IMSA, NASCAR, RX-7s, and Berettas with Tommy Kendall
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Term
NASCAR
NASCAR is a type of car racing that happens on tracks, usually in a circle. The cars used are specially made to look like regular cars but are much faster and more powerful.
Company
Bring a Trailer
Bring a Trailer is a website where people can buy and sell special cars, especially older or unique ones. It works like an auction where you can bid on cars you like.
Term
lemon's car
A 'lemon's car' is a cheap car used in a fun racing series called 24 Hours of LeMons. The goal is to race cars that are not very valuable, making it a lighthearted event.
Car
Ford LTD
The Ford LTD is a large car that was popular in the past. It was known for being comfortable and having a lot of space inside.
Car
Ford Country Squire
The Ford Country Squire is a large family car that looks like a wagon. It was famous for its wood-like panels on the sides.
Part
Paxton Supercharger
A Paxton Supercharger is a device that helps an engine produce more power by pushing in extra air. This extra air allows the engine to burn more fuel, making it stronger and faster.
Car
Datsun 240Z
The Datsun 240Z is a classic sports car made by Nissan. It was popular for its stylish look and good performance, and many people love to restore and drive them today.
Company
Bob Smith Porsche
Bob Smith Porsche is a dealership that sells Porsche cars. It's known for selling to famous people and car enthusiasts.
Car
Supercharged 1956 Ford Country Squire Wagon
Featured on Bring a Trailer: Supercharged 1956 Ford Country Squire Wagon
Concept
IMSA race
IMSA is a group that runs car races, especially for sports cars. These races are exciting and have different types of cars competing against each other.
Concept
Top Fuel cars
Top Fuel cars are super-fast racing cars used in drag racing. They can go from zero to very high speeds in just a few seconds, thanks to their powerful engines that run on a special fuel called nitromethane.
Car
Porsche RSR
The Porsche RSR is a race car version of the Porsche 911. It's built to be faster and more powerful for racing events.
Term
Ren Sport
Ren Sport is an event where Porsche fans and racers meet to show off their cars and celebrate Porsche racing history.
Car
BMW M1 Procar
The BMW M1 Procar is a special racing car based on the BMW M1. It was made for racing competitions and is known for being fast and lightweight.
Car
Porsche 935
The Porsche 935 is a special race car that was built to compete in racing events. It has a unique design and a very powerful engine, which helped it win many races during its time.
Company
Jim Russell School
The Jim Russell School is a place where people can learn how to drive race cars. They teach students how to race safely and effectively.
Concept
Open Wheel cars
Open wheel cars are race cars where the wheels are not covered by the body of the car. This design helps them go faster and handle better on the track.
Car
Mazda Rx7
The Mazda RX-7 is a sports car that uses a special type of engine called a rotary engine. It's known for being light and fun to drive, making it popular with car fans.
Concept
Playboy endurance series
The Playboy Endurance Series was a type of car racing where teams raced for long periods of time, often taking turns driving. It was about endurance, meaning the cars and drivers had to last through the race.
Car
Nissan 300ZX Turbo
The Nissan 300ZX Turbo is a fast sports car from the 1980s that was designed for performance. It has a turbocharger, which helps the engine produce more power.
Car
Porsche 718 Cayman GT4
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 is a sporty car that is built for people who love to drive fast and enjoy the thrill of racing. It has a strong engine and special features that help it handle well on the road or track.
Term
brakes
Brakes are the parts of a car that help it slow down or stop. Keeping them in good condition is very important for safe driving.
Brand
Nissan
Nissan is a car company from Japan that makes many types of vehicles, including popular models like the Altima and the Z.
Brand
Chevy
Chevy is a popular American car brand that makes many vehicles, including the well-known Silverado truck and Corvette sports car.
Concept
Formula 1
Formula 1 is a top-level car racing series where the fastest cars compete in races around the world, like the famous Monaco Grand Prix.
Term
brake pads
Brake pads are parts of the brakes that press against the wheels to help stop the car. They wear out and need to be changed regularly to keep the brakes working well.
Term
brake fluid
Brake fluid is the liquid that helps your brakes work. When you press the brake pedal, the fluid moves and makes the car stop. It's important to keep it at the right level and change it when needed.
Concept
Trans Am
The Trans Am is a special version of a Pontiac car that was built for speed and performance. It became very popular in the 70s and 80s, especially in racing.
Car
Pontiac GTO
The Pontiac GTO is a classic American car that was one of the first to be called a muscle car, meaning it was built for speed and power. It became very popular in the 1960s because of its strong engine and cool design.
Car
1985 Mazda RX-7 Group B Rally Car
Featured on Bring a Trailer: 1985 Mazda RX-7 Group B Rally Car
Car
Renault Talisman
The Renault Talisman is a family car made by the French company Renault. It’s designed to be comfortable and has a lot of modern technology to make driving easier and more enjoyable.
Term
13B
The 13B is a type of engine made by Mazda that uses a different design than traditional engines. It's small but powerful, making it popular in sports cars.
Term
fuel injection
Fuel injection is a way to get fuel into an engine. It helps the engine run better and use fuel more efficiently than older systems called carburetors.
Car
Koenigsegg CCR
The Koenigsegg CCR is an extremely fast and expensive car made in Sweden. It's built for speed and is known for being one of the fastest cars you can buy, with lots of advanced technology.
Car
1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo IMSA GTO Race Car
Featured on Bring a Trailer: 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo IMSA GTO Race Car
Car
Chevrolet Beretta
The Chevrolet Beretta is a small car that was made to be affordable and fun to drive. It has a sporty look and was popular with younger drivers back in the day.
Car
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that many people recognize because of its unique shape and great performance. It's been around for a long time and is loved for being both fun to drive and comfortable enough for daily use.
Car
Mercury Cougars
The Mercury Cougar is a type of car that was made to be a fancier version of the Ford Mustang, with a stylish look and good performance. It was popular for many years and is remembered for being a fun car to drive.
Car
Ford Mustangs
Car
Cadillac Fleetwood
The Cadillac Fleetwood is a big, fancy car that was made to be very comfortable and luxurious. It’s known for having lots of space inside and nice features, making it a popular choice for people who want a stylish ride.
Car
No Reserve: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
Featured on Bring a Trailer: No Reserve: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
Car
Original-Owner 1992 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series Limousine
Featured on Bring a Trailer: Original-Owner 1992 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series Limousine
Car
Acura ARX-05 DPi Race Car
Featured on Bring a Trailer: Acura ARX-05 DPi Race Car
LIVE
the bring a trailer
podcast hello everybody and welcome back
to the bring a trailer podcast Alex
Porter here coming to you from bring a
trailer headquarters in San Francisco
and I am very excited to say that today
I am joined by Tommy Kendall racing
driver racing icon imsa and TransAm
Champion uh NASCAR driver TV commentator
man of many tastes we were talking
architecture before we started recording
Tommy thank you for being here well
thank you it's an honor uh as a as one
of the many bring a trailer addicts uh
you know I I go a good ways back with
the site and even before that uh when it
wasn't an actual auction site so honored
to be part of it oh man I I I actually
hadn't intended to start with this but
since you took us there I was looking at
your account spying on you a little bit
your account goes back at least eight
years but you were on it in the
pre-auction days is that right
yeah a good friend of mine Martin laber
in the Bay Area oh yeah we know Martin y
yeah he's actually a fraternity brother
of my little brothers he came to watch
me race at Sears point when I drove the
Mellow Yellow car in
1991 they had driven someone's dad's
rollsroyce up from UCLA to go to the
Nascar race anyways Martin turned me on
to to bring a trailer used to send me
little links about you know what it was
which was looking for ads for cars for
sale and so I've been familiar from the
get-go and have watched it uh and have
been hooked have had to unsubscribe to
the email because it keeps me from
getting things done and and so forth oh
man well we appreciate that Martin's got
some cool uh race cars these days you
ever drive any of his cars have you
vintage raced at all uh you know what
it's funny I don't know the only thing
he's ever invited me to drive was his
lemon's car so I don't know what that
says he's keeping you out of the good
stuff
huh that's great that's fantastic
well I actually would love to dive into
some of the uh interesting cars that
you've bid on and won you've also got a
comment with a huge number of thumbs up
on it that I'd like to talk about but
before we do that let's let's dive into
your early history if you don't mind I
know that you uh come from a car family
and you're a SoCal kid how does H how
does it all start you're the son of a of
another racer isn't that correct yes uh
my dad uh rip passed away earlier this
year after a very very good run but he
was a car guy with no money you know
when he was younger and so when things
started going better business-wise for
him he always had some cars even when he
didn't have money we had a we had a
speedboat that he built with help some
from some friends and but when you're a
kid you don't really even know what
money is but I just noticed when the
cars changed and you know for the
longest time he drove an LTD and my mom
drove a Country Squire wagon which I
follow everyone that comes on bring a
trailer and I'm not alone they go for
pretty good money oh we've had some good
country Squires recently did you see the
uh the one with the Paxton Supercharger
on it was a 56 or a 57 I think I did not
see that one oh man I'm going to send
had the for Speed was was
the yeah yeah yeah so that was the the
thing and then uh you know he he built a
building was in the real estate business
he built a building I think it was
Dotson's first Warehouse in America and
so he got a 240Z when they came out and
that was the first new car and the first
thing the least bit exciting and it and
it kind of went from there so he got the
bug I was so I guess I was only six when
that happened but you know memories of
scouring the LA Times classifi on Sunday
and and going to look at some cars and
so forth buying a few of them and then
just eventually going he he got the Bug
hard and and fortunately for him he he
really hit it uh business-wise and so he
he was on a buying frenzy for a while
before there was a lot of you know you
you didn't know what everyone was doing
in the world like you do now and uh so
our neighbor was a guy named Pete Smith
who's uh whose family was in the carbiz
and he ran Bob Smith Porsche AI in North
Hollywood oh yeah and sold cars to
Newman uh Redford McQueen and basically
he had a son my age so at the Little
League games he was always showing up
literally a different car every game and
he started blowing in my dad's ear about
stuff and my dad was pretty Frugal and
he he wouldn't buy anything new and so
he talked to him and his first Porsche
was a 74 Carrera one of his customers
was upgrading to a turbo in 76 and my
dad bought his Carrera and it it went
from there and uh so just so many great
memories of of all of that looking for
cars you know getting the nod from my
dad since I'm one of four boys you know
we did a lot of stuff with my dad but
every once in a while you get the solo
call and I remember one of the great
ones was hey let's go shooting up
Angeles Crest because we lived at the
bottom of Angeles Crest Highway and
we're going to take the Porsche put a
couple guns in the in the trunk the
front trunk drive up the crest and do
some target shooting and uh so it was uh
you know so I could still click into six
seven eight-year-old TK before I had my
career in racing and so forth and I
still kind of feel like the same kid but
obviously uh you know had a had a great
run in the biz as well what an amazing
time to be in SoCal like a great car
culture time to be in Southern
California were you guys going to to
races up at Willow or were you going to
Motorsport events or or even just car
events around the Los Angeles area you
know at first it's funny you know
because to try to remind people what it
was like without internet and cable TV
you had magazines and three TV channels
and so I didn't really know anything
about car racing I got into dirt bikes
you know we used to go water skiing so
it was boats and dirt bikes at first
we'd go to Indian dunes and then when my
dad started getting into the car stuff
via Pete um eventually it turned to
racing and I went to my first car race
so we didn't do a lot of race stuff uh
remember once vaguely going to Ontario
and seeing a bike race way back um I was
really young so barely remember it and
so the first entree Was 1980 Pete
convinced my dad to buy a race car my
dad's like what what am I gonna do with
a race car now I know how it works
everyone's always trying to hustle and
get in the seats and he's like well you
can go to bond Durant and I'll drive it
in the meantime yeah everyone always
wants you to buy it but then they're
going to drive it it's always somebody
else's race car is always the best one
to have well thank God it happened
because if that conversation doesn't
happen Pete doesn't convince my dad my
dad doesn't go to Baron buy the car
anyways we go to Sears Point 1980 Summer
of 80 and I go to my first imsa race and
my entire world and life changed that
day because that's all I could think
about from that point on and uh you
still you know you had to kind of work
to find information whether it was
magazines or books and stuff like that
and my dad saw the look in my eyes and
said you know this is not something you
can do for a living this is for fun and
so you know your deal is if you get good
grades we'll get a go-kart keep getting
good grades you can go to racing school
and it went from there so that was
actually probably the only thing that
could have gotten me to focus on school
and it did and so I was able to fulfill
the sponsorship requirement and uh and
we got going and then even with that you
know to to thread the needle and
actually turn it into a career is is
against the odds but you know you know
as you said the rich Super Rich time of
uh it was it was it was Loosely
organized again because you didn't have
this network effect of everyone knowing
what everyone's doing and so it was it
was a much slower pace so it was you
know you'd go to the drags maybe but it
was it was a little bit you know Bob's
Big Boy you'd see some cars it just sort
of organic really what was going on did
you go to Pomona did you ever go to
Pomona in the in the 80s I did not go
until I was racing I did not go until
was racing and uh I remember my first
time seeing a Nitro car
it's yeah totally I remember I'm trying
to get more of my young more of my young
colleagues to go see that because you
know it's Earth shattering when you see
you know two Top Fuel cars or two nitro
cars leave the leave the line and you're
close to them yeah you can I mean you
you can have zero interest in racing or
cars really and you need to see a Nitro
car run once 100% did so was your dad
sponsoring you in carts or he was racing
himself too or both both he was getting
he you know he got started late but he
got the bug pretty hard and so you know
he he bought this an rsr and they you
know he got his license pretty quickly
and with his first race car that's a
pretty serious way to start out yeah
well I mean again he didn't know any
better and so he and Pete said and Pete
didn't steer him too wrong on everything
that he told him to buy was was a choice
car that you wanted
I wish he still had all of them
or do you know what happened to that car
do you have you followed that that rsr
um I think a guy named Jeff Lewis owns
it because it was a it was a it was a
factory rsr and it won the GT the M GTO
title in 70 N I think with Howard
Meister so it was painted in those
andile colors yeah and and so it was a
pedigreed car and so my dad sold it to a
guy who had it for quite a few years and
Jeff Lewis bought it and put it back
into Howard Meister Championship Livery
and uh and so yeah so that car I saw it
at Ren sport uh the ren sport before
this one amazing is he M was he mainly a
Porsche racer did he race other other
things too any dodson's any Dodson race
cars uh well not that he drove um he was
mostly Porsches you know uh I mean he
had crazy stuff he had the rsr then he
bought an M1 Pro car and then um and to
form he always kind of bought stuff when
everyone was going to the newer stuff so
it was on sale I want to say he paid 50
grand for the rsr perfect time to buy
these things you know right like when
everyone wants the new thing and I no
wonder you wish he still had he still
had them as a young guy he used to make
you know I was always into the whatever
was the latest and reading on track and
auto week and said dad what about this
and he's like yeah yeah and I think he
realized for the amount extra it would
cost and he was really pretty in
experience he says the difference for me
Isn't that big a deal and so um he
always kind of bought similar to how he
bought that first Carrera he'd buy and
so he bought a 935 when everybody was
going to the
prototypes and and so everything was
sort of super on sale and then he kept
all that stuff for a good while and he
didn't make like he if he' kept in a day
but he he said later he says I I
basically made back all the money I
spent racing by holding on to those cars
that I bought at the bottom and because
he had good advice on what to buy he
bought great stuff he just kind of had
this sense about he didn't move too
quickly on stuff and and that came
probably from Real Estate it came
probably from growing up with no money
he had to really you know make things
make sense and uh and so uh yeah I mean
we could talk about him for the whole
episode totally well those are probably
great lessons for you as a young man
right to watch somebody doing working
that way it was you know and uh one of
the cool things about my dad is winding
back a little bit he was he played Pro
he played football at UCLA um in an
unlikely situation walked on fifth
string tailback ended up starting didn't
get drafted walked on for the Houston
Oilers made the team just incredible
discipline and hard work and effort and
so then got into real estate and had
some really hard times early on but just
kept at it and kind of basically hit it
out of the park eventually and so but as
a competitive athlete I realized when he
passed it hadn't ever really hit me he
never ever pushed us he taught us how to
compete by the way he lived but he never
he never got upset at a little leag game
he always tried to talk us out of things
he's like are you doing this because of
me he literally never pushed us to do
anything but he set an example of how to
compete and he was just super focused
super disciplined and uh it's a rare
combination because Mo he basically got
to achieve his dreams in sports and he
wasn't trying to live through us at all
so I didn't fully grasp how special and
rare that was until he' passed
completely most of it I had but not the
final little piece man what a father
what a what a way to grow up I mean it
shapes you as a person and and then he's
also like you said supporting you in
your early racing at the same time is
that right carding to start with yeah
was carting first and then so I got a
late start by carting standards I didn't
cart until I was 15 but then because he
was into the cars I actually got it at
cars early back then you couldn't even
get an Seca license until you're 18 I
found a loophole that the Jim Russell
School series if you'd been through
their school you could race in their
school Series so I I was already into a
car by the time I was 17 and was Jim
Russell Open Wheel cars back in the in
the 80s too yes that was right when they
switched from for the forge to the Mazda
powered CS got oh okay cool all right
and so I did the Mazda and the Mazda Pro
Series that was some of the first stuff
I did before I turned
18 um you mentioned the doson and
Nissans uh Max Jones was a guy who went
on to have a hell of a career but when
my dad bought an older RX7 for my older
brother and I to do he said we'll do
four races this year and you guys can
split them and so at Sebring we needed a
third driver the guy driving with my dad
Jim Cook says hey there's this young guy
at a Long Beach Real Hustler sharp kid
older than me he was 35 but he drove at
Sebring with us and he had no money but
he said I'll let you drive my showroom
stock car to my dad in three races and
there was back then it was the Playboy
endurance series and the fireo series
were just getting started and my dad
drove this uh basically SSA 300ZX no
power no brakes and he says I have no
interest in that he drove it one time
and he says to me you drive it so I got
to do those three races with Max and and
it was a great partnership we ended up I
ended up being Max's regular teammate we
won three 24-hour races we won the fir
Hawk championship in a 300ZX turbo in 86
I ended I have that car uh now so that's
my Nissan experience little bit Oddball
but it was it was some great times show
stock back when the cars weren't GT4
cars like they are now and you know
making diffs last making breaks last it
really was a an art for to get those
things to go fast without wearing them
out and a hell of an education too I
imagine those lessons stuck with you for
your whole career right yeah because all
the guys I started Open Wheel racing
with in the Russell series a number of
them it was a great class and it's
probably I was G to ask who' you come up
with anybody any names we would know in
terms of folks that you were coming up
with yeah well Johnny oconnell who you
know obviously the winningest American
ever most uh tenured American ever at
Lama winning us at Sebring so Johnny was
in that class a guy named Jeff kosnoff
who got all the Indie Cars tragically
was killed at Toronto uh Danny Thompson
Mickey's son Ken twz who's a guy who's
come back into TransAm recently Mike
grath who made it to Indie Cars Scott
ainon who made it to Indie Cars David
Krave who made it to Indie Cars and a
bunch of guys that were as quick as them
in those cars that didn't go anywhere
and just because because luck luck is so
matter so much right or or fate or kind
of twists of twists of chance luck fate
and funding to be honest yeah totally
funding you need the other things too
you know unless you have incredible
funding so that's where my story kind of
turned obviously I had some backing but
it to go Super V racing then was even
then was 400,000 bucks a year which was
about four times what I had to spend
sure so my dad say we're gonna buy an
older RX7 and you're gonna do a handful
of races West Coast races and so like
right on and so all my friends are like
why you driving those show stock cars
that's stupid I'm like well it's
something it's better than sitting home
claiming I'm an open-wheel driver that
doesn't drive and you know speaking of
fate and Fortune this is right when the
manufacturers really kind of started
coming back into sports car racing and
so they weren't that much in the open
Wheels yet and so the only reliable
funding and racing is tire companies
well tire companies oil companies and
manufacturers oems the rest come and go
and so both of those were pretty heavy
and so that's where my opportunities
first with Nissan and Mazda and then
Chevy so I didn't set out to be a sports
car driver or a TransAm driver I always
wanted to be an IND car driver or a
Formula 1 driver but the opportunities
were there and you know the rest is
history I mean I wouldn't change it for
the world but at the time it wasn't what
my first choice was totally but I mean
you're following the places where you
can get seat time right I mean that's
what that's what you're after yeah and
to your your point about you must have
learned a lot shom stock racing not only
how to be mechanically sympathetic and
you know you literally had to almost
have a torque wrench in your foot on how
hard you could push yeah if you pushed
it hard you could literally blow the
brakes off it in three laps so how do
you go six hours without changing brake
pads and without boiling the fluid and
all this stuff and the cars they moved
so much you really got to understand
smoothness and weight transfer which you
didn't necessarily in go-karts open
wheel Atlantics and all that stuff that
were just so bolted down you learn
useful stuff both places but by driving
so many different cars I really think it
helped me understand what was going on
dynamically with the cars more yeah
absolutely I wonder if you could I'm
gonna just admit my ignorance to You
Tommy I I love uh IMA Cars and transm
Cars especially from the 80s and 90s
from your era they're so cool looking
what's the all these terms get thrown
around and there's nobody better at to
ask than you to kind of school me on all
the different classes and types of cars
because some of them are silhouette
Racers I really want to talk Berettas
with you at some point but
uh some of them are silhouette but some
of them maybe particularly in the mid
80s are still kind of based on unibody
cars right are they all silhouette cars
tube frame with with bodyw work on the
outside or does some of them actually
are are they actually related to street
cars well they started you know from the
Trans Am days and the sports car days
and then it got so there was less and
less and less and for an era mostly
through the 80s in GTO and stuff they
were full tube frame and trans full
silhouette cars and they eventually got
so far away from anything that was sold
every was like this is silly and now
they right they went back the other way
and now it's full-blown GT3 and GT4
which are still incredibly enhanced and
modified but they are they are you know
um unibody cars so yeah um so I I did
both you know the bulk of my career was
spent in the silhouette right you GTO I
obviously did GTP but uh a silhouette
you know tu cars right and I know you
had early success in rx7s and those are
man we just had a really cool RX7 on the
site I don't know if you saw that was a
rally car that was never yeah that was
never used man that car was cool that
guy Greg blew that sitting on my hands
because I'm I'm I'm in I'm out right now
it's my wife but yeah I wanted it really
bad too it was also kind of almost too
nice it had never been raced I'm like oh
man I'd feel guilty even driving that
car but I raced very briefly Tommy when
I was in my early 20s in a also in an
RX7 in a a spec series that kind of came
before spec Mazda called um Pro 7 and
they were heavily modified little
original rx7s the that first body and I
love driving those cars and so that
rally car really appealed to me but you
drove showroom stock in an RX7 is that
correct so that's a unibody kind of
modified street car but then you also
drove the the success you had in the IMA
car is a silhouette RX7 is that right no
um I never drove a shom stock RX7 the sh
stock was the Nissan Nissan sorry okay
and then that GT U car was a it it was a
a unibody it wasn't full two frame that
Mal car that I won the two titles in and
I I still own is really didn't own then
own now I've owned it since
88 and so um so that car was the last of
the kind of unibody cars yes so I uh I
mean that car is the total time capsule
and it's it's it's actually the
winningest chassis in MSA history but
really it had won three titles before I
ever got in it Jim Downing built it and
won the title gtu title in 82 Jack
Baldwin drove for Ira young with ma in
Malibu Grand Prix and won the title in
84 and 85 and then when he signed with
Chevy I got into that car and and won
the title in 86 and 87 amazing I signed
with Chevy my dad bought the car from
Clayton Cunningham who was running it
and then loaned it back to him so my
brother could drive it and then when I
graduated from CLA instead of getting a
brand new car like all my brothers got I
got a clapped out very historical RX7
which I you know I'm very happy that I
have I bet also that's like a that's a
hell of a run for a single chassis isn't
it that's heard of I mean five titles
it's 21 individual race wins it's one
Daytona it's one Sebring 21 wins so it's
the winningest chassis both race wins
and championships in M history you you
just you don't get that kind of
longevity I mean a car is not
competitive for that long have you
vintage raced at all or is it just kind
of sit around as a as a Talisman one
time I I finally got I took it to
montere the Rolex historics I guess they
call it now in 2018 uh Mazda helped me
my my old crew chief who was my crew
chief my whole career Dan Binks stores
the cars and I finally said hey I think
it's time to get we took it to Amilia
the year before and uh and he said
what's what's the idea here and I said I
I got to do this on the cheap I said
we're gonna test this whole we love
patented race cars and so he I said
clean it up but don't fix anything and
he called me he says can I clean the cat
hair out of the
seat my cat used to that used to be her
Hideout spot in my dad's old shop was uh
maybe because it smelled like me with my
sweat in it so totally so we kind of got
it running and went partially through it
and then so that kind of broke the
inertia and then the next year with some
help from Mazda we took it to Monteray
and I hadn't the car had not been seen
by anyone it had been locked up out of
sight for almost 30 years and the fact
that it's such an iconic car too and
then I mean I forgot to be honest
exactly what it was like to drive that
car it it was a no power no torque no
you know a pinion steering uh no racking
pinion you a steering box with all the
deflection in it and so forth it was it
was hard work but it was it was awesome
is that one of the cars that there's a
real wild rotary engine that's used in
competition cars I can't remember what
it's called but it's got gosh we sold
one of these cars a a similar one on the
website and I'm trying to remember what
it was but it's a real elaborate version
of the rotary isn't it it's not that
it's called it's a 13B with a peripheral
Port so it's got peripheral Port that's
what it is that's what I was thinking of
unusual idle but it was uh they ranom
carburet and fuel injected you know Dan
found some fuel injection one of the
little tweaks that Clayton Cunningham
who ran Ira Young's team and then
eventually owned the cars Daytona in
86 uh one of the big issues with those
cars was the change in air temp and
mixture if they'd get too lean they'd
burn the seals Apex seals and so that's
what happened we had a huge lead in 86
big lead and the thing you know cooked
the Apex seals and we actually changed
well you can't change the engine because
John Paul Jr was going to do a 12-h hour
Sprint with a 935 that engine changed
down to like 30 minutes and they're
going to put a new engine in and do
another 30 12 hour Sprint and they said
nope you got to use the block from the
engine or in a rotary you got to use the
casing so my guys it took us under two
hours they took the engine out took it
apart rebuilt it put it back in oh my
gosh and we had such a big lead and it
was a different era with attrition we
finished second that year wow what a
story the next year Clayton said we got
to come up with so they I had this a
second like break bias knob which was I
could adjust the mixture according to
the the exhaust temperatures and then we
had a thing that was technically illegal
it was a a movable flap up in the
radiator so that under yellow flags you
could effectively like put tape on the
front end so that it didn't get too cold
during cautions and amazing yeah so that
was that was uh you know Ingenuity back
then and uh yeah I dig amazing wonderful
stuff uh Clayton cunning is is that a
relation of Briggs Cunningham Clayton
Cunningham no Clayton's a was a Canadian
gentleman CCR and so after the RX7 he
ran the factory Nissan uh ZX program
with Steve Millan and Johnny oconnell oh
yes we s we sold one of those cars too
the big Ultra widebody 300ZX right yeah
and true to form I mean they those
things were so they had huge power but
they were heavy they ended up running
water cooled brake calipers on that car
water cooled brake calipers at one point
um those things were uh Adam Cora I
think has one of those I think that's
right I know you said you wanted to run
Open Wheel cars and I'm happy to talk
about Open Wheel cars uh but part of the
reason I love sports car racing and
always have is because of all these
Innovations you're talking about there's
such a wide variety of technology and
fixes and Innovation and at least for
people like me who are slow and and only
Drive street cars for the most part uh
it relates a little bit more to kind of
in you know some of the interesting
technology you might find in in street
cars so I I could listen to you talk
about these stories all day water cooled
brake calipers is a new one on me though
yeah I mean we had a a lowtech version
in TransAm they used to run water cool
but they' put you know sprayers into the
the ducks like for the the lowspeed
street courses that didn't have enough
airf flow you know Rous and protofab did
that they'd put a little sprayer You'
run a water tank and you'd have a Mist
to extra cool the brakes but a water
cool brake caliper is pretty legit I
mean you think about the engineering to
have that in the front brakes with you
know everything turning the way it does
and so forth if you don't mind I said I
wanted to talk Berettas for a little bit
uh you I believe own now a car that we
listed on bring a trailer a while ago uh
Chevy Beretta race car in fact maybe uh
maybe we've listed even two of them I
can't remember but it was a car that you
drove in Period and then you won on the
site isn't that correct I loved that car
by the way and that seller had a bunch
of awesome cars on the site yeah that
was a wild story I actually own three
Berettas now I own two of both chassis
that I drove that year that was a g car
yeah um and then the trans amoretta also
I I uh which I drove in 1990 I own one
of those as well but the one you're
talking about was a wild story and it's
it's kind of weaves in a bunch of issues
with auctions and cars is it's hard to
know what it is yeah this is the number
one car right big number one on the door
and one that you
drove tried to sell it before and it was
painted like an ICI the TransAm car and
the reason was so to go back um I
remember so I had one of those cars and
then the guy who owned the team had the
other car and so this car shows up and
it's on Facebook someone says hey this
guy just bought your Championship car
and I'm like uh no it's not and I could
tell instantly the body wasn't right and
so I knew what it was it was a show car
so forth so he ends up buying this car
and I kept hearing from people so and so
has your car I said he actually doesn't
and so he finally calls me Tommy
Thompson he says I hear a lot of
different stuff about this car I said
said you want the good news or the bad
news he said well both I said the good
news is I think it's a pretty cool car
the bad news is it isn't what you think
it is you think it's a Trans Am
Championship car and it's not I said
well GM sold it to me saying I said well
GM didn't
know that's tough so there was a lawsuit
over that I believe he bought it at uh
it was during the bankruptcy and they
were sending cars to Barrett Jackson and
some of these places he bought the car
and they kind of didn't know didn't know
what they had or what's the story there
unclear sitting in some Back Store room
or something like that yeah basically
when we won the championship that year
the next year when we moved to TransAm
they needed show cars so they rebodied
them which was stupid you know could
have just painted they rebodied them so
that's why I could tell immediately the
body wasn't right and so I knew IID
follow those cars so I'm pretty sure
what it was and then they the next year
they painted it the yellow blue and
white and so it sitting in one of their
warehouses or museums and it's probably
got a board in front of it saying
Championship car C you know so they
didn't know the guy that cleaned out the
warehouse is just going off the sign and
so he said went back to him and said
this isn't what you they they gave him
all of his money back and let him keep
the car to avoid a lwuit wow so then he
tried to sell it that way and it didn't
go anywhere and then I told him I said
you need to put it back to how it was in
gtu and he went most of the way he
painted it the right way and he put the
clear spoiler on the back but he didn't
love that spoiler that spoiler is so
awesome on the back he didn't changed
the body partially because they don't
exist I have the only existing body uh
for that car and the mold So eventually
I haven't even put it back yet so at
some point that's a future project to
get that car perfect period correct for
the gtu car and and so what I told him
to look for I said does it have a carbon
fiber tunnel and a transaxle and he says
yes I said okay well the good news is
it's not the 89 car which was a total
box it's the 88 G car that want a
chance ship and so and that's what it
was yeah so awesome that you're going to
take it back and then the idea would be
uh would you ever take that thing out
and vintage race it I would yeah I again
I have two of those and that one for 50
Grand it was just like I couldn't resist
I said I've already got one but I said
to have both cars I drove that season
would be pretty darn cool and there's
even an iteration of that car the car he
had actually had a 4 and a half liter in
it with skull Bandit Bodywork and it ran
One race at the Grand Prix and so I
could put one back in skull colors which
is just kind of a cool paint job super
awesome yeah and Everyone likes the four
and a half liter stuff in the Vintage
races better than the gtu cars which are
are just not as desirable the three
liter stuff so I would probably do one
of each which one did you like driving
better the the four and a half liter is
normally aspirated right and then a
turbo on the smaller one is that right
no they're both normally ASP that's the
thing gtu was the small board car so
that's where you had the and the zxs and
the smaller 911 stuff and the big boore
stuff was turbocharge
934
quatros cougars Mustangs the big big
boore stuff yeah so I liked them both
the gtu car is special to me that was my
first factory program after I'd won in
the Mazda I got hired by herb official
and it was the first official factory
Chevy program everything before that for
20 years was unofficial
backdoor Factory everyone knew it was
Factory but even in NASCAR they weren't
allowed to admit that they were racing
and so herb convinced the powers to be
it's time to do some you know there was
a beta GT production car that cars and
Concepts which was who owned the team
and so it was all put together it's the
first sort of integrated production race
car program that Chevy did yeah they
hired me it was my first factory program
and it kind of really even though I'd
won the gtu titles for Mazda it was kind
of what put me into the bigger leagues
if you will sure sure and when are you
buying your uh Beretta street car is
that going to be your fourth Beretta you
getting one of those too it's funny you
say that because there are as you I
don't have to tell you there are people
that live and breathe those things
absolutely there are yeah I saw one and
it brought damn good money it was it was
almost too nice a car and I'm like oh I
said that's the one to have but I wasn't
planning on spending that kind of money
yeah know maybe you don't need four
Berettas uh but yeah you know they used
to be kind of the street cars used to be
kind of the butt of the joke but now
people you know in this this radwood era
people love those cars yeah so and the
gtu was this had the special Wheels a
little bit different paint on it and so
forth and that's what's so weird about
the TransAm car in silhouette cars to
have a Bretta and then Bob Riley did
that car so it was kind of the second
generation Riley TransAm car and I see
pictures of that thing now and I'm like
that thing looks like a funny car I I
sat almost in the middle of the car
totally and we had ourselves totally
because we had to argue it to the rules
people all the time this is totally
silhouette's exactly the same as a bread
and we believed it you know and now I
look at I'm like wow that thing was
stretched Every Which Way and it was oh
man they're they're all swoopy and sexy
they look great uh yeah man that's
hilarious uh when was the first time you
uh you drove a stock car Tommy it was
pretty early on it was it was Riverside
1987 so I was 20 years old and I'd only
won guess I'd won one gtu championship
and a guy had worked with my dad on some
stuff was hooked up with this guy Nam
Wayne Spears who had a big one of the
bigger West Coast teams they ran
Southwest tour and they'd always run a
Winston West car in the fin at Riverside
like the West Coast guys did herel
McGriff and all those guys so their
driver didn't like road courses and he
called them he was so used to the little
tiny short tracks he didn't like the
high speeded of Riverside and he just
didn't want to do it and so one of the
crew guys had worked for my dad and met
me he said you know he gave me a call
and said are you willing to try this I
said 100% And so I went out to Willow
Springs to test the car and it's a funny
story I got in it I went out and just on
my outl I almost went off the track
because the thing would oh man so I come
in and I'm like something wrong with the
brakes and so they went through them all
and I went out again same thing I said
something still wrong and pretty soon
now there were a few more cars out I'm
like I think this is all they have this
is just what the brakes are like they're
3,500 lb skinny tires and and not much
in the way of breaks and so I'm like oh
my God but once you got over that it was
so fun because like when I went to
Riverside I made I made the show I
qualified West Coast team and uh and the
next year they had a better car I
qualified first day let a lap because we
didn't stop on one of the yellows but
the crazy thing is even if you're in
30th Place you're in a fight with five
other cars amazing all the same and so
it was it was really hard racing and
then so I drove for the West Coast cars
and then I got a you know then when I
was with the factory Chevy then they put
a program together in a great car I
drove a Hendrick R&D car at Watkins
Glenn in 19 that was only a couple years
later so that was 89 yeah 89 I drove
Hendrick R&D car LED late in that race
and then did a five race deal the next
year that Dale Earnhart senior oversaw
for me and you know kind of fairy tale
stuff but um the Hendrick R&D car it's
funny the minute you run well in a
NASCAR race everywhere else they want to
know how much money you had if you run
up front in a cup race your phone starts
ringing you know back then especially
and just the number of eyeballs I after
I let it the Glenn in that car I'm in RH
Atlanta for the transm race the next
week the race ends it's Monday morning
I'm about to go to the airport there's a
knock on my holiday indoor just angry
knock I open it it's the police I'm like
uh oh they're like you gotta move your
truck I said I don't have a truck and
they're like yeah you do I said I'm
telling you I don't have a truck they're
like yeah you do it's got your name on
it I'm like oh the race truck yeah so it
was the team hauler was blocking
something and it said my name on it they
went to the front desk and so I said oh
I said that's and the guy goes wait a
second are you the guy that led at
Watkins Glenn last week I said yeah he
goes don't worry about it we'll tell him
to cool it so here the pop in Georgia
that had seen me lead three laps at
Watkins Glenn and I got more notor from
those three laps than my I guess it was
three or four championships up until
that point amazing and awesome that you
got to run Riverside too that's towards
the end of Riverside's existence isn't
it is that the only time you raced there
was in those cup cars no Russell my
early Russell races were there I did
go-kart races there but I did the last
two Cup races 87 and 88 were the very
last NASCAR races there and I think Cup
race was the last Pro Race of any kind
there in June of 88 yeah that's one of
those tracks that I'm so sorry I missed
Tommy I always went my dad went there
when he was a kid and SoCal but I never
got to see it oh it was legendary it was
as good as as you think it was it really
was yeah yeah y watch those every once
in a while you see those videos of uh
Petty and you know 70s NASCARs you just
absolutely sliding cooking going through
the dirt and people are standing right
next to the track man awesome there's
one I just saw the other day of Dale
Senor they come up on lap traffic he's
dicing with Bodine and Bodine lifts
through the S's and nhart just heads to
the dirt keeps it nailed comes back on
the track in front of both of them it
was awesome awesome awesome I know you
were kind of a road course ringer but
did you ever run uh ovals or super
Speedways or anything or did you only
run road courses in cup cars I ran two
ovals in NASCAR I ran one Xfinity race
at New Hampshire and I ran Rock The 500
lapper at Rockingham in you know in the
cup car and that was part of that five
race deal that D Senor oversaw um so
other than that I also was invited for I
guess six years of iro so those were all
ovals they didn't even have a single
road course the years I was doing it so
other than those two races irck was my
only oval experience gotcha and yes no
thumbs up thumbs down sometimes people
are converts sometimes they're like no
thank you I mean it's I I wish I did
more of it you know I I should have won
a couple of irck races should have and
could have I was super super close and
made a couple tiny mistakes and it cost
me so I never got to win one but I mean
I I have way more appreciation for it
the people a lot of people say it's
stupid I mean it's so nuanced I like
road racing better but the oval stuff is
really it's really cool and it's yeah
once you dip your toe and you're like oh
I want to master this too right it's its
own thing yes yes it's yeah and it's
like I said the nuance and the subtlety
is the other thing is the stock cars
they're unlike anything else a stock car
on an oval told guys like Dario and Paul
Tracy and those guys when they were
going over there because if you're a
road racer every car you've ever driven
if you're fast than this you're going to
be fast than that and fast than that you
just got to figure them out a little bit
because 99% transfers from one to the
other and so the question is how hard
can it be everybody says and I said
that's the wrong question you need to be
asking yourself how different can it be
because it is so different and you're
just lost at times you'll spin out and
on a short track and you'll have no idea
why yeah every time you spun out after
the beginning of your career you knew
why you spun out on a road race so there
there's just a bunch of stuff that you
just have to figure out that's just
different and that's why especially then
before engineering became such a big
part of it the big difference what Dale
senior and Rusty and all the guys that
were good they were half great driver
and they were half crew chief now you
don't need to be a crew chief anymore
the engineers handled it but back in
that era you needed to understand the
cars to keep up with the tire wear and
the track or you were just lost yeah I
grew up loving sports car racing and
road racing and uh my buddies who like
dirt track racing and have really
converted me I went to the n500 this
year and I went and saw the little 500
saw a 500 lapper at a little quarter
mile oval where they have to do tire
changes on Sprint cars and I mean that
it's unbelievable it's totally different
but it's just as impressive once you
really learn to appreciate it little 500
was that at Anderson yeah have you ever
been I have and my creu Chief Dan Binks
is now the Mission Foods car that was on
the pole and yes absolutely he was
flying he was flying oh man that I I
have to I have to tell you Tom it's one
of the best Motorsports things I've ever
seen it's unbelievable it's not like
anything else I've ever experienced now
now I I think it was better than the 500
the IND 500 to be totally honest not
that the n500 wasn't awesome it was but
the little 500 was kind of eye opening I
mean it was mind-blowing yeah well I I
have not been yet to the Chili Bowl
which is coming up that's the one I want
to do yeah that's the one indoors
heard is it's it's a religious event so
that's what all yeah that's what all my
circle Buddies say the carbon monoxide
in the building is for Real it's an
actual issue you know so um my crew
chief is actually working on a a
solution people have oxygen but he's
actually trying he's tested his cars and
he's tuned them with catalytics and he
he can and he's trying to get you know
inertia no one wants to mess stuff up
and they're afraid to open the door but
eventually he says it cuts the emissions
by like to a tenth and the power is
virtually the same if you do it right so
so hopefully uh that'll get fixed here
soon well I really want to go to that
one very badly my buddies are always
like you think the building's big and
then you pan out and the pits are
actually inside the building too it's so
freaking big
unbelievable well gosh Tommy I could
talk to you all day long I'd be remiss
if we didn't at least briefly talk about
your pivot into the Limelight your time
as a commentator on television you're so
personable I can see why happened but
how did that come about how did you make
that pivot well it was it was funny
because my racing career was a study in
leaving no stone unturn and trying to
control as many pieces of the many
variables and pieces as you could my TV
career was exactly the opposite where I
basically I've done almost nothing to
pursue it and so um it started with my
PR girls fiance was a producer well
actually he wasn't even a producer he
was a director for the Indie Car
Coverage when I had my my Trans Am wi
streak in 97 I started getting a lot of
national attention for the streak and he
had met me and he thought I would be
good on camera and he kept pitching me
unbeknown to me to the Indie Car brass
or the ABC brass I guess and they said
nah nah nah and then uh World Cup came
and he became the producer for two races
and says I want to bring Kendall in as a
third announcer and have him remote and
they're like no he's like well am I the
producer or not they're like you are he
says okay so he brought me in and that
how it started and uh it's funny it was
Elkart Lake and I won't get into the
whole story about the serious Bender at
seins the night before but I I kind of
had a sense that people were ready for a
little less stiff a little less and now
it's hard to remember how by the book
and lowrisk things were then because I
went just a little bit outside the
window and every was like oh my God you
you know I can't believe you said that
I'm like but I I sense that people were
starving for that sure so when I did
more of it I was actually hung over
doing that one but when I did when I and
so I I honestly didn't care that much
but the next year I did five races I
think and I remember talking to myself
and I said I kind of like this so I said
how do I still act like I don't care
because that was the secret yeah so my
little Mantra was before every show I'd
say try to get yourself fired a little
bit today and so you know as a way to
because you can always piss someone off
and the ERS have so much power and so
forth they hurt the feelings but I said
I just I can't think about that I have
to call it the way I see it and someone
asked me later how do you do that I said
I know that Roger Pensky and Carl hos
and Chip kassie can get me fired I said
but I said I there's this perverse sort
of you know job security I'm even though
I'm not getting paid by the fan I'm
actually working for the fan totally
they want to fire their fans they can do
that that resonates so much with me
Tommy people are hungry for authenticity
right like it's actually a thing that
fuels bring a trailer and has for years
right I was a fan of this company for
many years before I worked here I just
applied to every job till they were dumb
enough to hire me and it's been the same
kind of thing that's guided me and I
think has guided a lot of of my
colleagues which is like you know think
about your audience and and give them
what they want right like they're
they're they're the people we're trying
to please be authentic be true don't
people just be straight up say
what you think just say what it is don't
fluff it up just be straightforward be
authentic that's what people want and
it's almost all you need right that'll
just take you the rest of the way it
really is simple but it gets
disconnected because you are working for
the customer but your boss forgets
that if you've got the right boss they
don't forget that but um you know you
can get fired I can ask vouch for that
you can you could be too you could be
too authentic I guess that's true and
you you know you don't want to be
mean-spirited about it or anything but
but people really do crave
straightforward commentary I I know I
sure do very quickly before we end I'd
just like to talk a little bit more
about your bat background because you
won that Beretta uh gtu car but you also
it was a big it's like a 70s you like
you mentioned boats actual boats but you
also like big American boats too what's
what's the deal with that you w a it's a
Cadillac Fleetwood I think about a 79 or
a 78 something like that I a
76 uh yes um that I've seen comments
from you on other similar cars so this
is obviously an interest of yours yeah
it's it goes kind of back to the country
Squires I guess then my I have my
beloved chicken car which is on a 73 ol
98 chassis right that was I mean it was
a case of I mean almost accidental
purchase I was I was looking on my phone
I was getting a breakfast burrito and
that thing was up and it was it L I had
spent a ton of time looking at it I'm
like that it was like 7,000 bucks I'm
like oh my God so I I threw a couple
bids in and next thing you
know I'm the owner so I wasn't setting
out to get that I mean I I'd love to
know what the percentage of people that
buy cars on your site um were actually
looking for that car no I mean that's
what that's part of the magic right
somebody's like I'm on the 18th hole and
I need to stop to bid on my phone real
quick uh you know and I'm holding up the
party behind me no we've heard those
stories a lot of times for sure well
actually and now I think about another
boat and this one doesn't show up in my
my history because it was done with a
friend but less than a year ago there
was a cherry
1992 Lincoln stretch white it was
absolutely Cherry it had it was
privately owned and never rented it's
got a blue velour interior 29,000 miles
on it and I'm in this car probably the
only one left like that all the other
ones got used up right yeah it's got the
boomerang
antenna stuff inside the motorized doors
and the the push button booze dispensers
everything was perfect and so I'm in
this car text group of guys called the
Riff Raff club and one of the guys says
I'm going to buy this for the club and I
said I'm in for half and and so he
started bidding well he didn't start
bidding so that was at you know the
start of the auction and I had it
flagged so the last day I said hey
Adrian I was serious about he said okay
okay okay yeah yeah he says I'll go to
15 grand on that I said okay I'm in for
half and he ended up buying it for
18,000 bucks and I was in for half and I
was trying to figure out how to tell my
wife about it and we set up an escort I
said we're going to do like Mob Wives
and prom redo deals like high-end
rentals for this totally and so and then
I went to an F1 race viewing with the
group and he says he's an Argentinian
guy he says I really love that car he
says would it break your heart if I keep
it all
myself and he says you can use it
whenever you want I said that's even
better so yeah and so anyway so that's a
third I have a piece of that's also a
big American barge H that's amazing
that's a great one and then literal
barges or boats I saw you commenting on
some kind of a speed boat you mentioned
yeah and you mentioned you were kind of
a a boat guy growing up uh I I think one
of your comments mentioned Sanger I love
sangers especially if they've got a
metal flake on them you know maybe with
an outboard or okay tell tell well that
was my dad's first boat and it was he
didn't have any dough the gel coat was
Heavy gold flake and it had a white
stripe around the edge that flared at
the back that's the what I want I want
gold flake that's exactly it oh man gold
flake and it had it had a 406 Ford it
wasn't a it wasn't a Chevy it wasn't a
42 but anyways H with a V drive and that
was our family skib booat for a good
while until he you know again started
making some more dough and you'd sit in
the backseat you'd burn your legs
against the pipe trying to get the ski
rope out the one time my mom cuz we
weren't old enough to drive the boat yet
my mom drove when my dad skied she hit
the fuel pump thing with her knee and it
died and you couldn't figure you know so
it's just and then Towing it behind the
Country Squire overheating putting Kors
beer in the radiator in the middle of
the desert so anyways oh man I want that
whole setup where were you going you
Lake me did you go to Elenor when you
were local what were your L River color
Riv river is where we used havu did you
ever hit havu go under the we went to H
this was way before havu was havu but
yes we we went to havu once or twice
they the group we went with seemed to
like the river better and we had a
couple rent these little there was an
A-frame and and we'd rent that and uh
that was our spot man I wish I had your
whole setup that Sanger behind a Country
Squire that's like the dream setup with
a maybe one of those vintage green
Coleman coolers full of Miller High Life
come on well it's funny because that
then our upgraded setup was a custom van
with a 20 foot Spectra was the next was
the next deal so at some point if I ever
get over the hump and and have uh Fu
money I'm gonna just have that just CA
Oh man well Tommy I don't know if
there's a better place to end than that
I wish you all the luck that's my dream
set up too really appreciate you doing
this before we break away any part any
parting shots anything you wanna want to
leave folks with before we end well just
I mean I I was thinking about the magic
of bring a trailer and you know the LA
Times classifies and I posted something
my Instagram that someone else had
posted about going through autot Trader
and circling the cars you wanted your
dad to buy and I posted that I must have
heard I got more response from that post
than anything else that's me guys girls
all loved it and so it's tapped into
what you guys obviously know you've
tapped into this sort of almost
Universal Universal amongst car people
and it's some of them aren't even the
heaviest car people but they've got
great car memories and it's part of
their part of their life story and they
want to recreate that so uh and I
learned a ton in the comments you know
everybody thinks I know everything about
all these cars I don't so like you know
the Porsche guys are crazy but I learn a
lot from them and I think it's awesome
you've got a comment of the day I
noticed it's got like 50 thumbs up or
something and it was on the Acura the
open open cockpit Acura LMP car that we
listed unfortunately didn't sell
although it got a strong bid I think
last year or something like that and
it's a hugely popular comment I don't
know if you noticed that I can't even
remember exactly what you said but
people were excited to see you weighing
in well I don't remember that and I
don't know is maybe I'm not set up that
I'm notified that that you're getting
the thumbs up whatever probably better
that way because um I don't need to know
that but um I didn't know that it had
resonated like that it was actually it
was honey I think I'm starting to grow
up I sold all my fancy cars and I'm
buying a used Acura it's pretty good
comment you're actually like a you're a
pretty good peanut gallery member
Tommy yeah little posting right
yeah that's right that's like part of
the magic of bat well hey man I really
appreciate you doing this I I know the
community is going to love hearing all
these stories we could go on and on and
on I I would actually love to do a part
two sometime uh we didn't even I feel
like we barely scratched the surface
there's so many wonderful stories in
your uh career but thank you so much for
doing this we really appreciate it
thanks for having me and thanks to all
of you for listening as always please
don't hesitate to reach out with
questions concerns suggestions to
podcast bringatrailer.com thanks again
and we will catch you next
time
e e
About this episode
Tommy Kendall, a racing icon and champion in IMSA and TransAm, shares his journey from a car-loving childhood in Southern California to a successful racing career. He discusses his early influences, including his father, and the evolution of his passion for cars, racing, and commentary. The conversation touches on his experiences with iconic vehicles like the RX-7 and Beretta, as well as insights into the nuances of stock car racing and the camaraderie of the motorsport community. Kendall's authentic storytelling and reflections on racing culture make for an engaging listen.
Original notes
In Episode 101 of the BaT Podcast, Alex sits down with multidsiciplinary racing legend Tommy Kendall to discuss the dangers of the BaT Daily Mail; an argument for the '74 Carrera as the first Southern California SUV; a fortuitous version of the classic "someone else's race car/boat/RV" story; his particularly well-timed upbringing by an enthusiastic new racer; coming up in karting and Formula Mazda; meeting compatriot Max Jones; the eye-watering costs of going racing in the early '80s; the value of a Showroom Stock education; his stewardship of the winningest IMSA car in history (with many of said wins coming with him at the wheel); a two-hour peripheral-port rotary rebuild under duress; water-cooled brake calipers; an untimely realization concerning NASCAR brakes at Willow Springs; nascent Chili Bowl plans; his move into commentatorship through no effort of his own; sage advice for anyone pushing the boundaries; a predilection for giant American land yachts, including but not limited to those masquerading as chickens; and their mutual affection for gold-flake Sanger powerboats.
Follow along! Links for the listings discussed in this episode:
1:58 TommyK1111 user page on BaT
4:07 Supercharged 1956 Ford Country Squire Wagon
20:37 1985 Mazda RX-7 Group B Rally Car
26:46 1990 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo IMSA GTO Race Car
28:15 1988 Chevrolet Beretta IMSA GTU Race Car
34:087 Chevy Berettas on BaT
47:14 No Reserve: 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham
47:31 Tommy Kendall's "El Gallo Grande"
48:31 Original-Owner 1992 Lincoln Town Car Executive Series Limousine
53:16 Acura ARX-05 DPi Race Car
Got suggestions for our next guest from the BaT community? Let us know at [email protected] and we’ll do our best to get them on!
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