85. RPD Motorsports / Nightfall Performance w/ Davion Conover & Omar Aguillon

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Minnoxide Podcast. I'm your host, Harris AKA. Minnoxide, man of many automotive aspirations, and I'm here with my sunburned co-host.

Sunburned?

Mr. Gunnit Garage.

This is a Norwegian tan.

So we're doing something a little different this week. We are up at Brainerd International Raceway for an event called Powercruise. Many locals have heard about it, I think, but this is Dan and I's first time up here. It's basically street-legal roll racing. Well, not street-legal, but legal roll racing. Is that a good way of explaining it? Pretty much. So today we got another, we got you back, Omar. You were on episode, I think, 74 or whatever, 10 episodes ago. We talked about your vet, which for those watching on video is in background now, which is an upgrade. And then we got your good friend here, Davion, from RPD Motorsports. Did I nail it? Yes, you did. Nailed it. All right. And you guys got some fast GM cars. And now Dan's already twitching. He's already going to make fun of you guys. These Ford guys are exhausting.

He's going to walk off.

You should see what he did to this camp over here. They're like, oh, this is a cool looking Ford. He goes over there, they pop the hood, it's an LS. And he's like, eh. So that's basically how that goes. But yeah, so you guys might hear some sounds in the background that's part of being on a track. I think it adds to the ambiance. Yeah, it's cool. But yeah, so we've already met you before, but tell us a little bit about yourself, Davion. We'll start with you.

I'm Dave, I'm with RPD Motorsports. I don't know if they can see the body in the background, but that's my car, one of my three cars now. I don't know, I build fast stuff and I like to go fast on the street in Mexico. That's primarily what I focus on.

Yeah, cause this is both of your guys' first time at Powercruise as well, right? You guys are used to Mexico. That's just kind of what has always been the case. You guys mentioned you aren't hooking as well out here as you do on the streets, which is interesting.

Yeah, which is really weird. It's weird. I thought it was going to be the complete opposite. Cause I mean, the farm roads we're on, I mean, there's gravel everywhere. They're not the prettiest. And I mean, at least my car has been hooking up on those like a couple of days ago and went out for the first time today and all it just spun the tires.

Well, are you guys usually going from a dig?

No. Yeah.

We're usually going like a rolling 40 60s, whatever.

Is there a sweet spot that works better for those cars?

Not not really. No, no, no.

So I guess because some cars like some favor 40 or 60. So you guys what gear you guys usually rolling in.

So he's manual.

I'm auto.

OK, you're on.

So it's a little different for both of us. I'm TH400. So I do a second gear rolling starts and leave on like 10, 15, sometimes 20 pounds.

OK.

First of all, I'm not sure where you're leaving.

Yeah, usually like third gear, usually third gear. And that's about, I don't know, leave off six psi. So it's nothing too crazy, but it's a little different.

How are the cars running today?

Not bad. Small little issues.

Yeah, they're running, I think, really well for the conditions out there. The track is a lot slicker than I expected it to be. I think that's a good thing to see our traction control is working overtime.

So what do you have for a traction control system?

So we're both we're both on Holley. We use to get here.

The noise in the background is just a stupid LS turbo Mustang.

We use, I don't know what other ECU platforms use, but we use a front and rear wheel speed sensor and we just basically reference the slip between those two. It's a calculation that we use and we have a certain slip percent that we allow. Like that car first hit, it was at 29 percent wheel slip. So it was in traction control the entire time. It was actually pulling the car down half a G on the hit and we just pulled the data. So we're actually pulling power out of it this second cruise session, probably 100, 200 across the board we're going to pull out of it. But yeah, that's what we use, a front and rear wheel speed sensor. And there's a calculation that we got going on there and it'll pull timing. Timing it will get you out of a slip a lot faster. It pulls boost as well. And then as soon as that will slip or sense below a threshold, we'll actually throw that power back in just like that. And it just on off, on off. That's how it works and it was working over time and it kept me going straight.

So I would love to get out there somewhere like I want these straights and just listen to what it sounds like too. It's cutting that power.

It'll still like the sun shuts off and turns like it's pretty nuts.

It's fast. It does it like instantly. And if you had to listen real close, it almost sounds like, I don't know, like you're misfireing almost. That's what it kind of sounds like.

Yeah, if you go to Texas 2K, that's why, for example, like when Kratos got third place this year, you could hear the car just trucking over time. You have to have an accustomed ear for that stuff, too. You have to know what to listen for. But yeah, that makes sense. So you mentioned this is a lot of stock stuff in it still, too.

Yeah, it is a stock bottom M53. It's out of a suburban, like a 07, iron block, Gen 4 rods and pistons, 110,000 miles, something like that beast. You know, surprisingly, you pull some of these things apart. And when I pull a junkyard motors, I'm usually trying to pull them from like a fleet maintained vehicle, like buses or, you know, stuff like that, because their service history, right, you know, consists of their oil changes and their maintenance. And I pulled 200,000 mile motors apart that cross hatching still looks great, pistons, everything just looks good. Bearings look great. Yeah, I know all this stuff is kind of its budget for sure.

But yeah, how long has RPD been around now?

How long? Like a while. Three and a half years. Yeah.

And do you guys work together frequently on stuff or?

Pretty much.

Yeah, we work together. We're actually we work out of the same shop together.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we kind of just basically split the shop on half and we got a lift in there and we coordinate who needs to use the lift when and it works out pretty well.

Yeah.

But our cars in there.

Been a year now going at it like that and zero issues. Yeah.

Is that your guys' sole purpose of like that only job you got?

No. So I actually work full time for the city of Hopkins. I've been a diesel but tech by trade for 12 years now. So I do that full time. And then I also have another business, Midnight Diesel Repair, LLC, and I do that part time through the week.

Little side hustle doing some diesel stuff as well.

Yeah.

Have you done any like diesel builds for like builds?

Yeah.

Yep.

I had a, what year is that, 05 single cab Cadillac interior swapped compound turbo, not twin turbo. It was a compound turbo setup and thing made like 1100. It was pretty sweet.

For a little drive.

Compound turbos can get real nasty on the diesels. I know that 6.4 they had. It's just that you could get stupid power out of them. It's just they built the rest of the inside. I mean, they did no brass anything in there. It was like I heard they were meant to go about 100,000 miles and you just throw them away.

Yep.

Cool. So, yeah. Which is sad for a diesel.

Yes.

But for that short period of time, they were fast as f***.

You know, like I had that same experience. They're fun. They're torque monsters, especially if you're hitting from a ding, which I was digging with that car when I first got out of the scene. That's what I came to the scene with was that truck. And it was eating everything on the street. And from a roll though, I mean, I was getting eaten up alive by seven, eight, nine hundred wheel cars that weighed significantly less, you know, that car would heat soak like a b**** too.

Are you guys running into much heat soaking out here? Probably not.

Not, not really. Definitely running warmer than usual.

But as we come over to your camp and there's fans laying on top of it, I contribute that.

I mean, cars like airflow across and it needs that evaporate, that heat transfer. And all the turns and just kind of where we get held up, you know, with all the cars, that's when it'll start to rise. As soon as you hit the straightaways, get some airflow across, it drops pretty badly.

Well, it's kind of nice. Like the nice thing about Powercruise is you have straight, straight, and then you have about what? I want to say like two miles or whatever it is of cool down time. And you're cruising at anywhere from 40 to 80, just cooling it off. And you guys don't have hoods. These f****** Chevy guys, they never have hoods. It's a regular thing. Most things over there got a hood.

And I actually, I do have a hood over there for it.

Oh, do you?

Yeah, it's underneath the truck. It's a big-a** cow hood.

Let's say I saw the pins there, so I figured you had something.

It does. It's obnoxious.

It has to do with that shape. It comes down to such a point in the front that it's really hard to get a hood that will fit.

It is.

I mean, you guys, you haven't seen the Vette in person, but to put a hood on that thing, I would have to cut it up so badly.

Yeah, like 90% of the hood, and then you'd have to put 15 pins around the whole thing because it'd be in different spots.

Definitely.

Which brings me to my next point. Thanks for reminding me. I forgot about the Vette. Because this thing is amazing, by the way. I remember we were chatting back and forth, I think, a month ago or whatever, but we initially talked about having you on the podcast when we were talking about your Vette, which we won't know how to disclose anything, but that thing is fast. Yep. Stupid fast. It's way fast. I mean, fast. Do you want to... What can you disclose on that thing?

Anything. You can ask me anything.

Okay.

I don't have anything to hide.

So tell us about the build a little bit.

It is a Mike Lau build, 416, TH400 swapped, still an inverse suspension to the front, coil overs in the front, coil over to the rear, double adjustables fronts, triple adjustable rears. Everything you can do to a stock Vette driveline has been done. And we're still breaking stuff.

Yeah, sadly. R&D, man, 20 years later.

Honestly, dude, I've spent more time breaking that car than I have racing that car. But when it goes out, the car gets down. It does. And I'm always changing stuff, too. I go out, and I'm very inquisitive and analytical. I look at the data, send it over to our tuner. We are very much in tune with the cars. I like data. I like making passes, coming back, seeing what we need to do, what we need to change, if we need to change anything, you know. But yeah, that is... It's a monster. That car is... It's a lot, a lot to handle.

Yeah, and would you say that's also on Holley?

That's a Holley turbo, yeah.

And then I think when we spoke last year, did you say it was limited by fuel, I think?

Yeah, yep, a lot of Bosch 210s that are in it. So we got the fuel system and the turbo and the motor and the trans to do 2,400 hub, but roughly 1,800, 1,900 with base pressure, fuel pressure maxed out. That's where we're maxed out on fuel.

So that's another single turbo car?

Big single turbo, yeah.

You just come in as a diesel guy. That's what you like.

That's what I like.

So I'm curious, out here especially, right? Now, granted, you said you're having some issues with traction, of course, but since it's a big turbo, are you getting all that coming down towards the end of your rolls out here? Or are you able to get up to power pretty quick?

Honestly, so I've done 2 passes so far. First was really just kind of a test, and I spun the entire, like on the hit, all the way down the strip. I spun, I mean, the traction drill was doing its thing, so it wasn't, it didn't look as bad as it was in the log. It was pretty bad. Gives you a false sense of security, that's what it does. But it keeps you straight. It keeps you straight. This car is, it's aggressive. It's still a relatively new setup to me. We did change a lot on it the last couple months. Cam, converter, and we stepped down. We had a bigger turbo on this car, and it just was a dog. So we changed a few things. We got the converter specced right this time. It's our third re-stall. And now this car just, it eats. It's in power like that. And it's almost too aggressive, so we have to really power manage down low. I mean, after 80, 90, I'm all in. So it's that front half that is really tough, especially out here. Back half, I'm not. We're all in, and we're good.

Yeah.

It was the same for you?

Yeah.

I guess you're on twins, right?

Yeah. I mean, for me, pretty much. I don't know. I feel like mine's pretty aggressive right off the hit, even though I'm not making a whole bunch of power. I'm kind of limited this week at 20, which is fine because, I mean, it's spun off 20. So don't need more, but pretty much the same thing. They kind of ramping in down low, and most of our boost comes in up top, like after 100, 100 miles per hour, 90 miles per hour. And that's where people pretty much throws as much as you can into it.

Did you guys see that Miata out there yet? I've not seen it yet. The guy came by our camp over here. We chatted with him for a little bit. I don't know what he was making, but I mean, that thing was built to the gills.

Really?

Yeah. It's pretty sweet, yeah.

Yeah, I'll show you some videos of it, but it's just nasty.

I've heard about that car, actually. I've not seen it yet in person.

Yeah, I think his camp is right down that way or whatever, but okay, you got to check it out. It's just nasty. We did it, and he put a bus on us, and then he's like, oh, it's like another 10 PSI to go.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, no, just super cool. I might even try to get those guys on because they seemed like a good time.

Oh, yeah.

So is there any cars in particular that you guys are looking to race out here? Are you just out here to have a good time?

Honestly, being our first time out here, I mean, I'm ready to run a few people out here. There's a couple of guys I'm going to walk up to and see if they'd want to line up, got any tune ready to rock and roll.

Already?

Yep.

You got a revision in the last hour, right?

So we'll put that in, we pulled some power out, threw a little bit more in up top because it's taking it up top. We should have to see how it does.

That's freaking awesome. Are you doing any revisions out here or no?

Little bit, little by little. I mean, it's just really kind of as much as it can handle, really. It's going to get hot later, so I feel like that's going to be a big issue, tracks me down kind of greasy. So that's going to change up a lot. I mean, at least when we first went out on that first lap, it was so pretty cool. It was like 70s.

You're one of the first few cars out there.

Yeah, it was pretty cool. So now it's definitely warmed up. I can bet you that track's going to get pretty greasy.

Well, yeah.

What's kind of nice, too, that we're here early enough, because we came in here, set up camp last night, and got our drivers meeting and everything done. We're like, oh man, this is a line of 10 people. This is going to take forever. Today, it's like 50 people.

I'm like, yeah. Yeah.

So it seems like getting here early is a big thing, too.

I'm glad we got here yesterday. We just weren't able to set up and kind of relax and grab a bite to eat and plan our day today. Yeah, it was great. Go get ice and stuff for the cooler. It's a nice support part.

Yeah, you guys came like maybe an hour after us. We saw you pull in. I'm like, oh, they're here. So I was mostly looking forward to meeting you, right? Because I guess we've been talking forever. And then the last few times, like our skin...

Oh, we know you.

We had a good time on that last one. I still think I'd have to put out more highlights for that one. I'm still behind, but... No, don't worry about it. That was our first and last time experimenting with that lighting. We were like, yeah, probably not. Yeah.

You guys are based out of... Is that RAT?

RATified Motorsport.

Is that the St. Louis Park?

Yep. And those guys are awesome. I'd like to get a ride along in one of those RS3s. I've never been in one. And from what I heard, it feels like it's almost like pulling you instead of pushing. It's like you guys, you just get slammed, just from all that rear wheel power. But yeah, I would love to see you guys. One car I loved seeing running was Gus's BMW.

That's the plan. I definitely want to run that car this weekend.

I've seen it over the years. I mean, it's always been fast. It's never not been fast.

We hit the drag strip. I punched it right at the rubber line there. And he was probably 75 yards behind me. He hit the line. He hit it. And it was like I was parked. I was already in to it. And he lit up way behind me and just flew past me.

That's crazy. That car is fast.

He's got four people deep in there too. He had at least three in there. I think he might have had a fourth when he blew the doors off us. But he's just weaving through there. Yeah, so I think the GT500 stock, I mean, this event makes you realize that there's always a faster guy. There's one or two twin turbo Huracans out here. I know the blue one's a twin turbo. I don't know about this orange one over here. I was going to check it out probably after the podcast, but just a ridiculous amount of fast people here, man. And I'm curious to see what the next Powercruise 2 is going to be like, because I'm hearing some big names are coming. Well, it's busier, but I also hear some big names. I'll chat with you after. Not sure how much I can disclose.

I might have to try to make it to that one. I don't know if I will, but yeah, I wanted to at least make it. I've been telling myself for the last few years, I was going to come out here and it just never worked out. Just the timing didn't.

Yeah, we were going to come out last year, and just things never now lined up. It was like cars were having issues, and it was just too busy at the moment. So I ended up skipping that one, but thankfully everything lined up for this one. It worked out great.

And it's really good weather out here. This is perfect, in my opinion.

That's one of the things I was worried about the podcast. I'm like, wow, man, if it gets really windy, like, I don't know if the mics would be too sensitive to it. It's the only thing we had to really worry about sound-wise. I don't even care about the cars, but it's when the 4x4s come out here. So, okay, so how long have you been working on this build for?

Two years.

Two years?

Yeah. The car actually came from Texas two years ago when I tore it apart and just started redoing it around then.

And was it built at the time when you got it?

It was like a small T4 single turbo, with like a stock TH400 in it. It had a Mosur 9-inch when I got it, so that's still in the car. But other than that, I redid the car entirely.

So you're a big junkyard LS kind of guy then?

No, no, not really. I mean, this car just, this is the motor that the car actually came with, and it's been through probably three, four setups now. You know, like 100 pulls of the dyno, like 30 revisions into this car. I mean, it's, oil pressure is still there. So, I mean, it's just taken it. I'm pretty impressed with it. I've done other stock bottom end stuff, but this by far is the most power I have made consistently with a stock bottom end. And the car just eats.

Have you had it on the dyno? Do you know what kind of numbers you're getting?

By the dyno, no. Six at 130s, yes. We know what it does there. And fuel flow is, we can calculate, is pretty close to rear wheel, based on my weight and what I'm moving out at. I've got a G meter on the car. It's a lot of different stuff. My tuner, we used to calculate different things. And the car's moving. It's 4,100 pounds right now. I threw 150 pounds in the back just for this event. So it's heavy.

So do you have, out of your calculations, you have a guest animation on that number?

Well, before that, what do you, can you share what you're doing 6130s?

Yeah, it's I3s, low 4s. Right now.

Okay.

And that's spinning on the hit.

Yep.

Pretty good, probably. If I roll from a 40, I'm spinning the 80. If I roll from a 60, I'm spinning the 90. So, I mean, after that, I'm hooking up pretty well. And that's, again, this is still a relatively new build.

Yeah, well, this is your first shakedown test, right?

Yeah, yeah. And we have a lot to work with on the tune down low, and it's hot right now. Yeah. So we're gonna keep pulling it down. And the tire that we have on it really is, it's something I just wanted to see if we could make work on the street.

What did you say you have on there? Nittos?

It's a Nitto, yeah, 325. Some guys hate them. Most guys hate them, I should say. But there's a couple guys local that are going really fast on them. I can tell you that tire relies heavily on traction control. I will swap to a Mickey at some point. I tried Mickey years ago and it didn't work well for me at the time. I think I had other issues other than a tire. Tire is not the magic ticket to anything.

It certainly helps, though.

What series of Nittos are you running?

That's the 555 R2. I'm impressed with it, with how long they last for all the time and the hits and street miles I have on that car.

Yeah, well see, that's the problem, right? Their compound isn't as soft, so they don't hook as good, but you're not buying tires every three or four hits either.

Right, and that's kind of the give or take, you know? If I want to, you know, I talk to my tutor, he's like, you put a Mickey on that thing, you'll probably dead hook that car right now. But we're working around this Nitto tickling traction control so hard that we have to, we're pulling power out down low, and at some point that's going to hurt us, and we're going to have to switch tires.

What do you have for a tire?

Mickey's, they're the...

You can walk over to your car and check.

ET Street R's, yep, exactly. I mean, I've had good luck with them. I've always used Mickey's on mine. I've wanted to try those Nittos before, but it's always wishy-washy with people's opinions. So I was like, well, Mickey's work for me. I haven't had any issues with them. They're more expensive. I think they're like $100 different from the Nittos to the Mickeys, and they don't last as long, but I mean, I think they're worth it. They've worked great.

555R2 on the Draggy forums, it's entertaining to read through some of the comments. Just guys going back and forth, and there's guys that can really make them work. But it takes a lot, a lot in the tune, a lot of revisions, and just a very progressive curve.

Well, if you want to get on the forums and ask about tire or oil, you're going to get a thousand different answers.

Especially on the Draggy forums.

It's like asking what head gaskets should I run? Oh my god, so many different answers.

Is there anything that you guys do on your builds that are not traditional or that stir up debate?

We run Holley.

I don't know.

Not really.

What are they using? Stock ECUs then?

Holley, Haltech, Motech is kind of the creme of the crop.

That's also way more expensive.

That's a whole other caliber of ECU.

That's a rich man's game. Absolutely.

So all said and done though, what do you have into your build? It's not like you're building a $300,000 Viper build or something.

Right. Right. I mean, when you think about LS, you think budget. Generally, people think budget builds, but they're still expensive to build. I mean, car stuff is expensive. You guys know you're around it.

You've heard everything.

I really I'd have to add it up. I mean, I think I bought the car for around 20 and it was just it was hacked. I don't know how the car was running the way it was. I'm probably 25 to 30 into it to get to where it's at right now.

That's not a that's not bad. No, no, to absolutely destroy 80 percent of the stuff on his property.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's get back to this number thing. What's your calculation at a number?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we're right now. We're on we're 40 pounds top and like it's a again, it's a very progressive ramp down low after about 90 miles an hour. The boost just pours right around. I shift around 100, 110. The boost just dumps in after that. So fuel flows up around 14, 100, 14, 30. So right around that tire, 1350, 14, 100 tire. Yeah. Right in there. Through that 400, that auto.

It's not a bad way to go for 25, 30 G's, you know.

I mean, you can. I have some pretty good name brand parts into that car.

It's not eBay Motors build.

No, it's not. And I have I dump money into that. I do. I like stuff that works. I'm kind of a data guy. I'm not one to run eBay parts either. I like to go with proven stuff. Not to say that there's off name brand stuff that doesn't make power efficiently, but there's certain things that I like to run on my builds. Well, but you.

What do you have for a turbo on there?

So that's a CRT, midwest turbo. I'm actually a dealer for them. I've tried out several different turbos for them, and this is their 88102. So 88 compressor and 102 millimeter turbine, 132 AR.

Don't get too close to it.

No, it's one of the biggest S400 frames you can get. You can go to S500s, but they're dogs. Most people are stabbing up to a precision or a Garrett after that. And that's what I run a GT55 on the Vette, a Garrett turbo. That thing's kind of a different caliber of beast.

So yeah, I was just looking at these cars. I mean, they get attention. I remember when you pulled up your Vette over here. The Mustang's been sitting here all day, but the Vette pulls up, and this guy's like, whoa.

Oh, really? Oh, I wasn't even paying attention.

No, you had to go grab the chairs or whatever, and then yeah, just immediately got attention.

So you weren't here. I told him we were getting a tow truck in here.

I don't know where that came from.

He had to park here. It was an emergency park. No, it's cool. Is there anything coming next for you? Are you still just kind of figuring out this current phase?

I'm still debating on what to do with this car. You know, my goal with this car was, you know, the last time we talked, I wanted to turn it into a drag and drive car. But just looking into the finances, you know, financial wise, it just doesn't make much sense for me to throw another 20 grand into a car, just so it could at least meet safety specs, while I could buy one of those and get the same safety stuff as I could in the vet, and it would cost me half the price. So it's like the Corvette tax for a road cage and all that stuff, it's through the roof. So it's like I'm still debating if I want to keep on going down that road and cage it and then do everything else through it, or if I just turn it back down and maybe go like a small single turbo, maybe make 800, 700 horsepower, and then whatever money I get from selling parts that I don't need anymore, buy something else and make that into...

Just figure out which direction you want to go.

Exactly.

Well, I mean, like you guys said, this is kind of a shakedown event for both of you guys.

Yeah.

Figure out what you want to do.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Seriously.

It is.

I want to see some of these Golfs run out here.

That's what the Golfs, you said?

Yeah, these little cute Golfs.

Oh, yeah.

There's several of them.

If you were going to get a different car, what would you get?

Oh, I have a really deep passion for, for some reason, El Caminos and Rancheros. Yeah. Ever since I got into cars, I always wanted one. And, you know, it's either going to be one of those or it's going to be some like older Nova, something like that. Just some some older something old, honestly.

You get that. I'm calling you Earl for the rest of your life.

That's fine by me.

That's going to confuse people. Do you know Earl is like, ah, that'd be cool. And then so OK, so you got the vet, you got this. Do you have anything else that you're planning or I got a third car a few weeks ago?

I don't know if you know about that.

I'd love to see your finances. What's your credit score?

So, yeah, actually, I bought a car from North Carolina. It's actually it's 81 Malibu and G body. That car is built. It's done. I don't have to do much to it. I had a speed sensor up front in the rear for traction control. And outside of that, it's it's ready to rock and roll.

That's gonna be cool.

Fast car.

Car weighs like 3000 pounds, makes like 1400 on kill.

It's caged.

It's backed half big tire. Yeah, solid rear axle.

Oh, my God. It's what else can you even do to that thing?

I just got I mean, honestly, I'm going to keep it the way it is.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's it's I mean, it it works. It's not the prettiest thing up close. It's 81. So this dude, he drove it to the track. OK, big tire car, believe it or not. He drove it to the track, drove it home and drove it to work. It's got some paint scuffs and some corrections that need to happen for sure. But it's an 81. He drove the car. It's got some personality. That's that's all.

But any rust? Is it from up here?

So originally it was from Michigan. Guy built it in Michigan, moved over to North Carolina. He's not an area or something. He says it's not much racing going on, so he's getting out of racing and he's just buying a stock C6 and he's going to do some winding roads. So he was just ready to get out of it.

You know how many times we've heard, I'll keep it the way it is.

Yeah, that doesn't ever happen.

This is episode 85. If we go back and somebody made a compilation of everybody's saying, you should totally do that.

Seriously. And then just another cut to a picture of their build.

Just a little compilation.

There's always, you know, little things that you want to tinker and change and kind of make it your own. You know, especially I build all my own s***. So when I get a car, that's not mine. The first thing I do is I go through the car and there's things that I like to have. I like traction control. I like the data. Like adding a G meter. I like pulling that data in to make the car faster. That's honestly all I'm going to do on that car. Maybe throw a different tire on it. It's got Goodyear Eagles on it right now. This is a big tire. It's a 32-inch tire.

Nice.

It's massive. We will be putting a 33 on it. Who's your CO7, probably?

Geez. So what's the goal with that car?

That car is going to show up in places you wouldn't expect it.

Mexico?

Absolutely. That car will be...

Big vacation guy. Lots of PTO.

Yeah.

Beautiful place. No, that car, honestly, I'd love to get more, get out to more events like this, quarter mile stuff, eighth mile stuff even. Just, I want to get to the track more often. The street stuff is, it's fun, but it's illegal. It's a liability. I have a CDL as well. So that's gotten tougher.

There comes a point where you kind of mature into the track side of things. Not to say that, you know, Mexico is immature, but there's some guys that transition to that part.

Right.

And there's plenty of guys. I mean, you and I know plenty of people that do both.

Yep.

And there's a place and time for it. But it's also rolling with the small groups. That helps a lot, too. Absolutely. Some of the stuff we saw in Texas got a little chaotic.

Really? Just too many cars.

Too many cars. Especially like we went to the dig thing, cash days. Dude, there was like, I s*** you not.

Not even too many cars. Too many people.

People. There was like over a thousand people there.

It's an accident waiting to happen.

Yeah. Oh yeah, they're real mindful of it too, right? They're not standing right next to the car as it's doing a burnout or slightly in front of it. No, who would do that?

Never understood that.

Who wants a 3000 pound missile hitting them in the chest?

You know, like when I first met Omar, we were going out Tinder.

Grindr?

No.

We have a setting on there. I mean, I haven't tinkered with it.

When we first met, we actually, we were going out almost every weekend with a group that you know. And yeah, I mean, it was, it's just risky.

Yeah.

It was a few years ago.

That was, yeah, a couple, two years ago.

Yeah. And I don't know, I don't know what's changed between now and then. I'm not as willing to go out every weekend. Well, I was getting, I was also getting tired of breaking at 2 a.m. in the morning.

Yeah.

And not getting a tow truck. You know, that always sucked. It was always fun. And like you said, small group of people that really helped out, just the organization of it.

As you get older, your risk assessment changes, right? So I'm in my 40s now. So it's, even if you're just, you're pretty safe on the street, you know, I mean, there's not like these people are out killing people all the time or something. But even just with tickets and stuff like that, you can lose your car. You can lose your license already from just rallying my car. My insurance is absolutely f****** absurd. I could buy another home for what I'm paying for insurance with all these cars. So it's like, yeah, you start to get OK. And more and more events like this are also going on. We were just talking to AJ. He's trying to get another role racing event possibly going. So I think as places like this do more of this stuff, I think you get more people in here in a setting that doesn't cost them a thousand dollars every time you go out or, you know.

Definitely. Yeah, I think you nailed it on the head. I know as I've gotten older, I'm less willing to go out and do that kind of stuff on the street. Well, our cars are getting astronomically faster. Oh, yeah. There's that, too.

The car's little by little.

I'm not going to say I'm scared of the car, but the car makes me nervous. I mean, I don't know that it's a bad thing. The car makes me nervous. I'm a tentative to it. I feel like when you get comfortable with something, that's when you get complacent.

That's true. You see a lot of these guys, you know, they get used to a thousand or something and it can catch them off guard all of a sudden.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I think nerves are a good thing. It makes you more aware of what's going on.

Yep, exactly.

But like you said, putting all that on the street, too, it gets hard.

I mean, that was a big push for why I got the Jeep Audi, because it's caged and inserted and it's, you know, safety harnesses and seats and stuff like that.

So wanting to run a cage on the streets.

I mean, just wanting to have a chance to live if I will. Or if I get into an act. I mean, my thought, I've talked to Omar about this a lot, is like, I feel like I've been lucky the last couple of years with the vet. The vet's been my bread and butter for the last couple of years. That was my baby. That's what I raced on the street every time I went out. I've never had an accident. I've gotten squirrely next to people. People got squirrely next to me. We've been okay. But I'm just, I've been lucky.

When does your luck run out?

Yeah. Yeah, and that's, you know, I have a baby on the way. Due July 27th.

First kid?

First kid. That'll do it for sure. So that was a big motivation in that. I talked to the wife. She's like, hey, like, I'm going to continue to support what you do, but I want you to be safer. And I took that as, let's go buy a new car. It was a pretty easy sell there. I'll get something with a cage in it, safety harness. I don't know what the future of the vet is at this point, because like Omar said, to take it to the next step, I've got the power, right? I don't necessarily have the chassis to put that kind of power down. I really don't.

Yeah, in order to keep up with everything else that shows up, we'd have to back half the car at that point.

Back half, cage it, and just make it rigid in the rear.

And that's what can total up, what, 30, 40-year-end to do? Just for labor, probably, and you know, materials.

That's identical to this anyways, chassis-wise. I don't know that I want to do that. I think when I built that car, I built it in mind to race some of the local High Wars power cars.

Right, some of the twin-turbo Vipers, whatever else.

Yeah, you know, it makes the power to do it. But there's so much more that goes into, you talk to a lot of people, you know, Aaron and all those guys, and you can make all the power you want. Doesn't mean you're going to put it down.

Right.

There's so much more to it than just making horsepower.

Yep.

And that's what I really have learned in the last couple of years. You know, I think I was a little premature in making all this sort of power, not realizing, you know, the car struggles to put down more than 12, 1300 tire. And when it's doing that, it's spinning anyways. Yeah. See, I think I want to make a change in jazzy and the Malibu is that's what's going to. I mean, this car by far is the fastest car that I've been in. It's far faster than that has been.

Really?

Oh, yeah.

Just because you're able to put it down better?

Yep. The car just works really well. It's torque arm suspension. It's an old technology and it just works. It still spins out here, but it gets down.

Yeah, definitely does.

On bad surfaces. I mean, the car pulls.

Oh, yeah. I imagine you put some ET streets on it or something.

Yup. And honestly, I was talking to my tuner before I came over here and he was telling me he thinks I should try, I don't know, PBR. Maybe a different Mickey. Who's your Mickey? We'll stay with the radio. I'm not going to throw it on the slick, but see how that like bolt tire on, make a hit on the same exact tune up and see what it does.

Why don't you guys, I got a jack. Why don't you guys just swap rear wheels?

Yeah, that's what I was watching.

So I think, I don't know if you look closely, that's two seats bolted to a hood.

Yeah, I saw that.

Look at how light that thing is, dude. It's got a cooler on it. Refreshments.

We need to work on those.

It's going to be a lot of the same for the North Star Speed Summit coming up here next few weeks. Are you guys going to that one?

Is that here?

That's going to be here as well. So I would believe that's June 7th through 9th. So I don't know if you guys, have you guys heard of Proving Rounds?

Yeah.

A while ago before it turned into something else. So the guy that initially was a part of organizing that, he's in charge of this new one called the North Star Speed Summit. That's going to be kind of like the best parts of Proving Grounds. So I'm curious to see how that goes out. I've only been to one Proving Grounds, I didn't stay, but that will be a fun one too. You're going to see track racing and whatever else. I'll have to look at the itinerary again. Autocross, all that fun stuff. You guys don't do much at Autocross or anything like that, right?

No, no, I'm into it.

Our cars are built to go in straight. I mean, right now, they're built to go in straight lines. I mean, honestly, that's what they do. That's all they do. I mean, we drive them. They're street cars, though. We do drive them. Oh, yeah.

Take them out to dinner.

Yeah, it's not. The car does not corner well.

Can't imagine it does.

And sometimes it doesn't stop well.

Manual brakes, manual power steering. It gets a little sketchy.

Parking kind of sucks sometimes, but you deal with it.

Yeah, you had a scary moment on track today.

Yeah, not having brakes. Well, I had brakes, but, you know, with that, oh, it was not connected to the brake booster. Yeah, got a little scary there. I definitely thought for a second, I was like, well, I lost all brakes and I'm going 140 straight into the turn. This is not going to go well. I was like, oh, gosh. But, you know, just leaned into it. I'm like, OK, no, I do have brakes. They're just, you know, really, really, really tough right now. But it worked out for sure.

I'm excited to see what you do with that next build. I mean, just enjoy it. How far do you want to travel for like events?

I don't know yet. I guess I haven't really thought to be tough.

You got to figure it out with a kid.

Yeah, I mean, this I think this next year is going to be pretty low key for me.

Yep.

I don't know that I'll be out on the street much, if at all. That's part of the big push why I came here, because I knew I wasn't going to make it to the second one. And I knew my my year was going to be kind of slow and boring, which I'm OK with. Maybe it'll maybe the baby will slow me down. I don't know.

I've seen some babies around here. Yeah, absolutely. And my kids love to do this stuff with me. I have four kids and they come to the track with me. That's it. Actually, when I took off this last time, should have seen their friggin faces, man. They were pissed that I was leaving.

So when did you say the babies do?

July 27th.

Four days before me, or before my birthday. Hopefully people remember this year, we'll see. I'll be waiting. But no, it's going to slow down a lot for you. I remember my old co-host Sean, he got his kid, he ended up on a road rally with us two months later or whatever, but nonetheless he took it way easier, doesn't make it out to as many things. That's just part of it.

Not to say I'm done with any of that stuff. I'm still going to be building stuff, I'm still going to go out, but just not as often I won't be as present in the scene.

How long have you been in the scene? What got you into, what was your first fast car?

That truck I told you about earlier, that Duramax actually, single cab, that's what got me into it honestly, until I broke it.

It's a Duramax, so it was inevitable.

Yep.

So that thing had a stock crank in it, fours, rods, and pistons, and heads, and it was compound setup. I said make 11, 1200. And it was rowdy, it was rowdy, it was a little bit laggy, but when it came on, it came on hard. And when it broke, I mean, the bill to build one of those, I was doing like a 7.1 stroker at the time. And I think just with me pulling the engine, installing it, sitting out to the machine shop and parts and stuff, it was like $40,000.

Yeah, people think, oh, cool, I'm going to build cars. That's expensive. Start building diesels. Then tell me what you think is expensive. So what year was it? LB what?

It was an LBZ. LBZ, LB7 crank. So it was a rowdy truck. It was fun. It looked really good. It was called White Widow. It was all white. The Widow sticker was, the powder coating on it was incredible under the end of the bay. It was like an illusion red. It was like a pearl white. Nice. And the sun just reflected the car. I mean, that's what a lot of people still know. I still get people that will call me White Widow. I was like, wait, who are you? I saw you racing years ago. I was like, you still don't recognize me? You know? I don't know. It was a fun car or truck until it broke. I didn't have a lot of extra money. I wasn't making much at all. And I could not afford to rebuild that thing. And I wanted to make it faster, too. So I was like, all right, let's be realistic here. You can't do this.

Yeah.

Would you consider building a fast diesel nowadays?

Yeah, I would. Depending on what it is, I would consider it. I mean, I don't know that I'm going to get into a diesel anytime soon. I have something else in mind for my next... I'm going to step into a new platform, I think.

Ford?

Yeah, I want to step into the Coyote platform. And...

Oh, there you go.

Coming around.

It only took a few years.

Right. I'm seeing what they're doing and they're doing it.

Like the Gen 3 Coyotes?

I mean, Coyotes in general.

In general?

I mean, it's an excellent platform. Not that the LS is not. The LS is just a little outdated.

Something different. You want to try something a little bit new, too?

I've built enough LS stuff. I'm getting kind of bored with it.

You get into that.

With the speed, with the building portion.

That variable cam timing. I mean, look at all these Audis and all these things that are here that are just smoking everybody. It's like, you get into that game. Like, it's a whole... I mean, it's a different level of tuning, but that is... I mean, to get a car that doesn't lope like it's going to die when you get off the track, and then, I mean, you can go from just drivability normal to full-on race, right? So, it's kind of a neat platform.

I've never been one... I've never really been that brand loyal, despite all my GM stuff I have.

I was about to say...

I've never been brand loyal.

It quacks like a duck.

I'm not afraid to step into a different platform. I mean, even like on the heavy truck side, I work on anything pretty... I mean, I do trucks and equipment for my diesel repair business.

Okay.

So I mean, that's kind of its own... You never know what you're showing up to on the job site. I'll just say that.

Yeah.

So that's... I don't know. A lot of that stuff transfers over to the automotive performance side. You know, I'm not afraid to step into any platform, really. I just... I'd love to go something... Something I will drive, something Ford will drive, and see how it works. I've wanted to do something along the lines of a Trailblazer SS. Still heavy.

They're sick cars.

You know, that's the thing with four-wheel drive is there's more stuff to break.

You're a family man now. You're looking for a bigger vehicle.

That's right.

That's how he's gonna sell the bike.

And I'm, you know, single cab F-150. I mean, or Mustang.

Yeah.

Is it for sale? No.

Those SSs, though, you could do some cool stuff with that. My buddy Amar, down in the South Metro, he has like a 800, 900 horsepower one. He's building or building for whatever.

Yeah.

And I'm just like, that's cool.

Yeah, they're pretty sweet.

Dad wagon, dude.

That's incredible what that platform's doing.

I got it.

You got to respect it.

Yeah. Would you ever consider Euro? Or any import in general? Honestly, probably not.

I think after I ride in one.

I think I can get you a ride along around here somewhere.

It'd be cool. I mean, I'd love to hop in something different this weekend before I leave.

They've got that all-wheel drive thing going for them that has got to be just insane. I'm used to this big horsepower V8 stuff, but you're doing the same thing. That whole hooking and all that stuff, all that s*** goes out the window.

What is that?

Yeah, right? They're just like, oh, I'll just mash this pedal down and you just take the f*** off. You know?

It's a good looking Viper.

But it is, to build those is more expensive.

100%. Those platforms seem to be working pretty well, though.

Oh, yeah, definitely. They're going fast.

Yeah.

How's the shop been going for you? It's been a few months since you've been on the podcast. How's the thing going?

It's been picking up. It's definitely been picking up. From the last time, we've gotten a couple decent cars in, and I think right now I'm booked out for the next two months.

Really?

Yeah, getting busy.

As long as it's paying bills, right?

Exactly. That makes sense. Just starting to learn. I'm not ready to take that full time yet, so still trying to learn how to do my full time job, and then go and do that after work. That's the only difficult part. Building the cars, that's the easy part.

That's part of ramping it up too, right? Because if you go into it full time right away, you get swamped, or there's parts to being a business owner that are... There's a lot of learning curves. If you end up... If a build has to sit longer than it intended or whatever, that kills your cash flow. If you can do it part time, figure out the difficulties, that makes sense.

Exactly.

What would you say you do during the day?

I'm a body guy, so out of body.

That makes sense.

Slapping mud on things, and that's about it. Pretty easy.

Some of these cars could use it out here. Some of the cars out here, you would never guess they're as fast as they are.

We just had a Cadillac limo drive past us.

To see that thing.

Or that station wagon, that brown station wagon. Supposedly, that thing's like Twin Turbo or Single Turbo, something like that. You look at it, it's got the stock rims and everything, you couldn't even tell. It's like, that's insane.

I'm pretty excited for this weekend. We're coming up on an hour here. Is there anything else you guys kind of wanted to touch on before you pop our usual three?

No, not really.

Any other questions you guys have for us?

You got any crazy stories of Mexico stuff? Or how much can you share, right?

Yeah, that's the only thing I have to be excited about. Crazy stories of Mexico.

The only one that kind of rings a bell from when I was with you is the one that we did a poll right in front of the cop. Right on the highway.

That's when I was racing that big single turbo Fox body. I got my a** whipped that night. That was humbling. Also on a Neto. Checks out. That car hooked. I did not. And we were doing it right past the cop. So people were actually flashing us. I'm thinking to myself, what the f***? Where are these guys flashing us? And people tried to call me. I don't watch my phone when I'm doing that kind of stuff. And the guy lined up and just raped by a cop. The cop was just getting off the exit, like slowed down to watch us. Didn't get back on after we sent it.

Yeah, we got lucky that time.

It was probably one of the closest calls I've had. It was a fun time.

You hear a lot of these stories. And sometimes also if you're like mid-pull and the cherries light up, it's like, they're a mile back at that point. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, I always look at the gas.

Oh, yeah.

That's a quick glance.

Not getting far.

Oh, here's a funny story. I don't know if I told you this one yet, Dan. I think it was a week ago, right? I was coming back from the gym just cruising along. I was doing like 10 or 15 over. I didn't realize it. I thought I was doing just a little over the speed limit. And I see a cop coming the other way. I'm like, oh, that's fine. I'll just scrub five miles an hour off. So the guy rips a U-turn. And before he's even done this U-turn, I slammed on the brakes right on the shoulder. That's the pullover I've had in my life. It was like two minutes, right? This is the sort of stuff that makes people angry. If I ever make a highlight of this, everybody's gonna get angry. But yeah, I was like, guy comes up or whatever. He's like, oh, you know, you're moving along pretty quick or whatever. Where are you coming back from? I'm like, dude, my house is right there. I'm coming back from the gym. He's like, oh, what'd you hit or whatever? Or did you have a good workout? I'm like, no, it sucked. He's like, oh, why is that? I'm like, oh, you know, injuries, whatever. He's like, oh, man, I f***** up both my knees or whatever. And he's like, hey, get your ID, by the way. No ticket for you. Runs back 10 seconds later. What? I couldn't believe it, dude. But I think it was because I slammed on the brakes and just immediately stopped. Because they appreciate that. I hear this all the time on rallies, right? Whether it's Crown Rally, G-Force, whatever. Anytime it's on a rally, if you pull over immediately, even if you're doing a buck 30, buck 40, they appreciate the fact they don't have to call it in, chase you down. Maybe you'll still get a ticket for 30 over, but it's better than 100 over.

Yeah, that's true.

I'm telling you, you want to think you can run, that's a whole other level of trouble. You get that ticket for speeding versus felony evasion, that takes a whole other step. Actually, that skips a bunch of steps.

Did you see the chick that got pulled over a few weeks ago? And I pulled over, it was a chase. Because she was going like 10 or 20 over or whatever, and then she started to run. It was like an infinity... Oh yeah, I've seen this video. She was like a Medics or whatever. It was like a G35 or G37. She ran, I think she crashed or something.

Yeah, she wiped out.

Yeah, she wiped out. It went viral.

Did she make it? Was she alright?

Yeah, she was alright. I was just chilling like, I think it was Atlanta or something. I'm like, of course it was. I don't know, but yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of cool, fast stuff out here. I'm excited to see who else we get on the podcast. But you want to pop the usual three, Dan? I know we had Omar answer before, but I don't think it doesn't hurt to answer.

Sure. So at the end of every episode, we like to ask our guests to pick three cars. I need a daily driver, a show car and a track car. You have an unlimited budget. Do whatever you want. Build whatever you want. What do you think?

Start with you, Davion.

Oh, man. You said show car, daily driver, track car.

Yep.

Daily driver. I'd have to do something all-wheel drive. Maybe a Jeep. Trackhawk or something like that. Something all-wheel drive. Show car. Maybe I'd get something Euro. I like the R8s. I really do.

Gen 1 or Gen 2?

Gen 1.

Really? Iron Man.

And then what was the other one? Track car. Man, that's tough. I'm not really a track guy. So to think about it, it could be dragster up to track. Drag car. I'd probably do a 69 Nova.

Okay.

69 Nova, yeah.

Nice and built up. Okay.

All murdered out.

Black.

Yeah, he seems like a type of guy that'll do something stock.

I like stock. That's all I'd...

Yeah, warranties, man.

Yep. I think that's honestly... That'd be my pick.

Good choices. I like it.

4.3 Vortec V6 in it.

Say again?

In your Nova, the 4.3 V6.

I'd be an LS. Yeah, yeah. No, I'd probably do... Just 4.3. Twin-turbo, big block Chevy. Something along those lines. Glide. Maybe a 400. I like 400s.

Everybody does.

They work.

In your guys' game.

They work, man.

Yeah.

I've never broken one. There's a reason that they're putting...

Everything?

Everything.

Everything that reaches a limit on its stock trans.

Feeding right into a Ford 9-inch, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, everybody's got their thing.

Yeah.

All right.

How about you?

I don't know.

I'd say probably for a daily... I'd say probably one of those all-wheel drive Ford pickups.

The single cabs?

Yeah, the single cabs. I saw for a while that they had one that they sold for like 40 grand that made 800 horsepower off the dealership.

You can still get that package. Oh, really? There's a Leviton Ford down south somewhere. They'll do those packages. So basically, you buy it, you get in, they'll put a Roush charger or a Whipple charger on it. And then they send you out the door with factory warranty.

Yep, one of those. It's insane. Say that for a daily. It'd be kind of sweet to have a Viper. I got a newer ACR Viper with a fat wing. Those are pretty sweet. Good looking cars. And then track car, drag car. I'm going to have to go back to the El Camino. It's just, I don't know, El Camino. Just something cool. I'm going to have to grow big goatee and everything. Make sure that goes. Exactly. Get a mullet too while I'm at it. You got a good start already. Yeah, I got a good start. I got long hair. I just got to cut it. Get a mullet growing.

That's going to be a glorious day.

It will be fun.

Well, sweet. On that note, where can people find you? We'll start with you.

Social media, my full name, Davion Conover. Facebook, that's Facebook, Instagram. Instagram is going to be OneBad underscore GM. TikTok, OneBad underscore GM.

Cool.

Then that, RPD Motorsports LLC is the business profile. If anybody needs the use of repair, done. Commercial trucks, heavy equipment, it's all mobile. Midnight De-Sore Repair LLC is the Facebook page name.

Nice. And then as for you?

And then mine, pretty much all across the board, it's Nightfall Performance LLC on Facebook, and then on Instagram and everything else, it's just Nightfall Performance. Pretty simple.

Well, awesome. Thank you guys for coming on. This is super cool to do our first outdoor podcast, I think.

That's pretty sweet. Is it?

I think it's our first outdoor one.

A little different, yeah.

It's different. A lot of ting-a-ting-a-ting going by. A little bit of chopping, but I think it was cool. So thanks for being a part of that experience.

Yes, thank you.

Yeah.

Sweet.

And then as for you, Dan, you can find us at Gunner Garage, where Two Ends, or at any racetrack with the rig.

Yeah, we're going to be out here camping again for the North Star Speed Summit. That's going to be cool. I'm excited. That's Charlie's event. And then we'll see whatever else comes up after that. But guys, make sure to sign up for the newsletter, all that fun stuff. I think we're going to have that giveaway coming up here with the Lunatech product, all that stuff. But other than that, thank you guys for coming on.

Thank you.

Thanks for existing, Dan. And we'll see you all next time. Awesome.