BOOST & BULLSH * T

things they used to whisper about in the trailer.

“ When the rule combination stuff came up, they didn’ t expect people to be truthful about how fast they could go or how fast they couldn’ t go,” says Harris.“ There’ s a lot of talk back and forth between a lot of friends that you realize maybe weren’ t your friends, or some that were probably better friends than you thought they really were.”

The show’ s biggest swings have come from the live setups. Jess Miliante, the show’ s PR lead and producer who has driven much of the production buildout, says the Winter Series Palooza shows at the track moved the numbers more than anything they’ ve done.

“ That set we take on the road monopolizes my entire day at the track. It’ s around three to four hours to set up and break down,” says Miliante.“ But it’ s a balance between letting those guys focus on testing and then peeling them away from the car to be able to sit down for an hour and BS. That’ s definitely my favorite part of what we do.”

King points to those same Palooza tapings, recorded in the middle of the much-talked-about rules debate that popped up during this year’ s DI Winter Series, as the inflection point.

“ The biggest one we had was probably the Winter Series Palooza shows, the live ones with the multiple guests literally at the racetrack,” says King.“ There was obviously some talk about the rules down there, so that was a very hot topic, and the guys came on with their opinions, along with some of the big personalities. That all brought a big dynamic all at one show.”

The audience picture is broader than you’ d guess from the title. Miliante recently rebranded the YouTube channel away from the old Pilot Racing handle to its own official podcast destination, and she lives in the analytics after every episode posts.

“ The second-highest watched device is on a TV. Over 30 percent of viewers,” says Miliante.“ People really watching this show in the living room on a Monday night blows my mind.”

That’ s the part Harris keeps coming back to. He didn’ t realize what they had until strangers

started walking up in the pits.

“ The first time I realized it was just more than me and him talking and shooting the shit was when just two guys came in our pit and were talking about the podcast and how much they love it,” says Harris.“ I started hearing people that I wouldn’ t think would watch the show, other racers, guys that race other classes, talk about

the show all the time. They put it on and just sit there and listen at night on Monday night, when they don’ t watch Monday Night Football and they watch us. That told me we were starting something new.”

There’ s a discipline behind the chaos. Harris admits he’ s pulled the wheel back when a take might have done more damage than good, to him or to the sport. King doesn’ t pretend Monday nights are pure improv either.

“ We go in with no script, just hit what we want to talk about, and we kind of shoot from the hip,” says Harris.“ Sometimes you go through life too serious and you come across as an asshole. You can come across as serious and then cut a joke when it needs to be. That’ s where the bullshit comes in.”

For two guys who started out trading bit videos at each other on social and a producer who saw what was hiding in plain sight, the next 12 months are about turning a hit into a property. The Monday-night living-room audience is already locked in. The room to grow is everywhere else.

“ It’ s gone farther than I ever thought it would,” says King.“ People actually calling and wanting to come on the show, people wanting to be involved with the show, I never thought that would come about. We’ re just moving forward with the YouTube stuff and see where it goes.” DI

36 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 201