Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast shares the stories of women involved in motorsports from around the world. The first episode was in 2018 and new episodes are added each week. Feel free to suggest potential guests to Melinda at melinda@wmnnation.com.
Let's Talk Racing LIVE airs on Wednesdays at 7pm EASTERN TIME on the Women's Motorsports Network-A Media Company Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
Melinda Russell
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
Bryce Bozell: The 14-Year-Old Record Breaker Taking on Racing Legends
The roar of engines returns with "Let's Talk Racing Wise," where host Melinda Russell reignites her passion project dedicated to shining a spotlight on overlooked local racetracks across Michigan and Indiana. This premiere episode arrives just in time for the Fourth of July racing festivities that promise excitement, fireworks, and fierce competition at every venue.
Racing communities face a troubling reality – many local residents don't even realize there's a racetrack in their own backyard. Hartford Speedway, Michigan's only dirt track in our coverage area, gears up for July 3rd fireworks, while Little Kalamazoo Speedway nurtures tomorrow's stars in quarter midget racing. Russell's M40 Speedway recently hosted a thrilling $10,000 Outlaw Late Model event won by Tyler Roahrig, while Plymouth Motor Speedway prepares for a huge $5,000-to-win Street Stock showdown this weekend.
The highlight of this debut episode is an inspiring conversation with 14-year-old racing phenom Bryce Bozell, who recently shattered Kalamazoo Speedway's track record and earned a championship at just 13. As a third-generation racer competing alongside both his father and grandfather, Bryce represents the enduring legacy of racing families in the Midwest. His remarkable journey from quarter midgets to late models at age nine offers a glimpse into racing's bright future.
Whether you're a longtime racing fan or curious newcomer, join us weekly as we celebrate the heart and soul of grassroots motorsports. Follow local point battles, discover upcoming special events, and meet the personalities who make regional racing so special. Take a neighbor to the track this weekend – these venues need our support, and the racing excitement awaits!
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/womensmotorsportsnetwork/
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
TIKTOK: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
X: https://x.com/IWMANation
FACEBOOK Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/melinda.ann.russell
hello everyone. Um, this is melinda russell and we are on. Let's talk racing wise. We used to have a show a friend of mine and I, a few years back, and uh, he got busy and I got busy and so we didn't anymore. But now, um, we're back and uh, hopefully I'm to have a special guest host with me a few different times. Sometimes it'll just be me. So if you're listening for the first time, welcome to the show. There is a way for you to put comments in, I think, and if not, then we'll try a different platform, because I'm trying something new here, so we're in a learning phase, I guess you could say. So.
Speaker 1:I wanted to do this because so many of our local tracks in the area are not getting the crowds that they deserve. They're not getting as much promotion, maybe, as they should. You know the people in the Kalamazoo area. Some of them don't even know there's a racetrack in Kalamazoo. That's where I live, and it's just so sad, and so I think the more we can get the word out about what's happening and and what's going on at the tracks, because there's so much fun things to do when you go to the racetrack. So I wanted to do this to give our tri-state area or bi-state area, I guess you could say Michigan and Indiana. I wanted to give some of those tracks some extra advertising maybe is a good word some extra promotion. I know quite a number of people at these tracks and I know they work hard and they want people to come and enjoy the racing. But we have to get the word out about what's happening and 4th of July is coming in oh my gosh. Every track has something exciting happening. So we're going to just start. Apologize, this is the first time that I've used this platform as a live show and it's also a new system. So if some of the things don't go as well, then by next week we'll improve on those and every week we'll start to get better and hopefully the numbers will increase for the listeners. So I just picked a handful of tracks kind of around Kalamazoo, and we can always add to some of those tracks if they want to be part of the show. But for now it's a good representation of tracks locally. So we're going to start out with Hartford.
Speaker 1:I was not able to get a lot of information about the July 3rd. It's going to be Thursday, july 3rd. I know they're having fireworks mods, looks like street stocks, and it is our only dirt track, and so that's always fun to go to a dirt track. If you're an asphalt person, maybe you think you don't like dirt tracks. Oh my gosh, I went to Kokomo with Jason Seltzer and I had been to a dirt track, but that was amazing, and so, after going there then from Leah before next week's show, but next week, if you're looking for something to do on Thursday night, the Hartford Speedway is going to have fireworks, so we'll find out more about that for you for next week's show for sure.
Speaker 1:Another track that I really wanted to be a part of was Little Kalamazoo Speedway, and that's near and dear to my heart because that's where my granddaughters picked up the love of racing, and so I just wanted to share a little bit about Kalamazoo, little Kalamazoo Speedway. If you don't know, it's a quarter midget track. It's right next to Big Kalamazoo Speedway. Uh, you can actually stand at the fence and watch both rate, both tracks when they're running at the same time. So, um june 28th and 29th, which that's coming up, the midwest thunder race series, which a lot of the kids at the kalamazoo, little kalamazoo speedway run that series, and so, um, they're going to be at mini Indy on June 28th and 29th. That's the Midwest Thunder Race Series. So that'll be a lot of fun if they're going to Indy for the coming up this weekend. And then they do club races, and so Friday July 11th there'll be a club race, and Saturday July 12th, and so that's a little ways away, so we'll have more information for you about that as well. It'll be coming up and I wasn't able to get any kind of points, um stats, but I will try to get those. Uh, like I said, this is new and the tracks are busy and so sometimes it's hard for them to get back to me with those updated points, but we'll keep working on all that.
Speaker 1:Now M40. M40. First of all, it's called Russell's M40. No, it's not me and my husband, but I'll take the name Russell's M40. Love that track. I like going there. They have great racing and a lot of fun to go there. And so this weekend, june 28th, is regular just regular racing night, and then on July the 5th, they'll have their weekly racing plus the VOR series, and so that'll be a lot of fun to go there and watch those races. And I do have some stats from M40. And I do have some stats from M40. So I wanted to share these.
Speaker 1:Last weekend they had some really big racing going on at M40. I'm going to start with, I'm going to give you the top 10 that finished in the Street Stocks feature. It was the A feature and they had a lot of cars there last week so they had, I think, four or five heat races but the A feature. This is how they finished Colin Bozell, from Kalamazoo Congrats, colin, good job. Brock Gannis near and dear to my heart. Constantine, michigan, number three. Andrew Coates, la Porte, indiana. Brandon Maynard Jr finished fourth. He from Three Rivers. Billy Yates finished fifth. He's from Lawton. Michael Walls finished sixth. He's from Mishawaka, indiana. Josh Haiba finished seventh. He's from Edwardsburg, michigan. Brandon Zachary from Pawpaw, finished eighth. Cody Lawler from Buchanan, michigan, finished ninth. And Tyler May from Elkhart, indiana, finished 10th. So that was your street stock finishers last week for the A feature at M40.
Speaker 1:And then they had Michiana Limited Outlaws, and I hadn't heard of these, but I'm assuming it's, you know, similar to the modified outlaw kind of racing. And so another Bozell took the win. Jeff Bozell, this time finished first. He's from Kalamazoo. Roger Northrup from Niles, finished second. Anthony Chapman finished third, kurt Russell, fourth from Kasopolis. Matt Webster was fifth. Mason May was sixth from Bangor, michigan. Keith Wilfong was seventh from Howe, michigan. Rick Slusher I think it is from Elkhart finished eighth. Brian McFadden was ninth. Michael Sullins did not finish but he got credited with 10th from Bangor. And then Tim Craig was listed but he wasn't able. 10th from Bangor. And then Tim Craig was listed but he wasn't able to start for some reason. So those were the Michiana Limited Outlaws a feature.
Speaker 1:And then the big race last weekend was Reveal the Hammer Outlaw Late Models. I actually watched this on the streaming service because I wasn't able to go on the streaming service, because I wasn't able to go, and it was a really good race and Tyler Roaring started 14th I think, and he was our finisher, our number one. He won the race. I believe it was a $10,000 to win race, tyler. If you are involved in racing at all in the Southwest Michigan, indiana, area, you know who Tyler is and he's from Plymouth, indiana. So he took the first place spot.
Speaker 1:Second was Austin Maynard from Goshen, indiana. Third was Andy Bozell, portage, michigan. Fourth was Adam Terry, st Joe, michigan. Adam just won a big race at Kalamazoo, so great job there, adam. Fifth place was Doug True, dwojak. Sixth place was Phil Bozell, portage. Seventh place, corey Ryman, goshen, indiana. Eighth place, steve Needles, berrien Springs, michigan. Ninth place, jay Palumbo, sault Ste Marie, ontario. He went a long ways to race that that weekend. And then tenth was Rick Hahn Jr. He was from Indianapolis so he also came from a long distance.
Speaker 1:You know those big $10,000 to win races. They're going to draw people from all over the place. So good job, m40. Glad to see that you're doing really well and it looked like there was a good crowd there, so I'm glad to see that people are supporting that track. Now, um, plymouth is our only Indiana track at the moment and part of the reason is because I know the people that run the track. Tony Eldridge is a friend of mine and I wanted to do what I could to help that track, you know, get people there. Plus, they're going to run some big races too.
Speaker 1:So this Saturday they're going to run it's called the Home Run Street Stocks 100. $5,000 to win. That's a great purse for street stocks, for sure. And then the Bullpen Street Stocks 30 is $750 to win. Another good payout the Hornets will get $250 to win. Good payout the hornets will get 250 to win, the factory fords 200 to win. So just a little information about that race.
Speaker 1:Um, the pit passes are 40. Junior pit passes 12 and under are 20. Adult admission is going to be 25, teens, teens, $13 to $15, $10. And kids 12 and under are always free, so that's a good value. You can't even go to the movies for that anymore. Coolers are allowed with your favorite adult beverage, soda water, but no glass and no food.
Speaker 1:They offer stadium style seating and, if you haven't been there, I love the way that you can take your lawn chairs and sit down in the grass area in front of the grandstand and you're between the grandstands and the fence, and so that's a great place to sit. The pits will open at noon, tire sales are at noon, grandstands open at three. Hot laps will run it at three and then they're going to, of course, do practice and qualifying in that 5.15 is the driver's meeting, 5.50 is the fast qualifiers to the front stretch and 6 o'clock the races will start. They're going to have an odd last chance race for the home run street stocks and an even last chance race Each of those will be 20 laps to see who makes it into the main race, and so that's going to be a great race. I'm actually thinking I might end up down at Plymouth this weekend if it's not 95 degrees like it has been the last couple of days.
Speaker 1:And then I just thought I'd mention a few of the people that were registered to be in that race. So the people that are already registered are Jeff Gannis, brock Gannis, andrew DeVries, corey Pressler, nick Pressler, cody Lawler, josh Summers, austin Maynard, ronnie Maynard, logan Maynard Hopefully they don't run into each other. That would be a bad night for the three Maynards. Hopefully don't run into each other. That would be a bad night for the three Mainers. Proven it Evan Verdun, bobby Stremi, matt Maurer, ricky LaDuke, bobby Schisler, bug Schisler, zeke Gata Sorry if I mispronounce your names Terrence Hesters, jay Coffin, jeff Stetler, trop Phillips I think it might be supposed to be Troy Phillips Brandon Maynard Jr, johnny Mara, steve Stacey, alex Sexton from Kalamazoo, tim Taylor, chris Knox C Brown and Sean Amor. And then the bullpen has seven entries.
Speaker 1:This was, as of a couple days ago, the 750 to win Will Hamm, aaron Flora, tyler Prasner, mark Swan, john Reams, doug Chilcutt and Rick Sigvich. So if you want to race in that race, get a hold of Tony Eldridge, the promoter, or you know. Get down there and watch. It's going to be a fun time. And then, just to give you a little heads up, on Saturday July 5th they're going to have the Freedom Night of Destruction. I'm sorry, saturday July 5th, freedom Night of Destruction. At Plymouth Motor Speedway Fireworks Brand Roofing is putting the fireworks on. It's going to be the Let Freedom Ring Night of Destruction. Those always bring the people out and they're always a lot of fun to watch. So put that on your calendar for saturday, july 5th if you're down in that plymouth area.
Speaker 1:How about galesburg? So galesburg. If you know who is keeping track of the points at galesburg and who is keeping track of the weekly winners, please have them reach out to me. I was trying to find who does that and I hadn't been able to find it. It's not on their website yet, so we want to make sure we can announce the Galesburg winners and the points each week as they go. But this weekend it's going to be kind of a fun race. They race on Saturday and it's called Send it Saturday that's what their races are called there, and all the classes are going to hit the track, thanks to Level Park Racing, the front wheel drive class is going to chase a thousand dollar payout plus bonuses. But there's a twist After qualifying, a random drawing will decide which class gets which bonuses. So the C class could walk away with the biggest payout of the night. Now you never hear that happening, but you just don't know. So you've got to go get your car registered, get out there to Galesburg on Saturday night and, who knows, you might be the winner of the biggest payout of the night. So great little track. They've done a good job of keeping that track going despite some irritating, upsetting whatever you want to call it from the community, and so we want to support Galesburg and keep them going.
Speaker 1:Kalamazoo Speedway they're busy, busy. They've had a big schedule this year. They've had a lot of things going on over there. So this weekend is the Red, white and Boom Night of Destruction with fireworks. The Night of Destruction at kalamazoo is always superb. I know every track. When they do a knight of destruction, it's a big draw. We need to get those people back for a regular night of racing, because that's when the racing is really fun. Excuse me, so, um, yeah, get out to kalamazoo sat.
Speaker 1:This is Saturday now, because they normally race on Friday, saturday, the 28th, the Red, white and Boom Night of Destruction with fireworks, and then Friday, july the 4th, is American Night at the Zoo, with fireworks as well. The adults are $25 each of those nights Excuse me, kids are $10 and racing starts at 7 o'clock. So put Kalamazoo on your calendar for those nights, and then I want to give you some updates on the points standing. So the FWD Front Wheel Drive Warriors they call it the top 10 in points right now. They call it the top 10 in points right now Matt Elsie Jr, followed by his dad, matt Elsie. That's quite a battle for sure, right there. Third is Nick Lehman. He's 42 points out of first. Then Wayne Stack, christina Rance, jeremiah Buma, charles Anderson, billy Edwards, nick Failing and CJ French. Those are your top 10.
Speaker 1:In the front wheel drive warrior class. They have a huge number of I think I counted 73 that are in the warriors, the hornets and the stingers is what they call them 73 different drivers. That's a great class to start racing in because it's not as expensive. It's a good way to learn your tracks and encourage you to get out there and try it. Racing is so fun and if you don't want to be the race car driver? Then be a race car fan, get out to the track, take your neighbors with you.
Speaker 1:So street stock standings right now at Kalamazoo. First is Kyle Ribble, andrew Rutherford is second. He's 85 points back. Then Ricky LeDuc, alex Sexton, jeff Gannis, colin Bozell, jeffrey Towne, logan Maynard, mike Gain and Patrick Kirkendall and a good bunch of drivers there in the street stocks for sure.
Speaker 1:The limited late models are a fast, fast class, so fun to watch. So the leading ones there are AJ Foote, this and first Bryce Bozell, 14 years old. Folks, 14 years old. Bryce Bozell is in second. He's only 15 points out of first. Then we got Logan DeLera, jared Blanchard, lewis Miller, drew Hosner is seventh. Noah Dubé is I'm sorry, drew Hosner is sixth. Noah Dubé is seventh. Andrea Miller, josh Trammell and Jeff Boesel round out the top 10 limited late models at Kalamazoo. Now here's the late models. Mark Shook is in first, but Billy Shannon is only seven points out from first, so he's in second, followed by Rick Seneca, brian Van Zyl, jerry Pierman, kenny Head. Mr Smooth is in sixth place.
Speaker 1:Taylor Sexton she was on our podcast, oh, maybe six weeks or so ago. Check that out on the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. She was one of our guests, so go back and listen to that. You can find it on our website. Or go to Apple or Spotify any of those places where you listen to your podcast and listen to Taylor's story. It's a good one. I like promoting those women. Number eight Jerry Osterhaus, ninth is Jordan Brinker and 10th is Lupus Crick, so that your your standings right now at kalamazoo speedway.
Speaker 1:Um, don't forget red, white and boom night of destruction kalamazoo speedway's version of the fourth of july. So this is what they're. They're telling me about it. They, the fans, ask what's the difference between the red, white and boom night of destruction in June and the legendary night of destruction in September? Well, it's usually warmer in June, it's light longer in June, but both of the nights are full of thrills, spills and mayhem, with plenty of surprises, and I've been there and there's always some cool action going on. Channel 199 joins the action once again.
Speaker 1:Arrive early. It's going to be crowded, but people know there's fireworks that parts all along the road. But if you want to see a really good show and the racing and everything, you need to arrive early and get your seat. They're going to offer a pit party in the infield, including fun things to do and free bus rides around the track from 4.30 to 6.30. Now this time this weekend the pits are only open to drivers participating in the event and their crew. Pit passes are $35 for adults and $15 for youth 12 and under. The pits are going to open at 1 pm. Pit passes are purchased at the pit gate, not the ticket windows. Adult tickets are $25. Youth 6 to 12 are $10. Kids 5 and under are free. Tickets will only be sold the day of the event. The grandstands open at 11, and skyboxes will be open by 1 pm. That's Kalamazoo Speedway.
Speaker 1:I hope you're enjoying a little bit of updates from some of our tracks, because I think it's important that we keep track of everything. And so many rain outs and all that that you know it's easy to find other things to do and you kind of forget what's happening at the track. So we want to remind you that racing is still going on. We're probably not even quite, maybe quite halfway through. So put that on your calendar and get back out to the racetrack. So now we're going to talk about Berlin. Berlin Raceway in Marne, michigan. It's a little bit north of us, maybe about an hour or so. Great racing there.
Speaker 1:June 28th is going to be the Super Late Models, the Sportsmen, four Cylinders and Vintage Racing Organization. That sounds like a good thing to a good class to go watch. And then July 5th, the Reveal the Hammer Outlaw Late Models that were just at M40 are going to be at Berlin. So there'll be also Limited Late Models, sportsmen, four Cylinders and Mini Wedges. I love the Mini Wedges, they're so darn cute. And then the 11th is going to be the ISMA, mff, super Modified Weekend, super Late Models, models and sportsmen, and they're going to be racing on the 11th and the 12th. So you get two nights of racing at berlin coming up, july 11th and 12th, and we'll have more information about that to come to you, um, as that gets closer. So july 11th and 12th and then, um, some of the stats from Berlin, if you you know, if you don't go up there, you might not know some of these names, but we're going to try to help you get familiar with some of them.
Speaker 1:So in the four-cylinder class we've got Justin Roloffs. He's from Ravenna, michigan. In second place is Hunter Wiersma from Coopersville. He's from Ravenna, michigan. In second place is Hunter Wiersma from Coopersville. Third is Chase Roloff from Allendale. Fourth is Blake Hultema from Granville and fifth is Dave Avey, and they had about 25 or 27 guys that race in that class. So that's a big class of drivers the sportsmen, which is honestly one of my favorite classes. They always seem to put on good racing for sure. So number one in first place at sportsman is Josh Fry from Coopersville, followed by Corey Ensign, hudsonville, brian Tillema from Hastings, brian Foam from Kent City and Kevin Ford from Coopersville.
Speaker 1:That's your sportsman class Limited late models. We've got Josh Fry in first place. Tim Green from Grand Rapids is second. Billy Epping from Grand Rapids is third. Nick DeLongpre from Holland is fourth. Tim DeVos is fifth. Sixth is Tom Boersma from Conklin, michigan. Seventh is Denny Anderson Walker, michigan. Eighth is Scott Root, comstock Park. Ninth is Alan Davis, Wyoming. Tenth is Mike Root. Eleventh is Eric Buck. Twelfth is Eric Merchant, thirteenth is Adam Casari and fourteenth is Binimam Boy I know I'm not getting that name right Binim Van Wyan. You're going to have to let me know how to pronounce that before next week. Somebody reach out, leave me a message and tell me how to pronounce that. And then the super late models. The top five are Brian Campbell from Wyoming, from wyoming, austin hull from belmont, terry sineker familiar name, and racing around here, wayland andrew sheed from sparta and tyler lepton from clarkston, michigan. So, um, another, um, a lot of cars in that class too that run at Berlin.
Speaker 1:Now I wonder how many of you have ever been to Ginger man? So Ginger man is a road course over near South Haven and they recently maybe about, I want to say, a month ago or so had a really cool event and it was put on by Grid Life. Grid Life life is a racing series. They travel all over the country all kinds of classes. I think there's well, I don't know, maybe six classes, but wow, ginger man is kind of like their daytona or their super bowl of their series, and ginger man is such a nice racetrack and place to go, and so, um, my husband and I went over there and I met several ladies because, um, if you don't know, I'm all about interviewing the women and so I went over there and we watched some racing and we walked around and looked at all the cars and, um, interviewed some of those women and it was such a fun event and we said we should have planned better next year. We're going to go back and stay for the whole day so we can really watch.
Speaker 1:So it's a Friday, saturday, sunday event and I'm told that the music a lot of people come for the music just as much as they come for the racing, and I've heard the music is amazing. So you know, I would love to go there and check all that out. So Ginger man is actually having some things this weekend. On Friday it's Ginger man Raceway's Bagger Racing League Practice Day and then on Saturday and Sunday is the Bagger Racing League. Now, I don't know what that is, but I have it on my things to do to find out what is the Bagger Racing League. But if you get on GingermanRacewaycom and look up, they have a lot of cool events coming up and look up, they have a lot of cool events coming up and I would really encourage you to, you know, take a Saturday afternoon and drive over there or check it out, because it's just a pretty cool track. So we're also going to cover the Midwest compact during series and these are the results from there Gavin Eisler, cecil van Blair, calm Noah, zane Cruz, ethan Hoekstra, jeff Asmus, jared Weisenda, jeremy Dameron, rob Ream, logan McCaslin and Yogi Nets Jr. So those are what I could find for results from the Midwest Compact Touring Series. Results from the Midwest Compact Touring Series.
Speaker 1:If you like drag racing, 131 Motorsports Park is not far away and I very much encourage you to go there and watch a race. They hold some big time races at 131. I've been up there several times, but this coming weekend it'll be fun if you're a biker or you love watching bikes because it's the American Motorcycle Racing Association All Harley Drags and wow, that's going to be fun. So June 27th to the 29th at US 131 motorsports park in martin, michigan, will be the amra all harley drags. Um, you know it's, it's fun to watch those bikers man being a biker and you know my husband's a biker and watching those go down that track scares the heck out of me. I would never want to go that fast but, um, wow, what fun that is to watch those bikes go down that track. So if you're a drag race fan, then I would encourage you to do that.
Speaker 1:Um, we're going to give you a little update on a couple kids from our area that have made it to either nascar or um arca, and so I did a podcast with mckenna long. She's from from the Otsego Plainwell area and she goes to school and she ended up getting on an ARCA team as a crew member. I believe she's a tire specialist. So look at Women's Motorsports Network podcast. Find the show that McKenna Long was on, and she's got a great story. Listen to her. She's always loved motorsports. She grew up racing at Little Kalamazoo Speedway she raced at I know she raced at Springport, she raced at Kalamazoo and so it's fun to see these kids grow up and then become a part of the sport. So check out McKenna Long and we're going to kind of keep track of her a little bit this summer as she goes through being a tire specialist on an ARCA team.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, carson Hosabar is our local cup driver and so right now he's 21st in points in the playoffs. So he's not in the playoffs yet. You have to be 16 or above or you have to win a race, and he's come very close to winning a couple of races but hasn't happened yet. Hopefully it will before the year's over. But if not right now, he's not high enough in points to be in the playoffs. But we're hoping that you know that he will. They were just at pomona pomona. He started 19th and got all the way up to fifth in two laps. He was driving the heck out of that car, but then you know how tough tough racing goes and and, uh, pitch strategy and all that kind of thing can really keep you from getting to the front. So he finished 18th, and this weekend they're going to be at Atlanta and they race on Saturday night at 7.
Speaker 1:So put that on your calendar as well. If you want to watch that on. It'll be on TNT this weekend and the trucks are racing at Lime Rock on saturday at 1 pm and then the xfinity cars are racing also at atlanta on friday at 7 30. So if you like nascar, you want to follow that. Um, then there you go. That's the schedule.
Speaker 1:So I'm trying to figure out. I was supposed to have a guest and I'm going to look and see if I can find. I'm trying to find where my guests might be. So sorry for that. Like I said, this is the first show I'm using a new platform and so I'm just hoping that he's going to be able to figure out how to get in and come into the show and if not, we'll have him on another week. This is probably going to be a shorter show because we're just getting started.
Speaker 1:Um, I might mention that you know we can't do anything for free anymore. Everything costs something, everything costs something. So I want to share with you a couple of my sponsors. You know I couldn't do any of this without my husband and he has a welding business and he's been a welder for 40 years or more Is that kind of his age? More than 40.
Speaker 1:But he does a lot of fabrication and welding. He has a shop right here where we live and so he does a lot of wheel repairs for local tire places. So if you're you know you're you run into something and your wheel is not holding air or you're not able to keep your tire to hold air, he can fix that. So if you've got a bent wheel, the tire shop is going to try to sell you a new one for several hundred dollars and sometimes they want you to buy more than one. But you can call Mark. His business is called A Cut Above Welding right here in Kalamazoo we live near 94 and Sprinkle Road, handy to get to. He'll repair your wheel, sand it, paint it and it'll look like new for a fraction of the cost of buying a wheel he's had I was wrong 50 over 50 years of experience. So a cut above welding. He's on Facebook, he'll get it done for you. If you want to call him, his number is 269-760-1109 above welding. No job too small, just big results. 269-760-1109, that's mark with a cut above welding, and he he is a huge sponsor and helps me keep doing what I'm doing, for sure.
Speaker 1:And then I wanted to share about this. It's called Fueled by Courage Lily Mason's Journey to the Finish Line. And you're thinking who the heck is Lily Mason? Well, she's not a real girl. She is there. You can see it better. Maybe it's kind of funky how this works.
Speaker 1:It's a book that I wrote, and it's a book about a young girl who moves to a new town and she can see the light of the racetrack from her bedroom window and she wants to know what's going on over there, and so she asks her dad about it and come to find out. Her dad and her uncle used to race and she wants to get involved. So she starts cart racing and then she finds out her grandma used to race, which is a also kind of a fun deal, and so, um, it's a great book for kids, probably especially girls. I mean, there's boys in the book too, but the main character is a girl. Um, probably from maybe 8 to 12 or so is the ideal age range. I guess you can buy it on amazon. It's called field fueled by courage. Li Lily Mason's Journey to the Fishing Line, finish line Gosh, I'm having a terrible time tonight.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, get on there and check that book out, for sure. So I'm going to give my guest just a few more minutes to maybe catch up with us and see if he can figure out how to log in. So let me. I'm going to look at my phone. Maybe he sent me a message. No, no, so I'm not sure what happened. But we'll try to have him on next week for sure. So I guess I'm going to kind of close it out with this.
Speaker 1:Um, drew jack is a friend of mine. He runs the big glass compact touring series and you know he promotes a lot of races and he he's passionate, and has been for a long, long time, about motorsport. It's not a cheap thing to do and we're so weather dependent on whether we have success or not. And that's true of the racetracks, the series that run. You know there's a lot of different series that run all across the country.
Speaker 1:I have a friend out east who is a promoter for a couple of tracks, and I think he said it's rained 23 weekends in a row At some point in the weekend. It has rained 23 weekends in a row. Now that's just unbelievable, but racetracks can't survive when that's happening, and so Drew had a very good post on Facebook. It's called pulling back the curtain of promoters perspective, and since we don't have a guest, I think I'm gonna share this with you. Because we go to the races, we sit down, we watch the race, we go home. We don't think about what it takes to put on the race or how much money it costs for the insurance and the ambulance and all the things. So I think that this was a really good post, and it's not like Drew to put things like this out there. He's not normally one to share all this.
Speaker 1:He just keeps it close and just keeps promoting and doing what he's doing. But, um, I think I'm going to share this with you. So it says pulling back the curtain a promoter's perspective. First, I want to thank all of my staff and the hartford speedway staff for their hard work and dedication.
Speaker 1:It's easy not to realize everything that goes on behind the scenes at a racetrack. Like many others, hartford speed, midwest, compacts and other facilities have been facing staffing shortages. The staff members who are there whether working concessions, race operations, ticketing or track prep are wearing multiple hats to keep the show running. To keep the show running, for example, I had to flag the race last night and Ed Martz, whom I greatly appreciate, stepped in at the last minute to help with tech. Isn't that what race car people do? They step in to help, whether it be another driver, another track, that's what race car people do. They might be competitive on the track, but as soon as they get off, they help each other. Do they might be competitive on the track, but as soon as they get off, they help each other. Then there's the tremendous volunteer effort.
Speaker 1:Denise and her friends spent countless hours organizing the special Down Syndrome event. On top of that, I personally invested in this is Drew talking. I personally invested a lot of time promoting it through social media. I'm going to stop right there because my guest has arrived. So there's my guest. I want to welcome Bryce Bozell to the show. Welcome, bryce, I'm so glad you were able to figure it out and get on with us. You were our surprise special guest tonight with us.
Speaker 2:You are our surprise special guest tonight and uh, so welcome to the show. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:I apologize for being late. Oh no, it's not a problem. Not a problem we're. We're just tonight's our first night of coming back with this show, so we're just taking it however it comes. So that's good. I'm glad you could be on the show, so um.
Speaker 1:I want to. Sure, you're welcome. I wanted to have you on because I know you have a have had a really successful season so far, and I know that you just did something amazing, didn't you Recently, and I wanted to have you share that. So, before we get to all of that, um, you're 14 years old, right? Yep, and you have a twin sister. Yep, and I'm going to tell you something funny. I remember when you and your sister were born, it was a big big deal at the races when the Bozell's had twins. And so the other thing is, my grandson's name is Bryce, and there's not many of you around, so that's how come I can? I've known about you for a long time, bryce, and I'm glad to see you racing and I'm glad to have you on the show, and you live in Portage, kalamazoo area right, glad to have you on the show. And you live in Portage, kalamazoo area, right? Yep, yeah, Okay. And you go to Schoolcraft, to school, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just going into ninth grade this year.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you're going to be in high school, so that's going to be fun for your parents to have a teenager in high school Two of them, your sister too, right? So, bryce, you grew up in a racing family. Did you always just want to race? Was that always? Or did you not really care about it when you were little?
Speaker 2:Yeah, ever since I was little, I helped my dad and grandpa in the shop work on their cars, and I've had a passion for racing my whole life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I figured you with a name like Bozell. You have to have a passion and racing's in your blood for sure. So what was the first thing you remember about racing yourself? Like, did you start in quarter midgets? How did you start racing yourself?
Speaker 2:Oh, I started in quarter midgets for about a year and then after was it? I think it was two years? In quarter midget I moved up to a template late model when I was nine and every Tuesday and Thursday we'd go out to M40 Speedway. It was two years in quarter midget. I moved up to a template late model when I was nine and every Tuesday and Thursday we'd go out to M40 Speedway and I'd just make laps and I did that for a year and I got probably a couple thousand laps out at M40. And then my first couple of races were at Corgan Oil Speedway, my first year when I was nine.
Speaker 1:Okay, so nine years old, how could you even see over the steering wheel?
Speaker 2:oh, we got, uh, we got a really small seat. We pushed, we put it up and forward in the car and we put really long pedal extensions in it so I could reach the pedals okay when, when your dad contacted M40 and said my nine-year-old wants to come down and run laps, did they laugh?
Speaker 1:Did they think he was kidding or what?
Speaker 2:Well, they knew my dad and grandpa really well, Cause my that's one of my grandpa's home tracks. So they let me go out there and make a couple laps and they said I was good to test out there for a little bit yeah, that's, that's amazing, that at nine years old, that's what you were doing, you know.
Speaker 1:And then corrigan, so that's, that's in close to lansing right corrigan, yep, yeah, mason michigan, mason michigan. And so when you started racing there, um, how did? How did the older guys, you know, did they treat you any different? Did they accept you, as you know, a really a young kid? How, how did that go?
Speaker 2:I think the first year was definitely a little different because, um, it hasn't been done in a while, um, putting somebody that young in a late model. So I think it was a little weird for the first couple races, but after a couple races it was just like racing against anyone else yeah.
Speaker 1:So when you first went up there for your very first race, do you remember, um, were you scared. How were you feeling when you got in that car and knew you were going to actually be racing on a track with guys who are your dad and grandpa's age?
Speaker 2:I was definitely a little nervous. I just didn't want to like mess up the car or anything.
Speaker 1:But after the first couple of races it just second nature at that point yeah, because you've been around it all your life and so there was nothing to be scared of, was there?
Speaker 2:no, I, I've had racing all around since I was. I went to the racetrack when I was eight days old. Yeah, I've been around it my whole life yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 1:What's your favorite thing about driving a race car?
Speaker 2:Talking to all the people I get to talk to. I just with racing. I meet so many new people, so many nice people I get to meet and talk to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and are they?
Speaker 2:surprised when you tell them how old you are. They are surprised a little bit. But a lot of people that I talk to they see on social media because I do videos before all our races. So they see on social media and they come up to talk to me Like they'll tell me they see my videos on social media and everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, social media is a big deal for all drivers right now, but especially like kids your age, because it's just second nature.
Speaker 2:you've, you've known, you've never known life without social media, right yeah, yeah, social media is such a big deal nowadays to get your name out there. If you're not posting on social media, it's definitely a little harder to get your name out there, just to get the exposure yeah, yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 1:So, um, when you go, where do you go to race right now, I you know? Do you go to different tracks? Are you trying to win a championship at a track? What's your plan for this year?
Speaker 2:um, I'm in the points uh right now for kalamazoo Speedway. I think I'm second in points currently in my limited light model. So I'm mainly running at Kalamazoo every Friday, but we've been going up to Owasso Saturdays with our template cars every once in a while and I've been running the Outlaw for the Reveal the Hammer this year. The Reveal the Hammer series.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that was just down at m40, yeah, and then I think in a couple weeks or next week, whenever you're going to be at berlin yep um berlin, and uh fourth of july, the fourth of j July weekend. Yeah, yeah, yep, so have you raced at Berlin before?
Speaker 2:My first reveal, the hammer race, was at Berlin.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how's that track? How does that track compare to some of the others?
Speaker 2:It's definitely a lot different than Kalamazoo. It's just a lot bigger of a track so you got to drive it a little differently than all the other tracks. You got to keep it throttled up so much more there yeah.
Speaker 1:So you've got a couple of pretty good mentors right there in your household. One's your dad and then your grandpa too. Do they help you a lot and give you a lot of advice, and do you listen to their advice, or do you not, because you're their son and grandson? You know, we don't always think our parents know anything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to be racing. They put these cars together for me, they tell me, like, how to drive, and they're the biggest help I can have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I figured that for sure. So you're going to carry on the legacy that your grandpa started and your dad continued, and now you're going to do it too. So tell me about your number. How did you pick that number?
Speaker 2:My number 883. I just took my dad's eight and my grandpa's 83 and kind of put it together and I really liked that number since I started.
Speaker 1:I like that number too, cause it's got three numbers and so it's different. I like that. You did that. Yeah, that's pretty good.
Speaker 2:And then on my outlaw, um the old four. For my outlaw the car owner has always ran old four. So that's why that one's still four and car owner has always ran 04. So that's why that one's 04.
Speaker 1:And he likes, his cars being 04. Okay, all right. Well, that four is half of eight. So you know we're kind of still in the eight group, right For sure. So you know, as a really young kid, getting started in some big cars, getting started in some big cars, what do you think you've learned, or how how has racing helped you maybe be old, older for your age, more mature for your age? How how are, or what are maybe, some of the things you've learned by being involved in racing?
Speaker 2:Help me be more in fun. It's helped me learn to talk to people a lot better. Um, that's a big part of it being able to talk to people yeah, I agree for sure.
Speaker 1:Now do you have sponsors on your car?
Speaker 2:yeah, we have a lot of sponsors um leclerc racing, um rc sales and leasing, performance engineering. Um mark pack nagel shippers, um mackinac logistics. Fk roddins is a big sponsor of ours.
Speaker 1:Um dnl transport uh oh, I know it's hard.
Speaker 2:You got a lot next gen, next generation lawn care, amsoil, uh, midwest synthetics okay, um, yeah, and duco performance um. There's a couple more I probably missed you know that's that's a lot sponsors.
Speaker 1:So when you go to your sponsor or you go let's say, you're going to go to a new company and ask them to be your sponsor, is that something that you are involved in, you and your dad, or how? How do you do that? How do you get so many sponsors?
Speaker 2:A lot of the time they'll come to me just cause like the social media. They'll see me on social media and they'll like contact me and my dad. But if we contact them, we'll we'll write up an email to them and we'll ask for a proposed sponsorship and they'll write back and we'll talk to them from there and sometimes you'll probably go see them.
Speaker 1:They like to see you face to face, don't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah, a lot of our sponsors come out to the racetrack and they'll watch us race and talk to us at the racetrack a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how did your mom feel Go ahead?
Speaker 2:A lot of our sponsors are like family to us, just because how close they get to us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure that's true. So how did your mom feel about letting her little boy race a big car at nine years old?
Speaker 2:Oh, my mom's been around racing her whole life too, so she knew that I'd be safe in the cars and everything, and she knew I had good teachers.
Speaker 1:She wasn't that scared okay, that's good because you know my, my son raced and he was in his 20s and 30s. And as a mom it still makes you nervous when you see your kid out on the racetrack and you know so, and then she's got you, your dad and the and grandpa all out there. So you know that makes that makes it three times as worrisome. Have you ever had to race against your dad or your grandpa?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm against my dad and grandpa and we've raced against each other a couple times now.
Speaker 1:And did you beat them or did they beat you?
Speaker 2:other a couple times now, and did you beat them or did they beat you? Um, we will. We'll go back and forth, but I race them just as hard, if not harder, than anybody else, just because I know how good they are yeah, yeah, so did you recently set a record at kalamazoo speedway. Yeah, I set the track record for limited late models there.
Speaker 1:Okay, tell me about that. How'd that happen?
Speaker 2:In qualifying. We just made some adjustments to the car because it wasn't very good in practice. Then we went out the first time and I got stuck behind a car, so pulled in. We let everything cool off and then I went back out the second time and the car was really good the second time and, um, it felt really good. I went a couple laps and I went to 13, 103 and do you know what the record was before that? Do you know what the record was before that? 13-108 was the previous record.
Speaker 1:Okay, so just a tiny bit faster, and there you go. You got the record and you're still 14. When are you going to turn 15?
Speaker 2:I just turned 14 a week ago.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you just turned 14. Yeah, okay, yeah. So how did you feel? Did you know you broke the record? When you came in, they said hey, bryce, you just broke the record. How did you feel about that?
Speaker 2:Oh, I knew I had a pretty good car when I went out there. I knew it was going to be a good lap, but I didn't think I was going to go that fast because they weren't as good as last year and that's about as quick as I went last year with the better tires.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very, very cool. So do you help work on the car?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're in the shop every day, every week, five days a week, a couple hours a day, and we're in the shop just about as much as we're not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I figured as much. If you want to be good at what you're doing, you've got to spend the time, don't you, working on the car, making it better and all that.
Speaker 2:Yep, all of the work goes on in the shop. If we didn't do it in the shop, it wouldn't be possible at the track.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's right. The work's done behind the scenes, not out on the track, isn't it? Yeah yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:And we're preparing for a lot more Speedway right now for Saturday.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, awesome. So what's your goal? You know you just turned 14. What's your long-term goal for racing?
Speaker 2:Um, I'm not sure yet. Um, we're still. There's a bunch of options for racing right now. So you got NASCAR and, uh, cra and Outlaw late models. So there's a bunch of paths I could go down right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure there's a good series. The Cars Tour is a pretty good series. I kind of follow that series. They've got a lot of good drivers that then end up in NASCAR, so that seemed to be good. And then, of course, I'm sure you know Carson personally, so you probably follow him to NASCAR and so you know it wouldn't surprise me if we see you up there here one of these days soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the Cars Tour is a good jump up to NASCAR. I raced against Carson in quarter midgets. Right when he got out of quarter midgets I was starting to get in, so I knew him personally there for a minute yeah, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm sure he's heard about you, bryce, because you've been making the, the social media rounds and especially breaking the track record. That's pretty exciting. How long had that record stood, do you know?
Speaker 2:um, it just got broken last year, okay. Uh, it's a newer class that had been revived. It died about 2006 the limited late model. So it was a step down from the outlaw late models. It was supposed to be a little bit cheaper of a class so if you wanted to race in the outlaws and you didn't have the money for the real outlaws, you could run in the limiteds. And that died at about 2006 and they revived that just last year, okay all right.
Speaker 1:So you've got a big race coming up this weekend. Do you ever um? And you go to waso, you said on saturday night. So I I know that's a good track to race at too. Is there a track that you really? If you could just go race at any track, what would be the one you couldn't wait to race at?
Speaker 2:Five Flags is one that I really want to drive at Slinger and Winchester would be on my bucket list too.
Speaker 1:I've been to Slinger. That's a great place. That's a great place to go and it's not that far away. I can see you racing there. The thing that impressed me when I was at Slinger it was, like you know, the middle of the summer, but when those cars came out on the track and I don't care what class it was they were all really super nice looking cars, like they were clean and they were just my husband and I. Both were like that's really different. A lot of times when those smaller you know the lower classes come out, the cars are all banged up and beat up and whatever, and and at that track every class seemed like, you know, they were really really good cars and they were a lot of good racing. That was a. That was a fun track to go to. So, yeah, I can see that you'd be at Five Flags Racing and and those places. It won't be long, bryce, and you'll be there racing against all the people and then you really are going to get to be known.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, slinger is definitely a good facility it is it really is.
Speaker 1:It's a and it's in a nice. You know you're out kind of in the country. It's a nice area to go to. So what's your best favorite memory so far of your racing?
Speaker 2:um, probably went in the Outlaw Unlimited Late Model Track Champion last year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, at 13. You were only 13. Yeah, that's probably going to be a hard record to break.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my dad actually won his first championship at 14, and that was the youngest so far, so I just beat him by one year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go, you got something you can be proud of there. Huh, that's for sure. So you're on social media. Is it under Bryce Bozell? How could we find you on social media? Um, yeah, just.
Speaker 2:Bryce Bozell on Facebook. Okay, yeah, that's where we do.
Speaker 1:Most of our posts is on facebook, okay so I encourage everybody to get on facebook and and follow bryce he's. He's a great young man, I hear I I do hear about you every once in a while because the the gal that does my nails, her son, and you are good friends, and so she'll say, oh, that bry Bryce is just the nicest kid, and so I, I hear about you even at the nail salon. Isn't that funny?
Speaker 2:for sure. Our other Facebook page is ABR Andy Bozo Racing. That's where we do most of our team post okay, abr Racing, okay, abr, yeah, okay, good.
Speaker 1:Well, is there anything I haven't asked you about that you'd like to share about your racing or anything at all? Um, I don't think so, no, okay, well, I'll see you at Kalamazoo this weekend. So, uh, good luck at the race there. We're going to pray for no rain, because they've had a lot of rain outs this year already, and then, um, go ahead I don't think I'm racing kalamazoo this weekend, nope, nope.
Speaker 1:Whittemore this weekend, not kalamazoo oh, okay, all right, because I know they've got some night of destruction or something going on, don't they? Yeah, that's right. So all right, and you're going to? What track are you going to?
Speaker 2:um winter speedway up north.
Speaker 1:It's way up north about four and a half hours wow okay and then will your dad and your grandpa be racing there too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we'll be racing for growler 100 me, me, my dad and my grandpa.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, we'll have to get on social media and watch and see how the three of you do up there. I'm excited to see. You know, I talk to a lot of young. I mainly interview women and I talk to a lot of young girls who, you know their grandpa raced and their dad raced and now they're racing and it's so good to see that the Bozell family generation is going to continue to be racing here in the Kalamazoo area, because we've been watching you guys for a long time.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you're going to say thanks for being on tonight. I appreciate it and I hope you have a good rest of the season and I hope you win another championship. I think I froze up or you did, I'm not sure which, but that's okay. I just want to tell you good luck the rest of the season and go for that championship and and just keep adding those to it. Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Oh, I'm I'm happy that I could have you on and share your story. You have a good season. Thank you for having me. Sure, you're welcome.
Speaker 1:Awesome kid. He's an awesome kid and he's a racer and he loves racing and he's going to be somebody that we're going to hear from or about for a long time. And so, yeah, I'm going, um, save the article I started from, drew. I'll save that for another week because it's eight o'clock and I wanted to try to keep this right at an hour and so, um, hopefully you've enjoyed this and you'll share this with other people that, um, you know that love racing and we're just going to keep going and every week we'll add a few more people to the listeners and, and I'm I'm excited to bring you news about the area racetracks, because we need to keep those racetracks open, we need to invite our neighbors to come with us to the races and, and, yeah, so I'll hang up for now. I'll be back next week at seven and we'll have hopefully we'll have a special guest next week as well. Thanks for listening.