Justin Brayton | Ready To Be Behind The Wheel At MotoCar FITE Klub

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Justin Brayton knew before the dust settled at the inaugural MotoCar FITE Klub that he’d be back for the second running of the racing, no matter where or when it happened. One of the most experienced competitors on a Supercross starting line, JB10 climbed into the car as a complete first timer, quickly figured how to get around the dirt track, and ended the event as one of the fastest of the field.

The SmarTop/MotoConcepts/Honda rider will be back behind the wheel when cars hit the track at Travlers Rest Speedway on November 17-18 for the Landscape Design Company MotoCar FITE Klub 2.0, and expects to be even more competitive in his second attempt.

The live November PPV event at 7:30 pm ET, priced at $19.99. Available globally, fans can order this live event which includes replays and watch it online, via mobile, Smart TV or their favorite OTT streaming device.

You were part of the first MotoCar FITE Klub a few months ago, and that was really your first experience in a four-wheel situation. What did you think of it, and did you immediately commit when they asked a second time?

I committed as I was climbing out of the car the first time! I told them I didn’t care where it was or what the format was, that I was committed to whatever they were going to do. I had so much fun, and I think I was the only go out of all of us that had never climbed into a dirt car. I have to be honest, I was pretty nervous climbing in it, just wondering what it would be like. Racing around with veterans like McGrath and Reed and Deegan and Ricky, even Dungey had done a test the week before, I knew that they’d at least know what they were doing the first time they got on the track. I went out the first time and couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. It’s such a cool experience because I like to go out of my comfort zone. We’re so trained on the motorcycle, pretty comfortable putting the helmet on, and I race bicycles a lot, so it’s also gotten me out of my comfort zone. Throwing a helmet on to do something totally different feels so foreign, and I love to get out of my comfort zone and see how I feel. It was a blast, and they put on a great event, so I’m excited about it.

I heard that you were a quick learner and that after some advice from one of the locals, you figured it out within a few laps?

My first time on the track was an embarrassment. I didn’t really ask any questions, and the car owner didn’t really tell me anything because he expected me to go out there and be okay. I expected it of myself, thinking it couldn’t be that hard if I gave it a little throttle and backed the thing in. It looks way easier than it is! The whole first session, I probably did ten or fifteen laps and could not get the thing to turn or climb up the bank toward the fence, and I was a mess. I told them how it kept pushing, and they explained how you steer with the brake, and I told them I didn’t hit the brake unless I was slowing down for the curve. And every time I went on the track after that, it got better and better. So on race day, I was the fastest in practice, third in qualifying, and had the fastest lap time in the night’s final. It was cool to race with Chad and MC, because it felt like I caught on really quick. The cool thing about the event is that you’re paired up with a local guy that drives there. It’s his car, and he knows the setup, so it was cool to have your own little team.

Living in Charlotte, the epicenter for four-wheel racing, you some have friends that are professional drivers. Have you gotten any advice from them?

I didn’t know what to expect from the first one. People were telling me to have Jimmie Johnson come down, but I didn’t want to ask him because I didn’t know what to expect of the first one. I had never been to the track, didn’t know really what the cars were like, much of anything really. Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson came down and helped quite a bit on race day, and after the practice sessions, we were going over lines. I have a long history with JGR, and with Ty being as good as he is, it was cool, while Noah is a top Xfinity driver and is a championship contender. It was cool to have those two guys come down and hang around.

Everyone has such a busy schedule, so I can’t expect anyone to come down and spend two or three days of their week to come down and watch me slide around. But I know that some of the four-wheel guys have paid attention to it the same way I would if they were racing motorcycles.

Do you have higher expectations for the second time?

As soon as I climbed out of the car after the race, the first thought that crossed my mind was, “Well, my schedule is pretty free for the summer and we have a place in Iowa, where there is a lot of dirt track racing.” I made phone calls the whole next week and talked with people to say that I would be up there and wanted to know if there was a car available. Once word got out, I started to get phone calls from people with cars available! I didn’t do any of them because it became more about our family time once we got back to Iowa. So, while I haven’t climbed in a car since the last race, at least I have some more experience, and the learning curve won’t be so steep. I know what to expect.

The hardest thing is racing around with the guys. It starts to get easy when you’re racing around by yourself because you can take the lines that you want, but once you get other cars out there and you’re racing with each other, it becomes much more difficult. This time I’d like to talk to the other guys a bit and say, “Hey, let’s go out three or four at a time and drive with each other a bit to get some experience.”

Do any of your motocross skills directly translate to this, like developing a strategy to picking lines while seeing the dirt change?

I’ve been reading dirt my whole life, and although it’s from two-wheels, I think dirt is dirt. I didn’t know quite where the traction was when I started in four-wheels, but I quickly learned that and found out that there’s a lot of crossovers with line selection and passing guys or reading the dirt as the night went on. The throttle control is another huge part of it, and there’s a reason I think moto guys can jump into anything or ride anything and still be halfway decent, enough to hold their own.