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Ashcraft Motorsports: Young Racers, Big Futures
Ashcraft Motorsports: Young Racers, Big Futures
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About this episode
Emery Ashcraft and Peyton Guy-Cenare, young racers from Ashcraft Motorsports, share their inspiring journey in motorsports on The JP Emerson Show. They discuss their experiences racing quarter midgets and micro sprints, the importance of mentorship in their team, and their aspirations in NASCAR and beyond. The duo emphasizes the significance of empowering young women in racing and reflects on the challenges and rewards of competing against male counterparts. With a focus on teamwork, personal growth, and the joy of racing, this episode highlights the bright futures of these talented young drivers.
Topics:
young racers
mentorship
women in motorsports
quarter midgets
micro sprints
NASCAR aspirations
team dynamics
personal growth
competition
sponsorship
Ashcraft Motorsports Racing is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to mentoring young women and breaking barriers in motorsports. Meet Payton and Memarie—two rising stars transitioning from micro sprints to A-class racing while balancing intense training, schoolwork, and the responsibility of being role models.
We explore their racing inspirations, dream cars, and the personal touches behind their race suits and social media presence built on mentorship, opportunity, and the drive to change the face of racing.
Connect with Ashcraft Motorsports here:
https://ashcraftmotorsportsracing.framer.website/
https://www.facebook.com/ashcraftmotorsportsracing
https://www.instagram.com/ashcraft_motorsports_racing
Connect with Red Line Oil:
Connect with Mecum Auctions:
Connect with JP Emerson:
Olivia “Liv” Harper, PR, Marketing, & Distribution Executive: www.jpemerson.com
For more podcasts on cars, check out Ford Mustang: The Early Years Podcast at www.TheMustangPodcast.com, on Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts
For more information about sponsorship or advertising on The JP Emerson Show or podcast launch services, contact Doug Sandler at [email protected] or visit www.turnkeypodcast.com
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Chevrolet Sonic
"...til maybe midnight, then me and my dad go and get Sonic, go back to our hotel, eat and then we just go t..."
Car
Fiat 600
"...eally know after a quarter minutes I could go to 600s and go to dirt or I could go to asphalt like I'm ..."
Select text to request an explanation
Hi everyone, I'm Emery Ashcraft and I'm Peyton Guy-Cenare and we're two of the
four Ashcraft Motorsports drivers. And you're tuning in on the J.P. Emerson show.
Welcome to the J.P. Emerson show where we ride shotgun as you tell your story.
Here's your host, J.P. Emerson. Welcome back to the J.P. Emerson show, provided by
Redline Synthetic Oil offering technical support and more than 100 quality
products including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives, and
water wetter to the automotive, motorcycle, marine, and industrial markets.
Visit them at redlineoil.com and buy Meekum Auctions, the world leader of
live auction action from entry level to investment grade, classic to modern,
foreign to domestic, and wild to mild. Meekum has it all for every budget and
every individual taste. Visit them at Meekum.com. Today we're diving into the
fast lane with two fierce young racers from Ashcraft Motorsports, a team built
on mentorship, grit, and braking barriers. Joining us today are two junior
drivers who are proving that age and gender are no limits to speed, skill, or
ambition. From quarter midgets to dreams of NASCAR, even Formula One, these girls
are racing toward greatness. It's my pleasure to welcome Miss Memory Ashcraft
and Miss Payton. Gaitzanauer, I'm sorry. I hope I got that right, Payton. How are
you guys? No, it was perfect. Good. How are you guys doing? Everybody doing alright?
Yeah. Yeah. Good. Good. Well, first of all, just to introduce ourselves, our show is
both racing and classic and muscle cars. We have a very large
listenership. We are literally all over the world, so the whole world is going to
hear you. We definitely got a whole lot of information about your race team, some
great things that you guys are doing, but we first of all, what we want to do is
we want to get to know a little bit about yourself. So I'm going to start with a
name that I know I can pronounce. We're going to start with memory. Sorry,
Payton, I'm still working on your last name. But, memory, tell us a little bit
about yourself. It's one of those. I've been racing since I was five and just
grew up racing. I have a younger sister. That's really all. I really live a
basic life. Okay. Alright. So you've been racing since you were five. You grew up
in racing? I did. I mean, I grew up around racing, growing up five minutes from
a track. My parents used to work at the track, still working at that track to
this day. So. Okay. So it's in your blood then, correct? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Alright.
So a woman of a few words, which that's alright. We'll get somewhere out of her
a little bit later. Payton, how about yourself? Yeah. Hi, I'm 15 years old. I'm
a junior in high school. I've been racing since I was 11, turning 12. So
that's I've been racing for four years and a quarter of a digits. I just
recently started driving and like testing out a 600 micro sprint, which
memory is in right now. And then, yeah, I live in Colorado. I race for Ashcraft
Motorsports and DKRA Tracing. And yeah, I have a little brother and a dog. Yeah.
Okay. All right. That's good. That's right. You know what? Everybody's got
someone at home supporting him, even if it's a dog that licks your face on the
way out the door. So that's okay. We're all for that. So as I mentioned, we
have a whole array, a different type of listenership. Everyone from muscle
cars, classic cars to supercars and racing as well. We cover NASCAR. We
cover NHRA. We've done plenty of sprint cars. But for those who may be a little
unfamiliar with, I don't want to call them the smaller cars, but tell us a
little bit. First of all, let's go back to Payton. Tell us a little bit about
what you race. And the one question a lot of people are interested in is how
fast do these cars go? So let's go with Payton on this one.
Yeah. So I race a quarter midget, which is like a quarter of the size of a
midget. And I'm pretty sure my fastest car goes like 65, 50, 55. Yeah. Up to
there. And then I also have slower cars that can go slower than that. But
okay, we'll cars open wheel. All right. And now do you race on asphalt or dirt?
I race my quarter midgets on asphalt. On asphalt. Okay. All right. Any
aspirations to run anything on dirt? Yeah, I have a 600 micro sprint that I
run. Sometimes when I'm not running the quarter midgets on asphalt, but I
run those at my home track in Callahan on dirt. Okay. All right. And memory,
how about yourself? I race a 600 CC. It's restricted at the moment. I mean,
that's on dirt. Next year, I'll be in a class and that goes at least 70 plus
miles per hour. And just race them basically all over. Okay. And now,
now one thing I do know about about sprint cars is there are winged and
there are non winged are either of either of your cars winged. It's a mix. So
we have races where they're non wing and then we have races where they're
winged for restricted. So the class that me and Peyton are doing now, it's
mostly winged depending on the like series you do. So like you have power
eye and they can have non wing restricted. But since our club and stuff are
now 600, we can only race wing because there isn't a non wing like class for
now 600. Okay. All right. Now, Peyton, I know you are are are racing a let's
call a division down or a class down than what memory is racing. Is that
correct? Yeah, that's correct. They're more for younger kids who are learning
how like, just the basics of racing and learning how to drive a car and
learning how to like react to the race cars and the fast cars. And it's
basically just for learning. Okay. All right. And and memory year in the
600. What is the natural progression of of cars that you would race? Let's say
when you first start out all the way up to, you know, for instance, like the
cars that you would see it like El Dora. I definitely. So personally, I came
from quarter midgets as well. And the the transition from quarter midgets to
600 was a little harder because I mean, you go from asphalt to dirt. But once
you learn the dirt side, so once you get out of a 600, you see a lot more people
go to a midget and stuff. And then from a midget, you usually see them go to a
305 or a 360. And then from one of those two sprint cars, you usually see them
go into a 410 or anything along that, like road. Okay. Okay. Well, that's okay.
That's right. And now for for those who who maybe are hearing about your racing
team for the first time, Ashcraft Racing, I think it's important to to share a
little bit about your racing team, because it is certainly a very unique racing
team. It's something that that certainly got our attention when it was when it was
brought to our attention of what your team does. So if you'll give me a moment,
let me let me share a little bit about your team. Because it's so unlike many
others that that that we've covered. Ashcraft Motorsports Racing is also a 501
C nonprofit, whose mission is to empower empower young women and in motorsports
and automotive trades through mentorship, education, hands on experience. And
innovation. They've got some amazing values that they're instilling in their
racers and in effect, everyone around them, service, passion, teamwork,
stewardship, which is reflected in both these young women and other members of
their team. What does it mean to you, both of you ladies, to be a part of
something that is not only helping you along the way, but also empowering future
racers, young ladies and girls that are just coming up in the sport? Do you
feel responsibility to do your best and to put your best foot forward? And how
important is it to you to have a team such as Ashcraft supporting you?
I think it's very important because it not only helps us, but helps the younger
generation coming in, like you mentioned. And it puts us out there and like puts
us, for instance, like in front of you guys who get us more audience. And it
really helps us like push to where we want to go next and what we want in our
future. So it's really important to like keep going and helps us with all of
everything that we do in racing. And yeah.
Okay, that's a good answer. And memory, how about for yourself?
It's one of those things where it's like if they can see us do it, then they
can also do it. And they believe in themselves that they can do it from just
like Payton said, watching the younger generation come and see us or even the
older generation who like some people have downed themselves. So it's like if
they can see two teenagers doing it, they will gain that confidence.
And we've asked this question of some very well known guests on our show and
others that are starting out. But this has never happened to me. So I don't
know what this is like. But to both of you, what is it like the first time you're
at a race or a track or an event? And you've got a young person come up, maybe
you've got a hero card or we got pictures or something come up and ask you for
an autograph.
I've had a couple people at races come up to me like across the country where
they know and like they follow Ashcraft Motorsports on our social medias and they
know Mark Ashcraft. And they come up to me and ask to take pictures or ask for
an autograph in my little cards that I have. But normally they message Ashcraft
Motorsports and ask what race I'm going to be at next so that they can see me
and meet me and get to know me and even become friends with me. Some people
that I've met because of this reason have become pretty good friends. And it's
just pretty amazing to have people like that who will follow you and watch what
you do. And how about for yourself, memory?
For me, I mean, I used to have little kids at the quarter midget track come up
all the time. I actually used to help a little girl named Ava around the track
and she was the sweetest little thing. And she was just someone who looked up
to me. And then there's also people who follow Ashcraft Motorsports on social
media. And I mean, my mom has gotten people telling her that they know me
and that they've seen me race out at El Paso before.
Does that make you guys feel certainly you're special in a way of who you are
and what you do? But does it give you any reason to stop for a moment and say,
you know, I've got to be the best possible me because I've got people looking
at me now and looking up to me and lead by example, because social media is
something that can be very powerful, but it could also be very dangerous if not
used correctly. And if people are looking to you, how do you consistently put
the best version of yourself out on social media or in person? Is it is it
something that you just do the right thing all the time? Or is there a
message that you want to share with people that want to do what you guys
are doing now? Yeah, in person, when I'm at the track, I try to be the best
possible version of myself and try to show people that it's more like I'm
not just a competitor to them. I can be a friend on and off the track, but I
can also race them hard on the track. I also like to show that even if something
bad happens on the racetrack, I'm not going to come up and cry and yell at
people because of what they did. And I'm going to go and be respectful to that
person who is racing me and then deal with it and like deal with it as an
adult almost and with respect and responsibilities and show that I can be
a good person. And memory, how about for yourself? I'm in the same way. I try to
be the best person I can at the racetrack. Like if I make a mistake on the
track, then I sit there and I learn from that mistake. And if it affects others
racing, then I will sit there and I'll go up to them and I'll say sorry for what
I did. And I'll just really take responsibility for my actions and I
won't be mad about it. And it's one of those things where it's like if someone
kind of got into me by accident, then I'll sit there and I'll be like, Hey,
like I kind of didn't give you room. I kind of take actions a lot more than I
should. Yeah. Well, you know what? I mean, we're all human, you know, especially
if you're a competitor, which certainly both of you, both of you are. It's
it's something that, you know, maybe at the time, you're kind of thinking, you
know, well, you're just kind of growling at them, you know, a little bit at the
time. But I think if you take a step back and you look, I mean, I'm sure it's
happened to you and because of you, because that's racing, that's, that's
what happens. I think it's very important that, you know, you're always, again,
putting your best self forward, because believe it or not, even, even at your
current ages, there are kids younger than you that are looking up to you. And
also, and this is a very important message that we learned from the very
top of racing. And this is something you want to not just maintain, but be a part
of in the future. There are people that will be very important to you
sponsorship wise, car wise, track wise, parts wise, that are looking at you
already to see if you are a solid representative of both yourself, your
race team and their brand. And it's very important to always remember that
there's many eyes upon you and you want to be your best self always. So I'll
get off my soap box. I've said that many times, but it does happen quite a
bit. Memory, I know in some of your notes, this is something that comes up a
lot because we have met people that have are both homeschooled and we've met
people that are going to school and they're balancing many things in their
life. You all, you're certainly going to school, but you also have a part-time
job as well. So how do you balance that?
Well, so my school, with the way it's set up, I'm half online and half in
person. So I really only go into school three, two days a week. And I'm
online the other two to three. It kind of depends on if I go in Friday or not.
But with that schedule and having that flexibility, I'm able to go and work
mostly Tuesday, Thursdays when I have online and with state laws. I can only
work so many hours. So I work the first half of the day on school. And then the
second half after lunch is when I like, we'll actually do my job. And with me
having two days, it helps pay for racing and stuff. So I'm able to do all that.
And Peyton, how about yourself? Are you working as well?
I help my family with like their businesses that they own, but I don't
really go to a job yet. But I do balance four days of school and then, yeah, and
then helping my family around what they do and the house and stuff.
Do either of you find it easier or more difficult to back in the dinosaur age
when I was in school? We were in school full time. Do you find it easier to have
that flexible schedule? And do either one of you feel at times maybe you're
missing out on some of the things that maybe some of your friends are able
to do with a full school schedule?
Yeah, it's kind of hard because there's some basketball games and like football
games on the weekends that you would love to go to, but at a race and sometimes
you can't make those races. And also like with homecoming and those things like
that, sometimes races align over those. So sometimes it's rough missing those,
but that's like the sacrifice we take when we're choosing to have an out like a
sport outside of school and something that we travel for and spend all this
time with. Sure. Sure. And memory, how about for yourself?
With me, with my school, we don't have sport teams because it's made for your
sports. We have junior Olympics in my school, but with that school, then we
don't really get a homecoming. All four years can go to prom and it definitely
feels weird to be in the school, but like Peyton said, the sacrifices that we
make for our sport are worth it in the end.
I know we've had junior racers on our show before, and this is a question
that we've asked each of them. What do your friends think? How do your
friends react? Let's take it back a little bit before that. The first time
you said, maybe they played softball or basketball or volleyball. What was the
look the first time you said, I'm a race car driver? What was that like for you,
Peyton? It was like, they almost thought I was kidding. They thought I was lying
at first, and then I had to show them pictures and show them like, no, I'm
serious. I raced race cars, and they thought that they could go out there
in their go-karts and beat me because I go to like a country school, so they all
ride dirt bikes and go-karts and like all those sorts of things. And they were
like, oh, I'll go out there and beat you on my dirt bike. But they definitely
think that I'm just out there racing tiny little go-karts, and some of them
don't know what it really is. And they just kind of like, they think it's
cool, but like, they also think like it's small cars. What could it be? Yeah.
Yeah. How about for yourself, memory? They definitely don't believe me at
first. And like Peyton said, I have to show pictures of my car too. And a
lot of them do think they can get in the car and beat me. But then again, it's
kind of like, then I tell them it's a lot harder than it looks. And they, they
just never believe me most of the time until I have, I usually pull up
videos and stuff, because that's the only way to prove it's a lot harder.
Now, do either one of you have a, a, I'm going to call it an exercise or
workout routine, because again, I'm not a, I'm not a professional driver,
although I have been in go-karts and, and the like trying to fake it. But I
usually come out of those pretty sore. What's it like for, for you guys to, to
do this as often as you do? Because I have to imagine, you know, when we talk
about athletes at the top of the list, race car drivers really aren't thought
about as athletes. And I'm here to tell you, they are 100% athletes because
they're doing things that, that, that I couldn't do. What is it like for you?
And do you have a, a schedule or a routine that you guys have to do that is
both going to help you in the car and also help you avoid, I guess there's no
other way to say it, you know, injury or getting hurt, because that can happen
if you're not prepared for that as well.
Yeah. So actually we go to the gym with a coach three days a week. We go
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, depending on like our schedules and what
Fridays we might miss. But we have a coach, his name is Tyler. He owns
Perfect Fit Wellness Center and he sponsors us. So we get to like work
out and stretch and all that stuff with him for free since he sponsors us.
And we just get his name out there and show him how, show everybody how he
can help young athletes go about their sport without getting injured and
without being sore the next day and all that stuff. So he actually trains a
bunch of bull riders. So for like the rodeo and PBR and all that stuff.
And he takes that and also helps us with what we do and like focus our
workouts on racing. And it really helps us because he like works on us and he
watches what we need to fix and what we need. And he comes to our races and
watches how we need to perform and what we need to do. And he really helps us
and focuses on that stuff. He also is creating like an app so that when we
travel across the country, we can still work out and stretch before our races
and trying to help us spread his app throughout the country and showing
younger athletes that they can work out too. And they don't have to go inside
the gym because that's what a lot of people don't like is going into a
gym and being working out in front of people. So he's making a workout
like based on racing and we can show them online and they could do it as they
travel or at home or whatever. And if I could ask either one of you,
whoever wants to chime in here, what is life like on the road?
Because certainly you have to travel for racing. And again, it is it's I'm
sure mom and dad will know it's expensive. So, you know, there's a lot
that goes into it. But for you, what's it like traveling for you? And do you
have a do you have a favorite track or best experience that either one of you
can share?
Traveling definitely takes a lot of the time like away from home and stuff.
And I mean, there's times when it's only me and my dad and my mom has to watch
from home because with my sister going to a normal school and stuff, it kind
of doesn't it's not as flexible. So my mom has to stay home. So it's kind of hard
to watch my mom stay home and have to watch me from a TV. But I mean, I think
my favorite track I've been to though has been Port City in Oklahoma that I
mean, 10 hour driving the truck has never been fun. I'm not a big put me in my
motorhome and I'm fine. But once I'm in my truck, like, it just something about
it, I just don't like it really. But Port has to be the best one. I mean, we go
there, we race until maybe midnight, then me and my dad go and get Sonic, go back
to our hotel, eat and then we just go to bed. So it's definitely a great time
when we go there.
Yeah. And how about for yourself, Peyton?
I love traveling. And every time we travel, it's almost like three days,
because we like to take those travel days when we're not racing and turn them
into almost like a vacation. Since we're doing it all the time, we like to spend
our time that we are doing it on ways we would love to spend it. So we travel,
take it slow and then head to the races and then we're racing for like four
days. And then we come back and then we do it again. But my brother also races.
So we take the whole family and that's been pretty nice. But when I'm racing
for like my other teams who have owned my other cars, sometimes if I'm lucky,
I can fly out and just show up at the races that they're at, which that's
also pretty nice because then I'm not missing out on as much school as I would
if I was driving there. So I like anyway, but I love traveling in my motor
home. It's like one of my favorite parts of the racing.
And if I can jump back to school, I would imagine both of you are also
doing school online when you're traveling as well.
My school doesn't really do online since they're more of like, I call them like
a country school because they're like more old school and they do a lot of
schoolwork on paper. And I also ask them like when I'm getting work that I'm
going to miss, I ask them to put it on paper because sometimes when we're
traveling, we don't have the best internet. So it's just easier if I have it on
paper and just can turn it into them when I get back. But we also have Google
classrooms. So like I just keep up on that.
Okay. All right. And how about yourself, memory?
The online part, because my school is like, they don't believe in paper.
Like, I don't even remember the last time I've gotten like a paper and assignment
unless it was for math. Math, they love paper, but any other class, it's like
they don't do paper. And just like Peyton said, it's really hard or we don't
have internet most of the time. So it's like, for me, I usually just get ahead
in my work. So I don't have to worry about it on the trip. And I just usually
don't bring my computer or whatnot because I'm ahead. And then that like in
class stuff that I missed on Google classroom, I usually they usually give
me like leeway on when to do it and stuff and me having free periods. I usually
just do it during my free periods because it's never a lot.
Okay. All right. Now, I'm going to, I'm going to change the pace of this just
a little bit. We're going to, we're going to get to know both these young ladies
a little bit better. But I have to say one thing that jumped out at me when
I was going through some of your information was, and I'm going to ask
memory for this, you've got to show me how you can cross your fingers in wild
ways because I was trying to do it myself. And I couldn't quite figure it out.
So I know, I know folks at home can't see it, but I've got to see this because
I'm not quite sure what you were talking about. So if you can show that to me.
Well, so I take my pinky and my ring finger and I can cross them and then
you just cross these two and then you got like this thing or whatever. I don't know.
My like no one in my house can do it except me. So it's just like something
really funny. I can do that. I just put on there.
Okay. Okay. And how about yourself, Peyton? I'm not going to ask you to
cross your fingers. What's one thing about you that people are just going to say
what? I'm actually really excited that you asked this question. So just recently
I got the harmonica. I started learning how to play the harmonica. My dad's laughing
because yeah, but I thought that was pretty cool. And I got it because I was like,
hey, I want to learn something, have like a special talent that some people might not have.
So yeah. And it just like, it's pretty interesting. So you have to tell me how did the harmonica come
into play? What inspired you to do that? Because I'm picturing, you know, an old minor 49er playing
the harmonica with, you know, how did that come into play? I saw somebody playing like a really
hard song and I was like, oh my gosh, that's so cool. I want to do that. And then I thought about
like how people always ask me if they had like a talent and like sometimes we don't really know
what to answer. Like I can say like I can cross my fingers or like do things like random things.
But then I was like, you know, I'm going to learn how to play the harmonica so that I have a talent.
And then I also wanted to learn the song that I saw somebody else playing and I thought it was
going to be easy. So I just tried it and it's not as easy as I thought it was going to be.
So and I want to point out, sorry memory, but I can't say that it's a talent crossing your
fingers the way that you just showed us. You know, something different for sure. But you know,
if you want to claim it as a talent, we'll put it down as that. But hey, hats off to you because
I don't know if you can say it or not, but I'm literally sitting here right now trying to do it
with both hands, which I which I think I think I've got it. But I yeah, I cheated to do it. So
just just being honest with you. So so speaking of music, what do you guys like to listen to?
Let's say you're on a road trip or you're or you're at the track. What is it that that just
relaxes you? And what do you enjoy? I listen to like a lot of things. We my family and I often
listen to like country or like pop or even rap or like anything really like anything that we
like there's a lot of genres actually now that are thinking about it. It's a lot. But we bounce
between country and pop and rap and like those most of those and yeah. If I'm gonna stick with you
for a second, Peyton. So I would assume you have a phone or a device or something. If I found your
music on that and I scrolled through it. What is what is one song that I would be shocked to find
on there and what is one song that you would be embarrassed to tell me is on there but you sing
it all the time? I don't know one that like I'd be embarrassed about but I'm about a couple like
I don't know what. Probably like any like pop song from when I was like younger like
yeah like hip hop or like I had like songs from like when I was younger that my parents like to
play like in front of people to embarrass me like those types of songs and yeah that's probably
about it that'd be like I wouldn't want you to see. Okay all right. How about for you memory?
The music a lot okay I listen to a lot of sad countries which is kind of shocking
because I mean I always have a smile on my face like people hear like my music and they're like
why do you listen to this and I'm like just the kind of music I listen to it's a lot of country
but a lot of sad country. So like you cried the day your mom got out of prison and picked you up
in a pickup truck kind of song? Definitely like one of those. Okay okay so maybe your parents
were a little David Allen Co type music. Okay so something else that jumped out at me again this
is not the first time we've heard this but we have we've asked a lot of people. Who inspired you?
So let's go with you memory. Who inspired you? Wait okay I guess it kind of changed throughout
like the year the years but when I was younger it was definitely just whoever I saw at the track
and then my dad started racing and then he inspired me more when I was younger then he quit racing
and then I was like a big Kyle Larson fan he inspired me for quite some time and then
just one day I was watching trucks and Carson Hosevard popped up and ever since then it's been
like him and Kyle Larson who's just inspired me ever since maybe four years ago maybe three.
Okay so let me go back to and I'm gonna stay with you for just a second here memory
let me go back to your dad. Of course dad's always gonna inspire you so he's the one that
got you into. He may not be in the top two he may be in the top three and I'm sure he's sitting
over there just kind of rolling his eyes but when you think of your dad either at the track
or racing or whatever it is that he did what is it about about your dad that that really makes
you appreciate him? Well when he was racing it was just one of those things where it's like no
matter what he didn't give up even though he had some horror races a lot of them but that's fine
we'll have our bad days and he just never gave up or anything the only reason why he quit racing
was because of me literally he quit his racing so I can keep racing and even now he still inspires
me because he will sit in the barn literally all day working on my car to make it better and
we'll just sit there and talk to me throughout things and he tries to understand
things that are a little hard to understand sometimes when I'm talking but he still sits there
through the hard times I have in racing and will try to make my car better and try to make me better
as a person and a driver. Okay all right and how about for yourself Peyton? Yeah I think probably
my dad because and my mom because we've been going to the races since like I was little like
as long as I can remember I've been going to the races and just watching fast cars and
loud cars and all of that so most likely my dad because that's what started it all was him and
then he also raced like street cars and road course cars and all that sorts of stuff so most like
yeah my dad because he's been doing it and then my grandpa before my dad has been doing it since
he was a kid too so it's kind of just like been going for generations and then yeah my grandpa he
was like a really good dirt driver and asphalt driver and he did everything like road course
circle drag dirt asphalt all of it F1 like everything so yeah both of them. Good good that's
I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that so okay so let me maybe we'll get a little cringe out of
the parents in the background here on this one so we're going to stick with you at the moment Peyton
so money is no object there's no there's no limit on money when you are old enough to drive
we're going to call it on the street legally what is one car that you would love to put your
garage and drive around um a Porsche I my dad recently took me to the like Porsche dealership
because I've always liked Porsches and so he took me to the Porsche just to like look at
all the Porsches and everything that they had there so if we could have any car it'd be a Porsche
like GT3 or GT4 RS like any of those ones or a 911 all of them I love them all okay all right
how about you memory or an on the street car I've never really paid like I won't say I've never
paid attention to them because when I was younger I really wanted a Lamborghini and I don't like I
don't know why I've just always thought they were nice cars and I mean it'd be nice to have one to
this day but I mean even then my I'd say my dream car realistically would be more of a truck
I've always wanted a truck too for some reason so between one of those two
those two would definitely be one of my tops okay all right any particular color
I personally like black or white cars I think though the one of those two colors just have
always looked like super clean to me and just I've always looked nice okay all right so this
is a question that we normally ask a lot of our collector car and muscle car type people
this one takes a little bit of thought but here's the question and funny as it sounds you know we
ask this question of two people who this actually happened to you may know them they were
Erica Enders and her sister but the question is if they were making a movie about your life
what would the title be who would who would star as you and in that movie you're taking a road trip
what kind of car are you driving and who is your passenger and we're going to leave this one on
memory because you're on my screen at the moment so I can see your face what what would the movie
name that's a hard question I I don't really know what the movie name would be if I'm being honest
with you it's probably got to do something with racing because my life is literally dependent on
racing like I don't think there's anything else in my life except racing at this point so that's
that's a hard one but it's probably got to do something with that the car we'd be taking
probably a truck and trailer if I'm being honest probably going to a track and who would be my
passenger it kind of I think it definitely depends on the age like if my age now so well I'm 15
it would definitely probably be my dad and if we're older probably Peyton because just we go
everywhere together yeah okay Peyton how about for yourself okay yeah I've been trying to think
about this while she was talking um movie title um probably yeah like Mem said like
probably something with racing or like or like advent like something with adventures
because we're constantly traveling um the car would probably be a motorhome and a trailer
or our Jeep SRT we love that one too um and then yeah my passenger in the motorhome would be my
whole family and then like if we were older probably would be men because yeah we go everywhere
together but yeah I don't know what the movie name would be that's a little that's a little hard
like probably something like going fat I don't know yeah that's hard okay why do I have a feeling
that the two of you together could be trouble traveling together it just it just strikes me
that there's there's probably a whole lot of behind the scenes giggles that go on uh am I am I right
to assume that yeah parents always tell us to like be serious and but for we like laugh and
giggle about everything so being serious is a little hard when we're both together but we pull
it together yep yep well that's good that's all right that's all right one thing that that that
did strike me and I'm gonna stay with you at the moment Peyton um that was serious that that you
added in some of your information to us was um you raised two thousand dollars to to start racing
you know we think about you know people that come to the door they're selling wrapping paper
candles or or cookies or whatever the case is um how did you raise two thousand dollars to start
racing so basically at the time I had no social media so my mom went on to facebook on like our
neighborhood like page and posted a thing saying like telling my story and telling what I was raising
money for and then a bunch of people commented with like saying that they needed their kids baby sat
or they needed their lawn mode or their dog poop picked up or one girl needed me to move rocks so
that she could build a patio like just anything around their house I was willing to do and then
anything that worked out for me and for them I did and I basically just baby sat and watched dogs
like a lot and then did yard work and it took some time but we got there okay all right now
just so both of you know that that we're not just uh peeking or given a hard time to memory
here about her her funky finger action here when I'm looking at some of your information Peyton
I see I see flips I see back back or handstands I love the fact that you said I can hit a golf
par golf ball really far so yeah that kind of jumped out there but um tell me about baking
so um me and my mom recently started doing like sourdough it's a lot of my mom because sometimes
I don't want to do it but we started a sourdough starter because again it's like the harmonica
I saw somebody else do it and I wanted to do it so we got all of this stuff for the sourdough
starter and we started it and at first it was really hard and like frustrating and like hard
to learn um but we like got it and now we're learning how to like bake goods with all of this
sourdough and what different types we can do and then I like baking cookies and cakes and all of
that stuff I like baking more than cooking that's for sure and then yeah that's basically that stuff
and me and my mom kind of just do whatever we feel like we want to do that day with baking if we
feel like it yeah and and I'm gonna stay with you just a little bit longer here Peyton and I'm
ask this one of you memory excuse me what track has the best goodies who's got the best food um
that's kind of hard because the concessions at my local track is pretty good I remember like
almost every single time we're there we get the snow cones that are there and then um I also like
just any concessions for some reason when you're at the racetrack and you're hungry and you've been
racing all day and all night concessions food is just pretty good but yeah I think my home tracks
snow cones are like the best how about for you memory um for me I would have to say any track
with pickles something about pickles just on race day just pickles in general I love pickles
but calhanna has pretty good cheeseburgers but pickles are like home to me like there was one
time I went to port and I somehow found five bucks and I got five pickles from the concession scene
because they were a dollar each so I got five pickles for five dollars was it the best five
dollars I think I've ever spent 100 but anywhere with pickles great okay well that was an that
was an answer I wasn't quite expecting but that was a great answer if I could ask both you girls
something when you pack for a race not necessarily you know your gear or safety gear but let's say
you're you're you're putting a backpack together just some stuff that you you can't leave home without
what is one of those things for you memory for me one of the things that I definitely
can never forget is the blanket that I got or my glasses maybe even my hat just one of those
three items like you'll always see me with how about you Peyton okay I've got like my blanket
and like a stuffed animal that I've had for my whole life um my makeup most definitely and then
this is a funny one um my air purifier I have an air purifier in my bedroom and I like am convinced
that this is the reason my allergies aren't bad when I'm at home and like why I haven't gotten sick
in a while is because of my air purifier and then there was one weekend where I was in my motor home
and we all got such bad allergies and we were all just struggling throughout the race weekend
and I was convinced that was because I didn't have my air purifier so now a few times I leave
I grab my air purifier out of my bedroom and take it to the races with us and it just sits in my
motor home nice nice so this is for the two of you and and I'm gonna look at both your reaction
so when you're on a when you're on the road on the road trip when it's just the two of you
who's the better DJ oh man um I feel like me and men both have like the same like songs like
that we like so half the time it's like country songs because we both listen to that or like
songs that like 2000s pop that we can just like scream and dance to in the motor home
that's pretty fun yeah well there's like blast 2000s pop music and scream and dance to it um
that's pretty good or like um love songs we turn those on a lot and sing to those ones
it we like put on concerts and it's pretty great
concerts okay memory do you agree with that
I I'm going to have to agree with it there's like actually times because Spotify you can
like make like a joint playlist or something with someone else and like me and Peyton I've done that
before and we got like a 98% on match so so now we just have like um this playlist that we can
like just sit there and listen to or we listen to a lot of like mega moroni in my mom's car
she gets annoyed with us pretty fast after it but just someone we can never like leave out of our
music okay all right all right it if you if the two of you were designing a new
fire suit a race suit what colors would they have to be and what would the theme be on your new
race suit um my colors would have to be like teal and orange that's what it is now I mean I might
like add some color if I feel like it but it's been teal and orange for like what two years now
and I think that's like the fate my most favorite like scheme that I've had so it's most definitely
have to be teal and orange and then it probably be like the suit I have now I really like the
suit I have now but maybe like different designs lines down and like make sure it looks sleek and
clean how about yourself memory for me uh personally I guess coming from dirt I would
definitely have to have black and blue that's just that's always been colors I've stuck with
ever since I was younger it just recently switched to white and blue like a little
not too long ago I'd say three four years ago and my dad actually tried to get me a white suit
and I told him that I didn't want to get the white suit dirty because I have a friend who her white
suit is like brown really yeah basically brown and stuff and it's just like I didn't want to deal
with that so I have a black and blue suit I definitely do like the same suit I have now
I'd probably add a little more white than I have on it now and maybe like a little more gray
than it has on it now but I mean other than that I really like my suit now so
now this is something for both of you as well what of course I'm sure our memory is gonna
it's gonna mean something a little different for yourself but what does being a part of
Ashcraft Motorsports mean to you personally especially considering
what they're doing for others what does that mean to you memory of course I'm sure it means
something different to you to yourself but but how important is it to you to be able to say you
erase for Ashcraft Motorsports
it definitely feels it's it's more of an honor it's like long-term friends that I make throughout
this team and it's I don't really know my parents don't treat me any other different than the other
girls on this team they basically treat me the same if I'm not acting right or if they think that
my car needs to be taken they'll take my car if they think I'm gonna fit for the team they'll
keep me on the team and that's basically like they just don't treat me any different but it's
definitely an honor that they can give me the car I have now and that they can help me throughout
my racing and that they do a lot for me how about for yourself Peyton yeah I think it's
amazing to be a part of such a great team and be with these girls who support me no matter what
and I support them no matter what I also think it's great to have somebody like Mark Ashcraft do
what he does because he really supports like not even just the girls on his team he supports
all girls in motorsports like that's his motto that's Ashcraft Motorsports like we're girls out
there trying to show that it's not just the boys who are out there winning and I think it's so great
to be chosen to be on this team like I was one of the later ones to be on the team so I was like
extremely excited to even be a part of it and be with them and do everything with them and
yeah I think it's pretty great to have somebody so special to support me and what I do
mm-hmm and this may be a little bit of a tricky question for both of you but I'm going to look
at your your reactions again when I when I ask this but um you know when you're when you're in
a race car I've said it before you the car doesn't care if you're male or female it's it's it's how
you're performing on the track but as as two young ladies how much fun is it to beat the boys
um it's pretty great it's pretty amazing to like be off the track and have like the boys come to
you and be like oh you can't win your girl like you can't beat me I'm faster than you because I'm
a boy and you're a girl and it's pretty great to get on the track and prove them wrong and like
pass them and beat them and then come off the track and I mean we all laugh about it and like come
off the track and be like look I beat you you were wrong but like it's pretty great to like show them
that what they're saying isn't right and that everybody can be better and everybody can get
better and compete just the same no matter what I am a girl or a boy I can compete with him
just the same as I can compete with another girl so yeah yeah how about for you memory
for me I think I mean I'm the same way as pay and I think it it's all it's pretty cool to
kind of prove them wrong and I mean they've always gave me a hard time personally just
coming from everything they've always said I can't win I can't win and I mean now
I've I've beaten many of them and I mean I'll always have like the harder ones that it's like
I can't do it yet but I mean there definitely has been times when someone would be like
you can't really do it and then I just proved them wrong especially at a big race I think
the bigger race is beating them is definitely like the best feeling ever because it's like
you told me I can't do it and I just did it memory what what is your long-term goal
in racing is it to is it to stay a racer is it to stay part of racing what what do you
ultimately see yourself doing this is such an old person question you know 10 years from now
when when you're you're still very young but what is it that you see yourself doing in the future
well I see myself doing is probably I mean a dream of mine or even a goal would be to make it to a
410 and I think that's just like kind of my deadline like if I make it to a 410 sprint car
into the world of outlaws or the high-limit series then like I'll be happy but it's definitely one
of those things where it's like I would also love to make it into NASCAR and if all goes
not to plan or all goes to worst I definitely just want to stay in racing and I'll definitely
teach my kids growing up and they'll be just the new generation of racing and I'll just I always
want to be with it even if I'm not the one racing in it how about for yourself Peyton and every single
time somebody asks me that question it's kind of hard um I would love to be in racing no matter
what like like Mem said like even if I'm not racing in the car I just want to stick with it and
stay with it because this is what I love to do but I I don't really know after a quarter minutes
I could go to 600s and go to dirt or I could go to asphalt like I'm kind of veering towards just
trying anything and see what I like the most because honestly like Mem said sprint cars like in the
world of outlaws that'd be pretty cool or like NASCAR that'd be great too or even road course like
F1 like I put in there that would be awesome too like anything to make it like professional into
a big spot where I could be known for like being mean like being a good race car driver and just
showing that like I can be good in anything like Kyle Larson races multiple cars and I think that's
so amazing how he can hop in like such different cars every weekend and be able to be up there
competing with the guys who do do that for a living so so for for both of you ladies
obviously being part of a team means there's a lot of people around you that are helping you be
successful um of course you know and that starts at home with your parents and of course you know
coaches or or mechanics or family of course is a big part of it
is there is there anyone that you want to give a shout out to any sponsors anything at all that
that you know you really you really appreciate how much they support you guys and and you just
want to you just kind of want to say thank you at this point yeah so obviously my mom and dad
for everything because without them it wouldn't be anything um and then both my race team so
Ashcraft Motorsports and DKRA Racing and then my mechanic Andrew Shankerman he's like the one who
helps us a ton he's like a coach and a mechanic and like everything and he helps us on our cars
and he really just loves being out there with kids helping them do what they love to do so
he's like one of the biggest ones that i would love to mention and then also mark Ashcraft because
he does almost everything for me too he's always supporting and getting our names out there um
and then like all of our sponsors that me and mem have a couple of the same ones but am's oil
i heart mac and cheese perfect fit wellness center and my coach tyler um keeper racing jason
resin photography born to race threads graphic fx race life ma mafia cars and corrosive farms
and extravagant images and hyperco and how about yourself memory um i'd like to thank Ashcraft
Motorsports my dad my mom my sister even though she's not the biggest supporter she shows up to
my races i mean very thankful for that and then just someone who's helped me at the kkms this year
for racing are definitely the soacles i like i'd like to thank them and then just some sponsors
like pay instead we share quite a bit of them but like dignity fire protection karrison farms
engine ice performance coolant uh perfect fit wellness and performance and our coach tyler
midwest suspension born to race threads auto fluencer gunk uh drp performance productions
in eight point media for everything in i heart mac and cheese you know triple x just everyone who
has been there throughout the years or even just these past two that i've been in my micro
yeah i think it's very important obviously to remember the people that that helped get you there
and of course to to give yourself credit too because it takes a lot to to do what you guys do
i i can tell you the name it just keeps sticking in my mind is it is is the mac and cheese people
guys i i need to find out who the mac and cheese people are um i'm not a mac and cheese person but
i know a lot of people that are so i need to i need to find out more about them but um
guys i i truly appreciate you guys taking the time to join us to share a bit about yourself
you know we we we take great pains in getting to know people that are certainly not just
established but but up and coming because we want to share the word that you know you can do this
you know whether you're your boy girl you know whether you've been doing it 20 years or you've
been doing it for 20 months this is something you can do but it does take a lot of determination
takes a lot of of of passion and and you got to be dedicated to it whether it's in your school
or on the track i know something i was going to ask was you know how involved are you guys
in working on your cars if you are at all because we get that question a lot too but you know
maybe we'll get to that one next time but but i do i certainly appreciate you know
everything you guys do uh of course you know ashcraft racing uh again that was the sole reason
that that that we were we were recommended to reach out to you guys uh was because of of what
your team does and you guys certainly reflect you know that what they're doing um it's it's truly
a pleasure to to speak with you guys and and i know i certainly wish you guys a lot a lot of
luck um i have no doubt that you're gonna you're gonna get there whether it's you know the four
tens we'll see you there one day or or nascar or four-man one or hey you know maybe if kyle larson's
listening you know i don't know i'm not going to say that too loud but you know maybe you'll take
his seat one day because you know he's got to retire one day right i mean you guys are are up
and coming so but uh but no really guys i do appreciate everything uh and we certainly wish
you guys the best and we will definitely be be keeping in touch if people want to find you
on the socials or or find out where you're racing um men what's the best way for them to connect with
you uh definitely through memory ashcraft racing or ashcraft motorsports those are both on facebook
or ashcraft motorsports racing on instagram or even uh memory ashcraft on instagram and payton
have up for yourself um definitely ashcraft motorsports on facebook my family's page keep
a racing on facebook and instagram for both of those and then we also have like keep a racing and
payton guides and our racing on tiktok and instagram guys once again thank you so much
for joining us we really appreciate it thank you for for sharing a bit about ashcraft about
about yourself um it's always great to get to to meet new people we want to make sure the people
understand who you guys are and what you're about when they get the opportunity to see you at the track
you're not just another racer they're going to know something about you
and and we are looking forward to great things from you guys in the future so thank you for
joining us thank you for having us thank you for having us absolutely okay guys we will talk to you
again real soon thanks for riding along with us remember to rate and recommend us on apple podcasts
overcast or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts to share your story
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