The Dale Jr. Download - 143 - Have No Fear, Gordon Is Here

Episode Date: July 25, 2016

Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks to his appreciation for Jeff Gordon, praises the good-will gesture of his race team, and gives a candid update on his recovery. Team 88 car chief Travis Mack discusses the complicated process of preparing to race with a different driver. 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. Dale was thinking of you. I'm glad you're making the progress this week. Definitely think about Dale. I'm going to try to take advantage of this opportunity that I have in this car and give you guys the best that I can. Hey, everybody, it's Dale Jr. Sunday evening after watching the indie race

where Jeff Gordon and the guys got to the finish line with all four tires on it. That must have been a real challenge all weekend. You know, we changed the cars quite a bit since the last time Jeff Stroval and the heat all weekend. It's just miserable in practice and in the race, especially, obviously. They talked about that quite a bit. It's pretty bad there. But I, you know, Jeff and those guys.

We talked all weekend and I didn't think I could be as helpful as I was with New Hampshire because I tested New Hampshire. But it seemed like Greg and those guys had some great ideas on what they were doing with the car. Jeff had a lot of great ideas and thoughts about the team. I think another week with those guys at Pocono will be interesting. and I can't wait to keep talking to him and debriefing with him throughout the week on what he thinks about the team, what he thinks I can do better, and how the team can get better. It's awesome having a guy with his experience step in.

It reminds me of years and years ago. Teams would go testing at a racetrack, and you might see a dozen teams testing at the racetrack at once. And drivers would actually swap cars. Dad got in Mark Martin's car one time. Drove Richard Petty's car once. Petty drove Dad's car one time. I mean, they just would jump around in each other's cars and take them out and run them

and see what kind of power each other had and see how the handling was. And they would give each other advice. You know, getting a different driver in there that things differently, feels things differently is a great way to get new information. So I was excited for Greg, and I think this is really helping our team. As unfortunate as a situation is, we need to try to gain something out of it. I think our guys are excited about the opportunity to work with Jeff. They know he's capable. So it's pretty fun to see it happening and trying to learn from it.

So I'm trying to stay plugged in and in communication with them as we go. So that I'm up to speed. And when I get back in the car, it's not, you know, it's real seamless. So, you know, the race itself today is, you know, no denying, it wasn't a very exciting race. You got to hand it to give. good Lord their their stuff so fast Kyle Busch is one of the best drivers in the series obviously and you put him in one of the best cars combinations can be hard to beat but all the Gibbs cars are incredible they're at the top of the charts in practice

and qualifying they're at the front of all the races week after week so they're really set in a high standard for the rest of the series to try to achieve and we've seen this in the past and with other teams and it's up to the rest of the garage to sort of close that gap and I know that Hendricks from one of those teams that's working really hard but anyhow they dominated the race and I saw some moments where I think Greg and those guys had some good adjustments and had the car he had a great call to get a lot of track position on one particular pit stop to come in a little early That was very smart.

So I just really appreciate the team working hard. I appreciate those guys. I know they will. I know that, you know, they want to go to the racetrack and win. They feel like they can with me or Jeff or whoever's driving the car. So I'm real proud of them. And I miss being able to see them and work with them. I miss the people more than the driving, to be honest with you.

the friendships and the relationships that you have at the racetrack are more valuable to me than anything. So I missed that part the most. The guys, there's a lot of talk, a ton of talk about the guys changing the name over the garage stall. I didn't really see that coming. I know that the team wanted to keep the name on the car on the windshield and the, and above the driver's door there. That stuff there really does make you feel good. I love that my team fights for me,

goes to bat for me anytime they do it. And so that was pretty neat, real touching, to be honest with you. I appreciate Jeff. He said, you know, a lot of, all the right things all week. Took care of my guys. He's working hard with Jet. Greg, and he's just such a professional. And he's, you know, he's reaching out to me.

You know, it's interesting how plugged in he is and trying to do the best he can, even if he's in there for just a few races. So, I, you know, I've been, myself, I've been working on the exercises, physical and mental exercises that they gave me. from my doctors. That stuff is,

it takes about two hours, two and a half hours each day. I got to do it every day. There's worse things to have to do. Some of it's tedious. Some of it's pretty tough. Some of the visual stuff is tough. You can race with some ailments.

You know, you can race with a bad wrist or, you know, us. You know, we've seen Denny and guys race with bad knees. You know, there's been some guys that have done some pretty incredible things. I raced with a broken shoulder laid, broke it in Milwaukee on Saturday, raced on Sunday. So there's certain things that you can, you can race through. But one of the things that you cannot race through is concussion like symptoms and you know the balance deal is a critical part of being able to drive a race car and this

process is going to take a little bit longer i think that's what i was trying to convey when i was telling you guys how i was going to take this slow and listen to the advice of my doctors i'm not going to go against that advice no matter what i can't play around at this age and with my history i definitely don't need to get cute so i'll give you all another update next Monday after Pocono. I'm going for another evaluation here soon to see what kind of gains we've made, get in front of my doctors and let them get a good look at me and let them tell me where they think I'm at. And that'll help us make the decision on what we're going to do for Watkins Glen. And that'll be that. So I hope you guys appreciate the download.

Make sure that you send Jeff Gordon a special thanks. I'm not sure I would have made the decision he made to leave an awesome vacation with my family. Make sure you guys send a special thanks to Jeff. My crew went through all that heat as well. So keep sending them good vibes because when we get back together, it's going to be on. See you guys later. Take it easy. All right. Dale Earnhardt Jr. here on the Dale Jr. Download live from the Exalta Studios.

This is the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. It's the craziest paint scheme yet. Get the all-new limited edition Spy Rangler Daga sunglasses online at Spyoptic.com with Mike Davis and Davis Williams. I'm Taylor Zarser. Hold up. Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove Richard Petty's car. I know, right? And vice versa? No, seriously. That's information that may, may make a few people go, what? What is? Wait.

Wait, Earnhardt got in Petty's car and got out and said, here are some things about your car that I just learned. Let me give you some information. What? Wow. Because when Earnhardt was alive, Mark Martin was driving a Ford, guys. Just think that, just let that settle for a second. Richard Petty got in Dale Earnhardt's car and vice versa.

And, yeah, Mark Martin, too. Of course, years ago, and it caused a big stir, Mike, I know you remember this when Kyle Bush, I think, had left the track. Yes, Texas. And Dale got in Kyle Busch's car and drove around and ran some laps. I remember it vividly. I remember Rick Pigeon coming up to Jr. during his media interviews. We had crashed out of the race.

And Rick Pigeon comes over and he goes, you want to get in the car? And we thought it was a joke. And he did it right there in front of the media, which is always fun, right? And so, yeah, Junior went in there and hopped in that car. Hey Davis, first name, Jeff Gordon just drove Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s number 88 Chevrolet on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I mean, there was a huge Gordon Jr. rivalry for the longest time between their fan bases, at least, Mike, and first name. I mean, I'm trying to equate. That was a crazy, crazy feeling.

That certainly something I don't think that anyone in Junior Nation ever thought they'd see. Well, Jeff said that. Jeff said as much, didn't he? And it was so bizarre listening to Jeff's audio during the race, him asked where the 24 was. Because he did it several times. It was weird hearing him ask where the 24 was around him. But we also have some audio from Jeff from after the race, courtesy of PRN and IMS. Well, sir.

Well, Jeff, are you ready to come out of retirement? Oh, man. Yeah, maybe if they run this race in a different month, it was hot out there. And, you know, it's so funny, I'm filling in for Dale Jr., but I needed a fill in on restarts. Restarts have never been really my thing when you've been out of it for eight months. I've lost a step even there. So it felt really good in the car in the race, the balance, and, you know, giving good information back to the team. They did an excellent job with some pit strategy and pit stops and, you know, keeping us in the game and not going to lap down.

And I was fighting hard and, you know, it was hot out there. but I was able to manage through that because I had a great car and a great team. But unfortunately, those restarts there at the end didn't help me out. Although I did get a few back there on that final corner. It was pretty exciting and crazy there. You and your friend Tony Stewart got to do a lap for the fans again. That meant the world to me. You know, I don't know how that all came about.

You know, somebody said something to me about Tony saying, you know, he'd like to do something like that. And, you know, I said, well, let's get through this last restart first. It was pretty crazy out there. It meant the world to me to have a friend and a competitor. You know, Tony and our relationship has gone through a lot of obstacles over the years. But the last few years, I have just gained so much respect and admiration for who he is as a person and as a race car driver. It means a world to me to be able to be here today and be a part of this celebration to have him here at Indy. I want to say for the last time in the Brickyard 400, but look at me.

I'm here, and I thought I was going to have my last one last year. So you never know with Tony Stewart. Well done. Thank you. Never say never. With Jeff Gordon, never say never with Tony Stewart as well. Crazy stuff yesterday, and that was really cool watching them do that last lap. Really cool that the team made sure that Dale Earnhardt Jr.

was represented there in the garage and on the car. And you could tell that meant a lot to junior this past weekend there at Indianapolis motor speedway. I think Dale Jr. talked, I think clearly his audio speaks for itself, Mike. I think we're all so grateful that he's giving us these recaps like you did last week,

this week, and he said it'll do again next week in Pocono. There's no reason for anyone to speculate on what might happen next because he just did it for us. He just went through the timetable, another checkup he's going to have next week, and then they'll make a decision from there. But you have to

admire his patience with this, how serious he's taking it. I know that you've been with him a lot during this process, and this is exactly what he should be doing. I know he's got the full support of his fans because you can't mess around with something like that. Well, I have a few thoughts about that. All right. First and foremost, you're right. He is being patient, but not because it's easy. It is actually quite difficult to be patient, especially when you are used to being on the run, not being in one place for a long period of time, and now you're sort of stuck and you're not being able to go to the racetrack.

You can get impatient, and I think that he's feeling a little bit of that himself. Number two, he mentioned his exercises in his audio, but I think he understated exactly how difficult those exercises are, and I know this because we tried them. We, who are not concussed, tried that, and it was very difficult. And so they're supposed to be difficult.

That's how you get better. And on that point, the third thing I'll mention is he can get better. We know this now. He can get better, which makes the patient's part even more important. Well, it puts things in perspective, too, when we were all freaking out, me at the top of the line, about points, you know, points and getting into the chase and winning races, etc. This is far more important than that. And everyone wants to see him make a complete recovery. And if that means he needs to come back at Watkins Glen and win for Mike Davis, where Mike is always produced.

dictated a victory, fantastic. If it means it's three or four weeks after that or whenever it is, let's just make sure he's completely healthy and ready to go. So that's clearly what's most important. Real quickly, Mike, before we get into Travis Mack, the car chief, I know he's going to stop by and join us, radio chat of replay, reaction theater, white flag, all that that we have coming up. I is a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet.

I am sick and tired of Joe Gibbs Racing, Mike Davis. That was a Joe Gibbs National Holiday yesterday. That thing, you know, Junior said it best. When you pair one of the best drivers in the series with, give him the best car, what happens is what you saw on Sunday. I mean, the margin was so expansive there. It just, and it was a, it was a straight whoopin. I know that there was, you know, a couple late restarts and, you know,

but it would have been a Gibbs car ultimately, right? They would have had to beat. I guess Joey Lugano was there. Look, we could sit there and try to spend that any different number of ways. That was a butt-wopin yesterday. Gibbs had it on point. I think what we saw yesterday, we'll see again in a Hall of Fame induction ceremony video, whether it's Joe Gibbs or Kyle Bush.

We gave them plenty of B-roll for their highlight video whenever they're inducted, and you'll see this race in it. It was such a whoopin. It really was. And as for the communication that Jeff Gordon gave to Greg Ives, It was pretty consistent. He may have sounded very different, but it was pretty consistent with some of the things

Dale Jr. has been saying all season in terms of the issues and the balance and grip, etc. That Junior's been experiencing this year. And I don't want to say that that's something that anybody enjoys hearing some of the issues they're having. But I don't know, at least to me, it was a bit reassuring that Jeff confirmed a lot of the things that Junior had been saying. I mean, I'm glad you said that, to be honest with you.

I did feel like in ways junior was vindicated a little bit in different areas. I mean, particularly on restarts and then also being able to pass in the mid-team positions, which we've just not been able to do. In fact, I just find it ironic that Jeff finished 13th. If there is a position on the track that the Dale Jr. download does not enjoy finishing. It is 13th. Finish 16th, 19th, 23rd. Don't finish 13th because it's like you weren't good enough.

to really be noticed or relevant, but you weren't bad enough to, like, really spark one of those good reaction theater calls to, you know, what the, you know, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep. And, you know, you didn't really make Davis work for it. Actually, he may have. I haven't listened to any reaction theater calls. Davis, did you have to work with it?

We actually got a poor show in this week. 11 people called reaction theater. 11 people. Well done, Junior Nation. Right. Yeah. And Jeff Nation. Jeff Gordon Nation.

Jeff Gordonation. I think that has something to do with it. Can we blame Jeff Gordonation for that? Yes. All right. But, you know, here's the thing. I mean, there were two big thoughts I had in my head as I watch this race. One was, yes, I did feel like there was a little bit of indication,

and that's not necessarily what we're aiming to do, okay? No. We weren't going out. I wanted Jeff Gordon to win this race. I said that last week. I said there is nobody better to fill in for Dale Jr. If you are a Dale Jr. person, did Jeff Gordon? Well, because you want Travis Mack and Greg Ives and all those guys to win the race.

Plus, it's the least threatening way to have a substitute. when Alex Bowman was in the car, if he would have won, it would not have been lost on any of us that that looks bad on Dale Jr. Am I wrong? But if Jeff Gordon win, I could want Jeff Gordon to win because Jeff Gordon's not threatening his job. Jeff Gordon is retired. He's here to help the team,

and then he's going to go back into retirement land. That makes some sense. And so that's why I felt like Jeff Gordon. Now, here's what else occurred to me during this race. You mentioned the communication. All of a sudden, it became evident that in the wake of our misfortune, there is a distinct opportunity here that is almost unprecedented,

and that is that you have a four-time champion that is able and willing and ready to give his critique of your race car and all the things, he even said it during the race. I have a whole list of notes that I want to discuss with you guys in preparation for next week. You've got a four-time champion that is able to give you a critique of your car during the middle of a season for a two-week stretch, at least, I guess, right? I don't know.

Even if Junior can't race beyond Pocono, I don't know that Gordon's going to be a substitute, but you do got him for these two weeks, and he's able to give a second opinion. You don't really get the... That's valuable, and it's amazing. There's plenty of substitutes, but they're not Jeff Gordon. Well, like Junior said, I think there are a lot of people that would have continued their family vacation on the southern part of France, by the way, instead of get into that kind of temperatures and race in Indianapolis on Sunday.

But it speaks to the passion that Jeff Gordon has for what he did for so long. And it is. It's to the benefit of everyone associated with the 88. There's no question about that. I know your wife, Betsy. You know my wife, Sarah. Now, we're on vacation. You're on vacation.

Where do you go on vacation? Not usually to the southern part of France. But southern part of Alabama. Okay. So there you are in Mobile vacationing. Yes, Orange Beach, Alabama. And if you're on a vacation, it doesn't matter where you are, and you have your wife and kids with you, when you get a call to change your vacation plans, one, you're not happy with it. But two, what about your wife? What does your wife say when they have to uproot and go back to Indianapolis in the mid of the summer, in the middle of the summer?

Yeah, that wouldn't be good. If she got to stay with the children while I left, I don't know that she'd have a problem with that. But if they have to come with me and leave the vacation, yeah, that's a big issue. Well, I say all that to say this. Jeff Gordon and his family were, they were gyms all weekend. Gordon glowed all weekend. Like the guy was a kid in the candy store. He was first class. He was first class.

He said all the right things. He did all the right things. He was perfect. He was smiling and cordial. He was going across the driver intro stage, shaking hands with the celebrities and talking. They're like almost trying to move him off. And it's like he did all the right things. And to me, my opinion just changed so much of Jeff Gordon.

It became part of his legacy how well he treated this whole situation. He was one heck of a team, eh. There's no doubt. And I know it'll continue to be this week. And it's time now for Radio Chatter replay presented by Nationwide. Nationwide's proud to sponsor the NASCAR Foundation's Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award, given to one NASCAR fan who was making an impact in their community with children's charities. Visit NASCAR.com slash award to watch the stories of four amazing finalists.

And vote today and every day for your favorite. The winner will get $100,000 for their charity. Vote today at nascar.com slash award. I'm getting rid of that. We should be good, but first couple times definitely remind me that 88. I will. Junior was right. You can't miss that sign.

On that, you know, Dale was thinking of you. I'm glad you're making the progress this week. Appreciate your patience and, you know, hope for a speedy recovery. on your time frame. Jeff, thanks for filling in for the next two weeks. Appreciate all you have done Friday and Saturday, and looking forward to what we can do today. Yeah, thank you guys.

Definitely think about Dale. I'm going to try to take advantage to this opportunity that I have in this car and give you guys the best that I can. Let's go get one. There's a big trouble here, guys. Lost a lot of grab, and I'm just loose in and real tiny soon as I get to the center

and touch the throttle. We take two big a swing there with that flat tire? No, I'm still tight. Turn into the middle of two and in the middle of three and I'm just pretty loose off when I do get it turned, but still that tight, that's the biggest thing. Try to have one inch.

Two laps of the bed top seven lap time, sir. Keep it up, bud. I'll take an oil ice bottle if it's possible. Don't slow the stop down for it. You can just put it in this side pocket in there if you do. Step one. Yeah, if you were requesting a cold bottle of water, correct? Yes, please.

said you could just put it in this side pocket here on the door. Less than 10.0. We have to make this next stop to make it all the way. Are we short here? Nope, we are not short. We're right at it. Hey, on this next stop, don't put the water in there, pull the water on my body. That was a great call there under green man to come early.

That was awesome. Thank you. Help my day out. All of our day out a lot. Yeah, Temple. You know, once you're there, the cars, you know, you were doing a great job, maintaining lap time there and you know i think we're we're close god i freaking suck on these restarts we're fine man doing fine everybody keep your heads up that's the only way we're gonna get better

thanks jeff for the effort today yeah man i got we need a relief driver on the restarts buddy other than that man great job proud of you guys we had a good race car a lot better than where we finish so we'll go to work on it for kakano all right buddy pony's asking for you i'm with a spotter here he said he's going to a whole lap here in a second. Does he want to be side by side or do you want to be up front? He said he wants you side by side. Okay. Speed dial.

So this speed dial actually turned into a live. Travis Mack sort of beamed in, just like on Star Trek. He beamed in. So this is actually not on the phone, but it's still the speed dial segment, which Travis Mac is the car chief of the 88 team. I've been wanting to have T-Mack on this for a long time, and it just so happens that we were able to convince him to come over and join us because I got a lot of questions.

First and foremost, T-MAC, you brought your family. Welcome to the Exalta Studio. How you feeling today? Pretty good. Good to be here. It's my day off, so I'm enjoying that. I always love that part. You know, every time we have one of these Hendrik guys on,

they always make sure that we know that this is their day off. This is it. Yeah. Travis Peterson says that. Adam Jordan says that. Lopes said that. Yep, it's my day off. Happy to be here.

And it's like, I don't believe you, right? You got a wingman here. What's going on? Who got in the co-pilot seat? This is my little girl, Hudson. This is like your weekend. Yeah. Because it's Monday, but you know, you're gone.

In fact, I saw a tweet. You missed your 15-year high school reunion. I did. I did this weekend. And where would that have been? Kentucky. It was in Kentucky. Yeah.

Yeah. I thought about trying to make it. It was a couple hour drive south. You could have made it, right? Yeah, it was a long day. It was over 100 degrees all day Saturday. It looked hot. It looked hot on TV.

Was it? hot. It was so hot. Like, you've been in a lot of hot summer races. Where does this one compare? This ranks up there. I think we had another indie race that was this hot. Yeah.

I don't know. Indy always seems like a scorcher man. So hot. Yeah. But we've got the new garage stalls and they're a lot cooler than the old ones used to be. Okay. Bunkers we used to call them. All right.

So it was pleasurable then. You have no reason to complain about the weather then. No, that's all right. Got this nice cool garage style. Here's why I want to be. wanted to have you. I was very intrigued through this whole process about what the team has to go through to actually make a driver change, a good driver change. Like, like, you know, not he needs to come out of the car, they're in the middle of the race. You just try to find somebody that fits

their seat, kind of, and, you know, somebody's in some ballpark. You know, when you've got the time to really do it right, all that goes into it. And I honestly don't know what the answer to that is. That's why I wanted to have you here. So you learn that Dale Jr. is not cleared to race. all of a sudden Jeff Gordon is the backup driver. What happens next and take me through the process on all that you guys had to do this past week to get Jeff ready for that car? Well, first thing we had to do was round up all the old seats and things, all the parts and everything. Even though Jeff was just in the car at Homestead, we had to find all of his parts and everything just in a warehouse. Wait, y'all just put all of Jeff stuff in a warehouse.

That's what happens? Yeah, they put the stuff off to the side. I guess they kept a couple seats fully intact, ready to go, just to, case he wanted to race again. So you literally had to go get Jeff's stuff out of storage, basically. Pretty much. Okay, good, noted. All right, keep going.

So we found a couple seats, you know, the leg supports, everything. And then we went next door to their shop, actually, and talked to some guys about how to mount the stuff and how to get Jeff comfortable in the seat. And we started looking back through his setups last year and the feel that he was looking for in the steering wheel and stuff. So we had to change steering boxes. So are you talking with Gusterson? or who else you're talking to?

Yeah, we talked to Alan a lot. We talked to Alan a lot, looking back at a lot of notes. And fortunately, I got to work with Jeff before I got Dale. Right. And I want to talk to you about that in a second, but, yeah. You were familiar with it. So I was familiar with Jeff. You know, some of the newer guys, they were like, wow, it's Jeff Gordon coming in the race car.

Oh, really? So. Were they a little Starstruck? I think so. Really? You know, just a little different, you know, hall's favorite coming in. That's right. These new guys, they don't know what they're like, get back to work.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so you go talk to them, you start comparing notes. When Jeff Gordon comes in on Wednesday, is that right? Yeah, he actually came late Tuesday night. Okay. He landed at 7 and came to the shop at 7.30. Okay. Interior guy, a couple guys were there.

Adam? Adam was there. Just making sure he was sitting in the seat and just making sure it started to feel comfortable for him. And then Adam fine-tuned the details after that. So you guys would have bolted in his seat on Monday maybe? Yep. Yeah, they Yeah, they started on it first thing Monday morning.

Is that a difficult process? It is when everything is made for Dell, you know. Everything in our car is built for Dell, but it wasn't that too bad, you know, being that Jeff was in one of our Hendrick cars last year. It was pretty easy. Would you have gone through like 100% of the Jeff Gordon wish list? Just knowing that he's in the car for just two weeks.

Like if this was his cars that he's racing every week, like what percentage did you? guys go down the gamut of things to make it comfortable for Jeff? Oh, I mean, we did everything. Okay. If he had it last year, he had it this year. Okay. It was very comfortable for him.

We wanted to feel like he just got a little car. Yeah. It was his car. We changed. Everything was just like how he had it last year except for the dash, and we had a digital dash this year. And so that's something that I've really noticed in hearing him talk was we sort of took for granted the fact that this is not really something he's familiar with.

He's been away from the car for eight months. Got that. But the car has changed to some degree. And all of us assumed that Jeff Gordon and any of these race car drivers just sit in and race it like they had back when they were winning championships. What all was the stuff that Jeff was like, what is this? What is that? Did you guys have to explain to him a lot? We had to show him a lot on the little bit on the digital dash, just explaining that stuff to him.

But not really. He understood, you know, getting familiar where the switches were again because we got an all-new dash layout. That's interesting. Yeah, funny story. Probably jumping ahead, but he came into Indy and Adam put the AC in the car for practice. And he comes in and you can hear the panic in Jeff's voice. And he goes, the AC's not blowing cold air. And it was like a panic set in.

Like, I'm not going to be able to do this. This is way too high for me. So what was he talking about? He was in there turning the knobs, but he forgot to flip on the switch. Oh, so he didn't even have it operating properly. No. Okay. So once Adam showed him how to flip the switch and turn it on, he was like, oh, thank God.

So he agreed to race then at that point. But at that moment you didn't know if he was going to go back to France. For a moment, he thought it was a lot worse than what it was. I thought it was interesting watching Jeff this past weekend. And you were somebody that has worked with Jeff before. When did you start working with Jeff? I started at Hendrick 2004. Oh, so you have extensive time with Jeff.

Yeah. I'm watching him this past weekend, and I couldn't help but think that he was just glowing. And I'm like, I've known Jeff, not great, but I've known Jeff all the way, obviously, through the years. And he has this demeanor that was always kind of just specific to Jeff Gordon. He wants it done right. He wants it his way. He will, what people perceive as whiny. It's not really whiny.

He just really will communicate when he's not happy with the situation. Right. And he doesn't hide his feelings on that. But this weekend, he seemed different to me. Did he seem different to you? Yeah, he was so positive. So positive. And it was more like he was coming in trying to help our team.

Yes. You know what I mean? Instead of about his self. He was really about all of us. Yeah. And being out of the car for a little while, I think he got to see the other side of the sport. You know, and seeing how much work we put into it. And he sat on the box with us in Kentucky, and that was really cool.

Really? Yeah. He was hitting me every other second, you know? What's everybody saying on the radio? You know, even on, you know, like listening to him on the radio during the race, his feedback was different to me. Like his tone and his voice, it was this positivity that you feel. It's like, hey, I've got a list of things that I can't wait to tell you guys about

and give you my feedback for the purpose of helping not just you at Pocono, but moving on beyond. Oh, for sure. For sure. You know, I think he knows that we've been struggling a little bit as a company, and, you know, he's here to help us. You know, we've done a lot of different things, and I think Jeff gave us a lot of good feedback on it. I was saying earlier in the show, it's not lost on me that even in our misfortune of having Dale Jr. go through this, now I realize that having a substitute driver of Jeff Gordon's ilk is a benefit.

It's almost unprecedented. There's plenty of substitute drivers out there. But Jeff Gordon, to be able to get his feedback and also his mentality that it seems that he has just to try. try to help and make you better, you don't get that out of substitute drivers. You're just trying to not wreck. That's all you're trying to do with a substitute driver. Just don't even try to win. Just don't wreck.

Don't ruin our equipment. Usually when you have a substitute. Now, you might actually get better from this because you've got a second opinion, and it's Jeff Gordon's opinion. The guy knows this stuff. Is that how you guys feel? Oh, yeah, for sure. You know, we feel like we're just really testing for when Dale comes back,

just trying to find the speed in the cars and get them right from when Dale comes back, so we get a win. All right, let's talk Pocono. This week, now you've had a week under your belt with Jeff. I'm assuming that he's going to come to the debrief and you guys are going to start pouring over notes and he's going to shower you with all these ideas and thoughts that he had from the car.

Is that how that will work? Oh, yeah. I'm sure he'll take this week, just like all the other drivers, you know, come in on Tuesday with the debriefs and come back in Wednesday, hang out with us and meet with the engineers and Greg. look over the car and making sure it feels right to him. Is the workflow going to change or maybe improve?

I mean, I would assume that the workflow in the shop, the shop guys, not necessarily the travel crew, but the shop guys would have changed a little bit last week with all the additional stuff that you're having to do. Do you get back to some sense of normalcy this week? Yeah, you know, knowing last week that Jeff's going to be in the car for two weeks, I think they could go ahead and start preparing. Yeah.

You know, the shop guys were just bugging us to death, you know? Like, who's going to be in the car next week? Who's going to be in the car next week before that press conference come out? We're like, you know, we really don't know. It's just a matter of waiting, you know, for Dell. Yeah, on that note, you're still not out of the woods yet, though, because, you know, he has to go get cleared still. Right.

And so you don't even know really who's in your car at Watkins Glen. Right. That seems like that would be difficult. It is difficult, you know, we just got to be prepared for when Dale does decide to come back, and the doctors say he's okay to come back that we're ready to go. Dial. Hey, Junior Nation. Now more than ever, exclusive, entertaining, and free content from the world of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

is no further away than your fingertips. It's all thanks to Dale Jr.'s dirty moh radio presented by Exalta. All eight Dirtymoor podcasts are available on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and of course, Dale Jr.com. So whether you're at home, at work, in the gym, on the run, or just hanging out, dirty moor radio gives Junior Nation its newest and most versatile way yet to play. directly into the world of Earnhardt, anytime, anywhere. All right, Mike Davis, you mentioned little like this week, but here's reaction theater.

Well, I was the guy that really didn't like, oh, I was blaming Jeff Gordon for junior shi, the shi year. He did cool, and it's kind of cool to see him back. I hate the damn stupid Kyle Bush one, but it was good to see him back. It's pretty cool that he got to do with in the 88 car. He'll match with Greg, and I'd like to see him. I'm excited to see what he does at Pocono. Good job, Stevie, in the booth.

Good job, Greg. Good job, T.J. And hell. Good job, Jeff. Oh, there was a race on? Oh, I'm sorry, man. Whoa, the last two days, I got more sleep than watching the races than I did during the night time. Wow.

Talk about snooze fest. And NASCAR is supposed to be promoting that, you know, the best racing ever and more lead changes and all that. I didn't even, I saw what, maybe one lead change, Green flag lead change all weekend long? Holy cow. What is going on here? This is terrible.

He drives fastly. He's named Jeff Gordon in the Delta S-S-Witz-JuNation. Thank you, Jeff Gordon, for the Jeff Gordon, respectable finish. It's the first race that I've missed in five years. There was not a single radio station in the entire state of Alabama that I could find the radio, the race on. And my race street mobile was out.

So Mike Davis, never been a big fan of people saying you suck. I think I would love to have a beer with you for a friend. You seem like a cool guy. You do not suck. The entire state of Alabama, you suck. I feel dirty. I feel dirty because all week I was rooting for Jeff Gordon to do good in the 88. Jeff Gordon, the guy despise I love to hate the Wonder Boy for 20 years, although I came to respect him by the end of his career. I feel so dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, having Jeff Gordon drive Dale Jr.'s car.

So dirty Saturday night, I took a shower with my bathing suit on. That's how dirty I felt. But after the race on Sunday, seeing how he handled his whole weekend with class and a great attitude and the way he battled for Team 88 and Dale Jr. I don't feel dirty anymore. I feel a little dead inside, but I don't feel dirty. Hopefully we'll go to Pocono. We'll do it a little better, get us in the top five.

Dale Jr. come back in a couple weeks, and we'll race some hell. Dale, yeah. The number is 855740-1902. Folks, I want you to call first name Davis at that number, 855-740-1902. I want you to call them right now. I want you to call back in three days. I want you to call back when Poconos going on. I want your thoughts on what's going on with Dale Jr.

We want to hear you on Reaction Theater. 8557-1902. It's open 24-7-365. We get people in the off-season that call in. Those are pretty hilarious, be honest with you. So you can call whenever you want. All right, 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. Craziest paint scheme yet was recently released at the all-new limited edition, Spy Rangler Daga sunglasses online at Spyoptic.com. Hey, everyone, this is Justin Allgaer, host to Junior Motorsports Upfront. Tune in to Dirty Moor Radio every Thursday as Jonathan Davis and I talking about everything, Junior Motorsports, welcome guests and more. Let's throw the white flag.

White flag right there, white flag. All right, this white flag is going to be brought to you by Exalted. In fact, this whole platform, Dirty Mo Radio is brought to you back. Exalta. Speaking of Exalta before I actually get to this read, how do you think they did on exposure this past weekend? I think they did pretty good. I mean, pretty good. I wonder what those numbers look like. I mean, Jeff Gordon was front and center all weekend. That Exalta paint scheme, that Exalted logo was as well. All right, so to get all the latest news photos and schedule for Dale and I guess even Jeff Gordon and the Exaltza number 88, head over to exaltar racing.com.

Remember catch photo galleries of Dale Jr. much more from his runs in the Exaltza 88 on exalta racing.com. All right, white flag. Obviously, Junior's still in rehab mode. He will not be racing at Pocono this weekend, but your number 88 nationwide team will. Jeff Gordon will be back in the car for Sunday's Pennsylvania 400. That race will be carried live on NBC Sports Network and Motor Racing Network.

The Xfinity Series will race at Iowa on Saturday night under the lights. Elliot Sadler, Justin Algear, and Josh Berry will be running for Team Junior. Josh Barry's been winning everything in the late model. Like the guy just doesn't stop winning. So I expect he'll have a good run at Iowa. That'll be fun to watch. By the way, speaking of late models, Davis, did you see this where our other late model driver, our late model driver not named Josh Barry won this past weekend?

I did. That's exciting. Like we signed this kid Scott Bishop to five races, and I think this was his second race for us. Yeah, I think it was his second race for us. So big win. Scott Bishop wins at Orange County Speedway this past weekend in the True Timmer Cammo, true timber camo late model. So good for him.

Congratulations, Scott Bishop. Our late models just kick everyone's butt. Man, they really do. So good job, Scott Bishop and the true timber camo car. Just a few tickets remain in the Windale Junior's Ride promotion. So for the six year in a row, just so you know, Dale Jr. is giving away his own personal vehicle. You go to Windalejuniorsride.com.

Don't spell out Jr. Junior. Junior actually is JR. Right? JRS.S. So WendellJRSR.S.R.com to purchase a raffle ticket. If you don't like your chances of winning, which you should like your chances because it's really good odds for a sweepstakes type promotion, right? You can go to eBay Motors right now and bid on one of Dale Junior's vehicles.

Now, you ready for this, Taylor? You want to redneck this segment up? Junior is currently auctioning off five vehicles. Like he's got five current auctions going on right now on eBay. Up for auction, his 1973 Chevy Camero, otherwise known as the Detroit Speed Car. A lot of Dale Jr. fans will know what I'm talking about. His 2002 Chevy Camero, Z-28, is 2002. I'm sorry, his 2010 Camaro two-door coop, is 1994 Jeep Cherokee with no doors.

It had four doors on it, but Junior took them off because it's more like a doom buggy-ish-looking thing with a lift kit. And last but not least, you'll love this one. He's auctioning off his electric chassis 168 super stretch street legal golf cart. That's real. Who doesn't need a street legal golf cart? Taylor, you could have taken it to Scotland. I know. I would have loved that. Do you think those Aggies at the bar would like that?

Yeah, at the Dunvegan. That's right. In St. Andrews, Scotland. They would have loved that. So the link is actually long. It's eBay.com backslash RPP, backslash Motors-Specials. Thanks eBay for that URL. Or you can probably just get a Dale's Facebook or something. Well, what we've done is we posted the link on Dale Jr.com in the newsfeed there, real nice and easy. So you can go there and find it as well.

The auctions do in Wednesday. That's important to note. Lastly, if you're a listener of Dirty Moe radio programs, then you should go and follow DMR on Twitter at DirtyMow Radio and Facebook. That's Facebook.com backslash dirty mow radio. Also, please, please do us a favor and share these episodes. Share them to your social circles. Post them on your social media.

Retweet the links. Spread the word that DirtyMoe Radio's ultimate way to get your junior fix, even when he's not in the car. because as you learned at the beginning of this show, he's coming here to give his most thorough update. I love it. I love it. You got to come here, you got to follow, and you've got to share.

Hey, finally, you know I've done this in some creative places, right? This Dale Jr. download. Remember the Dolphin Inn in Carmel, California? Who can forget? Last year, the guy listens to the Dale Jr. download. Royal Trune last week? Yes. Well, this week I'm broadcasting from Big Ten Media Days

from the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago. Mike Davis, you remember when you used to cheer for Greg McElroy when he played quarterback at Alabama? Yeah. Remember that? Yeah. Yeah. Greg, if you could ever say anything on the Dale Jr. download, what would you say?

Mike Davis sucks. Oh, stop it already. Stop it already. Come on now. Get out of here. What a great guy he is. All right. Well, for Mike Davis, for Greg McElroy, for first name Davis, for Travis Mack, for

Dale Earnhardt Jr. I'm Taylor Zarzer. You've been listening to the Dale Jr. Download presented by a spy. Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Thank you.