r/NASCAR • u/FreddieKraft Freddie Kraft • Mar 16 '22
AMA Freddie Kraft AMA
Hey whats up everyone. Freddie Kraft here, spotter for 23XI Racing #23 Toyota of Bubba Wallace in the NASCAR Cup Series. I also spot for Landon Cassill in the Kaulig Racing #10 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, as well as Derek Kraus in the BMR #19 truck in the Camping World Truck Series. I also Co-Host the Door Bumper Clear podcast every Monday on DirtyMo Media. And I'm in the process of getting a fun new business venture called Couch Racer up and running with my buddy Brett Griffin.
Lots of fun stuff is coming in 2022 and I'm looking forward to talking about it all here with you guys and gals. Cant wait to see what everyone comes up with, and I'll do my best to answer any and all questions youf have. Lets hear em!
THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT QUESTIONS! Ive gotta take off for now but Ill check back later on and answer some more questions if you guys have more.
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Mar 16 '22
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Not a huge different in the races. You have a few tendencies that you have to get used to. Trucks are based on momentum a alot, so when you catch a guy you've gotta try and use the momentum to get the pass done immediately. Its easy in trucks and Cup got get stuck behind someone even though you are faster. NXS is probably the most fun Series to spot cause i feel like that cars are on edge a little more, and you can use your car to manipulate the air on the car in front of you a little better.
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u/RPM021 Mar 16 '22
Can you please sneak the word "cattywampus" randomly into a future episode of DBC?
But for real - in your opinion, what is the best track for the season finale?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
My ideal track would be Martinsville, but that would never happen.
I dont know why it ever left Homestead and would much rather see it return there before it ever went back to Phoenix.
And ill do the best I can on Cattywampus lol
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u/Trentpd Mar 16 '22
How did you and Bubba meet? Obviously familiar with the fact ya'll have worked together since he was young, but how did that start?
Thanks! Love the podcast. Oh, and TJ sucks
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
We met at our first race together which was a KN race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in 2010 I believe. Mike Herman Jr (Spotter for Chris Buescher) was a mutual friend of both myself and the Wallace family. They had asked Herm to spot GP and he was already committed to spotting for Ty Dillon full time in the KN Series. So he passed my name along to Bubba and his dad. Andy Santerre signed off on me spotting and the rest is history.
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u/clevebrend47 Mar 16 '22
Favorite story/moment working with AJDinger?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Id have to say winning that nightmare of a race at the Roval in 2020. First time I ever spotted in a monsoon. AJ couldnt see, I could barely see, and somehow we came outta there with a win! One of the craziest nights that ill never forget.
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u/SuperT3 Mar 16 '22
Hello Freddie! How different does it feel watching televised races compared to watching them live from above the track as a spotter? What are some of your favorite camera angles on TV and why? Thanks!
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
As you can imagine I dont get to watch many on TV. But when I do i despise the really tight bumper shots or extended in-car cameras. I wish TV could do a better job of capturing the sensation of speed you get in person. I dont know how that would be possible but the cars just always seem to look way slower on TV then they do in person.
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u/SuperT3 Mar 16 '22
Thank you for your response, and I also mainly agree. It is nice to have some driver perspective when watching wrecks and tight racing for positions, but at the same time it should be more important to capture the speed of the cars as you said and showing in-car cameras more than necessary doesn't really help.
On the other side, going to races in person makes the speeds of the cars feel more spectacular when the cameras on TV don't quite do the job. My hope is that this encourages more fans to attend races in person to capture that feeling the TV can't give you (it certainly has with me). Hope you have a great season! Spotters are always a crew member that should be appreciated with how much pressure they have to keep drivers from wrecking.
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u/umberart Mar 16 '22
Hey Freddie. Love the Show.
Question: Can you ask Brett why he blocked me on the Tweeter?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
If I asked Brett why he blocked someone on twitter every time someone asked me to, Id be talking to him way too much. Im sure whatever it is, its probably pretty irrational lol
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u/Flyin14MRK Mar 16 '22
What kind of involvement do spotters have during the weekdays leading up to race weekend at the shops?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Everyone is a little a different. Some guys go in 1-2 days a week for meetings. Some guys do their studying at home and will contact the driver or team with anything that sticks out to them as important. Everyone kind of has their own process. Last year I went in for meetings each week. This year with the second team they have cut back on the amount of people in the meetings so I havent been going. But If anything comes up in the meeting that I need to know about Bootie or Bubba will reach out and let me know.
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u/Flyin14MRK Mar 16 '22
Thanks for the insight! Best of luck to the 23 team this weekend at Atlanta!
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u/srosslx1986 Mar 16 '22
When are you getting Hirshman on DBC? I want to hear about modified racing in PA.
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
We'll get him on there one day. Im just scared cause he's got a lot of Freddie stories he carries around with him. lol
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u/Ctoastcrunch Mar 16 '22
How do you listen to multiple frequencies at once? What do you prioritize the most?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Ive had voices in my head for a long time so im used to it lol
I listen to Channel 1 (Bubba) and Channel 2 (Bootie) in both ears. I have the volume turned down on channel 2 to help differentiate between the two channels.
In my right ear I will listen to myself to ensure Im not having any radio issues.
In my left ear I listen to NASCAR race control
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u/Ctoastcrunch Mar 16 '22
Wow cool. I can’t imagine keeping all that straight. Also thanks for doing this AMA you and the DBC crew keep me entertained every day on my walk to and from work. Good luck to the 23 this weekend…should be a good track for your team.
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u/NeonBodyStyle Mar 16 '22
When drivers get into it on the track and then days later we hear about how so and so never apologized, is there a similar type of etiquette between spotters? Do spotters talk about run ins with each other? Have you ever reached out to a driver to apologize for something that happened on track?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
I have reached out to drivers that I know personally if i felt like something was my fault, or my drivers fault.
And again all spotters are different. Some guys get mad and do a lot of yelling, I try to keep my cool and remember the spotter isnt driving the car so its pointless to go yell at them.
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u/Blue8844 Mar 16 '22
You've undoubtedly been in some sketchy situations on the spotter's stand throughout your career. What's the biggest "I'm in danger" moment you've had?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
I cant remember what year it was, but while they were doing construction to the spotters stand at Daytona we spotted from the top of the grandstands that were half tore apart. Its the only time I can remember thinking that "man this is pretty unsafe."
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u/mkelley22 Mar 16 '22
You vs TJ in arm wrestling. Who wins and why?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Me of course . Ive never seen it personally but from what I hear hes tough to beat. If I feel like im gonna lose, I'll just spit some High Rock Vodka in his eyes.
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u/Blue8844 Mar 16 '22
Scenarios like this is why I always carry around some pocket sand. You never know when you'll need it.
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u/Tempyy Mar 16 '22
living on long island my whole life, the presence of nascar isn’t very big here, nor is racing as a whole, aside from riverhead raceway. how did you start your career and make your up way into the cup series?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Easy. Riverhead Raceway. lol
My dad is a multi time Champion, and a member of the Riverhead Raceway Wall of Fame.
I grew up at Riverhead every Saturday night for almost 30 years until I moved to NC. I race there briefly before switching to spotting full time around 1999-2000. I spotted everything I could at Riverhead, before working my way up the ladder starting with the Whelen Modified Tour. And then just continued to work my way thru the KN, ARCA, Truck, and NXS series and eventually going full time Cup racing in 2014.
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u/BallparkFranks7 Mar 16 '22
Hey! You ever get that package I sent to the 23XI shop last October? Damn thing must have disappeared.
I did custom race win Funko Pop’s for you and Bubba. Would be a bummer if they never even got to you.
Racing question… are you hoping Atlanta races like Daytona/Talladega since Bubba is so good at that style of racing?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
I have not seen or heard anything about the package. I know they have a room full of stuff that gets sent into 23XI for Bubba. I'll have to check on it.
I think its unrealistic to think itll race just like Daytona and Talladega. I expect some sort of hybrid between a plate race and a traditonal 1.5mile race
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u/BallparkFranks7 Mar 16 '22
It has your name on it too, so you can steal it from Bubbas pile, lol. Thanks Freddie. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to seeing you two do big things!
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u/Jrnation8988 Mar 16 '22
I was one of the people who won a Door Dash sponsored Zoom call with Bubba last season. I mentioned that I wanted to send him a package with some of my Navy uniforms and other US Navy memorabilia as a sign of my support and appreciation. He told me to send it in, and offered me a pair of gloves as a trade. That was about a year ago. Hopefully my package is sitting in the same room as yours waiting to be unearthed and opened. I’ve been out of the Navy for 3 years now, and I can’t exactly replace those items to send again 😢
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u/BallparkFranks7 Mar 16 '22
Yep. I assumed they get a lot of packages, but man, you put a lot into something and they never get it… just feels bad.
Hope they find yours too and you get those gloves! That would be so cool!
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u/Jrnation8988 Mar 16 '22
Honestly, I’m not even worried about the gloves anymore. Would it be extremely cool? Yeah. But I just want to make sure the package made it to Bubba at this point. Like I said, I can’t exactly replace the items at this point, so it would be super disheartening if it got lost or tossed by mistake.
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u/Joeandcambria Mar 16 '22
Beers on me at Michigan in the infield Freddie, stop on by!
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u/fischerkidd Mar 16 '22
Freddie why do you rag on Jason for drinking White Claws when you are a proponent of Fireball, the liquor version of a Whiteclaw
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u/my_bandit Mar 16 '22
Which tracks do you feel are the easiest an hardest to spot at?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
I dont know that any of them at really "easy" or "hard." I love spotting short tracks for Martinsville and Bristol are my favorites. I strongly dislike spotting at Phoenix, and Pocono just because sight lines are great, and its tough to get the right depth perception.
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Mar 16 '22
Freddie how confident are you in the Giants new direction? And on a scale of 1-10 how excited are you for Daboll, im a solid 7.6
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Im pretty pumped. Im probaby 8.8 or higher. Really impressed with Schoen so far. We would have saved $12m by cutting Shepard and Martinez. He managed to reconstruct their contracts, save $11m and keep both players on the roster. I think Daboll will excel and I loved the Wink and Kafka hires. Looking forward to seeing Winks high pressure defense. The season will rely on how much they can get out of DJones and/or Tyrod. Gotta nail these two Top 7 draft picks! Give me Ekwonu and Travon Walker please lol
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u/ImJJboomconfetti Mar 16 '22
I saw in the pre-ama thread you're from the Island, how did you get your start in racing?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
My dad raced at Riverhead Raceway when I was growing up. Hes still an official at the track to this day. So I spent just anout every Saturday night from the time I was born till 2011 when I moved to NC at Riverhead. I still go back at least one a year every year.
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u/NuthinNation0 Mar 16 '22
Favorite race you’ve ever spotted? Any series
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Talladega 10/4/21 lol
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Mar 17 '22 edited Mar 17 '22
Ran into you as we were walking out for the rain that afternoon, was happy to meet the race winning spotter and let ya know I enjoyed the podcast! I would like to add the results were not official yet I did drink a fresh cold one for ya even though you were doing your best to compose your excitement. I like nascar for the simple reason that you can interact directly and give appreciation with down to earth hard working individuals and learn their story. Bye the way when I asked how u got into racing being from Long Island I was not being derogatory I just thought that was interesting lol!
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u/curtisjwhite88 Mar 16 '22
Toughest race you’ve ever spotted?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Probably that monsoon NXS race at the Roval in 2020. Never been a part of something like that before, and hopefully never have to do it again. Aside from it being miserable to stand out in a hurricane, it did a lot of damage to our equipment.
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u/grizzley_winter Mar 16 '22
What happens if you’re truck and xfinity race at same time but different tracks? Who do you spot for?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Pecking order would usually be by Series. Obviously Cup comes first, then NXS, and then Trucks.
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u/grizzley_winter Mar 16 '22
Appreciate the response! I tweeted Brett on Twitter but he never responded. Love the show! You and tj are my favorite
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u/mjaneway43 Mar 16 '22
Why can they say the cuss words on the Burton Continuum but you guys get beeped.
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u/gRcHzA_234 Mar 16 '22
What is the best way for someone to get into nascar on the business/corporate world?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Thats probably a question better address to Brett. If youre looking to get your business exposure in the NASCAR world just pick a driver you like and offer some help. Theres lots of different levels to be involved.
If you mean getting a job with the corporate side of NASCAR or a team id say your best bet is just to keep an eye out for openings at teams or with NASCAR. Might have to start at the bottom and work your way up the ladder.
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Mar 16 '22
What is your favorite win from when you are a spotter for Jimmy Blewett?
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u/FreddieKraft Mar 16 '22
Theres been ALOT.
My personal favorite is probably winning the Tour Race at my home track Riverhead Raceway i think that was in '08.
And we've had the chance to win two races in honor of his brother John Blewett III. One at New Smryna, and one at Concord as part of the North South Shootout weekend.
My ultimate goal would be to go back and win a Modified Tour Race with Jimmy at Thompson.
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u/ChirpChirp20 Mar 16 '22
Hey Freddie, thanks for the time! Since I’m not allowed to ask the question all the DBC listeners are dying for, what’s your least favorite part of actually spotting. My guess would have to be single car runs and things like that, but I’ve always wondered. Thanks again and hope to but into you at a track again this summer!
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u/pixarfan9510 Mar 16 '22
if you took two lasagnas and stacked them on top of each other, would you have one lasagna or two lasagnas?
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Mar 16 '22
Hey Freddie, I know you were Biffles spotter for a few years, you have any good stories about your time working together?
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u/ipsumdeiamoamasamat Mar 16 '22
How did you get yourself added to the mix on DBC? I started listening in the last year or so and I have a hard time envisioning that podcast with just those two knuckleheads.
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u/TiaPorta99 Mar 16 '22
Hey Freddie, big fan of the podcast from Italy here. What if you had to choose a driver from the 80s or 90s to spot for? Who would it be?
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u/plusacuss Mar 16 '22
Bubba is obviously a driver that wears his emotions on his sleeves, it is why I am a huge fan of his. There is a history of drivers that are similar that have had great success, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch come to mind. How do you manage that as a spotter when Bubba isn't having a good day? When Bubba is mad he can sometimes get up on the wheel and do some incredible things, at the same time it can run the risk of being self-destructive. What is your role as a spotter in helping to manage that?
Love you and Bootie and wish you the best of luck in the coming season!