wagner

When I originally started The Dragzine Podcast it wasn't fully official and was a test for our company to see if we wanted to jump into this format. After I showed it could be done and was successful another magazine under our umbrella started their own video show based on what we learned with mine. Today my show is now "official", has gone to video as well as audio, is fully backed by the company, and will soon have advertisers. It has been awesome to take a project from concept to final product and proving it could work. I've got some other opportunities coming my way this year to do more on-air talent work for live broadcasts and to continue my Dragzine Track Life video series too. People around here used to make fun of me since I was about the racing life, now I pay my bills doing race car stuff and will be paid to go racing this year

Didn't know that and that's very interesting.

We cut cable earlier this year and have Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, there are also YouTube videos as well that we watch plus FloRacing. We really didn't go to the movies much before COVID because there was nothing worth spending a minimum of $20-$30 to watch in the theater. One of the hosts we use has worked in TV and Hollywood for a while, the stories he tells about that industry are scary. The pedo rings are real and that's just the tip of the iceberg. My company has a video production arm and the downward spiral of Hollywood is helping our business. People are now realizing that spending the big money on projects really isn't needed anymore with so many smaller companies out there that have better talent for an affordable rate.

Well, looks like the movie industry is taking it in the shorts with no lube. COVID was the tipping event that has finally pushed them over the edge. What this guy has to say is pretty spot on and in line with some of the stuff I've heard from others. I don't know a single person who has an HBOMax subscription or talks about it. The only thing I know of on there is the Raised By Wolves show which looks good, but I'm not paying for another streaming service for one show, or a bunch of shit movies. I feel bad for the people who make the movie industry work on the labor side, not the people running it.

Well, I've stayed at a lot of RV parks and rest stops on the road where people stay with RVs, you just don't see these vehicles. The Honda Fit you'll see on a dolly, but the rest you don't. I see lots of Jeep products getting flat towed behind RVs, but it depends on the size and towing capacity. Having a stick shift be a requirement really shrinks the pool in size that you can select vehicles from. I know a lot of teams have shifted to the Chevy Spark because it's bigger than a Smart car, weighs about the same, and is more stable.

I see a lot of people on the road with RVs at races, you don't see any of them with those vehicles you have listed. I see lots of Jeeps and cars on a dolly, but none of those vehicles. I recommend you stay FAR away from the Mini for sure. We used one as a push car for the race car and it was total garbage. It spent more time in the shop than it did at events. I've known a few other racers that have tried them and ran away due to the issues.

We call it "rules-ish" in heads-up drag racing. Lots of liberties are taken, certain things are fair game to be bent but never broken really bad. Good example: This weekend at the race I'm covering I interviewed a racer about a rear suspension change he made from leaf springs to a ladder bar setup. I asked him if I could take a picture for the article and at first he was cool with it, but then he said "let me go ask the builder". He came back over and said, "the builder doesn't want any pictures, this is a 'custom' deal and he doesn't want anybody to copy it." Racer translation: We don't want this going public so people can see our rules-ish rear suspension. I took a look under the car and there is some questionable stuff, but that's how every fast car is in the class.

Interesting. I had seen where some cities had plans, but there wasn't this big push across the country like before from what I remember seeing. I think the testing is still pretty flawed and that's not helping things either. All we can do is be individually accountable and do our jobs to keep ourselves and others safe. I'm going to Vegas for a race and have already been told masks will be "strictly enforced" which I have no problem with. The other events I've been to there haven't been any issues with social distancing or any outbreaks from the events.

Okay, so here's what I don't understand. When the COVID was going to overload the hospitals the first time all of these temporary hospitals were set up, but largely never used. Those all got taken down, never really heard much about that. We're told how these next waves were coming all spring/summer long. New waves are here, haven't seen anything about these temporary hospitals being set up, now we're back to panic mode with the health system being overrun. Why weren't these set up again? From what I understand it's the state/local officials that are making the call on how COVID is handled, yet they're ready to shut shit down again when they knew this was coming.

Why is this so hard for people to understand?

Listen, you mother fuckers need to stop all this silly dancing and these damn games so we can get this under control! I wear my mask and I already avoided being around the general public as much as possible because people are stupid so that's not an issue for me. My life has been heavily impacted because of this shitshow, nearly lost my job, my industry is dying, wife lost her job, close friends have lost their jobs or businesses, and it has impacted members of my family. I'm just going to keep ignoring all of the white noise coming from the news and the "leaders", follow the rules, do my job, and hope things get better. Don't hope for 2021 to be any better, because it's not from what I've been told.

I'm going to let other people be the crash test dummies for this vaccine, there will be PLENTY of volunteers for that. My plan is to keep following the rules laid out by our dear leaders to keep myself and others safe until there's data on a vaccine.

Always go bigger than you think you'll need to.

Just look at the Ford people who bitch about LS engines in Mustangs. Now intensify that with the heat of 1,000 suns and you have the hate that Mopar people have for any non-mopar engine in a dodge. These are the people who live by the phrase "mopar or no car".

Less political goooorbage and more car stuff.... https://www.dragzine.com/features/car-features/boosted-abomination-richard-kinnisons-ls-powered-1975-dodge-dart/

New episodes are broadcast first on MAVTV each Sunday, then hit YouTube the following Tuesday.

I'm going to drive around polling places and play The Purge alarm and just stare at people while I wear my Bane mask, socially distances of course.

I really hope that's true because right now EVs are worse for the environment. I'm not against them, I just don't think they're the solution, yet. My dad was a science teacher for 30 years so I'm fascinated by the subject. I firmly believe that as a civilization we must invest more in real science if we don't want to die out.

Yeah, we've got a few over here. A guy went over 200 with an e-dragster GM made this thing go fast https://www.dragzine.com/news/chevys-electric-ecopo-achieves-9-second-goal-in-pomona-exhibition/ Ford has its own toy https://www.dragzine.com/news/fords-electric-cobra-jet-1400-to-debut-at-nhra-u-s-nationals/ I've seen the E1400 in person and it's impressive.

Yep, the only way to advance towards the Demolition Man utopia some want us to live in is to keep doing research and solving problems. I'd love to see bigger breakthroughs in battery tech that use different materials and shrink the size more.

Our off-road guy did a pretty big breakdown on the release of this thing. We talked about it in our last huddle and all thought it was neat, but there are still so many questions to be answered. EVs are neat, but I'm not sold on their long term and widespread sustainability yet due to the batteries and what it takes to make them. Now, what I would LOVE to do is take this gnarly powertrain and swap it into a lightweight car to see what all those torques would do on a big set of slicks :fuckyeah:

I've loved watching the Portland riot videos on social media where they will point at someone they don't agree with, call them a fascist or nazi, and then they all attack that person. It's like I've almost read about that behavior before in history class or something.... The political madness in this country right now is actually interesting to me. You have so many people who think they're morally/intellectually superior to others based on a political point of view where there are only 2 parties on the ballot.

No matter who wins we're going to get some serious entertainment. I still laugh at the fact of how people get so triggered by the other party's signs. Dude, it's a freaking sign, you're an adult, this shouldn't be an issue :lolguy:

Not for these, you'll see in the background of some of the shots taking pictures. Brian Petty is the host of this show. Now, for the new Track Life series, I'm the creator/host/editor. That's going to be on Facebook/YouTube only unless that gets picked up someday.

Thanks, it's a team effort and I'm just a small gear in this machine.