[narrator] This time on a special Master Distillers...
-Ain't got no clouds in it, I guess it's okay, right? -[Thad] Yes, sir.
[narrator] Once stock car champions...
We're low and slow today.
Like you're gonna be on the race track.
[narrator] ...join forces with moonshine legends.
Moonshine school 101.
Let's get it going.
[narrator] You know all hell is gonna break lose...
[Thad] Easy, easy!
-[Brendan] Oh! -[Thad] Get out.
Oh, [bleep].
That's not a parking spot.
[Digger] You had one job!
[narrator] ...in a backroads reunion.
You're going the wrong way, Tim.
[narrator] Ninety years in the making.
They might not have fueled these cars on that liquor,
but damn sure financed them with it.
[narrator] The need for speed...
[Brendan] Yes, yes, yes, stay on it, stay on it.
[narrator] ...collides with
running low and slow on the still.
[Digger] I'm gonna promise you,
there's a good jar of liquor in there.
There's a Petty shenanigan here somewhere.
[narrator] Only one driver will earn the trophy
and become an honorary master distiller.
That's art form right there.
Let's go to the race tracks and settle this.
[Mark] Now you're getting it.
-[Digger] Well, boys. -[Mark] We're here.
[Tim] Yeah.
[Digger] You know, this place right here,
it was part of my youth
my Uncle Nat helped start this place way back in the beginning,
-years ago. -Years ago.
[Digger] Yeah, I loved the fact that there's cars here,
and they is making louder noise,
and they is going fast,
but you know the big thing about it,
it was free popcorn and hotdogs for ol' Digger.
Right here.
This is what moonshine created.
I don't know about you guys,
but I never slept a wink last night,
-I was excited about this, I can't stand it. -[Josh] Me too, me too.
[Digger] Well, I was pacing the floor.
Well, one thing about it,
they got a wall all the way around,
so you can't escape.
-[Digger] Well you hope-- -That's probably gonna be a good thing.
[Digger] You hope you don't.
What's going on, fellers?
-There's the man, Vic "the real" Hill. -Hey.
-Hey, how is it going? -Yeah.
Welcome to the Gab,
you know, this is a pretty iconic race track.
We know you guys make great moonshine,
we're gonna see how good a drivers you are today.
-[Mark] Oh, lord. -[Josh] Yeah.
Well, that remains to be seen.
How fast can we go, Vic?
[Vic] As fast you want.
-So, you know, no speed limit? -No speed limit out here.
So ain't no police gonna show up behind me,
that makes it way more better.
[Josh] Fast as the car can handle it.
That's a little more comfortable.
But sometimes the police may make you
when you go a little faster.
You go fast, you got blue lights behind you.
That, historically, that's the way it's been around with us.
Well, let's get down here and see what you guys can do.
-Let's get with it. -It's gonna be a lot of waiting.
-Let's do it. -Yes.
All right.
-Come on, Timmy, we better have you. -This is awesome.
[Tim] Maybe I can get in front of you.
[Josh] All right, boys, I can't wait for this.
Well, boys,
this is her.
This is what you guys are gonna get to
roll around the race track in.
[Digger] You know you're a legend in your own right,
but we've got a couple of old buddies that we've pulled in.
Matter of fact, they're on their way over here right now.
Talking about legends, the man right here is what we're talking about.
-All right. -How is it going?
[Digger] How you doing, boss?
[Richard] Right now, okay.
This is incredibly big deal to me,
my hero, Richard Petty, he's here today.
I'm about to drive all over myself.
I can tell you--
Listen fellers, you know and I know,
that stock car racing and moonshine goes together
like peanut butter and jelly.
That's, that's really where all stock car races started.
They might not have fueled these cars on that liquor,
but they damn sure financed 'em with it.
[Tim] Tickle, if you can hear me,
tell us all about it.
The great Depression hit Appalachia hard,
for many families,
making and selling alcohol
was the only thing that stood between them
and starvation.
Prohibition increased demand for alcohol in cities,
so in order to supply that demand
moonshiners worked with bootleggers...
...who ran the moonshine on winding roads
and evaded the law.
The Ford V8 was the car of choice for these drivers,
it had enough power to evade the law
and had enough room to haul a whole lot of liquor.
In the 1930s,
liquor runners started racing at
fairgrounds, dirt tracks,
and even old corn fields,
showing of their skills and their motors.
Pretty soon, people started coming to watch,
and some of 'em even paid for tickets.
Soon, legendary bootlegger Raymond Parks...
...put together the first official racing team,
enlisting his cousins, Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall,
two of the best moonshine runners in North Georgia.
Seay won the first big stock car racing in 1938,
in Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway.
Twenty thousand fans came to see it.
And stock car racing
was on its way to being the billion dollar enterprise
that we know and love today.
We've come here to honor our shared heritage, guys.
You guys are gonna teach us how to run these cars,
and we're gonna teach you
how to run some moonshine liquor
on copper stills, backwoods style.
-Hell yeah. Sounds good. -Okay. Sounds good.
-Y'all ready to ride? -We do need to ride, king.
We might need a little teacher.
Well, I brought me a designated driver.
-Okay. -And I haven't even been to the still yet.
-That's all right. -He doesn't even look old enough to get a still yet.
[Digger] I'll tell you what.
You take care of getting him around the track
faster than he gets around the track,
and I'll promise you, you'll learn how to make liquor, young man.
-Uh-uh. -[Thad] We can do that.
Well, he's been coaching me to coach him.
I'm Thad Moffitt,
this man needs no introduction,
this is Richard Petty, of course,
he's my grandfather.
This is our winningest race car,
it started out as a '66.
When we were in Daytona, I won 27 races
with it in '67.
That's pretty amazing, to win 27 races in one year,
I mean, most people don't win 27 races their whole career, you know.
When I turned eight,
we were at Daytona, and I was like, "Can I try this?"
And Grandpa was like, "Sure, buddy."
So currently I race in the,
uh, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series part time,
and then I'm gonna run the Trans Am schedule full time.
[Richard] This is the latest model for you, right?
[Thad] I'm super excited to be able to carry on these colors and, uh,
this famous number, of course.
They got all these other stuff on these cars now that,
-to me, it just confuses me. -Yeah.
But no matter how complicated it is,
it's still got four wheels on it
and a motor and a driver.
It's been really cool to get through this journey
with him by my side in every step.
Looking good.
-Won't be long now, man. -No.
I've never run any liquor before.
All right, I wanna show you something here, buddy.
This race car, like, when it run,
they'd run liquor on this thing
Friday night and Saturday night,
and then it'll go to the race tracks Sunday, and race each other.
-Yeah? -Yeah, then you go home,
wash all the dirt and stuff off of it
-and get ready to run liquor again, so. -Yeah.
My granddaddy, I think he had some liquor stills,
my uncles had stills,
but that was back when I was, like, four or five years old.
Booze was around at all time,
we just didn't get involved in the thing.
-That was before you time. -Yeah, but--
By your time, you could drive race cars and make a living.
We're teamed up with Mark and Digger,
I'm pretty excited about that
because we don't know how to run liquor,
and I can guarantee, they don't know
-how to drive a race car. -How to drive a race car.
So, so we'll, we'll teach them what we know,
and, and they can teach us what--
Hopefully we can learn something, too.
Yeah, we're gonna try and learn the best we can.
Now, I ain't never been in a, one of them in my life,
-so I'm at your mercy, Thad. -[Thad] Okay.
Brendan, you're my coach, right?
Don't you worry, Timmy,
I know a little about moonshining,
but a lot about driving, we're gonna be all right.
I know a little bit about driving
and a whole lot about moonshining.
-Good pair. See, perfect pair. -[Tim] There we go.
[Brendan] My name is Brendan Gaughan.
I'm a former NASCAR driver,
did it for 20 plus years,
drove for some of the greats, Roger Penske,
Richard Childress,
Rusty Wallace.
And now I'm just a retired NASCAR driver
that is, owns a legal distillery.
City Light Shine is our liquor that we make,
it's in Las Vegas, my hometown.
What I know is what we use at my distillery.
You know, I'm not an old backwoods distiller,
I didn't do a lot of distilling,
so this will be first time I've ever run my own liquor.
I grew up racing not like the Pettys,
not around the South in the stock cars
that everybody around here knows.
I grew up in the desert,
racing the Mint 400, the Baja 1000s.
My dad raced since 1960s.
When I hit high school, I started to drive a little bit for fun,
and that's what started my NASCAR career right there.
Worked my way up through all the way to the cup,
and I had a hell of a time
and it was, it was a lot of fun.
I've raced against a lot of Pettys in my time.
I beat 'em a couple of times, lost to 'em more than I did,
so to, in order to come here and beat a Petty,
that's gonna be a big feather in my cap.
Okay, you ready to go?
-Yes, sir. -Yes, sir.
-[Josh] All set. -We're ready to rock.
We gotta a full blown competition going on here now.
Mark versus Tim on the track,
them gonna let these drivers learn how to shine
then face off on the still.
Tim, you guys with me, let's rock this thing.
-Let's go. -All right, let's do this.
[Mark] I'm coming after you, Tim.
[Tim] Well, that means you've been behind me.
[Digger] He already lapped you.
[Digger] Now, this is gonna be a stiff competition.
You know, Mark and Tim, they're both competitive, they both wanna win.
You know, I can't think of anybody
that handles loss any worse than Tim Smith.
Petty, I know you've done
a lot of dirt track racing in your day.
Yeah, when I first started my career,
-dirt track was not all there was. -Right.
I still loved the dirt tracks.
Thad, have you, you run on dirt much?
Yeah, I've run on dirt quite a bit,
but it's funny, when I started racing
the late model stock cars,
everywhere I ran, grandpa said,
"Well last time I ran there, it was dirt."
So between, somewhere between him and me,
they paved all of these places.
[Mark] All right, which one of you guys
are gonna teach me to drive this car?
I'm gonna let him.
Have you got faith in him that
he can learn me what I need to know?
I got faith in him,
but I don't know about your ability.
[Mark] I've never driven
a round and round race car before.
You know, I'm extremely nervous.
I promise you, I didn't sleep a wink last night.
And how do I attack the track?
I would suggest just from looking at it...
...a little bit more of a traditional racing line,
so you're gonna be up on the wall down the straight aways,
and then we're gonna go to the bottom coming in the corners,
-Okay. -and then get you work your way to the bottom slowly.
Then when I exit the turn, go back, go back up.
Yes, so it's kinda like
letting the steering wheel float,
-so it'll, it'll unwind in your hand. -Okay.
It's gonna be Mark's first time driving a race car,
so I think biggest thing that we're gonna work on is confidence.
We're gonna try and keep you on the bottom,
little bit safe for a while,
until, uh, build up some confidence.
-Baby steps. -Yeah, baby steps.
A lot of it's in your butt,
whatever you feel, whatever you butt
is telling you when you're driving-- [laughs]
If you're butts are pinching up on the seat,
it's time to get out of the throttle?
-Yeah, that's how it works. -God, almighty.
You know, this car, it's nothing like anything I've ever driven.
It goes against everything that
I've ever learned as a driver.
All right, Tim, we're up against the Pettys.
-Yes, that is a big deal. -That's a big deal.
I got more dirt experience than Thad.
I'm pretty much a safe driver, you know, uh,
except when somebody is chasing me,
so I'm gonna need all the pointers I can get.
You're gonna get a little 201 here,
I think Thad's only getting 101,
-we're gonna try to do a 201 level class. -Lay it on me.
Our goal is gonna be no brake.
-No brake? -Nope, you gonna go on this thing,
you're gonna be right in the middle of the track,
and you're gonna drive down, lift off that throttle,
when you lift, the rear end is gonna wanna turn on you,
you wanna get this thing up on that right rear,
and grab the throttle,
drive it right down towards the bottom of the race track,
so you're gonna be able to go faster
in this corner than you really expect,
that's the 201 level stuff here.
We don't need to talk about going easy into these corners
'cause I got, I got Tim Smith here.
Tim, to me, is my type of guy,
he's got a little more attitude with him,
he's got a little swagger with him,
and I think he's gonna be the guy in that race car
to get it done for me.
When I'm making moonshine,
I run the still
cold and slow
'cause that makes the best quality moonshine,
but today...
...I'm gonna run this baby fast.
Tim, I'm gonna make you the fastest one here.
-Let's do it. -We're gonna run hot and fast today.
All right, let's do it, man.
Uh-oh, he can't get on the track.
You had one job.
[Mark] Team Gaughan versus Team Petty.
I don't even wanna try it yet.
Too see who can bring us the best jar of liquor.
I'm coming for you, Thad.
I believe I've got the best jar of liquor.
I like the way you do business.
We're here in Tennessee, Bull Gap, Tennessee, Volunteer Speedway.
[Mark] You guys are gonna teach us how to run these cars,
we're gonna teach you
how to run some moonshine liquor
on copper stills, backwoods style.
-Y'all ready to ride? -[Mark] We do need to ride, king.
Don't spook yourselves, that's what's gonna save you.
You spook yourself early,
-it's really tough to come back from it. -Mmm-hmm.
I'm actually getting some training
and learning from the best,
Brendan from Las Vegas, Nevada.
I'm gonna return the favor back to Brendan,
and I'm gonna show him to make some good moonshine liquor.
Main thing is, we got nice little groove laid out there,
if you look, you can see where I want you to go.
Really self-explanatory,
stay on that nice spot, you'll see a couple of marks on the track,
make a turn, we're gonna go easy in,
we don't need to scare ourself like we said,
'cause, listen, you're up against Mark, come on.
-You got it? -Got it.
-All right, let's get us in here. -All right.
I'm a, I'm a little bit nervous.
I've watched this a whole lot of times on TVs,
it's been exciting to see it on TV,
but now I'm gonna get to do it myself.
[Brendan] Tim is one of those guys that takes what he needs,
learns with what he wants to learn,
and then takes it and applies it quickly.
So I think he's gonna be consistent,
he's gonna be fast,
and he's gonna be smooth,
and on a race track, fast and smooth is what you want.
[Tim] I mean, I can't wait to get out there and make these turns.
There you go. Ease the throttle slowly.
[Tim] This is where the race is won
and also where the race is lost.
He's letting it completely off for these curves,
you gotta keep that foot in there.
Hattie, I know you can do better than that.
[Mark] He's doing all right.
I gotta do a little better.
[Tim] Driving this car and on a dirt track,
it's really rough conditions here.
Nice, 17-19.
It's almost like driving in bad weather.
That scared him now, hey, he's spooked.
[Tim] You know, when you're driving in bad weather,
you don't know what the next turn is gonna do to you
because if you're going too fast,
you're gonna lose control,
if you go in too slow,
you're gonna lose the race.
Little late on the throttle in fourth.
Little early on the throttle, turn four.
[Digger] Right there is where you're gonna beat him, Hattie.
All you need is just a little bit of throttle in that turn
and you got him, Hattie, I promise you.
Ah!
Tim's trailing left, just what I expected.
All right, nice job, Tim.
-Bring her into us, bring her into us. -[Tim] Did I do it?
Real consistent laps, bud.
Real consistent laps. Nice job.
I gotta do a little bit of coaching with him after those practice runs
because he was just exiting a little too high in turn four.
All right.
[grunts]
[Brendan] If I can get him to enter higher,
exit lower,
he's gonna be super-fast on his real runs.
You push that cushion a couple of times.
Yeah, yeah, a couple of times over that,
I got a little bit lose in that,
in the fourth turn right there coming out.
-You can see, if you look, -Yeah.
you can see your tracks where you went too high,
-that slowed you down. -Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
-You were getting faster, getting faster, -Yup.
-that last lap, got a-- -Yup. Yup.
Did the heart rate go a little bit on that last one?
Yeah, yeah, it was a little bit excitement, you know.
I didn't mess up the paint job.
That's the important thing.
That was good, now we can race again.
-That's right. -All right.
Well, I'm ready to go again.
Although, if you wreck it before Mark gets it,
we do kinda win by default.
Damn.
All right, remember, this is just your practice lap,
so we're gonna work our way up to it, all right?
I'm being taught by NASCAR over here,
the king of racing Richard Petty's grandson,
Thad Moffitt.
You know, if this kid can compete with the pros at such a young age,
I know he can teach us ol' dogs some new tricks.
And he should be a quick study
when it comes time to teach him how to shine.
We're gonna enter with our tire
on the black on both ends, okay?
At the top and then we're gonna work our way down to the bottom
and make the straight away as long as you can,
that way you have as much time on throttle as possible.
-Straight not to curves every chance I can. -Yeah.
I'm not gonna do anything stupid,
so I get these practice laps behind me.
I think, I believe in you, Mark.
I think we can do this.
-Thank you, boss kid. I'm gonna make you proud. -Sir, let's do it.
-Yes, sir. -Here we go.
When it come time to get to get in the car...
...I'm gonna say, I found myself,
I wasn't nervous at all,
it's very uncomfortable.
I'm packed in it, you know, like a sardine in a can.
All right.
Oh, he was so close, wasn't he?
Uh-oh, he can't get on the track.
You had one job.
[Mark] I stalled it out,
you know, I can just see Mr. Petty and Thad over there,
saying, "What have we got ourselves into?"
What did I do wrong?
You just didn't make it up,
you gotta push that clutch like you're pushing it out the floor panel.
-They're gonna push start him into high gear now. -Yeah.
Come on, Hattie boy.
[Mark] The car handled nothing like I thought it would,
it accelerates extremely fast.
This car is extremely wide,
it's a whole lot of hood there to look over,
making a lot of fuss,
stuffs are rattling in it.
He turned 18, we gotta do better than that.
Low and slow, low and slow.
-No. -Just like a still.
Always pick it up here a little bit if you can, buddy.
All right, you're doing good,
keep working your way into it, man.
[Mark] You know, I'm trying to keep the car straight,
I want the car to stay wheels down,
and I wanna get around the turns.
All right, we're still good so far.
But run as fast as I can.
[Thad] You're getting faster every lap.
Keep it up, buddy.
You know, I think we've got a little bit to work on,
he can definitely drive deeper into turn three.
Good work there.
And he needs to get on the gas a little bit quicker.
As long as he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll get there.
Tim, you were faster in your practice runs,
I'm just saying.
Well, that was just practice time right there.
All right. All right, buddy.
I think you can drive in a little bit harder over there,
but it was pretty good for your first couple of laps.
I'm having trouble, I'm lifting
my throttle before I get to turn three.
Yeah, I think you can drive in a little bit harder,
and then a couple laps you were too low,
-I think you need to be a little bit higher. -Be a little higher.
-Yeah, and then when-- Yeah. -Over there in turn three.
First time I've ever even walked on this tracks,
sat in a race car, I can't thank you enough
for letting me do this,
-helping me do this. -Yeah, it was--
-Good job, man. -It was heck of a job
-for your first time riding, man. -Yeah, good job.
[Richard] Stayed on the race track, that was good, okay.
We'll work on straightening out the straight aways,
and driving a little deeper into turn three,
-and we'll get you even faster. -No, no.
-Low and slow, low and slow. -Good job, man.
-Low and slow. -You're doing it right.
-Yeah, don't tell him that. -Listen to him.
I'm gonna listen this damn man right here, RP.
But you know, with all that being said,
you guys have showed us, me and Tim, how to run the track.
Tim, what do you say that
now let's take these gentlemen and show them
how to make a little run of liquor?
That's what I'm talking about.
[Mark] That's what I've been talking about.
-Now you're pulling into my wheel house. -Here we go.
Come on, man.
-All right. Let's do it. -Let's go.
Thank you so much, young man.
-It's been fun. -I got to get a shot of this.
Welcome to shine school.
[Digger] We're gonna show you what it really means
to run low and slow.
Like you would be on the racetrack, low and slow.
I need to win this thing.
I'm taking this real serious.
You're working with Tim Smith.
-He almost knows what he's doing. -[all laughing]
-Ain't got no flies in it. I guess it's okay, right? -[chuckling] Yes, sir.
All right, guys, now you're on our track.
We're gonna show you what it really means
to run low and slow.
Welcome to shine school.
You guys taught us how to run a stock car.
We're gonna teach you how to run a moonshine still.
And we've got our moonshine motorhead,
Josh Owens, here with us today.
He's gonna be our impartial judge.
All right, boys,
I'm about as excited as a man can be
to be here today.
I'm ready to get this party started.
Let's kick some tires and light some fires.
[Mark] And, guys,
I brought a real backwards trophy for the winner.
We got quite a bit of trophies and hardware
between the two of us.
You a lot more than me, right?
You got something that looks like that
-in your trophy case? -I don't think so.
We got a museum in Level Cross, North Carolina,
and they've got all of my trophies, some of his.
It would be great to put something like this,
that's completely different than racing.
That's a prize in and amongst itself. That's an art form right here.
I want to bring that trophy back to City Light Shine.
That is gonna sit right in the front
of my distillery.
All right, guys,
-we ready to go to moonshining school? -Hell yeah.
-Yeah. -[Mark] Let's do it.
Well, even though we're on different teams,
these drivers have no experience in making alcohol,
so Digger, Mark, and I, we're gonna train them the best that we can
so it'll be a fair game.
Moonshine school 101, stillville.
Brendan, you and Mr. Petty may know a little bit about this,
and that's okay, but this is for my man, Thad.
I really had no prior knowledge of making liquor.
Just everything that I'd heard from you,
the stories over the years here and there,
and my cousins.
They tell stories all the time, you know, about back in the day,
but that was before I was even a thought.
-Mr. Petty, you keep an eye on this young man. -I'm gonna watch him.
You know, his momma told me he didn't need watching, he needed looked after.
-[all laughing] -So, that being said,
this, of course, is the main pot body.
This is what we call the cap, thump arm, thump post.
This is gonna be a simple, simple still setup.
We'll have no thump keg whatsoever.
Come straight from the pot to the condenser.
This is your condenser, commonly known as a worm.
Inside this is where the magic is made.
I'm looking at this little bitty still going,
"Man, it looks a whole lot different
than the stuff I got in my office."
The gaskets go here. The tri clamp.
This is a little bit cantankerous.
Your condenser.
Act like he's done this before,
-don't he? [chuckles] -Yeah.
Cold water will come in the bottom.
It recirculates all the time. It'll go right back out the top.
The colder you can keep this,
the better your liquor will be.
I got all the faith in the world in team Petty.
-I would hope so. -Always got some Petty for Mark.
-Always. -Don't worry, me and Tim, Team Gaughan.
Brendan, you know, you're working with Tim Smith.
He almost knows what he's doing.
I'm happy with my coach. Don't you worry, sir.
Digger, come round and give these gentlemen some tips on some mashing.
Good luck, guys, all of you.
-Thank you. -Not only have I got tips,
-I've got samples. -Hey.
[Digger] Now, if there's something out there that'll ferment,
chances are I've made mash of it.
Now, these guys, they don't have time to wait
for mash to be made and worked off.
We've taken that process out of the way,
but they still need to understand how it works.
And they've still got to get the alcohol out of it and make it tasty.
We call it still beer. Some people call it wine, some people call it mash.
At the end of the day, it's a product made with corn and sugar.
Now, when you look in here...
You don't see a thing.
Now, if this wasn't ready to run
there'd be a cap of grain on there.
Alcohol is a little thinner than water.
Well, when it's thicker and it's got more water and sugar in it,
if that gravity's higher it floats that grain to the top.
That's what the old timer said.
When the cap breaks your liquor's ready to run.
Now, back when stock car racing got started,
these old runners, and haulers, and bootleggers,
that's what they were hauling was plain old corn liquor.
So that's why we decided to go ahead and use a plain corn mash,
regular old run-of-the-mill Appalachian recipe that these guys run.
[Digger] Just take a little taste of it.
The old timers call that corn cob wine.
This is fine mash right here,
and we're gonna run some fine liquor out of it
if we get them stills running right.
Right now, Tim is gonna show you how to run them stills
-and get 'em fired up successfully. -Okay.
All right, guys,
let me demonstrate how you should light the still.
Being able to control the temperature of your still is very important
because if you run it too hot you can scorch it.
If you run it too low you're not really gonna produce anything.
And we have a valve here, there's a needle valve down here at the bottom.
And then we're gonna turn it on.
Get your gas and it lights.
You need more heat, you turn it up.
You need less heat, turn it down.
If you need to adjust your air it's right here.
-You good? -[both] Yes, sir.
You know how to load your still,
you know how to put your still together,
you know how to light your still.
Any other questions?
-Think we're good to go. -No, sir.
-Let's do it. -We're ready.
All right. [claps] Well, let's win this race then.
I'm pretty excited about learning how to run the liquor,
and being real hands on, and figuring it out.
All right, guys, after this practice lap
we're gonna have a real competition,
Team Gaughan versus Team Petty,
to see who can bring us the best jar of liquor.
I'm excited about this. This'll be the first time I've ever run my own liquor.
All right, guys,
for this run we're not gonna taste.
The winner will be picked by whoever can get the closest to 100 proof benchmark.
I'm looking forward to it.
[Josh] All right, gentlemen,
you got three hours to put a 100 proof jar on this table.
What's at stake
is the first pick of still parts for the real run.
Your time starts now.
Good luck and get with it, guys.
Need about three of those in there.
We're gonna start this fire up.
[Tim] So now that we've finished the basics, as a group,
in learning distilling,
now I can really hone in on Brendan,
give him some more advance tips
on how we're gonna win this competition.
Worried about that Thad kid over there.
-He might come over here and sprinkled a little salt -Well, you know...
-in here or something. -I'm just observing.
-He is a Petty, you know? You never know. -[chuckles]
I am very determined that Brendan, my partner,
we're gonna beat the Petty team in distilling.
The Petty team may be king on the track
but Tim Smith is the king of moonshine.
This is a little bit different than my normal deal, ain't it?
It's up to you now.
-Yeah, I hope that Digger and Mark can help us. -They're gonna show you
-how to do it. -Here we are.
You need to get this cap off right quick.
All right, watch that gasket.
-You'll need that when you put this -This guy?
-right here on there. -Okay.
I think Brendan's a formidable competitor.
He's from Vegas, right?
He's in the liquor world. He's got his own distillery.
And so
he's got a little bit more knowledge on it than us,
but he doesn't realize how competitive we are.
We're gonna take this really seriously.
Always, always, always rinse these fire coals.
Now, it's not just about having them clean.
-You can see that dust, it washes off, -Yeah.
well, that can get into your liquor.
But now more especially,
and a lot of people don't know this
because they just think it filters it out,
this water when it gets in those little minute cracks in this charcoal,
that helps it trap the fusil oils that give you flavor.
It'll give you liquor and all flavor.
It's just one of them old timer deals.
I'm learning a whole lot today, ain't I?
-[Digger] It's a lot to absorb in a day. -[chuckling] Yeah.
In that first little bit we might have a little dab or two in there.
We're not gonna sweat it.
We'll let those drip off.
You can get you about three or four more of those buckets in there
now we're heating up.
We're gonna be ready to rock and roll.
[Tim] All right, you want to try to light it?
Oh, yeah. This is where fire, can I get my fire suit first?
Nah, uh-uh.
Get your light on first.
Stick it in that hole, all right,
and crank that needle valve.
Should light up.
There you go.
When it starts to come out of the worm
we can kind of gauge the speed of the run
-by your fire. -By your fire of height.
-Okay. -It's kind of like controlling the speed of the car
by the gas pedal,
-because you're giving it gas, so you give it more gas, -Yeah.
-you run faster. -Faster.
-Give it less gas, you run slow. -Less gas, run slow.
[Brendan] Look, I'm a NASCAR driver.
We want to go fast,
so it really is hard for me to go slow
and slow this thing down.
So I got to listen to Tim.
He's my crew chief taking care of me now.
Oh, it's already hot, yeah.
-And I can already feel steam coming out. -Well, yeah,
I'm gonna show you how to make some liquor.
I'm gonna show you how to win this race.
[Digger] All you got to do is light that rascal
when you turn on that needle valve.
And he's wide open for anything.
-[chuckles] -You know what I mean?
[Tim] So, it looks like you're up and running. You're in the driver's seat.
My dad always says
if you can't keep your hand on it then it's hot.
-All right, I got faith in ya. -All right.
I'm coming for you, Thad.
I believe I've got the best jar of liquor in my barrel.
AH, no, listen, age and treachery, young man.
See, my man, Tim, I just feel like I got an edge.
Well, we've got a couple of secrets up our sleeves, I believe,
from talking to Digger and speed secrets.
-Yes, but what... -Speed secrets,
but no, we're low and slow today, remember?
We're slowing ourselves down a little bit.
-And... -Like you're gonna be on the racetrack,
-low and slow. -[scoffs] No.
You're a little more accustomed to it than I am.
I never really done my own cook
-so this is kind of cool for me. -Yeah.
Richard, you gonna have a copper still when he gets home
'cause he's gonna need one.
-[chuckles] -He'll go home and make one.
Yeah, when you get that fever and you want to race,
well, he's got that fever and he's gonna want to have his own still.
-[Brendan] Keep drippin', man. -Yeah, I know.
Got to keep it dripping into the jar
and not out of the jar.
Well, what we would call that back home
-is common sense. -[laughs cunningly]
-So... -Throwing shade. I like it, I like it.
[Brendan] You've got some liquor now.
I don't even want to try it yet.
[Thad] Trying to get this thing to 100 proof,
I don't even know how to check that
so it's gonna be hard to figure out
exactly how to get it where it needs to be.
Besides, I don't want to disappoint Mark.
All right, guys, you've burned an hour.
There's two left.
Plenty of time to get that perfect jar.
-Excuse me, I got to switch out my first one. -[Thad] Yeah, get to work.
-I got me my first one right here. -Yeah.
So...
Ooh, smells like corn.
All right, Thad, how's it going, man?
Hello, Josh. What's going on, buddy?
-Good, good. -It's going pretty good.
Good, you're doing a good job, man.
I'm proud of you.
-Yeah, I'm trying to. -Yeah.
Well, I just wanted to show you
-what you're looking for for about 100 proof, okay? -Okay.
So a good shake, you see how those bubbles are on there
-and you see how fast they dissipate? -Yes, sir.
All right, so from, like, 80 something to 100 something
you can just shake it and count.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
And then when the last bubble disappears at, like, 10,
-say that'd be 100 proof. -Okay.
If it disappears at nine it would be, like, 90 proof.
Unbelievable. We're right where we need to be.
-Good job, man. -All right, thanks, bud.
All right, Brendan, how's it going over here?
Hanging out, man. We're half way through a run.
-I think I'm feeling pretty good about it. -Yeah?
In racing, you know, we want to hit that right line,
you got to hit that apex, you want to...
-You got to get in the groove. -That's right.
You want to find your groove and hit it right,
and I think I'm close.
I just don't know if I'm in the sweet spot yet.
I hear you. Well, let's see it.
Well, it's really important that you pick the right jar
because this challenge is to get it at exactly 100 proof.
Losing on the racetrack to the Pettys is one thing.
-I can't lose in here. -The pressure is on.
-Good luck to you, man. -Thank you, Josh.
Men, you got one hour left.
You ain't got no time for fueling tires.
You can see the checker board from here.
-They look pretty good stuff. -Yeah, you shake it and you tell me.
Thad doesn't have any experience cooking, right?
-Ain't got no flies in it. I guess it's okay, right? -Yes, sir.
Difference is he's got his grandaddy looking at that jar, too,
and I know that that's not Richard's first time looking at a jar.
So I'm hoping I can beat them there because I want my thump.
I want to have my thump keg.
Thad, now we can't help you choose the jar that you bring to us,
so you and Paw Paw agree on one you want to turn in
because I can't help you no more, boss.
Well, I'll approve it first and then I'll let him approve it.
If he says it's good then it's probably good.
I like the way you do business.
All right, Brendan, what's going on over there?
You know, I think I'm right in the middle of my heart, sir.
-I think we got her turned down low and slow -[Tim] Okay.
like you wanted, and...
Where are you at on your proof there?
I think this is still above that 130 mark.
The bubbles are pretty big, they go away pretty quick.
I'm trying to find how close I can get my run and how good my eyes are
to get me to 100 proof in a jar.
That's what's gonna get me first pick of still parts.
What number jar is that?
This right here will be number two.
You can just go ahead and turn that in.
-I believe that's perfect. -[laughs]
You don't want to be forcing this one. You just want to finish it.
[Digger] You ought to have that sweet jar
over there somewhere.
I believe that one's a winner.
Pressure, sir.
Here we go. All right, Brendan.
Now I'm getting excited because Mr. Petty, he's gonna be nervous.
I wouldn't believe this.
There's a Petty shenanigan here somewhere.
Give him that jar and then show me what you're talking about.
-Right, look here. -Cause obviously
I'm shaking it and I'm wondering what to do.
I guarantee you in the younger years
there wasn't a jar of this around any pit, was there?
-They had bigger jars. -They had bigger.
[all laughing]
They used to have gallon jars.
A lot of people think that you just got to make a snow globe out of it.
Sit there and look at it. Well, that's not the case.
You just need one or two shakes like that.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
There's no bubbles left.
That jar right there is two to three points either direction of 100.
-The quicker it goes away the stronger it is? -Yeah.
Now, if this was real high proof,
-[Tim] Big bubbles. -you'd shake it,
there'd be great big bubbles and they'd flash off
-like lightning. -Okay, I got you.
-That would be above 110, 120. -Be bigger.
But now, if they was little bitty
and flashed off real fast, too,
-they'd be real low. -Okay.
But that ten count will keep you where you need to be.
[chuckling] Yeah.
[Digger] 30 minutes, guys.
You ought to have that sweet jar over there somewhere.
-Hi, sweetheart. -Good stuff, hey?
It's getting there, sir. I'm getting closer.
How's it going, man?
About time for me to swap my jar out.
-I'm pulling for you, okay? -Yes, sir.
Everything going okay?
It seems to be right.
I mean, that's the first time I've done it.
Why you got to pull for him?
I thought we were friends, too?
Forget it. [laughs]
-You're on your own, okay? -Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
-Yeah. -Blood's thicker than alcohol.
All right, folks, you're down to five minutes.
You know, we just taught the king of stock car racing,
Richard Petty, his grandson, Thad,
plus rival driver Brendan Gaughan how to run liquor.
Now we're gonna see which one of 'em can get closest
to that benchmark of 100 proof.
All right. [sighs]
-Pressure, sir. Got the pressure. All right. -Go for it.
-This is it, boys. -Bring it in here, boss.
100 on the button.
That's the second place jar?
-Mr. Smith, please. -Wait a minute, now.
[Brendan] Thank you very much.
Well, it looks pretty.
You've run a really clear jar of liquor right there.
Got no boogers in it floating anywhere.
I believe you've done a fine job.
All right, Brendan, you just head on back to your station.
When we get both these jars we're gonna check the proof,
and whoever's closest to that 100 mark,
you're gonna be the first one in to pick still parts.
Good luck.
I believe that one's a winner. What do you think?
-Go for it. -Okay.
[Mark] Here comes my liquor maker.
Bring it in here, Thad.
[Thad] That's what I believe this is.
I believe this is the winning jar.
That's my driver.
That is a beautiful clear jar of liquor, Thad.
Now that we got the number one jar on the table
we'll go ahead and apologize to Tim in advance.
All right, guys, I guess first jar in, first one we test.
All right, men, just so y'all know,
this is a specific gravity meter.
It's digital, it's scientific.
This little rascal will tell you
the exact story you want to know about where your liquor's at.
All right, Brendan.
[Brendan] I want first pick on those still parts
because they'll take everything
and leave you with the ancillary parts
that I'm gonna have to make something out of nothing.
I don't wanna do that.
Your proof, 104.
[Tim] That's pretty daggone good right there.
Now I'm getting excited because Mr. Petty, he's gonna be nervous.
Here we go.
I really want to win first pick of the still parts,
mainly because I want to get the trophy
back to Level Cross.
-[Mark] Really? -I wouldn't believe this
104.
-That's insane. -It is.
I can't believe we ended up tied on those things.
104s? Come on. There's a Petty shenanigan here somewhere.
Both of you running 104 miles an hour.
[Digger] And you both have 104.
[Brendan] It's because Speedway Martinsville can take it.
I'm calling it a tie.
Yeah, but that don't solve nothing.
What do you mean? They going to flip coins now?
We got to get 'em to pick still parts.
If we're tied with liquor being the same
then the racetrack is where we need to go
to settle that little argument.
Forget all this. Let's go to the race track and settle it.
I kind of like that idea.
[Mark] Mr. Petty wants Tim and me
to head back to the track to settle this.
How can I say no to the king?
Sounds like a plan to me, sir.
I'm okay with that. I like my horse.
-You ready to go? -We're ready to go.
-It's cool with me. -We got our driver. We ready.
-[Brendan] Let's do it. -[Josh] That's what I'm talkin' about.
-[Brendan] Tim, you my man. Let's go. -Come on, driver.
[Tim] We're going to the track.
You know, Mark and myself, we're gonna race to decide
who's actually gonna go in the still house first.
All right, boys, we all know why we're here.
We're here to settle this the old fashioned way.
We're here to settle it on the track.
[narrator] Next time on Master Distiller...
We got to make a run of liquor.
Brendan, you're going down.
[Josh] Whoever wins this
is gonna have some bragging rights.
My nature is go, go, go.
If the liquor's coming out of there that soon
it's gonna be fiery.
It's gonna be hot.
If it's burning at this point you're a lot down, I believe.
I am a lot down right now.
Go fast, crash after you go into turn one.
Get it, get it, get it!
Easy, easy, easy! Oh!
Oh, [bleep].