Episode 106: Initial E (PART 1 with Victoria Scott)
Tired: The Car Podcast For People Who Understand That Cars Are Bad
Episode 106: Initial E (PART 1 with Victoria Scott)
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Term
understressed
'Understressed' means that an engine is not being pushed to its limits, which can help it last longer and work better over time.
Car
Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is a small sports car that is fun to drive. It has a powerful engine that can rev very high, which helps it go fast.
Term
K20
The K20 is a type of engine made by Honda. It's known for being powerful and efficient, helping cars like the S2000 go fast.
Car
Brumos Porsche
Brumos Porsche is a famous dealership and racing team that sells and races Porsche cars. They are known for their special paint jobs and racing history.
Term
flat-six
A flat-six engine is a type of engine where the six cylinders are laid out flat instead of standing up. This design helps the car handle better and makes a distinctive sound, which is popular in Porsche cars.
Concept
IMSA series
IMSA is a racing series where different types of sports cars compete against each other. It's famous for long races, like the one that lasts 24 hours in Daytona, where cars race continuously for a whole day.
Concept
Formula One
Formula One is a type of car racing that happens all over the world. It's famous for fast cars and exciting races, and many people love to watch it.
Car
Pontiac Torrent
The Pontiac Torrent is a type of SUV that offers a lot of room for passengers and cargo. It was made for people who need a practical vehicle for everyday use but isn't as well-known as other SUVs.
Brand
Porsche
Porsche is a well-known car brand from Germany that makes sports cars and luxury vehicles. They are famous for their fast and stylish cars.
Term
technical violation
A technical violation happens when a race car doesn't follow the rules about how it should be built or modified. If this happens, the car can be penalized, like starting at the back of the race.
Term
skid plate
A skid plate is a strong piece of material that protects the bottom of a car from getting damaged. It's especially useful in racing or off-road driving where the car might hit bumps or rough surfaces.
Term
GTP car
A GTP car is a type of race car made for long-distance racing. They are very fast and built to compete against other high-performance cars.
Company
Penske
Penske is a big name in car racing and also sells cars. They own racing teams and are involved in many car-related businesses.
Car
Porsche 963
The Porsche 963 is a special race car made for racing events. It's built to be very fast and perform well on the track.
Car
Nissan Sentra
The Nissan Sentra is a small car that is often chosen for its low price and good fuel efficiency. It's a common option for people who need a reliable vehicle for everyday use.
Car
Honda Accord
The Honda Accord is a type of car that is known for being dependable and comfortable to drive. Many people like it because it has a lot of space inside and is good on gas, making it a popular choice for families.
Car
Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge
The Rolls-Royce Spectre Black Badge is a fancy electric car known for its luxury and custom features. The 'Black Badge' means it's a more upscale version of the regular Spectre.
Concept
bespoke craftsmanship
Bespoke craftsmanship means making something special just for you, like a custom car made exactly how you want it. It's all about the details and personal touches.
Concept
West Coast Customs
West Coast Customs is a famous car shop that makes regular cars look really cool and unique. They became popular from a TV show that showed them customizing cars for people.
Car
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people buy because it is very reliable and saves money on gas. It's a great option for anyone looking for a simple, easy-to-drive vehicle.
Car
Glickenhaus
Glickenhaus makes very expensive and exclusive sports cars, like the SCG 003, which are known for their speed and unique looks. They're not common cars you see on the road.
Car
Honda Fit
The Honda Fit is a small car that is great for city driving. It's known for being affordable and having a lot of space inside, making it a popular choice for many people.
Car
Jeep Cherokee
The Jeep Cherokee X is a type of SUV that is great for off-roading and everyday driving. It's known for being tough and reliable, making it a good choice for many drivers.
LIVE
There's a lot going on, you know all of it
I'm waiting for my caffeine for the day to settle
I have to put like four of these packets in a really big bottle for when it foams up
Otherwise, you can't put it in the regular one with the normal amount of water
You have to like let all the all the bubbles come out otherwise your normal size water bottle explodes
So I'm like letting this percolate before I mix in my abnormal bottle of water amount
So that's this is how I start my day. It's like a premix. Yeah
Well, cuz it's like I have to head there's like so that's 200 milligrams of caffeine
And then 200 milligrams of caffeine and then 170 and all the taurine and B vitamins and that again
and then that gets me through my day and that makes me normal I
Yeah, I don't know I just went up on my
Winning for my yearly physical and I was like, you know, the vibrance is not packing the same punch
As it was before and he's like, what do you want to do? And I was like, can I go up and he's like, yeah, it's fine
Yeah, cool, so
Sick and it's like, you know, I'm monitoring my my vitals there they were like
My blood pressure is like on the low-range normal
Got it wish that were me
Well, yeah, isn't your pulse like three or something. No, it's it's like resting heart rate is like in the 60s
Which is again is on the lower low range of normal dude, you're like it. You're like a blue whale, man
It's like yeah, it's like a it's like one of those old Mercedes diesel engines. That's making like 40 horsepower
It's like
It's like running on vegetable oil. Yeah, but it's just like, you know understressed. Yeah under
It'll last a long time I think that way. That's what they say. I mean, that's I think that's yeah
If you can shoot for understressed at this point, I'm trying to explode my heart on purpose man
I think we better do it competing competing approaches. Yeah
Maddie's like the Honda S2000 like a K20
picking 200 horsepower from two meters. Yeah, I'm only only above like
7500 rpm or whatever. Yeah zero towing 40 horsepower at 1,000 rpm
Okay
That was about 400 milligrams of caffeine now I can start my day. That's good. I
I try to take a tolerance break from the amphetamine stuff
all of it. Yeah a couple weeks ago and it was a real
Real
Real
Dark feels bad. Yeah
So I kind of know if we're ready to go ahead and jump off any of this stuff right away, so
We're gonna back off
If you stop taking the go fast stuff and then you're like you spend like two days in bed and you're like no no no no no no
Yeah, I I had to get out of bed, but I
It was unpleasant. So no good
Yeah, I feel like I'm practically straight edge over here
Just with my my one cup of coffee. I have been doing a second cup more often like an afternoon cup
I got you know my my I
Got an incredible Christmas
package from
From my old exit house bandmate. Oh and it was just like like a bunch of just like
incredible like kind of
Gourmet I like gourmand, you know like some like really high-end like olive oils and
But there was a shit ton of coffee and
like pounds and
That's also where that that she know honey came from
Three pounds of honey she know honey somehow not a sonic enemy tape should have been I know
But yeah, but this coffee and some of it is from there's there's it was it included two bags from this LA
Roastery that good boy or something like that
But
But they came like in a in a coffee bag that had like a picture of like a brumos Porsche on it
and it's called flat six blend and
That was pretty fucking good
The thing is it's all whole bean and I haven't I haven't had a fucking working coffee grinder for like since since I first became a dad
Basically and it crapped out shortly after that and so I've just been going with you know, I mean, I'm not a fucking
I'm not a coffee
gourmet and
But so and I've always kind of like it's like yeah, I should get a fucking grinder again
But I got like one of those cool like yeah
Yeah, you turn it, you know, it's like a hand turned one
Like a visit a burr grinder. Is that what they call it? It's not like the it's not the spinning thing
It's like a I think the burr is the mechanism, but it can be either manual or electric. It's my yeah
Yeah, no, but I mean that's that's the mechanism as well. It's like it's a burr and and
It's incredibly fucking satisfying
to do that to like measure out the coffee like and and then just like
With your hand
and
And the coffee is so fucking good and it's so much better than what I've been drinking for the last like 10 years
And so it's like it's totally like
Yeah, it's kind of it's it's a big just kind of one of those like small
kind of
Life improvement things that actually has it like really disproportionate impact on just your your kind of
quality of life
And so so I have been doing like the the early afternoon as you have that kind of after after lunch kind of just like
Sleepiness and she's like, you know, it would be good right now
Another coffee another cup cup. I just I just do one cup. I just do one cup. I'm not a fucking, you know, I'm not a glit and I
Am a glutton
You do a pot. I will do two pots of coffee in a day. I think we got to the
That's real mocha master
A few years ago back when we were living a kind of different lifestyle and makes a really good coffee and get the
Good beans grind them. I think I described my my silencer situation now
but
There's one of the few things that I look look forward to in a given day, so it's like yeah
It's it's kind of I mean, I've always enjoyed the ritual of it, you know, and like and I have you know, I just do one cup
I just I have like I have an arrow press. I was like early on the fucking arrow press thing
I've had the same one for fucking like 15 years
And and so that's just that's you know, but but the the grinding thing just adds a whole other
Dimension to the ritual. It's like it's very satisfying and and it's it's just like
Yeah, I'm like on my third bag of like different different coffees different blends this one the current one is I think it's the same company
It's the same roastery this one
Good boy, Bob. I think that's what it is. This one is like a Zambia blend
It's my favorite. If your name is Bob and you listen to the pod. Yeah, there's your compliment for the day. Good job
Also, I have to
Peter this will this is such a such a me of ten years ago thing
I started drinking that cafe Bustello because it was on that it was the the featured
brand on the
split seven inch that had the
Bloody Hawaiians lemon on it from the cool beans fanzine
And I was like, oh, maybe this coffee's good. I'll try it and then I got hooked on it
It's all the only coffee I drink and but like because every time I make it
I just I get to hear Joel in the fuzz doubt in the back of my brain going like
And I'm like, this is good, I am more awake. It's nice. I like that
That's such a good Hawaiian song. God damn
Should we talk about Daytona? Wait, what's her pot?
The pot is tired
The car podcast for people who understand that cars are bad
With your friends Rory and Maddie and me Peter
Still still here still still
Thriving episode 106 pretty cool
Yeah, there was a big a big race last weekend
in Daytona that
Imsa series that we're all fans of and
Rory you were there we hit and we talked to Rory from from from Daytona. Well, I was there until the race basically
Yeah, you didn't get to witness the the carnage
But what what did did you get up to any any further hijinks after we we talked to you? Not really? I think
You know, I got to spend some time with Oliver Gavin dinner, which was awesome
I
Think I said I ran into Hurley Haywood, which was awesome
and
then
You know, we're just basically walk the track and try to see as many people as I possibly could yeah, but I will say like
you know
It was busy, I think when I when why called in it was busy from the track
And it just continued to fill up with people as I was there and like
My understanding of like race day and son was that it was like
Again more packed than ever
Yeah, they said they said it's the I mean they don't announce figures
But they said it was the the biggest crowd in the history of
Doing it looked like yeah. Yeah
So that was pretty incredible and I think like
Yeah, I mean it just has become like a
A thing and it's so weird. It's like the IMSA thing is so weird because it's like
the
Size of it in person and the like
attendance figures and the TV numbers and like the social stuff like all that like metrics for it are so good and
it's like
growing growing growing like everybody who has any
Exposure to it at all can see that it's growing and then it's like it is just so invisible like culturally like
Yeah, I mean I think like the F1 thing
F1 movie was like a
Big lift but I think a lot of people who'd like saw the F1 movie because they were like at least tangentially interested in
Formula one we're like, what is this like what is what?
Guys, it's good. It's like I've heard of Daytona or whatever. I
Did hang out at the Chevy
Like whatever their fan
Like their permanent kind of fan display thing at the end of the front straight, which I guess is where they parked
Sonny's Brad Pitt's van that he was sleeping in
Where he like walks up that little tunnel. Yes to get to the cars is at the Chevy display
But yeah, I think like I don't know. It's a
It's a good scene the vibe is is like I said, yeah, I think I'd describe this from from at the track
but it's just like
Leave all your troubles behind man get to the fucking him's the pad I can walk around
smiling like
Everybody's vibing. It's like it's a very it's a very weird
Phenomena that I just don't experience anywhere like the kind of way to the world. It's just not not there
And it's yeah, that's great I wish I had been able to stay for the race, but I had a
Murder mystery party to get to actually not murder. We were like
A little hesitant because I think like some
Parents are not
Don't discuss murder in the same way. Does they have to be like an unaliving mystery? Yeah, it was a party or something
Yeah, or you get the
Algorithm gets you but the
So what it ended up being was all these
Dogs there's dog show and the dog that was supposed to win the dog show
someone swapped out her
Her shampoo for like a nair treatment like a hair remover and so she got
Turned bald right before the big dog show and we had to figure out which dog did it
So everybody
Guessed that it was our younger daughter
Because she was doing such a good job of behaving like
They were not wrong it was one of the other girls from the party, but it was like I think everybody except one was like
Yep, this is who did it and
Wrong oh
No, it was fun. It's a good time and then oh shit. This is another so my
My present this year was that we were gonna go see some owls
Because the older daughters big into owls yeah
There was like this two a couple ways to do it. I think one of them is like to call in the owls
And
Now is this is this just that you go out into the wilderness or is this like a like a sanctuary kind of
I was told we should be able to do it in the yard. I think oh, wow great horned owls can hear from a really long distance
And if you're like a prey, they will come come a running
But there's also like there's enough like tall pines and like open grass in our yard that is like there should be great
Horned owls around but anyway, we didn't do that because it hasn't been above 10 degrees here for a long time
And it seems irresponsible to make a child march out in the night
And they get dressed for us. Yeah, I mean that's true
but
we
Did go find two snowy owls that are like pretty reliably in the same location all winter
And like just drove up to them during the day and saw two like big snowy owls, which is like I
Don't know not a bird that I see very frequently. It was
One prior to yeah in the wilderness. Yeah, they're really cool. Yeah
I'm lucky if they're great horned owls out in that part of Michigan
I'm lucky that I went out that night and didn't just get scooped up like thank God. They could hear me
Yeah
They would definitely be like
There is yeah
But yeah, that was my that was my detain experience obviously watched it on on the television
Really cool seeing her hearing Ali Gavin to
As a commentator, I think he's really good. I think he said he's doing five more races this year, which is great
He's is he doing with with NBC's part of the secret. Yeah. Yep. Yeah, so
I was yeah, I watched the NBC coverage NBC slash peacock coverage. I thought it was good
Man it was getting lit up
Yeah, people people very
Just I think just the yeah the amount of of ads. I mean, I I haven't I haven't done it in in years
I just I just watch the feed. Yeah
But which is great, you know, I mean, it's like the
And I know like they have a they have like a solid like crew announcing us but
Yeah, just a lot of people very very unhappy and I get frustrated with the
Well, it's like I I don't know I watched the ad thing. It's like obviously like there's there were some
Timing kind of bummers where it's like they cut away did a replay like when something big was happening or whatever
Yeah, I don't know like I don't know what all is involved in like
Producing a 24 hour race. I assume it's pretty complicated. So
Not that I would forgive that stuff necessarily but whenever I would see like the the tons of ads on it
I'm like, oh good. Like this is a good measure of like the health of the sport. You know, I mean, it's now
That's the thing. Yeah, and and it's yeah, it's kind of I mean for IMSA
I mean even they like will quietly acknowledge, you know, like on the
the IMSA official person in the chat on the
On the international feed that that people are eavesdropping on, you know, with their VPNs or whatever
There is kind of like a wink and a nod at you know, I mean, they know
Yeah, but it's like but for them it is. I mean, it's it's a way of
Bringing people into the sport. It's a measure of the sports health and
Yeah, it's like, you know, you can't you can't fault them
for
Just taking yeah taking that is that is where the revenue comes from that is where like all the stuff like that exists
Happens because of that. Yeah, it's like people who talk about like, you know
They don't mind if someone like torrents one of their albums because it's like well that person could be five years of ticket sales and other
Stuff and merch coming down the pike like hey listen pop in
Listen to it. Get it. Why not?
Yeah, yeah, I think
Yeah, I don't know. Like I said, it's like yeah, whatever. It's annoying
But I'm also like I I think you know like everybody else like I'm watching it on TV and I'm following it on
Twitter or whatever like it's like kind of you know, I mean like I don't know
I found the ads less annoying I think than than some people did but
Yeah
See my my objection my objection to like my problem with the NBC thing like when I dipped out
Was when because for for several years you could pay for Peacock and you got the feed
Yeah, yeah, you know and when they would go to commercial
On on TV
You continue to watch the feed because you're paying for it. Yeah
And which like that's fair, you know, I will pay for the thing
Yeah, but it's like if I'm paying for it and then you're cutting away to ads
Now you the network are double-dipping and fuck you
For Peacock is where I go crazy where I'm like if you were showing me ads for people sponsoring this race
I would not care as much but you're showing me an ad for your service that I'm paying for to watch right now
It's like when your bank makes you it's like when you log into your bank and they're like wait
Wait, are you sure you don't want to sign up for another different kind of account before you view your statement?
And it's like no show me my fucking account city bank. I hate you
Yeah, yeah, yeah
That I do agree with the house ads for the things that you're already paying for is
Pretty maddening makes me crazy
It's fine. There's there there is a pretty easy solution to it. It's true
if you're getting that wound up about it, it's like
Yeah
Yeah, the race itself was was pretty
Pretty I mean parts of it were pretty crazy. I feel like the beginning was pretty crazy. The ending was really crazy
Last few hours. I mean really the last six. I mean from the time they they went green in them. I mean there was a big a big fog
interruption that that lasted
six and a half hours
Yeah
Connor's ill it shows up to to this this event and
really excited to to drive a
GTP car and and spend some time in it and and he ends up logging four consecutive hours
behind the safety car
In the fog. He's such a trooper. Good job buddy. Pretty brutal
I
Mean it's not uncommon for there to be kind of overnight cautions. I feel like
Like two of the three times that I've gone to it
Yeah
There have been like like big parts of the overnight have been spent under caution either because of weather or just or just other
Stuff, you know where it's like long cautions
So this this was an exceptionally long, I mean, this was the longest one ever six and a half hours
For me as a spectator kind of worked out because I went to bed
I dipped out at midnight. I was like, okay. I'm tired
I'm just gonna go to sleep and just wake up in the morning when my body is done sleeping and I'll check back into the race
Yeah, woke up at seven after like a completely solid night's sleep and
Open the laptop and it's like, oh, they're under caution
and and
Like and I'm looking at like the you know, it's like oh pretty much all the cars that were in like there haven't been you know
Usually there's there's like you wake up and and it's like the race looks can completely different or like a bunch
You know, there's there's like a handful of key cars that were in it. It's like, oh, they're gone. It's like what happened. What happened?
but everything kind of looked like
not that different
And and then like, yeah, very quickly kind of clue in to the fact that oh pretty much the entire time
I was asleep
fucking going around it
It's like, oh, I didn't miss anything. This is great and like literally like five minutes after I flipped open the laptop
After having a woken they go green. They're back to racing and it's like sweet
Time that exactly right
But yeah, last few hours were were pretty pretty great some real real heated
Contests and yeah pretty I mean in in the last hour
Like all four classes there was there were there was no lead like more than like
Like six seconds at like I think an LMP to like and those weren't like artificially, you know
That wasn't because of you know cautions that stacked the field up or whatever. It's like they had been running at that point
Undergreen for a long fucking time and
and yeah, there was there was a
There's a considerable amount of of action
Yeah, the I I did
That final pass the achon pass in the
31 the whale and car
Yeah, he had to run on him and looked for all the world like he was going to be able to die past him and then
It was weird because it was like when that happened
So so what I'm talking about is like I think that was like the maybe three or four laps left
Pretty close to the end of the race. Maybe six laps left, but it was closely in the race
Yeah, it was within like the last 20 minutes and an achon in the in the in the wheeling Cadillac have I mean
Porsche big pretty much had this race in the bag the whole time. I mean, they didn't leave the whole time
but between the two cars the six car got got damaged pretty early and and
And it was clear that it was like the seven cars race, but the six car never went away. I mean it was always hanging in there
the
But but yeah, I mean they it was it was obvious it was their race to lose the thing with the with the fucking the wheeling Cadillac which had gotten which
You know
Qualified on pole and then and then got sent to the back because of a you know, technical thing
You know skid plate too low or whatever
And then again like during the race, you know ended up like going to the back for summer
I don't remember why but but had to make its way through the field again
And and and I feel like did lead, you know at some point a couple points during during during the race, but
But yeah achon
Who's who's you know one of the if not the fastest driver out of that crew?
Yeah, he was closing he was closing on that seven car like
Like just you know really fucking driving the wheels off of it and yeah coming off the front straight
He had he had an opportunity and it looked like it was gonna be difficult for
Nasser to to
Respond because he just didn't have the speed. He was like he was visibly slower on the track
But he kind of cut in and forced achon onto the apron
Like inside and I was like, oh here comes a blocking penalty for sure cuz like
It was like right on the edge
Yeah, it was like there wasn't enough time left for it was like that was not gonna probably decide the race
But I was like they're gonna order the Cadillac around and they didn't which like it was right on the edge
And I actually texted
Gavin about this I
Said I wonder if Nasser was surprised that he didn't get flagged and he said yes
He said the apron is is still the racing surface surface. Sorry
There was just
Let's see and there was just still just about enough room
So there needs to be a car width and there was just about that there
It always comes down to the finest of margins guys at the very best in the business just about
You could just about slide us playing card between the two of them at times, but it was like man really tight
but but that's kind of like
Illustration to of like how like that was it?
Like you said a class that era the class of Porsche had controlled the entire race
And it was like even that got dicey at the end and it was like man
there was like some real excitement about like who's gonna win and
And
It pretty much just across the board like it ended up being a really
Good if not super memorable
They told it to me another Wayne Taylor classic also
Classico style of Wayne Taylor. Yeah, I told I told you guys this in the voice chat, but just it was really interesting
we got a tour with Wayne Taylor and
Ricky let us around
It was really really cool to see their operation. I think you know Wayne Taylor was telling us the story of like
Jim France kind of talking him into starting his own team and he came to Daytona with like seven guys and like now they had
I think a hundred and fifty people on site. We went through their crazy like one of two crazy race haulers
I think they said they had seven in the fleet
but like
Incredible kind of first floor
Set up all their like lockers and
All their like personal stuff and then on the top floor. It was just packed with engineers from Wayne Taylor and
And from GM. I think I sent you guys a picture
But like there were probably 50 guys up there on the top floor
Jesus and then in the back where the drivers rest so like where when the boys come off the track
they go into their little private room and
and
They're in the same room separated by a little wall
Hey, so
One sec, so they they're separate
But like, you know, if you're Ricky Taylor in the middle of the night
You can like pop out be like, hey, this kind of felt weird like what's going on here and the engineers are right there
Which was super cool and then we went to the Whalen
Garage and the Whalen guys were like, we are 25 people in total like the whole organization
running the same equipment on a much smaller
scale and then
But but kind of like huge contrast between like and I had always assumed like
To get a
GTP car
You would have to be kind of like at a certain level of parity with the other teams
You don't even need to like be considered for
To be given a car or to be sold a car
But yeah, it was really interesting to see like there's a massive discrepancy and just like the feel of like the Whalen operation
Versus the Wayne Taylor operation and also, I mean the other I mean
Another example of that is look, I mean that fucking I mean look at the Penske Porsche operation and
then
Look at JDC Miller. Yeah
independent team running
Portion I-63 prototype in in last year's spec
But I mean tiny operation and that car
Like lead yeah for a long time early in the race on pace
like incredibly impressive and and
You know after everybody was kind of you know after all the Porsche drama in the off-season everybody's just thinking like
Well those guys even gonna do, you know, like there's there's no pro. There's no proton car this year
And it's like they're kind of like the only privateer left and in in GTP and and it's like
Oh, we're just gonna we're just gonna go out run and run with with the big dogs like and I mean that winning a race this year
Yeah, absolutely
Really impressive
Yeah, we're joined by a returning guest
Victoria Scott
How are you the crowd goes?
Wilds everyone who's been begging for this for an entire year is like finally
It hasn't been a year has it it has we had the key on November in our first year
damn
Time flies when that feels bad. I mean it feels bad like we're negligent, but it also feels bad like the passage of time
Yeah, but last year for me wasn't a real thing
Yeah, the the endless
It was a it was a long year this year. I'm like, okay, we're doing a do over 2025. Just it wasn't didn't count
All I managed to do last year was blow up my professional auto journalism career, which is basically a freebie
Yeah, I mean that's what is that even?
Well, it's all right because because this year is completely different and and like
Really good and
Yeah, it's like
Feels it feels like all the stressors of the world have just lifted off of us and things are back to normal back
Yeah, right
Victoria, did you watch?
Daytona
No, I I talked about this with my friend Jordan. I
Can't ever quite figure out how to watch it
Because they make it very challenging to do so and I'm don't have a lot of money
So I haven't like I don't want to pay for some sort of a special sports streaming service. It's gonna cost a bunch of money
You just need a VPN. That's okay. Yeah, I I probably I probably could have done something like that
but no I didn't and it was also the same day that
The pretty shooting happened and so I woke up and that I was like up
I'll kind of follow along because I follow a bunch of motorsports people who are trying to make blue sky into like
2019 Twitter, which I appreciate like it should there should be space for like fun and sports and enjoyable like levity
But I got distracted and then I spent the rest of the day kind of like feeling my blood bubble inside my veins
I didn't really pay super close attention to it. That was me yesterday
for me for me that the race was was a way to hide from
From from that other stuff. I didn't even know about it until later. I
Yeah, I
God, I wish that had been me. Yeah. No, it's it's it's I mean, that's like the great thing about it a 24-hour race
especially it's just like you just you just immerse yourself in it and and just
The the outside world. Yeah, it's like a way to hide
Yeah, I
Tend from the horror in like 22 and it was right before they passed on the worst like bathroom
Law stuff. Yeah, and now I'm kind of like, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to go again because it's a little dodgy
Yeah, Florida scares me. I don't yeah, not as bad as Kansas right now, but it still scares me
Can't they didn't pass that yet though, right? I fear I worry. I don't know
I don't know if we're get I don't know if we're getting back on the ledge from that one. I get a little nervous
When it's when it's floating around I get worried, but nothing but people white guys keep telling me nothing ever happens, so
It's happening now, baby
A couple of weeks for the nothing ever happens guys. Yeah, it's all happening. Um, Vicki you had mentioned
You had talked about something with your friend Jordan. Where was that?
What was that? What venue on what venue did you speak with your friend Jordan about Daytona?
What was this about? Can you tell us we we have been talking about doing this for three years and we finally launched a podcast
It is called Tran girlies mo
You heard here on tired folks
That is outstanding. Um, yeah, which you know not if she
She and her wife own like a Nissan Sentra
I
Don't own a car because I had my Honda Accord stolen a year and a half ago. So it's kind of like a
You know everything kind of it's not really like the kind of like
Escapism that I think people necessarily would expect from like an automotive podcast because there is no escape
That's what we said last episode. You know, it's funny. Yeah
Yeah, somebody said the exact same thing on this podcast a week ago. Yeah
Well, yeah, so like we're you know one of the one of the things we're doing and I don't know when what day you'll have this out
So people if our next episode one of the things that we have planned is we're gonna go through the F1 calendar and we're gonna we're gonna
rank every country by how
How much they would kill us to visit
Yeah
Florida notably is high up on that list
Yeah, so but we we finally decided to start that so we we have one episode out it's on
Everywhere there's podcasts. There's a 1.3 gigabyte wave because it turns out patreon doesn't
Compress your files if you host with them. You have to do it for yourself first
So I'm gonna plug that into your podcast app. Go for it. Yeah, the second episode will be smaller. I promise
Yeah, I have to merge all of our stuff together. And so like by the time I export to like a 256k ps mp3
I'm just like that's portable baby. You can chuck that on you can throw that on your little floppy and carry it around
Easy
It's fun though. Yeah, thank you for having me I
People were excited about us doing a podcast and I was surprised because I was like I don't I
The last article I wrote was a story for my patreon where I talked about
I basically did the
William Sonoma catalog
Haters William Sonoma. Yeah, but for Rolls Royce's bespoke 2025 highlights
So for you my gosh, I'll link that in the description for everybody. Did they do some bad stuff? I can't imagine
I mean usually that's just such a
such a showcase of
discernment and taste
My favorite was the the I think it was a specter the the get specter black badge gamer edition
Oh
Yes
That's a you know that there is like
There's a horseshoe theory there where it's like on one side is like the highest end
Bespoke craftsmanship from the Old World and on the other end is
West Coast customs from the pit my ride era and it's like
Like if you go far enough in either direction you end up in the same spot
that's the real boomerang theory is
West Coast customs and they're in the crew of people I
Haven't seen the gamer one, but I have to imagine that's probably pretty close to the the west coast side
Yeah, well it looks because they they can't use like licensed IP
So it just looks like one of those plug-and-play units you would you know stick into your TV with the red yellow white cables and you were like
Oh, yeah, it was when I was like ten years old. It's probably the same for you. Yeah
I'm just picturing like what would be the like the starlight
roof, you know, oh, it's a knockoff space invaders
That's exactly what I was imagining
Composite cable input you've got your discount space invaders
I'm sure West Coast customs would be very happy to infringe on the IP for Mario or Sonic or whoever
I remember I love that show when I was a kid because I mean come on. It was awesome. I'm sorry
Yeah, I'm reclaiming that that's actually not cringe. It's cool as fuck
The they did cars or they would just install like a PlayStation and it was like yeah, of course
Yeah, it's like that's that's cool. At least you can actually play video games in it
You can't play video games in this Rolls Royce. Yeah, and it was probably $500,000
Playing Xeno gears in my Toyota Corolla for fun for love of the game
That's also like the the gamer Rolls Royce thing strikes me as something that like
Your grandmother would get for you knowing you're into games and it's like, you know, it's like
We got to find something for Rory. What's he like video games?
Like let's get him a video game Rolls Royce and then I get it and I'm like
This isn't any of the games that I like. This isn't any of this shit that I like
I wanted the Bentley. This is like it's like
I appreciate the thought but really this is not
Not appropriate. I would have a controller or a chair or other game a kutramat would make more sense than
Yeah, I know.
Rolls Royce.
Grandma gets you a shovelware game from the GameStop in the Wii collection
It kind of looks like it has a farm on it because she saw you play Harvest Moon once when you were 10
And you were like, this is a great game grandma
She gets you like third string discount farmville made by like triple shovelware incorporated
Yes, exactly
Um, yeah, I did have we we did actually mention you, uh, Rory in the first episode of our show. Okay
The fear in Rory's eye
No, we we
We referenced the um
The Bugatti review that you did towards the end. Oh, yeah
Yeah, we were like, yeah, this is that's that's the tone we're going for which is just like oh, that's very nice
This is yeah, it's a great story. I went back and re I linked it in our show notes
I went back and reread the whole thing and I was like, yeah, this is this is actually it actually hits better now
Then it even did a couple years ago because a couple of years ago
I think you were able to like I at least was like, well
Maybe everything else will be okay. And you know, like we hadn't fully given up on consequences for people. Yeah. Yeah
Um, and now we're eating it. It's like, wow, this is the Babe Ruth pointing at the fence. Just fuck. It's
lambing it
Was that uh, what was that? I don't know. I don't know if I if I I believe I believe Jordan called it like a suicide note for a career
Yeah
Well, uh speaking of predictions that ended up coming true
That was said glowingly to be clear. Yeah
um
Yeah, it uh
I got I got a lot of uh good engagement on that one. I would say um
But uh, people were mad about it. Yeah, I did the same thing like last year when I quit my job
I was like I for me it was um
For me it was the the as I called it in the article the large luxury suv because I really liked the pr person a lot
On like a personal level and didn't want to get them in trouble
um
So I didn't mention specifically what it was, but I did go on a like 2500 word diatribe about uh wealthy excess
I think that's the thing, right? It's like either you either you die
Burnt out on how absolutely comedically ridiculous the excesses of modern car culture are
Or you become the person who complains about where they put you in the hotel on the press line from the press drive
This is the only it's like the it's like the
Illustration like this caviar is fucking mid
Yes, I mean we we've all heard that uh that that complaint before I I do like
I do have to say I really admire like the people who like
And I don't know if I mean like admire but like it is an incredible
Skill I think the people who are like able to like
Push all of the context out and they're like I'm evaluating this as a mechanical
device and like I am like
um appreciating it
devoid of the larger context it's like whereas like I
Am the way that I am and I think probably all of us are the way that we are because
Yeah, we immediately have to analyze every aspect of it and it makes every single part of our lives
It's impossible to to divorce it from the larger
Sociological context, you know, I mean, but it's it's like it's it's like that with everything with us and I think yeah
Yeah, it's like we're sickos in every aspect of our lives. Yeah, it's like a recipe for making yourself insane
Because it's like you can't look at any
Thing and divorce it from its larger
Context which is like
I don't I mean, I don't I can't see that's good or bad because that's just how I am and I think like that's just how
we all are but
Man, it would be really nice to just get in a car and be like this fucking rocks
Or like this or whatever
I think it used to be easier though is the thing for like everybody. I mean like certainly for me
But I feel like it used to be easier for everybody to divorce
Sort of the things they enjoyed from the material conditions
sort of overwhelmingly
At least for people like for people in the automotive hobby
It used to be much more of like a middle-class thing and there used to be more of a middle class and there was like a lot
That's that's the thing is yeah. No, I think I think it's entirely down to just the
uh
The disparity, you know and and the the inequity of just like reaching such comical proportions that you no longer can
kind of play a lot. I mean there is
You know, I mean fucking when I was a kid
You know like 50 years ago, uh, or go back further in in in uh
Time to like, you know mid 20th century times or whatever when like fucking baseball players
um
You know had fucking part-time jobs in the off season, you know
I mean like yeah, like you could be like like just the distance between the richest fucking guy between a ceo
um
Of a company and the the uh, and the guys on the assembly line
um, there was still like
You know that was still a big a big gap
Um, but it wasn't as unfathomably big as it is now and that's the thing
It's like when that gap went when when it's just like when you can kind of just go okay. Well, yeah, you know that guy's fucking
Got 10 times as much money as me and and whatever, you know
um
That's just how it is. I feel like that's a lot easier to process than it's like
Oh, this guy has like fucking 10 million times more money than you know, you know, it's like billionaire culture like like the the um
Yeah, just the the math of of that and and and that's what what uh, you know as as
Everybody else is just like as they're you know, the material conditions worsen and their
situations of precarity
Worse and it makes that that gulf
That much more difficult to to ignore or wish away. Yeah, we've gone from like boss makes a dollar
I make a dime to like boss makes a dollar and I am making 0.003 cents every hour if I'm careful
Yeah, no literally. Yeah. Well, and then I think part of it too is there's a growing reliance on like the top 10% of Americans
There's to fuel the rest of the economy. Yeah
And so everybody is you know, you see this like every single place that there is any kind of
ability to sell a premium product like we I
In my city, we just they just shut down the affordable grocery store and they're like, oh, there's like a
Yeah, I'm furious because it was part of the reason that I moved to where I moved
And they're like, yeah, there's a bunch of premium stuff near you because that you can make bigger margin on it
It's the same thing with like disney doing the uh, big star wars lifestyle adventure thing where it's thousands of dollars to go to the hotel
I you know, I there was a big jenny nickelson video on that
And it was it's there. It's the same thing with uh, these high-end one-offs the the rolls Royce
You know gamer edition and all these bespoke commissions
It's like it's much more profitable to chase after
This shrinking proportion of dollars concentrated at a very high end of the economy than it is to go after sort of mass market
Income because nobody has any fucking money below that upper 10%
And so I think that that's worsening things for like the car industry especially because like the average car costs $50,000 now
you know, which is just like
I I nope, you know, I I'm obviously like I'm not super well off and like a lot of my friends are not super well off
But I worked in tech. I know people who have money and I don't I know like three people who have bought new cars
In the past five years
That is the shocking thing for me is it's like I
certainly like, you know
Have people who are who are
Who I would consider to be like very very successful and they're shut out of the economy and it's like that is like, um
That is a different
Thing that's a different thing than I've experienced before and I think like
The idea that like
You know, the kind of assumed position of of all of industry every business in the country now is it's like, okay, there's like
80% of people can afford
To have Netflix and hulu, but they are not car buyers
Uh, they're not home buyers. They're like it's like they're serfs
like
That to me and I think that's that's right
I think the the other thing and I think the the thing that really colored this begotti thing for me is it's like, um
Uh, you know the climate stuff, which is obviously just like something we just kind of gave up on
Yeah, but there are all these like, uh, big
Kind of catastrophic things that like everyone
is more or less
I think even the people who for political reasons
are
You know, whatever anti climate sense whatever however you would want to describe that or whatever, but it's like
Um, even those people sense the looming catastrophe
Whether they want to to speak it allowed or not
But it is like, um
Since this this begotti thing, I think I wrote in 2022 and like into now it's like this
um
The like the sense of having given up in the sense of
Like well fuck it. We're beyond the point in our return like we're just gonna try to
Exist for as long as we're able to exist and like that's like like no no
Kind of cultural force whatsoever is like
is
Pushing
Anything that resembles a positive vision. Yeah, we're like articulating it in any way. There's there's literally
no
quarter
In all of culture that is articulating
A positive vision of the future. No, no nothing in culture. Nothing in politics. Nothing in the world
Uh, is in the west in the west. Yeah, certainly in china
China they're living it, baby. Like yeah, like there's uh, yeah, but uh
President should get cool about trans people real fast. I'm begging everyone, but they're
They're like, uh, they're stewing in it. They're stewing
They're stewing in the positive vision of the future, but but for us it's like, um
Yeah, it's a it's a very
weird
Weird sensation
But it's also like very hard to juxtapose against like how good the fucking cheeron is
Yeah
Well, and I think I mean
I mean, I think this is part of like the core for me is like I
I've been pretty open about the fact that I'm not the mentally healthiest person in the world
Um, I think that like, you know, maybe second most
Yeah
second or third
But and so like I think part of how that manifests for me is like, you know, I struggle to resolve
Contradiction
and like an emotional level
And so for me, like I think my breaking point probably comes a little bit sooner than a lot of other people's as far as like when that
Contradiction becomes so intolerable that I can no longer live in sort of the dual realities
and the auto industry is still
like
By nature it has to chug along with like everything is fine. This is normal
There there cannot be any disruption to the system because then how would you plan to make cars?
This is we're on life cycles longer than a presidential election
You can't say that like every presidential election is going to fundamentally change the economy or like the future
Or that, you know, we're going to have to just stop
Having, you know combustion cars one day because we're going to flood miami or you can't you can't acknowledge any of these things
um
And so for me like I think part of the reason that you know
I stopped working in the industry was because I was like, okay. On one hand, um, you know, I'm terrified to go to florida
I am terrified of like what the next year is going to bring which
After the inauguration last year that probably was a correct decision. Um
And on the other hand, I'm driving this hundred thousand dollar suv base price that you know is for people who I've never even met
Who I don't even know because like it's this weird nuvo reach
uh
Class of people that I have literally nothing in common with and I have to try to simulate their headspace as I'm trying to review
This car and like live in live in a world where like this hotel is not a disgusting indictment of like, um, you know
The excesses that are going to kill my wife and I but instead are like, you know
Just a normal part of life and resolving those two became impossible for me. Um
And I think that people I think the other thing that I'm seeing is that like other people
Who are much mentally healthier than I am are now reaching the same point
Because the contradictions are just too great. That's right. I mean, that's the thing is that that is not a failure on your part
like
I mean, I'm sure you know that but it's like it does need to be said. It's like that is not a sign of of, uh,
um
You know weakness or or whatever. It's I mean, it really is just that thing of like, um
Yeah, in a in a in a world that is
Fucking insane. Um, you know, if you are if you can somehow, um,
You know, uh
Just like be comfortable in that it's like you are the fucking crazy. Well, that is the crazy person
The person who who cannot fucking who is losing their mind because they cannot fucking tolerate the
You know what they're seeing around them. That is a mentally healthy response. I mean, I will forever insist upon
There was a there was a guy and I forget who it was but he was wrote something a long time ago about like, uh
The contradictions in here in the system getting heightened
Like
They're getting heightened man. They're like they're coming up. They're like, uh, but like the
the
I think that the normie kind of response and like the last six months even like
You know, I've had like conversations with
You know people who I know who like voted for trump or whatever and they're like, oh, we just don't watch the news anymore
We just we're not engaged and it's like
Oh, what why would that be? Like I is this like starting to make you feel uncomfortable. Like is this like
You know what I mean? Like is this situation starting to feel a little icky to you? Um
but it's like
It is all part two of like
I don't like
Whatever you want to call it, but it's like this is all part of a process and it's like
A process that like I think all of us would have said like is kind of inevitable like it's part of like the
March and transition or whatever
um, and I think like
This is just what it looks like. I didn't expect it to look like this
I don't know what I expected it to look like but it's like this is kind of it like this is kind of or it or it's um
Uh revelations. I was telling pita
Like yeah, this is like a lot of this is like a biblically accurate revelations prophecies stuff, but um
If I knew the way I guess for me
Uh, rory, you should tell your trump voter friends that if they wanted mass deportations
They didn't have to look at they should have just voted for a democrat
Right. I know they were doing it anyway. They they love it. Obama was doing what you want guys
Just vote for it. Do you should have just voted for kamala and you would have had deportations
You don't have to look at it's fine. Yeah, come on. Yeah, but I like
I um
Yeah, I
I think that the other thing too and this is like a more technical thing
vicky the the thing that you like
Just mentioned about like the people whose headspace i'm supposed to be inhabiting like I know
Old money people. I know people who have money and who have always had money
I know people who are like social strivers who like in the last generation or two got money. I do not know
the
Class of dum-dums who somehow make three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year
live in mac mansions and drive
150,000 suvs every everywhere. I do not know any of these people and it's like
I the town that I live in is full of them like there are a lot of these people
I don't have interactions with them. I don't know what their lifestyle. I don't know how they make their money
I don't know where they work
Clearly like if they live here and have that much money, they're not
Working in any meaningful way or they're working like a remote sales job or something
But that to me is baffling like I do not know those people and I do not know
By by extension that like I do not know the type of person who is kind of propping up the economy now
Do you know what i'm saying? Yes
It's like that was on a very realistic level that was part of why I was
Struggling to write new car reviews for so long is because I was like I I literally
I know people who work in tech and like I either know people who have enough money that they drive
Whatever they want, you know, like I one of the one of the only people I know who's bought a new car
I he pre-ordered a glickenhouse
Because he's got that kind of money. Yeah, I know which is cool. That's like that's a cool one to like
Decided to pre-order but like either you have that kind of like insane money where it's like, yeah, I know those people
Yeah
Yeah, I mean like you just meet them if you're in the car world and they're that they're going to buy the stuff that's like
Of you're not waiting for a car review to drop for the glickenhouse. You're like, no, I I you know
This is crazy and I kind of I'm like this is because my thing. This is my vibe. I already know all about it
Um, or I know people who drive like three-year-old Honda Accords
And they're like software engineers or whatever, right? And like that's the smart thing to do and it's like, yeah
You should do that and if everybody else I'm like buy a 10-year-old Honda fit
Yeah
I mean
Although my in my latest obsession is like if I get if I podcast as well because I haven't had a job in like a year
I unfortunately quit my job writing about cars and was like, I'm just going to go get a job
Making coffee or whatever and then amazon fired everybody and the tariffs hit the auto industry
And so the entire local economy of Seattle was wiped out in a tsunami of like joblessness. Yep
Um, like I think the last numbers I saw was that like roughly a six of the city limits are like looking for a job
So cool. Jesus. So normal and cool
Yeah, so I'm sure I'm sure the rents have have
Come dead like dramatically reflecting that right? Yeah. Yes. Yeah
It's not like my wife and I had to move across town last year at the same time my mom died because uh, we couldn't afford our
Shit whole apartment that was falling apart in full of black mold. Anyway, um, I sympathize
I am unemployed and podcasting from the guest room at my mother's house and in a week
I start at the tech adult ed. So I'm with you
Yeah, yeah, well, that's the thing is like so I haven't you know, I
If if our pod does well and I can get a car again, I'm aiming for uh, $3,000 Jeep Cherokee X
I'm excited. That is the bomb for all of my problems. Um, but that's I mean, that's the thing right is like I
I think
I
Used cars as escapism until they just reflected the world around me and that's kind of like what Jordan and I are talking about
I think trans people probably see this kind of thing
first or not first but like
On the earlier side of things because obviously like anybody marginalized is going to be feeling the effects of being marginalized
rapidly but like
You know when you look at like a an industry event or whatever and you're like, why is it all like, you know
45 year old came from decent money like
straight
White people it's probably because like they're the only ones who still have the ability to insulate themselves enough from the effects of
The present day to be able to
Effectively write like, you know a new Lexus SUV is going to be like a life-changing proposition
Yeah, or even pretend that they give a shit about the like I hope your car sucks
If you are spending $150,000 on a hybrid SUV, I hope it sucks
What you deserve
Hey there tired pod listener. Oh, it's your producer pal matty. You know what that means
We haven't done this in a while part two of our convo with victoria scott is over on our patreon
So if you're hearing this on the free feed, you're not going to get that one
You're going to get a teaser for it. You're going to hear me again
So if you want to hear the second half of our convo with vicki
We got a whole hour talking to her about colombo and planes and the general market forces
We were talking about with car culture and how they're part of larger problems
Rory further articulates his theory of optimization lots of good stuff
So come on over patreon.com slash tired pod. We only have the one key or it's five bucks a month
You get all of our back episodes you get all of our future patreon episodes as long as your description is current
You get to add to the pool of funds doing funny psychic damage to me
um
Yeah, especially if you're new if you're here just to hear vicki
We hope that you will investigate the pod further. You may like our bonus bits episodes
And then I have recommendations for you on our youtube playlist
So lots of places to jump in with tired if you're a new listener. Thank you so much
um
And thank you again to vicki for coming on the show. Uh, I hope all of our subscribers have already uh clicked next and are
Yeah, okay maddie. Give me the episode. Um, that's fine. Thank you all. I hope you all enjoy episode bonus seven
Welcome aboard to anyone who's just uh, just tuning in. Uh, thank you so much for listening to the show
We always have a good time. Uh, we are always like this. Um 100 so
Look forward to that
About this episode
Caffeine rituals and health updates kick off a lively discussion before diving into the excitement of the recent Daytona race. Rory shares his experiences from the event, including encounters with racing legends and the vibrant atmosphere that made it the biggest crowd in IMSA history. The hosts explore the cultural invisibility of IMSA despite its growing popularity, contrasting it with the mainstream appeal of F1. Personal anecdotes about family activities and humorous moments add a light-hearted touch, making for an engaging conversation about cars and life.
Original notes
SHE'S BACK. Your usual hosts do some Daytona catch-up before welcoming back Victoria Scott to talk about her new podcast Tran Girlismo, U.S. American precarity, and the sensation that your automotive journalism career is a grenade & it's time to pull that pin. The rest of our conversation with Victoria is an HOUR LONG and it is PATREON ONLY!
Tran Girlismo on Victoria's Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1970867?view=condensed
Victoria's Piece on the Rolls-Royce:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/alright-which-147840663
Victoria's Piece on The Luxury SUV:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/125140835
Rory's Bugatti Piece from 2022:
https://www.jalopnik.com/i-drove-a-4m-2022-bugatti-chiron-pur-sport-and-i-dont-1846945591/
Don't forget to keep up with Alloy, where you can read Peter's Daytona recap here:
https://alloymag.com/5521-2/
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