On this weeks episode of The Downshift
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 When I'm in the car, it's very quiet, even though the motor is super loud.
00:17 I'm in the zone.
00:19 I don't wanna talk to people, and I kind of sit there, and
00:22 I focus on what the race is actually going to look like.
00:25 I focus on seeing me win.
00:27 I want the best reaction time.
00:29 I've got to come off the line first.
00:31 I just kind of go, okay, Nicole, we're gonna get ready.
00:34 This is what this race is gonna look like.
00:36 This is what you're gonna look like winning this race.
00:38 [MUSIC]
00:48 [SOUND]
00:58 >> Out of Tynesville, Florida,
01:03 his 89 Chevy Camaro, a new matchup here with Bruce Gurt.
01:07 >> Gurt, Auburn, Florida.
01:09 [MUSIC]
01:18 >> Well, of course, I'm a big muscle car fan.
01:21 So anything from your SS 396 Chevelles to 69 Camaros to Novas.
01:27 I just think that they have so much character and so much stomp down
01:31 horsepower that a lot of our cars, of course, today don't have.
01:35 Your Ferraris, paddle shifts, and you do all that.
01:37 Now, I wanna actually shift gears, pushing that clutch and
01:41 actually have to pull that, her shifter down.
01:44 And I'm big on that, so I like those, those cars are my favorite.
01:48 [SOUND]
01:55 My top sportsman, an HRA car, is a beef, I'm gonna tell you.
01:58 It's a Jerry Bickle built car.
02:00 It is the only car out there in top sportsman racing or in drag racing that
02:06 I've seen that's painted by West Coast choppers and
02:08 Jesse James when he still had West Coast choppers.
02:11 So it's really sick.
02:12 It has this tricked out paint with flakes and it looks like a motorcycle.
02:16 It definitely doesn't look like a girl's car and that's what I love about it.
02:19 [SOUND]
02:22 It's got a Steve Schmidt motor in it.
02:24 It's got about roughly 1,700 horsepower, six second, a quarter mile car.
02:29 It's incredible and the way it's built and
02:32 four link system on it, Mark Williams rear end.
02:36 It's just an incredible, incredible piece and I'm so proud of it.
02:39 Every time I get out there on the track, she makes me proud.
02:43 [SOUND]
02:53 I got into NASCAR actually this year.
03:00 My decision to move over to NASCAR really was a hard decision cuz I love
03:04 drag racing and I grew up drag racing, but the dollars [LAUGH]
03:09 just don't equate that well in drag racing and
03:13 I've always wanted to branch over to NASCAR.
03:16 And I kind of figured since I moved to the south and
03:19 made this big push in racing, it just kept coming at me.
03:22 Then I finally decided, you know what, I'm gonna make that switch.
03:24 I'm gonna do it.
03:25 I tried it.
03:26 I loved it.
03:27 The competition in it is so fierce and it's just, it's incredible how many
03:32 factors go into just even qualifying in the top ten and even actually winning a race.
03:37 [SOUND]
03:47 Both teams are just exceptional and we both are like families.
03:59 We could hang with each other for 24 hours in a day.
04:03 We all take pride in what it is that we're doing and
04:05 I think that's what makes us such an incredible team.
04:08 And we're crazy.
04:10 We're not your normal type of individuals.
04:12 We like to have fun.
04:14 My team pulls a lot of pranks on me.
04:16 They tell jokes all the time and because I'm so into the hip hop stuff and
04:20 just so west coast on them, they like to go back and research.
04:24 If I'm listening to a certain song and it's a hip hop song,
04:27 then next week they'll come out and on my radio set they'll be like,
04:30 you know like Jay-Z said in that song?
04:32 And I'm like, did you really go back and
04:34 research what Jay-Z was talking about in that song?
04:37 They're like, and when we come into turn one and two,
04:39 we need to ride out like Jay-Z would ride out.
04:41 I'm like, okay, here we go.
04:43 [SOUND]
04:47 When I suit up, I feel like I'm ready for work.
04:49 People always ask me, Nicole, you still have your suit on?
04:53 And it'll be all day that I wear my suit.
04:56 And it's like, it could be hot as ever.
04:58 I still have my suit on.
04:59 But I'm like, yeah, I have my suit on.
05:01 I'm at work, right?
05:02 Like we're here to work, right?
05:03 I don't go taking my suit off.
05:05 I leave it on the whole day.
05:07 I wanna feel like a race car driver the whole day that I'm at the track and
05:11 that's just me.
05:12 [MUSIC]
05:15 It's crazy kind of being a woman in a male dominated sport,
05:18 especially being a black woman in a male dominated sport.
05:22 You come against your guys that are like, hey, it's great that you're here.
05:27 We support you, we like you.
05:29 Then you come across people that are just like, she can't drive or
05:34 I don't know why she's out here or why don't you go stand by the car and
05:37 look pretty or whatever it may be.
05:40 At the end of the day though, I wouldn't have it any other way.
05:43 [MUSIC]
05:53 If you like me, you like me.
05:53 If you don't, you don't.
05:55 But that's one thing about being around guys is for the most part,
05:59 they're kind of give you how they feel about you straight up.
06:02 And women, when you're a bunch of women, it's like, hey girl.
06:06 And then they turn around like, I can't, yeah, I can't stand her.
06:11 So I kind of enjoy the fact that guys,
06:14 they keep it way more 100 than women do.
06:17 I like to stick out.
06:19 I like being that pink elephant amongst the room, have that wow factor.
06:23 And I think it's something that's really rewarding to my sponsors as well,
06:26 cuz I do stand out.
06:28 And there isn't a lot of women out there.
06:30 [MUSIC]
06:38 I'm just thankful, really.
06:40 I keep saying that, but I'm just thankful to be in the car and
06:42 thankful to be racing.
06:44 And I've had so many people tell me no, that you shouldn't be driving, or
06:48 you shouldn't do this, or whatever it may be.
06:51 That it's just like, for the most part,
06:53 most people are negative about it than positive about it.
06:56 And for me, it's just so rewarding to be in the car and to be able to stage up and
07:00 do what it is that I'm doing and get the car from A to B and win races and go rounds.
07:05 It's just, my family's very thankful for that.
07:07 We've sacrificed a lot to be there.
07:09 [MUSIC]
07:10 I hardly eat when it comes to race day.
07:13 I always feel like I get lethargic or I'm gonna weigh the car down.
07:16 I know it sounds extremely crazy, you weigh 110 pounds,
07:19 how are you gonna weigh the car down?
07:21 But it just feels like if I have that burger, [LAUGH] we're gonna go a little
07:25 slower, and my reaction time.
07:28 So I'm always trying to feed the other drivers.
07:31 Don't you want a burger?
07:33 Don't you wanna eat?
07:33 Isn't it lunchtime?
07:34 Shouldn't you be eating something?
07:36 I'm hoping that I can maybe gain some traction on having a better reaction time
07:40 than them, but it hardly ever works.
07:43 The guys out there are so competitive.
07:44 you