The Dale Jr. Download - 39 - Phoenix II

Episode Date: November 11, 2013

Dale Earnhardt Jr. scores another top-5; comparing this year’s Chase to 2004; Reaction Theatre brings diverse opinions once again. 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. Hey, about Harvey. Lucky and some of the gun, I know. If he's running second, somebody's going to run out of gas. The Dale Jr. download starts now. We're back for a fourth. He drove a great race. Yeah, don't know if I beat themselves.

We've got one left. Go to the next one and keep trying because we're doing really, really good. Real proud of y'all. Good car all weekend. One of the best cars I've had here in lots of years. With Mike Davis and Dustin Lee, I'm Taylor Zard. Our is there first and foremost. I want to thank my grandfather and father, thinking a lot about them.

Missed my grandfather. Thankful for my dad. Both serve this country. Happy Veterans Day to everybody. Mike, I'm sure you've got family too. A lot of family that are veterans and we're veterans. And you know what? We've got a lot of friends and a lot of listeners of this podcast that are veterans.

And so thank you guys. I mean, you know, a lot of friends, a lot of people on Twitter that tweet us. So we've got such an immense respect for our military, everybody in it. And so thank you guys. Absolutely. Well, you hear it from Dale Earnhardt Jr. there. And we've been saying this all year about how badly this team wants to win. They're doing everything they can to win.

And I know there's a tremendous amount of frustration because of the fact that they're not winning it. And you have said it, Mike, maybe best, which is the closer you get, the worse it feels. I'm glad we didn't finish second yesterday. I almost would have preferred fourth over second because I might have gone to jail that night. You just heard me in the police blotter. It hurts worse when you finish second. And you're right, it does. Five of them this year.

So many top fives for this 88 team. But I think Dale Jr.'s right. I think, listen, after the next race, if you want to really beat yourself up about it, do it. But I think that's the attitude you have to have. And I was impressed that he said that right away, which is, hey, man, we got one more shot at this, and we are right there. Well, the other thing is I'm really impressed by the chase that Dale Jr. and the 88 team have put on. This has been an incredible chase for them. Let's just remove Jimmy Johnson the fact that he's in his own hemisphere right now

and allows no Mulligans for anybody else. We can talk about that in a bit. But frankly, this is Dale Jr.'s best chase. His average finish is 8.9. And you want to know something? I was wondering how that compared to 2004, because when we think about Junior's most successful seasons, the ones where he was the closest to win a championship,

it was 2004. Guess what his average finish in the chase was in 2004? And he had two wins, by the way. 11.9. He's three positions better averaging this year in the chase than he was the year that he was actually leaving the points in the chase. And profanity in Victory Lane is what took him out of the chase. That's interesting that you said that because I've got some audio that Junebug did not eat that we're going to play coming up. And it starts with him talking about that very thing coming.

Yeah, Junebug did not eat that part. of the recording. So we'll have that coming up. But yes, that's exactly what I was thinking as well. I mean, 2004 was the year that Dale Jr. was closest to a championship. He was leading the points. He won two races.

We're doing better average finish this year. Well, let's talk about this race specifically. And then we'll talk about the big picture some more. This is where we thought, oh, boy, well, we can maybe watch football. After Dale Jr. was in fifth place after lap 60, he reported. ordered a loose wheel and the 88 team made a green flag pit stop and it put junior a lap down. Listen to this. All clear, all clear, all clear.

Getting our rhythm, running around. We'll work a little strategy here. Well, and again, I said that, you know, at the time, Mike, I'm sure you thought this too. Like, oh, man, I mean, like, had a competitive car or a car that could maybe have a shot to win this thing, got a loose wheel. You're in 35th place. You've got a bunch of cars that are one lap down that you have to pass. Are they ever going to get in a position where they're going to have a shot?

and a lot of things had to happen in order for them to get back into that position. And the good news is it did. But it was kind of wind out of your sales at the moment, wasn't it? It changed a lot. LaTartre told me last night it changed a lot of their strategy. However, it was so early in the race that I really didn't panic about it. I thought that they had a good enough car. In fact, in that caution right before that on lap 49, he said,

we got something real good in three and four. That's where you want to be good coming out of turn four. Junior's saying they got something real good coming out of three and four. I'm feeling good about the race car. He's gone from 11th to 5th pretty easily. Well, you already heard what he said at the end of the race. I can't remember having a car this good at Phoenix in a long time. So, I mean, that certainly was a case.

I just didn't know with the strategy that you're going to have to do, being on a different pit run, also in the same respect, you know, having so many cars a pass. But you're right. And kudos to Dale Jr. for making that quick decision right there because he did. He saved the studs. and if he tries to ride that out another lap or two, maybe they don't get in that position. We're not nearly as happy today if that happens.

And he barely missed a big wreck on lap 144. He's in 27th place at the time. The team elected not to pit during the fifth and six cautions, and because of that, they picked up 19 spots. Listen. Big wreck in your mirror. I didn't see it, did you lock a little bit of that he was piled about their own a race track? And therefore keep working them off to make sure of the gans here, bud.

These long yellows have changed. You know, my job, Mike, in what I do, requires me to see the communication that a head coach has with a player, teammates have with each other. It also, because of my work for PRN, requires me to hear other crew chiefs, spotters, and drivers communicate with each other. And I want everyone that's listening to know this. The communication that I listen to right there and that we always listen to, that Steve LaCefebren, Tart and Dale Jr. and T.J. majors have is as strong as there is. It really is. I mean, talk about one heartbeat. These guys clearly are. And I know winning races is all these guys want. It's all the fans want. Because of the communication you heard just right there,

they pick up 19 spots on the racetrack. Well, they stayed out. They knew that the strategy had changed. When I was talking to Lattart last night, he said, yeah, the loose wheel completely changed our strategy. And now you're doing stuff to gain track position when otherwise you would probably pit for two tires here and there. Now they're staying out. They stayed out in the fifth and sixth cautions. They got a lap back a little a little bit sooner than that. And they got the lucky dog. And then on the fifth and six

costumes, they stayed out and restarted eighth. And essentially Dale Jr. was back pretty much where he left off when the loose wheel had. That's exactly right. I mean, at that point you're like, all right. They were on different strategies. But you know what? A lot of cars were. This was a multiple strategy race. And LaTart said it was one of the funnest

to call. He goes, if you like strategy and he didn't know if that came across on TV or whatever, but there were so many different strategies, and he loved it. I did. I agree with that. I mean, I did. I thought that's what made the race exciting.

I mean, with all due respect to Jimmy Johnson, you're too damn good, you know, for the sport, honestly. Too damn good for the sport. So there's no drama, you know, with who's going to win a championship. So you've got to find drama someplace else, and that was the drama yesterday. Yeah. Is, okay, Harvick's pit, when did he pit?

And when did Carl Edwards pit? And Jimmy pitted, and then junior pit, I mean, like, yeah, you're trying to figure out. These guys are pitting 20 laps different from each other, so that was pretty cool. And because of that, Dale Jr. inherited the lead when Harvick pitted at lap 268, when he ran out of gas pitting at lap 268. Let me tell you something about that. See, I thought he ran out of gas as well. Lart City did not run out of gas. Because he was listening to the 29s radio chatter, and he goes, they never once said they ran out of gas.

That was when they were coming to pit. I think TV and Twitter both reported him out of gas. Well, that's where I got, yeah. And I said, but Stevie, they were passing him on the track. He goes, because he had to slow down to get on the pit road. And I said, okay, so he goes, they did not run out of gas. He goes, they had a nine-second lead on us. He goes, they were so far ahead of us that he didn't run out of gas.

He made his pit stop because I was wondering, if he ran out of gas and we took the lead, how did he come out four spots ahead of us when it all cycled through? And he goes, because he didn't run out of gas. Okay, all right. So there you go. All right, well, he makes his final stop. Here's Dale Jr. on lap 271. Time two tires on the jack, two tires on the jack.

Covey going, Caleb's nod. Three, two, one. We don't need every draw, Caleb. Just most of the can. Ten gallons, Caleb is what we need. So when you start to feel it, that's what we're going to go. On the jack, Dale, on the jack. Go, go, go, go, go, all clear, all clear, all clear.

Great work, guys. 38, 38. Long or racing left. You've got better tires than the guys in front. You go get them. Here's three-pents faster than the guys in front of you. We're a good shape. We can make it off fuel.

We've got the best tires. This should be fun. That's just badass listening to that, isn't it? It is. And a shout out to Caleb heard, because when you hear, when you've got so much pressures and you've got to get the right amount of gas in the gas tank, and the information that you were given while you're actually gas in the car is just most of it, not all, most of it.

Like, I want a number, man. I need to know, I need something a little bit more concrete because there's a lot writing on this. Yeah, there is. Again, it's just cool to listen to. And I don't know whose decision it was ultimately years of, go to allow the fans to hear all that. You know, you don't get to hear offensive coordinators, you know, calling plays and yelling at quarterbacks, you know.

It's just, it really is cool to hear that stuff there. Okay, let's hear Dale Jr. after the race. So he finishes fourth there in Pahonix, as we like to say. Let's hear what he had to say. We had a fast car, dude, passing people. So another good finish for us. Well, the best cars should be out here a long time. I agree, yeah, good car.

We knew it in practice. The car had good speed. We've been fast. The last... It's the chase started. We've been quick. It's one of the best cars every week. Hopefully, if we don't get this race,

if we don't win, damn homestead, hopefully we'll see got that speed when we show up in a time. Do you think you're without... It'd be good if we could go ahead on it. Get one, but we've got to wait. Hopefully we ain't lost nothing when the next season starts. You've been on fire.

What is the turnaround in the team? I've got to give credit to the team, you know, just the guys. They're working hard. They're doing really good work. Just because we're in the title hunt, they're not laying down. They're working as hard as anybody. Steve doing a good job.

There's no question about that. And again, they're fifth in the point standings. They do have a shot to pass Kyle Busch and finish fourth. And I mean, I really believe that if qualifying and practice go the way that there's a really good chance that they will go, if the momentum that this team has had in the last eight weeks, Mike continues in Homestead? I mean, I'm not predicting anything. I know people get mad when you do all that kind of stuff.

But let's just be objective about it. Let's just be honest. Going to Homestead. Jimmy Johnson is probably going to play it safe, you would think, you know, down there. Who has a better chance to win than these guys? Honestly. Every week they've come to the racetrack, they have been one of the fastest cars.

They've not been the fastest through the race, through the entire race, but they've been one of the fastest. And I don't have any reason why I would think that that wouldn't be the case coming up this weekend at Homestead. They tested there, and they came back from the test feeling pretty good. So I'm optimistic about this weekend. Junior Nation, there's only one snack food that has to be on the table during races. It's Dale Jr. Potato chips. Go to DaleJ.R. Foods.com to order your bags today.

find out where you can buy them. You can get it all at Dale Jr. Foods.com. Let's go off the grid. Okay, so earlier in the show, Mike, you were talking about 2004. What a great season that was for Dale and our Jr. And a lot of us compare each season to kind of that one because of the success that they had that year. Well, it's interesting you say that because that's exactly what I asked Dale Jr. on his bus before the Texas race.

So some of what you're going to hear is Steve LaTart talking about how there's three races left, and you'll hear some of that from Dale Jr. But the bigger point is how much Dale Jr. thinks of the success they're having now compared to then. Steve LaTart talking about if he could have any race back, I bet you know what the answer to that is. And then at the very end, what T.J. Major says about the maturity of the driver is very interesting as well. You will not hear my question because Junebug ate the question. and got rattled and hit the wrong button on the recorder. So just to be clear, you're still using that excuse for two weeks in a row.

No, I'll use it for the rest of my career. Gotcha. But we did pick up Dale Jr.'s answer when he talked about what happened in 2004. And to clarify, guys, like you said, if they say there's three races to go, that's because this interview took place right before the Texas race last week. That's true. So Saturday night before the Texas race, here's Dale Jr. Steve LaTart and T.J. Majors.

I think I said a curse word at Taledega and just cost myself a lot of points, not really realizing the weight of the situation and the way to the opportunity. I didn't understand, you know, just really kind of let things sort of get out of control and get away from me. And I think I learned a lot. But then, you know, that didn't, that hadn't paid off, you know, knowing all that information and knowing, knowing I needed to take it more seriously or what have you. didn't hasn't paid off but over these last several years we've had uh we've had the performance i think i've had the performance uh in the last few years uh that the kind of performance you need to win titles and championships and especially this year we've really put put some good races together and a couple things go differently we might be in the middle of it but um we're definitely right

they're right around the corner from it, I feel like. You feel that way, Stevie? Yeah, if I could have one race back all this year, it would be Chicago. I think as much as I would love to have all those wins and like to have all the trophies, I really think that if we could go back and look at Chicago and I look at the points and the points we gave up to Chicago and where we sit now, you know, we wouldn't be up there with the front of two, but we'd be sitting where Jeff is or right around there, maybe just a little in front of Jeff.

And I agree with Dale. In 2007, I don't think I was mature enough to realize the opportunity I had to win championship with Jeff Gordon. We led the points with five to go and lost to Jimmy, who won four of the last five races. I don't think we really lost it to us. He basically won it. He went up and took it. But I really wish I could do that year again, and I went into that year thinking this was

going to happen a lot. And I didn't realize. I was young to realize how competitive this sport was, and those situations didn't come all the time. And I really think this year we have that opportunity still to go get some wins. But if we could have Chicago back, we could be sitting here probably not as relaxed. which would be great. A little bit more pressure with three to go. We'd have a good shot at. TJ, you see it from the roof. I mean, these guys have as much speed as anybody right now.

Yeah, I mean, we've had a lot of shots to win races this year. We ran really good. And we went to some places, you know, where we struggled at and ran good. I mean, we had a good phoenix in the spring, a decent Phoenix. Went to Sonoma places we don't really, you know, expect to run good. But, you know, we should. And we did run good. And I've watched the, you know, not really been involved. and everything, but I've watched the team grow, and I've watched, you know, junior get more confidence in Stevie and learn and grow up quite a bit in the last two,

three years as well. And it's definitely a championship-containing team, I think. Well, a lot of experience in that room, a lot of experience in that interview of people, you know, you learn from the past that 2004 season, that was my first with Dale Jr. And so that one, I can tell you every race, almost every lap of that. that season. We won the Daytona 500 and, you know, right out of the box. You know, we won Atlanta.

And then we went through this dry spell in the summer. And, uh, but then there we were right there continuing for a championship. And that one still just stings a little bit. He said there at the beginning when he, when he cussed in Tal'Daga, did you guys know that something was going to happen because of that right away? Like as soon as you left the track, you're like, uh-oh. It was, here's the story on that. When he said that in Victory Lane, none of us thought it was a big deal.

When we got into the van to go to the press box to do our post-race, you know, winners press conference, we had heard from David Poole, who I loved, but he certainly liked to stir the box. He was making a big deal about this, the fact that he used profanity in this Victory Lane celebration. And David was not going to let it go. and that's when we knew that, okay, so this thing is not just going to go brush by. We know this is probably going to come back and by. We didn't know to what extent. I certainly didn't think they were going to take points away.

I mean, because this was, you know, anybody wants to tell me that NASCAR conspires to help Dell Jr. They took points me from Cuss. Can kiss my butt because, you know what, they took him out of the lead of the points with, what, five races to go. You know, your most popular driver is about to win a championship. and they took him out because he said a word. Don't ever talk to me about conspiracies. It's the best response to that ever, really. All right, it's time for reaction theater.

Let's see what you think. Here we go. You're very good race today. You finished foot. Fricking Kevin Herrick, Lucky's borg in the world. But I tell you something. I have a question for you, Dale. Why are you not wrecked Jimmy Johnson?

In Russia, we don't have teammates. We have targets. And once again, Go Dale Jr. Let me say a great job by the Duke crew. They screwed us early, but they pulled it through later on, got us the P4. I'd also like to say a little something to the so-called members of Dale Junior Nation. Junior Nation.

You can't be a member of Junior Nation, and then as soon as a competitor, anybody, anybody who's not a Yale Junior wins, you like to congratulate them on Twitter. As soon as the checkered flag flies. Sorry, Junior Nation is a one-driver nation. Guess what? I think Bobby Lobani Nation is looking for people. If you want to be like that, go follow him. Let me get a Dale Yeah. Hampton Guard 88, West Coast Gal 88. Follow them if you want the truth. Later on.

Here it is, short and sweet. FU Chicago land, suck and I hate you. Go, Jr., Dale yeah, we might get fourth in this point thing. I want to quote our good friend at NASCAR chasm. on Twitter today, just to shut up everybody. Junior with loose wheel because Rick Hendrick gives Jimmy all the good nuts. So everybody's bitching a moment about that one pit stop. Please shut the fuck up and pardon my language.

Great top five today once again. Good win, Miami. Peace. After the race today, Junior mentioned how lucky Harvick is, which got me to thinking. I know that all these NASCAR guys are good friends, but given where Harvick said that Jimmy kept his lucky horse, shoe, I'm really not comfortable with the fact that Harvard is obviously wearing it now. Mike Davis, you want to shut down Junior Motorsports 360? Now we get a loose wheel. I'm going after

your job, buddy. Vote for me next year. I want to take your seat. Well, at least Jenny didn't win again this week. Really disappointed that we had a loose wheel, but team made an awesome recovery. They'll drove an awesome race, and we got on a sudden other top five. For God's sakes, next year, could we please race the entire year for a championship instead of racing 26 races just to get in the stupid cake? I'm really proud of the team. I love them to death, but I'm sick and tired of being treated like to also run at HMS. Hey, Mike, you said it best.

Every time Junior's in the kitchen, Jim is in the kitchen. eating up all the points, taking all the trophies. Hey, are we want some points? We want a trophy? I blame JJ. There yes. Oh, God, that was awesome. Fourth, after all of that, fourth, I am so proud.

That was wonderful. You got fifth and the points. That's awesome. I think this is probably one of Dale's best years. That's great Dale yeah I want to start by thanking all of the veterans for their service to our country

Last year had a great season Bad Chase This year had a mediocre season Great Chase Next year it's going to be a great season Great Chase Looking forward to it And Mike and Taylor

Roll Tile Yeah Oh my God not again Jimmy Johnson Jimmy Johnson I'm so freaking sick of Jimmy Johnson vanilla Who likes vanilla anymore

With so many flavors out there Well I tell you what I just attended this race out here In Phoenix Arizona I've seen one 88 car And one driver And the crew That worked extremely hard

And they overcome a lot of adversity To end up with a fourth place tennis Dale Jr. is the man. I'm just racking off top tens. It's kick-ass. Hopefully we'll get a win at Homestead, but if not, we're going to win like six races next year if we keep running like this.

I mean, this is just great. And it sucks that next week's last week, but, you know, Daytona will show up quick and we'll go get us at Daytona 500 championship. So you guys have a great week. And Dale, yeah. Man, we fucking had overcome losing f*** nuts. We had a race around fucking up.

We stayed through fucking crashing. All of you just tasting that fucking wind like Hoag's tasting fucking chicken jerky. Hey, man. When shit's up, we got to. Hey, Stevie, say, thank you, down 10 pounds. I want to tell you, I'm really proud how you guys race all spring through Texas,

and I'm proud of how you race in the chase. Let's get out of baseball, man. You think big picture too much. You got to race. You can't be happy just to get a chase. You got to go for it. I was thinking thanks to Davis about the movie Friday. Here's what I feel like.

We're in the kitchen and we got a big-ass bowl of cereal. We ain't got no milk, Stevie. They ain't got no wins. They ain't got no milk. Come on. Let's focus. Let's get us some ws. I want to race next year. 36 damn races from start to finish. Each one with no ongoing line after win. Not to make a damn chase to win a damn race. Hell yeah. So again, folks, reaction theater is open 24-7. All you have to do is call toll-free like it's 1983. 1-8-55-7.7. 9202. Leave us your voicemail message. We'll play the best each week right here on Dirty

Mo Radio. You got one more shot next week. 1-855-740 1902. And don't forget that there are four flavors of Dale Jr. potato chips, crispy original, zesty jalapino, creole and green onion, and Carolina barbecue. Go to Dale jrfoods.com right now and get yours today. Stevie, throw the white flag. All right, well, it's a nice easy week for Dale Jr. on the scheduling front. He'll do his regular competition meetings this week and then get ready for Homestead. One quick note from Dell's sponsors. Remember, we're looking for Dale's fastest fan. You can upload your video or get tagging instructions at the Goodies Headache Relief Shop Facebook page.

Huge Martinsville Race Weekend package is up for grabs, and all you have to do is video yourself doing something fast. Here's your TV schedule for the Homestead weekend. The Sprint Cup series race is Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern and will be shown on ESPN. The Nationwide Series is the day before on Saturday. That race will start at 4.30 p.m. Eastern and also be televised on ESPN. And by the way, a very nice championship battle shaping up there between Sam Hornish and Austin Dillon. Now, Regan Smith sits in third place. He's 50 some odd points back, but he is the raining race winner at Homestead.

So also be able to look out for our final legitimate J.RM 360 of the year this Thursday at JarmR Racing.com. Now we'll do an outtakes episode next week, which, you know, Taylor, I don't mess up a whole lot. Yeah, right. You know. Yeah, no. Not many outtakes. Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, you probably could do 10 of those.

and you said final legitimate JRM of 360 of the year, right? Yeah. All right, you're going to keep this going, moving forward? I think we established that I really don't have a choice, right? I'm so glad. Dale Jr. says, the hell with that idea. This will be back next year, as will Dirty Moe Radio. We got one more to go on the Dale Jr. download.

Hope you're with us next week for Dustin Lee and Mike Davis. I'm Taylor-Zarzer. This has been the Dale Jr. download. 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.