The Dale Jr. Download - 106 - Michigan: 'That Was Pretty Interesting...'

Episode Date: August 18, 2015

Dale Earnhardt Jr. analyzes the results of the new aero package at Michigan; Everyone including Reaction Theatre callers weighs in on Regan Smith's Mid-Ohio win. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is Dale Jr., and you're listening to Dirty Mo Radio. You want to know the number? You're a P-12. What's the funny about that? I figured you were trying to count cars up there in front of you to see where you a restart. You're now listening to the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. Check out Dale Jr.'s signature dirty-mo sunglasses from Spy at Spyoptic.com. Hey, everybody's Jr. just got home from Michigan.

Yeah, I had a decent finish. had a pretty interesting race. The whole weekend was really interesting, to be honest with you. We were trying a new high-drag package that NASCAR tried at Indy. And, you know, it was pretty interesting to see how that all worked out. I think there were some drivers that liked it, some drivers that didn't like it. But, you know, Matt Kinzer seemed to have it pretty figured out. I don't think that anybody was going to be able to compete with him.

His car was really good. and if you give Matt a good car, he's going to do a good job with it. It's a hell of the driver. We started off the weekend really poor. We'd come off the trailer really loose and not fast at all. We got the car better for qualifying, and we took what we learned from qualifying and applied it to the car to help us on Saturday for practice.

We got the car driving pretty decent, I guess. It still wasn't the best car out there, but definitely I thought we were a 10th place car, which is where we actually ended up running in the race. We got some track position early in the race, and we were able to sit there and run in the top five, and then we had our restart where I got really, really loose for a number of laps and lost a ton of position.

I thought I had a flat tire going down, so I was trying to get out of the way. The car was so loose. But actually what I found out, or what I think I figured out, was that all the higher you went, typically with their old package and a shorter spoiler you could get up in that third lane on restarts and actually get in some clean air and get around outside of some guys and pass a handful of cars in the first lap on the restart but with this big spoiler and everything else on the car

that was actually working in the opposite where the higher you went the worst the air was the less down force you had They're the best arrow and the best grip was right against the apron on restarts. And I really didn't figure that out until it was too late. So I'm sure everybody on, everybody that's a supporter of that 88 car was wondering what the hell was going on right there. So sorry for that. But we battled back all day long trying to get that track position back and tried to do what we could. And it ended up being only good enough for 10th. But anyhow, we're going on to Bristol.

We're real excited about that. Looking forward to some short track racing, and I hope we do well there. It's a track I really love to race at, and I always love going there as a kid. I think the night race at Bristol is the best ticket in the series. We asked you guys to call in the Reaction Theater to give your opinion about Regan's win in the Xfinity Race. And we had a lot of people that had a lot of different opinions. I was reading everybody's comments on Twitter. A lot of people thought it was dirty, dirty driving.

A lot of people thought it was typical stock car racing. And I myself have to say that, you know, in all the decades of stock car racing, that move has been made millions of times. And it'll be made millions of times after. It's part of stock car racing. You know, they have bumpers and fenders. And if, you know, it's the last lap and, you know, that's the lap that pays. and if you get rooted out of the way, sometimes it's not fun being on that end of it.

But if you're going to win the race, it's definitely worth it, in my opinion. I don't believe in spinning a guy out. I don't believe in putting a guy on the fence, but if I can move you out of the way to win the race and, hey, you come home second, third, somewhere in the top five, that's just how it goes.

I'm sorry. And I wouldn't be happy if I was to have. because that's definitely no fun to lose them that way, but that's always kind of been in part of our sport. So I'm not making excuses for Regan. The other thing about it is Regan's definitely working for his future. He's a guy that's trying to claw his way back into the Cup Series, and he's got to try to do what he needs to do for himself.

I had a driver before Regan that would move a guy out of the way if he needed to win the race, and that was Brad Keselowski, and look where he ended up. So he's actually driving for Penske. I got it. owns Tag's car. Anyway, yeah, I think that Tag kind of, you know, he was the fastest car, I thought, and once he got in front of Regan, I was surprised that, you know, he didn't put some distance on Regan, but Regan was actually able to stay with him. And, you know, on that last lap, there was, you know,

Tag was underdriving the car quite a bit, and then I think when he noticed he was under driving it, he went into that, whatever the hell that corner is, and got over-cooked it in the entrance of that corner and got loose. You can see his hands in the car moving. Swat and flies is what I called it on Twitter. But you can see him chasing the back of the car into that corner and missing, he missed the line completely. And that's the invitation in stock car racing. I know that's not how they drive an open wheel. But it's highly driving stock cars.

Anyway, what else? We got Bristol coming up, and then we got Darlington. Darlington's going to be a lot of fun. Got that low-down force package that we tried at Kentucky that seemed to be something positive. I think everybody seemed to like Kentucky. The fans seem to enjoy it. The drivers certainly liked it. So I'm excited about Darlington.

And also, there's a lot of old-school retro paint schemes coming for Darlington. Darlingson's going to be a bit of a throwback weekend. I think even the broadcast is going to go throwback. I've heard some good things from Steve LaTard about that, and we've got a throwback paint scheme that we're going to unveil soon. We got all kinds of crazy stuff having with paint schemes. Everything next year might be new. I've been doing a lot of work with that and seeing a lot of cool ideas.

So I'm excited to share all that as soon as we can. I don't know. That's about it. I hope you guys have had a good weekend. I wish we were to run better at Michigan. That's one of our best tracks. I did enjoy being there and enjoy running that race, but just couldn't get that track position back that I lost on that restart.

And that's definitely my fault. I should have been more aggressive working with the track bar and doing things that I needed to do to protect myself, and I just didn't understand how the air was working, and it got me. Once we figured that out, we made some good restarts and good passes on restarts that utilized the bottom groove down the front straightaway and into turn. and that was definitely much better than trying to use the top that I had used in the past.

Anyhow, you guys enjoy the download. We'll talk to you later. Good stuff again from Dale Earnhardt Jr. this weekend on the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy with Amanda, with T.J. with Mike. I am Taylor, and we will recap that race, and we will first, though, talk about a win. You got to drink some cold beer at some point soon, right? What did I tell you, Taylor? I said that before Regan's career was over, he would win.

at a road course. Did I not make that prediction? No, you did not. I made that prediction. No. You said somebody else. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not Regan. I'm pretty sure I said Regan. No. And I'm right, and we're going to party. Amanda's got a tremendous amount of evidence that will back me up. Some archives.

Yeah. You're going to manipulate that audio? That's what y'all got to do. Let me just say this. First of all, I don't want to be friends with someone that has a problem with what Regan did. In fact, I refuse to be friends with somebody that has. has a problem with what Regan did. DJ takes his headside. DJ, we'll see you later.

There's an exit right over there or there's one right there. Furthermore, if the son of Dale Earnhardt had a problem with that, I would take this headset off and I would walk out the door. Hey, I think the quote was, listen, if I get into it and you finish second or third or fifth, it's the way it's got to be. Did you get fired up? I got fired up. Listen, and Jr., the way he explained it, you know, look,

I saw, speaking of Kislauski and speaking of Bristol, I went to the Friday night race a few years ago, and Kyle Bush punted Brad Kislowski. I mean, he re-goy punted Brad Kislowski into the fence. Okay, now there's, it's one thing if you wreck somebody. I mean, you punt them into the fence. You remember that years ago? Absolutely. But if you move someone out of the way to win a race, I don't have any issue with that.

That's called racing. That's why what Dale Jr. said just there. about that being the best ticket on the circuit and Bristol coming up on Saturday night. That's why they build a coliseum is because of stuff like that. I don't want to see somebody wrecked. I don't want to see somebody

certainly don't want to see anybody injured or put in the fence. But if you move someone to win a race, well, by God, you've got to do that. Anyone that has a problem with that, I'm not going to be friends with them. I just want to go ahead and let you know that. I wonder if you've got any friends that actually feel that way that you are going to have to be friends.

I do too. I'm about to find out, I guess. What if it's like your wife? Well, we're going to have a major... There's the door. There's the door. No. She'd be on board with that, I hope. Yeah.

Yeah, she's on your side of it. Don't you agree with that? Come on now. Oh, trust me. I mean, listen, let's say the role was reversed. Let's say Junior's winning a race at a road course in Watkins Glen, and I'm feeling good about everything, and he gets moved. You're not going to like it.

You're not going to be happy. You're not going to like it, but it is racing. He said it's been done a million times it's going to be done a million times. it's going to be done a million more times. That's what happens. Somebody made a go with me on Twitter and said, you know, that basically it was hypocritical for Regan to get so mad at Ty Dillon last week then do exactly what he did to win the race this past weekend.

And I say that's night and day. Night and day. One thing, I don't even know why I got to explain it. One, it wasn't the last lap at Watkins-Glynn. It was early in the race, and he got wrecked. I mean, it caused a caution. And it didn't need to happen. Now, if Ty, if it was the last lap,

lap of the Watkins Glen race and it is between Regan and Ty Dillon and they do get in a wreck you still might not like it but at least it's a little bit more understandable so this is where you're at I mean the last lap of a race it's night and day from what the Watkins Glenn incident and you know what I love the conversation regardless I love the fact that some people get mad and some people don't and then when the situation is reversed the next week you're mad about something you were happy about a week ago and you know what that's the beautiful part about racing it's what it's the it's the wonderful part about conversation and passion because you don't always have to be rational i don't see a problem with it i think that's how our what's that's why people like taylor said go to bristol we all used to i mean

there was a lot of passes on the last lap bump and runs there and that's why people go we don't we don't go to watch them not try to win you know regan is paid to win that race yeah he is his job is to win his race for these guys working in the shop out here. That's right. And if he don't as long as like you said, I agree, as long as he don't completely tear that guy's car up, I mean, he bumped him. You know, he moved him up the racetrack. He's not

destroying, and you make your own luck though. The guy finished second. Let's just be clear. The guy finished second. He did finish second. So, in other words, Regan did it perfectly. Did it perfectly. Listen, Jr's right. Tag looked like he had the better car. It reminds, speaking of Bristol.

Not this past year, but this race two years ago coming up this weekend. Matt Kenseth won it. Casey Cain finished second. And the last 30 laps, T.J., they were racing each other for the win. And every single turn three, Casey would try to go to the bottom, try to make it stick, and he couldn't do it. Every single time. And after the race, Casey had extraordinary regret. He was questioning himself.

He was like, maybe I should have moved him. and Kenseth, it looked like Kenseth had the better car, but Casey's chance to win was to move him, and he didn't do it. And he had tremendous regret about it. Man, these guys are racing, especially at the Xfinity level, Regan has been through all sorts of, I mean, you guys are friends with him. He's been through all kinds of changes professionally.

I mean, you guys can speak to that, and Junior just did. This guy wants another chance at the big game. Yeah. And I don't, anyone that has a problem with what he did is just being a hypocrite. Look, speaking of Kyle Bush, remember Richmond with Junior? What was that? Five, six years ago? It was more than that.

2008. You mean when Kyle took out Dale? Yeah. Out of the league? That was 2008. And you just said it. He took him out. He took him out.

He took him out. All right. So that's one thing, like you just said, tag finished second. Finish second. Taking somebody out and moving them to win a race are two different things. Well, let me ask you this. So Road America last year, the same guy that got moody in that race, he puts on sticker tires, everyone else has rain tires on.

The track dries out. He's coming back up through the field. He's not wasting any time with these guys. It's not the last lap. He gets Chase Elliott. What's he do to chase? Bumps him out of the way. How is that any different than what Regan just did?

It's not. It's not one bit different, whether it was 10 to go or one to go. It's a racing tactic. Yeah, it's racing. It's like, are they expected to make clean passes at Martinsville without actually making contact? I would say if you've got, I would say if you've got 50 laps of to go or 20 laps to go. If you've tried everything you can to pass them and you can't, then fair enough.

Yeah, I see that. Yeah, but you sit two or three shots at the guy, and then finally, if he, finally, you get fed up with him enough, you get out, you get to his bumper a little bit, you just give a shot, then you pass him and you go on. Amen. I have a lot of respect for Regan for keeping up with him, because I thought Tagliani was going to drive away on that restart. When they crossed the, when they crossed the line and taking the white flag, the gap was

big enough that Regan was not going to have any shot. There's three passing zones. Carlings at least, right? There was three passing zones, I think, on that track that Regan would have had a legitimate shot. And I kept watching the gap. They were showing chase racing with somebody there. Then I kept watching seeing Clips of Regan, and I was like, man, he's inching in on him. Yeah.

And they got to the one passing zone. I was like, oh, here it goes. And he said, no. And they went to the bumper cam, and I saw the gap close up. Regan just bat his corner up. And they got a really good run. And then they come down to the last corner. And that's not even really a passing zone.

It's just kind of a slow right-hand. under sweeping corner. And, you know, obviously, like Junior said, too, I watched Tagliani going to that corner and overdrive it. He was looking at his mirror. He was looking at his mirror. And I think when he finally realized he was in there too deep, you know, if you're already pushing, you're in that you drive in too deep,

your car is pushing, and you get a bump, it's just going to accelerate that even more. So I thought it was an awesome camera shot. I was watching. I was like, on his car. They could have time that. You saw it's bumper just come right up and close it, and then it's just dark.

I tell you what, man, that guy already had all of our respect, but what he is doing to try to win races, especially after what happened the week before. This guy, you can tell Dale Jr.'s got a tremendous amount of respect for him. He's gaining, I can tell you, that garage, too, is filled with drivers that have a lot of respect for him. I'll plug the Junior Motorsports Up Front podcast real quick because it's going to be very interesting to hear Regan explain it all this week on Dirty Moe Radio,

because that's the first time that Dirty Moe Radio. It's not the first time Regan's won, but it's the first time he's won since he's been a podcast host on Dirty Moe Radio. So we're going to have him in and he's going to explain exactly. A couple years ago when we were only doing this podcast, he was like on the back of some truck in Chicago selling ice cream, I think, after he had won a race. He was doing it.

Oh, that's right. Remember that? Yeah. Yeah. But it'll be good to hear his own thoughts on that for sure. Well, let's talk about the big boys on Sunday in the cup race. And what happened. in there. T.J., we're going to hear some thoughts from a junior in-car audio with Greg, with you,

and with Junior in just a second. But ultimately, you know, Junior took responsibility for where the car finished. And he said it was a top 10 car, is what he said. Personally, you and I were saying this off the year before we started this. I thought it was a top five car, especially in the first 40 laps. I mean, from lap 24 to 42, and they went from six to second, I thought, man, this car that might contend today. Yeah, I feel like, I feel like at best, like straight up wise, like in the race, we were a fifth place car. We probably could have ran third if we got in line third.

I think if we got in line eighth, we're going to run eighth, you know, with that package is just, everything was magnified, you know, to the airwise. After restarts, everything was just even on restarts, but it looked like after they got singled out, it was even harder to, it was even harder. before you can move around more and now it was just super hard to do anything it just uh i just feel like i feel like we had a top five car if we could have got there and ran there like we showed that to the beginning you know we're there we can run there um but that's where the you know kosh comes out the right times people swap pit strategies and stuff because they want to shot out the

win and um you know just so happened with that bad restart and got shuffled back a little bit so we you know gregg threw some darts at it and uh you know i feel like getting back to 10th was he drove really hard. That's an accomplishment, I thought. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he drove there for a while. I thought we were going to finish like 15th. Yeah.

And to get back to 10th, I feel like he drove, drove hard, made a lot of smart decisions at the end. Do you like the package? I don't. I don't a bit. I like the fact that drivers are working hard, but I don't like the fact why they're working hard. I watched Clint Boyer lift literally and let us go about,

he'd be one car length back entering turn one. And it's something I had to learn, too, because normally when they're that close, you're like, all right, he's going to probably take a shot here. You're like, focus in on it. Right before turn one, I would just watch the gap. I'd watch how early he had to lift.

He'd lift in seven car lengths because he just can't run. And like Dale Jr. said, too, it took the drivers. It's hard to move around. You can't just move up the groove like we used to before. It seems to disturb more air, like a bigger pocket. And it makes it harder to even move lanes. They used to be our go-to move on restarts and stuff. Get up there on the top of the black where the rubber's laying down

and mowed around some guys. now is that's not even there. I liked the effort, you know, trying it because the trucks seem to have a similar type of package, and they seem to put on a pretty good show. I think their speeds are a little bit slower still, and I think that might help out with it some, but I think it was worth a shot at trying it at a place like Michigan, because who knows who say when we're going to go there and pack up and have a good run. So, T.J., are you saying, if I'm hearing you right, you're saying that Dale Jr. does good on the high line,

but then NASCAR changed the rules package, and now he's no longer, and they took away his performance. word line. Is that what you're saying? It took away. Reaction theater. 855, 740. He is saying that NASCAR hates Dale Jr. Yeah, I think that's what I heard, right? Well, they gave us that lucky dog. I mean, got to thanking for that.

Conspiracy. Yeah. Spursy. Look, I think that, yeah, I think you said it right. I mean, it's amazing to me how the changes of these cars affect the temperament of the air around them. Oh, it's huge, man. To the point that Dale Jr., an accomplished race car driver honestly thought he

had a tire going down. He was so loose. Yeah. But it really was just the fact that the temperament of the air and the attitude of the car was so different that it was four into it. Those laps, those two or three laps when he kept getting loose into three were bad. I thought we had a tire going down

too, and it was just... All right, let's hear some audio here, and let's go to lap 76, Amanda, when Junior's in night position, and he's got a bad issue. Doesn't know what's going on. You got a bad issue. I don't know what it is, but. We're ready for you in case you got a tire going down

Thought he had problems with the car But man, how extreme must that car be When it's that different That Junior couldn't even snuff it out It dropped all the way to 18th position At lap 84 So in eight laps, it dropped a nine spots So went from third at lap 71

To 18th at lap 84 Let's hear him talking about this next set of tires That three didn't go anywhere He took tires But I don't know man I was going to do any better than that. Yeah, before we get these tires off, we're going to be all right. There's 13 cars on an elite lap right now.

We're one of them. That didn't pit until last time, so we'll be all right. Yeah, I mean, it's driving okay now. The Trek bar is coming back up. Y'all braces the Trekbar, 02 inches, starting to run and two inches down. Because of pitting and strategy and everything all the way back up, up to second, but did get lapped actually there for a while, got the lucky dog. It was all kinds of crazy strategy out there after that, DJ. It was kind of weird how it was flip-flop with a handful of

cars. One thing that was happening that was flip-flop and a two is the restarts. Normally you wanted to be in the high lane, but this time we made a lot of moves on the bottom. We actually passed more cars on the bottom than I think we did the top on restarts. But you know, it was, you just didn't when the cautions were going to fall like the road course and nobody was really you you weren't pitting four tires you were pitting most of them for fuel and if it you know obviously if it was a long enough stop to take tires you took them but you didn't you were just hoping to get in your window and make it from there like a road course but tj you were talking about being out front and how you pretty much had to be on the front row if you're going to have a chance to win this race dale

Jr. talked about that too. Whatever you all do. I don't think you're going to now we ain't going to win this week to start on the pole. I got nothing to lose really putting all the four tires on or whatever you want to do.

We're going to do four here. This is flashed the left here in the gas and then put a round and a half in the left room. If a bunch fit in front of us, I don't think anybody's going to pit it in front of us. Yep. And that was obviously the right thing to do, T.J.

I think with our driver, like just knowing how he is over the years, I would give him tires if you're in that buffer area all the time because he feels it gives him that little bit of extra confidence like, okay, I got four tires, maybe I get around a few of these guys rather than he's not going to go into the corner, you know, all right, we've stayed out, these guys all behind me got tires, hopefully they don't get me. His mindset is completely different when you get your tires, so I would always do it. It was the same situation we had at Indianapolis a few weeks ago.

Yeah, you know, if he's going to restart, first or second, maybe even third, then stay out and go win the race. If you're restarting 9th, 10th, 11th, put tires on it. I mean, there's no point. If everybody behind us was going to stay out, when you stay out, you need to have a, you want to have a handful of cars behind you stay out too, so you have that buffer zone. Right. So.

All right. Do you want my bold prediction right now? Yes. I've been. Do you want it after reaction theater? Do you want it after White Flag after Take a Nation or you want it right now? I've been losing sleep all week because I won't. and know what this prediction is. See, I was looking at this now. Kyle Bush is inside the top 30,

which means he's second now in points, or second really in the standings. Behind Jimmy Johnson, he's three millionth in points, but he's second in the standings. Jimmy Johnson is first because they both have four wins. Kenseth now with three wins is in third. Harvick, Legano, and then there's Dale Jr. and sixth if, you know, the chase, if the playoffs started today. See, I still don't have any idea which way he's going to take this. All right, so we got Bristol coming up this weekend. Then we got Darlington after that. And then we got Richmond.

You had three more races, right, before the playoffs. Start. Right. All right. You just heard him a little while ago. He said that this might be the best ticket in the sport, right? At Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday Night, Thunder Valley, the Coliseum. I've been there more times than I can count.

And it's one of the very best spectator sports. sporting events in the world. And it's especially going to be special this Saturday night. Uh-oh. Oh, no, he did. Bristol Motor Speedway. No, he didn't. You're calling it.

You're calling your shot. We got to get another win. We got to get another win. Get up there in the standings. You're a brave man. I'm telling you. So you're saying Saturday night. You better spot a damn good race day.

Don't be peeing on anybody, TJ. You know, I have brought out the door phone there before. So I don't know. Listen, you screwed up my walkins-Glen prediction, T.J. Don't screw up Taylor's Bristol prediction. Come on, we're buddies. Take care of me here on Saturday night. What happens if he doesn't win?

Excuse me? What happens if he doesn't win? What kind of attitude is that? I'm saying how confident are you in your pick? I'm extremely confident. I want to know how confident. So what happens if it doesn't happen? Who won the PGA championship?

Justin. Jason Day. Jason Day. Who did I pick to win the PGA championship? Probably Tiger Woods. Jason Day. I picked Jason Day to win the PGA championship, and somebody looked at me and said, well, I mean, are you, I don't make picks unless I'm confident. What are you talking about?

I don't come in here. I don't go to Vegas and say, oh, well, let's put $100 down on this and see what happens. Now, I like your pick. Now, I want to hear a good, solid reason why you feel so confident. I think that for years he has been one of the best. short track racers at Bristol with all things considered you know if there's no bad luck etc if you if he's got a great piece he's confident in it I think he is one of the five best guys there to win a race at Bristol Motor Speedway and after what I saw in Martinsville last year

you know I was thinking more about it and how much that means that place means to him and I was thinking Saturday and just listening to his audio here I've been thinking about this the last couple weeks. He's mentioned Bristol several times. I think he, not that he doesn't try to win every single race, but I think he goes in there with an even extra bit of confidence, and his team does too, because they've been so close so often at that place in the last handful of years with a package they felt like, man, we could come so close to winning. And yes, it's based on a feeling. And I want to, and this is the other thing, because this is a bold prediction. Let me tell you why.

So Gibbs bunch running pretty good And Kyle Bush happens to get around that place really good He does but listen Which means Thursday and Friday are of paramount importance Qualifying is of paramount importance And I am taking a gamble when it comes to that a little bit Because if there is one thing that the 88 team has suffered in Especially the place like that

It has been practicing qualifying Qualifying. Qualifying is not been well Qualifying's been an issue And those pit road speeds are also problems Race trim and in the race has never been an issue there. So I think Saturday night, Thunder Valley, I'm telling you, you're going to want to be there because the 88 is going to victory lane on Saturday night. Let me tell you why this is.

Third win of the year. This is a bold prediction because what Taylor knows is the same thing I know, which is the same thing you know, Amanda. Is it if he's even one position off or God forbid if something bad happens, the Twitter handle at Taylor Z Radio will be lit up. I'm telling you. And he doesn't care. He feels that good about it.

I was called for the win going into Watkins Glen last week. T.J. screwed us. He doesn't have Twitter. T.J. He has no idea. T.J., can you back me up on this on Saturday night? You're not giving me...

T.J. is waking up now. I'm not going out on that limb. I mean, we should run good. I feel like we'll be competitive. If cards fall in the right direction, we'll be there for it. We will be in contingent. That was a buzzkill Amanda right there.

What's that commercial? Want to get away? I feel like my guts telling me that we could win Darlington too. Maybe two in a row. I don't know. Whoa, TJ with another prediction. Darlington, two in a row. He really gets into the throwback stuff.

Man, I think he's going to go there with ready for that weekend and be excited about it. You know, I think he's not excited every weekend, but he, you know how much he loves the throwback stuff, man. I think Saturday night's going to be special. I think that it all comes down to qualifying. Got to have a great qualifying effort. Well, about that.

On Friday, that's been an issue in the past, but I feel good. You should put an asterisk on this and say, look, I'm predicting 8-8 wins if they qualify top 10. No, no, no. Something like that. No, I mean, I didn't put any asterisk on Jason Day, winning the PGA championship. I predicted he would win.

He did. So maybe I'm going a little too far, but I'm saying that Dale Jr. wins. If you're going to go, go far. I'm in. I'm all in. I'm all in. Dale Jr. Saturday night.

We'll see what happens. All right, it's time for reaction theater. Junior tweeted out and asked for your calls on this. And as you know, if you called in, it's your chance to win some spy swag on top of the earbuds and wireless speaker. Up for grabs. Don't forget, you can go online to spyoptic.com and get yourself a pair of Dale Jr. signature 88 shades.

This includes the Dirty Mo, McCoy, Quanta General, and Farah for the ladies. That's for you, T.J. Once you are ready to check out Inter-Discount Code Nationwide 88 and get 20% off of that purchase. This is coming from the guy that has one pink sock on and one white sock on. Are you serious? That's fair. That's fair. I do.

He does. Yeah, I think these belongs to my 10-year-old. You've got pink socks on. I'm dominated by the other. I didn't want to bring that out, but you had to make that joke about the. No, that was fair. I got to give you credit for that. That was fair.

When you've got nothing but women in your house, you know, you put whatever you get on. I'm in the same situation. You know what? I don't have pink socks on, Taylor. You know how to fix it? You buy all the same sock. I did. And they took them.

I'm all right with that. It looks like you took them. I am wearing a pink sock, though. That is really girly. All right. Let's go to reaction theater. So the race that Michigan just ended. Our 14th top 10 of the year, which is nice.

if it was 2012. However, this is 2015, and we need to up our game up. We're trying to win a championship, not just finishing the top five or top ten, and we need to get better cars. So it's on Greg to get the job done heading into the chase. Still a huge fan, just very frustrated, kind of like Dale behind the wheel. Dale, yeah. Let's go to Bristol.

Hey, that's a fair call. We've got to find some speed. Which Hendrick team would you rather be than 88 right now? Right. 15th, 17. Which makes Taylor's prediction even more crazy. 15th, and 39th. Jimmy's Day.

How bad was it? Pretty bad. What about? But he's gotten a lot better on Twitter, though. The four cars. It's been almost 20 races since he's won. That's a good point. I didn't even realize that.

It's been almost, it might be 20 now. It's almost right at it. 20 races since the four cars won. That's pretty amazing. Amanda was pointing at me to let me know she actually put this on my sheet. I didn't have to look it up on my phone. But he looked it up anyways. Who's next?

Hey, I want to congratulate Regan Smith on that awesome victory today. It was really cool to see him bring the little girl into Victory Lane. Nationwide, you got an awesome program over there with the Children's Hospital. Alex Tagliani, or whatever your French Canadian name is, I got a quote from you from the great Robert Duval. No son, he didn't slam you, didn't bump you, he didn't nudge you, he rubbed you, and Reverend's son is racing. And if you don't like it, you can go back to Canada because this is America.

That's right. I'm sick and tired of all these road course ringers coming in, trying to steal these wins from the people who worked their ass off all season. Dale yeah. Tell yeah. Who is Robert DeValle? I've never heard of him. I've heard of Harry Hogg.

I've heard of Harry Hall. Yeah, I've never heard of Robert McAul. Oh, Harry Hogg. Got to get, like, Tag Leone does come up from a different, you know, racing background. In the car he drove, you couldn't do that stuff. If you had a guy beat in the last corner, you had to be. Well, no what you're driving.

That's what, yeah. I mean, it's been. They've all done it. Kyle's done it. Brad's done it. That's what you do. How about Juan Pablo Montoya chiming in on Twitter saying that was dirty driving?

You know what? Give that boy some Perrier and tell him to go back to Open Wheel. They laid in to him. Who's next? King of Road Racing Alex was overdraving the last time. Look at his hands on the replay. He was out of control. Reagan would have passed him anyways.

Doesn't matter. Go back to Canada, Mr. Alex. I don't, listen, we do have. Canadian listeners. I don't want to make this a Canadian thing, okay? We love our Canadian friends. You make your own luck, and he did not, he made bad luck for himself. I find this to be so hilarious. Who's next? Well, it ain't a win, but I'm still pretty pumped up. First of all, didn't have the best car this weekend, but the guys worked hard, and Dale made some sweet three-wide passes to get ourselves a top ten finish. Second of all,

that 18 car finished behind us, part where it should. Third of all, TJ didn't door bumper for Crash Dale going in and turn one. So PJ gets to keep his job for now. And finally, that 48 car wreck to bring out the last caution. So on to Bristol, night race. Let's take some lessons we learned from our boy, Regan Smith. Do a little bump and run, get ourselves a win. How did you feel on that first lap?

Because Kyle Bush, he had to go to the rear regardless, but he hung way back in his comments were something bad's going to happen on this first lap. And it did. Yeah. Not horrific bad. I watched it. I actually saw it happen not too far behind us with a 55 car. I was like, we all were wondering what it was going to look like in turn one.

And, you know, he just, no one knows. The drivers are getting ready to experience for the first time. We're getting ready to try to tell them where all these cars are for the first time. And I saw the 55 just kind of, you know, luckily, no one, it didn't turn into, it could be big. I mean, it could have been. And the guy in fifth could have lost it. And that could have been really, really, really, really. It could have been really, yeah.

It was funny just to watch Kyle, like, a whole pack went by, and then two seconds later, it was like, Oh, there goes Kyle. Yeah. Who's next? All right, here's the deal. I heard Roger Pedsky today on Claire's radio show, and he was saying that he would never hire Regan for what he had done in that race yesterday, and talk about BS. I mean, come on. I mean, Regan went for the win on the last two corners on the last lap. It's like his drivers have never done anything like that. I could think of one, Texas. when Brad figured he was going to take that hole, and he did,

and he ruined Jeff's day. Whatever, dude. Regan, I hope you're back with Junior Motorsports next year. If not, I hope you find a good ride, and I wouldn't even, don't even, oh, pissing you out. Go Junior Motorsports. I thought Penske was totally out of line before we said. I really did.

It's just, if we can all own the fact that we're all hypocrites when it comes to the things that we love and the passions we have, it's just, what that's why I thought he was. I mean, look at who he hired. I mean, Jr. said it. his audio. Brad, does he have any a video of Brad Kislauski racing around the track?

It's because it's just, I mean, it's the same, it's my same philosophy of when it comes of a restrictor plate racing. When we win, we love it. When we wreck, I hate it. I hate Talladega. I hate Daytona.

When we get wrapped up in some BS rest, and it's just like, you never know why? You know, well, yeah. I don't think, first of all, I don't think Brad wrecked Jeff at Texas. Jeff left a hole and a guy tried to win a race. It wasn't like he just,

went up there. Well, that's the same thing. Yeah. All I'm saying is, Brad does the same thing Regan does. But I did watch, I have watched Brad at Gateway pull that same move with Carl. It was the final lap of the race. They drive down into one, and Brad moves Carl up the racetrack. And I watched it happen.

And then they come through three and four, and Carl gets back to him, hits him, and he can't, he doesn't hit him hard enough. And they come down the front trash, and that's where Carl hooks him, you know, on the front track and wrecks him. I mean, it was a bad wreck. So why did Roger decide to hire Brad? I mean, because it's the same thing Mike said. I mean, it's his car at that point.

You know, if I'm the owner, it's okay. Hey, forget Brad. What about Hornish? What about, you know, what about half the guys? I mean, what about Rusty Wallace? Yeah. What about Rusty? Come on.

All these guys have done it at some point. I mean, I agree with Mike. You don't wreck a guy or destroy their equipment to do it, but I don't fault a guy for, you know, doing what he needs to do to get the W, man. in. Kurt Busch? Amen. He raced for Penske?

Yes. He ran the two car. I would more so hire a guy that I know is going to go for the win. Absolutely. That's the point. Than a guy. That's not going to go for the win. That's the point.

I just, listen, I know Penske was upset. I get it. Yeah, he's upset. I just thought that. It will be upset when it happens to us. No doubt about it. I thought he went a little far with what he said there. Who's next?

That was one wheel of a race drove there, man. That arrow package sucks. and I don't think you're getting a whole lot of help out of the shop. I don't think you're coming to the track with much car. Because everybody else looked like they could just blown past you. But you did all you could, man. Proudia. Keep carrying Hendrick.

You're finished first out of all four of them every week. But just keep it up. Get some momentum heading into the chase, baby, and we've got to go get it this year. Dale, yeah. Good stuff. I like it. Good attitude, for sure. All right, who's next?

I'm only calling in just because Dale Jr. told me to call in and wish my opinion. I am stoked that Regan Smith won the race, breaking that long, wind of the streak, and all that good stuff and doing it for that girl from the nationwide Children's Hospital. I think that's really cool. But as a proud Canadian, I am thoroughly pissed the fuck off. That Regan Smith knocked Alex Tagliani out of the way. But with that being said, I'm glad to see Regan in Victory Lane. But I think Regan is probably going to have another one.

Combinix weekend and Road America if tags is in the car, then might get ugly. I don't think he is, though, is he? I mean, I've watched plenty of guys make worse decisions than that, you know? Hey, how about doing it because Junior Tartan through it? People thought that I hacked or got Junior's

Twitter account and did that post. Junior's tweeting reaction theaters now. Reaction theater numbers. Or is he called it Raction? Raction Theater. Accident. Who's next? Just got done with a celebratory barley poppin celebration of Regan Smith winning that race.

But I also got to think how great the commentary has been on Twitter from all the IndyCar drivers calling that move at the end of the rage dirty. Are you kidding me? What the fuck? That's got to be the lamest thing I've ever heard. You're on a NASCAR road course, or road course for NASCAR. You're on the last lap and you don't expect to get hit from behind at some point. Get over yourself, Tagliani. And it wasn't a dirty move or a...

True bump and run. He basically locked it up going into the corner. Reagan just helped him finish his stupid mistake. Goodness gracious. That's my winner right there. You like that one? That was my favorite one. He called it.

He didn't hide anything. He called it like it was. I liked it too. That's my winner as well. Amanda, what you think? I liked it. Give that man some spy swag. I liked it too, only because he did kind of mess up those last couple turns.

Tagliani. And Amanda expects good driving. out of the... Well, I just think this guy called a spade at spade. I appreciate that. He did. I think if you're an IndyCar driver, you drive Indy cars for a reason. You don't want...

Why do people watch stock car racing? They don't watch them. They don't watch them. They know at some point that we're going to hit, and they want to see that. That's right. They don't watch, you know, indie cars because they go in there and rub fenders, you know? Reaction Theater, open 24-7. All you have to do is call toll-free.

1855740 1902 and leave us your voicemail message and we'll play the best each week right here on dirty mo radio time now for it takes a nation presented by nationwide hey welcome to takes a nation you know sometimes on this segment we have families sometimes we have employees and sometimes and in this case we have sort of both you're a great employee jonathan davis that that we know how do you character how do you describe how you fit into the family. Can you explain that? Somewhere on an outer branch? No, yeah. You're out there as it is, Jonathan. I don't think that has anything to do with family. That was one funny thing that Kelly did text me after we got married. She said, you know, our family is full of nuts and it's great to have another one. There you go. But you married

Dale Jr. step-sister. Yes. Correct. Yep. And you are a part of the seven team that just won this past weekend. What do you do on the seven team? I'm the front McKee. and I pull the windshield tear-offs during pit steps. There you go. How long have you been here? It will be a year in three-quarters. We've been eager to have you on this segment because you're just a lot of fun. You're one of the most fun employees that we have here, but then we win.

So talk about what it was like to win at Mid Ohio this past weekend. It's kind of bittersweet in a couple ways that last year we ran second there. And we've had a really good road course program and we've had a really good season. and we actually started the season a whole lot better than I felt like we were last year. We just weren't getting the finishes that we should. But to run as well as we did all weekend, and especially after Watkins Glen, we had a good car there and had issues with another racer.

Regan handled that pretty well, and I think that drove him into this week, and he was pretty pumped up when he got there, and we had a fast car all weekend. And then to have the nationwide Children's Hospital on the car, I think we were the only car with a full paint scheme. That's right. And we had Laney in the pit stall with us all weekend, and it was really special.

And, you know, having kids seeing what some of these kids go through, you know, they endure a whole lot more than I feel like anybody should ever have to. And they're just kids going through it. So it was really awesome to win for her. We have a story on JRM Racing.com. Ron LaMasters wrote it. It's up there right now, and it's about Laney and kind of her role throughout the weekend. I tell you what, it's a really good story because it gives you a sense of how important that nationwide children's hospital is, but also just how the stars just aligned for this weekend.

They did. Having Lainey there, having the paint scheme, and then Regan taking the win. Regan clearly leaves Watkins Glen like a man on a mission. Yes. You know, I'm telling you something. You can see it in his eyes. You could tell that he was really going after this stuff, how important it is to him. And then we get to the last lap of mid-Ohio.

Now, tell me what a team member expects from their driver when you have a chance like that to win. What is your mentality? I believe he did exactly what any of us would have done or wanted him to do. I don't feel like he didn't wreck him. He didn't just drive off in the corner from 20 car lengths back. He was to his back bumper. And to be honest with you, Tagliani missed the corner. You know, if you watch the video, he just helped him out a little more.

And I feel like that that would have done the same. Somebody would have done the same thing to Regan if they had the chance. And I know Regan doesn't feel bad about it, but, you know, we got the trophy and we're going to go on with it. What if he let's off the gas? I'd be disappointed. Wouldn't you, though? Yeah. You know, and I think everybody else would, and I think he would probably be disappointed in himself,

because we all know how each other, how hard each other works to get where we get to on these races. And to be in that position on the last lap, the last corner, you know, you've got to take that chance. those wins mean everything to the guys. And it's even more rewarding for the week we had. You know, we worked Sunday. A lot of the guys worked through the night Sunday. That car had nobody on it Monday or Sunday night at probably 5 o'clock. So that was really awesome.

And Regan was sure to thank all the guys at the shop here. And it was great for our company. You know, and Regan, it's been 52 races since Daytona. Right. His last victory at Daytona. That's right. And so it was very rewarding. Our core team has been the same since that Daytona win, and that's been very good that we could all stay together through all.

You know, we've had some tough times and not the finishes we wanted, but we've all stuck together, and it was even more rewarding. Let's go back to this. What is it like to be in the family? It's different. Sometimes it's challenging because you've got to approach some things different than, you know, I'm, like you said before, I'm pretty joking, have a good time. and sometimes I say things, and people will take them the wrong way. You know, oh, well, he's family or whatever. But it's fun, you know.

Dale's mom, Brenda, is a hoot to hang out with, and, you know, we live right around the corner from them, so we get to spend a good bit of time with her and Willie. My kids play with Kelly's kids all the time. We're lucky enough that we live close. They can ride the golf cart back and forth, and we have a lot of Barbie dolls at our houses. So do you live on Dirty Moakers, or do you live right off of it?

Right off of it on the backside. Yeah. Okay. I tell you what, you might as well. Dale probably buy up some of that land, too. You may not know it, but that might be dirty mow acres, you know, within a couple years. Who knows? Yeah.

It's actually one of his houses. It's the house Amy and Jamie lived in. Oh, right there. Okay. Gotcha. So that actually was Sean Brawley's in Martin Trex's. Everybody's lived in that house. That's right.

Okay. So you're living in, this is great. Jonathan is living in the house that Martin Truix, Junior and Sean Brawley. Sean is in the nationwide commercial. Sonny and Sean. Sean is in the commercial. But that is the house they lived in when Martin basically started running for Dale Jr.

He moved down here. He lived with Junior for a while. And then he moved into the house. I don't know if Junior kicked him out or if he wanted to leave. I don't know. It may be a little of both. Who knows. But he lived there on the property.

And they moved the house. If you Google Earth our address, I don't know. know if they've updated it, but last year when I Google Earthed it, the house was halfway between where it was and where it is right now. It's not a mobile home here, guys. It has got a small house. It's a two-story house. And they literally moved it.

They moved everything except the garage. I know Willie got the garage. I'm kind of mad about it. I know. I would be too. Yeah. All right. Well, cool, man.

Well, listen, congratulations. Thank you. I tell you what. The feeling around the shop today has been incredible. It's, I tell you, We won a lot of races last year at Junior Motorsports. And I love how this company never takes them for granted. No.

You know, Kevin Harvard got himself a lot of wins. He chased one of you. But we never take him for granted. And especially in the case of Regan, that guy just wanted it so bad. He wanted it so bad. His teams wanted it so bad. And so we're really, it's almost like the feeling is almost like we won for the first time. Yeah, well, it is really.

You know, it was funny because we got in the cars to drive back to the airport. airports like 45 minutes to an hour away. And we were making phone calls to all the guys back at the shop. You know, the fab shop guys, the body shop guys, just to, you know, hey man, thanks for all the help this week, the hard work. And they were partying it up at home already just as excited as we were. So it's a, that's, you know, an extended part of the family. Sure.

All of us here. So it was awesome. And we're going to celebrate pretty hard all week about it. Jonathan, thank you, bud. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Congratulations. Hey, and Junior Nation members, did you know that you?

you can get a special discount when you switch to Nationwide. Call 877-697-2246 or visit Nationwide.com forward slash junior nation for more information. Remember, Jonathan, this is for you. Nationwide is on your side. Oh, yeah, he nailed it. Nailed it. Hey, everyone, I'm Tiff Daniels, and here's what's coming up this week on Dirty Mo Radio. Kelly will be joined by her daughter Carson on Wednesday's Fastlane family presented by Wella Professionals.

You're not going to want to miss Thursday's episode of Junior Motorsports Up Front presented by Dale's Pale Ale, as it will be all about the big win, and crew chief Jason Burdett will join Regan and Heath in the studio. Remember, you can always catch Dale Jr's at track press conferences on said Jr., presented by nationwide. Dirtymoor radio podcasts are available free of charge 24-7 on Dale Jr.com, iTunes, and all major podcasting outlets. Let's throw the white flag. White flag right there, white flag. This white flag is brought to you by, actually, I don't know. Taylor, who does this white flagging to be brought by? U.S. Airways.

Why U.S. Airways? For upgrading me to class. Oh, stop it. Sunday night, maybe. You can upgrade your socks? Yeah. Come on. Free drinks.

Look at you. All right. So, like, if it's not a hotel one week, it's the airline the next week. Okay. Well, Dale Jr. is spending this afternoon in Tallahassee, Florida for Fan Day at Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet. The merchandise trailer will be there. The nationwide 88 will be there.

Dale will be there. Race winner, Regan Smith, will be there. You know what else will be there, Taylor? What? My next Chevrolet Silverado. I don't actually, I'm not about to bite. I'm just saying whenever I do, it's going to be there. Okay.

Oh, I was got excited there for a second. You know what else? What? Dude Perfect. Do you know who Dude Perfect is? No. Dude Perfect is a group of guys that have their own YouTube channel. And they did a really funny skits, and you might have remembered them.

You don't even realize that they did a funny basketball. stereotype skit. And they nailed it. Well, guess what? They did a driving stereotype skit, and Dale Jr.'s in it, and it's out today. So go to Dude Perfect's YouTube channel and check it out. And I've seen it. It's pretty funny.

And Dale does a really good job. So that, again, is the Dude Perfect YouTube channel. They're also on Twitter. I'm going to assume it's at Dude Perfect. I'm pretty sure it was. I think that's what our good pal Tyler said. Yeah, okay. Listen, I want to say thanks to everyone who filled out the Junior Nation survey.

We selected a winner for the $250 gift card. Yes. The winner was a guy named Mark from Alabama. Oh, close. Oh. What? Would you rig that thing? No.

Yeah. Mike from Alabama, man. No. Mark Davis from Alabama. His name wasn't Mark Davis. Oh, no, no, no. His name was actually Mark Wright. And he's from Alabama, although I don't know where.

If it was Mark Zarser, we would have issues here. Might have lived in Columbus, Georgia for a while, too. But listen, we're going to do that again. So just be on the lookout for that. That was cool. I like that. Yeah, and we got a ton of responses. It really was helpful for us.

We actually had a meeting this morning, as a matter of fact, to take the results and really try to apply it to what our programs are for the fans. Good racing happening this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, and apparently a prediction. Junior's going to win, so it's going to be great. The Xfinity Series race is Friday night. Regan Smith, Chase Elliott, and Kevin Harvick, be rolling out for team junior. The cup

race is Saturday night. Dale will be driving the familiar number 88 nationwide car and the winner will be Taylor's Roger. Who is it? Dale Earnardt Jr. Oh! TJ. Handle me in qualifying, man. Got to get Qualifying Friday. Very important. You know how I'm going to handle you in qualifying.

All right. After this one goes by, you're all clear up. Good luck. That's it? That's it. That's all you got? You need a little more pep in your voice at least. What do you want me to do? That's it? I don't know, Junior. Dig, baby, dig. Yeah. Come on, like I'm a deeper.

Dig, dig, come on, TJ. Wall ride. Wall ride. Listen, something. Your moral support has to be worth two cents. It usually is. I blame Regan still right now. Turn three, turn three and turn four.

Dig, baby, dig. Yeah, yeah, that's going to make for good reaction from the radio. Get ready to clip that one. Yeah. Shut up, TJ. I can see that now. That'll do it for the Dale Jr. Download presented by a spy for Dale and Art Jr.

For Amanda Wolfmeyer, that's such a great job. For TJ who's really hungover. For Mike Davis, who's wearing winter jeans. And for me, Taylor, Zars are wearing a pink sock. We'll be back next week. Take care. Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Well, that'll wrap another episode of the Dale Jr.

Download presented by Spy. And guys, remember, go online to Spyoptic.com. Choose your favorite Dale Jr.'s signature 88 pair of sunglasses. And when you're at checkout, enter discount code nationwide 88. And make sure you get your 20% off your purchase. Happy shopping, guys.