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Ryan Preece: What Drives His NASCAR Dream
01:16:05
Ryan Preece joins Kenny Wallace to discuss the rich motorsports history of the Northeast
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- [00:03]
Kenny Wallace
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- [01:36]
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- [02:04]
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 anything you need to fix your everyday vehicle up or even that hot rod you have. Okay. I feel like I'm interviewing a brother of mine because we are the same. We both are racers. We work on our own race cars. I really admire this man. Ryan Priest. Ryan, how are you doing?
- [02:38]
Ryan Priest
I'm doing good, Kenny. And it's funny, I feel the same way. So it's been. It's been quite the road. Honestly. Whenever I talk to you, I think about the first time I actually met you, which was when Kevin Bono Manion rented your race shop behind your house and I was racing for him and this was probably 2013, 2014, so a long time ago. And you know Definitely time is. Time has passed me by.
- [03:09]
Kenny Wallace
It's funny how us racers think the same. I don't want to get too far off, but Butch Miller was the man that talked, taught me the, what we call the polar moment of the car. It's, it's the axis of the race car that you can add weight and it really doesn't bother the car. And for our late models, it was to the left of the transmission. Now, your, your mods are a little different, but I watched Bono do some meticulous work on that car and melt some lead right under your brake in your break area. And boy, just, I really liked going down there and watching him work on that car. Hey, speaking of that, let's stay right there for a minute. That was a time in your career that you were working, obviously in my shop behind my house in Concord, North Carolina. Man, you were dominating at that time.
- [04:04]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, you know, and it's funny, it's very easy to forget those days, you know, when you're focused on where you're at right now. But yeah, 2010, like 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 were really, you know, career defining moments for me. I was racing weekly at Stafford Speedway, Thompson Speedway, Riverhead in Long Island. You know, as well as traveling up and down the east coast, going to race in Southern Modified Series as well as racing the NASCAR Wheeler Modified Tour and various different tours, as I'm sure you guys have out out your way. So, you know, you were on the road all the time and just chasing race after race. You know, being in the Northeast, most people that aren't from there, you don't think about it being a very, you know, big place as far as racing goes. But, you know, in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and some parts of Pennsylvania and a little further north, asphalt modifieds are, are big up that way. So, you know, yeah, I was racing Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, sometimes Sundays. And just being behind the wheel all.
- [05:16]
Kenny Wallace
The time, same subject. But as you're talking, I'm thinking about the great Northeast, you know, Mike Joy, Ken Squire, and then of course, the great racers, you know, Reggie Ruggerio, Ronnie Bouchard. I mean, I can go on and on, but I love the Loudon, New Hampshire area. It's a, it's a wonderful area with the racetrack. And it seemed like at that time Loudon became your Modifieds like your Daytona 500. Did you all consider when, when you took the Modifieds? We're talking the Modifieds with the big wide tires. Everybody. What are some of the names that was. It s And K series, Ryan, and then other ones, Whelen modified tours. Give me some names that you ran with the series.
- [06:07]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, so. So weekly racing is, I guess, for. For your listeners that don't know asphalt modified racing. Like in your late models, you have a super late model, you have a pro late model, which is less horsepower, usually typically a two barrel carburetor. So the modifieds, we have tor type modifieds, which is like your highest horsepower. So same chassis, you know, parts, suspension pieces, all that. But one step below that is the SK Modifieds. They're about 150 horsepower less. And then even below that, you have what we call the SK lights, which are like your crate, you know, 604, 602s, whatever they are. But yeah, so you mentioned Reggie Ruggerio a second ago. And when you said that, it brought me back to when I was, you know, 14, 15 years old. I was first starting to race modifieds. Reggie owned chassis company called Raceworks and they were based in my hometown. So When I was 16 years old, my dad, whenever we needed parts, he'd send me over that way, you know, because he would sell fittings and whatnot. And I remember Reggie was just. He wouldn't talk very much. And I'm 16 years old, so I'm not, you know, not scared to death. But you're just like, hey, I came for this. He wouldn't even say anything. He would just walk back, get the part, and then, you know, I'd leave. And it was funny though, because as I got older, probably around when I was 23, 24, when I started becoming really accomplished and winning, he started to talk. And so when you mentioned his name, it just brought me back to something like that. Yeah.
- [07:49]
Kenny Wallace
And those are. Those are great memories. When we have a Kenny conversation, there's no rhyme or reason of why we're saying what we're saying. Just. I like it that when I said his name, it brought that memory back to you. Was he number 36? What was his number?
- [08:08]
Ryan Priest
He was a few different numbers. He ran. So Teddy was the 36 as well as the 13, but Reggie was. He ran the Teddy bear pools. Number 44.
- [08:19]
Kenny Wallace
Okay.
- [08:20]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, he ran. He ran for quite a few different owners. And I mean, he. The 14 was. I think at the end of his career, he ended it with that number. But he was. He was all different numbers. He actually drove for my grandfather who had a modified at a racetrack called Riverside park, which was a local racetrack in.
- [08:39]
Kenny Wallace
Legendary.
- [08:41]
Ryan Priest
Legendary. Yeah. You know, the one memory I have there was because it was. It was a, you know, it's now Six Flags. It was an amusement park that happened to have a racetrack. And I remember Bobby Santos, myself, and a few others that I had to stand on their feet to get on a ride. And that was like my one and only memory that I. That I can remember. But, yeah, definitely legendary.
- [09:11]
Kenny Wallace
We will come down the hill, everybody. Please be patient. We will go to nascar. But I just think it's fascinating, Ryan's career to the top. When I think of modifieds, I think about us all going to. Loudon. Was loudon, your Daytona 500 for modifieds or what was the Daytona 500 for mods?
- [09:37]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, sorry, I completely forgot that you asked that, but yes.
- [09:40]
Kenny Wallace
No, no, I. I didn't ask it. I kind of went all around it.
- [09:45]
Ryan Priest
Yep. But Loudon, 100% was. It is the Daytona 500 for. For the NASCAR wheel and Modified Tour. And in all the racers in New England, that's always been like the pinnacle. That's. That's the biggest race, one of the biggest races of the year for us in the Northeast. You know, between that and we have what we call the Spring Sizzler and the Icebreaker and the World Series and the Fall final. So out of those five, those were the five that as a modified Tour racer or a modified Tour type racer, those are the ones that you really wanted to win.
- [10:23]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. And. And we have your stats, and I'm going to do the same with you. Your stats roll off the page. So I, I might have to take a drink of water at once we get through yours, but. Okay, let's start this conversation. We got to stay. We got to start up north, obviously, but ryan priest is 34 years old, you're out of Berlin, Connecticut, married to Heather, which. That's a great story with one child. Rebecca. Just tell me about growing up. It sounds to me like your dad was a racer. Tell me about your. Your area and how you grew up and how you got into racing.
- [11:03]
Ryan Priest
Yeah. So Berlin, Connecticut is. It's like a sneaky racetown. The more. The older I got, the more I realized how many people have come from there and the different teams that have actually come out of Berlin, Connecticut. But obviously, most of these listeners on here have heard of Greg Zipadelli. He's a. Exactly. Zippy. So Berlin, Connecticut, you know, we have a lot of local. Local taverns that support racing. But as well as, you know, my father, he. He always, from what he's told me, and I, I learn more and more as I get older, but you know, he always wanted to race. He just, he never, his father, they didn't build a car and it ultimately it took until him and my mother got married at the time for, for him to build a race car. And he built that race car with his buddies that he went to high school with, which were the Pryor brothers. And this is one of the core memories that I have growing up was my father and I always, before we would go to, you know, prior brothers fabrication where they built the race cars, we'd always go to get coffee before we would, we would show up because you never showed up empty handed. So you know, I always, I always remember the, the coffee order that I had to make sure I got right because some of them like decaf, some of them didn't, you know, some like cream, some like their, their coffee black. And you know, for him, you know, when he built his first street stock, he raced, he did all that. And then when I turned about six or seven years old, we, we went to our local quarter midget track which was about five minutes away from our house in Meriden, Connecticut, which is actually the same place that Joey Logano first started as well. It was called Silver City.
- [12:52]
Kenny Wallace
Where's Joey from?
- [12:54]
Ryan Priest
Joey's originally from Middletown, Connecticut.
- [12:57]
Kenny Wallace
Okay. Yeah. How far would that be from you in Burlington?
- [13:01]
Ryan Priest
15 minutes.
- [13:02]
Kenny Wallace
That's incredible. You're right. That racing, Racing City USA.
- [13:06]
Ryan Priest
Well, it's so funny. The nice thing about Connecticut is it's a small state, it's extremely easy to get to all the different places and everything's really bunched up together. But yeah, so I mean ultimately when we, when we first raced the quarter midget and I actually have two older brothers, they did it as well. I'm just the one that really, I mean I was, that's all I thought about, all I did.
- [13:31]
Kenny Wallace
You know, I, I find it, my brain, you know, listening to you so intently. We just had Ricky Craven on from the Northeast. His dad really didn't race. Joey Logano's dad really didn't race. I mean even if they did, they didn't carry on. And you're telling me your dad really didn't race? Is that common? The more I talk to people, just seems like the boys in the northeast. Is there any great father son duos from the Northeast that you know of?
- [14:05]
Ryan Priest
I mean the one that I could think of is he doesn't race anymore. Would be. It would have been Michael Christopher and Teddy. Yeah, they were brothers, but then they have their Michael Christopher, which was Teddy's brother. He has a son, which is Michael Jr. You know, they haven't really crossed paths, I think, racing against each other anymore. I think Michael just kind of sat back and said, I'm going to focus on, on my son and let him earn it. But, you know, I think that's nothing that really, you know, comes to mind, I guess.
- [14:41]
Kenny Wallace
The Northeast, when I look at you all up there, I look at hardcore racers. Great fabricators, great machinist, great everything. Do you think that's because the winners are so long? I mean, it seems like the fans are. The fans love their racing up there. They're. They're some of the greatest fans in America, if not the world. What, what is your thought about hardcore racers from the Northeast?
- [15:11]
Ryan Priest
Well, what I'll tell you is they're very passionate.
- [15:14]
Kenny Wallace
Yes.
- [15:16]
Ryan Priest
How we can all be from the Northeast, which I've learned, you know, honk.
- [15:21]
Kenny Wallace
Honk, get out of my damn way.
- [15:24]
Ryan Priest
We have a, you know, and I, I think that's just the culture there is. We are all very aggressive in all aspects of life. And, you know, when we do Hong Kong, you know, we don't mean anything by it. It's just. It's just kind of how we live. But yeah, to your point, winters are long and, you know, if you aren't out shoveling snow or plowing, you're probably in your garage, if you have a garage there and working on your race car and getting it ready. And, you know, it's, to me, just. It's just a different style. And I didn't grow up in Indiana or out in the Midwest, but I would imagine it's very similar to guys that are, you know, they're USAC racers or racing the, the UMP Modifieds or IMCA or, you know, any type of, of series that is outside of the Southeast. It's just, it's a lot of people that just enjoy racing. They love it. They have businesses, but that's what they enjoy doing. So for me and my father and all the different people that I race for, it was, you know, if you weren't working, you were in a race shop somewhere. You were, you know, a lot of the, A lot of the memories that I have were traveling up what we have called Interstate 84 or Highway 84, heading to one of the race shops in Charleston, Mass. We'd be on there, we'd be up there, you know, typically on like Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays, getting the car ready to race weekly at Stafford in the SK Modifieds, and we wouldn't come home, you know, There was times where I'd get, I'd be going back home at like 5 in the morning and if it was, if it was that late, I just drive straight to my dad's. You know, we had a small H Vac business in Southington, Connecticut and I just show up there at 6:00am and you know, he'd be there like, oh, what are you doing? I said, just getting back. Might as well not even sleep. Might as well just go get a coffee and hang out for a while until we head to Stafford.
- [17:26]
Kenny Wallace
We are so the same. My uncle Gary owned, okay, vacuum and, and janitorial supplies. And it's really cool to hear you talk about your father's H Vac business. Before we move on, we talk about how hardcore you all are. You're passionate. Who's the gangster of the Northeast? Would it be Tommy Baldwin? And we lost his father. But man, when I think of Tommy and his dad, I mean, hell, they scared me just watching them. And Tommy, still to this to this day, he's a hit now on door bumper clear. And was there any more of a gangster than Tommy Baldwin is right now? And his dad was, I mean, yeah.
- [18:12]
Ryan Priest
I would definitely say Tommy is pretty much. But you know, just, you know, it's funny and, and this is, this is the part that I don't think maybe if you're outside of the Northeast you understand, but we're just, I feel like we're raised tough in a way. You know, it's thick skinned, so to speak. You know, I remember my father, you know, if I didn't get something for him quick enough if he asked for it.
- [18:40]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, Rusty.
- [18:41]
Ryan Priest
Yes, right, yeah. Yes, I remember I had a half inch by one inch bolt flying by my head one time. Like he wasn't throwing it at me or he wasn't throwing it at me, but he was trying to get my attention because I was some, you know, 18 year old kid that wasn't, you know, wasn't doing something quick enough for him.
- [19:00]
Kenny Wallace
So he probably walked to the toolbox instead of run.
- [19:03]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, that is, that is 100% the truth. But you know what, at the same time, those are the lessons to be learned that makes you the person you are. So yeah, I, but going back to what you were talking about, you know, Tommy Baldwin and I never actually spoke to his father. I was at Thompson the night that he passed away, just in the grandstands watching. So yeah, no, Tommy, you know, he's been very influential in my racing career as well as somebody that you know he's wired the same way that I feel like I'm wired, which is do whatever it takes to get the job done and do it right. Hey, this is Dalen Hart Jr. And for the latest Herman Schrader gear, you need to go to shop.dirtymomedia.com We've got.
- [19:52]
Kenny Wallace
Plenty of options for everybody and we're adding new stuff all the time.
- [19:56]
Ryan Priest
So go to shop.dirtymomedia.com.
- [20:00]
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- [20:28]
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- [20:51]
Kenny Wallace
I love this. Okay, everybody, we've got the foundation. And when we move forward in the conversation, some of the things I ask Ryan, they'll make sense. Now. Hardcore, passionate works on his own race cars. Let's move to 2007. You're in the Northeastern Midget Association. I mean, we're going way back. Not really, though. Not for me. But a year later, you finished third at. How do we say that? You got to get used to saying that. Say it for me. How do I say it?
- [21:25]
Ryan Priest
It's. It's called monadnock.
- [21:28]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. So you get third points. But what I really like that you start out in 2007 and feel free to, you know, help me here, but you really start getting it. On 2011, you won the SK MOD championship at Stafford Motor Speedway. Here's key. Everybody listen up. While your future wife Heather was rookie of the year. Now this is badass. Tell me about that. Tell me about that time at Stafford and meeting your girlfriend, which turned out to be your wife.
- [22:02]
Ryan Priest
Well, there's definitely a lot to that story. And so the to begin it. So 2010, I start racing part time At Stafford for a chassis builder called Chassis dynamics, who was owned by Mike Paquette. And we were. We were running really well. And the big thing about what we were doing is I could run the outside at Stafford Speedway better than everybody. I could roll the top and just go right around them. And that became impressive to a lot of people that own the modifieds that happened to actually end up switching to those cars. Fast forward. Heather's father ended up buying one of those cars. And my job working for Mike is, you know, when people would buy a car, I would go out and test it at times, you know, shake it down, make sure it was right. That way, when they got in it, you know, they knew. They knew what a good car should feel like. Well, that's how we ended up meeting and all that. Well, fast forward to the end of the season. Heather was. Heather was in an intense battle for rookie of the Year. I was. I was going to win the championship, I think, you know, I had it locked up at that point in the last race. But her competitor had asked me if I would drive his car in practice and help them tune it in and offered me, you know, a thousand bucks at the time.
- [23:25]
Kenny Wallace
Absolutely.
- [23:27]
Ryan Priest
Well, I had her death stare looking at me like, if you do that, I'm gonna kick your ass. So, yeah, I was in a little bit of a predicament, and I didn't. Didn't end up driving that guy's car to help him get better.
- [23:40]
Kenny Wallace
Love wins. Love wins.
- [23:44]
Ryan Priest
Yes, it did. So she won rookie of the year that year. I won the championship. And it was. It was just the beginning, for sure.
- [23:52]
Kenny Wallace
Man, that's awesome. There's. There's other NASCAR race car drivers that raced in their kind of. I'm trying to think of some other ones, but you're. You're not rare. There are other drivers that are married to the wise. I mean, Kevin Harvick, Delana raced. I think it's awesome. Did it make.
- [24:15]
Ryan Priest
Did it.
- [24:16]
Kenny Wallace
Does it make your marriage easier that your wife, Heather, is a racer?
- [24:21]
Ryan Priest
Hell, no, they don't. Well, I mean, it doesn't make it harder, but it makes it, you know, because they get the other side. You know, I don't. What I. What I. What I don't always want to say, but is definitely the truth is, you know, Heather's seen both sides, and she's not the type of wife that is going to look at me and just tell me what I want to hear.
- [24:47]
Kenny Wallace
So she's a Northeastern wife.
- [24:50]
Ryan Priest
We call her Heather Happiness. But she can definitely she can definitely give you something that you don't want to hear, but that's. That's the nice part about it. And what I will say is there was nights during 2011 when we would get done racing and her and I would be heading home. I could feel those eyes looking through the side of me, and you don't want to look at it, so. But yeah, no, I mean, it's definitely. It made it fun, right? Because it's somebody that you can share conversations or those experiences of what you were racing with, you know, as well as it was, it was nice to, you know, if I'm racing this past weekend and we're talking about it, like, she gets it, you can carry a conversation about racing. So that's the fun part about it. The unfun part about it is she definitely sees if I do something wrong, she will call me out on it.
- [25:45]
Kenny Wallace
So I want to go back to Stafford for a minute. I know what a legendary racetrack it is, and I know how hard it is to roll the outside there. I only was there one time. It's a beautiful facility. Obviously, that's your track, but, man, when I ran. You know, when I ran up there, Tell me how the hell. How did you get to the outside? For anybody that doesn't know, obviously, it's a flat as a pancake. What. What tech. What did you have that the other drivers didn't have that you could roll to that outside?
- [26:25]
Ryan Priest
Honestly, I think we hit on something right away with balance. You know, as a race car driver, all you're thinking about is, I need it to turn, you know, roll the center or. Or whatnot. You know, I had the stability from a driver standpoint to be able to drive it in really hard on the outside but not get tight rolling the center. So I was just able to roll momentum. And, you know, when people would duck off to the bottom and clip the apron, because that's what you use there is on entry, you would diamond. Diamond the corner, essentially. I didn't have to do that. I could just roll the outside, drive it in, and continue to roll speed. And, you know, once you get to somebody's outside and they can't use the whole track coming up, they just have to kind of lift and break their momentum. So I was able to do that really well. You know, as far as, like, car geometry and setup stuff, you'd have to ask Mike Piquette about that one. But, yeah, no, it was just when you. When you're able to run where people don't run the tracks, Typically cleaner and it creates more grip. So I was able to run up there and make grip doing it.
- [27:36]
Kenny Wallace
Well, listen up, everybody. You are looking at one of the greatest Northeast modified racers of all time, and there's no doubt about that. And it's time for the part of the show that we do with all the great racers. And then we're going to move to nascar. We're going to tell you Ryan's stats, and you're going to understand why I say he's one of the greatest of all time. And. And Ryan, I always say this. Feel free to help me, but here we go. Okay. Ryan Priest, 2013 Whelen modified champion. And that is. That is no joke. That is hard. 2015, 16, 17 World Series of Asphalt Tour type modified champion. 2011 Race of Champions winner. 2012, 2014 north versus South shootout winner. 2015 SK5000 winner. I'm smiling when I read these right here that are coming up. 2015 Turkey Derby winner. 2017, 2018 Turkey Derby winner. I guess you missed one there. You didn't win four in a row. You won one skip a year. Now, this one here is big time, too. 2017, 2018 spring sizzler, winter. Damn, that just gives me goosebumps. Okay, now we fit there. The 2017 All Star Shootout winner. Is that NASCAR? What is that?
- [29:12]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, that was. That was at New Hampshire. So. New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the wheel modifieds they had before the New England 100, which is what they called it at the time. Yeah, they had an all star race, which I had to beat Newman. I had to Newman on the last lap for that one. So. Yeah, I remember that.
- [29:33]
Kenny Wallace
Badass. Badass. Okay, we're just getting started, everybody. That's why I said I take a drink here. Okay. I've heard of this track. 2018, 20 IP winner. Is it Ice Slip or Islip?
- [29:46]
Ryan Priest
I slip. Which was Riverhead Raceway. The. I think it was.
- [29:50]
Kenny Wallace
Oh, yeah. Legendary. You ever notice how many names there are for racetracks sometimes.
- [29:57]
Ryan Priest
Yeah.
- [29:58]
Kenny Wallace
I mean, you know, there's always. There's usually three names for racetracks. The town, the real name, the sponsor name. Okay. 2019 Twisted T open modified winner. 2023 Virginia is for lovers winner. So right about 2023, you stepped back into the mod. Was that at Richmond?
- [30:21]
Ryan Priest
So that was actually in 2021, I think, with Rich. Are you talking about the one where I won Virginia is for Lovers?
- [30:30]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, it's.
- [30:31]
Ryan Priest
Yeah. So that was.
- [30:32]
Kenny Wallace
Okay.
- [30:33]
Ryan Priest
That was 2021. And the reason I'll never forget that is the guy I was driving for, at the time, Eddie Partridge. We won that race. And then it wasn't 10 minutes after he was actually driving back to Long island. And we got a call saying we needed to get to the hospital. He actually had a massive heart attack right after we won. So that was unfortunate. And we lost him that day. But yeah, that was. That was. That was a big one.
- [31:03]
Kenny Wallace
I'm extremely sorry about that. I want to talk about Richie Evans in a minute now. Okay, we're still going, everybody. 20, 25 New England. Okay. Okay.
- [31:15]
Ryan Priest
Is this.
- [31:16]
Kenny Wallace
I. I think this is our. Our fun right here. But still it's there.
- [31:22]
Ryan Priest
We just.
- [31:23]
Kenny Wallace
New England 900 winner at Stafford. And we joked about it. You said, I've only won one race this year. Yeah, but tell me about that.
- [31:32]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, so it's funny where while you were talking about this, I actually had a. Had somebody from New England send me. They keep track of all the stats for drivers, and he sent me a win list of. Of all the wins I've had since 2009. And, you know, I haven't been running, you know, full time in the modified since I think it was 2017. So it's been part time since then.
- [32:00]
Kenny Wallace
You give them a break, they're probably happy to see you go.
- [32:04]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, there was. But The New England 900, no, that was, you know, that was a race that. That Cletus McFarland, Garrett Mitchell put on at Stafford Speedway with Crown Vix. And, you know, I was lucky enough to be invited to race with those guys and Biffle and, you know, a bunch of the people that are influencers on. On YouTube. And yeah, I just had an absolute blast because it was a stock Crown Vic that just happened to have nitrous and some train horns in it. And, you know, it was probably some of the most fun that I've ever had racing because, like, you know, at the end of the day, if it's your car or my car, we have a lot of money invested in that equipment, right? And then when you show up, you're racing for the purse, like, there's a lot of competition there. For me, when I did that race that Cletus had, there was nothing on the line other than having fun with a bunch of people. Like, as if I'm going to a go kart track that we're just. We're just enjoying the time, you know, and just out there racing to race. So, you know, as far as pressure or, you know, the need to win, so I cover tire bill or whatever it may be, there was There was none of that. And it was just, you know, it was for the. It. It was just fun to race and, and, you know, have a good time.
- [33:25]
Kenny Wallace
I want to stay right here for a minute and we'll finish up with your NASCAR stats. We're watching the Savannah Bananas now, who are like a entertainment fake baseball team. And then we're watching over here what Cletus is doing.
- [33:42]
Ryan Priest
I.
- [33:43]
Kenny Wallace
It doesn't aggravate me, but when you pull into Stafford and you see a crowd like that for Cletus's race, how do you think about. Okay, you know, years ago I would go into the NASCAR hauler when I would get my ass chewed out by Mike Elton. And there was a sign up there, you know, about this is a show now. You and I, we're checking bump steer, we're working on our shocks. We're into it. But there's a lot of people that think racing is entertainment. What was your thought on a serious side? Now we see this entertainment value going into Stafford and seeing a crowd like that.
- [34:23]
Ryan Priest
So I used to have. There was a guy that would travel with me to all the races between the years of 2010 to like 2015. His name was Jerry and he would always drop those because he had been around racing since the 70s and, and understanding the show. You know what I mean? That's a. That is a lost piece that I feel like short track racing. It's. It's been forgotten in some regard because, you know, at least me, when I was racing in Stafford, I didn't want to get caught up in the drama or the villain or the, you know, playing those roles. But those roles are so important to the people that show up every single week that are cheering you or booing you.
- [35:16]
Kenny Wallace
Do you know that now that you're older, when did you. Okay.
- [35:21]
Ryan Priest
Yes, I do. And I feel like, you know, probably a lot of young racers, they don't understand it, just like I didn't, you know, when I was younger. But as you get older and, and you're a part of the show, you need to understand what your role is. And, you know, I think I'll just use in the Cup Series level. Denny does a good job knowing his role of where he's at in his career right now, which is playing the villain. And, and there needs to be that, you know, just like Dale Earnhardt. I never talked to Dale Earnhardt. I just saw clips, you know, and just like, I'm sure, you know, Rusty and all you guys, you knew your roles outside of just the racing side. And the competition side, what entertained the fans. So I think that's, that's kind of something that needs to be worked on if you're racing locally. Maybe that's communicating between the track and the drivers of, hey, how can we help you guys? But this is how you can help us to make it. So it's exciting and brings those fans that show up for The New England 900, you know, show up to Stafford weekly and they pack the stands like that.
- [36:33]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, I think there's so much to be said there now that I'm older. I remember what's lost around St. Louis area is our great rivalries. We used to have a guy named Eddie Dixon. And, you know, of course, we're asphalt racers, but you go to the dirt tracks and this guy is, as the kids say nowadays, this guy was banging the boards. And then you, you know, you had all these two or three guys that, you know, you came to watch. And now it seems like on a local level, it's gone. And it feels to me like everybody is so serious about their chassis that they want to load up and leave the racetrack right away. That's why I, I pressed you about that, because Cletus is racist. You know, me and you, we want to go. Ha. But buddy, wherever. I mean, the crowds he get, we got to pay attention to that.
- [37:26]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, well. And I think, you know, in just my opinion and you, you nailed this right there. The time and the money that we put into our equipment, it's. It's really easy to get frustrated because, you know, you're not making money. You know, when I go race a modified, When I show up to run a wheel and modified tour event, I'm spending seven, eight grand to finish sixth or seventh. Pays 3,500 maybe. So you're losing. You're losing money. Right, Right away. And you know that, you know, to that regard, there's just a lot of pressure because financially you probably need to win, and there's a lot of things you need to focus on. So, you know, how do you fix that? I don't. I don't necessarily know because at the end of the day, as racers, we can be our own worst enemy because we're going to spend whatever it takes to be competitive or more competitive. And, and that makes it challenging because, you know, at the end of the day with the racetracks, if you, if you're trying to make it so the racers can make more money, who's going to eat that cost, you know, the fan? I don't know. Or how do you go about kind of subsidizing all those things so it doesn't make it so much pressure that when you show up, you got to win or, or whatnot. But I don't know, I think it's a challenging thing. But yeah, Cletus, you know, those guys, they do a great job as far as entertaining the fan and putting on a show that people just, they talk about it and they just love it.
- [39:09]
Kenny Wallace
And what's great about Cletus is that he's the real deal. I mean, a man can fly a helicopter. He can, he can build things. So I mean this in a fun, loving way. The joke is on us because he's got it figured out.
- [39:24]
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- [39:54]
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- [40:09]
Ryan Priest
Typically takes 15 days.
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- [40:26]
Kenny Wallace
Okay, and. And here we go, everybody. We're coming down to his stats. Ryan Priest's stats never end. But he rolls down the hill now and he comes to NASCAR. And you're a very young man. You're only 34. You have 206 NASCAR cup starts, 62 Xfinity starts, 12 truck starts. And I only did the the big three. Of course you raced everything. You worked your way up to NASCAR. Right now your total is 280 NASCAR starts in the top three series. But I ask all the drivers the same thing. When, when I read those stats. Off to you. Turkey Derby Spring Sizzler. I mean on and on. What do you think about that. Where's your head go?
- [41:16]
Ryan Priest
You know, for me, when I sacrificed my racing, my local racing or regional racing career to chase this national dream, it was, you know, you, you gave me a big compliment, which was being a Northeast legend, right? Yeah, there was a lot of things that I sacrificed in 2016, 18, 19 and beyond as far as accomplishments go, because I could have, you know, I could have chased modified championships, you know, the NASCAR wheel Modified Tour and, you know, winning, winning more events and doing things like that. But I wanted to be successful at a national level, so I grinded it out. But I guess, you know, for me, I don't know, when I think about that stuff, I think about late night.
- [42:10]
Kenny Wallace
Traveling, I think about, you know, busting.
- [42:13]
Ryan Priest
Your ass and, and doing the things that, it certainly wasn't easy, you know, and I'm sure all the racers that, that watch your channel, they can relate because it's. Don't get me wrong, if somebody were presented me an easier path, it would have been nice. But I've learned, you know, I've, I've. There's so many life lessons that I've gotten along the way that have helped me for moments throughout my cup career that, that have made me who I am today. So. But yeah, thinking about, thinking about those wins, I think about the highs, for sure, you know, but there's some lows.
- [42:56]
Kenny Wallace
I'm just going to say this, and I want, I want people to respond right here, whether it's on Dirty Mo podcast or the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. I don't listen, I don't know your area as good as I should, but I know a lot about it. I don't think there's another driver. I'm talking Bodines, Ronnie Bouchard, you know, the guys before you. I don't think there was another mod driver that came on the scene one so fast, so much, and then immediately made it to nascar. In other words, when I'm sitting here looking at your stats, you know, you're, you're at Stafford in 2011, just getting going, and here you are, you've been in NASCAR like eight years now. You know, in, in all three series, I mean, you came in, you kicked ass, domination, and boom, you're gone. When I look back at the Bodines or whoever, they, they stayed there for quite a while.
- [43:58]
Ryan Priest
Well, and that's where, if I showed you it actually. So when I, I ran the Wheel and Modified Tour, my first year was 2007. My first tour type modified win was actually in 2008. And that in 2008, I actually raced for the Bowlers, which, you know, the Bowlers were the famous number three. So I ran for them in 2008, 9 and 10, which I won my first wheel and Modified Tour race at Martinsville Speedway In September of 2008, I think it was. And then. Yeah, I mean, it was. It's so hard to go back and talk about all those years and all the things that you accomplished, but. Yeah, so 2008 was my first Wheel and Modified Tour victory. I won quite a few in 2009. I finished second in points that year to Donnie Leah. I think you've heard of him. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, I was seven, 2008, so I was 17 years old, I think. No, yeah, 2008 I was. So 2009, I was 18 years old. I finished second in the championship and I kind of did things backwards. I ran regionally on the NASCAR Wheel and Modified Tour and then I got the attention of some local weekly racers and. And Mike Paquette with chassis dynamics, and I started racing for him as well as Bob Hitchcock and. And different people at Thompson and Stafford in 2010. And that's how that all my career really took off from the modified perspective in 2010, 11, and then getting, you know, that ride in. In that 16 that Mike Stefanik had previously drove in 2012. So that's really when everything started to skyrocket.
- [45:45]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. I just want everybody to know the reason we've stayed here so long. Is it. And Charlie let me know here, my YouTube manager, my friend, I believe, you know, I've interviewed everybody, but I don't. I think you're the first Modified guy. It embarrasses me. And my gosh, I've interviewed drag racers, sprint racers. So we're coming. We're coming to nascar. But one last question, because I'm an old guy and I know how young you are, but just your thoughts on. On the great Richie Evans. And you know, when I think of Richie Evans, I think of Dick Trickle, I think of Larry Phillips. These were the guys before us. How in the hell they made a living doing it? I mean, I guess because they won so much, but just I got goosebumps. I really do. Your thoughts about the great Richie Evans?
- [46:45]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, I mean, so for me, I wasn't around. He passed away before I was even born. The thing was that you hear stories about what guys like him, Jerry Cook and the Bodines and what they were doing, which was traveling up and down the east coast chasing the NASCAR weekly or. Or NASCAR points system that they had national points and the stories, you know, of the Dutch in and, and everything.
- [47:15]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, going on Martin.
- [47:18]
Ryan Priest
They were racers and I feel like know racers back in the day were outlaws. They were innovators and they were outlaws. And you know I would say I don't consider myself an outlaw like those guys were because they, they were another level. But my father, in the way that I was raised is that similar mindset to. Yeah, that similar mindset. But you know Richie Evans and the things that they accomplished and he accomplished and you know, being on the road as much as they were chasing the dollar. You know, I heard stories from my grandfather what they would do, they'd race it like you know, if it was Flemington or whatever and that way and then they, they'd go to Trenton or they'd change gears and, and go to this race like on the way and sometimes they would just make it for the, the concy to qualify in and you know, that's just the way it was. But you know, my era that I remember, you know, was racing against guys like you mentioned earlier in the show. Reggie Ruggerio, Jerry Marquis, Teddy Christopher, Mike Stefanik. And you know, I had a hell of a frickin rivalry with Teddy because I was the young kid and he was the older guy, you know, and he made me earn every bit of it. I actually remember my final race against him, which was the night before he passed away. It was at Stafford. And you know it was, it was myself, Teddy, I want to say it was Woody Pickat and Rowan Penic. And we were just stacked up side by side, final closing five laps and the old Teddy, you know, when we were, when we were side by side all like that, waiting for the front row to move or kind of settle out, he would have got in behind me and harpooned me and just figured, you know, he would have just disposed of me but feel like you know, with older age and a little bit more respect or I earned his respect, he didn't do that. So that was the final race, you know, because the next day we're all in Long island at Riverhead. And that was when we all learned about, you know, unfortunately he had a plane crash. So yeah, you know those are the guys that, that really resonate with me. But you know, Richie, he was, you know, Richie really cleared the path for, for modified guys.
- [49:44]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, those guys resonate with me too. I had success 1991 up in Loudoun and I would see the modified start coming in and you know, I was a Big fan of those races. My God, they're just some of the greatest finishes in motorsports history. You guys coming off of turn four and that last minute draft and, and winning. Well, thank you for, for doing that for me. And I hope everybody from The Northeast enjoyed 46 friggin minutes of the northeast. And that's my tribute and Ryan's tribute to all of you. And so we're going to go south, but we're, we're not going to harp on the south. I want to start out like this. You, you, you get to Stewart Haas Racing. First of all, everybody take a drink, okay? Because I want to calm this segue down. We're never done with the Northeast, but we're done with it for a candy conversation. So you make it to nascar and like I said, we're going to do, we're going to pass over a lot of things. Right now you're, you're at Stewart House Racing. They, Stewart House Racing in the Cup Series, they shut down and then all of a sudden drivers see talent. So when I'm racing I can see talent. Brad Keselowski sees talent. He sees you and he calls you and he says, hey man, he says, I want you to come over here to that big logo above your head right now. RFK Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. I don't want to go back and harp on Stewart Haas. I just want to start out with, you're incredibly talented. What did it feel like? What went through your mind when you realized Brad Keselowski was asking you to get your cup for jacked up on steroids and go again?
- [51:47]
Ryan Priest
Yeah, you know, for me that was, that was an opportunity to be successful. You know, when I, when it all came together and everything worked out, you know, I looked at this as an opportunity to win. Now we haven't done that yet, but I feel like we've, we've been extremely consistent and had success as a first year team and as a racer. I think, you know, one of the most important things for us is to be competitive is to, to not, you know, is to be thinking about what do I need to do to win this race and not what do I need to do to not get lapped. The number one thing that I can't stand in my career was that I spent a lot of time in the first stage of races hearing, hey, leaders coming, we need to try and get more. It's like driving my ass off here. Yeah. To try and make speed. I mean I can't just flip a switch and say, okay, Let me find three tenths. I was just riding here. So for me, you know, coming here to rfk, this was a breath of fresh air because, you know, I felt like Brad was, was building a team that was going to be competitive right off the bat. And, and it showed. And, and I felt like from a support standpoint and, and all the different things that we need to be successful as race car drivers, we were going to have that. So, you know, there was nothing more irritating to me as a race car driver that wanted to be successful and had success in his past than having to move home, back to Connecticut, not thinking that I ever accomplished something that I felt like I could. So, you know, the goal's not done. We still need to win. But, you know, outside of not making the playoffs, we were 12th in points or 13th in points and having, having a great season. So there's a lot to, there's a lot to be, you know, proud of with 20, 25 and, you know, 10 opportunities to finally win and build momentum for next year. But yeah, no, Brad, you know what, what I, what I wish I did prior to coming over here was got to know him more when I wasn't teammates with him because all the things that I've learned about him, you know, he, he's successful for a reason. You know, he has the right mindset. He knows how to put people around people that are going to help you succeed and that's important in racing. So, yeah, I, I mean, when it all came together, I'm just, you know, I'm excited and proud to have, have the opportunity that I have. And yeah, it's been a lot of fun.
- [54:41]
Kenny Wallace
How, how are you and Brad Keselowski like minded? Because I can remind once again, I joke. I'm old. I remember Brad. Okay, Ricky Rudd, Ricky Rudd got hurt and I was, you know, taking over the Snickers car for a couple races and I was at, I was at Roush Yates and I watched Brad Keselowski come in with a checkbook, one of those big old checkbooks. Like I got one, one of these.
- [55:12]
Ryan Priest
Yeah.
- [55:12]
Kenny Wallace
He came in with that in his hand and I looked up at him and he was, he. I said years later, I said, what were you doing with that checkbook? He goes, I was buying a car for ARC or something like that. So I know he's been through the grind. Brett Keselowski's been through the grind. Like you, how are you and him like that, how are you the same?
- [55:32]
Ryan Priest
So we are very much like minded and same in racer aspect. He's just, he's very, which is very important in racing is thinking of the future, thinking about forward movement and not being passed by by technology. Him and I have talked about, you know, cars and all those things and he was always the type that, you know, or from what I gather, he was the strategist. He was a planner. You know, in, in that regard for his racing, I was very hands on. I was very, I know what's in my race car. I know what I need to change or what I need to feel and I'm going to do it. He wasn't as hands on from what I understand, but he knew how to get the people in place that knew how to bring success and, and that's important, that's important in, in our sport because if you aren't, you know, if you're not thinking forward or, or what part and piece can we develop to, you know, to machine or make speed, that's, you're going to get passed by it. And I think that's a, that's a huge key, you know, with Brad is, you know, just, just who he is as a racer and, and understanding business and, and how to get the, the things that we need in order to have speed.
- [56:59]
Kenny Wallace
Reminds me of brother Rusty. The year, the year Rusty won 10 races, his crew chief was the great Buddy Parrot. And I heard a couple they people, they weren't really being mean, but they're like, buddy Parrot doesn't know anything about chassis. Somebody said that to Rusty and Rusty responded, yeah, but he knows how to hire the right people. And Rusty had most of his success with Buddy Parrott. So Buddy could. Buddy Parrot a great leader and had a hell of a year. So there's a lot to that. You know, hiring the right people. They call those delegators. Okay. So I have to celebrate you because Charlie Marlow showed this to me and I thought, damn, that's pretty awesome. You, you were just named. I mean there's not an award, but everybody recognized that you were the most improved driver from 2024 to this year. You made the biggest gain in regular season points. You've got 227 more this year than you did last year. Second is chase Briscoe at 148. You got to know this and I know you want to win. Your thoughts on that?
- [58:28]
Ryan Priest
You know, I think that, I don't know, last year was challenging and, and not in for a bunch of different reasons. You know, SHR was shutting down.
- [58:39]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [58:41]
Ryan Priest
But here's what I'll say. The team that we had with the 41 and, and Chad Johnson, it wasn't, we didn't not have success because of lack of trying. I think there's just a lot of information you're leaning on and trying to decipher what's. I, I say this, what's real and what's not, what, what is valued more, what should be valued more. You know, there was a real slump that we went through from May, June, July, and really ultimately started to turn our season around right at the end in the final, you know, 10, 12 races. So for me, I just think, you know, it was, I don't really know what to think about, about that versus this year.
- [59:33]
Kenny Wallace
You're a lot, you're a lot better this year than you were last year. That's the bottom damn line. If we're sitting at a bar drinking beer, it's like, damn, Ryan Priest is really good this year. And yeah, that's awesome stuff. I want, I wanted to recognize that.
- [59:47]
Ryan Priest
Well, and I appreciate that. And one thing I'll say is, I think for me, I've had to wear so many different or I've had to play so many different roles in my career, it was almost hard to remember which one was Ryan Priest the driver and just focus on the driving. So the nice part about coming into RFK this year was I don't go into Derek's office and say, hey, what springs, what shocks, you know, what geometry, what are we running this weekend? Where's our air pressures at? Maybe we need less air pressure, you know, and all the different things that, that it takes to go fast. I focus on what can Ryan Priest do better this weekend to make more speed or execute a race. And you know, those are the things I focus on now because of the support that, that I have here. You know, I feel like that's helped and you know, having the trust in the company and Derek and our pit crew and all the different pieces that they're going to execute their, their roles and I'm going to execute mine. So I'm going to say that that's probably been a big part of it.
- [60:49]
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- [61:19]
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- [61:32]
Kenny Wallace
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- [61:35]
Ryan Priest
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- [61:47]
Ryan Priest
Us.
- [61:51]
Kenny Wallace
I want to say this because I know how hard that probably had to be on you to give your chassis up, which I'm sure you're not totally giving it up, but brother Rusty, he would chew my ass out. What's your air pressures, what's your springs, what's your shocks? And if I didn't immediately rattle it off to him, I mean, like when I was running Xfinity, when I was running Cup, I know Rusty loves me, but he belittled me so badly. That's why you're not winning. You don't know your chassis set up. I mean, I mean, oh, it hurt me. And, and then I would talk to Ray Evernham and I would confide in Ray and I say, ray, you know, I know Jeff Gordon is a God's gift. I know how good he is. I said, does, does he set your chassis up? Ray looked at me like I had four eyeballs. He said, kenny, I build the shocks and I ask him what he feels and he says he, Jeff Gordon is the best at telling me what he feels. So was it hard for you, like Rusty, was it hard for you to give the chassis because Jeff focused, Jeff Gordon focused on driving the race car.
- [63:05]
Ryan Priest
You know, I think the sport has evolved so much. Yeah. So it's, it's very difficult. Here's what I'll say. The sports evolved and it went through an era. And I would say this, of course, the late 90s or mid-90s or even early 90s all the way till now of understanding aerodynamics and then getting rid of the quote unquote mechanical grip we need this spring. And one thing I'll say is, you know, if somebody told you, hey, you're going to run a 3200 pound spring, what would you instantly, 3200 pound spring in the right rear.
- [63:48]
Kenny Wallace
You're crazy.
- [63:49]
Ryan Priest
You're crazy. I'm gonna be wrecking. There's just. There's so much to it. And what I've grown to realize and understand throughout my age and throughout my time is that I don't understand all the pieces of the puzzle. I am not in that race shop every day working on that race car here. So I don't know, you know, what spring it needs and why it needs it. What I can tell you is if I understand, you know, if I see all the pieces of the puzzle, I can help the ones that are working on it decipher which corner or what we need to work on in order to be better. So that's kind of what I've taken my role for. So if they ask me a question, I can. I can break that down because I understand from working on it, you know, which pieces are probably going to be a little bit more important in sending that signal to me on why I'm loose or why I'm tight or why I can't do this or why I can't do that to help us get to that point. So Rusty is a little right. But at the same time, I feel like in this, where we're at in this day and age, I. I just think there's too many, too many smart people that are, you know, understanding aerodynamics and then, you know, how to. How to maximize every piece of the puzzle.
- [65:13]
Kenny Wallace
I want to go to mechanical grip Racer. Racer. Now, for everybody that's listening right now, this one I just got to bring up. You can comment on it, but, you know, Matt Kenseth is incredible, right? And that reminds me of you. You know, built his own race cars and came out of Wisconsin. But, you know, in our day, the stopwatch was everything in practice. I mean, practice was a show in my day. In other words, if you went out there and you ran a quick lap, it didn't matter. You were on top of the board. And that digital, when the computers came about on the top of the toolbox, that changed our sport. People were taping off for the last practice session to get on top the leaderboard, and we'd have like an inch at the end. There were like an inch and three quarter sway bar. I mean, massive. But now, remember, I grew up with a 7, 8 sway bar. One inch, inch and eighth. And I'd cut that lap and then I'd get into the race and I'd push like a pig. And it was Matt Kensa that said, oh, yeah, that Big bar, it run good, but as soon as you get behind somebody and you don't got no air to that nose, that big bar will kill you. Because mechanical grip, meaning your, your car handling with cars in front of you. I just want you to comment on that for a minute as a racer.
- [66:41]
Ryan Priest
So it's funny, you talk about sway bars and, and I think back and I resonate, you know, with the modifieds now. You know, I would say ever since about 20, 2015, I started running inch and a half, 48 spline, you know, seven eight, one inch bars. Now, you know, it's crazy, just, just we talk about development and everything. You know, the setups I run now, I'm running, you know, an inch and an eighth to inch and a half sway bars. But it makes speed that back in the day, you know, when I was, you know, 17, 16, 17, 18 years old, we had what we called Troyer bars, which were, you know, a 300 rate or a 350 or a 400, which probably equated to, you know, a 13, 16 or, or, or three quarter or seven, eight. I don't really 100% know how they rated them in 300 or, or 350 or whatnot, but yeah, so my, my thing back in the modified days is really early on, our cars typically got loose. We wouldn't get tight. So the big thing was, was burning a right rear off. But to your point of practice and going out, you could lay a lap down, you'd be so fast for five to eight laps. But then when you got in a race and you had a full load of fuel and you didn't, you couldn't just pull off and, you know, make an adjustment after eight laps and you were running that race for 150 laps, you'd get sideways and, you know, it was really easy. People even to this day are still guilty of it when they look at race monitor and they see that little lap time button and you see the guy go to the top if you ever click on his lap times and typically it'll show how fast he is. But then you could see that fall off that he has. And then there's that guy in 10th, that sneaky guy who's not showing up real high on the, on the practice chart. But when you get into that race at lap 10, 15, 20, 30, whatever, he's, he's going to the front and it's because his car drives good. And that's, that's an important piece.
- [68:55]
Kenny Wallace
Alan Kuicki was like that. He would practice on Used tires. Him and Paul Andrews had it figured out. I mean, half a tank of fuel, you'll see them. Everybody else going for that monitor lat. And there's kicky with taking fuel out of the fuel cell. Old tires. He didn't give a rat's ass about the speed because he owned the team. You know, he owned the team, so he didn't have to do that.
- [69:21]
Ryan Priest
It's funny you say, you know, practicing on youth tires. Well, you know, four years ago when we. Nobody could get practice tires in the country and you were having to practice on old stuff. I actually got my modified program better because I got it driving better on older tires. And I think it was almost like a blessing in disguise for. For where I was at 20. Maybe it was 20, 20, 22. But yeah, there's. There's a lot to be said for that.
- [69:48]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah, we're at an hour, and I would.
- [69:53]
Ryan Priest
I would be.
- [69:54]
Kenny Wallace
What would they say? I'd be guilty if I didn't talk to you about this. We've celebrated you. We made sure everybody knows your past and what you've done, the success you're having now. You are a successful cup driver. I know you want to get that win, but when I look on your X account, you're. You're a. You're an astronaut. And the reason you're an astronaut is because you've gone to the moon a couple times. You've made national news. You know, you're famous in the racing world, but you became national news. You've had two of the biggest flips in motorsports history at Daytona. Charlie's gonna drop some pictures in here right now. Just. I mean, what was that like? I've never flipped like that. I mean, I've. I've tipped over. But when you. When you flip like that and then I'm happy to see you have fun with it on X. Yeah. You've gone to the moon twice. What is it like.
- [70:59]
Ryan Priest
The first time? I couldn't remember a whole lot, to be honest with you. That was. That was one of those times where you just close your eyes and you say, well, I'm ready for this ride to end. And, you know, eventually you open your eyes and it's over. So that was 20, 23 with that one. I mean, you're just getting thrown around. I don't. I don't remember a whole lot of it. It happened really quick. And your body does a whole lot, you know, to protect you from remembering incidents like that.
- [71:28]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah.
- [71:28]
Ryan Priest
And then, you know, there was this past year earlier during the Daytona 500. I remember that one, the entire thing, because I remember Christopher Bell, you know, getting shoved out, wrecked, and then my right front clipped him. And then all of a sudden, the car popped up straight in the air. And all I could think about was that rear diffuser being like a sheet of plywood in my car taking flight. Like, literally, I thought that I just, I was going out of the park. Just because you're going 190 miles an hour. And. Yeah, so all I saw was the sky. And in that moment, I said, oh, yeah, I'm going over the fence. So luckily, you know, when I landed and the car went sideways and. And did. Did its whole thing, yeah, I, I was, you know, I was fine. My shoulder was pretty beat up. But, you know, outside of that, I think that's. It's a little different from when guys in the 80s and 90s were racing. Like, you look at our seats. Yeah, they're a little safer, thank God. And by a little safer, I mean a lot of safer. But the hits, they. You still feel the hit. You know what I mean? You're still getting beat up in that race car.
- [72:41]
Kenny Wallace
You're still stopping.
- [72:43]
Ryan Priest
Sudden stops, you're still. You're still stopping. So, yeah, I like to joke about it. I like to joke that, you know, and I. I like to joke that I'm an astronaut because I saw it on Reddit where somebody had posted my face on an astronaut's body. And that's when I just decided I was gonna make it my. My Twitter profile. So I love it. You gotta have fun with that stuff.
- [73:08]
Kenny Wallace
Yeah. Not that you're. Okay. Okay, everybody, we. We're coming to the end here, and we do this with all the drivers. You've been wonderful, so now it's time to do it. And it's. It's your thoughts. You know, sometimes I hold my breath. Don't get yourself in trouble is what I tell all the drivers. But your thoughts on NASCAR today, from the point system to the next gen car, the grandstands, what are your thoughts on NASCAR today?
- [73:42]
Ryan Priest
I mean, as far as the grandstands go, I'll be honest with you. This is some of the best. When I am at these races, this is some of the best crowds that I've seen at my career, during my career.
- [73:57]
Kenny Wallace
Good point.
- [73:59]
Ryan Priest
Since 2019 to now, this year has had some of the best crowds. You know, I wasn't there in the 2001, 2002 era, where, you know, the popularity and, you know, the personalities that you guys had you know, I think that, you know, our sports kind of went into cruise control with some of it. And now, you know, I think you're seeing some of the stories that we have in our sport as well as the personalities and playing the roles. You know, I think some people weren't playing the roles that they need to, needed to at the time. So I, I, I see us in an upward trend, you know, as far as the next gen car. I think there's a lot of good, but I think there's, there's also some things that, that I'd like to see as a race car driver us head down that path and one of those is horsepower. And I say horsepower and I don't just mean a 10% increase. And a 10 increase would be 70 horsepower or something like that. Right. We need a lot more than that because from a, from a weight perspective, our car is 3, 500 pounds. My modified is 2,600 pounds.
- [75:23]
Kenny Wallace
I was going to say, let me interrupt you. Out of everybody, you should know because you ran, you've run all the modifieds and you're talking, I guess you have run some of the modifies with crates and yeah. You got experience with that.
- [75:38]
Ryan Priest
Yeah. So the modifieds, 2600 pounds, they have, you know, 677 horsepower. So you feel that horsepower a lot more than you do in a cup car that weighs 3,500. So we need, you know, you, in my opinion, you need a thousand nine hundred to a thousand horsepower. That would be cool and, and hopefully I'll be around for the day that we see that again or if we have a push to pass button like I did in the Cletus McFarland deal. Yeah, having some nitrous or an air horn, you know, but the point system, you know, I think for us in our sport, we, we're innovators, you know, we, we need to be trendsetters. And what I think is great about NASCAR and the things that, you know, I grew up loving about it, so we didn't care what other people thought. We, that was the appealing thing to people is we were just, we were different. We were outlaws. And you know, I think the playoff format is certainly exciting, but I would like to see, I would like to see something different now. What that is, I don't know, but I'd like to see some more reward of having, you know, having to have a good regular season and not just necessarily one night that changes your entire season. So that's my opinion. But at the same time, you know, whatever, whatever is Exciting for the fans. I think that's what matters, too. As you were talking to or alluding to with Cletus, you know, he cares about what entertains the fans. So if. If, you know, doing a backflip, you know, on a. Off a race car, me tomorrow would entertain fans. I guess I need to learn how to do a backflip. So I'm just using that as an analogy of whatever fans find exciting. That's what we need to do.
- [77:43]
Kenny Wallace
Well, we're coming to the end, and we are here. And I must say this. Roger Penske is one of the most serious businessmen in the world, and his series, the IndyCar series, has pushed to pass. So if we need a little something to, you know, make your car have an opportunity, Roger Penske's doing it. And so when you put Roger's name with something, I don't think it's a joke. And NASCAR is changing so much by the year that I'm sure you guys are close to getting more horsepower. It sounds to me like that NASCAR's taking a look at it. But, Ryan Priest, I want to thank you so much for being on Kenny Conversation. I. I've learned so much, and thank you for coming on.
- [78:34]
Ryan Priest
Absolutely no Kenny. And thanks for having me on. I mean, this is. You know, as somebody who's been a fan of you and a fan of what you do with your YouTube and your podcast and what you and Kenny do, it's really great to have the opportunity to come here and talk with you. And one quick story, if you don't mind.
- [78:56]
Kenny Wallace
No, I love it. Go ahead.
- [78:57]
Ryan Priest
I'll never forget, I rented a shop when I first moved down here in 2019 from. From David Reagan, and it was on Windy Road. Okay.
- [79:07]
Kenny Wallace
Yes, yes.
- [79:08]
Ryan Priest
So Kenny Schrader apparently owned that before David Reagan. He sold it to him.
- [79:14]
Kenny Wallace
Yep.
- [79:15]
Ryan Priest
So I'm there working on my modified one day, and this black Impala shows up and, like, all tinted out. And I'm thinking, what? You know, what? Who is this?
- [79:26]
Kenny Wallace
A gangster?
- [79:28]
Ryan Priest
And Kenny Schrader pops out, and I'm, you know, I'm like, holy, it's Kenny Schrader. And he just. You know, we start talking. He starts telling me the story about how he built the place and some of some other, you know, great stories. And. Yeah, so that was. That was a real, real cool moment for me.
- [79:50]
Kenny Wallace
Kenny Schrader, at one point, had six 63 licensed vehicles. I tell Schrader all the time. I said, schrader, you know, he's my buddy. I mean, we're super close. I said, we're the same, but we're so different. I said, you give me anxiety. I asked him the other night, he come and watch me. Saturday night he wasn't racing and I said, how many motorcycles do you have? Because he rode up on his motorcycle.
- [80:16]
Ryan Priest
He goes a few.
- [80:17]
Kenny Wallace
I said, you got 10 or 12. I know you do. Yeah, but yeah, Schrader would collect cars and he would have some of the goofiest cars. But yeah. Okay everybody listen up. If you want to see Ryan Priest's pretty face, you can watch him on the Kenny Wallace YouTube show. And if you want to put those earbuds in and listen to him, you can do that right here on Dale Jr's Dirty Mo Media podcast. Until the next Kenny conversation, we'll see you all next time. Bye bye everybody.
- [80:57]
Ryan Priest
Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
- [81:02]
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