01x04 - Brother Vs. Brother

[bunniefuu]

I'll give you 25,000 up front,

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

When Aaron asked me to build him
an engine for an ill*gal street race,

it reminded me of a time
in my life that...

...I never wanna go through again.

Years ago, I was racing
for hundreds of thousands of dollars,

running my cars for the Mexican cartel.

You have no idea how much pressure it is
to race for the Mexican cartel.

They don't take no for an answer,
and you don't lose in Mexico.

I was pretty fortunate.

I made them hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Made myself a lot of money.

And, at the worst times of my life,

I was making the best money in my life.

At this point in time,

we're coming off back-to-back losses
in two drag races.

We lost a lot of money.

There you go.

But you still have bills to pay,
and I've got a lot of mouths to feed.

What do you think? Yes or no?

I can't, Aaron.

I love you, man, but I just...
I just... I can't do it, babe.

I know I'm gonna win.

Aaron, this is... this is not right.
This is too dangerous.

I've done it my whole life.
I've got loose on the street many times.

It's not a fun deal.

Even though it's a lot of money,

last thing I wanna do
is put my hand in a rattlesnake bag.

In street racing,

there's a lot of horsepower,
and there's no experience.

The accident rates are off the hook.

These cars are getting out of control.
Kids are dying.

I'm not gonna do it.

Fifty grand. That's my final offer.

No. Thank you anyway,
but I'm not gonna do it, Aaron.

- Well, I'm gonna find somewhere else.
- Okay.

This is absolutely beautiful.

Looks like it's gonna be a fun day for me.

I'm out here at Lake Elsinore,
at the racetrack,

because one
of the greatest off-road drivers

gave me a call
and asked me if I can help him

get his car ready to race his brother.

That's the one. That's it right there.

To be honest with you, this opportunity
couldn't come at a better time.

After losing two consecutive races
and walking away from a $50,000 purse,

we took a big financial hit,

and this could put us
right back in the game.

Off-road is one
of the fastest-growing segments of racing.

It's become a huge business,

and although I've dabbled
in it a little bit,

I've really never set up an off-road car
for a high-dollar race.

David. How you doing, buddy?

- Good. How are you? Welcome.
- I'm just right.

David Sykes. He's a driving machine.

Dave is a 30-year veteran.

He's always either in
or just outside the winner's circle.

And he's well-respected
in California and the Baja circuit.

He can really help me transition
into the off-road world by word of mouth.

Sammy, here's the first thing
I'd like you to help me with.

I'm gonna have a grudge match
with my younger brother.

A few weeks ago,
I set up a race, and we bet $30,000

to settle who's the better driver
in the family once and for all.

My younger brother, Marc.

He's been a pain in my a*s
since we were kids.

And when it comes to racing,
he's beaten me most of the time.

And I'm telling you, every time he wins,
he turns into a real prick.

He gloats about it, rubs it in my face,
he mocks me in front of the family,

and I am so sick and tired of that crap.

And after I work with Sammy,

I've no doubt I'll bring
Marc's winning streak to an end.

Him and I have been racing together
since '93.

I've lost to him a bunch of times
in a row, but by the smallest of margins.

And I'm telling you
that nothing would please me more

than to have you help me
settle who's the better brother.

Sammy is a drag-track guy.

A lot of people would think,

"He's not gonna translate well
over to the off-road industry,"

but I feel his out-of-the-box
problem-solving

will not only make me better,
make my car better,

it'll just give me the edge
I need against my brother Marc.

Hey, Sammy. I think, uh,
there's a problem I've had in the Can-Am.

In the last week or so,
my car's been starting to lose horsepower.

Yeah. I may not know
the ins and outs about off-road racing,

but if it has wheels and tires on it,
and an engine, I can help.

That'd be amazing.

One thing that stopped me
from the winner's circle

was a dependability issue.

- Yes.
- A muffler coming off.

- Yeah.
- Some problem with the motor.

The last Baja 1000,
we were in second place in our class,

and the suspension decided to fail.

Oh, yeah.

So, Dave, every time you jump the car,
you're getting jolted, am I right?

Yeah.

Must take a few seconds
to collect yourself, get back in control,

get the car back in the groove?

Yeah, yeah.

I have an idea that will minimize
the impact of those jolts on your body.

It can really slash your recovery time

to get your marbles back together
after each jump.

If I can do that,
I'm gonna stick it to Marc.

Once we get it all dialed in,

man, you're gonna be hard to beat.

I love that thought.

But, before we do anything...

I have to hose it off first. It's filthy.

No way I'm bringing
that dirt back into my garage.

Here she is, boys and girls.

What is this? A glorified golf cart?

You got jokes, buddy. You got jokes.

- Where's the V-8?
- Yeah, exactly.

What happened?

All right. Here's the deal
with Mr. Sykes's off-road vehicle.

The biggest challenge
is it's lost horsepower.

It's not running to its potential.

It could be plugged air filter,
fuel filter,

or the engine itself
is getting ready to come apart.

Locating the problem,

getting his horsepower back
to where it was,

should be
the number one focus at this time.

Then we can make other small adjustments

that'll trim precious seconds
off of his lap time.

Okay, here we go.

Start looking at this thing.

What's this? A spaceship in here?
All these switches. What's all this?

You got me on that one. They have
more electronics than I like to look at.

Everything
may look a little different right now,

but, ultimately, it's a race car, guys.

Engine, wheels, suspension. We got this.

Dave and Marc will go head-to-head
in a three-lap off-road race

at Glen Helen Raceway.

Dave's lost many times
to Marc by narrow margins,

but we believe, after we've completed
all the mods on Dave's car,

the brothers
will be running neck and neck.

Now, Dave has given us a $15,000 budget
to set him up for a win.

The race purse is $30,000,
and if Dave wins, we get 10,000.

So this race is definitely a big deal.

Now, first of all, we have to figure out

why this buggy isn't producing
as much horsepower as it needs.

Beyond that,
check every single piece on this deal.

You know what, Hannah?

This right here
is a centrifugal clutch, okay?

We're gonna cool the clutch down,
but it definitely needs a cover.

Yeah. If trash and debris
gets in there, the belt breaks, it's done.

- Absolutely.
- Got it.

And you know what?
I'm looking at this thing,

and I'm thinking of doing something
in this that nobody else has done yet.

I'm talking about a hanging harness.

I have a secret weapon

that I could bring to Dave
that I know will improve his driving.

A harness that we use in the stunt world
when we're jumping cars.

Once I make adjustments
for the hanging harness

to better suit the off-road world,

it will act like a floating seat.

So when Dave
goes over the jumps and lands,

it keeps him stable and focused.

Compared to...

being thrown around in a seat,
trying to collect yourself,

and you're losing time.

Considering how many jumps
in a race that Dave takes,

this will save
a significant amount of time.

And if it works the way I believe it will,

this will be a game changer

for the off-road world
and for our business.

Guys, when that's fixed, move on
to the suspension, the clutch cover,

and everything else we talked about.

- All right. Let's get her done.
- All right.

This thing is losing power.
Could be a bunch of different things.

Could be the air filter, ignition system...

So the first thing we gotta do
is figure out what's going on.

Let's put this thing
through a test on the dyno

and see what
this engine's putting out right now.

A dyno, or "a dynometer,"

is a device that measures
the horsepower and torque of an engine...

- Computer's up, right?
- Push that button, and we're good to go.

...that basically paints
a pretty accurate picture

of the amount of power
that is being put out by the engine.

Oh, wow. That's pretty low.

No.

It ain't right.
The temperatures were all fine.

I can hear it pinging
in the combustion chamber.

Yeah.

A few things can cause that,
but going by the sound it's making,

I bet there's a problem with the gas.

All right. Let's do it.

- Wanna hold this line right here?
- Go for it.

- This stuff smells bad.
- Jeez.

- What's it smell like?
- Moonshine.

No. What's it actually smell like?

- Hmm. Some sort of varnish or something.
- Yeah, varnish.

So, I bet Dave had a race
out in the middle of nowhere,

and at some point,

his team had to fill up with something,
and this was all they could find.

And when poor-quality gas gets old,

some of the compounds
in it start to evaporate,

and they leave behind this sticky,
varnish-like substance,

which is what we have here.

Yeah, that's some pretty bad stuff.

That explains the horsepower drop.

- He's lucky it didn't do much damage.
- What's cracking, guys?

- Hey, Dad.
- How's it going?

We put this thing up on the dyno
and immediately heard the detonation.

So we shut it off because I thought
there was something wrong with the gas.

- And guess what? Bad gas.
- Wow.

Dave is very fortunate

that it didn't go into too much detonation
and hurt the engine.

But I still want you guys
to check out the fuel lines

and the engine
to make sure it's working properly.

Yeah.
We'll flush the lines, refuel it.

My guess is that the horsepower
will go right back up.

- All right, let's get her done, guys.
- All right. We're on it.

- Go ahead.
- All right, dump it slow.

Perfect.

While Hannah and the boys
are reexamining Dave's fuel system,

I'm heading over to the stunt shop
so I can choreograph our next stunt job.

I just got off the phone
with our client here,

and I talked them out
of their imports into Detroit iron.

2020 Mustangs.

- Nice.
- All right.

True-blue muscle cars.

Our next project for stunts
is a commercial for Powerful Nutrition,

that's based on the Tron movies.

Multicolored lights and a futuristic tone.

I could tell you this,
this is gonna require a lot of drifting.

This commercial,
there's gonna be three cars.

Two of them are leads.

I'm one of them, and I'm gonna pick
one of you to be the other.

- Okay.
- Okay.

So how do you want me
coming in through this stunt?

We'll decide
the second lead soon enough.

Right now,
we gotta walk through these moves.

- Cue the lights.
- It's like Christmas.

Whoa. This is beautiful.

Pretty cool, huh?

These columns in this warehouse
are precariously placed.

We have to keep 'em off
the actual barriers.

We're gonna actually have water barrels
there so we don't smack into columns.

So that's what
those cups represent, right?

Correct.

Now, the sequence starts off
with the two leads.

They have to enter
the actual playing field, the arena.

Then a little bottle
magically comes up on a podium. Boop!

Basically,
the ball in the playing field.

Now, the drivers have to go get it,

sliding their cars into, like,
a poetic ballet dance. Boop!

To see which car
is going to capture the drink first?

Yes.

- Boop!
- Do I need to hear that anymore?

The two drifting cars are the lead.
So where's the third car?

So as we're coming around here drifting,
just as they get in position,

the third car comes snaking in here,

grabs the bottle, and takes off with it.

- Which is the last and final moment.
- So there's a grand finale.

Yeah.

It'll lay a nice trail
of fire right on out.

That's awesome.

- Like a Back to the Future gag, right?
- Yeah. That's cool.

The only thing is, we need
to find out who's gonna drive lead with me

and who's gonna do
the real cool stunt in the finale.

I think we figured that out.
I have a Ford.

I'm pretty sure I'm cut out for this part.
There's Mustangs involved.

So, I think I got this in the bag.
Don't worry about it.

Well, I think it takes a Chevy person
to drive a Ford right, so...

I guess we'll find out.

Guys, you see
those water barrels over there?

Yeah.

- Those represent the steel girders.
- Okay.

So you guys will come in
in tandem, you both slide 180,

trying to line up dead center of the car
to dead center of the barrel,

both front and back. These are the ones
we're actually gonna be using.

We're gonna try desperately
not to damage them today.

Remember this.
If you mess up your mark out here,

the car hits the water barrel.

But if you mess up your move over there,

you can crash up the car
and possibly get hurt.

So whoever's gonna do the moves better
will get to colead the stunt with me.

Cool.

Come on, guys.
Let's get to work.

In terms of skills,
Kaitlyn and I are very similar.

We both know what we're doing.

But when it comes to stunt driving,

we have a different approach.

My approach to driving
is more of a go-for-it.

I kinda just jump right in.

Meghan, she likes to kinda walk in
and take things slower.

They both have their pros and cons.
We feel things out at a different pace.

Here we go!

In three, two, one! Hit it!

Oh my God.

That was so embarrassing.

Come on. You're not supposed
to hit the water barrels.

The idea's to be as accurate as possible.

When you slide your 90,
your car should be facing straight.

Okay. Got it.

All right, guys, let's get to one.

Here we go.

Hand-break turn.

Darn.

Hit it!

Stop right there.

You guys get out.
You're absolutely identical.

Man. Almost fricking perfect.

It's an absolute tie,
so let's move on to the next challenge.

All right.
With this specific power protein stunt,

the drink itself is placed upon a pole.

You're gonna slide,

hand out the window, grab the drink,

and then drive away.

- Mmm. Okay.
- Okay.

That's gonna be so hard
to collect to do that.

I think we'll... we'll figure it out.

All right.
Come on, guys. Let's get going.

All right.
And on three, two, one. Come ahead.

sh**t.

Come ahead, Kaitlyn.

Aw, sh**t.

So sorry.

That's okay. Go get back in line.

Yes!

And that's the way it's done.

Had to grab it.

All right, Kaitlyn. Last chance.

Okay. I'ma get it.

Damn it.

I tried my best.

You all did a good job,
but you know what, we have a winner.

Meghan, you get
to colead the stunt with me.

Kaitlyn, you still get
to play a critical part.

Driving the third car,
which is on fire, at the end.

That's awesome.

Come on.
You got plenty more work to do, right?

Here's the deal.
In off-road cars,

you're jumping, bouncing, twisting.

- And your body is getting beat up.
- Yeah.

I wanna take
all the compression out of the body.

When you don't have to worry about
your body being beat up after every jump,

you're automatically gonna be faster.

This harness,
this is gonna be our ace in the hole.

Now, Emily,

this hanging harness, I need you
to make it come alive on that paper.

I can do that.

One of my best friends,
Emily, is an incredible artist.

We're hoping
that she can take my dad's idea

of this off-road hanging harness
and turn it into a detailed rendering

that we can send
to a manufacturer for a prototype.

The point of this harness is to put
the driver in a more comfortable position,

making for smoother transitions
between jumps

and better reaction times
compared to the competition.

Emily, I'm gonna use my stunt harness
as a prototype and get that modified.

- Some changes that is more racer-friendly.
- Yeah.

If it works on race day,

we'll get
a whole new product manufactured.

Good idea.

So, I wanna make this better
than a standard hanging harness

by adding a saddle to it.

So it supports his booty.

This is the strap here.
And this attaches here.

He's gonna have the straps
that come out, you know, and pull.

And then, these are the straps underneath.

That's the support.
What takes all of that pressure off.

- That's the saddle part of it?
- Yeah.

Man.

Emily, this would take me
a month of Sundays to even start.

And not to mention
how many pencils and paper I'd destroy.

Dad, we really need
to start mass-producing this thing.

100%. I really believe
this would be a great opportunity.

Not only for just Dave Sykes,

but for the off-road scene in general.

What do you think
we should name this thing?

The Sammy Saddle.

'Cause it's like a saddle, right?

So it's a Sammy Saddle.

And when they make
the commercial for the saddle,

it's like a dummy in the saddle,

and then, like, it just, like, comes out
of nowhere, and it's just like...

- Sammy Saddle.
- It's like those bad infomercials.

"Does your back hurt
when you're off-roading?"

It's, like, black and white.

Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up,
you two. I'm getting back to work.

Who's the dummy in a saddle now?

Oh yeah.

The Sammy Saddle.
That's what we're calling it.

All right.
We still have to fine-tune the suspension,

finish the clutch cover,

and reconfigure the dash.

We got lots to do.

One fine-looking
clutch cover ready to go.

No dirt's going in there now,
that's for sure.

Look at this.

- What is that?
- I think that's a roach.

- Mmm. It's a juicy fella.
- That's gross.

- Hannah, look.
- Look at this.

No!

That's disgusting.

Just as gross
as your little protein shake over there.

- Really?
- Yeah, really.

In other countries,
this is a delicacy right here.

No. Get away from me.

I got your lunch now.
You're eating it.

Trevor will eat anything.

Crickets, c*ck, butterflies.

Anything that flies and moves
that you shouldn't eat,

he'll eat it.

He'll even, like,
put salt on it before he eats it.

It's like he knows what he's doing.

It's weird.

Dude,
it's decomposing as you're talking,

so you wanna eat it or not?

- All right.
- All right.

That's gonna crunch.

Oh, that...

Your face says
you'd rather have my protein shake.

Debatable.

All right.
I think your lunch break is over.

- David. What's cracking, brother?
- I'm good.

You got a lot done on this thing.
I hope that you're gonna like it.

Let's see that baby.

We did some critical upgrades
to make Dave's car more dependable

and a lot faster than it's ever gone.

We boosted the horsepower

by flushing the fuel system
and replacing his fuel lines.

We designed a clutch cover
that will reduce the heat

and block all debris
from getting into the clutch.

We adjusted the shocks
and fine-tuned the suspension

to give Dave the best ride
he could possibly have.

We repositioned the dashboard

so Dave's important gauges
can be front and center.

Most importantly,
we built a specialized hanging harness.

The hanging harness will keep Dave focused
on his driving and not on his back.

Tomorrow,
it will not be the better vehicle,

it'll be the better driver
that decides the outcome of this race.

Those are some
awesome improvements,

but honestly,
I'm not sure about the harness.

I never heard about it
since I started in the business.

Look, you've done this
your whole entire life,

but I really believe
wholeheartedly, David,

when I get you hung in this thing,

you are gonna feel no pressure
on your spine when you hit a bump.

Okay. Let's give it a shot.

If this harness proves itself out,

it's really gonna help me
take the focus off the things

that stopped me from thinking
about racing every minute,

so I can just stay focused
on the course and winning the race.

Okay?

Ah! Like a superhero.

Well, you look like a superhero.

They call me Suspendo.

Let's put your helmet on,
start grabbing gears.

Let's do it.

Throttle that baby!
Throttle that baby!

- Faster than last time, isn't it?
- Yep.

Remember, let the car do its job,
and you'll be faster through the jumps.

- It's taking the bumps good.
- Oh yeah.

- Feel it in your back?
- I don't feel a thing in my back.

Nice. I love it.

Let's bring it in.

- You were blazing, brother.
- Beautiful.

The design worked fantastic.

- Completely different than normal.
- Amazing.

After today,
I'm not worried about my brother.

I'm not gonna tell him I practiced.
Like, I told him he couldn't practice.

So I'm not gonna tell him I'm doing this.

It's all in the family spirit, isn't it?

Sam, I think we're ready tomorrow
to go kick my brother's a*s.

Sounds good, brother.

So today, I want you
to launch this thing up into the air

as much as you possibly can,
because that's how you sneak up-

What the hell?
My brother's out here?

He's not supposed to be on the track yet.

Look at that d*ck.

Are you kidding me?

This flipping Bronco
was skating around this track

like it was a dr*fter driving it.

And I'm thinking, "Oh my God."

"I just wrote a check
that maybe I can't cash."

He's probably been out here
for an hour learning the angles already.

Hey, hey, hey! What's going on, Marc?

Little bit late
to the game, are ya?

You said no practicing.
We both go on the track at the same time.

- We never shook on that.
- Never shook on it?

He never keeps to his word.

- Okay.
- Does it always go like this?

I'm Sammy Maloof.

Oh, I know Sammy.
Dave, now I know what you got going on.

This is typical Dave.
He's like, "Let's go on a race."

I'm not an idiot.
You know, this is not my first day racing.

Dave's always trying
to go one step further.

Sure enough, he comes
to the course with Sammy Maloof.

So my crew and I got out here
nice and early,

bribed the guy at the front gate.

The short course is not my specialty,
and I wanna make it my specialty.

Marc, do you need some help coming out?

Here. Let me help you.

Half the time,
he falls out of these things.

Marc.

You know what, Sammy?

When I watched David and Marc,

I love 'em because they remind me
of my brother and I.

Oh boy, we fought all the time.

We hammer on each other,
but we're brothers, man.

Look, I know that you guys probably have
enough dialogue to go till Christmastime.

Let's set some stakes.

Thirty thousand. Three laps.

- Three laps.
- Fine.

Hey, why don't we do another deal?

- Why do you wanna do another deal?
- Let me show it to ya.

It's called a Fathead!

Loser has to ride around

with other guy's picture
on the side of the truck.

I obviously know
who the better-looking brother is.

So, after I win the money,

my brother gets to ride around
with the better-looking Fathead

on the side of his car.

May the best brother win.

Damn, that's good-looking!

Classic Marc. Sure.

- You got it?
- I'm in. Yeah, sure.

All right. Let's go suit up.
Come on, brother.

My younger brother, Marc, he's been
a pain to my side his whole life.

It's gonna be a great pleasure
to finally sit down

with Marc at a Thanksgiving dinner

and have the whole family hear
about how I whipped his a*s.

Nothing will make me happier.

Lift. Okay.

- That's badass.
- Is it too much?

No, it's good.

This race is everything for Dave,
and I'm gonna say it right now,

it's gonna be very important
for me as well.

If I pass this test today,

I can open up the doors
for Maloof Racing in the off-road arena.

Plus I could not afford
to have another loss out here.

I could not afford to have another loss.

You just watch that green flag.

Forget that car.

Forget your brother.

Just get the jump,

hit it as hard as you possibly can,
and keep ahead of him.

Yeah.

Cut a good light.

That was one heck of a bad start.

Come on, David!
Drive that thing like you stole it.

All right, David. I don't know
what's going on in there,

but you better push
that skinny pedal down.

Yeah.

Come on, stay on him!
Drive him deep!

I'll stay close to him.

Get around him.

Inside, David, inside. Go, go, go!

I'm coming inside.

David, remember.

You can jump this car like no tomorrow.

Come on, David.

Attaboy, David!

Inside. Throttle it!

We're good.

Come on, David.

What are you doing on the high side?

No, no!

Marc's taking the lead.

Come on!

Stay right on him. He'll make a mistake.

He went too high. Go, David, go!

Going inside.

Attaboy!

Stay with him, David.

Stay with him, Dave. Yes!

- Bring it around.
- Okay.

Nice!

Attaboy, Dave!

Overtake him, Dave.

Trust the harness.

Yes!

- That's the most air I've ever got.
- Last lap now.

This is number three, buddy.
You gotta get this one.

Your last lap.

Start grabbing gears now. Go.

It's pretty close to its top end.
I know I can get around him.

Come on. You got a hanging harness, man.
Jump the thing!

Woo-hoo! Rock and roll.

Stay there. Come on.

The fastest time is through the turn.

- Come on, David. Now!
- I'm coming inside.

Bring it around, David!

Get that thing going! Overtake him, Dave.

Trust the harness, man.

Take that jump!