Kris Whitfield joins the show to discuss his impressive drag racing career, including multiple track championships and national event wins. The conversation covers the challenges of balancing NHRA and bracket racing, the significance of the March Meet and other nostalgia races, and the excitement around the potential revival of Bandimere Speedway. Kris also shares insights on tuning his Trans Am for wheelies and reflects on the ongoing east vs. west coast racing rivalry. The hosts highlight recent race events, driver performances, and the evolving formats in bracket racing.
He's a Business owner, an elite Super Class and Bracket racer, and he regularly shares all of his secrets as an instructor on This is Bracket Racing Elite. But, is he a West Coaster?
"and it was go time for the nhra this weekend yeah they kicked it off in gainsville for the first national event of the year lots of exciting stuff going down"
NHRA is a big group that runs drag races, which are short, fast races where cars race in a straight line.
The NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) is the largest governing body for drag racing in the United States, organizing national events and championships.
"during the double breakout for the wind just nasty just nasty man like that guy what a machine"
In some drag races, there's a time limit. If both racers go faster than that limit, it's called a double breakout, and the one who goes just a little too fast wins.
In drag racing, a double breakout occurs when both competitors exceed the maximum allowed elapsed time, resulting in a rare situation where the winner is determined by who breaks out by the lesser margin.
"the march meet happened this past weekend and i saw some people grumbling about it being on the same weekend and and although you know certainly not very many if any racers had to pick right if you're a march meet racer you probably you're not going to gainsville because you don't have that type of car"
The March Meet is a big drag racing event where people race old cars and celebrate drag racing history. It happens every year and lots of fans and racers come to watch and race.
The March Meet is a famous nostalgia drag racing event held annually at Famoso Raceway in California. It attracts vintage drag racers and fans who celebrate classic drag racing culture.
"another thing that uh i'd like to hit on is i i went to uh quote unquote test and tune eight hours from home i saw you popping wheelies out there in phoenix"
Test and tune means going to the race track to try out your car and make it better before the real race. You can see what works and fix problems.
Test and tune refers to sessions at a racetrack where drivers can test their cars and make adjustments to improve performance before official races. It is common in drag racing to dial in setups like engine tuning and suspension.
"i saw you popping wheelies out there in phoenix yeah we put a new uh rear gear in the trans am uh new converter and a new gear in the the transmission"
A wheelie is when the front wheels of a car lift up off the ground because the car is going very fast and strong. It looks cool but can be tricky to control.
A wheelie occurs when the front wheels of a car lift off the ground during hard acceleration, often seen in drag racing. It indicates strong power delivery but can affect control.
"we put a new uh rear gear in the trans am uh new converter and a new gear in the the transmission so um we're 198 in the trans and like 488 in the back or what do you got back yeah yeah that's exactly what we put in it"
The rear gear is a part in the back of the car that helps control how fast the wheels turn. Changing it can make the car go faster or slower in different ways.
The rear gear refers to the gear ratio in the rear differential of a car, which affects acceleration and top speed. Changing the rear gear ratio can improve performance for drag racing by altering how power is delivered to the wheels.
"we put a new uh rear gear in the trans am uh new converter and a new gear in the the transmission so um we're 198 in the trans and like 488 in the back or what do you got back yeah yeah that's exactly what we put in it"
The Pontiac Trans Am is a type of fast car made by Pontiac. People like to race it and it has a strong history as a muscle car.
The Pontiac Trans Am is a performance-oriented variant of the Pontiac Firebird, produced by General Motors. It is known for its muscle car heritage and was popular in drag racing and street performance.
"we put a new uh rear gear in the trans am uh new converter and a new gear in the the transmission so um we're 198 in the trans and like 488 in the back or what do you got back yeah yeah that's exactly what we put in it"
The converter is a part that helps the engine send power to the wheels smoothly. Changing it can help the car start faster when racing.
The converter refers to the torque converter in an automatic transmission, which transfers engine power to the transmission. Upgrading the converter can improve launch and acceleration in drag racing.
"first hit i i mean we tighten the shocks down a little bit before i went down there just expecting it well i stood it up it hit the wheelie bars"
Shocks are parts that help your car ride smoothly by absorbing bumps and keeping the tires on the road.
Shocks, or shock absorbers, are components of a vehicle's suspension system that help control the impact and rebound movement of the vehicle's springs and suspension. They improve ride quality and handling by dampening the effects of road irregularities.
"another shout out to all the winners down in phoenix this weekend is uh good to see the phoenix summit series is very very very strong yeah i was gonna say that's a point race for et final stuff"
The Summit ET Series is a drag racing competition where drivers race to get the best times and qualify for big final races.
The Summit ET Series is a popular drag racing points series where drivers compete in various classes aiming to qualify for the national ET Finals based on their elapsed times.
"yeah and uh that was start of kind of like the the team sign ups so yeah lots of people out there trying to get their name on the team and get their name locked into the et finals"
ET Finals are big drag races where the best drivers from earlier races come to compete for championships based on how fast they finish.
ET Finals are the culminating events in drag racing where drivers who have qualified through points races compete for national titles based on their elapsed times (ET).
"matter of fact to the tune of 17 track championships at bandamere speedway uh i think most people um are pretty sad that bandamere is gone"
A track championship means winning the most races or points at one race track during a racing season. It shows the racer was the best there for that time.
Track championships refer to titles won by racers at a specific race track over a season or multiple seasons, indicating consistent high performance at that venue.
"and i have so much passion for that style of racing um but we're gonna start out in tuson with the bracket race and then go straight to the spring fling so even though it's going to be um bracket races to start with like there's going to be a lot of nha focused later on in the season"
Bracket racing is a drag race where each driver guesses how fast their car will go. The goal is to be as close as possible to that time without going faster, so different cars can race fairly.
A bracket race is a type of drag racing where competitors are assigned a predicted elapsed time (dial-in) and race to run as close to that time without going faster, allowing cars of different performance levels to compete fairly.
""...especially in super comp super comp in my opinion is probably the toughest um nha class that is out there and uh to be able to um consistently put up big scores like you chris...""
Super Comp is a special drag racing group where cars try to finish in about 8.9 seconds. It's really hard because drivers have to be very exact with their speed.
Super Comp is a drag racing class governed by the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) that features highly tuned cars running on a fixed 8.90-second index. It is considered one of the most competitive and challenging classes due to the precision required to run close to the index without breaking out.
"the final round in Vegas for the at the nha nationals 50 50 both just super cool super electric"
The NHRA nationals are big drag racing competitions where the best racers come to compete in official races.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) nationals are major drag racing events organized by the NHRA, the largest governing body for drag racing in the United States.
""I think you know nha provides that uh the nha style of racing provides that because the cars are a little bit more inconsistent a little bit harder to handle like there's a little bit more driving than you know if I was researching the night before on a eighth mile bracket race...""
NHA racing is a type of drag racing where drivers race in short, straight tracks. It has different rules and classes to make races fair and fun.
NHA stands for National Hot Rod Association, which is a governing body for drag racing events. NHA racing typically involves various classes and formats, often emphasizing bracket racing and driver skill.
"if you want some you know nitrous advice you go to Mikey Sturgill if you"
Nitrous is a special gas that you can add to a car's engine to make it go faster for a short time.
Nitrous oxide, often called nitrous, is used in performance cars to increase engine power by allowing more oxygen into the combustion chamber, resulting in a temporary boost in horsepower.
"do you think that's your true strength um and and it's led to you doing this this new mental edge deal with them too yeah it's something it's kind of a niche that I I fell into I wouldn't say necessarily picked out like mental game and and say like I want to be the expert on this it just so happened that in my early racing career my mental game was such a train wreck that I was forced like if I want to be a good drag racer I have to address this"
The mental game means how a driver controls their thoughts and feelings to stay calm and focused while racing. It helps them make better choices and do their best when it counts.
The mental game in racing refers to the psychological strategies and mindset techniques that drivers use to improve focus, decision-making, and performance under pressure. It includes managing stress, visualization, and maintaining concentration during races.
"because the mental stuff is not sexy and it's not finite it's not something that you can go on the racetrack and just do right you're not going to see numbers on a time slip and all that stuff"
A time slip is a piece of paper that shows how fast a car went during a drag race.
A time slip is a printed record of a vehicle's elapsed time and speed during a drag race, used to measure performance and progress.
"because the mental stuff is not sexy and it's not finite it's not something that you can go on the racetrack and just do right you're not going to see numbers on a time slip and all that stuff"
A racetrack is a special road or course made for racing cars fast and safely.
A racetrack is a specially designed circuit where competitive racing events take place, allowing drivers to test their skills and vehicles in a controlled environment.
"one of the one of the kind of perspectives that I used was like if somebody followed you around in your everyday life for seven days and just watched you what would they say about what kind of drag racer you are"
A drag racer is someone who races cars in a straight line to see who is fastest.
A drag racer is a driver who competes in drag racing, a type of motorsport where two vehicles race in a straight line over a short distance, focusing on acceleration and speed.
"then we take the process a step further let's put the helmet on what are we doing when the helmet's on does it align with winning does it not and then we start kind of picking apart the pieces"
A helmet is a hard hat that racers wear on their heads to keep safe if they crash.
In motorsports, a helmet is a protective headgear that drivers wear to safeguard against head injuries during racing.
"Parker said hey let's give away a bottle of detail spray I said no no no no no no we could do better"
Detail spray is a spray you use on your car to make it look clean and shiny without washing it fully. It wipes away dust and makes the paint look nice.
Detail spray is a quick and easy product used to clean and enhance the appearance of a car's paint between washes. It helps remove light dust and fingerprints and adds a layer of shine.
"it's going to come with quick detailer glass cleaner all-purpose cleaner and then the paint wax so that's basically everything that you're going to need to clean a race car"
Paint wax is something you put on your car's paint to make it shiny and protect it from things like sun and dirt.
Paint wax is a protective product applied to a car's paint to enhance shine and provide a protective layer against contaminants like dirt, UV rays, and moisture.
"yeah so the bracket box is a four chemical kit so that's going to come with four different chemicals it's going to come with quick detailer glass cleaner all-purpose cleaner"
Quick detailer is a spray that helps clean your car fast and makes it shiny without needing to wash it all over again.
Quick detailer is a type of spray used to quickly clean and add shine to a car's surface without the need for a full wash. It is often used to remove light dirt and fingerprints.
"yeah so the bracket box is a four chemical kit so that's going to come with four different chemicals it's going to come with quick detailer glass cleaner all-purpose cleaner"
Glass cleaner is a spray that cleans the windows of your car so you can see clearly without any smudges or dirt.
Glass cleaner is a cleaning product specifically formulated to clean automotive glass surfaces, removing dirt, smudges, and streaks for clear visibility.
"yeah so the bracket box is a four chemical kit so that's going to come with four different chemicals it's going to come with quick detailer glass cleaner all-purpose cleaner"
All-purpose cleaner is a cleaning spray you can use on many parts of your car to get rid of dirt and stains.
All-purpose cleaner is a versatile cleaning product that can be used on various surfaces inside and outside a car to remove dirt, grime, and stains.
"so that's basically everything that you're going to need to clean a race car and give it a real good detail inside out underneath like everywhere"
A race car is a special kind of car made to go very fast and compete in races on tracks.
A race car is a vehicle specifically designed or modified for competitive motorsport events, often featuring specialized parts and setups for performance and safety.
"you're going to see the difference if you care about the pain condition of your car good towels are mandatory good clean towels are mandatory"
Paint condition means how good or shiny the paint on your car looks and if it has any scratches or damage.
Paint condition refers to the current state of a car's exterior paint, including its shine, clarity, and absence of defects like scratches or oxidation.
"...face versus something that's essentially a liquid duster like you spray it on wipe it away and it's gone ..."
The Dacia Duster is a small, affordable SUV that many people buy because it's simple and works well for everyday driving and some light off-road use. It's like a basic, tough car that doesn't cost a lot. The mention in the podcast might be playing with the word 'duster' to compare it to something that cleans.
The Dacia Duster is a compact SUV known for its affordability and practicality, especially popular in European and emerging markets. It offers basic off-road capabilities and a no-frills approach to utility, making it a sensible choice for budget-conscious buyers. It might be discussed in contrast to other products or concepts, as hinted by the 'liquid duster' pun in the context.
"... in super street in 2002 um he was driving an old vega that did that thing i was on the bumper every ru..."
The Chevrolet Vega is an old small car from the 1970s that was popular but had a lot of problems like rusting and engine trouble. People sometimes talk about it because it was both interesting and had a lot of issues. In the podcast, it might be mentioned because someone was driving one or talking about its quirks.
The Chevrolet Vega was a subcompact car produced in the 1970s, notable for its innovative aluminum engine but also infamous for reliability problems such as rust and engine issues. Despite its initial appeal, the Vega developed a poor reputation which affected Chevrolet's image. It might be referenced nostalgically or critically in automotive discussions, especially regarding classic American cars.
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Yes sir.
time break it down together man it's gonna be an exciting show we got mr. Whitfield on
get to talk a little bit about detailing but uh how's your week been it's been good man getting
ready for some big work stuff uh this week so i'm gonna be just nose to the grindstone next couple
next couple weeks actually um had a great weekend with the kiddos went up in the mountains and played
around so uh that was fun what's up walt our man walt checking in i think he's been here for
every single episode love that man thanks for supporting us and tuning in uh but yeah man
it's starting to feel like spring flowers are blooming around here i think winter is officially
over we'll probably get one more cold snap for a week or two but uh it's go time man it's go time
and it was go time for the nhra this weekend yeah they kicked it off in gainsville for the
first national event of the year lots of exciting stuff going down uh how about mr. Fletcher
you know if that guy keeps it up a lot of promise that guy's got a lot of promise
in his future if he keeps it up yeah i think he's done it once or twice but uh i mean or maybe like
109 times and that's just on the national event side that's that's what the insane thing is six
take four to be two thousand during the double breakout for the wind just nasty just nasty man
like that guy what a machine i might have to switch my i might have to switch my super stuck pick
if uh if he keeps it up you think uh you think dan will chase it this year or anything i don't
know man he came out swinging cooter went out round one uh and you know fletcher sitting at
the top of the heap right now i don't know man we'll see you you say cooter went out round one
that's just a good throw away race for him well i know i was thinking about too we'll talk to
chris a little bit about this i don't want to get too far into it you know there's a lot of racing
a lot of opportunities to score points but to start out like that knowing that you're keeping that one
right versus knowing it's one that you need to replace down the road um you know that's got to
feel good so i want to talk to chris a little bit about that even though you got a lot of chances
you know starting out strong like that if you only need 600 points and you already got 100 of them
on day one you know you got to be feeling pretty good absolutely uh the other big one man which
for us west coasters uh the march meet happened this past weekend and i saw some people grumbling
about it being on the same weekend and and although you know certainly not very many if any racers
had to pick right if you're a march meet racer you probably you're not going to gainsville because
you don't have that type of car um or if you do this stuff's more important to you but the one
thing that i don't like about it being on the same weekend is there's only so much drag racing media
bandwidth out there and so even though we didn't have racers you know that the races weren't actually
competing with each other from a from an entry standpoint uh the march meet kind of got drowned
out this weekend as far as coverage uh and you know on the west coast um a lot of us we have a
bucket list of races and for a lot of people the march meets one of them certainly for me
and it kind of got uh overshadowed a little bit with the 75th anniversary you know season opener
in gainsville but shout out to all the folks who went out and got it done
out of famoso this weekend looked like a good time a lot of people out there absolutely uh
i think the march meet and uh what's the other one called uh the hot rod reunion
the two major major nostalgia races of the year and uh to win one of those um is just
probably like winning indy for for a lot of these guys and uh i'm just super stoked for
for all the folks that got it done um i mean there's been people going to that race for years
and uh just to be able to show up and and participate is uh an accomplishment in itself
another thing that uh i'd like to hit on is i i went to uh quote unquote test and tune
eight hours from home i saw you popping wheelies out there in phoenix yeah we put a new uh rear
gear in the trans am uh new converter and a new gear in the the transmission so um we're
198 in the trans and like 488 in the back or what do you got back yeah yeah that's exactly
what we put in it um but uh wanted to get a a test and tune in before uh the twosan bracket
race the southwest showdown but uh we're we still got a little bit of fine tuning left left to do
i thought bounce a little bit i think they came back off the ground just a little bit yeah so this
first hit i i mean we tighten the shocks down a little bit before i went down there just expecting
it well i stood it up it hit the wheelie bars and unloaded the tires slammed it back down
so we have these pucks um that hang just a little bit lower than the oil pan just in case it did
something like this they have rubber on the bottom of them i got a picture i should have
put it on here but i have a picture and like the nose is buried in the ground the tires are like
super squished it it was it was not did it hit hard enough to pop the back tires off the ground
did you have all four in the air for a second that would have been pretty insane but i don't
i don't know i didn't get that picture but uh i mean doing wheelies we we fixed it the second uh
the second time run and the rest of the weekend but uh i was doing some 200 foot wheelies and i
was having a blast man it looks fun the in-car camera it looks smooth in the car uh it looks
like a lot of fun but boy definitely i mean it hikes up there and sits there for a minute before
it comes back down in the suites yeah it was a lot of fun but uh a little bit of results um paul worton
ran pro and super pro doubled up both uh both classes same day on saturday was he running
same car or two the same car he's got that make him super pro or uh i'm not sure if he's off the
bottom but either way still very impressive weekend um and then he broke it the next uh
the next day jumped in somebody else's car and still went quite a few rounds in both but uh
nice all um shout out to zimmy he's part of the team west coast at the southwest showdown
so uh getting some good warm up in there but uh i didn't really have all the results but uh
another shout out to all the winners down in phoenix this weekend is uh good to see the phoenix
um summit series is very very very strong yeah i was gonna say that's a point race for
for et final stuff oh yeah and uh that was start of kind of like the the team sign ups so yeah lots
of people out there trying to get their name on the team and get their name locked into the et
finals um new format two one or two which everyone we still haven't dug too deep into that i'm waiting
for some more detail but we we're gonna have to dig into that as we get further into the season but
hey man we got uh we got a uh former and maybe still sometimes uh summit et racer uh on deck
matter of fact to the tune of 17 track championships at bandamere speedway uh i think most people um
are pretty sad that bandamere is gone unless you are someone who had to race against chris wittfield
now you don't ever have to lose another track champion to him um so we're gonna bring him on
man uh super accomplished super class racer super accomplished big money bracket racer
the owner and sole proprietor of dialing details and just an all-around good guy let's uh let's bring
on chris wittfield there he is hey guys that introduction was too good i didn't deserve that
i appreciate that uh thank you on the on the horizon for bandamere speedway too so there's more
that to come yeah uh seemed like what a couple weeks ago they got some site plans approved or
something like that with city council or county government or something yeah i don't know all
the exact like terminology and stuff about exactly what was going on but they were working on the
zoning and then they were gonna have a meeting again uh last week and i think wednesday and um
that was gonna be kind of the final paperwork but then it got pushed back to the beginning of april
but still good things to come so i'm really excited for that yeah super cool um i have a
i have an old camaro that i'm trying to restore that my dad gave to me and he bought it in the pit
at bandamere speedway when he was in college at denver automotive and diesel uh and it still
has a sticker uh in the back window bandamere sticker on the rear glass um so i uh only ever
got to visit that place when it was set up for christmas lights uh in the winter time but
pretty cool place and super cool that they're following through with the plans to to bring
drag racing back to that part of colorado so super awesome um man where to start so much
so much with you you know we we briefly introduce you as far as your your track championships um
you know i think what five or six national event wins at this point um almost got it done last year
in super comp getting ready to kick things off this season um maybe just start us there what uh
where's your mind set out right now what are you getting ready for um super gas super comp both
where's your head at right now yeah it's uh it's gonna be a little bit of everything right like i
think um mahart and sol is still kind of with the n h r a stuff like we came so close last year
and i have so much passion for that style of racing um but we're gonna start out in tuson
with the bracket race and then go straight to the spring fling so even though it's going to be um
bracket races to start with like there's going to be a lot of nha focused later on in the season
yeah well and that gives us to uh one of the questions we wanted to get answered today is
is he or is he not a west coaster we all claim you um and you know you tend to you tend to kind
of favor this side of the coast i suppose and maybe that's because we're so nha heavy out here and
that's that's where you have have kept your focus um what are you do you self identify as a west
coaster uh are you just some like some guy lost out in the wind in the middle of colorado you know
it uh it's funny like when i saw that uh when i saw parker post that day like is he a west
coaster i laughed out loud because i was like sometimes i don't even know right but you know
when i win anything pretty much anything at all like you noticed over the past few years like
there's one of these in the winter circle so like i'm identifying west coast right um but
then there's some days that the competition is tough out west and i'm like i don't know if these
guys even claim these were their own like they're just quick to step on my throat and take something
from me if they can um but then it comes to like well i'm definitely not east coast right definitely
not that um but there are days and nights that i wonder like you know over the past few years there's
this uh east versus west coast feud and it felt like i had somehow become like the the focal point
of like i caught almost all the heat and i didn't really know why and that's why when i win stuff
there's there's a w in the winter circle but um yeah i don't know i i'm definitely not east coast
that's for darn sure and well you keep winning you keep winning and we'll keep claiming you i didn't
know if i was like you know convenient that your last name starts with the w so it's like
i always took it as you throwing up the west side but you know i was like maybe it just means
wittfield i don't know no that was definitely west side but then like i got a pretzel thrown
into my head right because when pete introduced the west coast bonus to the spring fling million
i was like oh yeah this is for me right and then you saw him draw the line down down the west
side of the united states and it takes a turn right around that's like well if i'm not west
coast enough for the west coast bonus what am i but yeah you know like i said definitely not east
coast like adam made left one of those comments he said it was west coast adjacent like that maybe
that's the best area to lead me in there now we claim you man and we love it in uh super stoked
that you're gonna be representing the west down there at the showdown really looking forward to
watching you guys all throw down man that race always uh produces some crazy matchups and some
some really cool outcomes good stories and uh and you've been a part of one of the stories i always
tell about that event in particular is a few years ago when tim omore just ran rough shot
and uh and you were one of the guys he had to run through uh on his way to to that big win that time
and so um you know in the late round so uh wishing you all the luck man we'll be following you for
sure yeah i remember that run i mean he went through me a pennington of like a beyondo like
bow gag around bow gag every single round he took down a guy that was like well that guy's gonna
win it now nope he's gone that guy's gonna win it nope he's gone that was a crazy run he made that
year it was the craziest thing i've ever seen i still when people ask me about single performances
i don't have as much reference to draw and it's a lot of people but um single day performances
man that one's uh that one's that one always sticks with me for sure
i uh i'm gonna go ahead and say chris is a west coaster and you are the lead west coaster in my
opinion there's nobody who represents the west coast better than chris so uh we're just gonna
tag that one on you uh let you uh let you handle it all and and hopefully be our leader you know
i've i've kind of embraced it a little bit and like i'm not a talk crap kind of guy right but
when i see my name thrown around on the internet and i do see it right and and i hear the podcast
where people are saying my name and and not in the greatest ways right um there was one of those
spring flames like i threw out a post where i was i was ready to go like i was like you know i want
east coast to come out and just just give me the money right just give me your money and uh i think
i got down to the quarter finals in the million i was like okay i i kind of set myself up a little
bit but then dodger bullet went actually did good so um but it it definitely brings me out of my my
comfort zone a little bit to actually you know throw some fuel on the fire and i think it's
kind of died down a little bit maybe over the last year or two and then i see we got a east coast
versus west coast shoot out here at port size race and it's like here we go again but bring it right
back my money we uh we mentioned fletcher um you know getting his i don't know second or third win
at out in gainsfield this uh this weekend and starting off starting off strong like that right
like i picked cuter to win the world in super stock he went out first round uh he's got plenty of races
to come back and replace this one guy like fletch doesn't have to replace this one right 100 points
in the bank um so as you as you think about getting started uh you know on the nhra points
chase this year what does that what does that mean to start out strong like that even though you
got so many chances to throw 100 in the bank that you know you're gonna sit on and get to use later
on um is that important to you i mean i know you always want to start strong but um maybe talk about
that a little bit yeah i mean of course you'd rather start strong right like you'd rather put
wins and and deep runs in the bank early but then i think if like if somebody like adalgo or or
anybody that's really going to take a serious run and like you know you have a full season to fill
out the whole scorecard like you still feel okay right because obviously you've got two tails of
the story here one is like fletcher i'm starting off strong i gotta keep it rolling and then the
other one is if if you're adalgo you're like okay i got time to get it going i just need to go ahead
and get it going type of deal um you know i had a really hot start last year and of course we saw
how that worked out for me and and i can tell you firsthand that like i never got complacent at any
time because until you're literally 650 700 on the scorecard like you are vulnerable you're very
vulnerable so even though i'm carrying 500 550 in the first third of the season you can't stop there
and then even after that like in my experience like i was i was still putting up quarter finals
third round stuff like that but it's not adding anything to the scorecard um it's it's kind of a
weird like it's just a different place to be whereas when you're on the other side of it
and you didn't do well early and then all of a sudden you get hot at the end well it all works
out the same right so and then there's so many different approaches to it too you've seen guys
that you know they'll go win runner-up first round first round first round first round win win
win runner-up and then first round the rest of season it's like it doesn't matter where you get
him you just got to get him you just got to get check marks and and when i say check marks that's
something that that luke bogack and tom you're right um because i you know inside story i was
getting frustrated early last season because i kept going quarter finals fifth like third round
fourth round fifth round and i called him and i'm like what do i got to do to get that that next
level what do i got to get to do like what do i have to do to get into that final round and score
the points i want and that was fresh off of a quarter final in in the national in phoenix
and he said well if you switch up your perspective a little bit a championship season is comprised of
of a few things there's some wins some runner-ups maybe a semi and some quarters and he said so as
far as i'm concerned you went to one race and you checked a box on the first race you got a check
mark on race one because you got to the quarter finals that's going to stay on your scorecard
all year so consider that mission accomplished right and then i followed that up with a win a
win and a runner-up after that it's like check check check check but then i also learned that four
checks at the beginning of the season don't always equate to that one big check mark at the end of
the year so that was a lesson that i learned is that it doesn't matter when you check those boxes
you just got to you got to check all of them you really do put up the full scorecard that you need
yeah man you mentioned you know camping at that score we started the show kind of as folks were
coming down the home stretch last year i think september october we talked about you almost every
episode and and you sat there with 623 for what seemed like an entire season um it was just uh it
had to be it had to be grueling and brutal and i wonder um as someone who's so strong in the mental
side you wind up second place last year you've came really really really close in some big money
bracket races and just not quite close the deal at the end um i know you take pride in those in
those runs that you've made because it's really really hard to win um do you feel like yeah i don't
know that is there is there any kind of thing that sticks with you or any kind of stigma you carry
does it does it um bother you more than it should uh to be getting getting so close and not quite
breaking through when you know we all know and i know you know that you've got the skills you've
got the talent you've got the equipment to be on top yeah i think the part that maybe bothered me
the most was that just just the time energy the money everything that we put into that run last
year to come that close and then not get that big check mark i think that's what bothered me most
because our season like coming from colorado right our season does not look normal at all our rig
left the house in uh may and it didn't come home until after the dallas national event so it's not
like when we go racing we we hop in the rig and we drive here and then we drive home and then we go
to the next race we hop in the rig we drive there we drive home no we go to the airport then we catch
a ride to the rig then we drive the rig somewhere we race then we got to take the rig back somewhere
else then we get to catch a ride to the airport and fly home like that's what every single race
trip for us looked like last year and then you think about about the resources that you
have to pour in to put together a full nha scorecard when you have to fly to every single
race that you go to and we try to minimize that a little bit just in that we will catch a double
divisional and a national in one trip or something like that like we try to string them together as
much as we can but still the amount of resources that that went into it that's where it felt like
we put everything that we had into it and still came that close and and it amounted to a second
place and don't get me wrong there's I know that there's so many people that would kill to run a
single digit let alone number two on their hood scoop but it's also really difficult to look at
that number two and and be happy about it you know like that's kind of how I feel going into this
next season that number two is not not a point of pride it's a point of motivation and that's kind
of how I'm looking at it throughout this whole thing and there's days like I gotta remind myself
too like as heartbreaking as that finish was like that that in like that period of the season
in Pomona we saw a badass year I mean it was I mean we won the 20k in Montgomery at the bracket
races uh runner up to 50k in martin michigan um one I don't know how many divisionals got the
national event win at the beginning of the year like I gotta remind myself that as close as I've
come and as heartbreaking as some of this stuff is like we had a dream season right so I'm not
gonna look back on last year with and just focus on that that one part at the end you know um as
much as that seems to stick out you know even in my own mind is like you know that that's how it all
ended um but there are so many cool moments and memories that that all led led up to that that
were before that then I wouldn't trade for the world you know yeah man no I love it and
a little bit different perspective but uh you mentioned the million he made so much money that
day that he made more money than all but one guy that weekend uh and and to bounce kind of back to
to the national chase you did better than everybody but one guy too uh that's pretty impressive
especially in super comp super comp in my opinion is probably the toughest um nha class that is out
there and uh to be able to um consistently put up big scores like you chris um that's probably one
of the more impressive things that I've seen in uh in someone and uh there's like to compliment
compliment you on that um one of the questions I have is you do your fair share of both super
class racing and the bracket racing um what if you had to pick one you could only do one
would you rather be a bracket racer or would you rather be a super class racer in typical
politics fashion I'm not gonna make it that clear cut right right now if I could only do one
I'm gonna go in hra racing until I get that big check mark I want the big walling the biggest
one I want my name on the list of champions I want my lifetime gold card I want the ring I want
everything that comes with that right um but once I get that check mark I I think I could go bracket
racing I think I could go it it makes so much more sense to go bracket racing like the two bracket
races that I did well at last year paid for the nha race season right like that's we were nha
racers but we dabble in the bracket race inside to pay for our bad for our nha haven't so we we
kind of need both and don't get me wrong I love both I love the the uh the atmosphere and the
feeling of the bracket races there's nothing that replaces that but oh my god Sunday morning at a
national event trackwalk driver intros call the lanes for the semi final round the final round
there's that there's something to be said for that too I mean I'll put that the the 20k final
round that I had at the million which can't like granted it was only the the warm-up day right
there's still it's just 700 cars on the warm-up day right but the final round for that one versus
the final round in Vegas for the at the nha nationals 50 50 both just super cool super electric um
I wouldn't trade any of either one for for the you know two take one and turn it into two of the
other I wouldn't do that but um I need that nha check mark I want that really bad okay
oh go ahead park no go ahead man no you got it you had all right well and shout out to Henry
Robertson who let me know I wasn't on my good microphone so I switched mics hopefully it
doesn't sound like I'm talking through a popkin anymore but uh it's such a different road to
that moment too right on one side you've got five six rounds uh you know to the final the other one
right you got 15 some you know some crazy you know 12 13 rounder um just just such a different I
always think think that's such a neat aspect of both sides of it um you know where you've got a
quota you got a capped field over here and and um you got to get in and then you're there right and
and position yourself where you want to be on the ladder and then work through the day work
through multiple days versus the big money scene I wasn't racing but sitting at the springfully
million last year it was the longest day I've ever had in my life and I still don't want to go back
yet right I mean it was just such a grind uh just being a spectator and kind of helping out a little
bit I can't imagine being in that cage inside that helmet round after round hour after hour after
hour just uh crazy man it's uh I mean there's something to be said about it I I maintain like
and this is one of the things try you probably heard me talk about this in the elite group
but just maintaining your energy is such a big deal right and I'm not gonna lie and this is not a
sponsored plug but like I mean I'm very conscious about maintaining my energy um but I will say that
um like my first experience of going rounds at the springfully million there's pressure and then
there was my first time doing well at springfully million pressure and I've never felt like like
usually a winlight comes on and it's it's kind of a light feeling like it's you're happy it's good
um and a lot of races in my life like start getting down to later rounds the workload feels
lighter springfully million when when I run it up on that one every winlight that came on it felt
like someone was pressing pressing my shoulders down more and it was like literal physical pressure
pushing me down but it not in a bad way right it just felt like every round is just that much
bigger when you're talking 10 or 20 thousand dollars per winlight it feels physically heavy
but it's it's hard to fall asleep when it's hard to get down or or not have energy when
you know that's that's the stakes that you're racing for so it keeps you going
love it okay back bouncing back a little bit to my other question so you have your dragster
and you have your roadster we got two you got the black one you got a bracket dragster in your
other dragster yep yeah okay well you got two dragsters and you got the roadster okay
do you have more fun driving your dragster or do you have more fun driving your roadster
I am a dragster guy through and through and I'm I'm self-proclaimed all out dragster guy
I love my roadster don't get me wrong um I've had some experiences in that thing that honestly
scare me to death like you know when you go to enough NHRA races enough divisional tracks on
on late nights sketchy nights just every once in a while you get that that NHRA prep that just
doesn't work with a roadster I mean I've almost piled up that roadster enough times to to respect
it more than I like it um still love it don't get me wrong but man when I get in a dragster
when I get in the seat of a dragster I don't have any doubts in the world about what's going to
happen I mean and me and my dad have talked at at length about it what it would take to
essentially trade up from that roadster to get into a top dragster and I'm like if we had the
funds for it due to I'd do it in a heartbeat and and that's what really that that's how I know that
I'm answering the question truthfully is if I could take that roadster and just weigh the
one and and turn it into a top dragster I'd do it in the heartbeat it just me and a dragster
everything feels right I get to drive the way that I want um because I like I drive aggressively
at the top end right I'm turned around in the seat if I have to I'm doing whatever I have to do
in the roadster you got to respect it a little bit more than that and you can't quite drive with
that same style but and and that's not to say that I think I'm going to go 10 6 10 in a top dragster
and and race like I do my super car but I just feel at home in a dragster there's and you know
that's why even with the option when we go to some of the bracket races yeah I could race the roadster
but my best shot is in two dragsters two dragster entries that's where I'm at my best right there
well it was a good show uh we'll catch you all next week
I just like the roadster does wheelies so abbreviated but wheelies nonetheless
that's why I uh I understand where you're coming from on the whole dragsters thing I mean
you can pretty much point and shoot them and they're going to go straight uh even if the
track is less than stellar um and you're right little shorter wheelbase on a on a surface that
isn't quite uh where we like it it could be a little bit sketchy um and and definitely
dragsters are the tool for the job um not not that some people haven't figured out the door
cars lately but uh but dragsters are definitely built for uh going fast and and driving aggressive
like you do yeah and I think that I get a little bit more my kicks too in the in the aggressive
driving and the strategy of it all um like that's kind of where I built my ego and and anybody that
paid any attention to the way that I raced pretty much all last year because I like admittedly and
the stories out there about how I did not have a good race car last year it's where I had to
compensate by being extra aggressive it it kind of built up my ego a little bit I'm like I'm not
going to lie um when I could take a bad race car and pretty much show you my game playing and say
I'm holding this much do something about it and sometimes they could but when I get on a roll
they couldn't um you know it's fun it's still really fun and I I really love the game planning
aspect of it I love the numbers side I love the the researching of opponents like I I dive into
that so far like and honestly one of the best feelings in racing to me aside from that waking
up Sunday morning at the nha races like going into semi-final round with all this opportunity
in the world on the table is actually Saturday night the night before where I get out my little
sticky pad like my notepad and there's you know eight guys left I'm one of them but I got I'm
going to write out seven different pages and I'm going to have every drivers every run from that
event laid out I know exactly what they're doing I know exactly what kind of look they're going to
give me when I race them and then as we go through the field like just pull out the no car okay
like and I love that stuff right uh just trying to pick out what people are doing trying to predict
looking at the odds looking at the trends and all that stuff I get a lot of fulfillment in that
and I think you know nha provides that uh the nha style of racing provides that because the cars
are a little bit more inconsistent a little bit harder to handle like there's a little bit more
driving than you know if I was researching the night before on a eighth mile bracket race it's
like okay his car's on a 452 and it was for six laps in a row like there's not much to that right
so the nha stuff provides a little bit more room for me to run in that regard too
Chris uh you know there was a time where the innovations that were happening in drag racing
whether it was technology and equipment or strategy uh the leaps were bigger from one point
to the next and during that time all the racers have always you know helped each other out
um people weren't quite as willing to share uh you know what they were doing how they did it
things have evolved now the those innovations are much more incremental
and and now there's communities like this is bracket racing elite where um you share a lot
about your approach whether it's tech setup how to wire a car how to do this um the mental game
and I want you to finish with maybe hitting a little bit on what the mental edge um program
is all about that that you've recently come out with with TIBR so tell us a little bit about that
relationship with luke and and you know what you get from you know you could be secretive you don't
have to tell anybody but instead you decide to share to help people across the country um it's
something I've really appreciated over the past four years now I think almost five years that I've
been with elite um so maybe talk to us a little bit about um about elite and what what that means
to you to be able to share uh with other racers yeah I mean my first run in with luke was um at
the spring fling million the first year that he won it hit I was his third round victim on that one
and you know I think I was a member of elite at the time so I knew who he was but I didn't know
who he was um and then I think it was just like my involvement in the community like I was always
jumping in on posts right or wrong I was providing feedback on every post that ever went through elite
and I never would have really predicted like a teaching role for me but that's just kind of what
it evolved into just from that that um you know the outreach or the participation that I had in
the community and then it kind of turned into a behind the scenes work you know because I passionate
about elite and then it turned into more of like the out front and center like teaching role so now
I'm a co-instructor for this is bracket race and elite and then I'm one of the main instructors
alongside Luke and Justin for the junior program which is super cool like I'm so thankful for the
opportunity to do that stuff like you think teaching adults is a trip like one of the one of the most
amazing racing experiences that I've ever had was going to I-57 Dragway in Illinois and doing the
live school with the kids and I was almost moved to tears by some of these kids when you tell them
something and you can see them processing and then they go out on the racetrack and they crush it
and then they come back to like Chris I did it and I'm like ah like so proud of you right um that is
a feeling that I never anticipated having or even chased having or even dreamed of in racing right
so elite is given back to me in a lot of ways like that um and I really enjoyed it right like if
public speaking is not ever anything I wanted to pursue like none of that but now it feels like
two three four nights a week I'm sitting here in my desk with the camera in front of my face
talking to somebody on the internet right um so it's just something I've had to get used to and
and kind of grow like that's been a challenge for me but like we're getting there um well and let me
jump in real quick like one of the things about elite right if uh if you want suspension advice
you go to mic man's if you want some you know nitrous advice you go to Mikey Sturgill if you
want some high level tuning with the graphs in the grid you talk to Justin Lamb you've come to be
known as the the mental guy the the mental game strategy guy is that a is that a role you embraced
do you think that's your true strength um and and it's led to you doing this this new mental edge
deal with them too yeah it's something it's kind of a niche that I I fell into I wouldn't say
necessarily picked out like mental game and and say like I want to be the expert on this
it just so happened that in my early racing career my mental game was such a train wreck
that I was forced like if I want to be a good drag racer I have to address this
and so I I go from the bottom of the barrel now to where if there's a middle ground of people
that you know like I've got a mental game like people that are aware of their mental game but
never really honed honed in on it or or you know developed it now I've worked to where I feel like
at my best maybe I'm a step above um and it's like I've got all this stuff on my desk right like I
I got books and I got just stuff right where I'm exploring these resources that I don't know if
most other racers will um and that's the extra work that I put in to make me feel like I'm
a little bit more prepared at least in the mental game right just learning learning things learning
perspective um and like one thing that I kind of like a struggle with is like people think mental
game and it we're doing breathing techniques and we're doing visualization and we're doing like
we're doing this fluffy stuff right and so that was something that I had to address when we talk
about this mental edge course that we're doing an elite right now so we call it the windlight lab
and so I'm going to have my own four-week course then like you mentioned Mike Mans is going to have
his own four-week course on tuning then Mikey Sturgill is going to have his own four-week course
Gage Birch or Gage and Matt are going to do their own um where we really dive into one specific
topic and Luke asks me like what topic do you want to do and I was like I got to be careful because
yes I do believe that the mental game is is worthy of a four-week course for somebody
that wants to dive into that and really attack that but I think a finish line driving course
would be a lot sexier like I think I could sell a lot more spots in the finish line driving
because the mental stuff is not sexy and it's not finite it's not something that you can
go on the racetrack and just do right you're not going to see numbers on a time slip and all that
stuff so I'm really proud of the way that the course came together for the mental edge course
we we worked on tangible things to improve on confidence conviction calmness performance
stuff like that like those are all the key words that I use throughout the whole entire course
really going back to what as a racer what you do in your everyday life and and
one of the one of the kind of perspectives that I used was like if somebody followed you around
in your everyday life for seven days and just watched you what would they say about what kind
of drag racer you are and it it goes back to all the things you do do you do them well are you
gaining confidence are you getting small wins are you confident as a person by the time you
get to the racetrack right so that was the first step is is starting to get wins in everyday life
then we move the process to the racetrack is what you're doing during the race day telling the
world that I want to win this race and if it's not let's find corrective action identify something
you do well identify something that you need to do better and then we take the process a step
further let's put the helmet on what are we doing when the helmet's on does it align with winning
does it not and then we start kind of picking apart the pieces but all of it really comes down to
developing confidence because if you have confidence you can perform if you have any sort of doubt
if there's any sort of cracks in the foundation of of your confidence and the conviction that you
have when you need to let go of that button on time then those cracks are going to come out
in that moment so it was hard to build a course that wasn't like let's do breathing techniques
and let's talk about visualization and stuff like it was like let's let's put our feet on the ground
and and actually take steps so it's being a better drag racer so I'm really proud of
the way the course comes out and I think we have about 30 people in the class I really hope they
got something out of it um and based on the conversations that we've had on a weekly basis
it sounds like they did dude I love it Parker where's my helmet baby I'm ready to go right now
and that was just a small small snippet of what what the course is about um Chris is this something
that uh people can go back and and retake the course or was it kind of a live deal
so the first go-through was um like like the main focus of it was the live interaction right um
but there it was over four weeks so we had four uh recorded trainings plus four live chats to kind
of really drive home everything and kind of talk it out and kind of get vulnerable with each other
in in our live chats which is it was amazing how how racers opened up when when you put the
right topics in front of them to talk about um for anybody that's not in the elite uh group the
community um you can go once we get this all tied up put together and put a ball on it you can go
to this is bracketracing.com and there will be a video package to purchase the four recorded
trainings that I did during this course so we'll pretty it up a little bit put a ball on it and
then it'll be a package that you can buy if you really want to dive into something hear my perspective
on um you know what I did to get myself from like like the whole pitch to the course was like
in my younger years in my early career I was having panic attacks and time runs
to now I'm good like anywhere anytime anybody in the other lane I'm good right.
I was sad to to miss it I knew um with what's going on in my life right now I knew I wasn't
going to be able to commit to to really digging in and so um I'm looking forward to when that
stuff finally comes out and if you guys ever run it back as a as alive uh gonna do my best to make
it in because I think that's um for me that's a place where I could really put in a lot of work
I don't get to race as much as I'd like to and a lot of that stuff that I'll learn with more seat
time that's just not a reality for me right now and so being able to at least come in there in
the best mental shape as I can be is is I think where I can make some strides so looking forward
to that package dropping and if you guys ever run it back uh I'll see you in there for sure.
One of the things that uh I noticed about Chris um as a racer as um a coach as a car owner and
a business owner um is it's all in the details for Chris um and that's kind of going to segue
in to our next topic is uh as you're look at you go look at you go. I know I didn't know what you're
screwed that's probably good. A plus. Um but uh we're going to get into uh dialed in details but
first uh Chris you mentioned that you want to give something away um so all of you out there
listen up uh Chris has got some details for you. Yeah so uh when we first got in the chat tonight
Parker said hey let's give away a bottle of detail spray I said no no no no no no we could do better
than that so let's give away a bracket box right so we're going to give away a bracket box tonight
there's some stipulations Parker follow me up if I get this wrong right you we have to follow
dial in details on either Facebook or Instagram you got to follow the is it the Theobald Motorsports
page on YouTube yep to make sure that you can follow up on on everything here was there anything
else and you got to share this show there you go on Facebook or or YouTube it doesn't matter
perfect wherever you want to share it share the show and uh we'll we'll pick one lucky winner
and uh we'll uh get ahold of you for a bracket box and uh tell us what's in that bracket box
yeah so the bracket box is a four chemical kit so that's going to come with four different
chemicals it's going to come with uh quick detailer glass cleaner all-purpose cleaner
and then the paint wax so that's basically everything that you're going to need to
clean a race car and give it a real good detail inside out underneath like everywhere um
a couple of stickers because those are always mandatory a couple of dialed in details decals
and then uh four super soft towels uh one of my big things is is towels man like um I know Costco
sells them cheap I know Walmart sells them cheap but when you get one of my towels in your hands
you're going to see the difference if you care about the pain condition of your car uh good towels
are mandatory good clean towels are mandatory so there's four of these in the kit that way you can
kind of cycle through keep them kind of clean of course they're reusable um so you can throw them
in the wash or clean them up and that way we're keeping our paint in the best uh form that we
actually that we possibly can I want to comment on that too the the towels they are so nice um I
used to just use the little red shop rags right but they leave the little red fuzzies everywhere
and then I'd even use the nice Scott the blue scott towels the disposables but even they live
little boo fuzz everywhere those towels that you've got are the nicest like they're so nice
they're so soft they wash up and they come out just like they were brand new and the one thing I
noticed is as I've used your products now for a couple years I tell everybody about them try to
hook friends up with them when we can we give a bunch of it out at the showdown race uh summer
shutting up here at Woodburn anyone can contract with some chemical company and slap some labels
on something somewhere but that's not what's going on here and and the products the packaging
the towels the sponges the decals the presentation everything about it is nice it's top notch why
was that important to you uh to to bring the kind of quality it can't be good for margins but um
but the product is uh is amazing stuff so talk a little bit about that how you built that what was
your vision and the journey to get to where doubt and details is that today yeah I mean so
the uh the products themselves I mean there's only so many chemical manufacturers in the world
right so that's kind of and that that's not a big secret right so a lot of the brands they come from
the same places but there's still a big difference in quality when you hit certain certain chemical
manufacturers so I wanted to find a chemical manufacturer that like I really believed in
the products right so I'm not gonna like you said I'm not gonna slap my label on something that
that I don't believe in these are products that I mean that I've had chemists test them and they
come out saying this is good stuff like the pH levels the strength of them it's it's really good
stuff and then aside from the chemicals themselves because there's obviously this is like I have to
have full awareness that it's somewhat of a diluted market you can walk into auto zone buy a bunch of
Walmart whatever um and and of course endless options on the internet um there are so many
good chemicals out there to clean your cars with so what's going to set dialed in details apart
from the rest for one obviously it's for racers by racers right like I really wanted the branding
to say that that way when drag racers think what am I going to clean my car with well it's got to
be dialed in details because that's that's the one brand that's pumping back into the community here
so I wanted to be that guy because we never really had that guy there was always
another brand out there that that really dominated they still see on tons of trailers out there
but I don't believe in that that chemical right so I was like let's do something better let's fill
a hole in the market with something really good like a premium level car detailer um and then
beyond the chemicals like we got to have all the right stuff right like we got to have the right
towels we got to have the right phone cannons this is all stuff that I've sourced and tested
myself using my own 15 20 years of detailing to figure out like what's good like I'm going to
take this foam can right here and I'm going to spike it on the ground and then see if it still
works because you can buy a bunch of foam cannons off amazon that you drop on time will guess what
it's toast so this is all stuff that I wanted to vet personally make sure it's good stuff that I
believe in you can come by my trailer anytime it's got dialed in details on the on the trailer
door all my towels stacked up there this is the stuff that I'm using because I believe in it right
and then just the presentation the bracket boxes the I've got some other
chemical packages out there um you know it's I tried to go the extra mile with just everything
the presentation that way when you use the stuff when you open the stuff it feels like an experience
when you use the stuff it's an experience which is not always the easiest thing to do
well and look at that uh Henry says it smells just like his wife uh I wanted what that good
smell was on my car Henry um you know it's it is a premium experience too right like the the whole
thing it like it feels premium when you open it it feels premium when you use it and then you've
recently um partnered uh with Justin Reynolds right uh and and brought in a metal polishing
system to your lineup I've seen Gary Don I always point to Gary Don's video I think it's from a
couple years ago now but he sprays a little bit on his is clapped out RV wheel cover gives it a
quick wipe and it's just blinging so that stuff that stuff super awesome talk a little bit about
that partnership um you know why it made sense to to bring that into the lineup yeah that was
one thing I couldn't vent myself right or at least not well so I was like okay there is a
demand for metal polish especially in the racing world we got our headers our wheels and all that
stuff and I knew like I'd race with Justin I talked to him before I obviously I know he's a
metal polisher so I said hey Justin try this stuff out and tell me what you think so I wanted
him to vet it and have the true polisher's perfect eye on it right so once it went through him then
it's like okay cool now we can package and sell this stuff right and I never would have predicted
that behind the quick detailer which is everybody's go to the metal polish is clear clearly the
second best seller of anything that that either him or I sell and which which is just more of a
testament to the actual product itself um I've done the same thing I know exactly what you're
so and so like what I do like where I use it the most is um I'll just hand polish up my my headers
on my drag shirt where I have the polish headers on it and uh you do that like before a warm-up or
something and that that polish just kind of melts in and it just makes the the metal look like butter
and it smells like Krispy Kreme donuts and I know I'm weird for like liking stuff like that but you
know if you ever roll by my pit and I'm running my car and you smell like Krispy Kreme's well
that's the metal polish on the on the headers kind of cool nice I like it we get nerdy like that I
can't park next to Chris Whitfield after he warms up the car then I'm the engine for like
Krispy Kreme you have a burnt burnt tongue burnt burnt up face down there licking the headers
I love it uh so let's uh let's hear about some of your your favorite products you like to use uh
some of your best sellers and what you recommend uh to if someone wanted to start using your stuff
what would you recommend they start with so quick detailer is like I said far away the best seller
like you can use that stuff on pretty much anything glass um paint you can use it on your headers you
can powder coat obviously it's safe on that um it's just such a good all-around cleaner and you
you could lay it on thick or you can just give it a nice easy spray right um and the nice part
about my detailer is it's infused with a ceramic and usually with drag races I don't even go into
the the buzzwords like that because ceramic is like such a big buzzword that's used in in the
detailing community but it's not always used totally totally honestly like somebody will put
point zero zero one percent ceramic content in a detailer and all of a sudden it's a ceramic
detailer right well as you bump up that that percentage the product gets a lot better you
get more gloss you get more slickness you get all the stuff that you basically want right well we've
got a really solid level of ceramic content in this detailer um that just makes cleaning easier
it makes it to where you get that that better shine and then every time you layer it on top of it
like every time you use that quick detailer you're just layering that ceramic and that's
the part that lasts like that's what that's the difference between a detailer that will actually
last on your paint surface versus something that's essentially a liquid duster like you
spray it on wipe it away and it's gone right this ceramic is the stuff that stays on your paint
and gives it that shine it'll also help keep away the rubber like if rubber does stick at all
it's gonna wipe right off the next time um it's and it's just such a good experience um so that's
like I said far and away the number one seller um the other cool one that we just came out most
recently with like the most recent introduction to the line was the interior cleaner and I know
it's called interior cleaner but man it works on literally everything like it of course it works on
carpets countertops uh my girlfriend blasts through bottles of that stuff clean in the house but um
as far as race cars go like you can use it on like the underside of the wings with the rubber
your cast aluminum your cast steel stuff like that that is really hard to bring the the dirt
and oil out of the interior cleaner works really good on that stuff and I'm really excited about
that one that one's actually sourced separately from the rest of my chemicals that one's made
right here in Colorado so I'm actually proud of that I've got some friends here that that mix that
one up and and kind of have all the control over the you know the concoction what goes into it and
all that so I'm I'm proud of that one having that one in the line um and like everything's good right
I'm excited about some of the stuff that we're working on like I sent Troy some testers Troy
should I tell them what we're testing you should tell them you should tell them we are working on
and Troy's one of my tests I think he's one of the guys that has this out in the field right now
um we're working on a basically what's going to be marketed as a helmet spray so in the middle
of summer your helmet's getting a little grungy maybe doesn't smell the way that you wanted to
this we're working on a really good helmet spray and it's it'll work on the inside and
outside of fire suits basically any kind of fabric as a deodorizer and it's going to replace
whatever spell you got and it's going to smell really good so that's what we're working on that's
going to be the next big thing out of dialing details um we're pretty close like we've got the
the smells nailed down we gotta we're just working on some fine details um and then that'll be out
here hopefully for this race season so that people can use that but I'm really excited for that one
too I can park you're gonna want it brother I'm telling you I got three different flavors all
the different flavors he's testing out and I'm spraying this stuff on everything and the flavors
are like like they're different and they're amazing and it's like oh I want like like ones for
certain seasons because they remind me of different things or different places and I'm spraying it in
the car we have a little puppy we have a cat I got some stinking ass kids always running around on
everything so I'm blasting the blasting the house I'm blasting the cars uh blasting the laundry and
then running it for an extra couple minutes uh man this stuff is is killer I can't wait for it to
come out two things you said seasons so I I'm imagining we have a pumpkin spice flavor
and then thing too I can just picture Troy getting out of the shower just
putting that thing on dude it's it's good stuff man I've been hitting Chris up we've been going
back and forth on um you know on the mixes and the strengths and the and just the the different
flavors and where they take in where you might use them you know some of them are a little more like
like just clean right just smells clean whereas other ones are like it smells like fall you know
and smells like the season's changing um one of them reminds me of like sipping mojitos on the
beach or something man like so I'm super stoked for that lineup really appreciate the opportunity to
to be able to check those out before before they hit the market Chris uh we have some folks
wondering if you will have some product for sale in Tucson I will always be loaded down
with products if you see me there are products available love it and you gotta get the detailer
man guys like if you guys haven't tried this stuff it is it is more than a cleaner like it's it's a
protectant and it does clean but once you get it shined up you get it kind of buffed out if you
set that rag on top of your car and look away and you look back it will be on the ground because
it will just slide right down the hood right off the car on another ground um super cool stuff man
you really hit a home run and uh really stoked for you to keep building that brand and now I mean
you pretty much present the best appearing car at every bracket race in the country now so
that's what I'm going for I'm trying to chew up market space like just take up all the market
space right as as much as I can and as much as it makes sense right like there's only so much
product we can just pump out the door for for free stuff like there's gotta be some reciprocation
and and the racers have supported right and I'm really grateful for that because at first it started
out as like really scraping by to just you know support a couple races and now it's to the point
where I'm trying to take up every single race like and that's exactly what I started dialing
details was not just to sell a product like I'm dialing details to me is not that it's not a
moneymaker it's me trying to provide value to to a community that I care about and and good value
right good products good uh good knowledge everything that goes into that and that was one
of the things that I was going to say Troy like with the the slickness of the detailer actually
so we give away a lot of the stuff at the og million right uh 500 bottles every every goodie bag has
a bottle of detailer in it and the number one feedback I get from the door guys is man I used
it and then I was in the lanes I put my jacket on top of the car and I came back and my jacket was
on the ground like I'm sorry about throwing your jacket on the ground but that's exactly what this
stuff does right the gloss um and and to that point like I do want to provide just I know we're
probably running long here now we're good brother okay just a little bit of knowledge on on the
detailer right so there are products that are non ceramic that like I said are essentially
wet car dusters like you're going to spray it on the whole point is to provide lubrication
so that when you wipe your towel across it you're not driving those dirt particles straight in your
paint and scratching and swirling up your paint right so those are just essentially emulsifiers
it's good if you imagine that's detail spray let's go down to a microscopic level and you have
just one tiny little bubble of detail spray little pieces dirt are going to suck into that and float
to the top of that little bubble and that's that that basically layer in between the dirt and your
paint surface that when you wipe it's it's going to keep that dirt off right so that's that style
of product now when we add in the ceramics we're doing the same thing we're adding that emulsification
but then what we're doing is we're laying down that layer of protection after so with my product
in particular and this is what I have to teach the most is there's a reason why we send plush towels
with pretty much every bottle of detailer is because you're going to wipe one time and you're
going to see what look like streaks what you're actually looking at is high spots of ceramic
that's what your eye is seeing is high spots where it's changing the color of the paint a little bit
so my biggest thing is use those fluffy towels you use those fluffy towels to absorb those high
spots so it takes just a little bit of extra wiping like I always say spray it wipe flip the towel
wipe again buff it away clean and it's going to come out perfect but that's where the good towels
come in because they're going to absorb those high spots and leave that perfect smooth finish
whereas if you use that like the Costco crap or whatever you're not going to absorb any of the
spot you're just kind of pushing it around and then it feels kind of snotty and it's not as good
of an experience so use a good detailer dialing details use a good towel and it's it's going to
be a really good experience we're selling the shit out of this stuff right now but but I'm stoked
that we are and it's one of those times where when when the guy selling it tells you some things
as someone who's used it it's like a hundred percent that's your experience and I use two towels
one of them never hits the wet first run I do the wipe and then I hit it with the with the drier
one to to finish that buff and it's super super sick uh our good buddy Matt Clark coming at us
from Sydney Australia he's a top sportsman racer down there wants to know can he use it on vinyl
all that stuff just as good on vinyl as it is on paint yeah absolutely and pretty much across the
board too like even the paint wax I know it says paint wax but paint wax is awesome on vinyl
especially because vinyl is also prone to micro scratches same thing like if you're rubbing dirt
into the surface of your vinyl it's going to scratch up a little bit and you're going to see
those swirls over time um detail spray absolutely does work good at still the most fine that dirt
making it safe to detail your car with that um the other thing too is paint wax which it goes the
same for uh paint wraps powder coat anodized when you use paint wax on any of that stuff
it works to fill in those micro scratches like if in here I go again getting nerdy but like
a micro scratch in clear coat is essentially a crevice right like that's just a piece of dirt
like dragging and creating a trench microscopic obviously in your clear coat well when you shove
paint wax into it it takes a crevice that's that big and kind of makes it about that big and it
really just smooths it over so that a lot of that stuff disappears and goes away um some people
call it masking and they talk about it like no you should really paint correct and and you know
make the make it make the clear coat perfectly smooth well that's not an option for it not
everybody's paint correcting their stuff all the time so you can fill in and you can mask a lot of
those swirls with paint wax um but it is really cool how it works both on vinyl like I said powder
coat paint all that stuff to just fill in those uh swirls and make it look a lot better love it man
love it Chris where can they find your your website what's your website what's your
social media where can they order this stuff dialed in details.com is the website that's
where most of sales go out um there's a little um thing that pops up like and I forget what the
exact verbiage is but it's like do you have any questions or do you want to chat or whatever uh
if you have any questions and you send something you're not talking to a bot that's going to shoot
my phone a text and you're talking to me okay so this is like odor operator like Troy called me
the other day you got my phone number off the website he's like is this Chris I was like yeah
dude like odor operator if you called the number on the dial in details website you're getting me
same thing with the little chat bar on there um and then obviously dial in details Facebook
Instagram are the two main ones that I use um and then obviously my personal handles Chris
Whitfield on anything you can shoot me a message and I'll talk to you you're off about all this
stuff all day long I was waiting for like an automated you know not a real person I thought
I was gonna have to like push the buttons and it was like he was like what's up like it was him
and so you call the number you get the guy uh Chris we are getting up on that one hour mark
I have a question I ask a lot of people and it's it's usually what they're chasing but I know what
you're chasing uh so I want to ask you a question I asked Michelle Lackey last week when it's all
said and done and you hang up the helmet for the last time uh what do you hope people will say about
you what do you hope they'll think about you I hope that it is and and and we we're we're talking
about this in our mental edge class right so I've actually had to give some thought to this it's
funny you ask um when it's all said and done I hope people know that I made a positive difference
in the community and I think I'm on the right track like everybody that I help with the best of
intentions in elite um the dial in detail stuff if that makes your car clean experience a little
bit better if I can share that passion with people um if I can make other people's lives better
through my experiences and the things that I have to say and the things that I have or that I can
teach um be a role model for somebody like that's that's where the good stuff is right like when it
races is really cool that's a great feeling it's it's cool to get that uh that confirmation that
what I'm doing is is keeping me on the right track as far as competition but when somebody walks up
and and says hey you I listen to your podcast and I really love it because I learned this or
you know I I saw that you said this thing in National Dragster and I really that really meant
something to me like that's as cool as it gets like that that that goes that transcends everything
else and then beyond that out like I really take pride in in the way that my dad taught me out of
race um the the true racer traditions that he taught me the true racer attitude that I think he taught
me um where like if somebody thinks of the Whitfields they just say like they do it the right way
like they do everything the right way um we are the people that like if you're next door change
your transmission and and we see you need some help it don't matter we're over there to help right
you need parts here's parts it it just and that's the easiest stuff that we could do right um
just stuff like that that we made a difference and that we did it the right way I think that
means the most to me I love it man I love it Parker what do you got to close this out here
I was just going to say and you know he means it because he he brings it up and it's the first thing
he says it's not the all that I won this race or I I was so accomplished at racing it it's
it's the that I made a difference in the community and and that's why we we love Chris Whitfield and
we're glad he uh shared some time with us tonight 100 I don't have very many more questions for Chris
if uh if you do you know where to find him but until then watch out for him at Tucson
Chris thanks for coming on West Coast you got anybody you want to shout out or thank Chris
uh I really appreciate your guys's time I appreciate you guys having me on giving me a
platform to speak about everything that that is me right I hope it provided some some value to
some people whether it's entertainment knowledge something to think about whatever but I just
really appreciate the platform um it's going to be an awesome season like there's going to be some
some cool stuff going on I'm really excited for it um we're going to go to some new places
some people are going to see us in some places and they're going to say what the heck are you
doing here I really wish you weren't here right now um you know I'll see some new racetracks and
stuff I'm really excited about that um and just appreciate everybody's support everybody we talked
about the community if this is bracket racing elite everybody in that means the world to me all
the kids that that I get to work with in the junior program um all the the people that sponsor me
obviously like quick shout out to to those guys Trevor Wiggins get him Carver Raiders he was hitting
the upright before the show started how do I watch how do I watch like so I got to give him a good
shout out um everyone that supports dialed details um yeah just I mean Alliance Racewear
go to the enterprises DMP awnings um Fishers Performance go Lithium all the great people that
support me and and allow me to maximize my potential and be the best racer that I can be
that just means the world to me awesome man class act through and through Chris Whitfield
thank you so much thank you guys we'll see you later brother
love it I mean sharp as a razor baby it doesn't get me better than that yes sir Chris is a
Chris is a wealth of knowledge not just race car wise but also if you want a picture perfect
race car and it wanted to look like it just got built he's your man when I just love um
he's he's so intentional right like um he's he's thought about all these things right
on those long flights to wherever on those long drives um and and he's he's thought through so
much of this stuff and you can ask him any question from any angle and uh and he has an answer
and and it's one that that's sincere um it's it's derived from experience and perspective
and struggle and hard work and accomplishment and achievement right and then the reflection on that
to to round out that perspective um and yeah you know that's a guy that does it the right way
that's uh that's been my experience as I've gotten to know him um just completely genuine
everything you see everything you hear from that guy that's him you know and uh and I think that's
one of the reasons people love him excuse me people love him so much and uh certainly why
we love him out here on the west coast baby and uh we're taking you down east coasters
gleghorn the disrespect uh it's over buddy your time is your time is up and we're all
going to see here in a couple weeks and chris wittfield's going to fly the flag and lead the
charge for a stout stout west coast team you don't want this smoke buddy you don't want this smoke
but you want those crispy cream headers next to you in the pits right you're going to need some
doubt in details because you're going to have a lot of time to polish up all those east coast cars
after round one brother i love it uh looking forward into next show we'll have pomona divisional
to cover uh that's super exciting um the last pomona vision excuse me pomona divisional was in
2002 so it hasn't happened for 24 years that's crazy man that's a crime yeah fun fact for you
the last divisional um in pomona they did not finish any of the sportsman finals uh they
did finish alcohol but they hit curfew and had to finish all of the finals in las vegas wasn't
one of your family members in one of those rounds right yeah my brother travis won the very first
walley uh our family got in super street in 2002 um he was driving an old vega that did that thing i
was on the bumper every run it was pretty sick a little vega wagon um but uh go get another one
but get it done at pomona so you could get it at the track you know i know how much you guys love
that place so go get it done i love pomona unfortunately for me i won't be there but
um i will be watching tunin in uh and uh hopefully another one of my family members can get it done
there um but uh we look forward to talking to y'all next week um make sure to share the show
follow dialed in details and uh we'll be looking to give away one parker's gonna keep you all
accountable he'll go through and do a drawing pick you out shout you out we'll get you hooked up with
chris this is the most handsome podcast in all of drag racing and we are presented by dialed in
details thank you all for joining us here today it's been a pleasure and we'll see you next week
peace
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