Cam Ebben & Nick Fallucca: Wisconsin’s Next Racing Star??

SPEAKER_00

0:04

Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. This is our first racing episode of all time. It's a great one with rising star Cam Eben, who was in town from Appleton, and our good friend Nick Faluka from Palermos, who races himself as well. Cam is a 14-time iWorld champion, a state go-karting champion. I didn't know there was such a thing, but that is pretty, pretty awesome. And he's a spec MX-5 race winner. He's only 22. He's a rising star with a bright future ahead of him. Before diving in, I want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Cup possible. We'll kick it off with Nicolai Law, the Midwest Law Firm Injured. Get Nicola and Russell, and the team will take great care of you. Drink Wisconsin Blee Beverage Company, best vodka, brandy and canned cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state and at the Drink Wisconsin Blee Pub, right across from the Pfizer, and now available at the Corner Bar in Wright Field at Ampham, the Drink Wisconsin Blee Corner Bar. Check that out next time. You're at a Brewers Game. And last but not least, our friends over at Annex Wealth Management. If you're looking to get your finances together this year and have a goal that deals with your money, your earnings, your investments, go talk to the experts at Annex. They have an amazing team ready to listen and help you with your personal goals. Annex Wealth Management, know the difference. All right, let's dive in with Cam and Nick. Fun one today. We've got Cam Eben, 14-time iRacing World Champ. To put that into context, he took down about 74,000 people in one of those. Yes, sir. One of those alone, right? Not all 14 combined.

SPEAKER_02

1:53

Some of them have had a bit more than that, so I'm excited to be here and talk about it some more. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00

1:57

I mean, that that is an elite level. He's a multiple spec MX5 race winner. Wisconsin State Carding is in go-karting champion 2021, 2023 SCC first gear Mazda Challenge champ. He's a Wisconsin native from Appleton, kind of the American Gran Turismo over there. And he's only 22 years old, just getting started. Cam, thanks for coming down. Of course, appreciate it, Richie. Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely. And we got my good friend, Nick Faluca. What's up, Richie? What's up? Palermo's Pizza, Chief Product and Innovation Officer, owner of Ember Social, new awesome venue up in Grafton. And I mean, we're we're talking a little esports today, some sim racing. He is a good friend of the iconic Brandon Chocker and has survived trips to Vegas and Lallapalooza with Brando himself.

SPEAKER_01

2:50

I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_00

2:59

Mario Kart Champion. I I don't mean to I don't mean to diminish your credentials. I think I won a few races. Yoshi was my guy back in back in the day. Yeah. You do some club racing, though. Some legitimate club racing. Some legitimate club racing. I've seen you out there in a race car. I've seen pictures of you out there in a real race car before. So don't sell yourself short. Yes. You're you're much braver and a better driver than me and most of the people on here. Cam, we'll kick it off with you. What's your backstory? How'd you get into racing?

SPEAKER_02

3:30

So it was kind of handed to me in a way. My grandfather raced professionally in Trans Am as I was growing up, which is a series that is based on American muscle cars. So, you know, raw, ground pounding, lots of horsepower. And then my father raced as well in SECA club stuff, like what Nick races and what I came up racing. So as I was growing up, I was always at the racetrack. And so once I was old enough to, you know, kind of recognize what I was seeing, I realized that that was my passion. And just like that, I started to fall in love with the sport, started to fall in love with being at the racetrack, seeing the race cars. And as we'll talk about today, I kind of made this journey happen to get to the point where I am today, and now racing in the Imsa MX5 Cup as a pro driver.

SPEAKER_00

4:04

So did you start with was it video games, go-karts, sim racing, now in real life, fan swim racing, or how what what did that path look like and at what ages?

SPEAKER_02

4:15

Yeah, so I would say, you know, the console games like Xbox would be Forzo or like Grand Turismo on the PlayStation. You know, those when I was pretty young, not really any good at driving necessarily, but just enjoying the race. Uh that was definitely something that I did when I was younger. And then I started to take it a little more serious as I started to realize, hey, this is what I want to do with my life and my path, and this is my passion. And I was like, I'm only 11 right now. This is when I had this kind of you know epiphany, if you will. I was like, I'm only 11. I'm too young to race anything right now. But I want to learn how. I really want to learn how I can get started in this. And so I turned to iRacing, and this, you know, might be a bit of an interesting fact, but you have to be 13 to be on iRacing. I was only 11 at the time. So we don't have to, you know, go into that too much. But anyway, I was a little too young to be on the game. But regardless, I was on there, and that's kind of how I learned to drive essentially. That's how I learned to race because it's an accurate simulator that has a great physics engine. You learn how to drive a race car, what it's actually going to behave like. And that's when I got a taste of the online racing, right? So from there, it was, you know, from about 11 until 15, I was just doing iRacing, just doing simulator stuff. And, you know, I credit everything that I've done to this point to that time I spent on the sim, really. And so from there, when I was 15, I got into go-karting. And like you said, I won the Wisconsin State Championship in 2021. And after that, I moved into Spec Miata in the SECA club level, which is uh the NB generation of the Mazda Miata, an older version of what I race now.

SPEAKER_01

5:39

Uh and then the Miyata's the lights that go up, right?

SPEAKER_02

5:42

Correct. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Um, and so then I got into NC Miata racing, which is Spec MX5, which you mentioned. That's what I ran for the past three seasons. And now I made the jump into MX5 Cup and all the while, you know, built my skills on the sim, winning championships along the way. And, you know, that's what I think makes me a lot more unique than a lot of other drivers out there is I learned how to race on a computer and on a racing simulator, right?

SPEAKER_00

6:03

So Cam, just a question that that I want to get out of the way. So um, I have a good friend that we call SimGod, who's a fantastic simulator golfer. He bought a simulator, he was he was talking shit to us all winter and he can't sniff 83 on a real course. So simulator golf isn't always that translatable to real golf, but it seems like you've, you know, really taken those skills and brought them into real life. Is sim racing pretty realistic?

SPEAKER_02

6:31

Yeah, I think for the most part, you know, it's down very well modeled because of the fact that they've spent a lot of time, you know, on a good physics engine and not just iRacing, like a lot of Sims have developed great physics over the years. And it's interesting because, like you said, you know, a golf sim is pretty accurate, but outside of a golf sim, I'm trying to think, but it's really hard to like simulate any other sport or like on your free time do like a video game version of a sport and have it somehow translate to real life. Like playing Madden doesn't make you good at football, but playing iRacing has helped me become a better driver. And a lot of people share the same story. So I think it's really unique in that way that you can go to your house, go to your basement, go to your man cave, you know, wherever your simulator is at. And it doesn't have to be the most high-end simulator, but what you're really learning is just being able to practice proper racing lines, how fast do you take corners, how to race side by side with other drivers. And that was the most beneficial to me is just putting myself in those racing scenarios and really just learning how to drive a race car from there. So yeah, it's definitely really unique, and I think it's very translatable versus other things. I mean, golf sims are close, they definitely help with you know what you want to get out of them, but it doesn't always work. And it's not always the case in real life either when it comes to sim racing to real racing. But for me, it's been very translatable compared to other, you know, games to real life stuff.

SPEAKER_00

7:47

You're um you're obviously a a freakish talent if you you've you beat thousands of people in in a sim game. What makes someone so do you have like really good fast twitch with your fingers or good vision or like what um what makes an amazing sim racer?

SPEAKER_02

8:04

I would say, yeah, having quick reflexes, you typically see that the better sim racers are trending a little bit on the younger side, you know, just mainly for the reflex side of it. Um and you also have to dedicate a lot of time to it. And depending on what sim you're playing, like for me, I was heavy on iRacing, um, which that was what I started with, and that's kind of what I've always been faithful to as far as spending my time on that. And I think spending time on a certain sim and learning how the physics are and how you can kind of manipulate, you know, getting the most out of the car on the sim, like that's really what it takes, is mastering what you're working with. I say all the time because, you know, personally, my equipment isn't the most high-end stuff that I use when I sim race, but I don't think that's really what matters. It's just mastering the equipment that you have, becoming accustomed to it, and also understanding kind of the inner workings of the sim and how it works. Um, but yeah, fast reflexes, spending a lot of time bettering yourself. What's nice about iRacing is that if you're in a race and there's someone faster than you, you can go after the race, watch their replay, like you can watch it back on playback, go inside their car camera, see everything they're doing, which is really good to you know help you learn. And that's you know what helped me a lot when I was getting started, kind of figure out how to be fast because I would see fast people in my races and I would see what they were doing and I learned from them.

SPEAKER_00

9:13

Nick, let's let's go over to you, aside from tearing up the club scene being a Mario Kart aficionado. Um how did you initially get into just your love for motorsports? And how did you guys come together for the partnership with with Cam and Palermos?

SPEAKER_01

9:29

Yeah, I mean as a young kid, I just always had uh, you know, matchbox cars, hot wheel cars, and all the road and track magazines, and then my hot wheel tracks were nice.

SPEAKER_00

9:38

Oh, yeah, those are fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

9:39

My dad would take me to Road America and we'd watch racing, uh IMSA racing there. And um, and then eventually I wanted to do a track day. And so you take your your street vehicle and you drive on the track and you learn how to drive safely on a on a track like Road America. And so I had my my 2002 BMW 325, and I did a track day and I fell in love with it. And then year after year, I would do modifications to it to make it a little bit faster, a little bit better. And eventually it was undrivable on the street because I had no AC, I had race suspension, I had squeaky brakes, and uh converted it to a race car and got into wheel-to-wheel racing. And the difference is that on a track day, you know, but my issue with my racing is that I learned to drive really safely on a track, and you're learning, you know, to let people pass and to pass them safely, and you're learning, you know, safe driving lines versus even on a track day. Yeah, there, okay, versus learning racing lines and racing um side by side. And so my transition to racing was a little bit more difficult because I knew how to drive safely, but then it's you know, passing someone at 120 miles an hour, going into a turn, and you know, being really uh aggressive. And so, you know, over the years I've gotten better at the racing side, but um I can When did you first do your when did you do your first race? Uh 2015 I got my license.

SPEAKER_00

11:08

Okay, so you're you're in your 30s at the or late 20s at this point ish. So so now late 30s. Late oh, you're late 30s in 2016?

SPEAKER_01

11:18

No, in 2000 well, I'm 38 now, 39 now.

SPEAKER_00

11:21

Yes, so this is a this is a while ago. 30-ish, 30-ish. So you're 30-ish when you do your first race. So you didn't I feel like naturally you're much more fearless in your teens and stuff like that. How how uh was the first race nerve-wracking, the first start? Or was it? Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01

11:37

It was it was because you know when you start in club racing, um you're it's it's not like a standing start, it's called a rolling start. And so you come up the line and you're you know ass the nose, and um the in the green, you know, the green flag drops, and everyone just goes. And it's like a it's a race to that first corner, and everyone's you know spreading out and going crazy, and it's it was a nerve-wracking first race, but it was exciting, and uh I just I fell in love with it because it's it's something that you can you can do into your older age. I mean, there's a lot of club racers who are probably too old to be driving, but they're good drivers. I mean, some of these guys and they're amazing. So it's it was a little scary. And what's crazy is that like I've done some like PlayStation like Sims and nothing crazy, but um, you know, there's a there's a turn at Road America called a kink. And it's a turn that if you're really good, uh you can basically not have to break. And but if you miss it, the wall is right there. And there's been more terrible accidents at the kink at Road America than probably you know any of the horses in America. And and in sim racing, you just go and you're fine, you drive right through it. In real life, there's some it's there, and there's some definite yourself. There's some oh shit moments there. Yeah, and but yeah, it's fun.

SPEAKER_00

13:04

We'll we'll get into that. How did the Palermo's partnership come together?

SPEAKER_01

13:08

Yeah, I mean we we knew each other through uh SECA and you know his his whole family races, and we'd see each other at the tracks, and you know, I followed him on you know his journey through sim racing, and he reached out, had a good pitch, and we said yes.

SPEAKER_02

13:23

Yeah, I feel like I like to be a self-proclaimed visionary a little bit. You know, I was looking at what to do with my racing career going forward into 2026 because for me, obviously, my path is forward. My plan is we'll talk about obviously top levels of IMSA racing. And I knew it was the right time to make that transition into the pro scene of some degree, and I was looking at MX5 Cup, which is what I race in now, and it really started as I was looking at a Screaming Sicilian pizza box, and they have the window mouth there to see the pizza inside. I was looking at this and I'm like, this looks exactly like the shape of the grill on the front nose of an MX-5 Cup car. And all of a sudden I had this vision, and I was like, we can make this come to life. And so if you if you've seen our car or not, not sure, but we have the Screaming Sicilian asset, the the Screaming Face is on the front of the race car with the mustache and it goes right around the grill, looks just like a mouth on the car. It's been a great hit so far, even after two events. Uh, so many fans are not only purchasing Screaming Sicilian items and pizza, but also just letting me know that they're coming out to see the car, really enjoy the car. It's the favorite car on the track. Just so many great takeaways so far from the start. So I had this vision, and yeah, like like he said, I pitched it to them with a lot of other activation ideas of how we could really bring their energy into the experience at the racetrack, and it's just been a smash hit. So yeah, that's how it came together.

SPEAKER_00

14:39

Kim, I'm guessing since your your grandpa and your father were drivers, um, has the family been your family been very supportive? And did you go to college or anything, or have you just been kind of doing doing doing this?

SPEAKER_02

14:51

Yeah, so I went to MSOE in Milwaukee, finished up four years last year in 2025. So I got a bachelor of science in marketing. So you're smarting. Yeah, yes, sir. Okay. I'd like to say so. Um, but yeah, so got a bachelor of science in marketing, so I went to college, but obviously super supportive of the racing all throughout. And, you know, my professors were also flexible in allowing me to go take these trips to races because as I'm pursuing this, it involves going to most of the time pretty far away races because being from Wisconsin, there's not a lot of really close racetracks that are involved in these big national leagues, right? So a lot of far trips, you know, had to take a week at a time, a week here, a week there, you know. But everyone is flexible with it, and the family's been super supportive. My grandfather, who had been racing professionally, like I said, now he doesn't do that so much, but just an absolute mastermind on the wrenches and just a great mechanic, right? And so he has done a lot for me just in general. He was the one who built the spec MX5 car that I won races in last year and years before that. He was basically the one who turned it from a streetcar that we got off the lot and converted it into a race car. He put most of the, you know, the blood, sweat, and tears in. He can change the transmission in like two hours, 90 minutes, like extremely fast. He's just super skilled. And then my father as well, very mechanically inclined. He's been super helpful when I was gone at school and couldn't come back to work on the car necessarily. They kind of picked up their end of the bargain. And so it was just obviously super supportive throughout the years, and even in carding all the while. Like just the commitment behind me has been, you know, super critical to allow me to get to where I am today. It's really hard to do anything like what I've done without the support of your family. So it's been great. What is a typical day of training like for you? Um, so it'll be sim time. I always try to cram probably three hours a day into the evening of sim time, whether that's practicing an upcoming track or just having some fun or doing a race of any kind. Because I always think just racing, no matter what it is on the sim, is really good for mastering racecraft. Because like Nick was talking about, the biggest challenge is you know, often being in those scenarios where you are side by side or battling somebody on the track and knowing how to approach those scenarios. How much space do you leave? How fast do you have to take this corner when there's a driver next to you? Like those are important things to learn. And so the sim has been super helpful, you know, with that. So I try to do about three hours a day, and then I go to the gym six days a week. So I take one rest day, do about two hours there.

SPEAKER_00

17:04

Um what do you what do you work on at the gym? And is there is there an ideal body type for a racer like there are in some sports, or is it not so much?

SPEAKER_02

17:15

You know, for me, I do just honestly typical muscle building workout, just a push and a pull day, and then legs uh and some cardio naps thrown in there as well. I would say one thing you don't want to be usually is tall in racing. Uh as Nick.

SPEAKER_00

17:27

I was I was gonna ask that.

SPEAKER_02

17:28

How tall are you six four or how six three? Okay. Yeah, maybe with shoes six four, but um, yeah, you are pretty limited on what you can race if you're really tall, because you can't fit in a lot of cars. Like if you think of Formula One cars or any like formula open wheel stuff where it's those really tight cockpits, like you need to be like usually under six feet. So pretty limited sometimes. But you know, for me, I've just luckily been able to squeeze into what I've been racing so far. In my original race car, the Spec Miata, we actually had to basically weld a different floor into it where it had a divot so that the seat could sit lower, otherwise, my head was like hitting the roof. So um there's definitely some limits to what you can race if you're super tall. So I'd say, like, if you want the freedom to be able to race whatever, or just maybe have a bit more of an ideal body type, it would probably be just to be a little shorter. Um which you can't really control. Right, yeah. But I mean, weight is not a huge thing in racing, just because you combine that with the car that's heavy enough, and usually you have to reach a minimum weight at the end of a race, they weigh the car and the driver together to make sure that you weren't too light, because that'd be seen as an an advantage, right? If you're driving with less weight. So they usually hold everyone to a similar standard of like you have to be 2,500 pounds at the end of the race. So usually in most cars, you will have to be adding weight into your car with like a lead block or something anyway, to kind of make that difference up. So it very rarely are you like too heavy to be a racer. That doesn't really come into play because it's hard to reach, you know, those weight limits just by yourself. So it it really is just comes down to if you are a little shorter, maybe you can do it.

SPEAKER_01

19:02

I mean, it's probably like endurance though. I mean, these races, I mean what because like like how long is your race? Like 45 minutes. 45 minutes, two of them per weekend, yeah. And then once you advance, you know, you're racing two hours at a time, and uh, you know, you're getting temperatures of a hundred, you know, like over a hundred degrees, and and your you know, heart rate is well over a hundred, you know, the entire race. So it's it's a pretty pretty tough endurance sport.

SPEAKER_02

19:27

Yeah, staying conditioned in general, like just going to the gym even to just stay fit and conditioned is gonna go a long way. Because like you said, yeah, having that endurance is kind of the biggest thing, more so than body type necessarily. And so it does pay off to be in a in a good you know shape.

SPEAKER_00

19:41

You brought it up earlier. You said there was no air conditioning in your BMW. I'm guessing there's no no air conditioning in race cars in in general.

SPEAKER_01

19:48

Um, so I have a thing called a cool suit where I've got this uh cooler full of ice and it pumps through a um a tube into my into a shirt, and it's got like cooling coils. Interesting. Um I'm not sure what you guys have in.

SPEAKER_02

20:01

Uh I haven't really ran into that just because the MX5 cup car has no roof. So it's kind of warm, but it doesn't like conceal heat much. So I've been okay right now. Um, but I have used a cool shirt before, and yeah, like he said, it's got tubes through it, it runs cold water, and it actually does do a lot to cool you down. And some people have uh like a tube that has like a blower attached to it and it goes into the top of the helmet and blows cold air down into their face while they're driving. So there's some mechanisms, and I feel like if I'm thinking correctly, a few types of cars at a higher level, maybe a bit more, you know, prestigious cars, do have air conditioning in them because otherwise, you know, they have a roof, obviously, windows up, it can get pretty hot in there. But turning on the air conditioning does actually draw power from the engine. So usually you don't even end up using it because you're putting yourself at a disadvantage because your car loses, you know, two horsepower, which you want everything you can get out there. So if you turn on the AC and your car goes slower, it's like I'll rather just kind of get a little warmer or maybe try something else to cool myself off. But some cars do have them, but not what I race, not what he races, and very rarely do they actually.

SPEAKER_00

21:01

Do you uh do you do any mental exercises?

SPEAKER_02

21:05

I don't know. I I I like to think that I'll just go out and kind of do the best that I can every race. I don't try to put too much mental pressure on myself, to be honest. Um, sometimes, you know, having that pressure is a privilege, like, hey, I'm starting first place for this race, you know, I'm in a good spot here, let's execute, right? That's definitely something that comes into play. But, you know, mentally, you definitely have to get in the headspace of I am the best driver in this race for the most part. That's usually not even in a cocky way, but that's just kind of the mindset you have to have in racing sometimes, especially when you're in the conversation to win races. You know, if you don't think you have what it takes, then it's hard for you to succeed, or at least it's hard for you to go out and win if you don't think you can do it. So, not even in a cocky way, but a lot of times you're kind of sizing up, you know, the other people, or at least having that mindset of, hey, you know, I'm gonna win this thing. I'm I'm the best driver here today. Let's, you know, let's go do it. So that comes into play a little bit, but for the most part, I usually just you know, don't put too much extra.

SPEAKER_00

22:00

So obviously that endurance is point Nick, how long how long do your club races go for? Are they still in the 45-minute plus?

SPEAKER_01

22:06

I'd say 30 to 45 minutes or how fast does that go? I think it depends on the situation. Um if you're if you're leading someone and they're right on your ass, that those that goes really slow. Longest. Because it's like in it, you know, in the mental part, it's it's not like it's not like don't fuck up. It's because if you think don't fuck up, you're gonna fuck up. But it's more so like hit your turns, like do the right thing, and don't focus on the car behind. But you also have to focus on the car behind because if you just drive your race, they're gonna pass you. So you have to know like I'm gonna go in the middle a little bit to block their turn, or I'm gonna go on the inside, so I block their outside on the next turn. And so you're always it's like you're driving in your mirrors, and that's when it goes really slow. If you're chasing someone, it goes so fast because you're like, I just need a little bit more time to get past them, just to get past them, or if you're like in a battle with like three other cars, it goes really fast because you're just like in the moment having fun. But when you're leading a race or you're in the front of your competitor, time goes so slow.

SPEAKER_02

23:18

Yeah, I agree 100%. Or unless you know there was a crash and then the whole field has to go behind a safety car where they slow everybody down so they can clean up the wreckage, and then you're spending 20-25 minutes driving at a reduced speed, going like 50 miles per hour, it's pretty mind-numbing at that point, too. So that's another you know, area where it takes a long time or it feels like it does at least.

SPEAKER_01

23:37

Well, and especially with a crash, too, because you drive past the crash multiple laps, and then you're just sitting there, so you're thinking about the crash, and you're not you know, like you're in the zone and you're out of the zone, and you have to get back in the zone and start up again, which is kind of a crazy scenario.

SPEAKER_00

23:55

Uh speaking of crash, what is the scariest moment each of you have had on a racetrack before? Hey everyone, just wanted to take a moment to present a fun fact. Did you know, according to a recent Schwab survey, the Americans say it takes$2.3 million to be wealthy? You may have had your financial plan set on a bigger or smaller number, but if you're looking for added insights on how to get there or how to avoid some tax pitfalls along the way, our friends at Annex Wealth Management are ready to listen. No matter where you're at in your financial journey and if your situation is complex or simple, the Annex Wealth Management team can give you the wealth expertise and guidance on reaching your goals. All right, let's get back with Cam and Nick.

SPEAKER_02

24:40

This actually just happened to me at my last race at St. Petersburg. It was about two weeks ago. Um, there was a forklift on the track after a crash because they needed to move one of those concrete barriers, like we were talking about. They shut down the city streets, and the only limits of the track are just these concrete barriers, right? And there was a crash and one of the barriers got moved, so they had to bring a forklift out to like either move it back or replace it. I don't know which, but the forklift was driving the opposite direction of the traffic on the track. So I feel like there's usually a rule of like the safety vehicles go in the same flow direction as traffic, but he was going counter track and his forks were lifted to like eye level of the drivers. So had someone, you know, ran into this forklift, probably not good for the driver or the track or the liability, or probably someone's life, right? So um it was just interesting because I was not expecting it. It was when we were at a reduced speed, but still, you know, we were coming around the corner, maybe 60 or 70 miles per hour, but it was raining that morning, so the track was wet, and we're not in the utmost control out there at that moment. So it was very surprising and obviously a little frightening to see a forklift with the forks up driving towards the drivers backwards on the yeah, it just was a little odd. So yeah, but that that recently just happened, and I was thinking of that recently, and can't believe that.

SPEAKER_00

25:57

Have you been in any crashes or not really?

SPEAKER_02

25:58

I have, yeah, but not too many. Only two that I can think of. One was a wheel-to-wheel contact with another driver, and it spun me into the wall. And then the other one was one of my first races in spec MX5, and there was oil down on the track or some sort of fluid in the final corner at Watkins Glen, which is a track in New York. And that specific corner, that last corner on the track, doesn't have any area to go off and like gather up the race car or you know, drift it or slide it or anything. It's just a wall right there. And the you know, safety marshals that were in that corner did not display any sort of warning for the drivers. So I just came in there thinking the track was all good. Well, I went in there and I got into that oil a little bit and slid a little bit loose and did kind of save the car, like corrected the slide, but I just ran out of room to do it. So I did get into the wall there.

SPEAKER_00

26:46

But otherwise, that was the only crashes that I've is is getting into the wall, like running into the wall pretty bad, or are you guys so protected? Like, are you trying to like is a flip the worst thing that could happen?

SPEAKER_02

26:57

I mean, usually a flip is actually better as far as safety-wise, because it's not one direct, hard, like G-loaded impact. That you're not going head-on into a wall. It's kind of dispersed as you're tumbling, which is kind of interesting. They look the most traumatic and they're definitely the scariest or the worst to witness, but really the worst kind of hit for the driver is going into those walls, typically head-on or those hard hits where the wall doesn't really absorb much. The car takes a lot of it. So for us as drivers, we're pretty safe. We got the helmets and the seats and stuff. The car takes most of the damage.

SPEAKER_01

27:26

Yeah, I I've only crashed once, which means I'm probably not driving fast enough. But and I just ran out of skill and hit a concrete wall, and and I thought I thought the car was fine. So I just kind of it's called the double doing, hit the front and back, and okay, it's just get back out there. And I just, you know, it didn't wasn't it wasn't total, but it was, you know, done for a couple of days.

SPEAKER_00

27:46

Is that the scariest moment that you you've um probably out there?

SPEAKER_01

27:50

No, I mean that wasn't scary because just kind of it was, it was such a it just happened, but probably the scariest was in the kink where there was a a crash in front of me and it just threw up a whole bunch of dirt and dust. And so you're flying through blind. Oh, and and then you know, because when you hit the wall in the kink, they sometimes they bounce back out and so into the field. Into the field, and so that's where they that's and that's probably the worst, is when the cars come back out into the field, and then a car hits them, oh shit, you know, going 100 and 120 miles an hour. That's you know, those are those are the worst accidents, and that was scary because you know, you're a few feet going 120 miles an hour past the car, and when there's just full dust, you can't stop because if you stop, you're gonna crash. You can't you don't want to swerve, and you're just kind of blindly going through a cloud of dust.

SPEAKER_00

28:40

Yeah. What would you what would you two say the biggest misconception about about racing is to the average person like myself?

SPEAKER_01

28:48

I I think it's like most people in America, you know, see racing as NASCAR, and you're just you know turning left or right the whole time. Um and that is you know a very popular form of racing, and it's that's probably more difficult than people give it credit for, but um, there's so many different kinds of racing. And um I think you know this in the the series at Camsen, the IMSA series, is is probably the most exciting kind of racing you can watch because um you know in his series you've got your top ten cars within a second of each other, the entire race. And anything can happen at any time, and then at the next level up, you've got three uh levels of cars on the same track, and so you have different pros competing at a high level, but you've also got you know uh cars that are you know 200 horsepower more and another 200 horsepower more or something, and and the speed difference is insane. And so when you're watching three kinds of racing at one time, um it's just it's an incredible experience to watch.

SPEAKER_02

30:00

For me, I think the biggest misconception is um the mental side of it. People people don't give that enough credit, right? Um they think of it as all right, we're just holding a steering wheel and driving a car, which I mean at the basis is kind of pragmatic, but like that is what we're doing, right? But I think people don't credit enough of the mental side of it. Like Nick was talking about, right? The strategy that's involved, you're always thinking two or three steps ahead in a race almost at all times. If you're not, that usually means you're driving all by yourself or you're not around anybody or you're way out in front. But typically the strategy side of it is something that is, you know, really underrated and people don't really consider that when they're taking into account what we're doing on the track. So yeah, you always have to think a couple steps ahead, knowing what a move is going to result in for you. What is the consequence going to be? What are the possible negative outcomes and what's the positive? Like a lot of times you're weighing risk versus reward. If a driver is staying kind of in the middle and you see like maybe there's a gap for you to go shoot up the inside of them into a corner, but it's very, very low, low probability that there's like even space or that you can make the pass, like it's better to not risk that. And there's a lot of that kind of numbers game of like, is this gonna pay off? Is it going to go way horribly wrong for me if I try this? And so you really got to think about that. And then Nick talked about it too. When you're in the lead, how do you, if you have people behind you, right? Um, how do you approach the defensive driving, trying to block off the attacks from people behind? So, yeah, there's a lot of strategy that people don't really think about. They just think we're sitting in cars steering and hitting pedals, which obviously is true, but that's really only if you're just driving alone. So there's a lot more to it. Strategy.

SPEAKER_00

31:35

At a very at a very high miles per hour with a lot of stuff around you. Yeah. Um, it's this is a a we've got a good Wisconsin audience. Are there any favorite tracks in Wisconsin? The the we could open it up. We could include go-kart tracks from the former champ over there.

SPEAKER_02

31:53

Uh I would say Road America. I'd say Nick would agree. That's kind of a statement. Not a go-kart track. Not a go-kart track.

SPEAKER_01

31:58

You know, um, I have a soft spot for for the Milwaukee Mile. They uh they open up as a road course. Uh it's the I think it's the longest running racetrack in America.

SPEAKER_00

32:09

Um also hosted a uh NFL championship game before. I didn't know that. Inside of the mile. Wow. In uh I believe the 30s or uh the Packers, I think the Packers won that one, one of their world championships in the 30s. Just a fun fact. There it is.

SPEAKER_01

32:23

It's the uh that that's where I had my my first race win. And uh so it was a fun, it's kind of a special space for me. And uh, but I mean Road America is definitely a better track than Milwaukee Mile.

SPEAKER_02

32:35

They do have a go-kart track there, and it's pretty fun. So that's where I won the state championship, and that's where I won a couple of the local championships at that track. So if you go to Road America, you drive down to the carousel section, there's a big campground, and then there's also a go-kart track, and it goes kind of up the side of the hill there. Um, so yeah, that's where I started racing go-karts. That was, you know, the first place I raced go-karts. Most of the time I raced go-karts there. So they have the go-kart track there. Um, Badger Kart Club in Dowsman is pretty fun. Um, and then there's uh track in Shawnee, which also hosts drift events. It's USA International Raceway. Um, and so I've gone there a couple times. It's very flowy, kind of like a roller coaster. So it's pretty fun for karting. But other than that, um, I don't know, Slinger, Slinger Speedway is pretty close. That's another oval track. It's the world's fastest quarter mile, I think. It's like really highly banked. It's like a bowl almost, so they can take the corners really fast. Um, so I believe it has the title of World's Fastest Quarter Mile. So that's not far from here, actually. But other than that, I mean Milwaukee Mile is obviously a holy grail in Wisconsin and Road America as well. Um, those are my picks, man.

SPEAKER_00

33:38

Uh T-Pain drifting at uh at Road America last year.

SPEAKER_01

33:41

Really? Yeah. Probably, right? Yeah, it was like grid life.

SPEAKER_00

33:45

Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_02

33:46

That does not surprise me.

SPEAKER_00

33:47

Yeah, yeah. I think he's I think he's a big uh big drifter. Um okay, what what's the fastest you have each driven?

SPEAKER_02

33:57

Uh I got up oh, geez. There we go. I got up to 150 at Daytona in the MX5 cup car, which I was very surprised to see an MX5 go that fast. But you're basically full throttle, pushing the car as hard as it can go around this whole oval section at Daytona where it's no real braking required. You're just holding it flat to the floor on the throttle, and a couple drivers behind me were giving me a good bump draft, so had some good top speed. So yeah, I got to 150 um at Daytona this year. That was the fastest I've seen.

SPEAKER_01

34:26

On a racetrack, 120 in a race car 120, in a streetcar 156.

SPEAKER_00

34:34

Was that on a track or just it was in my streetcar?

SPEAKER_01

34:38

I will say that. I've taken that car at Road America, so it might have been there.

SPEAKER_00

34:43

We'll leave it there. How many how many speeding tickets have you each got when you were learning to drive? I believe I have three.

SPEAKER_02

34:51

Well, it's not bad for a for a professional driver. The problem is I got one of them in the probationary period of the license where the points are doubled. So you have to go back to school too. I don't think I had to do that when I was 16. I think they spared that.

SPEAKER_00

35:05

I got a few, uh I got a few not very good tickets off the bat there.

SPEAKER_02

35:09

I think they spared me that time, but yeah, that put me on the back foot because I was already like halfway to the points total to get my license taken. So that's a little scary, but yeah, no. Otherwise.

SPEAKER_01

35:18

I've drive driven longer, but uh maybe like six or so. Yeah, not too much. Not not bad. Not too bad.

SPEAKER_00

35:24

You didn't have to go back to traffic school either. I'm I'm the only one out of us three who had to do that.

SPEAKER_01

35:28

No, you just pay a little bit more and you guys get it your points reduced.

SPEAKER_00

35:34

What um is there is there a favorite pizza to eat while sim racing or between sim racing, a favorite flavor? Nick, I think you gotta tell him.

SPEAKER_01

35:44

I mean, for me it's the screaming sicilian tavern style because it's thin and crispy and you can take a quick bite, especially if you cut it tavern style in the squares. You can you can be driving, you got a quick quick bite. You know, the regular Screaming Sicilians, they're amazing, but there's a lot of it's like a little too thick. It's too thick, a lot of toppings, and you need something lean. You know, and like you get the like a pepperoni, like you know, on your chin or something, and then you'll crash. So the tavern style is the way to go.

SPEAKER_02

36:11

I had the breadsticks the other day. Uh those are good. So good color there. Or holy pepperoni. We like those. Yeah. Holy pepperoni for me also is the is the favorite. So get that one out sometimes as well. But yeah, screaming Sicilian for sure.

SPEAKER_00

36:25

Um what about advice to people who want to get into racing?

SPEAKER_02

36:33

Um, in general, I'd say start within your means because if you're getting into racing, uh, and by that I mean usually financial means is kind of what I mean by that. Because if you're in over your head in something that you maybe can't afford to repair if you crash it, you're always living in kind of that fear when you're on the track. Like, I absolutely cannot crash this car because I am done for. I won't be on the track for three years. And honestly, having that fear is a bit of a a hindrance out there, I think. If you can't really get over that fear hurdle of I I can't, I can't I can't afford to have any sort of damage, like this is it for me, right? I think you have to start within your means, whether that is go-karting or like a cheaper Miata or uh something cheaper than that, like something that's within your means if that makes you feel more comfortable. I'd say knowing that you can have the wherewithal to either repair the car or at least you have the monetary position to, I guess, you know, fix it if you need or cover the costs if you take damage. I think that's really important because people that are in a little bit over their head financially and really can't afford, you know, maybe they have a really nice car, but it's like this is it, like I can't do any damage. I think you always end up living in that fear of what if I crash, I can't make a mistake, and you end up just driving a little slower than I think you really should. And that can be a hindrance when it comes to really trying to find the limit. Because in racing, it's all about finding the limit. So if you're always worried about exceeding the limit, that can really hold you back.

SPEAKER_01

37:56

For sim racing, though, I mean, there's some of these rigs that are, you know,$100,000, but I mean, what's like what's the for sim racing? Well, some of them. Some of them are yeah, some of them are pretty insane. They got full motion, uh the whole thing tilts.

SPEAKER_00

38:10

I mean, those are I guess some golf simulators are like 80, 100 grand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

38:14

But I mean, you can get a, you know, I guess like how much for like a just a decent setup that can get you into iRacing.

SPEAKER_02

38:23

Yeah, it's funny. So everything I've done, we talked about 14 world championships. Everything I've done with that is with a Logitech wheel and pedal setup, and it was just bolted to my desk. So people have high-end stuff, people have low-end stuff. I've been able to achieve great success on the sim with literally a$300 setup. You have to exclude the PC in that, but most people already have a PC that they're working with. So if we're talking equipment, like you can buy from Walmart, Target, Amazon a Logitech is what I used. Um, and it literally bolts to a desk. You just turn the clamps and it tightens and you push the pedals up against the wall or against a box or something on the ground. And I just race in an office chair, that's what I've been doing. Um, recently uh I got partnered to get basically all of my sim equipment overhauled. So that's a positive that's coming soon. But everything I've done up to this point, achievement-wise, has all been with pretty much as basic as you can get just on a desk. Other people, as we'll see later on at our at our uh sim, you know, convention today, uh, people have you know full sim racing chassis with you know metal or steel frames and you know bucket seats from a real race car and you know direct drive wheels which actually have like motors in them to provide the most accurate feedback. But like I talked about earlier, I think it's really just getting accustomed to what you have. It doesn't necessarily have to be super high end as long as you can maximize what you have, and I think you can be fast on the sim then at that point. So there's obviously a big ceiling, like you said, but you can get into it for really cheap.

SPEAKER_00

39:44

What is uh we'll end it here. What is each your favorite moment racing?

SPEAKER_01

39:49

You got it. I think uh this year I did it's called the June Sprints at Road America. It's uh you know one of the highest levels of club racing there is against uh pro racers. I mean, there's there's some of the best racers in the country racing at Road America in the June sprints, and so for me to be able to compete with these people and be on the track within the same time, it'd be like you being in a golf tournament with Tiger Woods, you know, and so now Tiger Woods would probably kick your ass. And you know, I had the same experience with some of the best drivers in the in the country beating me, but just to be on the same track with them and competing was was pretty pretty special.

SPEAKER_02

40:26

My moment also comes from the June Sprints, and it wasn't even a win or anything, but I'm a very sentimental person. And the 2023 June Sprints in Spec Miata, which was the first class that I started with when I was in car racing, um, I set the track record there at Road America on the qualifying day, which is basically where we drive on the track. It's basically like a seating day, if you were to think of it. You know, it basically determines where you're gonna start the race for that weekend based on how fast you go in this qualifying session. So they give us 20, 25 minutes to go out on track and then try to set the fastest lap time that we can, and that decides where we start. So I qualified first, which was the track record uh in a spec miata around Road America, which still stands today three years later, which is really cool. I'm proud of that. What was your time? Um, it was a two-minute 41.100. Um fast. So that lap uh still stands as the fastest lap ever around Road America and a Spec Miata. But what was more special to me was more so being able to be at the June Sprints, which Nick just alluded to, is a very prestigious race and one that I grew up for many years watching, you know, my grandfather and my dad race in. Since I was a little kid watching on the bleachers, I would stand from sunup to sundown, watching every lap of every session at Road America, and I was just addicted to it, right? And so then being on the other side of the fence and being able to start first place, and just um, I believe I was only in the lead for a couple laps, and then I kind of got ganged up on. But but regardless of starting that race as first place, I believe there was about 60 cars in the race, and even just the first time coming around, leading everyone down, leading the pack, as you know, the person who grew up watching on the sidelines and then being out there for real and you know, qualifying first, leading people around in front of the home crowd, all my family and friends were there. It was just a really special feeling because you see 60 cars behind you and they're all chasing me. So out of it was just a really special moment, and it wasn't even a win necessarily. I did not win that race. Um, I think I got seventh, but I was able to say that I have the track record, but more importantly, I got the poll there that day, started first place, and just a really surreal feeling, even before the race, just when we were doing the formation lap, just driving around really slow, seeing, hey, I'm leading this race and coming to the green flag as first place. It was really special. So that was probably the favorite. It wasn't even a win, but just sentimental to me.

SPEAKER_00

42:40

Awesome. Well, thank you two so much for coming on today.

SPEAKER_02

42:42

Of course. Thank you, man. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00

42:45

Hey everyone, thanks so much for tuning into this episode with Cam and Nick. Before signing off, just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee Uncut possible. Nickel de Law, the Midwest Law Firm, Annex Wealth Management, Annex Know the Difference, and Drink Wisconsin Weed Beverage Company, best brandy vodka and canned cocktails in the game.