The Dale Jr. Download - 2 - Daytona 500

Episode Date: February 25, 2013

Steve Letarte, Dan the Junior Fan, and Matthew Berry help break down Dale Jr's 2nd-place finish in the Daytona 500. 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.

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The Junior Nation uses the word polly what? Polyorchidism. The Dale Jr. download starts now. With Mike Davis, I'm Taylor Zarser. Anything happened in Daytona, Mike? Man, everything happened to Daytona. The weather was beautiful. It never rained, which is funny because NASCAR unveiled this big, you know, galactic death star jet dryer.

And they never had to use it. There you go. Never had to crank it. It wasn't on fire. That's a real good thing. So Dale Jr. finishes with a couple of top five finishes over the weekend, fourth place in the nationwide race on Saturday. Man, that was a scary deal there at the end. We'll get to that in a minute.

He is third, second place finish in the last three years in the Daytona 500. Let's start there. Man, if you're a part of Junior Nation, you were losing your mind on that last lap. My man was coming. Was he not? Yeah. The run he got off turn two, it reminded me something that Tony Sr. said, Tony Greeneer said years ago, how nobody gets that run off of turn two like Dale Jr.

And he lagged back just like he does. And he had Mark Martin behind him and shot out of a cannon going down. the backstretch, passed Danica for fourth, I'm sorry, Danica for third, Biffle for second, and got up to Jimmy right at the end, just ran out of room, just ran out of time. Can I say he drove his ass off? Sure. Okay, well. I think he drove more than that.

He did. He absolutely drove his ass off. And I thought he had the fastest car on the track there in the last 20 laps, really. And, yeah, I mean, I know you always play the coulda, woulda, shoulda deal. But I thought in the last, if you give him another turn, you give him another 100 yards. man wins his second Daytona 500. But still an unbelievable performance, a great way to start the season. I want to ask you, he's had three of these now in the last four years.

2010, he's all over the track going from 22nd to 2nd through those green-white checkers. It was unbelievable. Finishing second to McMurray. Last year, he finished second to Kenseth. There, after all, the jet dryers and the rain and the cautions and racing Kislauski to The urinal, I mean, it was crazy night in the middle of the night. And then this year, he did win that race, yes. And then I saw JRM 360 on that one last year.

And then, of course, you had yesterday with what happened finishing right behind five-time. What was the hardest swallow, you think? The hardest second place finished to swallow? Probably last year because I think I speak for all of Junior Nation that Greg Biffle should have at least attempted, acted like he was going to try to win it. But, you know, he stayed tucked in behind Kinseth, junior past Biffel for second. You know, the Jamie McMurray, the one he won when Junior finished second to him, it was so impressive how Junior got up to second in the first place. I thought that was actually more impressive than McMurray's performance of winning the race.

So that felt like a win almost. You know, yesterday, I just, again, I was just impressed. I was in awe of how he just moved up through there. He sent me a text afterwards saying, you know, I had a move to say for the last dance, right? And so I said, man, he had that planned in his head. And, you know, he certainly made the most of it. Incredibly entertaining, I thought. Some, you know, always want to say, oh, it should have been double wide.

And the whole race should have been two and three wide. And, you know, it should have been more drafting and all of that. I thought it was great. And how about this? Highest ratings, it's got a 10 rating. It's up 30% from last year. It's the best rating since 2006. That tells you that people certainly were entertained.

Let's talk about that fourth place finish on Saturday, too. Crazy. He finishes fourth in the first. the nation ride race and he comes across the start finish line in a little unconventional fashion. Well, I was down in Dale Junior's pit, which was down a ways way past the start finish line. And when he came by us, he was backwards and he had a car on top of him. So, yeah, that was a little untraditional. It's certainly not how you expect to see a top five finish, but yet he did finish fourth.

Regan almost won for junior motorsports, which would have been real nice. And obviously the big crash and, you know, obviously debris going up into the stands was very unfortunate and I'm glad that and I'm just glad everybody's okay. Yeah, I am too and I have to tell you, everybody wants to be the armchair quarterback after something like that happened. Your first thoughts are with the families of those impacting and I'm so glad that it seems like everybody's improving. But now the thought is, okay, what does NASCAR have to do? I have to tell you, I have full confidence that they're not going to accept any further liability in a situation like this should it arise again. In other words, if an engine is flying hundreds of miles an hour and happens to come out of a car, which is incredibly fluky, I think that NASCAR is going to do everything they can.

I bet they're meeting as we speak to try to make sure that does not go through a fence. Tires don't go through a fence. But I have to tell you also, I thought that the fence did its job. It kept Larson's car on the track. So I'll be curious to see what happens moving forward, but it was a scary deal. It was scary. And man, the sound, the sound that you heard when it hit that crossover gate, I'd heard it only one other time. And that was in 2002 when Mike Harmon crashed at Bristol.

And he hit the crossover gate as well. And, man, it just sounded like a bomb went off. Over 40 screaming race cars, which ought to tell you how significant that sound was. But, you know, it was an unfortunate deal. I'm glad everybody's okay. I think we should shut up now. Let's go ask people that know what they're talking about. Okay, let's do that.

Let's speed dial. dial. All right, Steve Lattart, crew chief of the number 88 National Guard Chevrolet. Stevie, a hell of a race on Sunday, man. To come from midfield like you were and come all the way to the front of the line and finish second. And who knows, man, one more lap you might have won it. Tell us from two weeks ago to yesterday just how much improvement you guys made.

Because I know that the last few days were a little bit stressful. Yeah, I mean, with D and then in the 150. Steve, you said to Junior right before that last restart, everybody else wants to come here to run good, you're coming here to win. Now, what was it like from your vantage point on that pit box to watch your man go to work on those last 10 laps? You mentioned his patience. I want you to talk a little bit more about that,

because that's something I really noticed listening to you guys yesterday throughout the race. If you're Steve LaTard, if you're on the 88 team, if you're part of Junior Nation, you've got to get pretty frustrated every time you try to go to the bottom or run out of line and you try to get a run and you can't get one and you have to get back in the pack and you're stuck there somewhere 19th or 20th. Yet he stayed patient throughout the race every time he communicated to you. How big was that? Well, I think, you know, that's a difference for your lapses in Daytona 500. Right.

Man, you didn't tell me this dude was a Red Sox fan. I didn't want to. Why? Because I didn't want you to know that. Yeah, but I already liked him. I mean, now I'm going to have to, God. I knew this was going to up the bromance to a whole new level. You want to send them to Fenway now.

There are there other, I mean, there's other baseball teams? Not that I'm aware of, no. That's what I'm talking about that. I call them the evil empire. That's right. Yeah, last thing for you, for three months, you're thinking about Daytona. You've got the test in January. You've got a brand new car.

You're down there for a couple weeks. It just feels like, Stevie, you empty the tank emotionally to prepare for that race. And everybody today wants to talk about what happened yesterday. You've got to move on and think about this. next one, right? I mean, talk about how you have weeks and months to prepare for that one, and then you've got five days to some degree to prepare for this one. All right, man, go get them. Stevie. Have a great week. Look forward to talking to you again soon. All right, man. Thanks for having me on. And hopefully, uh, hopefully. All right, Dan, the junior fans,

sports capes, construction, Red Oak, Texas. There's some people here at J.R. Motorsports, for whatever reason, that have entrusted Dan, the junior fan to speak on behalf of Junior Nation. Oh, Lord, help us. Dan, tell us, is Junior Nation happy today? Happy, son. Let me tell you, we just keep working on it, working on it. And then Saturday, 25 miles or so, he could go with him. And, you know, the way they react,

I don't have to win the Daytona 500 to win the championship. We've got a lot more championships in Daytona 500. But the amount of the box, everything under control, works hard. That team is just unbelievable. That's really what I was looking for, and I was glad to see it. Dan, you were always confident about junior season, but it feels like you're even more confident.

Why? I think Dale's been afflicted with maybe poly orchidism, but he's not suffering from it. He's embracing it. And I think that's what this team has missed and behind the wheel. And I think we're going to get five races, and I'm looking forward to championship, guys. Polly what?

Poly what? Junior Nation uses the word poly what? It's a less ripe all the way of saying he's got a big ball bag. Nice. That's why we bring on Dan the Junior fan from Red Oak, Texas. We'll definitely call you back here in the next few weeks. Be good, my friend. Thanks, guys. All right, Matthew Berry, fantasy expert for ESPN and friend of Dale Juniors. Matthew stepped out of your everyday role as the fantasy expert at ESPN. ESPN, and I know you spent the day in Daytona as Dale Jr.'s guest for the great American race. Tell us how you're experience. experience was. Well, it was fantastic.

I don't believe I stepped up. It came up quite a bit, I have to say. Add me to that list of bitter, bitter guys, because, yeah. Because, you know what? Everybody knows that people wear you out all week, and even if they have your number, they text you, and they're trying to get advice and tips. Now, where does Dale Jr. rank on this as far as, if on a scale of one to 10, and one being the least annoying and 10 being the most annoying, where is Dale?

He's the same over text. He doesn't abuse my phone, nothing beat me up over it. He's Mike. Real time. Okay, so this was your first NASCAR race, Matthew. What was your reaction when you saw them go by full speed for the first time? Crap, that's back. Yeah.

You know, it's one of those, I mean, I'm sure it's the most obvious and, you know, common response. But that was my reaction. I worked at ESPN for a number of years. You see it on sports. see me and you're like, oh, yeah, you know. But until you're there and Dale was so great a set around, you're like, wow, you know, I was in speed and the precision between each car, you know, between the precision, which the guys on Dale team do that.

And something tells me you're freaking out on that last lap when he got all the way up to second and almost had a shot at winning that. You realize if he would have passed the 48 and won the race, you would have had to go to the remaining 35 races, right? We're pounding our fists up in the, up in the pit. Like, you know, because I think he's starting to sneeze at, you know, at Daytona. Matthew Berry, you host the award-winning podcast, the fantasy focus on ESPN Radio. And you're extremely gracious to join us here today on the Dale Jr. download.

Appreciate it, my friend. It's my pleasure. Thank you very much. All right, Mike Davis. Let's go off the grid. Give me some real good Twitter overreactions during the race yesterday. All right, I'll give you some. Because he's cracked me up.

Actually, you know, during the race, everybody's a crew chief on their couch. And so we put out on Dirty Moe Radio's Twitter handle yesterday. You know, it was about 30 laps to go. We're like, what do you think Junior's chances are to win the race? Yeah. All right. Dutzman says slim to none. Do you have a reaction to that, Taylor?

I don't think Dutzman knows anything about racing. Alice Bell 11 said, I'm sick of this single lane racing. If they're not going to race, shorten the blank race. I think that a lot of people probably feel that way. as it's going on, but I like this a lot more than the two-car Tango. Gotta be honest with you there. I'm with you on that one. Scarecrow 67 says, looks like yesterday, being the nationwide race,

he can't get anyone to work with him. Still have hope for Junior Nation. Well, I think he's accurate there, and I think that Junior and Stevie were talking about it during the race, and that's what Stevie's reaction was. A lot of other people on a good finish, you want to win the thing. And there was too much fear of pulling out of line of, oh, no, nobody will go with me.

And I just love the fact that Junior races with no fear. Let's do it. Let's go low. Let's go high. Let's go in the middle. Whatever it takes to get to the front. So I can understand Scarecrow's frustration. I will say this, though, is it not funny to you how every fan base thinks their driver that nobody will work with their driver? Yeah. Right. You know, among fellow drivers, everybody accuses Dale Jr. of having all the help.

Yeah. You know, Matt Kenseth gives it to him all the time. Like, what do you mean? Nobody helps you. Everybody helps you. But if you ask Junior Nation, nobody helps Jr. Yeah. Well, I mean, if you watched yesterday, there wasn't. He wasn't getting a lot of help.

I mean, every time he tried to go in the middle, if you listen to TJ Majors, the spotter for the first 30 or 40 laps, still in the middle, still in the middle, still in the middle, still in the middle. That's a lot of that. Brotherhood 665 says loving the gyro. Is it the gyro cam? Yeah, it is the gyro cam. And I love it too.

I loved it. I loved it. I mean, it gives people an understanding that don't understand the sport. It makes them realize, man, if you're sitting in that passenger seat, you're like three feet above the driver. It's crazy. I find myself sitting there trying to lean one way just to counter the slant that I have on the screen. I put my seven-year-old daughter about three feet above me just so it kind of feel like I was there.

Some post-race tweets. Here's one for you. D.K. Jr. 12 said he waited too long. He should have made the move two laps prior. Come on, man. What? He would have finished 14th if he made the first. Two laps?

You realize how long two laps is? He picked off six, eight, ten, twelve cars in two laps. Right. Do you realize if he makes the move two laps sooner, he finishes behind Stenhouse? Right. You know, I mean, Stenf finished in the team somewhere. It's crazy here. All right, let's see, here's another one.

Boring today, no risk takers. What do you think about that, Taylor? I disagree with that. Some are going to say that, and I saw that on my Twitter feed when I said hell of a race and how much I enjoyed it. And some said, all was boring. It was single file, all that. Look, it was a car you can buy that we can go buy today.

You're seeing that on the track. I thought it maneuvers a lot better than the car of tomorrow does. And there's no of this two-car tango stuff. I am much more about pack racing than I am about, you know, this two-car tango stuff. And also keep this in mind. It's the very first-stop race they've ever. use the car. You know, I mean, as when they get to Talladega in a few months, you're going to see more of two and three wide. When they go back to Daytona in July, you'll see more of that. It's the first race.

You know what? You know what's interesting to me about that? I'm not saying that there weren't parts of it that might have been boring, you know, to use it. But you know what? This this whole dynamic that people have to be entertained every second of every minute, of every hour, of every day, you know, instant gratification. Come on. I mean. Okay. So they thought it was boring, huh? All right, well, look, I love all 36 races. When they go to Pocono, what are you going to say when they go to Pocono for two and a half, three hours? Okay, and you hear, you know, no, no, okay, I mean, come on now. Don't tell me, compared to what you're about to see in a lot of single file separated by two seconds, races, that was not boring. Lady and Dew Green 88 said, Junior did great.

Just tell him to stop pushing JJ to wins. He needs to be the one that is being pushed. Ask Marcus Ambrose from the January testing, first of all. You can't push anybody to a win, first of all. Secondly, Junior never got to his bumper. If Junior could get to his bumper, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have passed him and been in victory lane. He couldn't get a runoff of turn four after Martin was fighting everybody else for third,

fourth and fifth place. He never pushed anybody. If you want to talk about pushing, watch the 2011 last lap of the Daytona 500. Right. Well, that cracks me up, considering he started the segment in six. I'm sorry, he started the restart and six, was in fourth on the last lap. Anyways, I'll finish with this one. Buckeye Barnes once said T.J. Majors and Jr.

We're constantly setting up a pass one car at a time. Great effort. And he's right. That's actually a good observation about how much work T.J. and Jr. had to do talking to each other just to try to make a single pass. I was blown away by the communication yesterday from TJ to Stevie to Junior. I thought everybody did a whale of a job yesterday with the 88 team. Great stuff.

All right, that's it for our Twitter overreaction segment here as we go off the grid. All right, Stevie, let's drop the white flag. All right, Dale Jr. is heading to Washington, D.C. tomorrow evening for the annual National Guard Youth Challenge event. It's close to the public, but you're going to see some media over the next few days stemming from that. next Wednesday, March 6, he'll be in Las Vegas for the Amp Energy appearance in front of Caesar's Palace, Taylor. Oh. Expect burnouts on the streets of Vegas, that's all I'm going to tell you.

This weekend, he heads to Phoenix with the rest of the Sprint Cup series qualifying his Friday, and the race is Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific on Fox. Speaking of Phoenix, Taylor, Junior is not running in the nationwide race for Junior Motorsports, but you want to know who is? The guy that won the race. Daytona 500 winner Jimmy Johnson. He is driving for Junior in the number 5. I have great clips car in the nationwide race.

Get some of that. I like it. Jimmy working for Junior. All right, guys, that's been the Dale Jr. download. Don't forget, you can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and get it right to your smartphone free of charge. And as always, you can find us at Dale Jr.com. For Mike Davis, I'm Taylor's Archer. This has been the Dale Jr. download.

Thanks for listening to Dirty Mo Radio.