Sean “The Sheriff” Shaffer joins Bracket Breakdown to talk through his pressure-packed East vs West run, where he stayed consistent, capitalized when rivals’ lights didn’t come on, and ultimately delivered the West Coast’s biggest moment. The crew also breaks down the event’s format, the mental grind of racing round after round, and the promoter’s smooth handling of weather and a combined day. Off-track, Shaffer shares stories about his Chevelle and dragster, plus his hunting obsession. The discussion closes with predictions for the Spring Fling Million and who could cash the 30-granders.
"Yeah, winners parade at any of your events are always fun. I always wait to see like if people are on top of it or if, you know, Costello or Galvin's got to remind him at the end."
A “winners parade” is the celebration after the races where the winners get recognized. Sometimes there’s an interview and you get to thank your crew or family.
A “winners parade” is an event tradition where successful drivers/car teams are escorted or acknowledged as part of the post-competition celebration. It often includes announcements, interviews, and a final call-out of people the winner wants to thank.
"[209.0s] days that's just what you need to park in the Winter Circle. I was telling somebody if I ran"
The “Winter Circle” is basically the celebration area at the drag strip. If you win, you get to park there and be recognized.
In drag racing, the “Winter Circle” is the winner’s area where the victorious car/driver is announced and celebrated after the final. It’s a common term for the post-run ceremony spot at many tracks.
"[290.8s] smooth given the circumstances with the weather and he made some really good choices with 432 cars.
[298.9s] I mean, that's a lot of entries for this race, for this track."
“Entries” refers to the number of cars/drivers registered to compete in an event. Higher entry counts can affect the schedule, number of rounds, and how long the event runs—especially with weather disruptions.
"when I was sitting in the burnout box, I was like, Oh boy. I said that to myself was like, Oh boy, here we go."
A “burnout box” is the designated area on a drag strip where a car performs a burnout to heat the tires for better traction. The staging and timing around the burnout box are critical because it affects how consistently the car launches.
"I mean, you pull back in the staging lane, there's you and one other car. That's it. There was nobody else down there. Just those two cars."
On a drag strip, the staging lane is where you wait before your run. You line up there so the track can time your launch the same way every time.
A staging lane is the holding area on a drag strip where cars line up before a run. Drivers stage (often by bringing the car to the pre-set position) so the timing system can start the race consistently.
"So coming into the driver's meeting before the, the race happened, I didn't really know what to expect."
Before the race, drivers get together for a briefing. They go over what to expect—like safety rules and how starts and cautions will work—so everyone is on the same page.
A drivers meeting is a pre-race briefing where officials cover rules, flags, safety procedures, and any track-specific notes. It’s where drivers align on procedures that can directly affect how they race (start behavior, cautions, and penalties).
"We did a coin toss who would pick first. And then Glacorn actually started and he was picking who his driver's going to race."
A coin toss is just a random way to decide who gets the first choice. It’s used when nobody wants to argue about who should pick first.
A coin toss is a random method used to decide who gets the first pick or advantage in a competitive setup. In bracket-style racing, it determines who starts selecting matchups or drivers.
"So you, you, you leave it the same, right? You, you don't make a decision and don't make a move. And it showed in your reaction times, right?"
Reaction time is how quickly the driver reacts when the race starts. If you’re quicker off the line, you can gain an advantage even if the cars are similar.
Reaction time is how quickly a driver responds at the start of a run (often measured from the start signal to when the car begins moving). In drag-style racing, faster reaction times can be the difference in close matchups.
"like they probably had to go 10, 11 rounds to do it. So, so that in and of itself isn't the unique part to me. It's that format. It's that one after another, people throwing it at you and your ability with that added pressure, with that added factor of accountability, to perform under pressure like that"
Bracket racing is a racing style where the goal is to be consistent with your target time. Instead of only chasing the fastest run, you try to hit your number as closely as possible.
Bracket racing is a format where competitors race for consistency rather than just outright speed. Drivers try to run their “dial-in” time as closely as possible, and the winner is determined by who is closer without going too fast (or by the rules of the specific event).
"And there was a couple, right? Couple double breakouts. Yes. The numbers weren't in your favor, right? But you were able to make the right decision at the other end"
In bracket racing, you pick a target time. If you go faster than your target, that’s called a breakout, and “double breakouts” means both cars did it.
A “breakout” happens when a car runs faster than its dial-in time. “Double breakouts” implies both competitors ran quicker than their respective dial-ins, which can make the outcome depend on how much each one was over and the event’s specific scoring rules.
"pretty soon she'll probably take your dragster over and, and then you'll just be on your, be like your old man and just watch, right?"
A dragster is a race car built specifically to go fast in a straight line for drag racing. It’s designed mainly for quick acceleration, especially at the start.
A dragster is a purpose-built car for straight-line drag racing, typically with a long, low chassis and a focus on acceleration rather than everyday drivability. They’re often powered by specialized engines and run on dedicated setups for traction and stability at launch.
"Tell me a little bit about the dragster, Sean, uh, you know, from 20 feet on a bank shift live feed, that thing looks as good as any dragster on the property. Tell us a little bit about the chassis and, and what you got sitting behind your head."
The chassis is the structural frame of the vehicle—especially critical on dragsters where the frame geometry and stiffness affect launch behavior. In drag racing, chassis setup can influence traction, stability, and how the car transfers power to the track.
"actually I, I brought it home, took the motor out of it, uh, out of my Chevelle and put it in that dragster. Uh, first weekend, uh, at the race track with that thing,"
An engine swap means taking an engine out of one car and putting it into another. Drag racers do this to use an engine that already performs well and build the car to run faster.
An engine swap is when you remove an engine from one vehicle and install it into another. In drag racing, swapping a motor into a dragster can be done to reuse a strong-performing engine and tailor the car’s weight, balance, and gearing for better acceleration.
"Chad Simonton, you know, Chad, he works the lanes in the, at the west coast bracket races. He wants to know where do you think that the line should be drawn in who's west and who's east."
Bracket racing is a drag race where everyone is given a target time. The winner is usually the car that gets closest to its target, not necessarily the fastest car overall.
Bracket racing is a drag racing format where cars are handicapped by an “index” (a target elapsed time). The goal is to run as close as possible to that target without going faster, so driver consistency matters as much as raw power.
"Yeah, man, five, six, and seven. If you're talking NHRA divisions, five, six, and seven, you know, I think that's, that's the west."
NHRA drag racing is split into regions called divisions. The show is using division numbers to decide whether someone counts as “west” or “east.”
The NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) organizes drag racing into divisions by geography. Divisions 5, 6, and 7 are commonly treated as the “west” side of the country in NHRA bracket/racing talk, which is why the hosts map “east vs west” to those numbers.
"“2026, uh, wait, I'm going to, I'm going to try to get my kids some track time this year. Um, last, last year was, I didn't travel last year at all.”"
Track time just means getting laps on a real race track. It’s usually organized so everyone can drive safely and learn the course.
“Track time” means time spent driving on a race track, usually in organized events or practice sessions. For families, it often implies a schedule that lets kids participate safely while adults race.
"“...they, you do have juniors there too. Yeah, we do buddy, junior thunder and junior lighting on Saturday and Sunday.”"
“Juniors” are younger racers in their own category. They usually get to compete in a structured way and earn trophies too.
“Juniors” refers to youth racing classes—drivers who are younger than the main adult field. These programs often have age/experience rules and their own trophies or brackets.
"You know, if I can get one open before, before I stage the car, I would definitely take a bite out of it."
Staging the car means getting your car lined up and ready at the start so the race can start on time. It’s the step right before the official timing/lights begin.
“Staging” is the process of positioning the car at the start line so it’s ready for the race to begin, usually triggering the timing system. In drag racing, staging is done before the lights sequence so the car is set and the run is consistent.
"...but I look forward to watching you throw down again here, here in Vegas. [2399.3s] Yeah, I don't think, Sean."
“Throw down” is slang for really showing up and competing hard. It means the next runs are likely to be intense and focused.
“Throw down” is racing slang for going all-in and performing aggressively in competition. In this context it implies the next event will be a serious, high-effort run rather than casual practice.
"We have recency bias a lot of times and the people we see the most often are the people that pop into our heads, right?"
Recency bias means you’re more likely to remember what you saw most recently. So when people talk racing, they might forget great drivers who haven’t been on their radar lately.
Recency bias is the tendency to think of the most recently seen people or results first, even if others have been just as capable. In racing talk, it can skew who gets credited or remembered.
"And you've got people through the alcohol ranks and funny car ranks and things like that. So an amazing facility with a lot of cool stories that's produced a lot of killer racers for sure."
“Funny car” is a type of drag racing where the cars look like modified street cars but are built for maximum acceleration. “Ranks” here just means the levels or steps racers go through to compete.
“Funny car” is a drag racing category with short, wide bodies and powerful engines, usually running on either gasoline or alcohol depending on the class. When the speaker says “funny car ranks,” they mean the competitive ladder of drivers moving through that specific drag racing discipline.
"A majority of the time when this guy was running, that guy likes to do wheelies. And I like watching him do wheelies."
A wheelie is when the car’s front wheels lift up during hard acceleration. In drag racing, drivers try to control it so the car stays fast instead of getting out of shape.
A “wheelie” is when a drag car lifts its front wheels off the ground under acceleration. It’s a common behavior in high-traction, high-power drag setups, and drivers manage it to keep the car stable and fast.
"And at the end of the drag strip, in that last 60 feet, he's able to find the number, right?"
“60 feet” is how quickly the car gets off the line and reaches the first major timing point. Better 60-foot times usually mean a stronger launch and faster runs overall.
The “60 feet” time is the elapsed time from the start line to 60 feet down the track, and it’s one of the most important indicators of launch quality in drag racing. Small improvements here often translate into big gains for the overall run.
"He's able to find how to turn that wind light on. Got to go up against Zach Zurbrog..."
The “wind light” is the light that comes on to show who won the race. It’s the final confirmation after both cars run down the track.
“Wind light” refers to the indicator on the drag strip that turns on for the winner of a head-to-head race. It’s tied to the final elapsed time and is a big moment because it confirms who got the better run.
"So they combined Saturday and Sunday's purses. And we ran one race."
A “purse” is the prize money for the race. If the event changes because of weather, the prize money plan can change too.
In racing, “purse” refers to the total prize money paid out to competitors for the event. When purses are combined or events are shortened, the purse structure and payout timing can change.
"What probably won the most rounds of anybody all weekend for sure."
“Rounds” are the separate head-to-head races you win to move on. The more rounds you win, the closer you get to the final.
“Rounds” are the individual elimination matchups in a bracket event (e.g., first round, quarterfinals, semifinals). Winning more rounds typically correlates with consistent performance and advancing deeper into the event.
"Prices got stupid high in the first couple years of COVID, 2021, 2022 when racing was getting back on. And it didn't slow anybody down."
They’re talking about the COVID period when prices went up a lot. The claim is that racing still stayed popular even when things got more expensive.
The speaker references the early COVID years (2021–2022) when prices rose sharply in motorsports. The point is that even with higher costs, participation didn’t drop, suggesting demand remained strong.
"And it may have something to do with the fact that you put them on back-to-back weekends to give racers an opportunity to race twice and travel once, you know, basically."
Back-to-back weekends means two races happen on consecutive weekends. It helps racers because they can travel once and compete twice.
Running events on back-to-back weekends is a scheduling strategy to reduce total travel burden while still giving racers multiple chances to compete. It can also increase turnout because teams can plan one trip and race twice.
"you're left now with some really, really awesome premier promoters, like Chris, like Peter, like Brian and Tyler, like Tom Gull, who are putting on some races."
“Promoters” are the organizers who put on races, handle logistics, and manage the event experience. The speaker emphasizes that top promoters treat racers well, which helps keep participation strong even when entry costs rise.
"on NHRA racing this year. I know they're still supporting the brand with Cascade Thursday, I believe."
NHRA is the main organization that runs drag races in the U.S. So when they say “NHRA racing,” they mean the official drag-racing events and competition.
NHRA stands for National Hot Rod Association, the biggest U.S. drag racing sanctioning body. When the hosts talk about “NHRA racing,” they’re referring to the rules, event structure, and competition format used in professional drag racing.
"if Will or Peeps or Jeff Sarah parked at Corey. I mean, it's such a murderer's row at the million man that like there's 50 guys or gals that could get it done, right?"
“Murderer’s row” just means the competition is stacked with a lot of really good racers. It’s not an easy field to win.
“Murderer’s row” is a sports idiom meaning an unusually deep field of elite competitors. In this context, it emphasizes that the event has many top-tier racers, so even strong drivers can’t be assumed to win.
"Whether it's at a big money race or at an NHRA competition, I know he's focused."
NHRA is a big organization that hosts drag races. It’s the kind of event where cars race in a straight line and winners advance through rounds.
NHRA stands for the National Hot Rod Association, which runs drag racing events across the U.S. When someone mentions an NHRA competition, they’re usually talking about a structured drag-racing weekend with qualifying and eliminations.
"And until then, I want to hear about no shenanigans in the pits. People getting wild at the fling, carrying beef."
The pits are the service area at a racing event where teams work on cars between runs—changing parts, making adjustments, and handling repairs. It’s also where team logistics and pre-run preparation happen.
Select text to request an explanation
We're live. Hey, how about them cowboys? Are we talking about the football team or the
racers who perform like the football team? Hey, man, I don't know. I don't know. Whatever
way you want to go. I was telling you for sure I couldn't find the Stetson, but broke
out my fancy Bolo tie here for today. Only it's proper to wear at a Cowboys funeral,
you know? Absolutely. And I'd say we buried them, but the real guest did. Yeah, don't do that.
There was a lot of we and us happening in the chat bleachers this weekend for sure.
It's funny how we identify as a we and us when people are winning, and it's them if they're
losing, you know, with those folks. But it definitely felt like a we and us thing on
Thursday night for sure. And I felt like it was a we thing on Friday, man. We parked the
Trans Am in the winter circle on Friday. That we did. I heard you call me out in your winter
circle speech, too. So I appreciate that. Yeah, you didn't hear it. No, he did get hit guys. He
didn't. He didn't call me out in it, man. Didn't even didn't even shout out the pod, bro. You had
you had all those people watching you even shout out the pod. Not going to lie. I got stage fright
and then just started looking around at people and I'm like, ooh, I need to think them. Ooh,
I need to think. Yeah. Oh, that's a dangerous road, man. You start trying to go down the list
and you're bound to forget somebody. Yeah, I that's the hard part. I had 500 other people I
should have probably thanked. But did you thank your wife? I did. That one. That one. That one I
got. So we didn't completely screw up just a little bit. Yeah, winners parade at any of your
events are always fun. I always wait to see like if people are on top of it or if, you know,
Costello or Galvin's got to remind him at the end. Like I don't forget in Pomona when I won.
We were doing the interview and they like, who do you want to thank? And I wrapped up who I
wanted to thank and they start wrapping up me and I'm like, hold up. I need to thank my wife.
Almost almost screwed up there, but got it in. Yeah, it was a good day. We parked it in the
Winter Circle. Honestly, not my best driving performance. Honestly, the car was far from good.
And I guess I was just pulling into the lanes at the right time against the right people and couldn't
seem to do anything wrong. I was doing everything wrong and the win line just came on and some
days that's just what you need to park in the Winter Circle. I was telling somebody if I ran
that race 10 more times, I would have lost first round every single one of those 10 times. So
feel blessed, feel lucky and I can talk it up too. Well, hey man, I mean, you did your job
as good as you could have done it. And it's funny sometimes you look back at the run sheets and you
can see events where it's like, man, that wouldn't get it done on a Saturday at my home track,
but somehow somebody catches in for 50 grand, you know, with a bunch of 30 take 50s.
But like sometimes that's, it is what it is, man. And so, you know, I think that just goes to show
that that conditions were tough for everybody, whether it was weather, whether it was track,
you know, tuning, whatever the case may be, like, like everybody else was struggling to and
that re-levels the play and field. And if you're both 30, well, then it's a pretty good race,
right? So yeah, good job, brother. It was fun to watch and was definitely cheering you on. So
congrats on parking it. Yeah. One of the things I want to get into is I just want to give a shout
out to Chris Forsype on this event. He did a great job promoting it. I think it was ran very
smooth given the circumstances with the weather and he made some really good choices with 432 cars.
I mean, that's a lot of entries for this race, for this track. And for the schedule, he managed to
fit it all in and what more can you ask for than a promoter giving you what you paid for?
Well, a ton of entries, right? Like not only for him, that's a record entry this year for his
promotion. But just on the West Coast, man, when you, for a big money event,
to get that kind of turnout, obviously, I think the move to back it up against the fling
paid off because I think you had racers not only from the East Coast and the Midwest who were
going to come to the fling anyway and decided to add on an extra week. But similarly, I think people
from the West and the Northwest who said, you know what, I'll just make it a trip. You know,
you saw George LeBlanc all the way down from Canada going round. I'm a man going round in the
hugger orange Chevelle. If you ever get a chance to hang out, go see George when you're in Vegas
this week, man. George LeBlanc, he's a cool dude from Canada. And I thought he made the trip all
the way down. He'll make it over to Vegas today or tomorrow. And he'll come down again for the
summer showdown. So the guy puts some miles on in order to do this stuff. And I think that,
you know, I think marrying those up on back to back weekends
turned out turned out good for for Chris. And I think we'll probably fare well for the fling too.
You muted though. You muted though, Doug. My bad. We'll get into the to the rest of the
winners after our interview. We have the Thursday night, East versus West, without winter on with
us tonight. Mr. Sean, the share of Schaefer. I'm doing pretty good. We had a lot of traffic
on the way here today. We got a late start. I let the kids sleep in. So and obviously I figured
that I was going to run into some traffic and we obviously did. So we made it though.
Nice to make this deal. But nobody you pass any broke down trailers or toe rigs on the
on the side of the road on the way. No, I didn't. But I did get a notification that Andy Small has
broke down on the side of the road. Hopefully he's getting the help that he needs. Yeah, Andy
Lana, the hitch to his trailer. And if there's anybody out there that could help Andy getting
contact with him, I'm sure he can take all the help he'll get right now.
Yeah, he folded that thing up pretty hard. So I think you look like you've got two hours north
two hours north of Vegas. So I'm sure someone's gonna take care of a lot of people in the area
right now. So I'm sure he'll get taken care of. Yeah, for sure. Well, if you don't already know
Sean, or if you didn't know Sean before he went on his tour of the East Coast,
you should know him. He's a multi time big money race winner at the Flings. He won the 30k Silver
State Race in 2024. He won the 50 grand at the fall flame in Vegas in 2020. And then obviously
he's won a handful, maybe maybe too handful of the the night fire races in Boise, Idaho.
He's no joke to the bracket racing world. And obviously, this win kind of boosted him to a
well known name, both East and on the West. Former classic grand champion as well, right?
Yes, sir. Yeah, buddy. Well, yeah, Sean, thanks for joining us, man. You know, I think there was a
lot of anticipation, obviously, for this East versus West thing. It's interesting because I think
in general, the larger racing community, just a lot of mutual respect there. There's a few folks on
either side that at any given time kind of push the issue or whatever to, you know, stoke the fires.
And I think that's great. But, but, you know, 16 of the best from from each coast on either side.
And we were all waiting with a lot of anticipation. And I'll tell you what, man, our hearts were
sinking, sinking quick because East Coast came out punching, West Coast came out tight, nervous,
turning it red. And I wasn't looking good there, man. And we fast forward to round three and all
that's left is you and Whitfield. And he goes down. What was your thoughts kind of in that moment
when when you go, you know, you're leaving third round, and it's just down to you now in a long,
long way to go. So at that point, like, I felt like I was already locked in at that point,
because it was just me and Whitfield left. And I really wanted that race. Anyways,
even before it started. And then I thought that, you know, I thought it wasn't going to go the way
it did, even to get to where it was just Whitfield and I. And so when I when I saw his light not
come on in front of me when I was sitting in the burnout box, I was like, Oh boy. I said that to
myself was like, Oh boy, here we go. Like this is going to be a long night. And that and then my
light came on. And then at that point, once that light came on, it was it was just turn the car
around, like just do the same thing, just turn the car around and get back up there. The car was
the car went 299 in the middle every single run all night. And it was, yeah, I was the car was there.
All I had to do was leg up. Yeah.
I, uh, one of my favorite quotes of the weekend, and it's kind of alludes to to my caption of the
pod. And it was, uh, what's the, what's the similarities between a cigarette and,
and, uh, the East coast and Sean Shaver smokes them all leg, leg horns up there. And you're
rolling around. This is like the third or the fourth time you've been by yourself down the track.
And, uh, you guys, this mother effort, you got to run out of cigarettes at some point.
That's a kind of your trademark. You roll around the corner and you got your cigarette hanging
out your lip. I thought that was pretty funny. East coast lights, baby. Got a whole carton full
of those things. I actually, I actually did. That's so funny. Um, so, you know, you were locked in by
that point and you could kind of see that, right? It's like, you knew the nerves had hit everyone.
And it's like, man, if just a couple guys can get one or two more rounds under their belt and
find a rhythm and, and, you know, Chris was starting to get there and then got his broke.
And as you say, you see that when light not come on for him and you're like, oh man, here it is.
I thought about in that moment, that's that scenario that we all have when we're kids and
we're out on the basketball court shooting hoops by ourselves and you, you count it down three,
two, one down by two and you take the shot and you miss and you do it again until you find
they make it before you leave for the day. You know, you'll just do it however many times it takes.
And so as tough as that is, and, and, you know, as daunting as that challenge is,
like that's as competitors, those are the situations you dream about. Those are the,
those are the ones that we all think about, you know, games on the line, final minutes,
and, and it's up to you to get it done. Is that something, is that a situation,
that kind of pressure that you, that you tend to thrive on?
Yeah, I work, I work really well under pressure. I feel like if I have any kind of pressure,
I tend to succeed a little more. What I'm real, when I get relaxed is when it's,
when I'm, I have those mediocre days and there was a, I know when I first started,
when I noticed that I was, I was at home and at a, at a Fox hunt and it was just kind of a
bigger race at home. And one day I was like, I'm going to double enter. I'm going to,
I'm going to race a snowmobile today. And my dad's like, oh no, what, why would you do that?
You're going to screw everything up. And I'm like, no, I'm not. And I actually went out there and
doubled in both classes that day, proved dad wrong and found out that I work really well
under pressure that I just need more to do. Well, and that leads right into, you know,
there's a lot of talk about the format, which was interesting, right? You put people on the bench
if there's an uneven number and, and until you don't need them anymore. And so to some extent,
I think, you know, it's worth pointing out that, that maybe there's some sort of disadvantage
if you get to, if you have to sit. I think that's counteracted though, on your side by this team
dynamic, which is something totally new and totally different. And, and even if these aren't
guys that you're normally super tight with or whatever, like on this day, you guys are on the
team. And, and I know that you don't want to let the team down. And I know that they're all like,
you know, it's pretty rich, a bunch of guys who go out in the first and second round probably
telling you, you need to go out and win it all when they, when they can only make it one or two
rounds. But I feel like that adds such a unique pressure and, and like a type of accountability,
right? That's that was really unique for you that until the final round, nobody on the east coast
had to deal with because they had a whole stable of people behind them if they lose. And so
until it came down to talent in the end, the whole hopes of the team never, never rested on
one person's shoulder like they did for you. What did that feel like in the moment?
Are you talking like the final round? Well, just like, I mean, starting, you know, fourth, fifth
round, right? You, you have that realization and still such a long ways to go, right? You get to
seventh round and you still got three more to go. Yeah. So like it, I mean, I, I thought about it
as like, man, there's seven of them. And then I got lost. I didn't know how many of them were left
at a certain point. And I think that was the best thing for me. I treated every round like a final
round is, I mean, it was set up that way. I mean, you pull back in the staging lane, there's you
and one other car. That's it. There was nobody else down there. Just those two cars. So it's
like a final, you're rolling into a final round every, every pass. And that, that made it a,
I don't know if that made it easier to focus. You're like, Oh, this could be the final round,
you know, but at the same point time, I didn't know how many were left. I was, I was making labs
to get back. I was working on, get the car cooled off, get it like getting ready. Okay,
what am I going to do next? You know, and just staying focused to get back down there.
Was there a round in this, in this scenario where you're like, man, I got away with that one or
man, I, I think this one really just pushed this whole thing over the edge and,
and now I'm just on a roll. Yeah. So it's probably, so I let go 16. I was like, okay, I missed it.
And so I was, I knew it was getting late and I know the adrenaline was driving me,
but I know when it's, when it gets dark and you're tired after a long day,
you'll, you'll start missing it a little bit or you're just slowing down. I guess you're
technically not missing it. You're just getting slower. And so I left everything alone. I went
down there, hit it again and I was 16 again and I was like, whoa, okay, we're consistent, but I'm
slow. I was like, so I took time out of the box and got back up on the wheel to finish the night.
There was a couple of rounds where I knew what the car was doing and I knew what I had to do
with the finish line, but I feel like that maybe I dropped a little harder on, on some of those runs
that I didn't necessarily need to. So I got the actual numbers, you know, and saw that I did make
the right call. Yes, sir. Kind of backing up. When, when you saw your name on the list of,
of the 16 drivers, what was that feeling like where you're like, man, this is, this is cool.
This is something that I can get behind or was it more like, holy smokes. They really want me to
represent them because that's more of the, more of the feeling that I got when I, when I was on
him on the list. Yeah. So I actually didn't even know about the list. I know the list was out for
a little bit and Pearson Deming gave me a call and he goes, he goes, Hey man, you're on the list
down there. You're going to the, the, the Tucson race. I was like, yeah, I'm going. Oh, you better
let him know that you're, you're coming. So he sent me the link for it and stuff. And I had no
idea I was even on the list, but when I found out that I was on the list, I was like, man,
I was like, I don't know how I got on there, but it was an honor for me to be on that list.
Oh, go ahead, Park. Another thing that I mean, I'm not sure I'm going to change the subject right
here a little bit. Troy, is that all right? Go ahead, man. Your show. So coming into the
driver's meeting before the, the race happened, I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't
really fully understand the format and our team captain, Bill Kidd and, and Ryan Glacorn, we kind
of did a snake draft on who was going to run who, and this is kind of the behind the scenes that
nobody really got to see. We did a coin toss who would pick first. And then Glacorn actually
started and he was picking who his driver's going to race. And Bill Kidd kind of at the
beginning was leaving it up to us to call out the other drivers. If you had to call out
one of the drivers, Sean, who were you going to call out and why were you going to call them out?
I was going to call Gary Williams out. So we'd race a couple of times in Vegas.
And the last time he raced was at the Fall Fling in Bristol. And he got me there. So I
thought I wanted to get him back. That that was around. And I know, I know of Gary better than
any of those other guys that were there. And as a kid growing up, I watched Gary race. And he was
somebody that that I felt like I wanted to race first round. Man, I love that. Cause like I'm,
I'm still at a point in my racing where like, I'm looking for the name that I recognize the least.
And I'm like, give me that guy, right? And to pick the goat to be like, I'm going after the goat,
right? That's just just shows like you're in a different, a different mindset on a different
play and field than, than a lot of folks, because most folks don't reach for G dubs name first,
you know, if they, if they had a chance, man. And so like, like maybe just getting into, getting
into that a little bit, um, that confidence, right? That just shows me the confidence. And you
talked about, I think you went 16 back to back and you pulled numbers out, right? And so to me,
that's the confident move in that you're confident in what you're doing. And so you're going to make
an adjustment rather than not make the adjustment because you don't have confidence in what's going
on. So you, you, you leave it the same, right? You, you don't make a decision and don't make a move.
And it showed in your reaction times, right? Your average ended up being like 10,
10 over 10, man, um, over 10 rounds. And, and the 10 rounds, right? It is not to me the unique thing
because if you're going to go to a race like that or the fling million and you're going to win,
you got to go 10 rounds to do it. Whoever wins the fling, the 30 or the 50 or the big one,
like they probably had to go 10, 11 rounds to do it. So, so that in and of itself isn't
the unique part to me. It's that format. It's that one after another, people throwing it at you
and your ability with that added pressure, with that added factor of accountability,
um, to perform under pressure like that, man, and just go up and kill it. And there was a couple,
right? Couple double breakouts. Yes. The numbers weren't in your favor, right? But you were able
to make the right decision at the other end or they made the wrong one or some combination of the
two. And so, so even still, as well as you were driving, had to squeak a couple out. And I think
that just speaks to the talent on the other side, right? Those guys, absolute killers. Um,
you know, and I hope this kind of puts things to rest, uh, to some extent, seems like it got
things started more rather than putting things to rest. But, but I don't know, but just that
confidence, man, really, really stood out to me. And I think if you look back at your other
accomplishments, um, kind of a trademark of yours. Yeah. So, uh, going back, uh, so Ryan Leghorn
picked me to race for Gary Williams. So, uh, so you got your wish. Yes, I did. So either way,
as like if it was my pick, I was going to pick him and it just worked out that it was their
pick when they picked me. So yeah, man. I don't think they knew what they were asking for though.
So Sean, you're, uh, you're racing at the foot this week. Um, is do you, you feel a little weight
up your shoulders heading into the week with $8,000 of the East coast's money in your pocket?
Or are you, are you trying to put pressure on yourself because you drive under pressure
trying to win that, uh, those big money? Um, well, we added a car to the mix.
So, uh, my dad brought the Chevelle down. Uh, we're going to double this weekend. Um, and
just have some fun. Nice. Nice. Tell us a little bit about the Chevelle. You've had that car as long
as I can. I got that car in, uh, 2005 or six. I've had it one 20 years. Um, hey, uh, cool story.
I, uh, I got that car. My dad told me, he goes, Hey, this car's for sale. We need to go look at it.
And, uh, Troy Thomas was building, built that car when my dad back half his, he took the measurements
and, or I don't know exactly how that went, but I know they, they were very similar built, uh,
at the time. And, uh, so we went and looked at the car and it's like, man, I don't, I don't have
enough money to add, you know, I'm at that point, I'm not very, I'm for 15 years old, I think,
15 or 16. Um, and, uh, I don't have enough money. Well, the neighbor lady wanted to help me out.
She was an old lady I did yard work for. Um, Ty had got the money that I had and, uh,
she actually, uh, helped me out. They get that car and, uh, unfortunately I didn't get to pay her
back for that car. Um, she passed away before I got that far, uh, but I ended up paying her,
her son, the rest of the money that I owed on it. Um, so that car has got a lot of sentimental value
to me. Um, and, uh, that car in, uh, this year, actually we, uh,
slowed it down. My daughter, my oldest daughter is going to drive it this year.
Nice. I didn't really know what I was digging into when I asked about the Chevelle, but
that's, that's the reason why we started this podcast is like to dig a little deeper and hear
these stories. So yeah, man, it's getting real full circle around here and, uh, your daughter's
going to start driving it and, uh, pretty soon she'll probably take your dragster over and,
and then you'll just be on your, be like your old man and just watch, right?
Yeah, I don't know. I'm a long ways from that.
Tell me a little bit about the dragster, Sean, uh, you know, from 20 feet on a
bank shift live feed, that thing looks as good as any dragster on the property.
Tell us a little bit about the chassis and, and what you got sitting behind your head.
So that's a, uh, it's a 19 Miller. I ended up, I drove it a couple of times for Dustin and Tim
and they owned it. Um, and, uh, I told him, I was like, Hey, he ever want to sell that car,
get a hold of me. And one day he just posted it on Facebook and I called him up and I was like,
Hey, take my car off to Facebook. You know, I was like, and he was like, well, you got to make a
deal. I'll be there after work. We'll make a deal. Um, so I ended up, I bought that car from Tim and
Dustin words. Um, and, uh, actually I, I brought it home, took the motor out of it, uh, out of my
Chevelle and put it in that dragster. Uh, first weekend, uh, at the race track with that thing,
I won with it. And I just, it was, uh, it's pretty cool. I got to, I got to win in that car. Uh,
I want to, uh, think it was a top gun deal. Uh, when Dustin and, uh, Tim owned it
at that Halloween classic. And, uh, the second week out with it, I won the night fire with it.
I mean, that thing, it's just, that car has been really good to me. And then, uh, the next,
the, actually there was a beginning of 24, uh, the fling I won Wednesday. So that car's been
very good to me. It's a sick ride, man. And like you said, it was on, I think you were on either
a 64 or a 65, the entire east west, um, you know, showed, and I didn't look at the board
as closely when we got into Friday and Saturday, but, uh, thing looked like it was on for sure.
Yeah. I definitely spent a lot of time with it. Um, and, uh, it's, that's a very well working car.
Yeah, it looks like it. One of the, one of the comments in here, um,
uh, his name's Chad Simonton, you know, Chad, he works the lanes in the, at the west coast
bracket races. He wants to know where do you think that the line should be drawn
in who's west and who's east. This debate keeps going on and on on where east is, where west is,
and for some reason the, the east keeps moving more west and I'm pretty sure they're going to try
to get you on team east coast next year or something. Well, I live in the Rockies, man, and
I don't plan on leaving anywhere anytime soon. Uh, but I think that if this pertains to the
Chris Whitfield beating in the middle of the country, um, he's on the west coast, in my opinion.
Yeah, man, five, six, and seven. If you're talking NHRA divisions, five, six, and seven,
you know, I think that's, that's the west. Uh, it's funny too, because people in Ohio,
which is only one state away from the Atlantic, all you gotta do is drive across Pennsylvania.
They call themselves the midwest. And I don't know, man, I think you're definitely in the east.
Uh, so that's just old school, antique language, I think, and, and, um, you know, anybody,
anybody who's got a problem with Chris being on the west coast can take it up with Sean Schaefer.
You know, hey, so back to the junior days. This is a long time ago for me, but, uh, they used to
do the western conference finals at Denver. There you go. There it is. Chris is from Denver.
So how much more proof do you need than that? We can close that chapter right now. It's over.
I was talking to the Gleghorn after the whole spiel went down and, uh, we were talking about
the midwest, right? And then I was like, it says west in the name. And then, and then I'm like,
and we also get West Virginia because it also has west in the name too. West Virginia, if you live
there, you're on the team west coast. You can be on team west coast too. Sean, um, you know,
you got fling plans. Um, I know you do a lot of other stuff besides racing. Uh, you know,
I don't know if you're trying to chase points at Firebird or just go to the big ones. What's, uh,
what's on your agenda when it comes to racing in 2026? 2026, uh, wait, I'm going to, I'm going to
try to get my kids some track time this year. Um, last, last year was, I didn't travel last year at
all. Um, we just focused on the kids stayed at home, did some racing. Um, and, uh, we're going
to do a lot of that. Um, I'd like to travel a little more with the kids. So I want to try to
find some races that all of us can go race out of town and, and experience together.
I love it, man. June 5th through 7th, man. We got, we got twin 5ks and 10ks out here at Woodburn
first weekend in June. So if you guys are feeling froggy and remind me if I'm incorrect,
they, you do have juniors there too. Yeah, we do buddy, junior thunder and junior lighting on
Saturday and Sunday. There you go. And they'll get the same cool trophies that everyone else gets.
Um, and yeah, we added them to the program for the first time this year should be, uh,
should be a lot of fun. I know that a lot of the kids are pretty excited about
getting to share the big stage out here. One of the, one of the other crazy things you said,
what else are you got planned this year, Sean? Uh, one of the craziest things that is about Sean is
this isn't even his first best hobby. Sean is a far, far better hunter than he is a race car
driver. And that's a scary thought because he's a pretty dang good race car driver. So Sean,
do you like hunting more or do you like driving your race car more?
I don't know. It's a pretty, it's a pretty good toss up. Um, I get to race my car more. Um, I do
enjoy the bad country a lot. Um, I try to do 10 days in the bad country for elk season. Um,
then get as far away from everybody as I can. Um, that's, that's very, uh, calming for me.
Do you feel more, are you a rifle hunter or a bull hunter?
Bulls. So, so tell me, tell me final round, round 10 of the East versus West
or a six by six on the 30 pin, which, uh, which one's giving you more,
more adrenaline, more nerves? Uh, man, the definitely, definitely the archery. Yeah.
Six point on the 30 pin. He drives under pressure. He's pounding that thing.
I'll tell you what, I don't want to be any animal near Sean during the season.
So, you know, do you think that, do you think that what happened, you know, because here's the
way I, like I said, I think most of us all have a mutual respect. Um, and I've certainly never been
in the camp to say the West coast was better than the East coast, just always in the camp that said
we got folks that can get down to, you know, we're just as good, or at least there's some people who
are just as good. I mean, they have a lot more racers in general. So I think proportionately,
it's probably pretty similar. Um, you know, and I was like, we can have our one race a year where
we, where we fight it out East versus West. We passed the trophy back and forth, but then the
rest of the year we could all just be cool and, uh, you know, be racing family. Do you think this
stokes the fire for more of this East versus West narrative, or do you think, um, that it puts it to
bed more? No, I think it's going to be more of a, everybody's going to be looking forward to it every
year type thing. Um, I think me personally, like I like, I liked the way that it was run. I mean,
um, that could have, it could have been flipped the other way to where we were all sitting on the
bench too, you know, um, but a lot of us haven't raced in a while, which is no excuse. Um, I haven't
in Tucson, uh, when I got there, um, I didn't, I started it at home. I didn't even sit in it.
I, it was in the trailer and I just, I strapped it down and we took off. Um, so I mean,
I'm not, I'm not taking anything away from anybody. It's, it's at the end of the day. I mean, it's
be anybody's day. Well, it was your day. And I think that situation, right, of sitting on the bench,
that, that in a way it's their own fault, right? That only happens because they couldn't take you
out, right? Had they taken you out, they would have all laddered back up and raced it out to the
end and they'd have been racing. And the only reason people had to sit on the bench is because
racer after racer was unable to clean you off the map, right? And, and so that forced the situation
again. Whereas if somebody beats you fourth round, they all just ladder up and race, right?
But they couldn't and they couldn't beat you fifth or sixth or seventh or eighth all the way to the
end. And so, um, you know, you, if it's a disadvantage or not, maybe it is, maybe it
ain't, but the bottom line is, is the only reason that that situation exists is because
people weren't able to take care of business when, when they had the chance. So
Is there anything else you want to put to bed on the East versus West thing? I have one final
debate for you. If you don't, anything from you, Sean?
I don't have anything about you, Troy.
No, man, like I said, I'm good. And, and I think it was awesome. And, you know,
those guys are our, our heroes out here, you know, a lot of us. And we see them on,
we see them online all the time. And those same, you know, those same 16 guys are all
going to grab four or five big checks this year out there each, you know, um, there's so many
racers, so many races and those guys are so good. So, uh, ton of respect, uh, appreciate them
making the trip right out here to the West coast. We want to see West coast bracket racing build
and grow and get bigger and better. And, um, and that's what it's going to take is, is
bringing people out. And so, uh, no, man, I think it was awesome. I, uh, I think that if we could
put the East versus West to bed until we have another team race, that would be just fine with me.
I'm about tired of hearing it. This guy's from the East, this guy's from the West. It's just,
I think we should all just be drag racers and, and see who's the best that weekend and move
forward like any other race, um, especially cause we're just one big drag racing community. And,
that's, that's all that matters. Um, the final debate I have with you is which popsicle flavor
is the best popsicle flavor of them all. Oh man. Well, that, uh, I don't know. I'm going to say Cherry.
Cherry? Well, uh, uh, Chris Northrop, him and Troy were going at it in the comments on Facebook
today that, uh, what's the name of that? It's the strawberry shortcake ice cream bars, man.
Those are ice cream. He didn't, he said popsicle. Yeah. They're just on a stick. They're like
an ice cream bar. Yeah. Yeah. He did. He did not say ice cream. Now I would have said those are
my favorite if he said ice cream. When I, strawberry shortcake, when I learned that bro,
like I still, like when, when those are on the truck or they're in the little thing at the gas
station, I don't care what else is in the case. It could, I don't care what it is. I'm getting one
of those. They're the best thing. I've been chasing ice cream trucks for those things since I was a
kid. Those little crunchy, the little crunchy things on the outside, man. Like those things are
gangster. Oh man. I could, I could eat like 10 of those in a row. Yeah buddy. I feel like still
grab them. Yeah man. That's what Northrop said. He said that you, he put like 50 of them in your,
in your mother home on the way to a race and he got there and you hit eight of them all.
Smoked them. We had to buy more. That's my style, man. If I come out to Halloween this year,
I'm going to bring us a couple of cases, brother. We'll get down. Yeah. Y'all are going to get wasted
on a strawberry shortcake ice cream after hours. We'll be staring around the bonfire. Yeah. We'll
get that big bonfire going and just crush ice cream and make a little boltz or something all night.
I'll tell you what. If I eat ice cream while I'm racing, I won't let go of the button very well.
I was just going to say, if you guys need any tips or tricks on how to distract Sean,
they'll probably skip around to go get a strawberry shortcake ice cream.
They're next year. They're going to throw six of them at you while you're in the burnout box.
That's it. I guarantee you, I bet you get at least two of those thrown at you at the fling.
You know, if I can get one open before, before I stage the car, I would definitely take a bite
out of it. Oh man. I got to get, I got, I know enough people down there this week.
I got to find someone who's going to throw a nice cream bar at you as you go through the burnout
box. See if we can make it happen. You know, we're trying not to lean into this thing and
oversell it too much because it doesn't need oversold, man, but just, just to kind of wrap
things up. Congratulations obviously for what you did, an inspiring performance for anybody who
watched it. You saw people feeding back on it online from all across the country. And certainly
in the West Coast, but I think in, in big money bracket racing lore in general, that's a story
we're all going to tell for a long, long time. And there's a certain subset of us that are going
to tell the shit out of that story for a long, long time. And so appreciate man, the show that
you put on, what you put into it. And just congratulations, brother. It was, it was a
sight to behold and can't imagine what, like I said, that's the moment we all think about, right?
So can't imagine what that must have felt like, but congratulations, brother.
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. Sean, get some good rest tonight. You got time runs tomorrow.
And I say get some good rest. Your back's probably sore from the whole West Coast on your,
on your back, excuse me, but I look forward to watching you throw down again here, here in Vegas.
Yeah, I don't think, Sean. Appreciate you, brother.
Thank you. Yep, later. Wow.
The sheriff, baby. He, he's, he's even got more ice in his veins than, than you think. And most
of us knew that before this race. And he does thrive under pressure. It's pretty impressive
to watch. And I just, I like Sean. He's a good dude. And he's just one of those guys that you
like being around just cause he and always has a good time. Yeah, man. And it's funny because
I think he's a guy I overlook a lot of times for no good reason at all when we start to talk about
West Coast guys, right? We have recency bias a lot of times and the people we see the most often are
the people that pop into our heads, right? So we start talking about Cooper or Dylan or, or Henry
or, you know, any of these guys, David Meyer, the list goes on and on. That's a guy because he just
kind of selectively travels that he's not always front of mind, but anytime he's on the track,
man, he's putting in work. You know, we mentioned the, the stuff he's done at Firebird, winning
the night fire is no, no small feat. The longest running bracket racing tournament in the country.
And it brings people from a long ways away. It brings out people's A game. It's a really long
grind in the heat, you know, from, from cold morning temps to like blazing afternoon temps
to again, it's out in the desert of Idaho on the Snake River Plain. Once that sun goes down,
the lights come on, the temperature plummets. And so it's a, it's big swings. You know, if you
got 3,200 DA, you're feeling like it's a solid air day out there. You know, you'll hear him on the
microphone. If it gets below 3,000, they'll say, it's mind shaft conditions. And it's like, what do you
guys, he's like, we're racing at sea level. I was pulling up my app and like, I don't know, man,
I think something, but to them, 2,500 is like, you know, racing at the ocean. So
Halloween classics, similarly, right? It's the last big gas of the year out there. And people
travel from all over. So winning, winning the classic grand championship, you know, that's like
a West Coast, that's like champ of the West Coast type stuff, you know, night fires, like champ of
the West Coast kind of stuff. So, and then of course, the fling wins. Now this win, a name that
I'm going to have to try to keep up front of mind when the conversation starts, because the
sheriff delivers for sure. Tell me if I'm out of line here when I say this, but there's that track
in Texas where you got the Bo Gaki and the Richardson boys, and there's a handful of others,
the Heflers and whatnot. And it just seemed to breathe just winning, winning drivers. I feel
like Boise has a similar effect with reading. It's really good racers. I mean, you got Lafferty
in words and Sean and the kids. And there's just a lot of racers that if they did a little more
traveling, I think that their names are going to be near the top of everybody's radar.
Oh, 100%. I mean, they race a lot out there. It's a longer season, longish season, right,
compared to some places. There's a big population center there. So you have naturally a bigger
supply than maybe a track like Bremerton or even Woodburn. Boise is much, much bigger than Woodburn.
And they've been doing it a long time out there, right? So there's been able to be a tradition
that's been built over the years. I mean, I have old, old pictures from the mid-60s
in my dad's photo album, right, of Firebird Raceway with dirt staging lanes
and the whole bit. And so it's the kind of place. It's been around long enough and it's got enough
people around it to build those kinds of lineages of racers out there. And there's a whole bunch
of them, man. I mean, you've named a few, but there's some killers. The Demings don't play around.
And you've got people through the alcohol ranks and funny car ranks and things like that. So
an amazing facility with a lot of cool stories that's produced a lot of killer racers for sure.
Absolutely. Well, Sean Schaefer was not the only winner in Tucson.
He was like the only West Coast winner except you, man, like
props to the East Coast because, you know, you lost one in Pro and you lost the East
versus West, but they took all the rest of the money. Yeah. I guess Joe Small counts as a West
Coaster. He doesn't, man. I don't count him. He lives in Minnesota. I mean, he's, he's associated
with the West Coast. I don't know that he's ever lived out here. You know, I don't know if he lived
out here with Andy and them or not, but I don't count that for us. I give that one to the East.
So I don't know if, if you know the story behind why Joe is driving Jamie's car,
but from what I've heard and the comment section might have to correct me if I'm wrong is one of
Jamie and Andy's kids accidentally got their finger stuck in the motorhome door and Jamie had
to take, take the kid to the hospital and Joe, it was like my background or something. Joe hopped
in the car and he turned on every single windlight he drove and ended up in the winter circle.
That's pretty cool to just jump in out of, out of the blue and then turn on all the windlights.
Super rad, man. And like to be able to just perform like that, you know, I don't know if
that gives you more pressure or less pressure coming in that way. I think you could go either
way depending on the personality of whoever's doing it. But yeah, super impressive to just be
able to hop in there. You know that, you know, the Schmals have good stuff. There's stuff styled
in. So, you know, it's not, you would never question whether he's got a car that could do it
or not. It's just whether he could be on his game and he was man. So pretty awesome to see
the Schmalfin. Like I said, kind of West Coast adjacent, you know, associated for sure. I would
say, you know, now, I mean, he literally lives in Minnesota. So I don't, I don't know that we can,
we can claim him anymore, but certainly, certainly proud of him and the Schmalfin family,
bunch of, bunch of great people. And pretty cool to watch him do work in the cabbie.
Yeah, we had Joe get it done in Super Pro on Friday. We already talked about me. I've already
got my flowers enough about that. And then Lucas Walker in the pro category. I was in the burnout
box or slightly behind the burnout box. A majority of the time when this guy was running,
that guy likes to do wheelies. And I like watching him do wheelies.
He don't got a single car that don't pack them for 100 feet. And if he does, I don't see him race
it for long before he gets rid of it and get something else. He loves, he loves having fun.
And, and he's able to set cars up to be able to do that and still be super competitive and
super consistent, right? It's, most people would tell you that's not the way to win races.
And Lucas Walker proves you wrong almost every weekend. He's just a legend when it comes to
bottom bulb foot brake type setups, you know, big tire, small tire doesn't matter.
He knows how to set them up and they all have that trademark, man, you know, 60 hundred foot
wheelies. And that thing's fast. That's a 550 bottom bulb car, man. That thing's nasty.
One of the coolest things I saw this weekend is he was dialed in the 550s, obviously, but
he goes up in a wheelie. Okay. I hear him pedal it in the wheelie and I'm like, oh, game over.
He's going to be way above right here. Gets down there and I'm like, dead on three with the pedal
in the middle of the wheelie. Like, are you kidding me right now? Well, when you know how to successfully
hold eight, right? Like your car can wheelie and you can pedal it and you've still got some room.
And that's the thing about that guy, man, with all that other stuff going on,
he's able to account for it. He's able to figure it all out. And at the end of the drag strip,
in that last 60 feet, he's able to find the number, right? He's able to find how to turn
that wind light on. Got to go up against Zach Zurbrog, a young fella from the Northwest, who's
been doing pretty good lately out here. I think that was by far the biggest stage that Zach's ever
competed on. And he had him on the tree. He was 10 to Lucas's 30 something and Lucas was able
to push him out at the end. I think he was 10 take 40 something and he would need to take 20
something. So heck of a run by Zach. And with that win, Lucas was able to hop in the truck with
Charlie and they got two of the trophies and three of the checks from the weekend headed to Vegas
in the same truck. Yeah. One thing I'd like to point out before we get too far with some weather
that came in and it's kind of crazy. When was the last time you heard of a windout?
Saturday, it was blowing 25, 35 mile an hour winds and it was just difficult to make it safe
for everybody to run. So they combined Saturday and Sunday's purses. And we ran one race. We
started Saturday night and then finished it up on Sunday. So that's why you're seeing two checks,
two trophies, music winner. A tough call for Chris and the team, but the right decision.
I think canceling a day or certainly an event, but even canceling a single day is something that
any promoter would dread. And right below that is having to combine because it's the best case
scenario, but it's still not perfect. The value and all that stuff gets, you only get a race once
now instead of twice. And it's better than not racing, but it's still not ideal. And it seemed
like everybody was on the same page with making that call. Everything I've heard from people
who are at the track said absolutely that's what had to be done. And that led to getting it done
at a reasonable time on Sunday. With that many entries, Sunday would have been a long, long night,
but they were able to get it done at a reasonable time and get some people on the road. So yeah,
tough call, but the right decision. Yeah, I'm in 100% agreeance. I hate combining races. It's
like one of my biggest pet peeves, but obviously whether dependent, I mean, Chris did all that he
can and he delivered on what he promised. So moving forward, I don't see what else you could do.
I do like that we got done at a reasonable time and maybe I just sucked, but on Sunday we got
home at eight o'clock and usually we're rolling into town at midnight, one or two in the morning
and you got to wake up early to go to work the next day. And I kind of enjoyed getting home at
a decent hour and being fresh for work on Sunday. Yeah, man, those few hours change your whole week,
you know, and, you know, like, like Sean, he was able to get into town tonight. And it's early
enough still, he'll be able to get a good night's sleep, be ready to go for what's going to be a
long, long week this week. And we'll get into that in just a second. But yeah, final congrats
to Lucas, to peeps panicked in getting it done. You know, peeps has performed
super well at these events. I don't know how many he's been to now, but he's been to the last three
or four at least him and Jeff Sarah have been coming out to this race now for quite a few years.
And he's always nasty and that drags are so sick looking.
So so peeps in Dennis Lithgow split and quit in the final. And that brings me to
our MVP of the week, the greatest of all time of this week. I'm going to go ahead and give it to
Dennis Lithgow. He run it up Fridays, super pro race. And I guess tied in the final of
Saturday Sunday combined super pro race. So not many people had a better week than Dennis.
He was obviously driving lights out and hauling butt in that C seven Roadster of his and that
thing is immaculate with stuff too. Those things are nasty. Some of the Corvettes have always made
some of the coolest race cars. I wasn't sure how those ones would turn out, but the C seven,
C seven Roadsters are pretty sick. Man, it's tough. I thought a lot about this. I know there was a
question in the chat bleachers and everyone was going back and forth.
It's tough to slice it. I'm going to keep it at home and give it to Sean.
You know, the gravity of the moment, again, is certainly, certainly deserving, right?
What probably won the most rounds of anybody all weekend for sure. So so I'm with it on that. But
if I have to pick somebody other than you, just the gravity of the moment, what it means to us
on the West Coast to be able to cheer somebody on like that and have them, like I said, deliver a
legendary performance that we're all going to talk about for a long time. Sean Schaefer, my MVP
of all time of the week. It was pretty awesome stuff, man. I think we could do this. Dennis
Lyftial can be the greatest fall time of this week, but Sean Schaefer go down in history of
one of the greatest fall time of ever of that race.
And it's a race now that that is becoming, you know, it's starting to have a reputation for
incredible performances, right? We obviously just saw Sean's we've saw performances from people like
Tim Omore, we've talked about Tim's run that included peeps and bogack and the bunch.
Oh, there was another one he brought up. Somebody ran themselves in the final.
Oh, Andy Schmall, I think, ran himself in the final. I think Wurth ran himself in the final.
Yeah, there's been a there's been a handful in there with that car breakage and all that.
Right. Pulling a pulling a car right out of the trailer. So it's becoming an event that's
synonymous with with incredible performances. And I think I think that'd be cool. I can't
argue with you, Ronnie. You know, yeah, let's go. Definitely had the most round wins,
the most consistent performance across the week and have no problem at all with him with him
getting the MVP. One other thing before we wrap up the Southwest showdown,
loved hearing Ronnie on the mic. I'm okay with hearing like one on the mic, I guess.
But Chris, we need Troy in Oregon in Arizona next year. I don't know, man. I'd love to I'd
always love to get in on new event and help out, you know, Ronnie and Ronnie and and Ryan did a
great job. Who is the other cat that came up Logan or somebody came up there?
Somebody else came. Oh, yeah, Paul. So and did a good job too. So you guys did a great job, man.
TV is going to keep me super busy this year. And yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Now I've
got conflicts of interest and stuff, you know, I'm rolling with the TV crew now. So
someday would love to help out Chris and the gang. But if they got Ryan and Ronnie,
they're in good hands always. So killer job to those folks.
That puts a bow on the Southwest showdown. We got the spring fully million this week.
They're racing for 330 granders. And you're guaranteed $250,000 again this year. So
do you think that with the fuel prices and no harder travel? No, no, no, I don't.
You think it will be the biggest million ever? Yeah, yeah, I do. I do. What did it say last year?
Oh, man, 85. Is that what it was? Higher 425. Yeah, I think I think it was well over 400 450.
Maybe I'd have to look. I got pictures of Coop sitting there with the check.
No, there's no evidence whatsoever to support that. Prices got stupid high in the first couple
years of COVID, 2021, 2022 when racing was getting back on. And it didn't slow anybody down.
There we go. Jessica says 450. A smooth 450 piece for my man, Coop Chan.
It didn't slow anybody down. And I don't think it will now, right? And I think
seeing the turnout at, I think you would see that more at a race like Christmas than you would at
Vegas, right? So seeing what it was at the showdown makes me think that Vegas is going to be
bigger than ever. And it may have something to do with the fact that you put them on back-to-back
weekends to give racers an opportunity to race twice and travel once, you know, basically.
You know, it's still a decent little piece from Tucson to Vegas, but it's not as far as from
Florida to Vegas twice, you know, or something. So no, I think it'll be the biggest ever again,
man. Big Money Bracket Racing is here to stay. When you talk about the... I don't want to dump on
any promoters, man, because it's hard and sometimes it just doesn't work out. But it seems like most
of the Riff Rapp has kind of worked its way out of the promotion game and you're left now with some
really, really awesome premier promoters, like Chris, like Peter, like Brian and Tyler,
like Tom Gull, who are putting on some races. I mean, Greg Horns got his races down in Texas,
right? You've got some promoters out there who are putting on really, really solid programs.
They have really great products. They treat the racers with respect and appreciation.
And as long as you do that, man, it doesn't matter how much it costs. Racers will find a way.
We hear all about how expensive it's getting, how expensive it's getting.
There's never any shortage of brand new hot rods showing up every season. You know,
it don't matter. I don't think it matters one bit.
No, sir. Okay. We have three 30 granders in the million. Who do you have? Who are your top people?
Kutron with the sweep. Back to back. No, I don't know, man. I think I know Dylan Howe
has pulled out of the fling. I'm pretty sure he has anyway. I think he's going to focus 100%
on NHRA racing this year. I know they're still supporting the brand with Cascade Thursday, I
believe. So I would have picked him maybe for the American warm-up because I think he's won
three of those things or race tech, whatever they are. Maybe he races race tech and they
give away an American. I don't remember how the deal goes. But I think he's won at least two,
if not three of those things. So he's usually a pretty safe bet for the dragster.
Man, I don't know. I think seeing the way Lucas and Charlie been driving over the last six weeks,
I mean, Lucas has been cashing checks for the past month and a half. You know, coming off the
bottom, that's tough sledding at the fling to work your way through after the merge. But he's
got as good a chance as anybody if anyone's going to do it. Wouldn't surprise me if Lucas Walker
cashes in on one of the 30s. Tough to rule out guys like Will Holliman, who didn't have the
show, the showing that he advertised he would have at the Southwest Showdown. But that dude can boogie,
you know, if Will or Peeps or Jeff Sarah parked at Corey. I mean, it's such a murderer's row at
the million man that like there's 50 guys or gals that could get it done, right? Like for sure,
without question. And then there's another 50 below that where it's like, you'd be like, yeah,
you know, I could, if they got on a run, they might do it. You know, so there's 100 racers
that if someone told you tomorrow that they won the fling, you wouldn't be like, you wouldn't
fall over. You know, so it's tough to call, man. I think one of the craziest things, I mean, maybe
it's not crazy, but there's that many people who are that confident in themselves to go spend $2,000
or $4,000 betting on themselves that they're going to win this deal. That's kind of mind blowing to
me if you think about it. I can't win if you don't play. I don't know. I didn't really think about
this in too much of a depth on who I think would win the million this year. But the first name that
kind of came to mind to me was Race Kid. He's been out East and he's gone deep in a lot of the
races back there too. So on both sides of the country, I think that that race can get it done.
He's my pick to win the million. Obviously, there's a lot of talent all merging in Las Vegas. So
it'll be interesting to see. And then there's always the, is there a three-time million winner
or a two-time million winner? Jeff Verde's coming back. He's been coming back every year since he
won. Does he pull a Luke Bogackian win at the second time? Does someone who's won the OG million
win this year's million? All stuff that we will figure out on Friday night. And we'll see who's
staying in the suite. Getting a little ride and popping all the champagne. Yeah, man. It'll be
interesting. If I had to pick a West Coaster, I'd say I like Race or Chris. Chris has kind of,
we talked to him a while back. He's kind of been in this bridesmaid situation here for a while,
runner and up. Whether it's at a big money race or at an NHRA competition, I know he's focused. I
know he's energized. So Race or Chris is a great West Coast pick. Anybody else, man? If Donovan
Williams showing up, I'm never betting against D-Will. That dude, like, dude, when Donovan Williams
is on one, he is absolutely more unstoppable than I think anybody I've ever seen. So maybe those are
my three picks. Chris or Race on the West Coast or someone from the West Coast is going to do it.
Anybody else against the field? I'm taking D-Will against the field. Heck, yes. Well,
that wraps up the show for tonight. I'm excited to watch the fling and bring it all back to you
next Monday. And we'll see who the big check winners are. And East West is over. It is over.
No more. Until next year. Until next year, we could do it. We'd pass the trophy back around.
Like, until then, I want to hear about no shenanigans in the pits. People getting wild
at the fling, carrying beef. It's over. We'll do it again next year in Tucson. And until then,
let's just keep it cool because we love the East Coast out here. Yes, sir. Well, we'll see y'all
next Monday. I know there's some people watching this thing like screw that, but
that's where I'm at, man. Just love the game. So thanks, y'all. It was a lot of fun. We'll see you
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