The Dale Jr. Download - 123 - Why Atlanta was so important for Dale Jr. and NASCAR

Episode Date: February 29, 2016

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recaps his runner-up finish and the week in Atlanta as Mike Davis and Taylor Zarzour analyze Sunday’s wild race and what it means down the line. 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 Moe Radio. Good work, guys. Nice work. 4888. Checkered right there. Yeah, buddy. 8818. Good job, buddy. P2. Hey, everybody, it's Jr. Post-Atlanta. Just got home, hanging out. Man, what a day. What a weekend. That was interesting. You know, we ran that package a little bit last year. All the drivers seemed to really like it. All the drivers were really,

the ones that pushed to have this package. And I think NASCAR liked what they saw in the races we ran last year, so we ended up getting this package all year long. But anyways, that's old news. The weekend was really important for me because last week at Daytona was such a disappointment to finish 36 to start the first race of the year, put you in a big hole in the points. and so we needed to come back to Atlanta and get a top five finish and sort of recoup some of them lost points

and get ourselves back up into the top 20, top 15, start sort of climbing our way back into the standings with some good finishes. So that had to start at Atlanta. If we come into Atlanta and have another bad day, for whatever reason we were going to be in a big hole, that was going to start to bother the team and affect the morale. team. You certainly don't want that to happen. So we needed to rebound, and it was important that we did. We started out the weekend, obviously didn't qualify as well as we thought, but we also, and a lot of people don't know this, but we didn't use but two sets of tires on Friday. We had a race run that used up the first set, and then the second set of tires was the only sticker run we made in qualifying.

A lot of guys would use two sets of tires during qualifying runs in practice. So some teams use three sets on Friday, and we only use two. What that means is we had an extra set of stickers on Saturday to help us work on the setup of the car for the race. And it was hard to do this because, obviously, we didn't put up a very good lap on our mock run in practice on Friday. And we were real close to putting on another set of stickers and going out and trying to try to do that. to run again but I told Greg I said just let's just be calm and not worry about it and we try to you know we'll try to qualify best we can but we'll have that

extra set of stickers for Saturday and that really is important to be able to practice on stickers as often as possible at Atlanta which is very war out and uses up the tires really quickly in practice so we qualified middle of a pack and I wasn't too upset with that because of the emphasis was more on the race setup as I mentioned and then on Saturday we We got to put on set of stickers a couple times and use some scuffs that we had from Friday. And we had a great practice. We changed a lot.

We thought we learned a lot. We thought we were real prepared for today's race. So still, you know, you don't know what you got because you can't tell how good the competition is. The track's real slick. Blati, yada, yada. Anyhow, when the race started, I jumped to the top and I went toward the front real fast. and I was trying not to really use up the car or the tires, really. I knew the tires were going to be a big deal.

It was a softer tire than we usually run there because of the low-down force package. Goodyear was able to come with a softer tire, which I think they did a great job of. But I ended up using up that first set of tires pretty badly and ended up getting real loose and falling back a little bit. But we started short-pitting, which was again unique in the fact that the tires are wearing out before the fuel. runs out before we're out of fuel. So you saw everyone short pit all day long. That's good for racing. That's good for, that's good to allow guys, some guys may want to run a little bit longer than others. And so you have comers and goers, guys on old tires, new tires, and so forth. And you see a lot of passing for position due to that. So we had a lot more

racing going on on the racetrack because Good Deer brought a tire that not only fell off and slowed down, but it also worked. out without blowing out. You know, it would wear out. Obviously, if you ran it too long or too hard or two sideways, you can certainly blow the tire out. There should be that repercussion. You know, what we had before was the tire had to be so hard to be able to withstand the loads that we created with all that downforce in the past that the tire never wore out. So you could basically run qualifying lap the entire fuel run. That's not fun. So you had to take care of your tires. You'd see guys run real hard at the start of the run and then fall off and get real loose or whatever

wear their tires out and you could take care of your tires run easy the first 10 laps and then save and have a little bit more at the end of the run to be able to pass some guys back so it was such a blast I mean I haven't I haven't been in a race where tires were something you had to manage in such a long time it was unbelievable so that's being that's what being a race car driver's all about having to manage the tires having to take care of the car having to drive smart and that really you know if you did that today that really played into your favor obviously you know we had a great car and had we not had a good handling car and it'd been a struggle i know i'd be singing a different tune but i was really excited with what i saw today as far as the package we

have for 2016 good year's choice of going in a softer direction for tire compound, what they may have learned today versus what they can apply to other racetracks. The challenge is really on good your shoulders to give us a tire that does fall off, does wear out, that you have to take care of. That's going to be difficult for them to do at some racetracks, a lot of tracks. So they nailed it today. Yeah, I mean, we've set around 6th, fifth all day. We had some very, very long green flag runs. So that happens in racing.

Sometimes you're going to get a lot of cautions. Sometimes you're not, you know. But you got to let the races play out naturally, and NASCAR did that, which I think is a good thing. I like the races to play out naturally and to not be manipulated. So I was happy about that going on today. We ran, you know, we run right next to the apron and right against the wall. We run all over that racetrack, so there's not a real opportunity for debris to land somewhere and stay.

Typically, if any debris gets on the track, we hit it, scoop it up, knock it out of the way, put it on the apron or whatever. It disappears. So that's one of them racetracks where if you're going to have, you know, if there's a potential for long-grang flag runs, it's going to happen in Atlanta. Anyways, I love the long ring with the flag runs. I think a lot of drivers do. But, you know, we were racing and racing hard. You had to be smart. So it was neat.

It was a good old school race. I mean, if you liked racing in the 80s and 90s, you saw it today. That's exactly what it was like back then. I mean, obviously, I didn't drive the cars, but watching as a kid, that's exactly what the race at Atlanta is. weekend reminded me of. So hopefully, you know, I'm excited now. Hopefully that's my opinion going forward, but I'll certainly be honest and open about what we think about things going forward and how this package is working at other racetracks. You know, Atlanta's a track that I love. I love

racing there because you can run in so many different grooves in the corners. You have options as a driver and you're not just limited to one groove. But, you know, I don't know how to get a better crowd there, how to draw more eyeballs to that event other than maybe moving it further into, toward the spring to where the weather's certainly more appealing for the fan to come out and see the race and camp and so forth. It's a little chilly there in the evenings. And you tend to get a lot of rain and around that time of you. year two so a lot of people aren't willing to take the risks but we had awesome weather this

weekend we had a great race and I was proud of Jimmy he was going to win and tie the old man at some point and I was glad to have ran second in that particular race so that was a proud moment for HMS Jimmy and I got to talk in Victor Lane for a moment and that that was a good thing he's a good guy he doesn't get a lot of credit for this, you know. He's been the same guy as long as I've known him. Fame and championships, wins, money. None of that's ever changed him. Obviously, he's got, you know, his lifestyle is quite a bit different than it was when he first started,

but as a person, he's really remained the same. So approachable, so easy to talk to. And a guy that I don't mind going out there and competing against and being teammates with him is great. It certainly helped my career. So I was happy for him. We're going to get our opportunity to get some wins. And it's a great day for the 4888 shop, HMS.

Everybody's pretty pumped coming out of the box to run well. We're going to Vegas. Jimmy tested there. He liked what he saw, so I'm excited to get out there and practice. We practiced Thursday. There's a bit of practice from 9 to 3 West Coast time on Thursday. on Thursday, so we'll get some laps and see if we can't dial that thing in. That's probably more practice than we need as a series, but it's there.

So we're going to go do it. Anyhow, great day for us. Decent weekend for Junior Motorsports on the Xfinity side. Tough day in the truck race, but I don't have any doubt. Those guys will get it together, and Cole's going to have a good season. and I think that, you know, the Junior Motorsports guys, you know, Atlanta is a curveball. It's an odd track.

I don't think it's indicative of how good or bad we're going to be going forward, but they did rebound and finish well. We'll move on, go to Vegas. Vegas is going to be a lot of fun, a lot of bumps going down in a turn one. You'll definitely try to run the high side at some point in the race in turn one and two. I don't know if the top of working three and four, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But we'll definitely be trying everything. we can run in every groove wherever that car wants to run and be comfortable.

Hopefully we have as good a car and as fast a car and as good a day. And try to put it in Victor Lane. I've never won there and I'd love to get that victory at Vegas on my resume. So I hope you guys enjoyed today. I certainly did. As a race car driver, I don't think I could have had much more fun behind the wheel. We'll see you later. Great stuff there.

From our guy Jr., this is the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. Dale Jr.'s latest sunglasses from Spy. The Daga is now offered with Spy's most premium glass lens, featuring Happy Lens Technology Shop the Daga with Happy Glass at SpyOptic.com or check it out at Spy Popup Shop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. Go see it. Spy Popup Shop if you are there in Vegas.

With Mike Davis, with first name Davis Williams. I am Taylor Zarser and we appreciate you listening to it to us. I only have one thing to say today, Mike Davis. Junior had him. If they would have given us another lap, he would have won the race. I hope everybody has a great day. I think that we can just end the podcast now because you've said all that we have to say here. Junior just was one lap short of winning.

In fact, I will say this. We'll add this and then we'll close the podcast down because there's really nothing else to say. This played out exactly how we thought it was going to. He would qualify 16th. Yes. He would make, along with the rest of the series, seven green flag pit stops and managed the tires well. He would be in about fifth when a green white checkered restart would happen.

He would pass Kyle Bush and Kevin Harvick and others on that restart, finished second. The only thing I predicted that didn't come to fruition was that he was one lap short of being able to wreck Jimmy Johnson, put him into the wall, into the fence, and then he himself would have hung the three out saying, my dad's still the best, and I'm just reminding you all. who's the man that's what I predicted

that didn't happen but everything else did you know I'm so glad you're on this podcast I just I love you that's just so well stated and yeah we all know that would have happened in all seriousness it was a hell of

a lot of fun to watch that finish and really I know some people don't like to see those long green flag runs but I do and I'm glad that Junior enjoyed being in the car yesterday. It's always fun to see very quickly how competitive of a car that those guys have to go from 16th to 8th, the 5th. That quickly, Mike, was cool to watch. And then

to see him maintain his position throughout the race, I mean, I think we sort of felt coming into, if you watch practice on Saturday and saw the gains that he made and you heard him talk about it there in his recap, you really felt like they had a top five car. I don't know. a winning car, but a top five car. But then, yeah, on that last restart, man, you start going nuts thinking, golly, one more lap. And I know that everybody's going to have an opinion on whether or not this restart procedure is the best way to go. They've changed it for the 16th,000th time. And you know how I feel about this.

We talked about it after what happened at Talladega. Just pick something and stick with it. Well, guess what? I actually am in favor of this. As much as I wanted Junior to win, and as much as I would have loved. to see him compete with my second favorite driver for the victory there with one more lap to go to see if he could have gotten up to his bumper and gotten past him. I think this is the right thing to do, you know, because what happens if you have nine restarts

and you never get back to the white flag lap, Mike? You know, I mean, like, you know, I think this is, this makes more sense. So in all seriousness, even though I want to really believe what you just said, I think this was the right way to finish the race. Well, if they had another restart, Junior would have been restarting on the outside, and who knows if that would have played into the fact that, you know, whether he would have been able to hold his position or not. I mean, there's no way of knowing.

I will say this. This race was extremely enjoyable to the racing enthusiasts. This is my theory, by the way. I don't know if this is fact or whatever. I'm curious to see what you think about this. I think this race was very enjoyable to the racing enthusiasts, which is why you heard Jr. be so animated about how much he enjoyed it, because he is a racing enthusiast now.

I would imagine that it was not enjoyable to the entertain me in 140 characters sect of society that, you know, checks in on it. Because I think this race you had to follow from start to finish to appreciate all the drama and the strategy that was involved in it. Otherwise, it just wasn't going to be entertaining to you, you know, because I look at it like this. there are some, you know, wonderful books out there, like all-timer books that are just magnificent, but they can't be appreciated if all you do is read the cliff notes to it. So to appreciate this race, you couldn't just read the cliff notes to it.

You had to watch it and be, you know, entrenched into all that was going on. And if you were that person, you really probably enjoyed the actual racing going on and understood what the drivers had to do, to manage, and the struggles that they were having. you see some of those shots of the cars just being squirrely coming out of turn for i mean yeah and it's crazy and it just showed it i thought it showed off the talent of the driver i really did i and and you know you have to protect your tires that's something the entire race that those guys obviously in the booth kept talking about and they were right you heard junior just talking about it the entire weekend clearly they had to protect tires they had to be careful with how many they're going to use friday and

Saturday because they had to have so many awesome for the race on Sunday but yeah it absolutely I thought showcased the skill of the driver and there is no question the one that we dedicate this podcast to who has his name on this podcast is a wheelman there's just no doubt

and he and he I think it's great because he's gotten a lot more respect that he deserves in the last couple of years than he ever got it really for the longest time so it's great to see the credibility he's been given among fans and his peers, but you could see it.

I mean, you could clearly, like you said, if you saw the shot of the car, you could see the skill necessary to be successful in that race yesterday. Listen, this low downforce package sort of gave us our own NASCAR IQ test where you could see intelligence rise to the top. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. I'm not, listen, I'm not about to say that Matt Kenseth's crew chief is not intelligent. extremely intelligent guy, but they made a really bad error trying to argue something, and it got Matt Kenseth, who was a lead contender for this win, completely eliminated from contention just because they weren't thinking smartly during the middle of this race. They were arguing with the NASCAR official, and in the process got black flag because they weren't serving a penalty.

You can't make that type of mistake. But you see intelligence rise to the top here. Listen, Chad Gannows, that was an intelligent. earned victory for the 48. They pitted when nobody else would have even thought to pit, and it's not just intelligence as an IQ. It's intelligence as an information gathering because Chad Gannows did his homework and realized,

okay, I can pit here and get to the end of it. If my smart driver manages his tires correctly, the other drivers will not be able to run hard at the end because they themselves are scared of blowing out their own tires. I can actually win a race like this. And they did it. Now, of course, Ryan Newman blows a tire. It throws all that type of mentality out.

So now it's in the hands of the pit crew and the driver ability. And you know what? The 48 team passed both of those tests, as did Dale Jr., I thought, and his pit crew and his crew chief. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And they do. The 48 and Rick Hendrick and everybody in the Hendricks shop should get a lot of credit. That was a shot in the arm for the company because there's been a lot of

criticism and scrutiny lately. And, you know, for that to happen, right after Gibbs dominates Daytona the way they did, right after Stuart Hots Racing makes the huge bombshell announcement they made last week, for Hendrick Motorsports to win and finish second. Right. You know, on Sunday. Chase finished seventh, I think? Yeah, Chase had a great last few laps of the race.

I mean, that definitely was a big shot in the arm. So that's a good point. Hey, I want to mention this a couple things. First of all, what you said about the new package. Correct me if I'm wrong, first name Davis. The two times you put this in the notes, the two times that they used this last year, this package, junior finished 21st and 8th. Is that right?

That's correct. Yeah. And I think when we did this podcast last year, Mike, I think all of us wondered, okay, how is this going to, you know, translate? I don't think we worry that it's going to have a Tony Stewart type of effect. Tony Stewart told Kyle Bush after his injury, it has nothing to do with my injury, has everything to do with the fact I can't race these cars. And when you hear somebody with that kind of skill say something like that,

that was like, oh, man, you know, what if it's like the car of tomorrow that I couldn't stand? What if there's that kind of impact? So you saw what happened last year in just only two races, but to see Dale Jr. in that car gain on it as he did so quickly, you the way they practiced, the way he was on that restart. I don't know about you, Mike. That gave me a lot of confidence given they're going to use this so much this year. Well, yeah, I mean, it gives you confidence because you bring up the car tomorrow.

That is epic in our career timeline and that Junior never could adapt to that. I mean, he just never liked it. It just wasn't his style. Nothing about it fit Dale Jr. And I think the results showed. He just never liked it. Junior does like this. This doesn't say, or this isn't to suggest that we won't have our,

our bad races. You still got to hit the setup, which I will then say the 88 team might not have hit the setup early in the race, but they absolutely had the car running the best it had run all day at the end of the race. And that's really all you can ask for. Work on it during the race. You've got all these pit stops, even under green flag. Think about the pressure of that. Stay on the lead lap, get your car running better. You're going to be loose, you're going to be tight, you get all these all these variables going into it, and then at the end of the day, the car was running the best had run all day. I know that people, a lot of people, are just never going to like Jimmy Johnson. They just, and he has fun with it. He has a great attitude about it. Blame JJ for everything.

Look, it's just the way it is. He doesn't care about it, and that's good. He's, comfortable in his skin as anyone I've ever met. But I loved what Junior said, what he did yesterday after the race. Of course, he's going to go and congratulate his buddy. But I loved what he said here today on the podcast and also what he said in the media center yesterday. And I know that you have that available in our many different podcasts that we do, Mike. But he said this, quote, one thing Jimmy doesn't get enough credit for is being the same Jimmy that I knew when he drove the 59 charcoal car. I love that, that he threw that out there.

And he said it, of course, again, here on the podcast. But he also said success didn't change him much. He has a little bit more money in his pocket. but he certainly doesn't act any different. If I won five championships in a row, that would probably change me a bit or anybody else. It's amazing he's really down to earth. I love Stefan Curry.

Love him. Everybody that's watching this guy right now, Davis is the biggest Steph Curry fan you'll ever find. But I think even first name Davis would admit this. Steph is changing a little bit. I'm not saying in a bad way, but he's become more theatrical since he's become the best player in the world.

and he's absolutely Dale's absolutely right about Jimmy Jimmy hasn't changed at all anyone that knew him 10, 12 years ago he acts exactly the same to every person he interacts with and that is I mean, Junior couldn't have hit it any better and I know people listen are like oh stop

stop giving Jimmy credit well he deserves it man he tied Dale freaking Earnhardt in total wins and I don't know I just appreciated what Junior said there Mike I appreciated it but I'll disagree with him on one point and that was where Junior said that, you know, if he won five championships, he himself might change a little bit.

I think that's actually wrong. I think Dale Jr. is also the epitome of what he's explaining about Jimmy Johnson. And that is the reason people like him so much is that he himself has not changed over the years. I mean, I think that Dale Jr. could go back and work at the dealership and change oil right now and be okay. I really don't think he would be okay. I think he could actually do it. And I don't think a whole lot of other people could, not if you've enjoyed it. with this type of success and this type of lifestyle.

Junior said in that press conference, which you can hear on said Jr., here on Dirty Moe Radio, that Jimmy's bank account has changed, but Jimmy the person has not changed. I could say the same thing for Dale Jr. Well, that's cool that you would say that because you know him as well as anyone. Yeah, I tend to agree with you, but I thought that that was great. It was. What he said about that. Well, I think what he's asking for, Taylor, is he's wanting people to recognize and appreciate that.

So rare. Well, we've tried so hard to do that. Jimmy, I'm telling you, I run into him. I live in Charlotte, and we don't live far apart. You live in Jimmy Johnson's neighborhood? Not in his neighborhood. No. Oh, no.

Look at this guy. Davis lives closer to his neighborhood than I do, actually. Davis. Is that true? Well. One time I held the door for him at Christmas Eve. See, I'm telling you, dude. He lives in our area.

He's around. He's around. I saw, first name Davis will appreciate this. I went to my niece's birthday party recently, Mike Davis, and it was inside the mellow mushroom. They have a school bus inside the mellow mushroom. And I think David, first name, it's across from a watering hole that first name Davis frequents very often. And in the next booth, Jimmy Johnson and his wonderful family

is also in the school bus. And he looks at me and he says, hey, man, we're both sitting in a school bus inside of a mellum right now. But he's, he is, he really is. He's a great down-to-earth guy. And I do. I try on this podcast. And I know Jimmy thinks the world of junior. He thinks the world of him. And really, really has appreciated since they have been in the same shop, and especially on the same team, being teammates with him. He thinks the world the way he treats people. He thinks he's incredibly talented. And Amy deserves the most credit, Mike, for, for juniors' evolution as a person,

and certainly Junior's given her extraordinary credit. But Jimmy is somewhere on that list. I mean, he really does. He cares a lot about Junior, so I do. We do. We try hard to say, man, this is Junior's guy, man. I mean, he's got a lot of good buddies like Martin Truex out there. But Jimmy is definitely one of his guys that he's very close with.

I've got a quick question. Davis. Yes. Have you ever sat in the school bus because I'm going to just preface this by saying, you don't have a family? No. So there is a creeper status that could be involved with you sitting in the school bus. No, I was in the school bus.

No, I got that. I'm saying have you ever sat in the school bus? No, I haven't. You know about that school bus, though, Dan. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's right there. Have you wanted to sit in the school bus? I mean, it looks like fun. I'm never sitting there.

All right, just making sure. Back to the race, Mike. The only other thing I just wanted to mention was how interesting it was what Junior said about qualifying 16th. I know there's some frustration in that, but I think that when you go to places that you don't have to be as protective of the tire, I'm going to have more confidence when they're not having to be as mindful about that, especially on a Friday. Because what we saw Saturday, I thought was very indicative of what ended up happening Sunday.

I will say that I go into this, into these races where the tire is going to wear out quicker, assuming that track position is actually more important than it ever was. Does that make sense? Yeah. And so I actually thought that this might hurt him. What I didn't expect was for him to shoot out of a cannon like he did. It was interesting to hear in his audio how he said that he used up his tires on the first run badly and that hurt him. I don't know, man.

It didn't blow out and you gained like 10 positions in like 10 laps. Yeah, 11 positions. He was up there. It seemed like in no time. So I don't know what to make of it is my point. Track position is very important. No, no, no, listen, I'm with you on the same. What I'm saying is, is I think when they go to places where you're not as concerned about tireware,

that qualifying, I have more confidence in. I mean, he said they can only use two sets of tires. Seriously, I think that the fact they only used two sets on Friday, it was very telling to me. Because I was really, I got to be honest, I was really concerned after I saw practice times on Friday and qualifying. I thought, man, come on now, what's going on here? And all of Hendricks struggled on Friday, because clearly they were all being very protective of of of of of that tire wear but watching practice and i did i watch practice on

saturday mike and that you talk about shot out of a cannon he was shot out of a cannon on saturday too and that that gave me a lot of confidence so yeah anyway i i if they go to a place if they keep having qualifying troubles then we certainly need to continue to address it but because of tire wear i'm not as concerned last thing uh i hope that there's a good crowd in Vegas, but I do share Dale Jr.'s concern, what he said about fan support, you know, what to do to change things. Look, here's the reality of the situation. And with a 36 race schedule, you're going to have weeks like that.

You're going to have places where maybe some might argue or out of position on the calendar in terms of the season, et cetera. That's just the reality of it when you have 36 races, Mike. So I don't think there is a way to solve what he said. But I do agree with him completely about how enjoyable it was if you really enjoy. old school racing. You're right. For the 140 character fan,

there's nothing to do for those people when you have a long green flag run. And I've got to be honest with you, I'm not really worried about them because I don't want to continue to try to feed that kind of culture because I want them to read a book, like you said.

When you send out a link and somebody responds and says, hey, Mike, give me the highlights of what's in this thing. I don't have time to click on it. I want a form tackle them. and say, click on it.

Watch, watch 360. Listen to TJ. Listen to said junior. Listen to this podcast. No, I'm not going to give you a Cliff Notes version. Take the time to enjoy it and consume it.

It'll make you understand things better. So I, there's, to your point and to junior's point, I love that racing. In terms of putting more people in the stands in late February, I'm not so sure what you can do. Well,

Atlanta sports fan better than anyone, Taylor. Okay, so tell me what could, honestly, what could NASCAR do in its power to get the Atlanta fans back at Atlanta Motor Speedway? Because I don't remember the last time there was a good crowd there. They would have to have it in the late spring or in the summer. I mean, like Junior said, it would have to be later in the season. And Atlanta fans would still show up? I think that one thing, I think they would, there would be more people there, and I'll just be

honest with you. I mean, this is a whole other topic altogether. But if Bubba Wallace gets a cup ride and become successful, then I think that that would absolutely interest people in Atlanta in the South, because he's from the Deep South, but I think it would interest everyone. Dale Jr. is by far the most popular driver in the sport, and he deserves it.

And he, because of what you said, the connection that he creates on this podcast and with all his fans. He's earned all of that. But there's not enough people. like him. And that's where, and there are people outside of junior fans that don't feel as connected as they once did. Okay, but you know who there are a lot of people connected to as far as the driver goes in Atlanta and Georgia? Chase Elliott, he happens to be pretty good. He was, he happens to be a news site. I think that, I think that as time goes on, they will, they will

appreciate him more. But, you know, listen, whether it's Atlanta or whether it's anywhere else, the guy up in the booth that's doing a great job through two races, him retiring is a big deal. He had a whole lot of fans talking about Jeff Gordon. So I think those are all factors. I know being familiar with the Atlanta market, it's always been a struggle. Listen, ask the Braves.

Ask the Hawks. Ask the Falcons. You know, they're changing stadiums all the time. They're trying to figure out, they're all trying to unlock the key to the Atlanta fans heart. And I think that NASCAR has the same issue. I don't remember the last time there was a packed house at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Yeah.

So I just know, and that race has been at different times of the year. Maybe the spring would help, but that's probably true for any track. I'm talking about to really kind of strike that emotional chord with the Atlanta race fan. And I thought for sure that Chase Elliott being in the cup right, in the 24, would help that. And I didn't necessarily see that move the needle. I just don't think people are as. And the weather was phenomenal. I don't think a lot of people know outside of maybe J.R.M. fans or Hendrick fans, I don't think enough people that are casual fans know enough about him.

But I got to be honest with you, I'm going to be kind of stubborn about this. I love that kind of racing. And I think that it's our responsibility to tell all the people we care about to watch that kind of racing. Instead of trying to service people that are only going to be casual fans, no matter what we do, I think that we need to embrace the kind of racing we saw in Atlanta. No matter how many people were in the stands, I loved it. And I think that there are a lot of people listening that loved it too. I wonder if you were able to sit in the stands. Now, we basically called out the entertain me now, the entitled part of the fan base. But if you were in the stands, and God bless you if you were,

I would love to hear from them if they thought the race was good because you can't follow it the way we follow it. Maybe you can, but you've got to buy maybe a sprint one of those little devices that you can listen to radio chatter. Maybe you bring your own scanner. But it's a different experience when you're in the grandstands. And if there's seven green flag pit stops in these long runs, I wonder from them if they thought it was entertaining.

I'd love for them to either tweet us or call in a reaction theater and let us know because I'm generally wondering what they thought. Hey, Junior Nation members, did you know that you can get a special discount when you switch to Nationwide? Call 1855-346-913 or visit nationwide. com forward slash junior nation for more information nationwide is on your side it's time now for radio chatter replay presented by nationwide hey guys it's always fun coming here to Atlanta racetrack with a lot of character ever move around tires wear out a lot of pit stops today you guys stay hydrated

in here in the pits limit our mistakes on and off the track and we're going to have a good day all right have a good day today guys y'all will win some work man you're going to be doing it today We can get all these lapses in. We'll have some fun. Be safe. You gotta see fast. A lot of guys up there now, T.J., right? Middle pack back, yeah, not a lot of fun.

We're up top in three and four as well, but... I had to free the car up at the start of the race. I thought we were going to be good, but now I don't have the right rear underneath me. When the tires are squaring like that, DJ, I can go that deep. I'm a bed on pit road there. A wheel hopping like you. Okay, I'll move it back.

I'm just going to take it easy here by 15 laps. Tepoor. Tires were wore out. Planning simple, nothing on it ordinary, but just wore out. Yeah, I was a half-wrongling up there. I wasn't even driving hard. I knew to be careful running the top, but it's a little riper group. Temple, come around, pit this time.

I mean, I can run more. You want me to pit now? I was planning a pit now anyway. Okay, here we go. Good job on and off the road. Tires look good. At the wall with the quarter panel. Get a visual on that for me.

I'll see any damage to it. Let me get the binoculars out for next time, bye. Yeah, T.J., it looks like you got it a little bit on the pictures, so we'll have to try to get it out. All right, here we're going to find out this lap. I'm proud here. Working hard. Yeah, I like it. It's a good ride. Vizal, when do you want to be fast, is the first part of the run or the end? You have the balance. Thank you.

Stepore, you're doing a great job there. There you go, buddy. Pretty big gain on the 18 right there. He ran the bottom. Like, I don't want to get it. Did you gain on me? Or did I gain on him? Oh, you pulled them through one or two that time. Good lap. Good job down there. Three to go. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Check, caution's out here.

Okay, Dale, we're going to pop up the air pressures here. I'm going to put a little tape on the grill. You think you need a round in the right rear with the nose weight? Not putting gas in. No. We're going into overtime. So Greg, if the yellow comes out, it's over, right? If they get to the line on the back stretch, that white line on the back stretch, it's over.

All right, buddy, you'll be inside row P5 when you get caught up here. Ready, go, go, go, go, go, go. A wreck on the back stretch. Big wreck on the back stretch. No caution yet. No caution. All right. White flag right here, outside.

On your tight. He's going back up now. White flag. Cosses out, outside, causes out outside. It's out outside. Nice work, guys. 4888. Checkered right there. Yeah, buddy.

8818. Good job, buddy. P2. Good place to start on. Dale, not going to drive. Good job on the car all day. Great stops. I know we struggled a little bit, man, but that's part of it. Early into year. We're going to figure that out. Love hearing that radio chatter replay again, presented by Nationwide, gives you a great idea of what T.J. Greg and Dale Jr. are thinking during the race. And Mike Davis needs to get royalties off of the radio chatter because now all of NASCAR seems

to be all about radio chatter. So Mike Davis, send your royalties to him or to his family. Now, I'm on board of that. It is time for reaction theater. What we got, first name, Davis. All right. That's more like a great job today, 88. Junior, sound like that's a race.

You were having a blast out there. Definitely didn't have a car to contend for the win, but a top five car all day. And wow, what a heck of a restart there on that final restart to get up the second. So great job. Let's head to Viva Las Vegas and see if we can improve one position with the W. So go get them next week, boy. Hell yeah.

Dale yeah. I like that. Fired up, feeling good about it, and that's exactly, I think, how most of us felt after that race. But you did have to kind of stomach. Like, man, that was awesome. God, love that finish. Look at him coming. Man, I wish we would have one more lap.

But you kind of have both of those emotions. Or should we recognize the fact that Kevin Harvick did have, he got bumped by somebody and therefore slowed his momentum and therefore we were able to. It looked like he spun his tires, too. Or should we just ignore it and just say that Dale Jr. blew by. I don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, no, I'm with you. I'm with you.

Dale Jr. is a thousand times better than Kevin Harvick. Harvick and Cowell Bush. Those guys are just no good, and Junior's the best. Who's next? Hell to the fuck yes. Dale Earnhardt, the man, Jr. finished second place today, and I feel like it's a win. I love to see him get aggressive and to get after it on a restart,

especially the last restart of the race. I feel like it's a win today because Tuesday I will be getting in my car and driving south to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City to watch the Vegas race live. And I hope I see more of that. I want to see the man get after it, like flies on shit. I'm pumped to hear his thoughts on next week since he'll be there at the race. For sure. Call in next week.

Call in next week. Yeah. Give us a race recap, and you can drop as many expletives as you want. Easy for me to say. And Davis will do a very good job, as he always does, bleeping them. Some of my favorite reaction theater calls, and we've had several of them over the past years. or two when the caller calls from the parking lot or from the grandstands of the track having just watched the race.

I love hearing those reactions. Yeah, because it's real. It's just, you lived it. It is. It's great. Who's next? Well, I just want to give a huge kudos and shout out to the over-the-wall guys on the 88 bunch.

I know we're real early in the season, but from what I've seen the Daytona this last week and this, I think they're only going to get better. This is still a really new team as far as, you know, some of the pit crew guys and Greg Nett, his role, and those guys killed it on pit road all day. Some of the other guys made mistakes like the 20 car and that cost him big. But that 88 car looks great on pit road as well as on the track. And I think for them to show up this mile and a half track, a low downforce package, and a run as well as they did, I think that really set the bar for the season.

And I think Junior Nation and all of us have a damn good reason to be pumped up about this season. I know I am, and I think there's any reason why we can't show up to Vegas and be just as competitive, get a win, get locks in the chase, and grab a bunch of wins this season. So I'm pumped up. Dale, yeah, hashtag Mike Davis suck. There you go. See, there you go. See, first name, Davis, I'm so disappointed you let that on.

That was way too level-headed and rational. I mean, I don't know what you think this is, Davis, but come on now, man. I mean, we only have time for people that scream and yell and say Greg Ives is the worst and the crew is terrible. That's sometimes what we get on. That was way too level-headed, Mike Davis, until what he said at the end, which made a lot of sense. You do stink. I agree with that. I mean, truth.

Hey, and I love that you use the hashtag. That way we can track it. That way, Davis. Hashtack Mike Davis. Davis can appreciate that. We can at least track it success, right? Exactly. Hey, by the way, I do want to say this about that guy.

It's a great observation about the pit crew. Because the pit crew was on their game yesterday. They totally crushed it. Only once or twice did we actually lose a spot on pit road. But I can promise you that wasn't their fault. Dale Jr.'s entry after the first time he pitted, if you remember, the first time they pitted, he about got busted for speeding. He was so loose coming into pit road. And he even told T.J. something about it.

So it sort of spooked him a little bit. so he was coming in a lot easier and therefore losing a significant amount of time from the entry to the exit of Pitt Road. I mean, at one point, Greg I've said he lost three seconds. During a green flag run, three seconds is an entire straightaway. So good job by the pit crews, all I'm saying. Outstanding job all day, no doubt. Maintaining your position for hours and hundreds of laps. It's fantastic.

Who's next? Taylor doesn't suck. You know what's tough hango. 18-packed. had yesterday seems like a bad idea as I'm starting my four plus hour trip to concord North Carolina for a business meeting trying to figure out how to how to get out of that so I can run over to junior motorsports and say hey you guys hey man awesome race yesterday from the green flag junior was moving forward uh seemed like we had the top five a car most day pit stops looked good from

where I was sitting I wasn't too far away from the pit box but man look good and then all of a sudden yellow flag I thought old Jimmy Johnson just going to cruise away with it Then it came down to the green-white checker or whatever the hell NASCAR calling it these days. And then I watched Old Junior wheel that thing from fifth to second, about half a lap. Man, I thought we were going to have something for them, so I seen them wad them up on the backstitch. Call them off, great day, man. It's a good race. It's a feel like crap.

But I'll see y'all a little bit. All right, man. Be careful. Hope you've totally recovered. I'm just a word of advice for everyone out there. Mike Davis, I don't know if you've noticed this, but first name, Davis and I have, we're a little smaller than we used to be. We've been running a lot if you can't tell.

And the other thing is, is we're sharing our 18 packs with other people now, instead of just consuming it all ourselves. And it works really, really well. You still have fun and you do, you feel better the next day, and you're able to be productive in your job. So I would just, I don't know, I'd recommend to him to maybe share his 18-pack. I can definitely tell that Davis is trimmed up, But his diet fascinates me.

Like what he eats, he is still in college. The other day he comes in here, and I'm not, this is a true story. I said, well, hey, what are you doing for lunch, Davis? He goes, oh, I've got some goldfish out in my car. He brought in three bags of goldfish for his lunch. That is what my seven-year-old does, or what she would want to do if we let her. I'm like, you're really just eating goldfish crackers for lunch. He goes, yeah, man, and he didn't understand that's, he didn't understand what was wrong with that.

Come on, man. Davis, what's wrong with you? You have to have proper nourishment during the day, like a meat and three. Get some protein. What's the last vegetable you ate, Davis? Last vegetable ate? I rest my case. 1990?

I ate pretty poorly this weekend. Yeah, well. That's the answer you have to. What's the last vegetable you ate? You don't even know. He does that. He goes overboard with, you know, how unselfish. He's too nice.

You know that. But, like, there'll be, I totally know what you mean. There'll be times like, Davis, you want something to eat? No, I had some breakfast. That was nine hours ago, Davis. Yeah. Unbelievable. Who's next?

First name, Davis, suck. Yes. Kind of perfect time. Yes. That's all the message was. So, best reaction theater call of the day right there. My favorite. Yep.

Who's next? Well, if anybody wanted to know, Dale Jr., and great guys, listen to Reaction Theater, I think we can say absolutely. Yes. Obviously, they both were upset at the way the Daytona 500 turned out. They listened to my call. They got their shit together and they pulled off the perfect race. I thought the Atlanta race, one of my favorite races in a long, long time. I don't know what people are b-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-hion about. I saw action at every damn spot on the track. It was great. I love a good year. Finally brought a tire that falls off. It's put it back in the hands of the drivers. And I thought it's fantastic. It gives me a lot of hope that

His mile and half tracks this year are going to be fun to watch. And how about the pit crew last year couldn't put their finger up there at shit this year. These guys are all stars so far. You put the good work. Did you hear of Easter? Holy shit. That's what I like to see. That's fantastic.

Let's go up to the West Coast. Let's come back with a solid spot in the chase. Let's kick some of a good season. Hell yeah. Mike Davis. I'm not going to say it this week, buddy. But you better be on your toes. Hell yeah.

Uh-oh. Would you like to know how fast he was running yesterday? How fast? He was running a 9-minute, 41-second pace. He ran 2.6 miles. How do you know this? He sent it to me. He sent you, like, his...

I have it to his run. Well, Dan, the junior fan, AKA Dado, aka Sloppy Yellow, a few years ago, you evidently gave him my number, and we connected in Texas. This is three years ago in Texas,

which is the latest text conversation. that we had. And I get this text in the middle of the night. FYI, I do run on Sundays. Today is a happy run at Big Man Pace. And he was running a 9-minute, 41-second mile. That's pretty good. And for how many miles? 2.6 miles. I tell you what, I'm impressed. Yeah. I'm impressed.

He did a good job. So I was pretty fired up to get a text message from Datto. Datto's the man. He needs to get back on Twitter. He is, sloppy yellow. No, no. Daddo needs to get back on. Twitter is Datto. I like, you need to follow Sloppy Yellow, though. He's starting to get more active.

Daddo got off Twitter because I think he was trying to run for mayor of his town. That would have been terrific, by the way that wasn't going to be consistent with the way a mayor should behave on social media. But, Dan, you lost. You're not the mayor. Get back on Twitter. I can't wait for what he's got in store for you this week. All right, who's next?

Hey, y'all. This is Josh from Des Moines, Iowa. I'm not really sure what the rules are here, but, I just, I wanted to call and congratulate our man on what I thought was the smartest race. I think I've ever seen him run. Confused the crew chief, confused the spotter, saving his stuff, racing at the old school, brought it home, drove a smart race, drove a great race. Dale yeah.

Dale yeah. Dale yeah to that, for sure. Who's next? Well, I'm sitting in traffic on my way out of Atlanta for the race today, and just want to say that was a great job by the 88 team. Great pick, pick calls all day long. I mean, the car was just solid, especially at the end of long green runs. And I just want to say, congrats to the 48 team and Jimmy Johnson on Ty and Dell, Sr.

He's worked his butt off to get those wins. And just know there's going to be some more coming here pretty soon. He'll break the record. But anyways, I just want to say, say good job to junior and crew. And actually, on the way out of the infield, the day I saw Gus. and I saw Amy, I didn't see Dale Jr., but I saw Gus with his head out the window, and I yelled at him. I saw a big a huss call. And anyways, have a go.

That's funny. Hey, Gus. What's happening? That is pretty funny. Appreciate you, man. Good stuff. All right. Now, we got one more to go, and this kind of went crazy on Twitter, and I was laughing pretty hard at this.

So explain what we got here, first name. So last week we talked about getting a Dell Jr. song, We asked for a bunch of participants. This is the one we pulled from Twitter that was sent to Mike Davis. It's titled the DailyS song. We thought it was pretty good. Nice. How good is that?

It's pretty strong. I got to say, I appreciated him sending that to us the other day. And I went on a little assignment for one of my 19 other jobs. And my wife, I did bring her with me on this trip, by the way, Mike. and shout out Betsy shout out Betsy and we're in we were in beautiful

Fort Lauderdale Florida the other day enjoying the sunshine and she looks at me and says what in the hell are you listening to and I said man this is the new Dale Jr.

I just got sent you didn't tell how was Eric Church was Eric Church's new single yeah Chris Stapleton too yeah no it was

that's good stuff man you see we need creativity like that on Reaction Theater his name is Tim Truton I guess That's his Twitter handle at Tim Truton.

So, Tim, thank you. That was good. I'm still eager to hear anybody that can bring us a song, but I don't know. You're going to have to bring your A game because Tim Truton did. That was good. Dude's got some talent. He does.

Absolutely. So if you can beat that, 855-740-1902, call toll-free 8-5-7-1002. Call toll-free 8-5-7-0-190-2. Reaction Theater is open 24-7-3-65. Doesn't matter what's going on in the world. You can always call that and react to the race or do anything you want, obviously. 855740-1902, hashtag Mike Davis sucks. It's time now for White Flag.

Taylor, why is the number 17 significant to Dale Earnhardt Jr.? I'm asking you? I don't know the answer to this, I don't think. I'm going to tell you, but you've got to follow along closely because there's a few steps here, okay? Okay. Tomorrow, Dale Jr. has a production for 3M and for Spy, okay? Speaking of Spy, you might have heard of Dale Jr.'s livery series. My favorite of the livery series is the new style Daga.

Speaking of Daga, have you seen Talladega's new video called The Heart of Talladega? I have not. It's actually H-A-R-D-T, like Earned Heart. It is phenomenal. You can find it on Talladega's Facebook page and their YouTube channel. Search for the Heart of Talladega. Speaking of Heart, I did get my annual physical last week, and mine is working out good so far. I just want to let y'all know.

Speaking of working out good so far, Chase Elliott will return to the driver's seat of junior motorsports this week in the number 88 taxlayer.com Chevrolet. Speaking of Chevrolet, Taylor, we will drive them today. We will drive them tomorrow and we will drive them for the rest of our lives, Taylor. Yes, sir. So will I. Speaking of life, if you want to help ours,

subscribe to this podcast, rate and review it, and even share it with your friends via your social channels because it would really help us. This is not a test. Speaking of test, Dale Jr. will take of one at Las Vegas this Thursday. The Cup teams will be testing the new low-down force package on that particular track. Speaking of that particular track, that's also where they are racing on Sunday. Junior will be in the nationwide insurance paint scheme.

That race will be carried live by Performance Racing Network and Fox. Speaking of Fox, my wife is one. Speaking of my wife, her birthday was last Monday, and I didn't wish her a happy birthday on this podcast. So, baby, happy late birthday. Speaking of late birthdays. Speaking of Sarah, she got the best, she ordered the best lunch at Pikes. Shout out, speaking of the white flag sponsored by Pikes and Sarah this week on White Lack. Got it, 10-4.

Speaking of late birthdays, I also missed yours, Taylor, so happy late birthday to you. Thank you. I don't know when your birthday is, but I know I missed it. December 28th. Oh, it was recently. All right, okay. Two months ago. Speaking of you, when I think about you, I think about you, I think.

think about 17. Wow. How about that? Speaking of 17, this will be Dale Jr. 17th Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He's finished second there twice, but never a win. And speaking of win, Taylor Zarser, that's actually where I'm going to finish it. I'll let the fans, the listeners, think of a connection to win.

I'm not going there. But I am not doing that. I am not. I'm going to get people crush me when I do that, and I'm not doing it even. Don't do it. I don't want you doing it. But I will tell you, I am really fired up about the way he's been wheeling it in Las Vegas the last few years. I will say that.

All right. And I expect more of the same this weekend. All right. That's your prediction. You expect more of the same this weekend. Yes, of what he's been doing in Las Vegas, if not better than that, if not celebrating after the race. If not, never mind. Boy, I tell you what, you go out on a limb with your prediction these days.

Boy, you are something else. Speaking of White Flag, with all due respect to Sarah and to. Pikes in Charlotte, which has great sandwiches and milkshakes. White flag this week is sponsored by Chevro-L-L-A. That is spelled C-H-E-V-R-O-L-E-T. Wait, it's not A-Y? No. Chevrolet?

Yeah. Hey, I got a better question. What are you doing at lunch with my wife at Pikes? Well, you were there, too. Oh. Smile like Dale Jr. In a pair of his signature spy 88 sunglasses, stopped by the spy pop-up shop in Las Vegas. this weekend at the Speedway to shop the latest sunglasses and enter to win prizes.

Fantastic stuff this week. Thank you to first name Davis. Thank you to last name Davis. Thank you to Dale Earnhardt Jr. I'm Taylor Zarzer. You've been listening to the Dale Jr. Download presented by Spy. Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Hey, Junior Nation.

Thank you for listening to the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. Be happy with the all-new Spy, Dell Jr. paint scheme sunglasses. It's called Delivery Series. They're available in the popular Dirty Moe, General Degah, McCoy, and Admiral Frames. Get yours today at Spyoptic.com.