Addressing the Elephant in the Room

But I guess we can go ahead and start with what went out today, and that is the announcement that myself and Carol Speedshop, as part of Waze...

This is not a decision that was taken lightly on either end.

If you know me and know my situation over the last three years, the Carrolls have been very important people in my life.

And Carroll Speed Shop in general was and still is or does hold a large place in my racing heart and my racing life in general.

So everything that went down this year, I guess...

Honestly, it kind of led up to this situation, and there is no ill will between me or Justin or John.

I love them like family.

You know, they went out on a limb for me in 2024 whenever we were struggling.

I was struggling.

We really didn't have a lot going as far as the car store goes.

Yeah.

Carroll Speed Shop also was not finding the success that they necessarily needed at the time to keep the business operating, at least moving forward.

And so it made sense for me to be able to go over there and work with them to build a program back up.

And, you know, albeit this ending is not what I had in mind or what Justin or John Carroll had in mind or the fans in general as well.

I know you guys have become accustomed to the Carrolls and what we do through all of our videos, but...

The ending isn't what we wanted.

However, when you take a step back and you look at what the goals were for my time at Carroll Speed Shop, I feel that we did accomplish what we set out to accomplish.

No, we did not win a championship, and I did not win a car store race, although I choked one away last year, and I felt like we had the opportunity to win one.

That's still a nightmare I have every once in a while.

Yeah,

me too, RJ.

If you think you're having a nightmare, I have it as well, just three times as bad.

But I think from an outside looking in or a broad perspective, my goal or our goal by them bringing me into the fold at Carroll Speed Shop was that we can take the 57 car or Carroll Speed Shop in general and return them back to being a contender on the car store and help their business get back to where they can rent race cars out and make a solid living and continue to move forward with the business that they had built.

For me, it was an opportunity to step into a race car that I knew was going to be competitive.

I had input on what chassis we needed to get, the motors we had.

But I guess we can go ahead and start with what went out today, and that is the announcement that myself and Carol Speedshop, as part of Waze...

This is not a decision that was taken lightly on either end.

If you know me and know my situation over the last three years, the Carrolls have been very important people in my life.

And Carroll Speed Shop in general was and still is or does hold a large place in my racing heart and my racing life in general.

So everything that went down this year, I guess...

Honestly, it kind of led up to this situation, and there is no ill will between me or Justin or John.

I love them like family.

You know, they went out on a limb for me in 2024 whenever we were struggling.

I was struggling.

We really didn't have a lot going as far as the car store goes.

Yeah.

Carroll Speed Shop also was not finding the success that they necessarily needed at the time to keep the business operating, at least moving forward.

And so it made sense for me to be able to go over there and work with them to build a program back up.

And, you know, albeit this ending is not what I had in mind or what Justin or John Carroll had in mind or the fans in general as well.

I know you guys have become accustomed to the Carrolls and what we do through all of our videos, but...

The ending isn't what we wanted.

However, when you take a step back and you look at what the goals were for my time at Carroll Speed Shop, I feel that we did accomplish what we set out to accomplish.

No, we did not win a championship, and I did not win a car store race, although I choked one away last year, and I felt like we had the opportunity to win one.

That's still a nightmare I have every once in a while.

Yeah,

me too, RJ.

If you think you're having a nightmare, I have it as well, just three times as bad.

But I think from an outside looking in or a broad perspective, my goal or our goal by them bringing me into the fold at Carroll Speed Shop was that we can take the 57 car or Carroll Speed Shop in general and return them back to being a contender on the car store and help their business get back to where they can rent race cars out and make a solid living and continue to move forward with the business that they had built.

For me, it was an opportunity to step into a race car that I knew was going to be competitive.

I had input on what chassis we needed to get, the motors we had.