Classic Auto Mall - #232 - Stewart Howden with Guest Alexis DeJoria

This is the Classic Automall Show.

Broadcast from the studios inside the Classic Automall in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

Just one hour west of Philadelphia at Pennsylvania Turnpike Exit 298.

Featuring nearly 1,000 classic vintage and barred fine vehicles for sale under one climate controlled roof.

Now, here's your host, Classic Automall President and the man with all the toys, Stuart Howden.

And welcome show number 232.

There's still snow on the ground out there.

A little bit. I love your parking lot.

Yeah, goodness. I tell you, the piles are going to be here for quite a while.

We showed pictures of them last week and they're even bigger this week

because we had another snowstorm this week.

That's right, but I think it's 11 days till daylight savings time.

Oh, thank God. Let's hurry, please, God.

So before we get to our guest, let's guess how many cars in Inventory JR you go first this week.

Well, I'm going to guess because probably the weather, not many consumments.

I'm going to guess $8.98.

Oh, Steve.

Really? Interesting. Interesting guess.

I think it's a little less than that. I'm going to go $8.90.

Oh, $9.01.

Oh, my.

Applause.

Anyway, let's get right to our guest.

Alexis DeGioria joining us from Long Boat Key, Florida.

I believe right now, right?

Yes, a beautiful sunny Long Boat Key.

Awesome. I've read something recently.

Cars don't care if you're a man or a woman.

The cars are the cars and they're going to do what they're going to do.

And whoever's behind the wheel, you do your best out there.

And, you know, whatever your gender does not matter at all.

Right, exactly. Which is great. And I love that because I think it's great for the sport

and drag racing and NHRA and all of that is just the most wonderful sport.

A lot of people don't know about it.

And I think the coolest thing about it is, is that, you know, the ability to,

a general admission ticket gets you into the pits.

And a lot of other racing is doing that now.

But for a long time, it was only in drag racing that your general admission ticket

got you into the pits close to the drivers.

Yes. Every ticket is a pit pass, which is really separates NHRA from other forms of motorsports

because you have that ability to go right up to the teams and watch them break the cars down.

And you can meet your drivers.

You can see the crew chiefs and the crew just working on the car.

It's pretty phenomenal.

Yeah, it really is.

And you saw your first, I guess, funny car race at Pomona when you were 16, right?

Well, the first race in person.

I had seen it on television before, but like I said before,

it just really doesn't translate well on television.

You don't get the sounds, the smell, the feeling, the vibrations of the motors,

the cars going down the track at over 12,000 horsepower over 300 miles an hour.

You don't get all that on television.

You'll see the numbers, but it just doesn't translate.

So yeah, when I went to my first race in Pomona, that was it.

I was hooked.

I was like, yep, sign me up when I'm out of high school and I put in the work.

And I earned that spot.

I'm going to do it.

Yeah.

And where you grew up in Southern California was car country anyway.

So I mean, car culture was important regardless of whether it was drag racing or sports car

or any of that, right?

We were building our Chevy's, old school Chevy's.

I still have one of 67 Chevelle SS that I've had since I was 17.

So my buddies and I all had our cars.

We'd shoot, race them and yeah, all that fun stuff.

Yeah.

It's great that drag racing came along because otherwise people would still be racing on

and you know, that's probably a little dangerous.

But you know, I mean, it's a generation that grew up street racing.

It's not that it's like a rare one of, you know, one guy out of a million.

I mean, lots of guys do that, especially around here too.

Yeah, definitely.

And that's how the sport started.

All the parks wanted to get everybody off the streets and have it be in a safe environment

and keep it, you know, very competitive like it is and in a safe way.

And that was one of the things my dad said to me.

He's like, I know you really love racing.

And that was my passion.

I mean, I worked for the family business.

I wanted to, you know, I wanted to learn about my father's company and every, every apartment

I put in four years, but at the end of the day, I just really had to go try it.

I was like, I really love doing this.

And he's like, I know he goes, I'd like to get you off the street.

You know, he's like, go see if you can get, get a licensed and signed up for a friend

college drag racing school.

And the rest is history.

I went back for every class and, and one in every class started at the bottom and super

gas and, and worked my way up and made sure I won in every class before I made the move

because my goal from day one was nitro fun car.

And you, you tried to give road racing a chance, I guess you did attend the skip barber school

at Willow Grove or Willow.

I did Willow Springs in California.

I raced.

All right.

We did the class for a couple of days and it was awesome.

I had a great time, but it didn't catch me like nitro funny cars did man.

When those cars went down the track, I was like, there's nothing like this on the planet.

And there's a human being in there.

That's pretty ill.

It's a rocket.

I want to be that human being sitting in that race car.

When you're, when you're racing a nitro funny car, do you smell the fumes as well too?

Or is that so they're in the nitro car?

Yeah.

Cause the motor's in front of you.

Right.

I mean, obviously I have a fresh air, you know, tank set up to my helmet, but sometimes

the fumes will get in there, especially if you blow up or detonate cause the motor's

right in front of you too.

So y'all get some of that smoke.

It's just one of those things fill up with smoke.

It's like your hot box in the car with like thick, thick black smoke.

You just can't get away from it.

So gotta, gotta get out of that roof hatch real quick.

Real quick.

Yeah.

I haven't heard hot box in a long time.

We used to do that with cigarettes in the bathroom in high school.

Smoking in the boys room.

It was apropos.

Right.

Can you believe that?

Can you imagine this day and age with that would be allowed to be happened?

I mean, I can't.

Oh gosh.

No, they're vaping now.

Oh gosh.

Well, there's nothing wrong with that.

It's harmless, right?

Wouldn't even know.

He got raped.

None of it's really harmless.

Think about our parents growing up.

Didn't realize how dangerous cigarettes were back in the day.

It was the cosmopolitan thing to do to smoke a cigarette.

You know, you didn't.

I mean, they had, yeah, they had a, what, ads with doctors smoking them.

Doctors preferred.

You know, that's crazy.

They smoked on airplanes.

I mean, come on.

Or at restaurants.

I can't see.

I smoked back in the day.

I can't imagine being in a restaurant, being a non-smoker and sitting next to somebody

just puffing away, you know.

Oh yeah.

I did too when I was a teenager.

I smoked Camelon filters.

Nice.

Stopped when I, yeah.

Great.

I was stopped when I, when I got pregnant and never turned back.

Sure.

Yeah.

You know, a lot of women quit because of pregnancy.

That was an interesting thing that a lot of less girls smoked as years went on because

of that.

So, and it was funny watching the old, like the stock car guys with a cigarette dangling

out of their mouth while they're driving.

Right.

Or working on the car.

Right.

The good old days.

So you made your debut in funny car in 2011 with the Kalittas, right?

Yes, I did.

And at the NS race track.

Wow.

That must have been just an awesome day.

It was.

It was a dream come true.

I got licensed in Delaware Shum's family car, him and Chuck.

So it was, you know, we were, we were preparing to race, you know, the first race in Dallas.

And I was still racing alcohol funny car, but I wanted to, while I was testing, I wanted

to win a national event and alcohol funny car before I made the jump.

And I would not leave until I did.

And I finally did in Seattle at the national event.

And that was it.

I was like, all right, now I'm ready guys.

Let's go.

Great self-discipline.

Right.

Yes.

Well, I, that was, I was, that's what I set out to do was like the best way to learn and

me feeling like I really accomplished what I set out to do and really learned that class

wholeheartedly before I made the move.

It's funny how you, that self-discipline is easy to, you know, cheat on yourself and you

think, oh, you know what, I'm not going to, I used to keep track of how many, talking

about cigarettes, how many cigarettes I smoked in a day.

I was trying to quit and it was like, I'm going to count that one.

It's the only smoked half of it.

Yeah.

All right.

I'm only going to buy one pack from the store.

Yeah.

One pack.

And then you go back later.

Oh, I'm just going to buy one more pack.

And I just, just get a working carton.

Get a carton.

Yeah.

Well, of course you got to afford a carton because they're so darned.

I don't even know how expensive they are today and I don't want to know.

So, and it's, it's, is it true that John Force and Dale Worsham signed your drag racing

license?

Uh, they were your sponsors, I guess.

They're my mentors and, uh, my heroes.

When I first went to the drag races in 2000, not 2000, it's got those 19, uh, but I was,

uh, yeah, 16 years old and went to the drag races, saw them race and I was like, Oh,

those guys got a great personality.

Yeah.

They're badass drivers.

They've been through everything and, you know, years later, they both signed my license

and Dale was my crew chief and I got to race with him for a long time and now it's come

full circle and John's asked me to be part of his team now.

So it's like, it's really incredible.

It's surreal.

Honestly.

I can't believe it.

And, and does, uh, what does the license look like a regular driver's license?

What does it look like?

Is it, is it just, you know, do you keep it in your wallet and have to show it at places?

I do.

Actually, I used it once when I got a ticket.

I was going to ask.

I flipped it open.

I was like, Oh, I really am racing at the track right there.

He goes, Oh, really?

I guess.

Yeah.

Okay.

I like pulls it out and I showed him.

He goes, Oh, all right.

He still gave me a fricking ticket.

Oh, that's it.

It worked for my mom.

She said, my daughter's a race car driver.

She got out of her ticket, but not me.

I don't know what that.

I love that.

You know, it's just poetic sometimes, right?

Yeah, exactly.

And so you raced.

I mean, 2014 was your breakout year, right?

I mean, it was just 2014.

Yeah.

We won four races.

We won the US nationals, uh, the 60th anniversary of the Chevrolet performance, 60th anniversary

of the US nationals.

And we beat John Forrest in the final.

It was insane, um, having all the Colita, the, all the Colita teams on the starting line,

you know, and then over on John's side, it's just his team because the Colitas are infamous

for doing that.

Like all the teams at the end of the day, at the, at the finals, they're all standing

on the starting line behind and you have this huge pit of like tons of people.

And then everybody dog piles on each other.

My dad got stuck in the middle of the dog pile, had to be pulled out.

Uh, it was the best, uh, best, best day of my racing career so far.

Like a mosh pit in there was just so many people.

Yeah.

I love that.

So, and the US nationals, for those that you don't, that don't know, it's like you're

all Super Bowl, right?

I mean, it's the, it's, it's the, it's the, it's like the 1,500, yeah, drag racing.

It's the biggest race of the year.

And I love that.

One of my favorite road racing drivers and any car drivers, Don, Danny on Gaius wanted

like the second year in, in, in Funny Car there and also Don Pradome, Kenny

Bernstein, John Forrest, Ashley Forrest, Matt Hagen.

I mean, the list of winners of that event, you're in, you're in good, good company

there, right?

Yes, definitely.

I believe I'm the second female ever in Nitro Funny Car to win that race after

Ashley.

And you were also the first female to make a sub four second pass.

That must have been crazy exciting.

It was to see the progression of the, of the class to go from running four second

runs to sub four second runs.

I've been out here for a little while, you know, obviously not as long as some of

the guys that I'm racing up against, but definitely long enough to, to, to know

what to expect and what these cars are capable of doing, you know, the good and

the bad, you got to take the good and the bad because you're going to have a lot

of bad days, probably more, more, more losses than wins.

Unless you're John Forrest, 16 times, right?

Yeah, 16 time champ.

Well, Roger Pinsky said that.

He said, that's his philosophy.

You're going to lose more than you win.

And he's got, you know, 20 Indy car trophies to go with it.

But that's, that's part, that's part of it.

And I think that it is, you know, you have to accept it.

And that's not always, not everybody is good at that.

Not everybody's good at losing.

Oh, I hate to lose, but also you learn a lot from losing.

Sure.

Well, I think it's, you know, there's so many great personalities in drag

racing, and then great venues as well too.

I know you've raced at Bristol, which is one of my favorite tracks, Thunder

Valley and the old days, I say old days in the late seventies, early eighties.

Um, the literally the fence was on the track.

I mean, you, it was, there was no grassy knoll in between you and the track.

It was track and stands.

And you were just right there, which I can't believe.

I can't imagine it being like that today, especially with the way these cars

run.

We asked, I think it was Ron Caps, we asked, we said, you know, can you tell

the difference between 300 and 330?

He goes, Oh, hell yes.

He said, you can absolutely tell.

He, it's not just fast as fast.

There's a difference between three and 330 and some of these speeds that we're

getting and God knows what you'd be running if you were still in the quarter.

Oh, most definitely, which I wish we were, but the race tracks, you know, they,

they just can't, they can't do it.

They can't, they don't have the real estate to extend the shutdown areas and

not every shutdown from the finish line to the sand trap is the same.

Right.

So to accommodate everybody, they brought us back 320 feet and still just went

going and just go, okay, well, we'll just make the cars faster in the thousand

feet than 13 and we always will.

I mean, they added what they added 50 pounds to us this year and we're still

going, you know, top speeds.

I just ran my, my fast, my fastest speed in testing, which wasn't too far off my

original best speed, but I mean, right off the bat.

So, you know, John Langdon, I think, Gran, what did he run?

Like a two, two or three hundred and forty five mile an hour pass in testing.

I mean, they're, you know, they can add as much weight as they want, but we're

never going to slow down because, I mean, that's the whole, that's the sport.

And it's, you know, the, the raw horsepower, the sound, the fury, the, the speed.

I mean, that's, that's how you use the finish line.

It's, you know, there's, there's strategy, certainly, and there's certainly

strategy in the staging and, you know, tripping the lights and all that stuff.

But I mean, at the end of the day, it's raw horsepower.

And now 12, you say 12,000 horsepower, these cars have now.

12,000 plus.

They can't really put it on a dyno.

These, yeah, these cars are really incredible.

I mean, that's nitromethane for you.

It's volatile fuel.

It's what they make bombs out of.

So it is, it's like a ticking time bomb in your lap.

Try not to think too hard about that, right?

You just, you just let that go.

Oh, I don't.

Once that helmet goes on, I don't think about anything.

Yeah.

I don't imagine that people with claustrophobia would be good at drag racing.

I would imagine that that would be kind of an enclosed environment, right?

Yes.

For sure.

In a funny car, when that, when that body goes down, you better be really comfortable.

You don't want to have it.

I could fall asleep in it.

No kidding.

It is that.

I'm, I'm, yeah, I have actually before when we've had really bad, you know, oil

downs or whatever, and I've been sitting in the car and the sun's shining just

right and I just like loosened my belts up and it's like being in the womb.

It's, it's my happy place.

Yeah, that's amazing.

But I think, I mean, I would imagine that that's a distinct advantage that you

have in racing, being able to kind of calm yourself down before a race like that.

It is.

It's definitely, it's, it's a blessing.

It's a, yeah, it's, it's part of me.

I mean, I am one with that car.

Right.

And being able to recognize, you know, when your heart is a little beating a

little bit fast, when you're getting a little bit antsy or excited, you know,

learning these like breathing techniques that kind of bring you back down and,

and balance you out and so you get, you know, back, back in line and focused.

Do you, are you talking to somebody while you're in the car waiting to run or

are you, are you a silent person?

You don't want any talking.

You don't want any chatter.

Oh, I talk.

And I, they, I can hear them going back and forth on the radio and I'll chime in

once in a while and they'll check on me.

They'll come over and tell me, I'll, I'll wonder what the hell's going on.

Let's take him so long.

What's, what's going on?

What's it?

Hey, did you do that?

I don't think you pulled those, those wires yet for the, for the fresh air

ball or for the, for the fire extinguishers.

So I'm very, very active in there, um, very aware.

And, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm most likely I'll be laughing and joking with them

until the last second.

I love that.

You know, it's in the form of the one guys, they're on the radio and they're

like, Hey, can you give me just a second?

I'm in the middle of a corner and the guy's passing me on the outside.

And if you just give me a second, I'll get back to you.

You know, they're just chattering away.

That's a little different though.

That's a little different.

I mean, they're on the track for a while.

We have a very short amount of time and once that car starts up, I don't want

to hear from anybody.

And I don't obviously, because you have to be so focused, you know, it's a

very mental, very much a mental sport.

I don't want to hear anything on the radio unless it's shut it down.

There's something you don't see, like kill the motor.

Well, and, and coming up, uh, so we're recording today as Wednesday, uh,

February, the, what the hell is today?

February the 25th, so the Gator nationals are next weekend, uh, the season kick off.

Are you excited?

You got to be so excited, especially with, I am so excited.

Yeah.

Four car team, like I don't want to say it's not like a, it is a new beginning,

but it's, it's a clean slate for a start, whatever.

But I've been here long enough.

I've been, I've been working my, myself hard to get to this point.

And I definitely, I've earned it and I'm happy to be here and I'm ready for it.

Well, and I think, you know, an opportunity like that probably doesn't just

come along very often.

There's lots of drivers who would, you know, do anything in their power to

race for John Forrest or any of the big teams like that.

I mean, a four car team, you know, you get the luxury of being able to, I read

somewhere, it says, if you need something made with a four car team, you just

make it.

If you're on a one car team, you're just do without.

Yeah.

You have to utilize other people's machine to do it or outside entities.

But, uh, John Forrest racing, I mean, they have everything, you know,

at their fingertips.

So it's, it's like walking into, you know, it's, it's a pinch me moment.

You walk into that shop and it's just like, it's, it's like heaven for funny

cars, you know, all these extra bodies and the machine shops and the motors.

And, you know, just the brain trust with all the crew chiefs that have

been there forever and crew and just everything that they have, all their

knowledge is like, yeah, some parallel.

And then you've got the hot rod father as the, as, as your mentor there.

Yes, exactly.

And did he used to call you, I read he used to call you the Elvira girl who

with your dark black hair, forget sometimes what my name is.

He's got so much going on in his mind.

And I had like really black hair back then.

And, uh, yeah, I think it's, it's, it's not a total disc.

I think Elvira was very pretty.

I think it's a compliment.

I think it's quite the compliment.

So it could have been worse.

So, but I mean, traveling with four, four car team, man, I mean, that's a

circus.

You've got, you know, how many semis and buses and trailers and cars and

bodies and parts for each team.

So, yeah, wow, wow, crazy.

Yeah, you see that, you see that setup at, at the, at the tracks these days.

And you just think, you know, it's, it's a move.

It's so beyond what it was even 25, 30 years ago, we were talking to

Don Pradome when they had the matching him and Tom, the mongoose had the matching

transporters, which are so cool.

When they came into town, they were like the heroes coming into town.

He goes, now you look at it and you go, I can't even, I couldn't even afford,

you know, one tire on one of those rigs.

But yeah, they're massive.

I really are.

And your, your main sponsor this year is a tequila company, right?

Bandero tequila, uh, specifically the one that we are, um, showcasing on our

car, it's bandero cafe.

So it's a tequila coffee.

And it is incredible.

If you like, uh, like espresso martini, something like that, you know, replace

the vodka with, uh, bandero cafe or just throw it over ice.

Um, it is incredible.

Yeah.

I love an espresso martini to a fault.

Uh, but you'd mentioned your dad earlier anyway, we'd be remiss without

telling everybody who your dad is, uh, uh, Paul, I mean, God, John, John, John

DeGiorgio, John Paul, uh, and Paul Mitchell was his first cup or first big

success, uh, that he had, uh, yeah.

So Paul Mitchell was, uh, the man Paul Mitchell, he was a hair hairdresser.

Right.

Um, he was the face and, and you know, my dad was the businessman and they made

the perfect, uh, business partners and they started John Paul Mitchell systems

and the hair products Paul Mitchell.

That's amazing.

And then of course, to have a second success, like with Patron tequila that

he had was just lightning struck twice.

That's amazing.

Once, once my dad like, you know, puts his mind to something, it, it happens.

I mean, obviously he's, he's, he's, uh, tried and failed many times, you know,

prior to Paul Mitchell and not everything works out.

But, um, yeah, those two companies were quite, quite amazing.

But I mean, it's, it's really because of his work ethic.

He's, he's in the office.

He's hardworking.

He is so much a part of it.

He will never retire.

He will never sell Paul Mitchell.

He didn't want to sell Patron either, but they got the deal of a lifetime, the

offer of a lifetime and, uh, deagrams.

And, uh, that was just it.

It was like, okay, well, we'll use this money, then start something else.

So, yeah.

Hard to turn that down.

He branched out and started, uh, Weber ranch vodka with, um, Ed Brown,

who managed Patron for him and with him.

And it's the only vodka made from, uh, agave.

It's incredible.

Yeah, it has a great taste to it.

It's very smooth.

Um, and he started bandero cafe or bandero premium tequila.

He couldn't be a part of it because there was a non-compete

at this club until about five years.

So for that, during that time, you know, my sister and I, uh, had stock in the,

in the company with, uh, Jonathan Kendrick, who owns, uh, bandero tequila.

Right.

And so we helped run it.

And, and, uh, then when the five years was over, my dad was like, okay, now I

can be a part of it.

And then of course with his, uh, input, it really rocketed.

So, um, yeah.

So it's, it's incredible.

I've done some blind taste tests with people, uh, with Patron silver and

bandero silver and people prefer the bandero.

Well, you know, we, uh, when, every time we hit the 10,000 subscriber mark on

YouTube, we do a shot of gram Patron platinum.

So I'm going to switch to bandero.

So we'll switch to the bandero.

We'll have to send you guys thumbs.

Yeah, I wouldn't complain about that at all.

I promise you.

So, um, so, uh, back to drag racing, uh, just drag racing.

Do you all use simulators like they use in road racing or how do you, is there

ways that you can practice like that?

Uh, so the way we can practice, obviously you can't, uh, you can't recreate

that feeling of going down the racetrack hitting six G's and then a negative

six G's when you hit the parachutes, you're not going to recreate that.

That's, it's not possible.

Sure.

Um, unless you're on a roller coaster, which still isn't, isn't even that major.

But, um, so what I have is, uh, it's a, it's a chassis.

It's a funny car chassis, um, and the front, the front rails are cut off.

So from the motor plate back, it's, uh, a funny car chassis.

So I've got, you know, all the, all the stuff I've got the, the throttle pedal,

the clutch pedal, um, I've got the brake handle and it's all set up to a

pro tree.

Um, so I just basically practice my reaction times.

Wow.

How cool is that?

And, and do you have a goal?

Do you get your goal every time with the reaction time?

Or is it, is it vary a little bit here and there?

Well, excuse me.

I want you to stop and kick in lately out here.

Um, I, uh, I try to not stay in there for too long because we have four rounds.

So for me to stay in there for 30 minutes to an hour, does it make really a lot of

sense?

I'll, I'll start and I'll, I'll do like, I don't know, 30 in a row and then, you

know, get out, walk away, like go eat some lunch or something and then get back

in it and do it again.

So, and then, you know, four times.

So that's it.

Well, and then you've got, uh, there's 20 races on the schedule this year.

Will you do all 20?

Oh yeah.

Yeah, of course.

I've, I've, I've always done all the races since I started.

I've been, yeah, that's going to be very competitive, exhausting.

I mean, it's into the season.

You got to be ready for a little bit of a vacay, right?

We used to race 25 races between February and November.

And since COVID, we've lost some racetracks, unfortunately.

So now we're down to 20, but there's some new ones coming up.

I mean, not new as far as like brand new racetracks, but new on the pro

circuit, like, uh, Michigan, Michigan, um, uh, there's one in Georgia that

we're going to Valdosta, I believe Valdosta, Georgia.

Um, so yeah, it'll be cool.

Be exciting.

I've never raced there before.

And we're going to miss you at Maple Grove this year.

Uh, we really,

that's depressing.

Yeah, I love that racetrack.

It's seven miles as a flow cross from where I sit for flow.

The crow flies from where I sit right now.

It's right in our backyard here.

And we're so disappointed.

We were so looking forward to this season and it's, it is what it is.

I mean, change happens and it's inevitable and you don't have to, you

don't have to love it.

I don't know what they're going to, I don't know what the other sanctioning

body is going to do.

And I don't know how they would compete or make it worth their

while to do it, but maybe there's something I don't know.

Yeah.

Who knows?

Um, I know that guy's by trying to buy up a lot of tracks right now.

So, uh, a lot of people are going over and racing IHRA.

They only race to, uh, eighth mile, um, but there's good purses and stuff.

I don't, I don't know.

It is what it is.

Uh, you won't see us over there.

I don't think the four steams are ever going to race the IHRA race.

We're really happy with that.

HRA, obviously, um, yeah.

Well, let's hope that maybe somebody, you know, gets it back somehow.

And it could spend a lot of the drivers I talked to say it's one of their

favorite tracks, uh, anywhere.

It is.

Um, and that's where I originally ran my best speed ever.

It's 337 plus miles an hour.

So I love that racetrack.

Um, I love the area.

I love the people.

Uh, it's going to be really a real bummer.

Yeah.

I never got to win there.

So I'm really bummed that we are not racing there now, but who knows what the

years ahead, you know, uh, what the outcome will be.

Hopefully it'll change because I'd love to race there again.

Yeah.

The drag racing is just such a sport that, you know, we were talking before

we went on, you know, about the difference between television and in person

and just all the pomp and circumstance that goes with drag racing from, you know,

the, the smell of the nitro, the fury of the cars, the, the staging back and

forth, the psychology of tripping the lights and all that, uh, the burnouts.

I mean, that's one of the coolest thing in motorsports is the burnout.

I like, I think you should go all the way down the track.

But I used to be able to do big, long, burly burnouts and, uh, now, you know,

they've, they've got the fuel on pretty high and, uh, the way, just the way they

run the cars at John force racing is a little bit different.

So I had to, I had to cut my burnouts in half, but yeah, doing a big, uh, big

burnout in those cars is, uh, it's just something else.

It's, it's a joy.

It's, it's, I love it.

Even if the car doesn't get down the track, you know, you're like, well, at

least I got to do burnout.

Well, you a lot of times see that, right?

I mean, it's just, you know, not every run is going to be perfect as we talked

about, you know, and of course in drag racing, I think probably the coolest thing

is when you're standing in the pits and you got your back to some team and they

decide to fire that car up and you don't know it.

Yeah, exactly.

For somebody who's never been on the starting line and those cars launch off

the, off the line, that's, it's crazy.

It's awesome to watch people's faces.

Oh my God.

And I can't imagine at Charlotte for the time running down the track.

That seems like that would just be such a crazy.

I don't get it.

It's too much.

It's cool.

It's cool to be a part of it.

It's, that's one of the races that it's on my list of, I really want to win

there because you're up against not just one other car, one other driver.

You're up against three teams, three car, three drivers.

Yeah.

And, and the other thing that, that makes drag racing so cool is the

ability to rebuild an engine in minutes, not hours or days or weeks.

I mean, those guys can tear down an engine.

It's, it's fun to watch those guys in the pits.

Oh, they're, they're badass.

I mean, it's like a dance.

That's the symphony you watch them go.

And it's like one time we were racing, um, and it was a live television.

So the turnarounds, they were trying to like hurry us up, you know, for, for

live TV and my guys got it done within 35 minutes.

We turned it around and we had it on the ground.

It was insane.

That's impressive.

You know, it is.

They're, they're a great group of guys.

Right.

And it's, I mean, they deal with the elements.

It's usually, you know, if you're in the summertime at a track, I don't

care if you've got a tent over you, it's still hotter than hell in those areas.

And you've got a hot engine you're working on.

I mean, those guys, like you said, they're, they're badass.

They, they get it done.

And there's no, they don't make excuses on why they can or can't get it done.

No, there are no excuses and there's no crying in NHRA.

These guys aren't sitting there complaining.

They just put their heads down.

They get it done.

Sure.

And, uh, I love my team and I'm always checking in with them, making sure.

Like, Hey, you guys are right.

You need water, like, you know, they're, they're the

bread and butter.

They are the heart of that car.

And then I wouldn't be driving it without them, obviously.

Sure.

A hundred percent.

Well, and, uh, what do you drive personally?

What's your daily driver?

My daily drivers.

Well, I have the 67 Chevelle SS.

Right.

Um, I am a Chevy, Chevy driver now.

Right.

That's right.

Oh, yeah.

I'm racing for Chevrolet now, which is pretty amazing.

I've always been a Chevy girl at heart since I was a teenager and could have a

car myself.

My very first car was a GMC Typhoon.

I can't believe, how in the hell did you talk your dad into a GMC Typhoon?

Exactly.

Well, it met all the criteria.

It was used.

It had to be used car.

Right.

It had to be big, kind of safe, you know?

So I was like, okay, it's got the body of a GM, of a GMC Jimmy.

Yeah.

Uh, you know, it looks pretty safe.

It's old.

It was like four years old cause they, they only made them for a certain

amount of years.

We go down a long beach to pick it up from the dealership and we're driving home

and he's like, what the hell did you talk me into?

He goes, that's a damn race car.

I was like, yeah, fastest production car at the time.

Yeah.

It's a friend of his, uh, it's just so funny, um, who had one, uh, as an

actor friend of his, uh, Clint Eastwood.

Right.

Uh, he's, he had gotten one and he said he sold it cause it was, he had bought it

for his wife.

It was like a turquoise green one.

And he said he had to sell it because it was too fast for her.

And my dad was just like, oh my God, I'm done.

Did he have, did he have great cars growing when you were growing up?

I mean, he must've had some great cars as well too, right?

Yeah, I really, I, I attribute a lot of my car enthusiasm because of, uh, to him

because he used to race cannonball races when I was a kid.

Right, right.

All over the nation.

And he would always come back up with these great stories and he would win a lot.

Right.

You know, um, I learned how to drive for my dad, but controlled chaos when there

was traffic and we had to be somewhere and we were late.

I mean, the maneuvers he would do and it was just, he was always just

calm, cool and collected.

And I was like, yeah, my mom liked to just drive fast.

She was pretty wild.

She was, he had a, a Targa Porsche at one point.

And, uh, yeah, so both of them, I mean, they were just love cars, but my dad

always had some really cool cars growing up and, and, uh, yeah, so now he's got,

he got his 57 Chevy Bel Air that he's always wanted since he was a, in high

school, you know, I was like, I'm like, dad, what, what car do you want?

When, you know, when back in the day that you wanted so bad that you could

never have, and he's like 57 Chevy Bel Air, I'm like, go, go out and find

yourself funny, but yeah, you know what, you're right.

And he went to like a swap me or something, found one.

And so we'll take our, our Chevy's out to Bob's big boy on Friday night

out in California.

And, uh, we have a really good time.

It's, it's so cool thing to share with my dad.

Well, I, I, it's, it's nice when dad's a gearhead too.

It, uh, makes life a lot easier and you know, my dad could care less about

cars and for some reason my kids, my kids don't either.

So, but you know, somehow we'll, we'll perpetuate this hobby.

But, uh, thank you so, we really appreciate you being on the show today.

And, uh, we, uh, wish you all the luck in the world coming up, uh, to Gator

Nationals.

What a great track and a great place to start the season, right?

Thank you guys.

I really appreciate it.

And if you'll hang with us just one minute, we'll be back with just the

classic auto mall in just a few minutes.

We'll see you then.

This is the classic auto mall show from our studio near Philadelphia in

Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

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And if you'd like to know all the advantages of selling your car through

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And we're back with a classic auto mall show from the classic

auto mall studio in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

You know, that's me singing that part.

I know how you get that note.

I don't know.

I got that high pitch thing going.

It's very Roxy.

It's like, what was the night at the Rocksburg?

Yeah.

The guys shaking it, doing their head.

Yeah.

I love it.

Steve hates it.

So give us, give us a shout out if you like it or don't like it.

The little intro we just did podcast at classicautomall.com.

Just remember the bosses.

Yes.

Remember who signs the checks that get lost in the mail.

And hopefully we don't get a bill from AI, Mr. AI or miss AI.

I'm, you know, it's, it is crazy.

This, I got this little program and I started playing with it and I went and

in this, it was like a real song.

I'm like, I don't believe it.

It's weird.

It's like somebody owns that.

Right.

I mean, it's the, it's part of the software.

I don't get it.

It's public domain.

It is public domain.

So, but it's just weird.

Yeah.

But amazing at the same time and scary and scary.

And of course it's like 3D printing.

I really don't understand.

I mean, if 3D printing, can I just make this remote control?

Can I, I just make that and is it got all the internals?

But you know what?

The plastic is weird on those things.

I still haven't mastered that stuff.

Still looks weird.

It's brittle.

Yeah.

It's very brittle, brittle, brittle, brittle.

Where do we sell cars this week?

You might ask.

Where?

Oh, how about Kingston, New York?

How about Ripley, West Virginia?

Essex, Maryland, Bridgeport, West Virginia, St.

Petersburg, New York, Florida, Bloomfield, New Jersey, Gibbon, Glade,

Pennsylvania, West Ford, Massachusetts, Santa Barbara, California,

Burleson, Texas, Media, Pennsylvania, Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania,

Altoona, Pennsylvania, Statesboro, Georgia, Kansas City, Missouri,

George, Virginia, George, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania,

Manorville, New York, Mandan, North Dakota, North Dakota,

and Sag Harbor, New York.

All right.

I worked in Baltimore and Essex, Maryland is a suburb of Baltimore.

And I worked with a DJ and he used to call on the air, call it ESEX.

ESEX.

I promise I didn't do that.

Send your letters to JR, not to me.

And so how about the new arrivals we've got now?

Do you have got some eclectic cars?

Yes, you do.

How about the 1980 AMC Concorde, DL, two-door sedan?

Wow.

Find another one.

Find another.

That was my whole logic behind including this car on here.

You just don't see them.

They just they were they were inexpensive cars new.

They're inexpensive collector cars now to restore one.

You just almost can't afford to do it.

There's no parts for these things.

No parts for them.

I mean, you'd have to three.

They basically evaporated.

They pretty much just like dust.

They were on the road and then it was gone.

It's gone.

It's like when they're a car right beside us.

That's why it's so cool to see this one.

Right.

Like really good condition.

Right.

It's medium blue, iridescent, over blue.

29,788 action miles.

That's why this one's still around.

Yeah, exactly.

Showroom Fresh, 258 cubic inch inline six air conditioning

and an A904 three speed automatic.

So that's pretty cool.

How about Alexis DeGiorre on the show though?

She was great.

And had a typhoon was her first car.

Hey, man.

And dad was a little snookered on that thing, right?

They're fast.

Yeah, and I think Steve has infatuated with her now.

Oh, she loves.

He's a typhoon guy.

Yeah, typhoon in and out.

In and out.

Love that typhoon.

And how cool is that?

And a 67 Chevelle she's got.

Yeah, the SS.

Yeah, with a 504 or something in it.

Unbelievable.

Some crazy big motor in it.

And I bet you that's a blast to drive.

Anyway, back to our new arrivals.

The 1972 Ford Mustang Mach one.

It is always very cool.

Bright blue over white, 54,000 actual miles.

Amazing history on this car.

Correct 351 cubic inch Cleveland with a two-barrel,

FMX three-speed automatic, and a 350 equiloc Ford 9-inch rear.

It's a former drag racing car.

Well, that's probably why it's got that equiloc.

And documentation galore on this car.

This has got lots of paperwork, which is so good to have

and so good to find.

And so nice when you open the trunk of a car

that you bought or consigned or whatever.

And then it shows all this great stuff in a box

and labeled appropriately.

This is all the manuals.

This is all the receipts.

And this is all the factory paperwork.

And that's just like a kid in a candy store.

See that kind of stuff.

How about the 1950 Dodge B1 pickup?

Dark red over saddle, 47,000 actual miles on this 19th.

You know, think about it, 77 years.

And the NHR is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

So this is only a couple of years older.

Amazing.

Really cool truck, because it's different.

It's different.

And the red is really works well with that truck.

So it's just well sorted.

It's just nice and it's got aluminum heads

and just lots of cool stuff.

Now the next one is really cool.

The 1976 Datsun 620 pick.

Sunset orange over black.

Amazingly preserved truck.

Just go find another one.

Incredible.

Absolutely blew up on TikTok.

Everybody loved it.

And what I heard most was this was my first car

or this was the car I learned to drive stick shift.

Right, right.

Because most of them were stick shifts.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's amazing.

Everybody has a story about a 620.

Yeah, they were very, very popular trucks

because they were just right after the gas crisis,

everybody was still worried about fuel economy.

Not to Cadillac, El Dorado, because of the boat,

but most everybody was still concerned

about fuel economy and what gas prices do.

And so these made sense.

And they were practical.

And they were inexpensive.

Apparently bullet proof.

And bullet proof.

Yeah, so this one's ready to go.

New interior, it's got the four speed manual.

Just a little workhorse.

It's awesome.

They were everywhere.

I lived in Vegas at the time.

Yeah.

Next but not, this thing is unbelievable.

1957 Ford Thunderbird convertible.

Okay, it's a baby bird.

Everybody's seen 55, 67 birds.

This thing is done as you can.

Top tier.

It is amazing.

The beautiful frame offer store.

312 cubic inch floor barrel.

The Fordomatic automatic.

This thing's winning shows.

It's got power steering, power brakes.

It's got AC.

If you're gonna do one or you're gonna buy one,

this is the one.

Just buy the best.

And you'll never regret it.

You only cry once as Bruce Myers says if you buy the best.

Next on the list is the 1968 Ford Bronco

Rangoon Red Oversaddle.

EFI Electronic Fuel Injected 351 cubic inch Windsor.

The other one was had a Cleveland.

It's a Rangoon.

So, I don't know.

Is it a fruit?

Look that up, Jay, are we?

Get on that quick.

Well, it's a place in Southeast Asia.

I know that.

Oh, weird.

Yeah, it looks like a spice.

Maybe a spice.

Yeah, I do have an old microphone

and it went carbon rungoon.

Weird.

This thing's got a lift kit on it.

The performer, Edelbrock RPM heads

and it's very, very off-road capable.

So, that's some of our new arrivals.

If you go to our website, classicautomobile.com,

you'll be able to find out.

So, what else can we talk about?

Anything else that we got on our agenda

that we could talk about

that we just didn't think that we were gonna do?

I always thought I wanted to do the thing

like they did on radio.

We've talked about this.

Where I do a shot every 10 minutes

and then test my motor skills.

Yeah.

You know, they used to do it to prove that.

We did one of those in Buffalo.

And drinking and driving, how dangerous it was

because you'd lose your motor skills

and fumble around and all that.

State police saw it.

I think I did a beer and somebody else

did a whiskey drink

and this very petite person who worked

at the radio station, she did wine

and she drank more than everybody else

and was totally sober.

And the police was like, just a failure.

Yeah, don't want her to act.

Because that would defeat the purpose

of what they were doing.

Yeah.

Because they're trying to show the dangers

of not that she's perfectly fine

and can balance a ping pong ball on her nose or something.

Well, it's, you know, listen,

drinking and driving back in the 50s and 60s,

they didn't think much about it

and they didn't realize how bad it was.

And then in the 70s and the 80s,

you started getting, you know, unfortunately,

lots of people were getting injured or killed

and car wrecks and it was down to drinking and driving

and it's just not a good thing to do.

So maybe we'll have to try that experiment

one of these days and see, that might be fun.

That was one of our consignment cars though.

Let's get the bandero tequila and

there you go.

That'll be for one.

I don't like coffee and I like tequila.

I think I would like this drink.

I think you would.

I'm not a drinker, but I am.

Bandero Cafe.

I'm not a drinker, but well, that sounds pretty good.

I took a buddy to Vegas one time

and I ordered a jack-in-water

and the girl brought it to me and walked away

and he said, you didn't, I said,

would you like a drink?

And he said, no, no, no, I don't drink.

And I said, jack-in-water to the waitress,

she came back, came back with a drink

and laid it down and just walked away.

And he goes, you didn't pay for that.

I go, yeah, they're free when you're here.

And he goes, man, he goes,

he goes, ma'am, I'll take a jack-in-water.

I said, I thought you didn't drink.

He said, yeah, but they're free.

And then he got so hammered on smelling it.

I don't remember that whole part of the rest of it.

So there's a lot of gray areas.

Is that still exist in Vegas?

I don't know.

Free drinks at the table as long as you're gambling?

It depends.

What about here at the Hollywood?

Like in Atlantic City, now you've gotta hit a limit

at some of the bars.

They have a light that goes on the back.

Like if you're playing poker at the bar.

Yeah, it goes on that once you've played

whatever their limit is, $20 or $50 or something,

then no competition.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, so I don't think competent is what it used to be.

You know, it used to be,

remember when you went to Vegas back in the day,

you could get a lobster dinner and a filet

and shrimp and crab meat and Alaskan king crab legs

and it would be like $2.99.

Yeah.

Not anymore.

And you have to lose a lot to get like a big compound.

And everything just,

if you go in there and just pay cash for something,

average dinner, $100.

Oh, absolutely.

I'm batching it's even higher than that.

Everything's more expensive.

Yeah, everything's more expensive everywhere.

They had a, I just heard somebody talking about Vegas

and how the younger people, the younger Gen Zs, I guess,

they're like, well, why don't I wanna go there

and gamble for it?

I can do it on my phone.

Right, exactly.

So what's the point of going to Vegas or Atlantic City?

I mean, in the old days,

it was just Vegas or Atlantic City.

There was only two places you could gamble legally

in this country.

And then now every five minutes down the interstate,

there's a casino, casino, casino, casino.

Well, you know, they've got NFL, they got hockey,

now they're gonna have baseball too.

They're trying to make it more of a family town now

and just say, you know, just come here

and what happens in Vegas can go anywhere in Vegas.

You know, they're trying not to make it so...

Seedy?

Seedy, I guess, or sexy or whatever you wanna say.

Right, right.

So anyway, when we return next week,

we'll have another fantastic guest.

I think we already got him picked out.

That's Russell Hayes, who's an author.

He wrote a great book on Aston Martin.

Came out, a two-volume set.

Very good.

Cathy all like that, needs to get out and get ribbon

if the salt would get on the road.

That's right, gotta exercise it.

Yeah, one of these days.

Anyway, we'll catch you next week

on The Classic Automall Show.

We'll see you then.

And thanks for stopping by.

The Classic Automall Show, with their host,

Stuart Howden, executive producer, Steve Sethair,

produced and engineered by yours truly, J.R. Russ,

video editor, Randy Lambie.

Available on ClassicAutomall.com, YouTube,

or wherever you get your podcasts.

Music, courtesy of the Pat Travers Band,

for tour dates, contact, and stuff, visit pattravers.com.

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and I forgot to claim the proceeds of the sale.

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Classic Auto Mall - #232 - Stewart Howden with Guest Alexis DeJoria

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