SPEAKER_02 0:18

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Crack Side the Podcast for Marshalls. I'm Jamie Osbourne.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

And I'm Jessica Alpha.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

And we have got a really cool guest for you today as we uh start to wind things up for 2025 in the podcast. It's been a cool year. We'll kind of look back at some of our highlights uh a little bit later, but before we do that, we've got an interview on this episode that's frankly been a long time coming. We had some technical problems the first time we sat down with this gentleman, but uh he was kind enough to come back to us, which is really saying something because he's got one of the busiest schedules in motorsports. But we are visiting with somebody you've probably seen at the track, but might not have known who he is. And um, as as you'll hear uh when we when I uh introduced him in the podcast in the interview section, you'll kind of hear where you might have seen him before. But this guy gets to a lot of places during a track event, and uh it's really cool. His name is George Silberman, and he is he's got quite a Twitter presence, believe it or not, and oh, or is it called X? Ooh, called X now. But whatever. Uh he's got quite a Twitter presence, and he's got every credential in the world when you look at him very carefully, so it's really kind of cool. He's very unassuming, but don't underestimate him because he is a very cool and important dude in racing because George is the president of ACA, which is the sanctioning body. Basically, it's the he's the ASN. He is the dude that makes Formula One happen in America. It's kind of the uh an easy and maybe not entirely accurate way of saying it. Really cool guy, really involved in the highest levels of motorsport, and uh he's gonna be our guest today for this podcast, and I'm really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yes, yeah, he was so nice, as Jamie mentioned. We we attempted this once before and had some uh recording issues and so I know he was so sweet to to take the time to come back. And I I think uh we covered a lot of the same topics, but I think I think this was I think it's maybe good. It was it was probably better this time. Not that the first one was an amazing uh, but uh we uh yeah, it's very cool. He's like like we were saying, he will kind of get into that a little bit, but he does if you're a marshal, especially on any of these US events, you might just see him and you might just come up to you and be like, hey, can I take a picture, you know, of you guys working, whatever it is, and then you'll find it on on his X feed, which we'll talk about. But it's just like the fact that it's the it's the president doing that. It's not just a social media person, like he is in, you know, and we I kind of used to joke he's like a secret shopper, like you know, they're sending the president around to to do the i mean it's but no, he he but you know he started as a marshal, as I'll talk about, and so he it's very important to him to get to go interact, as I'll talk about. So yeah, it's just yeah, such a cool guy.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

So fascinating. Um you'll learn, I think, in this one too, about the the more or less legal for lack of a better word, the legal structure of racing and how it works and uh what some of these acronyms that you may have heard about, but haven't really spent any time learning uh how they work. And and it's really kind of fascinating. There's even some history bombs thrown at you here in this interview. So without uh further ado, let's get started by uh with our interview for of George Silberman. Welcome back to the podcast, and on this episode, we're gonna introduce you to somebody really, really interesting. Now, if you've been a marshal at an FIA event or actually many kinds of events, you may have been approached while you were on your stand during the race weekend by a elegant dapper gentleman who very unobtrusively comes up and asks to take a picture of the marshals at the stand. He takes your picture, you keep flagging, and he goes away. But did you ever stop to wonder who that guy is? Well, today we've got him on the podcast, and our uh guest this episode is George Silberman. He is the president of ACUS. Now, you're gonna learn a lot about racing and how it's structured and how it works at the very top level today, because that is what George does. George, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Well, thank you very much, uh Jamie and uh Jessica as well. I've been called many things during my career. I don't recall ever being called elegant and dapper. I'm gonna have to look those words up to see what that is. Really a pleasure to be with you today.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Well, you know, what those Marshalls probably would have never known is that, you know, besides your FIA shirt that you usually wear, at least when I see you at Austin and the various places uh I bump into you, but uh you usually also have every credential they can issue at their at the track. You pretty much can go anywhere you want, which is kind of saying without saying, you know, what what the kind of person you are, and that's kind of cool, I think.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Well, and it's also a little scary that I have potentially access to everywhere. Fortunately, I know better than to go to some places, uh, particularly dangerous ones. But I do think that's a very neat thing about marshals in particular, and any element of the volunteer workforce uh or the officiating force is they get to go to places that most people uh uh uh will will probably never have the opportunity to go to. And I think that's part of the special uh the special thing of being a volunteer and an official, is you really you really are on the front line. You know, it's you're like, you know, on the sideline right there at the 50 yard of the uh Super Bowl, or you know, you're you're out standing on the green uh for the US Open or what have you. Um only the uh the speed is a lot quicker, let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

So I think you know, you've been such a champion for Marshalls because would you like to kind of tell us your origin story that that you started this way as a marshal?

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Sure, I have no problem with that at all. Uh I did not come from a motorsports background. No one in my family, or as far as I know, my ancestry was involved in uh in motorsports. And I actually first got involved in my freshman year of college, went to the University of Florida and I met a guy there the first year. We got to be very good friends, and his brother was volunteering as an official with IMSA at that time. Uh anyway, uh this buddy of mine dragged me off to a race one weekend. And since um uh IMSA was racing at Daytona, uh, and it was very easy or very close to Gainesville, Florida, he dragged me off. Um I got, or we really both got, you know, uh good instruction on what we were supposed to do. But basically, we came in, we were given instructions on how to be uh a marshal. I was handed a couple of flags and sent to be the pit-out flagman. You know, back in those days there were no stoplights and things like that. Um and um and this was in the middle of the 1974 IMSA finale at Daytona, uh pretty high profile events. Um it's memorable for me on a couple of levels. One is it was my first experience in motorsports, and I was literally uh you know on the front line. I was pit exit, Daytona. This was in another millennium, long before there were uh speed limits in pit lane or anything like that. And I do have a memory of two cars crashing uh at speed on the trioval in front of the pit lane, and one of them spinning across the grass uh effectively right at me. Um now, even though my training had been brief, fortunately I was smart enough to jump over the pit wall at that time. Uh, and and it turned out you know the car came to a stop long before it got to me, but that vision is is etched in my mind. And so even to this day, when I'm on an active pit lane or I'm out taking one of the pictures that Jamie referred to uh at a corner station, I am looking upstream or behind me as the case may be, uh, because I've never really forgotten um um the importance of safety when it comes to that role. So uh yeah, that's where I got started. Um, the kind of my brief biography as far as my career goes is um that I was hooked. And during college, uh whenever I could, I I volunteered to uh work at races uh in a in a number of uh capacities. And fortunately, uh at that period, IMSA had many races in the southeast United States. It was not just Daytona, you know, it was C ring, it was Rhode Atlanta. We uh IMSA even raced at the road course at Taladeg and other places. So I had a lot of good opportunities. Um and uh during that period, uh John Bishop, uh who was the founder of IMSA, you know, had had asked me about considering to come to work with them full time, um, you know, after college. But quite honestly, I was on a career path in an entirely different industry. Um and um after college, I went to work for uh in the in the construction management field uh for a big organization based out of Dallas. I was, you know, uh even at my young age, I could tell I was being groomed for big things, as that phrase used to be. Um But during my my tenure in construction management, I I never lost the uh the allure. And so when time permitted, I would attend events uh throughout uh mainly the east uh eastern part of the United States. For me, it was always my escape from reality. You know, you get to the end of the work week uh or whatever and fly or drive or however I would get to the events. Um again, I just loved it as my escape from reality. And like I said, John Bishop at that time was really um asking me to come and work for them, but I had a great career going. And this is this this is no lie. I literally woke up one morning and I said to myself that um what I was doing for a hobby was so much more enjoyable than what I was doing for a career. And so I took a leap of faith um and told John I would take him up on his offer. Um my friends, my family, everybody thought I was crazy, uh, and I probably was. But I was also very fortunate. What I had no way of knowing at that time, because I was really just getting involved in the sport, was that this was a period in the history of not only U.S. motorsports, but global motorsports, where our entire sport was undergoing a transformation. Um this was a period where Fortune 500 companies were first getting actively involved in sponsorships, uh, where uh live television was coming to the table, uh, and so on and so forth. And it was really when our entire sport was making a transition from being kind of an outlaw sport to being a very legitimate first-level um sport. Uh, and again, I had no way of knowing this, but my timing was perfect. So when I entered uh the the full-time workforce in motorsports, uh it's it was at a very, very important period. Um I worked at IMSA for many years in a variety of um uh executive levels. I eventually became uh the president of IMSA in the 1990s. Um and it was really it was a good experience for me because I worked in all different areas, um both before joining full-time and after joining full-time. So um, you know, and and that ran the gamut from uh uh timing and scoring. My first full-time paying job in the sport was the chief of timing and scoring for IMSA. Um, but I was also in scrutineering, I was a race director, I was um, you know, and over so over the course of time I had had the opportunity first, you know, uh hands-on to work in a lot of these different areas. And at that time when I first joined, IMSA was not the large organization it is right now, so it was kind of all hands on deck on any given weekend, and so you know, I might be driving the pace car, I might be uh in the flag stand, uh uh starting the race or something like that. Um anyway, um as I said, eventually became the um uh president of IMSA. I was at IMSA, I think, all told, about uh 20 years. Uh there was an ownership change in the late 1990s. Um the the new owner and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, so we left on amicable terms, but I left. I got a call from um Daytona Beach. It was Bill Franch Jr. He said, Hey, why don't you come over? Let's chat. Uh and so I was a result of that chat, ended up being a senior executive at NASCAR for almost 20 years. Um and during my tenure at NASCAR, NASCAR, even though it was a much larger organization than IMFSA, it was kind of, and it still is today, one of those organizations where when you're working there, you don't wear just one hat. You wear a lot of different hats. And so um, you know, during most of my career there, I was overseeing half a dozen or more major departments. Some of the departments I oversaw uh had to do with things like the international series that uh NASCAR was running or creating. You know, nowadays there are series in Canada and Mexico and Europe and Brazil and so forth. Um, and so I never really lost my contacts uh or my knowledge of international racing. And then when my six my predecessor at ACIS announced he was retiring, the uh clubs put out, you know, kind of a um uh uh feelers for a possible replacement. And uh I actually went to the owners of of NASCAR at that time and said, you know, I've been working here for uh, I think at that time it was like 18 and a half years. I had been there quite a while. And um I said, I really enjoy what I'm doing. I hope I'm contributing, but you know, I think I might be the right guy for this job, you know, because of my international experience uh at NASCAR and also um at IMPSA. And uh and they agreed wholeheartedly. And um, in fact, it was NASCAR who nominated me for that position. So when when people ask nowadays, I tell them, well, you know, over the course of my career I've worked for at least two different um sanctioning bodies, and now at ACUS I work for six. So um anyway, that's kind of the longer than I meant it to be uh version of how I got to be where I'm at today.

SPEAKER_02 17:33

Well, that's fascinating, George. What a great career. So if you wouldn't mind, that's a perfect segue into ACUS. Tell us a little bit about what ACIS is. You've kind of alluded to the fact that it's representing you you can say it better than I can. Tell us about ACIS and what it is.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Well, ACIS is the automobile competition committee for the United States. Unless you're really involved in sports, it's probably not a name you have heard. Uh, you don't really see it in the press all that often. Uh, and that's intentional. We're operating under the radar screen, not because of anything we're doing, but because we have member clubs who we are promoting. So ACIS is actually made up of the six major US clubs. So uh, and those, the leaders of those sit on my board of directors. Uh, and so that is IMSA, IndyCar, NASCAR, and HRA, SCCA, and USAC. Um the the brief history or the brief version of the history of ACIS is when the FIA was first created, it was created by 13 countries.

unknown 18:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Twelve of them were in Europe, which was obviously a hotbed of um the automotive, automotive, you know, uh transportation and racing world. And one country that was not in Europe, and that was the United States. And this was 120 plus years ago. Uh so when the FI was first created, the United States was one of the founding members. The way it worked then, and the way it works today, is that every country that has some form of motorsports or aspires to have some form of motorsports is appointed what is called an ASN. That's kind of a French acronym for National Sporting Authority. And um the original ASN for the United States is actually the AAA, you know, the same one that does, you know, the towing services and all those kind of things today. Uh however, in the 1950s, um, there was a horrific crash at Lamont. Uh, you know, some of your followers May be familiar with it, but it was it was a um it was a sadly important point in the history of our sport. Basically, it was a car under the grandstands, just a real, a terrible thing. And at that time, uh a number of uh OEMs, a number of ASNs, and others withdrew from the sport. And the AAA did at that time. Um, and so the leaders of U.S. motorsports at that time got together and said that with so much motorsport in this country at all different levels and in all different disciplines, it wouldn't be right to just have one club become the FIA ASN for this country. And so at that time, the leaders of the sport that included people like Wally Parks, the founder of NHRA, uh Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR, and the other powers to be at that time, got together in a room and said, look, let's create ACIS. Let's have ACIS be our own kind of quasi-trade affiliation, but really represent the United States to the FIA and represent the FIA to the United States. So that's how uh ACIS was formed in the 1950s. Uh, and as I just said, it it's it's it's almost the go-between, for lack of a better term, between the global sanctioning body, the FIA, and motorsports in this country. So again, it's not so much that I represent the FIA in this country uh or that I speak on behalf of the ACIS clubs. I really do both. Um the FIA, in turn, as I mentioned earlier, is made up of, I'm gonna get this number wrong, but it's you know 148 or whatever, I forget the number of member countries. It operates both in the sporting world, which I think everyone's aware of, um, and it also uh operates in the mobility world. Uh um that is uh well kind of what the AAA still does today. And these are the two main pillars of the FIA. But what actually creates the FIA is when that all those countries gather in the same place, very much like the United Nations, uh, that's what officially forms the FIA. Yes, they have a full-time staff, it's wonderful people. They sanction uh world uh championships. Obviously, people think of uh Formula One, but there are others as well. Um and uh so it as a sanctioning body is structured just a little differently than what we're used to in this country, whether it's the SCCA, whether it's IndyCar, what have you. Um, but there are a lot of parallels. So um that's kind of the again, not too brief history of of what ACIS is and um and how it's related to the FIM.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Oh, that's that's a great history. I I think that was always unclear to a lot of us when we got into this. So what is what is all that how does it work?

SPEAKER_02 23:26

How does it work?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Yeah, exactly. Can you talk about you know the United Nations kind of parallel you made? You know, is that how often do you guys all get together? What kinds of things? Is it just rules? Like what types of things do all the all the clubs have to get together and kind of talk about?

SPEAKER_01 23:45

All right. Well, there are a the FIA is um I guess the best way to look at it, it is a large sporting federation with many, many elements. So within it you have certain structures. You have things called the FIA World Motorsport Council, there is an equivalent on the mobility side of the house, there is the FIA Senate, which primarily oversees financial matters. Um, there are a slew of committees and commissions in all these different um areas. So there's a GT Commission, there's a circuits commission, there's a volunteers and officials commission, and a whole bunch of varieties of types of commissions and committees. And the people who are appointed to those are actually nominated by ASNs, um, which is good because that makes the connection between FIA and local clubs around the world. We probably from the United States have um members on a dozen or more commissions and committees, uh, and and and there are people from all regions of the world that participate in it. Um as far as gathering, like the United Nations does, right now, annually there are two major global gatherings, and these are in-person ones. There are other a slew of other meetings and conferences and things that may occur virtually in this modern day and age, uh, but still twice a year there are two in-person global gallery gatherings. The um uh the mid-year conference, which generally occurs in June. This year that occurred in Macau, China, for example. And then the big year-end uh gathering, which occurs in December. Um that includes everything from the World Motorsport Council meetings, uh, all kinds of presentations and conferences, um, but it also includes the General Assembly, uh, and it includes the year-end prize giving, as they call it for the FIA, which is where everything from the Formula One uh champions receive their trophies. Um, but there are also other things going on at that time, so all the different disciplines receive their awards. So there is a what they call extraordinary General Assembly in June. There is the formal annual General Assembly, and that's where literally the whole room is full of people from around the globe, and they are voting on important things for the future. And it's everything from fundamental changes to the statutes and regulations, to the budget for the final year, uh signing off on the financials from the previous year, uh and on and on. It's kind of funny because uh forever seemingly, the room was always arranged alphabetically. And so for the General Assembly, you know, you would think that um uh, you know, the United States of America would be letter A and we'd be somewhere near the front of the room, but that's not how it works. It's under U. So we are literally in the back of the room with uh with Uzbekistan and with the but and with the UK and others. Uh however, about uh I don't know, two or three years ago, they finally swapped it between it so that they alter between going bialphabetical uh and uh and then reverse alphabetical. So nowadays, for at least one of the two major gatherings, the United States is literally sitting in the um front row. And for the other one, we are literally sitting way in the back with binoculars to see what's going on in the front.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Wow. That's fascinating because there's so much more to the sport than I think a lot of people realize. I mean, I know that in Miami and I think even in Austin, uh, speaking of ASNs, you'd uh a sharp, sharp-eyed observer might have caught some folks in Jamaican flags walking up and down. The Jamaican ASN was visiting us on uh Pit Lane. They stopped and talked with most of the crew on uh Pitt Strait. And I think I even saw them in Austin. Was I wrong?

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yes, you're correct. Um the um my my uh counterpart from Jamaica and the group that he normally brings with him are very active in this area. Uh and you know, my uh hearts and prayers go out to everyone. Oh, absolutely. From the from the recent um hurricane. Actually, I reached out to him. Uh ironically, he was in Mexico for the Formula One event when the storm was approaching. Wow. So he actually was not able to get home. He was, I think, in Miami sheltering or whatever when it hit. But uh he did tell me that uh all of his friends and family weathered the storm all right. But yeah, um, I mean, they they you know they are very noticeable in their uh in their national colors there. Uh but you will find particularly at the U.S. Grands Prix that uh a lot of ASNs, mainly from this region of the globe, but not exclusively, uh, are there. They're just you know in in more. They blend in. Yeah, yeah. Um but I would say that in Austin, there were probably at least a dozen different countries from this hemisphere alone uh represented, uh, as far as ASN representatives. And I'm guessing for Las Vegas, uh it it will be comparable, maybe a few more than that.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Wow, that's really cool. You never see that part of the the operation because as you said, they they blend in and you don't know that they're there. In fact, I know you know several people from Vegas who are there at Austin. There's a lot of that that goes on, you know, people going to other events just to see how one country does things or to see how you know a certain organization takes place. I mean, there there seems to be a lot of uh sharing in that regard. Do you do you find that that's the case worldwide?

SPEAKER_01 30:35

It is, and that's part of what the FIA tries to facilitate is the exchange of knowledge. That's a big part of what goes on uh as part of the activity, both at the ASN level, but also at the global level. Um, so most of these meetings and conferences and and the information that comes from the FIA is specifically for that, for for um sharing of knowledge and communication of learnings and things like that. And that's an obvious, obviously an ongoing process.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

So when you guys, when they do like revisions of the sporting code and all that kind of stuff, you know, what kind of goes into that? Because I feel like I I think when one of the previous times we had talked, I remember you saying how like it like the the rules of a country or whatever you can can kind of dictate that, like just like the United States being the litigious country that it is, you know, there might be well that would never fly in the United States. We have to adjust this rule worldwide. Can you maybe talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Sure. Um the main um realm of the FIA is in global motorsport. The way it is structured, national motorsports is controlled at the national level. So, for example, um the IndyCar does not need to get their calendar approved by ACIS. NASCAR does not need to get its regulations approved by ACIS. Now, for world championship events, that is quite the opposite. Uh, in fact, it is the FIA who is the keeper of the regulations for things like Formula One regulations. Um but to your point, Jessica, it's um it is bottom-up. Okay. Uh and um so within the FIA itself, I had mentioned briefly about committees and commissions. Quite often that's where the whole process starts. If it's the single seater commission, yes, they're worried about Formula One, but they're also uh worried about Formula Two, Formula Three, F4 and FR and kind of stuff. And they take feedback from the local ASNs, work them through the committee and commission system, up, you know, there's almost like a hierarchy, and eventually the you know, the good ideas get up uh for ratification by the World Motorsport Council. Um exactly what you described has been the case more often than not. Um, yes, the United States is a very litigious, probably the most litigious um environment in motorsport anywhere in the world. Uh, and ironically, um it operates at such a high level. I mean, you look at the sheer volume of motorsports that occurs in this country at every level. I think the FIA has recognized that we have figured out how to navigate those waters. And so they do look to us for feedback, or when we provide feedback, it has a bearing on how they craft their um uh international rules. Now, it doesn't have a big bearing on which direction they're going with car weights or you know what have you. But as far as the language that's used in the final regulations or updated regulations or what have you, yes, they do look for input, and one of the big considerations they have is the United States. Because if it's if it's a rule or a regulation that will fly here, then odds are it'll fly most other places too, for the reasons we just discussed.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Yeah, we're the limiting country.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

So I I don't know that that that's that's the case, but but a lot of other countries are coming from a different perspective. So what we've just been discussing may not even be on their agenda or even on their radar screen. Yeah. So that's another role the FIA plays is making sure that things like this are on the radar radar screen or at least considered when uh rules are being crafted.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

That's really neat. So we've looked at it, you know, from the ACUS role going, I don't know, for lack of a better word, upwards. Let's flip the scales and look downwards. What is your sort of working relationship that you have on the basis with your member organizations, IMSA and IndyCar and NHRA, which still blows my mind. NHRA is just one of those, one of these things is not like the other. But with your member organizations, how how does ACUS work with those entities on a more or less daily basis?

SPEAKER_01 35:38

I think the simplest way to describe it is we are there to serve them. That's what it is all about. It's kind of funny when you look around the rest of the globe, in many, many cases, an ASN is an entirely different thing than it is here. Um in some countries, any and all motorsports is directly controlled by the ASN or you know, uh subject to the approval of the ASN. Quite honestly, in a in uh handful of countries, maybe more the government is the actual ASN for all intents and purposes. The the term that's used is sporting authority. When the uh you know when you read the FIA statutes, sporting authority comes from the FIA to the ASN. And there is only one ASN in each country, which I think is an important thing. On the mobility side, there can be multiple uh organizations, but on the sporting side there's only one. The decision was made back in the 1950s by the founders of ACIS that part of what it would do would be to delegate its sporting authority to the member clubs, not in full, but to the extent that they need to conduct their business. Uh, even in other well-developed first-world countries, take the United Kingdom, for example, or Australia or something, any and all motorsports must get an approval by the ASN there. Um, in most cases, they directly sanction, or one of their member clubs directly sanctions all motorsports. And so, in in at all different levels of uh uh motorsport in different countries around the globe, everything has to pass through the ASN. Our attitude here is who knows better than to how to run SCCA events or IndyCar events than the people at SECA or IndyCar. And so we delegate the sport and we say basically take the ball and run with it. You know what you're doing. You don't need our approval for a calendar or something like that. Um and I think that and I think that really has worked well uh from a pragmatic standpoint. It's the perfect thing for this country. Um, and um it kind of differentiates us from a lot of other parts of the world. Now, what I just described to you does happen to a certain degree in some other places, um, but the way it's done here and the environment we operate in is a little bit different than anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Yeah. For sure. No, that's really interesting. So can you tell, you know, when Jamie did did the intro, he kind of talked about how, you know, marshals might see you out and about with your your your phone taking photos. Can you tell us about how the Acus Mare, uh your Twitter, uh formerly Twitter X handled it? Can you tell us how you got into all that?

SPEAKER_01 38:55

I did. This actually dates back to when I was an executive at NASCAR. Um uh it came down from on high that uh, and this was in the relatively early days of social media, that NASCAR was wanting to encourage all of its employees to get involved in some way. Um didn't matter what the platform was or whatever, but it was an encouragement to get engaged, learn about it, you know. Um and so, you know, as I mentioned, I had probably I don't know, half dozen, eight different major departments reporting to me. And so I sent out the memo, you know, passed it along, and and very early on I decided, well, you know, I really need to learn and lead by example. And so I got with a young woman who works for me, and I said, Can you help? Can you? She I said, you know, what should I do? And at that time, and I said, Um, you know, I I can't be consumed by this, and and so on on. So You know, we kind of settled on what was then called Twitter. She helped me set up my original handle, which was actually ACUS mayor. I'm sorry, it was NASCAR mayor originally. And I did check with Mr. Burton to make sure that that was all right with him. Of course.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Trademarks are important.

SPEAKER_01 40:20

And, you know, she kind of gave me some pointers, but very early on, I had some concerns. Um, and they included practicality. And this was not something I could really, I really had a lot of time for. Uh, it was not something I wanted to get consumed by. And I had a fear, as many executives might, of becoming a target potentially. Uh, and so very early on, I decided that instead of presenting myself then as a um uh you know an ASCAR executive, I was presenting myself at what I really was still at heart, and that is a race fan. And that, you know, I was a race fan who, like many of our volunteers and officials, uh, are privileged to get access to places that a lot of other race fans may not uh or experience different things, and that I would just share it where I could. And the easiest thing for me was to walk around a racetrack um and just take a bunch of pictures. And when I had a little time or when I got back to the hotel or whatever, you know, send them out, you know, put put something, but basically send a picture um of where I was at or or what I was seeing. And if you've ever looked at my X feed, you know, you you never really see anything from all the meetings I attend and stuff like that. I mean, I may show you a conference room when I'm about to walk into a World Motorsport Council meeting or something like that. So you really don't see the job part of my job that I do when I'm at a race weekend. But as you say, I try to get around, I try to see everything, experience, and share. And so kind of that's how it started. Uh, and it's carried over to this day. Um, and I will say this probably in the I don't know how many years it's been, I'd have to go back to see when I first created the account. Um that my fear of being attacked, I I've probably been attacked fewer than a dozen times in my entire career. And it's a nice platform too, because if it's a vicious attack, you just block that person. So, but but I think that speaks volumes. I try to uh I try to show things that a lot of people don't see, some behind the scenes stuff, some of the fun stuff you might not realize. Um, but it's I also don't go into a race weekend with a uh shot list or um or looking for anything in particular. So one of the things that both of you know very well is that when the time permits, when my schedule permits, I do try to spend time visiting with volunteers and officials. Um, I've been very fortunate this year to be able to make it set to some of the early morning worker meetings. Usually that's been a challenge for me in the past because it's either conflicted with European Zooms I had to do or a lot of the other meetings I had to do. So I I've really been pleased to be able to do that. But wherever I can, you know, I was at literally I was at uh uh a historic event yesterday at Daytona International Speedway. HSR is running their uh Daytona Classic 24 uh this weekend. And uh even though I actually had meetings there as well, you know, I sent out a lot of pictures of vintage and historic cars. I was able to get at least one or two pictures in of uh, you know, the flag crew at turn, I don't know, 2A or whatever it was. So um, you know, when time permits, I really do that. And I do that because I've never forgotten where I come from. I've never forgotten the real importance of volunteers and officials. As some of you have seen, I I use a uh frequent phrase of uh volunteers and officials being the backbone of the sport, and I truly believe that. You know, uh for all the advances, for all the technology that's deployed nowadays, um, for everything else that's going on, volunteers and officials are still the ones that hold this together. And I don't just mean that in the context of uh road racing, for example. Jamie, you mentioned NHRA. NHRA has its own specialized volunteers uh and officials, they're called the safety safari, and obviously it's a different discipline with different needs and stuff, but it's the same idea. And it's also the same culture, it's uh the same camaraderie uh that I see in any other things. When I first became the president of Atkis at that time, it was not part of my job description, but I made a commitment to the six ACIS clubs that if I could during the course of the year, I would try to get to two major events for each of the six clubs. Well, you do the math with all my international travel for the FIA, for for you know my day job, for everything else, you know, that's 12 weekends right there. Uh, but knock on wood, other than during the pandemic itself, when there were really no races to go to for a long period, um, I've been able to do that. And that's been good for me uh because it keeps me in touch, you know, with what's going on. Uh it's one thing to read about it online or what have you. It's another whole thing to be there and get around and talk to people. So uh, and and one of the things I've really found that I just kind of alluded to a moment ago is as different as these different disciplines may be, we're all racers. I I've been pleasantly surprised over my career that when I'm traveling somewhere and going to an event, um, it may be in an area of the world or a uh discipline that I'm not really up to speed on, I almost always run into at least one person that I know. You know, maybe halfway across the globe, it may be uh uh Jim Cana, it may be a uh uh uh Rally Cross or uh God knows what. Um and it reminds me that as massive as our industry is, it's still a relatively small, tight-knit community. And I'm also surprised at the crossover I see. One of the other things that I started doing years ago, just mentally in the back of my mind, is when I go to events and I have an opportunity to be in areas where there are a lot of race fans, um, whether I can actually, you know, get out of the garage area and go over to the fan areas for some times, or just seeing the fans walking through the garages, is paying attention to their swag. Because, you know, when you go to a NASCAR race, you expect to see a lot of NASCAR paraphernalia. Um, but what I find interesting is the crossover stuff. You know, I will go to an NHRA event and see NASCAR or IndyCar apparel. Even at a NASCAR event, I will see apparel from other uh uh disciplines uh and you know, from Formula One, from you name it. Uh I think what a telling thing for me was when I first attended the Formula E event in New York City. This was at a period where Formula E really didn't even have any swag, or you know, there was relatively early on in development. And I I made a mental note there were people there in IMSA t-shirts and in other stuff, and I it just reminds me it's not just our insiders that are part of this tight-knit industry, it's race fans more often than you might suspect. So anyway, I don't even remember what your original question was. No, that's a tangent there.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

That's that's a great perspective. And uh I guess speaking of perspective, you've had the uh you know, you've had this uh really what I would call a storied career. Uh uh and uh where would you say motorsports is right now, both on a national and a global level? So what what's your take? Drive to survive has been a huge thing, of course, for Formula One, but as you alluded to, there are so many different takes on things. Uh WEC, I think, is a pendant again. You know, everybody has this level of up and down, I guess you could say, but in terms of of the overall scale of motorsports, how do you see things right now?

SPEAKER_01 49:41

Uh uh the short answer is I see motorsports is very strong right now. Uh you know, I I mentioned the the pandemic in passing a little while ago. Coming out of the pandemic, and people may not be aware of this, but it was really the United States that kind of led the way globally for that. Um there was a feeling on the part of the leadership of most of the major clubs here, or actually all the major clubs here, that we would see a spike initially. You know, people had been uh sheltering in place for months and stuff like that. And it was expected that there would be a spike once motorsports resumed. Um but the big fear was there would be a spike and then a plateau. So we came out of the pandemic, motorsports resumed, we saw the spike, but it didn't plateau. Okay. The curve may have gone up and down a little, but it has continued to grow uh to this day. Um you look at the involvement of everything from sponsors, broadcast rights. It doesn't matter whether it's national series in this country, international series. You know, you saw the deal that was just announced with Formula One at CODA about uh Apple, for example. Um, you know, that this sport is on a huge upswing. Jamie, you mentioned, I mean, you you can probably think of some series, uh particularly some you know, middle level or lower ones that kind of come and go. That's I think part of any sport or industry or what have you. Sure. But but overall, both on the domestic front and on the international front, that upward curve is still continuing.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

That's really cool. That's great to know too, because you know, I think a lot of Marshalls wonder, you know, are we going to be replaced by flag uh flagtronics or you know, TSP boards? And you know, it's it's great to see and kind of reassuring, I think, too. But um Yeah, so you've gotten to do some really cool things too, sort of uh because of your because of your fame. Uh fame, that's not the right word, but uh so at the most recent STCA runoffs, I ran into you there, and I know you ran into you know hundreds of people that you knew because you've seen us at everything and we've seen you at everything, but you were the grand marshal. That was kind of cool to see you out there at uh at the runoffs and taking everybody's hand. And in fact, you and I were on the same stage when we accepted when I accepted Jessica's worker of the year trophy. So, you know, it it everything comes around.

SPEAKER_01 52:40

Well, and congratulations, Jessica. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 52:45

That was very, very unexpected. And of all people too handed it to Jamie, it's so cool that it was you.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

Well I was there. Well, and it was also personal for me too, because you had introduced me to the SAE students um uh at the meeting in Coda. Uh, and that was you know one of the many things that were cited as the reason you you earned that award. So congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 53:12

Oh, thank you. They were they were thrilled to get to meet you. So, as you mentioned, you know, going to those marshal meetings, uh that was very, very cool of you to know.

SPEAKER_01 53:20

As far as being named a grand marshal, I was honored. Uh I'll Jamie, I'll be honest with you. It's the first time I had ever been named a grand marshal of anything. You know, I had to uh I had to do a little research to find out what what that even meant. Um and uh but um yeah the term Marshall, interestingly enough, uh not just Grand Marshall, but Marshall in general, is actually an old term. Um it it came from uh I don't know, somewhere in the Middle Ages or or something like that. And originally it referred to the person who was in charge of the horses. Okay. And um, you know, this was the Middle Ages. Uh warfare at that time was very dependent on horses, and so that became a very important position up to it, it wasn't you know, just keeping charge of the stables or anything like that. I mean, the the marshal uh eventually became the person who um who kept order in the court, the court being the castle or whatever it was in those days. Uh, and it was a highly respected person with a great deal of responsibility. So um uh when the SCCA first asked me to be the grand marshal, I looked that up and I said, well, you know, this is a relatively high position now. A grand marshal can mean an important marshal, or it could mean somebody with a wide girth. So but I said my joking reply to them as well, since it it you know comes stems from a title that has to do with uh someone involved with uh horsepower. I said it sounded like there was gonna be a lot of horsepower being assembled throughout America, so I would be honored to do it. Anyway, that was another tangent that you probably didn't need to know about. Oh no, loaded. No.

SPEAKER_02 55:26

And see, you didn't think you were gonna learn anything on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Oh, very cool. Well, so you know, going back to what you said at the beginning, you know, everyone probably thought you were nuts when you you turned down that management position in the construction world to do this. What would you what would you say to them now?

SPEAKER_01 55:48

Well, um rather than say something to them, I'd rather say something to uh the volunteers and officials or would-be ones who are listening to this podcast. Um and I I'm that I may be at a turn by saying that, because in addition to having my first grand marshal um role this year, this is the first time I've ever been on a podcast. But I meant what I said earlier. Uh, volunteers and officials are the backbone of our sport. I would encourage people, whether they've been doing this for years and years and years, um uh or just you know, interested in getting in, to pursue it as much as you can. The the sport really does depend on you. And I think it's important to, if the opportunity presents itself, to try to do it all at all different levels of the sport. People may aspire to be uh uh working an IMSA event, working a Formula One event, what have you. Uh, but the best way you learn, the best way you make connections with people, uh, the best way you build up your own resume is doing it as often as your job or daily life or whatever will permit, and at every level. You're going to learn something at your local or regional SCCA gathering. You're going to learn something if you're able to attend and work an indie car race. You know, you'll uh learn something at the WEC race at uh at Coda and stuff. So um don't limit yourself. You know, take advantage of the fact that this, particularly in this country, this is a huge, huge sport. Uh, and there's always something going on somewhere in this country. I had mentioned at the worker um meeting, I think it may have been at Road America for the runoffs, that um the FIA had designated October as uh Volunteers and Officials Month, which I think is great. I like to see that they're really emphasizing workers. But what I said was in addition to that, in this country, every month of the year is volunteers and officials uh month, because quite honestly, somewhere in this country, 12 months a year, motorsports is occurring. That's right. Yes, in the wintertime, it may just be on the west coast and southeast and and southwest and stuff like that, or it may be forms of ice racing, or gosh knows what. Um but but it's really the volunteers and workers who hold this all together. I don't think you need to worry about uh technology, Jamie. Uh uh some going out and picking up pieces of debris off the racetrack or or uh uh assisting a driver in distress or whatever. The technology is nice, it helps, but I don't see a day where technology replaces workers. In fact, if anything, I think with all this technology and and the way things have been going, workers are probably more important than they have ever been.

SPEAKER_02 59:13

Awesome. Well, that's a great place to leave it. Uh we want to be respectful of your time. You've got a busy day coming up in front of us as we record this. But uh, George Silberman, it's always great to speak with you and to see you again. And uh we'll see you at another track very shortly. I would imagine that would be Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 59:32

Uh yeah, my schedule between now and the end of the year is I have the NHRA finale in Pomona. I go directly from there to the Formula One event in Las Vegas, and then this year's FIA uh year end meetings and General Assembly are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Wow. So I have a little bit of traveling to do between now and the uh end of December.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:00

You have seen some great places and uh been to a lot of really cool racetracks. George Silverman, it's a pleasure having you on the podcast, and we thank you so much for your time. You've uh you've been a great sport to put up with uh some of this stuff. Uh, as I was thinking about being doubly generous with your time. So thank you very much, and uh we look forward to seeing you again in another racetrack real soon.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

Well, thanks to both of you, and thanks to all of you out there listening in.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

Thank you, George.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:36

So he's super modest, but the place where I get to see George the most on the uh F1 events, at least, when you know, we we talked at length about him going around the ring roads taking photos of Marshall stands, they don't show it on television as much. But you know, Jessica, at the beginning of every F1 event, they play the national anthem. And when they play the national anthem at an F1 event, though it's not televised, it's still a big deal. They have the flyover, they have you know the television, the trophy is there, there's a podium standing at the front. Now, for the national anthem, there's a second podium where all the drivers are, they're all facing each other, by the way. But on that front podium, in all of the Grand Prix in America, the rightmost position is George Silberman.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:40

And that's pretty cool. Yes, and the at Coda for the United States Grand Prix, one of the trophies on the podium was presented by George Silberman. Again. That's pretty cool. He's a big deal, and he's like, and he won't he won't ever say it, and you would never know it to look at him because he's just so charming, so innocuous, you know, he he he's just unassuming, and he's perfect for that job.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:18

He is. He doesn't have an ego about any of it, you know. He and I I think that you know, he he came as a marshal, he worked his way up, and so that's not lost on him that you know, kind of where he came from and how important it is, all the stuff that goes on. But yeah, he's he's a super cool guy. It's we're so privileged to have gotten to get to know him, I think, from you know, all the times when he came to be like, hey, can I take a picture for the years until we kind of have recently more gotten, you know, to actually personally know him and just yeah, what a what a cool guy. And and if you are an ex formerly Twitter user, um, look him up. It's Akis Mayer. So that's A-C-C-U-S-M-A-Y-O-R. That's his name, it's his username. And uh you will see probably literally hundreds of pictures over the years of Marshall's and other interesting little articles and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

And if you if you look it up based on your racing resume, if you remember some guy walking to your post to take your team's picture, chances are you'll find yourself on that feed. I know I've been on it seven or eight times at least, you know, just over the years. Just can I take your picture? Sure. Click bang, and he away he goes. But it it's really, really neat. I mean, he's very approachable, um, super intelligence, got an amazing resume. You know, I mean what a what a story, you know, Jess. We always ask our guests how they got started. I think that's one of the the best how they got started stories that any of our guests have ever told us. I mean, your first event, you're the pitout marshal. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:01

And then have to jump out of the way. Right. Yeah. Oh man. But that and just the the whole thing that he like he kind of said, he everybody probably thought he was nuts when he turned down this, you know, big opportunity in construction for this. And it's like, you know, that that just goes to show that he had that gut feeling that no, this this is the right way to go. And like how cool that it worked out the way it did. And I think it's just it's inspirational not to be corny that you you can make a career out of this if you're willing to put in. Because as we said, he's very modest, but I'm sure he worked extremely hard to do it done, you know. So it's not just that he fell into these things, like, no, there's there's a reason he was there. Like he absolutely so yeah, I had to laugh. I have to say, there was one part when he was talking about going to the uh different races and seeing people wearing merch from other series, and it reminded me this is a stupid reference, but there was this uh movie in the 90s called PCU, and there's this line about this guy going to a concert wearing the shirt of the band that was playing, and they said, Don't be that guy. You know, there's this whole thing about don't wear the shirt of the band you're going to see. And so that reminded me of that of like, don't wear an ASCAR shirt at an ASCAR event, wear an insert, you know, whatever, you know, whatever. So that kind of reminded me of that of like, yeah, you should diversify. Where wear the swag of other other series and other anyway, stupid. You can you can cut that out, Stevie.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

Yeah, you're right. Yeah, you know I won't. So that uh you know, Jessica dropping her concert, concert uh bombs on us, and it's awesome. Yeah, and uh I I think that's really cool. And I love looking at the swag from other folks, you know. We we as you I don't even do you click swag? I know I do.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:51

You know, I I do I don't wear it as much. I'm you know, I I do this because I just love working events with cool people. I'm not like a racing super fan. So yeah, I I'll I don't really seek it out, but if it's given to us as it often is at these things, yeah, of course. But um I agree in the sense that I think it's better to wear swag of something else because it's such a conversation piece, right? I mean, every if you're at a NASCAR event, you're there because you like NASCAR. So if you're wearing a NASCAR shirt, you're not really, you know, okay, yeah, that's not that's a given. But if you're wearing like an IndyCar, that might spark a conversation with somebody. You never you never know. I I don't know. I think it's cool to wear stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:30

I can't tell you how many times I've been stopped because I've been you know wearing uh uh F1 shirt from you know various events that that we've done. The Vegas ones tend to have people stop more. I think because it's newer and yeah, their swag is very noticeable. Yes, oh that's Vegas. And it's it's emblazoned, yes. Yeah, and a lot of people a lot of people will ask you, particularly in airports, you know, places where people gather is like were you there? They always think we're fans. Yeah, no, no, I was unofficial there, and then then that opens up the conversation. Yes, you know that's always kind of cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:09

It's a great recruiting tool, especially the first year of Vegas. Um, the the stuff they gave us said race operations on the back, yes, which was really cool and very multi-faceted. Like, I feel like there was it was the Super Tour Enola after that. Like, I think like seven of us brought that jacket to Nola because it worked. You know, the Vegas logo itself was teeny tiny on the front, but the back was just emblazoned with race operations. Like, how perfect is this? You can wear this anywhere, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:39

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:40

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:42

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:43

Yeah, but uh yeah, no, that was a good way. I think I think this was a great one to kind of wrap up. This is like about our our first year approximately.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:52

Yeah, we're winding up a year of the podcast. We started it in January or February of 2025, and yeah, it's been quite a year. It's kind of funny, you know, Jess. You and I have been kind of sitting here chatting about things and and uh from our perspective, involved in it as we are. I mean, I think we just have done the same thing the whole time, but it's funny to have hear the comments from people about how the podcast has evolved. So I'm I'm honored by those comments because I don't feel like we're really doing that much different, but I guess we're getting better at what we do.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:33

Well, maybe that's it is very kind of people people say that. I I mean we just you know, we this was started, you know, just you would, you know, you have a quite a background in radio broadcasting and all this kind of stuff. And when you had to Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, oh that's right, and your your your PA work for you know, announce that yes, all that stuff. And you had reached out to me about it was it was about a year ago because we were gonna we were gonna attempt to do some uh on location stuff in Vegas last year and it didn't really pan out. But you had reached out to me initially and you said, Oh, I think I'm gonna start a podcast. And I said, Oh, if you need like a Andy Richter, Ed McMahon kind of person, let me know. And then you were like, Well, that's that's why I'm reaching out to you. And I was very, very honored, and um, it's it's been a really cool experience, you know. I think is just kind of a for fun thing that we were doing. And it's always great to chat about all this kind of stuff because you know, we we go way back and we both I think have done a lot of different specialties within this. I feel like we have a pretty pretty wide knowledge of a lot of the marshalling kind of specialties and stuff. So that's I think it's been a good it's been a lot of fun. I I don't I come from this kind of background at all as far as broadcast etiquette. I probably need to take uh take a class and all that, but but uh no, it is nice to we've got some really nice feedback from people and it's it's cool to hear that it seems like it's resonating, I hope.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:01

Um, but we and I think just for me, it's been um just thinking about, you know, we started having guests on pretty early in in this whole thing, and how many people we just are friends with that are a huge deal, you know. It's like how what a privilege that is to just know so many people. And I think some of them, you know, we kind of quote unquote grew up together, you know, we were all just whatever together, and then it's cool to see these people go off and like, oh, I knew them when you know, before all this. So what a what a cool thing of all the cool people we've we've gotten to chat with.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:37

Agreed 100%. So highlights, what what was your all of our guests have been amazing. I I can't no, except that one guy. No, just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:48

Oh, yeah. No, I think I think they've all I don't know, I feel like we've definitely learned something new every time. I feel like, you know, I'd like to think our our listeners do too. There's always, you know, we kind of try to come up with a few like kind of standard topics, you know. We always ask, How did you get started in this or whatever? But there's always something that'll come up that I would have never expected to have come up, you know. Like there's always something that we we learn, but I don't know. We I don't know. I can't think of any. They're all they're all our children. They're our mind, yeah. They're like, you know, like I can't pick one that I like, you know, better than the other ones.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:26

I feel like I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:26

What about you?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:28

Um, I'm the same. I mean, I I have I don't know, interviews that that I think kind of meant the most and guests I never thought we would ever get on the program. Um and we're still working on a couple of whiz bangers for y'all. Um I I just I love that that we started with the focus on marshalling, and don't worry, we're never gonna lose that. Um you know how to get started in marshalling and and what it takes to be a marshal, but also showing the the other side, the the administrative side, all the work that goes into a race when we're not at the track. You know, um as we record this, you're hearing it after Vegas, but we're recording it before Vegas, and just yesterday, you know, flurry of emails would come my way. Well, we're gonna, you know, what time do you want this meeting at? What where do you want it? You know, and just little things going on. There's work going on to prepare races far in advance of when the Marshalls actually show up, you know. So for many marshals, you know, their their race week is when it they start to, you know, think about you know, making their travel plans and or you know, executing and packing and doing all the things they're gonna do. But the race work has been going on in several cases for months, you know. I mean, it if you look at Coda, the race is in October, but the track begins actually setting up the tents and the the temporary facilities that will house the fans that weekend in June. Yep, you know, people don't realize how much effort goes into the preparation of one of these events, be it a small SCCA club race or an F1 event, you know, and everything in between, weeks and weeks of work go into it. And it's been really fun talking to people who do that. And it's because, as you said, Jess, we've got access to these people that come to Coda, you know, for their portion of the events that you know agree to sit down with us and and share what they do and and you know why they love what they do. And you know, it's it's been fascinating to see all of the layers of the onion peeled back, I guess, so to speak, to use a terrible metaphor.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:10

No, it's it's it totally makes sense. And I think it just it's as many people as we've talked to that have, you know, I think everyone we've talked to, you know, it's like they started here and they ended, they've they're now they're here, you know. Uh, you know, and it's just I think it's cool to, you know, you always hear those kind of things. Oh, yeah, if you work hard enough, it'll happen. And people like, yeah, that's a one in a million thing. Well, look at how many people we've talked to that that's absolutely happened because they worked really hard to get to it. I think, you know, not to toot our own home, but you and me included, we've gotten some extraordinary uh opportunities. Um, we wanted, do we we wanted to, you know, try other things and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:49

Somebody said, Do you want to try this? And yeah, we said yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:53

So I think it's just, you know, we've had, I don't know, between all of us, a dozen people or whatever that have have had that happen and have talked about it on the show that it's if if it's kind of it's not just a who you know, it's not a right place, right time. Like this is one of those industries where you absolutely have to know what you're doing because there's so much safety involved with it. You know, I previously worked in kind of live music event world, and that there was a lot of that if you knew the right people, you could get hired on. And but this is it's yes, and maybe there's times when it helps just to get the foot in the door, but it's like you you can't just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk too because like there's the safety implications are massive if something goes wrong.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:39

More than anything, like is it work in the music world? I mean, yes, of course, it's very important there too, but it's just it's a whole different world when yeah you got like very high-speed moving vehicles, you know, that could that could, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:52

I mean, it's yeah, things can go pear-shaped very, very quickly.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:56

Yeah, yeah, definitely. But uh no, this has been such a cool uh experience. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd I'd be on a podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:06

A much less co-hosting it.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:07

Yeah, so thank you for uh in inviting me along this ride. I think it's been very cool, and I look forward to to seeing. I don't know why what what do we got in 2026? What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:18

Oh, we've got some we've got some doozies lined up in terms of interviews, and what's really cool is that um, well, I'm sure we'll go into it in a little depth, but people in some high-up places are starting to learn about this little podcast that we have, and it's kind of cool because when we ask them if we can interview them, we're getting a lot of yeses, and uh, we have not actually had a lot of no's. It it's more of a a matter of timing, but we've got some guests that are in the pipeline that will get 2026 off to a roaring start, and I'm really excited by uh some of the things that we've got planned. So yeah, I think it's gonna be even better next year.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:10

I think I think so. Um, I uh I'd love to hear from if from anybody that that's a listener, you know, please send it send in any ideas or if you wanna if you want to come on or whatever, we'd love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:22

And especially from places around the world, you know, Europe, Australia, um anywhere. If you've got racing going on, want to send us kind of a a little report or something that we can use from your end of the world, we'd love to do it. Every phone has a phone recording app, you know, and the iPhone is called Voice Memos. Click the record button, send us something, and uh you never know how it might show up. And uh, you know, that's that's part of the beauty of this kind of thing is that we can be flexible and um we'll we're happy to include anything you've got, be it uh feedback or audio clips or something like that, and uh share it with us, and more importantly, share the podcast with uh your friends and those in the marshalling world and in the marshalling tent or office or building or however you you do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:20

Yeah, definitely. And I think it's also been cool that it's I feel like you know, yes, that we had the two audiences we always talk about, you know, we have the existing and then the people that want to do it. So I don't know. I'd I'd love to hear from some people that maybe uh were new to marshalling and maybe maybe heard this and have since gotten into it. We'd love to hear if if it was helpful at all. Maybe it wasn't, I don't know. That's and that's fine.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:46

But it would be cool to to know if this is, you know, because we kind of do this, we do it for fun, number one, but I think it's also well, you know, hopefully it's it's informative in some way.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:55

Uh well, yeah. A lot of people are like, How do you get started? Well, we have a podcast that kind of explains it, is become my go-to answer for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:04

Yeah, so hopefully somebody people are getting getting something out of it, but uh it's not just a vanity project for us.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:11

Absolutely. Well, Jess, it's uh time to wrap up another episode of Track Side the Podcast. As always, it's been fun sitting and chatting with you about racing, and um, you know, it's been a good year, and uh let's get 2026 off to a good start too pretty soon.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:29

Sounds good. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:31

All right. Well, want to let you know that this podcast is copyright of its owners and creators. Though Jessica and I are employed by Circuit of the Americas, nothing we say represents an official opinion of or endorsement from the circuit or any of their clients or series we might mention. Every opinion you hear on this program is the opinion of the speaker. It's gonna wrap it up. We will see you in 2026, and we'll catch you on another episode very soon of. Truckside the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:02

Bye.