Thanks so much for tuning into Weekend Focus on Corey Fluke. Coming up on today's show, I have Travis Braden joining me. He's a stock car driver from Wheeling, looking to make a name for himself, trying to get into NASCAR, and he's getting a bit of attention lately. So we'll talk about how he got to where he is now, and his hopes for the future here in a matter of moments.
But before we get into that, just want to remind you, if you have a community calendar announcement, if there's something you want me to talk about, if you want to be a guest on Weekend Focus even, just email me, Corey Fluke, at iCarmedia.com. If you have a community calendar announcement, just please get it to me at least two weeks in advance. That way I have enough time to get the word out. And see, oh, R-E-Y-K-L-U-G at iHeart Media.
So the last couple of years, some athletes from the Ohio Valley have made some headlines. You got Corey Walter and Michael Grove trying to pave their way in baseball. CJ Goodwin was playing in the Super Bowl for the Atlanta Falcons a couple of years ago. And Travis Braden is making a name for himself in the world of stock car racing.
He just started up his second season in the ARCA series, driving for RFMS racing. And he also does some late model racing with platinum motorsports. He's doing some big things, no doubt about that. And he's joined us here on Weekend Focus.
So Travis, I know the start of a new season. Things are getting real crazy for you, but I really appreciate you joining me, man. Well, I appreciate you having me on. No problem.
So before we get to what's happening for you today, let's take everybody back to the beginning. How did your love for racing get started? Way back. Yeah, funny story because especially at the level that I am now, different drivers are the same, but most have some sort of or just a huge following of me.
And really, no one in my family ever raced anything and really never really even followed car racing or any of that. So it really started. My dad went to the Daytona. I was a little kid and he told me where he was going.
And I didn't understand what that meant, you know, racing cars. So I remember watching on TV. And I think that was one of the years, Jeff Gordon won the day, twenty five hundred and his rainbow car and I was hooked right then. Awesome stuff.
So when did the racing bug start getting to you? When did you start racing? Yeah, so that was probably when I was four or five and then I started racing. I'm a four-wheeler when I was like six years old, five years old, just locally at one of the county fairs.
After a few years, I kind of wanted to race more. My parents were, you know, they didn't love how dangerous it was. And there just happened to be this little series that ran go-kart with her own wheeling. And we went and raced a few times.
And that was when I really started to go-kart. But in the honest, that first year I did it was kind of destroyed. And then the second year is when I got the bug, you know, I ran well a couple of times. It's been that way ever since.
So would you say that that was the moment that you realized, I want to make a living in this. I want to make sure I want to see if I can do the professionally? No, honestly, I wouldn't even say that. So to give you a little timeline, like I was eight years old when I first raced and then legends cars when I was thirteen.
And I really probably was at least twelve or thirteen. And even then I was, I didn't think it was very likely for me to make a well budget and no relationships with anyone, whoever goes to go and try or how good I am. So it was probably around twelve or thirteen when I wanted to pursue it. Yeah, again, race car driver and wheeling native Travis Braden join me here on Weekend Focus again doing some time in the arc of series and also doing some late model racing as well.
So who were some of your biggest role models in racing growing up? Well, like at first race, I got hooked on Jeff Gordon. And so, you know, he was the the wonderful of racing in that era. And I followed him all the way as retirement, you know, looking back when I was a kid, I didn't like Taylor and I actually was part not just a driver, but the person and he was a big role model.
I think as I aged and my teen years just looking back at what he did and gave me a lot of respect for what I was doing, you know, and the people that there's a lot of people you look up to people and racing are their top notch people. They really are. So I would shape my life in the whole sport. It's definitely something I can relate to because me and my dad were were big Jeff Gordon fans and we weren't the biggest fans of Dale Earnhardt, but and but as I got older, I got more of an appreciation for Dale and so I definitely relate to that.
Yeah. And I say Dale because that's the name that most people would recognize either way. But again, if you as I age and I started to watch the guys back then I mean, and everyone throughout the history of everything. Absolutely.
So I brought up the late model racing a little bit with platinum motorsport. How did that opportunity about how did it come about? Yeah. That's a team I think is when I first drove the late model.
He lived in your Dayton, Ohio and he owned a car. It's locally. And so we did that for a few years together locally and then it granted out that it reasonably and then you know, things changed over the years and we started to actually buy our own car in 2015, I think, was the first year. You know, team platinum was also from Dayton.
So we had mutual friends and they were looking for a driver for one race in Missouri. And so you raised a few more times that year and then we just go to the drive straight and race car driver and Ohio Valley native join me here on weekend focus. So you brought up your college days a couple minutes ago. You were a mechanical and aerospace engineering major at WVU.
So what were some of the challenges of staying on top of your game in both of those aspects? Because I can imagine that was pretty tough. But I will say that it kind of it didn't kind of it really benefited me. The rest of my career in racing, you know, I graduated and I think it actually helped doing with racing because I didn't have the option to be option to die there or, you know, be leery or something.
I had to go all the time, school racing, you know, you have a personal life as well away from the race shop. And I car was normally, you know, hundreds and hundreds miles away, usually. So first of all, I was drove. So it was very tough because the time it dedicated and I loved it.
When I loved racing. So I guess I'm easy to do that. I love it. And I guess in a way being juggled back and forth from place to place, I kind of get you a situation.
It kind of got you ready for what you're doing nowadays. Yeah, it's funny because I always looked at it like me. I got to do all this in go to school and I spend most of my time traveling and, you know, if I could just focus on racing and racing only, and it is way better. It's all much involved in racing that was here in the shop.
We work like a day off maybe once a month. It's still like you almost always feel like you're proud of the time of work ahead of you and you're always on a project. And so it's good because it got me used to that. And so the transition was easy to come here and have that kind of work.
Yeah, the only thing I'm trying to do is bring in here on weekend focus. So now let's jump into the arcades. You made your debut on July of 2015 out at O'Reilly Raceway Park, just outside of Indianapolis and you end up winning that debut race. I can only imagine the emotions that we're just going through your head.
Yeah, man. It was I was a kid in a candy store, but I don't even know. I couldn't even describe the emotion because it was did not expect that. Hell, we didn't even expect to chase until I was coming off turn four for the checker flag because we had a decent car, but we weren't good enough to win.
And we came along a strategy and I just in my mind was being pessimistic. I said, this is never going to work out. There's going to be a caution and we're going to be screwed right down to the very end. We were leading, but I thought for sure that there's going to have old tires and this is, you know, we're not going to win.
We've been watching it and it was a huge deal that whole whole month really afterwards. That was that month of my life. I have impacted honestly, I can only imagine, especially considering the competition that you were going up against in that race, including a future NASCAR, a future Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rookie of the year in William Byron. That's a guy you had the pass in order to win.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we played a strategy and it was a long green flag round and we chased them down and passed them and won the race back. Honestly, the top 10 was a lot of great drivers that have gone on and on and on. It was great to be for the first time on a huge stage like that in the Olympic names.
And and I mean, I still I can't tell you it's been up to say, Hey, you're that kid that drove the West Virginia car, right? And you won your first race and yet it's Indianapolis. Most now people still as soon as they see me as a huge deal. Awesome stuff again.
Travis Rayden and stock car driver and wheeling native joining me here on weekend focus. So you end up making spot starts in ARCA with the WVU car racing in the ARCA series every now and then. And then last season you began your career with RF MS racing. What what's the old deal for you with this team?
What made you go with them? Well, you know, I mean, we're based out of Brown, but Indiana right up out of Indianapolis. You know, it's a small team in comparison to it. Really my personality, my style of the racer that I am and just so happened, they were looking for someone just like me at the time.
It's kind of unique. There's not many race teams like this team. And like I said, it's almost the ideal race team for me. So again, it was kind of a Cinderella story.
It fell it fell together and year last year, but a lot of people say, we had a great year. Well, we didn't win the championship. So does that's not a great year. It's a year that we need to build on a really good deal for me.
And we've had a lot of fun. I think once we get a little bit of steam going this year, you'll see us really on the season. Hopefully this weekend, it's a call up. But you'll see us pick up some steam as the weeks go.
And I think it's when some races probably quite a few coming into the year. So it's really fun. It's definitely something that we're hoping and praying for because a lot of people here in the valley are in for you. Dude, I know I know I get people all the time that they're like so phone that you didn't win a race last year, but we're watching every week and we're can see that you guys are making progress and you're going to break through.
So it's motivation. Absolutely. So another unique opportunity that you had recently was a never was an opportunity with Kyle Buschmoor. Let's talk a little bit about that.
Yeah. So that was another pretty big factor. These are the probably the three main points brought up pretty interesting that you've noticed all that, but I didn't know anyone with Cal Sports internally and they know they had known of me and Kyle was going to race the late moderate. So they want to go test and Kyle wasn't available.
And it just so happened that they looked at me as someone that was that they're racing at and let's see if this kid can do it. They called me and they said, Hey, we do it. And I said, Yeah, feel for me because that open eyes was open doors. I know, you know, the Charlotte Moritzville area program and piece of equipment.
I learned a ton and then we've made a great. Yeah, especially considering that Kyle Kyle's team has just become a juggernaut in the Canning World Truck series and especially with his ties with Joe Gibbs racing getting experience with that top notch equipment just had to do wonders for you. Yeah. And realize that Kyle races the late model races sometimes he has a team, but they're just as big of a juggernaut in that they are truck.
You know, a lot of his drivers that he's being trucks are driving his late model beforehand and then they move on up and it's great to have them in his low. Absolutely Travis brain stock our driver and native of Wheeling join me here on weekend focus talking about his past experiences and racing and what he's up to now a day. So you brought up your first season with RFMS racing in the arc series back in 2018 pretty impressive one. Yes, bummed out that you didn't win the championship of fifth and points for top fives 11 top 10s, definitely nothing to sneeze at.
And it was also good enough to make you want to Bob Pockers's 10 drivers to watch in 2019. Now, for those that don't know Bob Pockers is one of the best, if not the best riders in the sports. So to be to be a part of that list just what went through your head when you found out that you were part of that list because it seems like pretty good. Yeah, I don't know Bob personally and Bob the past few years is only done to mask our stuff for him to see me.
Well, I thought it was really cool that he paid that close attention to what he's not physically attending. I mean, really he had to be looking very closely at the fine details because, you know, arguably 2018 was one of my more. We didn't have a big moment or any big moment. We didn't win a race.
He had to be looking at, okay, you know, where this team is headed, the progression, the possibilities and all the things like you looked at it for what it really was and the potential and he said, look out for this. This could be a really big thing and this could do a really good job. So that meant a lot to me and our team really, you know, my name is attached to it, but we don't do well unless the full team does well. So and I don't do well if the whole team doesn't do well.
So it means a lot to have people paying that close attention. Absolutely. And the thing about the arc of series is just getting more and more and more and more and more and the arc of series right here. It's more than just payment.
There's still a couple of races that you go to that dirt track. Yeah. And honestly, until last year, they always used to go to a road course too. But yeah, we go to two dirt races.
They're one mile long, basically flat. It was a little bit of banking, but almost flat dirt tracks. I started my career racing on dirt and a co-car, but it wasn't, you know, sliding sideways and stuff like you see with the big third cars. And so to go to a dirt race for the first time this year was really nerve wracking because it's a one day show like you get there at 6 a.m.
or 5 a.m. and you're on the track track saying at 8.30 and you've never seen the place before. So you walk in at 5.30 and a couple hours later, you're out there running and, you know, it was honestly very intimidating. It's so flat.
It was like a mistake and you start sliding and you can't recover. You're seeing all year like waiting for that weekend to come. What the heck is going to happen? It turned out to be a lot of fun.
We had great. Our second race, we ended up getting wrecked, but that was really cool. And I think a lot of things that tuning to watch it. I love it.
It's a really cool deal. And I can especially imagine that because like you said, when you're on a dirt track with a stock car, it's not necessarily sliding around like some of the other cars that are on dirt tracks. But I still imagine that it's a pretty big handful driving this big stock car on a dirt track. It's a really handful and the track does change a lot.
It's dusty with the track. It's hard and it gets dusty and the best way on top of it. So if you don't know if you don't pay attention and you get up into the dust, you lose all grip and you just fly nice and everything happens really slow. You know, if you want to turn and you try to turn it, you're going to live with the gas.
It takes a second. So you got to if you want to turn a hundred yards ahead of you, you got to start working on it right now. And that part's a little different. It's very different.
It's something that the racers understand well. And so I had to kind of study it before we went and race there. And I felt like it did an okay job because I'm a lot better, but it was a lot of fun. I can't wait.
Honestly, those are two races this year, 2019. I'm like, I cannot wait to go to those two or to gain this time because I've actually done it before. And especially said to something you could get exposed to if sometime down the road you get up to the camping world truck series because they have that month summer classic. Yeah.
I mean, it'd be great. I feel like now just a little experience I have, especially after this year, I would be, you know, I would really benefit from that experience because mostly guys that go to that summer classic are my first third race. Flash, that'd be really cool to get into that. And you know, honestly, I would love to always kind of want to, but now that I'm more comfortable and confident in myself on the dirt, I would love to get into like a dirt modified or late.
I mean, I think that'd be a blast. Yeah. So I've always kind of like kept my ear open to see if I ever know someone that's like, Hey, we could stick you in a dirt car and go have some fun. Absolutely.
And Travis Braden joining me here on Weekend Focus. So now let's fast forward to today. As I mentioned in the beginning, you began your second season in the arc series over at Daytona back in February. And you guys are pretty well coming through with an eighth place finish.
I know eighth place doesn't get you a trophy, but the fact that you were able to go through Daytona, complete all the laughs and have the car in one piece. That's a victory in itself. Oh, yeah. I mean, that was my social stuff that night.
This is the win to me because last year we were months further behind with our cars, you know, in preparation for that season last year. And then we destroyed our car. So it really, I can't explain to you how much I honestly hurt our whole season last year when we wrecked and Daytona because it took all of our focus away from the other 18 races. So this year to get out of their clean, two or three days to clean up our car and maintenance it and get it ready for Talladega.
That's going to make a huge difference this year from top to bottom with the other 18 races. So I was nervous. Just wanted to finish that race and we tried to get up further, but it helped with the draft and started. So just to get out of there was a win.
And you brought up the heartbreaker last year at Daytona, especially in that race, you were pretty close to coming away with the way that at least you had a chance at the win, but then you end up wrecking with a few laughs to go. So I can imagine that was a heartbreaker, but last year compared to this year, definitely a lot of their fortunes. And it's kind of like, okay, we keep missing the recs and if I'm running seven, eight, nine, whatever, there's a late restart in 2018. So like my mind said at that point would almost be easier because when I report like I did last year, you can't there's nothing you can do.
You have to try to go with that race. You can't worry about wrecking your car when you're in eight. You know, you're going to push as hard as you can, but you can't really go anywhere because there's cars in front of you. So you have a better chance of finishing basically.
And so I was almost to be towards the front, you know, top 10, but racing in that little makes that's likely to back to you. Yeah, just to try this out of here on this last question, you kind of brought up how it was earlier in the day, your parents didn't really have any background in racing, low budget and all that. So if you could go back in time and tell five-year-old six-year-old you what to expect, what to expect down the road? What would you say?
What's like the letter to you? So to say, well, I would say you want to have fun with it. And honestly, I pretty much always had a blast racing, but just like anything you take seriously, sometimes you take it too seriously to where you're having less fun than what you should be because any sport, it's very serious and it's competitive, but it's all bad. I was told myself to just continue working hard, but be yourself, have fun and focus on a little bit more than just the driving part.
You know, there's a lot to be said about building a career doesn't just fall into place. And so I told myself to be out of eight years old, but I was like, hey, when you get to high school and everything is really easy in life, on the career side, I was not just, don't just worry about showing up on the weekends and driving. Yeah. And I think I really got a laugh.
Absolutely. So Travis, again, I thank you so much for joining me here on weekend focus, continued success to you. And hopefully we're going to see in the Monster Energy Cup Series one day, man. We'll be rooting for you.
Well, that would sure be awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you. No problem.
I'm telling you folks, Travis definitely has the talent and desire to make it in NASCAR. If he keeps us up and the stars align for him, I have a feeling we're going to be seeing him on some of the biggest stages in racing here in a couple of years, but a lot of people in the valley are very proud of how far he's come along. And again, I thank him so much for joining me here on the show, speaking of which we're at the end of the show now. But again, if you have a community calendar announcement, if you want to be a guest on weekend focus, if there's something you want me to talk about, just email me, Corey Glue at iHeartMedia.com, and you can catch past episodes, past interviews on the weekend focus podcast on the free iHeartRadio app.
I'm Corey Glue. Thanks for tuning in to Weekend Focus and until next time, you have yourself a good week. Give a serving.