The Dale Jr. Download - 130 - Amelia Rising

Episode Date: April 25, 2016

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks Richmond Xfinity Series win and Cup disappointment; Team 88 tire specialist Rob Lopes joins Speed Dial; Amelia’s return to the track discussed in Talladega preview. 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. This thing's getting hot, and I'm getting a little of noise. How it is to control his temperature. Hey, everybody's Jr. Host Richmond. It's a pretty good weekend. At least we got the Xfinity win. They were going to run these races in the daytime for the first time in a while,

aside from the few times it might have rained and pushed the race into the following day, but with this racing during the daytime, you know, obviously the track was hotter and slicker and a lot funer for the drivers, I think. A lot more challenging, a lot more difficult. Goodyear brought a new tire that was great. It actually put a lot of rubber down. The cars moved around where you could chase the line a little bit.

Some guys could run the high line. I couldn't really make it work, but some guys could get up there and run it. It wasn't way faster, but it was an option. Anyhow, we were wrapping up our charitable drive with the Dale Jr. Sandwich.com this weekend with Helmonds, driving the Hellman's car in the Xfinity race. I don't really know how, you know, though you need to set those cars up, so I let my crew chief Dave Ellen's to just handle it however he wanted to shoot from the hip. did a great job. The car was pretty decent in the little heat race we ran and he made a couple

adjustments and it just made it really fly in the main event. I thought that the 20 was going to be the car to beat Eric Jones, but he got loose or something. His car fell off and I was really surprised by how it fell off. But Justin Agar was probably the next best car, if not at times, the best car. He showed a lot of great speed this year. He's doing a great job with his team. But anyhow, we got the win. It was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up our charitable drive for blessings in a backpack. So we raised over $150,000 with all the fans pitching in. Helmonds putting in $50,000 to $50,000 that I matched with the fans.

So the tracks are even selling these sandwiches for the last couple of weeks. and donating the money that they raise with that. So it's been great and we'll keep pushing all year long with new opportunities for the fans to get involved with the foundation. We've got the blue racing gloves that I've wore all month coming up for auction for autism awareness. And next month we'll be wearing purple gloves. So we'll talk about that a little bit here down the road.

the road but the blue gloves will be up for auction I just signed them in the airplane on the way home from Richmond so look for that on the Twitter feed and the Dell Junior Foundation let's get on to the race the you know we got a little rain so we didn't get a ton of practice but I felt like we had a great car and I thought we had great speed in practice the car was wasn't driving great but I didn't think anybody's would be driving great because of how slick the track was going to be so our lap times looked good when the race started we weren't very good the car was the car was tied and really loose in and tighten the center we just needed to work on a lot of different

issues the car was pretty far off when the race started so we didn't move forward I didn't think we didn't do too well for a while Greg started making some good adjustments and tightening the car up and I was freeing the car up with the adjustments inside that I have so I was fixing fixing some problems we had with the car helping the front grip and he was helping the rear grip and he was doing a lot of good things with air pressure and the car got more competitive and that there was one particular run with about 90 laps to go where I think we were actually catching the leader if it had went green we were good on fuel and I was hoping it was going to go green because we were the fastest car on the track I had a lot of trouble with the radios

This is a set of earplugs that I've used for several years, and it's just, they've just been used, and the wires, there's something broken the wire, but anyways, the right one quit working, so I just pulled it out of my headset, or pulled the earplug out of my helmet, and just cranked the volume up on the left side, so I could hear TJ pretty good over the engine noise I was hearing in my right ear, but it was really annoying with it cutting in and out. you know sometimes there's a real confined racetracks I had a lot of trouble with the radio interference with other people or other things so we had a lot of problems with that too where I couldn't really hear and that happens at a lot of the small tracks where everything's kind of on top each other

but other than that that was really frustrating but other than that the day was going pretty good till the last 80, 50 to 80 laps. We made a couple of adjustments, I think, that hurt the car on the last run, and there were some adjustments that we didn't make that we needed to make because I sensed that the track or the car was getting tighter and we thought it was the cycles because we didn't pit for tires a couple times.

And so we probably should have freed the car up a little bit, but, you know, sometimes you make the right moves and adjustments at the end of these races and sometimes you don't, and you learn from it, and you move on. But the last couple of runs, we were fighting a very tight car. I was having to roll the center really slow, and I was getting guys running in the back of me because we were so slow. It's very frustrating, but that's what happens,

and we'll have to do better. Last couple weeks, no, the car hasn't been that great. we haven't had the speed that we think we should have but we've been trying some setups and trying to learn some things that we've never had the opportunity or never thought to run so not too worried about it we um you know we'll move on and definitely come back to Richmond with something

a little different I think the whole company probably wish they could have run just a couple spots better right? So we'll keep working. I think the end of the race was obviously exciting. I saw some replays. You know, short track racing has always had a lot of contact. And growing up, you know, you see guys move each other all the time, whether it's the last lap or the middle of the race.

I got moved out of the way. Brad Caslowski pushed me out of the way at the end of the race. That's just racing. I was slow. faster. I was holding him up. So I think that's all fair game at the short tracks. As long as you don't put the guy in the fence, as long as you don't hurt his car or hurt his opportunity to continue to run and compete well, I think that's okay. You know, you don't want to just hunt people out the way every time you catch them. It's fun to kind of try to challenge and, you know, find a way

around the guy without moving them every time. But that was the last lap. There's a lot of on the line, wins are so important and so critical and hard to get. Carl, obviously, had been struggling at Rouse for a long time, and he's a new teammate over there, so I don't know how his teammates are going to feel about all that, and especially Kyle, you know, how Kyle's going to feel about it. He probably didn't appreciate it too much. But, you know, that's part of it. That's kind of how, as long as Carl don't mind, getting moved himself that's another thing you got to be able to take it as well as you can dish it and I saw where Kyle stuck around and did his media afterwards so nobody can

complain that he took off like a little punk so it was it was pretty exciting I think that there's a lot of debris cautions didn't see much debris but we got an exciting finish I thought there's a lot of passing in the field. Even on the long green flag runs, you had guys moving up and guys sliding back. That's racing. So, no, caution's bored the hell out of me today. And, uh, I like, you know, I wanted to get our, I wanted to get the green flag going and get some laps and see if we could move forward.

And, you know, cautions kept coming out over and over and over. Anyhow, um, we're going to Talladega next week. We're going to have Amelia. She is fixed. Greg says that she's going to be the primary. He has fired up his Twitter account recently, sending off a few tweets after each race. So if you want to follow Greg, he's got some pretty important things to say after each race. And he let all the fans know today or Monday. He let all the fans know Monday that Amelia's coming back.

So I'm excited about that. We know how she ran last year. We just got to run Talladega like we have to win it just like we did the last time we were there. We did a good job and if we run it like that, we'll be up front at the end. Hope you guys have a good week. Enjoy the download.

See you, Jr. live from the Exalta Studios. This is the Dale Jr. Download presented by Spy. Be happy with the all-new Spy Dale Jr. Paint scheme sunglasses. It's called the livery series. They're available in the popular Dirty Mode, General Daga McCoy and Admiral Frames. get yours today at spyoptic.com with first name Davis Williams, Mike last name Davis.

I am Taylor Zarzer and we welcome you back. I'm especially glad to be back. Appreciate all the notes everybody's been sending my way. I know that when you're going through something personally, it just means more than ever to get a release and watch junior win races on Saturday, which was awesome. As for Sunday, Mike, I thought it kind of sucked. Be honest with you. It did. It was fun to slowly but surely watch him come through the field like that,

but certainly in the last 80-90 laps, like he said, I mean, there's just no rhythm to that race at all. And it was frustrating to get that kind of finish. There was no rhythm, much like last week's podcast without you. I swear. I mean, I appreciate all you bring to this podcast, but never more than when you're not on it and I have to do it because it makes me realize how good at your job you are.

So it is good to have you back and I hope things are going well for you, buddy. But Sundays race, it had its moments, you know, got up there in the top five and stayed there for about 35 laps or so, but just didn't have it at the end. Car got tight, I guess, and, you know, that's the way it goes. So, like, to me, 13th place finishes are, like, worse than 30th place finishes. 30th place finishes. You know that, like, there's something happened.

Something happened, right? Something happened. You can be like, okay, I can live with the fact that, you know, this is racing and racing things happen. 13th place finishes are, like, the worst to me. They really are. They just make me nauseous. Yeah. Honestly, that's the feeling.

It's a nauseating feeling to finish there. But those, look, I'm not saying that there wasn't debris on the track because there was. It just stunk. that we kept having these debris cautions, and then we have, you know, Scott or somebody in the back of the field that has no chance of winning just that has a problem on some of these restarts. Because it's interesting to hear Junior say he thought he had something for him with about 90 to go or so, because you could really feel that.

You could feel that, man, he might have the best car on the track right now, and I would have loved to have seen him have more of a long green flag run, kind of like what we got in the first 100-some-odd laps. I would have loved to have seen that towards the end of the race. Yeah, I'm looking back through my notes right now. I mean, I don't know if those cautions, other than being an aggravation to the driver, which it certainly was, and it was just one of the aggravations for the driver because you also had that radio problem, which you'll get a feel for that

when we play the nationwide race chatter review. But, you know, it's just like it was just annoying. I don't know that the car was going to do any better on long green flag runs, because when you get tight, you get tight. It just, it was a weird day. I mean, the climb from 16th, which is where he started, the climb from 16th to 5th was slow and methodical, and then the fall from 5th back to 11th, 12th, and 13th was slow.

I mean, it wasn't like he just dropped like a bag of rocks. Right. It was just kind of a slow methodical, ho-hum. Yeah, pain. Yeah, it just kind of sucked the life out of you there at the end. But, you know, I hate to use the word irrelevant. but that's kind of how it felt. We were never really a player in the top four.

Clearly the top four were in a league of their own. Right. And, you know, Jimmy Johnson was in that group, which sort of adds to the frustration being that we're in the same shot. But, you know, Junior says something very intriguing here, and that's that they are trying new setups. And I've got a theory to that, and I want to hear yours as well. But my theory to this is a lot of people are complaining

that we've got to figure out what Gibbs is doing. You got to catch up with Gibbs. Clearly Gibbs has got something figured out. Marty Smith actually talked about that last week when he asked Carl Edwards. What are y'all doing? And Carl's like, it's a lot of little things. It's not one big thing. So to be able to find out what a team that's dominating is doing, you've got to try new things.

You are not going to catch them by doing what you used to do because the engineering moves too fast in the sport. It's very cyclical. And so you've got to try new things. And so where people would take Dale Jr.'s, you know, feedback to this thing, we're trying a bunch of new stuff. And they're like, well, go back to the old stuff. The old stuff won't help you catch Gibbs. Understand that.

Gibbs didn't get to where they are today by doing what they were doing before. Because remember, it wasn't that long ago. Gibbs was the one getting their butt kicked. You know, and so where did they do different? Well, you've got to go try to find new things. You've got to go out engineer the other teams. And I think that that's what we're doing right now. Now, it doesn't mean that all the new things are going to work all the time.

If that was the case, that this would be an easy thing to do, but it's not. But you've got to try. And so I think that's what we're doing. I think we've got Rob Lopes coming on here in a little bit. We'll ask him about that. Greg Ives, he's on Twitter. He's explaining a lot.

Man, there's so much information going on in just 140 characters through Greg Ives' Twitter feed. That is such a cool thing that he's doing now. He's answering fan questions about what the car is doing and why the thought process behind some of his decisions. So, yeah, I mean, that's kind of my theory. Now, what do you think, Taylor? It's more specific.

It's more technical, and it's probably best discussed with someone like Steve LaTart, to be honest with you. Someone that is now watching the entire sport that was a crew chief. He probably has the best perspective, and is somebody we probably should talk to in the future. I really appreciate Greg's perspective, but Greg can only know so much, obviously, because he's the crew chief on the 88. I'm sure he's very aware of what's happening in everybody else's shot. but now that LaTart has that objectivity, if you will, in that perspective. Jeff Gordon would be another person, I think, that would be fascinating to talk to about this.

But I think when they eliminate some of the downforce, there's no question that Joe Gibbs Racing, the R&D with Toyota, a collaborative effort with Toyota, with crew chiefs, with Gibbs, with the drivers, etc., all those people together, they have overcome that significant change in the life. last, what is it, Mike, two years or so since that. Maybe even less. Less than that. They have, it's real technical to get into that, but I think it has everything to do with the downforce changes and Joe Gibbs racing being able to overcome that change better than

everyone else. And to get more technical and specific on it, again, I think somebody like LaTart would be terrific to pick his brain on it. But I think that's what it is more than anything. I mean, you just see the consistent, competitive performance of these cars, especially in the corners. I mean, they don't ever give up an inch

when they are going into the corners, and like especially on a short track. I mean, we've seen it. I mean, it was crazy. Martinsville, Bristol, Richmond. I mean, he just dominated those races, winning all three of them. And obviously, they've won four in a row.

Kyle two, Edwards, two. But they are. They're the class of the field. It's interesting what Junior said, by the way, about Edwards moving Kyle out of the way and he doesn't have a problem with that and appreciated Kyle Kyle talking about it afterwards

he said as long as Carl understands that might happen to him too I will never forget where was it was it Daytona or Talladega when junior beat Carl and Carl had a little bit of an issue was that that was an that was an ex it was an exfinity race wasn't it

Mike? No that was Michigan Michigan when junior won 2006 Yeah, we were talking about that a few weeks ago, actually, on another podcast, historically speaking. Yeah, Dale moved Carl out of the way on the last lap. And Carl got his panties in a bunch about it and didn't handle it well and went over in victory lane, grabbed Jr. Right.

Well, before that, he door slammed Jr. While Jr. had his hand out the window on the cool-down lap. See, and that's the thing that Junior's talking about. Great. Carl, good. Move him out of the way. Try to win. You both already have wins. you know, you're racing for fun, basically.

You're both going to be in the chase. Just understand that might happen to you, too. And that was the first thing I thought about when that happened. It was fun to watch that as a fan of the sport, Mike, but he better be ready for that to happen to him, and he better not have a problem with it. There's two other things we've got to talk about. Saturday, I know, was really special,

and I could tell by your tweets. It was fun watching that. I could tell by your tweets. That really meant a lot to you and to everybody at JRM. Oh yeah, I mean, you know what? We've all been waiting for that first Dale Jr. win in a Junior Motorsports car, and I'd be lying if I said that you started to wonder if it might not happen. And the only reason I say that, not because of Junior's inabilities,

but because Junior just doesn't run as many Xfinity Series races anymore. Like he was running four and five, now it's two or three. And so, you know, there's fewer opportunities to get that win. they're not actually placed at tracks that are to junior strengths. This was his first time racing at Richmond in 14 years. Okay? So what they are placed is for strategic sponsor purposes. Do you know what I'm saying?

Yes. You know, that was an important race for Hellman's. Taxpayer, when he runs a tax layer car, there's a reason why it's in tax season and not after the middle of April. Does that make sense? So, you know, junior may want to run a race in the summer for his tax slayer obligation, but he can't. So I don't know.

So for that reason, you started to wonder if he'd ever get that win. And I don't know. I mean, maybe you would, maybe what. But, you know, for him to go into Richmond, a place where he's actually dominated in the Xfinney series and Cup at times. And wear him out. I mean, just flat wear him out. And he still had to earn it there at the end with a green-white checkard.

And he had to earn it because, and he had to dodge a wreck because you had that cat that didn't put tires on. He started at the beginning, at the front of the field and, like, cleaned them out, including our Justin Algar. So it was just, you know, he earned it. It was so nice. I mean, the fact that the Hellman's being on the car is a storybook ending to a crazy two weeks that we had no idea whatever happened was not in any type of playbook for us.

It kind of happened on a whim. And then Helmans re-ups over the weekend. then he goes and wins the race. That's kind of just, man, if there's a good example of how to properly execute sponsor strategies, that right there would have been it. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a strategy. It happened by chance. And guess who was there?

First name Davis. He was at the track. There is a picture of him in Victory Lane. How about that, Taylor? Did you get something sprayed on you? No, I didn't get anything sprayed on me. Why not? I had a great time.

Did you get drunk after? No. No? Drove many miles. Did you hug ginger's neck? Did you get in the picture? I got in a picture, but no, I didn't hug Junior. He was such a rookie, though.

He went on the back row. You could barely see him on a picture. He needs to do better. Speaking of Junior, it's time now for radio chatter replay presented by Nationwide. Junior Nation members, did you know that you can get a special discount when you switch to nationwide? Call 1855-346-913. Visit Nationwide.com forward slash Junior Nation for more information. Nationwide is on your side.

here is dale junior t j majors and greg ives it's tight you up on entry awesome is out for debris lucky dog was a 23 car really yep cars on leave lap i was looking i knew you're gonna ask that clear by three well i was feeling pretty decent there

still close this time fans off please it roads closed fans off repeat those fans off comments for helping me just for your dollars that was the same exact lifetime front of the groove up as well. That's a good question. I don't know.

My earplugs are going in and out. He's bouncing from the left to the right side. Broke up, which is just likely we're petting here. Fuck, yeah. If things getting hot and I'm getting a little annoyed. Don't put any tape on it today? Yeah, we put a couple of rows on. All right.

Well, I'm pretty loose in. I hear you. I can't cool it all, warm the tires, get my tires ready. Get all the brakes and everything's set and all that shit done. Keep the tip down. You hear me any better here than just your rear? And under caution, I don't know, a lot of great, a lot of feedback. There you go, buddy.

Good corner. Good, 10-4. She'll come down now and this thing there. This thing, the whole run. Front and the vibration to all the lug. Nuts look good. Hey go, buddy. T5.

Go get the next one. Laptap's as good as the leaders. Take your out fit. Safety Chuck up high. Good stop, guys. Yeah, we did good there. Good job. It'll be about 80 to go when we take.

Take the greens. We're good on fuel. Trying to run that groove up and one and two. Probably it still work okay. I think if you just back it up. I know I've been watching it. Come on, take about a truck, five, second bottom, 40. It's going to look. There you go. One outside. Forty-eight, caution is out, one outside. Caution's out, outside, 40.

He's out there. Pit road is still closed. They're reviewing the restart. You get something to drink? Pipe three. I don't think the cyclone tires is tightening the cars up. There's a good lap right here. Good job. Cross is right, man.

Caution's out. Crossin's out. Now, those just tight, slow. Yeah, definitely, I don't know if those two cycles hurt us there, because before then we drove up to fourth, you know, so. Checking up here. I got you inside road, Pete, next time by. End to go next time by.

And clear, all clear. By to go, look at inside. By himself. It's checker flag. Radio chatter replay presented by Nationwide. It's time now to Speed Dial. Speed Dial. All right, we're Speed Dial.

today with my buddy, my pal, I'm telling you what I love this guy. Rob Lopes, tire guy on the number 88 team for Dale Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports. Rob, it's your off day. Thank you for joining us. What are you doing right now? Actually, running some errands today on the off day. You know, you've got a chance to get caught up on regular home-like things. And I'm running errand because I hit the Powerball this weekend.

Wait a minute. What? You hit the Powerball? I hit the Powerball this weekend. Do you know how much you won? Yeah, a dollar. I just hit the Powerball this weekend. Powerball.

I won a dollar. So I'm going to go get it. Go get your dollar, man. You earn that dollar. That's exactly right. Man, well, congratulations on your dollar. So, you know, junior finished 13th, but not everybody walked away winless. You hit your dollar.

You hit Powerball. There you go. That's right. That's right. Listen, buddy, I'm glad you're on here. This is a long overdue conversation because this year has been, there's been a lot of talk on tires. So I wanted to get you on here and sort of get caught up because call me.

crazy, Rob. I think the value of a tire specialist just went up considerably with NASCAR's new downforce package. Would you tend to agree? Well, yeah. I mean, I'd like to think so. I'd like to think we were valuable at all time. Well, you were, but, you know, part of the team. Well, I was just trying to get you a pay raise, you know, a bump. I was just saying, you know, if you could get Greg Ives and Rick Hendrick to go along with this theory that now the tire specialist, of course you were always valuable. But if you're more valuable, well, they need to pay for that, right? Yeah, you know, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, because everybody's looking for a bump, and, you know, why should I be any different?

There you go. You deserve it. So let me ask, can you kind of take us through the science behind what this downforce package is doing and how it's affecting the tires? Just help us people that don't understand and don't know this and didn't pass science. Explain to us what's going on here. Okay, well, as everybody knows, the low downforce package, you know, they've taken away. some spoiler taking away some splitter which you know the splitter helps push air down on the

front of the car the spoiler pushes air down on the rear of the car and that adds that gives you arrow grip or arrow traction however you know put it in basic terms well you take that away now all of a sudden the air is not helping that car get into the racetrack not helping that car turn through the corner so you have to rely a little bit more on the mechanical part of the car the springs the shocks and the tires and you know the geometry setups underneath of it so with that being said, you now, good year is bringing soft tires because you don't have so much force being put on the car, and you're able to bring a little bit softer compound because the cars aren't quite as hard, and you also hard on the tires, but you also need that softer compound to add to give the car's grip.

Okay, so as it relates to your notes from years past and, you know, from racetracks, how much of that did you have to kind of throw out the window? I mean, as far as air pressures and the kind of things that you would run at these tracks? Well, what we're finding a lot of it is we're finding that the tires aren't that far removed from the last couple years. I mean, I think it's kind of a transition because you also have to remember that Goodyear's in a box the same way we are. You know, the reality of it is their job, you know, their company is out to sell tires. And they're going to sell tires to racers. They're going to sell tires to anybody in the community, you know, and into our viewership and, you know, to everyone.

They want to sell as many tires as they can. Well, in order to do that, they have to show that their product is a quality product. And one of their venues that are doing that is our racing series. I mean, I think this is Goodyear's finest year, to be honest with you. I mean, when we're experiencing tire drop-off on purpose, like we've seen this year, you know, in comparison to the previous years and had very, very few failures. I think that just credit goes to Goodyear for bringing this tire. I mean, I think I'm hearing Dale Jr. say, I've never had as much fun driving race car.

I mean, I'm hearing these drivers love this. They love the tire drop off because it makes them be able to pass better. It leaves more in control of their hands. But let me ask you this. How much fun does it make for the tire guy? It's fun for the drivers. That's good. That's important.

How much fun is it made for you? Well, I don't think it's as much about fun for me. I mean, going racing is fun for me. And you've hit the nail on the head. I mean, Goodyear has definitely. brought a super product to us. And just bear off of that a little bit. They can make a tire that will last two tire race sports.

They can. But nobody wants to see that. Right. They want to see the car slip around. They want to see the pit stops. They want to see, you know, tire fall off. So with that, you know, they have to design a tire that will do that, but yet still be safe for the competitor.

You know, there's a lot of, you know, eyes to dot and fees to cross to make all this happen. I don't think the fun level is just going racing and being at the racetrack and trying to help the 88 team win races and, you know, strike for that championship. And the amount of tires, I mean, I think we're going to use a little bit more because we're softer and, you know, the tire fall off means, you know, hey, you're going to have to come down pit road when it opens. You know, you're not going to stay out and make time.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I think, as a matter of fact, I think that was pretty evident in that Xfinity race on Saturday that Dale won, that 48 stayed out on older tires and got just swallowed by the field. And then took out some of them. Unfortunately, yeah, it did take out a few of them, took out two JRM cars. As a matter of fact, you know, it was pretty sad to say. But, you know, that was a gamble that they took and they fought wrong.

That's right. And, you know, there you got, the cost to come out with about 13 to go, and there was no question. You come in and take tires if you're Dale Jr., even though you're leading. The tires were that important. Let's talk Talladega. You ready to talk Talladega? Let's talk about. Greg Eyes tweets that Amelia is back.

Can you confirm this? Is Amelia going to be the primary? It sounds like that's the case. I think the guys at Hendrick, you know, did a great job to get her repaired after that wreck in Daytona. And we know that's one of our favorite cars, not just because she's named, but because it's a runner.

She's quick. And I think it's a, it sounds like it's a big deal for the fans that Amelia's coming at that. Well, you know, last time you joined us, I don't know if you even remember this, but you were leaving Texas and you were going with trucker squigs. You were in the rig with trucker squigs as you guys drove out to Phoenix, and we had you on the download.

You called in from the road, and you told us that you felt like there was a winner in the back of that hauler. And you were correct. We won that race. Now, let my question to you is, are you going to Talladega with Trucker Squigs? First and foremost, I need to know that. No, I don't believe I'm riding in the truck of Towers. Taladega this trip. I think I'm going to fly on the plane.

I've got a lot to do this week, and I can't really set the time aside to be in the truck. I think I need to fly this week. I've got a lot happening, you know, at the shop and some things to deal with at home, you know, just like everybody else does. So I think I'm going to skip this trip to Talladega in the trailer. I might save it for the fall. I kind of like that fall run. Yeah. Yeah.

I do enjoy the time in the truck with trucker squig. That's for sure. That's right. Listen, of all the things you've got to do, nothing is more important than picking. up that big jackpot that you just won in Powerball. So congratulations on that again. Hey, have you determined how you're going to spend it? I think I think I'm going to go get a cup of coffee and enjoy that.

I think that's how I'm going to spend that. That's my winning today. Well, deserve, my friend. Well, good luck this weekend at Dega, man. I really appreciate you. We've got to do this more often. We're going to check in with you a lot more often because you have so much good insight, especially these days when tire wear is such a significant thing.

And it plays right into the outcome of these races. And I tell you what, the 88 team has been on point with how they've managed their tires this year. You are a big, big, big reason for that. So thank you, Rob. We're going to talk to you more often. I appreciate you coming on. Sounds great, Mike. Thanks.

I appreciate you having me all. Thank you very much. Take care, brother. There you go. My man, Mike Davis, and the tire guy hanging out, giving us a lot of good information. All right. Reaction Theater. Let's go.

Can I get it, Dale? Yeah, I don't care if it was at Expedity Race. Helmand's wins. Bring on the tin foil hat brigade saying it was all a conspiracy because he won the race in the Helmand's car, and he raised $150,000 for blessings in the backpack this week. We donated. Everybody needs to donate.

Dale yeah. Dale yeah. Anyone that thought it was conspiracy is a moron. Let's go to the next one. Those daggum cup. Drivers in the Infiniti Field,

come on, man. But no, really. Congrats Dale, Jr. Go eat yourself a banana and mayo sandwich. Yes, sir.

Yeah, I can't stand it when the Cup guys are in the Xfinity series unless Dale Jr.

That's right. Who's next? I am fucking tired of watching Joe Gibbs racing go to victory lanes.

I hate Toyota. I hate Kyle Bush. Kind of like peanut M&Ms, though. I hate Carl Edwards, I hate Matt Kenseth, and I hate Denny Hamlin.

I can't stand it no more. We are Hendrick Motorsports. We are the best team in NASCAR. You guys need to get your up together and put these Toyotas in their place. Dale, yeah.

Dale yeah to that. I kind of like Martin Truex, though. I mean, he's a Toyota guy. I don't think that guy's clear. He just doesn't like Gibbs drivers. He probably doesn't like the Washington Redskins either. But Dale Jr.'s a Washington Redskins fan, so now I'm really confused.

Well, he just doesn't like Toyota's. He doesn't like Gibbs drivers. And listen, there are a lot of people that can get along with that. They can get on board with that. I don't either. On this podcast. I'll be, I'll say it right now. I don't either.

I'm sick and tired of him. I want to spin them out. And I don't care if they cry about it. Who's next? Yeah, I got a reaction for you. I didn't react to the fact that we could have had all four Junior Motors' Xenity cards in the top ten. But instead, Brandon Poole had to get in the middle of things and screwed up for Algar. We've been having a great day all day.

I wanted to see them all up there. But congratulations for Cole. That was a great run. And sadly, there was just one place out of getting that $100,000. We'll get him next time, boys. I like Xfinity Trash Talk on Reaction Theater. No doubt. Yeah.

I love that. Big fan of that. Yeah. Who's next? Hey, guys. It's TJ Majors. Uh, door, bumper. Hold on, I got to take a piss.

He's here. Hey, what the hell happened? You're now in 32nd. Two laps down? Oh, crap. I'm the wrong car again. That could have happened at a more perfect time because T.J. was leaving the studio just now, and he was walking by the speaker that's in the junior

nation retail store right when that call happened. And he was, and he turned around with this look. It was priceless. I love it. I'm glad he got to hear that. I'm glad yesterday you called him out when he was taking a leak. Well, he took a leak, but he also in the extended race, just so, you know, he spotted the wrong car and Del Jr. snapped at him about it.

He's like, that ain't me. And again, make sure you listen to this podcast seven times and listen to door bumper clear once. twice but listen to this one seven times right well we were just making a joke on periscope during this little intermission that we just had and uh we said that he's changing his podcast name to sorry clear sorry that's what he said to dale that's what he said to dale when he was spot in the wrong car sorry sorry right who's next i knew one day he'd get a win in his own car that was so cool to see junior getting the win in the infinity race in the helman's car that is just so

cool. And a lot of people are giving him grief about no burnout and everything. Well, the guy owns the car. He doesn't want to do a burnout and possibly blow the motor up. That's money gone. Yeah, there's that. Got to be smart about those things, yeah. Different perspective nowadays, for sure. Who's next? Nothing drastic today. Just really excited about the wind today. Everybody was talking about his burnouts and stuff. I love it when a man don't do the burnouts. Anybody can let their burn the tires off of one. But it's nice to drive around and let the fans take a picture of the man inside the car,

especially when a man is Dale or Jr. Dale yeah. Dale yeah. Are you team burnout? Are you team burnout or team no burnout? You know, I mean, it may be once every once in a while, but primarily team no burnout. There you go. Yeah, let's drive around the whole track and say hello to everybody.

I like that caller right there. Yeah, that was good. You might be my favorite one so far. Who's next? Hi, this is a message from Justin Salter, and he speaks with a communication device. He has cerebral palsy, and he uses his eye-gaze device to communicate. Here goes. I didn't make him to Sunday.

Justin Nell, Dale, Jr., five lucky coins of him recently, and he also met Dale a couple of years ago, and in person gave him five lucky coins, gold dollar coins with Justin's photograph on. it and Dale fell in love with Justin and the feelings were mutual. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Oh, good. Good for you, Justin. Was that a Dale yeah at the end? That was a Dale yeah at the end.

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Did you just say hell yeah? Hell yeah, Delia. Why are you saying hell yeah when you know it's Dale yeah? He said, is it a delia and I said hell yeah. He was confirming it by saying hell yeah. I got you. I got you. Oh, good for you, Justin Salter.

We appreciate that call. Absolutely. I mean, that, I don't know how to even move on from that. I mean, that's powerful stuff right there. And it's amazing the impact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has on people. It really is. And that's good stuff. Man, that made my day.

I hope Junior gets to hear that reaction theater call for sure. We'll make sure he does. Who's next? I know it's not Sunday. But any time Dale, Fibing Jr. And a mayonnaise car. With all the hype about the mayonnaise and banana sandwich, we got to give a Dale yeah. And then we return right back to our normally scheduled programming.

I love it. Man A's and a Dale Leapin Jr. win. I love it. I love it. Manez, a lot of Dale Jr. fans out there. Who's next? Hey, my name is right now. We have him.

And take it everybody here. Yeah, we're going to win it now. We're getting sweet. Justin Sauter, could you call back and just bring some sanity to this program? That is outstanding. Could you just call back? Oh, man. God bless America.

That's how I felt, though. Yeah. Yeah. Junior wins a race. That's how you feel. Who we got? Well, 13th place today. And it gives Carl wins.

Well, that sucks. don't get I know them gives cars are good but I still don't like them

let's just go kick their ass in Talladega know that's going to be a sure thing getting your big

attention for that one hell yeah hey Davis first name you got can you get the bleeps

ready for me uh yeah sure okay just make a note right here uh I like how

Samantha Bush was uh apologizing for saying on after the race as a

race was one now when carl edward spun her out and i thought it was pretty funny junior on twitter saying you know it happens and people don't care about saying as much as they used to and obviously he's making reference to a certain yeah interview he once gave 2004 yep i know you'll never forget that yep it don't mean shit daddy done it 10 times specifically the quote god how good who's next well well was saying about coming up with a Mike Davis sets T-shirt to the shopper yellow concert. It's going to be put on. Just another speedway for the fall race.

But maybe we should change that to first name sucks. Since he can't clear out the old mess, it just there is. Oh, you knew it was coming. Davis, do you want to explain what's going on, what he's talking about or no? Yeah, I mean, I just didn't clear reaction theater and it got pulled up by the time the sprint cut races. Come on, first name. I know. Lots of, lots of.

Lots of Hellmans, mayonnaise, wind, calls. So, yeah, we didn't actually have a reaction theater line that was available to leave messages on until about 9 p.m. last night. First name just really liked all those calls. Yeah. Yeah. Who's next? A little disappointed in a race on Sunday.

That stuff's going to happen, a big-time model racing. But the biggest disappointment is probably that first name forgot to clear the messages on the voicemail. Good Lord, son. You got one job. One job. Monday afternoon. Hit the delete button. Jesus.

Davis, Zarzer, I think right now, you need to stop the damn show. You need the periscope. And first name needs to drop and give us push-ups as punishment for fucking up the voicemail.

First name gives us 10 push-ups for the next time we see him. and we all punch him in arm as hard as we can. First name, I'd take the push-ups. Dale yeah. Dale yeah. What do you think? Slopi Yellow's calling you out.

I'll do some ten push-ups. Can you periscope this, Mike Davis? I think I'm going to have to, right? Absolutely. Let's go. We'll do it right now. You want to do it right now? Yeah, what he said right now?

Well, hold on. Hold on. No, no, no. We need to do this after people have had a chance to listen to the podcast. This is probably a good point. You need to get you some curls. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow. Okay.

All right. There you go. Right after people at different times of the day have consumed Dato's reaction theater. That's right. All right. Sloppy Yellow's fame is out of control right now. I've got to say. I know. I feel like he's like my older brother now after that couch.

Can Dado do 10 push-ups for not saving the Mike Davis sucks video to his son? Oh, good point, Davis. Great point. Yeah. That is a good point. Come on, Sloppy. What you got? Who's next?

Well, went to Richard yesterday, first time with my son, first race ever, and Del Dreamer wins. Skies were beautiful. Weather was perfect. I tried to get Dale's attention by yelling out. Mike Davis sucks. He did not hear me, and that's okay. Mike Davis, you do suck. Tony, you do not suck.

Good job sitting out there. Feel bad for him. Got there about 9 o'clock. He just got there by himself, thin boxes of t-shirts, and table and a tent. But heck of a nice guy y'all got there, Tony. Great dude. Great race. Where to go, Junior.

But it was great to see Eric Jones all smashed up going past the Junior Nation section there at Richmond International Raceway. Great idea. Great job. Great tour stop. Can't wait to do it again next year. Hell yeah. Yeah, yeah. That was regarding the Junior Nation section.

There was a special ticket package that we put on where you get a ticket. I talked about it on White Flag several times. And I even said, take a kid in the first race. They can watch Dale Jr. in a race. It's perfect. This is Xfinity race. And so for 20 bucks, they could get a ticket, and then also kids 12 and under were free.

So clearly this guy took us up, and apparently he met short game Tony. He's a good dude, man. Tony's a good guy. All right, who's next? 12th place sucks. After dropping all the way up to fifth place. Fifth place.

And how about Eddie Haskell himself? That, my, fuck. Doing a bump and run on his own team. I just like crowd but I hate that other one of his juniors teammates did shit to him I'd be on the first flight to Charlotte

and that's the bottom line Dale yeah Eddie Haskell funny stuff if Jimmy Johnson did that to Dale oh my goodness can you imagine

can you imagine we would say this is the Dale Jr. download presented by a spy let's go to reaction theater absolutely That will happen if that if Jimmy ever just nudges Dale out of the way for a win on the last turn Who's next dream if you can a racetrack

How bright sunshining afternoon Pit lizard strike curious poses They feel the heat The heat between Carl and Kyle How did Carl just leave Kyle standing Kyle's from my world so cold quote, maybe

Kyle's just too manding maybe he's just like his brother too bold maybe he's

just like his owner he's never satisfied he's never satisfied why does he dislike reporters

this is what it sounds like when Kyle cries hashtag rest in peace prince hashtag first name

Davis how do you have the mailbox Foxpool. Hashtag 10 beers. Hashtag day. Is next week. Oh, and Mike Davis' sucks.

Yes. Submarine Mike is not the greatest singer in the world. He is very creative. His wife can sing, though, as you can hear in the background, but very creative and definitely rest in peace prints. It was, that was impressive. He's very creative. Yeah. But not the best pipes I've ever heard in my life, which probably makes it even more entertaining.

He took a dig at Davis then at the end. That's a big Davis episode. Yeah, I got you. I didn't meet a fan in Victory Land, though. That's what he liked our podcast. Really? Yeah. So.

How did he know you were first name Davis? I don't know. He was like, he was like, hey, I really enjoy the podcast. And I was like, oh, thanks. I'm Davis. He goes, know your first name. Hey, you know what? See, he's famous.

That's why. Famous first name. Short game, Tony said that while he was sitting, handing out t-shirts on Saturday, there were a lot of people that came up complimented this podcast. That's good. Yeah. Man, I mean, you don't believe me when I tell you about these things, but this happens in places all over the place.

I told you about it, and I'm going to actually stay in it tonight, that hotel in South Florida, where we were watching the Dules or whatever we're calling them these days, a year and a half ago when somebody said, hey, man, it's cool to have you here in the hotel, the guy behind the counter. I love the podcast, by the way. And I'm like, what? It happened last week in Birmingham at this Mediterranean restaurant, Tizikis,

which is coming to Charlotte, by the way, First name Davis. Oh, it's delicious. Yes. Good spot. This guy behind the counter. Hey, man, I love the podcast. I'm like, what?

How would you know? Yeah, I mean, I just follow you on Twitter. I can't wait until the man behind the counter says, wait, you're Taylor Zarzer. Do you know first name Davis? Yeah. Or, hey, man, I just got one thing to say. Mike Davis sucks. I'm hoping that's a trend that dies down eventually, right?

Be happy with all the new spy. Dale Jr. paint scheme sunglasses called Delivery series. They're available in the popular. Dirty Moe, General Daga McCoy, and Admiral Frames. Get yours today at spyoptic.com. Reaction theater number is 855740-1902. Davis, I believe, has cleared them out, so you have time to go in there and say whatever you'd like,

however many times you'd like. 855740-1902. White flag time. So last week, Taylor, you missed this, but first name here, red white flag, and it was probably the most hysterical thing. I've ever seen in my life or heard. And so we said instantly, Travis Peterson can back me up.

This is going to happen now. First name Davis is going to be the official white flag reader from here on out. Is it because you don't think he does a very good job of reading? And that makes it very entertaining. Well, how do you sysians did you drop into that copy? He could not say the word do cision, which was the marketing campaign this week. He kept saying shushishin.

It is what he said. So here you go. Let's hear what we got. Here you. Here's white flag by first name. It's Talladega Week, folks. Dale Jr. is a six-time winner there, including this race last year.

Maybe you remember that one. Orhendrick Motorsports broke one off. Can I have to do the quotation marks? You just got to read. Okay. Broke one off and everybody else. I lead in all but 24 with the laps. I feel like Ron Burgundy.

I'm going to read everything you ride on here. You got it. Yeah, probably will. Dale Jr. led the most laps, and he won. If you don't remember this race, and always go back and listen to episode 91 at the Dale Jr. download. We archive them because don't mind living in the past every now and then. There you go. I've got a question. Have you

followed Exaltor Racing on Twitter yet? Oh wait, you haven't? That's shameful of you. Because you might be the reason that I, or someone like I, don't win $88,000. So go follow at Exalted racing right now because they give good updates on Dale Jr. and the 88 team. They've reached 20,000 followers by May 13th and Dale wins the Exalto Weepate winner's 400 at Pocono in June. It will give one of their followers $88,000, and it may or may not be Mike Davis one day. But it's not going to be. I follow them, so I hope.

Dale's going to win Pocono, so you really are the only one holding this up. Go follow Exaltzor Racing. Moving on. Hey, be a peach. You can go check out to Dale June's on their September 6th of a page this week. Be a peach. They will be auctioning off Dale's blue gloves from April, also as in my wearing this month, to raise money for the nationwide children's hospital.

You can find the foundation on Facebook or follow them on Twitter at TDJF. In case you missed it last Friday, Unilever, the parent company of Hellman's, Breyer's, Swab Men, and more great brands that have been featured on Juner's Woods cars for years, has extended their partnership through 2018. That's some great news because we enjoy being employed,

especially me. I might not be employed after reading this white flag. I don't want to speak for everyone at the company, but for me, first name Davis, being employed aligns well with my life goals. Yeah, you know exactly what I was going to say, Mike. You know Leaver Brands will be on Junior Motorsports Cars for 10 races each year, including one each year with Dale.

I wonder aloud, if he'll do Richmond again? Actually, you know about that? He texted us yesterday before the cup race. He's like, hey, I'd like to do Richmond again if it all works out. So he's already planted that seed. Oh, there you go. That's official information from the Dale Junior download. Yeah, there we go.

Moving on to this weekend. Friday, Dale gets to Talladega for two practices. You can watch those on Fox Sports 1. Saturday, single car qualifying starting at 12.30 p.m. Eastern Time on Fox Sports 1. Sunday, the race gets underway at 1 o'clock p.m. Eastern time on Fox. Dale will be in his familiar nationwide paint scheme. Looking to repeat last spring's win there in Talladega. Hopefully you've already subscribed.

Subscribe. download, but maybe you haven't, which personally I think would be a huge mistake on your part. Let me break this down for you. Subscribing means you don't have to work for it. Our episodes just show up to your mobile device or computer. Think of it as Dale Jr. bringing you breakfast in bed. Who wouldn't want Del Jr. bringing you breakfast in bed? I know I would.

Pancakes. That's sure I don't feel about that last part. That is white flag. Buy Mike Davis. No, I didn't write that. Head back first name Davis. I did not write that. That was well done, my friend.

And you should be going for three in a row. I'm still not over. I don't know if I'll ever get over what happened in Talladega last October. But yes, going for another victory, Mike Davis. And the White Flag is sponsored this week by the Panera Bread in Anniston-Slaxford, Alabama. Because my family's been to it three or four times in the last week. So it's right near. It's the Speedway.

Shout out to them this week. There you go. Panera bread. Thank you, Panera bread. Yeah. For all the money that you've donated to that segment read by First Name Davis. Aniston, Oxford area, yeah. I think it's exit 188.

Shout out, 180. Yeah, of course. 188. It's an omen. Yeah, I got a thumbs up from my daughter. That is, exit 188. There you go. All right, good stuff.

I hope we're talking about something fun next week, Mike Davis. Well, I do too, man. We got a, we got that. Like you said, the last fall race, sort of sticking in our cross-till. We need something to kind of wipe that out. Clean the palate, get us a win. Let's do it. All right.

For Dale Earnhardt Jr., for first-name Davis, who sucks. And Mike Davis, who sucks, I'm Taylor-Zarzer, and I suck. And this has been Mattail Jr. We suck. We suck. But this podcast is awesome. Subscribe. Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio.

Hey, Dirty Mo Radio listeners. Make sure you follow at Exaltor Racing on Twitter. Because if they reach 20,000 followers before May 13th, they'll partner with Pocono Raceway and give away $88,000 to one lucky winner if Dale Jr. wins the Exalta. We paint winners 400. Go follow them. At Exalta Racing, you'll be glad you did.