The Dale Jr. Download - 171 - Going Out On My Own Terms

Episode Date: April 25, 2017

Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens up about the news of his retirement at the end of the 2017 season and discusses the process that led to his decision. 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. Man, I love this new intro. It's good stuff. It is. It's Dellenhart Jr. And back with me again, my co-host and producer and editor. It's been so long. Tyler Overstreet.

So Tyler, where are you been for the last two weeks? I've been here. You've been here. J.R.M. Yeah. So I've been gone. I took the show with me. I will say the people on Twitter, they love Amy.

which isn't surprising. Yeah, I mean, what did we expect? She's a lot prettier than me. Yeah. And she's your wife. So, yeah. We had a lot of fun talking about our, you know, talking over those last couple weeks, and she really did bring a lot to the table.

And we'll certainly get her in here more often. She's actually, as we talked on the podcast last week, thinking about doing her own. So we certainly encourage her to do that. Again, the intro, that's today's theme song, Honesty. Yep. from the band Dangerous Summer, courtesy of Hopeless Records. We really appreciate those guys. I like having the music in the part of the podcast.

We didn't actually mention it, but last week's theme song was Miles Apart, which was your song at Bristol. Yeah, absolutely. It was my intro song for Bristol. So big fan of those guys, and thanks to Hopeless Records for allowing us to utilize that content. Anyways, we've got a lot to talk about big announcement. As a lot of you are going to find out or already know, At this point in the afternoon, I have announced my retirement from full-time cup racing.

This is something that I've put a lot of thought into. Obviously, there's been a lot of ups and downs over the last several years with the injuries and concussions. I worked really hard to get healthy and wanted to get back to the racetrack. and get back behind the wheel and that's where we are today. With that said, you know, I'm coming up at the end of my contract and had, you know, thought about whether I wanted to reach an extension with Rick and continue to race, continue to race. But, and I weighed, you know, obviously not racing at all,

especially going through the concussion and the rehab. In my mind, there were two options. and that was to retire at the point of the concussion, but my heart really wanted to finish my contract. My wish was to finish the current deal that I have with Rick. I wanted to go out on my own terms, and so that's why I got back behind the wheel. I'm having a lot of fun this year.

I love driving the car. Yes, we've had some terrible luck as it seems. But aside from that, I got a great group of guys and enjoy racing and going to the racetrack. But, you know, I don't have what it takes to do an extension. And personally, you know, there were two choices. It was basically the sport either retires you or you retire. on your own and I came close to having the sport retire me over the course of last season and I was I was thankful and still am thankful today that I'm able to be healthy and continue to

compete but at the end of the season I'm will call it a career it's been amazing and I've had a tremendous amount of fortune and luck to race with a lot of great people, not just the drivers, but with all the mechanics that I've worked with, engine guys, the owners that I've worked with, it's just been a dream. So I've accomplished tons more than I ever thought I would. So I say this all the time, but one of the things that I always go back to is that I just wanted to be able to race cars for a living. And what I mean by that is I just wanted to be able to pay my bills, you know, live in a decent house, but race for a living. I never, you know, so my dad had went,

came into this sport and won all these races and all these championships. And so for me, setting goals wasn't part of the deal. Setting goals really wasn't. something I did, and I think it's because all that stuff was laid in front of me. All the dad's accomplishments were right there in front of me and sort of overshattering anything that I could possibly do. So I wasn't really a goal setter. I was really just wanting to make a career out of it. I wanted to get paid to drive race cars.

I didn't want to have to work a real job. And so looking back on my career, having won the Daytona 500 twice and the Xfinity Series championships twice 20-something cup wins 20-something Xfinity wins the success that we've had as owners in the Xfinity series and the truck series the most popular driver awards

all those were things that I never imagined happening for me and so I am more than more than happy with what I've accomplished but I feel extreme fortune in my heart. And so, yeah, I mean, I think, you know, to kind of put it in perspective, going through the injury last year, there were some points during that process

where I really thought long and hard about my health, my future beyond racing, and, you know, it just really made me contemplate when I needed to retire, when I was comfortable to retire. I went along a lot of conversations with Amy, with my doctor, with my family, with my owner Rick, and I just have, I'm at peace with this decision. This is what I would like to do, and this is how I want to do it. and so I came and I thought that sometimes during that period

that I was going to be retired out of the sport and that was the one thing that was most heartbreaking was to think that I couldn't make the, I wasn't going to be able to make this decision for me. It was going to be made because of my health. But I'm so thankful to be able to be back in the car and be able to complete this season

finish out this contract that I've agreed to with Rick and so we're recording this podcast the night before on Monday after Bristol we'll get up in the morning and I'll talk to my team guys and let them know about the news the press release will drop at 9 in the morning

and then the press conference at 3 and that's that in my mind we'll we got a lot of racing left in the season, and I don't want to miss a lap. I'm looking forward to every single track we go to, and I would love nothing more than to win some races this final season. And that's that.

So I know that that's going to be quite a bit of news to everybody, and we'll certainly be available throughout the rest of the year to meet with everybody that comes out to the races and, you know, enjoy this last season. So I'm looking forward to it and looking forward to every stop along the way. It should be a lot of fun considering that this will be the, this will be it. So like you said, we're recording this on Monday night for, and so I, me and you just talked about this and you told me for sure on the way home for Bristol. So obviously Amy, Kelly, Mr. H., Mike Davis, they were all in the loop. So just sort of what was the timeline on when you made the decision, when you talked to Rick, how did that go?

Basically, there were, so it's, there were a couple points during the recovery. And I've said this before, so I don't mind. You know, saying it again. There were a couple points in the recovery last year where I had made, I had it in my mind that I wasn't racing again. I remember this. So I, and being out of the car, I learned a lot about life and perspective and all that. So I didn't, it wasn't like, and I don't mean like, man, I got out of the car and I realized, wow, this is way better than being in the car. That's not it.

I mean, if none of this stuff had happened to me with the injuries, there's no question I'd be racing farther into the next several years. These concussions and all that experience has changed what I value out of my own life. And, you know, it's made me reflect on my career and what that has meant to me. And it's also made me think about my future with my wife. wife, Amy, and the things that I still have ambition to do. I mean, I have, I have, you know, I have some, you know, things that I personally want to accomplish aside from driving race cars in my life. And, uh, and I'm ready to get going. Anyways, to get back to your answer, I had moments in that

rehab that I thought, man, I'm not going to race. I don't want to race anymore. And I knew once I got well, I would change my mind. But I never got, I was, I was never, I was at times 90% ready to retire, 60% ready to retire, 40% or whatever, but I was never zero. And I wanted more than anything to finish my current contract, which ends at the end of the season. and I kept asking myself over and over, you know, what did I want to continue to run? And I couldn't get, I couldn't answer that question with 100% confidence.

So what I did was I got, I sat down with my wife Amy and in a period of about a few days, I talked to Amy, Mike and Kelly and said, this is my decision. We started, you know, spitballing on what that meant and how we would roll it out and when it would be good to, you know, announce it and so forth. And so we've been working on that for several weeks now. I sat down with Rick a seem like two weeks ago, and we spent an hour and a half, two hours talking and crying and, you know, looking back and looking ahead. and, you know, I told him that, you know, what my plan was, and he's super supportive. The great thing about Rick is that he loves, you know, we love each other for as people before, you know, our priority to each other is as a person more than it is owner and driver and so forth.

I mean, he'd love me to keep driving, but he wants me to be happy as a person first and foremost, and that made me comfortable about my decision. The only thing that I'm nervous about is my decision is really everybody's acceptance of it and everybody's perception of it. I'm perfectly comfortable with a choice. So it's been a difficult couple of weeks trying to hammer it out and make sure that we do it respectfully. You've got to call certain people at certain times,

filling people in and explaining to them what your decision is and why and that's friends and family sponsors and then eventually you know you make the announcement literally you know for the fans themselves so it's it's been really emotional really and again the the emotion is all worry I guess or sadness about how how people will take the news. So, you know, but yeah, it's been, it's been pretty crazy, and I'm sure the next couple days will be even more so going on in the next few weeks, I guess. You still got 28 more races this year.

So it's not like you're not retiring. I know. Immediately. That's the part that's, I guess, a little strange about it is that you want to make an announcement that you're retiring, but at the same time, I am mentally really excited about the rest of the season. And I'm looking forward to, you know, working with my guys and my team. I love working with them. So you're going to sit down and tell everybody that you're retiring, but not that day.

Yeah. You know, you're putting in your notice, but just what, how many weeks, 18 weeks early? Right, exactly. So you're going to stick around a little bit longer. Yeah, it's a little strange. I mean, but that's the way this works. honestly, if it were up to me, I'd wait to a homestead and just say, all right, that's it. Yeah, that's probably not. I understand that's not probably everybody's preference.

But in this world, like, I have to tell Rick what I'm doing so he can prepare for his next driver and next season. I have to do that for the sponsors so they can prepare what they're going to do, the team. Everybody needs this much advanced notice. And so I don't have the, you know, we're not going to be able to sit. on it, it would eventually leak. Yep. If we wanted to try to tell those people and then hold the news, you know, to everyone else until the end of year.

It just wouldn't work that way, but, you know, we'll see. It's going to be interesting how the rest of the season goes, but I just hope we can race and have fun. You know, I just really, I still love being behind the wheel, and I still get, a ton of enjoyment out of the, you know, the camaraderie and working with my guys, working with our team. And so I'm hoping that, you know, we, we are able to, you know, rock and roll all season. Obviously, we're having a lot of fans that'll listen to this. They're going to be awestruck or emotional because they don't want to see you right off in the sunset. Is there like

a specific message that we can direct or you can direct to them? I know that it's not going to be the greatest piece of news. Right. And that's probably what I'm most, I told Amy this morning before the Bristol race, I said, I was walking around the bus just, I said my heart's in my throat. I can't get it out of my throat. I don't, I'm not even, I'm, I'm, I'm, just can't get over that emotion and concern about how the people that support our race team

and has supported my career for so many years are going to feel. And, you know, I just don't, I hope that, you know, I hope they understand is all, all I can ask. I mean, there was a time, I guess, going through, I'm certainly followed social media very closely to understand how the fans are feeling and thinking about things, all kinds of topics. There was a period of time throughout the rehabilitation last year with the concussion where I read a lot of people's opinions that were saying a lot of different things. Some people were like, you know, can't wait until you get back.

Some people were like, I don't care if you race again. You know, and it was a lot, it was, it wasn't really all one way or one-sided. My point, I guess, is that I realize that there's a ton of compassion, and there's a lot of the fans really care about your well-being. You're not just a number on the racetrack, and you're not just a car and a driver. I mean, they really care about the person. They're excited for you when you get married.

They're excited for you when you have personal success or great things happen to you. You know, it just, you know, it's personal. And so I know it's not going to be the greatest news, but I'm sure that, you know, for the most part, a lot of people are going to understand. And they'll have plenty of time to wrap their brains around it. I mean, we're going to be going to the racetrack every weekend.

We're going to be out there, you know, working and trying to, you know, win some races. What better, you know, I do not want to go winless in the last season. I think we can still accomplish things and we're a good team. We just had some bad luck in these few races that we ran this year. But, you know, I expect them to be understanding, but shocked. Maybe some of them, you know, some of them will say I saw a coming or I knew it or, yeah, this makes sense. I don't know, you know, everybody seems to take the news a little differently as far as what I've experienced. over the last 24 to 48 hours.

I thought my mom would cry, and she was completely at ease with it, and like, wow, okay, I'm great with this. Cool. You know, so you just never know how people are going to react. It's always, you always assume one thing, and they do the other, so we'll see. Who's been the most emotional?

Me, probably. I, you know, Amy's certainly right by my side, and we sort of flow, our emotions sort of work in tandem, as we both kind of feel what the other one's feeling, so it's been pretty emotional with us. But I'm emotional at the same time. Like I said, I really, I like this choice, and I'm at peace with it, and it's my choice, you know.

And my uncle Danny was a little disappointed. Disappointed? Yeah, my uncle, well, I don't want to speak for him. He, he... And I told him this on the phone. I said, I don't know why, but you have been more supportive of my career than I would have ever imagined. And, you know, not having dad around, I've really leaned on my Uncle Danny. They almost look the same.

But, and there's no denying their brothers. And I love that I can come over to Junior Motorsports and walk across the floor into Danny. his office where he works on the suspension and see him anytime I want. I always wished it was that easy with my own father to, you know, be able to spend moments with him any time you wished. And I get that with my uncle Danny. And so our connection for me has been really, really strong. And he has, when I go in there, I don't even have to say anything.

He'll be, he'll be like, why such and such happen this weekend on your car? Or why couldn't you get it in a turn? or why did you let that guy beat you on the reason? He always kind of, he was really in tune with what I was doing, what was going on. He always held me accountable. He didn't let me slide on nothing if he thought I screwed up. I just knew when I told him that he was going to be a little disappointed because he's so passionate about what we do.

And he really wants me to do away. He loves seeing me race. So he understands for sure. And after more or more, I mean, I didn't have to tell him everything because he already knew everything going on in my life. But he knows why I want to make the decision. But at the same time, he's like, I wish I could see a couple of years, you know. He loves it.

Okay, so we talked about having 28 more races. Do you have any, like, specific goals on the track or, like, stuff that you just want to soak in? Because obviously, this being the last time around to a lot of these tracks. I personally I mean I couldn't look at myself in the mirror if I

don't go out there and give it 100% every lap I can't I wouldn't be able to look at my team in the mirror in the eyes I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror so you know I think my message to my team

is that you know it's business as usual we started the season with a goal to make the chase to put ourselves in the middle of the battle for the championship. That continues to be the goal. So that means we show up every week and we work hard

and we enjoy doing what we do. Nothing for me really changes on that front. The other side of that too is whoever drives this car next year, you want to pass the baton and make it as seamless as possible. You want this car

to be on the upswing. Yeah. Last year, when I was out of the car, Alex and Jeff were driving it, and the car was improving. And, you know, with Alex and him behind, with Alex and Jeff behind the wheel, the team continued to make games.

And when I got in it this year, I had so much confidence because they didn't fall flat, you know, or struggle. I had a lot of confidence. and I want to do, you know, I want the driver that gets in there to think, man, this, this thing's right. You know, this team is a, you know, a good team. I want to think what I think. So, Tyler.

Yep. What, how do you feel about this being the last season? I'm happy for you because I know that's what you want to do. I don't think, I don't think that. you should feel obligated to stick around longer than you want to. Yeah. I'd talk to you a bit in the past year about, you know, retiring and not retiring and what I, you know, what my emotions were. So this isn't like a big shock to you.

No, we had, you had said it. You told me like a month ago. Yeah. And then I was like, yeah, he might be in a mood. So whenever I, um, but when you told me today, I kind of, it made sense. and I think it's important for people to know that you're going to be around. So it's not, you're not retiring from life. You're going to, a lot of people have second careers.

So this is just the start of your second career. Yeah, I agree. I like that. So, all right, we're going to move on from the announcement. So we'll talk about Bristol real quick. We started 20th. I did a little periscope as I do after every race. So we won't really expand.

too much. If you want to learn about Bristol, in my opinion on it, you can go check out our periscope. That goes away like after what? Does it a periscope? Nope. Parascope stays up forever now. Stayed up forever now. Okay. Yeah, so check that periscope out on our Twitter handle at Dale Jr. Or at Dale Jr.

We started 20th. The qualifying was rained out. I thought the race wasn't going all that great for us, but I still had hoped that we'd get it gone. You're still in the lead lap. Yeah, I mean the five car finished well, Clint finished well, so who knows what could have happened. Eventually, so I saw a little smoke in the car, and as we were lining up for a restart, I said, why are we smoking?

And they said, well, there was some oil in the pit stall. We don't know. And then I went, we came around and got the green, and as soon as I mashed the gas, it started smoking real bad. I looked in the mirror, and the guys behind me weren't even going because they were like, oh, what's going on with that guy? And then Greg said, whoa, whoa, there's a lot of smoke coming out of the rear end or something. And as soon as I'm going to the corner, I lifted, and there was oil all over the front tires, and it just went up and bumped the wall. It didn't hit the wall that hard.

I don't even think it really hurt the toe. It would probably just come down and put tires on it and continued, much like the 18 car did. Yep. But something, and I still don't know even right now what it was, something in the oil system broke and leaked oil everywhere. And it leaked, this, you know, this is all probably. firewall forward. So something around in the engine compartment

that was forward to the front tires. I mean, it's got the oil all over the tires. When I came in and got to the truck, we lifted the hood,

and I looked under there, they found a split in the oil cooler, but the, the rack on the, the splitter rack had shoved into that, and we think maybe that

may, you know, that split in the oil cooler there happened as we, as we touched the wall. Oh, yeah. So I don't know. I don't know how oil was in the stall and obviously getting on the headers and smoking before we took off and hit the wall. Yeah, but like you said, like I logged notes of what you say on the radio and you said that maybe 20 seconds before you guys took the green flag.

So it's not like you could be like, oh, hey, come back to the pits. Yeah, I know. It's just a freak, freak deal. And it's been basically a summary of our season. We just need to get this monkey off our back, and I think we can get back after it. We're going to show up somewhere, and things are going to come together. What did you think of the VHT stuff, and more so them putting it back down before the race? Did that work or no?

The post-race discussion on Twitter seemed like every – well, during the race, actually, it seemed like Jeff Gluck and the media and everybody and all the fans seem to be loving the action, and the fact that there's a bottom groove, their top groove, it seemed to change and evolve throughout the day. I give it two thumbs up. Again, much like Texas, great work by the track, great work by all the folks there to try to put on the best show they could for the fans that were there,

and hopefully that's going to sell more tickets. Because I think they're really learning as they're applying this stuff, how to do it differently and better each time. So I think what you saw, they'll improve on. And they'll continue to improve on how to use this little sticky substance to give us a little bit better racetrack each time. And it's doing great so far. So two thumbs up.

I know they put in a lot of work. And hopefully the Bristol of old as far as the grandstands being full of people. Hopefully that's going to return one day soon. Yeah. And kudos to the people who stuck around for the Monday race because the pictures that people were tweeting of the campgrounds were pretty rough. Yeah, the grandstands were empty. I mean, they weren't a lot of people there.

Obviously, a lot of people couldn't stick around, but there were some that did. Even to the people that were still there, we went and did our race day appearances on Sunday. In the pouring rain, yeah. Yeah, and there were some folks out for that, so it's pretty awesome, their dedication. So let's move on to Charlotte. Charlotte's moved their fall race from Saturday night to a Sunday afternoon. Marcus Smith was quoted on moving the race to Sunday. We've heard from fans and from several drivers about how much fun it is to race during the daytime at Charlotte Merger Speedway

return to daylight racing time. Also builds on our commitment to being fan first by providing families with affordable world-class entertainment on a Sunday afternoon. So were you one of the several drivers? I was. the replies on social media from the fans that I saw now I'm not speaking for everybody but I saw several they were very disappointed they love night racing

I do too I love night racing but it seems to really only work at short tracks and there's Saturday night racing on Friday and Saturday at every local short track so if you love it a lot go check it out there Charlotte they repaved it now hear me out they repaved Charlotte what?

20 or 2006. Okay, 2006. It's still, and they repaved it with the best technology available so that it would last and be preserved and not have to be repaved in 20 years, right? Well, that kind of bit them in the butt because it's holding up so well.

It literally is, it's not fading or changing colors like a lot of tracks do in the age. And so, and they use rubber polymers in the surface, so it's like rubber, tire on rubber polymers. I mean, we have tons of freaking grip compared to most racetracks. All right. So if everybody's got a ton of grip, we're all going to run the bottom.

The track's not wearing out. We don't really move up the racetrack to find a higher groove that's got more speed because as we race at night, it gets cooler and cooler and cooler and the track temp drops and drops and that's forcing everybody to run the bottom. And the speeds go up. You know, we're getting faster and faster as a track temp goes down. That is a terrible combination for racing. Yeah, the faster you go and the more you're on the throttle reduces the amount that you can actually pass.

There's less passing. And so if you look at, they've ran the Xfinity race during the afternoon the past couple years. Yep. You see guys like Larson and Kyle run the bottom, run the top, moving around, you know, running different lines, taking lines away from each other. That's what you need to see in the Cup Series, and you're only really going to see that during the daytime at Charlotte. And until that racetrack ages a tremendous amount, it's not going to be on a good nighttime racetrack.

Night racing, I got nothing against it, but at certain racetracks, it's just not a great combination, and Charlotte is one of them. And I'm glad that they're making this change. How about this other change that they're probably going to make next year, but you'll be retired, so it's not your problem. They might be running that road course. That's right.

Again, we'll quote Marcus. We've definitely discussed it. Others in the sport have discussed it. It's something we're definitely ready to do. I've heard a lot of people say they want to see more road courses in NASCAR and one in the playoffs. So if this is something that everyone signs off on, I think Charlotte would be a great place for it. That sounds like it's almost ready to go. Yeah, I think they're going to make it happen.

year we say you want to just go ahead and say we're we're wagering here at dirtymoe radio at the delgerner download that the second charlotte race in the playoffs is at the road course yes and we should take a camper and be right on the road course and watch it yeah all right we'll take the airstream my air stream yeah okay sounds like a plan that'd be fun all right well you know i i got nothing against racing the road course there i just wonder i i I was not, I was hoping that they wouldn't give up on the oval so quickly. Right. Because it's a, it's a pretty historic track.

Yes. It's my fear that they're sort of giving up on the oval and going, and the track is, and I'm probably speaking out of school here, but I think the track is financially, they needed a bit of a spark. and this may be a desperate decision and attempt to get that spark, which it will. I mean, if you have a road course race in the chase at Charlotte, people are coming. Is it a long-term fix? Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

Is it a long-term fix that saves that track or helps that track get to where they want to go financially? I don't know. But I feel like that, you know, I love the idea that you're changing the race to daytime. that is a move in the right direction to put on the best show you can is Charlotte. Under the current circumstances, if it was an old war out track like Atlanta or Texas used to be, if the surface was like that, it'd be great at night because it's just as slick. You're not going to get a hold of a place like that even at nighttime. So, you know, those type of racetracks can put on great shows at night,

but Charlotte's surface is just too durable and it has too much grip. And so I think their best option is to run the Oval during the day. Yeah, I mean, if they run the road course, I'll come watch. Heck yeah. I think a lot of people will come out there to see that for the first time. I think they'll get strung out. I mean, a roval. Like, this is the first roval that I think NASCAR will be attempting.

It'd be kind of like the 24 hours of Daytona track. Yeah, I mean, they'll get pretty strung out in that event. So I think it'd be cool to see it one time, and that's it. I don't think you're going to see the kind of road course. race that you see at Sonoma. Right, yeah. You're not going to see. It's not going to look like that.

So it'll be a cool thing once. I don't know if it's a long-term fix. All right, let's go to looking ahead. Obviously, we announced today. We had an exalted appearance on Tuesday. We moved that to Wednesday. Wednesday morning. Yep.

Thursday. we're going to nationwide children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Me and Amy and Rick, I think,'s going. Brits going. A bunch of folks are going up. Kelly's going. Kelly's going. You're going?

Yeah. So we're going to the nationwide children's hospital, which we love to go up there. Me and Amy had a room at the hospital that's their activity room where the kids go play. Dedicated to me and Amy. So we're going to go up there and see that. I've been in there, but not since they've dedicated it to us. So we're going up there to see that for the first time. Friday, practicing qualifying at first time.

Richmond. Qualifying is at 4.45 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports 1. Saturday, we have two practices per usual. The Xfinity race is at 1 p.m. Eastern on Fox Sports 1, and then Sunday we have the race at 2 o'clock on Fox. The Dell Jr. download and all Dirtymoe radio podcast are made possible by Exaltam. You can subscribe to all eight programs on iTunes, Stitcher SoundCloud, and all major podcasting outlets.

As always, you can listen to Dirtymoe Radio podcast on Dell Jr. Follow us on Twitter at Dale Jr. at Overstreet Tyler and at Dirty Mo Radio. Also, check out the Dirty Mo Radio Facebook page. Thanks to Tyler, as always, for co-hosting and producing this show. Today's theme song, Honesty, is by the Dangerous Summer courtesy of Hopeless Records. Thanks for listening to Dirtymoe Radio.