The Dale Jr. Download - 18 - Michigan

Episode Date: June 17, 2013

A Superman paint scheme & four-second lead didn't prevent troubles for Dale Jr. at Michigan. 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 episode of the Dale Jr. download comes with our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Jason Leffler, who lost his life in a racing accident last week. A trust fund has been established for Jason's five-year-old son, and you can make a donation right now to the Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Trust in care of SunTrust Bank, 232, Williamson Road, Moresville, North Carolina, 28117. This is Dale Jr., and you're listening to Dirty Moe Radio. Dale Jr. had a rocket ship in Michigan yesterday, but engine failure cost the 88 a great finish. We'll discuss it next. The Dale Jr. download starts now. Friday, buddy. Put together a really nice race. Sorry, they didn't make it all the day.

Yeah, we have to figure out what happened here. Yeah. Good job, guys. Y'all put together a great car. That's tough to hear, isn't it? Right there, as you're leading the race, you got a rocket ship feels a whole lot like Father's Day last year. But I think my partner in crime here, Mike Davis, said it best. Take Batman over Superman. Yeah, absolutely. You know, at first, wouldn't it have just been cool if that was just a special effect, a smoke effect that the movie people just put on Dale Jr's car?

And he's like, hey, just push the smoke button. You know, Superman, we're going to drum up some interest. But that's not really what happened. It's not what happened. But what's your one-year-old daughter's name? Lily. Lily. Yeah.

Today's her birthday. Happy birthday to Lily. Well, I knew it was sometime right about now. Yeah. Because obviously one year ago today, Dale Jr. won in Michigan. And you said Lily, you know, as a newborn infant was saying, what's all this junk about Dale Jr. not winning? I mean, he always wins when I'm alive.

Yeah, he's won every race since I've been born. Now that Lily's won, Lee's got to be really frustrated throwing her hat. Lily was frustrated, but we comforted her with cake. Oh, okay. And that helped. Yeah, well, that was frustrating yesterday. Man, such a good car. You know, big tip of the hat to LaTart and the gang for just,

putting a really good piece together. Man, what do you say about a motor issue? I mean, it's just, it's tough. What can you say? And I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it. I know you've talked to some people in the engine shop about what happened yesterday, but you're absolutely right. I mean, you go to one of your best tracks, if not your very best track.

You have some issues on Saturday in practice where the car is really loose, and it's all over the track, and you're wondering, uh-oh, what's going to? happen here and this is as practice is winding down and you don't have time to work through the changes and as you mentioned Saturday night this 88 team did an unbelievable job to the point where junior is on the track on Sunday checking out from everybody else saying this car is awesome this car is unbelievable I don't know what LaTart did in his motorhome Saturday night but it worked yeah he did some number crunching I know I heard Dale Jr. talking about it over the weekend and come Sunday they they guessed right.

It was moving forward all along. You know, I talk about the car that, you know, whether it has ambition or not, whether it looks like it wants to go places in life. That car was going places in life. Even when it wasn't leading, it was clipping off positions. It was very good on long green flag runs, especially, where, you know, once restarts, everybody had gotten into order and everything, man, he was really picking up spots. But it wasn't to be.

A bad day for the 88 team and Dale Earnart, and company end up finishing the race a lot sooner than everyone else did. All right, well, let's hear, actually, I say a lot sooner than everyone else. Not if you're Hendrick Motorsports. After leading 11 laps, Dale Jr's in third behind Casey Kane and Jimmy Johnson when Kane cut a tire. Let's hear that. Go low, low, low, low, check up, come on, no caution yet. Come on, he's up against the wall there.

Cawson's out there. Yeah, man, that means you'll be second to the 48-1 right now waiting. Well, I mean, the tires ain't been in no problem, have they? No, they've looked great. It looked great. He was on four tires as well at last time one. And as you can hear there, Dale Jr.'s nervous because when the five car is, you know, leading the race, checking out, and all of a sudden he has a tire issue and goes into the wall like that, and you wonder, what's going on here?

That makes you nervous. Well, it's funny about that. Nothing's funny about that. But interesting about that was that T.J. had said a few lab server. while they were green flag racing. Hey, they're talking about debris. And Dale Jr. replied, there ain't no debris out here. And then I think three or four laps later, Kane into the wall.

And that's why you could hear in his voice the, you know, damn. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Okay, there was debris out there. Well, and Jeff Gordon's situation had nothing to do with that. It was just Bobby Labani getting into him very early in the race. And Gordon ends up 39th. And then there you have Casey Kane getting in the wall.

He ends up 38th. Unfortunately, Dale Jr. quick to follow, but he did have a great run there for a little while out there on the track. During the same caution, the 88 team took two tires and beat Jimmy off the line to take the lead there coming back to the Green. So he got a great restart. He drove off for a four-second advantage. Let's hear it.

Nice boost shift. I'll call the Green. You're the control car. Let's pace the cars in. Ready. Great, back, great. All right. Inside door, you're pulling him.

22 is right with you. You're going to be clear before the corner here. Keep in there. They're still side by side. You're clear. Hey, go, man. That was an awesome three and four. Really good three and four, bud.

The car is just driving great. Stay and four, bud. Ten four. Hey, go, bud. Those are really good corners, man. I would change them a bit. I mean, it seemed like it was too good to be true, and it was. I'm thinking about, I'm thinking about talk.

I'm Google searching T-shirt companies to make my door bumper clear shirts for T-J. I mean, you got Junior's saying, man, this car is unbelievable, which is the greatest thing in the world. You can say to Steve LaTartre. You can hear how giddy he sounds, you know, like, oh, it's awesome to hear him say that. And then lap 126 happened. Right. I mean, it's like, what do you say?

Things were great. Things were great. Junior's happy. And you got a four-second lead, and then all of a sudden he says, something's not right here. And they go through. They troubleshooted the whole car. I mean, it was to the point where, like, the passenger seat was it reclining enough?

I mean, like, I mean, they went through the whole car. You have your fog lights on. You know, this clip you're about to hear is a shortened version, but this actually played out over the span of probably three, four green flag laps at least. What do you say to him? Yeah, absolutely. But this is a condensed version of what you're about to hear. Yeah, he's obviously down a cylinder there.

And most of the lead lap cards had passed him before the engine completely. gave way let's hear it we're breaking gauges oil pressure okay how about volts we got volts yeah we got bolts sounds like a uh off a cylinder make sure you got water pressure and oil pressure yeah we got everything's gonna nurse it out then hopefully it makes you to the finish I'll go below go low it blew up here just stay as low as you can take it to the guards but no reason to look at it here I'm proud anybody put together really nice race it is such a frustrating feeling if you're either a fan of the 88 or if you're part of the team where you just have this great feeling of confidence. You've worked so hard.

You have a four-second lead. And then to go through that in the span of a couple of minutes and a couple of laps, Mike, it's just, it's devastating. It is. And I can assure you, however bad you at home felt and however bad we felt, the Hendrick Motorsports guys feel so much worse about that. because you had, you know, you're good, they generally, they love Dale Jr. over there. Let me tell you. I mean, you know, Dale Jr., that, that personality that he shows and what makes everybody

like him, you know, all his fans like him, that's the same stuff that he gives the Hendrick Motorsports people, and it's the same reason why they love him, you know, in return. So when something like that happens, they take it so hard. And like you said earlier, I did talk to Doug DuCard over at Hendricks Motorsports, and it is just, it is a sad day this morning. They've had better Mondays at Hendrick Motorsports, certainly. But let's talk about this engine thing real quick. Here's what we don't know as of Monday morning,

and that is that we're not real sure exactly what caused that engine to expire. Now, they will know. They're going to get the engine back like you typically do and tear it down and you isolate and identify the part. And they probably have a good idea, but you don't know for sure until you get it back. What we do know is this, and this is what I want to say to the fans because a lot of people bring this up, especially on Reaction Theater.

What we do know is this. Hendrick motorsports outfits, 10 sprint cup teams with motors. And they all receive the same specs. Now, that's where a lot of people say, oh, why does Jimmy get the better motor? Jimmy doesn't get a better motor. They all have the same specs. Here's what else we know. The spec that Dale Jr. was running yesterday was the same one he's been running recently without issue.

And this is something that Doug told me this morning. I found it very interesting. So this is not something they weren't experimenting with or trying to, you know, this is a special Michigan spec. this is what he's been running recently. What we also know is that when they do have a motor failure, nobody takes it more seriously than Hendrick Motorsports. I mean, they will identify the problem, isolate the problem.

If it is a part issue, you know, sometimes it's not. But if it is a part, they quarantine the batch of parts and they toss the entire batch. And I'm not talking about the 88 bag. I'm talking there is no 88 or 48. It's the entire motor department. They toss the entire batch, trash it. replace it and then, you know, and then fix their, or just their motors, you know, however

accordingly they need to do it. So this is an issue that they take seriously. Here's what else I know. You can find who you think is the best motor builder in the world. I'll take Hendrick Motor over that person. Of course. All day long. If I'm a racer, this is what we got to know.

So I don't want people to flip out. He's happened to have two motor issues in the past, what, four races? and that is unfortunate and nobody feels good about it. But I'm not trading my Hendrik horsepower for anything. They won six straight championships. You better believe it. Five in a row with Jimmy and won with Tony. That's right.

And you know what? Dale Jr. said after the race, it's like it's something he can swallow because one, he knows that this doesn't, you know, it's a fluke. It doesn't happen regularly. And two, he had a fast race car. And we've talked about it on this show before. That's what he wants. If he has a fast race car, he can handle these fluky problems.

Well, I mean, like for example, you could hear it in his voice. He almost feels better about what happened yesterday because he had a fast race car than somehow somewhat lucking into a 10th place finish in Dover two weeks ago. Right. He really does. But I'm glad you explained all of that and how, look, you all get the same engines. Danica Patrick finishes 13th yesterday, one of her best finishes of the year, with the same engine that Dale and Art Jr. had.

That's right. Casey Kane's problem, totally unrelated. Jimmy Johnson's problem totally unrelated. Jeff Gordon's problem, totally unrelated. Tony Stewart had a good finish yesterday, and Newman came up through the field as well. But, man, it is. It's a fluky deal.

It stinks, but you're absolutely right. I mean, if you look at the, if anyone wants to consider the big picture, and I know a lot of you out there want to write your narrative, but if you want to consider the big picture, this is the best engine shop on planet Earth. That's right. no doubt about that.

So just move on. That's racing. It's all we got to do. All right. There's only one snack food here at Dirty Moe Radio, and that's Dale Jr. Potato Chips. Go to DaleJ.R. Foods.com to find a store that carries them or place in order yourself. That's Dale Jr.

Foods. You know, Mike Davis here bust everybody's chops when they pick Dale and Art Jr. Who? Me? You, Michael Davis. I don't know your middle name. I got a heart. What is your middle name?

Patrick. Michael Patrick Davis, bust everyone's chops. Nevertheless, a lot of people have been picking Jr. And it was a good pick in Michigan. But you get mad at people when they pick Junior to win because you believe in all these superstitions. However, though, you have never gotten more angry with somebody than you got with me for picking Junior earlier in the season. But then again, we're going to Sonoma next. And I'm never going to pick him in Sonoma.

and you threw me under the bus the other day when we were with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Y'all listen to this. I look forward to going the road courses, trying to get some good finishes there. I think we're due. And, you know, so it should be a good summer for us. I'm glad he brought up road courses.

Oh, I knew it was coming. I've been trying to tell Taylor. I can't win with you. I've been trying to tell Taylor that you are good on road courses, especially Watkins Glen. And people don't understand that. And I've seen you do top five and stuff. And I said he's going to win a road course for his careers

over and he looks at me like I got three heads. Now, back me up here. I know you don't like Sears Point. I know you don't like Sonoma. But Watkins, Glenn, I feel like we got a shot there. I think we can run good there. Did you want to tell him that the other thing that you make fun of me for, picking junior all the time?

So which one is it going to be? No, I don't. We're superstitious, so you have to understand that. Thank you. It's not that. I like that you pick junior. It's that you're always wrong when you pick junior. And so I'd rather you just not pick him.

But you do want me to pick him on a road course. I just want you to just watch the race, all right? I mean, all right, so I'm going to watch the race this weekend. I don't know what you have a problem. We just listen to the clip. What's your problem with that? You just threw me under the bus to say that I think that he stinks on road courses. Oh, but let me just ask you his before we move on.

All right. Are you picking Dale Jr. Win in Sonoma? No. Clearly you saw, we were talking about walking Glenn. However, I think Dale Jr. can perform well at Sonoma. I've seen it.

TJ said last week, I believe, how we are sitting there in the top 10, top five in Sonoma a lot. And then those typical last lap, two lap to go, people driving over their head, one bar people, you know, sitting there and knock him out of the way, and that happens.

But I'm counting on a good road course finish for Dale Jr. this weekend. I'm not calling a win. The only thing that I want to see is Bobby Labani nowhere near the 88. Jeff Gordon agrees with you. Yeah, I know he does. Speed dial.

You know, people are talking about how Jimmy Johnson has a 31 point lead in the cup standings right now. Like that's a big deal. Regan says 31, huh? Yeah. How about 58 point lead? Regan Smith wins in Michigan, the nationwide race on Saturday, checking out from the field. And he joins us here on the Dale Jr. download.

Regan, you had to hold off Larson. You all had to hold off Mother Nature. a day. Yeah, it was quite the ending there with Kyle coming with a little bit of steam and the rain get the W and next. I found this very interesting, Regan. I don't remember what lap it was, but there was just rain all over the radar. I mean, it was just covered in green. And so the teams were trying to figure out, do you pit or do you not pit? And you were one of about four cars that did not pit. And Austin Dillon was another one. Austin Dillon had the lead. On the radio, Richard Childer says, what are y'all doing? and Austin Dillon was saying on the radio that this was one of the stupidest things they've done.

That move happened to get you the track position that essentially won you the race. Would you agree with that? That's right. And I was disabled. All right. So Regan, you've given us three wins and 14 races, which is not bad. That's good. Okay.

You're doing well so far. 58 point lead. You've given Junior Motorsports its first multi-win season since 2009. Okay, that's good. What does a winner of a nationwide race do on a Monday, the Monday following? What are you doing today? We go to Chicago. We sell ice cream.

I never thought that my racing career would take me to the level it's taken me to today and driving and selling for me. Why are you selling ice cream on the back of a truck? I guess because it's hot out. It seems like a good idea? I don't know. Well, we do know that because you're selling ice cream on the back of a truck on a Monday in Chicago, we had to move the beer toast to tomorrow.

What kind of beer are you drinking tomorrow to celebrate a win? Well, I'm drinking any kind of beer I can get my hands on. I'd call it. I'd be pretty excited about that. I look forward to the beer toast. It's one of the coolest things that we can do. Well, everybody is very, very fired up here at the race shop right now. A 58 point lead.

Another win for Regan Smith. And here we go on to Road America. Regan, enjoy selling some ice cream there in Chicago with the beer toast tomorrow. And we'll look forward to talking to you again. Yeah, we got it all this. We got ice cream, we got beer. I mean, what market jazz for us? That's perfect.

Thanks, guys. We may even mix it together, see what comes out. That's right. Beer float. All right. See you, Regan. All right, thank you, guys. All right, he is the voice of NASCAR for ESPN.

The face as well for ESPN's coverage of nationwide races and cup races. You'll see him doing cup races here when they get to Indie in a few weeks. in his 28th season covering NASCAR. Alan. Alan Bestwick joins us here on the Dale Jr. download. Hey, Alan. That makes me feel old. Yeah, well, I've been around a while.

If it makes you feel better, you don't look that old. You don't look old enough to do 28 seasons in NASCAR. I started when I was 12. That's right. He rode his bike to the races. Alan, you had a guest in the booth. You've been doing this all year for nationwide races where you have some different cup drivers that help you guys out with Andy and Dale Jarrett during the races.

And this week it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. And I'm sure Junior is going to be asking you to come back since his car won the race there on Saturday. But first and foremost, how did you think Jr. did in the booth? I thought he did great. We had a good time. You know, he showed up on time, brought some energy, brought some great insight. The only thing that bothered me, you know, I just, you know, I just. I spent hours getting ready to do these broadcasts.

He walks in and he's right on it right from the first second and walks right back out again. I don't have that kind of natural talent. Oh, so you're saying he doesn't really need to prepare. He just has it naturally. Well, I'm sure he spent hours preparing for it, studying. You know, but no, it was great. We had a deal junior's got a lot of experience in this business on all sides of it. And he offers a lot of insight on a lot of things, both from what's going on behind the wheel

to what's going on in the owner's office. And it was good to get his take on not only where he's at on the Sprinkup side as a driver, but what's going on behind what he's been doing with the nationwide team, the changeover in drivers and the changeover in the crew chief situation and the direction of trying to pull closer together with Hendrick Motorsports. I think it's going to tell you the truth. Through your coverage of nationwide series races this year, Alan, You've seen a lot of Kyle Bush dominating wins, but on Saturday, that wasn't the case.

What were your impressions of the race? All the drivers and all the teams, and we saw a lot more of that on Sunday. This racetrack is in a tricky state. It really didn't give up as much of the grip. These drivers and these feet on the razor's edge. Right. You know, if you think about the Reagan started the combination of all the circumstances between, I mean, it was ugly, and it should have been raining at that racetrack an hour before it was.

It just wasn't getting to the ground. And making the strategy calls that Greg Ice had to make and the circumstances that were there, they ran a perfect race, and that's how they got to take home the trophy. They had a good car. Reagan did a great job of driving. He had to fight with Trevor Bain and some of those other guys

to get in position. And they had him in position to take advantage of that. Again, Alan Bestwick, who started calling races when he was 12, has been our guest here on the Dale Jr. download. Alan, great to talk to you, man. Hope we can visit with you again soon. Taylor, you've got to be careful who you associate with there. I know.

Everybody tells me that. Thank you, Alan. Thanks. I don't know that I enjoy a situation where you have to listen to listen to Reaction Theater after a race like that, but we're, I think, contractually obligated to hear it. So here we go. Here's reaction theater.

There's only one thing I can say. It's heartbroken. Really thought today was going to be our day. Good job. Yeah. All right. Well said. Very well said. Next. Yeah, Junior Stevie. TJ, Mike Hogg, Mike Davis. It's great to see you all in the lead today.

It was awesome. And an issue happens. I like it. Except every mention everybody but me, but that's all right. Next. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there doing it right and doing what they're supposed to do. God bless them. But as far as the rest goes, you got to be a freaking kidding me. Mama said. Got to have days like this. That's right. Next. Where are we back at? DEI two engine failures this year?

I cannot believe that. Yes. You know, it's funny when she said that, I went back and looked, do you know how many engine failures Dale Jr. had in 2007, his last year at DEI? How many? Six. I was going to, I mean, I remember us a lot. I remember Brickyard that year.

Next. Just from a lack of education standpoint, do you think you guys could clear something up for me? Dale Jr. had been talking about the car chattering all day long, basically from the beginning of the race. Was that chattering going on? Did that have something to do with him dropping a cylinder and eventually blowing an engine? Is that something that he called and saw happening during the race?

Thanks. It has nothing to do with it. No. Chattering is what happens to the tire, the right front tire. And it actually wasn't a big deal. It would go away after about three or four laps. Clearly he was fast. So I was talking to TJ about this last night,

and T.J. says, just think of it as when you're real cold and your teeth are chattering. That's what the tire's doing. Next. My cog is still the problem. He is Dale Jr.'s krypton dot. It's my call. Every since you come back, we've had two good races.

The only flaw in Superman is Kryptonite, and now my call. I just, since you are so superstitious, obviously, have you considered going to Sonoma and or Kentucky or let J.R. go to Sonoma and or Kentucky, hog stay back here and do all the stuff back here in warsville are you saying we should consider that well i'm i'm asking if you have because you're so superstitious uh no because you know what that would mess up your weekend that would mess up my weekend but two people keep forgetting the person that mike hog replaced also had a quite of a lengthy spell of uh that was you yeah that was me yeah of uh you know

Yeah. Non-wins. I did ask Junior about this the other day if he thought of moving PR people around. He said, no, Mike Davis is staying at home. He's got to grow his pickles. Next. What does that mean? That's what he said.

I'm sick and tired of Eric ruining Junior's career. How come the 48 never blows up? This sucks. Turning this race off could care less what happens now. I love her. I love her. I love her passion. Yeah.

She's wrong. There is no conspiracy. And Rick Hendrick is not running Dale Junior's career. Think of this from a business perspective. Rick Hendrick says, hey, let's destroy the most popular driver and cost us money. And ruin my credibility. Yeah, let's do that. Sounds like a great idea.

Next. It does. I don't know. That's TJ's boy right there. Yeah, that's all Tim. I cut it out. Tim, he goes, you can follow me at Tim Brock 88 on Twitter. So there you go, fans.

Follow him at Tim Brock 88 for more of that. Expletives included next. Superman car blew up while leading the race. And let's dwell on the fact that Regan Smith and Greg Hives has turned into one hell of a team, boys. Two wins this year, running consistent cars, Brad Sweet coming in six place. A J.R.M. You boys got this thing figured out,

and let's get that tax layer Chevy championship and we'll all be happy. Amen, Dan, the junior fan. That's right. I know how badly people want things to go well at the cup level. We all do. Yep. But let's celebrate what's going on right here at Junior Motorsports.

Oh, we're going to. We got a beer deal going on? Yeah, well, yeah, we're going to. Good. Next. All right, so here's how the race went for Junior Nation. Lap 125? Dale, yeah.

Junior's cruising, four second lead. Lap 131. Dale know. Keep your head up, Junior Nation. Keep your head up, 88 crew. We'll get a win sooner later. Very level-headed? Bell, yeah.

Sounds good. There are four flavors of Dale Jr. potato chips, crispy, original, zesty halapeno, creole and green onion, and Carolina barbecue. There's something for everybody. Go to DaleJR Foods.com right now to get yours today. Let's throw the white flag. There you go, Woody White Flag. As Taylor mentioned, Saturday's victory means we'll be doing the traditional

junior motorsports employee beer toast. That's happening tomorrow, and Dale Jr. and Regan Smith will both be there. This Wednesday, Dale Jr. will be tire testing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It'll be the first of two tests he'll be doing over the next eight days. There were a couple of good insightful media hits this past week. The first by Jeff Gluck. You can check out his 12 questions feature with Dale Jr. at USA Today.com.

And also check out Marty Smith's sit-down interview with Junior. You saw it on all sorts of ESPN program over the weekend, but you can also see it at ESPN.com's NASCAR page. We are still looking for you to show us who your favorite driver is through your haircut. And that's just a picture, you guys. fix your hair that showcases your favorite driver, take a photo and upload it to the Junior Motorsports Facebook page under the contest tab.

We've got some really good prizes to give away. In the coming weeks, I will be putting out some teasers on a new podcast channel for Dirty Mo Radio, Taylor. Very excited about this, so stay tuned. And finally, I want to wish my dad a happy Father's Day. I know it's a day later, but happy Father's Day to Pat Davis. He's a chaplain for Hospice of Chattanooga. I am his biggest fan.

Taylor, what about your dad? He's my biggest hero. I mean, he is my hero. And I'm forever in Dead of Dem, learned everything from him. Very, very grateful to say that Bob is my father. And grateful for Mike and Dustin, Regan, and Alan. I'm Taylor. You've been listening to the Dale Jr. download for more.

Go to Twitter at Dirty Moe Radio. Thanks for listening to Dirty Moe Radio. Have you tried the new Dale Jr. potato chips? Are you wondering where you can find them? Today is your lucky day. Go to Dale Jr. Foods.com to see where you can find the chips in your area or place an order online. You can have them shipped right to you.

That's DalejR. Foods.com.