Drive Hard: The Maloof Way (2022–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Into the Inferno - full transcript

Go, Sammy.

Jesus!

Does anybody
have a ladder? A ladder?

Is he good?

COT standing by.

Sammy, how are you?

Is he hurt?

How would you like to be
remembered at the end of your career?

You know something that I don't?

Nah, there's a few things in my life.

From engine building...



...to racing...

Yes!

...to stunts.

Go, go, go!

But, most importantly,

when that time does come
to transition my shop to my children,

I wanna make sure
the Maloof name will mean something.

That's great.

So when they're at a racetrack,

and a racer looks over
and sees that it's a Maloof racing engine,

they know they'd best be on their game.

He got it!

If it's a fight they want,

a fight they'll get.



That's what I wanna be remembered for.

My dad eats, breathes,
drinks, and sleeps engines.

He can listen to a car
and know instantly what's wrong with it,

even just by hearing it over the phone.

That's why he has customers
from all different types of racing.

Because they know

not only is my dad great at getting
the car to perform at its very best,

he's also really great
at taking the driver

and getting them
to perform at their highest potential.

Perfect!

That attention
to detail and excellence,

it might be
out of the ordinary for others...

But to us, it's just the Maloof way.

Morning.

Morning, huh? It's afternoon.

- What's up, Pumpkin?
- Looks beautiful.

You gotta hear this thing. Break it off.

Here at Maloof Racing Engines,

I got my whole family
working side by side with me.

I have my bride, Jennifer.

She handles all the books
and deals with the business end of it.

Then there's my son, Trevor,
and my nephew, Joshua.

Both crack mechanics.

On the stunt side of my business,

my twins, Kaitlyn and Meghan.

They're training right now
to become professional stunt drivers.

And finally, my daughter, Hannah.

She's my racer girl.

She's a fearless drag racer,

ready to turn pro,

but she also is a great engine builder.

This isn't your normal
nine-to-five race car shop.

It's your "from the time you wake up
to the time you go to bed" race car shop.

I was born in the shop pretty much.

I have pictures of me
sitting in the engine room,

holding a wrench in one hand
and a piston in the other,

and I'm helping him build the engines.

My goal is just
to always keep improving as a driver.

But if you wanna race cars,

you have to make sure
that you know them inside and out.

All right, shut it off.

Eventually, I'm definitely gonna have
to turn my shop over to my children,

and Hannah being the oldest,
she's gonna spearhead the shop.

And that's why I sure like her by my side

when clients come in
to get ready for a big race.

- Brian.
- Good to meet you, sir.

Pleasure's all mine.

Right now, we're taking on
a new client out of Texas.

A guy by the name of Brian Tirado.

I got somebody picking on me
on social media.

One of those guys.

He's a punk,
but he's a great driver.

- By the name of Derek Ware.
- I know who he is.

And I started attacking him back.

Derek slid into my DMs
talking trash about my racing,

so I said, "All right. Let's do a race."

Only then that I realized
that he'd already made a name for himself.

Guess I bit off a lot more
than I could chew.

Derek is the real deal. He'll put
a hurting on you if you're not careful.

- His times were pretty low if I remember.
- He's got a fast car.

- Your work's gonna be cut out for you.
- Yes, sir.

In our shop, we have clients
that want me to build them a race engine,

set up their chassis, or dyno their cars.

But to be honest with you,

we've become one of the go-to shops
for racers with grudge races coming up.

The more we win,
the more the Maloof name spreads,

and that will generate big business
for us with high-dollar clients.

So what's the purse?

$10,000 purse. And, uh,
I'm happy to split the purse with you.

Let me just run it by Jennifer.

She runs the office.
She handles the finances.

My bride, Jennifer, she grounds me.

When I met Jennifer, she was drunk
at a place called The Silver Spur,

and she kept holding
onto my biceps like...

...like she had a permit for them.

What the heck are you saying?
What kind of lies are you spreading?

- Okay, here's the deal.
- I never met you in a bar.

You got that completely wrong.

I met you here at the shop.

And you pursued me.

You've been drinking
your bathwater too long.

Like, Sammy
has a good ear for engines,

I have a good head for business.

To keep the lights on around here,

it comes down to our stunt business
and our engine-building business.

But it's races like Brian's
that are super important for our brand.

For now though, the truth is,
we don't make much off of these races.

In Brian's case, we split a $10,000 purse
if he wins, which isn't much.

But when he becomes pro,

he will have a Maloof engine in his car,

and that will be
a great calling card for us.

Now, Brian,
I need to see your skill set.

- Let's put a course out real quick.
- Sounds good.

Let's go.

Right now, alls I know about Brian
is some videos I watched of him.

But look,
to really assess his driving skills,

I need to see him in person in his car...

Goes outside, inside.

Give me both directions.

...and also see how his car reacts...

Hit it.

...so I know exactly what upgrades to do.

There you go.
That's the way you should drive it.

That was fun.

All right. As far as your eye,
hand, and foot coordination,

I really like your driving style.

Thank you so much.

Years ago, I was in the army.

I spent six years on active duty,
six years in the Army Reserves,

but I had an injury,
and I was medically discharged.

And now, racing is all I've got.

Brian
is clearly a talented driver.

He's fully committed to racing
and going pro.

He's going all-in,

putting a lot of money in this race
and the upgrades to his car.

So I gotta make sure
I get Brian his checkered flag.

This is a street car,

and we already know Derek's coming out
with a full-blown race car.

Yeah.

We gotta get this thing
set up just like a race car.

We don't have
to make a lot of adjustments.

Brian just had his car
checked out in Texas,

so the basics should be fine.

Which is great for us,

'cause we're not gonna have the time
to fine-tune everything.

But there's still
a few key things that we can do

that would make this car
a whole lot better.

Got it.

Every job
that comes through my shop

gives me an opportunity to pass down
working knowledge to my children.

They're the future to my shop.

So I want them to figure it out,
and that's how they learn accurately.

What do you think?

What about we start
with adjusting the suspension?

I know that'll help a lot
with the handling.

Yeah. Plus we gotta make sure
we put some stickies on this.

If these tires don't stick,

no matter what else we do,
he's gonna be off in the marbles.

Yeah. He's got the back seats out,

so it won't be too much work
to put a cage in it.

Exactly.

Along with Hannah,

my engine-building team
is made up of my son, Trevor,

and my nephew, Joshua.

Both of them look a little juvenile,
but don't kid yourself.

Those boys know their way around this shop

and around engines
and race cars like no other.

Around here, we do all the grunt work, so...

- We're at the bottom of the food chain.
- That's true.

I mean, in the shop,

Sammy is like Yoda,
and Hannah is like Luke Skywalker.

She's got the hair
of Princess Leia, but the height of Yoda.

Okay. A roll cage
stiffens the whole chassis up,

takes away all the what?

- The body roll.
- The body roll.

What else would be a good change?

This front spoiler.
We'd definitely have to adjust that.

Agreed. So much air
is gonna go under the car.

Yeah.

Tightening up that suspension
and sucking it to the floor,

you're gonna balance this whole car.

Let's see where that gets us
with Brian's lap time.

Brian and Derek Ware
are going head-to-head

for a five-lap road race
at Willow Springs Raceway.

On this particular track,

we're estimating that Brian's street car
is gonna do about a minute 35 per lap.

From the videos that we've seen,

Derek Ware's supercharged car
goes about a minute 20 on this track.

So we're gonna have to make up
about 15 seconds per lap.

Problem is, speed usually means big money.

Anybody can drop
a monster engine in a car,

but not everybody has
40 to 50 grand just laying around.

Sometimes we have
to work with a small budget,

like Brian's $3,000.

And that's where my dad really excels,
because my dad has a deep bag of tricks.

Adjustments
are everything right now.

- Let's go ahead and get it done.
- We're on it.

All right, boys.

We gotta set the suspension on this,
make sure everything is the same.

Set the air pressure first,

and then you can start
checking the height.

- Sounds good.
- Start with the front, then move to back.

- Okay.
- 27 all the way around.

We'll get it done.

No messing around.

Of course not.

While Hannah
and the boys are busting numbers

on the upgrades on Brian's Challenger,

my stunt team is calculating
all the moves for our next big stunt.

I'm coming down this hill
around 50 miles an hour,

and the road is dirt and gravel,
so it's gonna be a little hard to handle.

It's a little trickier
than it seems,

but I think
there's enough loopholes in all this

that we could adjust
and make it all the best we can.

Good!

Pops is here!

- Hey, Dad.
- What's cracking, brother?

I've been a Hollywood stuntman
for 25 years,

and I've worked on countless blockbusters.

But I don't just show up on the set
and jump a car off of a building.

I show up with a whole crew.

We have one of them
chasing you down the hill this way.

And we'll have one come and cut you off.

Matt Kutcher
helps coordinate our stunts,

and he is one
of the top special effects guys out there.

You're not driving nothing.

Chris Guzzi is one of my best friends,
and he's our safety coordinator.

My twins, Kaitlyn and Meghan,

they're in apprenticeship right now
to become stunt drivers.

And I'm telling you,
they keep me on my toes.

Ever since we were little,
we had Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels,

but we've been always drawn
to do car stuff.

You can drive it, slide it,
do whatever you want. You can build it.

To me, I think that was
pretty intriguing and fun.

Right now, in our career,
we're driving support vehicles.

Hopefully, later on,

we can be taking bigger steps
and driving the lead vehicle.

Like my dad. Or better.

No, I'm kidding.

Guys, we gotta do something more.

What about I throw a 90
as you're coming down the hill,

forcing you to go towards the bus?

I mean, I think that would be good.

We're getting ready for a big
high-speed chase scene in this indie film.

We only have six days

to get all the choreography down,
get all the cars rigged.

The Suburban my dad is driving
is being chased by two cop cars

driven by me and Kaitlyn.

We're gonna come flying
through this desert town.

My dad's gonna wind up
launching the Suburban

through a bus
rigged with a lot of explosives.

It's gonna be epic.

So when you're at this point,
you don't see the bus, Sammy.

Yes. You're right.

You hit this pipe ramp the wrong way,
you could really get seriously injured.

Yeah.

And then now you girls will realize,

when you use the shampoo,
this much shampoo every single time,

the whole bottle's gone in two days,

I have to do one of these
to pay that amount.

- Do you have problems with shampoo?
- Not as much as you might think.

All right, guys.
A lot of work ahead of us, right?

I mean, this thing is... solid.

We're gonna have to cut all of this up
and get rid of it all.

When your dad hits the ramp,
he's gotta make it all the way through it.

In this particular stunt,

we got Sammy pipe ramping
through a bus with an explosion.

It's a tank.

A pipe ramp is a singular takeoff point.

The singular rail,

which will cause this Suburban
to be askew through the air.

Everything's gotta come out of this bus,
so let's hollow out that section there.

Yep.

We're rigging the bus
with explosives,

so we'll have to restructure it.

This means we're gonna take out
all the chairs inside the bus,

the metal pillars inside the bus,

and replace it with a complete
hollow shell that's breakable,

made of balsa wood and aluminum.

Let's get to work.

We're gonna need to put the tape
where the SUV's gonna hit the bus.

It's gonna be, like,
a 12-foot area, I'd say.

Perfect.

We have one cut at this.
Because that's where we're gonna score.

Scoring is when you cut lines
into a material

to weaken it in a specific place.

So my dad's SUV
will have a clean entry and exit.

You got it.

Let's get it outta here.

- Ought to get a Suburban through that.
- Oh yeah.

Look at that.
There's oil all the way back there.

Guys, make sure timing
of the distributor is set up perfect.

Got it.

Perfect.

Hannah, how you doing?

We just finished the thermostat.
I'm putting on the new air filter.

I'm working on the suspension right now.

- Is that it?
- So far, that's it.

- Seriously?
- Yeah.

Guys,
Brian's practice is tomorrow.

You gotta bust some numbers. Otherwise,
we're gonna be behind that eight ball.

And Brian will be racing Derek in an Uber.

Let's get to work.

Gonna be
a three-pots-of-coffee night.

Excited to see
what you have done to my baby.

- We put some time in this puppy for you.
- Talk to me.

First thing I did for you is this.

- Brand new slicks.
- That's slick!

- You like it?
- I love it.

Told you. We don't bring street tires
on a racetrack.

To prepare Brian's car
for this race,

we had to do some key modifications.

Each improvement
is going to shave a little bit of time

off of Brian's overall lap time.

We installed the roll cage
to stiffen up the chassis,

get rid of a lot of the body roll.

Plus it's protection for Brian.

By reworking the air induction,

we picked up
about eight to ten extra horsepower.

We stiffened the suspension,

which makes it a whole lot better
for the handling.

Finally, we surprised Brian
with a brand-new pair of stickies.

This will hold that car
through those turns.

Even with all these modifications,

Brian still has his work cut out for him.

'Cause I believe Derek's Camaro is about
three to five seconds faster per lap.

To make up that time, Brian's gonna have
to be out of the gates first

and then close the gaps up
through the turns.

- You ready to do this?
- Yeah. Let's go drive it.

Go ahead. Let's go.

- Feels a lot better, doesn't it?
- It does.

It feels completely different.

I've never felt my car
handle this good ever.

That is wild.

Brian knows his car the way it was.

Too much turn. Use that road.

Oh, no, no, no.

But the changes that we made,
it's gonna be a new car to him.

He's gonna have to adjust
his driving skill set to the car now.

Brian, lower your hands.
Put them at four and eight.

Ten and two, you oversteer.

Go ahead.
Turn it in, turn it in, turn it in.

Straight line. Let off.

We're smoking.

This happened to me before.

- Oil's coming out.
- Relax, relax.

No, no, no.
We're smoking. It's... it's oil. It's oil.

- Something's wrong.
- Yep.

It's hot.
Oil on the headers. Did you see it?

Don't get nervous.

- What was that?
- He's coming back early.

No, this is bad smoke.
We gotta get out.

Okay. Let's see what's going on.

Lift it up, guys. Trevor, get the hood.

It's probably got a valve cover gasket
or some breather thing.

Oh, man.

Okay, let's see what it is.

This happened to me
in New Orleans ten times worse.

Well, we'll jack this puppy up,
and we'll see what's cracking here.

We come out here
on a practice day,

and this thing starts
hemorrhaging oil everywhere.

Oh, the... Ow. That's hot.

- You good? Where's it at?
- On my eyebrow.

I need a rag.

We didn't go over the drivetrain
in this car. Engine, trans, rear end.

Because this was supposedly
thoroughly gone through in Texas.

So we didn't put our hands in it.

In hindsight, our only regret
is that we didn't have enough time

to weed out these problems
before we got here.

I bet you it's coming from in here.

It's right here.

Before the trans. Behind the pan.

Was it leaking right there
last time, Brian?

That's the exact same spot.

So that means
we gotta pull this trans.

But that's in the past.
It don't matter whose fault it was.

We just gotta pick up the pieces
and make it right.

Let's locate a shop that we can use.

- Brian has a $10,000-race in the morning.
- Got it.

Let's do it.

Number one rule of racing, guys.

Always find another race car place
where you can befriend the people.

Phillip, you're right on the button.

We found that shop
right on the strip of Willow Springs

so we could figure out
where that oil leak was coming from.

Get that shaft out of there.

- Is that it?
- Yep. That's it.

I think it's coming from that top plug.

Look. Look, you guys.

- Yeah, it's loose.
- Look.

- Oh my God.
- Yeah.

It's soaked.

The oil galley plugs,
they weren't tight enough.

It's seeping by the threads.

I'm not so concerned
about getting the car done.

I mean, I got all night
to get the car done.

It's just I'm a little concerned
about Brian right now.

- We never bargained for this one.
- Yeah. That's true.

Tomorrow morning, Derek Ware
and Brian are gonna be head-to-head,

and right now, Brian has no seat time.

There's no more practice driving,

so tomorrow,
I verbally gotta go through everything

and reiterate my strategy for the race.

Is it too late to change teams?

You know what,
you guys, that's not nice.

Sammy.

How'd it go last night?
I'm a little stressed out.

- What are you stressing about?
- I left my car in shambles with you.

- I never knew Texas people stressed, man.
- Oh, man.

We busted numbers all night.

We got it done. No leaks.

Put it back together.

I know Derek's on his way.

First thing that you have to do,

you're gonna have
to jump this cat out the gate.

- Yeah.
- That's where the tires come in.

It'll get a hold of the track
from the get-go.

And now that we lowered the front spoiler,

this car's gonna bolt out of the gates.

Once you get the jump on him,
make him work to get around you.

Gotcha.

- You listen to me carefully.
- I'm listening.

Let's just say
he gets ahead of you.

- Don't panic.
- Yep.

You're gonna get back around him.

I'm telling you, you'll never catch him
down the straightaway.

You're gonna have to get him
through the turn again.

Get on the inside of him.

You're gonna have to get your head
around this thing and drive like...

- Burn 'em up.
- It doesn't impress me one bit.

- That was cute.
- Cute, but not smart, okay?

We're not doing stunts today,
we're road racing.

I was just getting those tires warm.

- Derek. Sammy Maloof. Who's this?
- Nice to meet you.

- Brian.
- This is my manager, Brandon Kennedy.

He's your instructor?

So, Brian, I do respect you coming up
all the way here to California,

but hey, you came up
and wasted a trip, man.

Brian challenged me,
and I was like,

"All right. Let's go. Let's do this."

But little did I know
Brian had Sammy Maloof in his corner.

So we'll see what happens
when we're out there.

Enough of the BS.
You're ready to go. You're ready to go.

Confirm the stakes. Confirm the terms.

Five laps. Ten grand. Winner takes all.

Too easy.

As far as I'm concerned,
he brought a car that was supercharged.

It's 775 horse.

I don't care if you think
you're outclassed or not.

Make him fight for every flipping turn.

First thing is first. This thing
leaves the line, you jump in front of him.

You see him come up
on the side, you dive in.

Take as much real estate
as you can to screw him up.

It's only five laps, brother.
Give me five good laps.

I know you got this.

- Go to town.
- Thanks, guys.

You got this.

I'm gonna take everything
Sammy's taught me

and put every bit of that
out on the track.

Yeah! Attaboy, Brian!

Don't give him an opening.

Okay, see what he's doing?
Just come in. Come in, Brian.

Come on inside. Come on inside.

Good, good. Accelerate out of the turn.

That's your military man for ya.

Keep it going.

Come on. Tight, tight, tight.

That's it. Go. Go, go, go!

Attaboy.

Light it up, Brian!

Good first lap.

Tires are sticking now!

Yes! Take the line!

Come on, Derek.

Stay on him.

Come on, Brian. Come on.

Move over to the right.
To the right. Attaboy.

Make him earn it through the turn.

Hey, if you can't beat
horsepower, block it, right?

That's called racing.

He's gotta go around it.
He's gotta earn it.

Keep those taillights in his face.

Set him up. Set him up.

Come in tight. Deep. Deeper!

Come on! Come on!

Come on, Brian! Come on, Brian!

He's coming on the inside.

Let's go, baby! Yeah!

Oh my God! He got around him.

Come on, Brian.

Did you see what Brian did?
He made one small mistake.

One small mistake.

Man, oh, man!

You just gotta stay on the inside.

Get back around him. Come on.

It's not over.

Wait for the turn.

Go deeper. Deeper!

That's where you're gonna get Derek,
is through the turn.

One more lap. One more.

Get on the inside!
He's gotta get around you, man.

Accelerate. Come on.
Find a hole. Find a hole!

Get him through the turn.

Come on, Brian. He didn't get over.

- There it is! Go!
- Go. Pass him.

- Yes! Go ahead! You got it!
- That's right!

Attaboy, Brian!

That's exactly what I said.
Keep it like that.

That's a driver.

This is it.
Hannah, get your checkered flag out.

Don't give him an opening.
Come on, hold him off!

Give me one more great turn.

Take it! Take it!

Come on, Brian! Come on, Brian!

Inside, inside!

Hold him off!

This is it! Go! Finish!

Yes!

Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about!

Dude! You nailed it!

We showed him the short way
around the track.

Dude. One mistake you made.

I know, man. I saw him on me,
I just heard that supercharger in my ear,

and I couldn't get over fast enough.

That's okay.
You took him at that other end.

Coming into the fourth lap,
Derek gets by me.

And I'm thinking, "Argh!
Sammy's gonna be pissed."

But coming into the last lap,

I knew he was going in so hot
that he had to scrub off a ton of speed.

So I ended up hitting my brakes
just a little bit early.

I was able to take that turn really tight
and get back in front of Derek.

It was a little bit quicker
than I anticipated.

He's got some quick speed
through these fast corners back here.

Taking an I here in SoCal is tough.

But Brian really surprised me.
I underestimated him.

And to have Sammy Maloof in his corner
was that knockout blow I think he needed.

Now, the racing was great,
but I need to get paid.

No! You think so?

Oh, man, this hurts.

Feeling like a million dollars.

You know what, I'm feeling like $10,000,
'cause that's what I got in my pocket.

What Sammy did for me,
the confidence he instilled in me,

the knowledge, and the car modifications...

So, splitting the $10,000 purse
and giving Sammy $5,000, it's nothing.

Happy to do it. He's done plenty for me.

- Oh my God. Thank you guys so much.
- Guys, get in here.

I'm so proud of Hannah, Trevor,
and Joshua for setting Brian's car up.

They did so many major modifications
in such a short time.

And they busted numbers all night.

Got that oil leak fixed.

To me, they pulled off a miracle.

Good job, Brian.

Thanks, guys. Come here, bro.

- Congrats, bro.
- Thank you.

Let's go home, kids!

Now that Brian's race is behind us,

the challenge we're facing next
is a real big one.

Getting prettier by the moment.

The more she covers this helmet,
the better it is.

This isn't our first stunt,
but it is an indie film.

So we have to be on our game.
We only get one shot at this.

So if we blow our mark, or we total a car,

we could potentially blow a $200,000-day
for the production,

and it would not be good at all
for our reputation.

This is live. We're going to position one.

- Kaitlyn, are you ready?
- Ready.

I've always been there
for Sammy's stunts,

fight scenes, stuff like that,

but it's a whole different experience
and set of emotions

watching my little girls.

- Meghan, are you ready?
- Ready.

At the start of the chase,
I'm gonna be right on Dad's tail

as he starts tearing down
this narrow slope.

As he makes it to the flat ground,
Kaitlyn's gonna come straight at him

and block his path
with a hard 90-degree turn.

This is gonna force Dad
to head down a narrow path,

and that's where our portion
of the stunt will end.

So here we go in three, two, one.

Go ahead, Sammy.

Meghan, get him.

Little faster than that.
Stay on him a little bit more.

- Kaitlyn, go.
- Copy.

Yep.

Kaitlyn, throw your 90.

Sammy, go.

Plenty of room.

Meghan, get him.

That's a cut.

- That's a cut.
- Cutting!

- Very nice.
- That was amazing.

The girls look so consistent, man.

Kaitlyn, that was absolutely perfect.

- Meghan, you killed it.
- Oh no.

That was a little more stressful
than I thought.

I just got a little adrenaline rush.

Because in dirt, you get no lock-up,

and your car's just gonna keep sliding
a little bit past your mark.

So I'm glad I locked up before my mark.

- But your 90 looked great. I saw it.
- Thanks.

But, like, I don't know
whatever happened after I threw my 90.

The opening was so small
to get through,

but I just followed his line,
right on his tail.

But you know, I think I had
a little bit more of a difficult position.

You didn't have to follow Dad.

But I had to block Dad.

I had to follow him down a mountain,
going 60 miles an hour.

Yeah, that was ridiculous.

But now my dad's about
to pipe ramp through a bus.

I know he's got everything figured out,

so I would hope
this stunt goes 100% as planned.

We will see what happens.

Guys, we're moving on.
Here we go.

Girls, let's grease the ramp.

Just smear it from here back to there.

That's it right there.

I'm a little concerned,
because it's a big stunt.

There's gonna be a lot of explosives.

If the explosions go off too early,
and he's caught in the fire,

that's not good.

But I try not to think
about those rogue factors

and just pray that nothing goes wrong.

Come on. Get in here.

I thank you right now that there's a hedge
of protection around me,

and around the whole, entire crew.

Say "amen."

Let's do this.

Double-check Mr. Maloof.

Sometimes I ask myself,
"And why am I doing this?"

All right.
Everybody's in position?

I know I like calculation.
I know I like speed.

I don't mind getting hit.

Plus I know that the best way
to train my twins is through example.

Thank you, brother.

At this point, you gotta focus
on becoming one with that car.

You won't get a second chance.

All right. Here we go, guys.
Picture's up. And let's roll cameras.

All right, brother.
Godspeed. And here we go.

Copy that.

In three, two, one.

Go, Sammy.