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Listen to the episode
Driving Profile: Kyle Lockrow
(sneak peek)
KYLE: Charlotte motor Speedway, March of 2018. Third time I’ve ever
worked for extreme
this poor guy, but he’s all amped up and
excited and nervous as can be.
And we were in a
nice yellow Ferrari.
Well, we get on
the second lap at Charlotte and all of a sudden the guy says, I think I’m going
to get sick and I’m going okay. This is going to be good. He got halfway out
the door, the car still rolling.
(intro music)
BHAVNEET: Welcome back to another episode of drive with
us podcast.
I’m Bhavneet
TARANJIT: and I’m Taranjit, and we’re super
excited to have you ride with us as our drivers, take us on some adventurous
drives around the world.
BHAVNEET: Today’s driver is Kyle lock row. Our first
professional NASCAR driver from Maryland
TARANJIT: Kyle Lockwood originally from Maryland,
graduated with an assault.
Degree and a
bachelor’s degree in communications from the college of Southern, Maryland and
thousand university. He now works. Full-time in the it field for a government
contractor raises at NASCAR ARCA and amateur road, race competitions.
And is he co-owner
of a new motor sports management company in his free time, he enjoys darts, SIM
racing, video games, swimming, cornhole, and computers. Kyle shared with us
some behind the scenes of professional driving and the NASCAR life and some
crazy driving stories from his personal driving experience. Here’s Kyle,
BHAVNEET: welcome Kyle to drive with us podcasts. Thank
you so much for joining us today.
(transition music)
KYLE: Hi there. Taranjit and Bhavneet. Great to meet you. Thank you so
much for the invitation. Been looking forward to this for a little while.
BHAVNEET: We’re super excited
to talk to you. As
we were mentioning before we started recording your our first race car driver.
So super excited to hear your driving experiences. But before we dive into
that, let’s get to know a little bit about your driving background.
KYLE: I’m currently residing in the Southern Maryland area. That’s
where I was born and raised. I’ve had the pleasure and the opportunity to drive
all over the country in various places. A little bit of the west coast, mostly
the east coast up and down the Eastern seaboard, a little bit in the Midwest
combination of recreational driving some performance driving and then can some
racing and competition. So, I’ve had a variety of different experiences. And
then along with some personal, and I guess you call it commercial instruction
I’ve done for some organization.
TARANJIT: How did you get into professional
driving and what has your experience been like so far?
KYLE: I’ve been a NASCAR fan since I was seven years old. I watched a
lot of cartoon network flavored cartoons when I was a child. Anything with
Hanna-Barbera Flintstones, Scooby doo Jetsons, those things . When Turner
networks sponsored NASCAR cars in the nineties, there’s a couple of teams,
diamond Ridge racing, and Melling racing.
That is what
really sparked my interest. And then things progressed from there. But I also
played a lot of the NASCAR, 98 PlayStation, one games with, family, friends of
mine, the montage family, who actually came to my debut at Kansas about two
months ago in ARCA. So that was great. Have that come full circle, but really
from there it just bled into a lot more and I was able to move forward and I’ve,
haven’t come from really any family money.
So I’ve had to do
a lot of it on my own, but it’s progressed over time and , I’ve gone down a
really awesome path and I’m grateful for it.
BHAVNEET: That’s really awesome that you’re able to
pursue your passion of driving. Do you think that being a professional driver
or being a race car driver has made you better off the track when you’re
personally
driving.
KYLE: It’s helped in a lot of cases, but sometimes it does have those
negative sides view as well, especially when you come off the racetrack and
your adrenaline is still going a hundred miles an hour, or if you’ve had a
really rough day and you’ve gotten into an, incident with somebody and your
mind is not in the right spot, sometimes you tend to be a little more
aggressive or you’re just a little heavy on the right pedal, but most times,
honestly it has made me safe because you get the thrill of it out on the
racetracks are really, there’s no sense in doing it in the street car. Plus the
risk of hurting someone else or yourself is just the risk is so high and we’re,
we’re doing it. It’s a controlled environment, but when you’re out there on the
street with other.
drivers, you could
really hurt or kill somebody, and that’s not something that anybody needs or
should have to experience it. But unfortunately it’s a negative side that we
have in our life. And I want to try to prevent that and help people be better
and really teach people to learn how to drive more defensively.
BHAVNEET: What is one thing that you’ve learned by
racing that has been super beneficial when you’re driving
on the road?
KYLE: Car control is definitely a number one in a must with defensive
driving. You always have to assume that that person’s going to pull out in
front of you. That person is going to blow the light. That person is going to
do the absolute, most absurd thing that.
Anticipate. So you
need to always be heads up. I mean, I find myself, especially now I’ll come up
to an intersection and I’m laying on the brake pedal a bit because I saw
somebody lurch forward a little bit, but you never know what they’re going to
do. You see so many instances where somebody gets hit or something happens.
And then,
especially since my car accident in 2015, With, unfortunately being hit by a
head-on by a drunk driver that really has made me, I don’t want to say gun shy,
but a little more apprehensive when I get the intersections.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, it’s really
scary because you
never know what someone is going to do. Like, you know that you’re a good
driver, and you’re from Maryland too. So you can attest to this, , people are
crazy and you don’t know what they’re going to do.
KYLE: Oh, yeah.
BHAVNEET: Like
they’re gonna come
from left. Right? You don’t know, nobody likes to follow the rules. I think
that’s what I’ve learned in
Maryland.
KYLE: Yeah, I tell you what it must be on the driver’s test here now.
At least,, in the last few years, it must be to go against every rule on the
road or do the opposite of what every street sign tells you. I don’t know, it
must be in the water, but it’s getting more prominent, I just, I hope I can
relate to people and help them just become better drivers.
There’s just, it’s
amazing how some people get a license.
TARANJIT: Oh, , I agree with you. I feel like when
you go to other states, sometimes you’re like, why can’t we have this back
home?
KYLE: Why can’t we have nice things, but honestly you go to some other
states and I’ve experienced better, worse, or about the same. So it really just
depends on the area in the state. You go to.
TARANJIT: What would you say is one of the most
challenging things that you found when you started in professional
driving
KYLE: I would say it was probably consistency in the race car because
you have to do what you’re doing lap after lap, after lap to be successful. If
you can cut one fast lap in a race car, it’s great. I mean, it put you up front
for the start of an event or it’ll get you out of trouble. When guys decide to,
pull the pin on the grenade and toss it and everybody wrecks, but over the
course, A hundred, 200, 300 laps
you have to learn
to do it over and over and repetition and practice in this sport is such a key
and consistency. But again, that car control is what helps you, because if the
car starts to do abnormal things, you have to be prepared how to keep it under
control.
TARANJIT: , I get that. Yeah. I feel like you have
this benefit of doing this, I guess, advanced driving that can translate into
becoming a better driver, both on the track and off the road. I know in the
past we’ve had guests mentioned how. It would be nice if in addition to just
driver’s ed, there was this racetrack course where you could learn, you know,
go out on a track and get those extra skills to be a better driver.
Do you think that’s something that would be
beneficial to the everyday driver?
KYLE: Absolutely. I think we need defensive driving. We need to take
kids out in the worst weather in a parking lot and teach them how to spin a car
out. We need to teach them how to. Driving in a controlled slide. They need to
learn how to drive in the snow. On tires that are bald.
I mean, you need
to put them in every adverse condition because you get in those conditions on
the highway. Especially if all of a sudden you hit a freak snow storm or you
hit a afternoon thunderstorm in the middle of summer, when the roads are
really, really dry and that water, all of a sudden hits it and pulls that moisture
out of the surface, you gotta be ready.
, even though you
might be on the heaviest vehicle or you might’ve just put new tires on it, new
tires, aren’t going to help you when it hydroplanes to an extent. Driver?
preparedness is
something that needs to happen right out of the gate.
TARANJIT: I agree with that 100% have you ever
gotten in a car as a passenger and you were like, oh man, this is not a good
idea.
KYLE: Every time I ride with my father. And I, and I, I say that all
sincerely. I mean, I love my father to death, but . He is a horrendous driver.
He has very terrible skills. I’ve had friends and other folks that have written
with them and they’re like, what, what is he doing?
I’m like, I don’t
know, ask him yourself. I’ve been trying to figure it out since.
TARANJIT: I was about to ask you, thank you. Is it
because of age, but you decided you’ve experienced it since childhood, so
nevermind.
KYLE: No, it’s he has this horrendous habit and I’m sure you can see
this. He has this habit when, with the accelerator where he’s on, off on off,
or with the brake pedal. He’ll wait till the last second and just pound the
brake pedal. And I remember we were visiting my grandparents in Florida
and where they
live in a retirement community. There’s a lot of, of the circles where you read
the intersections and he was hauling the mail to one of these and my uncle
piped up and said, Hey, Mario Andretti, why don’t you slow down, man, you’re
going to kill us.
BHAVNEET: First of all roundabouts are a scary in and of
themselves. I feel like nobody really knows how they function or like how to
use one or at least from what I’ve seen. So
that just sounds
so scary.
KYLE: You’re not wrong. I mean, it’s not, fines are as dangerous as a
four way. Stop it’s pretty much you get there and it’s a game of chicken as
he’s going to go first. Cause nobody remembers the order of, to your left or
right. Or cross or who gets there, or it’s a race to who got to the stop sign
first.
So it’s it’s just
the game of chicken.
BHAVNEET: Yeah,
it’s kind of one
of those things where like for four way stops, if I get there and I see someone
else approaching, I’m like, I want to slow down. So that it’s clear that you
got there first.
So like, you’ll
go.
KYLE: Especially if you can see them doing boneheaded things from the
other side, it’s like, yeah, I’m going to flash my lights. You can gladly go
with it and then you can run off the road and I’ll go.
past you. And I
didn’t see any.
TARANJIT: Yup. And you’re not involved in that
because you’re behind them and not in front of them.
KYLE: Exactly.
BHAVNEET: Let’s dive into your craziest driving
experiences. So what would you say is one of your top three craziest
TARANJIT: driving experiences?
KYLE: I used to work for what was called the Richard Petty driving
experience. And for those listeners that do not know it is the stock car racing
experience that you can come as a fan or. Car NASCAR enthusiast. And they put
you behind the wheel of an actual NASCAR stock car and you actually have to drive
it just like we do on the track with the same, , the standard shift and all the
components in the car to an extent, but it’s a real life.
You have to do it
on the racetrack and be experienced that just like we would. I’ve had it where
you would sit. Right. See, there was a lead follow program where a car would be
in front of you. But recently with the merger of another company called NASCAR
racing experience, they merged the programs and they took some of the elements
of both of them and put it into one.
But the recent one
has they put you in the car And myself as the instructor, I’m on a headset,
like you and I are now, and I’m coaching you around a racetrack with no way to
stop you. And it’s, it’s a very cool, realistic environment for the fan because
it shows them, oh, wow. I get to drive the car, but offer us as an instructor.
We’re just going.
This is not going to go well, especially where some drivers, but we were up in
Dover, Delaware at the newly renamed over motor Speedway as of the other day. ,
there was a gentleman that we had, I believe it was a gentleman. It wasn’t my
experience. It was my coworker’s experience, but I happened to be standing next
to him.
And poor Neil he
went through the ringer with this person and they were apparently from France
and they didn’t speak a lick of English. So that’s kind of how our reaction was
when they said, Hey, you got a, you got a French driver in here with here eyes.
That was how we work. How we how’s this language barrier going to work.
So poor Neil’s on
the radio. Picture this a, a French individual with very little English and a
north Carolinian who sent. Southern Maine. Laid back, a good old boy from the
North Carolina mountains, it was a disaster and this guy was all over the
banking. I mean, Dover’s even banked on the straightaways and this guy’s
weaving and all over and on the banking.
And if you go to
the apron and over, it’s a, it’s a heck of a transition and no upset the car.
And the driver hit it a couple of times. And Neil got to the point, he was
throwing a radio. He was cursing up and down and they couldn’t get the person
to come in and stop. And they about ran into a couple people.
And I think Neil
was ready for a couple of shots at night after we got done. But he was just, it
was incredible. And I’m watching this and I’m trying to coach my students.
Doing real well, they were struggling because they were nervous and then poor,
Neil’s got the language barrier and we’re like, this is not going to end well.
They finally got
the person to stop, but it took one of our people to go out there with a flag,
a checkered flag to just wave it at the car, to get them to finally come in
BHAVNEET: They didn’t think that this language barrier
was going to be an issue like, oh, you don’t speak English. That’s okay. Let’s
put you behind a race
car, like a.
KYLE: you wouldn’t believe the amount of times that happened. Just the
fact that, I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s a.
business. I
understand you don’t want to discourage people. But it was just sometimes those
situations when you get in those driving experiences, it’s just, you wonder
what people are thinking as the end.
That’s when you’re
going, you know, the dollar is driving that.
BHAVNEET: I
would not want to be that other kid who were they on the same track at the same
TARANJIT: time?
KYLE: Yeah, it was the way it works is there’s two or three students
out there at a time? along with a professional instructor given rides. And it’s
a, it’s kind of a choreographed in and out and how you work in and coordinate
the passing and we’re doing. Honestly by hand signals and yelling at each
other.
Cause the way it
works is you’re essentially a NASCAR spotter. So the cars will be here down on
the racetrack and the spotters are up above a scoring tower or a suite, so they
can see the most or entire part of the facility. And that’s usually where they
put us as instructors so we can see the overall.
So we’re up here
trying to instruct the past and the students are on the racetrack doing their
experience. So it was everybody’s in one arena. It’s not like it’s not just one
goes out and does one. I mean, it’s a very choreographed process, but at the
same time, it gets a little hairy. And especially when you add in those
barriers, it can get a little bit exciting.
Let’s put it that
way.
BHAVNEET: Exciting is definitely one way to put it. I
don’t know if
I would call it
that, but.
KYLE: for the sake of your show, that’s the clean way about it.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, we’ll go with that.
What would you say is your second craziest
driving?
KYLE: had to be the guy in New Jersey. And this was a gentleman who
now we all know the stigmatism from New Jersey or the, I guess the stereotype
with the GTL gym, tan laundry from the Jersey shore, this gentlemen was the
epitome of that. Big, big, old jacked up guy. And had a girl friend with him
and he was there to impress her.
And this was an
exotic car experience. I still work for these folks and I enjoy it. But man, we
have some. Now mind you, this guy was probably 6, 2, 2 something jacked. He
could have knocked me into next week. And I’m a little short five, five, guy.
Anyway, we’re in the car and it’s a Porshe and we’re up in English town, New
Jersey.
Now English town
is primarily a drag strip, but there’s a little one mile road course up there
and it’s windy old. The pavement is beat to snot. It’s Very difficult. And it
does a number on you as an instructor, but it does a number on those cars. And
then if you add in any weather, cause this experience will run in the rain to
an extent because they do have street performance tires on the car.
So we were driving
a little bit of a wet track up in Jersey and there’s a little bit of elevation
change. Well, this guy got in the car and , he was jacked up. He was ready to
go. His girlfriend was over there in the stands watching. I could tell this guy
was trying to impress her,
all I knew is I
was getting ready to hang on for a ride. So we go out, he started out okay. For
about half a lap and it just progressively got worse as it went on. And he
starts romping and stomping on the pedal. He stomped in the brake, driving it,
hitting the bumps wrong. I’m trying to coach him. Well, finally, he came up the
hill and it was an uphill, real sharp turn to the left.
And this guy just
stepped on it real hard and the car stepped out and I dropped over and yanked
the wheel and pulled it and straightened the car out. And like I said, this guy
could have knocked the living snot out of me, and I just got in his face and
yelled at him. I said, don’t ever do that again.
And man, that guy
got real small, real quick, but I could have, I could have gotten beat up real
quick in the car, but he’s almost swung that car out. And we had a few people
behind us about 10 car lengths and the guy didn’t care. I mean, it was pouring
rain. He could of wrecked that was a $300,000 Porshe The guy would’ve torn up
and some of these people drive these things like.
I don’t care. It’s
like, you don’t own this car and you can’t do that, but also we’re in regular
three point harness seatbelt doing this with helmets on, but still, , it’s,
like they say you’re safer in a race car with a six or seven point harness than
a containment seat, then you are on your highway.
So for me,
understanding that I was not going to put up with this shenanigans and I should
have brought the guy in, but I let him finish it out. It’s just, it’s amazing
what people do when there’s stuff in the background.
BHAVNEET: I
can only imagine just being in that car, it’s just like, do you hold on for
dear life? Do you like,
what do you do?
KYLE: You’re kind of just caught off guard one because it’s why do you
think this is? Okay. And then two, you’re always trying to stay two steps ahead
of the, of the individual driving. But when you get in those situations and
they’re throwing you around in the car, I always try to keep my hand with
posture right on the wheel, just to be ready.
Cause I’ve had a
couple of people almost put it into a barrier or a higher wall and I’ve had to
pull the car away and straighten the car out. So we didn’t hit it. It happened
to me in Charlotte earlier this year where I had a guy that didn’t even know he
was going off track because he was so enamored and tunnel vision with the
experience and the guy was going straight for it coming out of a corner.
But this guy just
was in his own world and he was trying to impress somebody. his brain wave, I
guess when all for something. And he just got really, really stupid and you got
to get him out of it. And sometimes you have to shake these people. And
sometimes you actually, you gotta like, kind of hit them in the arm because
they just tunnel vision and they tense up and, and blank out.
And sometimes
you’re like, okay, I got to save my life here.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, kudos to you. That’s a getting into the
cars with a crazy strangers at teaching or learning to drive crazy
fast cars.
KYLE: Yeah, friends and family that tells me I’m either really, really
courageous or really, really stupid. And we’re still trying to decipher which
one’s, which.
BHAVNEET: what would you say is your third craziest
driving
experience?
KYLE: Charlotte motor Speedway, March of 2018. Third time I’ve ever
worked for extreme this poor guy. It’s Sunday afternoon, these events are three
or four days event long. You got people in and out of cars all day, nine times
out of 10, I’m in a car for three or four hours at a time.
I mean, just
continually going in and out of different cars. And it’s, it’s a hard weekend.
I mean, it’s a lot of fun for these people, but man, you get to work out. So
it’s probably two or three o’clock on Sunday. We’re going to shut down at five
or close to it and this poor guy, but he’s all amped up and excited and nervous
as can be.
Well, he decided
to go eat a nice big lunch with his family before he decided to come do this.
And let’s just say we were in a nice yellow Ferrari. And I’m instructing them.
The guy did a great job. He wasn’t erratic or anything like that. Well, we get
on the second lap at Charlotte and it’s not a big course on the infield.
So. anybody
listening, if you watch the NASCAR guys that do the Charlotte Robel, if you go
onto the bank of America bridge and there’s a sweeping right-hander, and then
there’s real tight, right-hander going down a long straightaway for the
backstretch. Well, we come out of that corner going on the back and all of a
sudden the guy says, I think I’m going to get sick and I’m going okay.
Here we go. This
is going to be good. and I said, all right, we’ll just try to take a deep
breath. Let’s get you back to pit road. Well, let’s just say the poor guy
didn’t make it. So he’s like, I’m going to get sick. So I said, all right, pull
the car over, slow down. He got halfway out the door, the car still rolling.
A little. And the
guy just let it loose all over the door. That car on the inside. I had to reach
over and take my foot and hit the brake pedal this top of the car. Cause we
were rolling, but I wanted him to just get out of the car as soon as possible.
And when you have incidents with this organization, you have to call it in and
they use flags like we do on a racetrack, a black flag or yellow flag or
anything like that.
So I called red
flag because you have to call red flag if you need people to stop. So I call it
red flag, red flag, and I didn’t really know what to say. Cause one, I was
trying to make sure the guy wasn’t . Completely just passed out. Cause , he was
pale as could be. And they thought we wrecked the car.
And I just, I
said, we’re stopped over here and a car stopped and I didn’t really know what
to say. And finally they’re like, well, what what’s going on? I said, I got a
guy puka. That’s really all I said.
BHAVNEET: What do you say?
KYLE: Yeah, it’s not like it said, oh, well we had four wheels off or
we spun out or we hit a barrier.
It’s I have a
puker.
But they ended up
showing the video the next morning and her safety meetings. And I saw the video
up there and I just went, oh, and you could see it on the video that because
they record all this. And then they have the experiences where people can buy
them and take them home. Well, this guy darted out and you can see him lean out
of the car, go do what he’s got to do.
And I’m sitting
there with the face and I just didn’t know what to do. But it was thankfully,
he was okay. And it was a good experience. The car was done for the day, cause
it needed to get detailed, but I didn’t know how to respond to that one for a
little bit. And I didn’t have to call it in, but again, you get all kinds when
you do this stuff.
TARANJIT: I mean, in a way the pukey incident, is
better than a wreck.
KYLE: Oh,
absolutely.
TARANJIT: that cleaned up a little easier.
KYLE: It’s always better to keep the car in one piece and it rolls in
the trailer. She’s not going to smell great. And I don’t want anybody near, but
thankfully the guy was okay, he just needed some water and needed to go catch
his breath and finished, getting out, whatever he had for lunch.
But I told him, I
said, probably not a good idea to go eat before you do this. I said, better to
go have a big dinner rather than a big lunch and do this pasta. I mean, those
cars beach around.
TARANJIT: Lesson learned for next time.
KYLE: Absolutely.
TARANJIT: So you have been in several places, as
you mentioned earlier, how would you describe types of drivers in different
areas?
KYLE: It really depends on what area of the country you go to. , I
mean, there’s stereotypes of everyone. And place in America, around the world
with different drivers. You’re really just depends.
Honestly, typically
in Maryland. We’ve got some yahoos that run lights run over stuff. I think I
was in Chicago a while back earlier this year, I watched somebody run over a
sign for the arrow to go to the one side of the median, watched the person
drive straight over it and stop and then kept going.
So it’s just, all
right, well, that was intelligent. You probably just damage the undercarriage
of your car, but that was, that was impressive
BHAVNEET: When you see people doing all these crazy
things Do you like cringe while you’re driving, like, oh, that’s going to ruin
that, or that’s going to ruin this,
but what are you
doing to your car?
KYLE: a little bit, but it’s kinda like watching a horrific car?
accident. You
know, you shouldn’t keep watching. And you should turn away, but you just have
to keep watching to see how bad the wrecks going to be. It’s more of what level
of stupid can you take this to? And sometimes , it doesn’t go high at all.
Other times, like
in that situation, you pegged the meter.
BHAVNEET: Yeah.
Sometimes like
when I see those kind of people, it’s just like, why, just, how in your right
mind did you think
that was okay.
Now that we heard
a little bit.
About your crazy driving experiences, let’s dive into what kind of driver you
are. How would you describe yourself as a driver? And would you say that your
family and friends.
KYLE: I tend to be a pretty safe driver. , I try to keep a lot of that
stuff on the racetrack. Yeah. I can have a little bit of a lead foot here and
there, but I tend to use my signal all the time and try to do the right things
and obey all the laws on the highway. I just, I understand that I’ve seen the
severity of wrecks on a racetrack, and I’ve also seen with having.
Grandfather, who was a fireman a father and an
uncle who are in law enforcement. I have a brother who’s a fire volunteer
fireman. I’ve seen a lot of the horror stories and friends.
that were in that.
I don’t want to be another statistic. And I don’t want to have somebody else be
another statistic because of me,
I have my moments.
but I think I’m a pretty safe driver. I tend to, if anybody watched everybody
loves Raymond, I tend to use the Frank Barone signal every once in a while,
which isn’t great, but I think we all do it, especially in Maryland and on the
Baltimore beltway and the DC beltway. I think most people would agree, but
there’s also a couple other people that ride with me that are, oh, you’re an
absolutely dangerous driver.
Then I get in the
car with them and I kiss the ground when I get out.
TARANJIT: as you’re mentioning the beltway in
Maryland, I don’t know if all states have this, but I know in Maryland, I feel
like you have to be more aggressive to get into lanes as opposed to like, ,
turn your signal on. Okay. Let me, and I feel like free will see your signal.
They’re going to be like no, hit the gas and not let you in at least here.
That’s what I’ve
noticed.
KYLE: Oh, Yeah, no ratio, no ratio up to the median or until the merge
is over. And then they’ll cut in front of you. Take the front of your car off.
I mean, I think the only thing. I haven’t seen as somebody do the lightning
McQueen where they barrel rolled the car over and get going. it’s probably
coming.
I think we’re getting close to that. And as
friendly as the drivers are, I think we’re to the point now where due to the
point where you’re getting flipped the bird by a kid in the car seat, let’s see
how friendly everybody is on the highway.
TARANJIT: Yeah, it’s crazy. You just got to keep
your distance and just let them do everything that they want and just stay away
from them. That’s what I’ve learned.
KYLE: Yeah. Even if you try to stay away from them though, sometimes
they still find you. It’s like, I thought I left you a couple of miles ago.
TARANJIT: Yeah. What would you say is your biggest
pet peeve?
KYLE: Turn signals. Honestly, people that don’t use their turn signal
is driving me nuts and just courtesy on the highway. I mean, Especially when it
comes to merging. Everybody’s so out for themselves for the love of Pete man,
when he get to those merges, just in one, this alternate one after the other
and going, no, let’s all get up there and we’re going to have a standoff right
where the merging ends and then it’s blowing horns and hand signals and
everything else and yelling at each other.
And I just want to
get the word.
TARANJIT: Exactly.
BHAVNEET: And I think the biggest. Here is people don’t
understand the difference between merge and yield they treat at one in the
same.
No one weights.
KYLE: Yeah. I agree with you. It’s pretty much just step on the gas
and if I take your front bumper with mean, So be it.
BHAVNEET: I
know that you said that you are. You’re a good driver. You try to a bay, all
the laws. Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve experienced road rage,
whether it’s yourself or you’ve seen someone else
experiencing.
KYLE: Oh, both, both sides of that. I’ve had my moments where somebody
has absolutely just driven me to my wit’s end. And you finally lose it with
them because. You’re just looking at them or you roll down the window and go,
how stupid can you be? I do have a tendency where I’ve done this and it’s where
somebody that tailgating is bad around here.
So what I’ll do,
especially if I’m on a two lane road and they don’t want to do it, I’ll slow
down to about 20 miles wide speed. And I’ll just go slow and you either are
going around me on the double yellow, or you’re going to stay there and you can
either back off me and we can keep going.
It actually, tends
to work, I mean, they’re throwing signals everything in the rear view mirror at
you when you look, but with like, we can go one of two ways with it.
BHAVNEET: Yeah, I
don’t, I don’t
take it that extreme, but if I do see someone tailgating, I will slow down. I
do do that sometimes like, oh, okay, fine. I mean, I could go the speed limit.
I can go low below. Like
that’s fine.
KYLE: Yeah, but it takes all kinds in this area, for sure. Especially
with the drivers that we’ve got in the state of Maryland. There, there are
something.
TARANJIT: Yeah, we are our own breed.
How would you
describe your, when you went to get your driver’s license, how would you,
describe your driving test experience? And how would you compare that to your
first time professional driving experience.
KYLE: I was nervous. The Friday I got my license. It was the Friday
before my junior high school and I had to pass it or I couldn’t drive to school
a Monday. So I was nervous. , I was driving a standard shift truck at the time
and all my learner’s permit and my dad didn’t want me and my parents didn’t
want me to go to the driver.
In a stick, just
because of the complications and nervous and slip the clutch or something. So
we took my dad’s little 96, a and I was fine. It never really phased me. Plus
I’ve gotten a lot of practice, but I was nervous just because I knew I had one
shot to do this and I could retake it for a week and with Maryland at that time.
So I knew if I
didn’t pass it, I couldn’t drive the school on day and I wanted to do that.
My first, well, first race was in 2010 and I
got to experience a modified four cylinder for the first time. And I practiced
the Friday before and it was Saturday. I honestly didn’t get to take the green
flag that day for the race, because we had a fire in the car before we even
took the green. So I was a wreck.
Just the car felt
good. It felt fine in practice, but I heard something pop and I’m thinking, I
wonder what it was. I didn’t know if maybe it was a backfire or something
goofy. So I’m sitting on the grid and all of a sudden I started seeing a bunch
of smoke coming up from the gearbox. And I’m thinking it’s not right.
So I called on the
radio and I said, guys, we got smoke coming up. The car owner, God loves this
guy. He says, just tap on the gas and clear the carburetor on it’ll work. Okay.
So I did that. It got progressively worse come to find out it was flames and
something caught on fire. And I was screaming, scrambling to get out because I
couldn’t breathe.
And I usually race
with my visor up a little bit. So it doesn’t fog up and I can breathe. And all
that started getting in there. And so I didn’t get to take the green flag in my
first race because of that. And actually it was in the, ambulance getting
oxygen.
BHAVNEET: Wow. What a way to start.
KYLE: Oh yeah. We can only go up hill from there. So there’s been vast
improvement.
BHAVNEET: That’s one way to look at it. Positive
thinking.
KYLE: Absolutely.
TARANJIT: Speaking of car problems, have you ever
experienced any other types of car problems or have you ever experienced being
in an accident?
KYLE: Then in a few accidents. I was hit head on by a drunk driver in
2015 in North Carolina. Actually, this individual was in a Toyota four runner.
I was in a civic . She was sitting back from the intersection in the outer
banks. It wasn’t well lit and she was sitting in my lane facing me.
So I actually had
nowhere to go and I couldn’t see her. And we collided and it knocked me back
probably about 5,000 feet with The impact I was doing probably about 45 miles
an hour. Unfortunately it broke my wrist and I had to recover from that, . I
never got knocked out and thankfully I was able to get myself out of the car, but
I tell you what, that was an experience.
And because of
there was alcohol involved they had to reset my wrists and everything, and I
couldn’t take any pain meds for it because I still had to get tested by the
local law enforcement. So that was an experience. And. Some I had to come
through.
And then the other
accident was I was, dating somebody in 2009 and I was in a Toyota pickup truck.
And we had just come off of a Valentine’s day date and we’re on the way back to
her apartment in college. And I got rear-ended by this guy in the middle of
Helen’s Grove, Pennsylvania, and the guy just wasn’t paying attention or
something.
And the wild part
about it is they thought the guy was drinking and they thought I had been. I
had to take a breathalyzer and this Sergeant swore to God I was drunk and that
I had alcohol on my breath. The guy was smelling my cologne from the date and ,
, he couldn’t decipher the difference between the cologne and the alcohol, I
guess, because the stench was similar , I was just dumbfounded and it was like
an hour and a half of this.
Is it just getting
berated by this? And, , it was embarrassing,
BHAVNEET: the fact that he couldn’t distinguish alcohol
and cologne,
like what.
KYLE: Well, I had out of state tags, the guy that tagged me with a
local, you could tell, and I had Maryland tags and. The guy without a state
tags is on the losing end because we all know that it’s just a stereotype. I
was 19 at the time I wasn’t going to drink alcohol and drive.
I’m not that
stupid, but unfortunately I just got caught on the wrong side of it.
Thankfully, I was able to get my truck fixed and go home and I couldn’t leave
fast enough that.
TARANJIT: Yeah, luckily you didn’t end up in
anything serious. So it was good to hear that you’ve made it out of these
instances. , I can see that out-of-state. Tags tend to get I mean, it’s easier
to see out-of-state tags for people and as opposed to their state tags.
So I guess you are
more obvious.
. Now that we
heard a little bit about your past and current driving experience, let’s dive a
little bit into the future of driving. With the possibility of self-driving
cars becoming a thing, what are your thoughts on this? And is this something
that you would be comfortable getting it?
KYLE: No, it’s not something that I think is a really good benefit.
Honestly, I think it takes the driver out of the car. Selfishly. It’s not
something that’s going to benefit us because I work in it and then computers
when I’m not racing full time. So I understand that any piece of machinery or
IP equipment, there are problems with these types of equipment and again,
malfunction.
So drivers that
become reliant completely on technology. R one day going to have that
experience. And I don’t want them to have that experience, but let’s just be
realistic. That’s the way of life. It’s just like any piece of technology. It
may need an update and may have something that corrupts it system or files or
coding, whatever the case may be.
You can’t fully
rely on technology. You’ve got to rely on human instinct with this stuff, and
you need to be taught how to parallel park. You need to be taught. How to stay
off of people, not tailgate, you need to be taught how to properly break a car.
There’s benefits to it. I understand it. But you got to learn those things
before you were to get behind the wheel, those things.
I think we’re starting to cross over that
functionality verse ability of the people. We’re starting to really take the
ability of the people away. And it’s not going to end well over time. I hope
I’m wrong, but I mean, again, it’s just what, the way people drive and the
reliance on technology.
It may not be a
good thing.
BHAVNEET: Yeah. I mean, the preview you get with just
the small things that cars have now, like just the minor auto drives that they
have. Now, the amount that people are less like focused on the road. , I’m not
sure the self-driving is a good idea because you need to be able to like you
said, be able to jump in if you need to and
stop yourself.
KYLE: Well, the way I look at it as, and there’s two ways I look at
this. You’ve taken the parallel parking out of a Maryland driver’s test. That’s
not a good thing, especially as close as we lived in Washington, DC and
Baltimore, and even Annapolis or places that are more urban based that have
that type of parking and very tight confined spaces.
And you need to be
able to navigate yourself through them or risk damaging yourself or getting
somebody else hurt or getting into an incident. So you really need to
understand how to get yourself.
in and out of
those situations in those parking spaces. And that driving skill is very
beneficial and driving.
You need to have
be a bit of an advanced driver in those instances. And another example, this is
you’re taking the driver out of the car. It’s the equivalent of taking away and
limiting the standard shift vehicles that are on the highway. Now, a lot of
people that don’t even know if you mentioned the word manual standard stick
shift, nobody knows what you’re talking about.
And. Everybody
thinks, oh, well, I’m driving a stick. Um, I’m using the little sequential
shift in the car and know that that’s not even a quarter of what you’re doing.
I mean, it’s great. If you want to buzz down the highway a little bit and you
want to paddle shift like a formula one driver, but. I mean, I’m sorry, in my
opinion, you need to learn to drive a standard shift.
I don’t know how
many times in my lifetime I have driven folks home that we’re too drunk to
drive or got sick or had an incident. Or there was an instance where I was in a
group of people. And the vehicle that we had was a standard shift. And I ended
up having to get behind the wheel because I’m the only one that knew how to do
it.
And my father and
grandfather and uncle were insistent and they said, you and your brother will
learn to drive a standard shift. And to be honest with you, I’m very glad that
I did. And I’m an advocate for teaching people. Honestly, if I had my way, I
would like to start a driving school where you teach driving a standard shift.
And honestly, in
my opinion, with having to work the shifter and the three pedals, it makes you
a more observant and better driver because you have to have that skillset added
to your repertoire.
BHAVNEET: Yes. And then, like you mentioned, you can
practically drive anything. If you know how to drive a standard shift.
KYLE: Exactly.
TARANJIT: Yeah, I agree with that. And then also,
if you do travel to other countries that don’t like automatic cars, aren’t the
main type of car you can easily just drive yourself around as opposed to being
reliant on someone else.
KYLE: Exactly. I completely agree. I mean, having that knowledge and
ability to drive a standard shift is crucial.
And like I said,
I, I would love to start a driving school and teach people how to do it. I’ve
taught many friends. I’ve taught significant others how to drive a standard
because my everyday driver, since I was 16, has been a standard shift.
BHAVNEET: That would be really awesome. We will be your
first students.
TARANJIT: We have yet to learn.
KYLE: If you guys would ever like to learn.
and you are
serious, , let me know. I can teach both of you how to do it, and I I’d love to
do it. It’s something I enjoy as part of the instruction and the teaching I’ve
I’ve learned to do. And it, I appreciate it because I feel like I’m helping
make people better drivers.
And I feel like
I’m taking my skill set and putting it to use and making people safer because
then hopefully it benefits them down the line.
BHAVNEET: Oh, definitely definitely would want to learn.
We’ve been trying to get. To teach us for awhile, but like, you know, the last
one I’m going to
happen,
KYLE: Yeah. No, absolutely. Absolutely. Just let me know if you’re
interested. I’d be happy to do it.
TARANJIT: if you had to give any piece of advice
to current drivers or new drivers, what would you say to them?
KYLE: that’s a tough question. I would say, be ready to be dry, to
drive as defensively as you can use your head. Don’t do anything boneheaded behind
the wheel and think before you move, because things happen in a split second.
BHAVNEET: Yeah,
very good tips.
Like we even say like, people can do anything so unpredictable, like you never
know what someone’s going to do. And defensive driving is. Super
important to
learn.
KYLE: Absolutely. Sometimes it can be the difference between life and
death. For example, this past weekend, we were racing and Sebring and my car.
His girlfriend and one of her best friends, , one of our other co-drivers, his
wife were coming from Ormond beach where they reside to come down to help out
and watch the race.
And they were
driving another support vehicle down to the track. They were on a two lane
road, maybe five miles from the track and Sebring. And there was a gentleman
that was coming straight at them and thankfully Monique had great car skills
and she just gradually moved the car to the side, to straddle yellow or white
line on the shoulder.
Thankfully that
person buzz by them and it happened in a split second and they just looked at
each other and went, did that guy really just do that. They thankfully were
able to have their lives saved, but again, split second and something could
happen and they could have been gone.
BHAVNEET: Then time, are
you ready?
KYLE: I’m ready?
BHAVNEET: If you can make one, a new driving law,
what would it be?
KYLE: Ooh, I have power. This was dangerous. My manager shaking her
head in the background, like, yeah, this is not going to end well at work.
We’re going to get fined by NASCAR. This may not go well. If I had to do one
law, I would say you have to take driver’s ed in high school. I would
re-institute that. And there would be a course where you would have to at least
learn to drive a standard shift along with the driving, regardless of weather,
where you use it, or regardless of if you’re going to do it, I feel like you
have to at least do it and understand the concepts.
And I think that
including defensive driving, I think it should be a year long course, your
sophomore and junior year.
TARANJIT: Oh, I agree with that. I feel like
drivers, at least when we took it here in Maryland, I feel like it’s not very
helpful. I feel like it was more like, oh, you just go through the motion and
then just go take your test. I didn’t really learn anything from it.
KYLE: I’ve heard mixed reviews. I was lucky. I went through the
college of Southern Maryland for driver’s ed, and I felt like my, instructor
Mike was great. And the gentleman that I had that took me out on the, the road
test was great that I had all four times. He’s just very laid back.
Gentlemen. I could
tell he trusted me and he could tell I wasn’t a complete bone EAD. So that made
me feel good. But yeah, I think it honestly depends on where you go and who’s
dedicated. Who’s not, who’s willing to just take your money to put your kid in
a car. So I really, I think it’s the parent’s job to do their research.
And when it comes
to safety. Like anything else don’t scan or don’t cheap out on quality
instruction for your kids.
TARANJIT: Yeah. And like you said, it is actually
life or death situation. If you don’t know how to drive properly, it could end
dangerously, not just for yourself, but others.
KYLE: Absolutely. And it’s, it’s important. I mean, it really can. I
mean, these things are great. They can get you from a to B, they can get you to
a lavish vacation. They can get you to the seven 11 to, , get you a drink and a
red bull to go home and play video games or something. But at the same time, I
mean, it can also, how many stories have you heard that somebody wakes up to go
to work and next thing you know, they didn’t even make it because.
Struck an
intersection or somebody hit him head on coming out of their neighborhood or
something. It’s just, it’s it’s the good and bad.
BHAVNEET: Well, thank you so much for coming on today.
It was really fun talking to you before we let you go. Where can our
listeners.
KYLE: If anybody would like to find me, you can visit me on my
website@wwwdotkylewalker.com. Find me on Facebook with Kyle locker racing. I
have an Instagram page at Kyle underscore lock row. , I’ve got a LinkedIn page.
If you just type in Kyle locker where, Tara and G found me, he can go there and
reach out and talk to my business manager, Tanya banning.
She handles all of
my day-to-day operations with the racing and keeps me out of trouble. And you
can also find me on YouTube with locker racing. You can see footage and
interviews. Other events that we’ve done.
But if anybody’s interested in sponsorship
opportunities or partnership opportunities, you can go to my website. Reach
out. We’d love to talk to you.
BHAVNEET: Well, thank you again so much for coming on
and. I wish you the best of luck with your racing in
2022.
KYLE: Thank you so much. Tara and Jayden Bob ne thank you so much for
allowing me to come on and tell some great stories. I’ve enjoyed it and I’ll
definitely stay in touch and we’ll keep you posted. And if you’d like at some
point, we’ll have to get you out to a race sometime and you can see.
I think our goal this year, if we can make
Richmond or Pocono or one of those, it’s not too far off, maybe some pit passes
on the way and you guys can see it right up close.
TARANJIT: That sounds really fun.
KYLE: Absolutely.
(transition music)
TARANJIT: I learned quite a bit about NASCAR and
professional driving just from talking with Kyle. And it was so easy to talk to
him. I felt like we could have, I’ve had so many more questions, but. I don’t
want to take too much of his time. And he had so much knowledge to share. He
brought up some really good points, like how beneficial it is to learn to drive
manual, and also like taking advanced driving courses I feel like even if you
don’t plan on, like you said, if you had, if you don’t plan on driving manual
after the fact of learning is it’s like a great skill to have just to know how
to do it just in case. Cause you never know.
BHAVNEET: Yeah. Like you said, he says all many
situations where he had to drive because nobody knew how to drive the manual
car.
it’s such an
important skill and it’s on our to-do list.
Have you ever
taken advanced driving classes or learned how to drive? Stick messaged us on
Instagram at drive with us podcast and let us know. We’re curious to hear your
experience.
And we hope you
enjoyed listening to Kyle’s driving stories. Be sure to stay tuned until the
end of this episode, to hear a sneak peek of next week’s episode with Joseph
fare, a former police officer turned commercial truck driver turned firefighter
turned writer.
TARANJIT: He shed light on the, behind the scenes
of working in each of those fields.
And he also shared some crazy driving stories
related to those different careers. Like the struggles of driving a gasoline
tanker and flying off a motorcycle.
BHAVNEET: Thank you for tuning in this week. And if you
enjoyed this episode, you can help support the show by sharing it with your
friends or leaving us a review on pod chaser. It truly does help us get
discovered.
TARANJIT: Thanks for choosing to drive with us and
we’ll see you all next week.
(outro music)
JOSEPH: I found my trailer and was heading out of Chicago, , was going about it.
25 miles an hour, , behind a pickup truck with a speed boat. And, I’m looking down on it. I see cooler and life jackets. , when we got going a little faster.
The wind blew the inner tube out of the boat and it came back and slammed into the front of the tractor. Which made a really ugly noise.