901. Championship Mindset Ft. Ryan Hardwick: 24h Le Mans Winner

Summary

Podcast Summary: REAL AF with Andy Frisella - Episode 901: Championship Mindset Ft. Ryan Hartwick: 24h Le Mans Winner

Introduction

In Episode 901 of "REAL AF with Andy Frisella," host Andy Frisella welcomes longtime friend and business partner Ryan Hartwick, a prominent figure in both the motorsports and motorcycle dealership industries. The episode delves deep into Ryan's journey from establishing one of the largest motorcycle dealerships to conquering some of the world's most challenging endurance races, including the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Guest Introduction: Ryan Hartwick

Andy introduces Ryan Hartwick, highlighting their decade-long friendship and partnership in running their race team and the expansive motorcycle business. Ryan's extensive background in motorsports and his significant achievements make him a compelling guest for this episode.

Background and Business Journey

Ryan shares the origins of his motorcycle dealership business, detailing how he and his partner Justin began their venture by submitting a passionate application to American Honda at just 19 years old. Despite initial setbacks—being told they lacked funding and experience—the duo persevered by securing a knowledgeable partner from an existing Yamaha Kawasaki dealership. Over 25 years, their business grew exponentially, boasting 12 locations that serve as comprehensive motorcycle and four-wheeler superstores, encompassing a wide range of brands from Honda and Yamaha to Polaris and Ducati.

Notable Quote:

"We are the third largest retailer of motorcycles in the world... now a little over 300, getting close to 350 employees." [02:20]

Racing Journey: From Passion to Championship

Ryan's passion for racing began in his youth with dirt bikes, nurtured by his father's guidance. This passion seamlessly transitioned into his business venture, as the chaos and competition of racing mirrored the challenges of running a successful business. Ryan emphasizes the importance of competitiveness, teamwork, and resilience—qualities essential both on the racetrack and in the entrepreneurial world.

Parallels Between Business and Racing

A significant portion of the conversation explores the striking similarities between managing a business and racing. Both arenas demand meticulous preparation, adaptability to unforeseen challenges, and unwavering trust in team members. Ryan draws parallels between the strategic depth of racing—where every second counts—and business decisions that can significantly impact outcomes.

Notable Quote:

"Business and racing just kind of went hand in hand...you're constantly surrounded by chaos and racing and business is much the same way." [08:00]

Team Dynamics and Organizational Culture

Ryan elaborates on the intricate team dynamics within a racing team, likening it to a high-functioning organization. He underscores the necessity for each team member to excel in their specific role, fostering a culture of mutual respect and seamless collaboration. This organizational harmony is crucial for success in both racing and business.

Notable Quote:

"The best race teams have an unbelievable organizational culture... everyone knows their exact job, their exact role, their exact duty." [17:05]

Key Races and Achievements

The discussion highlights Ryan's participation and victories in major endurance races:

• 24 Hours of Daytona (2022): Ryan recounts the intense moments leading up to and during the race, emphasizing the pivotal role of belief and team strategy in securing victory.
• 12 Hours of Sebring (2020): This race marked Ryan's first significant win at a high-profile endurance event, showcasing the culmination of years of preparation and teamwork.
• 24 Hours of Le Mans: Ryan shares the challenges faced in qualifying and completing this legendary race, including overcoming setbacks and maintaining composure under pressure.

Notable Quote:

"We won the 24 Hours of Daytona... And Ryan's already telling me we're going to win the 24 hours of Le Mans." [53:26]

Overcoming Challenges and Building Legacy

Ryan discusses the hurdles encountered during his racing career, such as crashes and the unpredictability of endurance races. These experiences have reinforced the importance of resilience and continuous improvement. Both Ryan and Andy reflect on the significance of legacy, aiming to leave an indelible mark in both racing and their business endeavors.

Notable Quote:

"When something happens out of your control, that's it, man." [55:12]

Future Goals: From Endurance Racing to Formula One

Looking ahead, Ryan outlines ambitious plans to elevate their racing team to the pinnacle of motorsports—Formula One. This transition signifies not only a strategic business move but also a testament to their relentless pursuit of excellence.

Notable Quote:

"We're going to be in F1... there, you're going to see our car, our livery, everything that we're doing." [120:44]

Building a Recognizable Brand

A substantial part of their success hinges on creating a memorable and iconic brand. Ryan and Andy discuss the deliberate efforts to design a distinctive livery for their cars, aiming for enduring recognition similar to Richard Petty's legendary NASCAR car. Their collaboration with Porsche has been pivotal, ensuring their cars are not only performance-driven but also aesthetically standout.

Notable Quote:

"We've created an association of the bright blue... it's already everywhere. People are making it in Gran Turismo and all the Cert Forza." [82:24]

Insights and Takeaways

Throughout the episode, Ryan and Andy offer valuable insights into the intersections of business and racing:

• Preparation and Execution: Success is rooted in thorough preparation and flawless execution, whether on the racetrack or in business operations.
• Team Synergy: A cohesive team with clearly defined roles is essential for overcoming challenges and achieving common goals.
• Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and maintain focus amid chaos distinguishes top performers in both fields.
• Legacy and Passion: Building a lasting legacy requires passion, dedication, and a commitment to excellence over the long term.

Notable Quote:

"It's all in the journey. That's where the magic happens. It's not at the finish line." [125:02]

Conclusion

Episode 901 of "REAL AF with Andy Frisella" offers an in-depth exploration of Ryan Hartwick's dual journey in business and motorsports. Through engaging stories and profound insights, Ryan underscores the importance of mindset, teamwork, and relentless pursuit of excellence. This episode serves as an inspiration for entrepreneurs and racing enthusiasts alike, illustrating how passion and perseverance can lead to extraordinary achievements.

Transcript

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Went from sleeping on the floor now my jury box froze up Pole stove counted millions in a cold bad booty swole Got her own bank roll can't fold Just a no head shot case Close. What is up, guys? It's Andy Frisella and this is the show for the realists. Say goodbye to the lies, the fakeness and delusions of modern society and welcome to reality. Guys, today we are doing something different. Different. We are going to actually have a full length episode today which we haven't had in a long time. But I can promise you this is one you are going to want to listen to all the way through. So with the amount of negativity and stuff going on in the world and crazy, we thought we'd take an opportunity to give us a little breath from that and, and do a full length and so that's what we're going to do. But before we get to that. Liking your new hat there, bro.

[Dustin]

Oh, thanks, man. I had a friend gave this to me.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, it looks like you got extra brains.

[Dustin]

That is.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Is that what you're doing? You're trying to look smarter?

[Dustin]

It expands in there.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, gotta fill up the hat all up in there. Yeah, looks good. What's the sticker for there? Who gave you the hat?

[Dustin]

Yeah, a special, special friend gave me this hat and he's actually our guest today on the show. We got Ryan Hartwick.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

What's up, dude?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Thanks, man. Yeah, it's going good.

[Dustin]

Ryan, what's going on, man?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Man, a lot actually.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, a little bit to talk about. Yeah. So yeah, man. Dude, we've been talking about this for years. For those of you that don't know, Ryan is one of my best friends in the world. He's also a business partner of mine. We're partners in the race team. Dude. We've been friends for a long time now. Yeah.

[Dustin]

How long have you guys been knowing each other?

[Andy Frisella]

10 plus years.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I want to say it was around 2015. Yeah, we had met really through cars, through the car community. Mutual friends. Like, hey man, you know my friend Andy and I just, I'd found you online, you know, I was following you. These were Facebook days, I guess. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I know of him, you know, it's like, oh, wise a friend you guys should meet. You guys are both into cars and. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Going on 10 years, I guess.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, yeah. And then I came down.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, Dustin.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, you guys had me come down.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And I met you and Dustin and Justin.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Justin, yeah. And then yeah, had you speak to all our salespeople. Yeah, yeah, yeah, man, that was probably 20, what, 16, 17 maybe.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, I was fine. I think I was just down there for the day.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, he came down quick. Yeah, we, we asked you where. I'm in the motorcycle business. My, you know, so for those of.

[Andy Frisella]

You that don't know, just real quick. Yeah, yeah. Ryan is going to be humble. But Ryan and Justin and the guy they own what is, I think it's fair to say one of the largest, if not the largest motorsports dealerships in the whole country. One of the biggest in the world.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, we're in the top three. Yeah. In the world. Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

So how many locations you guys have?

[Ryan Hartwick]

I have 12.

[Andy Frisella]

12. And these are not like little, you know, they got a few motorcycles. These are like motorcycle at four wheeler superstores. And you guys have every brand, don't you?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, for the most part. I mean there's a couple small brands but you know, all the, you know, Japanese motorcycle brands, Honda and Yama, the American brands like Polaris, Ducati.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

European brands. So yeah, they're. Yeah, it's a business that we, Justin and I grew up.

[Andy Frisella]

Now you guys started the same. Exact. The cool thing about Ryan and Justin is they started like exactly when Chris and I started.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 99.

[Andy Frisella]

And we're about the same age.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, about the same age. We don't have to say what that is, but. Yeah, that's right.

[Andy Frisella]

Just keep it general.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, we, that's where we kind of hit it off. You and I had a lot of similarities, you know, and you know, business and probably I think we both started, you know, probably two. I know, me for one, I had no idea what I was doing, you know, just, you know, we were, you know, going after it as fast as we could and learning a lot but making a lot of mistakes. But yeah, we started in the same years and then as the businesses grew, you know, kind of our businesses were close in size for number of employees and things like that. So we had a lot of common ground and stuff to we could share and learn from each other. It's nice knowing that there's someone else out there having a lot of the same struggles. Yeah, dude. That you're having.

[Andy Frisella]

That's getting their ass kicked the exact same way.

[Dustin]

You got hit in the ball too.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude. A lot of times it's like they come in waves. It's like the same day, you know.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You too? Yeah, yeah.

[Dustin]

How old were you there? That's Stuck right there.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Jeez, man. I went to the closet.

[Dustin]

I went to the closet. I'm like, damn. All right, Ryan.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Dam. Yes, that was business, Ryan. I like that LinkedIn picture.

[Andy Frisella]

So dude, what was it like? You know, before we get into the. I mean, obviously most of the listeners here are, are success, entrepreneurial minded. I mean, dude, just talk about that. You know, they've all heard my story. But I mean, dude, you guys have an incredible story.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I mean we, like I said, Justin and I grew up together. We were riding dirt bikes all our lives. My father taught us to ride. And so it was our passion. And we kind of stumbled into the ability to submit an application to one of the manufacturers to open a dealership. And we were, Gosh, we were 19 years old when we sent this application in. And you know, I spent a lot of time working on it about how passionate we were about the sport. And it was with American Honda. And Honda, you know, sent us back, responded, said, hey man, we really like your application. It's got a lot of passion behind it. You got a lot of really cool ideas, but you have no funding and you have no experience. Two important things to start a business. And so again, we knew no other way than to go and try to solve those two things. We were told no. So we went out and tried to borrow money from others and then we went to go find a partner that had experience in running a motorcycle dealership and we worked for, gosh, a couple years to find both of those things. So yeah, man, back in the late 90s, early 2000s, you could, you could borrow a lot more with a lot less than what you can now. So I will say the environment was, was ripe at that time. Kind of dot com, you know, kind of turn of area to, to really for a bank to loan a lot of money to two kids. Yeah, that had, we had one other partner that he had a Yamaha Kawasaki dealership, you know, near our town. And we talked him into partnering with us and that was pro, my first really good sales job trying to talk this, this really smart entrepreneur into partnering with two young kids. And, and that's how we got our start with a single line Honda store. And we opened in 2000. And fast forward, you know, now it's 25 years. You know, we're the third largest retailer of motorcycles in the world and you know, we sell thousands of vehicles a year and we have, you know, gosh, now a little over 300. Getting close to 350 employees. And so it's been a wild Wild, fun ride. And we. There was. There was plenty of times in there when, man, you know, very similar to your sort of what we talked about, you know, wanting to quit. Wanting, like, man, you know, are we really cut out for this? Do we really know what we're doing? And, you know, competitors that were much bigger. But yeah. And that's why I kind of. I was drawn to racing at a. At a young age. And racing's got a lot of similarities with business, business and that, you know, you're constantly surrounded by chaos and racing and business is much the same way. You know, there's. There's things happening to you and around you that you can't control, and you're constantly adapting and evolving and, and changing. And so that I think. I think that's why I've really enjoyed, you know, racing throughout my whole life, as well as business. I mean, obviously, we're all competitors. You know, you're not competitive. You have no. You have no business being in business.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, do something else.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, do something else if you're not competitive. So ye of entrepreneurship and racing just kind of, you know, went hand in hand. You know, me and I've been fortunate to be able to kind of do both. You know, I feel like at a. At a, you know, decently high level, you know, kind of at the same time.

[Andy Frisella]

Decently high level. Yeah. He wins. Lamar one wins. Lamar wins. 24 hour the Rolex, 24 hour Daytona Sebring. Sebring. Yeah.

[Dustin]

Like, stop it.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

I'll toot the horn for you.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

I want to ask you this. All right. I'm being.

[Andy Frisella]

I've actually want to ask him or you want to ask?

[Dustin]

I want to ask. I say ask this.

[Andy Frisella]

I don't know what you said. I can't hear you. X. Yes.

[Dustin]

There you go.

[Andy Frisella]

Hey, there you go. All right. All right.

[Dustin]

I've asked Andy this a few times, but I mean, 25 years and I'm not trying to date you at all, right? But 25 years, that's a long time. Does it feel like 25 years to you? Like when you look back, first store in 2000, everything you've. I mean, did it go quick?

[Ryan Hartwick]

I would say now it. It feels like it went quick. There. There were times, I can really say about 10 years in that it felt. I remember looking back at 10 years and thinking, man, I've been at this a while with, at that time, not as much growth as what my partner Justin and I wanted. And that was coming out of the big financial crisis disaster 0809. I remember around 2010 thinking, man, we've been doing a lot of work for what at that time was a long time to us without that level of success and growth that we kind of thought we would be at 10 years in and now 25 years. Looking back, it seemed to all go by pretty, pretty quick. I remember those first days like it was yesterday. Right. But there were times along the way that. Yeah, man, it felt. It felt just. Grinding. Yeah. Grinding. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

I think it just depends on when you ask. Yeah. You know, for real, dude. Like, I think it's the same for us, you know, when. When we were 10 years in. Dude, I was looking. We Almost quit at 10 years in, Chris and I. A lot of you guys know that story. It was. I think the point about this is that entrepreneurship really, like, recalibrates your sense of what a lot of time is compared to what you thought it was before you started down the journey. You know, a lot of people hear 10 years and they think, oh, man, that's forever.

[Dustin]

A long time.

[Andy Frisella]

But then when you're. When you're, you know, 25, 26 years in, you look at 10 years, and you're like, man, I've known you for 10 years.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Like, that does. That feels like it was yesterday.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And I don't know if it's the reward that comes with it, but I will. I do echo that. Like, when I was 10 years in, I was like, what are we doing? Like, we're wasting our lives.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And then now I look around and I'm like, well, this was worth it. You know, Like. Like, it.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It.

[Andy Frisella]

It's just. I don't know. I think people misjudge the amount of time that it actually takes.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. I think it's easy. I mean, I know. I know you've said it for, you know, forever in that, you know, it's a problem with a lot of our, you know, younger people, you know, but guys coming up through the ranks right now, whether it's you're starting your own business or you're working within an organization, It's. I mean, 10 years is. I mean, it's. It's not a short amount of time, but it's super easy to get frustrated around that time, thinking, like, man, I've done the work. I put. I'm listening to Andy. I've done. You know, I'm the things. But it's still. It takes more time than that. Right. And, you know, it. The analogy of driving a race car, I mean, yes. Like, I get a lot of Questions like, man, Ryan, you know, won these big races, 24 hours old mile. Like the, the amount of time I just tell you in racing, the amount of cars I've crashed. Okay, like properly crashed.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Not, not, not bent.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Like, like, like throw it away, you know, lit on fire. It. It. You have to crash the car. I mean, there's no way. If you want to develop the skill, we'll use a racing car for an example. To drive a race car like on the limit. We've said, like to find. If you're going to drive on the limit, you got to first find where that limit is. And in order to find it, you have to go over it. You know, this is part of it. And business is no different, man. You gotta. It takes a long period of time of crashing, of making mistakes. Right. You know, and having that ability to get back up and say, I'm going to keep going, I'm going to learn why did I crash? What happened. There was a reason, whether it's physics, stupidity, someone else's fault in another car, whatever it is, thinking you could do something the car couldn't do, whatever it is, you got to learn from that. And then you got to be able to apply it really quickly again and again and again. There's so many. I think it's why you were first. When I was starting out in it, first couple years, I brought it to you. I'm like, hey, Andy, maybe this would make sense if first form was involved. And I'm doing this racing at this level and you know, obviously you're a car guy, we like cars. But there's just something about racing. And I don't care if it's racing, you know, a motorcycle, a foot race, a car race. I mean, of this competition, you know, you versus the next person, you know, right next to you thinking, you know, I'm better than you, I'm going to get there quicker than you, better than you. I don't know, there's. There's just some. It's like the purest essence of competition to me. Right. You know, and then there's so much, you know, connection to business and, you know, I, I guess I know that's what drove me into it.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. I mean, I think it's 100% parallel. I mean, I think we just talked about it on yesterday's show, but it's confusing how people could be competitive in other areas but then not understand it in the business aspect. You know, I just think a lot of people don't really understand the rules of Business because they're so parallel to any sort of competition, you know, team sports or individual sports. But yeah, dude, you know, one of the things that people, I don't know people know, but I mean you were, you were very, very high level water sports racer.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay, not swimming but like. Yeah, yeah, no, so like the stand up jet skis, right?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah. Jet ski. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jet Ski. All my like teenage years I was rac Jet skis and all around the world and that was an awesome sport. I mean so I have a lot of friends in that sport. It's kind of what helped really get me, you know, cemented into the motorsport business and met a lot of the, you know, manufacturers and the marketing people and stuff. But that's, that was a fun sport. I got to travel a lot around the country and the world doing that and yeah, that's, I, I'm for sure. I do think I'm definitely the only person that's won the 24 hours of Le Mans and also a Jet Ski world championship. So I think, I think I have that.

[Andy Frisella]

That's pretty cool.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I think I'm the only one on that one, you know. But yeah, that was a fun sport. I mean that's where I kind of learned, you know, the cut my teeth. But I'll tell you one big difference, like coming from motorcycles and jet skis, I would say those are much more individual, you know, racing type things. It's kind, it's really about the, the rider and the bike or the jet ski or car racing I think is even much more similar to like a business and an organization. It is for to me car racing is like the quintessential team sport. The only thing even close to me is like football. Football. Like if you know the center isn't doing his job or the guard. I don't care how good your quarterback and running back are. Right. Like it's, it is, it wants to be a team.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. One person has the ability to fuck.

[Ryan Hartwick]

The entire thing higher thing.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Car racing, like drivers get talked about all the time. Whether it's the NASCAR driver, the IndyCar driver or the Formula One driver. It. All of those forms of car racing is a massive team sport. I mean our team, the team that you know, we won Le Mans with this year, Manti, you know, Porsche, we, we have 62 people within the team that are, that are at the races all performing different roles, you know, from engineering to mechanics to you know, car, you know, now is that per car that this is total over for the whole Team. Yeah. So we, we. My car has a touch more. 34 people, 62. So running two cars. So 34 people on my car, you know. And man, one person, I mean, one person doesn't pull their weight. Whether it's the preparation of the car before it gets there. The pit stop. I mean, like in the 24 hours of Le Mans, we're. We're doing a pit stop roughly every hour where we're changing tires, filling it up with fuel, fixing anything that maybe, you know, messed up.

[Dustin]

It is a wild thing to see. I had the opportunity of coming down and watching you at the 24 hour Daytona.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

And like just the level of like how zoned in, everybody was like, everybody on the crew was like, I remember I got one of your. One of the. One of the crew. He was taking tires to go. I guess like, you guys recycle them, right?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

Take them to the tire station. Right.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Get changed.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

To get changed out. Right. That's why I remember, right. Like, he's like, hey, you want to roll? I'm like, heck yeah, I want to go. Like, this would be cool. I'm like, what we do is just dropping them off. And we had got, we got there and then we waited and then they loaded us back up and we just sat there. I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, I got like 10 more seconds before I gotta go because I have to time it up with the neck. Like, even being early puts the other guy back. Like, it was, it was a, like it's a wild orchestra of just like everybody's in sync, man. I'm just like, dude, that's crazy to even think about. Like, you can't even, you don't even want to show up 10 seconds early because it's going to throw somebody else off.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, you're in the way.

[Dustin]

It's crazy.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. And these guys, like the, our pit crews, like these. I think a lot of people don't understand, like how much of an athlete you are. Have to be like these guys that are doing the tire changes or the fuelers. A lot of. They're all. Most of them are athletes from some other sport growing up. Whether it's football, soccer, baseball, basketball. Man, they train unbelievably in. Every movement is synchronized from where they place their knee, their hands, the tire placement and all this at the 24 hour races. These guys are doing this at 3 in the morning and 4 in the morning and 5 in the morning. And the drivers, sometimes when there's three drivers on our team, you know, for the 24 hour race. So yeah, I drive like 2ish to 3, 2 to 3 hours at a time and then I'm out of the car and I get to rest for, you know, four to six hours, right. While my teammates are going, these guys on the pit crew, they don't get to rest. I mean they don't, they don't have backup guys, you know, they're, they're non stop, you know, 24 hours. So it's just like a well ran organization that every single person within the organization knows their role, they're experts at their role. We have authority as well within the race team. You have your superior that you're listening to and you report to. And the best race teams have an unbelievable organizational culture. They have an unbelievable framework of who does what. And you don't question that person next to you or trying to get to that next level because you play that key role within the team. And maybe the next season you can apply for another position, you know, within the organization and train for that. But when we're at a race, everyone knows their exact job, their exact role, their exact duty and you know, things run very smoothly, you know, with that. There's other race teams where I've been a part of that aren't ran so well, just like businesses that aren't ran well. And you can see it, man, you can feel the culture when you walk in the garage, you know, of, man, is everyone not really wanting to be here. They don't like who they work for. This is just a job they're taking because they, they got turned down from that other team and they're, they, you know, they're really just trying to get to the next thing versus like this team that I won with this year with Porsche. I mean this is, they're, they're highly regarded as one of the best teams in the paddock. And the reason why is every single person, they love what they do, they love who they work for. You know, as driver, you know, you want to, as a driver you want to earn their respect. Show all the pit crew that you respect what they do. And it goes vice versa. Right. I've seen so many teams where no one respected each other. You know, the drivers didn't respect the crew members, the crew members didn't respect the driver and the whole thing and the results tend to match. Right. You know, that effort. So it's, it's another great example of how culture, you know, in winning organizations versus culture and losing organizations, it's it's extremely. It's extremely parallel.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. I think a lot of people also misjudge how fit you have to be to be on one of these teams. You know, like these guys who do. The pit crew. These guys train for that every.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I mean. Yeah, every day. Yeah, yeah, every day.

[Andy Frisella]

And by the way, driving the car is not easy. It is very, very physically intensive. I think a lot of people think when they see a race on television, they think it's like driving their car on the road sort of fast.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know what I mean?

[Ryan Hartwick]

I won't lie. I misjudged it before I got into.

[Andy Frisella]

It, you know, bro, you know, I did.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I remember.

[Andy Frisella]

Remember my first 10 laps in a race car. Yeah, dude, I went 10 laps in the. In this.

[Ryan Hartwick]

The Ferrari.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. And the Ferrari challenge car, I think it was.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And first 10 laps I'd ever been in a race car, and dude, I got out of the car, I had to lay on the ground like I was. It was legit. First of all, you don't know how to breathe, so you're like, hold your breath. Hence the whole time. Because you've. It's. I mean, dude, you're driving. It's. It's just so different to. So you have to, like, do it to understand how different it is. Even if you're a great driver on the road. Yeah, it's just a different thing. Like, for example, the braking. The braking, you know, like when you. When you go on the road and you see a light, you know, coming up and it turns yellow, you'll start to ease on the brakes, right. And then eventually you'll come to a full stop. Racing is the complete opposite. You're trying to basically shorten the amount of time that you're on the brakes to save time, which means you're going to go as close to that light as possible, stand on the brakes as hard as possible, hoping that you will slow down enough to stop. And dude, it's just a completely different thing than driving than driving on the road. It's completely different.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's. It's. It's addicting. I mean, yeah, you saw it when you know what Andy's talking about. We took him to this, like, racing school in Vegas. This was, gosh, 2017. 2017. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

It's when we won NASCAR.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just you can, like you said, I mean, you can take like, we all drive cars right on the street, right. So you think, you know, how hard could it be? You know, you go left, you go right, you know, slow down, hit the brakes. And one thing. A racing car, like, you drove the Ferrari challenge car. A racing car compared to a street car. I mean, the nicest, the greatest streetcar you can make. I mean, you've driven some of the best cars in the world, right? They're unbelievable. They perform really well. They usually go really well with speed, right? But with a racing car, the ability to stop at a tremendous, fast, tremendous rate in a very short distance is unbelievable. And it's not just the brakes. It's the tires. It's like the downforce. The force that you have to hit to stop a race car, you know, at speed, at pace, is so unbelievably hard. I mean, when, you know, like I told Andy, Andy, you got to hit the brake hard. You know, he was like, okay. You know, you look at it, you think, like, this guy can hit the brake, right? You know, he'll be fine. You know, and he goes out there his first few laps, and we. Because there's a. There's a sensor on the brake pedal, measures pressure per square inch. And we come back, we're like, hey, Andy, the brake pressure, you know, we need. You know, you can hit it, man. You hit it harder. He's like, dude, I am hitting it hard. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Well, dude, you don't know. Like, you don't understand. You don't understand what they're saying.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Like, you think they're saying, like, it hard on the road? Yeah, it's like, dude, it's like, as far as you can.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Try to break the pedal.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. It feels. It feels counterintuitive.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Like, when you first start, everything feels wrong. Because, honestly, if you were in a streetcar and you hit the brake as hard as what you have to on the racing car, you would probably crash. The street car. It doesn't have the suspension and the downforce to just suck to the road. It would. You know, you could lose the car. Right. In a race car, it's designed to. At the last possible moment, you go from, you know, zero brake pressure to it. It's undeniably.

[Andy Frisella]

And it's not like you're coasting when that happens. You're at full throttle.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Full throttle.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay. And then you're off the throttle and on the brake. Full brake. And it's.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Dude, it's aggressive.

[Andy Frisella]

It's a thing, dude. Like, you get out of the car and your first time, and you're like. It's disorienting.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Well, the mo. One of the most things. And you'll see a Formula one Indy car. Drivers, one of the toughest things in training that we're all working on is our necks.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And obviously there's g force side to side. But then also when you're racing, you have a helmet on, right. And this helmet, you know, weighs a decent amount when you're sitting still. Well, when you're, when you're traveling fast, it weighs a lot more. And the biggest is the, the g force you have under braking.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Right. Let me. And your head is. Yeah. You're strapped in with your body, with the, with the five point harnesses, but your head is loose, right?

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So the, the amount of force that you've got to be able to withhold with your neck from your face wanting to slam into the steering wheel. It takes some. It takes some time getting used to it.

[Andy Frisella]

Dude, it was awesome. It's awesome, dude. Like, and once you, like, it's like golf. It's like you go out and you play golf, and for 17 holes, you hit the ball all over the golf course and you're like, this sucks.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And then like, there's like one shot that you hit and it goes straight down the fairway and it's like, I'm going pro. You're like, yeah. You're like, this is the coolest thing ever. And that's how it is with racing. Like, it's, it's. You know, I'm very inexperienced in a race car. Okay. But I have enough experience driving, you know, like you said, the best cars in the world to have a good.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You got, you got a great foundation, perspective. You weren't that bad.

[Andy Frisella]

No, it turned out good, bro. We got some funny stories.

[Ryan Hartwick]

We got some growers.

[Andy Frisella]

Yes. So. So I'm ultra competitive. Right. Like, everybody probably guessed this. So the other thing I struggle with was the spinning of the car. All right? Like, I think I spun the car over the weekend. It had to be some sort of record.

[Dustin]

Like, it had to be something.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude, it had to have been.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Remember what we were talking about? Finding the limit, right?

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You got to go past it.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. And what's his name? Enrico.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Enrico.

[Andy Frisella]

Enrico was like, like, hey, man, you know, at least you're aggressive. Most people are not aggressive.

[Ryan Hartwick]

They drive the whole time.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. So. So, dude, we're like at, like that we're at this race and like, all these other dudes that are. There are like guys who have been through the school already and it's like their year end race. I had not been through the school. So, like, we Just went out there and like, I just was with all these dudes, so I was the least experienced person there.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And we start doing these. We start, you know, running these practice laps and I got this coach, I forget his name was J. R. I think his name was. And bro, he's screaming in my ear first of all, like, like, dude, when people scream at me, I'm like, you know, and he's like, gas, gas, gas. Break, break, break. Like just screaming in your ear from this far away to telling you what to do. And from the first second you pull on the track, I'm like, bro, can I. Like, like, I don't even know what the we're looking at. So we go around the track a whole bunch of times for like three days and dude, I'm spinning the car and we get to like the third day, dude. And I don't remember what happened, but dude, so. So there's this guy who was my race partner. So they pair you up with a, with a. Another guy. All right. And they.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You're gonna run the first half of the race and they run like the second.

[Andy Frisella]

They pair me up with this dude Crash, who was, you know, he was a little bit older than us. Awesome, dude. He's from Australia still. We're still friends on, on the Internet. In fact, he runs a dream racing in, in the.

[Ryan Hartwick]

In Australia. Australia. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

But his son was there. His son's like 12. Okay. So like, do you, do you. I remember we have a. What happened? What?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Well, there was like a qualifying, right. It's a proper race. It's gonna be a proper race at the end of this, like week long deal that you only came for the last few days of, but you know, qualifying. So each driver could go out to try to set their one fastest lap time, just like we do a real race. And that would determine how you would start and line up. Right. Well, you had a spin and like the last practice and got like completely down on yourself.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That. You were like, you're. You were, you were ready to go do something else. You were the one that was supposed to qualify for you and Craig.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Like, if you didn't qualify, then Craig would have to start like dead last.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You know, so then the. His son comes over.

[Andy Frisella]

So. Dude, I come out of the car and I'm like, this is. I'm pissed, bro. Like, you guys see me like when I'm top level pissed. That's how pissed I was. And I'm, I'm like, Ryan's like, yeah, just leave him alone. Like, let him leave below. So, dude, I go sit. Bye bye. By myself, like way over there. Yeah. And this, this Craig's son, who's 12 at the time, comes over and like, sits next to me and I'm like, I'm mad, dude. And like, choke a kid. No, but like, how can you be mad at a 12 year old kid, you know? And he's like. He's like, hey, man, you're doing good. He's like, he. He's like, no, listen, he gives me like a pep talk.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

He's like. And he. He meant it, dude. He's like, hey. He's like, you're doing good. It's your first time on the track. He's like, you're doing really good. My dad said you're doing good too, and, like, gives me this pep talk. And like five minutes later I'm like, all right, yeah, I'm good. Let's go. Yeah. So, like, out of all the pep talks I've given in my life, I get the best one from this. From a 12 year old kid.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, you went. If I remember. Don't be wrong, but I remember we won qualifying. Yeah, you went out, you won qualifying. So you beat all the other cars. There's like eight cars or something. And then. Yeah, you got. You started the race.

[Andy Frisella]

No, I finished the race.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You finished it. You qualified, then Craig started from your position, then you finished. But yeah, and I remember you telling me, like, man, dude, the kid came over and was like, Mr. Andy, you know, you're doing good. And like that I realized, like, man, I can't let this get like. Yeah, I can't get mad and leave, dude.

[Andy Frisella]

And. And so in the actual race, bro, like, I don't remember how many laughs we run or whatever. I don't. I think it was. Was it timed? Was that an hour?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, probably.

[Andy Frisella]

I don't remember what.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It started in the day, but finished into the night.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

So. But dude, I hadn't gone that long the entire weekend without spinning the car. Like, so somehow I. I went through the whole race and didn't spin the car. And we won.

[Dustin]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Which was.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Which was cool.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

But, dude, the best laps I ran that race were when we went. I don't know if I should say this or not, but we were at the bar drinking, like, having a couple drinks, and then we had to take a helicopter from the hotel to the racetrack for like a night event there. And then they let you like drive a.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Take a couple.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, whatever. Car you want for a couple laps. And I had a GT3RS at the time, so I was familiar with the car. Dude, I did fine in that car. I was. I had a couple whiskeys in me but, you know, there was nobody else.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And loose, nice and smooth.

[Andy Frisella]

I was, was. I was nice and relaxed.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Don't recommend this.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, don't. Anyway, I don't even know I should say that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

He's a professional this truth. But yeah, man, I'll never forget that weekend. I didn't know when you were so upset after the qualifying. You know, we were just starting out like we were racing together that year. This your first year sponsor?

[Andy Frisella]

We were doing Lamborghini.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Lamborghini, super, super Trafalgar. Yeah. So it was the first time we had first form on the race car. And I was sitting there thinking like, man, this probably be the first and last time I have a first form sponsorship. And he's going to be. He's going to hate cars so much.

[Andy Frisella]

No, it was awesome, dude.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, you. You did great, man. That was, that was a good time. Yeah, it's great. Great business out there at. We're at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude. And remember, I don't even know if I should tell these stories, dude. Enrico renting those two Jettas.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, yeah. So, dude, learning car control.

[Andy Frisella]

Yes. So Enrico's life like former F1.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, he drove up.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay, so this dude, I don't know, what do you think he is, 60s?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, probably. Probably. Yeah. Early 60s now.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, yeah, he's late 50s, early 60s.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Italian guy. Awesome guy.

[Andy Frisella]

Super awesome guy. Super cool. Like exactly like every other race car driver that's like just.

[Ryan Hartwick]

He, he owned the racing school.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, he owned the whole thing. And he's like, you know, hey, no big deal. Like, like just not. Doesn't give a fuck. The only thing he gave a fuck the entire time was when we were. He goes and he rents these Jettas, bro. And he's like, all right, we're gonna go do. What do they call it, where you follow him?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, lead follows, lead follow, lead follows.

[Andy Frisella]

So him and I went out on the track together and like raced each other.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You're trying to learn how close you can be to another car in front of you or beside you. Like, we all drive on the road and you think, oh, I'm. I'm close to the car in front of me. You. When you really learn how what close.

[Andy Frisella]

Is, you know, like close means they touch you.

[Ryan Hartwick]

They touch you. Don't hit. You know, rub is racing.

[Andy Frisella]

That's Right.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You know.

[Andy Frisella]

You know what the movie that's from?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

Days of Thunder.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. The greatest movie ever.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's right. But yeah. So you are learning, you know, car control and car proximity.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

With lead and follow with two rental cars.

[Andy Frisella]

So we're driving Las Vegas.

[Dustin]

I'm just trying picture Andy in a Jetta.

[Andy Frisella]

No, bro. This is awesome.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Some of the most fun.

[Andy Frisella]

So we're racing these Jettas around the.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Racetrack and the coach is like, you can get closer, get closer, get closer.

[Andy Frisella]

We're like, like bumping each other's. And like we get done. And I'm like, the only thing he got mad about is we were going down the. We were going down the straight and I like, like faked go. And he's like, can't do that. That's against the code. Like, he got super pissed. But dude, so we got done. And I'm like, so. So, dude, I'm like, so how come you don't use your own cars for that? And he's like, well, because we. We beat him up. And I'm like, so like the rental place doesn't care? He's like, no, just get the insurance. He was dead serious, dude. He was dead serious. I'm like, so they haven't caught on? He's like, no, they don't care. No big deal. That's crazy.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Learning to drive a race car. But yeah, man, that was good times. That's what we should. Honestly do that again, dude, what we.

[Andy Frisella]

Should do right, is get like some of our guys here that, you know, make them like, we'll do a contest or something and take them and get them in a race car. Cuz like, dude, you cannot appreciate racing. Because here's the best thing that came out of that. It wasn't what I learned about driving, which I did learn a lot. I mean, you want to learn how to drive. You learn a lot in, in a very short amount of time in a race school. But it's when you. It's like playing a musical instrument. Like when you start to play a musical instrument and you realize how hard it is and then see like somebody who's really good at it and you can appreciate. It's the same with racing. The best thing that came out of that race school for me was how much of a fan it made me of racing.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Y.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, because now I'm like, dude, these guys are really good. Like where you, you know, we watch. If you'd ever been through that and you watch racing, you're like, I could probably do that, you know, and it's like, dude, it's a different, it's a totally different thing.

[Dustin]

Different.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. If you, I mean, if anyone's ever. You're into cars, I mean, going out on a racetrack even completely by yourself, it's awesome to learn. You're, you know, you think you have limits. Right. And then if you ever get a chance to be around a professional driver and as soon as you start thinking like, man, you know, like I'm, I'm doing good here, you know, I'm really killing it. If you ever get a chance to ride like passenger seat with a, with a top level driver, your, your eyes will really get open about what's possible. Right?

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

In terms of braking.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. And where, where the limit really is on a car. Like, dude, I mean, you know, so far past what people think it is when everything's right. Like when your tires are right and like what that car will do is like almost double or triple what you think it'll do.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Like what you feel when you're in the car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, it's. Yeah. It's what takes people so, so much longer. Like I remember telling you, the. One of the wildest corners in all of racing anywhere is turn one at Sebring in Florida. The race, the car here that we. This corner is like you enter the corner in fifth gear on a car. We do have one more gear, but you enter it at around 150 miles an hour from a really long straightaway before it. And there's bumps all the way through this thing. And there's a concrete wall that is, you know, marks the apex of the corner on the inside. And it's a virtually a 90 degree corner. So you're going straight and it's a hard left that's a 90 degree. And this corner, our minimum speed in a GT3R is about 132 miles an hour. That's the slowest that you get in the middle of the corner. And I remember walking you through that one and doing like, no, wait, 134 is like the slowest. And like, believe me, when you first go at it and you're. There's also a concrete wall that you're staring at.

[Andy Frisella]

Don't you start that on the, on the outside and kind of like try to cross it straight almost across.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You do? Yeah. You start any, any high speed corner, you want to start as far to the outside of, you know, the corner and you know, make the apex and then utilize all the track on the exit. You try to Open the corner up as much as possible. And that one's just wild because it's basically a hard right. There's a concrete wall on the inside, a concrete wall on the outside. So if you mess up, there isn't like a sand pit or some gravel or, you know, everything vacation. If you mess up, like, you mess up really bad.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And like I say, the slowest, the slowest you get down to is roughly 130 miles an hour. And like that one, when you can wrap your mind around, like, when you actually do it, once you have a whole new understanding, you know, of what's possible. And then like, that's probably one of the gnarliest ones here. But I'm sure you guys, like, I know you in Formula one, big fan of Spa in Belgium. This is the greatest racetrack in the world. There's no question in. There's a corner there called Eau Rouge. It's actually a series of corners that are all tied together. And it's. That. That is without a doubt, like the craziest thing I have ever done.

[Andy Frisella]

That's the downhill one, right?

[Ryan Hartwick]

No, you go uphill. So you enter this section of corners at top. Top Gear. So six, Six gear, as fast as the car will go. And it's a series of corners that you first go left.

[Andy Frisella]

Is that it right there, though?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Like, all of these corners are it. Yeah, this is all it. So there's, It's, It's a combination of, like through four corners tied together. And it's. If you mess up here again, there's no, like, runoff. There's no mistake. This is, it's also like, this is like the deadliest corner in racing. More. It's a. More, more drivers have died in this one corner than like anywhere else in the world. Because it's, it can be done like in a GT3, it can be done flat without lifting. But this is like perfect weather conditions. You know, perfect grip from the tires, perfect weight balance with the car. And then if you. Where most people make a mistake, if you lift, you know, your heart and soul and everything in your body says, hey, man, we should, we should back off here a little bit. If you lift, you actually take downforce off the car and make the car squirrely. Squirrely and move. And if you lift at the wrong moment in this series, of course, there's no saving it. I mean, there's no, there's no catching it. You're. You know, and it's a, It's a really bad crash. Now, I say all these Bad things. When you do it the first time, wide open without lifting, it is the most exhilarating feeling on planet Earth. I don't know anything any better. And maybe it's like, oh, you cheated. You know this. You've seen all the massive crashes and stuff, but there's nothing that I can even like closely describe to it. And like when you first arrive there, you can watch it on TV as much as you want, but when you first arrive one, it's, it's going uphill. This hill is like you're climbing like three stories and it is. I mean it's a hard left, a hard right and a hard left back again and. And you're like, wait a second, this is flat. Like we don't. My first thought approaching it was we need to not only lift, we need to probably break and maybe consider a downshift. We should consider all of the above. But this place, like I've been telling you, like you've got to go to like watch a race there one and then they have like driving events like you can go and like, like Porsche, Porsche and Manti, they do like track days where you can turn up and drive like a GT3RS or whatnot. Like you got to go drive at this track and you don't have to do a rouge flat but just to go up it. It's an experience in person, like as a car, you know, person. I rec. Like anyone if you're ever into it, like go to Belgium, go to spa, watch the F1 race. They have a 24 hour race there as well. I've won that race. I've probably, probably my, some of my best driving ever done. I was on position there for the European Lamas series championship one year and that was, that was probably the best lap I've ever done in my life. But that place is cool.

[Andy Frisella]

So dude, let's, let's kind of shift a little bit and let's talk about moving, you know, through the big races. You know, we started it with Lamborghini's series race.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, Super Trafalgar, a single make series where all the cars were exactly the same. And that's a great place to start as a driver because as a driver you're the only difference. I mean every, everyone's car is exactly the same with the rules and teams can make small adjustments like the rear wing angle and the ride heights, but not, not really a lot. So it's truly a competition of the driver where now, and just like Formula One or what we race now in GT3, you're racing against other manufacturers. So, you know, there's always differences between a Porsche and a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. So. So there's more variables, but single make series like the Super Trofeo for Lamborghini, that was, that was awesome. Because, you know, there's no excuses, man. If you're slow, you're, you know, in.

[Andy Frisella]

Every major for those of you who are, you know, not familiar with this. So Porsche has one of these single makes, Ferrari has one of these single makes. There's basically one for every major manufacturer. And that's where most like what we would call gentle gentlemen racers that end up doing what you've done.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

Come from.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, that's where you go. I mean, it's, it's one of the least expensive, you know, forms of racing. A lot of, A lot of guys that do it for fun, they like that part of it that, hey, you know, the driver's only difference. But yeah, it's where you go to kind of get your, get your start, I would say, you know, and in racing, if you do well, like they have a championship with Lamborghini is here in North America in our second year of racing that we won the North American championship. And then you go to a world championship championship where they have a series in Europe and they have a series in Asia and America. And all those drivers come together at one race, they change the location, you know, and this is the same with Ferrari, this is the same with Porsche. And for Lamborghini, in this, our second year, we won the world championship. So once you do that, they kind of kick you out.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Like, because they want it, they want it to be like a place for, you know, young, you know, drivers that are coming, coming up. Can it go to. So, yeah, that was.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, plus, you got to realize these are their best customers.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

So, like, there's you. You want to keep. Yes.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. You can't have one guy there winning all the time and they kind of politely ask you, hey, it's time to move on. It's time to move on.

[Andy Frisella]

So then we moved in 2018.

[Dustin]

Right?

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's 2018. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And then we moved into IMSA.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Yeah, the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. We moved there in 2019, which here in North America, that's kind of like I. Our top level of sports car and endurance racing, it's owned by nascar, so the France family and all. And that's the home of our biggest races like the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring and, and that's where all the manufacturers come to compete against each other. So, you know, the Lamborghini races against the Porsche and against the Corvette and against the Ferrari. And so, yeah, that's our first year racing there was in 2019 and then the.

[Dustin]

You we won. That was what, 2021. The portion that was 2020.

[Ryan Hartwick]

2020. Yeah, we won the 12 hours of Sebring, you know, and that was our first like, big. Well, it was. I mean, that was our first big, you know, kind of marquee, you know, race that. The 12 Hours of Sebring is one of the triple crown of. Of sports car racing, which is, you know, Sebring, Daytona and then obviously the 24 hours of Le Mans being the biggest. But yeah, we won that race in 2020. It was the last race of the year that year. And man, that was an awesome time with Andy. Andy was going to come to that race. He had something come at the last minute he couldn't come. And I had a feeling we were pretty competitive in the championship that year. We had been on the podium a couple times, but we hadn't won a race at this high level. We were. It's a 12 hour race and we qualified well. I think we were in the top three or so in qualifying. So I kind of knew we had a decent car and all started the race off. We were always kind of around the top five. We got up to the lead for a little bit and you know, then you kind of fall back. You know, it's, you know, obviously there's lots of chaos, but I remember about halfway through we were somewhere in the top five and I'm, I'm out of the car at this point. My teammates are in and I'm texting with Andy. He's back here watching it. And you know, he's what? He watches like every minute. He knows everything going, like he lasts. Like, why are we pitting right now? Like, is everything okay?

[Andy Frisella]

You know, like, yeah, I'm definitely that guy.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. You know, and it's like, dude, when.

[Andy Frisella]

They'Re racing, it's on tv. I'm. I don't sleep.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, he gets that. He wants to know, like the inside, like, well, we pit now because we're saving some fuel. So I have to explain to him the strategy, what's going on. And I remember it like with six hours to go, he's like, dude, we're going to win. And I'm like, you know, this. It's a long way to go. There's a lot that can happen. He's like, no, man, I feel it going to win this one. And I just dismissed it. I'm like, okay, I'll keep you posted, you know, And I went in for like another stint or so. I come back out. There was like two hours to go or so and we're in the lead. You know, we're going. It's getting. It's dark now. Sebring always ends at night. And I'm done with my drive time. My teammates are going to end. Patrick Long was our teammate that year who's in the new F1 movie. You get a chance see is he's got some plays himself in the movie.

[Andy Frisella]

Is it Corey on the team now that year?

[Ryan Hartwick]

No, Corey wasn't on. That was the. Yeah, the. The next year. Yeah, but, yeah, no, we were. We were leading and we were in this battle with the Ferrari, I remember. And the Ferrari was faster than us that year. They just had pace on us and we were, you know, we were scrappy, you know, And Andy's texting with me. We get down to the. That ne the hour that's left, and he's like, dude, I'm telling you, we're going to win. And I'm like, don't say it. Just don't, like, don't jinx us, man. Like, you know, you never know. And man, there was a. There was a yellow flag because there was a crash with like 15 minutes to go. And so that bunches the whole field back up. So now it was just kind of us in the Ferrari up front, but then now there's like, the whole field is now bunched up and they clean the wreck up and then you. It's green flag again. There's like 30 minutes left in the race. And man, we had a. We had an awesome battle, but we won the race. Cross the line finish. It was super close race. And man, I just. I can't. You know, it was like, I'm not a guy. Your text said something like, I'm not going to say I told you so, but I did tell you so.

[Andy Frisella]

Dude, what was that race that we won that there was like a. Was that the woman. Was that the race where there was like a wreck right at the end? Like right at the end.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That was Sebring. Yeah. And that's what.

[Andy Frisella]

That's the AMG car wrecked?

[Ryan Hartwick]

I think so.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I think so. Maybe it was Mercedes. I can't remember. I just remember this Ferrari.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Battling.

[Dustin]

And now you guys recycled that engine because that car sitting in the Lobby. Then that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That engine.

[Dustin]

Same engine, went to next year and won the 21 Daytona.

[Ryan Hartwick]

No, we. No, the. No, different engine. The car.

[Andy Frisella]

That engine is in his house.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Is in my house. Porsche did a cool gift, Andy. We got to keep the car from Porsche. It's here at first form headquarters. But they had told us at the time, like, hey, we have to take the engine out to do some maintenance before it, like, goes into storage or display. But, yeah, Porsche made up awesome gift for me. They. They took the engine out that we won, and they made the engine, the whole block and everything into a coffee table. And they gifted it to me. And they took the six pistons out and they gave, like, the two other drivers. They made the piston with, like, a frame and everything. And, like, our lead engineer and the lead mechanic. So six.

[Andy Frisella]

Everybody's got a piece of it.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, like a piston, you know, in the rod. And then they gave me the stolen. My basement. My man cave today. But. But, yeah, that. That was. That was. I had one other time that Andy had a, you know, I told you so when we won Daytona two years later in 2022, won the 24 Hours of Daytona. He was again, like, during the race, like, bro, I feel we're winning this. And I'm like, oh, God, not again.

[Andy Frisella]

Like, we got the text to prove it.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, we got the text. So we were like, dude, we're. We're gonna win. Like, I'm telling you, we're gonna win. And, you know, every time I'm out of the car.

[Andy Frisella]

No, we were talking about that before the race because, remember, we put believe on the back of the car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

On the back of the car. Yeah, I had this whole.

[Dustin]

Yeah, that was a FaceTime call, too. In the locker room before that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the team. Yeah, we had. Andy called to the. We always have a. A team meeting, you know, before the race the other day, and Andy called in on FaceTime. He'd spoke to all our mechanics, all our, you know, guys, and gather around, and he said, guys, you gotta. You gotta believe. Like, and he said, I already believe. I already believe we are going to win. We. We're prepared, we're ready, and we are going to win. And it got everybody pumped up, you know, and, yeah, we had out of that, the team made a little sticker right on the back of the bumper. We just put believe.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And that was kind of our inner mantra, that before you can do anything great, you got to believe. And that all came from Andy. And, you know, the race went up and down Again, you know, we had.

[Andy Frisella]

Tried to win that race a number of times before this.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh yeah. And it was, yeah, four times before it. You know, and, and you know, I'm like, Andy, this is one of the hardest races in the world. You know, I'm just.

[Andy Frisella]

Some dudes will race their whole lives and never win that race. Same with Lamont.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

In fact most people.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Most people, yeah, yeah. It's. I mean the guy who owned the team that we were racing with that year, John Wright, he spent his entire career. Yeah, awesome, awesome guy. Owns Wright Motorsports. He started as a mechanic for a team for Porsche, worked his way up, got to own his own team and I mean he's been racing, racing professionally as a mechanic and team owner for 30 some odd years of his life and done Daytona every one of those years and he never won. And you know I'm telling annual. Hey man, most people spend their career trying to win this race and he's like, well we're going to win and dude, and I'll never forget, we still have it to this day. We crossed the finish line, we won and I was obviously it's very hectic and all of this. And we were going up to the podium, I checked my phone, Andy had text, he goes, hey man, you know I love you brother and I want you to know I always believe in you. And one other thing, we're going to win the 24 hours of Le Mans like immediately. We hadn't even gone to accept the trophy from Daytona and Andy's already telling me we're going to win the 24 hours of Le Mans. And again I'm like oh, Andy.

[Andy Frisella]

Which started a whole new journey. A whole new journey, you know.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. So next year off we went to Europe trying to start to qualify for Le Mans and it took a couple of years.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, the first two Lamaze did not go very well.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Did not go very well. I mean, you know that a lot, a lot of shit can happen in 24 hours, let me tell you.

[Andy Frisella]

Or the first hour or the first.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, gosh, we, the first year we crashed out, I mean I think I made it into like hour two or something them but I was in the car, we crashed and actually another guy crashed. I arrived at another crash going on and I joined that crash.

[Andy Frisella]

It looked like a good time.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Thought we thought we would all, you know, things happen. Like that's why these 24 hour races are so difficult to win. I can't explain to you when you put there's this year at Le mans there were 62 cars in the field. We're in a couple different classes, but there's 62 cars out there running around. And you put 62 cars with type A personality drivers who all think they're the best in the world and are all trying to win the biggest race in the world. And, man, shit happens. And you're constantly in this environment of chaos that is uncontrollable and it's so easy for you to do everything right. Our first year at Le Mans, I was at the right spot on the track. I was looking, I did the right thing. And just this other guy, he crashed literally right in front of me. I mean, there was. And everyone's like, oh, Ryan, don't take it so hard on yourself. Like, no one could have done anything. Max Verstappen couldn't have avoided that crash. You know, you always think that there's something better you could do, but a lot of times, you know, you can be prepared and. And something happens out of your control and. And that's it, man.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, I, I think people, you guys got to understand, like you, you can literally like to finish a 20, even a 12 hour race or a 6 hour race, much less a 24 hour race without a car without the car breaking, without, without you slipping on something on the track, without. Flat tire, flat tire, without, you know, I mean, dude, there's so much shit that has to go, right? It's, you know, like you said, somebody could crash in front of you. Somebody could make a stupid move. Oh, by the way, you're in GT3 or GTD class, which is the slowest class out there, but also the hardest class to win in the biggest class. Yes, because the. These, you've got all these other cars, like the prototype cars that are $10 million a piece flying by you at like, it's. Dude, you there. There is an element, and I hate using this word, but there is an element of pure luck to get through without a doubt.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I mean, without a doubt. You have to. We say all the time, like these big races, you have to be prepared. Yeah, right. I mean, and because you're going into this uncontrollable situation, you have to execute on every single thing you can control. Like, for the driver, like my fitness. I can control that. I can. I have to execute. I can't be fatigued, I can't be overweight. I can't be, you know, I have to be perfect. I can control that. We can control our pit stops, right? We can control. If we make sure that the Wheel guns are working properly. We can control that. If we practice that and choreograph that, we can control that the tire pressures are set correctly in the tires. There's. There's lots of things we can control and we have to execute on all those things because you're going to go out on track with these 61 other, you know, idiots. All that you can't control, right? You can't control the weather, you can't control track conditions. You can't control, you know, safety cars when they come out. So there's all these things that you just have to focus on the things that you can control and so you can be perfect on all those things. Things and have a run of bad luck.

[Andy Frisella]

People don't understand, dude. Like, there's guys out there, like, there's a. You can basically buy your way into these things. So in every race. And this is no knock, but I mean, this is just the way racing is. Like, you're going to be on the track with guys who are super professional F1 champions, the best drivers in history, and you're also going to be on the track with the dude next door that has a medical device company that fucking has enough money to run the race who doesn't know shit about racing. So it's like, dude, it really is chaos.

[Ryan Hartwick]

There's. There's. There's always, you know, a handful of those guys. Yeah, you know. Yeah. You know, that's what a lot of it takes to win. I get a lot of those questions, you know, what, what, what does it take? And like, how do you pull it off? And honestly, you got to have. The thing that I think is rare is one there are definitely better teams than others. So you've got to get to a position as a driver. You're on the radar of some of the best teams. If you're shit slow or you don't have. There's a financial element. Like for me, you know, the rare combination that I've been able to spend the time to develop the skill set in order to drive the car fast. That's one thing that is rare. And then also I've been able through my business life, through my relationship with you. A sponsorship, some driver has to bring financial element to the deal. Whether that comes from your own money, whether that comes from outside sponsorship, you can find either of those two. You can find super talented fast drivers that don't have a penny to their name or no sponsorship or no connections. Right. They're not that valuable because the car, someone has to pay for the car to go around, or you can find guys that have tons of money, you know, a bit of a liability skill set. So I've been able to devote a lot of my life, you know, on the business side of things to be able to bring some own, you know, means to a team. Been able to make great relationships with guys like Indian, have bring sponsorship to our Taylor team, first forms the title sponsor. And still, you can have all that. You can bring all that stuff, but someone has to drive the car right, at an extremely high level for, you know, hours and hours on end without a mistake. So, like, the first year when we arrived, I had all this. We had the. Everything was there. We had a good team. I felt like I had done the work. The car crashed with me in it. So I. Yeah, you know, I can't. It wasn't my teammate's fault. I got, you know, and, yeah, you can say wrong place, wrong time. I was in the car, man.

[Andy Frisella]

What's that like, dude? Like, how's that feel like, for real?

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's because, I mean, you do it. When you crash, it feels bad. Like, when your team. I've been where my teammate crashed, and you're like, dude, I didn't even get to drive. Like, you know, so, like, I wouldn't have crashed. Yeah, I wouldn't have crashed. You know, there's easy that. Then that feels bad. Bad. But, dude, when you're. When you're at the wheel, dude, and like, you crash it, not like, oh, we got to come in and fix it. Like, you're out. Like, I've been. I've been. Because that's the first radio call is we're out. Yeah, you're. Because the engineer, they don't know. They have sensors and stuff on the car. They can tell the car stopped. Right. You know, but they don't know what happened. They like, oh, maybe he can get it back. Yeah, like, when you properly crash it.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. It's not like how you see on F1TV, on the mo. On the show where they. The guys have so much data. They know.

[Ryan Hartwick]

They. They. They know. Yeah, they. I mean, our guys. Tremendous amount of data, but they.

[Andy Frisella]

They know if you stop, it's not good.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Can you get the car back as you. You know, can you get it back to the pit lane? But when you're sitting there and, like, the whole front is smashed off or whatever, and you got to tell them, like, we're out. All the. You know, and that all this work, all this money, all this time, all this preparation, it's all, you know, dude.

[Andy Frisella]

And the preparation is for a year. Like, that's like you start prepping to run the Daytona the minute after the Daytona finishes or the Lamar finishes.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Like, obviously we have other races throughout the year, but, like, they're all tuned up. That's right. I mean, everyone wants to win. Lamar for sure is the biggest race in the world. I mean, like, like, you can ask like, any driver, any Formula One. I mean, look, right now the talk in Formula One is like, McLaren is making a new car to come to race at Le Mans. Like Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri Verstappen's talking about. He wants to come, like, every. Every driver. I don't care who you are, you want to win the 24 Hours of Lamar. The Indianapolis 500 is up there, you know, the biggest race, the Monaco Grand Prix and F1. But it is Le Mans, one of, I would say, the top three races in the world that everyone wants to win.

[Andy Frisella]

It's the most viewed. Yeah, the most viewed motor race ever.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So that amount of pressure you have, like everyone from F1 to NASCAR to IndyCar, like, everyone wants to be at this race. So the, the preparation that goes in, if you have. And one, you can't just sign up to come to Lamar. You have to be invited. So even as a driver or a team, there's only so many slots that, you know, cars can physically fit into the. In the pit lane. So you have to earn an invitation. And so even then, during the invitation, the amount of preparation that goes into being ready, you know, for the race, both from a personnel standpoint in the car. Like, I can tell you, our car at Porsche, they work on that car. I mean, every single part of that car has been gone over time and time and time again. And like we have like a splitter, like the front splitter that's in the front. And I can't talk to you about a lot of the secret things, but I can tell you, like, they're the front splitter. We have the rear wing that we have. There are certain parts on the car that are Le Mans only. And I mean, they are. They are designed exactly for this one race. Right. To make Le Mans is kind of interesting because we have these super long straightaways, like the Mulsanne straight, where we're going top speed for a really, really long time. And then there's also super high speed corners and then some very, very tight first gear corners. So the track, when you first look at it, looks kind of simplistic when you're there. It's like the combination of everything. You have to have a car, it's fast on the straights because if you're not, you're just going to get past and it's the easiest place to pass. You have to have a car that has enough downforce to be stable in the really high speed corners. Like these ones down here at the end. Corners like 20 and stuff through here. Those are called the Porsche curves. Do you enter those cars like those corners in fifth gear and you're going through there at 140 to 130 miles an hour. And then you have corners like the final chicanes. Those are called the Ford chicanes. You're, you're in first gear. In first gear, you're barely crawling. There's these huge curbs that you gotta climb and go under. So the car has to perform at low speed, medium speed, high speed, and it also has to be fast. Right? So, so it's. From an engineering standpoint, it's super hard to have a car that's good at all of those things. And you'll never have one that's perfect at all of them. You'll always have some inadequacy. But that's what's so kind of special and unique about developing the car that can be good around that track. But if you can be fast here, you can be fast anywhere.

[Dustin]

Let me ask you this. How hard was it for you to learn that skill of just trust, trusting your other teammates, Right? Like whether it's pit crew, whether it's like your, your engineers like having to have that faith, trust in somebody else to control something you can't control.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I, I think, I mean, to beat the business analogy course, but I mean, I, I've been a part of large organizations for so much of my life that you have to trust the person. If, if anyone, If Andy Frisella can run all of first form completely by himself, there'd be no need for these hundreds of employees here. Right? You know, so no one can do anything this complex and great, you know, on their own. In the racing car, there is something that is just, I don't say it's balls or blind faith. Like when the engineer is telling you, hey, the Porsche curves, you can enter that, you know, at 140 and you're like, okay, that sounds good. And then you arrive there in the real car and you're, or I would say even first on the simulator. We do try things first on the simulator and like, okay, engineer says 140 miles an hour at this corner, and you arrive there and you're like 160, 170 flat. And you think, oh, my. Let me tell you, it's a hard corner and you break and you downshift twice. And you turn, you look down, you're like 110. And you're. And you're thinking, oh, gosh, I'm on the limit here. And you go back to your notes and goes, wait, 140. He said, um, okay, let's try again, you know, And. And you crash, and you crash and you crash and you're like, call the engineer back. Like, hey, man, questioning.

[Andy Frisella]

I know you said.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I know you said, you know. So the simulator helps with these types of things. Then you arrive to Lamar and you get there for the first test day. Because this, this track is mostly country roads. It's. There's. There's only a small bit of it that's like a proper racing track. And then you're using. Seeing the rest of the country roads in France. And this again, the race is 100 years old, right? But 100 years ago, they only raced on. On the country road. So you can't just go here and practice anytime you want. They. They only close the roads for this, you know, one race a year. And so you're flying down the road the first time, like the first practice day. And the. In the track's always dirty at the first time because it's a, It's a. It's a normal highway. There's trash on the sides and stuff, right? And you go flying towards that corner. And man, let me turn tell you, you know, you, yes, you do have to have a lot of faith in, in your engineers and what they tell you is capable of the car. And, and that takes some time. I mean, that, that takes. You gotta. You gotta make like, is he lying to. Is he sure? Like, how sure is he, dude, it takes a little bit of time.

[Andy Frisella]

From an amateur, very amateur perspective, I found it very helpful to have someone telling me what to do when I was. When I, When I was. Yeah, because, like, dude, for me, me at a very amateur, very, very amateur level. Now I. You almost have to have someone telling you what to do because you have no idea what the car will do. And if you trust them, you'll be fast.

[Ryan Hartwick]

We. We have a ton of data. You know, these cars collect like you at all. When you and I drove, you can. I'm. I'm just like you. I'm much more comfortable if I can see that. Okay. Another driver on the Same day on the same car. He broke at this point, I'm breaking earlier. The guy didn't crash, he made it. You know, I've been able to just get myself wrapped around rather quickly. What one man can do, another man can do, right? So, but I'm usually not the first person to go do it in some of these situations. I let you know my teammate does it. Now the good thing is there's a lot of, like, amateur drivers that you can show them the data over and over and they'll spend a week like going there and they'll never make it to the breaking point. Right. I've been really, I, like, I'm real quick. If you show me, hey, Ryan, your teammate breaks here at the 50. It doesn't take me four laps or three laps. Like, I go the next lap, I, I will.

[Andy Frisella]

The learning curve is short.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's very short. I, I inherently know what one man can do, another man can do. So that's whether that's stupidity, bravery, you know, I don't know, but I just, I've arrived.

[Andy Frisella]

Wouldn't you say, though, like, that's one of the most important elements to, I mean, I mean, to, to becoming a great driver quickly.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's, it's easy to say it. Everybody say it. Let me tell you, when you, like on, like in this world of simulators, right? They're awesome, by the way. I mean, these simulators are actually really, really good. But there's always that element on the simulator. You can always just hit that magic reset button after you crash and it costs no money. Yeah, you're, you don't have to go to the hospital, you know, and you, you know, and you can reset when you arrive at the real car. There's real car consequences, you know, you're this real speed and that's a real concrete wall right there, you know, that's the difference. Everyone can say, oh, yeah, break at the 50 meter mark, no problem. You know, easier. Some people can do it and some, some people can't.

[Andy Frisella]

I mean, dude, it's a parallel to business too. I mean, how fast can you learn?

[Ryan Hartwick]

How fast can you, how fast can.

[Andy Frisella]

You, can you watch someone else do something and then know that you can do it too? Or, or do you say, oh, but he's an anomaly, or that's a special circumstance, or we're not them, you know, because none of that shit is true, dude. It just isn't. You've got to be able to learn quick.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Another thing in business that relates is a lot of people don't realize a race car, if you drive it for one hour on one set of tires and you see a racing driver who can run virtually the same lap time for over the one hour or very, very close to it, that is such an unbelievable skill set. Because the tires are consistently wearing out every lap that you go, the tire has less grip. And when you go for one hour, let me tell you, those last five laps at the end is so incredibly hard because it's like driving on ice. There's literally, like no grip left in the tire. And for you to achieve anywhere close to the lap time that you did at the first of the few laps. Laps is really, really hard. It is possible because when you start at the first lap, you have a full tank of fuel. Fuel weighs a lot. When you know you have it. All the fuel is burning off over the hour. So the car is actually getting lighter as the time goes on, but the grip is going away. So you start with a lot of grip, super security, but you're just slow because it's kind of heavy and sluggish. Then the car gets super light and nimble, but you have no grip towards the end. The best drivers can achieve. Achieve a similar lap time all the way across. There's a big parallel in business, and right when the conditions are perfect and everything's fine and everything's. And you can achieve one result in. You're in sales in the month of May and you can achieve a good result. Being able to achieve that same result maybe in the month of January, when.

[Andy Frisella]

It'S a different trend, It's a different trend.

[Ryan Hartwick]

This is more difficult skill set. So there's the. The only constant is change, right? And that, that's for sure in racing and for sure in business. You know, it's just another reason why I love it so much in life. Right. You what, what you can do now doesn't mean you can do it later. And if you really. If you really develop the skill set, it is possible. But, man, it takes.

[Andy Frisella]

And the really. The really, really great championship people actually perform much better. Better when the circumstances are much more difficult.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So, dude, the best drivers, yeah, when it rains, they're great. Everyone talks about Ayrton Senna. Yeah, man, I don't care what driver you ask. Driving a race car in the rain with, like, slick tires. We do have rain tires you can put on, but a lot of times it's dry, and then the rain comes, but you have the dry tires on. Let me tell you, dry tires on a wet track, I can't explain to you how slick it. I mean, you. You can think to touch the gas pedal, you don't actually do it. Just your brain thinks, I wonder if I should hit the gas now. Bam, you're spun out backwards in the wall. I mean, it's so difficult. And Ayrton Senna was like, he was the man, you know, in the rain and the, The. The feel that it takes. I don't. He was unworldly. Okay. But, man, that's a. This is also like a, you know, another analogy. Like sometimes, I mean, out of the blue, it can. It can rain.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You know, and there's chaos.

[Andy Frisella]

It goes from fucking everything. Perfect conditions, everything's good. Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And then it's chaos. And a lot. In the driving world, a lot of drivers are still on the road. Oh, it's raining. And we have to pit. We have to pit now. And, you know, the pit crew is like, dude, you can pit. We're going to go to last place. Like, survive, you know. Can you survive in Lamar? It's super specific. Lamar, the racetrack is like over eight miles long. It's almost nine miles all the time. When it rains in Lamar, it very rarely rains. The whole track, the track is so big, it can usually rain only in one section. And the pit crew, they all know that they have radar and everything coming. So you arrive and you're like, I've done it. I've arrived. Like, oh, my God, if we have to pit now, it's like monsoon. They're like, ah, you got to survive, Ryan, if you can make it past Tetra Rouge or what, the next sector, it's actually dry. And you're like, and I remember this was last year year it came huge rain at. Towards the end of the lap. And I mean, I was surviving, I was surviving. And a lot of the guys I was racing with, they all peeled into the pit lane and our guys told me to stay out, like, it's going to dry up. I mean, I didn't question them, but I did ask, like, are you sure? Like, everyone's going in and they're like, no, trust me. And sure enough, we cycled to the lead. Everyone came in for wet tires. I made it, you know, several corners later, and there then it was the sun. So we kept going. And, man, we made a big lead right then because all the guys that came for wet tires, guess what they had to do when the rain stopped, they had to come back into the pits again to get dries again.

[Andy Frisella]

So it's such a good parallel for business.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It because like change.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude. Because the people who truly get ahead in business and who win are people that when the chaos comes, they don't freak the out.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Stay the course.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. They keep moving. And actually, actually, you know, if. If there. I think, you know, there is an element of being wired for that. But the best operators that I've seen and probably the best drivers that you've seen are very similar and that they will make a ma. Like, it's kind of. It's kind of a paradox. People who are truly great at what they do. When things are perfect. Perfect will you usually be hyper, almost insane about how much better it should be. But then when gets crazy, those people calm down. Dude. They're suit. They're like super calm. Chaos is happening. Tragedy happened. The storm came out of nowhere on the racetrack. The storm came out of nowhere in your business.

[Ryan Hartwick]

But it's here.

[Andy Frisella]

And those people, they. They go from being like, almost hyper aggressive and like annoying and intolerable in terms of like their aggressiveness and their, you know, like, yeah, we got to look out for this or that or this to like, hey, everything's good.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Y.

[Andy Frisella]

We're good. We got. Just got to do this and this and this. And I think that's a trait. I don't know if that's something that. I don't know if that's something that people can learn, but I do believe you can get better at it.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Because it takes an actual effort.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Everything in your body.

[Andy Frisella]

What I mean is. Yeah. Like you. I don't know if it's something you can become great. Great at without having it be wired into you, but I do think it's something that people can get better at.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I would agree. I mean, I would agree there's like. Like, you know, we all. Ayrton Senna for sure. This guy was born with some things that. That other humans just haven't been born with. Um, I tell you, like. And I'm this way in business on the racetrack when it starts raining, I immediately get excited.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Deep in. I know this. It's about now I can make a difference.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude. And the business is the same. Like everybody's get like, dude. In a bad economy or a, you know, like. Like Covid. Like Covid comes, everybody freaks the fuck out.

[Ryan Hartwick]

What are we going to do?

[Andy Frisella]

My. My main thought when Covid happen and I know it was yours too, because we talked through it was like, all right, dude, everybody else is going to up. We can jump miles ahead.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep. We can pass a lot Of.

[Andy Frisella]

And by the way, both of us did in our businesses.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Right? Yep. It's. It's, man, it's. It's. There's. We always talk about there's two types of drivers. I think there's also two types of entrepreneurs.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

When the rain comes, it's either. Oh, shit. Yeah, we have to pit. We like, oh, God, what are we going to do? Do? And then there's those that smell the blood in the water.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And let's be fair, we. We both have tremendously talented and skilled people around us too that are also that way.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, so you got Justin, I got Sal and Jason and Chris and.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Each other.

[Ryan Hartwick]

A common trade amongst all those people. They're all great operators that I think they also. If they were on the racetrack and it started raining.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. They'd be like, this is it.

[Dustin]

You know, I've heard Chris is a terrible driver, though.

[Andy Frisella]

Chris is. I don't know. I, I can't tell if Chris is a great driver or a terrible driver, but I know this. I hate riding with him. I hate it. Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

There's something about his, his casual nature of driving very fast that almost I'm like, you don't know what you're doing here, do you?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Like, I'm, I'm not a good passenger almost with no drive.

[Dustin]

Like, okay, like, how, how hard is it for you to leave the track at the track when you're driving down?

[Ryan Hartwick]

I'm, I'm, I'm always pretty good. I know. I'm always pretty good. I tell you, there's two people around me. They're usually with me at the racetracks all the time. One's my father. He's comes to a lot of the races and he's the worst at this. The other is Justin. He's there. They'll be at a long race, you know, whatever, eight hour race, 24 hour race. And no matter what the situation is, usually I'm a bit tired afterwards. And so I'm not driving the rental car back to the airport or where going.

[Andy Frisella]

I already know where this is going.

[Ryan Hartwick]

My dad, my dad is like, when he gets. It's like, it's his stint, man. He's in like, he is fired up, dude. I mean, we are like breaking every traffic rule. He slams on the brakes, like coming into the corners, you know, and we're like, dad, bro, like, seriously. He's like, oh, that's. It's fine. I've just, you know, and he says it, he goes, I've been watching racing the last 24 hours. Like I'm ready to go, you know.

[Dustin]

Like a turn like this.

[Andy Frisella]

Dude, that's hilarious.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Apexes, you know, I'm like, dad, bro, like if the race is over, man. Yeah, that's funny.

[Andy Frisella]

That's hilarious.

[Dustin]

Good looking car though, man.

[Andy Frisella]

Oh yeah. Oh well dude, that's a whole nother thing we could talk about. We, we developed that. That was our, that's been our strategy.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I mean the blue, you know, obviously it's the, the first form blue and our panto but I mean every, I'm sure everybody that drives any kind of race car says oh mine's the best looking car. But I mean we had. We get so many compliments from fans that this is the baddest ass looking race car. And we get so many comments on like how bright it is in the sun. It shows up so bright. You can see our car like on tv. It just, it picks up the light.

[Andy Frisella]

So well and you could definitely see even when it's just panning across.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, you can always see the first car. You know. This year my wife and son got the opportunity at Le Mans to ride in the good. Your blimp. They got to go up during the race was going on and they have these videos from the blimp of you know, the cars coming by and dude, you can see our coming, our car coming like all the way down the mulsan. Yeah. Coming out of, you know, it's so bright, you know, but it's become iconic now. I think, you know, we're building something that'll be looked back on, you know, especially now we're going to have three different Porsches that have won the three largest races in the world, you know, and, and the fact they were all blue, they're all slightly different in design. We changed the design a little bit, but they're all the blue first form Porsche, you know.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, dude, it's like we talked, you know when we first started, the first few years, we switched the livery every year. Yeah, we were kind of trying to find our way about, you know, where we wanted to be. And then I can remember you and I talking extensively because we're both hyper detailed about this that like we wanted specifically to develop a look and feel to the car that would be lasting and iconic. So for talked about Richard Petty's car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

So like if you know NASCAR, everybody knows the number 43 STP car from all the way from the 60s till now.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

And that was kind of our goal is to create, create a livery that, yeah, it might change a little bit. But you know, 20 years from now they're going to have hot wheels and models and you know.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Right.

[Andy Frisella]

Everybody knows that car, dude.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, that's. No matter what driver ever drives that car. And livery, that's the, that's a Richard Petty.

[Andy Frisella]

That's right.

[Ryan Hartwick]

STP car. But I think we're doing a good job. I mean, I can tell you now we're racing. We raced in Asia this year. We raced in the Asian Le Mans series, raced in Abu Dhabi, you know, in the Middle east and in the World Endurance Championship, which is what Le Mans is a part of, which that's the next goal, by the way. Ask after Le Mans to win the world championship. But in this championship that we're in, you know, we're racing in Europe, we race once here in America, we race in Japan, we race in the Middle East. And this car, even when we arrive, even if people aren't as familiar with first form or they know they like, oh, this, that's the blue first form Porsche. They know about it. That's the first form Porsche. That's what, you know, fans, Japanese, it's so cool to be in Japan or to be in the Middle east. And people associate it, you know, that's why I knew that, man. We've created, you know, we're not done.

[Andy Frisella]

No.

[Ryan Hartwick]

But we are doing a good job along the way of creating a brand and a association. Porsche is a big part of it. Right. You know, but we're creating this association of the bright blue.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, dude. And what a better. I mean, there's not a better brand to be attached to. I mean, Porsche is the most, the world's most valuable luxury rebrand. People, a lot of people don't know that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. You know, to me they're, I mean, obviously I have a biased opinion, but.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And you and I are both fans of lots of cars.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. I mean, you know, but I don't think we would. I don't think either one of us would debate over who makes the best car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I mean, for me, from line to line, if you were going to only have one car.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

There could only be one. I truly think a Porsche 911. We can all.

[Andy Frisella]

You and I would disagree on which one.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Which one. There's.

[Andy Frisella]

But I agree versions.

[Ryan Hartwick]

But if you had to, you know, go to the grocery store and you know, maybe, you know, and also turn up at the racetrack and do a good lap time and drive a back country road and somewhat be comfortable drive across country, what I would I would choose a.

[Andy Frisella]

There's no question the design hasn't changed since the, since the early 70s, late 60s.

[Ryan Hartwick]

People like our racing car. I mean, it's, yeah, it's gotten longer, wider. There's some different things, but, yeah, it's the same formula, basically.

[Andy Frisella]

Now, just while we're on the top topic, because you've owned all the 911s. I've owned most of the 9 11s. Which one's your favorite?

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's a tough one. But I, if I had to pick one, I, I do really like the 997 model, which was my favorite is the last year was made 2011. 2011. I like both the GT3 RS 4.0 that year and also the GT2 RS as a turbo. But those two cars, the physical size of the car was much smaller than what we have now, and to me, it was just the most balanced. You know, the 2Rs with the turbo is the fastest. It has the most power. The 3Rs, it's naturally aspirated. I just either one of the, I would say that's my favorite.

[Andy Frisella]

I think that, I mean, those are both justifiable as picks.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They've gotten more comfortable, bigger, but to me, that was the best.

[Andy Frisella]

I've also owned both those cars, and I, I, yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So what's yours, dude?

[Andy Frisella]

You know, I, I, I think the 991 2Rs. My, you know, my acid green car. Yeah, yeah, that, that to me, even though, you know, the purists will say, oh, it's pdk, it's not manual.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

The amount of power that the car makes and the nimbleness of the car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

For me, feels right. You know, the other cars, they can be underpowered. That's what I'm saying. They feel slow to me. And, and it, you know, that's not, that's just because of the, the other. That we get to drive.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Right. Like, we both have the fastest cars in the world. You've got a Super Sport, Sheeran. I've got the Pure Sport.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, everything feels like once you're, Once you've driven a P1 and once you've driven a Super Sport or a Pure Sport, everything feels slow. Like, slow, slow. And then, like. But that, but that 911 still feels quick. And, and that's what I think I like about it, because Even with the 2Rs manual, the 997, it still felt, you know, people are like, oh, the widowmaker.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

To who? You know, like, yeah, that's how it felt to me at the time maybe. Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

I still like them. I think they're great cars. Um. But, yeah, that's. That's what I would pick.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's a. It's impossible. I get that question all the time, like, what's your favorite? Or can you only pick one? I mean, that's what's so great about cars. They're all. They're all so different. And hopefully no one has to pick just one, you know, or whatnot. But it's a great question, you know? Yeah, man. They're just. They're. They are so different. There. There are so many.

[Andy Frisella]

I think we both agree on what the greatest Porsche is, though.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. I mean, probably the greatest Carrera gt.

[Andy Frisella]

Which is cool because I actually own. Own his old Carrera gt. That's where I got mine from. And then he got a different one.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I had to get a different one. Yeah, I made. You know, we all make mistakes, right. I made a. I had a lapse in judgment once. Yeah. No takes you backsies. Yeah. But I was fortunate to be able to, you know, years later, get another one. I realized, you know, how great of a car. But, yeah, you called me like, man, I'm wanting to buy a Carrera gt.

[Andy Frisella]

You're like, oh, you know, man, I was thinking about selling mine. I'm like, done.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Done.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Shortest call.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Because, dude, it was the color I wanted.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Everything black.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Black on black. Yeah. No, that car is. That car's special.

[Andy Frisella]

So, dude, you know, switching from, you know, really what we. What we came here to talk about. Let's talk about Lamar. Dude, you know this. Yeah, A week, two weeks ago.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this was our third year, you know, attempting it, and I say I came in to this race. I don't think you ever expect to win a race like this. I mean, you. You know, we surrounded ourselves with what I think is the best team. They were the defending champions from Le Mans, the European before.

[Andy Frisella]

Did the Grillo car win last year?

[Ryan Hartwick]

No, it was. It was. It was just. It wasn't the Grillo. They say the Grillo car only. They run with only top factory drivers. Like at the Nurburgring. No, it wasn't the Grillo, but it was. It was their team. Yeah, I was with a different, you know, bronze driver. Who is. Who is the best? They. They. Last year, they won the championship, you know, Manti Porsche. And they also won Lamar. And so my teammate, Richard Le, who was also my teammate in Daytona when we won the 24 hours a day Daytona. He won Lamar last year with Manti and when I came, you know, back, had the opportunity to come back with Manti and bring first form, Richie was available to come be my teammate.

[Andy Frisella]

So he's won two in a row.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, so he's won Lamar two years in a row. And Richie's the guy in the middle there. He's now one of the winningest drivers ever at Le Mans. He has won Le Mans six times.

[Andy Frisella]

Holy shit.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Won it six times. He's been on the podium several other times, but I think the winningest driver has won it seven times. So he's one away from tying that record. But yeah, he's won two years in a row. So anyway, I knew, like, how old is he? Richie is just about our age. Yeah, he probably won't like me. He had a great response in the press conference, like, Richie, what do you have to be to, you know, win Lamar six times in a row? And he said, well, the first thing you have to be is very old, cold, be doing it so many times. But no, man, Richie, you know, having him, it's special. You know, where I won Daytona with him, and then I was able to have him as my teammate. You know, coming here, man, I knew I had the co drivers. Also. The third driver we have on our team, his name's Ricardo Pera, he's a silver rated driver. I mean, do we, we went after this guy trying to get Ricardo as our third driver, you know, pretty ambitiously. He, he's been, the last couple years, he's been one of the fastest drivers at Lamas specifically. So like he's a bit of a specialist. I mean, he's a great driver. He's Italian, won many races and championships around the world. But at Le Mans he's like, he's like the man on sheer speed. So we put this team together with, with this race like specifically in mind. You know, Richie's one at the most, Ricardo's one of the quickest. And, and then me coming in, I've as, as bronze drivers go, I've been one of the top in the world last few years. So any team, I don't know if you know in the rules. In Lamar, all drivers are rated by a category and it's based on experience. Right. You know, we're all professionals, but it's based on experience. You got to have one gold or platinum rated driver. It could be either one. Platinum is reserved for like Formula one, you know, drivers, or if you work directly for a manufacturer. Manufacturer. Richard Leets is platinum. You have to have one silver rated driver and you have to have one bronze rated driver. And they're exactly what you mean. I'm the bronze rated driver. I would have the least experience of these guys on the team. Ricardo's a silver. And the trick in racing is we're all trying to be the absolute best in our category, right? If I get a little too, like, for me, if I were to ever become silver one day, I would not be very valuable as a driver because there's lots of really, really great silvers. Same with Ricardo. Like, when you go kind of, you step to that next level, bottom tier, you kind of could be on the bottom tier of the next level. So every team's trying to get the absolute best bronze and the absolute best silver and the absolute best platinum, you know, at that specific time. And I think we achieved that. I think I've, I, I think my performance, I've been right up there in the top three or so bronzes in the world last, you know, few years. And Ricardo, I think is definitely on that verge of probably becoming a gold real soon. And so we got a good combination here. But yeah, the week started like we, we were decent There in our class is the largest category. There's 24 cars in the, in the class, all different manufacturers. And we were kind of in the practice sessions, hovering around the back half of the top 10. Really, we were each time between like 5th to 10th better than the average. But dude, we were, everyone knew it from the start. The Ferrari and the Lexus, which actually a Toyota, but the Lexus were just like so fast. I mean, they had, they had more top speed than everybody else. Their lap times were the best. Like everyone was talking about it through the practice sessions and I mean, they were a lot faster than us and we were pushing, I mean, we were all out, you know, and you kind of can never tell in practice or everyone just people holding back, they want to show their whole cards just yet, you know, and so you don't really know. We were kind of lean. We were, we were kind of showing it and we, the talks just went into, hey, this might not be our year. You know, Porsche won last year. This year, let's get good points for the championship. Even though these guys are fast, you know, like we said, in 24 hours a lot of can happen. A lot of fast cars can have issues and break. But our goal for sure was the podium. We, we thought if we executed perfect perfectly and we made no mistakes, we would have a shot at the podium. But that was Realistically, the goal, I definitely wasn't calling you or calling home saying, hey man, this is a year, but we're gonna smoke these guys. So that, I mean that was our mindset, you know, going in and we got to qualifying. We, we had a good qualifying. I, you. Each driver has to qualify. The, the bronze has to qualify, then the silver than the gold and you, you kind of. It's an elimination style, kind of like Formula 1. I qualified P3 and was really close to the top, you know, bit surprising, you know, Ricardo did the same. He qualified P3 out of the silvers and then Richard went with all the platinums and goals and he was P5. But they were all like, like super, super close. So that was actually like the closest we had been, you know, to the, to the front. So that's where we started. The race was from fifth. You start where the final. Where the Platinums, you know, qualify. So yeah, we started from fifth. So yeah, that was our goal. I mean we just, we thought the, the podium would be kind of the, the goal, but I would say we spent the first six hours of the race.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, how, how, how close? Just so people understand, it's eight mile track.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay, how close are the times from qualifying first to third to fifth?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, I mean we can pull it. But just off the top of my head, a really fast qualifying lap time, if you're going under four minutes is, is, is really fast. I want to say our poll apps were in the close to 355.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Okay. And the, I mean the top. I know in my qualifying that I was P3. The top 11 or 12 were all within the same second.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So we're within tenths, sometimes hundreds.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Of a second.

[Andy Frisella]

So that's what I'm trying to, from the perspective, I'm trying to let everybody understand.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yes.

[Andy Frisella]

You're talking about an 8 mile course.

[Ryan Hartwick]

There's 32 corners, so 32 opportunities to break and accelerate, you know, or not. Right.

[Andy Frisella]

And the top 11 cars are in.

[Ryan Hartwick]

The 355 mark within the same second. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're, we, I got it right here. We're constantly pushing for. Yeah. Tenths of a second.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. So that's, that's just. So you guys that don't know racing, that's how close it is.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And we get a lot of questions. I get a lot of guys like, hey, what's the difference in a bronze like Ryan versus, you know, a Platinum like Richie and Lamar is a bigger track, obviously at three minute. Most of our tracks Are much shorter. Right. But you know, the difference from me to Richie was probably 1ish second. Manti, I did a 3572 and Richie did a 355 1. Yeah. Richie's Alas. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah. Within two seconds.

[Dustin]

That's crazy.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Because most tracks I'm within one second of Richie, but that's also about a two minute lap time. So this is a four minute lap.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So, so here I was under two seconds. I was 1.9 seconds from the guy who's one of the greatest drivers in the world. You know, so that's what it takes to, you know, be a, be the least experienced guy. You got to still be within like one second right. Of the, of the top, you know?

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Oh, bro. And, but here's the thing. How long has Richie been racing?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, his whole life.

[Andy Frisella]

Okay.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

So you got a guy just so we understand. Just I think this is important to me. Point out you've got a guy that's probably been racing since Go Karts. Okay. His whole life. And you have a guy who's been racing for less than 10 years.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. N9 years.

[Andy Frisella]

Who's one within, you know, right there next to him. So like most guys will spend. This is the point that needs to be made. Most guys will spend their entire life trying to make that time up, that gap between, between Richie and Ryan. They will spend their entire life to get to make up that less than a second or one second or two seconds.

[Ryan Hartwick]

The truth is most, most, you know, never will.

[Andy Frisella]

That's how close, that's how, that's how precise and close racing really is.

[Ryan Hartwick]

What, what I've found, what's so crazy, what I've found is, you know, through like, you know, nine years.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You can get, I mean I've. So I can get within a second. Okay. Over to me and, and dude, we're talking one second spread out over 20 corners.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I mean, bro, is. It's less than like hundredths of a difference in the braking and the acceleration right in each corner. Right. Less obviously less than a link in my.

[Andy Frisella]

If you were watching a video of their feet right next to each other, it would look virtually identical.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It look identical. Yeah, look identical. And then what I've found is you can get within that second. But let me tell you, the last half a second, the last five tenths, this is what takes a of lot. Lifetime.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

These, the guys that, that do this at that, that, that have dedicated their life, they dedicated their entire life to a half a second a Half a second more than what someone who could come in much later in life can do it. And let me tell you, that last half second. Yeah, it's hard. Yeah, it's very hard. It's very, very hard.

[Andy Frisella]

I just think, I just think it's important to point that out that. Because like, as an average, you know, I flip on the television and then there's a race cars going around the track. You don't think about it like that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, we're going a lot of times, you know, you watch the video back and you look at the data and you're like, golly, I'm, you know, one second or nine, 10. Like, where could it be? It's never in one spot or two spots. It's. It's fractionally around, you know, you know each corner. And then to be able to do that and execute it, like we said, over an entire hour with tires changing, fuel changing, weather changing, temperature changing. That's one hour.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Then times 24.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

In the middle of the night. Yeah, it's, it's. That's where the skill set comes in.

[Andy Frisella]

So we start the race.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Isaiah. I can break down pretty soon. Yeah. This was honestly a pretty straightforward race. You know, when it's kind of going your way, you kind of. It's kind of going your way. We, we spent the first six hours, I would say, in the top five and kind of. Kind of.

[Andy Frisella]

I don't want to say you ran four hours stint.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I start the race four hours in a row. I did the only quadruple stint in the entire race. No one else did a quadruple stint. I'll say it wasn't planned. The plan was for me to run a triple, which that's about.

[Andy Frisella]

It's pretty hard.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's pretty hard. And a lot of, A lot of guys, most guys will run double scent. So like two hours at a time. It was planned for me to do a triple. My physical fitness has been strong, you know, I'd say compared to most other drivers. So, you know, it's been a strength of our. And they knew the, the more I could drive towards the start. Saves our fastest drivers for the end and saves them more fresh. Right. So they called me at hour three and I was, we were hanging around that top five, you know, and like, hey, Ryan, you know, how are you feeling in the car? I'm like, man, I'll be honest with you. Like, I'm feeling pretty good. Like we're. And I, you know, it's fun when you see the. You Know, you see the leaders and we're doing well and, and I'm like, man, I feel great. You know, if you guys, if it helps, like, I'm good to doing another one. And they, they said, let us come back to you. And they rummaged around, I guess, for a little while and they came back like, hey, man, if you're okay, like, it would be a big advantage if you could do, you know, four. And so, man, if it's an advantage, let's go. And I did it. It was, it was awesome. We, we gained a lot of space there. And what that did, that set off, I think what it eventually helped us win the race. Yeah, A lot of the other teams, as we got towards the night, they had to put in their bronze drivers in because they were running their faster drivers early where we had saved, we put in our, you know, platinum, you know, and silver drivers against a lot of their bronzes. So that enabled us to jump up quite a bit. And then the next thing that did a big difference was the nighttime. I mean, the night at Lamar is some of the most difficult. You can ask any driver. I mean, it's not like, like Daytona, the 24 hours of Daytona. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's easy. It's not easy. Okay. But as far as driving in the night, it's extremely well lit. It's damn near the daytime. I mean, all the big, you know, from the speedway, you've got all the lights from nascar and it's basically like driving in the day. Let me tell you something. The backcountry roads in the Midwest of France are not well lit. Like my first year, when I went out for the first night practice, I came out of the pit lane. The pit lane, it's all lit up. So it's like the racing track there. So it's like Daytona. It's all lit. And you go the first three corners, it's all lit, and then you, you merge out onto the Mulsanne straight. And this is where you leave the, the racing track and go on the, go on the country roads. And I was, you know, radio silence for a little while, and I'm driving down the Mulsanne straight. I went to the first chicane, then I'm on my way to the second chicane, and I called on the radio and I'm like, guys, it is dark. I can't explain to you guys, is.

[Andy Frisella]

This supposed to be this way?

[Ryan Hartwick]

You can watch all the video. Like we have video. You can go on YouTube and watch my videos are on YouTube right now. You can watch, you know, my lapse and stuff at night. And you have a like, oh yeah, it kind of looks dark, but it'll probably be okay. Like bro, what, what got me is that, you know we have headlights, but the headlight headlights, obviously they shine in front of you, right? Well, when you're on a racetrack and you're about to come to a corner, the front of you is fine. You can see out there. But all the time, like during the day you. You need to see where you break. But then your eyes are going to the corner. So let's say it's a right hand corner. Your eyes are going over to the right looking for the apex. Well, bro, it is, it's pitch black dark, you know, so you're, you're breaking and you look and you're like I think we turn now. So you turn and then the headlights move and they're like nope, too early ye further. So you have to. It's nothing but time. You have to develop time. And you have to look at things on the road that you can see like right in front of you to give you visual clues of where the turn in spot is. You can see the break points. Like there's you recognize signs and different things on the road to where you know where you have to break. But the turn in point, this has to come from just muscle memory and feeling and stuff. So anyway, back to my original story. Driving at the night is very difficult. Most bronze drivers don't drive at night. Most teams, they drive their bronze drivers a little bit in the day at start and then they put in their silvers and their platinums to go back and forth, back and forth all night long. And then when the sun comes up the next day, the bronzes go in. You know, when it's the sun is back out. I drove those four hours to start. That helped get us ahead. And then I drove. It gets dark kind of late there around 10 o' clock at night. Actually it's pretty summer solstice. So long as day of the year. I drove going into the night. So as the sun was going down, I drove from 10 to about midnight where no other bronze driver was out there then. And I came out for just a couple hours and I went back in at 3:30am and I drove from 3:30 into the sun coming up some comes up kind of early around 5:30. So I did like a. It was a triple stint that went into the sun. And again, no other bronze drivers out there. And we were in the top three both those times. We were in third, second, first. And, like, the team was on the radio like, Ryan, your paces is doing great. Like, the Ferrari had caught me. We were in second. The Ferrari caught me. It had their platinum driver in it. And they're like, ryan, this is the platinum. Don't. Don't. Like, no. Don't risk anything. If he's faster, just don't fight. Let him go. Because they still have to do, like, four hours of their bronze driving, and you're done in the next hour, like here, you know. So I did the most driving at night, which ended up being, like a major step forward, because then when the sun came up, I was done. Like, I had completed all my. I have to drive, like, seven and a half or eight hours of the 24. I was done. And every other team still had their bronzes, had to come in and, bro, we went straight to the front. We passed with a lead when the sun was coming up, and then we led the entire rest of the race.

[Andy Frisella]

Which is a huge advantage because it keeps you out of the.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, yeah. Oh. Leading is always better. Yeah. And in the back, but, yeah, that's pretty much how the race went.

[Andy Frisella]

So, dude, what was it like, you know, when we won? I mean, I know what it was like, because, for me. But, like, I mean, what was it like?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Dude, man, that. Dude, the. I mean, I had a similar feeling in Daytona, you know, but when, you know, we were leading, we had a big lead, but you're constantly counting down every minute, every hour. And the. The. The factory Ferrari was in second. And they were the only car towards the end of the race that really had the speed. They were. Again, they were the fastest since we had turned up. And, man, I'm like, golly, if anything happens to the car. And this Ferrari is super fast and. But we had this kind of manageable about one minute lead, you know, that we just kind of managed all the way through. So you're obviously worried about something just like by chance happening to the car. A flat tire, a mechanical issue. But our car was perfect, you know, the whole time. Again, back to that preparation work. But, dude, I would say the last stint for Richie, which was right at an hour, like, probably 50 minutes to go, we did our final pit stop, and our engineer was so super good on the team. He's talking to the pit crew before, you know, Richie was coming in for the final pit stops. Like, guys, this is the last one, you know, for the whole 24 hours. Make sure Every wheel gun is perfect. Fuel, man, make sure. Test the floor, fuel, the fuel flow, make sure it's perfect. Take your time. We're. We're normally trying to do it as fast as we can, right? He's like, we have a one minute lead.

[Andy Frisella]

We gave up at like what, 20, 30 seconds?

[Ryan Hartwick]

We gave up almost, almost 25 seconds because we re. He said, take your time. Make sure the wheels are torqued. We even added a bit of oil to the engine. Just. We didn't have to. Just. Just a precaution, you know, Took our time with the fuel flow, looked over the car, just. And then set him out, you know, so we. We lost some of that minute lead, but on purpose, right? Just keeping everyone calm. But yeah, I was there with my. My son was sitting right next to me, my oldest son and my wife. You know, Whitney was there. My dad was in the garage, Justin. And man, dude, I was like, I was. I mean, you know, I couldn't stop shaking my feet. I'd stand up, sit down, walk around, go back up drinking energy drink.

[Andy Frisella]

I mean, like, pacing, because that always helps.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. Calm me down, you know, Definitely not an ad.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Yeah. But, dude, it was, it was, it was awesome. I mean, I, you know. Yeah, I, I never thought, you know, we could win this race. I mean, just, just to come and compete in it, you know, one thing. But yeah, when he, when he crossed the line, I mean, dude, it just. The garage erupted, you know, I lost it as my son and my wife. You know, it's just, it's, you know, for me, it's like, you know, you dead dedicate your life to, you know, perfection and we all want to be perfect. Right. You know, we're all trying to leave a legacy and, you know, and for me, having my son there that I, I. It's my hope, like, seeing his dad do something at that level. I mean, dude, as a, you know.

[Andy Frisella]

Yes.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You know, it hit me and like, no one, no one can ever take that away from us. Right? We're in the history.

[Andy Frisella]

No, bro, you're etched in. You're etched. Your name is etched in history. History.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. All those posters like you have in your garage.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, we'll have that.

[Ryan Hartwick]

There's going to be a poster of our. Right. Right, you know, now. So. Yeah, man, it's hard. Hard to put into words, but it's awesome, dude. Yeah. And you sent me the screenshot. You were like, oh, by the way.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

From back in. However many three years ago we were going to win. Lamont.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You're right again.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, dude. Well, I mean, look, winners win in bro. And you know, it's, it's. I think people, I think people think there's a, there's a magical element to it. And I don't think that's what it is at all. I think it's being meticulous and relentless towards whatever it is you choose that you want to go towards. And I don't think that success in business or success in racing or, or obviously there's limitations. You know, a five foot one person is highly unlikely to be the MVP of the NBA. Right. But outside of that, I really think it comes down to like just an obsessive commitment to achieving whatever it is that you've decided you're going to achieve. And it's not, it's not a. Oh, I'd kind of like to do this. It's an obsession session.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

And for you guys listening, you know, I can't, I can't articulate the amount of hours that Ryan and I have spent on the phone talking about winning this race. I mean, over the years, it's. I wouldn't even know where to start.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

And to see, to see you do it, bro, it's just, it's one of the cool, it's one of the coolest moments of my life. I can't imagine what, what it's like to actually have done it, you know, and, and to stand out there on that podium with 100,000 people.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I'll never forget that. I mean, I hope I haven't rewatched the, the TV yet. You know, I hope they showed it. No, but did it justice. When we walked out on the podium, it's a, it's an F1 style podium that's elevated, you know. And when we walked out, they opened the track up after the race for all the fans can come down like on the, the front stretch and there was no bro. It was as far as I could see.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Wall to wall people. I, I mean, the race is one of the most highest attended sporting events in the world. Right up there with Indy 500. And I think it's like 370,000 people or something. And it looked like they were all right. They were there, you know, and I, you know, you talk for me, I mean, you know, for, you know, you and this company, you guys, you know, believed in me like at a super early stage when I was just starting out and racing into. I can't tell you the amount of pride to stand up there. We had some screaming freedom you know, energy drinks with us, and we didn't know if, like, the officials were going to try to take them from us or whatever. So we. We kind of snuck them in our suits, like, as we went up. But to stand there, like, with the can, you know, wearing our hat, you know, with our logo on top of the podium at without doubt, one of the world's largest takeout racing.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's one of the world's largest sporting events. You know, it's. It. For me, it was that super bowl type of moment. Right. You know, and to be able to do that when I walk back in this building, you know, too.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And see all these employees and all these team members. Same with Mountain Motorsports, our motorcycle dealerships. The amount of pride, you know, that we were able to, you know, help create for all of these employees.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Customers. How many customers that have reached out and like, dude, we've all loved first former. We love Mountain Motion, but, like, now we know someone who's won. Yeah. I mean, it's just. It's a tremendous amount of pride.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, dude, and I, you know, we have never talked about this publicly, but in 2022. 2022. Was it 2022 or 23 that, you know, there was an opportunity for you to invest in the company and Ryan's. Actually, people don't know this, but, like, you know, you own a small person, a small portion of the brand at this point. So, you know, to get up there and be a part of the brand after all these years of being a fan of the brand.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Had to be. I mean, dude.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. I mean. Yeah, it means. I mean, it. It means a lot. I mean, to be able to, like, say you gave me that opportunity a couple years ago. You know, I'm a small part, you know.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Big, massive thing that you.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, actually a really big part because, you know, having you as a partner for the. For the. The knowledge and the experience and the strategy and all of those things is. Is invaluable.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So.

[Andy Frisella]

So, you know, it's. It's. For us to go from, you know, where we are now to where we're going. It's.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

It's the skills needed.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, we're.

[Ryan Hartwick]

We're. Yeah, this. There's. There's gonna be a long story, you know, written about one day.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Where we still have many more chapters, and that's the story to write. But, yeah, no, I'm. I'm. I'm super gracious of. Mostly the friendship. Right.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Our friends, you know, before anything Else and sad and Jason and Chris, I mean, all you guys give me the opportunity to be more involved with the business. There isn't a business, you know, that I believe in more outside of the one that, you know, I started with Justin. But, you know, if I could have, you know, if you asked me a question, hey, Ryan, you have the opportunity to invest in any company in the world, any company, man, there's not one that I would want to and see more promise and upside than First Form. I mean, I.

[Andy Frisella]

Well, dude, it wouldn't feel right. It wouldn't feel right doing it without you at this point. I mean, that's what it comes down to. You know, we've been, I mean, how many conversations have we had over the years about this, the company strategy, not just the race strategy? You know, I think, I think people, you know, like, you've been one of my biggest, you know, I don't know, you know, sounding boards, advisors, you know, partners without officially being part of the company for a decade, you know, and people, people, you know, people don't know that. But, you know, I wouldn't feel right. I don't think anybody here would feel right doing it without you.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Well, you know, it means a lot, I'd say. I get one question all the time about, you know, we have so many fans and people look up to first form. And I get a question like, Ryan, how, How on earth did you get first form as a sponsor? And I have the same, you know, answer back to them. And I think this is a great thing for a lot of young people to hear. If you're ever looking to get investment or a sponsorship from a company, the number one way you can do that is to give more than you're asking to receive. And you said this a lot. I've always tried from the first time that you and I became friends, and this is in any friendship that I have, I try to give and share more than I actually asked in return. And I do it in a way that I'm not even hoping or expecting or I do it just selflessly, selflessly. And I think if you can truly master that ability to. In any relationship you have, whether it's, you know, friendship, whether it's business related or whether you're trying to build something, attract a sponsor, you have to find ways that you can give. A lot of people say, well, I don't have money or I don't have, have, you know, giving in is a lot of ways. Like you said, I, I was there as a soundboard. A lot of times you just needed somebody to talk to or somebody bounce somebody off of. And that was valuable at the time. And yes, it. Eventually you decided to invest in racing, you know, with me, but hopefully it was always. And I think that's what.

[Andy Frisella]

Oh, dude.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, there was. Yes, I received.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

But I always felt that I was. I was giving.

[Andy Frisella]

Dude, come on.

[Ryan Hartwick]

That made it.

[Andy Frisella]

I mean, so I know that for a lot of you, I know that. But I don't think, you know, it's never been talked about in public.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know what I'm saying?

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep.

[Andy Frisella]

I mean, it's.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Look, bro, pretty awesome to see.

[Andy Frisella]

It's awesome. It's the coolest thing ever.

[Dustin]

I thought this was six. I just found this online. The. The video game Gran Turismo.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Dustin]

Somebody has that livery in the game.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Oh, it'll be. It's already everywhere. Yeah, yeah. People are making it in Gran Turismo and all the Cert Forza. And I get all, you know, because these are individual designers that, that, you know, make designers.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, they sell those skins. Like you buy the skins and some, some. Guys make them.

[Dustin]

Some people open source it, you know.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, most people, it's free. They build them. And yeah, it. For, you know, it'll be a very widely used.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Skin after this win.

[Dustin]

Yeah, it's freaking sick, man. But I want to ask you this, Ryan, because, you know, you put them all together, you got Sebring, Daytona, Lamont, like, that's the pinnacle. Like what. So what. What's next? Like, how do you. How do you reset a standard? How do you not celebrate too long? What's the next. What. What's next? Like, I mean, how do you, how do you top that?

[Ryan Hartwick]

That's a great question. I mean, without a doubt, any competitive person, you know, I think no matter how big the mountain is that you climb, you know, there's. There's always another mountain. Right. You know, you start thinking about, you know, what, what else is there to achieve? For me, I got a short term and a long term answer. You know, the, the short term is simple. We're currently leading after the win in Le Mans. We're leading the World Endurance Championship, which is ran by the fia. And that's the highest form of sports car racing in the world. There's Formula one. FIA runs two series. They run Formula one and they run the World Endurance Championship. Every manufacturer is involved with the World Endurance Championship. So we are racing with the factory effort from Porsche. We race against the factory efforts from Ferrari, from Corvette, from BMW, so it is, it is the top level, you know, sports car racing and it's a series that goes all around the world all year. And the best, you know, the team that you know has the most points at the end of the year is world champion. So outside of the Formula one World championship, this would be the next highest level of a season long championship in the world. So that's the goal. We're currently leading the championship after Lamala Mall is worth a lot of points. We've won one other race. We won in Italy. We're the only team to have won two races so far this year. We're in a pretty close battle with the factory Ferrari as it was probably the next, I would say strongest team. They're strong. I mean without it out there, the next brand.

[Andy Frisella]

Well bro, they, they, I mean that's, that's their whole thing, the two of us.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, I mean it's, it's, we're, I would, I would almost say head and shoulders, but there's great competition amongst. Corvette has a strong, you know, racing team. You know, Toyota, like BMW. There's a lot of great teams, but Ferrari and us are, you know, the, the leaders and we have the lead. And so that's, that's the short term goal. I want to be world champion and have that as a title, you know, here. That's the short term goal. Long term term, I just start now. I always said my whole goal was to win Lamar, you know, to try to win that race and win the trifecta. Believe me. My wife is asking like, hey, so you know, you won Lamar now like time to retire.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, well, dude, it's a big commitment from the family, like people. People. Yeah, I mean look, it's sacrifice. Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

A lot, you know, and I'm super fortunate, you know, decided, you know, with, with her, my kids, you know, it's a lot of time away from home and. But my dance. Your question. My long term goal is legacy. Right. I'm starting to think about legacy and, and like I look at, you know, is there, you know, how many times could I win this or how many, you know, championships, you know, could there be. And so I would like to leave a lasting legacy both in the racing world and as well as the business, you know, community world and I think obviously associated with their parallel. Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

I think because we have to continue to grow the brand if we're going to continue to have the legacy legacy and racing.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yep. Yeah. So I, it's, I think about legacy both for the brand personally and you.

[Andy Frisella]

Know, so it's actually pretty cool because, like, when we talk about, when Ryan and I talk about the business, like, it's, it's funny because a lot of it correlates to. And if we could do that, we could do this, you know, like.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, yeah, that's possible.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. I mean, you know, my long term goal. Like, we're going to be in F1.

[Dustin]

I was, I was about to ask. I didn't want to like, break no secret.

[Andy Frisella]

I mean, that's, that's where you're going to ultimately see our car, our livery, everything that we're doing. You will 100% eventually see that in F1.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, we're, we're making, we're making all the right headways. We, we. All the noise connections. Yeah. Let me tell you, we are first form and like that blue livery. We are, we are on the world map. That's what it takes. I mean, you can't just turn up and Formula one, even to a team, you know, they, you know, obviously these teams want to be associated with great brands and. Yeah, we're, we're, we're on the way.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, we, we, we will be owners. Maybe. I don't know if Ryan will be driving the F1 car.

[Ryan Hartwick]

I think we may need to find maybe.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, we might need a guy who's 20.

[Ryan Hartwick]

You know, I may be like the, the Brad Pitt character in the new.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, I mean, we might sneak in a couple laps. You know what I'm saying?

[Ryan Hartwick]

We can go do some test. Boy, that'll be an expensive.

[Andy Frisella]

That's. That's.

[Ryan Hartwick]

All right. Lesson. If we.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, don't cross that. Don't. Don't cross that line. But. Yeah, man. Well, dude, look.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It'S been awesome.

[Andy Frisella]

It's.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Dude, awesome.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, I. There's no other way to say it, man. You know, the whole, the whole thing, dude. Like, our friendship, seeing, you know, you guys grow. Your company. Our, our company now. Our company. You know, the partnership with the, with A.B. and Dana and the guys, like, super fortunate. Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

The rate takes all the time. Like, man, it's pretty good. Life.

[Andy Frisella]

It's weird. It's surreal, bro. It's like, it's like. You know, and we were. It circles back to the thing that we were talking about, you know, what. You know, the time. Right? Like 10 years in, you're like. Like it would have been so easy for you or me to both been like, yeah, I'm gonna do something else.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, and now here we are doing it, like for real doing it. And it's just. I know for me, dude, like, as much as I expect to win, you know, because people ask me a lot personally. Personally, they're like, dude, did you ever imagine. And I'm always like, yeah, dude, I wanted to be here 10 years ago. But, like, now that it's, like, real, real, it is kind of surreal. Like, it's like to stop, you know, just for a second and be like, dude, like, I called Dana White on the phone.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

Every day.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah. Like business partners.

[Andy Frisella]

Business partner. One lama.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know, like, you know, you, you, you. The. The brands.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Summer smash at Anheuser Busch at the distillery.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. You know, we've. We've. We've transformed more lives than any other company ever.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah.

[Andy Frisella]

You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just. It's surreal, dude. It's a surreal thing to sit. To sit and think about and look at and the time invested, you know, it's not like we're 70 years old, bro. You know, we're, you know, early side of 40s, not. Not backside. And it's just. It's, you know, I. I think you guys should all remember that. I think you guys who have the dreams and have the goals, and I think you guys gotta, you know, not. Don't get caught up in the short money. You know, think about the big picture, what you can do. You know, the one thing that these guys have, turning it back to entrepreneurship for just a second that we didn't have is they had the ability to generate capital doing side hustles that were not available to us. And what I see from a lot of the young guys is they get addicted to this side hustle and never actually build it into a real brand. And, dude, I hope you guys re. Remember, like, it's not just about the money. It's not just. Just about, you know, making a few dollars and. And making some cool Instagram posts. Like, the journey, the time, the friendships, the. The stories, the. That's. That's your life, dude. Like, it's not a balance statement. It's not a. It's not a number. It's. It's. It's the story created through that journey. And, you know, when I stop and think about it, dude, I wouldn't trade that for anything.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Yeah, that's it. I mean, that's very well said. It's all. It's all in the journey. That's where the magic happens.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's not at the finish line.

[Andy Frisella]

No. Well, bro, man, I'm proud. I'm. I couldn't be more proud of you, dude. And I couldn't be more proud to see you do that. The whole thing, you know, everything that we've done, everything we're doing, and. And just, it's. It's one of the coolest things in my whole life. Life, man.

[Ryan Hartwick]

So proud to do it with you, bud.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. So. Yeah. I love you, man. For real. That's real.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Same.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, bro. So.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Absolutely.

[Andy Frisella]

All right, guys. I know that was a little different for a. For a Tuesday show, but I thought you guys might enjoy it.

[Ryan Hartwick]

And a couple car guys just walking cars.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. And a story. And there's so many parallels for any of you guys trying to achieve anything. You know, the endurance, the. The persistence, the. The perseverance through the hard. You know, the time that doesn't go fast enough. And then when it does go fast enough, it goes too fast. Like, it's just such a. It's. It's just. It's. It's crazy way to live your life, But I wouldn't trade it, man.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Absolutely.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah. So. All right, guys. Well, Ryan, thank you, bro.

[Ryan Hartwick]

Thanks for coming on the show a long time.

[Andy Frisella]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Hartwick]

It's been awesome.

[Andy Frisella]

All right, guys, we will see you later on this week. And don't be a hoe. Share the show. Yeah. Went from sleeping on the floor now my jury box froze up bow a stove counted millions in a cold bad booted SW got her own bank row Can't f just a no head shot case close.