Perched high above the crowd with a radio and pair of binoculars, NASCAR Spotter Tab Boyd has been the eyes and ears for some of racing’s biggest names. We go behind the scenes of NASCAR, explore the life of a spotter, talk track fights and reveal what racing teams really think of certain tracks. Then, we sound out a special Top 5 Countdown.

Tab Boyd: 02:14ish

Pointless: 42:23ish

Top 5: 59:53

nickvinzant@gmail.com

https://www.tiktok.com/@tab_boyd (Tab Boyd TikTok)

https://twitter.com/Spotter_Tab (Tab Boyd Twitter)

https://www.instagram.com/thetabboyd (Tab Boyd Instagram)

Interview with NASCAR Spotter Tab Boyd

Nick VinZant 0:11

Welcome to Profoundly Pointless. My name is Nick VinZant. Coming up in this episode, the eyes and ears of racing, and the best sounds.

Tab Boyd 0:21

Once you're up on the roof, and you're the one with a radio and you're the one with a button and a restart happens, you're like, holy moly, these cars are going fast. I started whenever I was in high school, sweeping floors cleaning up shop, my mom worked out a deal to get the bus driver to drop me off at a race shop that was not far from our house, three wide and two whites on us for wide, the entire day, bumper to bumper. And if you can slip and move, and it's like a high speed game of chess, and you're just you're planning moves miles ahead of whenever it actually happens.

Nick VinZant 1:00

I want to thank you so much for joining us. If you get a chance, subscribe, leave us a rating or review, we really appreciate it really helps us out. I know I've been saying this for a while. But next week, we are going to be launching the new voicemail system or trying to make the show a lot more interactive. So we're gonna have all of those details for you. I'm really excited about it. I hope it works. And looking forward to making you guys a much bigger part of the show. So our first guest is perched high above the crowd with a pair of binoculars and a radio. He is the eyes and ears for some of NASCAR's biggest names. And he has this fascinating insight into the drivers, the tracks and what NASCAR is really like. Even if you don't really like racing, it's just it's so interesting to hear how all of this really works. And the ins and outs of what goes in two racing cars at 200 plus miles an hour. This is NASCAR spotter, tab boy. So what is what is a NASCAR spotter? What are you doing?

Tab Boyd 2:19

I have to admit it is a really good job. It's a very unique position, we stand on the top of the control tower, which is usually above the grandstands of the racetrack, we have two way radios that were able to talk to the driver and the crew, mainly the crew chief. But we have direct communication with the NASCAR driver during the race. So our main objective is to keep them safe, keep the car safe, and help them navigate their traffic. But there's tons of other responsibilities that we have during the race. So we are the liaison between the NASCAR officials and telling them messages whether it's a penalty or position on the track things of that nature. So during the race, we have to be on it from the drop of the green to the drop of the checker, whether it's green flag, caution flag or red flag, there's so much information being processed that we have to pass along and look for. So it's a cool deal.

Nick VinZant 3:20

Why would a driver need this I guess, with these race cars,

Tab Boyd 3:23

they're closed cockpit. So these cars with all the safety equipment that the drivers have, they're in a very confined seat. They have head risks that really hold their head straight in case of an accident. They have a full face helmet. So the cockpit is very tight knit and you will be claustrophobic if that sort of thing bothers you. But they're able to see straight in front of them. And they have a mirror just like a streetcar that shows what's going on behind them. Other than that they have no view of what's going on. So if just put in, like if you were going down the interstate, and you weren't able to turn your head to look right or left if he had somebody sitting beside you that was able to look all around and say okay, you can merge to the right now you just turn over and go to the right. So that's what we're doing through the radio, we're giving them what's going on around them. If somebody is faster or slower, what they're doing is either helping them or hurting them as far as lanes because the tracks are several lanes wide. So we're looking for so many things like how aggressive they are entering the corner, meaning speed, like some places are over 200 miles an hour entering the corner. So if they can back up the entry to go a little slower in and by slower, I mean just a few miles per hour so that the tires grip better to have a better speed through the center. So we're looking at all this stuff.

Nick VinZant 4:52

Okay, I don't know anything about NASCAR. So, but to me listening to this, it's like I kind of feel like you're driving the car.

Tab Boyd 5:00

Oh, that's it, it's the next best thing. That's for sure. You're so involved in what's going on you, you have the strategy part of it. And it's super intense.

Nick VinZant 5:12

I know you're doing a lot of different things. But if you had to, say a primary focus, are you primarily washing your driver? Or are you primarily watching the other cars around your driver,

Tab Boyd 5:22

there's very little focus on your car, actually. So you, we always have binoculars, even if it's a short track, you have them in your hand, in case there's a bump up or car damage, you can quickly look at what's going on. And that's also to clear them, like if they're in a tight battle, and they need to squeeze up to the wall, you're telling them whether they're clear or not. And a lot of times, they can see in their mirror that these guys are good. Now we're talking about the best 40 drivers in the country, and some sun would say the world, but you are just helping them guide through the day. They, they know what's going on most of the time, but there's that little percentage where they might be in a battle and you can help them slip up into a hole that they need to be in to then gain speed for the next lap. So yeah, it's it's sheer intensity.

Nick VinZant 6:19

You fill out a job application. Just get down there one day, or how'd you get this,

Tab Boyd 6:24

I was thinking about this the other day, how very lucky I am. So this is my 25th year traveling on a NASCAR race team. I started whenever I was in high school, sweeping floors cleaning up shop, I would, I would get the bus driver, my mom worked out a deal to get the bus driver to drop me off at a race shop that was not far from our house. So I literally would get off the bus and go clean up a race shop after school. And that's just what I did. You know, we a lot of people play sports or do other things. But I grew up with my dad racing short tracks my entire childhood. So it wasn't new to me, you know, I've been around race cars for ever, I was at the racetrack when I was two weeks old. So I've become very lucky to be able to be around it and get to know so many people in the sport. And I've never actually filled out a true blue job application. You know, it's you get to know people you make connections, the I would say it's a lot like a baseball or football team, where people know the set of skills that this player has, and they want you on their team or you might fit in to a certain mode of of the driver. You know, an aggressive driver needs someone that's calm on the radio, or a calm driver need somebody that's aggressive on the radio. So there's so many things that play into the success of the racecar so I've been very lucky to be able to progress and stay into the sport as long as I have.

Nick VinZant 8:03

Can you say like okay, my driver one because of the spotter or they lost because of the spotter. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He would have won. But that tab Boyd guys, I told him to break when he should have gas.

Tab Boyd 8:17

There are some tracks that we race that say Daytona Talladega that we consider super speedways. And as a spotter, we really love those racetracks because we feel that we have more of an input of what's going on with the car, and how to navigate through the traffic then we do the other places, because the draft is so much into play. There are three wide and two whites on those four wide, the entire day, bumper to bumper. And if you can slip and move and it's like a high speed game of chess. And you're just you're planning moves miles ahead of whenever it actually happens. Yes, you there are a couple of tracks throughout the year that you could definitely be the one who helps win. But there's a saying that that's been around a long time, you're not going to help them win very often, but you're sure can make them lose.

Nick VinZant 9:18

That makes a lot of sense. Right? Like you you can mess it up. Absolutely. Yeah. Is that fair? Or is that just the part of the job? Well,

Tab Boyd 9:26

that's part of the job. I mean, we understand how much is at stake. I mean, each one of us were lucky enough that maybe 40 people in the world good to make a living doing what we do. And you are responsible for millions 10s of millions of dollars worth of equipment. And so you have to be sharp. Whenever the green flag drops you have to be on it focused what's going on because you have the the race team, you have an organization that might have 500 people People working in it every day of every week. And all their work goes to the racetrack, and you're responsible for it. And so it's you and the driver out there. And then they have the pitstops, or the pit crews got to be fast, and they have to do their job. It's a lot of responsibility. But I don't get nervous before races anymore. It's almost excitement because you know, the preparation that you have. And we talk a lot about different situations. So you're, you're building up to the moment of the race. So nothing's a surprise that you could say. But having said that, you've got to be ready for anything. Because every single race has its own personality, there can be a day where man the race is going to click, there's no cautions. And then they're like, just for instance, we ran a race it Nashville had two lightning delays, we had a rainstorm go through, and it ended at almost midnight. So you have to be ready for any situation.

Nick VinZant 11:03

When you're talking to the drivers, like, go left, go right? Watch 21 Are you more like longer form? Alright, so two laps from now you're gonna want to be able to drift over, like how does the conversation usually go?

Tab Boyd 11:17

on restarts? That's whenever is the most critical timing, I think, because you have a lot going on a lot of information going at a short amount of time. So the lingo is quick, it's either clear or not clear, you have one outside, inside that means to the right or left. And they know exactly what you're talking about. Because they know where they're at on the track. If you say outside, they know that someone's to their right, and they can't use the whole racetrack. So having said that, there's a lot of quick lingo on a restart, because everybody that's the most critical time jockeying for position and putting yourself to where you need to be for a long haul. So you're going hard as you can trying to get every edge and then you all of a sudden have to go into a mode where, okay, we have to make these tires last 50 laps, we can't dig up our car, we can't hit the wall, we can't do this or do that we have to stay out of trouble. So you automatically start racing the stopwatch start rate us as a race the clock. And that means focus on a bath lap time. And pacing yourself basically because if you go too hard for a short amount of time, you're gonna wear tires out, go slower, heat everything up, if you can just be consistent. Most of the time, that's better in the long haul. So there's a there's a lot of strategy to

Nick VinZant 12:44

putting all kinds of humbleness aside, like what makes you good at Well,

Tab Boyd 12:48

whenever I was younger, I raised short tracks quite a bit. I built built my own cars. I'm a fabricator by trade. So learn how to weld cut, build, mainly the whole race car. So I respect the process that it takes to build these things. Because they are works of art, these these race cars are so nice whenever they hit the ground of the racetrack before the race weekend starts. And they're truly works of art. And I think the respect that I have for the fabricators and the mechanics and the engineering, that all goes into building the car. And then having a little bit of experience behind the wheel. I never went to a high level drive. It's like locals Saturday night short track racing. But I know what it's like for the car to be loose. I know what it's like for the car to be tight not handle well of experience, the brakes not working properly, or the steering being heavy in your hand. Lots of little situations that you're only going to know what it's like by fit by doing it. So that helps a ton. Being able to relate to what the driver is feeling. So that you're not just saying, Oh man, you need to go faster. Why can't you do this? Or why can't you do that? Because they're in the car. It is super hot in those cars. When the car's not handling properly, they are hard to draw even when they're handling good. They're hard to drive. So it's, I think that I understand what the driver is going through and the process that it takes for the cars to get there. And try to apply that and and make a good day out of

Nick VinZant 14:31

what happens more often does the driver generally Is he just going to agree and be like, Okay, I'm doing that, or is it kind of a back and forth like no, you're not seeing what I'm doing?

Tab Boyd 14:41

It's a there's a it could go either way there so there's different series a spot in the truck series, they extended the series and the cup series and NASCAR so different levels of experience for the drivers as well as the The experience of the team you know, some teams are small some teams are powerhouses, some teams have 100 engineers working, some teams have five engineers working. So you have to let all that mesh together. And a lot of that is the preparation of during the week communicating with your team, understanding what the track is like that we're going to like, for instance, this weekend, we're going to a road course that has 15 or 16 turns. So it's going to be very, very unique weekend. So we know what we're getting into. We know what to look for we, we try not to be harsh on each other, but there are times a tempers flare, and it's mainly not at each other. But sometimes it is like if a if a car is not him handling to their liking, and they can't understand why we can't fix it. And you have to be the liaison and say, hey, it's it's alright, let's make the best of today and get through it. Because you're always gonna be racing next week in

Nick VinZant 16:01

here, just yell at a driver, like, you're not right, or is that gonna like that like UFC? Oh, like, you can't just do that?

Tab Boyd 16:11

Yeah. It gets a little sensitive every now and then

Nick VinZant 16:15

you got to massage it a little bit

Tab Boyd 16:17

like, Absolutely.

Nick VinZant 16:18

gone a little faster in that.

Tab Boyd 16:23

Yeah, there's so many times that how you say something is definitely and I learn a learn every weekend, something different, something new. Whenever I was younger, I was pretty hot headed. And and I don't know what reputation is all that stuff? Because I do what I think is right. And a lot of people do I respect people that get mad about it, because they want it and they want to do well. So if somebody gets crashed or somebody does something, they shouldn't do them. And they just oh, well, well, that kind of, I want somebody that's aggressive about it. You know,

Nick VinZant 17:06

we usually don't go into this this early, but a lot of the questions are good ones. So are you ready for some harder slash listener submitted questions? Let's

Tab Boyd 17:14

do it. Let's fire away.

Nick VinZant 17:16

I don't want to start with this one. Oh, boy, I'm gonna start with this one. So you have to basically be paying attention for what like four hours, five hours just non stop, right? Yes.

Tab Boyd 17:27

Oh, yeah. What if you have to pee? You just pee on yourself? Are you?

Honestly, there are little opportunities that you're able to go like if there's a stage break. If there is a red flag, a lot of times when there's a red flag, like when the lightning pop just the other other day at the last race. You see, everybody immediately headed down the stairs to hit the restroom, because you never miss an opportunity. But honestly, most of the time, you're really really hot. And you're sweating, because we're on the top of the grandstands when there's no shade. You are sweating a ton. And you are literally so busy. And so focused, you don't realize that you have to go until after the race.

Nick VinZant 18:25

Are you mainly watching what's happening or anticipating what's going to happen?

Tab Boyd 18:30

That's a good question. Because different racetracks have different personalities, I like to say, a short track, you can, you can start to see trouble brewing at some of these places. Like if, if a driver does get angry at another driver at say, Martinsville or Richmond, there's probably going to be payback. So you are aware that there's going to be a bump or somebody putting somebody in a bad position to slow their speed down so they can get in front of them. But you can start to see trouble brewing at different places like Daytona or Talladega that we we talked about because people try to fit into a spot that might not be there or forced their way. And a lot of times trouble starts brewing when it's time to pit under green flag. And everybody's trying to get to the bottom to get the pit road and then trouble brews there. So yeah, that's a good question. You, you have to anticipate, if you see people starting to bunch up and momentum being lost, people start to get desperate to get back going. And that's when trouble starts brewing.

Nick VinZant 19:38

It's kind of like I have two boys, right? A five and a three. And you can you can see I'm like okay.

Tab Boyd 19:43

Yeah,

Nick VinZant 19:44

we got about five more minutes.

Tab Boyd 19:46

Here we go. Absolutely.

Nick VinZant 19:49

Now this person says And correct me if I'm wrong, but there's that spotters. We'll get into it.

Tab Boyd 19:54

Every now and then. Every now and then. Yeah. So we we have to get along this journey. Stan, because we are literally elbow to elbow every weekend. So we all know each other really well. And, you know, I've gotten to the point where if you do get into it, it's over with whenever the race is over, you know, and a lot of times, a lot of times you're relaying messages from a driver to another driver, and you understand where they're coming from. So, yeah, every now and then people will, we'll get into it, and there'll be a quick argument, but it don't last long. Because you gotta get back to your task, you know, so it's like, Hey, man, screw you gotta get back to work.

Nick VinZant 20:41

Right? It's kind of like I don't have time for this. But if you're all if you're also close together, right? Like couldn't do you then just listen to the spotter like, Oh, this guy's ahead of me. And his spotter just said he's got to do this. Like, are you listening to the

Tab Boyd 20:53

any other? No, I don't I don't listen to any other people. Because there's so much going on. You sure don't want to miss anything that you're responsible for listening to another driver. Some people can and and, and do but I don't I focus on what we have to do, and worry about keeping our car in position to do well.

Nick VinZant 21:17

Now, will you guys ever kind of work? Then there's teams in NASCAR, right? Yes. What do you guys work with other spotters? Like hey?

Tab Boyd 21:25

Absolutely. Yeah, so there's a lot of communication on the roof during the race. Like with teammate so the team I work for we're a single car organization. However, we have a Chevrolet so you always want to play well with other Chevrolet's, because all in all, we're like a umbrella teammate. You want to see your Chevrolet people do well, Chevrolet, the execs of Chevrolet want to beat the Fords and, and then the Fords want to be the toy, everybody wants to beat each other. So you try to do your part into helping a fellow teammate or a Chevrolet in my, my essence, do well. And the same with the four guys. And same as the Toyota guys. So you want to be there's times where you don't care about anybody, and you're trying to jockey for position. But whenever we get to a track like Daytona and Talladega, and I know I keep bringing it up. But that's how big of a deal it is to be in a tight knit group for pure speed because more cars together being disciplined, front bumper to bumper and not trying to pass each other is faster than people side by side and jockeying for position. So that's whenever being discipline really helps. And that's whenever we all communicate. So if you're on the roof during these races, the cars we going 200 miles an hour, but we will be standing next to each other saying, hey, our car is not handling, right? We might be tight, where you had to turn the steering wheel more to make the car turn. So that scrubs speed, right. So if that cars up front, again, more air downforce, it'll turn better. So they might swap spots to help the handling of that car. Or if a car is running hot, they will need to peak out so that more air gets into the grill. Because whenever they're tucked in behind each other, there's less air coming into the radiator, cooling the car. So there's 1000s of scenarios that make a world of difference. And we're communicating that and we're talking with each other.

Nick VinZant 23:40

Is that cheating? Or is that that's how it is. This is what how the sport is.

Tab Boyd 23:46

That's how it is because what goes around comes around, you know, if say, say there's a piece of paper, like a piece of paper like this, a hot dog rapper comes up to the grill and jams it up. Well, less air is coming in car will get hot. Well, there's a strategy to being able to get that off your grill. If you work with the person in front of you, and say, Hey, we have something on our grill. If a car goes and literally touches the other, the paper will come off. And so we'll communicate that say, Hey, we have and we can do it quickly say hey, we have trash on regret, we need to get it off and they'll say they'll communicate it to their drivers like yep, okay, so he'll stay still, instead of trying to block or move. They'll do that they can do that under green. And you never if you weren't listening, you never know that's what was going on. But there's a lot of that because you might need that somewhere down the road from them. And they'll say Hey, you two months ago he didn't let me do it. I'm not gonna help him out and they'll go on but but they will remember if they did do it. So yeah, let him hook him up.

Nick VinZant 24:57

But it's never like hey, it's my it's my kids birthday. How about you? Oh

Unknown Speaker 25:01

no

Nick VinZant 25:02

no Bly racetrack with the best food

Tab Boyd 25:04

Oh like like at the racetrack or the city let's do both on other roads so I would say cities that have the best food what Las Vegas have awesome restaurants downtown Kansas City I always love to go to because of the barbecue and the same can be said for Texas I just love the like even Fort Worth Austin in Kansas City there's a my favorite places and Daytona of course with the seafood they have some great places. Now racetracks to be honest with you, I don't eat and a lot of the concession stands because we're so busy during the day I usually make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and take it with me to the roof. And that's what I have.

Nick VinZant 25:52

He's can't go wrong peanut butter and jelly

Tab Boyd 25:54

is foolproof because you don't you don't want to go eat jalapeno cheddar brought for race. There you gotta you gotta have some that's bulletproof.

Nick VinZant 26:09

Your favorite track favorite and least favorite not that they're bad. Just that like oh, this is my personal favorite and my personal like oh I struggle with that track.

Tab Boyd 26:19

So I have two that are side by side for my favorite. I love Martinsville and Bristol. The no whenever I say Bristol, I like the night race and August that we have. So as on the concrete. The atmosphere is electric. The place is just so cool at night. Martinsville on like because it's a short track. So same sizes bristle but Bristol's really high banked and mega fast paced, the labs are 15 Second laps every 15 seconds, we're running laps, so it's fast paced, a lot going on. Martinsville is flat, and it's shaped like a paperclip. So the speeds are nowhere near as high. However, the guys can be banging lean on each other and be very physical while driving. And it makes it super exciting for the fans, I think because they can they can be so close to each other and lean and touch without wrecking each other. So it turns into a pretty good race. The track I think that is most difficult is Pocono because it is a huge racetrack that is two and a half miles long, shaped like a triangle. And then is very hard to see the cars like from where we stand. Turn one is so far away. The cars look like ants when they turn off in the corner. And then they have a tremendous straightaway that they go down. And then there's another corner. It's just hard to see. And the speeds are super fast. So you want to keep the car and driver safe. But you can't see very well. That's the hard part. And other tracks like a Watkins Glen, the track we're going to this weekend is Road America. I feel uneasy being the main spotter because I can't see the car all the way around. So those are the things that make it uneasy for me. Whenever even though we'll bring in some people to help. I like to be able to see our car and know that it's in a position to be safe or be able to see the passes and whatnot because these tracks the road courses are out in the out in the woods, basically. I mean what's Yeah, The Road America is a state park, I think. And they're racing in between the trees, and it's so hard to see. So that's a chance gotta be

Nick VinZant 28:52

tough. Yeah. Oh, yeah. So then you just haven't another like you're just kind of waiting for the car to come back into view and you trust in the other? Yeah. Like, okay, I hope he's

Tab Boyd 29:02

right. Exactly. And you're literally listening to the radio broadcast to hear what's going on.

Nick VinZant 29:09

Um, I don't know if you can answer these or not. You may have to be diplomatic. Or maybe you don't I don't know. Other than your other than your current driver. Yeah. Who did like who did people look at and like, oh, that they probably the best driver.

Tab Boyd 29:23

Man. Everybody that starts these races are very good drivers that they have won races elsewhere. They're champions and other divisions. There. They're very fast. And so you have all the guys that are top tier. And if you I've always said if, if you're working on a team, or if you're a race fan, you should walk as close to the fence as they'll let you get and see how fast these cars go. It is unbelievable. I mean, I've been doing it my whole life and when the portunity Every now and then we're able to walk down to the fence and just see and feel the speed. It you can't hardly describe it is unbelievable. So even the guy that's running dead last is very, very fast. So it's hard to put that into perspective, because you're like, oh, man, this guy, or this team is they're running 30th? Well, they're still very competitive. There might be, there might be four tenths of a second between the fastest guy on the planet. And, and that car, which is a blink of an eye, you know, I mean, yeah, so it's so hard to, to describe how good everybody is. Because if you slip just a little, you can fall all the way the rear. So yeah, there are so many that are good, that it's hard for everybody and have a top tier ride, I guess you could say, and have the the people the power the the sponsors behind them.

Nick VinZant 31:08

No, it's kind of just like, right, like, everybody's pretty much equal. But then when you put in other things like the car, well, he takes up a bit. Spot, it only takes up a little bit more. Right. Yeah.

Tab Boyd 31:18

Yeah, it's all situation and you do have rookies that are are learning. So I think the that you could also split up the experience level of somebody like Kyle Busch, Joey legato, those guys are remarkably good. And you have kurt busch, you know, Kyle's brother, he, he, he is a champion, you know, and he wins races a lot. And so the list would go on from the top to the bottom of how good these guys are. But everything's got a lineup, you know, the opportunity of the day, you might you might dominate and win a race one week, well, then the next week, you might, the best you can do is 15th. It's so hard to do. So there's a lot of respect to be had for people that are up front every week, because it is difficult, no matter no matter how good your car is, no matter how good your pit crew or the engineers are. Everything still has to go good. And it never hurts to have a little bit of luck.

Nick VinZant 32:22

What is your favorite experience at the track?

Tab Boyd 32:25

Well, man, I would say victory lane. That's the that's the ultimate goal for everybody. And there are some days where you might run the top 10. And you could say 10th place was a good day. Or you could say fourth place was a good day. But a few years ago, I had an opportunity to win the Daytona 500 With legato so I was spotted in 2015. That was a really cool opportunity because you don't realize how big that race is, until you win it and see everything that happens after it's a it's a pretty big deal. And that you can still say like, I mean, we're sitting here years and years after and, and we brought it up and winning a couple of night races at Bristol. And some of the cool things about my part is whenever you get a driver who has won their first race, so there are several drivers that I've spotted their first ever NASCAR win. And that's huge on I guess the list of accomplishments because as a career changer for you, whenever you win your first race and and you remain closer to some than others, but you've always been on that car whenever that happens. So those are cool things that happen at the track that little moments that you you. You don't ever want to take for granted, but they're hard to come by.

Nick VinZant 33:54

How much money do you make?

Tab Boyd 33:59

That's a hard question.

Nick VinZant 34:01

That's a hard question. Right? But this is like, I'll end on this one. But basically if somebody wants want to be the next you like what should they do like that? They I want to be a NASCAR spotter. Like what advice would you give to

Tab Boyd 34:15

Yeah, so first of all the money thing? Is it ever enough you know, I mean, no matter what happens is, but I can say that I personally and everybody that does it has a great opportunity to make a good living. So you're definitely comfortable and that the travel is fun, seeing the people's fun and I think the things that that I like most about the sport is the friendships because it's like a traveling circus whenever we're all most of us live in North Carolina where there's a few people there we have a spotter lives in Maine we have one lives in Idaho. A couple live in Tennessee and We all come together in the weekend. Like, I have a gentleman that lives like one mile down the road. That is one of my best buddies. And I have to go to California to scene. Because we're always, we're always gone so much. But uh, so I think the friendships are worth more than the money because you it's the connections you make, and everybody looks out for each other. And you do you want to beat each other to death sometimes during the day, but then if you ever need anything, you're there for each other. I feel so yeah, they Sorry, what was the second part of the question? The

Nick VinZant 35:37

Oh, if somebody wants to be the neck, oh,

Tab Boyd 35:39

boy, man. So this is, this is my 16th year spotting in the cup series in NASCAR. The first few years I was actually on a pit crew changing tires. So I've been on that side of the fence also doing pit stops. So man, I would say that if you want to if you have been in racing, and you want to to be the next, a mega company spotter, go to a short track, start meeting people hit find everybody at a short track, no matter if it's dirt, asphalt. Everybody needs help find somebody if you see a car that you liked the loads cool and, and walk up to a meet and say hey, man, I want to I want to come on the weekends and help. And you can start learning about the car learning the rules of the track and and you start meeting people that will then boost up like, Oh, this guy is gonna go to run an Arca race. And so you can maybe go help them and, and just step up the ladder. So, man that it's been a lifetime of learning. It's so hard for someone that because so many people think what we do is cool because it is pretty cool what we do. But once you're up on the roof, and you're the one with a radio and you're the one with a button and restore happens, you're like, holy moly, these guards are going fast. So it's a lot of responsibility. And I would say start from the bottom. Because that way when you get there, if you did get to the top,

Nick VinZant 37:20

you're reading favorite NASCAR movie. NASCAR movie. You know, there has to be days of thought. Yeah, right.

Tab Boyd 37:32

The good. I mean, Talladega Nights is funny. Don't get me wrong. I'll watch it. Because it's hilarious. But yeah, these are thunders Very good.

Nick VinZant 37:43

Do you think though, that the pit crew guy got too much credit in Days of Thunder, and they should have given more credit to the spotter.

Tab Boyd 37:54

But back then they had spotters, but they didn't have near the responsibility, I think that we had today. I think that the role has progressed quite a bit. And I like that.

Nick VinZant 38:10

What do you think? Do you think it's going to change fundamentally again? Or do you think if I guess pretty much what it's going to be? Well, like this This job is it's not like they're going to invent some new technology. It's gonna have a robot up there.

Tab Boyd 38:21

Yeah. So they've kind of been dipping into that they have these really nice like a 4k rear view mirror that that they as a camera. And whenever they're at the speedway's will run this mirror. But I don't think that that will replace what we do, then I think there will always need to be a human element. Because there's too much on the line to just rely on technology. What if some shorts out and then you have nothing. And so I think that they would want the team to have some sort of responsibility for what happens on the track. But as far as everything changing, this new style car we have this year in the cup series has been a mega challenge it because it's totally different than what any of the drivers have ever raised is different than what we've ever spotted. And to me, they look different on the track. The ride height looks different to me. They have little ports under the tire that make the car look different in the corner. So I was just saying we had a meeting earlier today. And we're talking about how the car looked. And I'm like, what they were talking about how the car fell. And I'm like, it's hard for me to see the car bounce the way that you're describing because the cars are different. The tires are low profile, the wheels are bigger, the back of the car is a lot shorter. So our visual is totally different than it used to be. So it's a challenge We're learning every race about something new that the car might go faster with and, and things that we're seeing, like the traditional race lines like high on the straightaway and diving to the bottom of the corner. There's a lot of places that they can change lanes and keep more momentum and be fast. And it just looks strange to us. But we're watching the stopwatch like, man, it don't look don't look normal. But if it's fast, keep doing it.

Nick VinZant 40:30

I did want to ask, so you started doing the 62nd at the track thing?

Tab Boyd 40:34

Yeah. Yeah. How

Nick VinZant 40:35

did you get that? Like, when did you start doing that? Started was a reason for

Tab Boyd 40:39

us started doing that. Because I have my my son is seven years old. And he's starting to understand why dad's gone most of the weekends of his young life. So I started making these videos like he said, Hey, Dan, what do you like when he was about five years old? He said, What what did you do this weekend? And I started listening. I was like, Hold on, I have a couple pictures. So I would go through and show him pictures and describe it. Well, it turned into like, you know, I won't do little video clips. And so I downloaded a video editing app and I made a like a 62nd videos and this is what I did this week. And I started showing him well. A couple of people saw it and then I put it on Twitter or Facebook, but I put it on Tik Tok. And it is really taken off. I think it's taken off. I mean, I don't have that many followers. But it's fun to see the interaction with people. So I started out showing my son what to do on the weekends. And then I just started doing it every week for for the fans.