The Scene Vault Podcast

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...

In the first of what will be three installments of our interview with Johnny Benson, he talks about the influence his father had on his life and career, rising up through the ranks despite the fact he was happy where he was at, his inauspicious Busch Series debut, beating Harry Gant for his first win in that division, his consistency winning out over Chad Little’s flashes of brilliance in the 1995...

Middle Tennessee racing legend Mike Alexander takes us through the early years of his career, as well as a couple of attempts at establishing himself as a Winston Cup competitor. When those didn’t work out, Mike decided to take himself and his talents to the Busch Series, where he felt he had a better shot at running competitively with a team HE owned. Mike ran well at the level, got himself a cou...

NOTE: Some parts of this episode may be too intense for some listeners. We’re sharing the third and final installment of our interview with John Dodson this week, and the conversation swings from hysterically funny to devastatingly emotional. John talks about the brawl between Rusty Wallace’s Blue Max Racing team and Darrell Waltrip’s Hendrick Motorsports crew that followed the 1989 edition of The...

In the second installment of our interview with John Dodson, he remembers the controversy surrounding three key employees of Junior Johnson & Associates making the move to M.C. Anderson’s team. Once there, team members were reportedly subject to being followed by detectives, in order to keep them on the straight and narrow. John also lets us in on another mass exodus, this time from Ranier to Blue...

You may know John Dodson as the younger brother of longtime NASCAR crew chief Barry Dodson, but he forged an incredible resume in the sport all his own. In the first of what will be three installments of an absolutely extraordinary conversation, John talks about growing up in a racing family with seven rambunctious siblings; breaking into NASCAR while still in high school; a wreck that left his he...

This week, we're honored to be joined by the one ... the only ... the iconic ... Mario Andretti to discuss his life and times in and around the world of NASCAR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week in the third and final installment of our interview, Kenny Wallace talks about the success of 1994, leaving Filmar to drive for Andy Petree, his second-place finish to Dale Earnhardt at Talladega in October 2000, driving for DEI a year later and finally, his dirt racing career. Hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid then dig into the February 2, 1995 issue of Winston Cup Scene. The cover stor...

In the second installment of our interview with Kenny Wallace, he talks us through his breakthough – and heartbreaking – 1991 Busch Series season. After battling Bobby Labonte for the championship, Kenny endured a devastating crash at New Hampshire late in the season. Then, during the offseason, a deal to move to Winston Cup falls through at the very last second. He lands on his feet and eventuall...

In our first episode of 2022, hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid discuss Rick's bout with boredom during his COVID quarantine and an incredible Christmas gift given to him by a listener. Kenny Wallace is ... well ... Kenny Wallace. And that's basically all the summary anybody needs! In our second segment, Rick and Steve thumb through the May 3, 1990 episode of Winston Cup Scene, which featured cove...

2022 is already shaping up to be one heck of a year for The Scene Vault Podcast ... and in this week's season finale, we share previews of conversations already in the can with Kenny Wallace, John Dodson and Mike Beam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our listeners sent in several questions for this special episode, and let’s just say that between Kyle Petty’s bootlegging and bull riding adventures and Steve Waid, Tom Higgins and the Knights of the Mystic Sea, this segment isn't going to be forgotten any time soon. We also did something a little different this week in our second segment. Hosts Rick Houston and Steve Waid asked each other the qu...