The Dale Jr. Download - 115 - Talladega: 'The future looks good to me...'

Episode Date: October 27, 2015

Dale Earnhardt Jr. pumps up JR Nation after facing elimination from the Chase at Talladega; ESPN writer Ryan McGee calls in; we extend Reaction Theatre as fans voice their opinions. 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 feel like if you restart back there, you're going to be able to make it up to the front. I don't know why. Whoops, the hills go stopping. You're now listening to the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. Check out Dale Jr.'s signature dirty-mow sunglasses from Spy at Spyoptic.com. Hey, everybody. This Jr.

Host, Ray, Talladega. First off, everything went pretty good in practice. Pretty simple. Not a whole lot going on there. You just get in the car and go. Make sure that the travels are what you want and there's no problems with the motor leaks so forth. Pretty simple. Qualifying again, went really well.

Had been going good for us at the plate tracks this year, especially Tal'Daga. The race, you know, I was pretty nervous having the wind to get in, had my stomach tore up a little bit. And, you know, I knew that the best thing I needed to do all day long was just work hard to stay in the lead. the lead, keep the lead, get the lead, keep it. When you got it, don't like go of it. Block, block, block, do everything you got to do. Be smart. Don't block like an idiot, but be aggressive. So, you know, that's what we did all day. I thought we did a really good job of that. I got shuffled back a couple times, and the car was great, so I was able to work my way back up there and challenge and get back into the lead. Late in the race, you know, they all formed a high line, which is usually

hard to beat. You know, the bottom, once we all get to the fence, it's really hard to make anything happen on the bottom. So I was a little nervous because the 22 had those guys running the wall with about 12 to go, and I'd never really been back outside of the, you know, top two or three in that situation before. So I just sort of, you know, picked off one or two at a time

as aggressive as I could until we got all the way back up to second. we call should come out. A lot was going on there at the end of the race. I don't have a real clear understanding of what it looked like. From inside the car, I felt like I got a pretty good restart on Joey before they called that restart off. The one that we didn't make it to the line on,

I thought I had a good restart on Joey. The next time, Joey got me a little bit better. I mean, we were still kind of side-aside, but I wasn't quite as far up on him. And by time we got to where they called the next yellow, I was just passing him. And I think that I'm not going to probably ever watch the replay. I'm not ever going to look at pictures. I'm never really going to search out a whole lot of opinions about it. But I felt like that we were moving past him.

And we'll, you know, we can debate who we, won that race for the rest of time. We probably won't though because after a couple weeks we'll forget about it. It does remind me that I lost a race just like that against Jeff Gordon and which I thought I had that one won and I still do today so I'll probably ask me five years from now I'll tell you I won this race today but you know I don't know I'm hearing and reading about all this stuff with Harvick I don't really care That's for those guys to debate drivers that were involved who had affected. I mean, you know, I don't really care.

I think overall that I'm proud of what we did. I really worked hard. The team really worked hard. I'm talking every corner, every lap, doing everything we needed to do, putting a car where we needed to be recovering from the mistakes we made. I made some mistakes in the draft. I came into my stoff slug. and the guys came off the wall too fast,

and we sort of both messed up that pit stop. We got lucky and got a caution there, so we didn't get lapped. I mean, we just, you know, we worked really, really hard. I think that, you know, I think I worked harder, and I'm more proud of the drive that we had today than I am the ones that we won this year. And as I got a little knot in my stomach, a little sick, about how it ended but if you know if say if we had went another hundred feet and they

threw the yellow with us ahead that's because we were obviously going by joy and they give us the win that way I don't know that that I don't know that that feels a whole lot different aside from the fact that we'd be in the chase still when we would have been in Victory Lane I don't know how I don't know that we could have celebrated that kind of victory as hard as a way earn victory you know what I mean it's just something weird about it every I'd have to listen to all the critics say how that was given to me so that wouldn't have been much fun either so either way it sucks sucks for NASCAR sucks for us sucks for

everybody I don't want NASCAR to get a black eye over this deal because I really love the sport I think they did the best they could under the circumstances we got a rule book and we went by it and that's the results I like that anyhow we're going to going to Martinsville. My man, Greg Eyes, doesn't have a clock. He's won seven races at Martinsville as an engineer or a crewman on Jimmy's cars. So we have a mission. We've got a mission, man.

And that's going to Martinsville to get this clock. It seems like when we put a little extra incentive out there, it makes us work that much harder. So if anybody can come up with some good incentives for Phoenix, Texas, Homestead, send them in. I hope you guys, I hope y'all enjoyed the effort we put in today. I know you guys didn't like the result at all, but I really hope you guys appreciated the effort

because it was all we had. We gave it, everything we had, every single app. And we're going to do some other good things for this year's out. I remember if I look at the video of our celebration in Victor Lane at Martinsville, we had just been eliminated from the chase the week before it, Talladega just like this year.

And if I look at that Victor Lane celebration and see us jumping up and down in Victor Lane over that clock, those guys there didn't look too damn disappointed about being knocked out of chase. So if we can go win us a race, we can game this season on a bright spot and we can think about how good our future looks

because it looks really good to me. Hope everybody has a good week at work, go kick some ass, and we're going to get ready for Margeville. Amanda Wolfmeyer, Mike Davis, Taylor-Zarzer, you've heard from Dale Jr. This is the Dale Jr. Download, presented by Spy. I apologize. Before we talk about it and what happened, I do want to start by saying this, Mike Davis. That car should be in the Smithsonian. It should win a Pulitzer Prize. It should be in the Hall of Fame. First, I'd like to see it on the track, really, again and again and again. To go back to the car, chassis 872,

finished first third, first, first, and second, led 277 laps out of the 808 laps it ran this year. That's getting it done right there. That is a piece that you do. Yeah, you want to put it in the Smithsonian? I want to see it race the Daytona 500.

First, I want to see it on the track again, and then, yes. So, maybe TJ should be in the Smithsonian, too. And what's amazing is, what's amazing is that actually Junior knew what he had before we ever got to the track. was saying it last week on this podcast.

So, yeah, this is a horse right here. And, man, when you put that horse and you incentivize it, like the way that we had, we had to win it, was really, you know what reminded me of? There's a scene in glory, you know, the movie, Glory, the Civil War movie, where Morgan Freeman and everybody, they're sitting there praying. They say, look, you know, I left my kinfolk at home, and, Lord, if tomorrow's my day, let them know that I went down, standing up, and that I faced the enemy. And that's the way I felt that the 88 team did.

They went down, standing up. They had the field covered. It didn't work out. The cards didn't work out. But you can go to bed at night knowing you went down, standing up. And I think that that's what Dale Jr. speaks to there. It's hard. It's really, really hard, and we're never going to forget it.

Five years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, we're never going to forget it. If there had been a race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have won it, and it's not even close. No. I understand what Lugano was trying to do by breaking up Gordon and D. Dale Jr. He didn't want them in the same line, and that's why he gave Dale Jr. the bottom. That's his reasoning, by the way. I guess. I wasn't sure why. No, no. He said

it. He said he didn't want Junior and Gordon together. He said because he said those were the two best cars on the track all day long. And if you put those cars together, I had no shot, so I had to break them up. That's why he gave Junior the bottom. But guess what? I think that was the worst decision

by giving Junior the bottom. I mean, I agree. I wouldn't have put him on the bottom, but I kind of like the decision to split us up. Jeff's a heck of a plate racer. And, you know, Brad's no slouch either, but Brad's not known for historically great restarts either. You know, I'm not saying he couldn't have. It's really, the part I don't understand about it is just, it's really easy to manipulate

a restart when you're working. The hand signals. It's so easy to do that. And if you can have a teammate behind you, but he didn't want him. And I guess he also had the option of, okay, well, you know, if he lays off, if Jeff lays off him, Brad will see it and lay off us. So, you know what I mean? It's just, I don't know.

All right, Mike, we should probably bring in somebody smarter than us to try to make sense of everything we've discussed today. That's not a bad idea. You know, usually we have takes a nation. Today's is going to be takes an explanation by nationwide. And so, yeah, let's do this. Time now for it takes a nation presented by nationwide. Ryan McGee was in Talladega, works for ESPN. McGee, we have a little bit of controversy to discuss.

Do you know anything about that? Yeah, so the best part is, I can just talk about this forever. but yeah the best part was going back to the media center and like I had to do I had to go out to the grid and do TV stuff and we talked to Doge Jr. out there and some of the guys and I had to go to Victor Lane and interview Legano

and then I had to stop doing the TV thing and go write a column for ESPN.com and I literally sat down on my computer and I go, I don't know what to do here because I wasn't entirely sure what had all just happened for the hour leading up to that, but I figured something out. Well, yeah, and that's the column that I read

that it made me want to call you for this podcast, Ryan, because you were one of the groups, I think the group was rather large, but you were right there when Dale Jr. got out of the car. So before we get into how you were able to make sense of this whole race, talk to us about what Dale Jr.'s first impressions were, or your first impressions of Dale when he got out of the car. Well, you know, Talladega is different than any other track

because everybody was like partners would get out of cars. And the biggest crowd of media people, obviously were around the 88 car, I was kind of looking around and it was a complete idea of what was going on. And everybody, we started our question. Your response was, would you guys tell me? It wasn't just him. It was everybody.

It was, I'm telling you guys, I mean, honestly, that wasn't that loud. It was super quiet, just weird. And Dale Jr. Action was happened and none of us could because none of us. Ryan, now that we've had time to digest all of this, what should Junior Nation be pissed about? Well, listen, he didn't win a race. It probably looked like you did.

And I think when it happened live, it looked like, but the reality is he wasn't. Just one time before where the cost of it comes out, and you're like, well, it hurt a little more, but easy epic finish. And a crazy epic comeback. So here's where I'm at, McGee. And tell me if you agree or disagree with any of this, because I've been trying to process this in my own head for, you know, at least 24 hours here, as I'm sure you have to. If you get past all the noise of the fact that just a disappointment that Dale lost, you know, naturally when people are that, disappointed they're looking for someone to blame and I get that but ultimately just the disappointment that Dale didn't win is is really the source of the pain that being said if I'm

trying to find some fault or anything it's that it starts earlier in the week where NASCAR changed the rule and I don't even fault them for changing the rule because I feel like I know why they did it but is this not just a case where they didn't think all the way through the ramifications that might come with it which is also just a byproduct of restrictor plate racing because all these things have happened because not everything was thought all the way through and these cars going this speed actually did something that we didn't think about and I'm wondering if that's really the source of the problem here is that they were forced to make a decision they had to make a decision it was

going to be damned if you do damned if you don't one way or another to give it a second chance and that ultimately is that like the only thing I can really come to a conclusion on yeah and honestly and they just kind of set themselves up to what like they didn't know what they were doing at the end. And that's kind of what happened. You know, the reaction, I was not outside. I was in the media center when we had what, I guess, officially wasn't the first attempt.

And, you know, we all saw what happened. And the announcement came, I mean, within second. The announcement came, you know, for folks that don't know, like in media centers and in press boxes, you know, there's an official score. And they make an announcement. If it's football, it's so-and-so carried the ball for two yards, and so-and-so had to tackle. And in NASCAR, it's, you know, the caution was this long and it lasted this many laps

or so-and-so has just been penalized for two and even over the wall or whatever. And in this case, the first crash happened, and it wasn't, I mean, I'm telling you, it wasn't, that the cars weren't done spinning yet. And the score had already come over and said that was not an attempt of Green-White Checker. And, of course, it was a groan in the media center and all that. I think it was the right call, and by the letter of the law, it was correct. But it still just felt wonky because of the week. And, you know, and Michael was you, I think that, I think they did their research

because when I did my research, what I learned was that there really haven't been, I think, in what, since they instituted the Green White Checker deal in 20-some-odd-R-odd races, I think we'd only have like one race to Talladega where we'd had to have more, or a two-race, the talig where we had to have more than one, you know, green-white, checker and Tim. So the numbers were on their side. It's like the crew chief knows when the cost is probably going to come. It's a pretty educated guess, but you're right. That was really about half the research they needed to do.

And you kind of have to do the impact study. You know, what's going to be the impact if we end up in a situation? And, you know, it kind of felt like it just kind of covered their eyes and thought, you know, well, hopefully it will work out. and the one scenario that they did not want to happen didn't just have one to have it twice. Let me ask you a big picture question, Ryan McGee. This past week, your employer, ESPN, asked you to do this turn four

that you do quite frequently with some other people at ESPN, namely Ricky Craven, Bob Pockris, Marty Smith. And you were all asked about the state of NAFSA car right now. Marty said it's treading water. Bob Pocker said it's rough, but it's not in a free fall. You had Ricky Craven say it's neutral, and you said it's a pretty heavy transition period. Having said that, do you think that the current chase format is helping the sport at all? Do you think green-white checkers are helping the sport?

You think Talladega being the last leg before you move on to a next round is helping the sport at all? I know it's all done to try to help the sport, and NASCAR should get credit for that, but is it working? Is any of that working? Taylor, it's a great question. And I've got to be honest with you. It's something that I had dinner by myself last night, somewhere in Birmingham. And I thought about this a lot. I really did.

And actually I talked to Ricky Craven last night. It was funny, too, because I actually had an exchange with Dale Jr. on Twitter last night about this. Because I got asked by a fan, you know, did you like the chase format? And my response was yes. And the reason that I do is because, listen, I'm from Rockingham. and I grew up watching Dell Senior win championships with two and three and four races to go. And I saw Jeff Gordon do the same thing. I saw MacKins do the same thing.

And mathematically they may not have clinched it, but the reality was that they had really won the championship almost two months before the season was over with. So I'll always take this over that. And I'll always argue that the interest is higher now. And I know this because of my bosses with SportsCenter. You know, if we had the old point system, I can tell right now, even back in the RPM the night days, Sports Center and Sports Illustrated, do you know anything to do with any of this, because football started and there wasn't a championship to speak of.

So from that perspective, it works. And I like the elimination format. I hated it when they first rolled it out. But I've come to love it because I like the tension in the garage and I like the drama and all that. I'm a sports writer. But at some point, I try not to give too much credit to the complainers, but at some point I have to acknowledge the fact that 95% of the feedback I get on the Chase is terrible.

Is that right? Wow. And that part of it, you know, I defended and defended, you guys know me. I am far from a NASCAR apology. That's easy to find. I get yelled out by them as much than anybody for express. some opinions about stuff, but the reality is that at some point, and this is what I kind of of wrestled with last night, is at some point, maybe it's not working because we keep, I keep

hearing from the people that it's not working. And, you know, I think, listen, there are a lot of huge, a lot of bigger factors that go into whatever this formula is that has led to, you know, a downturn. It's the biggest thing being the economic crash, you know, seven years ago. But the reality is, is that at some point you have to at least have the conversation that maybe the chase isn't working, or maybe the elimination format isn't working, or maybe green-white checkers isn't working, or double-file restarts, where all the stuff that's come around in the last 15 years. I personally think it's way better than it used to be. I think that we give old races way too much credit for being exciting. The greatest example of all time is the 79-day

Daytona 500, or even the 95 race of Bristol that I just wrote about, with Dale Senior and Terrell money. They were terrible races. The races were awful. The finishes were great. And I think people have a tendency to think that it was just like that for 500 miles and 500 laps all the time back in the day. The reality is, it wasn't. The race... Well, on this topic then, McGee, as we tape this, it's actually Monday afternoon of the 2016 schedule just came out.

Okay, so does the schedule have something to do with it? I'm of that camp that a 10-month racing schedule is too much. And listen, I'm with you. I'm a traditionalist. I don't like to hear everybody's ideas on rule changes. I don't like changing rules. I don't like changing things up. But I know the grind.

And I know that now that I'm not on that road and experiencing the grind firsthand, I know that at home, there's things also that will pull me away from a race. And so is there something to it? Because I look at the schedule that was just released, and I don't see really any much difference. Yeah. It doesn't look much different at all.

Yeah, schedule shake up is what I, you know, and I think it goes even deeper than the races that we're going to and all that. I think, I don't just think the season is too long. Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's long, and I think the season. And in college football, and reality is, it is the last. Yeah. And it is what it is. But I consider one thing I've been asking for for a long time or wanting to see it happen for a long time and it hasn't happened.

And, you know, the schedule came out today, forever they've signed. you know, long-term deals with all these tracks, like five-year deals. So five years now. That's right. That's right. That's right. It goes through 20-21. So get used to it.

One thing I think you're right about, man, I went to bed nervous this weekend. And I normally don't, you don't normally do that, you know, in them long. Before we had the chase, it was just another race, you know, and you went in there. Now we're all the ones that are in there knowing what, you know, we got a big day the next day. And I like that. I'm going to bed nervous, you know, or had that feeling like those years said. I had that feeling, too. I knew the pressure was going to be honest to perform.

And I like that. I think it's cool. And, you know, it gets us ready. And, you know, I think that's how it should be. Well, and to Ryan's point, that is a huge, a huge coup. It's a huge advantage to have the chase. Maybe some of the parts of the chase need to be tweaked. But the fact that we have that and have the playoffs and do or die,

certainly is something that doesn't need to change. McGee, you're the best, my friend. We appreciate you. Yeah, well, listen, really quick. I mean, listen, the garage is a completely different place. I was so taken back last year when I went to Kansas, which was a cutoff race last year. It's exactly what you're saying, man.

I was shocked at how tense it was, just walking around the garage, and I love it. And the eliminating guys, you know, I know it breaks people's heart when Jimmy Johnson and Dell Jr. The reality is that's how postseason work. That's how works in every other sport. But, again, maybe that's not how a race

fans want it. I haven't stopped. Listen, you guys are the best. I appreciate you having me all. Let's do it again sometime. Appreciate Ryan McGee joining us on Takes a Nation. And Junior Nation members, did you know that you can get a special discount when you switch to Nationwide? All you have to do, call 877-697-2246 or visit Nationwide.com forward slash junior nation for more information. And remember, Nationwide is on your side. Amanda, let's start with in-car number one, The Vibration. That was something that throughout the entire race, if you watch, it if you listened to it, if you're tweeting about it, that all of us were concerned with. Here we go.

The vibration isn't as bad. Now in the front, I did a wheel hopping pretty bad, getting on the pit road. I had to bring down to go to the floor on the first push, and so I missed it's a pretty bad. So it's something that all of us were paying close attention to. I got to give Rusty Wallace credit on MRN, listening to him for a little bit on Sunday. He did a fantastic job explaining why that can't work itself out. work itself out at a restrictor plate race because he said the brakes,

you never use the brakes, obviously, so you can't work that problem out, TJ, at a restrictor plate race. We think we just had too much front brake in it. You know, normally you don't run a lot of front brake on pit-style stuff, so you don't spin out coming to pit road. If you have too much rear brake, it swings the back of the car, it slows the back-end faster and it spins you out. So when you're pitting at places like Dover,

when you're coming out the bank and you crank a lot of front brake in it. And we just think we had too much front break in it. The team was P1, it fell to P4, it fell to P20, it moved back to P1. So Junior was pitting under green. Everybody was pitting under green. It was really kind of surprising to see no cautions for the longest time during this race. And pitting under green, lap 117. This is where everyone got so frustrated.

We're checking up on. We have an over-the-wall two. We have a drive-through penalty. We've got to come. We've got to come. You're sure? Yep, got to come. That was a frustrating moment, Mike. Well, I thought it was tiki-tack myself, but then t-j told me that it's actually there's no great areas that's all computer generated. People are sitting there looking at it and that they've been consistent all year on that stuff. If you're so much as six inches over the wall too soon, then they're going to call it.

And I'm satisfied with that. All right, before tj gives his opinion, let's hear this next clip. That's for everybody. Keep digging there. We've got a call from here and get back in it. Before, don't panic. Don't panic. Things work out. Don't shake it off, man. Been doing great all day.

Came into the box. Pretty careful. Just on the slide of you left side tires. Probably a combination of that. You guys, just being eager, man. Cool. Two things I want to ask you. First, your reaction to what Mike said about the penalty,

and then shaking it off. Yeah, I mean, I was, obviously, I was aggravated myself, but, you know, listening to his, I kind of saw it myself. I saw his speed reduction into this doll, and he was being a little careful. and you know that guy they're trying to bust off a good stop man they're trying to be good for us you know and they just got out there a little too early and um but there is no gray area with it they've been busting people all year and they've been very consistent with it so i don't that it's not even nascar they have it's

it's it's not the guys in the booth they have that trailer that monitors all that stuff and they have it i don't know if they show it on tv or not but they have each pit boxes squared in and you they know and it's no gray area with it. It's not, okay, we'll let him go. It's red or black or white. You know, you're either right or you're wrong. So you're 27th now. You're three-quarters of the field behind the starters. How worried are you? Oh, man. You know, when we first came off the road, we were thinking about getting back with that 51 to try to draft with him a little bit, but two cars still aren't going to go fast enough. And I didn't want to have to get to a point where we had to race him if the pack caught us.

So I wanted to be away from him. Yeah, I was worried. I mean, I was looking for debris, anything I could find, man, looking for anything. And y'all were calling out things, too. Yeah, I mean, that's when you get your other, but I have two pair of binoculars. I have the wide-angle ones for drafting, and then the other ones that I use for damage. So if I'm looking for anything I can find laying on the racetrack, but, you know, luckily we got the caution. Yeah, that was coming up.

Let me tell you one thing that I was concerned about is that we restarted 20. like you said. Now earlier, not too much earlier, but June was in fourth and he got shuffled out of the draft and he dropped back to 17th. And so I wanted to pay close attention even though, because I knew he had the horse. Like this is clearly the best car out there. How long will it take him to get back up? Because it was evident, and you know this, T.J.

He wanted to be up front, stay up front, and he was willing to block anybody that was going to be, try to take. So he wasn't going to do any of this. I'm going to hang in the back, maybe wait for a rate. He was going to go. It took him 26 laps to go from 17th. That was not easy. No, we've seen this the past.

You get boxed in, and a traffic jam, your horse is neutralized. In pack racing, especially now. I mean, it's different in the two-car tango days or whatever, but in pack racing, it's not easy. We got boxed, though. I mean, there was a good amount of laps there, but we were three wide, and we couldn't go anywhere, and that's when he got up that 78 car that one time. He wanted to get in that lane, and I didn't, you know, I'm not sure what he's thinking there, but nobody was really moving at that time, and you just kind of got to bide your time a little bit,

And we did, and he got back up through there. He drove, I didn't see him drive this race any differently than I've seen him drive the other plate races this year. He's been very aggressive all year. He sure has. And I feel like that's also a combination of, you know, me and him working together, too. He knows how aggressive he can be and understand what I'm telling him. And, man, I'm telling you, I can literally see him cut the wheel whenever I, because he can't see all the lanes in his mirror. I can literally see him cut the wheel.

And it's fun. I mean, I enjoy the hell out of it. I'm telling you, it's some of the best racing I've ever seen. It really is. I mean, watching him drive that car with you spotting on those tracks is some of the best racing I have ever seen in the circuit. I love watching him driving. And watching how aggressive he is going through a field and then his ability to block a pack of cars for 70, 80-some-odd laps as he has done time and time again. It is really amazing.

So at 1-31, Mike, when we heard T.J.'s out. Costion's out, caution's out. We all went, oh, thank God. And, of course, he was 26th in that position, still on the lead lap, came into pit, and started and then after getting four tires and all of that, restarted 16th and had a chance to get back towards the front. Here is Greg talking about sliding the car into the pit stall and losing a couple of spots after he regained the lead. Front did not slide right front only.

He was stuck in fourth gear. T.J., what were your thoughts on that? I knew we were having a problem, slide the tires a little bit. He actually backed his entry up one time on the pit road, and we didn't slide him one time. But that front brake, too. I just feel like we had a little bit too much in there.

You know, he's obviously trying. He was trying really hard, too. So I never, you know, he didn't say anything else about the gear there being stuck. or anything else after that. So I don't know. I think it's just trying so hard and trying to get after it. If there was one area of this race where we were subpar,

it was our entries and our pit road performances, I mean, whether it was the penalty or junior's entry into pit road. I mean, three times he slid and locked him up. And this one was the one where it really was going to. I mean, we went in first. We went in first. And so he came out, what was it, ninth or 15th or something like that? So that one hurt, and you know what, it might have actually played into how us not winning this race, to be honest with you.

It absolutely played into it. If it stays green, T.J., do you think the 88 wins a race? Do you think that the 88 could have gotten to second? Do you think Greg Biffle could have gone the rest of the race without having to pit on 50 laps? Yeah, I don't think he could have won. I think he was going to run out. But, yeah, I think we could have won. I think we would have won.

We did something that normally people don't, when they get single file about, the wall. It's really hard to make up. Nobody ever makes up ground on the bottom. And we were the only car progressing doing that. Yeah, that's absolutely true. And it's hard to do that. And like, talking with him after the race on the plane,

we were joking about it. And, you know, it was fun. We were like, man, we were, you know, it was awesome doing that. You know, it was a lot of fun. We were working hard. That reminded me of the 2004 Daytona 500 where he was passing low. He could pass. It seemed like without anybody around him, he could go low or

high and make a pass. And he, I mean, I'm telling you, it was amazing to watch him do that and cut back through the field because however long it took him early in the race, it didn't take him that long towards the end of the race. He was digging. You know, it was cool as I was sitting there thinking, like, okay, these are the top five and they see us back there. And you know, I know, I know people are watching us.

You know what I mean? It's funny because I'm sitting up there and I'm looking at. I'm like, I know these other spot are just calling like, oh, here comes the Aida. You know, it was fun. It's a good feeling. They were, they were fearing us. There's no, they should. Mike, to piggyback off your point, there's no question those issues.

Absolutely factored in in the end. I don't know why, but watching that race with Lugano before the, I guess, second to last caution flew before Biffle pitted. Right. I was thinking how important that battle for second place was because I didn't think there was any way Biffel could finish the race. You never thought it would get end the way it did, though. Yeah. Let's hear Dale Jr., T.J. and Greg's reaction to it. Make that too help you here. He's got a big help of him.

Make the two help you there. He's got a big wrecking our mirror bag here. No caution yet, though. It's going to come out here. Caution's out. Caution's out. Stay in front of them. Stay in front of them. Stay in front of them. Get over? Yeah, it's caution's out, buddy. So we'll let you know. Hold your position there. They're going to tell us. Eventually, they told us.

Yeah. Now, you know what a thing I was curious about, T.J. that I wanted to ask you, Lugano chose to break up, Jr. and Jeff. But that also, in doing that, chose to break up himself and his own teammate, Brad Tislowski. That puts Brad behind Dale. Did you think Brad would push Dale? I thought he would push, but I didn't think he would be as aggressive as our teammate would have been pushing. But you can't afford not to help some. Did you talk to Joey? His spotter? I mean, there's nothing. They've got their minds made up. what they're going to do in the car, you know, pretty much. There's nothing. Joey can't make him push us, you know. I know, but I didn't know if maybe you formulated a strategy because I mean. You don't want to plot against the guy's teammate, but yeah, I mean.

You do want to go. I guess the feeling I had was, and Junior sort of alluded to this after the race, is that on the bottom, he would have absolutely gotten the preferred line and the and gotten a run. And what would have happened is Joey would have tried to go to the bottom, or, or Junior, would have gone up top to try to block eventually. Joey tries to make a move, and then Gordon's right there to push Jr. Yeah.

At some point, I think you would have seen those two cars behind the top two reversed. I felt like, you know, I felt like we could have prevailed on the bottom, but, you know, I don't, Brad pushed us. I mean, he was right there. I mean, I'm going to tell you. I think both of them would have pushed a bit. He wasn't as aggressive as Jeff was, but, I mean, I don't have any problem losing that race. racing like that we're racing i don't i'm not i don't want anybody a lift for anybody i want to just race and where you end up you end up i don't i was just curious on what brad would do and i was

actually mildly or pleasantly surprised that he was yeah i don't i don't know i mean brad i mean not i'm not going to say he wouldn't have made a move but he's there's still a little there's the opportunity for him to win that race too the cards play out right so i mean you want to go still so yeah i think brad did his part in it yeah gordon went on and on after the race about how badly he wanted Junior to be in the next round. I mean, he said it over and over and over again, and he obviously is thrilled that he's in the next round. Which is crazy because all year long we had won a race.

We'd been talking about how, man, you know, Jeff is close to not making this chase in his last year. Jimmy won five. How many races Jimmy went? Four or five and Junior won two and Gordon didn't win any. But listen, that's 2015 chase format. It's them the brakes. Yeah, it don't matter how you run. And, you know, in early summer, it matters how you finish.

Ryan Newman is an example of that, obviously. Yeah, Jeff's been running good. He's been quietly right behind where everybody's looking. We all look all top five. Okay, Jeff's right there behind. And now obviously HMS is going to go all in and try to win him a championship in his last year in Sprint Cup racing. I know that Amy might not appreciate having a bunch of clocks in her house, but I'm sorry, Amy, I don't care.

That's right. Let's go get another one. I mean, might as well. Junior's house is big enough. He could handle two o'clock. Did y'all notice last week that Spy came out with a new style of sunglasses in the Dale Jr. 88 collection? I did know that. You know what it's called?

Daga. It's here. And they're constructed from virtually indestructible gillamid and feature the Dale Jr. signature print on the temple. What does that mean? I have no earthly idea. It's a type of plastic. I googled it.

Oh, you did? You didn't know what it was? I didn't know either. Indestructible, virtually indestructible grillamid. And it does have the junior signature there on the temple as well. You can go check them out now at spyoptic.com. The good news, you can receive 20% off the purchase of this new style, along with the other shades available in the signature 88 collection.

Just remember to enter discount code nationwide 88 at checkout. Check out the tech advantage of that. There you go. Indestructible grill amid. That's right. Yeah. All right, let her eat, Amanda. If any of you are looking for a belated Dale Jr. birthday gift idea, I have one.

I'd like Kevin Harvick right here today. And I want him brought from his happy contender round slumber over at Stuart Haas, where all the other rich people live. And I want him brought right here with a great rhythm on his head. And I want to look him straight in the eyes. I want to tell him what a cheap line, no good, sport, flushing, low-life, snake-licking, snake-lucking, snake-lucking, snake-lucking, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless,

bug-eye, spit, look, its body, lip, one-headed sack. The monkey it he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's it Tylenol? That's funny. That's very, very funny. Listen, you can call me a jerk.

I don't know if I would have done anything different. I'm just going to be honest with you. If you're Harvick? If I got to get into the chase and how much money is associated with that and how important that is for an organization, if I got to get to the next round, I'm just saying, you can call them whatever you want, every name in the world from the Great Christmas

Vacation. So you're saying, though... I don't know if I would have done anything different. So you're saying, though, that you're thinking he did it on purpose? I mean, who doesn't really ultimately think he did it on purpose, Mike? Honestly. I don't think anybody knows but him. Man, I don't know what was more heartbreaking. Watching Tennessee balls loose to Mike Davis

is Alabama Crimson Tide at the last minute or watching Kevin Harvick, straight-up raw union of that race, trying to bring out a caution for his own benefit. There's zero down in my and junior was going to win that race on that restart, and there's zero doubt in my mind that Harvick did that on purpose. You had to have

seen the 6car beside it. And if NASCAR doesn't do something, they'll lose a lot of creditability with me. Oh, well, A-E8 team looks strong. Hopefully build towards next year you're another winner for this year's over. See, now, that's an interesting point that he brings up. Regardless of where you are on whether Harvard,

whether you think Harvick did it on purpose or not, I think NASCAR would lose more credibility if they went and changed something in the middle of the week like this. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I 100% think you did it on purpose. So, yeah, I know, but you're missing my point, TJ. I'm saying NASCAR, if NASCAR credibility is what we're talking about, just deciding that, oh, that guy must have done that on purpose,

so let's change up the running. Or that right there loses credibility. Why stop now? Let's penalize them. Alabama did beat Tennessee. They did, but I don't even want to talk about that. That was terrible. next.

That is the biggest bull-shut rule I've ever seen in my whole fucking mind. And on top of that, Junior is fun of Lugano when the fucking yellow flag come out. What kind of bull-fri-ish is this? Now, that's funny, if they get their shit together before they do another plate race. God, fuck this shit.

Tell us how you really feel. That was Taylor's words. Who's next? Well, I got to say I'm a little disappointed and how Junior Nation fans are handling themselves on social media and what not right now. I'm frustrated, I know everybody's frustrated. That was probably the most disappointing thing to ever happen to race I've ever seen. But to get on there and be bad amounts of NASCAR and Joy Legano like that,

I just don't know if that's necessary, and especially after seeing Dale give us poster this interview, probably the classiest thing I've seen in sports in a real long time. and really looking forward to what the 2016 season has. Let's go get it. Dale, yeah. I agree with that. I agree with that completely. And that's one thing that might get lost in the shuffle is

I think these are the best days of Dale Jr. and the 88 team. I really believe that. Everybody's always just a great restrictor plate driver. That's ridiculous. We're competitive. We talked about it last week on this podcast. What did we say? We had the third most top five finishes this year, I think.

Yeah, even with all the first. problems we've had too. Yeah, I really think that his maturity and how he's handling all this is a big part of that. Yeah, we've got a lot of things going for us. Who's next? You race your ass off.

You deserve to win. You deserve to be in the next round. This is bullshit. NASCAR's stupid ass rules have ruined everything. Bill France Jr. is a son of a bitch. Joey Legano is a little pique. I hope Matt Kenseth still punches him.

I don't know why Kevin Harvick was still out there after this first first restart. There was no reason for him to be out there. NASCAR could have black flagged them. Everybody knew he couldn't go. It's horrid. NASCAR slated. The biggest fan base there is in two rounds of the chase, they've knocked out a six-time champion.

They almost damn near knocked out their reigning champion. They knocked out their most popular driver. It has no indication of a full season. It's horses. NASCAR has been the greatest sport in America because it hasn't been like the rest of the sports in America. This playoff system is ruined it. Bill France Jr. got called out in there. Totally.

Yeah. Not Brian. No, no, Bill. May you rest in peace. Who's next? Junior, I think this sucks. You deserve to win this rate, and they did you wrong, and I'm your number one fan. And I love you, boo, and you're going to get your chance, okay?

From Mississippi, we love you, boo. That is fantastic. That is just fantastic. We, please. I know he listens to the podcast, but I want, Amanda, I want you to send that directly to him, please. I liked her. That's my boo. Like made by night, actually.

Send that to Amy also. We love you, boo. She doesn't need to send it to herself. Who's next? I just want to say, great job to the 88 crew. Del Jr., you drove your . You were in the best position you could have been. You put yourself there.

T.J. Majors, you're hell of a spotter. I think after you retire from this, you should be air traffic controller or something, man. But, you know, you know what f***es me off is the fact that NASCAR constantly changes the rules. manipulate the finishes that they want. And all year, we've always run three green-white checkers, and then all of a sudden they change the rule and look at it because of that. Look at the implications that's happened. I get it that they're through the caution.

It's great for the safety of the drivers. I understand that. But good job, Jr. You got a great race today. I guess on the Martinsville. Let's go win that, yeah. I think ultimately when you get, like I said this to McGee, that when you get past the disappointment that we lost the race

and you just have to settle with the fact, if anybody has legitimate issues that are provable, It's that NASCAR does change the rules at Wim. Junior was talking in his audio about it. It's the NASCAR rule book. But the NASCAR rule book got changed on Lodding. It gets changed all the time. And that's, I don't mind the rules.

I don't mind the rule either. I don't mind it. I think to Mike's point, though, if we were conditioned to the rule for more than 10 minutes and like, okay, that's been the rule for a year or that's been the rule for 10 years, I think it would be a little easier to stomach. The fact that it was just changed and probably will be changed again. It was just changed. and it didn't work out, and there was still another problem.

And you know, they're going to change it again, by the way. They're going to change it, and then something else is going to happen, because you know why these are restrictor plate tracks, and that's what happens at restrictor plates. Too much change, T.J. And desperate measures are coming about. Who's next? Well, I'm through with NASCAR.

How can you justify changing the rules during the chase? We need a new sanction. Kale Yawber and Tony Stewart need to get together, and let's get NASCAR out of here. Oh, okay. Kale and smoke. There we go. That's interesting.

I'd watch. Yeah, for sure. See what they got. I have to say I am ashamed of some of the support I've seen on Facebook and Twitter. People are talking about boycotting NASCAR because of what happened today, and I thoroughly disagree with that. I mean, what kind of fans are we if we stop watching our driver because we're mad about something NASCAR did?

Yeah, I agree. He got Jets. All right, I'm pissed as all of you. But boycotting NASCAR, come on. I am not proud to be a Dale Jr. fan right now. I'm sorry, that's just the way it is. They're just trying to make it better, honestly. They're trying to make it better.

No, you know what? I'm with this lady. I'm with him because you know what? You don't walk away. That drives me crazy, too. You don't walk away. Listen, don't threaten people because you are going to go quit watching as if that's going to do. That's the silliest thing to say.

That's not a solution. Well, it's the silliest thing to say because nobody believes it. They just say it. It's just not a solution. You're not in the solution business. And I don't have a best thing to do is to go win Martinsville and all of us go into the NASCAR room up near the press box. I'm just kidding. Let's be honest.

If we win that race, we don't hear any of this stuff. Who's next? Here's the problem with NASCAR in general. How can they finish a playoff race under caution? It's like ending a football game in a tie and then saying, well, this team was the head last before the tie, so they win. This is why NASCAR can't get new fans. It's why they can't hold fans because they're a terrible governing body.

It's also on NASCAR that they had Kevin Harvick on the track. He stated over the radio that he couldn't do. go. It was proven in the first green white checker. That wasn't a green white checker. His wife was tweeting it online that he couldn't go, but yet NASCAR led him out there, and he causes a giant wreck, which is what caused us not to win the race. With that being said, congratulations. He did everything he needed to do yesterday. It still didn't work out. Dale yeah. All right, two things. First of all, you have to see how competitive the car is on the track before you can black flag somebody. I don't care what they're tweeting, what they're saying, etc.

He shouldn't have been black flag. You have to wait until you can see with your own eyes if they should be black flag. Secondly, race is finishing under caution. Did you like when Dale Earnhardt won one Daytona? Daytona 500? Yeah, did you like that? Yeah, it was nice. Straight up under caution, too.

I was just going to say, white flag and yellow flag waving at the same time. Just curious. Yeah, okay. Who's next? What a cuss. NASCAR should be ashamed of themselves for that pitiful ending to the race. And with all that said, Junior's reaction to the ending is, why I'm such a huge fan.

You know, he could have complained. He had every right to, but instead he took the high road. He drove his ass off today and should be a crowd of what he accomplished. Go get yourself another clock next week. Dale yeah. Yeah, I just can't get on board with the crowd that's like NASCAR should be ashamed because of the way it ended. Like we're obligated for something.

I get it. You pay money, but back in the 70s, back in the 80s, you paid money to go watch a race and you knew good and well. They may end under caution. They wanted to see. their guy. You want to see your guy. The reason why everybody's frustrated.

If junior wins, this is not a problem. It's, what they're saying, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but their passion and their feeling is, our guy had them. That's right. Our guy was going to win the race, and a caution flag,

a weird finish compromised, our guy winning the race. That's what they're ultimately saying. Yeah. And that's fair. I mean, listen, that's fair. It is fair. That is a fair argument to say,

dead gummit i'm not happy with the way that race ended because junior didn't win it and that you know piss aunt joey lagano did after saying that nasca yes legitimate beef but it's not nascar if we want to do anything wrong if naskar starts guaranteeing how the races end isn't that exactly what you also complain about nascar doing it's just i would like them you know naskar just signed a five-year deal with all their tracks through 2021 sign a three-year deal with all your rules. You know, like, you know what?

I mean, sign a deal and say, okay, guess what? We're not going to let Jeff Gordon into the chase on special circumstances. We're going to have 12 drivers that make the playoffs or we're going to have this many green white. We're not going to keep changing things. These are the rules for the next three years. Deal with it. I think that is what a lot of people.

A way would. Doing that. Because people would know going in. This is what, hey, listen. That's the rule. It's been the rule for quite some time. They really should do that. I feel there's been too much change over the last, you know, a couple years with qualifying. It went from single car to group, and then it went from group to single car at plate tracks.

And then the restart box had to get bigger. Let's just, we need, there's just been a lot of change in the last couple years. Amanda, I promise, this is the last one. You know, Mike Davis, you want to keep my message brief? If you're the point? Well, fuck that, man. pissed off right down that car can call guys.

Old service is a pit, but they can't. I want to salute you, Amanda, for knowing when to hit the bleat button. I really, the fact, how many times did you listen to that? It took me a while. Yeah. Holy cow. Old Tim can hit new levels of octaves. Yes, he can. And you know what?

Amanda, are we going to also play some more calls at the end? Yes, I've got a bunch compiled. Because we honestly had so many reaction theater calls that you just, you want to give everybody their chance, and I know that we always pick the best ones each week. But the mailbox was full three times. Yeah, yeah.

So we're going to just run, at the end of this podcast, we're just going to run some more. So stay tuned. You're going to want to hear some more of these. A couple years ago, Mike and I were sitting in some somewhat dark room early in the morning, and he said, what? What?

You know how? Yes, we were. Yes, we were. And he was saying, you know how you have those people that call into your radio show? They can call whenever they want? You think it would be a good idea if we do that? Well, there you go. Sorry, Amanda.

They had something to say. Yeah. Reaction theater. We play them here every single week. 1855740 1902 is the number. Here's what's coming up this week on Dirty Mo Radio. Tomorrow, Kelly is joined by longtime friend and sprint cup driver Steve Park on Fastlane Family presented by Wella Professionals.

And due to another off week in the Expendity series, Junior Motorsports Up Front, presented by Dale's Pale Ale will once again take the week off. But remember, you can always catch Dale Jr. at track press conferences on said junior presented by nationwide. Dirtymo 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.

White flag is brought to you by masteringconflict.com, effective coaching, anger management training, and counseling for anyone dealing with conflict issues, Taylor. That's not you, but that might be Tim Brock who just called Reaction Theater. In related news, Dale's pale ale also offers counseling in the form of six packs, 12 packs, or cases. Go to oscarblues.com for a local distributor new you. Dale Jr. is busy today. He's doing production work for Tax Layer, which is a good time to talk to you about something you should care about. All right, you're ready?

In fact, we may need to lower the music. I want them to pay attention here. You might have seen that new Tax Layer paint scheme for next year. It's gorgeous. Have you seen it? No, sir. Okay, it's gorgeous. You might know that Dale Jr. has this thing for old school retro T-shirts.

Did you know that, Taylor? I did. Okay, because he shops for him on eBay all the time. With that in mind, Dale and TaxLayer collaborated to make 88 special edition T-shirts that feature the paint scheme. They get this retro look, and they're specifically to Dale's liking. And here's why you should know that, because you can get one. Through the 88 days till tax season sweepstakes where Tax Lair is giving away one of these shirts

every single day for 88 straight days. Again, every single day for 88 days. If you go to Taxlayer.com backslash 88 days right now, you can enter the sweepstakes, win one of these shirts. Only you, Dale, and like 87 other people will have one. I know that actually adds to 89, but Dale gets one for free. So that means 88. So go to, do you know where to go, Taylor? I hurt you, yeah.

Taxlayer.com, backslash 88 days. All right. Now let's talk about this weekend. You know it's the goodies headache relief shot 500, right, Taylor? I do. That's at Martinsville Speedway. You're right? I've been there.

All right, you have. Well, that usually means that Dale Jr. and goodies will have some sort of announcement. And that's all I'm saying. I'm just saying keep your eyes and ears open for possibly announcement because I know what they did. I typically go there, have a dog, a do, and a lot of goodies. All right, you might need them. You never know. By the way, I usually do there.

The goodies headache relief shots would have been nice this past weekend, right? Yes. Speaking of the goodies headache relief shot 500, Sunday's race will be televised on NBC Sports Network, Motor Racing Network, and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90, Taylor Zarser's employer. It starts at 1.15 p.m. my time. Not sure about your time. So check your local listings.

The defending race winner is Mr. Who is it? Who is the defending race winner, Taylor? Dale Jeremiah Earnhardt the second. I don't even know who that is. But Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be driving the blue and white,

bad in the bone. Number 88 nationwide Chevrolet. Hopefully Taylor Zarder, the shifter works this time in Martinsville. Remember? I do. The spring race? I do.

How could you forget? It came apart? Yeah, that's a problem. So maybe it'll work this time. That'd be nice. Because it'd be a vibration, and you know, we have a lot of those. Amy wouldn't get much sleep at night if you get another clock, but sorry, put it in my house if you want. You got room for it.

I do. Okay. The one we have doesn't work. I'll get you a clock. Thanks. It won't be that one. I'd rather you just listen to Series XM for the first time. I love Series XM.

You know my favorite show on Series XM? Thanks to Dale Earnhard Jr. What's the name of it? It's called the Taylor's Orr's College Football Preview. No, it's not. No, it's not. I guess we have to thank Mike Davis. I'm Taylor-Zarzer.

And Ryan McGee, you've been listening to Dale Jr. Download, presented by Spy. Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Hey, Amanda, before we get into extended reaction theater, let's tell the fans where they can get this Daga sunglasses one more time. Well, they're still a part of the Dale Jr. signature 88 collection, so you can go to Spyoptic.com. They grouped that collection together.

There's about four or five different colors of them. I don't know if you've seen. I didn't know that actually. Yeah, some pretty cool color combinations. They're pretty slick-looking glasses. That's cool. Best part is they're part of the discount, so you just enter Nationwide 88 at checkout, and you get 20% off your purchase of them.

Fantastic. All right, folks, enjoy extended reaction theater right here. If I see him, I'll kick him right in the Bs. Dale Jr. had that race won. I need a B. I have never been more proud to be a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan in my life. He ran his heart out today at List. Listening to him in those post-race interviews, he is a class act.

And this is why I am a Dale Jr. fan. Dale, yeah, no beers. All I got to say is Dale Jr. was robbed of that race. He had him better cars than Jerry Legano did. What the hell is going on with Dan's car? They need to go back to where it was in the 90s and let him race like men. This is nothing but pretty boy stuff. Hey, Dale, you are the winner.

Period. At the end, you are an Earnhardt. You won it. Lugano, and you know what? Because he's a friggin' ass. He hits you on the restart at first time. He's doing it again. He hasn't deserved to win.

He's a frigging loser. Bye. Hi, Dale. I'm so sorry, your law. You didn't win that I was rooting for me. I think Lugano needs to be taught a lesson. So have a good day and see you next week. Love you.

Bye, bye. I'm proud of my guy today. He raced his butt off in there. Came up a little bit short. I will say I've lost respect for Kevin Harvick after that move to wreck. The field there coming to the last ringlight checkered. You know, I expected a champion to be more champions like instead of doing what he did there. But Dale said it didn't do enough in the first two races of the round to get through.

So make the most of the last four races, guys. Good luck. Hey, first time caller here. You know, I'm 25 years old. I've been watching Dale race since I was 10 years old. The first race I actually watched was the 2001 Daytona 500. I've literally grown up and have become a man watching Dale race. You know, girlfriends have come and gone.

Family members have passed. I've changed and I've grown, but Dale has always been the one constant in my life. I don't think I've ever been more proud of him than I was today. Poisoned Grace he displayed in his post-race interview after that devastating loss is literally the reason I love the guy. It's the reason I respect him. It's the reason I will forever be a Dale Jr. fan. You know, I don't care if you ever win the championship.

I don't care if you ever win another race. I'll be a fan until the very end. And I'll forever cherish the memories he has created in my mind. Dale, yeah. Dale Jr., you've won the best drivers out there, man. They robbed you at that race today. And you're just so cool, calm and collect, man. You take it on the chin like a pro.

I tell you, you won the best, man. And I just feel like that should have done another green-white chicken, man. God bless you, brother. Dale, I know you're disappointed not being in the chase. However, you had a great season. You've got a great team. And I was very impressed with your interview after the race and how you handled yourself.

Very professional, very pleased, and go get them next year. Thank you. This is the only NASCAR affiliated number I know. So I'm just going to file my complaint here that this whole one green-white checkered is absolute BS. But thanks. Sorry, Jay, I'm a Merswood you had to hear that, but I'm a total f***er senior fan. And this is damn bull-b-k!

NASCAR! How dare you take two chance? for the driver to win at the end. One greenway checker was not doing it. You shouldn't know it better. It should have two chances at the win. This is absolutely bull-de-. Okay, Junior, screw it up. I'll admit that.

But still, you should have a chance to win at the end. But hey, Junior, great driving like we knew you would. Gail, yeah, no beard, just straight passion. But if they would have got to gone green, Junior sure would have won. Go, Junior, still a fan.