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CORVETTE TODAY #202 - Meet The New R8C Delivery Manager At The NCM＜ Rod Keller
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Jul 11, 2025
CORVETTE TODAY introduces you to the brand new R8C Museum Delivery manager at the National Corvette Museum, Rod Keller! Rod stops by to talk to your CORVETTE TODAY host, Steve Garrett and to give you a "behind the scenes" look at what it takes to get your Corvette ready for delivery at the NCM. Rod talks about his staff and the outstanding job they do. You'll have a full understanding of the entire Museum Delivery procedure. Plus, Rod has been a faithful CORVETTE TODAY enthusiast for many years too. Meet our new R8C Museum Delivery Manager at the NCM on this episode of CORVETTE TODAY.
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0:00
[Music]
0:03
Welcome to Corvette Today, the show that
0:06
talks about everything Corvette with
0:08
your host Steve Garrett, lifetime member
0:11
of the National Corvette Museum,
0:13
president of the Corvette Club of Kansas
0:15
City, Missouri, and radio disc jockey at
0:18
the number one radio station in Kansas
0:20
City for over 45 years.
0:23
Here's Steve Garrett.
0:28
Thanks for listening and watching
0:29
Corvette Today, the show that talks
0:31
about everything Corvette and the only
0:33
current podcast dedicated to Corvette.
0:36
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. I
0:37
appreciate you tuning in. Corvette Today
0:39
is brought to you by Wheelcraft. Want to
0:41
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0:43
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0:49
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0:50
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1:00
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from around the world. My guest on
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today's show is the new R8C delivery
3:19
manager at the National Corvette Museum.
3:21
And we're going to talk about what it
3:22
takes to get your Corvette ready for
3:24
delivery at the museum. His name is Rod
3:27
Keller. Rod, welcome to Corvette today,
3:29
buddy.
3:30
Hey, Steve. Thanks so much for having me
3:32
on. It's great speaking to you again.
3:33
And I know last time we talked we were
3:35
both in freezing weather, so I'm looking
3:36
forward to a little warmth today.
3:38
Absolutely. Well, first off, buddy,
3:40
let's talk more personally about you.
3:42
Tell me about where you grew up. Do you
3:44
have siblings? Did you come from a car
3:45
family?
3:46
Steve, interesting enough, I grew up in
3:48
the state of Florida and I was there for
3:51
the majority of my younger years. We
3:54
actually relocated to Atlanta, Georgia,
3:56
and I finished up my schooling there.
3:58
And I was very, very fortunate to start
4:00
a career with a Coca-Cola company.
4:02
Nice.
4:02
Yeah. I spent about 30 years with that
4:04
company and being in the hometown of the
4:06
world headquarters sure did have it
4:08
perks. So I really enjoyed that. Got to
4:09
a lot of World Series games. Got to
4:11
enjoy a lot of things with the Coca-Cola
4:13
company. The company actually took me to
4:15
Richmond, Virginia for about six years
4:16
and then I relocated back to Orlando,
4:19
Florida in 2003 and I've resided there
4:22
ever since until I took this job in
4:23
Bowling Green now. So I'm adjusting to
4:25
that weather change. It's been a little
4:28
bit of a challenge the last few weeks.
4:30
I can imagine. I have two great sisters.
4:32
To say we grew up in a car family would
4:34
probably not be 100% accurate. My dad
4:36
introduced me to short track racing and
4:39
NH events and even hydroplane racing at
4:42
an early age. But we didn't have any
4:44
really cool cars until my mom got a 69
4:47
Camaro.
4:47
Oo.
4:48
Yeah, that was a car I got to drive a
4:49
little bit in my early years in high
4:51
school. So maybe that's what started me
4:52
in a car type loving event.
4:55
So when did you know you were a car guy?
4:56
When did you realize that you're into
4:58
cars?
4:59
It's very strange. We grew up in a
5:01
family before we got the Camaro.
5:03
Everything was a Chrysler product.
5:05
So my dad grabbed me one day and said,
5:07
"Hey, we're going to the Plymouth
5:08
dealership. They have a funny car there
5:10
on display." So it was Don the Snake
5:12
Pdome. And I don't know if you grew up
5:14
with any of those names and racing, but
5:15
Oh yeah.
5:16
Oh my gosh. I was fascinated by that
5:18
car. Fell in love with it and
5:20
immediately started grabbing every Hot
5:21
Rod car magazine I could get to read and
5:24
I was hooked from that point forward.
5:25
That's really cool. So when did you get
5:27
drawn to Corvettes? Was Corvette always
5:29
the car for you?
5:31
You know, probably like most of the guys
5:33
I grew up with, we all loved Corvettes.
5:35
We just couldn't afford them. I grew up
5:37
in the age when all of my friends had
5:39
boss 302 Mustangs or 351 Mustangs. So, I
5:42
had to be different. So, my first muscle
5:44
type car was a 340 Plymouth Duster. And
5:47
from there, I just had a few Trans Ams.
5:49
I had Z28s until I was eventually able
5:52
to get my first Corvette, which was a
5:54
1973.
5:55
Very nice. Now, you've owned multiple
5:58
Corvettes, I know. Talk about some of
6:00
your previous Corvettes and the one that
6:01
you've got in the garage right now.
6:03
Well, I started with the 73, which might
6:05
still be my most favorite. It was an L2
6:07
four-speed car with air. I then
6:09
graduated to a 79 L82 four-speed, 98,
6:13
2005, and I currently have a 2015
6:16
Stingray, which is a seven-speed. And my
6:19
friends would disown me if I didn't
6:20
mention that every one of my cars has
6:22
always been a manual transmission. It's
6:23
just something I've always enjoyed about
6:25
the model and being able to shift gears.
6:27
So, I love that C7 and really, really
6:29
enjoy that when I take it out and spend
6:31
a little time with it.
6:32
Amen, buddy. My C7 was a manual
6:34
transmission. And everybody says, "Well,
6:36
now that you've got a C8, I'm sure you
6:38
don't miss that car." I miss my C7
6:40
manual transmission every single day.
6:43
I know. It's something about it, right?
6:45
C's a great car. Yeah.
6:47
But that manual transmission is
6:48
something special.
6:49
It really is. Now, you've got history
6:51
with the National Corvette Museum, too.
6:53
Talk about your relationship with the
6:55
museum.
6:55
Yeah, it's it's fascinating when I think
6:57
back about this, but on a whim, and you
6:59
know, I can't even remember how we found
7:01
out about it, but my two best friends
7:02
and myself found out about the opening
7:04
and we were all in Atlanta. So, we
7:06
decided we were going to road trip. We
7:07
each had Corvettes and we each drove our
7:09
own car. So, we drove three Corvettes
7:11
from Atlanta in 1994 for the grand
7:13
opening. And the really cool thing that
7:15
I want to share with you and the
7:16
listeners is my two best friends are
7:18
going to be back up for the 30th
7:19
anniversary later this year. So, I'm
7:21
really looking forward to that. So, I
7:23
was there from the ground zero. It's
7:24
special to all of us when we get around
7:26
and talk about our Corvette times.
7:27
Yeah. Very cool. Well, buddy, let's take
7:29
our first break. When we come back,
7:30
we're going to talk about what it takes
7:32
to prepare a Corvette at the museum for
7:34
museum delivery.
7:35
Sounds great.
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I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is
10:13
the new R8C delivery manager at the
10:15
National Corvette Museum, Rod Keller. In
10:18
the second segment of Corvette Today,
10:20
we're going to talk about what it takes
10:21
to prepare a Corvette for museum
10:23
delivery. First, Rod, the R8C program
10:26
delivered 2500 Corvettes last year in
10:29
2023. That's an amazing number. How many
10:32
Corvettes can you guys deliver in one
10:34
day? And do you think you're going to
10:35
break the record this year,
10:37
Steve? It was quite an accomplishment.
10:38
Everybody at the museum's incredibly
10:40
proud of it. We typically can be between
10:43
10 to 14 cars per day.
10:45
Okay.
10:45
And we certainly fully expect to break
10:48
that record this year. You know, we've
10:49
talked a little bit about the growth and
10:51
the excitement around the C8 and we'll
10:52
talk a little bit more about different
10:54
opportunities further, but we look
10:56
forward to breaking that record this
10:57
year.
10:57
That would be awesome. And this is
10:59
something I didn't realize, but the
11:01
museum delivery experience isn't just
11:03
for new cars, is it?
11:04
That's correct. And I think that's
11:06
something very important. I didn't even
11:08
know it, Steve, until I started there.
11:09
So, we offer a museum experience for any
11:13
year Corvette. Quite frankly, we're
11:15
something we're very excited about and
11:16
want to continue to grow that in 2024 as
11:19
well. If you've got a 73 model and you
11:21
want to bring it in, we will detail it,
11:23
clean it up for you, get it on the
11:24
boulevard and you'll experience
11:26
everything that somebody with a brand
11:27
new C8 will experience and it's so much
11:30
fun. We get so many comments when we
11:32
have a C3 out on the boulevard and
11:34
people see it on the webcams. We get
11:36
calls all day long, what is that C3
11:37
doing out there? You know, so something
11:39
people should really look into and they
11:40
can see all that information on our
11:42
website. So, I'd encourage people to
11:44
take a look.
11:44
That's really awesome. I didn't even
11:46
know that. And that's cool information.
11:48
Now, a lot of people, Rod, believe that
11:50
when their Corvette is built across the
11:52
street at the plant, they just drive it
11:54
over the museum. But that's not exactly
11:56
true. Talk about how you get Corvettes
11:59
from the plant over to the museum.
12:01
Yeah, that seems like the simplest
12:02
process, right, Steve? But that's not
12:04
how it works. It's put on a transport
12:06
just like if it was being taken to
12:08
Atlanta, Georgia, and dropped off at
12:10
dealerships there. We get anywhere from
12:12
one to two transports per day depending
12:15
on the number of cars that are available
12:16
for us. They are brought right across
12:18
the street. We unload them. We check
12:19
them in just like any dealership would.
12:21
Very cool. Now Rod, talk to me about
12:24
when the RHC process starts for you and
12:27
your team because obviously it's got to
12:29
be weeks in advance, doesn't it?
12:30
It is. And we'll start to track the cars
12:32
as they're coming through from a build.
12:34
Shane does an amazing job of watching
12:36
these as they progress. What we don't do
12:38
is we do not schedule the customer's
12:41
delivery dates until we actually have
12:42
the cars in our possession. Typically,
12:45
we'll get those cars and then we'll
12:46
begin the process of reaching out to the
12:48
customer and confirming delivery dates.
12:50
Anywhere usually from two weeks after we
12:52
receive the car and it can depend if
12:53
they're wanting to get it a little bit
12:55
earlier, we can work that way or for a
12:56
little bit later, we can do that as
12:58
well.
12:58
Gotcha. Now, I can imagine scheduling a
13:00
museum delivery with a customer has to
13:02
be a jigsaw puzzle. How does all that
13:04
work from your perspective and what
13:06
things have to be factored in when
13:08
scheduling a delivery for R8C?
13:10
You know, Steve, the thing that's most
13:12
important to us is our goal is to make
13:13
this just an exceptional experience for
13:16
our customers. We're completely
13:18
flexible. We offer up different days,
13:20
different times. We're cognizant of the
13:22
fact that they got to make travel
13:24
arrangements. They have to book hotels.
13:26
They have to get a rental car. Maybe
13:27
they're going to have their car
13:28
transported. So, they're going to start
13:29
to work on transportation of their car
13:31
home. So, it seems like it'd be
13:33
cumbersome. Quite frankly, it's not for
13:35
the main reason these customers are just
13:36
so excited to come get these cars.
13:38
Almost as excited as we are to have
13:40
them.
13:40
Yeah.
13:41
The flexibility there just works out
13:42
great for both parties. And we just work
13:44
with the customer directly to see what
13:46
works for their needs.
13:47
Nice. Now, I know there's a lot of
13:49
extras now that customers can order as
13:51
part of museum delivery like paint
13:53
protection film, ceramic coating,
13:55
installation of various arrow extras and
13:58
stuff. talk about all the stuff that
13:59
might be available for people and how
14:01
that affects the museum delivery date.
14:04
Steve, I appreciate that question
14:05
because I talk to a lot of customers
14:07
every day and not all of our delivery
14:08
customers are aware of that fact, but we
14:10
can install so many items. You mentioned
14:12
a lot of them. You talked about PPF, you
14:14
talked about window tent. We've also do
14:17
wheel locks, engine covers, radiator
14:19
screen, side rockers, front splitters,
14:21
highwing spoilers, certain stripe
14:23
package, hash marks, Jake stripes,
14:25
things of that nature. And I've got just
14:27
amazing crew and they are so good at
14:30
what they do, Steve. I just go back
14:31
there and watch them and just fascinated
14:33
by it. But we'll install that for the
14:35
customer prior to their delivery and
14:37
it'll all be set up on the floor when
14:39
they get there. I think it's something
14:40
people should start to take advantage of
14:42
if they can. Very reasonably priced and
14:44
we do a great job with it.
14:45
That's fantastic. Well, buddy, let's
14:47
take our final break. When we come back,
14:49
we're going to talk about what the
14:50
Corvette itself goes through for PDI
14:53
prior to museum delivery. That's coming
14:55
up next with Rod Keller here on Corvette
14:58
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covered. Visit chevusa.com or call
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913-384-1550.
17:23
And now back to the only current podcast
17:26
on Corvettes, Corvette Today with your
17:28
host, Steve Garrett.
17:30
Hey, thanks once again for listening and
17:32
watching Corvette Today, the show that
17:34
talks about everything Corvette.
17:36
Corvette Today is brought to you by
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17:58
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is
17:59
Rod Keller, the new R8C delivery manager
18:02
at the National Corvette Museum. In this
18:04
third and final segment, we're going to
18:06
talk about what the NCM does to your
18:08
Corvette to get it ready for museum
18:10
delivery. Rod, talk a little bit about
18:12
what your team does to each Corvette
18:14
once you receive it and you get it
18:16
prepped for museum delivery.
18:18
Yeah, sure, Steve. So, it's a pretty
18:20
simplistic process in terms of we
18:22
identify the cars based off of the
18:24
schedule for the week and we will pull
18:25
those cars up from our staging area and
18:27
deliver those to the PDI department on
18:29
whatever day is needed to get the car.
18:31
We ideally like to get the car prepped.
18:33
They're brand new cars, so it's washing
18:34
it, it's drying it, it's interior clean,
18:36
it's windows clean, it's wheels, tires,
18:38
all of that prepped, and we like to get
18:40
it out on the boulevard as quick as we
18:42
can so that people can see it on the
18:44
webcams. The team is very conscientious
18:46
of that, but after they finished the
18:48
dental prep of the cleaning, all then
18:50
the next step is getting the accessories
18:51
added. And we talked about that earlier.
18:53
So depending on what the customer has
18:55
elected to add, it may add another hour,
18:57
2 hours, 3 hours to the process. But
18:59
once that's done, we finalize that, the
19:02
car is finalized for prep, it's
19:03
inspected again, and it'll go out onto
19:05
the boulevard and be ready for the
19:07
customer delivery.
19:08
So, it's really a PDI process. How many
19:10
different checklist items are on that
19:12
schedule?
19:13
So, it varies by model type to be real
19:15
honest with you. We a little bit
19:16
different with Z06s, convertibles,
19:18
coups, and they take through about a
19:19
15step process just with the initial
19:22
cleaning piece. The biggest portion of
19:23
it then is the accessories. So Mac will
19:26
schedule that based off of what does he
19:28
got to do to the car? Does it need to be
19:29
up on the lift? Is it just going to be a
19:31
highwing spoiler? Those are the points
19:33
now that come and they're added in to
19:35
the process and allows him to schedule
19:37
the amount of cars he can do on a daily
19:39
basis.
19:39
And that's what I was going to ask you
19:41
next. How long does it usually take to
19:43
do a PDI prep for a Corvette on museum
19:45
delivery? And how many cars are usually
19:47
done in a day?
19:48
So the prep process, the general
19:50
cleaning piece of it, you know, again,
19:51
we're very fortunate. These are brand
19:52
new cars, so it's not like they're
19:54
dirty, but we do take a long time to
19:56
make sure they're perfect. The washing,
19:58
interior cleaning, tire prep, etc.
20:00
Usually runs anywhere from 45 minutes to
20:02
an hour and a half. And then you'll see
20:04
the different time frames associated
20:06
with a different level of accessories.
20:08
We had a car the other day, Steve, that
20:10
got almost every accessory you could
20:12
imagine. It took the team about three
20:14
hours to finish it. So, it's just going
20:15
to vary depending on the specific
20:17
vehicle.
20:18
Yeah, Rod, I know you've got a fantastic
20:20
team. talk about some of the team
20:22
members that prepare Corvettes for
20:24
museum delivery.
20:25
Well, I'm glad you asked that, Steve.
20:26
And I would say the highlight of my job
20:28
is certainly get to talk to excited
20:30
customers every day, but more so to
20:32
watch this team work. We have got an
20:35
incredible crew, and they're certainly
20:37
so passionate about what they do. The
20:39
brand is important to them, the museum's
20:41
important to them, but nothing's more
20:43
important to them than their customers.
20:45
You know, it's kind of starts with
20:47
really Becky. And Becky is just like the
20:49
go-to. If you need something answered or
20:52
solved, go to Becky. She'll know it.
20:54
She's the one that reaches out to
20:55
customers. She's one that establishes
20:56
your delivery days. She sends all the
20:58
pre-ely information out to the customer.
21:00
That includes things like where we
21:02
recommend you might want to stay. If you
21:04
decide you want to use a transport
21:05
company, here's some of the ones we
21:07
recommend and things of that nature. But
21:09
she's our go-to there. And that's not
21:10
only go-to with the customers, but go-to
21:12
with all of our staff in the building.
21:14
Then when it gets down to the actual
21:15
preparation of the car, Mac is our TVI
21:18
supervisor. And again, another guy, he
21:20
can do anything to a vehicle. It's
21:22
amazing to watch him work. Sometimes I
21:24
just watch him put on decals because his
21:26
touch and his ability to put stripes on
21:28
all just amazing to me. Then you come
21:30
down to our delivery host. What a group.
21:33
I can't say enough about them. They
21:34
spend so much time prepping these cars.
21:36
They make sure their paperwork is a
21:38
macket. They make sure that the customer
21:39
has everything they need. They want
21:41
nothing more than that customer to walk
21:43
out with a smile on their face and feel
21:45
like this experience was the greatest
21:47
thing in my car associated life. And
21:50
they all devote the time and the energy
21:52
and the passion to make that work. It's
21:54
a super super good team, Steve, and it
21:57
makes my day just exciting to watch them
21:59
work.
21:59
I know. It's a great team. Thank
22:01
everybody on the team because I know
22:03
they do a fantastic job. You're right.
22:05
I'm sure they really care about every
22:07
customer that gets a museum delivery and
22:09
it shows with the thoroughess of the RHC
22:11
program. It really does.
22:13
It does.
22:14
Buddy, I know you're just new to the
22:15
job, but I'm sure there's been some
22:17
unique requests with the RHC program
22:20
over the years. What are some of the out
22:22
of the way, out of the box type of
22:23
things that people have asked for that
22:25
are unique to the RHC delivery program?
22:27
There is some uniqueness there. I think
22:29
more than anything else, the uniqueness
22:30
might flow around some of the people. We
22:33
get a lot of high-profile people love
22:35
Corvettes and a lot of high-profile
22:37
people take museum delivery. We don't
22:39
brag about it. They don't always want to
22:40
people know about it, but it's quite
22:42
often that we have somebody pop in and
22:44
just want to look at the Corvettes
22:46
that'll catch you completely offguard. A
22:48
lot of racing fans, a lot of
22:50
celebrities, you know, and I think
22:51
there's just some uniqueness to the
22:53
brand, which causes some excitement. And
22:55
then we get excited when we see people
22:56
come in and go, this person enjoys a car
22:59
just like we do. So I think it's more
23:01
unique personalities more than unique
23:02
experiences or unique requests in that
23:05
terms.
23:05
Nice. Nice. And I know that the guy that
23:08
was there before you has been a stalwart
23:10
for the Corvette Museum, Shane Webb.
23:13
Shane did the RHC manager job and I know
23:15
he's still with the museum, isn't he?
23:17
He is. Thank goodness. It was one of the
23:19
things I asked about in my interview
23:20
process to make sure Shane was there
23:22
because I'd seen his names all over the
23:24
forums and deservedly so. Shane is a
23:27
great great person. He built this. He's
23:29
taken it to a whole another level. He
23:30
has forgot more about the process than
23:33
most people will ever know. But he's
23:35
very humble, but he's very passionate
23:36
and he's very customer service focused.
23:38
We kid each other in the facility when
23:40
we start talking about, "Well, yeah,
23:41
Shane emailed me last night, 2 a.m." or
23:43
"Shane sent me a text message at 4:00 in
23:46
the morning." That's just the way he
23:47
operates. He embraces it and he fully
23:50
committed to it and he's very
23:51
passionate. Made a decision to change in
23:53
a little bit of a different direction.
23:54
So, right now he's focused on finishing
23:56
up some of our photo albums and a couple
23:58
other things that are critical to the
24:00
museum success from a RHC delivery
24:02
standpoint. But the thing I'm really
24:04
excited about for Shane is this job's
24:06
allowed him to spend more time with his
24:07
family. He's got a very young family.
24:09
He's a very dedicated father. So, we're
24:11
really, really excited to have him still
24:13
part of our team, a big big part of our
24:15
team, but also he's getting the ability
24:17
to do some things from a work life
24:19
balance that fits his needs currently.
24:21
So great person and next time you're in
24:23
I certainly want to make sure you get to
24:25
spend some time with him.
24:26
You tell Shane I said hi. He's a great
24:27
guy. I've worked with him before and I'm
24:30
glad he's still at the museum.
24:31
So am I.
24:32
And before we go, Rod, talk to me a
24:34
little bit more about the raffles that
24:35
are held at the museum because those
24:37
come up all the time and they're so
24:38
cool.
24:39
Yeah, I tell you it's one of the best
24:41
things we get experience, Steve. We
24:43
actually had a raffle last week and it's
24:44
neat because we do it live and then we
24:46
call the customer and so the last two
24:48
they've actually picked up both
24:50
customers. Oh,
24:51
and the excitement in their voice when
24:52
they realize that they've won a brand
24:54
new Corvette is something that's really,
24:56
really exciting. You know, not
24:58
everybody's ready to jump in and make a
25:00
purchase a brand new C8, and I
25:01
understand that. But something that I
25:03
would encourage everybody to do is they
25:04
can go to corvette museum.org and they
25:06
can take part in the Corvette raffle and
25:08
they can take a chance on winning a
25:10
brand new C8. With that comes museum
25:12
deliveries. Oh. So, we're certainly
25:14
excited to make that delivery to
25:16
somebody that just got a brand new
25:17
Corvette, winning it through a raffle
25:18
and it's just so much fun when we do
25:20
these and the people are so excited. I
25:22
would encourage anybody maybe to take a
25:24
chance on that. Maybe if you'll have the
25:25
good luck, you can get a car and a few
25:27
museum delivery.
25:28
There you go. You know, buddy, I never
25:29
win anything. I should be so lucky to
25:32
win a Corvette from the National
25:33
Corvette Museum.
25:34
Yeah, I could tell you some of the
25:35
statistics on this, but you probably
25:37
wouldn't believe me, but it's
25:38
fascinating. So, I would say anybody
25:39
take a chance on it because you have a
25:41
good chance of winning. That's awesome,
25:43
Rod. Thank you so much for being on
25:45
Corvette today. I appreciate you taking
25:47
the time and I look forward to seeing
25:48
you at the bash.
25:49
Steve, thanks so much for your time. I
25:51
appreciate talking about the experience
25:52
and talking about our wonderful team.
25:54
And we definitely look forward to seeing
25:56
you when you get down for the bash.
25:57
Thanks again for listening and watching
25:59
Corvette Today. And be sure to tell your
26:01
family, friends, and other Corvette
26:02
enthusiasts about the Corvette Today
26:04
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finishing. They can refinish your wheels
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26:46
Thanks for checking out Corvette Today
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[Music]