Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin - Actions Detrimental Rewind: 2024’s Best Moments

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

This is a special episode of Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin as we look back at some of the most memorable moments from the season. (00:34) Daniel Suarez’s photo finish victory at Atlanta (6:12) What happened with the tires at Bristol (12:15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch fight at North Wilkesboro (33:00) Denny finally pees in his car (38:15) Austin Dillon wrecks Joey Logano and Denny to win (49:30) Denny’s dad doesn’t like his trash-talking (51:50) Just how much do tires cost (1:00:25) Heartbreak at Homestead as Tyler Reddick wins (1:07:00) The Hamlin family adopts Lulu (1:12:15)Tyler Reddick wins Talladega with Michael Jordan in attendance  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. What's up, everyone? Jared Allen, Red Vest, number 311 here. The NASCAR season is over, but we wanted to give you something to listen to while we take a little break. So here is the best of actions detrimental with moments from the finish at Atlanta,

punches at North Wilkesboro, and heartbreak in Miami, and everything in between. And make sure you check out Actions Detrimental YouTube page. We'll be posting some other videos from throughout the season. Okay, so the finish.

Ryan Blaine, is controlling the restarting. I'm thinking this thing is all but over, especially when he takes the white, there was nothing coming. The 99 and made a couple attempts to pass him on the outside. I mean, getting really close to the wall to no avail.

It just didn't seem like it was going to happen. But as you saw, in the turns one and two, the key moment of the race that decided how that race finished in that three wide fashion was really the 12 getting two. far ahead when he got through one and two. When he got through one and two, the 99 was still getting his shit together, trying to move, come back into whoever was behind him. The eight comes off the turn two. He's backing up and the 12 had too much of a gap there and it was a huge run. And

then the eight, such a heads up move to kind of shoot the middle gap there. Because he's probably thinking that he's got such a big run. He's probably going to clear the 99. He's probably going to clear the 99. who at the time still didn't have a huge run coming. But the eight made a bold move. I thought it was a great move. We just had one of those great finishes. And hats off to the drivers because I know some saying hats off a lot. I got to come up with something else.

We got to give credit to the three drivers because none of them wiped each other out. They hardly even touched, right? Like great job. Kyle Bush, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez. For them to just see how this thing was all going to play out, it's really what made such a great, fantastic finish. And hopefully, you know, this gives some well-needed momentum for NASCAR to start their 2024 season. Did somebody on this finish, whether it's Blaney, whether it's Suarez or KB, did somebody do something here that gave them an edge?

in this finish or is it just we're all holding down the gas and whoever gets their first win yeah everyone's holding down the gas for sure blaney probably feels when he was probably put three wide to the bottom he's probably thinking oh crap i'm probably not in a good spot but damn he missed it by it had to be three inches two inches like even the NASCAR needs to upgrade their photo finish camera because it that is like you see the ghost of the front end right You don't actually see the front end of the 99. They did. They had a new little graphic to show where who was leading at when a caution came out, though.

I saw that this week. Oh, really? But yeah, they need to call up horse racing because they have like some serious high-tech photo finish stuff. Oh, there's great technology out there for sure. But like guys, guys, guys, cameras are involved here. Okay. A horse is not going 200 miles an hour. The frames per second needed.

Chair, don't let your facts get in the way of our story. Go ahead. Continue. Good point, Jared. Okay, you're right, you're right. But there's got to be something that can super, super duper slow-mo it without it being like a ghost of a car. Surely. Yeah, in a couple of years from now, it'll get better. Okay.

Well, it clearly, the 99 car one, buy a nose or by an inch. We're not really sure. but yeah I mean you would think who's got the most momentum is the car on the very outside which is Daniel Suarez so the reason the key moment and why he won that race is he came off the high line of turn four so he was the furthest towards the wall well that racetrack if you've ever been there in person it actually kind of goes like downhill when you come off a turn four the higher you are the more downhill you're going to the start finish line. I haven't seen anyone bring this up yet,

but it's definitely factual. That when you, the bottom car is, it's pretty level from the turn to the start finish line, but the high line is going downhill. And I think that that's why the 99 car won. It's momentum, he unwinds the wheel quicker. There's factors in it,

But since the banking is 20-something degrees, it's higher, right? So you've been to track it, the banking, the wall's way up there. So if you start way up and you come down, the 99 car was coming downhill at the start-finish line, where the 12 was more on a level playing field. Do you think about that, Jerry? Yeah, I'm trying to watch the video and see if I can visually see it. Yeah, you just need to look at the track, and, you know, you've probably, We drive on Talladega after the race every time, right?

You've got to drive up the banking. So if you drive up, what goes up must come down. So the straightaways, since they are level, the banking is higher in the corners. So you come downhill, which is why we always, you see us during qualifying at Super Speedways. We start at the wall before we come to green and then we pull it down because we go downhill. So just that little bit of angle. A little bit. Dave Daniel just enough to edge out.

Viva Las Mexico wins. You had the indie debacle from many, many years ago where the tough part about that is the tires just blew out. Like there was no warning. The difference today was that you had a warning. If they blew out, you did not heed to the warning that they were about to blow out. What was the warning?

So your car would just drop grip dramatically. And in my mind, I guess I'll go into it. I was very fortunate to blow a tire in the first stage at the very end. I was leading with six to go in the first stage. I finished 15th. That is crazy. So what happened is with six to go, all of a sudden, my car was like, holy shit, the right rear is falling off.

Like it was just, I had no grip at all. So I was going in the corner, just wrecking, just spinning out. Well, there's six to go left in the stage, so I need to limp it around. And I tried to limp it, and I found that I really got two more laps out of the car, and then it blew. So that's where I think I was very fortunate to understand, okay, that's my, gas light. But that doesn't... You know, that's in the car

that, hey, you're getting low on fuel. When I noticed my car, the light switch, I think Kevin Harvick killed it today. I rewatch the race as quick as I could. He killed it in explaining the light switch going off. And it was.

It was like you had grip and then all of a sudden when your tires hit cords, nothing. You had nothing and you had to just slow way, way down to not wreck. So if there were blown

tires, it's because you ignored the warning that it was giving you. FYI, I really wasn't saving much that first stage when I because I didn't know I had no indication tires we're going to wear out until mine actually wore out.

I think I was one of the very first to actually drop anchor. Kyle was actually first. Yes. We were the first ones to totally drop anchor and was like, oh shit, these tires are going to wear out. Reddick didn't give you any sort of idea that it might be because after that first

Byron gets the caution Redick stays out, doesn't take any tires and then he immediately... That was later. Oh, okay. Yeah, so that was in between that whole second stage. I think that was second stage. I'm not sure. No, that was first.

You're right, you're right, you're right. No, because he got wrecked. You know, he wasn't just limping around. He got shuffled out of the lead and wrecked the next corner. So So that was, I mean, I'll be honest, that was a bit of a head scratcher when they stayed out. But I never really saw them drop.

So we were the first. Like Kyle and myself, so immediately I'm thinking, okay, I'm just going to run this line up here and save my tires, not push it too hard. But I was still, I could tell, you know, I was still getting after it a little bit, pretty much the whole run. And then six laps ago, which is lap 40 on tires, my car just stopped. stopped making corners. And I tried to get to the end of the stage, and it blew out, luckily, right when a Cowbush spun out. Yep.

So, I'll cause a caution. Yeah, we were the first two that gave the warning to the field. Um, you better slow down. Well, you said on Saturday at qualifying, you thought someone peed in the good year at rubber mixture. I am more convinced of that now than ever. That I had this, I have this.

plea to whoever was responsible for the mixture of the good ear tires, don't try to cover it up. Okay, whoever's in charge a good year needs to go and say, okay, we're not firing anyone. We just want to know what happened. That because I believe this could be the biggest teaching moment in the history of NASCAR. Whatever they changed in that chemical mixture. So when they're making rubber, they're just, they're making it, right? It's a formula of this and that and this and that. And they can put little things in it to make it wear.

Now, they told me at a Texas tire test, there's something we can put in it that will accelerate tire wear. Somebody knocked over the bottle into the mixture. But you got to get somebody there to admit or maybe it was just an accident, I don't know, but we need to find out what was different from that tire in the fall to that tire today. So we're not, we didn't run any of the last year's tires, right?

Those tires were used up and gone. They made a new batch, Goodyear made a new batch of tires at the beginning of this year for this Bristol race. But when they made this mixture, someone peed in it. And it, are you, is that a euphemism for something? Or are you,

they put something in there that they were not supposed to. Or they put too much of something in this mixture that screwed it all up. Okay. Were you confused the whole weekend when I said someone peeped in it?

I just thought it was something random shit that you were saying. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's funny, I guess. No, I'm just saying, we were we were trying to point fingers that it's the resin it's this and it's like no there's some they mix there's something with the mixture of this rubber that is not the same as what they brought before and we need to identify what it is because we just need to put a slightly lower dose right to me it seemed like a happy accident after all a happy accident my only beef is um coming from my

friends saying there's no freaking alcohol in the infield. It's like you're going to lock us in here but not feed us what we want. We want alcohol. But can't they come prepared? You can't bring it in. Oh, you can't?

No, you got to fix that then. I won't never go to the infield then. I kept telling my friends don't get trapped in the infield. Especially if you're thirsty. Don't do it. So, yeah, we got to work on that. There's a concession stand too, isn't there, or is there not?

It's just a media center, isn't it? I think so. That's one thing that I think will change in due time, is that there will be a, what do you call it, a bridge put up or something to get from the inside of the track to the outside track. I'd have to imagine. I can't stay this way forever, I don't think. I mean, if they had, yeah, you would hope.

I mean, you don't want them digging an undergris. ground tunnel because I think that that you're going to end up tearing up the racetrack causing a huge swell in the track if you do that. But yeah, something, we should do something to be able to get in and out of it. Although, or maybe you don't. Or maybe you don't. Maybe you don't. Because when a driver gets wrecked on lap two, he has to stay in the infield and watch the rest of the race. Well, I think that's a perfect segue for us. Everyone, this is what you've been waiting for. we made them earn it buried the lead we did we did so i mean when i look at this i think this was started and i didn't realize that you know when i went back and look there's a there we have a

group text and and it's me and austin and it's got jp and jared uh my my buddy gregg and it's got Ricky and Kyle Larson on it. And he was letting us know while the race was going on, he's going to go after him. So, of course, I'm in the race, so I don't see it. But there's others that are not in the race. And so he's, he's stuck in the infield on his phone and he's fuming. Well, he went to Kyle's pit box and told his crew chief, I'm going to see Kyle after. words. Like, he let everybody know, apparently. Yeah, and you heard Kyle's radio after, as soon as I threw the checkers, say, hey, you're probably going to have a visitor in here when you get in, just FYI.

So, yeah, I mean, I think, I think, this is difficult. This is a difficult, this is one of those difficult positions that I find myself in, because I try not to pick sides, but I'll call it how I see it. Let's go back to the on-track stuff. Okay? I see both sides. However, my driving style supports a little more of Kyle's side

because I believe that there are times, there are times where Ricky finds himself in these situations because he puts himself in these situations. It is lap one. Did he shove through the middle of us? Yes. Did I have a problem with it? I did not. It is the All-Star race. We just talked about it earlier that drivers, you kind of understand that there's a little bit more aggressiveness going on in this type of race. but so I see Kyle's side of it is like dude you shoved middle on a short track on lap one like where are you going um I see that part I understand however the counter to that is that I see Ricky side saying dude I never touched you until you hit the wall now I think contact was inevitable because there wasn't enough room for Kyle no matter what

what. Ricky did put him in a position where Kyle was going to have to lift. And if he did not lift, the contact was going to happen. Kyle didn't lift, or he tried to lift, but it was too late that the 47 was already coming up. I knew we were three wide. I left plenty of room on the bottom. I have no part of this drama whatsoever. I got no part in it. So I, you know, because my spotter tells me. I'm going through one or two. He's like, 47, shove in middle, shove in middle. And I'm like, okay, well, this, somebody's not going to leave enough room. And it ain't going to be me. I'm going to leave enough room. So I go down straightaway, pretty low. Those two are up high. They run in, they, they make contact. The contact was inevitable because

there was not enough room left for Kyle on the high side of the racetrack. So, you know, was the contact so egregious that it warranted him like destroying the 47? No, I don't believe so. I certainly don't believe it was, you know, I think that the, that kind of contact was warranted if the eight car, I'm sorry, if the 47 car ran into the back of the 47, or I'm sorry, the 47 car ran in the back of Kyle and spun him out earlier than the race. And when the eight comes back around, and this is later in the race, the eight, sure, spin them out. An eye for an eye. I just think it was a little bit overboard considering, you know,

all the variables that had happened. But I do think there's a little bit of pent-up frustration on Kyle's part. I think Ricky is probably right that he's frustrated, that he's not got the consistency and I'm not speaking for Kyle. I'm using the information that we have at hand, and that is that Kyle has publicly said, you know, we're just not consistent. We don't do this week after week. We're terrible some week. I mean, he said last night, we suck. I was getting there. By the way, there's very few drivers more qualified to offer an opinion on this type of racing incident than you. Thanks, Jared. I appreciate that. It's just an opinion.

It's just an opinion, folks. And you can take it, you can have your opinion as well. But my opinion is, is someone that knows both of these people personally, have raced with them for all of, Kyle, for all of my career, 20 years, and Ricky for, I don't know, the last 10. It was just a clashing of styles. You know, I think that Ricky typically, and when I said, he finds himself in these positions.

He is the first to push it right on lap one. And, you know, you just aren't going to, I just don't know that you're going to win the race or even finish, guarantee yourself a top 10 or 15 finish by shoving it in places that are a low, or high risk situations. But it's at the start where you can gain positions. What's the difference between lap 1 and lap 20?

Are you not supposed to race? The difference in lap 20 is people are more predictable. They know what their car has. On lap one, we are literally going through the first corner, feeling out the grip, understanding is our car loose? Is it tight? By lap 20, we have enough repetitions where I can leave you less room in the middle, and I have faith that we're all going to hold our line.

On lap one, I do not have faith. that we're all going to hold our line because we are all juke and jiving trying to figure out what kind of grip the track and the tire has. But that seems like

the best opportunity to pass. He may not get enough. It is. Okay. I love that you guys are refuting this. You have valid points, but I'm telling you, it is going to lead to Rex

more than it's going to lead to success. That's my opinion. Is that you've got 200 laps and if your car is really good, really that good, because we started right next to each other. We drove up to the top two. I had a really good car. But if you think that that is your only shot to get a couple of spots, because you know that we're probably not going to be competitive, so I at least got to just look good on these restarts. I don't know. Well, that's the different mindset of a team that's winning three, four times a year. You're correct.

and a team that if Ricky was driving my car he probably would be more patient there's so many elements to this and how it actually broke down but then you know Ricky's piss because he has a valid point I never hit you until you hit the wall and then we make contact Ricky's right he is 100% right so then before his his face to face with Kyle he put himself in a box. He put himself in a box on TV by saying he was going to do something. And Ricky is one of those stand-up humans that when he tells you he's going to do something, he's probably going to do it. I mean, he said Richard can hold my watch.

So at that point, short of Kyle, when they first meet face-to-face, saying, oh, my God, Ricky, I'm so sorry. I screwed up. You are so right. That was the only way he was not going to get. You got to take the Tyler Redick method. It was the only way because I thought that Kyle didn't really justify anything,

but he was like right before the punch, you heard him saying, well, because Ricky says, go look at it. I never touched you. He's like, well, if that happened. Boom. Like, he was just about to make the turn into the relationship where he was like, okay, you're right. I apologize.

I'll look at it. If that's what happens, sorry. He just never got the chance to say it because Ricky saw the opportunity to throw this punch starting to dwindle. And he says, well, I said it. I guess I got to do it. So I just think that he's a man of his word and he told us he was going to do it. That's why all the cameras were following Kyle. You know, they knew that Ricky was camped out at the eight hauler. And we had, I mean, I just, I loved on the tear down them doing this, the role playing where you got Jordan playing one character

and Jeff playing the other and they kind of go through the conversations and the words that were said and so I thought I don't know I thought that Kyle handled it really really well and was he was about to say words that were going

to defuse the situation He just... You gotta be quicker than that. You gotta be quicker than that. But you gotta be quicker and your apologies apparently. So that's where it all broke down. Can we ban fireworks post-race?

Oh, gosh. I can't hear them. I couldn't figure out whether that added or took away from the fight because they were so prominent there in the background during all the video. Yeah.

Do you think it added? or took away from it? It took away. Because you couldn't hear him as clear. Yeah. But I thought there was enough cameras there that you heard every word. After you put all the cameras together. Yeah.

Also, I get you're doing your job, but we need that security guy out of there. We can't have him breaking up fights so fast. He's ruined it every time. Hey, that guy ended up having 175 pound Ricky or 80 pounds. I don't know what he is now. He's been getting swole. He had him laying on top of him. So poor Davy Siegel on Kyle Bush on top of him.

I know. I know. It was, that's what you get. Guys, you come into the fire. You're going to get burnt. Can we talk about this incredible screenshot from this video? It is. I tried to tell Jordan on the ride home because we're listening to the tear down.

And they got to get the tear down. Like, come on, man. Y'all got to get this thing out within an hour and a half of the end of the race. Like, we've got to get snappy with this stuff. It says the guy who records on 10 a Monday morning. Well, I mean, these guys ain't running around Northworksboro. I mean, they're sitting in there, you know, God knows where Jeff Gluck is. He's at his in-law's house for the next 10 days.

I saw Jeff in. Yeah, but you got the winners press conference at the winners press conference that you have to deal. Oh, shit. And you guys talk forever. No one, I said, no one give to a fuck about Joey Lugano winning the all-stor rates. That's a fact. And I hate that, like, our media. was like, you know, oh my gosh, they're only showing, you know, Barstool or ESP,

they're only showing the fight. Like, well, yeah, we got to understand who we are. I tweeted this was great, like right before they went to get up on SportsCenter, they ended the show with the fight. Like, this is the greatest thing that could happen to NASCAR yesterday. Yeah, you know, with all due respect to the 22, no one gives a shit. It's just, that's just a fact. And if it was 11, no one wanted to give a shit either.

It's just, it's just, this was the story out of it. Thank God. Because this podcast would have been over with 20 minutes ago. What do you make of Ricky's punch? Connected. Connected. I mean, there's nothing else. I mean, there's nothing else you can really say.

I mean, I always think about if I'm going to be the first to punch, what am I going to do. Just as a heads up, I'm probably going to go for the, I'm going to do a left gut punch first. You can't go with the body shot. Oh yeah, because it gets them down. It gets them, their head down. And that's when you come right underneath. Well, but the thing is, I don't know if you'll be able to get the second punch in.

We got to make sure it's security guys. I'll be like a rabbit. You see Mike Tyson with the bags? That's me. That's me. No shot. I'd be like one of those fighting guys on the game. Rock him, sock, and robots.

Yeah. No shot. No? No, I've been waiting. No, you are not. How can you possibly say that? I've followed you into at least a half a dozen conversations in the last five years, and not one of them. What, Joey, Joey gave me a hard tap to my shoulder and I went after him.

That was good. That was good. But nobody else, there was no other. Chase Briscoe took a win. away from you? I know, but that didn't warrant him getting punched in the face. Like, there's... Jared, here it is. Put a pull-up on Denny's account. Is Denny a fighter? Yes or no? Look at the highlights. I'm in all kinds of scuffles, but it's not...

It's been like the Chase Briscoe thing. Like, he didn't say anything that sent me off the deep end. Like, if I were to say, hey, you wrecked me and someone... only said, yeah, what are you going to do about it? They're going to get it. Yeah, but Ricky was... So you're looking for an additional... Yeah. Additional sport.

But I'm a normal level head of human being that is as long as you hear me out and you hear my side of things, I then listen to your side of things. Speak of the devil. Why didn't you punch Chase last year? Speak of the devil. Let's talk about Denny's altercations. We can just go around me. Oh, yeah. Look around people.

Denny, why didn't she punch chase last year? Chase last year when he wrecked you. When? I was in the ER. You got cleared? Yeah, but that... There's also a board over there with actions detrimental. I mean, the examples are all over.

I'd say it's like one out of ten. So this one, I'm looking at the 2017. I crashed him. Certainly, I'm not going to crash him and punch him. For the podcast people, he's talking about Chase. I'm not going to crash them and punch them. And usually, you know, like I've, there's not been that many face to face here too much lately

because for a while the crew members were getting involved. It was just, it was getting a little messy. Danica, we have a woman over here. I mean, and you're friends. We're friends. The friend's the least. Denny, you're my friend. I realize that.

you just there's just nothing good that was going to come out of that situation for sure so i needed to just take my tongue lashing and and move on when's last time he threw a punch i mean last time i threw a punch was joey at martinsville it didn't land because i had his crew guy come and snooker me from behind and grab my collar like such a cheap move i he uh i think he got suspended for a couple weeks or something like that but yeah that was the only that was the last punch i can remember being thrown but again i think this it was all as long as you're level headed and we have a conversation i think that then we can have a conversation so okay prime example the ross thing remember when we when we when i maybe or maybe did not squish him in the wall there at phoenix he came up to me

and we had just a conversation. And it started with, well, I probably deserved that, didn't I? And I said, yeah. And then we listened to each other's sides, right? At no point was it contentious where it was like, you're a fucking prick, and you're going to get it. Mark it. Like, you know what I mean?

So I just think every situation is different, but I'm definitely a fighter if you put me in a corner. No doubt. It takes two to tango. Yeah, you're going to. going to have to have two tank and we had this was a perfect two to tango moment right between the two and then you had one of Kyle Busch's crew members just getting everybody off the hauler get out of here yeah he um he used his physical abilities and his body weight to his advantage you had a lot of old people

that fight yeah he was he was tossing smaller older people off for sure but you know had Hey, it's kind of a rule of thumb. I do agree. When you come to our stall or our hauler, that's our space. Now, you know, that's very convenient that you want to throw them all off. You know, now you didn't want, when they were talking, you had no problem with them being there. But, but yeah, I think it ended as good or as bad as you would expect. I mean, it's the first man that gets to punch in is always.

the winner because they break it up before that swing first oh i i did something did you hear what i said after the race what i did for the first time in my whole career 18 years 19 years peed in my seat oh i was about to say that i was about to say that yeah i was hurting i was so thirsty the second half of the race but i couldn't drink anymore because i my body, I'm sitting there in the seat and I'm like, please just let it go, let it go. And I just couldn't let it go. And I, I've had, I just have never been able to go in the car. There's something about it. I'm either, it's because I'm not holding it or I'm not standing up. Something just doesn't feel right to my body and it just, it just hangs on. But after, so I'm sitting

there during the red flag and I'm I get on the radio and I say to uh to this fire says what's the hold up when what why aren't we going why are we red flag he's like oh we got a problem over here they're cleaning up a mess I said all right so I'm looking at my clock I actually have a clock on my dash as well I don't know if anyone else runs a clock but I just like to kind of know for reference for time and if the track changes you know make mental notes of it but I I'm looking at the clock. I'm like, see, there's 20 laps ago. How many more yellows is there going to be? I just don't think I'm going to make it. I just don't think. And my stomach is killing me. Like, I ain't got to go number two. I got to go number one.

But I just, my bladder is just dying. And so they finally, I get to pit road and they're working on the damage. and I just close my eyes and I'm like just trying to think of something that will make me go this is that painful of a thing for you to do huh? Yes

and then as soon as I hit I got the first dribble boom out. No, no way. It was warm and then it was cold it was

I never felt what it felt like to pee in my seat, but I kind of liked it. I did. Is that weird? Is it weird? I've never peed in a car before, so I can't.

I know, I know. I don't want to sound, I don't want to sound weird, but I kind of liked it. Because the relief, the relief from like the painter would just have me ask you this. Have you ever? I didn't like the feeling, but, but it was warm and then it was cold. Have you ever peed in the ocean or like the lake before out here? Of course. Is it similar?

No. Because that feels good. Because you're not sitting in it. Like, because it goes from me to the next layer to the next layer. So unfortunately, I'm telling my, I'm telling Philpott the interior specialist on the number 11th said, hey, man, I left you something special. So you won't be wearing that fire suit again? No, no, the fire suit's fine.

Underwear, fire suit, it's soiled, but it's fine. I'm more concerned with, and I know many, many drivers do this on a regular basis, and I never understood how they could do it because I've tried, and my body says, no, there's no way I'm releasing right now. Evidently, Carl Edwards used to do it every week. I think Tyler Redick does it every week. but I was I was super paranoid when I got out. I'm like, is it going to smell the pee in the seat?

Like, I just, I didn't want, I didn't want, I just had to tell them, right? I can't just let them find out and be like, dude, what the hell? I'm like, hey, just so you know. So I don't know, do they wash it or they just let that stuff marinate in there? I wonder, like, this, because it goes into the seat. The seat is, you know, this soft fabric. It's a foam. It's going in your car next week.

I know. So does it just sit in there? We'll have to follow up. You'll figure it out. I wonder if they do it. Do they just frieze it? You will literally find out. These are the answers we need you to figure out for us.

Also, was your fire suit, were you worried about like a peace day when he got out and people would know? I gave myself a pat check, front and back, just kind of looked down and said, I'm good. not really too concerned. It's dark out. It's not going to be too bad. So that was the most historical moment I had of the entire day, is finally letting one go. So that was my highlight.

All right, I got to just get out of the way. God. I feel a little better now, but it's just bottled up inside, Jared. It's just, gosh, just eating. away at my soul. How do you not get out of the car and do that? How do you not get out of the car and just like let it go? Because I feel like as time has gone on in my career, I've learned to just take a breath. Like, you know, it's easy to react. Right. Reacting is the easiest thing to do. but try to take everything into account first and then react you're not always going to get it right

I tried my best in my interview to see all sides of it right let me think about my side of it right let me think about my side what did I see how did I feel about it if I were the three car how would I felt about it what did I see? You know, what was my motivation? Things like I try to put all different perspectives into my thought process and then react, right? That's why we're here today is to kind of expand upon that a little bit. You know, I have additional thoughts about it. but but man it's just i never found it to be super productive to just react and think about it from

your own perspective um it it's you should be you should be very selfish for you and your team and how it affects you um but i think through our conversation today we're going to try to put ourselves a little bit in other people's shoes and and draw what our opinion might be from it. I think that's the best way to possibly do this, right? I'm sure we will have a large audience tuning in to hear where we go with this. So I guess we probably should just jump in it, Trav, right? Yeah, let's not keep them waiting. Okay, all right.

I appreciate you not going anger on your interviews, though. And I wanted that. You're saving it? Yeah, I wanted it here. So thank you for saving that. You should thank Tyler Overstreet for that. He said, say what you want to say, but save most of it for tomorrow. Yeah.

So thank you. So Tyler, Tyler's listening in right there on the Zoom. Those you who don't know, I do have, I do somewhat have bumper guards. each episode. I mean, we might take out one percent, to be honest. Less than one percent? I mean, if we edited one percent, you probably wouldn't have lost $50,000 last year. That's true.

That's true. I don't know. I mean, what do you all want to know? Let's start with the restart. You're coming in third. Let's start there. What's going through your mind? Like, let's go there.

It was too much of a gap to make a, legitimate racing move. But when I saw the three not decelerate, you know, I mean, just, he just kept going. He obviously was not going to make the corner in a reasonable fashion. I thought my eyes got really big

because I knew that he carried so much speed in, regardless of whether he made contact with the 22 or not, he was going to have such a bad run off i had a legit shot to get around him so my eyes got big and then when i saw actually that he was going to get to the 22 which was i mean we're talking split seconds here this is really really quick um and i start to see the 22 turn sideways i'm like oh this is it finally i'm going to get one like the other way you know i'm going to get one I probably didn't deserve. But, yeah, the track clears, and I come off the corner just the same as I always have

because I think the three is up in the smoke up there. And next thing you know, I mean, my car turns dead right into the fence and just crushes, crushes me, crushes the car. And I see these, you know, I see the checkered and we're not the first to get there. So it was a crazy set of events, like your emotions peak. You know, it's like, ah, we're not going to win. Oh my God, we are? No, we're not.

Like that quick, right? And so that's, that was what was crazy from my standpoint. and kind of the emotions I had over a three-second span. What does the SMT data show? Because people who watch this replay will say, well, the 11 car came up the track, and that's why he ended up in the wall. Is the three-car, you came across three-car's nose.

What is SMT data show? Well, that's not true. The three-car turned 70 degrees to the left. You know, like a normal corner is when he turned the wheel to about 30 to, 35 degrees. So double the amounts or whatever you make to make a corner. Let's just say that's 35 degrees of steering wheel angle. You know, he doubled it to, to after, after he got the 22.

And so, yeah, the natural movement is to go from the bottom of the racetrack. You don't, you don't just follow the yellow line down the straightway. Right. So you come off the corner, you drive up to the wall. I was making a normal corner exit. And you can see it. Usually you can see these things by the cars that are behind. And when Austin starts, you know, the people that were coming off the corner behind me, the 45 and someone else, you can then see him cross into our lane to get us in the right rear.

What were you thinking in the moment? Yeah. What's your initial reaction? My initial reaction is that he must have ricocheted off the 22 into me. like I didn't I had no idea it was just like a deliberate I'm going left you know oh you're going to win no you're not like I didn't know it was that until I watched it you know because I can't see it because all I see is literally the checker flag straight ahead clear racetrack and when you know when you get right rear trust me I have enough experience at this now you never really see

it coming so now that you have seen it and heard everyone talk about it. What is your reaction to the situation? This is not, there's an ethics problem here. Like this is, you're, this, if you think stuff like that is okay, this is hurting the sport long term. And that's, in my opinion, the turn that our sport has taken over the last decade. And, and I, you know, Mike Ford, I'm leaving the NASCAR holler and he's like, to any of your comments I'm like what he says

about you know are sports not going to get taken seriously I'm like I stand by that like at some point you are the sanction of body you are the big boys in the room you have to make tough call sometime

let me ask a question if this is not over the line and I think Jeff said what is over the line but where is the line you have to figure out where is the line first Like is what the three did to the 22 over the line. If he does. Yes. Yes.

He did not try to make a corner. He just drove until he wrecked him. Right. He kept going until he wrecked him. But how do you, like how do you define that going forward? How do you, you know, you know, like to me that just seems like such a black, a gray area. Let me read this. Let me, okay.

It's a gray area. Well, I have the rules right here. Okay. Right. General. scope of penalties, the NASCAR deterrent system. Okay? NASCAR may issue penalties as it deems fit to provide for the orderly conduct of the sport.

Orderly conduct of the sport. Such determinations may be made by NASCAR before, during, or after an event, and may consider, and this is highlighted, to the extent deemed reasonable by NASCAR in the interest of racing competition and fairness. Any modifications caused are required as a result of damaged caused by in-race incidences. This is a subject in the, it's called a deterrent system. It is to keep us within parameters of not getting out of control on the racetrack. And if this is okay, if NASCAR is saying right now, hold on, they said yesterday,

they didn't say it, but I'm, saying if they didn't rule on it yesterday, if they don't rule on today, they don't rule on it tomorrow, tell me then what is unacceptable? Just crashing someone under caution? Are you saying that you can do whatever you want on the racetrack and it will be no penalty whatsoever? Like, that, how can you ever take us seriously? And as a car owner, I spend tens of millions of dollars to make sure our cars are fast, my drivers have an equal opportunity to go out in race. However, if you're telling me that anyone can go out there

and just wipe us out intentionally, that's not the sport I invested in. So I have a problem with that. Were you excited, eager, just curious to how the fans were going to treat you when you got out of the car? it was really good to start i felt like there was a lot of cheers on the initial Travis is not and said like the initial

ovation was cheers and i was like heck yeah all right we're making it's new 2024 hey it's a new year and then as i started talking it got oh here again it started it started as you open your mouth right i know it's understandable um it just it got a little worse and i didn't i didn't say anything to incite them. I was just talking about the race or something like that or just thankful to my team or sponsors or something like that. And then I think it just happens to where it just takes a little group to boo kind of loudly. And then the other's like, hell yeah,

we're getting in on that too. And then it just gets, it just builds, right? So it's either that or I'm like, was there a fight on the screen that I didn't see? You know, was, what are they doing? And I'm like, wait a minute, they had a change of heart. In 20 seconds, they had to change your heart on me. And so, you know, I gave them the, you know, beat your favorite drivers again and whatnot. Which, breaking news, you know, I always say that at least once in every podcast. I'm going to have to retire it. I'm going to retire the, I beat all your favorite drivers because I got a text.

and those of you saw the Netflix special with my dad. He sent me a text. He says, son, you got to stop that. He said, son, you got to stop that. I don't like it. It's just too cocky, blah, blah, blah. And I'm going to listen to Dad on this one. So we're going to retire it.

That's the last time. I think, you know, jokes are always funnier the first time you say it, not the second or third or whatever anyway. So we'll come up with something new. next time around, but I beat your favorite driver, all of them, is officially going to go down on the history books. It's done. When did you know that you were going to, because you pulled Jamie?

When did it just click? I was fine. I thought I was me and the fans. We were tight. There was cheers and I was feeling them, the vibes and everything. And then all of a sudden, she starts wrapping it up, the interview. And then I just hear this, it was like a tsunami of booze. Like it just, it started just coming and it just kept getting louder.

And I'm like, oh, might need to remind these folks one more time. I got one dear Denny for you this week. Do cup teams usually have unused sets of tires left at the end of a weekend? And if so, should NASCAR reduce the tire allotment? The limited sets in trucks and Xfinity are a major storyline most weeks. Yet this doesn't seem talked about as much in cup. Um, should they limit the amount of tires? I would say no, because I, I don't know that you want it to be, to, you know, that be the differentiator. I'm more of a, I'm more of a fan of actually having different compounds. Um, and letting the teams figure out when they want to run them. Um, listen, we got to get one good compound first before we start diving into multiple. But, uh, interesting fact. And I had to, had to call a phone a friend on this one, give credit to Chris Gavehart on it. I didn't, you know, as a team owner, I,

we always kind of look at costs and everything. And so he gave me a staggering, staggering fact that I did not, I did not know. So when you say, say we go to Texas this weekend, they give us eight sets of tires. If we use six, we don't get a rebate on those two. Now, I knew all this, but I'll get to the staggering fact. So we do not get reimbursed for those tires. You can use them if we take that tire to another track. So for instance, the Texas tire is the same as the Kansas tire. So we could, if we have a leftover set, you know, $2,400 a piece or whatever they might be, We can't just turn them back into Goodyear and get a refund.

They tell us you're buying these sets of tires, and they're yours now, and you can do whatever you want with them. So at the end of the day, what we do is we have an extra set. We will put them back at Champion, and they will take them to, they'll put them in inventory. And so if we go to Kansas, say, let's say we go to Kansas next weekend, or, you know, You know, we likely would tap into that extra set and say, okay, we're going to practice on those tires. But if Kansas is three, four months down the road, we're not going to want old date coats. We're not going to want older tires because they do, they age.

Rubber ages and it changes compounds and it, it's funny when you get older tires. It's just you don't, that can really mess up a car. So it just goes to waste. and you know sometimes you can work with some back marker cars and sell them to them to try to reimburse some of your costs back but jared do you know how much jrg r had entire extra tire inventory in the first year of next gen 2022 how many how much money worth of tires was spent and never ran. Do you want me to make an educated guess because I know the answer?

I know. You're supposed to act like you don't know the answer. Oh, I don't know. $100,000? No, you were wrong. Nearly $1 million. Nearly $1 million worth of tires that JGR, the team spent on tires that it never ran.

That is incredible. So a quarter of a million per car. Yes, sir. So we keep talking about cutting costs, cutting costs, cutting cost. How about we just get a refund for the tires we don't use? Like, Kim, they go back in the recycling bin, good year. Please take them back. It's just wasted money.

And holy I didn't realize the number was that high. But man, we got something new. We need to start advocating for. and that is allowing us to return our tires we don't use. Put them back in the mixer at Goodyear and remake the tire for later down the road or something. But holy shit, as much money as we spent on tires, a million dollars worth of unused tires.

Holy crap, talking about helping the race teams. Help us there. Because that is a waste. I think you were stunned when he said it because you had him repeat it, right? You couldn't believe that number. I couldn't believe it. but he says in 2022, first year of next gen,

that was how much they had in unused inventory in one year. So that's pretty crazy. So yeah, it's on you. When you buy them, they don't, you know, they don't care whether you use them or not. They've got the purchase and you have to figure out how to either use them yourself in a future race or race weekend, which never happens because you don't, if it's two or three months down the road.

Before we use that compound again, we're not going to use them. They're just too old. They're going to be slower. Or you have to sell them to a team in the back that really doesn't care about speed that much. Right. But you're kind of forced to buy these. You can't just. Yeah.

Oh, you have to buy it. Someone can listen to this podcast and be like, well, how about you just buy less tires? Well, okay, within 20 laps to go and we need a pit for tires if we don't have any. Like that's just, yeah, that's not an option, folks. Sorry, everyone buys the maximum set. Now, why don't? Why don't they? So I was under the impression, actually, that Goodyear brought all the tires to the track every weekend,

which is why those Goodyear trucks are there filled with tires. They bring the tires to the track every weekend, and then they distribute the tires to the team. So if on the Texas weekend, each team gets nine sets of tires, they distribute those nine sets of tires to the team, and then they charge them for whatever the cost is of those nine sets. 2400% and then if all the teams only use eight sets, then they would just take back those set of tires and... That seems logical, Jared, but that's... It's a great business strategy for good year.

No doubt. You buy it, but you didn't use it. Yeah, I mean, when you think about that's for one team, $250,000. Now, not every, not every team has that much unused inventory, but let's just say it's 200 grand times 36 teams. Is that $5 million? And we haven't wasted money. We haven't had a guest on this year. And Travis has asked a couple times in the chat in our group techs, you know, who Denny would like to have on.

I think we need to have a good year representative on. These are just general questions I'm curious of. Like why don't they sell these tires to the teams? Because they can make money, Jeremy. I mean, I get it, but again, it just seems like everyone's trying to make money. I don't know. It doesn't seem like this is fair. We're progressing the sport forward if everyone's trying to one up each other.

I don't know. No, I mean, it's a point for sure. I mean, we're we keep cutting this, cutting that, cutting this, cutting that. But that is, that is wasteful money for sure. and it seems like there should be a better solution than just saying you're you know you didn't use it and you're stuck with those tires sorry you figure out how to get rid of them how much would that $250,000 per car make a difference at the end of the year on your team's budget we'd have $250,000 more that we wouldn't lose so I'd save $125,000 of my money I don't know what to say yet uh yeah it's It every little bit helps. I mean...

Could be spent on bonuses for employees, improvements in the shop, all sorts of... I mean, lots of things. How would you invest it in the sport? That's what they want to know. It's not a hard task, for sure. It certainly... Does it cost more money?

The engine bills are the same... I've been saying this forever. We all are racing as hard as we can to win just because the wins mean a lot to us personally, right? And, you know, if you can get the benefit of making it to the next round or things like that, that's just an added bonus, right? I'm after wins.

And my disappointment was from not winning the race. And the whole championship thing that is just a sidebar and a side effect of not winning. But I've seen you not win races before. Yeah, but not after leading with two to go. Like, you know, I'm in control of the race. Like, you got to finish it at that point. And, you know, I, spending, you know, a little bit of today just kind of looking through what I need to look through. And I haven't yet of like, what could I have done different?

You know, the one corner I see that I let the 12 get beside me, not let, but he did, is he just cut the bottom of one and two better than I could. And I ended up sliding up the racetrack, trying to keep my momentum. and that between the distance and him being able, he was extremely good on the bottom all day long, so you've got to give them credit. That was the key moment. Is coming off and not clearing him off the turn two was just, that was it for us.

Is that the additional perspective you gain now that you're 16 hours removed from this race versus right out of the car? Yeah, I try to think, and I did watch back the last restart and everything in the last eight laps to kind of see. you know, where did I give up time here in position? And again, I didn't go through it on SMT quite yet. But I'm just looking at it on TV and it's like, yeah, I just didn't run the bottom as good as what the 12 could. He just was better than me running the bottom. He could, when he got to the bottom and he hit the gas, the thing kept going, left. And it's like I just couldn't hold it down there. And if I did, I was going to have.

have to slow up too much and then I'd risk letting them get beside me in the middle of the corner and so I don't know there's surely something that I could have done different certainly you know being a good defender is not not I'm not super high on that list so need to get better there so I don't know it's just you're you're full of what is today when you say you couldn't run the bottom as well as the 12 is that are you referring to you know driver skill blaney's just better at that line than me the car at the time blaney can make more grip down there that i can like what plays into yeah a lot of it plays into you try to run the fastest line that you can for what you have for a race car and um you know i i had not been able to really get down there especially in turn

one and two all the way on the bottom as as as much as but the 12 and even for had done on previous restarts. If I tried to go down there, it just would be so tight. I just would plow off the corner and then I'd lose a lot of momentum. So I tried to keep my car wound up as much as I could, which is keeping my middle speed up high, keeping low brake and just keep the men speed rolling as quick as I can. But what that puts you at risk on the short run is then getting slid by someone who comes in low.

and so I was really vulnerable throughout the day on restarts by cars that were making time on the bottom and I just was not able to make it. I tried it in three and four quite a few times and when I did I come off the corner, wheel cut to the left and just checking up on exit and then you get sworn by three cars pretty quickly. I think that the move for him was making the same move that the 12 made on me the previous lap and one and two. The 12 ran the line, and that's how he got beside me, coming on two to go. Well, with one to go, I'm right behind the 12. We go into one.

The 12 wants to hedge to lower to keep me from going in there and sliding him, or at least getting to his bumper. So at that point, I know the 12 is going to go low. So I try to make all the speed I can on the top. Not very well. I get to the center. I try to crank the wheel. It's just not working.

But then the 45s hooks the line. And when he hooks the line, he did exactly what the 12 did the lap before and made huge ground and huge speed. Cleared me and actually gained on the 12. And so I think at that point, I think he was as amazed as any of us that the 12 gave him the very top line.

And he just shipped it in there and it stuck. Why does it look like when Reddick enters three and you're behind him that he takes off and you hit the brakes. Why? Yeah. So at that point, I'm running third, right? I see them fan out. So I see that 12 is going to be one lane off.

I know the 45 is going to the top. At that point, I'm starting to enter the corner. Homestead is a track where you can't just, you don't have a lot of grip in the racetrack. It is low, low grip. So I slow down my entry because I'm like, these guys are going to get together, and I need to be able to turn left to avoid it.

So I slowed down to keep from, keep an ability for me to maneuver when these two get together because I was very surprised they didn't come off the corner side-by-side door banging. But the 45 just had so much speed. He ripped the door numbers off the 12. So could the 12 have just slid up and took away that line last minute? He could, but he was racing unfair, right?

He didn't, the 45 didn't do anything. to, you know, garnish getting shoved in the fence. But, I mean, hey, we're all going for the win, and you never know what can happen. And I think the 12 race them as absolute fair as he could. And certainly, it's almost two, the 45 got there so quickly, it would have been too late to try to shut that off. So I think the 12 was just content on, let me try to run the best speed I can in the lane that I've chosen. Here's our special guest for those listening. They didn't bring home a trophy this week.

I did not. But he did bring home a puppy. Yeah, this is a... Well, we named it Lulu. I didn't realize, too, that was my mom's nickname when she was growing up. And my mom had a shirt on. She came over last night when we landed to check the puppy out. And she had a shirt on, said, The Lulu's.

The loose. So she was, I guess we just found out. She doesn't have a chip in her. She's six to seven weeks. So she is. So she is very, very young. But they found her. The park rangers found her by the river.

Yeah. Can we rewind here to Saturday afternoon? Oh, is she Saturday afternoon. Taylor loves telling the story. If you haven't, I don't know if you realize. Okay, so basically what happened was, you can find out on my mom's story too, but basically what happened was we got off, we went to the arch, right? And we were going in the arch. It was like six or seven or something like.

You ever heard Austin Payton tell a story? It's going to be very similar. So basically, then we're on the arch and there's this movie that you can watch. No one was in line, which is really sad because it was a great movie actually. And it was like telling you how they built the arch, right? And so dad says, dad's like, I want to go home. I'm tired. And I'm like, well, he has the race or whatever.

So I was like. So I ubered back to the track. And he had to walk. I got dropped off right outside the Luda concert by the way and had to walk all the way around the racetrack to get back in. Oh, and it was raining. It was, it was not good. And basically then where mom's like, I don't want for something. Dad was like, why do you want to stay?

It's like, it was 35 minutes. Land the plane. It was like, no reason. So basically, mom was like, I just, I don't know why. I just want to stay. So then after the movie is over, we're like, yay, that was a pretty good movie. So we come out, we take a picture at the very, like, at the very middle of the arch. And there's this park ranger, like, so pretty, like, she's such a pretty, like, ranger.

And my mom's, like, she's so sweet. And there's this dog walking a puppy. I mean, she's scared. Okay, so basically, she's, there's this dog, well, the puppy, and she's letting, like, them play in the, him, playing, her playing the grass. Sorry, I said her a lot.

So then we take the picture, and I'm like, Megan's, our babysitter says, hey, do you want to, like, play with, do you, what about we, like, what if we could pet her? And Megan was like, I don't think so. I was like, what, can we pet her? And she was like, Megan was like, I don't think so. She's probably in training.

And so basically, she goes, I'm getting to it. So basically, where the ranger hears us and she says, oh, no, you can hold her. Like, she's so sweet. And I was like, actually, she's like, yeah, she's not mine. And I'm like, actually? And she was like, yeah. And so I was so excited. I got to hold her.

And they were like, she was like, yeah, I was going to take her to the pound. and she did not want to take her the pound, you could tell. But she, like, it was part of her job, too. So, because she was literally just a stray. She had no caller, no nothing. So we were like, okay. And so she was like, wait. She was like, can we kind of keep her?

And she was like, yeah, do you guys want to keep her? And I was like, sure. And so we called my dad, and he was like, I don't care. So you volunteered to take her from the Ranger then? She didn't just hand them to y'all. Well, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes Today So anyway There's this young puppy here And we got to figure out what to do with it I mean keep it's the answer No we already have it Why wouldn't you keep the dog Danny?

Huh? Why wouldn't you keep the dog I mean look Because this is a short-term happiness And a long-term pain in the ass It could help teach Taylor responsibility And like They're not going to do it

they're gonna they don't even pick up after themselves they're not gonna take care of this dog i mean look at this dog you want to say goodbye to this cute dog i don't all puppies are cute so myla doesn't doesn't need a friend milo they played quite they played quite quite well so now gonna lose a friend too oh you even put mylo react to his little sister little sister so you're already i didn't write that i didn't agree that i didn't didn't write that. All right, well, let's, so we're going to figure out what to do. So, I don't know. We'll figure something out for sure, but it's, let's go. All right. Thank you. Thanks for show and tell. I know. Bye-bye.

Nevertheless, this was a very unique victory lane. Tyler Reddick wins the race in the Jordan brand car. Michael Jordan is at the race. And then his first trip to victory lane since he's owned the team with you yeah such a again my my emotions went from wanting to get the hell out of there to you know suddenly being happy and excited i still find myself hard because i'm such a tough competitor getting away from the emotion of damn my day just sucked um oddly enough when my cars have won i usually have a i've had a pretty good day myself. Usually I'm in the top five or battling for the win as well. And so it's not a complete loss. But today was like, oh my God, we finished like last. I left there with no points. And then all of

a sudden, my brain has to shift to, oh, well, I need to be excited now. And so when I, and I, and I was, but I really was once I got two victory lane, right? When you see how exciting all the crew guys were, the team members were, you know, Michael, how excited he was. It's a big deal, man. You can't downplay it in any kind of way. I'm sure they've got, you know, Michael highlights going all over the damn place on social media. Certainly, Jared, you've got the great photo op of us, you know, kind of embracing there in Victory Lane. And so it was this first time that he got to experience that.

Is he no longer bad luck then? He's no longer bad luck, that's for sure. We had some good fortune today. But yeah, you know, we actually watched on the plane, right? Like when he was behind the pit box, I think the front stretch had a video of it. Like, that was, I don't, have we seen a team that excited in quite some time? Like, it's been a minute, right, since the team has been that jacked up. you would have thought it was like to clinch to race in phoenix for the championship or something

like they even one of i forget who said it like this felt like a championship celebration yeah it did and even in victory lane like i don't know maybe at the 11 team we're just take for granted that we win pretty often so i don't know that the 45 team they were they were celebrating like crazy um but it's it's just it's so different and so i go in there and I'm like, I'm trying to be respectful. You know, this is Tyler's spotlight. Let's let him do his thing. And me and Michael will stand in the back, take a few photos.

And then I had it off and did some media stuff as the team owner. But it's just a moment you can't take back. I mean, it's Bo Reddick. I mean, can you imagine? He has no idea, right? Zero. The goats holding him. He's just like.

And he's holding him like the Lion King. Like it's just awesome. He's going to have that moment forever, forever. And it's just, I'm so happy for Tyler and Alexa and Bo and their whole family, the whole Reddick family, Clarence, his dad. It's, yeah, it's great. It's great for them and great for that 45 team. They'll certainly celebrate this one for a while.

I think they're actually celebrating it right now. They're certainly getting close to starting if they have a lot. already. But what is it like for you as someone who, you know, grew up watching Michael Jordan win everything and anything he could possibly win in the NBA, his basketball career, you know, everyone knows about Michael Jordan and what he's won. But then he comes to a racetrack and he celebrates the way he did after winning just one of 38 races. It's just another race. Not to him. He's a competitor. And I appreciated what he said to Jamie Little. there that starting this NASCAR team really it filled the void of competitiveness that he had when he was

playing right and so the only difference is he doesn't control he doesn't have control now we do have controls over how we choose to run the team and personnel that we hire and things like that but it's you are a bit helpless when it comes down to a green white checker or 30 lapsica or whatever and I'm sitting there on the sidelines and I'm of course and like, Tyler do this, Tyler do that, you know, like, and you feel helpless. But like when they do it, you just feel so proud because you know you've got a hand in in all of it. So, yeah, certainly a big win for 2311.

And that whole team is great to see Bubba there celebrating with him as well, congratulating them. It's just there's nothing bad that happens from wins like this. What does MJ bring to the team that maybe another owner can't bring to the, you know, team because of his, you know, greatness in being a professional athlete. Oh, man, I can't, I can't quantify it, but he's the most popular athlete in the world. I mean, is there a more popular athlete in the world? LeBron?

Living? Oh, my God. I had to say it. I had to. Oh, my God. Jared. I need a new co-host immediately. Get this guy out of it.

I mean, even Bubba said pre-race that. MJ said, I forget when this happened, there was some complaining and MJ said like it's self-reflection and you can't, you know, this complaining stuff has to stop. Yes, there was a little of that happening. I think it was end of last year for sure. You know, he, it was during the playoffs and Michael likes to be involved. He certainly is advised in a very, educated way through his folks, but he, he likes to be involved and he likes to ask questions.

He likes to learn the sport. I mean, even in Victory Lane, he was asking questions about, well, the strategy, should we have done that? You know, I'm like, yeah, it was going to work out until it didn't, but actually it did work out. So it's hard to say what he brings other than the affiliation of being with the greatest athlete in the world. He's obviously got some business relationships as well that he brings to the table.

You know, one thing I definitely love about him is that, you know, any ask, you know, and I try not to ask him to do too much, but, you know, he understands when I do ask him to do something that it's important. And he can turn it on at the right time with the right people. he's always curious when we do have VIP meet and greets. He wants to know their names. You know, who are they with? What's their, you know, affiliation?

What's their job? Like, he cares. And so to have someone that really cares about the people that invest in him and his race team, it certainly goes a long way. Yeah, I think Ryan McGee tweet afterwards, he's seen a lot of people coming to the sport as owners or whatever and, you know, it doesn't work and they quickly get out. and MJ has been the opposite.

He's continuing to grow and wants to be at these races, and he's not just an owner and name only. Absolutely not. He is not an absentee owner for sure. He cares about this. He is a race fan first. I'm very, very grateful that we struck up the friendship that we did 14 years ago and what it has grown into has just been amazing.

I find myself pinching myself. at times that not only is things going well on the track for me in my career, but to be also affiliated and have the partners that we have with Toyota and Michael Jordan and all the sponsors that are on 2311, it's just surreal to me because it's, it's, I'd never envisioned my life would have ended up this way. And so I just, it's hard to put it into words for sure.