Episode 12 - R&J Racing

[@jdc5577]

Imagine if Brock Beard and slapshoes had shows like this and were on espn on Sunday mornings…I think we’d all watch it. Like when I was a kid watching TNN with shade tree mechanic and inside Winston cup racing and Neil Bonnett with Winners.

[@shaneharrisnj3484]

As a 2003 born kid, Speed would be Slap and Brock's own paradise. Imagine turning it on after elementary school in 2009 to watch something like this. (Despite the error that was clarified on the pinned post.) Plus, on a side note, The Coke Zero Sugar 400 last night was a Chaotically good race. Diffey cooking up good calls on the Barbie (Aussie accent), Cody Ware with a top 5, Retzlaff with a top 10, BJ with 19th, and Gase with the NY car got a flipping 20th, and speaking of flips, well, we got one (Hope Berry isn't injured).

[@Fuckjesuits2407]

I imagined it and I saw them losing their souls dealing with disney..what's wrong with watching it like this?

[@csavage63]

Sadly he's digging for the real truth. Not tied to any parties best interest. That's the difference that will never change 😮‍💨

[@bryanriggin1917]

So happy to see this series rolling along!! Still waiting on my Stanton Barrett episode!!!

[@Billy-ot8mk]

Man that 37 Dodge looked awesome. I forgot that the same team ran as the 08 with Terry Labonte at Indy.

[@VenkCutterman]

I find it cool how some of those drivers would take time to talk to you and tell their story. It’s pretty nice

[@TheMrtgamer]

So about that 61 car... AMP is owned by Pepsi, not Dr Pepper or Coke, Dr. Pepper isn't owned by Coke Hendrick was probably mad with Pepsi for sponsoring another team, because Coke openly sponsors multiple teams simultaneously around this time, including Joe Gibbs, Evernham, and RCR

[@bobbybrandon584]

Yeah, I cringed a little when Kevin went off on that tangent.

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

Yes, I almost corrected the caption of that or considered paraphrasing it, but it made it that much more confusing. On top of that, Pepsi had a much bigger presence with Jeff Gordon than the other Hendrick teams.

[@derekjhpeterson3882]

And AMP was part of Mountain Dew not Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper has been bottled by both Coke and Pepsi at various times but in no way associated with AMP.

[@charlespetersonjr1994]

​@@bobbybrandon584as a soda man I got a little triggered about that

[@Denverbroncos87]

I had a feeling Rick hendrick had some sort of behind the scenes shenanigans with amp pulling off of lepage and the team. My mind went- oh yeah Pepsi, Jeff Gordon, hendrick Lepage was good in the 37 and 61 The problem was the behind the track stuff. If the shadiness never happened, i feel at least 1 of those teams easily could have went from mid pack to a top ten contender each race.

[@carsds2078]

56:14 I remember watching this whole sequence with the 5 minute clock, the run up pit lane, and the cheer from the crowd like it was yesterday. So appreciative Brock took the time to get this footage and let it resurface 18 years later. What a RUN!

[@Angus316]

Finally....the series Returns❤

[@thejackeboy]

There's plenty more out there. Brock is great!

[@cmjc80]

Carter partnered with Front Row for the 2007 season which is how FRM ended up with the #37. When that partnership ended, Carter started the #08 E&M Motorsports team. Nemechek's #08 car was one of the #37 Huddle House cars from earlier in the season. E&M entered the #60 for James Hylton in the 2009 Daytona 500, this was a car number/owner point swap with Mark Simo which is how Boris Said ended up in the #08. Neither car made the race. In 2011 Front Row sold the #37 owner points to Larrry Gunselman who renumbered his #64 team. FRM renumbered from #37 to #55. Larry would then partner with both Rick Ware and Tommy Baldwin before the #37 lineage ended in 2014.

[@TanDawg58]

Glad to see this is back. Its a bit of a bummer that there are big gaps between, but its completely understandable with all the work that needs to go into these.

[@automan224]

21:55 there’s probably an alternative version of this story where she got to meet Bill Lester and she didn’t pull the sponsor

[@mackblack7686]

I looked up State Fair on Racing Reference Sponsor Search and they left Kevin LePage in 2001 and returned to the sport in 2005. Bill Lester's first full-time truck season was in 2002.

[@bdavis24fan]

This was such an awesome episode. I definitely have a lot more appreciation for Kevin Lepage as a driver. He and Tony Raines were some of the most underrated drivers in the 2000's. Could get a lot out of a car that had very little.

[@LSTNSCRFN]

Had to wait to watch this when I got home from work and it was well worth it!!! Can’t wait to see the 51 car and American Spirit make its appearance!!!

[@81casperflip]

Absolutely love this series and I was a fan of Chad Blount. I remember cheering for him when he ran that 78 car

[@bhumiriady]

I see a new ROTFF episode, instant smile on my face. As always, the production and narration of these videos is just top notch. Keep up the awesome work, sir!

[@LessGo7921]

Before Lepage’s magnum hopeless moment at Talladega in 2008, his most headline making moment was that amazing 2005 Speedweeks and 500 run he had

[@MikeG42]

That Redman sponsored car Kevin ran was a beauty.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

Tobacco may be bad for us for they did sponsor some beauty cars. The old Skoal Bandit paint Harry Gant paint schemes were sharp.

[@mrterp04]

I always thought that “Carter’s Royal Disposall” sounded like an old timey insult

[@yepyepuhhuhuhhuh3999]

Dr. Pepper isn't owned by Coca-Cola. Coke owns Mr. Pibb. Dr. Pepper is independent. Amp is owned by PepsiCo as is Mountain Dew.

[@PapaSorin954]

Gotta love the fireworks of "Lepage the field" to close the video out. Especially after Lajoie nearly did the same at Daytona just last night.

[@TheSmoothGrind]

Another banger of a a documentary!!! Thank you so much for the effort you put into these stories.

[@mrterp04]

Correction: Amp was a Mountain Dew brand, a part of PepsiCo (not Coca-Cola)

[@johnvaughan22]

26:13 the bumps on the old charlotte surface are inane!!

[@WookieDrives]

I want to say that old 08 car that I stored for MBM for several years ended up getting restored as Carl's been restoring his old cars for sale to collectors and historic racing. Carl and John actually found the chassis from the Bill Elliott Melling start and hung a charger body on it and restored it one off season.

[@bryonkidder6199]

Great work once again, Brock It sucks NASCAR doesn't announce the prize money for any race...imo There used to be a time when you could spend $75,000 on a race car for Daytona and get paid $250,000 for just starting the race. That seems like a good investment to me but I never had money to invest...lol

[@gabepollock1641]

R&J actually did some really impressive stuff for the era and quality of equipment. Remember being peeved as a child that we didn't get any of their cars made, especially since it was during the peak of die-cast. Only as an adult do I realize that of the three cars I remembered most from them, one was tequila and the other was virtual poker (the third was Underdog).

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

Kevin Lepage’s Underdog car is 😍😍😍

[@cameronchiesa1031]

Excellent video as always, Brock! I love this series. This is so enjoyable to watch!

[@sweens06]

I miss early and mid-2000’s NASCAR. Just the thrill of the underdogs making the show and having a good run.

[@bigacattlellc.7419]

I’m from Toccoa! I remember driving by their shop which is now a gas station, and for a while when it first opened they had a pic of that underdog car on the side of the building. Still one of the coolest paint jobs to me.

[@lindaclements3421]

Great video as always brock funny thing is that after Kevin Lepage made the field for the 2006 Daytona 500 he was a guest on Speed's Trackside show and he said that Amp energy drink was owned by mountain dew which was owned by Pepsi also I have a t-shirt from the R and J racing team from one sponsor that wasn't mentioned in the video Huddle House when Bill Elliott drove for them.

[@hutrod7721]

Man I miss those 90's and early 2000's cars

[@kurtfoulke5130]

Brock does his homework better than anyone in the business. Another great episode 👏

[@kylestraveljournal]

Excellent video. I loved watching that 500 with Kevin getting a top 10. I rooted for those guys hard growing up. This also makes me sad for what has left the sport. The thrills of cars going home and qualifying actually meaning something. Crowd cheering at qualifying, drivers jumping around with underfunded teams. We need that back in the cup series. Without it we'd never have Front Row Motorsports or Furniture Row. I get why we have the charter system but it needs to be more exclusive like top 20/25 and you have to stay in that each year for it to renew. Something like that but something needs to change.

[@vinewood8295]

Man that Chad Blunt post an example of what it's like to have that driving talent but not be able to get into a quality ride...

[@Dartingleopard]

Chad Blount was from Walkerton, IN, just a few miles south of South Bend. At the time there were 2 Cup drivers from the South Bend area (Ryan Newman and David Stremme), and a lot of Northern Indiana racing fans were hoping to have a 3rd local driver get a good ride in cup.

[@chipwhitley385]

Amp was a part of PepsiCo not Coca Cola.

[@Shawn-Leider]

That intro gets me GASSED UP

[@ShokuTasumiSpeedprince]

Yes sir the legendary series is back were so back!

[@STICKGUYMB]

This is great to wake up to

[@Cletus-ck7lv]

The amount of people just to watch qualifying in some of those videos are great, I was Def one of them at m.i.s for sure!!

[@ronzigato]

Thank you, Brock.

[@Sicklajoie]

Every time I hear a Lepage interview I just roll my eyes.

[@borismcfinnigan3430]

You lick your elbow as well? Like the other 'tards??

[@Dupontman627]

This series is still amazing since it first happened in 2021

[@chaddangler2046]

Great video as always, but Kevin doesn't even know who owns his own sponsors. AMP was always owned by Pepsi, the owner of Mountain Dew. Dr. Pepper is not owned by Coke, it is its own company, but is bottled by Coke or Pepsi depending on where you are in the country. Sorry my Dad worked for Pepsi for 40 years, so I know more about this crap than I probably need to. 😂

[@NotSteveCook]

Kevin also threw just about everyone under the bus in the 3rd part of his Scene Vault Podcast interview, and refused to admit his 2008 Talladega mistake.

[@KellieLeigh48]

We so back

[@nascardonuts]

Its back!

[@danielblock6876]

Yes new rise of the field fillers and I wake up to see new episode but I got lots of catching up from last night from my Motorsports KZbin friends. so I will watch this later today.

[@kevincasey9551]

Brock you have done it again!

[@Dartingleopard]

Dr. Pepper is not part of Coca-Cola or Pepsi, it is the 3rd of the big 3 soda companies in the US.

[@mvdbutler]

GOOD STORY BROCK

[@Wayne_D92]

I really wish those leads I sent you came through. This was an interesting watch

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

@@Wayne_D92 No worries - your leads definitely worked, and I got a hold of the staff at Carter's, but after multiple attempts I couldn't get a hold of John Carter. If he does reach out, I'd be happy to do a Part 2.

[@willgriffin5647]

I like Lepage, but I'm pretty sure amp did better sponsoring the 88 over the 61.

[@pennrider2230]

Hope to see you back doing @nascarman history videos. It would be a true shame for that channel to die on an AI voiced hill.

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

Good news - I'm still narrating videos for him. He was just trying the AI modified voice for smaller projects.

[@AlonsoRules]

MSRP Motorsports next

[@wxracer23]

Take everything Lepage says with a grain of salt.

[@CORF.]

Was already a little skeptical of some of the things Lepage was saying then he got to that whole Amp/Dr. Pepper story and yeah I'm taking everything that dude says with a grain of salt lol Amp isnt owned by Dr Pepper Dr Pepper isnt owned by Coke Coke is famously not a Hendrick sponsor as Pepsi sponsored Jeff Gordon his entire career 😂

[@CCRacer48]

I mean Lepage was definitely wrong obviously, but you are as well. Pepsi did not sponsor Gordon his entire career, he was actually sponsored by Coke before Pepsi ever came along.

[@willgriffin5647]

​@@CCRacer48Gordon and Pepsi actually go back to his dirt days. Surprisingly pepsi even sponsored Smoke in a dirt car. Pretty sure it was the same team Jeff drove for.

[@MikeG42]

Coca-Cola was a associate sponsor of Gordon early in his WC career

[@willgriffin5647]

@@MikeG42 i think they were on the decklid from 93-96 then Pepsi reunited with Girdon from 97-16.

[@ryeistoasted8577]

YES

[@e93sports80]

Nice!

[@RAID3R63]

Prime time

[@junior3815]

Hey Brock, me again now at the end of the series (thus far) and again Fantastic work. I really enjoy your narration. I did wanna ask, is there no episode 10 for W.W. Motorsports, or was it maybe deleted (maybe because Stanton Barrett is hollywood famous?) Or maybe that episode is yet to come?

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

That one is still to come, and a rough draft of the script is still sitting on my hard drive. When the time is right, I'll complete it.

[@junior3815]

@@LASTCARonBROCK thanks sir! Look forward to it

[@connorritchie973]

Kevin was always a great NASCAR driver. I have a lot of respect for Kevin. That incident at Talladega in the Nationwide Series was a very ugly crash. I always liked Kevin’s paint schemes from Front Row Motorsports in 2007. Qualifying was very interesting back in those days.

[@billbell48]

Brett Bodine appears again!

[@justinM88]

SWEETTTTTT

[@dcnascarboy0514]

Great video!

[@raykaufman7156]

Ha! I never knew there were 2 Andy Hillenburgs until I watched this.

[@nascarsteve]

Oklahoma Andy was a terror in the World of Outlaws.

[@raykaufman7156]

@@nascarsteve Yes, OK Andy was the one I was familiar with. I thought he had "gone south" when I started hearing the name in NASCAR

[@PZF1234]

I disagree that Hendrick had a problem finding Dale jr. Sponsors... They had long lines out the door after he signed with Hendrick in 2008 wanting to sponsor him.... Just saying

[@MikeKalasnik]

I love how you believe what you're reading when a car retired from the race due to a "vibration" or "handling". When multiple people won't talk about someone in racing, that's not a good sign, esp Bodine who is very outspoken. Glad Lepage said something. What a shady operation. So where did they move their shop to? Also Amp was a Mtn Dew product, which was made by Pepsi. Dr Pepper can be distributed by Coke or Pepsi bottlers, but they don't own Dr Pepper. Kevin had that incorrect. I remember that Qualifying at NHMS. The crew was pushing that car from turn 4 down the pit road and the fans were cheering them on. Stuff was falling off them and that big guy was huffin and puffin!

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

@@MikeKalasnik Oh believe me, I know exactly what they mean by a "vibration" or "handling." Even today, without start-and-parks, there are times where the listed reason out is inaccurate. It's more a record of what the results show.

[@MikeKalasnik]

@@LASTCARonBROCK Like you, I was fascinated by start & park teams. I had hot pit access to the Coke 600 one year, and I followed all the S&P teams. Listening to their radio was fascinating, then I'd follow the car into the garage. By this time (i think it was 2010) NASCAR was pressuring them a bit, so most cars came in, "adjusted" something and went back out, then came back in and called it quits. The NASCAR official came over to one car and said "What do you want me to put down?"

[@Railfan608]

TIL AMP was an energy drink, always assumed it was involved in natural gas or something similar

[@MikeG42]

I love LePage's State Fair Corn Dogs 71 car but was absolutely disgusted to hear about them pulling the sponsorship from the 71car because of that woman crying about a lack of AA drivers in the field. What a joke that was and it explains why the sponsor dissapeared.

[@deaf2819]

I don’t take anything Lepage says as fact.

[@Shawn-Leider]

Oh wow I never seen a driver with a plain Simpson suit in cup before til your bodine pick

[@NascarNixon]

every interview I hear from Lepage the more I hate the guy

[@Dannyedelman4231]

Amp is a Pepsico brand, not a coke product

[@matthewsimon9500]

lol lepage is a trip. Hendricks and dale jr couldn’t find a sponsor and stole his. 😂😂

[@Ultimate23Dragon]

Wait a minute I don't remember 42:37. 😆

[@lordshankracing4724]

The top 35 rule killed the sport

[@DuddleBug5]

Then the charters afterwards

[@IslameRaihan]

Martinez Anthony Lopez Mark Moore Sharon

[@tylerbennett5282]

Anyone else think Kevin Lepage is full of shit during this video?

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

He usually is. He blocks anyone who mentions his Talladega incident so clearly the guy has thin skin.

[@ninjahansen1]

Big fan of the content. Not a fan of Lepage. Keep pulling out in traffic Kevin, then crying about how you never got a fair shot.

[@KellieLeigh48]

Ok...

[@MrGunlover12]

If you listen to Kevin's vault interview, everything bad that ever happened in his career was someone else's fault. He refuses to take any responsibility for anything.

[@jefferson30121989]

do rick ware racing

[@Shawn-Leider]

Did Paul menard start as a field filler?

[@charliehall6275]

AMP and Dr Pepper are under the Pepsi umbrella 🌂. Don't be hating on Coke Kevin le page. Duĥhhhhhhhhh! 😂