Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin - Nashville, I'm Sorry, DILFs & William Byron

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

William Byron finally joins Denny Hamlin and Jared after winning the Bracket Challenge. Byron talks about how fun the bracket was and paying attention to the driver he was going against each week. The guys then get into Josh Berry signing with SHR to drive the 4 car next year. What it's like replacing a legend. Reaction to the race in Nashville that saw a 3-wide re-start, a nasty accident for Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain finally getting in victory lane. What to expect next week as NASCAR heads to Chicago. Plus, William and Denny chat about the incident they had last year in Texas Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Let's hash it out from Texas, 2022 playoff race. When I got to you under caution, I definitely meant to send a message. But when you went spinning through the infield, I was like, oh, The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. What's up, guys? Welcome to Actions Detramental with our very special guest, William Byron, and my co-host, Mr. Jared D. Allen. Jared, I saw you doing pictures and autographs.

Two yesterday. The first one was kind of a trap, though, because you had that Q&A, and of course, they ask about the podcast, right? And then you point me out, and then everyone goes wild. And then I was walking to the side stage, and someone asked, you know, can you sign this? I was like, you really want me to destroy your hat for you? They were like, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I said, all right, well, after when Denny comes over here to sign, and then I forgot you had another appearance, so you didn't come over to sign. And as I was walking away, I couldn't, I couldn't just blow it.

Well, someone, so one came rushing to my card after that Q&A and says, hey, should I go embarrass Jared and ask to take a picture with them? I said, absolutely. That'll work. That'll do it. Popular. Yeah. And popular.

What about a week off? What'd y'all do? Yeah, I went to Nantucket, like up there, Rhode Island. So it was fun. It was kind of chilly, like 60s, 70s, but it was nice to get away and be on the a little bit how about you I went on a van life backpacking road trip Utah did some climbing some mountain biking lived out of the back of a car nice it's a lot of fun that's cool it looks fun it was the night's cold they were like 55 60 they weren't too

okay so that's yeah sleeping well yeah yeah if you were sleeping in a tent it was it was perfect just needed one blanket and and you were good to go so is this the first time you went climbing like and on a significant yes mountain yeah like I've done I've done some outdoor climbing here in North Carolina but it just doesn't really compare to out west or at least the what we were doing out there I don't I don't think it really compares that's that's a whole other level yeah yeah well I took the kiddos to the beach I had fun with them you know I I always like every day is vacation for those guys during the summer. Yeah.

Between that and here at the house, if they're bored, then we got issues. So they had a really good time. I had a good time. Taking a little break. Now we're on the home stretch, 20 races to go to the end of the season. So time to get going for sure. We have William Byron here because he is our winner of our bracket challenge. And thank you, William.

I told you it was very important for me, for you to win this because you helped me win my golf guys pool. It's good. I backdoor covered these guys. I was in middle of the pack the whole time, and then I was the only one that had you winning the whole thing. Cool. And anyone who would listen, you know, early on, I've been very high on you all year talking about, you know, my final four. I just think this was going to be a breakout year for William. So cool to have you on.

And yeah, just talking about kind of the race this weekend. So with the bracket challenge, obviously, you know, you leaned into it a little bit. And you started an own thing in the Kokee series, right? Yeah, with Logitech. With the I-Racing series. Yeah. So we're doing a bracket there as well. So, I mean, it would be cool.

Those guys are competitive and it'll be nice to see those little battles. But, yeah, it was, I enjoyed it. I thought I listened to you guys, you know, not every show, but some. And I saw the bracket come out. And I was like, man, this is the way we're running. I think this is a great opportunity to make some moves. So it was cool. Like not every matchup I looked at, but certainly the Reddick won at Darlington. He lined up in front of me on the second last restart. Oh, really? Yeah. And he went in that big wreck and like literally just like, like he got hooked right. And I was like, oh, okay, here we go. So you knew that you were up against Reddick. Yeah. So all that.

Yeah, that one I did, because I thought that one was tough. I mean, he's good at Darlington, and I thought we'd be running right around each other. So, so yeah, it was, it was cool. I got wiped, I got cleaned out in the Bowman Berry team, as we called in the Roveman Berry team. Dynamic duo. Which William beat. Yeah, they beat me, right, at the Coke 600 when I finished it last. But, yeah, it was just, you know, this, this weekend,

was cool at Nashville. Obviously, always a good vibe there. He had a sell out crowd again. Wait, hold up. Before we move on from the bracket, I was just curious of like, as a whole, since you won this, right, what would, if the prize was $3 million,

if NASCAR eventually take this over, like, what would I do? When you won, like, were you thinking about like, man, this would have been a big payday if this was really. Yeah, it would have been really cool. if there's some money on the line. But I think, yeah, one year too soon maybe.

But I feel like it's a really good idea because I think there's, there is that kind of summer lull with NASCAR that, you know, people either tune in or they're on the, you know, on the lake or doing whatever. So I feel like it's nice to have those battles. I know my high school buddies, like they loved watching it. They were tuned in. So they're somewhat betters themselves. So they like to look at those matchups and kind of figure out which tracks better for each guy.

Yeah. So you had people. and you're about the bracket. Like, hey, I need you to. Yeah, a couple guys for sure. And my crew chief at the end, he was like, all right, let's make sure we lock this thing up here. Well, I mean, you kind of took what should have been. I mean, not should have been.

You know, Brad in the final at Sonoma. Next thing you know, you guys are qualifying 24th and 26 or something like that. It was just like, what are they doing back there? And at the end of the race, we talked about it, that they were 14th and 16th. I was like, I can't give up a spot. I was in the infield care center, by the way, getting my vitals checked, and I'm watching the monitor, and I'm looking to see where's the story. Well, where's my cars, first of all?

Okay, I see Tyler Redick going the wrong way on the racetrack, so I know he's not going to win. And then I check out the William Byron and Brad Kozalski battle. I'm like, oh, they're only within a second of each other. I'm like, Brad's trying to chase him down so hard. I know it. But yeah. Appreciate you guys agreeing to come on.

It started by, by the way, Dale Jr. owes you some sun drop apparently. Oh, yeah, that's right. So we're going to have to make sure he pays up on that. It was funny because Brad tweeted. Brad started this, right? He said, I'll come on if I win. Yep.

And then you were like, I'll be there. Yeah. Well, I was like, I was in the Sim and I'm reading that as I'm between runs. And I'm like, okay. This is a deal. So, yeah, it was good. Speaking of the Sim, like, you feel ready for Chicago? Not at all.

I haven't done any. I haven't done any. I looked at, I actually, I got my iraicing guys to send me a video of just a lap. But, I mean, I haven't done much. We ran that ir racing race, and I was actually terrible. I mean, Ty Gibbs was actually really good that week. But we'll see. I don't know.

I think it's going to be tough. Yeah, I think that's super helpful. We, as you know, I mean, we hired Kigalahi over at 2311 to be our driver. driver coach and he's he was super helpful i think he helped uh read it quite a bit at the uh at coda yeah um he worked with me at sonoma um so yeah those guys i mean they're just they're really really good at what they do and they know how you know to optimize the line and and whatnot and so um yeah it's on any given week will you in the simulator will you be in the sim every week or is it just kind of depend on the racetrack where you feel like you need to get better yeah it depends on the

racetrack. I think honestly, I'm kind of labeled as the sim guy, but I don't do a lot during the season just because I'm racing so often. I more so racing the late models that I do on the off time. So I think honestly doing that and just doing the Chevy Sim, you know, going to the Chevy Sim, doing a little value racing here and there depending on the racetrack. Yeah, it's what got you into doing the light model stuff? Honestly, just trying to get better. I think honestly I was like that was a period in my career I didn't spend a lot of time in. And so I felt like I was like in and out real quick. And I felt like if I went back, I could learn some stuff about tire management, kind of figure out what I could get better at with that. So I think it's expensive. I wish it was

more cost appropriate. But I agree with that. Yeah, it's tough. It's hard on the short track guys, man. Yeah. Holy cow. Yeah, the equipment's, I mean, it's just you're replacing, you know, break rotors every, every race to be competitive. So it's, it's tough. But I think, yeah, I just thought it could make me a little bit better. And I think it has. I think it's got me some more track time. I was really green when I got in the Cup Series. So I feel like it's helped me get kind of break that barrier with how many little races I have. So for the people who don't know, like, what was your, what is your timeline? And I don't even know really exactly of like, what was your timeline of wanting to be a race car driver to making it to the Cup series? Yeah. I mean, I was always watching as a fan when I was really

young. I wasn't, I mean, my family didn't. They weren't in racing at all. So I was just turning on the TV watching truck races, watching Xfinity. Like I would come home. Like I was a homer. And so I was pretty introverted as a kid and I would come home and watch the truck races at night and fall asleep and then watch Xfinity and Cup. I collected the die cast like 124 scale cars and I had like a Sterling Marlin car at first. And just it went into like, you know, collecting those and then watching on TV and then I mean obviously eventually I got into a real car but it was more so the eye racing that kind of like I heard a lot of like cup drivers talking about irasing and that's really for me as a fan I'm like what's the next step like how can I get more involved and I feel like that wasn't that

long ago yeah it wasn't I was like 11 12 years I was 12 years old so um and then I got in a car at 15 so yeah I mean it was it's a short you know bad But, yeah. When did your parents get invested into this journey if they were following NASCAR? I think they're more invested now than ever. Like they're so into it now. Like at the start of your career. Like how do you tell them, hey, I want to race if they're not naturally.

Yeah. Well, it started, my dad and I would go to races. So we'd go to Martinsville. We'd go to five or six a year. So we'd go to Martinsville one in the spring because it just worked out. You know, it was maybe a holiday. And then we'd go to Charlotte. We'd go to All-Star and the 600.

then we go to Darlington. Darlington was actually before that, so we'd go to like three in a row because they were all close. And then I'd say five or six, Bristol, but really just spend a lot of time in the car with him talking racing. And I mean, I think he just realized how dedicated I was to it. And when they would come home from work

and see me eye racing every day. And then I started winning races and they see how my racecraft was. They're like, man, like, if he could ever just get in a car. And so I just kept pushing. to go to the racetrack. And eventually, like with U.S. Legends being in Charlotte or Concord, I was able to go up there to their shop and watch some of the races and eventually did their driving school, which sounds crazy. But I went in there like little driving school and did that.

So you've been doing real life race car driving for 10 years? Is that right? 10 years, yep. Yeah. That's amazing. Half of my cup career. Yeah. Holy cow. He's got three wins. I'm aware, Jared. Thank you. Yeah, it's a crazy journey, and it's crazy about, like, how much, you know, commitment it takes. My parents were the same way. I mean, my mom was into it, but until they had, like, a powder puff race at the dirt track in a million motor raceway that I used to race at, until she got in a go-cart and ran the mom's race, like, at that point on, she was hooked to, you know, being my supporter and showing up and supporting all my race.

racing. My dad always, you know, he would, you know, it was a combination of him and my mom on the financial side, you know, had very regular jobs and tried to keep it going. Yeah. But, you know, I was, I was going to be content, you know, working at my dad's trailer shop. I, you know, I like that job. I was, or I was going to be content being just the local Southside Speedway, local hero. Like, I wanted to be the guy that when he get to the short track, like, everyone grabs their stopwatch to see, like, what times he's running, you know? And just, everything happened so quickly. I went from late models to cup in 18 months. So it was just really, really quick. And it's great to see that like, you know, your talents and you win, you make it to the next

level, right? And Josh Berry this week is another guy that, you know, is getting, getting to cup on, on his merits and his accomplishment. So it's really cool to see. Josh is a great dude. I didn't get to race against him that much. I don't know if you've raced against him much in the short track ranks? I did. He was my teammate. Yeah, he kind of, so I was at JRM, so he kind of showed me the ropes and late models. So I did, I did spend a lot of time with him.

Yeah. He's, I mean, he, in the short track ranks, he was just really known as the guy, like the tire saving guy. He could really make his car last a long time. I tell you, in the Cup series, the only concern I have for Josh is, speed. Like he's gonna have to get a little faster. You know, I think his racecraft is great. I think, you know, he was able to win tracks like Dover pretty early in his career. It's just a matter of the speed. These cup guys have speed. Right. Tense. Right. Tense. You can't, like last night, you can't, like,

that track was no fall off and you're just, boom, boom. You know, they, they asked me after the what do you need? I'm like, I need like, I need like 200s a lot. Like, add all that up and, And I'm there, right? And it's just once we got single filed out, it was you had to be significantly faster. So that thing goes into qualifying and it goes into restarts. And that's the speed aspect that you really have to be good to be in Cup. But I think he's going to do a great job for those guys and happy for Rodney and that whole four team to get a good talent like him. So you're saying he needs to find more speed.

and as the non-N NASCAR driver here or racer. Yep. I'm guessing that's, you know, the information you give your crew chief. Well, somewhat. But it's comfort. He's great at tire management and his racecraft rate, which is something you can get from late models. Like, are you, is the, is there a, I think he can learn speed.

I think he can learn speed because there's more information in cup. There's more data. There's more sim time he's going to get. like even in Xfinity right he never really is P1 in practice or really even the top three he just kind of he just keeps getting faster as the weekend goes on and so I mean that's his style and that was been my style for it was probably my first 10 years of my career the same way but as you start getting more information out there of all right well and I say or to my team I want to be faster how can I be faster than we just work on being quick for five lines

lapse, right? And so I think that he'll have the tools available to him to be to work on that for sure. Was there a challenge for you coming in a cup series replacing such an iconic driver who won a lot similar to what Josh is going to be doing? Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think my situation was different. It was kind of rebranded. Like I had Casey's team and it was rebranded into Jeff or into the 24, but I still had Jeff's like inside and kind of help off the track. So yeah, it was tough. because you're like, man, I just kind of want to learn and be out of the, out of the limelight. Like, I think what they're doing with tie is really good because, you know, he's just being able to race and not really get a lot of it.

You're talking about not being in the 18 car. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, like being kind of in a different, like, rebranded situation. But I think long term, it was awesome. I think I wouldn't, I wouldn't do it different. I just, the first year, I think I was so young and uncomfortable, like, with everything going on. Like, it was just, it was a lot. Like if I wasn't running well, I usually crash because I'm like, 24 can't be running like this.

I can't be running 20th. So it's just, it's a lot of pressure, but you get over it. What do you feel like clicked with you in the last year and a half? Just comfort, I think. Honestly, just kind of getting my team and getting out of my shell a little bit with my race team. Like I was a little bit too nice with just how I went about things, like what I needed in the car and how I needed to have things and what worked for me. I think just being comfortable and same thing on the racetrack, just being a little bit more confident, comfortable with what decisions I make.

It seems like Rudy, too. Like it was right around the same time that he came over as well that you guys were, it just worked. Yeah. Yeah, I think he believes what I say about the car. And I think we can just have that open dialogue of just, hey, this is what I really need. And I think he can go to work and look at the data.

And he's pretty young too. And he's new in his cup career. so he can kind of, he can use all that. And he's very driven. So I feel like we just work really well together. We have similar personalities. Yeah, I think that that's so important within a driver and crew chief combination is the trust, right? Yeah.

You know, they're not second guessing, well, the car would be fine if you drove it this way, right? Like, you just, hey, they know that when you're telling them information on how to make it faster, they're just going to do it. I had that same relationship with Chris Gavehart. Like if he says, hey, I need you to run in reverse for two laps around the racetrack. I'm like, surely there's a reason behind that. So I'm just going to go do it. And so I'm very open to getting better. And still, at my age, I still want to continue to learn to get better because I think the talent is continuing to get better and better.

And it's harder and harder to compete and win. So when you got a crew chief that believes in you and they trust you, you're going to have a great results for sure. Yeah. Well, Nashville, right? Nashville. We had a Carl Edwards siding again. I think he's starting to get warmed up to the thought. That's what I would think, but his

quote he gave Bob didn't sound like he was interested, but the first sentence and the last sentence contradicted the film. I didn't see it, but all I know is my girlfriend, she's like, when she sees Carl around, she's like, man, he's a, what do they call it? gilf. Oh, hey. No, no, but he's, uh, he, I always, I always like Carl. He's a great race car driver. So I had to throw that in there. Oh, man. Yeah. He says, he says he'd love to come back,

but then I don't really want to come back. But it would be a lot of fun. Yeah. But the hits are really hard. So that's why I'm not going to be back. Really? But I won't, but if I come back, I won't be driving. Like, what does that mean? Yeah. You can hire him. He's looking for a job. If he comes back, he won't be driving. You should hire him. You got good cars. He looked it right in. I have talked to Carl.

Early on when we started this race team about doing some one-off stuff. I'd be interested in that for sure. He does some sim work for us. Really? He's done some Chicago stuff for us at JGR. So, yeah, I think. think he's, I mean, I talked to him at that NASCAR 75 celebration and he's, he's itching a little bit, I think. I think he does miss it for sure. So we'll see, we'll see where this goes. I don't

think this story ends anytime soon. I was looking though, I think he's, is he 45 or 46? Travis is on it. He'll let us know. Racing season is underway. New customers download the Draft King Sportsbook. app and use code Denny. Bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets instantly. That's code Denny, only on the Draft King Sportsbook. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. In Massachusetts, call 80032750 or visit Gambling helpline.m.m.org. In New York, call 8778-8-Hope-N-Y or text Hope N.Y or 669. In Kansas, call 1-800-5-22-4-7-100 on behalf of Booth Hill Casino and Resort Kansas. In West Virginia, gambling problem, call 1-800.

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So, you know, just to wrap up the whole JRM thing, too, you know, we definitely need to give props to Dale Jr. and JRM. Ten drivers that have gone through their stable to go to cup. And he mentioned, you know, that he is, he understands his role as an Xfinity owner as a stepping stone to cup like he knows you know listen i i have my front office guys and girls taken just about every year and i mean i i've tried to hire engineer away from a year ago and um i just you know he's like you know that's what my role is in this sport i'm i'm okay with you know being the development into cup you know it's proud for me to see the people you know start here

and they make it to a big race team so um you know it would be great to see him to get in cup. I'd like to see J.R.M. You know, make their way to cup. I know he's trying, sort of. I think he's going to have to pony up a little more than he's wanting to do it. But he'd be a great addition.

And obviously, he's great for the sport. And I only say he's great because he's my boss. Yeah, while we're on this bike. So I thought you were throwing that in there. Yeah. So Nashville, you know, was it an exciting race? I'll tell you, it was an exciting restart. I was right behind you guys.

Oh, yeah. Early on in that race. And I was watching, I was like, look at these guys. There's such gentlemen leaving each other, plenty of room. No one's, you know, everyone's just waiting on, well, the first guy to make a mistake. And then you're battling an out too wide. But I had the same battle with Martin for, gosh, you have five or six laps, we were side by side. I was watching that.

You guys were just driving away. I'm like, all right. This is great. Were you single file? Yeah, I was third. I'm just like, car feels great, guys. Watching on TV,

he's like, those guys are running side by side for two, and they're driving away from the cars behind them. And I kept, we kept yo-yoing, and it's like,

okay, well, how can I stop this yo-o effect? Because clearly he's in the lane that's a little bit preferred, but I just, you know, you can manipulate the guy besides your car so much,

you know, and make him have to lift if he needs to. And finally, I was like, I'm going to go down the straightaway a little bit different here and then complete the pass off a turn two, which it worked. But yeah, it just seems like this car in general, you can really get stalled out that two by two for sure. But then when you get single file, it's like, boy, they better hit traffic.

They better hit traffic or they, you know, some things for sure. Yeah, that three wide battle was fun. I mean, I kind of, I missed turn one. I got in, I got tight. Where were you in this three wide battle? I was in the middle the whole time, yeah. but I had the lead off pit road, which, you know, great pit stop. And then I, yeah, I just got into one, kind of went straight,

True X were at the bottom, and then it was pretty much just a side draft game after that. But I don't know when you're in the middle of three, like you're trying to get a little bit air off him. And then you're like, wait, wait, he's going away. Now I got to get him. So it was fun. But, I mean, I didn't think I was, I don't know. I thought I had one shot into three that I got a run on Ross. I got a good side draft.

And I thought I'd get him, but didn't. So yeah it's just those two were the class of the field when it when he looked to practice too. It was like it was I thought it was pretty obvious that those were the two best cars and um that's why I I left there thinking this is about all we had like we weren't you know a top five car in practice but we made it better but I just thought that they were just I mean milliseconds faster every single lap yeah so it was cool you know the track widened out quite a bit I loved NBC. I told I was giving Steve LaTartre about,

man, you guys are really doing the sales job on, you know, hey, look how wild and crazy. The Xfinity race. You know, I was like, I said, I get it, you know, but we're going to be racing at night. We have shifting. We have less fall off. There's a lot of factors that is a lot different.

Yeah. And so, yeah, it's tough because all the cup guys are so good. They're not going in there and cleaning out. Yeah. There's not those mistakes. There's just not. Watch on Saturday. It's, I mean, there's a lot of exciting racing on Saturday.

And, like, when the grip level's not there, just, just back it down. It was unbelievable to see. I think I started, I went after practice, I went in my bus and I was going to go back to my hotel in Nashville and I thought, well, I'll just watch the first 50 laps. And then, you know, two hours later, it's like, you know, I still got 50 to go. And it's like, wow, man, this is, this is, it was painful to watch on some of the restarts for sure. but it's just you know you got a mix of some experience with just now guy who's been there for a long time and you got a lot of young guys sammy smith and cole custer's coming back so it's just there's a

big mix of talent that's in that series and it honestly makes it compelling yeah most weeks um truck race as well you know i look forward to watching them uh like you said it's just those races you almost don't know what's going to happen and the cup race like you're I feel like it's a little more predictable for sure. It is. I think Xfinity they just, yeah, you can hit it right. Like one guy can hit it right and figure something out. And all of a sudden he's catching the leader.

So it's just you don't have that as much in cup. Yeah. So I thought Nashville was a good race. It certainly has some good restarts and whatnot. It is challenging. Listen, it was challenging 20 years ago when we raced there in Xfinity cars for passing. It's actually much wider. This cup car lays, you know, rubber down, and the car doesn't want to go over that rubber,

so we can continue to move around all the time, which creates that wide lane. I didn't really feel the resin as much. I don't know if they did it as much as they did in previous years, but it didn't seem as grippy or it was already burned off before we got there. But yeah, it's, um, it's, it's, um, it's. It seems like we definitely have work to do. I know they're going to work on that splitter, that up-down splitter coming up at a test.

Yeah, I'm doing that test. Are you doing that test or no? No, I think C-Bell's doing it for us. But, you know, I'm more of on Dale Jr. side where it's a tire thing, you know, a shifting thing. I think that that, you know, if there's some way we could figure out how to get rid of shifting. We would have to run more top in RPM because we would be bogged down so bad if we had to run fifth gear all the way around the track. But I think that that really plays a factor in the

passing capability. I mean, you can pass, but you're going to pass slap cars. You're going to pass someone when they really lose the balance. Yeah. For the first like 20, 25 laps, right? We're all just once you get single filed out, it's like, all right, this is where I'm going to be for a while until you know you just hope to keep up with the cars that are in front of you they start to their tires and their car degrade and then you make moves on them yeah with the old car it was like more so momentum on exit was where you made passes like you had like if you were just a few r pm better than the next guy that's how you got it lasted all the way down the straightway yeah right i mean that run that you generated i mean that's short track racing and that's where yeah i feel like i i kind of

hone skills that I had on short tracks is that I ran late model stocks. We didn't have any power, right? So it was all just how can you keep the center going as quick as you can to carry that speed all the way down the straightaway. And that's what passing, that's how you passed. And so these things, yeah, with it with it, the way it is, it's like you're charging entries and then you're just, you know, you're moving your men speed around the corner and then grabbing a gear, right? And so it's so different than what it used to be for sure. Yeah, I think it's tires too. because it's, I mean, they get hot, but then you can get that pace back, you know, if you get them, if you get them cooled off. So it's, they're not wearing out. Yep. A lot. Yeah, it is. A lot of it is,

is definitely heat-based. You know, the fall off, I think we had, I don't know, after a green flag stop, I think I was 30-50s and would end 31, low 31. So it was just over half a second, which, I mean, the whole field is so tight on speed that, I mean, you really need to be probably two-tenths faster than someone to really go up there, catch them, make a pass on them. And it's just hard to do that for sure. Unless you're Ross chestane. Unless you're Ross. He did.

He ran me down on the super, it was a really long run. I was aeroblocking the shit out of Truex because I'm like, you know, if I let him go, I'm not going to win. Like it, you know, caution could come, anything. guys battle each other now for track position, especially at a place like that more than ever, just because you know that every spot that you go back from first, your car is going to slow down just a few hundreds.

And so, yeah, I held off Martin for the bulk of the run. And while trying to keep in front of him slowed kind of both of us down, Ross comes, and he was strong in the long run anyway. He ran us down past Martin pretty quickly, then passed me pretty quickly and easily as well. And then we had that last stop, and he just did a good job cycling through and keeping the lead. And that was pretty much it for us. What did you have? Yeah, I mean, I thought we were okay.

We were fifth. We were running around fifth for most of the night, finished six. But, yeah, I think Ross was what I noticed early. I mean, I had track position. And I was actually pretty good when the sun was out. I was the top, I was like a third to fourth place car. And then Ross would always come on. Like we'd get to maybe 20 laps to go on the stage and he would start, you know,

filled up my mirror. And it was just a matter of time. He could run, like he could run up in one and two and carry a lot of speed. And I thought Reddick was really good too. Like we came off pit road side by side and he lost the wheel. But I think Ross just, yeah, long run just had. But they had speed all weekend. I was kind of surprised I thought Truex was the best, but it looked like he built free off.

So it looked like he was struggling on exit more than Ross. Yeah, I thought that Redick was strong as well. Just from what I saw in the first stage, I was fourth or fifth. And I know that he went past Ross late in the first stage to win the stage. And so, yeah, the team's been hindered by pit road stuff for sure. we got to figure that out. It's really kind of holding them back a little bit right now. So that's frustrating for sure. Certainly the caution benefited us when it did come out. Oh, yeah, you were the leader. I was the lucky dog, which was weird. I was the lucky dog, so I'm running, at that time, I would have been run second to Truex.

But because Redick and I were side by side for second and he lost the wheel. And you were the leader, so I didn't get the lucky, or I got the lucky dog but i got a free pit stop out of it which is weird and then i got to line up i mean it's never worked out i've never had it work out it's weird sometimes it cycles that way where like the guys that have to wave around you end up as a lucky dog it's better to i guess well if you wave around the other cars have pitted so yeah it just worked out that way to where yeah you got a free pit stop stress free you know you're going to come out fourth yeah and and it's like yeah yeah All right. So when he told me, he's like, well, there's only three cars on the lead lap.

I'm like, okay, that's good. We're going to have everyone wave around, but they got, you know. Starting the back. Yeah. They're behind us on their own worst tires. So I like their chances there. But yeah, that caution was untimely for some. It was good for us.

It kept our track position up front. But definitely Redick finishing 30th is not an indication of what they had. It would have been interesting to see if they had the speed. I mean, they were faster than us all weekend, whether they had the speed to contend with the 19 and won. I think they did. But, yeah, it was an uneventful race from a crash perspective. It really wasn't much going on except for the Blaney incident.

I don't know if you saw that one. I did. So, I mean, that started up front. So I was pushing Brad and, like, you know, I had Ross behind me. He laid back quite a bit. so I like, so I kind of like saw that. So I'm like, okay, so I had a huge run. And I'm pushing Brad at the start, finish.

And I think just when I moved out to pass, I'm pushing him. And it looked like he just, like, I don't know if it bounced off the chip real hard. And he just, he said he had a hard time. I didn't, it sounded like just didn't go in gear. Yeah. I mean, I'd also said that did you run into the back of him before? I did. Yeah.

He said he lost the, he, the impact he felt was so much that he lost. Yeah. I watched the video. Like I watched his in-car and, you know, NASCAR posted, you know, with these in-cars that they got now, they put it up on the site pretty quick, is that I watched him and he was accelerating. And usually you can see or hear you get run into, like the RPMs will go up or whatever, but it just seemed like he went and it didn't go in gear.

And, yeah, I mean, I didn't see a huge bump, but I saw, I mean, we were all. Listen, I'm waiting on someone to plow into the back of me on a restart if I'm on the front road. So it's, yeah, you're not. I think it was that timing of like maybe his shift came up earlier because I was hitting him. Yeah, it could be. It could be for sure. Yeah, you're not really trying to get jumps on restarts anymore. It's like, you know, you just want to get linked up.

Yeah. With whoever's behind you. But that caused some chaos, I guess, in the back of the field. And Blaney got the worst end of it. but I looked like a big hit. He, yeah. I was looking at the speed and I'm like, oh, well, he's slowing down a lot. But then it looked like he started to speed up.

I think he tried to save it once he hit the concrete. I wonder if he tried to let off the brake so then he could steer. But because it looked like he was sliding and he was getting slower, slower, slower, and then he hit concrete or asphalt and then he sped up again. Now, not like hitting the gas, but it looked like he just maybe got off the break to try to let it correct because he knew he was going to hit the wall. and it just increased the speed, but it was,

he obviously hit a part of the track that did not have a safer barrier and that stink. Trust me, as a guy that broke my back, hitting a wall with no safer barrier, it stinks for sure.

Yeah. It's wild to think about that years ago, that was just the normal. Man, I hit, I hit the wall so that California next gen crash that I had was no safer.

Yeah, and that was before a lot of changes that's hard, right? Yeah. I mean, that was really the talking point. for us when we were talking about next gen was like Williams hit and the test right yeah he's telling me he's telling us it hurt so how can we fix this right so believe me many many slots in the

chassis later we're we're getting there for sure but I know Blaine he said he'd pay for it if he needed to but hopefully we don't need that Jerry from NASCAR he you know he goes and checks all these racetracks out before on and and make sure they're all safe but Sometimes something gets slipped through the cracks, you know, and I'm sure they'll have this thing fix for next time. Sucks for Blaney, sucks for his team for sure. But yeah, that was an unfortunate hit for sure. Hey, we talked about Pit Road a little bit on this episode. How many free dinners have you bought your crew?

Lots. We got some bonuses going. But no, they've been awesome. I mean, they have been on it. I mean, I would say middle last year, we had Jeff come over. he was actually at JGR and then he came over from oh from there and um but uh he was I'm not in part charge of that hiring yeah he he was in the he was on the seven for a while maybe for a year and then came over to us and but we just had a really good group Oren on the on the

rear has been really fast with the next gen and yeah every guy I mean Spencer Patton you know those guys are landing fuel he's he's good plugs so So, yeah, they're all good. They got a good, like, swagger about it. I like that. He's a good plug. Yeah. That's awesome.

So Ross wins the race. This is really the first we've seen Ross in a while. Yeah. Right? As I said, I feel like ever since Darlington when Mr. H getting the old, better stop wrecking my cars. You know, first thing I thought I was, oh, Mr. Hendrick doesn't turn the button off on the old information share at the old technical center on them, but they came back strong.

uh this is a it was one of a dominant weekend really for the one car you know winning the race winning the pole um being fast in practice and so um i you know i i think this whole narrative of you know them backing him down i i think that just it was circumstances where his cars weren't fast really over the last you know month or so um i think he's still very aggressive and and and will race the way that ross races which is which is good and it's successful for him um i i sent him a note because he he gave me uh he came in my victory lane at uh we're at kansas yeah and uh i sent him a message i said you know hey i would have came seeing your victory lane but i'm trying to get the hell out of nashfield and the the the airport route they shut off you know after an hour so i'm like

uh you know congrats but yeah yeah because you know bob bob pockers puts me on the spot and he's like so he congratulated you in victory lane you're going to go congratulate him yeah and i'm like Bob, I'm trying to get out of here. Traffic is bad. Bob, they're in the tunnel in 15 minutes, Bob. You need you to wrap it up. Yeah, exactly. So I did send him a nice text.

He did good. Yeah, I mean, that team, yeah, they were fast this weekend. They had some ups and downs. Like, even on tracks that were similar to this, they didn't show this kind of speed. So they must have hit something, some sort of setup that was good for them.

But we'll see where this, where this leads. Yeah. I think this was one that they really wanted to, with Justin. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Ross is good there, too. I mean, concrete tracks.

They were good at Dover. They were fast there, finished second. That's a great point. Yeah, great point. So it was Martin Truex. Yeah, so was Truex. Yeah. I thought, you know, Trux was the best at Dover.

We were kind of right behind them, but then Ross, our member, was very good as well. Yeah, I mean, Nashville in general, I thought the SMI, they did. good job. They got to fix a few lights on the scoreboard. I didn't know what lap it was. Yeah. You're able to look at that thing? Yeah, during caution. Oh, yeah. I can, I look up and I was like, wait a minute, is it a lap 187 or lap 107? I couldn't. Yeah. There was a few lightballs out there. But it was a sellout crowd. I mean, I, from the infield, I thought the infield was the hype was really good there. Thank goodness. I was doing the driver intros with Kyle Arson. We were riding in the truck. I'm like, wow, could you imagine, like, they're so lucky that they're in the

shade when this race is starting. Like, had we started at three o'clock, they would have been Bake City out there. So it's certainly easier for the fans watching at the racetrack to start at six o'clock. I know it's a better TV window. It definitely puts you in a bind when showers come about. And when I was driving to the track, I noticed there was some showers. And I'm like, oh, man, I was hoping it was not going to be one of those long nights of lightning and whatnot. But we got it through and I thought it was a successful weekend in Nashville. Definitely would like to see them get it to that fairgrounds, right? Yeah, totally agree.

That place is awesome. Yeah. I think it's a good show. I think it's coming. Marcus and his team's working really hard to make that happen. I saw the renderings of it looked very cool. Do you think they could do both? Like Nashville Super Speedway is a pretty good race now.

Yeah. I mean, and they're getting the crowd. Yeah. And so I think that there's a, there's certainly an opportunity with that market to be there. I mean, there's an argument to made right of never go to the same place twice. I disagree with that.

I think, you know, you've got, as long as you've got good facilities and it's a good crowd that shows up, then you should. So I would. I would like to see them probably keep both them on the schedule. That'd be cool. What do you think we're going to see at Chicago? Uh, it's going to be tough. I mean, I think it's going to be, um, hard to pass.

I mean, I don't think there's going to be any passing. I mean, there, well, there's some breaking zones. So I do think there are. Yeah. It's just what leads to them. Yeah. Would likely cause a gap. Right.

Right. Right. Yeah. I think it's going to be, uh, it's going to be, uh, it's going to be, uh, strategy. I think it's going to be a big time strategy. But, um, I can see it being like the roval. So I don't know if that's, that's fair. Yeah.

It's probably fair. bumpy off camber kind of corners. but yeah I haven't ran enough to know what it's like but I know turn four is like a fast right-hander that goes off camber I think there's going to be a lot of toe links there I a lot of the left rears I think I spend an hour half on the sim and didn't make it past turn four like I just kept leaving pit road crashing four leave pit road crashing four and did that for an hour and a half like I was just like what what the hell like I mean don't bet Danny ham on this yeah hey I'm going to figure it out I'll get it figure it out. Um, yeah. But I, you know, it's definitely more about the event, right? Yeah.

Certainly we, we all know that and we've got to lean into that that it's, you know, we're taking the, you know, NASCAR cars and the racing to the town of Chicago and, um, you know, I came from a team owner council meeting where they, you know, said that, you know, a large percentage of the new fans, uh, or the fans that are bought tickets for Chicago or new first time fans. So that's what you that's what we did in LA right we we uh when we went there I think it was like 60 or 70% were new fans so hopefully this is a success because I know they're putting a lot of effort into it they're promoting it well uh my friend Kara who um you know does the sports stuff in Chicago she sends me pictures of of all the you know NASCAR banners and stuff um advertisements that

are going on there so yeah um hopefully we have a good crowd excited for that and then And, you know, it's certainly from a driver's perspective, it's going to be hard for us not to be critical, right? Yeah. It's like, well, it's not this or not that. And it's just leaning into the event itself and understanding, you know, it's a historic event for our series to be on a street course for the first time. Yeah. I think being closer to cities is good. You know, I think for just being younger, I think I get a lot more engagement from my friends when it's around, you know, closer markets.

It's like Nashville is a lot closer to the city than most places. So it's, yeah, just we need more of that. We need that crossover to get new fans engaged. Yep. My crew chief thought that the best strategy is if we're not in the top five, we need to be dead last because when the wreck happens in turn four, or these turns that have one lane, he's like, they're all just going to pile in.

And so you just want to be far enough back to not be in it. So I've got to get us somehow to the top five. So you better have a rocket booth. on this thing so I'd say so yeah I think it's a I just hope that we can stay green long enough right you don't want to lose momentum with yellow flags and you certainly don't want yellow flags within the last 10 laps of the race because it might not ever end it I mean we could have an unprecedented nine green white checkers to finish the Chicago race because it just again it funnels down to one and a half lanes in some portions of the track.

The leader is going to be the most nervous. When the caution comes out, he's going to be like, where do I break? Like, he's going to go in there. That's the point. It's just like the roval. He's going to be, I mean, the roval that first year was like, you know, old tires. And you know what? Turn one, even in Sim, I've missed that quite a few times, like not realizing that it's 90 degrees.

Yeah. So it's a, it's a challenge. It is going to challenge us drivers for sure. It might be so challenging, though, that we might, you know, we might kind of get through more corners than we think. I could be that we're not confident, right? Yeah. We're easing into it.

I mean, I think that there'll be significant practice crashes. You know, certainly an Xfinity series is going to be, I don't know how much track time they're going to get. So you better be ready. Everyone have their, all the Xfinity drivers have your helmet on, You're be buckled down, ready to go when they drop the green, because who knows how much time you're going to get. Yeah. Save this time.

There's a lot of backups going to this race. Yes. Oh, yeah. Dear Danny, we've got some questions that we want to ask. Dare, Danny. We need answers, and we need them fast. We tried to ask Junior, but his answers were lame. And with DBC, it was more of the same.

Now, we're caught on you because you're our own hope. This ain't the race track, so maybe you want. What do you got there for questions? Yeah, I was pulling up some questions here. This is our Dear Denny and William section. The first one, because this is just an overwhelming. A lot of responses. Yeah, yeah.

This question pops up on here a lot. Texas 2022. Oh, yeah. Oh. Oh, I knew this would come up. Hey, it's not too late to say I'm sorry. That's right. That's right.

I want to have, I want to have. a, it's this, this, as if you've seen the Sunday conversation, this is the, the part of the, a new segment called not too late to say I'm sorry. So, uh, let's hash, let's hash it out from Texas, 22, uh, playoff race. Basically, I did to you what I did to chase. Yeah. Um, so I don't know whether I should be thanking you that you didn't just destroy me down the straightaway. Well, I ran you down the racetrack. I just, yeah. So these race cars, we were talking about how you can manipulate the person beside you.

You're good at that. I essentially put William to a decision off the corner because I wanted to get, I was trying to get up, and I knew the closer I got to his left side of his car, it was going to make him tighter. I didn't anticipate at the time my car taking off with his. And so usually when you do that, their car gets tight. you can just kind of pull back down. Well, I went up there tight with him and caused them to door the fence. And I didn't tear up your car, by the way. I didn't tear up Chases either. But I got him into the wall. And Willie B, the introverted child from his younger days turned into Hulk and says, I'm going to get this guy and spins me out under caution.

He's bad. I don't think I've ever seen you retaliate. I was, you know, I told you on the phone. I was, yeah, I think when I got to you under caution, I definitely meant to send a message. But when you went spinning through the infield, I was like, oh, that's not good. Did you think that NASCAR was going to penalize you in the moment? You know what?

I thought, I thought so, yeah. And then I thought maybe they didn't see it or maybe it just was an awkward circumstance where I hit him, because I did hit you off center a little bit. and I mean, it hits you hard. Yeah. But I, yeah, I was, I think, you know, a little bit more red miss than I probably anticipated. And, yeah, like I said, after and said to you, I meant to, you know, deliver a message.

But when you went spinning, I'm like, oh, no, that's not good. I took away his chance to win. Yeah, I mean, I thought we definitely did. But, I mean, I'm the one that I crowded them. And, again, it was trying to manipulate his car. to have to lift and, you know, it all worked out. We both made the next round and, right? Yeah, we did.

Yeah, we both made the next round. And so it all worked good. And like you said, too, like we didn't have any issues before that. Yeah. It was just one of those, you know, parked to this next gen car. And really, I don't think we realized at the time how common that, I mean, we see it. Most mile and a half is now. Now somebody's, you know, getting up and it's getting squeezed.

and yeah um it's uh it's certainly uh it caught me off guard for sure i went from i think third to 20 something that day and i didn't didn't oh i think i got about three wrecks after that uh and so i was you lined up i was on fire you probably don't remember you lined up behind me the next restart i was like we were like 20 we because we both pitted well yeah we both pitted and and they're like yeah levin's you know chose behind you i'm like okay all right let's see how this goes You're either going to wreck big or? No, I wasn't going to do that for sure, especially, you know, playoff race. I understood that.

But I remember early in your career, who was it that was trying to get you to wreck somebody? Chad. Well. Chad, right? He was like, you don't do something. I ran Kyle Titan one in terms of one. Was this at Watkins Glen? Yeah, he was faster, but it was like lap two or three.

And I just kind of pinched, you know, through the middle of the corner. so he'd have to kind of pinch his, you know, and he just, I guess he hit me in the door and spun. And he got back to me and sent me through the grass through the bus stop. And, you know, Chad's like, if you don't do something, I'm, you know, we're going to have an issue after the race. And then you destroy the front of your car. Yeah, I just, I was an idiot. So he was, yeah, it wasn't his fault. It was just my fault for being an idiot.

But live and learn. Live and learn. I learned, but yeah. Well, I tell you, I appreciate you coming on because this is a, it's been enlightening for sure. And Jared, do you have any others you want to? Well, following up on that, do you have any tips for Daniel on how to win an appeal for race manipulation? Oh, well. Oh, God.

I don't know. Oh, Jared. Off the top rope. Off to top rope. Oh, no, man. That was in here. Come on. Hey, we've never been in that position.

We promised him we would not get him. in trouble. I know. I know. That's true on from that. Never been in that position, but I was definitely listening. I was like, oh, I don't know how this is going to go. Yeah.

Pickleball, do you play pickleball? I don't. Not yet. You need to take it up. It's fun. Yeah. It's quite a few of us, you know, do it now. And it's easier for my old joints.

But yeah, it's fun. One of the questions I saw was like, who would win in pickleball? I'm like, well, I probably would because he hasn't played. but Jared he just took it up too and he thinks he's better than I am nothing yeah he thinks yeah I mean it it seems like a lot of fun my girlfriend tries to get me to play but golf is just more accessible it's yeah golfs for the boys you ever had any interesting scenarios with what's that the girlfriend and no I think Ryan and I are we we knew each other way back before I started dating her so um it was a little awkward at first you know because I didn't really ask

him if I could date Aaron, so I felt bad about that. Should you have to? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know if I should have. So, but he brought it up and I was like, yeah, we're dating. But yeah, I mean, we get along really well. So it's, it's, you know, it's cool. I mean, Ryan's a pretty easy going, low-key guy. Yeah. So, I mean, such as life, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just the way it goes. And I mean, we've been dating for four years. So it's not. Y'all do like double dates and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. With Gianna and him. So, yeah. We do. That's cool.

Do you still trust, is William still your pick to the NASCAR driver to babysit your kids? Oh, geez. Why is that, by the way? I just think you're a nice, responsible young man. Responsible? Yeah. Last question I have, William, is Denny has always said that as a racer, all he wants or has wanted was for his peers to respect him on the track.

What does it mean to you that guys that are 20 years older than you? Yeah, I think that's really all it is for me. You know, I think when I started out, it was like, you know, I could tell I had to earn the respect because you just come in and guys don't really want to talk to you. You're like, you know, how's this kid going to do? If you, you know, if you make a mistake, they're, you know, critical. But I think now it's getting the respect to the older guys is definitely, that's always been important to me because I feel like, I don't know, that's just one of my values, I think. And so it just, so yeah, I feel like I have that now. Awesome.

Well, thanks for coming on. Yeah. I knew I was only going to keep you an hour. Yeah. I appreciate it. Hopefully we made a painless for you. Comp meeting up next. Oh, yeah?

Yeah. All right. Can I listen in? Oh, I don't know about that. They'll probably ask me how it went. All right. Well, thank you. Thanks for William.

Tune in guys next week after Chicago. I'm sure we're going to have some exciting things to talk about. And we'll see you. Cool. Thank you. Check out Dirtymo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.