Dakar Recap with Skyler Howes & Redbull Can-Am Factory Team

Ever wonder what it’s like behind the scenes of Dakar? Well we have a inside look on this DAKAR Recap Show with T3 winner @ajjones.79 and 3rd overall Moto @skylerhowes110 . Special guests @redbullcanamfactoryteam @southracing_canam owner Scott Abraham, @sethquintero_103 with his co-dog @denniszenz,and @guidus726 of @kmcutv .

We talk about how difficult it is to work on the vehicles, sleep, eat, liaisons, driving with the local traffic, camels, and much more. DM us your questions too and we can try to get them answered live on next weeks show!

#dakar #southracing #redbullcanam #dirtlife #thedirtlife #thedirtlifeshow

Transcript

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Welcome to the dirt life show with your host, George Hamil. We are going to get into the DAT car recap. Can't wait to talk about all the good stuff that happened over there, man. We got some really cool guests as well. Like I said it's episode 151 of the dirt life show. Can I get a shout out for my boy Nick Jr. Yeah, for sure, man. So Jay Z. Thanks for already chiming in. Hi, Jackie. Hi, Caden. So we're gonna talk about everything dat car. One of the things that I wanted to talk about was the behind the scenes stuff, right like so we see all the stuff on social media. We know it to happen at Dakar. We know one we know we did good. It'd be pretty cool. And basically, we got the whole Red Bull can M Factory Racing team. That's going to come on man. We got some of the guys like the team owner, Scott Abraham's gonna come on. We got Seth Cantero you guys all know him Dennis and his co driver. And big winner guy. Austin Jones won the T three class so it's gonna be cool to talk with him. Talk a little bit about dat car, and then something that's near and dear to my heart. I'm so hyped to have this dude on the show tonight. Skyler house, factory Husqvarna racing man, he put on a show this year at that car. So we're going to talk with him as well. I'm Georgie Hamill, your host of the dirt life show. Today we're sitting in img motorsports we got tons and tons of cars here. Everybody's getting ready for King of the hammers. Actually a lot of guys that were in that car now are coming out to to California for overseas and all that stuff to be able to hang out and go to King in the hammer. So Skyler just chimed in. We'll get him on the show in just a second here. But let me thank all you guys for watching. You guys are a lifeline. Thank you guys so much for being a part of the show. You can always slide into our DMS share the show as much as you can. There's a little airplane icon down at the bottom right so if you're on here, share it so you can have all your homies everybody. Get a little bit of love. Grow the show for us have as much fun as we possibly can ask him to cool questions about behind the scenes stuff. Hi, Annabelle. Let's see here. So thank you, again, everybody for joining. You can always hit us up at the dirt life show on social media, iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, all that good stuff anytime. Thank you very much to all of our sponsors. We have a couple of them that are actually going to join us tonight that are actually partners with the Red Bull cannamd Factory Racing team. So ran guide is from KMC wheels. And also Darwin from Darwin Jaeger from excuse me from multiple so it's gonna be really cool to have both of them come on talk a little bit about their Dakar experiences with the team Darwin actually got to go over there and hang out for a few days too, so can't wait to talk with those guys. So Motul Thank you very much for those guys. Thank you Max's tires we got some cool stuff happening with Max's at Koh on Friday we're gonna do a ride with the king Jeremy and grass gonna lead a ride out there Paul battalion What's up dude? Brad, Phillip. What's up guys? Thank you to the guys over at shock therapy. If you want to use the code, dirt life show on their website shock therapist.com save yourself some money on the steering racks the whole deal. Thank you The guys the JL Audio give me the sweet hat. Get your car all decked out they got a cool kit for actually you can't MX three two. So JL Audio is really hooking you guys up evolution power sports, making power. Zoolander racing products thank you to them as well. Vision canopies and cryo heat. Alright, so let's just jump straight in the show. We're gonna start talking dat car. I got some questions. But I also want you guys to ask questions, too. So if you guys hit us in the comments, let us know what you guys want to talk. What kind of questions you guys have to our guests tonight. Alright, so let's get Skylar Howe on here. See what's up with him. Red Bull cannon factory team. Thank you very much for joining Skylar. What's up, man? What's up? Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks for bringing you and your best friend your moustache appreciate that. Yeah, it is looking good. Got it curled up. Got it torque. Hey, so how hard was it to keep that thing like crispy out there and DAC are not that difficult. I don't even put any product in. It's just naturally trained. To really the problem is, the faster you go comes directly into my mouth here to keep it dude, that's hilarious. Well, thank you for joining. I really appreciate it. And then first of all, I want to congratulate you man, you put in one hell of a ride man over the ride of a lifetime. I guess we could call it I don't know how gnarly it is. We'll get to it and talk start talking about it. But before all of that, like I used to be a dirt bike racer myself. I raced Supercross and motocross and stuff like that, but I've never done anything as gnarly as dat car, but like so the first question I had was how the hell do you even train for that? It's tough like a lot of the background from a lot of the other racers come from motocross and high intensity stuff. Which definitely translates over but me and like a couple most of the Americans that have ever raced the DAC are all come from off road like me, Chris Blaze Ricky Bray Beck, you know, we all have come from, from Off Road background minus Andrew short, obviously comes from motocross background, but I mean, kind of growing up in the desert, especially now in Saudi Arabia, like it feels kind of like home, there's so many areas that look like the Southern California, Southern Nevada, Southern Utah desert, so So honestly, just our background and racing, off road is our biggest base, but for training, and all of that kind of stuff. I actually train with a triathlete. So most of the training that I do is a lot of super long distance stuff. And then when I'm in the gym, it's just trying to build as much muscle as possible. And then building that endurance and like, you know, conditioning base to so the training off the bike is a lot like a triathlete for me anyways. And then training on the bike is just long days, putting the road book in front of your face as much as possible. And then just riding every single different type of terrain you can possibly find like dunes down in gladness, or in Sonora, or, you know, out in Barstow is as gnarly as it would be on a rally bike. It's actually super great to train and my home in St. George is like the same desert as as Saudi Arabia. So it's like perfect place to train just right out my back door, did you sit on a bunch of stuff that I'm fond of? Yeah, so fun fact, I've actually done Ironman, so I did a bunch of triathlete training and stuff like that. I think it aligns you really, really well with that stuff, too. Because the most important part of that training part that I think is is the recovery part, not necessarily having the like, because you can do the ride, right? Like, most people can do that, right. But the recovery part and being able to do it for so many days back to back, that's like, in my book, that's phenomenal. Ya know, that training. And that side of things, too, is super important, because you have to be able to, like put down heater moments to like in the dunes or in areas where you really have to put down a charge. And then when you get a section that you could, you know, possibly get a break, you have to try and recover in those areas. So, which is the same in a triathlon or anything else, as soon as you get like a little tiny break, you have to try and recover as muscle as much as possible in those areas. So yeah, that type of training, transfer transfers over really, really well. Yeah. So you probably got to teach yourself how to breathe and try to like calm down, and like really refocus on that stuff is that difficult when you have to also concentrate on the navigation portion of it because your brain is like, it's not like multi you'd like double tasking. It's like triple quadruple tasking. It's crazy. Yeah, there's a lot. And I mean, the organization keeps throwing more and more rules at us that we have to focus on too. So there's so much more stuff that we have to do as just beyond riding the bike. So yeah, focusing on your, on your breathing and your mindset and how you're attacking the trail in front of you. And many have the trail in front of you. And then you have the road book. And then yeah, we have a speed limit. And, you know, then you have the next day and the marathon stage and all types of other stuff that you have on your brain that you have to like, focus on all of it. So it's a I don't know, it's it's a crazy thing, especially to ride a motorcycle, that car is crazy, no matter what you're in, but on a motorcycle is just that extra level of challenge because there's so much you have to be aware of and, and keep the focus on all the time. So it's yeah, it's insane. But I mean, I think that's, yeah, totally, I love that, that you guys can actually go through and do that one of the things I talked to Toby price, I think was last year or something I asked him to and he's like, once you get the hang of it, you can understand like when you have your flow and you can kind of see the notes and you kind of have your peripheral vision and all of these things start like kind of I don't know if you want to call it like sinking up because you're never really completely focused. But it's he acted like it was almost second nature once you start getting used to it like Does that happen? First day? Does that happen? Midway does that happen? Like right at the end of the rally? Because that seems to me like it would be a work in progress. Yeah, it doesn't matter how much experience you have. There's always going to be something that catches you Yeah, some mistakes that might happen. Like it just it's always going to happen. And that's the beauty of the of our sport in general. offroad racing in general is like it doesn't matter how good you are, there's so much stuff that can and probably will happen and you have to be able to correct it. But no, the for me Like honestly, I was more nervous for the prologue in the first stage than I was for anything else, even how close the race got at the end of the race. Like I was more nervous for the for the start of it than I was the end of it. So it was like, I don't know, after the first couple of days I found kind of that flow state where you start just really, you know, the mindset is working, you understand what's ahead of you and you just kind of start clicking off all of those miles and And yeah, it's interesting because there is so much you had to focus on or so much being thrown at you. But it is still possible to try and find that, you know, flow state and kind of get into your click and what the roadblock you're clicking with a bike and the terrain in front of you and everything's just kind of working. And yeah, those those moments like, is kind of what we are looking for as riders because that's when you start having the most fun and this whole rally was, I mean, through everything that it could add us with the weather and all that stuff, but it really did lucky. We got lucky with the wet dirt too. I mean, it's always better to ride in wet dirt. Awesome box like we lucked out in front of we've missed a lot of that so but I thought and I operate Yeah, you just have to find that happy medium and just start going with the flow and the rest will take care to take care of itself. God Yeah. Like let your body do what it's used to like your muscle memory and stuff, right? Hey, so Courtney, Christine asked the most important question to ask Skylar is Mario or Luigi. I don't know I'm tall, which means more Luigi, but Mario is the main character. So I would say Mario Yeah. What's your favorite color? Red or green? It seems like your phone's cutting out a little bit. You got decent Wi Fi or good connection over there? Yeah, I got full bars Wi Fi dude. I don't know what the deal is. Yeah, I mean, it sounds alright. So like knowing all that stuff? How do you even manage it? Because one of the main things that I wanted to ask everybody tonight was to see. If you train like a triathlete, you have to eat specific things, right? You have to do specific things during the day like running and stuff, you got the exercise portion covered. But now you have to sleep. And you have to eat like So what's the plan over there? Like when you go over there, because you're basically throwing everything that you do on daily basis out the window, right? Yeah, we look out as like as factory racers, we get a camper now. So back in the day, they had to sleep in a tent, they are on their own, like the conditions. And accommodations just really weren't that nice. But now we have it pretty easy. Like we got a camper, we have a full team that's typically there before we even show up. So we can stop hanging the bike off, and then focus on recovery. And we are typically finishing early enough in the day that we have enough time to focus on that recovery. So I get off the bike, usually go straight and eat some food. And then we have a state team physio so we can get some physio work as well. And then there's even spin bikes there. So we can we can focus a little bit more on some different type of cardio and kind of spinning out the legs and yeah, lactic acid and stuff out. So they like for us as factory riders. We haven't pretty good. But yeah, the like the Mali Moto, or the original by moto guys like, those guys are literally fully on their own. They got to set up their tent, set up their whole camp, they got to work on their bike, then try to eat and then take a cold shower in the bivouac and the bivouacs. They don't make it easy on us, like you have to walk 510 minutes to get to anything. So I mean, we I definitely have much easier than a lot of the other guys in private tears. But I've also lived that private to your life as well. So yeah, I mean, it definitely throws a wrench into like what you're used to. But at the same time, you get into this zone where it's like this is what you do, you wake up at 230 in the morning, three o'clock in the morning, eat food, you get geared up, you're on the bike for 10 to 12 hours. You have your your rhythm that you go through while you're on the bike. And then as soon as you get off you just eat shower or physio go to sleep, and just take care of it. And the adrenaline kind of keeps you going. But as soon as he come home definitely wears off and you hit a major Wall. I was gonna say like, it's probably like you want to just hibernate after you're done just putting your body through torture for what it was it 1418 days. Yeah, yeah, big time. So with travel and everything, it's got to be pretty crazy to man. Let's go into like the racing and stuff a little bit. We saw most of the stuff on the live broadcast on social media, but maybe give us a little bit of a breakdown on like, what goes through your head like on at the beginning of the stages, or like what you're looking forward to, you know, like some of the kids that are watching or some of the people that are watching would give their, you know, left foot to line up next to some of the guys that you were lining up against and competing against, and to, you know, be as fast as you so I would like to see what kind of stuff we can kind of tell them that you see in your mindset when you're going through these races and what fun you're having because these kinds of things are so, so cool to watch from afar. Yeah, I like to keep a lighter mentality. It's a little bit strange because there's so much on the lined for this race, like I literally our entire year is based around this one single event. And so there's a lot of pressure, you have to be good every single day, and there's so much that like rides on it. So there is a lot of pressure. But at the same time, like there's so much that literally is just up to chance, like you have two weeks of whether or not you have to be good every single day. And the odds of that happening and you just being perfect are slim. So you have to be okay with, okay, if a mistake happens, like it just is what it is put it behind you and keep going. And if you do well, you're starting next to or in front of you guys that are, you know, legends and super fast or you whatever the stage that day might be really tricky, or in just some stuff is so crazy. So I don't know, I like I said, I try to keep a ladder mentality as possible. It's just, it just is what it is. So you know, every single day, all you can do is your best and to put any other type of pressure on yourself. Other than that is unfair, because you have to look back and just yep, I gave my best. And every single day I made a decision, which is what I thought was right in the moment. And that's how it goes like there's so many small points in that entire race that we could have, they could have made the difference between a win or a third place that actually makes a lot of sense. Like we actually talk about it. We actually talked about it at the first episode of the of the year here on the dirt life show is being a good racer, a professional racer, you have to have good perception to be able to see these things like your lighter mood, right? So you that's your perception. That's the way you, you do it. And then during the race, you're making a whole bunch of choices. But it sounds like one of the main things that you do is at the end of the day, you're accountable for your actions, and you kind of like do a debrief in your head. And then the next day, you're like, Fuck, I'm not gonna make that same mistake. I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna nail this and do better this day. Yeah, but at the same time, there's so much up to chance that same same day, he's like, Oh, well, you know, you made a navigation mistake, even though you you were fully focused in on it. And it just happens. Like, you know, like I said, it just is what it is. You can only attack every single day with the intention that you're going to try and execute your strategy as best as you can. And that's all you can hope for. And at the end of the race, like, what do you do? You can't be angry. Yep. be upset. Like it just you did your best. You You did what you thought was right every day. And this is how it turned out like became to the last day only separated by, you know, seconds and a minute. Like, that's so insane to go race for over 45 hours and then come into the last day, only a minute half behind the whip. Yeah. So let's just let's talk about that. That's one of the things I want to talk about is do you guys be in part of the Austrian group? Do you guys talk about that same stuff together? Do you kind of like, is everybody having fun together like enjoying the time? Or? When you get to that point? First of all, how the hell was it that close? Like, you could have never planned it like that, right? And then, like, what's the mood like it under the tent? I mean, that last day, the bonuses is we're all quite good friends like me, Toby. And Kevin, we get along really well. And that's the other bonus too within the team is there's no there's no team orders. It's just whoever wins is the best like, yeah, there's always a nervousness to it. Like, they definitely were nervous that we were gonna go and take ourselves out because we were pushing so hard. But they literally left it fully up to us on it just comes down to who the best man is gonna win. That's it. And which was really cool, because then it honestly took the stress off of us and it kept it more fun because then it came down to just straight up a good old fashioned race. Dude, that's so cool. I love that mentality. It was awesome. You know? And like I said, we're all quite, you know, quite good friends. So start line finish line in the bivouac. Whatever words joking around with each other and like having a good time about it. Like there was no, it felt like there was no stress. Yeah, the wind of the race is on our shoulders. But I mean, at the end of the day, like we all knew what we had dude, and we just had to do our best and yeah, whoever came to the finish line versus gonna win so that was the coolest part that actually probably makes it so fun for you guys, because you guys can all be like alright, the way the best man wins. It's like everybody's going hard the last race for sure. Yeah, it was awesome. Dude, that is super cool, man. What was some of the funnest things that that happened? I mean, like I'm sure that there was a million because you guys were out there for so long. But can you remember anything that was like a I don't know just a star studded like thing that's gonna always last in your mind. I mean, just being that close with two legends and like, you know racing against them and kind of come into the finish line and sitting there. Literally Kevin was counting down to the seconds to see you know whether or not he was gonna win and then he found out he was gonna win that like celebration. That cool moment. There was super awesome. Amen. Yeah, cuz he was he wasn't thinking he was gonna win, right? Well, it's tough. I mean, it comes down to 12 seconds, he literally had to go 13 seconds faster than Toby in order to get it. So he's sitting there counting down, literally to the second on whether or not he's gonna win. So it's just like you we cross the finish line. And you have no idea until that until Toby crosses. So it was that tense atmosphere there was was really interesting, but I mean, the best day I've ever had on a motorcycle in my entire life, I didn't even win the stage. And I wasn't even riding with anyone else I was riding alone, the stage three was like the most incredible. It's like riding through a movie set didn't seem real, right. And through these giant canyons and mountains. That's so cool. It was so sick. I just thought to myself, like I even got a little bit emotional while I was racing. Like, this is insane that I get to do this, like this is the most incredible experience. And the fact that I'm here in general is so sick, like, I don't know, I just, I really enjoyed my time. And I think that's the result reflected that too. I was just having a blast and keeping it light and then you literally just can expect your best and nothing else. And so you also have to keep it fun. And that's why we see why we started doing this sport in general is because it's fun. Honestly, man, like, I've already respected you so much as a racer and obviously look up to you for the things that you've done. But just hearing you say that how you have the respect for understanding the we'll call it the gift of your occupation. Like that is pretty amazing. Dude that shows what a good human being you are before a dirt bike rider. I love that. Yeah, well I just saw a comment pop up that crashing under the heli had solid no footer that sunk the front. I wasn't gonna bring it up, dude, I wasn't gonna bring it up. I'll own it. I'll own it as soon as I did. So it's really hilarious. If my buddy Kevin was watching, I didn't know foot or like two days before just screwing around. And he sent me a comment and he goes I'm going to need more no footers for saw this jump coming up the hell. He's right there. Oh my god, this is a perfect no foot or jump in a solid one. And as soon as I landed and like almost went over the bars, I was like, Oh, my God. You get because it was I mean, I was having fun. It was It is what it is like it was super funny. But you get back to the bivouac. You're like great. Now I gotta check my Instagram to see what the heck's gone. Well, the funny thing is we nobody had service. And so finally, by the time the rest of the team got service, they've all just like, that's the other thing. A lot of people are like, Oh, it's fun teams are gonna be pissed. Like, like, what do you be pissed about? I just haven't fun and just, you know, whatever, through no footer. And it is what it is like, they were all just given me a bunch of crap for it, though. I go nice one, Luigi. Yeah. When you were like, yeah, I gotta accept it. It's fine. Dude, that is cool, man. So a couple of those things like are pretty memorable, obviously, that you got a little bit of media coverage for the wrong reason. But then the second thing that I was gonna say is that you got to see some pretty amazing places like what is it like being able to race in a in a, I don't know, a country like that, right? Because that's completely different. I mean, you said you grew up racing in the desert, but it's not the same. Like I feel like that's a totally different atmosphere. Yeah, I mean, Saudi is just massive. It's so hard to comprehend how huge that country is. And you can race through Yeah, we're in the desert, but the desert there, they have, like 20 Different deserts. And it's all different kinds of terrain. It's the desert all the time. But you can go through mountains, canyons, dunes, like endless dunes, and there's rocky canyon that doesn't feel like it will end for Creek and six hours, you know, it's just like, the craziest stuff ever, that you would never think would be possible to actually race an off road vehicle through it. And it's just like it don't like that on day three. I was like, There's no way like this was in USA, this would be a protected area. And no one would be able to come within like 50 miles of this place. And we're riding our dirt bike through it. It's just incredible. It's such a like, for for, I mean, all political reasons aside, it literally is one of the most like beautiful countries that I've raced through. It's just so gnarly that that place exists. Like it's crazy, dude. Yeah, I think it's super cool. You know what, actually, I saw a couple pictures of some of our guests the Red Bull KTM factory team. We got a bunch of them coming on a little bit later after you and they were showing me some pictures in their nominal media arsenal. And some of those pictures like where the rock sections were, I think it was stage. I don't know it was early stages, or maybe stage nine or something. But it almost reminded me of like, where you live like Zion area like where you can see all those massive rock sculptures and stuff like I don't even know how I would like how I would be racing through that because I'd be like, Oh my god, squirrel. Like that looks so good. Like, I just want to see all this stuff and go explore. Yeah, it's wild too, because we're in the middle of Know where and then that stuff just exists out there. It's like, yeah, you have that thought in your mind. Like, do I want to come explore this place, but it would take days to get out there and like, go explore like, it's just you're out there in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing around. And it's the most insane place on the planet. It's really that remote. Oh, dude, we're out there, like, barely any like local trails and stuff. But here's the crazy thing is you're out there in the middle of freaking nowhere. And then all of a sudden, there's gonna be like some, like for instance, with me, Toby Beretta, and Pablo. We're all riding in a grove group and who in Beretta crashed into Toby totally over the bars. Yep. And we crash, or eight is fully knocked out. Toby gets up comes over. We're like hitting the emergency buttons, checking on everything. And then all of a sudden, we're in the middle of the dunes, what we feel like we're hundreds of miles away from civilization. And like for locals just showed up. Oh, you guys need an ambulance. That's wild. Where did you come from? So we did crazy. Yeah, cuz you're out in the middle of nowhere. I always thought that, like, I'm sure it's way more remote. But like when you're in the middle of Baja, and all of a sudden, you're like 50 miles, like from the nearest anything. And all of a sudden you just see a dude. Yeah, it's a wild thing. What about like, when you're, when you're working with the team, and you have all of these different things that are happening? What's like the communication effort that you have back and forth like a little bit more about the behind the scenes stuff to give to our audiences? It's a big effort. Like, it doesn't matter if you're raising four wheels or two wheels or brake big trucks, whatever it is, it takes a lot to get a vehicle or a bike across the finish line. So what's the what's the dynamic with the team? Are you giving them information? Are they giving you information? Like how does it usually work? Yeah, we have definitely a debriefing after every single stage to see what happened, did you have any issues, crashes, whatever might happen. So you know, like my mechanic, Louis, he can, he can tend to on the bike and make sure everything's proper, you talk to the suspension tech and see if there's any changes that you want to make, like, there's definitely a lot of, of preventative and like service stuff that you need to do in order to like, make sure everything every you can do your best every single day. So as far as as far as like a factory team goes, they put an incredible amount of effort, and you know, the best of the best at it. So you can do your best. Like that's the saying that me and my mechanic have you do your best I do mine. And every single person on the team does 100% their best. And, like they put, it's weird, because it's a job to them. But like, from my point of view, it's not a job. Like they, that's literally their biggest passion is to be there and make sure that any one of those bikes within the group is going to be the first one to the finish line. Yeah, and so, like the dynamic is so cool, because it's not a it's like a family. So everyone just is there because they want to be there and they're gonna put their maximum effort into it. You couldn't ask for anything more right? And I mean, like even everybody supporting each other. I mean, like, I'm sure like, if they needed a rag and you got off the bike and you were doing anything, you'd give them the rag or if they needed a 10 millimeter socket. Yeah, exactly. Man, it's super cool. Was there anything that you would mention? We gotta get get these cannamd guys AJ Jones is gonna come on in a second here but is there anything you would tell any of the little kids that are watching the show that are that you know, look up to you and want to be like Skylar one of these days and go out and race that car what would you what advice would you give them to be able to achieve their goals? Decker and rally specifically is difficult because it's definitely not cheap. And I as a lot of people no definitely put it all on the line and and gave it my at my maximum and sold every single thing I own to get to it so it's tough to get into rally for sure. But if you have a dream, I'm not here because I was just like out the baskets. I'm here because I didn't give up. And I had a dream and I knew I was capable of that dream. And I just did what it was I put all my cards in I went all in and and it never in my life. I don't want to look back and say what if what if I did better what if I tried harder What if what if what if I want to look back on my life and be like I gave it my all I did 100% What I could have done and that's all you can ask for yourself and and I want to be happy with the life that I live in. I want to enjoy every part of it. So I think that's the biggest advice and best advice is to just focus on making sure that you know you're doing it for yourself. And if you know you're capable of it and you know you this is what you want. Then just don't give up if it takes you 10 years to get there. And that's what you want to do then just did put put your record into it. I mean, that's, I got fortunate to meet some really awesome people that helped me out along the way. And I'm sure you will too. Like there's people out there that want to help dedicated people and stuff. And it's just yeah, I don't know, my dream was always to just race that car. And then that happened. And now I wanted to you know, be in the top five that happen now want to be on the podium that happen now, I want to win this thing. Like, you know, if it takes me another five years and I to win it like that's, I'm going to, I'm going to put my effort into it and I'm going to enjoy enjoy every single step of that process. Dude, I love that man. I've already always been a big fan of yours since day one, but understanding the human aspect of the way that you look at life really means a lot and I'm I'm gonna say just the Never Give Up attitude work hard and your goals will come. That's really really good advice, man. Hey, congratulations on your your podium finish a dat car. It's got to feel good. I know that you want to win, but I'll come soon, dude. So keep kicking ass bod. Cool. Thanks for having me on, man. I appreciate you. You got it, man. Hey, and a little side note, one of these days, we're going to talk about your whole story. So you're gonna have to spend some serious time with our audience. It'll be rad. Sounds good to me. Thanks, Tommy. We'll see you later, Skylar rad to see, to hear that story. With Skylar, it's it's pretty cool to understand the mentality of all these racers like you can't really beat the willpower and the will to succeed that these guys have especially like Schuyler. We're gonna get AJ Jones on here in just a second. We're gonna talk with let's see if we can get Ryan guidance from KMC wheels on here real quick. We'll talk a little bit about behind the scenes and what it takes to prepare and get ready from a sponsor or a team standpoint. Ryan guide us What's up, man? How are you? Are you doing awesome, dude. So we're gonna wait to get AJ on here. We'll talk to both of you guys. But in the meantime, while we wait for him, I had a couple of questions about kind of behind the scenes stuff on how the teams operate and a little bit of logistics stuff when you're supporting a team like South racing cannamd and Red Bull. What kind of stuff do you have to do and how much planning does it take to be able to get them the stuff that they need to successfully crossed the finish line att.com is so gnarly, man. It was email chain after email chain with their team principal and Red Bull just trying to get the logistics on what to get the wheels to them by and it was no feet should be three pallets of wheels. Across the frickin country or across the world to get there in about. I think it took six days to get there and total. Dude, that's bananas, man. And then the amount of stuff that they have to have as backup and stuff they can't am team, the South racing cannamd team has a lot of drivers and a lot of resources that they need to be accommodated. So I'm stoked that they had you guys on board. Yeah, it was pretty cool to be a part of that. All right, let's give a proper introduction. So the 2020 Ti three DAC our winner, AJ Jones, what's up man did? Did first and foremost, congratulations. That is no small feat to come across the finish line period. And to come across the finish line first dude, kudos to you. How was it? Thank you, man. Yeah, it was a crazy one this year. Definitely the toughest that car that I've ever done. That was my fourth one. So that was that was the longest for sure. You know, 15 days 14 of actual stages, one prologue. But yeah, I do do with the weather and just everything that they threw at us this year. I think they're making it harder and harder every year. They have succeeded because it's it was gnarly this year. Yeah, actually guide us. That's actually something to bring up. Right. It's like, they're just trying to make it so these vehicles don't come across the finish line. You gotta build these things like the wheels like have to be invincible these days. Pretty much. That's why we did our forged wheels on those guys. Did a lot of good stuff under the sand. I bet. Yeah, I can imagine. Oh, dude, speaking of sand. AJ, before we start getting into some of the behind the scenes stuff. How many hell did you guys drive when the cars filled up on the inside with all that sand? Yeah. That day, that day got a little crazy. So yeah, towards the towards the end of the stage there with about probably, like, probably 75 kilometers to go or something. I felt like every single time that we'd break and we kind of dig in a little bit, I could feel it hitting me in the feet. I'm like trying to look down and I'm like, alright, you know, it's not that bad. It's kind of normal. And then after like the 30th time, my navigator Gustavo was like, hey, mines filling up pretty bad over time. And then by the end of the stage, I was sitting there and I'm trying to shuffle with one leg and like go like this. So I got at least a little bit of room for the gas on the brake. And yeah, it build up to the point where I mean, you guys saw the video. I couldn't even press the gas. And I mean, I don't know how much it weighed, but it had to weigh a lot because it was killing our speed. So didn't have to deal with it for that long, you know, only about the last probably, you know 50 kilometers when it was really They really bad but yeah, that was crazy. What do you say? Yeah. It felt like an eternity. Yeah, I can only imagine Dude, that's freaking nuts. Like when I saw it. I was like, holy cow. That's crazy. Um, we had a couple of comments come in. AJ says, Congratulations, appreciate you always using your pass alert. And that was from racing ace. We're number one. So maybe they were out there too. Yeah, yeah. Thank you guys. I really appreciate everybody. Everyone's been super cool. Everyone's been super nice. And I really appreciate all the support that I'm getting from back home and just from everybody. So thank you guys. So more support. Metro San Diego supercross, D randos. And super laid back dude, it's super cool to see you man. Like, you're obviously growing your professional career and you have good people behind you. Now, we brought or we're gonna bring on some of the guys from the whole team. Scott Abraham is gonna come on a little bit later, South Cantero. And then as NS all you know, drivers on your team. One of the things that I wanted to talk about was behind the scenes stuff, like you did a fantastic job during the races. But there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes to make you guys to the top level, right, like so what's some of the stuff that you guys do in the pits as the team or maybe you personally to make sure that you're on point every day? I mean, it's crazy. So Scott, Scott Abraham, the owner and team principal of Ken Ham of our team, you know, Red Bull factory can M team there's he puts so much into it. There's so many people that you know, they're given their their all, I heard a little bit of Skyler talking. And I mean, I'm just the guy, I always like to tell him, I'm just the guy that sits in the driver's seat and holds the wheel and pushes the pedals. I mean, there's a whole team of people that make this happen. And those guys, I've never seen anybody work a longer hours and B work harder. I mean, those guys, my mechanics this year, the logistics guys, my engineer, those guys are around the clock, always making sure that everything is top shape, every single day. So I mean, there's so much that goes on behind the scenes, and you only see you know, a little bit of the racing and stuff. So it's crazy everything that they do to make us able to do what we do. Yeah, it's like, it's almost like at the end of the day, you just want to give everybody a hug, because you're so appreciated. Love it, right. That's what I always like. I mean, I tried to be as nice to him as possible. And I tried to tell him, like, you know, I appreciate him so much, but they're always so tired. I don't know if they even hear it. Because they've been working so hard. But yeah, man, the entire team, they showed out this race and really every race, but especially at this car, like in the conditions that we were in. I mean, the bivouacs were so gnarly. mudded. And, you know, they're running around all night working on those cars. So you know, huge shout out to all the team and everybody involved for that for sure. Yeah, it's so cool to see all the team work. Well, Ryan, guide us, unfortunately, you've been the victim of no sleep lately, having a newborn baby. So congratulations. We appreciate you taking the time away from the wife and the newborn. Does that mean that you're training to have no sleep to go to Dakar with AJ next year? I'm not afraid to mount a beat locker too. I do think it's cool. And that's why I wanted to talk with you a little bit to Ryan is because AJ mentioned all the teamwork and how all of these things happen. You know, we all think about how everybody over there as we think about all the behind the scenes, it really does, you know, an army to get those cars across the finish line. When you see AJ cross the finish line first, you probably couldn't be more happy. Oh, no, I had a team shot with our know the gentleman at Red Bull. And he was what's happening to me till like two three o'clock in the morning just giving me updates. So even though we were halfway across the world, I felt like I was there. But I mean, it was biting bullets between him and set battling back and forth. So it's pretty cool to see all that. Yeah, this year's dat car was pretty close. Like with all of the like Skylar was saying AJ, like, there was so many different weather conditions, track conditions, I mean, just everything they could get thrown at you. Like Skylar said, really was thrown at you and you guys were so close at the end. I mean, that's got to feel pretty cool. You Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, you know, this class, the T three classes, a lot of heavy hitters this year, for sure. And there was a lot of people that could have came away with the win. So I knew it was going to be hard. I knew it was going to be paused the entire time. So yeah, I mean, it's fun. It makes it more fun. You know, when everybody when everybody's at the top of their game like that, how do you strategize then, because you have so much like so many days to do it? Does your strategy change on a daily basis? I mean, so we have a plan coming into it. Me and my navigator to be Sabo. We kind of map out what we want to do, what days and stuff like that. Obviously, it changes according to you know, kind of how the race shakes out, but for the most part, we just kind of stick to our plan. We talk a lot with our engineers a lot. You know, he's kind of like a race strategist as well. So we talk a lot with our engineer really just tried to make a plan for every single day that's based on our original plan and try to keep it all smooth and bring everything to the finish the way we want every single day. Yeah, that's super cool. Did you have any of your family over there? I thought I saw a picture your dad was over there hanging out, too. Yeah, my boss came over. You know, it's like a vacation for him, you know, to come out, grill some chicken always is, you know, has pristine motorhome accommodations all times when I get out. So yeah, it's nice having him over and to be able to win and like, you know, share with him and him be there and stuff like that. As soon as I cross the finish line, I see him over there. And that is pretty cool. Yeah, that is cool, man. Especially like growing up as a kid in the dirt. You always have your dad there with you. So it's got to be meaningful when you reach that level, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's just crazy. How, you know, it's crazy how things change. Like, a couple years ago, I definitely did not see myself doing this. And you know, I definitely didn't see myself even if I was over there winning this. So you know, to be able to share like these moments with him and like a big one like this, like winning two cars in a row. I mean, it's it's pretty rad. Yeah, that's a humble thing to say. But you got to pat yourself on the back to man because it takes a lot army and it also takes a lot of skill to be able to do that. So you did a really good job. When when you go through that many days of racing on Ashley kind of the same thing. I asked Skyler and I'll follow it up by what did you eat? And where did you sleep? But what were some of the favorite points during the race? Because he was saying like, Dude, you're just seeing these beautiful areas of a country out in the middle of nowhere. Like that, to me is awesome, but you probably have a different perspective. For sure, I mean, yeah, like, kind of like you were saying like it almost looks like like parts of Utah, like some places are crazy nice, like rock formations, really pretty rocks and like really like a nice desert. And then like when we were in the Empty Quarter, it was insane. Like, the amount of dunes and there's nothing out there. There'll be a gas station like once every once in a while. But other than that, there's literally nothing out there like dunes taller than buildings as far as you could possibly see. So that was that was definitely cool. Dude that is wild. Could you imagine guidance because like we think Glamis is big, but like Glamis is probably like the many dudes out there. All just probably the smallest tiller. Yeah, yeah. Did he puts it in perspective, though. Hey, do you guys like when you're out there? Do you pass like camels? And like, how is it with like, the local traffic and stuff? Because that's wild, dude. Yeah, all the time. So usually, like, I mean, there's wild camels that are out there all the time. But then you think that some are wild. And then you see like, their feet are tied together. So they tie their front and their back legs together so they can't bolt off. And then you'll see a dude out there just walking around, like leading all of them, basically. So it's wild. Man, like, like you would think like, obviously, they're big, but when you're sitting there driving near them, and they're not scared at all. So like, you can come super close to them. And if you hit one of those things, if you end up smoking one, it is going to be a disaster. So like it's pretty sketchy. guys ever have any battles with those big semis out there? No. Not so much this year. We were Oh, the trash trucks. Dude. Those things are crazy. And they're fast did like on some straightaways. They're like blast us. And like, you're just like, you can feel the car like shake around because they're so heavy and they're so big when they come by. But um, yeah, we had we you know, we're messing around with a couple of them. But this year, I did a pretty good job of staying away from home for the most part, I was kind of in a different pack every day than them. So thank God for that because those things it gets pretty hairy whenever you're on them. Okay, so fun fact to both of you guys. My favorite class out there is those big trucks just because I want to get in one. So I see three guys on the screen right now. That could probably handle the job. So AJ next time we're over there, just start passing out business cards, and we'll see what we can do. Only if I drive. Yeah, perfect. I'll sit in there dude, I'll sit in the back. I don't even care. I just want to get a ride those things are pretty sick guidance. You'd have to make some pretty big wheels though to fit on there. Yeah. I want to go I want to try to go next year. It looks like a lot of fun. My buddy Darwin. I felt cool when I was just texting him like crazy, like major major FOMO when he was out there. So don't watch the end of the show because Darwin's going to be talking about how good of a time he had out there. I'm gonna block them. All right, all right, perfect. Yeah, so like what kind of stuff do you do you like Do you have a program that you eat and like eat certain stuff Ajay when you're out there? Like what's the because they I know that they feed you good. You know, Scott has a really good program that he operates, right? Yeah, so we were spoiled this year. Um, Scott had, you know, he had full catering setup. So that was really nice. That's kind of a game changer when you're only eating like once every 14 hours or so like that. So Scott had catering. That was rad. You know, Dakar it's rough. And it's hard out there but being with a team like how Scott has everything set up I mean, it's it's, you know, top of the line, it's as good as it can possibly get. So I'm really grateful to Dr. For them for sure. Yeah, I actually looked I was telling Skyler, I looked through some of the media stuff and some of the pictures Honestly, when I saw the freakin all of the catering stuff that he had, I was like, Dude, this looks like better than what I cook at home. Yeah. Now, yeah, we're dialed this year, as far as Yeah, accommodations go. And we were out, like out of the car. So yeah, you know, you just try to eat as much as possible, try to get as much sleep as possible. Sleep is really the crazy thing. Because I mean, you're going to sleep at like nine o'clock at night. Because you know, you got to wake up so early, and you have such a big day. And there's not really too much going on at the end of the day. And you're like, well, I might as well catch as much sleep as I possibly can. Yeah, dude, that guy. That's gotta be crazy, especially because you're already, you know, on a plane, all the way across the world with a couple days before it's wild, man. So when, when you're going through the race and stuff, and I don't know how to how to ask this question, but when you're going through the race, how do you keep that that focus because you obviously have Gustavo sitting next to you. He's a fantastic navigator. He helps you immensely. But you're in the car for so long. And you have what's called liaison stages, before and after sometimes, or both times. And those are really long, too. I mean, most people when they're driving down a freeway, you know, they can last a few hours, they got to take a break, whatever it is, like, the mental focus has to be so insanely good when you're there. How do you keep that going? Yeah, I would say honestly, other than like, I mean, racecar driving, especially Rally Raid like this, it's, it's more mental. So like that mental focus, because if you lose focus for one second, you're either gonna watch, or you're gonna clip a corner off or a tire or something like that. So I mean, to say that focus for that many miles a day. It's super hard. That's one of the harder parts of it. And then yeah, when you get on the liaisons, it's crazy. We had some killer liaisons this year, somewhere heavy. And especially with all the rain and stuff like that. I mean, sometimes we're on liaison for six hours a day after we just ran the stage all day. Dude, that's, that's so wild to me. Like God is imagine spending that much time in a race car. You know what I mean? Like, it's just phenomenal. Right? The cooler Yeah, pretty much. Do you guys have snacks and stuff inside the car? Yeah, we always have I mean, some stuff here and there. Just kind of whatever we can grab throw into our door bags. We do a lot of like, like cashews and nuts and stuff like that couple apples here and there. But really that's about it amended the accommodations for Red Bull seems so unreal. Seeing those big like, almost containers that opened up a sink are so sick that they have for you guys. Yeah, those things were dying. They expandables Yeah. So like, they're basically just like, Yeah, huge round just like our that's where like everybody sits down and eat tonight. Tomorrow. All the coffee makers are which they're constantly getting used. So those things came in quite well. We had Park City adventure dualsport actually asked. They had they asked basically, if you are catheter Day, everybody wears catheters, man. Like it's just the way it goes just like desert racing in the United States. It's all the same stuff. Because you can't get out of the car, you got to keep going as fast as you can to win. One of the things that I was going to ask he is like during those liaison stages, it looked like when I saw something on social media, like you're actually in traffic with the main flow of traffic. Yeah, I mean, we're just out there on the road. Yeah, we're just like, we're just a normal car. So sometimes, like when you're out like, generally we're out in the middle of nowhere. So that's not a huge deal. But sometimes, you know, we do have to go into towns every once in a while and get to the next bivouac. Maybe they'll put one like they usually put them out like old airports and stuff where there's room but that's wild dude. Guidance. Could you imagine driving a racecar around a totally different country just cruising the street Hey, old as hell for you guys. A lot of those stages so that's yeah, it was freezing cold. But like on the liaisons like sometimes we'll come up to a roundabout and it gets sketchy like like a lot of the in the United States. We drive good. Okay, I don't I don't care. Who says what, but we don't know. We drive well, some places. It is sketchy. So like and yeah, and you're driving a racecar so everybody, of course wants to stop and take a picture everybody wants to do I have right next to you and get as close as they possibly can. So, yeah, that's one of the it's fun. But at the same time, I mean, at that point when you're in the car for that long and you're getting to the point where you're almost done like in town or something like that, you just want to get to the next before I can get out so bad. So and you have 696 pounds of sand in the in the floorboard. Yeah, that doesn't help you do that. That's so crazy. I mean, like, just thinking about all of the stuff that you guys experienced in that was a 14 day race, right? But just thinking about how much you guys experienced even just in the plane flights and travel dude, to me, like, I just get a smile on my face. Because the opportunity that you guys have and the cool factor of it. It's just so amazing, man, like you have to be. I don't know, you have to pinch yourself don't Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I'm super lucky to be able to do this, obviously, with the whole team, and everybody that supports really lucky to have everybody in my corner helping me out. But yeah, I mean, just, I mean, we get to call this our job. Like, that's so rad. I mean, you can't ask for anything better. So really lucky to be able to do this. And to be able to do it at a high level is just, you know, icing on the cake. So, hey, so guys, I think you probably have the same question in your head. Did you have any sketchy moments, AJ? I mean, unfortunately, like not so many, or fortunately, let's not get anything wrong. But I know nothing super gnarly this year, you know, you usually have a couple of, you know, holy shit moments, but this year, it was pretty clean for us. I mean, we wanted to keep it that way. That was kind of our idea. It was just let's be really clean every day. Let's bring the car like back in one piece make as little work for the mechanics as possible. So I mean, we were just cruising at a nice pace the entire time. Obviously, we had to pick it up and push sometimes, but nothing really, really too sketchy. I would say the sketchiest thing was we almost flew down a couple of dunes because like just on sheer drops, but kind of expect that kind of use of that by now. So I mean, I'm just like, Oh, that was a bunch of people posting. What's that the river and gnarly water crossing are the big shocks. The trash trucks barely made it through like can't or can't actually did what they want on that side. Yeah, so those cars, those cars were getting washed away and stuff like that. So I went through there probably, I mean, a couple of minutes before because I started more in the front that day. It was there. When I went through it was there. And there were tons of standing water everywhere and stuff. Were hydroplaning all over the place and like your stuff. I was like, Whoa, keep it straight. And I'm like, I'm a passenger, bro. Like, I don't know what to tell you. So like when I went through there, it was gnarly, but it wasn't to the point where like I then I got on the liaison after that day, and I'm sitting there looking at my phone like the videos that were coming out and I'm like, oh, no, wait, that's what that turned into. And I saw Yeah, cars getting washed away down a river. My buddy JP tilaka is CO driver literally getting out with a tow rope and going for a swim. And I was so lucky that I didn't have to go like through the gnarly, gnarly, gnarly part. But what I went through I just blasted it we got through. And we're like, good, good. Alright. And then just yeah, thank goodness you got there at that time. Oh, yeah, for sure. And I won that day. So so I'm super stoked. Yeah, you weren't it was super wet like he did. He must have been an iceberg after taking that. Yeah, and let's see Andrew jpg or whatever he says is that AJ Jones Congrats, brother. Oh my man Andrew. What's up, bro? It is super cool to see you man. And then obviously you know you and Skylar being American obviously, Seth, it's really cool to see like, especially for us American fans. You guys are bringing a whole new light to that car obviously Casey curry Ricky Bray back all of these guys. Right? But it's really really neat to see because the first time that you went out there compared to the way it is now it's massive. Oh, for sure. I mean, it's picked up so much even within the last four years I've done you got dudes like they've done 20 dat cars and like 10 Dac ours, stuff like that. So I mean, I can't even imagine like, what it's been like for them. But even in the last four years, it's gained so much popularity really in the United States. It's picked up so much. So it's awesome to see a lot more people are asking me about it a lot more people understand what I go and do in Saudi Arabia for a month every January now. So that kind of helps with explaining why I'm gone. So yeah, I mean, just even in the country, I mean, it when we first got there four years ago, there was you know, like they're kind of like what do you guys all doing here? There's some type of race like that kind of thing like the locals and stuff. And now like it's really picked up quite a bit and gained a lot in popularity. So that's awesome. Yeah, I think it is and and, you know, you're a humble guy. Skylar's, a humble guy, but you guys are doing a good job representing us, man. So I appreciate that because You guys are holding a lot of weight on your shoulders when you go over there because you're not just representing yourselves in the team, you're representing a whole nation, right? So I think it's pretty cool that you guys can do that and represent us well by winning. So kudos to you for doing that. Excuse me? You got any more questions for AJ? Because I'm gonna ask him to throw shout out. No, I was just saying Congrats, man. Glad we were able to join team last minute, and it's gonna be a fun year. Yeah, for sure. Thank you guys, man. Everything was great. As far as you know, wheels go. So thank you guys. And you know, it feels good to have company like you guys on my back. So I appreciate it. Hey, we had a question come in from I don't know, pH. Li K says how's the visibility in the media? Versus the races in the US? Do you have any idea about that? Or could you answer that guidance, either of you guys? What was the kind of I guess the visibility in the media compared to us? Like maybe let's just use, I don't know, a big race in the US like a best in the desert race compared to one of those races or something? I don't really understand the full details of it. But there's a boatload of media I know that. Yeah. It's crazy. The amount of coverage that car gets is absolutely insane. And it's not only, you know, it gets broadcast in so many countries. My Media guy, he was saying that, like, I mean, there's 195 countries that, you know, they will use, you know, put it on their TV on their local, you know, their news conference and stuff like that. So the amount of media that we have to do, that's a huge part to that. I mean, I guess you guys see, it's not quite behind the scenes. But it's, it's such a huge part. I mean, when we were rest day, we didn't rest at all. I mean, you get one day to chill and do nothing. And we didn't rest at all, because I mean, we're constantly doing stuff we had this media dropped this mess media drop it this this appearance over here like that. Yeah, exactly. So I mean, we did so much media and the amount of cameras that are out there, the amount of people that are broadcasting this all over the place, people flying out from basically every country with, you know, their media stuff and covering the event for a company or something like that. It's insane. So I would say as far as that goes, I mean, it really doesn't compare to any other races that I've done. You'll see some stuff here and there about some America races or you know, down in Baja and stuff, but the amount of media over there, it's insane. And so many people in so many different languages asking you so many questions. It's, it's tough. Yeah. And I think one thing to make to make light of here too, is that there's not really a the same type of racing like the Rally Raid Racing's like that car in the United States is a lot different. The trains aren't like close together, like where you're at. And they're, it's just a little bit more separated or diverse, right? They have different racing leagues and stuff. So for you guys to be able to attack all that stuff in 14 days is just phenomenal. It's just a one of a kind event. Yeah, definitely. It's, it's definitely it's really unique. And it's hard, man. Like it's it's I like the idea of a dog. I'm super into like rally read the format of it. You know, the way it works, how stage racing, basically, I like it a lot. So yeah, it should be more popular in the United States. We have the room. Yeah, exactly. What you say, guys? I said it's getting there. It seems like with all the traction with all US racers, so it definitely seems like it's gaining traction. Yeah, totally. UTV. El Paso, West Texas asked, when's your next race? AJ? That was a question I was gonna ask. So you beat me to it? Yeah. I'll be at King of the hammers. This week, this weekend. Excuse me. I'm cruising out on Thursday. I'm gonna be around for a couple of days. And then I'm going to race a desert race this weekend. Dude, that's going to be pretty cool, man. What kind of car you're going to be racing in the desert. You guys have a purpose built one are you guys going to use something that you guys have already driven? I'll be in South racing Canada. I'm the same one. Basically the same one as I just raced a dat car. It'd be pretty close to you know, there's a couple things going What would you say? Got us? It's gonna turn some heads out there. It's gonna look really cool. Dude, I can't wait to see it. You know what's cool, though, is like AJ you can vouch for this. Because you have been in trucks with your dad and stuff like that. It's rad to see UTVs come this far and be so universal. I mean, like you can use them in so many different Racing's. Yeah, for sure. I mean, we've taken like this year at the 1000 I raised you know, basically an exact copy of my deck are at the 1000 So you know, you can do so many different things. Red Bulls got tons of events this year. All those scramble series like the ice scramble and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, the amount of things that you're able to do with these new TVs. It's, it's amazing. And it really is cool, man. Hey, so I just want to say congratulations. First of all, being a two time DAC car winner that doesn't go or that doesn't come easy, man. You put in a lot of work to be able to get to this point. You're a fantastic racer. The more and more I get to know you the more and more I see what a good human being you are. So keep doing what you're doing. Listen, man, and I know you got a lot of people that you want to thank. So throw some shoutouts and then we're gonna get your buddies denizens in second Terrell on. For sure. You know, first and foremost, as I already said, shout out to the team. Anybody from the entire South racing squad that's watching this, you know, you guys make the ship go. So shout out to you guys. Big shout out to my fiancee at home where she can probably hear me she's on the other end right there. Yeah, so shout out to Annalise and you know, my parents, obviously my dad, he's already he's out there with me. So that's nice to have him out there supporting me, my mom. She's supporting, telling all her friends about it. So it's making the local Facebook. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, just really everyone who supports all my friends, family, everyone who's supporting me and stuff like that. I feel it. I really do. And I think about it when we're, you know, having not the best time out there. I think about it. I want to make everybody proud and do my best. So thank you everybody, dude. Yeah, that's super cool. AJ. Well, you're doing a fantastic job. Guys. I don't know if you gotta go and get back to the newborn. But we're gonna get Dennis ends and Seth Cantero on. Like I said, Congratulations, AJ, keep up the good work. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on. This was rad. Yeah, absolutely. Dude, we'll talk to you soon. See you guys. Bye, guys. All right, so we're gonna get denizens and Seth can Terrell also competitors in the T three class at the Dakar Rally. And man just battling AJ and Gustavo, just down to the wire, man, it's so cool to see the UTV has come to, you know, just be this competitive man in such a massive form of racing. So we'll get these guys on whenever they can join. Yeah, Guy this needs a Red Bull guy. This always needs a Red Bull man. So he's a busy guy, man. And with a newborn too. I just think it's really cool, man. I really really do I don't even know what to say like see and AJ just you know, do so well over there means the world to me, especially coming from Arizona and you know, just being such a great guy. Alright, so let's see if we can get ups Seth and Dennis on here while we get these guys on. If you guys have any questions, please throw them out and and let us know what you guys want us to ask to. To the guys when they do come on. I have a couple of questions for these dudes. The sleeping part of it is so crazy to me. And then obviously eating. What's up, Brian? How are you? Brian Fisher. What's up, David? Good to see you. Looks like maybe Seth can taro and Dennis and What's up boys? What is up? I'm actually enroute to the airport right now to go pick up Dennis. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, it man. It's just super cool to see that you guys are coming to hang out again. Are you? Do you need to get off the phone or you go okay. I'm all good. Okay, cool. There he is. Look at him. So no asking Dennis questions. We're just gonna let him listen right now. And then when he gets off the plane, he'll be able to talk. That's funny. Usually Dennis is the one talking because he asked to tell you where to go. Now. He can't say anything because he's on a plane trying to be quiet. Exactly. Dude, that's hilarious. So Dan is coming to visit to go to Koh watsapp Yeah, Genesis, gonna be out here. We're gonna be a gateway to the old South race and Red Bull team. It's gonna be a lot of fun dance never been to America. So I'm looking forward to show him what's all about racing down here. Kind of the differences between you know, ride racing and this so I'm stoked to do it. It's kind of cool. Because you went to his house across the way and now he's coming to your house. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I mean, this guy has over the past two years I've really traveled the world together and never really gotten to see like each other's families or friends or anything like that. So it's gonna be cool to get him here and get everybody to meet up everybody back home. And then yeah, see who's usable stuff so hopefully it'll be good. Yeah, that'll be cool. And so are you guys gonna do anything a king of the hammers like in behind the wheel? Are you guys just gonna go out and support the boys? Yeah, no. So we'll be racing the Deseret same as AJ Kenny recent basically the same exact car that I raised the DAT car this year. With a few minor changes like suspension it really is. All this suspension feeling is really all we're going to add to that car. And all the good dude, and that's gonna be pretty cool. Man. You haven't done KLH before, have you? No, I haven't. I've pre read it one time with Misko so you go through the rocks. We're out there doing the the one shot video forever ago, which was rad. I'm not a big rock guy. I will say I'm not a huge fan of rocks. I'm glad we're doing the dead. The race is not the rock race but I'm looking forward to doing it. It'd be cool for Dennis to get his feet wet doing that too right it'll be neat because you'll be able to kind of give him a little bit of tips now. Yeah exactly I mean to be able to show him you know like the cars that we raced in Europe or don't have the most travel or die cars and come here and we got a lot more a lot more speed that are restricted or a lot more travel and it's it's gonna be a wild ride it's he's never really experienced anything like it he was supposed to come down a while ago I believe with you what he's gonna do is gonna do some of the Baja 1000 I believe it was but now it'll be good too. But Phil was what America is all about. Yeah, you're not looking at the screen because you're driving but your mom's already like trying to take over She said your mom has fantastic nails. Great. No, she did Koh with Sara price like three years ago. She's the only Quintero has done it so far. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, she was she co pilot it was Sarah price. 2000. Say might have been 2020 or 2019. Something like that. So yeah, my mom's done it for it. No. Okay, so I misread the message, dude. That's crazy. So she's got one up on you and pops. Yeah, she's got a one up big time on the sheet. And she'll never let me live it down either. So they always whenever I talk about this race, I've already done it. I've already done this like, alright, mom. All right. Well, I mean, yeah, and 2020 She said, Well, kudos. Yeah, I didn't know that. Amy's got Fun Facts all over the place. All right, so let's get back to talking about some stuff about dat car. So one of the things that I was so like, I saw a picture of you kind of just like sitting down next to a tent like what is it like sleeping out there? Dude, it's wild, huh? Yeah, I mean the sleeping situations we're super blessed and fortunate to be with the whole South racing team and the Red Bull team to where we you know, we're sleeping in little campers, which is really nice to be able to you know, get out of the weather being there the guys that that are in the tents for the whole entire rally or aren't on a holiday leave, especially the winter this year. So mad props to those guys be Yeah, we for the marathon days we were doing a tent. Dennis are supposed to share tent that night. But he went and found a second chance we did have to share it. It would have been a lot worse. But I'm glad he wouldn't found that tent because that two person tent was maybe two person tent for two five year olds, but definitely not to the whole Danis coming in clutch was going in searching for a separate tent there. That's sweet. Hey, we're talking to AJ and Skylar bolt. And they were saying like how basically datacard just through every single thing that it could do you guys this year. Yeah, this year was. I mean, I've only done three daggers now, but I believe that this was for sure. One of the hardest cars that we've seen, at least in my couple years. The days were ridiculously long, two more stages than it was last year. I know. There's been longer dat cars, but I think with the liaisons and the weather and the stage times, everything like that is probably one of the hardest. Yeah, it's wild. And even like what AJ was saying, like timing came into effect. Like, when he went through that water crossing. I don't remember what stage it was on. But he beat like the flowing river like the flash flood. And then How far were you guys either ahead or behind? And because Dude, it looks so gnarly. Yes. So we've seen in probably three or four minutes right in front of him. We weren't far in front of him. But yeah, I got super lucky about having to go through that gnarly of a water crossing the flashlight was pretty crazy for us. I think we hit it pretty hard on the lake bed. But we kind of missed it on the river. Fortunately, we got there. Alright, well, don't live URLs can be really bad at Yeah, I mean, as we've seen, so yeah, that was a that was a wild ride. For sure. Dude, it looked pretty crazy. Man. What was some of the coolest things that were actually let's ask what was some of the gnarliest things I actually wanted to ask Dennis his question. I don't know if he'll be off the plane by the time but what were some of the gnarliest things that you guys experienced? Like during this year's rally? Because it's it was completely different than last year? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say just like we've gone through so much nowadays. That's hard to bring back. Where's the gnarliest? Yeah, I guess that's that's true. Because there's just so many things that happen like the I was talking to Skyler about this, too, is like, you don't just focus on two things. You're focusing on 20 things right? And then Dennis is focusing on his 20 things. Like, there's so much going on that it's almost probably hard to remember some of the stuff. Yeah, exactly. It's like, my friends like whenever I get back or my family will ask like, Hey, how'd this go? How DACA and I it's hard to remember those little things unless somebody brings up like, once somebody, like say probably the weather. The one But it was so blinding, though, like, as babble of fear that what was going to happen that are to prepare for it. We can start the stage eight degrees. And then by the time we're only five degrees outside, or 35 degrees outside, pouring rain, hard to kind of pick what you're going to do with the weather. So I think the weather was probably one of the hardest parts for us. Yeah, actually, that's true. Because it's like, just you have zero idea what's going to happen right? You're just like, hoping for the best expecting the worst. Yeah, exactly. Dennis is free. This guy. He's there you go through teamwork makes the dream work. That's awesome, dude. Perfect. Thank you, man. Thank you. Nice to see you guys. Yeah, you too, Dennis. Hey, first of all, congratulations to both of you. I couldn't give you the proper introduction before but denizens and Seth can. Terrell both doing a fantastic job at the Dakar Rally again this year. Dennis, give me a little bit of a rundown on how much it was different than last year's event? Well, actually, it has been two days longer. And it was like really tough, especially the first week they really wanted to kill us. And I think that it was a tough one. I mean, okay, the special, especially the second week, we went into the Empty Quarter, which was almost just us forever. So it was. Yeah, I mean, it was a tough one for sure. Yeah. Because I think it was a proper Dakar. So I'm not sure if it's nice or not nice. So, yeah, at the end, we did it. Yeah. It just seems like it's so gnarly. And you're right. Like, it's a theme that you guys have all been talking about SATs I mean, they're just throwing more and more at you guys. Yeah, I mean, I kept saying this year and Desmond I bowled it was like we didn't know when we catch a break. I mean, thankfully, like the bikers are on a wave but thankfully the bikers got a break but we were definitely hoping that that we got a break the same day and they did and when I woke up and saw the bike race got canceled but the car is still going I was like this is this is gonna be rough but they threw everything they do the kitchen sink I honestly I enjoyed it. It made for a fun rally and a lot of memorable moments. And hopefully next year is kind of the same I think okay, well definitely helps me a lot I definitely didn't feel too tired after the race thankfully but yeah because we one week Dennis was pretty tired. Hey, but you guys will probably both agree with this statement is like everybody always says oh the tracks getting rougher or the terrains gnarly or whatever I'm like dude, throw me the gnarliest baddest race course ever and I will love it even more yeah for sure. I mean it's it's definitely fun RFC going on you know those days are smooth and tell you a little bit break but for me the the best days and the best days for us results wise is all day some reason like those days it's easier to drive out a whole lot slower lose the data a little bit and not well I have a few other days where it's like we definitely lock in a little bit harder if you have to focus so I've definitely run yeah keeps your add going to intact right like a fried Scotty said birria tacos that mean you're gonna show Dennis where to get some really really bummed food this when he's out here in America or what I'm really excited to say media choice over time in the US and especially racing so many stories from said and all the guys around so I'm really looking forward to it. Great. Great to be here. Hey, we had a question come in. That was asking. This is the first year that you guys were able to have a windshield and it's from rip came on. Alright, rip Come on. Yeah, this was this year. I was so thankful to have when we didn't have a windshield. And that was brutal. And because of the weather that we did, like thank God we had the wind soaking wet every day. It was just it would have been really rough. But I'm I'm glad that one day that we shattered the windshield. I unfortunately couldn't defeat the last 150 kilometers which kind of sucked but other than that I thoroughly thoroughly Yeah, I did. I can only imagine how much that came in clutch. rybka David said wants to get crab legs. I'm assuming that's for Dennis. You're gonna get this dude you're already on track to have a fantastic time here in the United States do there's gonna be Awesome. I hope so. Alright, so what's the plan? Give me a little rundown of what you guys are going to do over the next couple of weeks here. Yeah, so Dennis will be here for the next just about a week. Yeah, we're gonna have Amber's on Thursday. Gonna get fitted in the car and the car is actually in Marietta right now right by my house, which is pretty cool. So gonna go over there where it's get dropped off or worked on to kind of go get stood it feet. Whoa. Wow. Brainfart there fit in the seats. Make sure we're all good there. And then yeah, we're gonna go pre on Thursday, Friday, Wi Fi Saturday, race Sunday. And then Dennis has got a girlfriend. So you got to get a flight home on Thursday on Tuesday. So it's very important. Yeah, you can't be slacking on that you better get back to there better be not many flight flight delays or anything for that bad boy. And also, there's Abu Dhabi just around the corner. So yeah, not too many times. Thanks. Are you looking forward to being out here though, man, because that's a pretty cool opportunity. For sure I like to I'm looking forward to the race in America. I mean, we are doing something more by the year but for sure i i liked the stories from said all the time when he told me all these and he big bombs and fast flicks and we can push somebody which is in the FAA race. So you're gonna show him nerfing SAP? Is that what you're gonna do? I we've gotten close to cars a couple times. He got a little nervous I'll ever hit. Point. That's gonna be hilarious to see what Dennis says he's gonna be like, no, okay, fine. I get it. But anyway, guys, I need to look for my luggage. So I will shut down from my side at least. Alright. Well, thanks for joining us, Dennis. We really appreciate it. We'll see how to Koh man. Thanks for having me. See you soon. Yeah, have a good? Yeah. See you in a bit. Hey, well, there you go. Seth. Did we make your job any easier when picking up your person from the airport? Yeah, I've been rolling around in circles trying to get a hold of the guy. Turns out he's still on the plane. On a parking spot. That's hilarious, man. The stuff we do on the dirt life show. Hey, I want to do I want to thank you for coming on too. I know you're a busy guy. I'm really stoked that you're doing all that stuff at King of the hammers. I think it's gonna be pretty cool to see you out there doing even more racing. Yeah it sounds like we got kind of a bad connection did Hey, I know you want to thank all your sponsors. So I'll let everybody know when they come on the show. I really appreciate you coming on dude. We'll see you out of Koh Sounds good. All right, we'll see. Ya man Okay, so we're going to try and see if we can get Scott Abraham on here. The owner and team principal over at Red Bull factory or excuse me, Red Bull cannamd Factory Racing team. He man he sets up such a good program for all of these drivers to have a success rate on the scuze me out at dat car. So let's see if we can get him lined up and on the show with us. If you are watching, there you go. Scott everyone what's up, dude, how are you? Very well. And you were doing good man. I know that you just had a flight as well. I don't know if you're watching but one of your driver or excuse me co drivers or navigators denizens just got off his plane as well. So I appreciate you taking the time with us. Let me give you a proper intro. So Scott Abraham has had 19 the cars to date. He's been to 19 Dakar Rally. So that's the point that we want to talk about. And he's now the team principal or the owner of cannamd South racing team, which is now the Red Bull factory cannamd Team man the development of the program and what you've done has been pretty amazing man. Yeah, it's it's been it's been a bit of a surprise to me, you know, in the past six years when from when from A to Corporation and lost the stack? Well, we went with 26 cars. It all started done in Brazil actually where I met a guy called Bob lammle who was at that time the VP for Ken Ham. And yeah, from there just Yeah, well he make it sound like so easy and humble. But it takes a lot of work to get to the point that it is now and I as a as an off road enthusiast I really appreciate the work that you guys put in because you guys are excelling the sport and you guys are pushing the boundaries and pushing the limits on stuff that is actually achievable. Now you've won a bunch of races now in the in the side by side category. It's just really really cool to see man so I'm appreciative of it. I'm gonna bring on one One of your guys's team sponsors, the guys over at Motul, the Moto USA guys want to join Darwin actually went out and participated in his first Dakar Rally. So you got 18 on him. But Darwin, what's up, man? How are you? How's it going? Guys? Can you hear me? Okay? Yeah, we can hear you. Great, man. So multiple is a big supporter of the Red Bull factory cannamd racing team. It's pretty cool to see you guys team up. And there's a big difference in the two faces on the screen. Darwin has been to Dakar for three days pushing it three days. Scott has been to 19 dat cars, man, can you believe that? Yeah, I mean, honestly, when I jumped on and heard you say, Scott, you've done it, since you're 20 if I was, you know, in total awe, to be honest with you. Because I mean, just being there. The three days was such a surreal experience for myself being the first time you know. Yeah, I've been very fortunate to be able to race tech on my first one was in 2003. So I've got one more to go until my 20th. So 2023 2024 should be number 20. But yeah, I raced Africa. And then when we went to South America from 2009, onwards, and then yeah, now in Saudi Arabia. So yeah, the race is something special. It's definitely part of it's part of part of me, you know, the experiences we have, I think that's the beauty of any form of offroad racing, it doesn't matter if you're involved. Or in South America, you get to see places which are not just airports and not just cities. And I think that you meet wonderful people in little towns. And those are the experiences which make it so special. Yeah, it is really cool. What's been the biggest difference? Obviously, you've you've raced that car to Scott, but what's been the biggest difference, I guess, aside from the progression, like what UTV is coming out and stuff over those 19 years, man, because it to us in the United States, like that car is on the map now. But for you, you've got much more heritage with it. You know, we got to look back DACA started to get proper traction in the US about four or five years ago, I think it also came a lot with UTVs, because it was a category which people could relate to, you know, you saw Ken Ham, or you saw pliers from the metal oxidized. Yep. And, you know, so this is what is what's really exciting is that you bring manufacturers across offices in KC carry one backhoe with us in 2020. And then obviously, before that, guys, like Robby Gordon, and obviously, all the motorbike guys have been involved, but it was always, you know, sort of like, what is this race and I think now it's become a lot more mainstream. We've seen that, especially from the media, you know, 28% of our media value and global viewership is from North America. So that's definitely growing that grew from 9% in 2020. So it's, it's been a big growth. And I think we starting we're already starting to get some traction. I think it's also going to be exciting. The scenario early is not part of the world championship. So that's happening the end of April. So I think for the first time you know, the North American market, we'll finally get to see all the not only the UTVs, but also the motorbike guys and the and the T one race cars, the T one pluses the Toyota is the Audi's you will get to see them in North America for the first time. So I think that's it's been a long time coming in as a lot of work there. And Skilton put a huge amount of work and he's dressed tackle himself. So I think it's gonna be interesting to see what happens in the future. I think it's really cool man, and even just to go, like, what kind of stepped down granularly and understand, like, each individual team has the logistical portions that they have to work on. Right. So there's a lot of setup and I think I don't remember who it was. It was I think it was Skyler house, I was just talking to us about even just on the dirt bike side of things. You're basically planning a whole year in advance. I mean, like, do you have to talk with your lawyer, for instance, your oil partner, your wheel partner, to get these things prepared for next year already are like, how did those things work? Because to me, that is one of the most phenomenal portions of the race. Well, I think specifically, I mean, if you just look at multiple, I mean, they always they always pull their hair out a little bit because it's, you know, when you're when you're running for 26 vehicles, and also it's not just that, you know, we run 25 events a year that's around the globe and including obviously non North America Program, which is something exciting. It's it's a it's a new challenge for us. We still got a little work to do this starting from scratch last year. So but yeah, daca starts the day that call finishes. If we look at for example, if can we put up our forecasting in February, to basically be able to meet the supply chain requirements, you know, it's it's a huge logistical challenge 193 People who we move day to day 89 vehicles in total from racecars to motor homes to service vehicles, trucks, semi trailers, obviously the Expendables like Seth mentioned, and AJ and then from From there, then it goes, you know, it's it's the 1000s of liters or gallons of oil. It's the it's the 1300 tires. It's the 800 wheels, which we take to Dhaka. So the operation is huge. And then, yeah, the cups of coffee and I touched on its 10th that you have 10,800 Nespresso capsules, which you take the deck, and that's all going to be done beforehand. Because whatever you've got with you, you've got to take a dude that is so wild, like Darwin, or you listen to that. I mean, like, he's talking about 1000s and 1000s. of you know, tires and wheel all of these different things. Can you imagine just like he said, the cups of coffee, the amount of like chicken and corn? I mean, like, good God do this is insanely cool. Oh, yeah. I mean, that was one thing that kind of stood up for me being my first time and we went to the boardwalk or whatnot, was they had, we had a trailer specifically designated to just wheels and tires. And I'm not kidding you the entire thing. The entire trailer was just full of tires for all the vehicles. Just seeing it on kind of the big scale that it has, and everything else was truly impressive. And you guys touched on it earlier, like the growing interest here in North America, I can definitely speak to that myself. Because, you know, prior to even my days here, Mo tool, I mean, I didn't really follow it too heavily. And then I think Ricky's kind of when being the first American when the bike category and such really put it on the map. And then obviously, with Austin and, and Seth and whatnot, the growing interest there is really kind of catapulted the side by side market as well. Yeah, it's pretty crazy, right? And then so I want to get the same question to both of you guys. With Scott with his 19 years of debt car experience. And Darwin with your we'll call it three days of debt car experience. I want to throw the same question to both of you guys. What are some of the most notable items that you remembered from this year's dat car? Got one to go first? Yeah, I think it's, you know, there's a few of them. I mean, if I looked specifically at our within our team, Christina and Christina, and Angela Merkel, stuck in the river, you know, that was we touched on that and the flash flood that was extreme. And then obviously, you know, heartbreak for raucous 30 kilometers from the finish, you know, I think that's, those are the things which it's, it's, it makes you want to go back and do it again. But it's also hard at the time that it happens. But it's also for me, you know, when you the goal is always to bring everybody on the team home safely. And I think that's, we can't forget that. As a team owner, we have out of obligation to my my team who fight day and night, on in the toughest conditions we've seen in Saudi Arabia, for sure. And that's, that's the thing for me is those are the experiences and as there's so many of them during the race that are just like these little memories, and you really need time off to the race to decompress, and they're just like, pop up. Yep. It's not always these things are good things. It's just like, oh, that really happened, you know? Yeah, totally. And so like, he says it like, like, it's an easy thing, right, Darwin, and he's so humble when he says it, but I was looking through some of their media package. And you could see some of the images that were captured and the amount that you know, Scott cares about his team and the team cares about Scott and everybody else. I mean, it's phenomenal and that's what wins races right? I mean, people say teamwork makes a dream work and if that's a cliche statement, that whatever but like it really does, because they all have the same amount of passion and they want to get those vehicles across the finish line as quickly and as safely as possible. So it's pretty amazing to have such a great leader like SCOTT Yeah, and honestly, I don't think I don't think you'd have as many people finish if it wasn't such a cohesive kind of group as a team you know, everyone's helping everybody I recall on that I think it was stage four or five correct me if I'm wrong Scott but you know the the highly popularized river that almost wiped out a few competitors you know, and seeing the trash trucks come and stop and pull the guys out and everything it was a collective group effort to make sure every everyone was most importantly that was one thing that really stood out to me and then I think just you know, being a dirt bike guy myself one one thing that kind of highlighted this year's dat car was just held close to racing action was on on on all segments whether it was the trucks whether it was the the T three lightweight prototypes, all that stuff. I mean, the last day I think the dirt bike category came down to like 28 seconds was like the gap. If I recall between Bennett, VITAS and and Toby price and then having nine different winners, I think it was in the first nine stages on the bag bike category was unprecedented. Dude, it's so insane, but it's super cool to see right. Scott? Does it? Is that a product of the track layout? Or is that just a product of the elements? I mean, what what usually lends itself to that because to me, that's unheard of, you know, just a few seconds at the last stage. It's wild. Yeah, I think in you know, specifically on the UTV side is that it's over the past years, it's not uncommon because there's there's two different categories, you go to school T three, which is your color prototype vehicles with ot threes, where we run against, we're against Yamaha. And then you have the T four, which is more like a showroom. Modified production is what the title of the category is. But you know that that's running all original drive train axles, the uprights, so those are all OEM parts. And then it's very, very evenly matched because the regulations don't allow, there's not really a way for big money to come in and dominate. Obviously, as a team, it's about having that depth behind it, having the infrastructure having the parts and the obviously, it's all those little pieces of the puzzle that come together. And then you've got to have the drivers and you can't forget the CO drivers, I think this is a huge thing on DACA is that you can be the fastest driver in the world. But if you missed one white point, it can be 15 minutes to two hours. So you can drive the wheels of the car and win the stage by three minutes. But you can get lost for a huge amount of time. So it's really about the team. How do you pack it on the team? How do you put those packages together to get the the engineers and the drivers and everybody together? Because that's gonna be a pretty good amount of work to be able to find all those top level guys. I think it starts you know, we were very fortunate to Kenan delivers us a really, really good new TV off of over the production line, you know, and then together with the team at DLP, racing, and then also engineers who have been with us for for a long time and also looking for new and young talent. I think that's really, really important. You know, we all getting older every day. But it's there's also still a lot of young, young, and I call them kids, they might get upset with me. But there's a lot of young kids are looking for a foot up and getting into the sport. And then I look back in my days I raced in South Africa, and then it was the case well, was time to make the decision. Was it going to be trained to be a racecar driver? Or would I go and look and try have a job. And then I was very fortunate to get a job with at that stage x rayed were with BMW, then with many and now they still run the money program, they've taken over Yamaha. And I got a chance. You know, 20 years ago, someone took a chance on me and went from South Africa to Germany. And yeah, 20 years later, I'm sitting here, talking about DACA. You know, it's so cool to hear man, I would like to see if we can deep dig deeper into your story. Maybe one of these days, we'll we'll set up when you have a little bit more time not at Koh and stuff. To do a little bit of background on you, Scott, I think it would be cool to sit down and just talk about old racing memories and stuff like that. But you know, hearing him talk about all that stuff. Darwin, I kind of want to know, I don't know, if you do but like what the difference is between those first cars compared to what it is now. And the reason I want to do it is because it's kind of a two part question. Like he said, with the kids, because I have people walk up to me all the time now 10 years old, 15 years old. And they know what that car is back 10 years ago, nobody even knew what it was in the United States. So now these kids are looking up to guys like Seth Cantero, who in their mind is a veteran. And so like it's a completely different world, right? Because now you have all of these kids getting funneled in but it's it was massively different back then. Yeah, that was honestly one thing that that kind of came up earlier is I'd like to kind of understand the differences. You know, from the early days to South Africa and all that stuff in comparison to now kind of the differences in the terrain, obviously, how much that car itself has grown, like all that stuff. I mean, obviously mo tools, a huge proponent of the involvement over the last, you know, 10 years or whatever it's been, but I'd be curious on the change, just, you know, from place to place, and kind of how that that's that's transpired? Yeah, I mean, I think that's, that's almost a show in itself to them. You know, I'm very fortunate to also work with people who have a fairly DECOs experience. And, you know, I think that's it is when I was an African, my first DACA was a 21 day DACA. You know, it was you drove, you drove across the borders from Morocco to Mauritania. You did 1000 miles off road in a day in the service trucks, you know, so this was really like, it was a completely different world and the shower was a luxury and if you didn't get it, there was much time a bucket of cold water, you know, so I think a lot of change and then obviously going to South America was Argentina, the first Dhaka you know, 3 million people in the streets of Buenos Aires, driving 700 kilometers and just people parked on the side of the road and having barbecues and just happy to see you. So that was a phenomenal experience. And, you know, we went and we also raised in Peru at the highest, you know, the highest city in the world. So, you know, 15,000 feet was raised. So, you know, the experiences of Austin than going to a country like Saudi Arabia, which for many years was close to the world and I You come back and you're allowed to go and experience and you know, in the past three years which you've been racing there, we actually race it again this weekend and Saudi, it's it's definitely an amazing country in terms of how things are changing. You see it year to year change. So it is it is constantly changing. Obviously, technology has changed. Go with it. So yeah, yeah. Speaking of that technology portion we had actually a couple of comments come in. One of the comments that came in was let me see here who it was from Nasser all jam Han I think I don't know how to pronounce it. But anyways, at what about competitors like Polaris and Yamaha. You said that Yamaha was actually quite a bit of competition this year. Yeah, for sure. And we suit Henry really happy to have it, you know. So Yamaha has come with the official program, it's actually run by X ray do also the team behind OQ. They also put on the cue motorsports team, which run the RT program. So you know, it's been a it's been a while coming, obviously. Previously, the Red Bull guys were running the OT three, which was a full prototype, they finished third this year as well. So we're seeing a lot of competition. Also, McCaffrey was in a new prototype vehicle this year. So yeah, this challenge, and we were really happy to say that pilaris is coming next year to racists and T four. So I think we will probably see a lot more American drivers. We note, we've heard a lot of stories and rumors about what's possibly going over here, which they would like to extend maybe by 2024 25. And yeah, I think it showcases that. There's value there. And that value is driven driven by huge marketing returns huge media, you touched on it a little bit with AJ. But it is it's you got to put it in the league of the Daytona 500. The Indy 500. But it's even bigger than that, you know, you've got 14 Back to back days of the global global sports world. It's the first big event of the year, and they're just glued to it. It is really cool, man. Yeah, they just the growth. I mean, like even talking about that, you know, 1920 years ago and stuff like that. It's crazy. And so speaking of the difference in vehicles, we actually had a question come in that I don't know how you pronounce it flick asked, What was the focus of the press conference on press day in Saudi looks like South racing was introducing a concept car. Yeah, so I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on. I mean, we never, we never sort of stay still other than our 25 events in the year, we've also got to look, not to the longer future, and I think this is touching on something which, you know, we've got to start looking at sustainability in our sport, there's a lot of pressure to look at what we can do. So we've, we've come up with a concept called the future vision con concept. It's a concept vehicle, which is sort of our vision of what a UTV could look like, 10 years out, it's gonna come to life lot earlier than that, we obviously working with our existing partners to, to really focus on that. And also with Moto, you know, they've also had to change the way that brand looks at things, and they are developing new products, you know, battery cooling fluids. And it's also very important to follow that and the same with like Sparco, they've come up with a whole new series of lower lower lower emission suits. And this is not just greenwashing, this is actually something that you're trying to put in something which is tangible. And at the same time, you know, BRP is a brand are looking by 2030 to reduce the manufacturing carbon footprint that will have electrical alternatives fueled vehicles in the product ranges, it's not that the internal combustion engine is going to, it's going to go anywhere soon. But at the same time, we also looking at E fuels and sustainable fuels. So those are fuels where we reduce emissions. And it's just a little bit you know, it's bit by bit that you're gonna start chipping away at this. And it's not a quick fix. It's a really long term project. And it's also a way to be sure not to, together with another program we launched, called cannon next, which is looking for the next generation, not only of drivers and CO drivers, but also the whole technical team and logistics team marketers, for everybody to go behind the team. And that's going to be built up over the next year. So we'll see a lot more of that. I think the scramble series, we cannot miss Bagram this year, we'll start to be a good basis, we're gonna start looking for new talent to come through. And also, you know, there's going to be the next AJ Johnson set Cantero that just maybe 14 or 15 years old at the moment, dude, yeah. And like, it's so cool to hear that because like, that's just not not growth of an industry. It's growth of human beings. It's all kinds of cool stuff. But like Darwin when he's talking about like, racing breeds innovation, right? I mean, it's super cool. Yeah, I mean, honestly, that's kind of our mantra, right is we use platforms such as Moto GP and dat car in Isle of Man, which I was just watching some, some highlights of that today, like we use these platforms, these professionals and such to kind of speak to the pedigree overall of our products because you know, I was See if they're they work for, for AJ and for Seth and for Ricky and guys like that, you know, obviously on the consumer level, they'll they'll withstand any conditions really that that you throw at it. So we kind of pride ourselves in being involved on some of these more endurance races I just got back from Rolex 24 yesterday and kind of witnessing that on on the formal side was such a spectacle. So we really kind of leveraging our involvement on those levels really kind of speaks to just the overall improvements of our products. Yeah, well, and it benefits everybody too, because like, the stuff that happened at Rolex is gonna benefit the DAC our team and vice versa. Like it's, it's so cool to see you, man. I love that motorsports just works all together. So Darwin used to this was your first car. What did you think? Like, what was the one of the biggest takeaways that you had was that the camels trafficable? Man, I've, I've told honestly, so many stories, with with people in the office and friends and family, and so on and so forth. Like, I'd like to think I've lived a pretty adventurous life. I mean, you know, going into Isle of Man last year with Moto was was a was a highlight, obviously, and witnessing that firsthand. But going to dat car was just a completely unorthodox experience in so many ways, just all the different stories that that I was able to kind of come across the people I met, you know, obviously, on the racing element, and moto having such a huge presence. And that level, it was it was unbelievable, like, just, we talked about it earlier, earlier with the involvement and kind of how everyone is just passionate, beyond passionate and comes together to kind of make this make sure most importantly, everyone's safe, and, and finishes. But I was also just kind of pushing the boundaries and that competitiveness kind of takes over. So Well, I think the main thing that you touch on right there is the passion, right? Like Scott has an insane amount of passion, it's clear, because he's been doing this for such a good portion of his life. Scott, when you see the success that your team has had, what can you equate that to? Because that's a well, it's, it's teamwork, but it's, it's led by a great leader to write and when you see all of those things, you have to be like a proud father. Yeah, for sure, you definitely are proud. I mean, I'm, I'm as a person, I'm not someone who's gonna jump, jump up and down and do backflips, you know, it's more Jessica, we've won this. And I'm already like, analyzing what we could do better. But it's, it goes down to the team. It's the talented men and woman who, you know who you've got my back, basically, and you've got to have their back too. And I think this is what it's about. And we'll get into that we'll get there, we'll get in a fight with you no matter what deck or throws them wide events. And I mean, you know, we've got to, when I say we've got a dedicated, you know, when I look, when you got 193 people, you've got four guys are just doing tires, those guys probably have the heaviest job on DACA, then you've got the five people who cook for everybody, then you've got seven logistics people, you've got people who just manage the relationship with ASR. If you look, and you just have to try and imagine doing the entries for 193 people that, you know, that's months away, so, and it's every little person's role, which is so important. But again, it's also you got to have that vision, you've also got to, you've got to have great partners, and Roger. And I've been very fortunate to have partners who support us. And I think they've also seen that the, the way we do things is a little bit different. You know, we're not a company who goes and says, Oh, you're gonna go start a project. We would like some support, we do it and then we go off for the most of the time. That's that's how we've grown. And I think we've just grown the industry. I think it's also, you know, we built 65 cameras or DACA. spec and EMS a year. Yeah, so since we started the program, we build 175 vehicles. And, you know, I think this year we on target to do that. And I think that's that's also grown the sport in Europe, it's also growing internationally. We've got calls around the world. And you know, that's at Dhaka, we didn't only support our team, we supported the 55 vehicles in which were both Barasat event. And we also had a semi which candidate has the whatever full pot service for all the candidates. Drivers are owners of DACA. So, you know, you asked what it takes, it's it's just a continuous adding value wherever you can, but also, like, taking the knocks and getting back up. And I think that's the most important thing is that we had curveballs thrown thrown at us. adacko we'd come back we had to fight and and we're very fortunate to have won our six consecutive DACA with Canada. Yep. And it did. Yeah. Like Lee, you mentioned it doesn't come easy, right. It's a lot of work to get to that point. But that's one of the things that I appreciate and I appreciate you taking the just the small amount of time out of your day and you've been on a plane, you're coming to America and you're and you're doing the same basic thing. And you're taking the time to talk with us you're you're going to be pushing in The to the American racing scene. I think it's fantastic. Darwin, you got to be excited for that. Yeah, honestly, I mean, just the overall involvement and growth of the South racing team, they can M win. And you know, like you said, six, six in a row is something that that ultimately speaks to our products and the longevity of them, and, and so on and so forth. So, definitely looking forward to cannula hammers, I can tell you that much. Yeah. So what's the plan? Then? Scott, can you give me a little bit of a breakdown the next couple of weeks for you? And then maybe towards the end of the year? Yeah. So I mean, I think for us, it was it was also mobile was one of the let's call it the instigators in this and some of our other partners who, who are looking like Hey, guys, you got to come and do this in the state. So you know, last year we started on North America program from scratch. You know, we had to we had to go back and learn everything. We might have won DACA. But it doesn't mean anything in Baja. So we started in Vegas to Reno last year. We then did the 400. Our first DNF and five years of racing. So we took that a bit personally and then we finished the 1000s. So I think for us it was getting a lot of experience last year. And now that you've got a full program with the Red Bull Red Bull from North USA junior team with obviously, BF Goodrich model KMC behind the program, and obviously Red Bull. And yeah, it's it's gonna be an interesting one. Are we running the king of hammers desert drives, we're not ready for the rocks yet. And, you know, Canada's got a great bunch of drivers who have done phenomenal work there. And it's about complementing what canon does North America and not cannibalizing it. And yeah, then we government 400. After the minute, we will, we will run the ball 500 And then Vegas Torino again. So quite a nice Jeep North America program as well as the driver said, Nigeria will be at the Red Bull scramble series as well. And then on top of that, we've got our local championship runs, which literally two weeks off to King in the hemisphere in Abu Dhabi a week later when the mint and then you come to Sonora and then we have other races in Argentina, Morocco. Before going back to Dhaka. So a lot of things happening, but exciting to be in the US. Yeah, well, first of all, kudos to you. But Darwin, all I heard there was he's never going to sleep. Yeah, honestly, that that schedule is that's a pretty rigorous travel schedule, those SkyMiles and hotel points. But one thing I do have to say, is just like kudos to you, Scott, for actually putting in all that effort, because that's what pushes an industry forward, right is people that are so passionate about it. And clearly you were passionate about it, because you started in DACA. And you've worked your way to this point. But one of the things that I would like to focus on is what you said that you're doing the like the next generation drivers, what did you call the program again? So can I'm next to something which, yeah, so it's the next generation of drivers. But it's also you know, because it's difficult to us, it's easier to read. So let's say your barrier to entry, you can go as a 16 year old kid, you can get in even earlier, you can get into a can opener, so anytime Brand New TV, and you can go racing, or you can even get an A trophy truck if you want, you know, whereas in Europe, you've got to wait till 18 years old. And you know, we've identified that we've got to keep keep this progression going. So for us and not together with the buttons, it's very important that we want to start creating this path that we can identify young drivers from around the world. And obviously, the pole drives and that's going to basically create that progression where you can go through the T flow, modified production category go up into the prototype UTV category, hopefully the best of the best would then get a ride in the T one classes in the world of Toyota and Audi and many and pro driving. I think that's if people see the ability to move up. That's great. And then I think at the same time a brand like Canon, continuously innovating and bringing new product to market. It's also we know globally, finding great talent is becoming more and more difficult. So it's time to build it. So we looking at ways that we can also work with certain programs. In our model, there's a great charity program where they work with, let's say, probably kids like I wasn't maybe a little bit where they develop them into specialist mechanics. So there's some programs in France where they develop them to vintage car mechanics, race mechanics, bike mechanics, or some Burkina Faso, they have a charity called moto Corazon, where they actually work and they actually train kids to become mechanics, you know. So that's so cool a lot, which is a lot which we can do. And this is a you know, something taking a page out of mortals book. And this is going to tie into where we're going with future vision, you know, so it's like, where do we see this industry? So future vision might be a cool looking car, but it's a lot more. And this is how we tie all these programs in together. Man, I think it's so great. And Darwin, like when I hear all that stuff, clearly there's a business side to it. But for our audience that may not understand the business side. It's very simple. They have an opportunity that's going to exist in the future to be a part of a fantastic team with Putin. actually new vehicles and potentially new development programs. It's so cool to see that off road is being built by guys like Scott, for all of the people that are enthusiast and racers because we get questions daily. How do I get an off road racing? How can I my son is a fantastic driver. I want him to get no like all of these crazy things that now we're putting a funnel together where they can fit. Yeah, I mean, ultimately gives them the platform to you know, kind of take that passion and potentially turn it into a potential career such as Scott's done such a JJ he's done. And these other guys, I mean, it's something that I guess is kind of a play from sticking ball sports, but to see it kind of transition over to Motorsports and specifically these these platforms is really neat. Yeah, man. I will I kudos to both of you guys. Darwin. I know you want to get back to Dakar. I want to go over there one of these days, Scott. Man, you've got a lot of experience over there. I'll let you guys go. Because I know you guys are busy. We got a lot of stuff to get prepared for our kingdom a hammers. Scott, I would like to have you on the show one day, man, we will get to you a little bit backstory Storytime with Scott one of these days. I think it would be cool. Yeah. Yeah, it would be pretty sweet man. Well, first, first and foremost, good luck in all the future endeavors. And we'll see. I don't know Darwin if you're going to Koh, but I know Scott. I'll see you out there. And Darwin. I'll see you soon. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you again. Yeah. Thank you, Scott, before you hang up, if you'd like to thank anybody, you're more than welcome to now. No, I mean, I think we super fortunate to work with so many great partners. And I mean, obviously, is without those partners, but it's multiple with the oils, BF Goodrich KMC. On the Red Bull program, and obviously Red Bull can you know, they they've been backing us up on this for a long time. And then I mean, obviously, we've also run a full customer operations and most importantly, the team, the team who are working around the world at the moment in Saudi Arabia in America in the US, as well as in Portugal at the moment. So thanks to all of them. Yeah, man. Well, you guys are doing a fantastic job. I appreciate everything that you guys as a brand multiple is doing and Scott that you're doing to push everything forward. I get really excited about off road when I have these conversations. So thank you guys very much. And we'll see at the races. Awesome. Thanks, man. So it's just so cool to me. I love having conversations like this. I know that we talked a little bit deep about some of the business stuff. Scott is on the forefront of that and I appreciate all the stuff that he is doing. It just means a world to me as a an off road enthusiast to see that these things are progressing and they're moving our industry forward. So we really appreciate all of our sponsors as well. The guys over at KMC wheels. Thank you, Ryan, guide us for being a part of the show tonight. Thanks to Darwin from Motul. Everybody over there. Thanks, Chris. Everybody, Max's tires. We're gonna see him for the Maximus Jeremy McGrath or the king ride with the King Day at Koh on Saturday. So if you guys are interested in that, shoot us a DM so you can get you guys on board with that ride. Thanks, guys. Alright, shock therapy thanks to JL Audio evolution, power sports, Zondra racing products, Vision canopies and cryo heat. But most of all, thank you to you guys for being a part of the show. We really appreciate everything. Like I mentioned all on every show, please keep sharing. Let us know what you guys want to hear. Hit us up. We can't be more thankful that you guys are part of the show and just helping a girl man. It's so cool. So thank you guys very much. We'll see you guys at Koh tonight. Thanks for listening to the dirt life show. See you next week.