TMCP #652: Double Bonus Racing Show! | Brandon Setzer on Late Model Racing | Tyler West on RacingJunk & Grassroots Motorsports
The MuscleCar Place
TMCP #652: Double Bonus Racing Show! | Brandon Setzer on Late Model Racing | Tyler West on RacingJunk & Grassroots MotorsportsThe MuscleCar Place · Jun 24, 2026
“Late models” are race cars used in a popular style of American short-track racing. They look like regular cars from the outside, but they’re built specifically to race, and there are different levels of the class.
A “super late model” is the faster, more advanced version of late model race cars. The big idea here is that you can move up by upgrading key parts—especially the engine.
They’re comparing the race car’s frame/chassis to a classic 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. It’s a way to help you picture the shape and layout, not that it’s literally a street Chevelle.
Term
Bush series car
The “Bush series” is an older name for a NASCAR series that’s now called the Xfinity Series. The speaker is basically saying the late-model car is similar to the kind of stock car you’d see in that NASCAR series.
“A arms” are part of the suspension that helps hold the wheel in the right position. In racing cars, the way these arms are designed affects how the car turns and how well the tires stay planted.
Term
truck arm
A “truck arm” is a type of suspension arm used to control where the rear axle/wheels move. In a race car, that helps the tires keep grip and keeps the car stable when you’re turning or accelerating.
Term
O'Reilly series car
“O’Reilly series” is a sponsor-branded name tied to NASCAR series coverage. The host is using it like a reference point to explain that the late-model car’s suspension is set up similarly.
The “Craftsman truck series” is NASCAR’s Truck Series under a sponsor name. The host is saying that the cars in that series are more similar to late-model stock cars than other comparisons.
Kyle Busch is a famous NASCAR driver. The host is saying Brandon was beating him even with less equipment, which is why Busch’s side wanted to hire Brandon.
3L Engineering is the company connected to the “stealth beetle” videos you’re hearing about. They’re presented as being involved in building these kinds of custom, performance-focused projects.
“Mid mount” means the engine is put closer to the middle of the car. “LS3” is a Chevy V8 engine, and using it in the middle is meant to help the car handle better.
Hickory Motor Speedway is a race track where stock cars and late model cars compete. It’s the sort of place racers go to run real races, not just casual driving.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a big, well-known oval race track in North Carolina. Teams use it to test their cars before races so they can dial in things like braking and handling.
A test session is when a racing team drives the car on the track to learn what’s working and what isn’t. It’s like practice, but with more focus on figuring out problems before the real race.
Hard braking means slowing down really aggressively. Some car problems only show up when you brake hard, so racers watch for symptoms like shaking or vibration during braking.
Front brake rotors are the metal discs your brake pads press against to stop the car. If a rotor is damaged or not smooth, the brakes can feel shaky or vibrate, particularly when you brake hard.
Qualifying is when drivers set their starting spots for the race. Qualifying “eighth” means he started near the front, which usually helps you avoid getting stuck in traffic.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 is a luxury four-door car made in the late 1960s. It has a very large engine for its size, so it can accelerate quickly. People mention it because it’s a comfortable car that still performs like a fast car.
Moroso Motorsports Park is a racing track in Florida. It hosts both drag racing and road-course events, and it’s the kind of venue that can attract different crowds beyond just racers.
A road course is a type of race track with lots of turns. Cars have to brake, steer, and stay grippy through corners, not just go fast in a straight line.
This means the track is being used for more than just races. Instead, it hosts events that attract regular visitors, like car shows, to make money on slower days.
Term
racing junk
Here, “racing junk” means used racing stuff—like parts or cars people are selling. It’s a way to attract enthusiasts who are actively looking to buy.
Geotargeting means targeting ads to people in certain places. So instead of advertising to everyone, you focus on fans in the area where the race is happening.
Nostalgia cars are older race cars (or replicas) that are brought out to celebrate the past. They’re used at events to create a “throwback” experience for fans.
Geo targeting is just another way of saying “ads for a specific area.” It helps race organizers reach the people most likely to care about their event locally.
A “late model car” is a type of race car used in local stock-car racing. It’s based on real cars you’d recognize, but it’s built and tuned for racing on short tracks.
A “quarter of an inch adjustment” highlights how fine-grained racing tuning can be. In short-track racing, small changes to suspension geometry or components can noticeably alter tire contact and handling, so teams measure and adjust in fractions of an inch.
At many local short tracks, races are grouped into different “divisions.” Moving up a division usually means you’re competing at a higher level with tougher competition and more serious cars.
Ryan Blaney is a NASCAR driver. The host is using him as an example of someone who was racing super late models before reaching higher-level NASCAR competition.
Chase Elliott is a NASCAR driver. The point here is that he (and others) were racing super late models, showing how that path can lead to bigger NASCAR stages.
William Byron is a NASCAR driver. The host is saying they raced drivers like him in super late models before those drivers moved up to NASCAR’s biggest series.
Christopher Bell is a NASCAR driver. The host is listing drivers who were racing super late models, showing that those cars can be a stepping stone to NASCAR.
The “Cup Series” is NASCAR’s main top-level racing series. The host is pointing out that the drivers they competed against locally later reached NASCAR’s biggest stage.
The Xfinity Series is NASCAR’s “next step down” from the Cup Series. Drivers often move into it after building experience in smaller racing categories.
“Vet customers” here means screening prospective clients to determine whether they have the aptitude and commitment to benefit from coaching or race-car development. Brandon describes using early on-track tests and prior racing history to identify drivers who are a good fit.
Legend cars are a specific grassroots racing category with standardized, purpose-built cars designed to be affordable and competitive. Brandon mentions checking a driver’s background in legend cars to predict whether they’ll be good at late-model driving.
Car
late model
A “late model” is a kind of race car used in grassroots oval racing. It’s based on regular cars, but it’s modified so it can handle racing and track driving.
“GM” usually means General Motors, the company behind brands like Chevrolet. In this sentence, it’s pointing to the manufacturer side of the racing program.
An “engine hour” is basically how long the engine can be run before it wears out or needs rebuilding. The host is saying today’s top racing engines cost so much that it’s hard to afford them for super late model racing.
“Crate motors” are production-style engines sold as complete, ready-to-install packages (often with standardized specs). The host explains that teams moved from very expensive bespoke engines toward crate motors in super late model racing, then re-labeled those cars as “pros” to reflect the new, more standardized powerplant approach.
Momentum in racing is basically how well you keep your speed going through a turn. If the car doesn’t have a lot of power, you have to drive in a way that keeps the car rolling quickly instead of just speeding up later.
An “Xfinity car” is a race car used in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series. It’s a well-known step in stock-car racing, and the host is comparing late model stock cars to that style of car.
A “perimeter chassis” is a frame that surrounds the car and carries the main loads. It’s an older style of race-car structure that can change how the car behaves when you turn and load it up.
A “steering box” is the part that turns your steering-wheel input into the motion that actually steers the front wheels. It’s part of the mechanical steering system and can feel very direct.
NASCAR is the big, famous American stock-car racing series. The host is saying that if you want to go further, NASCAR is the next major goal.
Car
Chevy 604
A “crate engine” is a brand-new engine you buy ready to install, instead of building one from scratch. “Chevy 604” is a specific Chevrolet crate-engine size/class they’re using for racing.
A spec shock is a suspension shock that the racing rules require everyone to use. That means teams can’t pick the best shock for their car, so handling can be a compromise.
Bump stops are rubber or mechanical stops that the suspension hits if it compresses too far. If you’re not allowed to use them, the car’s suspension has to be set up differently to avoid harsh bottoming.
“Shocks” are parts of the suspension that control how the car moves over bumps and during hard acceleration. Better shocks help the car stay planted instead of bouncing or lifting.
Term
ProLates
“ProLates” sounds like a brand or type of race-car shock setup. The idea is that it helps the car sit lower and handle better, but it costs more than the cheaper option being discussed.
“Crate 604” is a particular engine package that racers can buy as a standardized “crate” motor. It’s mentioned like a common, rule-friendly engine option for this kind of racing.
Car
small block Chevy
“Small block Chevy” is a famous Chevrolet V8 engine family. It’s popular because it’s well-supported with lots of parts and people have been building and racing them for decades.
“Upgrade 604” sounds like a specific engine option that the racing rules allow. It’s basically a permitted crate-motor setup with certain parts you can change to make more power.
The camshaft (often shortened to “cam”) controls valve timing by opening and closing the engine’s valves. Changing the cam is a common way to shift power toward different RPM ranges in a controlled racing build.
Rocker arms are the link between the camshaft and the engine’s valves. Changing them can help the engine breathe better and make power, especially when you rev it.
A harmonic balancer is a weight/damper on the crankshaft that helps control twisting vibrations inside the engine. That can improve smoothness and help prevent long-term damage when you rev hard.
RPMs tell you how fast the engine is spinning. If a series limits RPMs, it usually helps the engine last longer because revving higher puts more stress on it.
“Longevity” here means how long the engine keeps working before it needs major repairs. Racing is hard on engines, so rules that limit stress can help them last longer.
Term
super lap model races
“Super lap model races” sounds like a particular kind of short-track racing event or series. It likely refers to a specific ruleset or series name used in that local racing scene.
“Truck starts” means how many times a driver has begun a race in the NASCAR Truck Series. Each time they’re on the starting grid counts as one start.
LIVE
The Muscle Car Place, online podcast, episode number 652.
This week, a doubleheader from Charlotte, North Carolina, all from the land of stock
car racing.
First up is Trent West from Racing Junk, the granddaddy website full of, well not junk,
but parts, cars, and trailers that have plenty of life in them and need a new home.
Check us out.
There's 26,000 listings of racing and performance classifies on there, like if you're at the
show, you're probably going to find something cool on there that you like.
And then Brandon Setzer of Setzer Racing and Development, Brandon is who we're working
with for my son, Dallas, to get coached up in the world of late models.
And the next step in Dallas' racing career, Brandon's a very laid back guy.
He knows how to make a late model car go fast.
He has the credentials to back it up.
Frankly, he sees the bigger picture we're after, and I thought you might like to see
why.
Let's focus on learning.
You know, winning is not everything.
Like we all want to win, but there's steps that we have to take to get there.
Let's do it the right way.
This is the Muscle Car Place online podcast brought to you by National Parts Depot.
This is the weekly show dedicated to people worldwide who love American muscle cars.
If you're buying, selling, restoring, even racing them, this is the place for you.
Now, here's your host, Rob Kibbe.
Yes, indeed, I am Rob Kibbe, and welcome to the Muscle Car Place podcast.
Well, here we are, everybody.
A fun show to close out the month of June with a racing focus.
And that will take us all the way to the halfway mark of the year.
That's right. 2026 is half done.
Man, that's fast.
We have two guests today, Trent West up first from Racing Junk.
And that was a fun interview that we did live on the show floor
of the high performance expo just a few weeks ago.
You probably know what Racing Junk is and it's people selling their lovingly used stuff.
But it's kind of a one stop shop for, well, certainly race cars and race parts
and trailers and rigs and toaters.
But also there's a whole classified section of just normal cars.
I have found myself shopping for Gen 2 himmies on there.
Way more than money than I'm going to spend on an engine for my generally.
But there's one in particular I genuinely do like.
It's a Gen 2 426 Hemi with sequential fuel injection on it.
I could see myself doing that.
That would be fun.
But they also have just muscle cars and classic stuff, drag racing parts.
I mean, just all sorts of things.
Trent's job is pretty unique.
He's there for the whole property of Racing Junk.
And he used to be a guy that ran a race track.
So he has a very unique perspective on it.
And then we're going to have Brandon Setzer from Brandon Setzer racing
and development on and he is a very cool, very down to earth guy.
He's the one that we're working with now for Dallas to learn light models.
So you might wonder, like, why are we working with coaches and teams?
And so why don't we just buy a car and do it ourselves?
If I could do that, I would.
I'd always rather buy a car and do it myself.
We're at a point now where I can't go that slow.
I need to go faster.
I'm also learning that I'm not that special.
You've got to work with people who have done this for 30 or 40 years sometimes.
They have an incredible level of knowledge that you doing it on your own,
you're never it's going to be very difficult to get competent
at a nice pace, much less, you know, a more advanced pace like we're trying to do.
So that's why we go work with the team.
But frankly, I like getting help from people who have been there,
done that and are smarter than me and Brandon's awesome.
So this is a high level look at what late models are.
We're doing what are called pro late models, and I'm learning this as I go.
But pro lights are somewhat of an entry level world of late model cars.
A pro late model can become a super late model with nothing but an engine change.
So a pro late model is typically like a 400 horsepower stock car,
a super late models way more.
Brandon will give an introduction to both of those.
And then he'll also give you one to late model stocks and late model stocks.
It looks it's the same body, but it's an entirely different chassis.
And the chassis is more like a 70 Chevelle.
It'd be more like a, well, what we used to call the Bush series car
and O'Reilly series car, but, you know, A arms up front, truck arm, rear suspension.
That's what a late model stock is.
The Craftsman truck series and the current O'Reilly series,
they would be far more akin to that.
So he'll walk us all the way through that right now, where Dallas is,
is pro late model, and that's where you start in a late model.
And then you can jump up to a super late model or go right to a late model.
So it just depends what your goals are and how you plan to do that.
So he's going to explain all that.
Very humble guy.
He didn't say it much in this interview, but he was actually hired by Kyle Busch
because he was beating Kyle Busch and Kyle didn't like that.
And he was beating Kyle Busch and far less equipment.
And Brandon was doing that just with expertise and skills.
So cool, dude.
On a programming note, you may have noticed that today.
That's all coming up, by the way.
You may have noticed today is not Friday.
We usually release the shows on the first three Fridays of the month.
Well, this is the fourth Wednesday of the month.
Few reasons for that.
First, selfishly, today is my birthday, June 24th.
I am 51. So happy birthday to me.
Hey, balloons and all that.
Secondly, our producer to the stars, Bernie McPartland,
is dealing with some personal things right now.
And frankly, he would have got this show out on time if I just asked him to.
But he could use a little grace right now.
He's caring for his parents.
They have medical needs as his people do as they get older.
And frankly, Bernie and his wife are probably burning the candle at both ends
and have been for some time.
It just kind of has come to a head here of activities.
As I record this, he's got some of them behind him already.
He's already taken care of things.
But we're just adjusting our release schedule accordingly and burn.
Just know that we all love you.
You're the best of the best.
But yes, back to my ego, Bernie.
Today is June 21st.
First, fourth, my 51st birthday.
I'm in Charlotte this week again.
I'm not with my wife and my girls today.
Dallas and I will probably go find something fun to do tonight.
But if today is June 24th, that means six months
from today is something else. Very fun.
That would mean it's Christmas Eve.
That would mean that I think it's starting to start booking a special get.
What's that? I hear that jingle bells.
Is that is that who I think it is?
OK, that's what's going on here in my life.
The good guys car show is coming to Iowa next weekend,
fourth of July weekend.
I do hope to be there on Friday the third.
I can't be there on Saturday.
The pretty sure Saturday's the fourth.
Dallas is playing in his last fourth of July parade.
And I would like to go to it.
We have a little small town fourth of July parade
and the drum line from the marching band goes to play in it.
He will be a senior this fall.
So this will be the last one.
So I'm going to go there and do that instead of going to the good guys show.
Last topic here.
I have just been bombarded on YouTube lately
after we did the Herbie the love bug review on a Cuban friend show.
I've been bombarded with videos for the stealth beetle from 3L Engineering.
Do you know anybody with one of these cars?
Have you ever seen one?
It's a full replacement chassis for a beetle with a mid mount LS3 setup.
It is awesome.
I don't know much about the company 3L Engineering,
but I can tell you that they seem to have some relationship
with whoever is making GT 40s.
And I think they're from South.
I think they're from Africa.
I'm not entirely sure on the company,
but I want to know more that stealth beetle is killer.
I would love I want to see one.
I definitely want to drive one.
But if you know anything about the stealth beetle or I've ever seen one
hit me up. I'm interested.
Alrighty, up next is the Dallas Kibbey racing update presented to you by Lexani
tires, Lionheart tires and rolling big power tires, all available for purchase
easily at simple tire dot com.
And with that, burn cue the intro, please.
The Dallas Kibbey racing update driven by Lexani tires, Lionheart tires
and rolling big power tires, all available for purchase easily at simple tire dot com.
Now here's the update.
Boosis fast and on the edge of out of control.
OK, the summer shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway is underway.
As I record this, I'm recording this from your past right now.
By the time that this show releases, race four will have been done.
The way it works is that the races every Tuesday, every Monday is practice.
But there are two Mondays that are a practice in a race.
So out of the nine weeks of the series, the first week was practice only.
The second was a doubleheader and then third and fourth or not.
Then the fifth and sixth are a doubleheader and then you go individually for the remainder.
So why I'm down here so long is because Dallas had a single race Tuesday.
That was race four.
He's got a late model race this weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway.
And then he's got races five and six next Monday and Tuesday.
And then we'll go home after that.
So we did get to do a test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
What a treat.
We split it with nine other cars and got four hours of track time.
And that's so you can get testing over just you and practice like at a race.
Do it. It's so much easier.
I would say that race three was a little tough.
There's something wrong with Alice's car.
And one of the guys on our team just became an intern.
He's an engineer.
He just got an internship with Hendrick Motorsports.
He is a super wheel man.
His name is Danny Chisholm.
He's from Canada.
He'd ran Dallas's car around the track during our test session.
And he didn't know it was wrong, but something was wrong on hard braking.
There was a bad vibration.
The car would shake pretty good going into turn three.
Well, we finally figured out before the race.
And even though everything looked fine, checked out, fine, measured fine,
it was one of the two front brake rotors.
There's just something weird about it.
So when Dallas went out to qualify for the race, he was on fresh brake rotors.
You know, qualifying night like eighth, maybe.
So he's getting there.
This type of racing, you've got to be in the top.
If you don't qualify in the top 10, you got a problem.
But he's getting there.
He's getting to the front.
There were numerous restarts in his race.
And then I think on lap three or four, he worked his way to the inside.
And that's where you want to be here.
You want to be in the inside lane.
The dude ahead of him spun, coming out of turn four.
And then when Dallas went to clear him, the guy was spinning to the inside of the track.
The guy saved it, but washed up the track doing it.
This all happened just in the, you know, a snap of the fingers.
So Dallas went up to clear him.
Then somebody while Dallas was going up close, coming up on Dallas on the right side.
That guy's left front hit Dallas's right rear on a legend's car.
They can touch.
And that instantly sent Dallas in the wall, right front hit the wall.
And it hit the wall pretty good.
It didn't do as much damage as it looked like, but that cooked it.
The radio broadcast said, this is the big one because it took out like five cars.
As a result, it was a sucky, sucky night.
So the night ended early for race three, hopefully race four.
This last Tuesday went better.
You know, the whole goal here is to learn and acclimate every time.
This level of racing is just really difficult.
That's the point.
So really appreciate you following along here and supporting them.
I realized that some of these updates may not be super relevant to your life.
I get that, but they're very relevant to ours and it's on our mind a lot.
So that's why I share it.
Thank you so much to Lionheart, Lexani and rolling big power tires for the sponsorship
and also to Holly, specifically their Simpson racing gear and steel helmets.
Those as a new suit coming from Simpson.
Very excited to see it's got everybody's logos on it.
It's big time.
It's kind of a neat deal.
So with that, this concludes the Dallas Kibbey racing update presented by Lexani
tires, Ironheart tires and RBB tires.
You can buy them all easily at simple tire dot com.
Burn, cue the outro.
OK, here we go.
Don't forget once per month, we do have Mr.
Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot on to talk all things NPD.
You can ask him anything you like.
Send in your questions to me, Robert at themusclecarplace.com.
And of course, visit nationalpartsdepot.com to prove for all your muscle car parts
needs because they find the source.
They suspect the best there is a difference and they've got the goods.
Rick has already done the July show though.
So you got to ask your questions for August.
We're just proactive people.
That's how it is.
All right.
Interviews are up next.
First is Trent West with Racing Junk and then Brandon Setzer with
Setzer Racing and Development.
Enjoy the muscle car place weekly podcast interview is brought to you by our
good friends at National Parts Depot.
See them through the link at themusclecarplace.com.
Well, here we are.
High performance Expo 2026 second year of this show and a company I know and
definitely that I shop at as do our listeners Racing Junk, Tyler West here.
Tyler, you reached out.
We've never met.
I don't know why you reached out.
Thank you for doing so.
What do you do?
So I'm the partnership and marketing manager with Racing Junk.
I primarily work with race tracks and racing organizations, but with that,
with trying to gain more exposure in the industry, content creators can get us
just as much exposure, if not more.
So yeah, we're looking to expand work with more partners.
Think outside the box from the traditional racetrack only type partners.
Yeah.
So what's your personal background?
Have you been hawking stuff on Racing Junk for a long time?
What's your personal?
So in the racing business at 14, I started picking up trash at the local
racetrack because I got paid to be there, got paid to show up, and then I
could race my Hooptie.
And which was what it was a 1990 Mercedes 300 E.
It ran like 1850s in the quarter mile, but bracket racing is a beautiful thing.
It's all about consistency, but I at least like learned the basics before
spending a bunch more money on a real race car.
But that was my first venture into working in motorsports.
It may not be the most glamorous, but and from there, I went all the way to
managing tracks all across the country.
And then yeah, I came to Racing Junk after deciding that fatherhood is
something to be cherished and should be prioritized.
And I got this great opportunity to do this and I'm able to be a dad and work
for Racing Junk and do it all as good as I can.
There's a lot to that.
So when I think of Racing Junk, I use it to shop for trailers.
Yep.
That's almost exclusively when I need a trailer, I go to Racing Junk.
Like a lot of us, we all have a couple of three companies.
I have another one where we constantly, unfortunately, go buy nice race
trailers that are 25 or 30 years old and got them and reuse them for something else.
Yeah, but they're out there and they're plentiful.
Your relationship with racetracks, though, is it brand
awareness for Racing Junk because Racing Junk sells more than trailers
and parts and cars, right?
Right.
It is mostly brand awareness.
It's a give and take.
It's a trade deal that we utilize with most of our partners.
I'm able to help promote their events to our users.
I mean, we get like 2000000 visitors a month.
We've got 850,000 registered users.
They're all race fans.
They all want to know about what events are coming up.
So we've got partners all across North America that through newsletters,
through social media, we're able to help promote their events.
And in return, get some promotion to their customers, their racers,
their fans, and hopefully drive them to our site and they can check us out.
Most people have heard of us.
Everybody in the space has heard of you.
Yeah, but there's always new people that come to it.
You know, at a trade show like this, we're always surprised when people come
up and go, Racing Junk, what do you guys do?
It's like, well, check us out.
There's 26,000 listings of racing and performance classifies on there.
Like if you're at the show, you're probably going to find something cool
on there that you like.
So what's your personal background and understanding of how racetracks work
and where they're struggling succeeding?
Let me give an example where we're from in Iowa.
There's one asphalt track where we can run.
So we run there.
They do their best.
They're supported by a wonderful owner.
But that's the reason they can do their best.
What is the biggest challenge racetracks have coast to coast?
Because the flip side is you see something like Cletus McFarland on YouTube.
I'm like, God bless him.
He's making racing fun and popular, but in an entirely different way than
that traditional model that I grew up with.
You probably did too.
Yeah.
Whenever I think of challenges that racetracks face, it's just skyrocketing overheads.
Whether that's fuel prices, whether that's implement the price of a tractor
to help prep the track.
And like I'd come from mostly a drag racing background, you spray a lot
of glue on the racetrack.
Clues $1,800 a barrel.
It's also an industry where if your cost to put on an event goes up, you
can't immediately raise ticket prices or entry fees.
Like that's going to send people away.
For the track that you guys have in Iowa, being kind of on an island
of paved ovals out that way, it takes more than just one track to help
build a solid community.
What's the phrase?
High tides.
Oh, rising tide.
All ships.
Yeah.
I mean, if you have one track in your area and that's the only option, there's
not other tracks to kind of help hold them accountable.
If you have 34 other tracks, people will know that this is the
top track and this is the bottom track.
And the bottom track is hopefully doing everything that they can do to try
to emulate what the top track is doing.
In my part of the country, we're seeing tracks close.
And for track operators, initially you think, oh man, you know, this big
track, it's closing.
We're going to get all those racers.
Well, you might for a couple of years, but then they just go away because
they don't have a local option anymore.
So back to the skyrocketing prices of things.
You know, there's a lot of tracks that are closing because of the
property is worth more as something else in the industrial space.
Cause usually if it's zoned to be a racetrack and make noise and do all
that, it's zoned to be just about anything.
Yeah.
Good example, Palm Beach, Moroso Motorsports Park.
Awesome drag strip, great road course.
I don't know what the place brought in as a racetrack, but whenever it first
hit the market, I think it was listed for like $75 million.
Just because there's not industrial zoned real estate out in the swamps of
Florida, you know, South Florida.
And so these property owners, these business owners, they're not done.
They didn't get into this situation because all shucks we like racing, like
they're going to watch their bottom line.
And for the racetracks, for the racers in particular, those are just some
of the issues, I guess.
The times are changing.
You mentioned something that we hear a lot.
You can get your message out on content in a way that maybe 10 years ago, you
had to go buy ads for.
It's just a different world now.
You can talk to somebody for 20 minutes and they'll understand you for the
racetracks that are out there that are hurting.
I have seen a few and that are taking some interesting approaches.
They're turning into kind of an entertainment venue, not necessarily a
racing venue.
It's a racetrack that has races every weekend, but during the week carnivals,
car shows, quilt fairs, all the other stuff, what's it going to take to
make sure that we have a place for the next 50 years for my kid to have a
place to go race and the next generation to go race because we can't allow
this to die slowly.
Right.
Well, I think the entertainment venue side of things is definitely a solid
option.
It's a better option than turning it into a co-part parking lot or just a
storage facility for some big business.
What I do, I think maybe one of my specialties is figuring out how to best
work our local racetrack into working with city leaders, with local leaders, and
oftentimes we can get grant money by bringing visitors to the area.
That's one fold of things there.
But if you run Friday, Saturday, Sunday, there's four days a week that you're not
bringing in any money.
Right.
So figuring out how to fill the gaps without affecting the quality of your
race program, it's an important thing.
By hosting events that are non-racing, you're bringing people to the racetrack
that aren't race fans, that are in a roundabout way being exposed to motor
sports, and they may look around and go, what's that over there?
Like at a drag strip, like why are they torching the ground right now?
And they ask questions and they look at the schedule and, oh, this place is a
racetrack.
Like you just never know who you're going to pick up.
But yeah, a racetrack not being totally static on identifying themselves as a
racetrack and being an entertainment venue is a lot more attractive to most
political decision makers that have budgets that they can help you bring
in more visitors to the area.
So you're a man on a mission here.
You were just trying to run racetracks.
Now you're trying to be a dad.
You're still trying to be the man on a mission.
You're just using racing junk to do it with exposure to the, what was it, millions
of consumers that come to that website to peruse, buy stuff.
And now they know, can you geotarget them?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, most of the exposure that our trade partners get, it's blast out to
everybody.
But when it comes to a partner track that says, Hey, we've got this big Labor Day
weekend event, we're running nostalgia cars, like we can hone into vintage racing
of road course or dirt track or drag racing, because we have all of these
categories that we know people go to.
And then we can also do the geo targeting side of things of you want everybody
west of the Mississippi.
We got you.
If you want everybody in Alabama, we can do that too.
We have a ton of options for our partners to be able to fine tune what racing
junk viewer member customer that they want to target.
Because really it's, they need to be as efficient as possible when it comes to
spending money on their event that might get rained out.
You can't really set all this stuff up way far in advance.
Outdoor event advertising is a very tricky thing.
Yeah.
What's the best race you've ever seen your whole life?
Indy 500.
I got to go and like the racing was amazing.
And it was a 220 mile an hour Indy cars, but I've never seen a town go all out as
much as Indianapolis and particularly Speedway.
Like people decorate their lawns and the whole town unites around it.
It just seems so massive.
Like you're in the grandstands and they go through everything pre-race.
I was fortunate enough to, it made it a more moving experience.
Had a Vietnam vet in the row in front of me and they do the 21 gun salute the day
before Memorial Day.
Yeah.
That guy's in tears.
I'm in tears.
Everyone are at like, it's bigger than motorsports.
That can't be beat.
But there's still a lot of events on my bucket list for sure.
What would you like to do?
Pike's Peak.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
I wouldn't want to compete in Pike's Peak unless I had some kind of ballistic parachute.
I was going to say, shoot you out a preexisting condition that I only had so much
time anyway, because those guys are, they've got some cojones.
They do.
They've been racing up that mountain since 1921, I think.
And to just see the advancement of technology on the mountain and change
throughout the years.
And there's still a long way to go.
I think that there's still more technology that we'll see developed going up the hill.
Where do you think we'll be in five years from a motorsports perspective?
I can't tell if grassroots is holding ground, losing ground, gaining.
I really don't know.
I can only tell you what I'm doing with my own kid.
It seems to be hanging on at times by a thread, but people seem to care so damn
much that they won't let it go.
So I'm hopeful that in five years from now, we'll have not lost any ground.
Maybe even gain some back.
I think on the grassroots motorsports side of things, with the whether you like
it or not the advancement of AI, I work hard on graphics, right?
And a lot of track operators do too.
They take pride in making a very detailed flyer and advertising.
And then you see tracks that are cutting corners.
You can't ask AI right now to make you a very detailed flyer for a drag race
without it making a few mistakes.
Sure.
Those mistakes will bite you.
But if you're cutting those corners in that particular area, kind of have to
wonder what other corners are being cut as well from just like a maintenance
side of your racing facility.
And that concerns me.
So I think in five years, the grassroots facilities will evolve a little bit more
towards the guys that know what they're doing and gals, they're going to continue
to succeed and find more success where there are a handful of facilities out
there that are cutting very, very important corners.
And that's going to show over time.
You can't let the grass grow up between the tracks.
Yeah, no, you can't.
That has long term effects.
So, but yeah, and then on like the mega facility side of things, I mean, we're
seeing more and more tracks cut back on their schedule.
They may be diversifying their schedule and doing other things outside of motor
sports, but the whole buyout with IHRA and then buying up a ton of facilities.
I think there's a lot of questions around that.
The future of IHRA and the success that it has has a huge stake in motor sports
in the next five years and how that evolves.
Honestly, we should all be rooting for them.
I totally am.
I mean, at a different trade show a few months ago, you know, that was breaking
news and that was frankly, a really big deal.
Yeah.
Turned a lot of heads.
I was obviously, you know, in the NASCAR world just after a pretty big suit was
settled and done.
So I have hope.
I have hope that things will continue to grow.
Here's one more reason I have hope.
I have four good buddies from high school.
Not a one of them could probably change a tire.
They want to go lemons racing because they saw it on YouTube.
Right.
So I think there's other ways out there.
We can get people behind the wheel, whether it's for fun or to compete on a
racetrack, sure, is it hardcore?
No, but it's still racing and it's super duper fun.
So I'm hopeful for something like that.
How can racing junk help people?
People want to buy and sell stuff.
Obviously, racing, what's the best thing to do?
I mean, we offer free classifieds for anybody that's looking to buy or sell racing
and performance parts, trailers, motorhomes, toter homes, all everything in between.
So there's free versions.
There's an upgrade your ads.
If you're a classic car dealer, we've got options for you.
Oh, yeah.
If you're a trailer dealer, if you're a power sports dealer, if you have an
inventory of racing and performance things, we can help.
And we've got a leg up on other classifieds platforms where we've been around
since 99, we've got nationwide exposure, even international exposure.
We have quite a few buyers that come to our site from Europe that are looking
to get a muscle car, get in a true American race car to take to Timbuktu or whatever.
Does racing junk sponsor 17 year old kids with blond hair?
Not blonde hair.
We've got a thing against blondes.
No blondes.
I have started working with a few race teams that have a presence online.
Back in the day, am I remembering wrong?
I kind of remember, like as a Bush series at the time, I thought I remembered
racing junk sponsoring cars at the NASCAR level.
They may have.
I would love to have a racing junk die cast.
If that exists, I'll have to dig into that.
I think it's a thing.
Yeah, we'll have to Google it.
But Tyler, you've been a gem to get to know here.
Racing junk is a name we know.
Well, I am confident our listeners and viewers probably use it all the time.
I didn't know that you were the man on the mission to save the racetracks
of the con series.
So thank you for that.
Sure.
Can people reach out to you?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
What's your email?
Tyler dot West at Motorhead media dot com.
OK.
Motorhead.
Is that part of internet brands?
It is.
Oh, wow.
Yes.
And you do that history.
Yeah.
OK.
How do you know internet brands?
I've been in the podcast space for 15 years.
I see.
They bought up all of the big names and forums that I remember.
That's kind of how.
But no, I've known internet brands for years.
Good for you.
All right.
Thanks, Tyler.
Yeah, thank you.
Today, our guest is Brandon Setzer.
He's the owner and operator of Setzer Racing and Development.
He's based in Newton, North Carolina, and he runs a late model development
program for drivers coming up to their ranks.
So my son Dallas is doing late models now with Brandon.
And he's done one race so far.
And Brandon is going to describe what running a late model with him is like.
But there are other series here and I wanted to bring Brandon on to tell the
story number one, but number two, help us all understand the complicated,
confusing, messed up world of stock car racing that is the grassroots level.
Because there are like 50 versions of these cars.
They all kind of look the same.
They aren't.
He knows all that.
His dad was veteran racer Dennis Setzer.
Brandon is the guy that beat Kyle Busch so bad that Kyle Busch hired him to
get it over with.
He is not related to Brian Setzer.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra.
Too many people have asked me that.
I'm sure you're sick of that joke.
Brandon, welcome to the show.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Thanks for having me.
Yeah.
Look forward to talking to you guys on here.
Okay.
So number one, introduce yourself if you will.
People have heard of you through this show so far, but if they're just
watching this on YouTube, this is their first shot.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, you know, it used to be a late model racer, probably 68 10 years
ago, did that for a while and then kind of decided that I wasn't my ultimate
goal was to make it to NASCAR and be able to make a living driving a race car.
Kind of seen the path wasn't going to be very easy to do that.
And it was aging out and my time was kind of passed for that.
So kind of tried to see what else I could do in the industry with the work
for Kyle Busch, like you mentioned.
And then five years ago, started by driver development deals.
So we coach drivers through the learning process and the tricks that I've
learned over my years of racing, try to help those drivers increase that
learning process where, you know, maybe it took me five or six years to get
proficient and good at driving a race car and hopefully speed up that process
for these drivers by teaching them the tricks and the trade.
Sure.
Brandon, let's go back to the beginning.
Your dad is Dennis.
Did you grow up going to racetracks with your dad there in North Carolina?
How about this?
Was being a race car driver and in this world a thrust upon you?
Was it your choice or was there anything else you wanted to do?
It was definitely my choice.
No question, but I don't feel like I had much of an option.
I mean, it's all I grew up knowing and doing.
You know, I watched my dad do it every weekend, got to go to the track with him.
So I'm not a ton, but it's all I ever knew.
So yeah, it was definitely my choice.
But I feel like I never had any other thoughts of doing anything else.
So it was really cool.
My dad was already pretty accomplished by the time I was old enough to really
realize what was going on, running in the Bush series at the time and then
progressed into a truck series ride, which lasted for probably 10 years.
He was in a pretty successful NASCAR truck series ride.
So I got to watch all that firsthand and it was just a lot of fun.
And he was really, really good.
I mean, he accomplished, I think, 17 wins over his career, which is really,
really big for somebody out of a small town like Gus.
And he put a ton of hard work to get where he was.
He was super hands on to, wasn't just a driver.
He knew how to work on him, knew how to set him up.
And he knew a lot of the secrets as far as racecraft and learning how to race
and learning how to pass.
And he definitely taught me all that as we're growing up, running go-karts
and vandaleros and stuff like that at an early age.
We've gotten to know each other a little bit here over the last few months.
And you're kind of a crack up.
So you told me the story.
I want to play high school quarterback.
Then it was my time to go in and you actually tapped out and you said,
I'm not doing it.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
I mean, I was probably nine or 10 years old.
And I think I was third string and they had already knocked out the first two
quarterbacks.
They had a really big guy on the other team and he was just hurting a guy,
hurting the quarterbacks left and right.
And I'm like, man, I'm good.
I'm going to sit here on the side.
I want my race car back.
Football didn't last much longer after that.
I think I asked you, well, did you go in and you said, no, find somebody.
Yeah, for sure.
I've seen what happened the last two guys.
Yeah.
What was your first race car?
What did you drive first?
Yeah, so a go-kart, dirt go-kart.
I think I was six or seven years old, something like that.
Didn't race a ton at that age.
I feel like nowhere near as much as some of the kids race now.
We were really working around my dad's racing schedule.
So, man, it's hard to remember when I was that young,
but I feel like we probably only raced eight, 10, 12 times a year.
So not a ton.
And then when I got into my early teens, I feel like I lost a little bit of
interest just doing teenage stuff.
You know, I got into riding dirt bikes and wanted to go out with friends
and stuff like that.
So I still race, but I don't know that I put the effort in at the age
that I really needed to to get myself ahead at that 13, 14 year old range.
And then when I got to my later teens, then I really caught the bug
and went full board into racing probably at 17 or 18.
And then let's never stop still going hard.
What is the progression?
The reason I ask here is I've talked to numerous people and typically
when they're from more from the South, they all kind of have more of a similar story.
But I would not say I've met anybody that has the exact same story.
It's not like football or basketball or something where you play here.
Then you play in high school, then you go to college, then you go pro.
It's different.
There's a lot of ways to get there.
It doesn't seem to be any one way that's better than another way
because it's so subjective.
It depends a lot on things that are in your control and a lot of things
that are out of your control.
So the things that are out of our control and the reason I went to you is
I don't know anything about a late model car.
I can look at one and say that's a late model car, but the nuances of setup
knowing the quarter of an inch adjustment to be making on anything around there
that would take just like you said, it would take years, years to get proficient
at much less good at how long I mean, you grew up around your dad doing it.
But were you in your 20s by the time you thought I'm good, like I'm really good?
Yeah, man, I don't know that I ever felt like I was really good.
I don't know.
Yeah, I was probably early 20s when I felt like, you know, I'm getting to the point
where I could race with the best.
I never really felt like I was as good as I needed to be to go to the next level.
But I also never really got the chance to race enough either.
I mean, the most races we did were probably 12 or 13 in a year.
So I think that was a little bit of it.
But yeah, the progression is just different for everybody.
And mine was probably pretty standard by 15 years ago.
Definition, you know, we kind of started in go-karts, went to bandoleros,
ran a little bit of that, got in a late model super truck,
which is pretty low level at the local short track.
We run 35 lap races every week and there were 10 or 12 cars.
And the competition wasn't real strong.
We won quite a few races, but didn't really mean much.
It was probably the third or fourth division at the local short track, tier wise.
So kind of got my chance to move up, just being successful in the trucks.
And somebody gave me a chance to run a super late model for very little money
and had a lot of success doing that.
And then I kind of talked that into, you know, let's go buy our own car
and try to figure this thing out.
So we kind of started doing our own super late model car.
I want to say in 2013 is when we started that.
And then we went pretty hard racing in that point forward.
It was pretty serious.
I mean, the super late models at the time, Ryan Blaney was running,
Chase Elliott was running.
Later, Christopher Bell, William Byron.
So we got to race a lot of cool drivers that are now in the cup series
and truck series and Xfinity series.
So growing up, it was really cool to be able to race those guys.
It was pretty evident when you were racing those type of guys
that they were pretty special and that they were going to have a shot to go
to the next level. So really cool to see all that.
You know, we had some success.
We won six cars for races and got to race toe to toe with those guys
and won a fair amount.
So there's a lot of fun.
And the cool thing was they got to do it all with my dad.
We got to work hand in hand in the shop together.
So that was a lot of fun and a big part of it, too.
People come to you probably with a lot of different levels of experience.
But here's why I reached out.
I'm learning this path kind of blind, Brandon.
The progression that I've googled and talked to people has been
to go carts, do legends.
Maybe there's quarter midgets in there somewhere.
I had to learn what a quarter midget was.
You can do road course stuff.
You can go to Europe and get good at that.
Then in this country, if you want to go to NASCAR, the next thing you do
after all that is get good in a late model.
And there's lots of flavors of late models.
So I started looking around like, who can help me with that?
Your name kept popping up, A, for some credibility reasons.
So I can tell that you seem to have some relationship with Chevrolet.
I kind of figured that out.
And then I can tell that you had a few names that had come through you
that you had coached up and they had moved up.
And I thought, well, he's got a track record of some success here.
And I wouldn't expect that with every client you have.
But if you've had a few, a few is more than one.
So that means that you've had, you've got a track record of success.
You've got a relationship with Chevy in here somewhere.
And then I just called you and quite frankly, Brandon, you answered.
Some people don't.
You'll get calls from all sorts of parents.
I'm sure they're all hoping and praying that their kids the next thing.
And some companies will just take their money.
I got the sense from you that you're in this because while your original goal
was to drive yourself, you have found a lot of satisfaction on coaching people.
And you freaking love building race cars and making them faster at the track.
You get a little high off of it.
It seems like you truly enjoy it.
Absolutely, yes.
So what is it like to have to vet customers here?
Like, when is a customer the wrong fit for you?
Who don't you want coming to you to help?
Because that's a waste of your time, too.
Man, I don't know.
I mean, you see the people who don't have any potential and we usually try to do
a test to kind of, you know, the first test is kind of where we really know,
because you can go back to the background and see what success they've had
in legend cars and stuff like that.
But we always do just an opening test.
It's like we did with Dallas.
You go to Hickory, no pressure, go out there, show them the ropes
and just let them go get comfortable and go learn.
And we know pretty quickly whether somebody's going to be proficient
in driving a late model or not, somebody we want to continue with
and see their potential to get better with.
And, you know, we've seen that right off with Dallas.
And quite frankly, we haven't had very many that I haven't been interested
in working with.
Most of the kids that come out of these legends and go cars to suffer
actually really good.
I mean, they take the late models quite well.
So I mean, Dallas is no different.
I mean, we've seen the potential right away, had a ton of talent
and definitely had some stuff we needed to work on and get better,
which is every driver, right?
So it is a tough business.
You know, the biggest thing we look at is attitude.
You know, obviously, you know, the talent's got to be there,
but I want the family to have a good attitude as well as the driver, right?
So if somebody comes in there and is like, man, we got to win first race.
Like we need to win.
Like it's got to happen.
Like winning is everything.
It's like, well, let's focus on learning.
You know, winning is not everything.
Like we all want to win, but there's steps that we have to take to get there.
Let's do it the right way.
So attitude's big, like say, with the family and with the driver.
I mean, that's something we definitely take into consideration too.
You know, I feel like we're pretty laid-back people.
Like I don't want to get really excited about stuff.
I try to stay nice and calm and I feel like that's where you're going to do the most learning
and not getting super excited and not getting upset.
If things don't go exactly your way, you know, the first couple of times out.
But Dallas has been honestly the perfect example.
You guys have been nothing but awesome to work with.
And I think realistic expectations and he's progressed well.
He's learning quickly and I think we'll be competing for wins in no time.
You know, I'm glad to hear that, but sometimes I'm overly realistic.
Like sometimes I'm not aggressive enough.
I know where we are and where we aren't.
We did not start this until, I mean, this is year five of racing for Dallas,
but truly it's year two of racing legit.
Like for real, with people not me coaching them up.
I mean, the first three years were go-karts and legends,
cars running a dozen a year with me figuring all of it out.
Now we're leapfrogging.
This is what he wants to do.
And I have two other kids and you've got two kids.
Your kids are all different.
This is just Dallas's thing.
My girls, they have their own thing.
Dallas's is more easy for me to understand conceptually,
but I'm learning just like my other daughters.
I don't really know the depths to get them to the next level.
Yeah.
So for drivers that come to you, so you've got this Chevy relationship,
you don't have to describe that in depth if you don't want to.
But it just proved to me that you have some credibility
with the quality of the vehicles that you're producing
and your program overall.
And you introduced us to Lauren Renier.
But talk about the cars.
So there's pro late models.
There's late model stocks.
There's IHRA late models.
There's limited late models up there in the Midwest.
There's super late models.
My insurance guy said, does a late model mean
that it's like a brand new car from the dealership?
You know, it's new.
Right.
Has said, no, I don't even know why they call them late models.
Right.
Walk through why you choose, you do them all I know,
but you specialize in pro late models.
That's your GM.
Why that one?
So the pro late models are very closely resembled
to the super late models that I used to race.
And we've just kind of continued down that same path.
A pro late model, a super late model,
or the exact same car, exact same configuration,
same suspension parts.
Everything on the car is the same other than the engine.
So the problem with the super late model that I used to run,
it used to be affordable 10 years ago.
We could use a fairly affordable engine to make a lot of power.
They're probably 630 horsepower.
And as the years have went on,
those engines just became increasingly more and more expensive.
As to where now they're, you know, a 40 plus thousand hour engine
to go super late model racing,
which just is so hard to get a good field of cars
to be able to afford that kind of engine bill.
So they decided to put crate motors in the supers
and then call them pros.
And that's the kind of path we went down
since we already had all the knowledge
and the expertise in the super late model.
So we just carried that right
and put a crate motor in our cars.
And as they become more popular,
there's more series that pop up with a cars tour.
Now the IHRA.
And the good thing about the pro late model is
we can run them all over the country.
We went to Speed Weeks and Newsom in Florida this year.
Nashville, Tennessee runs them weekly.
Basically the only place
that doesn't run a weekly pro late model race
is in the Carolinas where we are right here.
So there's a couple touring series
with the Carolina pro series
and then the two I mentioned cars tour and IHRA.
So that's the three touring series we have,
but there's no weekly shows.
But pro late models, we can go to California,
we can go to Iowa, we can go to Wisconsin, Minnesota,
literally all over the country,
we can run the same car, same rule package.
So that makes it interesting and a lot of fun.
If we want to travel,
we haven't wanted to branch out quite that far yet,
but it may be in the near horizon.
But I love the cars, they're light, they're built to race,
they're all set to the left.
Don't have a ton of power, so they really teach momentum.
And they got a lot of grip.
So they're fairly easy to pick up and drive,
but you get a huge sensation of speed.
And they're also really hard to pass
because they're so momentum based.
So I think it's a great learning car,
a great stepping stool to like a late model stock.
A late model stock is very similar to a like Xfinity car,
perimeter chassis, steering box, steering,
truck armor suspension.
So very old school muscle car suspension and chassis design.
So they're a little harder to drive
and they have a little more power,
but the pro labels are great stepping stool to those.
You've educated me on late model stocks and where
just the word pro late model sounds more important
than late model stock because the word pro.
But late model stock is in some people's mind
the next step up after this,
even though it may be a step backwards
in like the actual technology of the car.
But that's the next thing up technically, I suppose.
And then you go on to other series like Arca.
And then you go to NASCAR if that's where you want to go.
You have far more customers than us.
You've got an interesting young man from England right now.
His entire background in England was in road course go-karts.
Just met him.
Neat. Just met him, he and his father actually.
They've come to you and they're running a different series with you.
What's theirs called?
Yes. So they're running the IHRA stock car series,
which is a new series that just come out this year.
Very interesting series.
They come out and they've got a huge purse,
paying a lot of money and they're doing it upright.
They got a ton of officials
and they have a lot of financial backing behind them
to be able to make the shows go really well,
pay good throughout the field.
It's been a good deal so far.
We've only run two races so far with that deal, but it's interesting.
It's different.
It's a completely different role package.
So as a crew chief and a car builder,
that was kind of fun for me to kind of get out of the box a little bit.
I kind of been doing the same thing for five or six years
and we've tried different things,
but we're all relatively kind of in a box of what we think is the best.
And the new role package kind of automatically puts us out of that box
because it's not allowed to do what we do.
So it's really cool to kind of rethink things and re-engineer things.
And I think it's honestly made me better at everything else I've done
because hey, this what we think wouldn't work, works pretty well.
So what else can we do that we don't think won't work?
Might actually also work.
So it was a lot of fun actually.
Is it that same Chevy Crate engine that you're running with us?
What is that engine?
Chevy 410s?
What is that?
604.
Yes, Chevy 604, which is just a Chevy Crate engine,
literally comes in a cardboard box that you can pick up the Chevrolet dealership.
But yes, the role engine role package and weights
and basic chassis configuration is the same for the IHRA.
Where they differ is a little bit of body height stuff
and the shocks is the biggest thing.
They make us run a spec shock,
which is nowhere near ideal for what we would want to run.
And we also are not allowed bump stops.
So on our current cars, we really soft springs,
car travels down, sets on the bump stops, rides a quarter inch off the ground,
all the way around the track, and it just kind of stays slammed down there.
For lower CG, just to keep the car lower,
keep the car handling better and faster.
So we're not allowed to do that in IHRA,
so the car comes up, but it's seven inches up off the ground on the straightaway,
and just a whole different deal.
So the shocks, the benefit of the ProLates that you run is the car slammed on the ground,
and that's where it kind of wants to be.
But it's a far more expensive shock.
And you just happen to have a whole suite of those things,
with every version, flavor, spring, rate that you want.
And IHRA, it's a very affordable shock, but that's the trade.
The cars look, I mean, if you're used to a ProLate model,
and you see an IHRA when they look a little goofy,
it goes, but they're still race cars.
It's still fun.
I think the idea is the big teams can spend, let's say, $10,000 on their shock program,
or more than that, or whatever.
And here's a spec shopper.
Everybody's got to be on the same shock, and it's a $500 shock.
So they just want to, even the playing field, where the guy that's running 10th
and says, man, I don't have a $10,000 shock budget,
has the same stuff as the big guy with unlimited shock budget or whatever.
So yeah, just a way to try to save people money, and it may or may not be,
but that's what they're trying to do, and they got good intentions for sure.
Last question, the engine.
It's a Crate 604.
Crate models, this audience is familiar with crate motors.
We like crate motors, and the small block Chevy has stood the test of time.
I think a Superlate runs a different crate motor that's more of an LS-based,
but in this series, there's another crate motor that we could run that's got more power,
but it comes with a weight penalty.
What is that?
Yeah, so they just call it an upgrade 604, and we're allowed to change the cam,
rocker arms, harmonic balancer.
I think that's it.
Probably gives us 35, 40 more horsepower, but we have to carry 50 extra pounds.
Track dependent, there's positives and negatives to both, but we've won with both.
We've got assortment of both.
I think I've got four of each, something like that.
So both have been super reliable, knock on wood.
We haven't had much issues, durability out of either one.
So yeah, I mean, honestly, been great crate motors.
If they limit us on RPMs, we can only turn 6,500 RPMs,
which probably helps the longevity of the engine, because us being racers,
if we think turn 7,000 be a little better, like the next guy's going to turn 71,
and man, if he started 71, I got to turn 72.
And it's just a never ending battle to be a little bit better.
And then then you have durability issues.
So then limiting us on that is probably the best thing they could do for sure.
Well, we'll end here.
So I could talk to you for days and days, but I just wanted people to get to know you
and get used to you.
Every time I've been with you, your dad's been there, and your dad is,
he knows his role here.
He loves you though.
He is very proud of you.
And he can't help every now and then, but want to step in, and he holds himself back.
But like when he has coached up Dallas a little bit, it's been in a very fun Southern way.
Like instead of him saying, you're doing this wrong, he'll say,
what you want to do is pick out yourself a sign at the end of this court.
Not that sign, that sign.
And he'll tell him that.
So see that sign over there?
Not that one.
No, no, no.
You want that one.
For sure.
For sure.
You know, the truth is, he's right.
And he's right because he's done this a little more than once.
For sure.
So your dad is a charmer.
And then there's another young man there working with you.
Austin, what is Austin's last name?
Austin Taylor.
Austin is a stitch.
And Austin has a way of speaking that is very calming.
I think Dallas gave him his helmet and he said, my goodness, this is so big,
I can eat a bowl of cereal out of it.
Yes.
I share this because there are some places you can go that are very hardcore,
very focused on success and winning.
And that's a good thing.
What we needed was coaching with people that we can trust and that are in it for the right reasons.
You showed up at one of Dallas's legends race, which you frankly didn't have to do,
but it was nice that you did that.
And I know that you've been in contact with him.
I'm sure you do that for all your clients.
It just does mean something, Brandon.
And so I wanted to thank you for that.
And then for people that are on the same journey for us,
whether it's now or in the future, give them some assurance.
They're talking the right guy.
How can people reach out to you if they would like more information, maybe get some advice?
Yes, you could check us out on Facebook, Sets of Racing and Development.
Also have a website, setsoracing.com.
Check us out on there.
But yeah, just like you said, man, we really do care.
It means the world to us to watch our drivers go on and do bigger, better things.
And we're always trying to come up with new ways that we can help the drivers
and just be there for them.
You know, even like you said, showing up to the legendary race.
I didn't want to coach Dallas.
I don't know anything about those cars.
I just wanted to hang out and kind of watch what they do and see Dallas's progression
and give them hopefully a little bit of a confidence boost.
You know, just a couple words of encouragement.
It's about all I could do there, but it's so gratifying to see.
Like we have William Sawalich's went on to be successful Xfinity series.
Christa McKee is running ARCA and winning ARCA races now.
We've been super lucky to work with unbelievable talent throughout the years in business
and watching the kids grow.
They've all just done so well.
George Phillips has won in super lap model races.
Ben Mayer is, we had him last year and he's progressing well.
Had a couple of truck starts last year and successful on the road courses.
So yeah, we just super lucky.
Yeah, love what I'm doing.
Couldn't imagine doing anything else.
Yeah, just hopefully keep going and hopefully get Dallas's first late model one this year.
Yeah, I think you had Connor Zillich as well.
Yeah, we had Connor Zillich for one race.
So I can't take any credit for any coaching for Connor Zillich.
I mean, yeah, we had it for his first ever late model race.
So maybe we helped them a little bit, but the kid was an unbelievable natural talent.
Really didn't need a ton of coaching right off the bat.
He was pretty special and it shows.
I mean, he's pretty unbelievable.
Having a rough go of it for his first cup rear here,
but hopefully gets a turn around.
I know he will.
He's got a ton of talent and good people behind him.
So it'll be fine.
Brandon, thank you so much.
Look forward to seeing you next week for race number two together.
Absolutely, yep.
Look forward to it, buddy.
Thank you guys.
All right, that was fun.
I hope that you've enjoyed this kind of inside look into the world of racing here.
We'll be back with muscle cars next month though.
That's it for me for this weekend month.
Be back in July 3rd, July 3rd.
Between now and then, hit me up on Facebook or Instagram anytime.
Be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts.
You can find us on Spotify.
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And you can always find every show,
plus all the merch on the homepage of the multiplecarplace.com website.
Don't forget to keep chasing your dreams.
Thank you for letting me chase mine.
Thanks for listening, everybody.
Bye-bye.
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About this episode
A doubleheader from Charlotte, North Carolina, spotlights late-model racing and the grassroots ecosystem around it. Brandon Setzer explains how late models fit into the path toward NASCAR, why “Everything on the car is the same other than the engine,” and how driver development hinges on “The biggest thing we look at is attitude.” Tyler West breaks down RacingJunk’s reach and why racetracks struggle with “skyrocketing overheads.” The show also includes a Charlotte Summer Shootout update, plus a “stealth beetle” conversation and a crash-and-restart race recap.
This week on The Muscle Car Place Podcast, we're bringing you a Double Bonus Racing Show featuring two guests who are helping shape the future of grassroots motorsports from very different angles. First, Robert sits down with Brandon Setzer of Setzer Racing and Development to discuss the world of Late Model racing, driver development, and what it really takes to climb the ladder toward NASCAR. As the son of NASCAR Truck Series veteran Dennis Setzer, Brandon grew up in racing and now dedicates his career to helping young drivers accelerate their learning curve behind the wheel.
Brandon explains the differences between Pro Late Models, Super Late Models, and Late Model Stocks while sharing insights from coaching some of the sport's rising stars. He also discusses how his program balances performance, affordability, and long-term driver growth. For listeners following Dallas Kibbe's racing journey, this conversation offers a firsthand look at the team helping him make the transition into Late Model competition.
In the second feature interview, Robert catches up with Tyler West of RacingJunk at the 2026 High Performance Expo. While RacingJunk is widely known as the go-to marketplace for race cars, trailers, engines, and performance equipment, Tyler's passion extends far beyond classifieds. The conversation explores the challenges facing local racetracks, the importance of grassroots motorsports, and how facilities are adapting to attract new fans and remain viable in a rapidly changing world.
Together, these interviews provide a fascinating look at the people working behind the scenes to develop drivers, support racetracks, and keep grassroots racing thriving for future generations.
