Phantom Cowboys (2018)

1
[WIND WHISTLING]
[ENGINE PUTTERING
IN DISTANCE]
[ENGINE WHINING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[FIRE CRACKLING]
[ENGINE RUMBLES]
[WIND WHISTLING]
NICK: I see some guy laying
in the middle of the road
taking pictures of plants.
Like, just laying there,
just taking pictures.
We asked him,
"Are you all right?"
He's like, "Yeah, I'm just
fascinated with the desert."
I'm like, "Okay,
that's great. Continue."
And he says, "Isn't it
exciting living here?"
I'm like, "No, not really.
It's all right.
But, I mean,
it's a place that I call home."
And she... And they're like,
"Yeah, that's great."
And they say
they wish they were from here.
I'm like, "I bet you'll think
twice if you lived here.
You will have a diff...
Second opinion."
[CHEERLEADERS CHANTING]
BOY: One, two, three.
TEAM: Eight!
BOY: One, two, three.
TEAM: Nine!
BOY: One, two, three.
TEAM: Ten!
NICK: Besides
football and school,
I wish there was
more things to do.
It's like once
you're in Trona, you're...
That's it, you're sinking in.
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
NICK: That's what the
talk is at school,
but I don't believe that.
If you want it,
you chase it, I guess.
COACH: In case something does
happen with the center. All right?
So, guys, we need to work hard
this week on offense.
Okay? But for now,
get this finished up,
get down,
and let's get out of here.
NICK: My dad will probably say
I should go to college,
stuff like that.
So I don't know.
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Hopefully,
I don't work at the plant.
Hopefully.
But first is the school.
That's the first thing
I need to do.
From there is, gonna get a job,
and then there...
...who knows?
I guess time will only tell.
NICK: [SCOFFS] Look at that line.
Everyone's going to work.
I feel real lucky.
Probably, kids
in my class don't even...
Don't even make,
like, what I make.
Only like a few of us
is going to college
and doing something.
But not many people
are doing things.
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
NICK: I wanna go to the ocean again.
That's one thing I miss.
I only seen it once,
the whole ocean.
One time. One time.
It was like a giant lake to me.
Like a giant lake.
I asked my dad,
"Is this a giant lake?"
And he's like,
"No, it's the ocean."
And as he explained it,
I thought it was scary...
because he told me all the stuff
that lives in the ocean,
like sharks and stuff like that.
So I got kind of scared.
I stayed close to the shore.
The waves washed me in.
It was fun.
I miss that.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I wouldn't mind living
in a city or something.
Go to France, stuff like that.
I wanna go to New York,
see the Statue of Liberty,
see how big it is.
I've seen the one in Las Vegas.
I've seen that one.
I wanna see the real one.
I wanna see what else
is out there
besides a small town like this.
[WIND WHISTLING]
What's the date?
MAN: What's the date? Yeah.
Seventeen?
MAN: Uh... Sixteen.
You all ready?
You ready?
My name is Larry Young,
broadcasting 1-16-010.
Today's topic is about sugarcane
and what come out of sugarcane.
Did you know in these things
we get all our sugar?
And, also,
rabbits come out of here.
This piece of thing right here,
so delicious.
How about you have it?
Have it.
Would you like to have it?
Yes, come on, just take it.
And that's the topic.
Yep, that's them.
That's a baby there.
I think we only got three
red lights in Pahokee.
Yeah, three red lights.
Got few restaurants.
On school days,
only thing I do is go home,
watch TV, take a shower,
and go to sleep.
And go to school the next day.
I peeled it.
[LARRY RAPPING] [HANDS CLAPPING]
[CONTINUES RAPPING
AND CLAPPING]
[RAPPING]
LARRY: Best friend is Randy.
Stay right in
the back of my house.
Yeah, he crazy.
Sometimes
we go fishing together.
We sit on my back porch,
play cards.
Go in the house
and play the game.
Everything.
[LAUGHS]
LARRY: There ain't nothing for
the kids to do around here.
They had a teen club.
They closed it down
because fighting and everything.
They can't keep
nothing down here.
LARRY: I just missed three
years of my life, man,
so I'm trying to catch up.
For me.
You know what I mean?
Right here, this right here,
I'm trying to catch up.
Prison is prison.
It's... Prison is somewhere
you sleep behind a door.
The food messed up,
like, stuff like that.
But prisons, you sleep, you do
your time, you get out of there.
I mean, it ain't...
It's a bad place to be,
but it's not dangerous.
I ain't experienced
no bad things in there.
Everything different.
I've been gone so long,
everything different.
Everybody growed up, got kids...
...stuff like that.
No, there ain't too much
we wanna really talk about,
'cause it ain't...
Pahokee is Pahokee,
you know what I mean?
We could've filmed good
in the sugarcane field
and stuff like that.
But I ain't got no dirty shoes
to go out rabbit-hunting in.
I ain't got none of that.
[BOTH LAUGHING]
I can jump that right there.
Here's where we live right here.
Muck City.
You already know.
Come on, man.
[RUMBLING]
MAN 1: We missed that
big rabbit there.
What do you say? Wanna hit
the other side over there?
Right in there, three come up.
Found one.
Yeah, go down low.
There she is.
Go down low, go down low.
Check the space.
MAN 2: Where you at?
RANDY: We got...
LARRY: Oh, no!
Got one over there!
[GUNSHOT]
[RABBIT SCREAMING]
MAN 1: Shot the shit out of one.
MAN 2: You took them
out of the bucket?
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
TYLER: In this town, it's about
the worst to make money.
The jobs here has
got a lot more to do
with either computers
or fast food.
That's about it.
That's all we got around here.
If it wasn't for
working on cars,
I don't know what I'd be doing.
I'd say just the way
the economy is now,
I'd probably be in jail.
I put more time into racing
than anything.
I mean, that's just
what I was raised around.
I'm used to doing it.
I try to control myself where
I spend time with the family.
But racing always takes over.
I got racing through my veins.
I don't know what it is.
[ENGINE RUMBLING]
TYLER: I'm not much of a NASCAR
fan, because I feel like it's...
It's not really racing.
It's just driving on pavement.
Who can't drive a car
on pavement?
Dirt racing, you got to
have some pretty good talent.
It feels like any kind of
thought or worries
you ever had in your life's
all gone.
I mean, you're sitting
in heaven, to me.
It's something I would never
wanna live without.
TYLER: Hey, bub.
Running, driving.
That's gonna drive like
a brand-new truck.
Yeah, but I'm gonna go ahead
and start it.
MAN: That baby staying in there?
Yeah, it'll be all right.
It's cool.
MAN: Is it not loud?
Kind of.
[IGNITION WHINES,
ENGINE REVS]
TYLER: He had this truck.
I was fucking around
and said, "I'll buy that
truck off of you."
He said, "No, I don't
wanna sell it."
See, he went to
the Army and shit.
Bought this truck. He dumped
the money in that motor.
He thought this thing...
He act like
this thing was a 2012 Corvette.
I mean, he was like,
"I'm telling you
right now, this thing,
it'll run."
On and on and on.
He said it's got
a true posi rear end,
got them aftermarket
rally wheels on it.
He said, "You wouldn't believe
people offer me
money for them wheels."
MAN: What'd you get
them for?[SIGHS]
Come on. Too much.
Two grand.
I'm in it.
Two grand.
You're close.
Real close, guarantee it.
Twenty-two.
You're close.
[IN HIGH-PITCHED VOICE]
Hey, baby.
[CAR ENGINES WHINING]
Give me a kiss.
I got to get ready.
Kiss.
I got to get in the car.
Kiss.
Kiss me, I'm gonna get ready.
I'm going over.
Okay.
TYLER: If I get my ass
waxed in this dash?
We're going to do a flip-around,
see what we can do.
What we got to lose?
Don't run on the high side.
I did in that modified.
I run where I got to go.
Love you.
TYLER: Heck, four, five years
ago, I was just racing.
That was just a hobby.
I was just goofing off,
having a good time.
I didn't care about the money.
I just made a choice one day.
I either need to get better
or I need to quit.
So I did a lot of cutting,
a lot of rebuilding,
a lot of thought and studying,
and it started coming my way.
And now I just worry
about things
that I never even
thought about then.
[MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR RADIO]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
INDISTINCTLY]
MAN: But tell all
them animal lovers
we don't just go kill rabbits
'cause we got drunk.
You know, and we just, you know,
went and got high on drugs.
We don't kill them, you know,
because we drug addicts.
We kill them for survival.
And something
got to eat something.
That's the way of the world
right there.
RANDY: Gotta show y'all
my secret ingredients.
I cook good, you know.
Turn on my cooking channel
for ya.
That's what I'm gonna be.
Junior, how the rabbit taste?
Ain't got much meat
on that sucker.
WOMAN: Get a big one next time.
RANDY: We should've
got a big one.
JUNIOR: Yeah, we should have.
[MUSIC PLAYING LOUDLY]
There go Larry.
There go Larry.
LARRY: Trent!
All I need is one rabbit,
just one single rabbit.
TRENT: Walk through there?
Seen a rabbit, Larry?
Swear to God. What?
Hey, Trent, we mucksters.
TRENT: What? Mucksters.
TRENT: We mucksters. Oh, yeah.
Mucksters.
LARRY: I was getting a little
money out there, you know.
I did 48 months at the
Department of Corrections.
They charged me with
aggravated battery
and robbery with a firearm.
Man, they say I shot somebody.
Yeah, I ain't shoot nobody,
though, man.
I was just around
the wrong people.
I didn't do nothing, man.
Guilty by association.
What's up? What's up?
I missed you!
What up, dude?
What's going on?
Where's Justin at?
Look at my boy.
LARRY: What's up?
My baby, you look like
an old man.
For real. For real.
Look at my baby.
Looking all good.
You okay? Yeah.
Not bad, eh?
It feels good to be home.
[ALL LAUGH]
About two and a half years.Yeah.
He be like six months when
I left, five, six, seven months.
I was changing his Pampers.
JUSTIN: I got a haircut.
You got a haircut?
JUSTIN: From Val.
LARRY: Yeah.
Who cut your hair? Val?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Yeah.
LARRY: I went to prison when my
little brother was six months.
Now he's 4 years old
and turning 5.
I got to help him.
He gonna end up like
the rest of my mom's sons,
going to jail, getting shot,
picking up guns
and stuff like that.
It can't happen like that.
He look up to me.
I ain't look up to nobody.
People I looked up to,
they were just like me.
Where you at?
LARRY: Hello?
Yeah, man.
Yeah, I'm finally home.
Yeah, I got it
all right this time.
Whatever, you know where to be.
Yeah, I did get out just now.
Yeah, man, we at
McDonald's right now.
I'm about to eat, man.
Yeah, man, they tried to...
They tried to
stick me back there
for the long.
[MAN SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY ON PHONE]
You know, nigga go crazy
after a while back there.
Yeah, I'm gonna
call you all later.
I ain't had no McDonald's
in three years, man.
[WOMEN LAUGH]
LARRY: Yeah, man,
I'll holler at you.
I ain't had this in three years.
[WOMEN LAUGH]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
NICK: I really don't
know that much about it,
but the economy
needs to get better.
I heard that it's bad,
and we're still paying
for that war
everybody says
we're going through.
Taxes are gonna go up,
gas prices are gonna go up.
It's gonna be bad.
Honestly, I think
the town's gonna get smaller.
I hope not, though.
I hope it gets bigger.
I wish it was still the same
as 40 years ago.
Probably would've been easier
to get out back then.
And it'll be harder now
'cause there's not much...
There's not that much work,
I guess.
The plant's doing really well
to keep a place
like this running
for as long as it did.
One of our players actually
got a scholarship,
and he turned it down
to work in the plant.
I guess Trona grows on them.
Maybe they're afraid of
a new start or something.
[MACHINERY WHIRRING]
NICK: I could have used
that like five minutes ago.
MAN: I didn't see
you had a problem.
NICK: I got paint in
the freaking bolt hole.
MAN: I see it.
NICK: Put the backing plates on
it, expansion joint.
Then put... Does he wanna
put the base bolts first?
Because the expansion
don't remove.
CARLOS: Yeah, I know.
NICK: Every day,
I make my dad proud.
If I'm working on the steam
lines, on the steam traps,
if I see him, if I'm lucky,
if he's nearby,
I tell him jobs that I've done.
If it's like a pipe job,
he goes out there,
he goes to check it.
If I did great, if I did crappy,
he'll me what I need to do.
He'll tell me if I did good.
And I respect that,
and I look forward
to having that guide.
CARLOS: Hell, I was,
what, 23, 24, I think.
When you did that? When I did that.
I did that one, that one
and that one over there.
From here to here,
and from here to here.
And that determines your... Yeah.
Twenty-three.Yeah.
Look at that.
CARLOS: What's going on, Jim?
I was calling you.
I made the pieces for you.
JIM: You did?
CARLOS: Yeah.
Here, I don't know if, uh...
CARLOS: Oh, were you?
MAN: Yeah.
CARLOS: Yeah, I made the...
Yeah, when I... I know,
I know, I know.
[MEN CONTINUE SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY]
[CROWD CHEERING]
GIRL: Sophomore Princess
Karen Palomares,
escorted by Nicholas Reyes.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[BALLAD PLAYING]
This is a football team here
and nobody messes with us.
CHEERLEADERS: We are the sisters,
two! A little bit louder, three!
We still can't hear you!
We are number one!
We are the sisters, two!
A little bit louder, three!
We still can't hear you!
We are number one!
We are the sisters, two!
A little bit louder, three!
We still can't hear you!
We are number one!
MAN: Ready?[TEAM YELLS]
[MAN YELLING][TEAM YELLING]
[ALL YELLING]
MAN: Ready?
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY OVER PA]
["THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"
PLAYING]
BOY 1: Let's go.
BOY 2: Let's go now! Let's go!
[CROWD CHEERING]
COACH: Captains.
[ANNOUNCER SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY OVER PA]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
CHEERLEADERS: Defense! Defense!
[LAUGHING] Dude,
that was fucking bad.
That was... Good game, guys.
ALL: Good game,
good game, good game.
Good game, guys.
Good game.
COACH: Good job today.
We wanted to come in,
play our game plan. We did.
I don't plan on calling off
the dogs next week.
BOY 1: Hell, no.
BOY 2: Hell, no.
Next week, I do not plan
on calling off the dogs.
BOY 1: Cheers, baby!
BOY 2: Hey.
BOY 1: Good job, Trona!
Trona, on three!
ALL: One, two, three, Trona!
[GIRLS CHEERING]
BOY: Good job.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
INDISTINCTLY]
Yeah. I was there.
GIRL: Oh, yeah. I heard their
yelling. Did you hear me yell?
Yeah.
GIRL: I was loud.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
INDISTINCTLY]
TYLER: I enjoyed growing up,
with my dad always going
to the garage and working.
When I got out of school,
I went to the garage,
and that was my life.
I did the same thing he did.
I've had my ups and downs,
but my dad basically forced me
to get my head on right.
[ENGINE REVVING]
[ENGINE ROARING]
[RATCHETING]
[ENGINES REVVING]
MAN: After qualifications,
we need all motors shut off
for the national anthem,
all right?
After qualifications...
TYLER: My dad didn't
push me into racing,
because when he was racing,
I was younger.
He wasn't very successful,
but that's what he wanted to do.
But he was trying
to encourage me
to do something more realistic.
But I felt like
that's all I knew.
And if he was doing it,
why couldn't I?
[SANDER WHIRRING]
[BOTH SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY]
[ENGINES REVVING]
[WOMAN SINGING
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
INDISTINCTLY]
[ENGINE IDLING]
Good luck. I ain't gonna need it.
MAN: Bub, when you spin
out, text me "LOL."
I will. I'll put "WTF."
Hey. Just give it hell
and turn left.
[ENGINES ROARING]
MAN: I thought he
was gonna get you.
That yellow
wouldn't have come out...
Son of bitch, I was...
I'd go high, he'd slide up high.
I'd go low...
Not that he knew I was there,
but it seemed like he did.
MAN: Good race, bub.
Thanks, bub.
From the start,
I could feel him coming in,
but I couldn't get it to turn.
I'm gonna rig me up
tires with spikes
that long for
this goddamn place.
IESHA: You're gone
from 8 in the morning
till almost 8 at night.
He gets off work at 5.
He could come home, but
he goes over to the race shop.
Yeah.
My pride and joy.
IESHA: Pride and joy is
supposed to be right there.
That's one of them.
[COOS][IESHA CHUCKLES]
IESHA: You know, you
ever heard of the I.A. riots?
TYLER: I don't care for them.
Don't care to listen.
IESHA: Derek was talking about
that Rodney King guy that died.
TYLER: Who's that?
IESHA: You don't know about him?
TYLER: I know Ken Griffey Jr.
IESHA: [LAUGHING]
You're stupid.
That's a black guy that got beat
by a bunch of white cops,
and then all
the white cops were...
Yeah, I heard about that.
IESHA: Proven
innocent, so they...
Beating up everybody.
Give me the remote.
Let me find something better.
IESHA: Like what?
TYLER: Family Guyor...
[IESHA SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY]
[TV PLAYING
INDISTINCTLY]
You girls wanna watch cartoons?
Where's the clicker?
GIRL: No, I wanna watch...
I wanna watch Peter.
[BOTH CHUCKLING]
It's called Family Guy.
[CHUCKLING]
[GIRL LAUGHING
AND TALKING INDISTINCTLY]
TYLER: How come you
still got your shoes on?
GIRL: I like them on.
TYLER: Take your shoes off.
Put them up.
Give me that.
Give me kisses.
I love you bunches, okay?
I love you.
Give me a kiss.
Give me a kiss.
Give me a kiss.
You bought some flimsy eggs.
IESHA: I thought I was
getting a good deal.
Twenty minutes to close one.
Okay. This one's probably not
gonna get closed.
[IESHA LAUGHS]
You guys are gonna
have a half egg.
IESHA: They're ready.
[GIRL CHEERING]
TYLER: Lookie. Look right here.
Look right here. What's that?
[SOBBING]What's that?
Did you find one?
Come on.
Put it in...
Put it in here. That's yours.
Now, go find more?
GIRL: Got a bunch of them.
TYLER: Yeah, you
got a half a million.
IESHA: That...
Get back over here.
Come here, Maddi.
Do you see any more?
Where's another one at?
TYLER: Yeah, well, bleed it.
Make sure it works first.
We ain't gonna be able
to tell nothing.
Till I get in here,
hit the brakes, and somebody...
MAN: Are you free now?
TYLER: Yeah, free.
Hit the brake.
MAN: Hit the brake.
Daddy, is that hot?
No, it's not hot.
I haven't had it running yet.
You can touch it. It won't
burn your finger right yet.
GIRL: Can I play with Karleigh?
Yeah, you can play with her.
[WHIRRING]
[SCREAMS,
LAUGHS]
GIRL: Move, get that out of the way.
Get out of the way.
I've got about
four months in it.
Built her from the ground up.
Started with a pile of tubing,
now she's together.
I feel like we're gonna
pick up a win, I hope.
Ain't gonna be
a walk in the park,
but about the next thing to it.
I'm thankful to run as good
as I have been here recently.
It's like, last year,
I won 25 races.
That helps out a lot.
If I was just running
fourth or fifth,
it'd be a lot tougher.
I'd have to skip out a few weeks
till I got better.
I see it more of a business now
than just a hobby.
Obviously, I ain't gonna make
a real great living
running at the stage we're at,
but get to where you master
local tracks, then you can
venture off and run places...
And run for 50,000 win, 20,000.
They got them races
all over the place.
I don't care how good we are
or how fast we are.
There's always something better
you can do. Just got to find it.
[ENGINE RUNNING]
[ENGINE REVVING]
NICK: Twenty is when
I bought the car.
You know, not a lot
of 20-year-olds can say:
"Hey, I got a $45,000 car.
And I paid for that in cash."
I wanted a car, I got a car.
I worked my tail off
to get my car.
Something of pride, you know,
to say, "Hey, I bought that.
No one helped me.
I bought that."
That's what I like,
knowing that I have goals...
and I've accomplished one of
them by getting myself a car.
And now my next one's gonna be
bit of a pricey one.
It's a house.
I know I can do it. It's just
gonna take a long time.
I wanna be able
to come over and say:
"Hey, Ma, what's for dinner?"
You know what I mean?
If I don't feel like cooking,
"Hey, Ma, what's for dinner?
You ain't coming over. I'll be
over there in five minutes."
[KICKSTART THUMPING]
Hey, when you start it,
make sure it's top dead center
and then go.
CJ: You try.
NICK: I ain't gonna try.
It's your bike.
[KICKSTARTER THUMPING]
[ENGINE STARTS]
It fires up.
When I teach my brother
how to do things,
like change the chain
on a bicycle,
or change the rim
or change the tire
or even change the spokes,
I try to test him on things.
You know what I mean?
I take a part
like a lawn-mower motor
or something, something simple.
Just take it apart,
and he can try
to put it back together.
Find out what's wrong with it.
Point out what's wrong.
Identify what's wrong
and then fix it.
It helps him
on basic understanding
of how things work.
LARRY: Little brother don't know
about no fast money right now,
so we ain't gonna teach him
what fast money is.
So I can teach him
which way to go,
because I been
on the wrong path,
and I can teach him
the right path, you know.
"That's not what you're
supposed to do.
You can't do that.
You'll go to jail."
He's scared of police right now.
If he hear the police siren,
he's gonna start crying.
Because he don't really know
what jail is right now.
I don't want him
to know what it's like.
The last of the Mohicans
right here.
Last of the Mohicans.
Right here.
It's the last
of the Mohicans right here.
MAN: High-five.
LARRY: You got to dance
to the beat, Justin.
[RAP MUSIC PLAYING]
He's stilted like his dad.[LAUGHS]
MAN: He's in jail.
He violated probation.
WOMAN: I'm so glad he didn't
have to jump out on that.
MAN: He's all right.
None of that, right?
Probation and stuff.
That's a setup.
That ain't nothing but a trap.
MAN: I got ordained, deacon and
everything in the church, so...
You gonna be celibate?
MAN: I invite you... I'm married.
Okay, okay, okay.
WOMAN: He married.
He is a married man now.
MAN: Look forward
to inviting you.
It ain't gonna be all the time.
Every now and then.
I ain't say all the time.
Mercedes and all of them...
Don't Mercedes
go to your church?
MAN: Mercedes been in a minute.
Yeah, it's nice. Young folks.
That is the bomb. It goes
on everything. Beans and
But it's a certain kind.
It's a certain kind, though.
It feel different,
but it's still the same, though.
Still the same.
I got to go try to find
my girlfriend now.
[HIP-HOP PLAYING ON RADIO]
I love it.
Now I got all my babies.
They ain't incarcerated.
I got all my babies.
MAN: Check him out.
LARRY: What's up, boy?
[BOTH SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
TRENT: Growing up, that was
like one of my best friends.
Just seeing him home,
it just feel good.
It make you feel better, like:
"All right,
now one of them home.
Now let's bring
the rest on home."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now where about he at?
LARRY: I said right here.
I saw him going down.
Man, that bitch be too fast,
man.
It probably went in that hole.
LARRY: What hole?
TRENT: With the time
I spent with him
and the time
they took away from him...
Growing up without
one of your best friends,
and another one of your
best friends get locked up,
then another one...
It's like, man,
you're taking everything
I love around me.
So I don't know.
I just look at it like...
my friends are gone, so I'm
basically out here by myself.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
TRENT: When they burn cane,
it smells like... Let me see.
It's like you've burnt
a bottle of oil,
when you burn oil
and gasoline, mix it up.
There's nothing but black
when the cane burn,
and then it burn the leaves,
and it'll go all up into the air
and then start
falling down like snow.
TRENT: You know,
with Larry, you feel me.
Some things you want
that you can't get.
You got to find a way
to get it, and then
he got in trouble
the way he was getting it.
So that's basically that.
Anywhere you go, you can get
involved with the wrong people,
and some things
can happen to you.
But that don't necessarily mean
the person that you is,
but that's just the situation
you got yourself into.
We get talked about
more than we get talked up.
Only thing we're known
around for here
is football, if it's good.
When it's bad, we drug dealers,
we killers,
we animals,
we all type of thing...
We everything but humans, like...
But it's the predicament
y'all put us in.
It's the environment
we was put in.
All we have to do
is adapt to it.
It's not us.
We adapt into our environment.
When they say
we these bad things,
I say we're a product
of our environment, that's it.
[MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[RAPPING]
[MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO]
TYLER: Dude, I love race day.
Right.
It's race day, son.
Everything disappears.
Everything.
Ain't no nothing.
Ain't nothing else matters.
Nothing.
MAN: Hey, I like
your car this year, bub.
Looks pretty good.
[MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
[LAUGHS]
[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]
MAN: Out of Turn 4, you stay
double file through the barrel.
Through the barrel.
Do not duck down,
do not pass anybody
till you get through the barrel.
All right?
Front row starts the race.
Front row sets the pace,
front row starts the race.
You looked at the track yet?
I went out there, stepped on it.
Did you actually...? Yeah.
You can hoof it about
almost a half inch.
Really?
But that shit blow off, right?
I hope.
I don't know, I'm just nervous.
I wanna see you win
first night out.
[WOMAN SINGING
"THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER"]
MAN: From Franklinville, New York,
Number 22 JR is Michael Oakes.
Inside of Row Number 2, Driver
Number 28 from Parkersburg,
three-time feature winner
Tyler Carpenter.
Green's out. Let's see
if we can get a good start.
A little bit of paint trading
further back in the field there,
in the one and two.
Right off the get-go,
Tyler Carpenter
challenging Number 22,
Greg Oakes.
Carpenter up
into the number-three spot.
And the caution flag
does come out.
TYLER: Hey, it don't matter. I
got it. I'm just getting started.
MAN: Stepping around the bottom,
a little loose, goes Carpenter.
One more lap to go.
Carpenter now has advanced,
and he will win.
TYLER: Wooo!
TYLER: I don't care if the whole
field crashed. I was gonna get them!
Yeah, baby!
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
EXCITEDLY]
Gonna be about
50 wins this year.
MAN: Everybody hold
the number one up.
TYLER: I'm just glad we're
smiling instead of like, "Fuck!"
How's it feel
to get them wins donated to you?
I was gonna get it anyhow.
You wasn't gonna get me, son.
I was still in low gear.
I can't wait till they
post the video.
I thought I was gonna pass
all you guys in the first lap,
but I passed everybody
but you and him. I was like:
"You sons of bitches."
MAN: We try not to
race at the same place
because we can't both win.
Which, he beats me
more than I beat him.
I'm gonna try not to give
him any more like last night.
We got it well beat out.
Gonna head for Atomic.
I got to go down to...
I got to go up there
and win tonight. Yeah.
TYLER: My dad definitely had
it a lot tougher than I did.
When he was raising me,
I didn't even think of it.
When you're young, you don't
really worry about money.
It don't mean...
It don't cross your mind.
If I had been him, as rough
as we had it back then,
I'd have thrown in the towel.
He'd just never give up.
He worked hard
and got everything we got,
and he worked just the
same stuff I'm doing,
daylight to dark.
Sometimes he wouldn't come home
till midnight,
1:00 or whatever.
I didn't have a lot of time
with my dad.
I had to wait
till I was old enough
to go to the garage or hang
out with him at a racetrack.
He couldn't give us
a lot of time growing up,
but he's really taught me
how to become a good father.
There's a lot of dads out
there that are just dads.
They don't care to be a father.
I mean, I'm real proud of,
basically,
what he's made me become.
[TURN SIGNAL CLICKING]
GIRL: Daddy!
TYLER: Hang on, buddy.
It stinks.
GIRL: Come and see our new room.
Come here.
TYLER: Hold on.
GIRL: No, come here.
TYLER: Come on, Jaycee.
GIRL 2: Daddy, come here.
Daddy,
come in here first with us.
TYLER: What's this sticky
on your fingers, baby?
GIRL: That's slime.
That girl over there gave us
slime we could play with.
TYLER: Feels like Popsicle.
Sure it ain't Popsicle?
GIRL: And she ate Popsicle.
Yes, it's Popsicle.
TYLER: Yeah, she wants corn.
You want chicken fries, baby?
What else is it?
[TV DRONING INDISTINCTLY]
Smile with Jackson.
[WHISTLES]
[GROANS]
Jaycee, get me a rag.
What are you doing?
You clogged up?
[COOS][IMITATES COO]
[LAUGHS]
[BLOWS RASPBERRY]
CHEERLEADERS: [CHANTING] Come on,
team, come on! Everybody yell!
Go, Big Blue!
[PEOPLE CHATTERING
INDISTINCTLY]
[CHANTING EXCITEDLY]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHEERLEADERS: [CHANTING] D-E-F-E-N-S-E!
Defense, Trona, defense!
D-E-F-E-N-S-E!
[COMMENTATOR SPEAKING
ON PA]
[PEOPLE CHEERING][WHISTLE BLOWS]
NICK: Game's the other
way, buddy.
Oh, they slept in the gym?
They still do that?
WOMAN: Yeah.
Nice.
That's another thing I miss.
NICK: He quit because
you were the last one?
MAN: Yeah, I was the last one.
That was a good game
The last game?
MAN: Oh, that was good.
Remember how many tackles I got?
MAN 1: Wasn't it like 30?
Thirty. My number.
I got 30 tackles.
I was like, "Yeah."
That was nice.
I miss the pressure. Pressure?
Playing, I miss the pressure.
That's a good one.
As for me,
I think it's just eating dirt.
Eating dirt?
That dirt in your mouth.
Where else can you get that
besides here?
Dirt in your mouth,
dirt in your ear.
Know what's cool?
You hit somebody
when the field's nice and clean,
they'll slide.
[PEOPLE CHEERING]
[WHISTLE BLOWS]
I had an opportunity
to play college football
over there in Washington, but I
just got homesick, I guess.
I didn't want to leave family.
But I don't have no regrets,
though.
I don't.
I'm happy either way.
Would have been nice to play,
though.
Would have been nice
to be in college.
And doing all that.
Maybe I made the wrong choice.
I don't know. Who knows?
CHEERLEADERS: ...35, 36, 37,
38, 39, 40, 41, 42,
43, 44, 45, 46.
[ALL CHEER]
TYLER: My goal in life was to
be a very successful dirt racer
and then to hit the high end
of the touring series.
If I didn't have kids,
I know I could do it.
And with me having them,
I just kind of choose
not to do it,
because I'd be away from the
kids a lot more than I am now.
But having kids, that makes you
wanna grow up and be a dad
other than just a kid.
It's made me grow up
a lot faster
than I thought I would have.
Maybe put stuff on, here.
This is the stuff.
Close your eyes.
Hold on. I got to get it out.
Don't move.
Turn and look at me.
TYLER: Come on, baby, we'll be late.
Give me your phone.
Make sure you put
your seat belts on.
GIRL: No, Riley,
leave him alone.
TYLER: Kiss me.
Love you. Love you.
TYLER: Back there. Hurry up.
[MAN SPEAKING ON RADIO
INDISTINCTLY]
Daddy, are you gonna pick me up
like you promised yesterday?
TYLER: I'll pick you up.
From school?
TYLER: Mm-hmm.
Pinky promise me, then.
Thank you.
Give me kisses.
GIRL: No, I want to go in.
Kisses. And then...
Go down there by the cafeteria,
okay?
I'll pick you up.
I got a pretty good life,
you know what I'm saying?
All my kids are healthy.
I'm doing pretty good
racing now,
getting very successful.
Uh...
I got a job
I can go to every day.
I got a good source of income.
Definitely...
I could be a lot worse off.
I mean, I'm doing pretty good,
I guess.
Not doing great,
but doing a lot better
than I used to do.
[ENGINES ROARING]
Go! Go!
Come on, Daddy!
MAN: Here goes Carpenter again,
trying to get in front of 59.
Can't get it done.
...Over a second,
in front of Tyler Carpenter.
There's only one lap to go.
TYLER: Fuck!
MAN: That's a good job, Ty.
That's a good job.
That lap car fucked you.
That's a good job.
[SIGHS]
TYLER: Fucking junk.
MAN: You want to turn
your ignition off?
TYLER: Fuck!
I think that caution hurt you.
It did.
The tires was just
starting to come on.
I know.
It didn't wanna stick
after that.
Fuck!
GIRL: Daddy. Daddy.
What, baby?
Daddy sucked?
IESHA: No.
That lap car is what fucked you.
[GROANS]
GIRL: I said I want you to win.
MAN: Wipe your face off.
RANDY: If you're standing
too long in this smoke,
it make your eyes...
It make... You can't even see.
A lot of people,
they like rabbit,
but they scared to catch them.
You catch them with a rock,
with a stick,
anything, with your hands.
It make you feel good
when you can catch a burn.
It make you feel real good
just to be somewhere
where you like to be.
MAN: That's all I can say.
He had fun
and kept it real.
Can't say too much.
I love him, though.
All of us love him.
Still posing
like he's still here.
MAN: It was like a unity.
With him,
it's affecting
the whole community.
I received a call about...
About 3 a.m.
Three a.m. Never thought
I was gonna get that call.
And got there, you know,
time had expired.
Watching them grow up is like
seeing them just sprout up
like a little flower.
You watch them grow up,
make sure that
they doing the right thing,
you know.
But we still
keep his dream alive.
What? Everything Gucci, man?
MAN 1: Everything Gucci.
MAN 2: Everything Gucci.
MAN 1: Everything Gucci?
MAN 3: Everything.
MAN 1: If he was here, we'd be
still keeping him alive
like he was here.
One time, everything what?
ALL: Everything Gucci, man.
[ALL CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
LARRY: It was just a shooting.
I don't know
what happened with Randy.
I ain't never get the details.
I ain't never
wanna get the details.
That might force my hand,
it gonna hurt someone.
You know,
I don't wanna hurt nobody, man.
So I don't wanna know
what happened
and who he was with who.
I don't wanna know.
Nobody wanted to tell me
in prison,
because everybody knew
me and Randy
were closer than anything.
Yeah.
NICK: Most of my friends from
high school did move away.
They moved to I.A.,
they moved to over there
in Palmdale.
They just... They moved.
But this is home.
It's home, you know.
I can't leave it.
I would prefer this place
over any other place.
Because I know it.
I know the people,
I know what it's like.
And I don't know what the
other places would be like.
I can't imagine it.
It's too scary
to think about it.
LARRY: I've been living
in Pahokee all my life,
but I just wanna explore more.
I was ready, but I had
too much things on my mind.
I was doing too many things
at one time.
I was ready, but I couldn't
just put the old life behind.
How you all doing?
They got me in the box again,
man.
You fuck up,
you'll pay the price, man.
I just made some mistakes.
That's all.
I got out October 3rd, 2015,
and went back in February.
I caught two years.
Oh, man, I was in the car
with somebody.
They pulled the car over.
They had a lot of stuff
in the car.
They charged me with it,
all of it.
I'd be all gas, no brakes.
I'd be getting to it right now.
I'm trying to become
a millionaire.
It's a lot of time,
but, you know,
I'm still young. You feel me?
They took something from me,
but I'll still live past it.
It ain't like I'm 50, 40.
I'm 20 years old.
I can do my time up
under the table, man.
As long as
them days keep rolling.
As long as them days
don't stop now.
Trying to get back home.
Just move as time goes, man.
[ENGINES REVVING]
TYLER: I don't know, man...
You changed the gears, right? Yeah.
I think you'll be good, man.
You'll be able
to carry momentum.
Oh, yeah, you'll be all right.
You got a horse. Oh, mini mammoth.
TYLER: I've been to different
cities and states and...
I don't know, I don't see
where I would kind of
fit in anywhere else.
This is all I know.
But I've got four girls.
I'd like to keep
the family tradition going,
but I can't make them wanna race
or make them wanna work on
a race car.
There's a lot more
high-paying jobs
away from here, I'm sure.
So I'm just gonna
have to kind of
follow their dreams
and their footsteps.
We may have to move couple
two or three states away
to see what they wanna do.
I don't wanna do that,
but I'm gonna go with whatever
makes my girls successful.
I'll push and yank
toward whatever
we got to do to make it happen.
Love you.
IESHA: Love you.
Give me a kiss.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[ENGINE RUMBLING]
[ENGINES ROARING]
NICK: What I was afraid
of when I was 17...
I don't remember,
but if I had to take a guess,
it's probably failing.
I feared if I'm
gonna have a job,
if I'm gonna be able
to go to college.
See, I fear...
I feared those things.
And now I don't
fear that at all.
Oh, almost.
Go, CJ, go, go, go.
Put it in gear.
[ENGINE REVVING]
Go, CJ, go.
He's a beginner.
He's all right.
He's doing all right.
At least he's staying up.
He hasn't dropped it yet.
He'll get there.
I know he will.
I'll see to he gets there.
Go, CJ, go, go!
When you get better,
we'll take you up there.
Think you can do it? Yeah.
NICK: You think you can do it?
Yeah.
NICK: You sure?
Positive.
This is where I first learned
how to ride. Many crashes.
Many crashes.
All up and down here.
It's nice.
And I remember when Raymond
got a whole bunch of dirt here,
for his little house...
His mansion.
He got all this dirt,
and he left it like this.
I was like, "Hey, look at that.
I can turn this into something."
The house I want is right here.
I want this part.
Be able to move in,
start a family
and have my own little...
My own little
slice of heaven here.
You know?
This is my home.
Have the little kids
drive around
their little motorcycles
on this track.
Having picnics up here.
Having the pond going.
Always keep it full,
have fish in it,
go fishing, go swimming.
Once I have it done,
I can sit back and say:
"Hey, look, I accomplished
all this. I did this."
Or me and my dad,
we did all this.
You know, and plant trees.
I have goals.
I want... I want a great house.
I want to have a house, hey,
that my kids will love.
They can go out
whenever they want,
have... Ride their bikes,
bring their friends over,
have a nice picnic here,
go swimming.
It'd be perfect.
This will be
their slice of heaven.
Give them a little something
that I grew up with.
That's what I want.
I really want it.
Battery's still dead, huh?
[ENGINE REVVING]
RANDY: Tell me when to stop.
Keep going.
Now turn down.
[GUNSHOT]There you go.
RANDY: He's coming up! Grab him!
Grab him!
LARRY: Right here! Grab him.
MAN: Just grab that bitch.
He ain't gonna bite you.
LARRY: There you go.
See that bitch.
MAN: Watch out. I got it.
LARRY: You wanna watch it.
MAN: Watch it. Where'd it go?
Here, here. He's coming now.
Oh, now, here.
Oh, shit, come on, man.
Come on, man.
That's it.
LARRY: All right, it's
dead, it's dead, it's dead.
[ALL CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN: This shit
about to get wild.
And when I was in Pahokee,
that's the only thing
I knew, Pahokee.
That's just where I was raised.
It don't mean nothing to me.
I don't really
think back that far, man.
That stress a nigga out, man.
I don't know, man.
Just a little city.
That's all, man. Time to move.
You get tired
of old things, you feel me?
I'm trying to do new things.
I might go to college.
I was trying to go to college
when I was out, though,
but I was still moving too fast.
I wasn't ready.
But I'm 20 years old.
I'm still gonna make her proud.
You feel me?
I can still go to college
and stuff and make her proud.
I'm gonna make this my last trip
to prison, right here.
I'm just trying to get a job
and live
like a normal dude, man.
[CHAINS CLINKING]
I got your brother.
I got your brother.
Going to get him.
I'm going to get him. Yes, sir.
.22 rifle.
Right there and right there.
Come on out.
Come on out, little man.
Come on out.
When I was little,
the only thing I used to like
is riding my bicycle every day,
riding back and forth
with my friends.
It was more better.
If I leave, I'll come back.
Because this is
where I growed up at.
[FIRE CRACKLING]
[ENGINES WHINING]
[ENGINE IDLING]
[WIND WHISTLING]