01x03 - Sneaky Pete

[bunniefuu]

Come on, Horace.

Light those bulbs
and put the skinny pedal down.

Ready, ready! Go!

That's what I'm talking about.
Chopping the tree down.

That's it. Great start. You got it.

All right, Shevey. Punch it.

Oh my God. He's coming up!

Get out! Go!

Yeah!

Yeah! Now that's how you roll!

Oh, that was nasty!

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

- Don't you worry about it.
- Yeah.

Not sure
what's under the hood of Shevey's car.

Yeah.

- But they brought some heat.
- Absolutely.

That was
the difference right there.

My light was good.

I get out about three cars,

and all of a sudden,
I see his car just zoom by me.

I couldn't, uh, hold him off.

Just had too much for me today.

I'm proud of my brother,

because he showed that anything
that come out of Sammy Maloof's pit...

- Anything.
- Anything.

He can't hide.

See my eyes?

Can't hide.

You can run, but you can't hide.
Why? 'Cause we'll find you.

We'll find you.

With that being said,

Sammy Maloof is a hell of a grudge racer.

Yeah. I talk s***,

but I have a lot of respect
for Sammy Maloof.

Well, Monti, it was an honor.

Hey, man.

- Shevey Mack. Beautiful job.
- Yes, sir.

That street car
is a hard-running street car.

- So...
- Thank you.

Seriously.

I do believe we owe you some money.

Yes.

Okay. Now, you did your job.
You got the stripe. Fair enough.

All I'm asking you is the Fitzgerald Team
race the Maloof Team again sometime.

Anytime.

But if we're gonna run,
we'll keep bracket to bracket.

We're gonna run pro-mod cars,
I'll bring a pro-mod car.

If we're gonna run top-fuel cars,
I'll bring a top-fuel car.

That's fine, brother.

You got it.

All right. You got it.

We gave it our best shot.

Horace's car, it flew for what it was.

Horace drove the dog crap out of it.

It's just that the odds
were stacked against us.

But you know, there's always another day.

Let's go, brother.

So any time,
I'm just a phone call away.

We'll have our time.

Just let it go,

keep yourself collected,

and go race again.

All right, Sonya.
So, I know I did set up your car for you.

The thing is this. I know James.

I've seen his car
jump around on the track.

- You pick a guy from Memphis, Tennessee.
- Yeah.

Why don't you just pick somebody
out here that's a little slower?

Wow. This car flies.

It was a $5,000 race.

I lost. I was pissed.

Now you wanna do what?

I challenged him again.

- Oh, you challenged him now?
- Yeah.

Sonya came to us with a big problem.

She has a $10,000 race coming up
with a racer named James McCaslin.

James is a tough competitor,

and he's taken
a lot of people's money out there.

- So you lost $5,000?
- Yeah.

Now you're racing for how much?

A double or nothing.

Well, if I'm gonna go in,
I'm gonna go in, right?

Yeah.

So, last year,
when James and I raced each other,

he was, uh, pushing NOS.

- Squeezing.
- Yeah.

With a lot of nitrous.

Putting nitrous oxide,

or "NOS," "the Squeeze,"

whatever you wanna call it, on an engine,

it's like a bodybuilder
putting steroids in their body.

When the nitrous oxide
is mixed with the fuel mixture

and injected into the combustion chamber,

it creates a whole bunch of oxygen.

Once the oxygen explodes in the chamber,
it forces that piston down,

which gives you an instant blast of power.

However, the problem with nitrous is,

long-term, it's gonna damage your engine.

Sooner or later, it's gonna bite you.

Plus sometimes, when racers use nitrous,
they lose their fundamentals.

They break focus
when they think it's simple.

We prefer normally aspirated,
high-horsepower engines.

James was squeezing,
and I had no idea.

- I didn't see anything that was obvious.
- You won't with James' car.

I know who he is.

He's a street-smart guy.

He'll go to any lengths to win,

whether it's playing mind games
with his opponent...

Or running a hidden nitrous tank.

He could hide it in the trunk, in the
car... And they call it a Sneaky Pete.

If he doesn't tell you,
you're pretty much running in the dark.

And unless he offers,
you can't just go search in his car.

- That's 100%.
- Okay.

Nitrous has become really popular,

and when big money is on the line,

some racers will use it
to get every advantage they can.

Now, nitrous is legal in certain races,

but it's supposed
to be agreed upon beforehand,

because it can be a big advantage.

But some people have pulled
what we call a Sneaky Pete

and have found clever ways
to hide their nitrous kits.

That way, their opponent is blindsided
when the nitrous kicks in during the race.

That's what James did to Sonya.

And I totally felt cheated afterwards
just because I didn't have any of that.

But really, I wish we'd just,
like, raced straight up,

because I know I can get him.

I see little flames in your eyes, Sonya.

I totally have that, but...
But it's one of those things, you know.

I-I gotta go back. I gotta redeem myself.

Like, especially if it's just a bunch
of dudes talking trash,

and especially
if they call out that I'm a girl.

It's just... You know,
there's no need for that.

I mean, you... you must know what I mean.

Yeah. That kind of attitude is annoying,

but if you let that get under your skin,
it's gonna mess up your performance.

I'm a driver.
I happen to be a female.

And James is just one of those guys.

He came off as, like, really macho,

so it kinda makes me feel like I just...
I wanna beat him a little bit more,

just to kinda shut that up.

I know I can do this.

But, honestly, I just...
I don't have a lot of money, though.

I think that I need a bottle in there.

I think that's the quickest way
to get me some more power.

You know what?
I know James is gonna squeeze.

So I believe we should add nitrous
and make odds even.

Of course, I'm gonna let
James know ahead of time.

- Just to be on the up and up.
- Heck yeah.

All right, Miss America.
Let's go beat up on James.

All right. Cool.

Now that we've taken on Sonya,
we really have to dial this car in,

because this is a must-win for us.

A week ago, we took a big I,

and we lost the half of a $20,000 purse.

So a back-to-back loss
could hit our business really hard.

That smile. Look at it.

This nitrous thing... She wants nitrous.
That's what we're gonna give her.

But every time I turn around nowadays,

it's "nitrous." It's "NOS."
It's "Squeeze." It's...

It's kinda your fault, though.

What's kinda my fault?

You ever hear of the movie
called Fast & Furious?

I never drove
in that movie a car that had nitrous.

I drove the cars,
the muscle cars, get it? Muscle cars.

h*... hold on. Hold on.

Didn't... didn't that car, that Monte Carlo

that he drove
in Tokyo Drift have nitrous in it?

I could've sworn I've seen it.

- I think it did.
- I think it did.

Didn't it, though?

- He's like...
- Did it not?

He goes...

Never mind about what happened
in Tokyo Drift.

We got a car to work on here.

There's a lot
that needs to be done on this

so that she could be competitive
with James' Mustang.

We know that James averages
in the mid-sixes in an eighth of a mile.

But if Sonya was to race this car today,

we estimate that she would clock in
around the low sevens.

That'll put her nearly three-quarters
of a second behind James.

So if she's going to compete with him,

the Camaro is gonna need
some serious upgrades.

But Sonya's $4,000 budget

will only cover the parts
for this major makeover,

but not any of the labor.

Which is why, if Sonya comes out on top,

she's agreed to split
the $10,000 purse with us.

But if she loses, we'll be in the red.

Those are just the risks of grudge racing.

Let's take a look at this beast.

Okay, first of all,

that shifter needs to be changed.

- And the seats.
- They're not even tight.

Move the seat. This is where
she can dance around while she's driving.

That pump. Lose that.

Let's put a good pump on it
that has a regulator set up to it

so we can regulate the pressure

and make sure that that hose
from the back of that car

to the front of the car
has got enough volume.

Where are you thinking
about running that nitrous bottle?

I think we should run
the nitrous bottle next to her.

- Mount it real nice. Put a gauge on it.
- Yeah, I like that.

With all these mods together,
I think she's gonna be in the ball game.

Let's go to work.

Now that my kids are reworking
Sonya's car from the back to the front,

I'm heading over to Downtown LA
to scout the location for our next stunt.

- So this is it?
- This is it.

- The Summit warehouse.
- It's a beautiful building.

- Kinda old and grungy.
- Oh, nice.

Today,
there's a lot of work to be done

for the stunt my dad will be doing

for one of the biggest auto part companies
in the world, Summit Racing.

Establishing a long-term relationship
with them would be great for our business.

Because if we give the client
what they want,

they'll most likely
wanna work with us again.

- Did you bring your toolbox?
- Yeah.

Because today,
your dad's driving, and you're working.

Okay. That's cool.

Although my twins
are not driving in this stunt,

I want them to be involved in every part,
from planning it to preparing it.

Not only they get
to observe this stunt right up close,

they're learning exactly what's needed
to put a stunt like this together.

When it comes to Summit, I think
what they're looking for is the, uh...

The "hidden warehouse,"
the Batcave, that alternative universe.

It's got an amazing layout
for this particular commercial.

The concept
of this Summit commercial

is basically a car comes in the warehouse
and is all ratted up and beat up.

And while it's inside,

a bunch of different performance parts
get attached to the car.

And next thing you know,

it's this beautiful muscle car
with an awesome package on it

and looks amazing
as it bursts out of the building.

To make this concept come to life,

my dad will have to drive perfectly
through a thick smoke screen.

As he bursts into the building,

he'll have to throw a sharp 90
to avoid a steel beam.

And then he'll fly down the aisle
lined with Summit parts.

After computer effects transform this
basic car into a fully-loaded muscle car,

my dad will fly up the ramp,

jump the Summit car
through the warehouse door,

and land it onto the street
without hitting anything.

- I think that's super cool.
- Right?

Very nice.

There is a lot of variables
when it comes to doing this stunt.

We got a lot of work to do.

Here's the deal. We're gonna
have to build some kind of door

that represents
what Sammy's gonna drive through.

So, we're gonna have to make it
out of something

that looks substantial but is not.

This is one of the substances we may use.

It's foam on this side. It's a bit
of a thin aluminum sheet on the other.

Who's gonna take door number one?

- I'll do the foam.
- All right.

Here we go.
In three, two, one. Through the door!

Go through the door.

- Through the door.
- Wow!

I was bad.

You're fired.

God, I hope Sammy
does a better job than that.

All right. Door number two.

So here's the deal, guys.

Balsa wood.

Who wants door number two?

- All right.
- Here we go.

Where you gonna hit it?
Show me where you're gonna go through.

That's where we're gonna go.
That's what's behind door number two.

Okay. Let's go to door number three.

Door number three. Real glass.

This isn't candy glass.

This isn't made out of some sugar
and water products you see in Hollywood.

This is real glass.

So you want me to go through that?

- You're gonna go through that.
- All right. I'm just gonna get a jacket.

She's going to catch an Uber.

Door number three.

Unbelievable.

- Not messing around.
- We're not going to space, Meghan.

All right, you ready?

- Let's do it.
- And in three, two, one.

- That's what's behind door number three.
- That's so cool.

We're gonna have a bit of door number two
and a bit of door number three.

It's gonna give
the client a spectacular exit.

- Wanna get the broom?
- All right. Go ahead. Clean up.

All right, clean-up crew, guys.
Let's get this cleaned up.

The new shifter came in.
I got it all laid out and ready to go.

Sweet. Let's do it.

Right now, the shifter
in Sonya's car is not a safe bet.

There's no lockout on it,

so it can easily go into reverse
or park if you're not careful.

That would not be good on the racetrack.

So we're gonna take the whole thing out
and install a new pro-race shifter.

Look at that. Looks much nicer.

Okay. That's all the way forward.

We have
to get this shifter just right.

It's probably the most important mod
after the nitrous.

For sure.

Once Joshua pops that bolt out,
I can get this nut off on the trans.

- Yeah.
- So we can take off the old...

That was, uh... that was me.

- Good one.
- Sorry.

- You good?
- Yeah.

Two more coming.

Nice.
That was just a warning shot.

Sorry.

I'm gonna be a mess.

Hannah and I are gonna work
the nitrous over.

You and Trevor are gonna work the Lexan.

Let me show you how I want this done.

On a drag race car, for safety-wise,
I like to put Lexan windows.

It's like super tough plexiglass,

and it keeps the air
from going inside the car.

I want aluminum strip
that's mounted to the Lexan.

Tack it here, here, here.

Now, give me that nitrous bottle, Hannah.

Sonya's going
into this tough rematch...

Jump in the back.

...and, for sure, adding that nitrous kit
will give her a little bit of a boost,

which should get her
down the track a little bit quicker.

Go underneath it.

But Sonya's gotta be careful.

When you're going down the track,

there's a specific time between gears
that you're supposed to hit it.

You could hit it too early.
You could hit it too late.

Good right there.

If you don't use it right,
it's going to work against you.

It doesn't hit my arm?

We'll weld the plate right here.

And then once it's welded,
it's part of the car.

Let's get it done.

I hope
some grass starts growing soon.

Today,
there's a lot of work to be done

for the stunt my dad's gonna be doing
for the Summit commercial.

This stunt is made up of many moving parts
that need to be lined up perfectly,

and that's exactly why we run practices
on location before the cameras roll.

Sammy,
do a nice practice run-up.

Got it.

The first setup
is a calculated, high-speed 90,

blind, through a curtain of smoke.

Start the smoke.

The car that I'm driving
barely fits between the beams.

I only have maybe
four inches on each side.

And I'm going through a smoke cloud.
You don't know where you're going.

If I miss this mark,
and I hit that steel girder,

I can get injured,
or I could total out the car.

- Was it close?
- You k*lled it.

Even though
I can practice the start of the stunt,

really can't practice
the cl*max of the stunt.

We only have one stunt car
and one breakaway door.

Plus why would I wanna put my body

through that kind of impact
more than once?

That's why this is only a one-take deal.

We're gonna have to angle it.

Make the ramp angle different.

The elevation that my car
will achieve may not seem that high.

That way.

However, when you start
factoring in the physics of this,

the speed of the car,
the weight of the car,

the angle of the ramp...

About right there. Stop.

...factor in the sudden stop,

there's a lot of damage that could
take place in 1/100th of a second.

Line it up exactly with the doorway.

- That's good.
- Bull-prick it down and let's go to work.

Okay, guys.
We are ready! Roll all cameras!

They're hot and ready.

When I get myself in that car,

I start boiling with excitement.

Keep coming, keep coming, keep coming.

I love what I do.

At this point, the only thing
in my mind is making my client happy.

All right, guys. Everybody stay put.

- Sammy, are you ready?
- Copy.

Start the smoke.

We're 100% locked up and ready.

All right, brother. Here we go.

In three, two, one.

Come ahead, Sammy.

Come in a little faster.

More, more, more. Go, go, go.

There you go.

Nice. Drive, drive, drive.

Find your line.

Nice. Drive right by.

Sammy, slow down a little bit.

Nice.

And then the second
you go through, haul a*s, okay?

Go, go, go.

That's a cut.

Guys, let's go get him.

Take your time. Take your time.

Hold on. Hold on. Relax.

- Where's my girls at?
- Right here.

- That was beautiful.
- It was so exciting to see that.

Yes! Look at that!

Did we get our shot?

Nailed it. Nailed it.
It's exactly what we wanted.

It was an honor to do
a national commercial as cool as this one.

There's thousands
of stunt players and coordinators,

so by them, thinking of me to do it,
that means a lot to me.

Oh my gosh.

Very excited to drive.

This car is set up
to do exactly what we need it to do.

We've completely transformed
this car from the inside out.

Custom-made racing seats
that'll keep Sonya secure.

Lexan windows will assist
in the aerodynamics of the car.

Plus a new set of racing slicks
that'll give the car greater traction.

A new ratchet shifter and shift light
will help her shift at the optimal time.

Last but not least, a new fuel pump
and higher capacity fuel lines

will feed 125 shot of nitrous

that will for sure give Sonya
the extra kick to get the win.

We do this together, okay?

Sonya, just focus on that tree.

Cut yourself a good reaction time.

- You don't wanna waste time sitting here.
- Okay.

Wait for that shift light.
As soon as it comes on, you shift it.

Remember,
when the nitrous kicks in,

it's gonna give you a jolt, but you have
to keep the car in the groove.

Watch that shift light.
You shift when that light comes on.

If you shift too late or too early,
the race is over, it's done.

Understood.

Ready?

Go!

- Feel that nitrous kick?
- Yes.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.

You're out of the groove.

That nitrous is working
with that engine all the way down.

You don't wanna oversteer this thing.

Go ahead. Get in line again.

- Stay away from that lane.
- Yes.

Her biggest challenge
is just herself right now.

She understands mechanically how it works.

She just has to get
the working knowledge inside of her.

No sooner you see the blink,
you throttle it.

Go!

Shot of nitrous just kicked in.

That was your best one.

Things are starting to make sense
and starting to sit well with me now.

I feel a lot more prepared.

Sonya, that one was dynamite.

Now, you tell me
what you experienced in this car.

The car, I can tell, is... is amazing.

It's just my own things
that I need to work on.

Getting used to that shift light
is very interesting.

I'm not used to that at all.

It'll become second nature
if you do it long enough.

The same thing with the nitrous button.

Just the repetition of it
and sh**ting for perfect on every one.

- Yeah.
- You know?

And remember, launch the car,

shift to second, then push the nitrous.

All right.

Okay. Sonya, I want you
to get used to this a few more times,

and then there'll be no second-guessing
you're gonna take that stripe from James.

Yes.

It's a good day for a race.

- I'm ready.
- My main concern is your head.

- How are you doing up there?
- I feel calm. Like, I feel good.

The only reason
you'll fail is if you break focus.

Nothing else should be going on
in this head of yours.

I don't want you thinking of James at all.

There is a lot at stake today.

After already losing to James last year,

this is my opportunity
to be able to redeem myself.

Your second-gear shift
is gonna be over there.

Also, there's a lot of money at stake.

Ten grand.

So, I did what I needed
to do to get prepared today,

and I'm ready for him this time.

Sounds pretty healthy, sister.

James is no joke. He's got a nice piece.

The car is very good,
very simple, and very fast.

Did you put a new b*llet in it?

We'll see on this one.

Sonya. How are you?

Mr. Maloof.

- Hannah.
- James.

So you ready to, uh,
lose ten grand this time?

Ain't gonna happen this time.

Ain't gonna happen. Well, I see you got,
uh, a good, uh, pit crew with you.

Just to be clear, I'm repeating
what I told you on the phone.

We're squeezing today. Just like you.

We just fixed it a little bit for her
to make odds even with you.

Yeah, we had
to level the playing field, right?

Oh, yeah.

Me and Sonya
had a race a little while ago,

and I whooped her a*s at the end.

This time,
I think it's gonna be interesting

with Mr. Sammy Maloof
standing in her corner.

Where I came up,
there's not a lot of, uh, women racers,

so I definitely don't wanna lose,

because, you know,
you'll never hear the end of it.

The stakes are $10,000,
660 feet, no buts, ands, or ifs.

That's 100%.

I felt bad taking your first 5,000,

but, uh, I'm really gonna feel bad
about taking your 10,000.

Wow. We got a trash-talker here, huh?

Well, BS stops
when the green flag drops.

Let's have a race.

- Be safe.
- Good luck.

You got this, Sonya.

You're running your race.

All that matters is you, the car,
and getting down the track.

Okay.

And remember,
that shift light is your guide.

- You shift only when it lights up.
- Yeah.

Keep your eyes on where you're going.
Keep it straight.

Understood.

Sonya, I want a trip zip-light, baby.

Are you ready?

I believe in you, sister.

This time,
I feel like I have a team behind me now.

And nothing's gonna shake me.

Okay, Sonya. Here we go.

Tight. Hold it tight. Hold it right there.

Go!

That's it. Go, go, go!

She's got him.

Damn it!

No, no!

She short-shifted.

Six eighty-four,
six forty-seven. She lost.

I f****** shifted early.

I shifted early.

It's definitely disappointing.

It was driver error. I short-shifted,

and when you shift too early,
you actually rob yourself of power.

It actually bogs
the engine down just a little bit,

and then, you know, it takes
a little while to get back up, so...

It allowed James enough time
to kinda catch up to me and beat me.

- What happened?
- Uh, I just short-shifted.

Congrats, dude. Congrats.

Congratulations, James.

It was a good race.
A lot better than the first time.

But, uh, the bad thing is,

is that it was a $10,000 mistake.

Yeah. Yeah, it's unfortunate.
But, you know...

Even though
the nitrous worked really good,

once Sonia short-shifted,
the race was over.

There you go.

Oh yeah.

So now it's become
a serious situation for our business.

We just had two losses.

So we lost $15,000 in two weeks.

I cannot afford to have another loss.

She did a lot better
than she did the first time.

But, honestly,
I did let up on it a little bit on the end

because I'm not gonna go all out
if I ain't got to.

Now that I took out Sonya,
I would like to climb that totem pole,

and next on my list is a Maloof.

It was a pleasure racing you again, Sonya,
but since I've been taking all your money...

maybe I can call Hannah out
on the next one.

Hannah, she's no slouch.
She knows how to drive.

The girl's been racing since day one.

She's gonna be a hard contender,

but I do think I have enough
to put this, uh, girl in her place.

Miss Hannah, you know,
I would definitely love to race you.

Hannah will take you any day.

What do you think of that?

Any time, any place.

You're writing a check
you can't cash.

Well, maybe we'll see
what happens when it comes.

Okay.

Sonya, this is a bump.

Hey, you may not be where you wanna be,
but you're sure not where you used to be.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Sister, I am so proud of you.

Let's get outta here.

So what you wanna do
is you wanna bypass the fan relay.

Take 12 volts, hit that fan wire.

If fans kick on,
you know the fans are good.

- Got it.
- It's gonna be the relay.

Okay.

- Wow.
- Hey, Sammy.

Aaron, what's cracking?
Haven't seen you in a minute.

Hey. How you doing?

I'm really good.
How's your mom? Everybody good?

- She's doing great.
- Good to hear that.

Um, is there anywhere
we could talk in private?

Sure. Come on.

Let's go to the engine room.

Let's get down to it.
What do you need to talk about?

Oh, I got a big opportunity.

Shut that door.

So, what's going on? Talk to me.

I really need you
to hook up my car.

Okay.

I got a race coming up,
and I need a bigger engine in it.

What is this thing making now? S...

Probably, like, 650,
but I need it to be, like, 1,200.

Twelve hundred horsepower?

That's a fast car. That's a fast car.

- What track is it at?
- Uh, it's gonna be a drag race.

- Drag race?
- Yeah.

- Is it on a track?
- No, it's not.

- Okay. So it's a street race.
- Yeah.

It's a $100,000 race.

One hundred thousand dollars?

- For a $100,000 race?
- Yeah.

I'll give you 25,000 up front,

and when I win,
I'll give you another 25,000.