He’s Put Together Bit of a Freak Show

When it comes to motor sports, Kenny Sargent of Van Nuys, formerly the sports anchor for Channel 13 who has been nominated twice for Emmy Awards, prefers raw racing to high technology.

Man against machine, fighting for control is what stokes Sargent’s fire. The less technology, the better.

Sargent has had an affinity for speeding vehicles since attending his first drag race when he was 12, and he prefers to be entertained when he gets his motor sports information via television or radio.

Sargent is a speed freak, so when he dreamed up the idea of a motor sports radio show that was to be entertaining as well as informative, coming up with a title was no problem.

SpeedFreaks, which bills itself as “The Mod Squad of Motorsports,” has been airing Sundays on KLSX-FM (97.1) from 9-10 p.m. since June 25.

The show has had no problem attracting big-name drivers despite following the hyperactive, in-your-face style of sports talk radio popularized by Jim Rome.

The freaks--Sargent, Statt Mann Caruthers (played by former channel 13 producer Bill Wood), Lugg Nuttz (played by Sargent’s long-time friend Gordon Stewart) and Crash Gladys (played by Christy Clutter, former communications specialist with the Pac-West and Dick Simon CART series teams)--cover all aspects of racing, from Formula One to dirt track competitions at Perris Auto Speedway, amid a barrage of heavy-metal music and bathroom humor.

Special attention is paid to the growing import-car scene, which has received no attention from the mainstream media despite being to the current generation what American muscle cars were to baby boomers.

Sargent, who holds a National Hot Rod Assn. SuperComp license, came up with the idea for SpeedFreaks out of his frustration with mainstream racing coverage.

“I would watch RPM Today and NASCAR Tonight and see a guy in a pink shirt doing interviews on pit road,” Sargent said. “How many guys do you see on pit road wearing a suit while putting in gas?”

The roster of guests includes Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Bryan Herta of Valencia and Paul Tracy from the CART series, interim CART CEO and Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, NHRA president Tom Compton, seven-time supercross champion Jeremy McGrath and seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

John Force of Yorba Linda, nine-time NHRA funny car champion and the winningest drag racer in history, called in from a Seattle bar after winning the NHRA Northwest Nationals.

Sargent and crew do not ask softball questions, and Sargent is the same way in person as he is on the air.

“There’s not much of a transition [from the way I am off the air] other than having a mike in my face,” Sargent said. “That’s the way I was taught when I first broke into radio, just be myself on the air.”

It is much easier for Sargent to be himself than it was when he was an overnight disc jockey in Dallas in 1984, because radio personalities have been allowed to use coarser language.

A recent broadcast featured a five-minute discussion of bodily functions, and there was an argument on the air during an interview with pro stock motorcycle racer Angelle Seeling when Seeling’s boyfriend took offense to Stewart’s inquiry as to what type of underwear she wears.

The unedited version of all of the broadcasts can be heard on the Internet at www.speedfreaks.tv.

Sargent admits the freaks, especially Stewart, push the boundaries of good taste.

“[Lugg Nuttz] is kind of like [Howard Stern sidekick] Stuttering John, he asks the tough questions,” Sargent said. “It makes me uncomfortable at times, but there’s an audience out there that wants to see that.”

The formula for success is simple for Sargent.

“I have to keep reminding myself and the freaks that we are fans and the listeners are fans, so we have to ask what the fans want to hear.”