All language subtitles for Home.Town.Bens.Workshop.S02E08.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb

Everyone has heard me
say before that Mississippi

is basically
one really big small town.

We all look after each other.

We all take care
of each other.

We lift each other up.

When there is a problem,
we race to help

people in need,

which is why
I'm so excited today

because I have
a fellow Mississippian,

a champion racecar driver,

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,

in the workshop
ready to build something.

Ricky's family
got their start

with his dad
building racing engines.

He started racing
at a very young age,

and he's done it all.

He won
the Nationwide Series

Rookie of the Year,
the Sprint Cup Series

Rookie of the Year,
and then in 2017,

he won the big one, Talladega.

Ricky stayed in town
last night.

He's walking over
to the shop,

but I wanna cut him off
before he gets there

'cause I wanna show him something.

- What's up?
- What's happening?

Plus, he gets to ride

in a real racing vehicle, Plant.

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you.

Good to go.

It's just
like riding a NASCAR.

It is.
The only airflow you got

is what comes out
the side window there.

Where are we headed?

We're going
to the fire department.

I like it. I love helping

fire departments,
first responders.

First responders, man.

And if you think about
what he does for a living,

they have first responders
and firemen around them

all the time,
ready at a moment's notice

in case there's an emergency.

All the real heroes.

The real heroes. Yeah, we...

People think we might be
heroes but we're not.

Yeah.

Yes, you see
this green space out here?

- Yup.
- That's what...

We're going
to build something for that.

A place where they can sit,
hang out between calls.

It is time
to give the firefighters

their own pit stop,
somewhere where they can

restart their engines,
you know?

Somewhere where they can recharge,

get, you know,
something to drink, refuel.

What if this becomes
the firehouse winner's circle.

Pretty cool.

So this is what we're using.

Looks good to me.

You see, I just took you
on the high side there.

- I did see that.
- Yeah.

- A little slide job.
- Yeah.

- Coming around.
- Dang.

Okay.
So this wood is poplar.

This is my least
favorite wood species,

- which sounds terrible.
- It sounds horrible.

Well,
we're gonna build something

for the fire department.
We're gonna...

- Yeah.
- Get them some crappy wood.

The reason I don't like it
is 'cause it's...

I don't like the color in it.

It's kind of boring normally,
but this piece is not.

These pieces are special.

This is from the second

largest poplar tree
in Pontotoc County.

Dang. We're getting
close to where I'm from.

- North Mississippi.
- Yeah.

This was the limb...
A limb on the tree.

- So that is...
- A limb?

I was thinking this was like
the base, the trunk.

- This is a limb?
- No. This is the limb.

I'd say
it was a pretty big tree then.

It was huge.

As soon as I saw
the L-shaped slabs,

I knew exactly
what I wanted to build.

- All right.
- Okay?

So what I'm wanting to do
is actually build two benches.

They can bring them together,
have a U-shaped

- or they can...
- Yeah.

Keep them a little bit separate.

Okay.

We're gonna keep
the poplar lob edge, sand it.

We may have
to shorten one side

or the other a little bit.

Then we're gonna take
and we're gonna do

two full-width English-style

hand-cut dovetails
on the end,

and then we're going to pin
those dovetails with red oak.

Once we have
our dovetailed ends on,

we're actually gonna flip
the top over

and we're gonna domino
the rest of the supports in.

For our legs,
we're gonna use cypress.

That's for the
dovetailed ends

and for our support legs underneath.

It's a great outdoor wood.

It holds up well
in the weather.

It's gonna be a great material
to use for our legs.

- Love it.
- All right.

Well, then this will be good
'cause we can rely

on your standard
for precision.

- Got it. I'm ready.
- All right.

Let's go prep our slabs.

All right. Before we do
any kind of work...

- I'm official now.
- That's right.

Well, you've always...
You've been official...

- That's true.
- For a long time.

I should have just
brought mine from home.

You have one from
the original batch though.

- I'm an original kind of guy.
- I see.

So our stores,
the Laurel Mercantile

and Scotsman Co.

started as Erin Ben Co.

And it was this small
"what if this works" project

we launched,
and the next morning,

we gotta check the orders

and someone had placed
like a $250 order.

In a small retail shop,
that was huge.

And I went
and looked and it was,

you know, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ricky always supports people
from Mississippi

because they've always
supported him.

You know,
especially his family

but also his community.

I mean, he really
wants to give back.

How much shorter
are we gonna take off of it?

- We're basically...
- Or just clean it up?

We're just cleaning it up.
Yeah, we're not worried

- about how thick it is.
- Okay.

Actually,
the thicker the better.

Yeah.

I know you grew up
in racing,

but when you say
you grew up in racing,

- what does that look like?
- Yeah.

Well, I was born
at noon on a Saturday.

My dad went
and raced that night.

- My mom...
- Oh, shoot.

Took me to the track.
I was six-weeks old.

My dad was racing.

From everything
that I can remember,

it was traveling
to the racetrack

or hanging out in the shop

while he was working
on his race cars or engines.

And so I just looked up
to my dad and everything

that he did
'cause he was racing.

And then... So we rode
dirt bikes together.

When you say
your dad was a racer,

I mean,
he didn't race stock car?

No. He raced
dirt cars around home.

Okay. Okay.

Sprint cars
is what he raced and...

Sprint cars are the ones
with the big wing?

With the big wing
on it, yes.

Yeah.

I started in
in go-karts on dirt tracks.

Okay.

I was five
or six years old and...

- Five and six years old.
- Yeah.

So literally like grew up,

traveled the country,
went and won some big races.

I had learned
and kind of done

what I needed to do
in go-karts.

My dad felt like I was ready,
you know, to...

Okay.

Make that transition
to sprint cars.

There was a new track
in Mississippi

being built
and they had a play day,

like kind of a test day,
and we're all going down.

He's like, "You're ready
to practice today?"

And I was like, "Yeah,
let's go." We went down there.

I made I think 10 or 15 laps

and then
that was the last time

my dad ever got
in a sprint car.

- Dang.
- He was like,

all right,
I think it's time to,

you know, put everything
that he's learned

and worked for into me,
give me the opportunity

to take it, you know,
another step further.

That was
a really big moment...

- Huge. Huge.
- For you.

Huge.

All right.
Let's sand these.

Oh, we're ready?

Just slide it.

Poplar is not a desirable

piece of wood
for furniture, okay?

But this piece is.

These are really cool.

This is not
your typical poplar, okay?

This is a slab
that's L-shaped

that came
from the biggest tree

in Pontotoc County
that has some...

It has a little bit
of spalting in it.

It's got a lot
of grain pattern in.

It's got some figure
going on there

because of some imperfections

that were in the tree.

And so that makes it not good
for lumber

but it makes it perfect
for furniture building.

So we're gonna take
this slab and just let it be.

That makes for fast work.

That's way
better than by hand.

So that's
like the difference

between my pickup
and your racecar.

You're still
gonna get there

but one of them
is a lot faster.

A lot faster, yeah.

Let's go make
some cypress legs.

Yeah.
So set it up off the ground.

That's it.

All right.
So I got a question.

What does it take
to go from, you know,

racing go-karts on the weekend
to being a sprint car racer?

It takes a lot.

It took a lot of sacrifice
from my mom, my dad, you know,

putting everything
that we had into it.

You know,
I was racing with a guy

by the name
of Jeff Buckner who...

He raced against my dad
and he had a trucking company.

And I raced with him
once or twice and he literally

dropped all of his racecar
stuff off at our house

and said,
"Ricky, can, you know,

go further than here."

And I just took things
like that and a lot of people

kind of in my corner
to help us go race.

Ricky is seriously
one of the most

humble people I have ever met.

He's at the top of his racing
game but he never forgets,

you know, where he came from
and who helped him get there.

It's awesome.

What is it specifically
about racing that you love?

Yeah, there's a lot.

I mean,
like is it the competition,

the speed, the adrenaline?

I like competition.

Definitely like the speed.

I like the Evel Knievel
like daredevil side of things.

Like how far can I push it
without getting hurt, right?

Like how far
can I push a racecar

without stepping
over the boundaries?

Were there any scary moments?

Actually, the second race
I ever ran in the sprint car,

a guy's car broke
in front of me and came across

the track and I ran
right into him and flipped.

I think seven or eight times.

My mom had it on camera.

And it wasn't scary.

It was kind of like, "Oh,

that didn't...
that didn't hurt that bad."

And it was almost like a light
switch that made me drive

even harder because I was
like, "Oh, that didn't hurt."

You know,
I was 15 years old...

- Yeah.
- And kind of hardheaded

so it kind of made me
more fearless

than what I already was which...

Because the idea
of flipping

seven or eight times,
I'd be like, "I'm done."

Yeah, I mean,
racing is obviously

a dangerous sport.

I've had friends get killed,
you know, in the sport.

And I think my first year
of racing, we had a guy,

you know, get killed
in a race that I was in.

And so I know
the danger is there,

you know,
when I was 15 years old,

I just wanted to win and go
as fast as I could and...

Yeah.
Okay, so this is a table saw.

- Yup.
- You've seen a table saw.

I have.

This is the start
of our legs, but...

Okay.

We'll cut about eight
or ten of these.

- You wanna do it?
- Yeah, let's go.

All right.

Okay, so the table saw,
it's the one that I'm most

afraid of in the shop,
in my opinion is the most

dangerous saw in the shop.

Some people,
it doesn't bother them.

Ricky has been in wood shops,
he's been in mechanic shops.

He knows his way
around tools.

So, I feel comfortable
turning them loose.

I don't have to watch him.

All right.
We've got our slabs prepared

and our legs are cut down.

So this is our bandsaw.

- We'll cut our dovetails out.
- Okay.

But then we will take chisels
and hand tool it

- to get everything perfect.
- Perfect.

Yeah. With a dovetail
the piece that sticks up,

- that's called the pin, okay?
- Okay.

This will slide up
into our bench

and we'll put pins into it.

So, going
from being a kid

racing sprint card,
that was the dream.

That was the dream.

Then you moved up
to racing cars

and the Nationwide Series,
which is like

the minor leagues
for professional racing.

And you're racing
with one of the best teams.

What was that like?

Now all of a sudden,
I'm racing a stock car

at Daytona for Roush Fenway.

And like it all happened,
you know, in one year.

That was my introduction
into NASCAR stock car racing,

living in North Carolina,
away from my family.

It was... it was a big jump.

You started off pretty rocky.

2010 was my full rookie year
in the Nationwide Series.

That started off rocky
for sure.

And some tracks
I've never been to before,

and was still fairly new

to pavement stock car racing,

- you know?
- Yeah.

And so I was pushing too hard
a lot of times.

A part of that was I didn't
know what the cars

could handle because
I was still fairly new to it.

Jack Roush
came to me and he said,

"Hey, you're gonna go
into the chassis shop."

And I worked in the chassis
shop for three months.

Chassis shop is that,

you know where
they're building the car?

Yeah, that's exactly...
exactly it.

Was it just your car was it...

- No, everybody...
- Everybody's?

In the teams.

And that was kind of Jack's
way of saying,

"There's a lot of work
that goes in

to these race cars,
you know,

not just showing up
and racing on the racetrack.

So, try and take care of it."
I kind of thought

I was gonna lose my job there
for a while.

Dad and Jack
had conversations about,

you know, what was going on.

Jack always was close
to my dad and myself,

and I felt like,
after going through

those struggles,
I felt like my family

and I were even closer.

You know, we were able to turn
that into finishing the season

really, really good
and we ended up coming back

from way behind to win
Rookie of the Year that year.

That's another thing
I love about racing,

it's just
there's always a chance

to get better and I'm trying
to figure something else out.

Because this is a lavish
piece of furniture,

I wanted it
to have a modern silhouette.

And so that's why our legs
and our supports

are just a simple block
of wood,

just a nice clean,
straight line.

- Just to the line?
- Yeah.

Typically
when you see dovetails,

it's a row
of several dovetails

that makes
for a really strong joint.

When you do a big single
dovetail like this,

it's not as strong
of a joint

and so what we wanna do
is actually pin

the dovetail joints.

I like the way this
big dovetail looks on the end

of this bench,
so I wanted to go with this

so the dowels will
actually make it stronger.

Now, we need to come over here
and cut the actual bench.

Yeah, yup, okay.

So, now, we're gonna cut
the tail, all right?

And we're gonna rough it
with the jigsaw,

- so we're gonna...
- Okay.

Cut inside our lines
and then we'll come back

- and chisel it.
- Okay.

This is where
we will have to be precise.

We are starting
this joint with machines,

but then we're gonna
finish it with hand tooling,

which is where the precision
comes into this

and where the uniqueness
of this joint comes in.

A lot of people think
that a machine cut joint

would be more precise
than a hand cut joint

because of the human error there.

But the problem
with the machine is that you,

you know,
take dovetails for instance,

you have a round bit,
making the cut.

So, it's not gonna
be able to get tied

into a corner the way
that I can with a chisel.

Look at that.

Yes.

Whoo!
Fits like a glove.

There's the pole
position right here.

- Pole position. Good start.
- Yeah.

- Good start.
- Still some work left to do.

A lot of racetrack left.

You know what this is?

This was like you winning
back to back championships.

You ready to move up
to the Cup series.

Yeah.
Yeah, it all came together.

The first time Ricky and I
were hanging out, I asked him,

I was like, "Hey, what
would it cause to put a...

You know,
just to have, like, a decal?

What would that run me?"

And he said,
"Just come to the race,

and I'll stick it
on the car."

"What race?" "Talladega."

Did you have a good feeling
going into Talladega weekend?

I had a really good feeling.

You know, we had been
working on our Talladega car

for a good while,

set on the pole
and qualifying.

And, like,
knew we had a really,

really fast car then,

and it showed
throughout the race.

I was able to do things
that, you know,

other drivers
weren't able to do.

Like, I'll draft with
somebody and let them know,

"Hey, my car is fast.

We can draft good together."
But I was able to do

I felt like something's
not relying

on other drafters
to help me with.

Then, you won
and it was just like,

not only did you win,
it was your first win.

- Yeah.
- And...

It was an exciting day.

It was, "Whoo."

It was cool to finally get
my first win,

and then my dad was there.

He normally didn't cry
very much, but he was...

He lost it.
And I mean, he was...

Oh, yeah, you didn't
get out of the car at first

and you just said,
"Where's dad?"

- Yeah.
- I saw Ricky win,

I was in victory lane.
I was there for it.

The energy was unbelievable.

But then the most
hilarious thing happened.

Maybe, the best thing
about the day

was your dad getting arrested.

He ran to the fence...

He climbed on the...
Like when I got done...

- Wait, that...
- Taking the checkered.

I was coming by and he's
climbing up on the fence.

He was, you know, excited.

And they're like,
"Man, that's a crazy fan."

He said that they pulled up
in their car

- and slammed him on the hood.
- Yeah.

And took his ID.
He said, "I was crying.

I was telling him my boy
just won.

That's my son.
He just won.

He just won Talladega."

- And he...
- Yeah.

And he said, "And,
then they called out for my...

They were looking
for Ricky Stenhouse Sr.

And they just so happened
to be looking at my ID

and boy, we were real close
after that."

Yeah.

For you as a family,
not like your team.

- Yeah.
- But your family,

what was that like?

My dad started racing
when he was 22 years old

and then
put a lot of effort into me.

So I can tell all that kinda
came to him at one time.

It was cool. It made me
obviously choke up

and get, you know,
emotional about it.

But after that, it was like,
"Wow, all the hard work

that we put in as a family
definitely has, you know,

come to...
come to right here."

Man, that was such
an awesome day.

It was.

The really cool thing
about this bench

is that it is 100%
Mississippi made.

You have a tree that,
you know,

grew all crazy and gnarly
in Pontotoc County.

You have
a racing stock car champion

from Olive Branch, Mississippi,

and you have a woodworker
from Laurel, Mississippi

all coming together
and building this thing,

hand cutting.
That's really cool.

That makes me proud.

And we're giving it
to some of the best people

this state has to offer.

I like having you here
because you've taken

the heavy end every time.

How's it look?
What do you think?

I think
it turn out pretty good.

Put a little color on it.

The spray will make
all that grain come alive.

Good looking bench
and I think they...

I think they'll enjoy it
at the fire station.

I think so.
All right, let's spray it.

♪ All right, let's go ♪

♪ We're bringing the noise ♪

♪ We're making a sound ♪

♪ They're building walls ♪

♪ We'll keep
knocking 'em down ♪

We got one done.
This looks good.

- I like it.
- Okay.

We'll do the other one.
Let them dry.

We'll be ready to deliver.

♪ And dance
Into the world now ♪

This build is actually
too big to haul in Clint.

Gosh, these look so good.

Just a good thing
we bought a dump truck.

Plot is our new dump truck.

We found him in a farm
in Tanner-Williams, Alabama.

We can haul grain
if we need to.

We can haul scrap lumber
if we need to.

We can haul gravel.
We can haul benches.

If you can think of it
then I can probably

haul it in that dump truck.

A little faster
than a stock car.

A little rougher
than the stock car you think.

Oh, yeah.

Still doing sprint car.

More on the side
with my dad, you know,

we're able to go race Friday, Saturdays,

and then race
the cup car on Sundays.

I think more seat time
the better.

Kind of like your woodworking.

- Yeah.
- The more you woodwork...

The more you're in there...

The better everything goes
and, you know,

doing that with my dad
is a lot of fun.

Him and my mom
are, you know, working

on the sprint car
during the week.

So Mom's a big part of it
as well.

Pulling up
to the fire department.

There it is.
Ladder one is pulled out.

They're checking everything.
They probably just washed it.

But you notice
there's nowhere to sit.

- What do you say, gentlemen?
- All right.

How you doing... All right,
how you doing this morning?

You all got
anything to eat here?

A little late for breakfast.

You know,
we get started at 6:00.

- Chief Brown.
- Ricky Stenhouse.

- All right.
- How's it going, Chief.

- How's it going?
- Everything all right?

- Good to see you.
- Good to see you.

- All right.
- When I found out

y'all needed something
for your space here,

I wanted to call Ricky

because he's big
supporter of firefighters...

- Okay.
- First responders

and just heroes in general.

Especially Mississippi heroes.

- That's right.
- All right. Thank you.

- Thank you.
- And you guys save lives.

You save our properties.

You give our kids
something to scream

- about during the parade.
- Right.

This green space here

has always been interesting
to me.

I mean, it's nice
and y'all can use this.

Yeah, we have no place
to sit outside.

We always have sit on
inside off on the front.

- So yeah, it will be nice.
- That's what we were thinking.

Appreciate it.

So we wanted
to do something for you.

- We appreciate that.
- All right?

I got it here on the truck.

Y'all gonna have
to help us unload it.

- Okay.
- Do y'all have any experience

climbing
on the back of trucks?

- Oh, yeah.
- Little bit?

All right.

Yeah.

- Dang.
- So who's climbing up?

Mason.

Yeah, I think
that's a rookie job.

Yeah.
There you got it.

- All right.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's go
over here to the grass.

Guys, y'all
got something to sit outside.

That's it. Yeah.

Where y'all
wanna put it, guys?

Can we put it like right here.

I think y'all will be able
to access it easier.

Okay.

So you can come out.

- Have a seat.
- Yeah.

You get any visitors,
walk right on out.

That's... Yeah.

Mississippi made,
Mississippi grown,

and we're putting it back
on Mississippi souls.

Okay.

Ben and I tested this
in the shop, they sit good.

Yeah, this is outstanding.

You know, people usually
don't think about us

until they're in a time
of need.

But bringing us something

is very touching for us,
you know?

Yeah, it touched me
but it also

kind of broke my heart
because it's true.

Like we don't think
about the fire department

until we're dialing 911.

To be able to bring this
to them just felt good.

We got to get you
a fire pit out here.

That might be
frowned upon though.

I'm gonna say.

Bravo 1 to Engine 1.

Engine 1, go ahead.

in my area

and

They got a call.
They got to go.

- Copy that.
- Oh, okay.

- All right.
- It makes you...

- Have a good time.
- Let's go.

Let's get the

I don't think
this is from their first time.

I don't think so.
It's like watching a pit crew.

Yeah,
they have to be dressed

and on a truck in two minutes.

All right.

I mean I hope
everything's okay,

but that's awesome.

Okay, so I'm not really sure.

I think they might have
done that for us.

They're still pretty cool.

Just that quick
we would go

from a casual setting
to emergency mode.

- Yup.
- You just got to...

- Up and go.
- Go up and go.

So that's why the job
is so stressful and that's why

a piece like this
gives the opportunity

to sit outside, enjoy,
and relax and so...

- Decompress.
- Right.

Decompress.

If you're gonna
celebrate somebody,

it should be people like
the Laurel Fire Department.

Firefighters,
who are literally

saving lives
and saving people's houses,

they are the real people
that should be looked up to.

Well, I got to get him
to Talladega.

I'm gonna haul him
the whole way on a dump truck.

- Okay. Good luck.
- Thank you.

- Yeah.
- Thank you.

That's what
I love about Ricky.

He was helped by his family
and by his community

and by this state,
and he doesn't forget that.

He's always ready to help
whenever and wherever he can.

- You want me to drive?
- I think I'm faster.

I don't know.

Oh, that's a nice take off.