Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin - You Do You, I'll Do Me

Episode Date: October 12, 2023

NASCAR released the schedule for the 2024 season and Denny reacts to Daytona not being the last race of the regular season, Watkins Glen being added to the playoffs and more. Denny responds to Jeff Gordon's comments last week where Jeff called Denny a distraction. The Roval didn't go as planned for Denny, but luckily he secured his spot in the next round of the playoffs. Bubba Wallace was eliminated by Denny was extremely proud of his performance. Tyler Reddick knocked out Brad Keselowski and is advancing. What to expect as the drivers head to Las Vegas and as the Championship Four nears.DraftKings State-Specific Problem Gambling Information:In Massachusetts, call [phone] or visit gamblinghelplinema.org, In New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369). In Tennessee and Kansas, Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). In West Virginia, Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit www.1800gambler.net. All games regulated by the West Virginia Lottery. Please play responsibly. In partnership with Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. In Connecticut, Help is available for problem gambling call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. Licensee partner Golden Nugget Lake Charles (LA). 21+, age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. See DKNG.co/autoracing for eligibility, terms and responsible gaming resources. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. Eligibility and deposit restrictions apply.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

And I believe we have stars in our sport, but they will never get seen because you've got that mentality looking over their shoulders. Keep doing you. I'll keep doing me. The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. Hey guys, welcome to actions detrimental. I'm Denny Hamlin, driver of the number 11 for Juggers Racing. And moving on to the round of eight. My co-host is Jared Allen, Pearl Veska, 560, also moving on to the round of eight.

a NASCAR photographer. Do you all have a bracket or something? I mean, you're just, you know, your drivers that were associated with. You just hop on the coattails. Yeah, exactly. And you're like, you know, you're going. I'm going with you.

Yep, yep, yep. I love it. Awesome. Yeah, we'll get into the playoff field here shortly. But some off track stuff, we always kind of cover that a little bit first before we get into the race today. It is tonight right after the race. there was a 2024 schedule released um

you know I looked at it uh you know I think I feel probably the same as others it was very underwhelming um and then I you know there were some moves by NASCAR in the playoffs that um I didn't agree with either I didn't see many that

thought this was a good idea uh in the spirit of competition but you know this is just kind of a when I saw the schedule released I'm like clearly their objectives and the teams and the driver's objectives are different when I looked at it I'm like from a corner's perspective I'm like holy cow like you know we got two super speway races and the clash we've got to travel here got to travel there just really really hard on our people this is really hard on our people. It's really hard on, you know, getting our equipment ready for the start of the season. I know in particular with 2311 moving into a new headquarters in the soft

season, we're going to be working nonstop, but hopefully the reward is we've got a better place to work. But, you know, I looked at kind of the schedule, obviously, I don't even know that they really put the fans first that much. I mean, putting Atlanta in February. It's going to be cold, right? Yeah. Obviously, you know, I guess the rationale that we got from the guy that made the schedule, Ben Kennedy, was that, you know, the Daytona 500 is a type of race. And then we go, we have traditionally gone to. I didn't even think about that. That now you have Daytona followed by Atlanta. By two super speedways. Right. I didn't even think about that part of it. So you agree with that rationale. that the common fan tunes in and it's like, wait a minute, this is totally different. So you would rather, you see that aspect of it,

I guess is what you're saying. Yes. That it works you into the other types of tracks that we're into. It's not full-fledged Super Spewewee Racing, but basically is. Yeah, you're saying you disagree with that. No, I agree with it.

Oh. I just think that they're grasping for straws on... I don't think that matters. Although, although, although, if Super Speedway racing is what attracts the average fan, or maybe someone who doesn't watch NASCAR that much, and you watch the Daytona 500 and you come back the next week and watch a boring race at Phoenix or wherever we typically are, now you're getting to watch probably an exciting race at Atlanta. Okay. So maybe that draws you in two weeks in a row. Yeah. I was thinking about it from like the team owner standpoint, how you said now you're going to go crash.

crash a car two weeks in a row. Right. And my people, too, that have to travel out to L.A. for the clash, Daytona. It's a little bit better now that we don't go right back to the West Coast, so that part of it is better.

But, you know, car count and whatnot with the only getting a certain amount of cars, you certainly can crash a lot pretty quickly. You know, but then just scroll through the middle of the summers, whatever. I'm trying to make sense of this, and you help me make sense of this

because I see this as one way, and I need you too, Travis and Jared, to tell me why I'm crazy in thinking this. Putting Daytona as the last regular season race was the best thing we have done in a long time with our schedule. I agree. No, I 100% agree. I thought we were, that was the first thing I saw looking at the schedule is that Daytona was not last.

I was like, wait a minute. I thought we were all in agreement that this is great. The regular season finale finished in Daytona was one of the best things NASCAR has done. Yeah. I mean, it just gave everyone, right, 25 races to point your way in. And if you just ain't going to get their own points, you got that one race at the end. Everyone has a chance. Try.

Yes. Right? And then you got the bubble people like, holy shit, I hope someone new doesn't win. And now, I don't know. I just can't make sense of the change of not just moving it out from the regular, but moving it one week. I guess what explanation, you know, again, I'm just using Ben Kennedy's media availability here to try to rationale with the thinking of this.

is that, well, Labor Day weekend at Darlington means a lot. Who gets a fuck about that? I don't get it. Like, they're putting emphasis on, like, that people really care about, well, I'm going to Darlington because it's Labor Day weekend. No, you're going to Darlington because you live in the area and you like NASCAR racing. Right. Yeah, I'll say, as like a new fan.

I don't care that Labor Day and Darlington go to, like, it doesn't bother me as a new fan. I don't give anything about it. However, can I say this? Yeah. Are you going to be devil's advocate? Because I need it because I don't keep. People with normal jobs have off on that following Monday, right? Okay.

And this race at 6 o'clock and ends at midnight. Okay. I see your point. I see your point. Yeah. I mean, I think about it. My kids get to go to that race. And I'm wondering, and I usually stay the night.

after the race because it's so late. And I guess you're right, they don't have school the next day. And this weekly schedule is kind of f***ed up because of the Olympics. So stupid question, why not just running Saturday night then? Why does it have to be Sunday? Yeah, it doesn't fall on the same date every year. It's just Labor Day weekend. Yeah, you could.

I, okay. So messed up the Xfinity scheduling? I don't know. It's just, I scratch my head and I bang my head against the wall sometimes because I think that NASCAR makes decisions to, you know, make a very small crowd that maybe it seems loud on social media or something. I don't even know.

That ain't this. That ain't this problem. But they just adhere. It was like, yeah, we're going to make changes because our fans want blank. Like, what fans are you here? hearing or seeing. Let me throw out another one. Saturday night for NBC would be college football that weekend

where the NFL probably hasn't started yet, so they want that Sunday night. Okay. Well, it has become abundantly clear to me then. We have too many races. We're trying to fit this schedule, and it's got to start here, it's got to end there, and we're trying to jam 38 races into what should be 32 at the most.

we're never going backwards because NASCAR makes way too much money per week. But it's clear that we have these scheduling problems because we have just too many weeks. Way too many weeks. Yeah, I mean, your season

is now ending a week later because of that Olympic break. So we're running from the beginning of... I tell casual people that... How long is your season? Your offseason is even shorter. How long is our season? I used to say from Valentine's Day to the week before Thanksgiving.

What? Like. And that's not accurate. It used to be. It used to be. And it will be next year. Nope. It starts the, it starts the first week of February.

Oh, I know. I know. I meant you, I thought you were talking about the back end. Oh. I know. I've just been hedging on the later. I've tried to give them a point of reference, right?

I hate saying February 1st, but like, all I know. It starts February 1st. Why don't you just say that? Because I don't look at the dates, right? I'm just saying, you know, for being in the series for 20 years, I'll just say, it's Valentine's Day to a week before Thanksgiving. That's our schedule.

Like, well, when do you have off? Um, December? Because they start us right up with media first week of January. Like, it's just, the schedule is just a toll. It takes its toll on everyone. It's taking a toll on my mental health clearly. I am unwell when I look at this schedule. I haven't even got into the fact that they added another road course

and another super speedway to the playoffs. You know what it's worth, at least it's in the first round, where it is if you win five races in this regular season, you're probably going to get through regardless. I don't know if it's the carbon monoxide that I took in today that has made you feel this way. but I'm just telling you I just

I don't get it and it makes me question what decision who's making what decisions when we make these decisions because they clearly keep pushing the envelope into let's make this as novelty as we possibly can

we will know I saw a stat online that says that the winner of the I love, you're going to love this. The Winston Cup was the guy who had the lowest average finish nearly every year except for Mark Martin, Mark Martin, and somebody else. So 95% of the time.

In the playoff chase format, I hate using chase because that's gone. That was a sprint thing. Is that twice has the best overall competitor through the year actually won the championship. It's all been just someone kind of swooping in at the end. I mean, not to get off. What did?

It's felt right, more or less, for the last handful of years. Where was Joey Legano for 20 weeks last year? He won the championship. I bet you, I bet if I asked you right away, who won the championship last year? You'd be like,

like, you would scratch your head for a second. Right. But the way I look at it is if you get to that final race and one of the guys wins, you can justify being the champion, and then it's all right. Like the time that was really bad. I'm not saying there hasn't been deserving champions.

That is not what I'm saying at all. Because if you make it to the final four, you got a shot. I get it. I'm just saying you have now added more, you are not testing the driver's skill as been, we want to test the drivers. That is such baloney.

They're testing how good our luck is. Because as we've said, a billion times that when you go to Super Speedway Racing, it's not you that typically messes up. It's someone else and then it involves you. And that's not your fault. You were running, you were doing what you were supposed to do on that day. So I'm just saying when they add this in, like it just feels like they're like, we're really grabbing its storylines. We need to knock some big names out early. that's going to be our storylines.

That is not good for the sport. Period. It's not good. I mean, you know, the format nearly knocked out Truex in the first round, nearly knocked them out again, and not nearly. Well, we'll get into that. His car is no longer in the playoffs, by the way. 19 cars out.

Truex is in. 19 cars out. That's a chink in the armor that you might hear that story in the final four at Phoenix. But I just, I listened to Jeff Gluck do his, an emergency podcast on the tear down about the schedule. And when he went off, when he talked about putting Atlanta as the first race in the playoffs, I mean, that 30 seconds to a minute, I share those exact same feelings. And it feels like I am, I must be going crazy because am I the only person that sees that they are just continuing to make this gimmicker. Gimicky, and gimmicky and more gimmicky every single year.

We just want to throw all these, I mean, they might as well have us run backwards in a few. figure eight. You know what? The champion will be whoever's got the biggest balls who doesn't lift in a figure eight race. That'll be our champion. We might as well. What's frustrating, right? And I say this more as

I say this equally as an owner and a driver because I invest a lot of my money and back into this sport and we try to run well and we try to put fast cars on the racetrack to get results. But when you put

these, what you know are tracks that the drivers, you're not seeing their skill. You're just seeing who comes out of the carnage. That's what they're doing. Right. They're not seeing, man, this guy just beat everyone today at Taldega or the Atlanta. No, they just survived the carnage and then they made the right move at the end. It just seems like NASCAR's objectives and our objectives, that's a team, my objectives as a driver to try to be the best I can be at all types of racetracks. There's just an element that you cannot control. Luck is a bigger part of our sport than any other sport by a large margin. And they keep increasing that margin year after year with the decisions they make in the playoffs.

Or grasping. And it drives me crazy. We keeps grasping because there's been nothing from TV ratings that supports these wild moves that they keep making. See, there is your key argument. Right. They're not getting the bumps they're hoping for. So the actual core fan, in my opinion,

starts to see through this and say, you know, I see it. You're not even secretive anymore about what you want, right? It's just agitating because we work really hard to be the best we can. and you just feel like, you know, we've shifted the line from sport to entertainment way too far to one side. That's kind of my rant on it. Listen, the rest of the playoffs is all fine.

I think that, you know, we will eventually get to, you know, probably the right Final Four, maybe. if your favorites that have dominated all season don't get knocked out in those first couple, there will be. It's just that's numbers. That's the way it's going to happen. Then we'll just try to survive. I think that that's just part of it.

But I get it to rant. We're not going to do anything to change it. Every year, it's just going to keep getting roger and roger. We just got to deal with it. This is the sandbox that, We chose to play in. That's what we're talking about today. For what it's worth, this is really a good spot to mention this because it feels like

we're coming down a little bit from your heated ramp. But I can't remember who it was. Someone had said that Watkins Glen in the summer sells very well because it's a destination for families to go on vacation. Now it's in September where kids are back in school. Are you going to have as many people camping on the weekend? I don't know. There's always a cause and effective.

everything. Like, I love the spin of, oh, this is great. And it depends on what radio show you turn into. But like, it's great. I see exactly why they made this move. But 90% of the people who actually are in the sport or see, like, see through it all. We see through it all and see that like a lot of the moves were not, we don't think is going to be favorable.

You know, it's like short-term. bumps, most time lead to long-term failure. Like, we got to just get everything a little better versus trying to reset, reset, let's reset the score in the bottom of the ninth, and let's put everyone on base, and it's what it is. But I agree with you when it comes to Watkins Glen, it's hard because I keep trying to steer off on this tangent again

and you were trying to reel me in a little tighter zone here. Let's talk about Watkins Glen. I agree with you. Watkins Glen is a very young infield. When you go through there, they pack it out. They do a phenomenal job. I don't know. We don't know what the...

It was by no means broke. No, no, no, no. Now the on track... Maybe. But putting it in the playoffs, isn't going to fix that? No, no, it's just, it's going to be, you know, a lot worse. You know, it just depends on what happens between, you know, listen, they're not going to add more horse tire,

not going to take, you know, grip out of the tires. So basically it's, it's, you're going to see a lot like we did today. It's, no one's going to be pitting. Everyone's going to pit before the stages, and then you're going to run wherever you're going to run the rest of the race. Not much movement after two laps on a restart. So it's a struggle. The short tracks are a struggle.

Road courses are a struggle. There's no secret to that. But, yeah, so, Walkins, Glenn, welcome to the playoffs. Listen, they're a deserving facility. They, again, like Jared said, they pack it out, they do it right. Atlanta, absolute head scratcher, no explanation whatsoever. we don't know what goes on between SMI and NASCAR. We don't know.

So who knows how that ended up happening, but it did. And now Darlington's your regular season finale, there will be no shockers there. You're not going to have an upset win at the Southern 500. I do see the aspect of it where the Southern 500 deserves its own weekend because it is a big race. It's a big major. Should it be part of the first round of the playoffs too?

Maybe I get that argument, but last regular season race, not sure. I think Daytona was the perfect place for that. What else do we got? Well, yeah, I don't. Just so you know, I really wanted to have about a 30, 40 minute podcast today, so let's get to it. Is Coke Zero Sugar the best Coke ever? I know that's a bold question, but it's got that irresistible taste to back it up. Well, one thing's for sure.

When you've got an irresistible match like Zero Sugar and Zero, Zero, calories, something sensational is bound to happen. It's like when me and my co-host Jared team up to make a podcast. It's too bad you can't taste with your ears because Coke Zero Sugar tastes so amazing. It's hard to put it into words. But hey, that's my job, at least on Mondays. You have to taste it for yourself. Coke Zero Sugar, the best Coke ever. Well, while you're on your soapbox, this is good because that warms you up for this next topic, which is Jeff Gordon's comments. A quote from his two-minute long clip that was posted on Twitter this week. Let the sponsors market you.

Let the sport figure out how to market you, build your brand through who you are on social media, and be the best that you can be. He was referring to you and that he thinks you are a bit too controversial for your liking. While he applauds, you know, and gives you kudos for building your brand and the alter ego that you may be playing,

he does not want any of his drivers doing that because he thinks it's a distraction. Hmm He's saying is that I like it But I don't like my guys to That's what my takeaway was Well that sounds like guy I don't want to go to war with

He's like Hey I'll go to war but you get up front Right I mean Jeff Gordon Said that I mean that is How to stunt NASCAR Growth 101

Is say, that's too controversial for us. Call us stiff, but, you know, I'm wondering how has his sponsors marketed his drivers? Because I think his drivers have great personality. Anybody know? No. I haven't seen much either. So he wants me to sit back.

He's not. He's saying he likes it, just not. He thinks it's a distraction. if it was on his team. Well, thank God I don't drive for him. How's it a distraction, though? This isn't like... Has he been watching a race in the last 12 weeks?

Well, it's not like football where like, if you're the quarterback, you say something and like they're going to go talk to the receivers. Like, they're not interviewing your pit crew and like asking you about you saying you're going to get white hot. Like, I don't see how it's a distraction for your team. I don't get it. I'm confused.

I don't get it. And I'm confused as well. That's why I'm asking. Well, he did reference going into, Like how do you go into a competition meeting with that type of persona, right? That that could be a distraction. Clearly it's not a distraction in your company. What is a distraction that I'm getting booed?

All of that. You stirring the pot? Things like that. I go in Monday and I'm a professional because that's what professionals do. They go into a meeting and they act professional. I think he's been to one too many burning man's. And also if I'm Mavis, I'm happier, like you're creating all this news because guess what cars being shown pre-race a bunch?

That's... He's going against the logic that he said 12 months ago, that he wants his drivers doing more things, and he's basically saying I want them to be tidy, not controversial. Win races. I couldn't disagree more. I'm glad I drive for Joe Gibbs racing.

I'm glad I run my team the way I run my team because I will never run my team saying things like that. That's his opinion. He's allowed to have that opinion, but certainly think that that is the absolute wrong way to go if you want star power in this sport.

You're not going to find anyone that agrees with what he's saying. For what it's worth, the majority of the comments on Twitter actually are disagreeing with what he says. Yeah. And correct me if I'm wrong, didn't him and Dale have this beef that helped grow the sport?

Wasn't that a distraction then? You're being too logical, Travis. Don't put facts in a good story. But yes, yes, it was. Obviously, he has not seen the 11 cars performance lately today. Today is a small bump in a road. But hey, we did what we came. to do. We kneeled it on third and long instead of Miami running a play.

Do you think it's easier being as outspoken as you are this late in your career versus it just it drives me crazy. No one else has got the balls to be honest. You know, and it's not the driver's fault because they've clearly got white collar standing over the back of them making sure that they don't do it. Like that's not good. That is stunting growth. That is stunting star power. And I believe we have stars in our sport, but they will never get seen because you've got that mentality

looking over their shoulders. Keep doing you, I'll keep doing me. The Roval. Race reaction. You advanced early on? I guess that's a good thing because you didn't finish the race. I mean, I really wanted to flip both stages.

I really tried to talk Chris into that because I knew we would battle for the front. I mean, all the guys that were up front there at the end, we were racing with the first two stages. But, man, I

just, we had to, we had, we wanted to leave the racetrack with something. We wanted to go into next week, leaving the roble with something. And what we thought was going to happen, and it looked like was what is something? A playoff

point. Okay. So either win the race or win a stage. That's either one point or five. Because we're resetting all these points all over again anyway. Yeah. Right. So did you realistically think during this race that either of those was in the car? We were. We were going to win stage two. So we were battling. So as you saw, the nine car was about to pit from the lead in stage two. So he knew Mike, you know, Gabe Hart knew that he was pitting. The 20 car, he knew that he was going to pit because he was going to flip the stage as well. That leaves me.

Okay. So the 20 car was also coming to pay. And if not, I was on his ass about to make, you know, if we both stayed out with two to go, like we were, it was going to be a good battle because I just ran him down really, really quickly. Right. So I think it just worked.

worked out crummy to where that caution came out and there was only like six of us that had stayed on the racetrack and we all went to I came off pit road and I looked nobody behind me I was dead last it's I ended up finishing there anyway but it was like I just knew that the days over you're not going to finish I mean remotely in the top 15 at that point unless there's extra cautions and and whatnot so it just we we we we we won't wanted to leave with something. We didn't because of that untimely caution. We were only going to win stage two and then we were going to finish way back in the pack anyway because we were going to go for that one point. But it didn't work out. But, you know, talking about some of the guys that did

work out for Tyler Reddick, he was able to go through the field somewhat. When he had a tired advantage, he was, I, you know, I watched the last 25 laps of my bus and he went nowhere. Clearly the fastest car early on and then he just put them in dirty air and they just no one goes anywhere. I mean it really showed at the end of the race when I thought with 10 or 12 to go a caution came out

and and it was like man surely there'd be more there'd be more cars that pit and nobody pitted because I was thinking oh this is good for Bubba because he pitted under green waiting for a caution but then there

was nobody that pitted he still was able to drive up. You know, I got to give kudos to Bubba, and yes, let me be a homer here. He did a phenomenal job this weekend. Qualified up front, stage points both stages, which is hard, by the way, because you're going to have to come back to the front. And drove back up to 16th. So I was, I thought it was one of the best road course races,

probably the best road course race that he's driven, just came up short. you know, it's just not having any playoff points going into the playoffs. It was always going to be stacked against him every round he started anyways. But I think he, man, the maturity he showed during that weekend, the great interview he had after the race, just being, you know, very matter of fact and respectful and very humble. Great job by Bubba and that team, even though they are not moving on.

45 team, they were down below the, below to start the day. They just, they dominated early and knocked Kozlowski out. So we got Kazowski's out, Bubba, Chastain, Bush, and any surprises for you there? No, although it was interesting at the end of the race that Kyle Busch was battling for the race win. And that would have really turned these playoffs on their head because you had Truex, Larson, and Reddick, I believe, were all within four or five points. Right. I was watching that too.

And I was like, and I was telling the people in the bus, I was like, you know, man, if, if Kyle wins, I'm looking at, and there was like five people within two or three points. I'm like, like, who would be, who would get knocked out would be, we could have a major favorite being knocked out. It could be Larson. It could be Truax. It would have put this whole thing upside down. But yeah, it didn't. I think he gave, Kyle gave it really everything he had. They've been top five material, most all the road courses this year.

But you heard in his interview, he said, you know, this is about what we had, right? And I agree with that. I think he drove it to the absolute limit of what it was capable of. And it had nothing else left in the tank. So, you know, his playoffs in, and he even mentioned that, you know, Talladega and Texas are the ones that really caused this to happen, not this one weekend. And I agree with that. Chastain, he gets knocked out. It was interesting.

I was watching him at the end of the race because he was making tons of moves towards the front. He pitted, like Bubba did, you know, hoping for a caution, got it. and then he drove through the field really, really well. And again, he had 20-some lap advantage on tires, but he was making it interesting because I kept watching the bubble, and it was like, well, he's minus 27. Next thing you know, he's like minus 13, 14. I'm like, man, you know, Truex at that time.

He is just struggling. He is just like trying to keep it on the racetrack. And I'm like, man, then he got Bush battling for the lead. You know, it's certainly a lot to look at there. But there was no real surprises, I guess, from my standpoint out of this round. Yeah, I think the change in the playoffs is what most probably predicted going into it, that Reddick would jump Kozlowski. If there's going to be any movers between those out and those in,

that that was going to be the switch because of how well Tyler runs on road courses and how Brad has struggled a bit. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And certainly after the race started, Brad had a penalty, and he had pulled over a few times for a stop and go, so not all that surprising. Yeah, and, you know, he hasn't been all that strong on road courses this year. You would say he was kind of the weaker of the, you know, kind of bubble guys or the guys, you know, plus or minus, that whole group.

He had been kind of the weaker of that group. He was the most vulnerable, I guess you could say, and obviously that vulnerability caught up to him. when he got the guy right behind you to start qualifying the pole and you know he's going to win a stage it's going to put tremendous pressure on you to go out there in a way you're already down exactly right yeah i mean i don't and then you look at the tall digger wreck right i mean now he caused it so yeah you know that that certainly uh ended his day and and put him in that vulnerable spot but um i mean i think we got, you know, tough eight guys out there. What do you make of stop and go penalty for Bubba after he gets spun through the bus stop?

Do you like that rule? Do you think that needs to look at it? Yeah. If you change it, I agree. He got the crap end of the stick. And most people that get knocked into a situation where they didn't make the corner because they got knocked around. it's a it's a double bad deal for them um but it's it's what happens for sure uh that was that was a bad deal daniel just blew the corner and hit the two and the two hit a and a hit b and c spun out like

it's just it's just a ricochet of cars when he get uh get down in there and someone misses it it just causes complete havoc and Boba obviously got the tail end of that deal. So that was unfortunate. And then you saw kind of the, it was interesting, the C-bell and Suarez. You know, I wondered because I was like, man, that kind of looked egregious. But I did see a lot of highlights as I was sitting in the bus and they're showing highlights of the race before it's over. I'm like, I saw two or three instances where the 99,

just kind of used up all the space and ran into the side of that guy or this guy and the 20 kept getting the short end of the stick and it's like surely he's not going to he probably had the mindset I'm not going to run into them and deliberately take them out but I'm just

going to you know not I'm not going to you know spare any space here and there it was interesting CBO asked he's like did I touch him it's like yeah just a little bit so destroyed the 99 knocked him out, but again, I think that it all works out in the end. I think the 99 had a,

had a tough day for others. He made it tough on other people's day as well. I'll tell you one thing, one thing I learned being back there in Dead Last Place after that stage is, sheesh, guys back there, holy, they running into everything. I mean, it's amazing they're willing to just crash your for 33rd. Like, they are just, I don't know. I was certain that Ricky's car caught on fire from the tire lock up, because he locked up tires every

single corner. I was falling behind them, and it was just a smoke show every corner. I'm like, surely something caught on fire and roasted that car. I'm only joking because he was laughing in a tweet, so he's taking it casual, I'm taking a casual.

But that's not a casual situation that's car burned up. unfortunately for that team they got to pay for whatever happened there and I know NASCAR tried to we've had this problem before and who knows what happened could be rubber could be debris could be something we don't even know it's hard to speculate but yeah it was uh it's different racing back there and you got you definitely see some correlation to uh the ones that spent out and wrecked the most uh they you can see how it happens happens for sure. It's wild. But anywho, what else we got? We got Eric Jones. He got, oh, I think

Stenhouse got him. I think Stenhouse got Eric Jones. He was in the middle, got Eric Jones through turn two right there, and then McDowell came crashing in and got caught up in it. But that's just That's roble racing. Not much else you can say about it other than... That's the roble. That's why we love it. I thought... Not to go back to the schedule thing.

I thought the roval was out based on Dale Jr.'s comments. I thought once... Me too. Dale Jr. said... Hinted that the roval might be gone. I was like, it's gone now, for sure. I loved when Marcus Smith was like, you know, it's unlike any other sports facility that you can see the...

You can see the round track, and then you can come watch it in a stadium. It's like, wait a minute, doesn't Indy have that? Doesn't Daytona have that? I just... And aren't there tracks a little better? I just... That's what we should do.

Go run the Charlotte dirt track. Or we could run that little quarter mile right outside turn three. Yeah, what if you can connect it all? You go down through the tunnel, out the track to the quarter mile, come back through the tunnel? I bet you they could find a way for us to do that.

That'd be great. I think surely there's a way we could run all three tracks in Charlotte and put on a great show for the fans. You could have seating inside the stadium and outside. You can choose to sit at the dirt track

or sit at the quarter mile. Wow. So many possibilities. Experience the thrill of the racetrack like you're in the driver's seat with Draft King's Sportsbook. Bet on your favorite racers and feel the rush of every pass,

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21 and older varies by jurisdiction. Voided in Ontario. See dkng.com slash auto racing for eligibility, terms, and responsible gambling resources. bonus bets expire seven days after issuance eligibility and deposit restrictions apply all right is your outlook on the you convicted the final four earlier this year is your outlook changing now that you know who the the round of eight is my prediction was me true expiring larsson yep is that what it was yep well that's chalk right now um those are the guys above um i don't know i mean it'd be hard to argue that

I mean do I think us four will make it? No. I think there'll be someone in the below that will have a good solid three races

or the win but it'd be hard to argue that the top four in the standings right now are not the top four in performance for the year.

I mean just maybe not in the old Winston Cup format, but I'm just saying, you know, just how they're running. Who's a threat? You know, who are your favorites every single weekend?

That's pretty much it, right? Recently? I mean, Trux has not been a favorite recently. I know. There's something in my gut that just feels like Truex is just going to fucking turn a switch on and then all of a sudden be Truex.

I keep waiting. I asked you this question because I'm most curious. said in his post race, if you listen, he was like, now we finally get to some freaking tracks that like, we can control our destiny, we know what we got. You would say that about Darlington too, but they had an off weekend there. Right. But I still got tons of faith in him and that team. I'm asking more specifically about a guy like Tyler Redick. I'm not sure that anyone necessarily predicted that he reached the round of eight, but I mean, we go to a few tracks here, one of which being Homestead, looking at his career finishes at Homestead

in the Cup series. They're very good. Tell me more. You tell me. I mean, I agree. I think he's... I mean, I think he's a guy now that you need to be worried about in this round of eight. I certainly think that, oh, I am. I, you know, I've said all along, I consider these guys as competitors. Right. you know, yes, they drive for me, but, you know, I always want to grasp the goal closest to me, and that's to be a cup champion.

Now, I can achieve that this year. I can be, you know, I got plenty of time to be a championship winning owner, so I'm rooting for them to finish second. Not to win. I do. I think they're going to be tough. The racetracks, I don't know how. lines up for him, but he's fast. I mean, what can I say?

I know their cars are fast. So, yeah, it's going to be tough. I think it's going to be, I think it'll be who puts, who has mistake-free three weeks. Right. And then, you know, of course, you're going to have a couple lock themselves in at least. I mean, typically the narrative when we get to these round of eight races is that you're going to have to win one of them to get into the final four. Yeah. It's less about points.

You're at least, yeah, you're always going to have one get it on points, obviously, because there's three races, four spots. But, but, but yeah, you have to, you have to, you have to, you have to really be good. And you have to be good all three. There is no, unless you're going to win, you're right. You, there, there's no mulligans now. You've got to be on kill these last, these next three. I think it lines up great for us.

We'll see. Vegas next week. Anything in particular? No. I look forward to Vegas. I don't always practice well there. Certainly don't always qualify well there, but I always race well. It's like that's my Kansas. That's my Kansas 2.0 is Vegas. I don't know what it is about the racetrack, but it just seems like I, it takes me a day to get up the speed there. I think we'll be good. I do.

Mile and a half has been great. Where are we at? Homestead, right? Homestead, Martin. Yeah, it's a good track. I mean, do I feel as good probably as Larson or Redick at Homestead? No, I don't, but I feel like I can be kind of the next, you know. You know, do I think that I'm just going to go there and start running the wall?

Good night. Good night. Do I think I'm going to start running the wall as good as those guys? guys, no. But late race restart, we're on the bottom. It could pass them a win. So I don't know. I think that, I think it's going to be a shootout.

It's going to be very close. I think it always comes down to Martin Zill that, you know, what happens at the end of the race. But I think this year in particular with this group of eight, while the chalk, while the favorites are up at the top now, I don't see. I think it will be hard for all four to do it. They've got the advantage, but there's just always someone in the bottom that wins a race that you didn't plan for. Yeah, looking at Redick, I think he's the one who could be most likely to do it at a track like Homestead. I mean, Bell, Bell did last year in Martinsville. That's true.

That's true. Are you bringing in any friends to Vegas? Are we going to have any good social media content in Vegas? We always do. Yeah, we go to Vegas a day early. enjoy the sights and sounds and the bells ringing in the lobby and all that stuff. It'll be scooters this year? Yes, there will be Ronnie Hats and scooters, yes.

Okay, looking forward to it. Yeah, me too. Back it up, Terry. And speaking of Vegas, Dale Jr. and Friends, this Friday. Ooh, this Friday. Tickets still available. Dirtymo Media.com slash live. Good plug there.

This will not be shared publicly, correct? No, yeah, this is not being posted anywhere. What time is it? Vegas time. I believe it's seven Vegas time. I'm guessing it's an evening. You can Google it or just go online. Still time to get tickets for DirtyMill Live.

Dale Jr. and friends head to duriemo Media.com slash live. That's where you can find the answer and where to purchase tickets if you're interested. Review from Cooper the Mega Fan. My son is a huge fan of Denny and he finally got to meet him at Talladega. He stopped to chat and take a picture. Denny could not have been more awesome. Great experience. and great podcast.

Appreciate it. Thank you for that review. We will continue to read those out each week. So thank you. Appreciate you tuning in. And thanks for tuning in this week. We will see y'all post Vegas. We're out.

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