The Scene Vault Podcast

This week in the third and final installment of our conversation with David Ifft, he tells us HIS side of the story of a long-ago riot before, during and after a Waylon Jennings concert at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then, it’s on to his infamous stint in a Mexican jail while en route to the 1980 season finale at Ontario … a race he would win with Benny Parsons behind the wheel. After that, David re...

In the second installment of our interview with David Ifft, David tells all when it comes to his salary negotiation with M.C. Anderson, after which he become the first crew chief on record to be paid more than $100,000 a year. He also gives us the scoop on why M.C. started having his employees followed by a private investigator. Phil Parsons … if you’re out there and listening … don’t shoot the me...

The Spongebob Squarepants musical ... Rick coming to Steve's rescue and helping change a flat tire ... it all takes a back seat to the news that Las Vegas Motor Speedway is renewing its title sponsorship of The Scene Vault Podcast for the coming year! In the first of three EPIC installments of our interview with David Ifft, the longtime NASCAR crew chief talks about going from shop to shop to shop...

In the second and final installment of our interview with Jeff Purvis, Jeff talks about the all-out South Boston brawl and subsequent suspension he faced way back when, a Pikes Peak win he does not remember and TWO life-threatening and ultimately career-ending accidents … AND … giraffe money. Hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid then dig into the August 2, 2001 issue of Winston Cup Scene. Bobby Labon...

Jeff Purvis … Never Nervous Purvis. This week in the first of what will be two installments of our interview, Jeff talks about getting into racing on dirt, his transition to asphalt, how he first got together with team owner James Finch and one of the very best cheating in racing stories that you’ll ever hear. In our second segment, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid dig into the May 5, 1994 issue...

We start off this week with a quick chat with Jamie Bishop, gasman for NASCAR Truck driver Parker Kligerman, who won Saturday's event at Mid-Ohio. Jamie is a longtime friend and supporter of the show who may ... or may not ... return the victory-lane caps he was given by Parker following Saturday's victory. In the third and final installment of our interview with Todd Bodine, Todd discusses the da...

We’ve got a lot packed into this installment of our interview with Todd Bodine … getting booed because he’s Geoff Bodine’s brother, the infamous run-in between Geoff and Brett during the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his OWN issues in that event and the phantom caution he caused, ANOTHER historic race at Texas Motor Speedway that got away and last, but certainly not least...

After taking additional questions from friends (?!?) of the podcast Rick Mast and Rusty Wallace, we dive into the first installment of our interview with Todd Bodine. Long before he was a champion of the Craftsman Truck Series … long before he became a NASCAR analyst and broadcaster … Todd bounced up and down the east coast, trying to make a name for himself in the sport. He got one big break as F...

Richard Petty … what else do we really need to say? NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural inductee. Seven championships … seven Daytona 500 wins … the number 43 … 200 wins. It's a perfect fit for our 200th episode. It would also not be appropriate to celebrate our 200th episode without including our listeners, so we asked everybody to send in their questions for hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid … and we...

NOTE: Have a question to ask hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid for next week's milestone 200th episode? Tweet us @thescenevault and use #vault200, or email a voice file to rick@thescenevaultpodcast.com! In the second and final installment of our interview with Richard Childress Racing legend Will Lind, he discusses all the Daytona 500s that got away from Dale Earnhardt and what it meant to him per...

This week's show begins with a simple challenge ... pay it forward. Do something nice for someone else, without any expectation of receiving anything in return. Will Lind got his start in the sport working with James Hylton, but he went on to have a LONG and successful career with Richard Childress Racing and was probably best known for changing rear tires on Dale Earnhardt’s Flying Aces/Junkyard...

NOTE: This episode contains vivid descriptions of the experience of combat. It may be too intense for some listeners. For this very special Memorial Day release, host Rick Houston had the honor of sitting down with Medal of Honor recipients Bob Patterson and Joe Marm to discuss their stories, their interest in NASCAR and why Bob is a big Kyle Busch fan. NOTE: This podcast is not associated in any...

In the epic third and final installment of our interview with longtime NASCAR crew chief Tim Brewer, Tim talks about his and Junior Johnson’s 1991 suspension after a big engine was found in their car at Charlotte. He also remembers Bill Elliott coming on board with the team in 1992 … the early success … and then the crushing disappointment of losing out on that year’s championship. And if you thou...

This week in the second installment of our interview with longtime … and outspoken … NASCAR crew chief Tim Brewer, Tim talks about his move to M.C. Anderson and why he considers that to be the biggest mistake of his career. He also guides us through some tumultuous years financially with Blue Max Racing and Tim Richmond, during which it was left to HIM to cover checks to keep the team going. Then...

After some reactions to last week's release of CLIPS from our L.W. Wright interview, longime NASCAR crew chief Tim Brewer talks about his earliest days in racing at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, quitting school and hitting the road as a young teenager, the infamous Talladega boycott of 1969 and an encounter with NASCAR Founder Bill France Sr. Brewer got his big break when he went to work f...

You know the legend of L.W. Wright. Now meet the man. The driver known as L.W. Wright made the first and only start of his Winston Cup career on May 2, 1982 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. He'd not been heard from in the FORTY YEARS since ... until now. May 2, 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of that iconic Talladega event, and for the first time ever, portions of an extensive interview with...

You know the legend of L.W. Wright. Now meet the man. The driver known as L.W. Wright made the first and only start of his Winston Cup career on May 2, 1982 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. He'd not been heard from in the FORTY YEARS since ... until now. Monday marks the 40th anniversary of that iconic Talladega event, and for the first time ever, portions of an extensive interview with the...

After teasing next week's interview guest, we conclude our three-episode arc with Gil Martin’s cancer story. It’s powerful … because he went at his Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) diagnosis with the heart of a racer. If this doesn’t work, try that … over and over and over again. In honor of that cancer story … as we have in the past with others in the NASCAR community who have dealt with such ser...

Big news in the world of NASCAR history this week ... the rebirth of North Wilkesboro Speedway, thanks to the efforts of a small group of Wilkes County diehards and Speedway Motorsports! In our first segment this week, we share the second installment of our interview with longtime NASCAR crew chief Gil Martin. Gil shares his memories of his first Winston Cup victory as a crew chief, which came in...

This week ... host Rick Houston and his sons Jesse and Adam join listener Bill Stripling for a memorable weekend of decidedly Old School and frigid short-track racing at Martinsville Speedway. In the first of what will be three installments with longtime NASCAR Busch Series and Cup crew chief Gil Martin, he takes us through his very first days in the sport. A buddy of his needed help out at the ol...

This week in the third and final installment of our interview with Mike Beam, Mike talks about the struggles he continued to face in the wake of the loss of Mike Rich and a fiery accident involving Sterling Marlin. Despite those reservations, Mike eventually moved over to Bill Elliott’s Junior Johnson & Associates team, where he and Bill combined to give Junior the final Winston Cup victory of his...

In this very emotional episode, longtime crew chief and team executive Mike Beam discusses what was THE most controversial moment of Richard Petty’s career … the 1983 fall race at Charlotte, after which a REALLY big engine was discovered under the hood of the Petty Enterprises Pontiac. He also talks about taking some time off to be Mr. Mom and refocus his priorities on his family. Mike then discus...

This week in the first of three installments of our interview with veteran crew chief and team executive Mike Beam, he talks about trying to break into the sport with Mike Laughlin, Butch Lindley, Harry Gant and Morgan Shepherd, before finally landing with Petty Enterprises. And … yes … he gives us HIS side of the story in the Great Lone Star Beer Escapade with Kyle Petty. In our second segment, h...

The Houston family makes it back from an epic trip to Las Vegas, a meeting with a Medal of Honor recipient and a treacherous jaunt on a skywalk overlooking the Grand Canyon! In the third and final installment of our interview with Johnny Benson, he talks … again … about his run in the truck series with Bill Davis Racing, his 2008 championship battle with Ron Hornaday, deciding to leave Bill’s team...

Snow in Las Vegas? Carrot Top? Oh, yeah. We've got it all in this week's episode! In the second installment of our interview with Johnny Benson, Johnny talks about his earliest days on the Winston Cup circuit with Bahari Racing, his rather difficult turn with Roush Racing, what might have been in the 2000 Daytona 500, his Mr. Nice Guy image, winning at Rockingham and parting ways with MB2 Motorspo...