WEBVTT - Ep26 Mike Spagnola 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:08.800 Welcome back to another episode of car Stories with Kay 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:12.039 and Amelia Hartford. Do you believe in ghosts? 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:12.680 Yes? 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:13.280 Do you? 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:13.840 I do? 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:15.640 That was a very confident Yes. 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:18.439 Yes, I didn't until I spent time in Hawaii. 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.120 Hawaii. Yeah, did you see a ghost? 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:24.000 I didn't see, I felt. So I was up in 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:29.200 North Shore working on this film and Turtle Bay Hotel. 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:35.920 The story or the rumor is that it's built on top. 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.160 Of a cemetery. 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.960 Yeah, cemetery, right, so there are these ghosts like walking 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.279 around the property and I was like I heard that, 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.400 and I'm like, yeah, whatever, ghost come on coasts. Yeah, okay, whatever. 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:52.520 So I go to sleep. We were shooting at Turtle Bay, 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:54.600 so we were staying there and I was on the 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:56.920 I think that it was like the third floor, the 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.840 top floor of the hotel, right, so like there's either 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:02.200 two or three stories, so at the top of the 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:05.200 hotel and the view is like of the water, and 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:08.440 you know, like when you wake up and you're just 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:10.880 kind of still laying there so you're not asleep. Like 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.440 I woke up and I'm under the covers because I 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:18.880 heard these footsteps of like a little kid running across 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.280 the room and the carpet was like you know this 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.959 kind of compact carpet where you could hear It's like 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.280 you could the thumb being right, yeah, the pitter patter right, 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:34.000 And I hear this, and all of a sudden, whoever's 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.760 running in the room, it hits the foot of the 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.200 bed right bumps into it. And I was like, oh, 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:42.560 this is probably one of the cast mates like playing 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:44.800 a practical joke on me or something, or they maybe 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.480 they snuck into the room. But I remember I locked 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.920 the door and I was like, maybe they snuck into 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:52.960 the balcony or something. I'm just like going through like 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.680 all these scenarios in my head and I hear the 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:58.120 pitter patter like three times, right, and then I'm like, 0:01:58.160 --> 0:01:59.960 all right, one to three nights. 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:00.480 Wah. 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:02.840 Like I was like a scare whoever's in the room right, 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.520 and it's empty room, and I'm like, nah, this is 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.440 that's so strange because I felt the bump on the 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.919 bed and then I look at the balcony door was 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.040 still closed, and I'm like that's odd and there's no 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.600 real way that you're gonna like, you know, climb into 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.520 the balcony and like get into you know, my room, 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:25.960 and I check the door. It's like completely locked. And 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.760 I was like, and I remember I was awake under 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.959 the blankets, right, so it wasn't like I was dreaming, right, 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.720 And I was like freaking out. Now, I'm like this 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.880 is that was so strange. And then I went down 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.240 to the front desk and I was like, hey, are 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.640 there like rodent problems and they get through like the 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.800 air conditioner men or something like, because I heard the 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.200 sound of like footsteps and the and the guy behind 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:53.359 the counter was just very nonchalant. It's like, yeah, I 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.920 might be the ghosts. And I was like, yeah, like 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:01.080 this guy whatever. So then I go to get ready. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.160 I was like in the makeup chair and our makeup artist, 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:07.720 the head makeup artist was a witch. And a witch 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.600 in Hawaii is not like bad witch that puts courses 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:14.240 and stuff. It's like person that is able to speak to, 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:17.400 you know, the deceased. And it's like it's more it's 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.400 more of like a positive like person yeah medium, I 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.080 guess in the community, right. And then I was telling her. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.800 I was like, hey, you know, you know, this is 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.200 just so weird. It's like I've never experienced thing like this. 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.320 And I told her the story of the footsteps and 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.240 the bump, and she's like, oh, yeah, that's probably the 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.880 mischievous ghost. It's like so nonchalant. It was in like 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.520 what wow, wow, that's crazy, or questions like were you 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:42.840 drunk or something. Right, it was just like, oh, that's 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.400 the mischievous ghost. And I was like what does that mean. 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:47.720 It's like, oh, you know, this is this hotel is 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.120 built on top of a cemetery. And I'm like, uh huh, 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.600 so there are these spirits like running around and that's 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.000 probably a mischievous ghost that is in your room, and 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.800 it's kind of messing with you, right, and so what 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:02.440 you need to do? And she pulls out. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.240 Uh it never I could never keep going. 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.120 This is like yeah. So she pulls out red sea 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:11.840 salt Hawaiian Sea salt, and she's like, okay, you need 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.360 to take the salt. You put it into the corners 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:18.480 of the room. And then you say, hey, mischievous ghosts, 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.960 I'm going to be here for this amount of time, 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.359 like you know, please don't bother me anymore. I'm not 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:26.480 gonna like play with you because the mischievous ghost wants 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:27.320 to come and play. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:27.800 Right. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.120 But then I went to the room and I put 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.640 the you know, the sea salt in the corners and 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:36.680 I was like, yo, mischievous ghosts, I'm sung, and I'm 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:38.800 going to be here for like three weeks, so you know, 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.440 I don't think I want to be playing with you anymore, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.159 So don't bother me anymore. And then it never happened again. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.280 I would be so scared to stay in that hotel 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:47.919 again after that. 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:52.120 But she, but the witch said that this ghost is 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:52.800 not going to come in. 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:54.880 But I'd be worried about the other souls. 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.040 But she was like, you, you're not here to do 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:02.159 anything bad, right, Like if you were here doing something 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:07.360 bad whatever, that and these other ghosts might come and 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.720 like mess with in. She did tell me, do not 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:14.400 take any sand or rocks from this area. Don't take 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.040 it back to La with you. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:17.680 Don't if something gets like stuck in your shoes. 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:21.800 Yeah yeah, yeah, but you know, like like people put 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.359 it in a bottle, they take rocks and they go 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.039 it's assuming there. She's like, don't do that. Yeah, how 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:27.480 about you. 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:30.320 I've I've had a lot, I've had a lot of 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.880 creepy experiences that I fullheartedly believe in spirits and ghosts 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.120 and all that. A lot of people think this is 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:39.479 bs when I told them the story, but on my 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.080 life it is not. When we were younger, we lived 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.280 by an abandoned hospital, and what we would do for fun, 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.720 you know, before phones and stuff like that, was we'd 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.479 crawl into one of the windows in the very back 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:53.880 of this abandoned hospital and we'd walk around with our 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.320 flashlights because like spooky stuff would happen all the time, 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.880 so we're like, oh, we're going like ghost hunting. And 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:04.200 one time I very vividly remember we were in the 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.480 the NICICU I think it's called, where you know babies 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.440 who are born too early, like they have all. 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:11.520 Of the incubator yes, thank. 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.440 You that they stand. It was like one of those rooms, 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:17.240 and there was a box of spoons, of metal spoons 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:19.479 in like a box, a cardboard box that was sitting 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.720 on the table. And we'd walk by and like you 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.680 hear like a little giggling in the background or the 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:27.520 something that's We're like, oh, we're kids, Well this is 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:32.560 like this is crazy. We walked by the spoons and 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.599 right as we're turning around the corner, we heard like 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.039 a thud. The spoons fell ever around the floor, and 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.600 I swear to God, every single one of those spoons 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.080 had been bent in half, so they were all full, 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.920 they were straight in this box before hit the ground. 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.120 Every single one of them was bent in half. And 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.520 it was the most it was the weirdest thing that 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.840 I'd ever experienced. And that was the last time we 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.040 went back to that hospital, and they ended up tearing 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:04.040 it down a few years later. But that after that, 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.640 I was like, yeah, weird stuff like that. I can't 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.880 say I've ever visually seen a ghost, but I've had 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:13.760 moments that have spooked to me so badly that the 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.440 slightest like I feel energy. That sounds so like cheesy 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:18.680 to say, but when I walk in a room, you 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.320 can feel the energy. And if I get a negative energy, 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.920 it'll it'll it'll creep me out. Because I've had these 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:25.760 weird experiences that have happened. 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.960 I'd like to like be possessed by a ghost. I 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.440 would not no, because then at least that would it 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.160 would be like confirm that they're real. 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:37.560 I think it's an energy. I don't think it's so 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.320 much a being or a thing, you know. 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.440 I would like to be possessed and then like live 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.960 in this possessed state and have the ghost powers, like 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:48.760 ghost powers. 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.320 That's something like exorcist shit. 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.640 I think, like you, I could, I could pick out 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:57.080 like the powerball numbers. I don't think it works. No, 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.400 what are these ghost rules? I mean, I want to 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.920 like sit down and meet a ghost or an alien. 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.560 Well, they say ghosts or spirits that haven't passed on 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.360 to the afterlife and they're stuck. So yeah, I can't 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:12.760 imagine it'd be like a very positive excep. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:14.080 Do you believe in aliens? 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.000 I would feel dumb to not believe that there's some 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:19.800 other living form. 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.240 Out there we'll never see yet to see one. 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:24.360 Maybe they've been here the entire time. 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:28.680 Yeah, well I feel like an alien sometimes. Well, speaking 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:32.680 of aliens, okay, and the way he you know, just 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:39.880 so next to Guy's Mike Spagnola, right, Sege, Yeah, he's kind 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.680 of like an alien. He's like anomaly. Sure, I so 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:46.280 much enthusiasm for life and people and cars. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.199 He's the CEO of Sema show talks about having a 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.560 great work life balance and also some of the incredible 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.640 things that Seema's doing for this world. 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:58.280 Quite frankly, it's something that you can really be inspired by. 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.440 And today we get a seeing kind of insight on 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.960 the ev argument is that the future is that the 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:10.720 solution right, definitely, all right. Further, Ado might spec Nola 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.480 for the viewers out there and the listeners. Mike is 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.199 an old friend of mine. He currently is the CEO 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.920 of SEMA. For you guys that don't know Sema Seema, 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:26.160 I guess for the layman, it would be like the 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:29.800 mecca for all car related things every year in Vegas and. 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.800 The largest trade show of the world in the US 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.800 for sure in the US when it comes to automotive. 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.080 And you guys are also a nonprofit too, right, so 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:38.640 you give a lot back to the community. 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.160 Yeah, So we really anything we make on the show, 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.440 we just reinvest in the industry, into this culture of ours, 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.400 into this hobby of ours, and then help our manufacturers 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.560 and resellers retailers grow and prospers. Kind of what we do. 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:54.080 So we make money on the show, we you know, 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:55.760 we have a due structure and all of that, but 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:58.440 literally we pour it all back into a lot of 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.599 things every year, you know, everything from rege leg you know, 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.200 the government stuff that we have to be involved in 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:09.319 in education and training. And you've been to our Seema garages, 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.000 you know, where we help manufacturers develop products and take 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.640 them to market, and just a lot of those sort 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.880 of things, scholarship programs and anything that gives back to 0:10:17.920 --> 0:10:20.800 the automotive community to help it grow and prosper and 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:25.160 to protect this culture, this lifestyle that we all love. Yeah, 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:26.719 you know, that's that's all part of it. 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:28.679 How long have you been with CEMA for? 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:32.640 In twenty thirteen, I sold my shares in my last 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:35.840 company and came to Seema on a three year contract 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.000 to build the SEMA Garage and this product development center 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.400 because I'd spent so much of my life doing product development, 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.920 working with the OEES, working with Ford, NNGM and all 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.200 the others on when new vehicles come out, having all 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.360 those successories ready to go for them. And so I'm 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:55.120 eleven years into my three year contract now sitting us 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.760 the president's CEO. So just to be part of this 0:10:57.840 --> 0:10:59.640 industry and it's pretty cool. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:00.200 You know. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.720 We didn't grow up with a ton and my dad 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.480 was a bartender and my mom was an opera singer. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:07.320 Opera singer, which is super cool. 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.920 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love the opera, but I can 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.600 remember my mom, you know, sitting on the kitchen table 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.080 in the morning, counting tips that my dad would get 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.920 quarters and dimes and nickels, and that's what we used 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.839 to go to the grocery store, you know, buy stuff with. 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.480 So and you were really into which was super cool. 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:30.319 I think that's where we really connected dots and early on, 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.679 I mean you were racing five tents. Yeah, there's like 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.920 these cool pictures in his office racing like five tens. 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.920 I always wanted a five tens. That's one of my 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.280 I love hearing that you used to race, so. 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.920 They Yeah, I was probably you know, first off, you know, 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.560 I wasn't great in sports and in high school, and I, 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.720 you know, wasn't the popular kid around town and all that. 0:11:52.840 --> 0:11:54.839 So I was a car guy and we were kind 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.679 of the you know, the dumb model shop guys. But 0:11:57.720 --> 0:11:59.439 then on top of that, I was an import guy. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:01.600 Whenever else was muscle car. You know, growing up in 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.040 the sixties you had to love Chabelle's and Camaros and 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:09.160 Mustangs and Corvettes. And I don't know what it was. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.679 I just loved import cars. I had a brother in 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.160 law that raced sports cars, and so that was probably 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.520 part of it. We'd go out to the Riverside Raceway. But 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.000 I fell in love with five tens and you know, 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.080 back in Pete brock days and you know that sort 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:26.120 of thing. So I was still even though I was 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:27.800 an auto shop, I was still the odd guy out 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.280 because I was an import cars, not the muscle car scene. 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:32.680 But it was just part of me, you know, it 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:34.959 was just it was just in my soul. I think 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.600 from the beginning, what did you like about those cars? 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.880 What drew you to those I think just it was 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.520 something new and different in you know, at that point 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:47.040 again Brock Racing and Pete Brock and John Morton and 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:48.719 those guys watching them race. 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:50.880 For people who don't know Pete brock Ford versus for 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:55.080 our Pete brock actually worked on the Shelby cars, right right, 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:59.560 and then he eventually started building dots and five tens 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:02.640 and two forties and built for like Paul Newman. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.240 Paul Newman yet right, yeah, yeah, and so so right 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:08.200 when I was thirteen fourteen, the two forties he came out, 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.600 you know, so nineteen seventy, it was just you fell 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:13.319 in love with it, you know, just the shape and 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:15.160 what it was. And then a buddy of mine in 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:17.679 high school got one. He got a brand new one, 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.160 and so we would ride around on that. And then 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.679 after high school, I went to work for a Dawson 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.360 dealership and just as a delivery driver and sweeping floors 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.760 and working in behind the counter, that sort of thing, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.240 just because I wanted to be around that and I 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.400 wanted to build a race car. When I was thirteen, 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:36.960 I had a fifty five Mercury that my grandparents gave me, 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.040 and then I wasn't running. I got it running, and 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.120 when I was about fourteen and a half, my dad 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.280 came home early and I was driving it down the street. 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.960 So that was the last time I saw it. But yeah, 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.960 after high school, it was just I was just in 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.040 love with Dodson's. It was just one of those things. 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.079 I couldn't get enough of it. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.080 So you got to build one. You need to get. 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.920 Yeah, you need to It's okay, sound a little ridiculous 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:03.440 because it's a bit non conventional, but my dream five 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.320 to ten has always been a rotary swap five to ten. 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.280 And I know that's acting, yeah, yeah, I know it's 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.760 asking for headaches and problems and unreliability. But I always 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:14.360 had the dream that that's when I did a five 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.240 to ten. I would do a rotary swap on one. 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.439 But I just I love those cars so much, and 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:19.800 they're kind of like the old. 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:21.560 Two thousand and two BMW a little bit, you know, 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.200 that's kind of but they were just so well handling 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:27.800 and just just cool. I don't, I can't. 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:29.960 Yeah, there's something about them, which is something about them. 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.760 Yeah, And actually I think before that I had a 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.880 dots And roadster and then kind of thought, well, this 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.160 is kind of stupid. I don't have a roof of 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:39.720 my head trying to race these things. 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.520 And the roadster is still a big part of your 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:46.040 life and your family's life. Like when I have a 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:52.320 template for the perfect like movie Dad, I always would 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:56.560 think of Mike Speknolae because he has three kids. He 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.320 has two sons, and he has a daughter daughter. Yeah, 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:04.080 and the Dotson roadster is this connective tissue with him 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.359 and his boys, right, because both his sons. 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:09.400 They built roadsters. 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.200 They like, they buy them, they flip them, they do 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.880 resto mods like basically a resurrect any roadster and then 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.560 they can flip it and make good money, right, and. 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.200 The problems we hang on to them, Yeah, it's my problem. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:25.680 Yeah, I think I've sold one car in my lifetime. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.000 And it's first world problems. But I've got cars that 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:29.600 should be in the garage that are sitting in the 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.160 driveway because there's no room for him. Right. But I've 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:35.400 been blessed. I got three amazing kids, and my daughters 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.120 will stay at home mom, school teacher. But all the 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.160 kids are into the car scene. Both my boys are 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:43.600 as you know, they're both in the industry and so 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:46.960 and it's kept us all closed. It's kept us out 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:47.400 of trouble. 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:48.240 You know. 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:51.200 We do a lot of off road racing together and 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.160 track days together. And now I've got four grandkids a 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.320 fifth one on the way, and they're into it. So 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.320 we're you know, we were out at Johnson Valley a 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.840 couple of weeks ago, King of the Hammers and took 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.280 some side by sites out and dirt bikes and quads 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.400 and the whole family is just we went camping for 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.200 a few days and just tore it up out in 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:11.640 the desert. 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:15.600 I see why you admire him. I see it. How 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.280 do you find that work life balance? 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.600 You know what I remind myself all of the time. 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.040 You know, I'm at a stage in my life where again, 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.400 this job's it can be twelve hours a day if 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.360 you let it be, it can be five, six, seven 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.600 days a week. But I remind myself to spend time 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:33.680 with the family. Got a really good team at work. 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:36.240 We've been building that team up to a point where 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.600 you know, there's still fifty hour weeks, but they're not 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:40.440 sixty hour weeks. 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.960 Is there something you would tell yourself younger, you looking 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.840 back knowing that this was obviously a career path, but 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.520 also the time and energy that goes into a work first. 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.720 Yeah, I guess, you know, if you want to reach 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:55.960 for things, you got to work at it, you know. 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.560 And yeah, I missed a few baseball games, which you know, 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.280 like you know that haunts be probably still a little bit. 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:04.840 But we still had a great time. We still love 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:06.800 each other and have a good time. And you know, 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.920 we're Italian, so we get together for big family dinners and. 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:14.520 He makes the mean sauce. He has this like family sauces, 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.160 like your sauce. Yeah, and he gives it out. It's 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:22.639 like a present, It's like real Italian stuff. 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.640 So yeah, so I try to you know, I think 0:17:25.640 --> 0:17:27.560 that's it. I think you just continue to work at 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.920 it and continue to find that balance and find time 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.359 to laugh and have a good time and you know 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:34.360 those sort of things. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:35.200 Be present in the moment. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:37.720 Yeah, be present in the moment for sure. And again 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.359 I've been working on even at the office now, working 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:42.960 on the team to you know, finding that balance between 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:46.760 honoring the Hall of Fame guys, but also being relevant 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:50.320 to the next generation and understanding what what the next 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.679 generation likes in cars, right. It's not your dad's alsmail, right. 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.560 So that's what we're really working hard on right now, 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.760 so that this industry and this again, this passion, this 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:01.880 thing that we all love continues on. 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.080 What do you feel like has been the drastic change 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:21.800 from that generation the Chip fous Is and the Attle 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:23.360 Bronx today. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:26.040 Well, you know, again, I think it's the you know, 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.200 obviously the tuner market is hot and great right now, 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.560 and understanding how they go to market. They don't go 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:36.400 in the traditional distribution market. The old market was manufacturer 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.200 sell it to a warehouse. Warehouse sells at the parts stores, 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.480 part sales sell it to retail. A lot of that 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:46.639 chain's been moved out and it's direct to consumer, social media, 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.359 it's it's different ways of branding and advertising, and not 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:53.800 necessarily branding and advertising and magazines now it's it's a 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:57.840 whole different way of going to market and making sure 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.760 that they understand that well, a lot of the stuff 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:03.200 is cool. There are laws that we have to kind 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:05.679 of play by. You there's submissions laws, and you know, 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.800 the government would just assume a lot of times not 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.040 to get again too political, but the government, you know, 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.840 would rather we're all driving you know, plain white vanilla evs, 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.600 and so protecting that part of the industry is really 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:17.720 really critical. 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.600 And that's a big push for SEMO. I mean, I 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:25.200 think that's something that people don't really understand. SEMA is 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:30.439 like heavily like part of legislation, yeah, and lobbying for like, 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.800 you know, resisting certain type of changes and stuff with 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.359 the EPA. Right, can we speak on that, like you 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.480 were sharing out in the hallway about this push to 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:43.000