I dive into topics like relationships, why it's okay to feel lonely, fighting, summer comparison, and pop culture's hottest takes. I don't shy away from getting candid about my personal experiences and I want to share all the advice I have learned with you. I'm even joined by some of my friends like Claudia Ostre, Connor Wood, and Amanda Hirsch each Friday for our new Office Hours episodes. You can listen to It's Me Tanks every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, wherever you listen to podcasts. And don't forget to follow the show so you don't miss an episode.