The Dale Jr. Download - 421 - A Dream Opportunity

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis have reunited in the Bojangles Studio to kick off a great week of the Dale Jr. Download. After a weekend that saw breaking news out of the NASCAR world, the guys unpack: Beach trip expectations and preferences (1:00) Are the NASCAR on Fox driver animations changing? (13:37) Chase Elliott’s snowboarding injury (17:10) Josh Berry’s big opportunity (31:20) When the Download gang hopped on Youtube Live to for Ask Jr., (44:07) listeners sent in questions about: Former drivers in race director positions What it's like having a driver sub in for you The angriest Dale has ever been at another driver Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. I'm willing to take responsibility for my imagination, taking off and running, in a direction all by itself, and thinking that it's going to be this way. In my mind, no, man, we're plopping down. I get good vibes from wide-ass open on the beach. I'm going to make a statement that I think is controversial, and it'll probably get me some hate. Uh-oh. That's what you're a great That's a cold take right there.

The Dale Jr. Download. Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. It is Tuesday, March the 7th. This is episode 421. Dirty Air and Ash Jr. on deck. With me, as usual, in the Bojangles studio is my co-host, Mike Davis. Mike, how are you? I'm well, bud.

How are you doing? I'm all right. Pretty good, I guess. Did you have a good weekend? I had a good weekend. Good. A bit stressful. at times, but pretty good.

Amy put a post on her Instagram. We went to the beach and enjoyed that. And it was good. Good. You ever go to the beach? Yeah, a couple times a year. All right, let me ask you a question. So when you go to the beach, are you,

is it, are you going out there for, you know, 30 minutes, an hour, just kind of taking the bare minimums? Or are you the dad who packs it up, man, you got the cart? You're going to spend, you know, good 45 minutes to an hour kind of preparing, getting everything on to the cart, you know, situate your chairs, maybe an umbrella, whether you've got one of those other things

that ain't an umbrella, whatever it is, do you take, you know, music, food, snacks, drinks? I'm the first one. Minimum. I'm the first one. I don't want to make it my central core reason for being out there.

The beach is part is an accessory to the overall experience, so like, we'll pack a bag. Hmm. Bulls. Is that? I don't like you. You're the other one. Tell me. You and my wife are the same.

Okay. You and my wife are the same way. Yeah. I love all of the traditional, you know, when you become a parent, and when you decide, you know what, I'm not going to be single anymore, I'm getting married, and then I'm going to have kids and I'm going to have, I'm going to do this family thing. You buy in, you're full on.

I know you've done this. And then you start to think about all of the things that you did in your childhood that involved your family or you as a child that you enjoy. right and and you want to you want to experience new things that you haven't experienced before as a you as a family and one of those things is which i never strived to own a house at the beach i never thought man you know one day that's a goal of mine uh it just kind of happened and when that became uh you know that became an opportunity for me you know and we're going to spend time there, I'm thinking, man, I cannot

wait for that traditional packet shit all up, go out there at 10, 11 o'clock in the morning, put it down, have some lunch, listen to music, make some sandcastles, play some games, playing in the sand, swim in the water, and it's a two to four hour experience.

You know, you sit down and you camp. It's f***ing, man. Yeah. And so... It sounds like it. Yeah. And look, I'm the, I am 100% willing to put all this shit together loaded up, you know, and I'm 100% willing to put all the shit back

in the cart and bring it home and wash all the freaking sand off of it. I'm happy to do all of this work. Good, because that's necessary for it to happen. 100%. That's what we're lacking, the person to want to do all that. You're that guy, though. I'm good with that.

I love, that gives me, I get good vibes from putting it together, organizing it, getting it just like you know just like prepping a brisket right for the barbecue i enjoy doing that just like getting all the together to go hunting it ain't the shot that's the fucking fun part it's the actual prep getting ready to go i agree with that yeah i enjoy doing that to go to the beach and then going out there if i'm taking all that out there i ain't sitting there for an hour i'm going to go out there and spend four hours right now i know the kids get tired and when those when those things happen

you go ahead and say, all right, we're bailing on this. Kids are tired. It's time to go back. I mean, literally, our house is right at the beach. So, I mean, if we want to put one kid, you know, take one kid back, or somebody needs to go use a bathroom, or somebody's hungry or whatever, you know, the back, you know, we don't have to pack it all up. But if it's, if the day, if it's obvious that the kids are tired and want to go home, all right, fine, I'll pack it all back up.

Nobody else has to do a thing, but that's the way I am. And, and I, man, Amy's not quite that way. I mean, she don't mind, but, you know, I don't want to make a big deal. I'm not trying to throw her under the bus here, but I was just curious. I must be, I must be in a, I must be unique in that way. I mean, when I go out to the beach and I look around, everybody else's production is pretty damn big. I don't see no minimalist out there. Everybody else got chairs and toys and shit playing everywhere.

Yeah, no, I don't think you're alone. I think that there's a lot of people like you. The tradition, yeah, I mean, I think I am in the, in the traditional sense. that's the most like everybody else. Maybe. I just will make the point and you hit on it is that I am that guy when I know that the plans

will follow through, which is also another way of saying that is when I know I'm by myself. And you bring up hunting, I am that way. I will pack my bags. I will put a lot of thought and effort to it because I know that it will,

the plans that I have for myself will follow through and nothing will change. If you add kids to the equation, just plan for it not to go the way you thought it would. Okay. And so I'm not willing to go put forth the effort and pack all the things and all the stuff for them just to tell you

that they don't want to do it or they or that there's something else that I didn't think about. I don't let don't put myself in that situation. You're right. And that's the part that I don't know, all right? I'm still new enough in this whole thing as a dad that I haven't packed all the shit up, drug it all the way out there to be turned back around back to go back to the house 30 minutes later. I haven't done that enough times to go, you know, what this ain't worth. Because I'll throw a tantrum. And if I get turned around, I will throw a tantrum and

people around me will know it. Oh, man. Well, that's an interesting, you know, we talked a lot about, we talked a little bit about parenthood or, you know, being a dad and all that stuff. And it seemed to, you know, people seem to react to it. Really appreciated the conversation. We got texts. Yeah. We did. We did. So, did something happen at the beach this weekend? Did you and Amy have a, not an argument or anything, but did, did something happen that made you think? think that you were wondering if other people were like you? No, no, no. Okay.

Me and Amy, so, you know, I will say, hey, man, which day are we going to dedicate to going out to the beach? Okay, let's look at the weather. You know, Saturday's the warmest. That's a good, you know, clear, warm, sunny. Let's go. Let's do Saturday. Okay.

So Friday, we're going to hang around, do something else. And so in my mind, I'm like, all right, man, Saturday's the day, boy, 10 o'clock. my animalese downstairs i'm gonna start getting the cart ready i'm gonna get the what your umbrella i'm gonna take i got a couple sets of chair yeah oh yeah what do we gonna take this what is it what is that damn thing it's just the the wind the wind and it carries you and it makes a shade yes yeah whatever that is yeah it's like a parasail for the ground it's got a name i can't remember what it is but uh we got all of them we got them all right i got options and so i got options and chairs i got old original Budweiser beach chairs.

Dude, I got a Budweiser umbrella. All that's from when I was a rookie. I got all that. So, dude, I've been ready for this for decades. And you've just been waiting to basically activate all these things. And so, you know, I'm like, yeah, man, I can't wait. And then when the day comes, Sunday comes, I'm like, all right, ready to do this. And she's like, well, she's like, you know, we'll go out there for a little bit.

You know, I was got to go down for a nap and this. And I'm like, she's like, you know, I don't want to take all, I don't want to be a big production. We'll just go out there and, you know, maybe we'll just go walk. Maybe we'll just take dogs and the kids and just go walk. I'm like, whoa. Like it's not, I don't know, I'm, you know, I'm willing to take responsibility for my imagination taking off and running in a direction all by itself

in thinking that it's going to be this way when in her mind, she's doing this other thing. Like, man, we're just going to go walk. We're just going to go out to beach for a little bit, let the kids play until they get tired and come back. In my mind, no, man, we're popping down. So I think I'm going to make a statement that I think is controversial, and it'll probably get me some hate. Uh-oh. But I will just throw it out there because I think it's worth discussing.

You do this to yourself every week. I know, I know, and I'll regret it. But I am of the camp that thinks the beach is overrated. And so, oh, I got, did Alex Tim? No, I agree you're going to get some hate. That's what you're agreeing upon. That's a cold take right there. Listen, I go to the beach a couple times a year.

I go to the beach a couple times a year, but let's just be clear what comes with the beach. You know, you better bring the sunscreen because you're going to get sunburned if not. Put you on it on sunscreen is not an enjoyable experience. Hey. Sand is in between, it's all in your clothes, and it gets in places that don't feel good. The water's going to usually be cold. Do you even get in the ocean? Do you get in the ocean?

Do you swim? I do when it's warm. Yeah. So it's like, you know, it's very temperature sensitive to that ocean. doesn't have an automatic heater. You know, might get, I've been caught by a jellyfish before. Not fun. Harts like hell.

I'm just saying, I go to it once a year. It is relaxing. But then the things that come into the beach experience can also detract from the relaxation. Well, if the jellyfish doesn't sting you, you don't get, you don't get pissed on by your, by your spouse. Good point. And then we don't have a great story. I forgot about that. For the podcast.

She should have just pissed all over me. It would have been fine. One thing, too, man. I mean, these are simple, these are very simple adjustments that can be made to improve your beach experience. You're right. Like the sun tan, the, the, the sunscreen goes on at the house. No, yeah, I got it. So much, well, let's, let's, let's hear me hear me out.

Like, I'm, I'm, I'm like you. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a guy, I'm going to throw the shit in the bag and I'm going to put it on when I'm in the middle of, I'm out there in the sun and the sand, right? Which is a not as easy, right? You're rubbing that shit on and sands everywhere. You're grinding at it. You get sunscreen and sand mixed together. And yeah, I mean, so my wife, though, is much smarter, and she puts it on with the house when it's nice and everything. You know, it's easy to do.

And so, I mean, I don't know about the sand getting in certain places. I have not had that experience. Never? In a long, long time. Like when I was a kid, but I was wide-ass open on the beach. Now I kind of try to sit on a towel or do things to try to keep the sand from going in certain places. Yeah. You know.

But the sand ends up on the towel. Not if you're particularly careful. Yeah. I mean, look, I got a two-year-old. She threw sand all over our ass. At least that don't be. I mean, it got everywhere. Yeah.

Yeah, well, look, again, I go a couple times a year. It's relaxation. I'm just saying I don't go look forward to a day at the beach because it's not the ultimate piece that I would need. So I have this, when I ride in an old car, I want to hear old music. Mm-hmm. Right. And the vibe at the beach for me, I just, I'm very nostalgic, man, and I just want to tap back into that, that, you know, 70s, that very, very young part of my life. You know, being at the beach with my dad and my mom back in the late 70s and early 80s. So when I sit down on the beach, I put on the oldies or I put on, you know, classic rock and I turn it, I bring the speaker I can bring because I don't want it to sound perfect, you know, and I try to create this. sort of vibe, right? Throw my chairs down, get my old ass Budweiser chair out. You know, all the stuff

is dated and old and I don't know. I just enjoy, you know, kind of roughing it, if you will, on the beach. So I'm that thorough and that much, I put that much thought into it, right? And my wife is not that way at all. She's like, we're going out there, we're going to let the kids play, we're coming back. We're going to go for a walk. We're going to do, it's going to, we're going to have some function. Dog's going to get the walk. Dog's going to get energized. We're going to, you know, it's, I'm more into the experience and the vibe of it,

I guess, that I'm trying to create this. I'm going to be honest with you. Everything you just said sounds awesome, right? Like, it sounds awesome. And if the plans that you just said actually happened, I would enjoy that. I would enjoy that. I mean, yeah, we take sandwiches out there and pre-made all that stuff. It's awesome.

Anyway, hey, what kind of, what are you? Are you just carrying a book to the beach? Are you taking the dog for a walk? Are you pulling a cart full of shit? Let us know. Anyways, I was watching the, I was watching the Fox broadcast the last couple of weeks, and then I also heard Denny on Action's Detrimental talk about the cartoon faces,

and he said that he thinks they're going away. Is there any movement on that? Because he said there was a photo shoot or something where they tried to capture some headshots of the drivers that he thinks may end up becoming, what they use, like they may be moving away from this cartoon stuff. I heard him say there was a photo shoot, but then they haven't changed anything yet. Well, maybe it takes a little time.

Do you guys love the cartoons? No. Yeah. No. Everybody's got six-pack. Everybody's got muscles. And some of them just don't look realistic. They don't look real.

Yeah. Like my daughter's, I told my daughter is a fan of Noah. My four-year-old, I'm like, Noah's going to race today. She's like, cool. And so we're getting ready to watch the, the start of the race. And I said, more than likely, Noah's going to be on the screen. So watch the screen, because the guys are kind of meandering around about their cars.

The anthem's happening. And I said, they might show Noah. And we got cartoon Noah. And she had no freaking clue when cartoon Noah popped up on the screen. And so I'm like, there's no one. And she's like, where? I don't know what the, I missed it. And I'm like, well, yeah, kind of.

And so while I think the intent and the effort was, was, was nice and and I just feel like that they need real images so that we new fans can recognize this is who this guy is what he looks like we have to build brand equity in our sport and the drivers and the stars need to be visible you got to know who you're looking at and that's what the cartoons don't give you right other than that I'm have no problems but you just hit it on head there's it that's it that's why I don't love them yeah well I hope then he's right I hope that there was a secret photo shoot to capture what they need to be able to kind of move away from this. But, I mean, I haven't seen,

I've seen a lot of, a lot of people, you know, that don't favor it. I mean, I've, I don't know if I, a lot of time, I try, I mean, you know, social media is not a great place to go get your, you know, get the poll of the nation, right? But for the most part, I see, I see, you know, the same sort of opinion that I have. I haven't seen anybody like it. Yeah. From what I see. If you like it, I mean, let us know. I would love to hear from somebody. who says, man, I love the fucking cartoons. Do they exist? Yes.

I don't know. I love the cartoon. Hey, I'll admit I'm a hypocrite in this because while I don't love the cartoons and I just told you the reason why, I also would love it if they went back to like the 1985 or 1990 version of introducing the lineup with pictures that are about the same quality as a Polaroid picture. My wife said. They're cut out.

It looks like it's kind of, and they've got the whole lineup. Like, I would love to go back old school like that. Amy walked in the room and thought. for a moment that I was playing the Xbox. Almost, you're talking about with those cartoons? I would even say they'd be go so far as going Nintendo quality. Yeah.

Maybe a Super Nintendo. Yeah. Hey, big, this is a big week. This is a Cars Tour opener this week. We'll talk about that a little bit more on Thursday's show, but just want everybody to know that this weekend is the first race of the season. Southern National Motorsports Park. You can check out Cars Tour website for all the information there.

Some big happenings in NASCAR. Unfortunately, Chase Elliott has an injury snowboarding. There's a lot of talk about, you know, oh man, what should, you know, should drivers be limited on what they can do? And I got a very brief opinion on that. I want to hear it. Really? Okay.

I didn't even text you this weekend because I wanted to hear it on the show. Yeah. So, all right. Chase is snowboarding. Great. He's apparently very good at it. And I don't know what happened. I have no details, but he's got, you know, he injures his legs.

So he's out of the car for, he's got a non-weight-bearing injury that it's going to take some time, right? And so there's no perfect timeline. They will just go week to week with trying to put drivers in that car that makes sense. and until Chase is ready to go, right? He'll go probably practice somewhere, drive a race car somewhere, and say, hey, yeah, I feel pretty good. And so when that happens is when it happens. But I think that the responsibility of the risks a driver takes outside of his role is his choice or her choice.

All right. If you want to go do things, go do things. And you assume that risk and you, hopefully somebody in your camp's going, look, man, I know you want to do this. Here's what you're getting paid by the cup team. Here is the insurance coverage that we have that would handle any kind of injury or worse. and so, you know, if there's an injury that limits you for a couple weeks, this is the repercussions. If there's an injury that knocks you out of NASA, you know, driving a race car entirely, here is the repercussions. So hopefully there's somebody that's letting this driver know, these are all the things that get triggered when certain things, certain dominoes fall. And as long as you have that information and understand all of those. repercussions, go do whatever you want to do.

And, you know, there's some things that I wanted to do, and I did do, there's some things I didn't do. I, for example, I had just signed a new deal with Rick Hendrick in 08, just signed one. I was making substantially more money than I ever made at DEI. And so this is a very brand new, new thing. I just got a big raise, right? Everybody put yourself in this situation, right? You've been working a job.

You get a new job with a substantial raise, and then you go on a trip with your family to Aspen. I'm not a skier, not good at it, hardly ever done it. Most everybody that went wanted to ski. I was willing to go, give it a try. And somebody in my group said, hey, man, you know you just sign that new thing? You don't know how to ski.

maybe this ain't for you. Maybe this trip, you don't do it. Now, I ended up going and skiing years later, but in that moment, maybe it was a good choice not to ski. But that's a personal choice, and always should be a personal choice. That's my opinion about it. So hopefully there's people that are around each driver, making sure they have all that information that they need. If you get injured today, here's what happens. Now, do you want to go do the things? thing, if you do, go do it. But just no going forward, that's the risk you take. I think that's fair enough. What do you think, Mike? Well, I agree with you, but you say that they know the risks involved.

And as it pertains to the conversation about Chase Elliott, I'm curious, and I was going to ask you this, the waiver sort of eliminates that risk because now they have a pathway to make the playoffs without and still be able to miss some races. My question is, is there other repercussions? In other words, and I know you could probably only speak to your deal, but aside from losing points, if you would have been gone skiing and you would have injured yourself, you would have lost points and you would have lost seat time. Would you have also lost money?

Yeah, probably. I mean, there's, I can't be sure. I can't sit here right now and say, I would have lost this. but how disappointing would it have been for Rick Hendrick to have just hired me? Yeah. And for me to go on this trip immediately after that and come back and go, hey, man, I got a broke leg. Oh, no. I completely agree with that. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I am of the belief, and just like you are, that, you know, these guys need to live their life and we shouldn't go hamper it. But I also understand why you wouldn't want them to. And Rick Hendrick would be the example of that. And Rick Hendrick is the one that now doesn't have.

his show pony in the nine car. And sure, they've got a pathway to a playoff. But I'm wondering if there's repercussions for drivers, you should be able to live your life, but you also know that there's other repercussions that if you choose to go skiing or you choose to go racing in a dirt race, or you choose to go do this,

there's repercussions that aren't just, can you make the playoffs? I'm sure there are, Mike. That's what I'm wondering. Well, I'm sure that if you're not in the race, you can't make any money, right? and drivers are, you know, we don't know the answer to what a contract looks like. Right. And they're all different, I'm sure. They are different. Guys getting paid a base salary, then he's probably in pretty decent shape even if he gets injured.

But if a guy, like in the last couple of years of my contract, I was getting paid more off of race winnings. A big substantial part of my income was from what I got in the race, right? Or what the car won in the race. And if you do it that way, which I don't. know how they do it these days. It's been enough times that there's probably a change, but that driver is going to be in a bit of trouble because he's not on the track competing. You know, and I'll be, maybe everybody's different. I don't, I don't go assume that risk thinking about the next race or the points in the next race or the championship at the end

of the season or the playoffs. I'm, you know, I don't think that those are the things that weigh on your mind. What weighs on your mind in making these decisions to go drive another race car somewhere else is the very long term. You know, if I get injured and I'm out, you know, for a substantial period of time, or I do something to myself that, you know, might question, might force my employer to question my ability going forward, right? You know, you go out there and suffer a concussion.

You know, that unfortunately has a bit of a stigma tied to it. And so, you know, those are the things that I worried about if a broke ankle or a broke leg, that kind of thing can heal. Yes, you're going to miss some time. It might affect that particular season. in a bad way, but that wasn't, no, that wasn't enough for me. And I don't know that it is enough for other drivers to, there's other things that are bigger that you worry about.

It's much more like, you know, I don't, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe some drivers are very, you know, hey man, I can't do this or won't do this. I'm worried about the points. I'm worried about the playoffs. I'm worried about the championship. I was, I thought larger, like, I'm worried about how am I, employer feels. I think that that's an admirable thing to think about, and yet I don't know that all of them do. What, it's not so much, hey man, yeah, it's more like, what do you think,

what is, what is my employer think? What is my advisors think? Yeah. What is, you know, it's really all about how do they feel about this? And if something did happen, how would you feel and how, you know, you gauge the room, you read the room. And that would make, that would help you make your decision. But anyhow, we're getting into weeds a little bit. I think that, you know, Chase should be able to go out there and do what he wants. He'll get this thing healed up and he'll come back strong. I think, you know, I don't know. I think that Chase really as unfortunate as this is,

I think that when we look back on Chase's career, I have a feeling that this is going to have a positive impact on his appreciation. and for his job, I think, how could it not, right? You get something taken from you that you love so much. He is going to come back hungrier, more determined, more he is going to, he is going to, he will probably really appreciate the opportunity, you know, more than he ever did. And so I think that he will be a much better race car driver. when he comes back.

As unfortunate as the situation is, I mean, I'm always a silver-line kind of person trying to figure out, hey, man, what's the good in this? How can, what can be taking from this and used in a good way? I just feel like that this is going to impact him long-term, positively in terms of how he approaches his role as a race car driver. And, you know, he's already damn good.

and if this makes him just any better, I think it's a real possibility for that to happen. Can I just say this? I've seen some emphatic opinions about this on both sides, right? And then the camp, you know, I even saw Kyle Petty come out going, I cannot believe there's so many people that are against this medical waiver. And I saw his statement. And I understand where Kyle Petty's coming from,

but I would assume, and you guys correct me if I'm wrong, the argument against the waiver is only to say it's if you don't earn a spot in the playoffs, then, you know, the right way, then you don't belong, much like the people that did not like that Kyle Bush years ago got a medical waiver and then end up winning the championship, having missed 10 or 11 races, right? Isn't that what happened? Isn't that the argument? And if it is the argument, I understand it. I do understand it. I just end up falling on, I want our sport to have the stars in the show when it matters. And I, even if it means that they're getting, getting waivers and they didn't necessarily earn it the old traditional way. And I also think that

you don't want to encourage people to race injured because the concussions is one example. If you had Kurt Bush or Bowman last year racing with a concussion, those are way more severe consequences with that that you just don't want to introduce. And Ricky Craven and other people have talked about racing injured before and it's just not good. But that's, I understand both sides of the argument. Am I understanding the counter right? Yeah, I think so. I think that. I think that's part of it. I think another part of it is getting hurt in the car on track versus getting hurt outside. Oh, clearly. If you're getting hurt on the car on the track, that's not the way that thing comes down. That's not the issue. Yeah. Yeah. It's when you're doing the extracurricular

activities or potentially racing in other series that it's not part of your primary, you know, that's yeah. The example I've heard a lot is when Tony Stewart had that ATV accident as more of the comparison to what this is with Chase, more than like Kyle Bush's, but Kyle went on to win the championship so I think that path is a lot easier yeah I'm sure that this has been talked around in circles in this in in in the public but you know you have I don't I don't mind it the waiver the bigger conversation for me is set the rules before the game starts amen to that we all play by those rules during the game never at one point during the middle of the game do the rules get changed and if if the waiver is

described in a way that a driver that gets injured outside of the race car is allowed the waiver just in the same right that someone's injured inside the car, then fine. I have no problem with that. And not that NASCAR is, you know, I just, I don't like when something happens in the middle of the season and we've got a new, and they set a new precedent midstream, right? Mid, mid-race, mid-season. I know things happen out of our control and unforeseen things happen that we never would imagine and we have to adjust on the fly, but I don't have a problem with it. You know, players in other sports injure themselves in all types of ways off the field.

They can come back and be a part of that team when they're healthy and go on to the championship game if that's, you know, the success that they have. and they're they're they're they're I guess it's no different uh you know for chase so I um you know I'm I'm I'm just uh I'm just interested to watch him come back what you know and and how I'm I'll be I think the one thing that I'm looking forward to is um here in his remarks when he's when he's ready to sit down in front of the media and and talk about his experience and when he starts to get back on the track and the the interviews around the car and before and after the race and before and after performance, I'm looking forward to hearing his

comments, you know, and seeing how this has affected him. Josh Barry gets to drive the nine car this past weekend at Las Vegas, an incredible opportunity for Josh. And, you know, Josh is, I forget sometimes how, you know, how many, you know, how many how few of the races he's got in the Xfinity series. I know he's been trying, in my mind, he's been doing it for a really long time, but the reality of the situation is, is he's got, he's got just a handful of starts.

So an opportunity like this, he's drove in the Cup Series before, but this was in a really, really competitive race car and incredible opportunity. I was on the phone with Josh a ton leading up to this, and I talked to Jeff Gordon, Rick, and everybody, Allen at HMS and text message and so forth. And I was just really thankful for Josh to get this chance to be asked to do it. What an honor. And now I would not want to be, I would have not wanted to be in Josh's shoes,

having no experience in the next-gen car with the rack and opinion steering. I drove the car at Daytona and a few other times, and it's completely foreign to me. and the low profile tire you have it's completely far into the typical tire that we've raced for years with the taller sidewall so all of those things would I would want as much time as you could possibly allow me to get adjusted to this car to be able to get up to speed and heck if I jumped in an Xfinity car today I would need two four hours before I felt like I could be on on par with the other guys that we have racing here at junior motor sports. And so I was not envious of Josh's situation having to get in there and just get a couple

minutes of practice. But looking at the lap times, I felt like, you know, in the first couple stages of the race, he was sort of figuring it out. And I guess there was a couple issues with the car in the third final stage that affected the performance. But anyhow, I told him, you know, I know it didn't go. the way he wanted it to go. But if they give him another opportunity to do this, you know, next week,

he needs to look at this as, you know, he's stumbled onto a pot of gold. This is, this, I'm trying, instead of looking at this, so this is a deeper conversation, you heard me say, man, I would not want to be in his shoes. But you don't want to say that to Josh or anybody. with that kind of opportunity. Right. You want to say, hey man, what an incredible chance to fill in for Chase Elliott and drive his race car and try to help those guys out. What an incredible, incredible opportunity, right?

So trying to keep Josh understanding and going into it with a really positive approach, I think is really important. because it is like, man, it's climbing Everest. And you've never, you've never climbed any mountain in your life, right? You don't know how this equipment works. You have nothing about altitude change and so forth. And what are the practices? And it's just a monumental task. And so, but I thought he did a good job.

And, you know, I know he was disappointed. And I was too with how it went. I was sick to my stomach. But I watched every single lap time that he ran. every lap he ran and laid away call night Sunday, wondering if he would get a chance to go back and do it again. And, you know, I don't know if they've even had an official announcement as to who's going to drive the car.

It reminds me a little bit about the Jimmy Means opportunity that you always talk about when he got to drive the Tim Richmond car, right? Is that right? Yeah, yeah. And so what an immense task and what an uphill climb that would be for him? But those are the moments that you get. They're challenging and they're hard. But those are the moments.

If you can make the most of that opportunity and impress the right people, man, are you fast-track into the front of the line to get those premium cup rides? And that's what I feel like Josh has right now. Well, Josh is driving in the Xfinity Series and has had some good success there. And so there are some cup teams looking at him and other drivers in the Xfinity Series. But there are teams looking at Josh saying, what does this guy have it? And so imagine here's a driver getting a chance to drive one of the best cars in the garage and he might get to drive it once if he's lucky twice. That's right.

Right. And in that sample size, people will then determine whether they want to see, you know, further, you know, pursue him as a driver for their cup car. Right. And so that could get hot or that could get really cold. Yeah. And I told Josh, I said, hey, man, you know, it didn't work out Sunday. If you get to drive it again, however that works out, it doesn't matter. You know, we'll move on.

You get a whole season to redeem yourself in this Xfinity car. It's not the end of the world. It's going to feel like it. It's going to feel like that you're driving the last laps you'll ever drive in a cup car. but there's ways to, you know, ignite that fire again and that interest in your career by going in that, you know, getting in that buckling down that infinity car and going out there and making it happen. And so, you know, I would hope that he gets another opportunity to drive a really good

cup car and I hope that it goes well. But, you know, it is, it is a, I cannot. So, you know, I had my last name. I had my dad. This guy came from Nashville, and he's here. He has nobody around him other than his wife, and he has no, he's on this deal on his own. He was out in Vegas, plopped into a cup car. I mean, I can't imagine the pressure and the nerves.

Yeah. It's not like he has a manager and all these other people to help help build him up. I grew up in this every day, and I was, for me. freaking nervous. Right. Driving, you know, my first, my first race. I felt pressure. But this guy has, for anybody like that, I mean, it really has made me appreciate, like,

the self-made driver, right? If you look at all the guys that have came up through it, and the guys are trying, like, like Zane Smith and some of these other young kids that are trying to get some traction, man, they are underneath some, they're in the vice. Yeah. It is insane. Right, right. And they're out, you know, it just really kind of puts it into perspective in terms of just kind of how difficult it can be mentally and emotionally.

But anyways, you know, we haven't seen an announcement on what's going to happen with the nine car as of this recording. But for me, you know, I'm hoping Josh is in it. I've heard a lot of other great ideas. What will they do going forward? Let's kind of step back and look at this nine car going forward. I think there's an opportunity at Kota to try. to, you know, maybe put a road course ringer, maybe do something completely outside of the box, you would want, you know, if I was a cup owner, I would say, hey, man, I'm going to look at, you know,

obviously the IndyCar series and even F1, right, and who's available? What big name could I bring in here and make a big splash and create a lot of conversation? Regardless of the result on the racetrack, what could I do? to really get nap a ton of exposure. So Cota's a chance. I'd say I'm kind of anxious to hear what Rick pulls out of his sleeve or out of his hat in terms of who might drive the car there. Do you have an idea?

Do you have an opinion? Not an idea of who they're doing. Do you have a vote? I don't know. What about beyond Cota? Like, to be honest with you, I've heard a couple people just, you know, like, man, Jimmy Johnson needs to go get in that car. too. Yeah. I wonder how, I wonder why, so okay, I wonder why, I wonder how that would happen,

Jimmy being now the owner of, of, legacy, legacy, legacy motor club. I mean, I got to think about that one. Jimmy's an owner of another team. It is Chevroletes, so I mean, I don't think that it would be impossible for him to unlock the, the gates to get into that car for, and I, and I, who knows who's calling them. I bet everyone. I bet everyone is calling them about driving that car. I've heard Corey LaJoy's name thrown around as a guy that a lot of people would love to see in that car. While I think that that would be incredible for Corey, I think that that would hurt Spire. Corey goes into the nine car. They have, Spire's running really good. They have a, so stepping back just a bit. They've got a, Spire has put a lot more into the seven car this year than they ever did

before. They are spending more money, more effort in an effort for that car to run better and progress themselves forward. It's a very valiant effort and honorable, if you ask me, I mean, think about where Spire was a couple years ago. We actually sponsored them and know quite a bit about their business model. And so here they are really kind of putting a true effort into this seven car to be competitive. And they are running well. He is running great. Going into Atlanta in a couple weeks where he almost had a chance to win there last year.

And so with all that momentum and that progress, if you plucked him out of there and put him in the nine car, great for Corey. He's going to get in his nine car and maybe go out there and win a race and show what he can do. he's got the talent. But I think it really puts Spire in a difficult situation to continue to progress. All right, that, they could actually regress a little bit. And then when Corey comes back, he's eventually going to have to get back in that car. It's nowhere near where it could be. And so I worry, you know, I think that I worry about that just a little bit. Remember when David Reagan took over the 18, when Kyle broke his leg and he was running like,

what, top 10, top 15, I feel like. Yeah. Yeah. And then he goes back to, I think he was front row and obviously doesn't have the same success. I don't know. That reminded me when you mentioned that. Well, I just worried that it would hurt Spire more than, and it would be detrimental to what they're trying to accomplish. This is the year that they really said, you know what, we're going in.

We're going to spend the money to be one of the teams, right? And so to do anything that might not allow them to net the result. So when they spend, when they commit as a team, they're running a very, very tight budget, all right? And when they commit these dollars, they need to know that the car is going to net a specific result every single week. They're racing, they're writing the check on Monday to pay for it on Sunday, right? And so they have to get these results. Corey's well aware of where this car needs to run. And so you take them out of there and the person that goes in can't get those results.

They have to spend less. They have to draw back on what they're willing to do. It could make things difficult. They have a plan, and that would upset the plan. But Rick has gotten creative before, and I will just say the time when you were out of the car, he did something that none of us saw coming. He put Jeff Gordon in the car. And I'm just saying, I don't know how likely or unlikely, but there's that idea.

I mean, he's been creative, and he can also. do deals with Spire as he's quite close to them and Dickerson and T.J. That he can provide them drivers and buy out rides and pay stuff. I mean, he can do a number of things that we'll see. Yeah. Well, I hope Josh gets another opportunity, but I will be, you know, I think that they could do some really exciting things while Chase is coming, you know, fighting and working his way back.

So it'll be interesting to see. Are we? Yeah, we are. All right, we're live. I hit the button and I didn't know if you're ready to go or not, but... All right, we're live here. Andrew has got all your questions ready for Ask Junior. Appreciate everybody tuning in.

Ask Junior presented by Xfinity. We've had some really, really good questions this year. So the pressure's on. Let's go. The pressure is on. This first one coming from Dave Trout, he said, I saw Bob Pockris tweet out that Jesse Little was the truck series race director for the Vegas race. Do you think former drivers should be looked at for roles like this in the future?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, this is, I think, you know, just like a crew chief that has some driving experience, he can so understand what a driver's thinking and doing. Anytime anybody's got any kind of experience as a driver, crew chief, all of those roles, I think are good for future NASCAR employees, right? Race directors, technical officials and so forth, if they've got any kind of experience from the competitor's perspective, I think it's really helpful. Because then when you get down and have to argue with that individual, they know the language.

Yeah. And they kind of can understand your point of view. And even if you don't agree or walk out of their winning the argument, at least you understand that that person knows what you mean, right? And so it's really frustrating when you're arguing with somebody in the organization or in NASCAR that hasn't drove or doesn't know the heat of the battle or hasn't experienced any of that. And so it's kind of tough to have those type of conversation. conversations with that style of person, but I'm sure that he is in a position where he's got a lot of support around him. He's not up there. I imagine he's probably not up there like just, you know, entirely, you know, in, you know, holding the reins solely. I think that he's

probably got his father and other people around him in the room, right, giving him advice. and helping him understand the things that are critical and things he needs to pay attention to in every single moment. So I bet he's got a lot of information coming at him at all times, and I hope it works out. I hope it works out for him. It's fascinating. He's young, just right out of the driver's seat,

making a major shift in his life and career. I can't imagine what that must be like. I'm sure that he'd still love to be a race car driver, if that had worked out for him. But yeah, I hope it works out. And I think that if he's given the right tutoring and support and resources, it could go really well. This next one we were talking about earlier with Chase Elliott,

you know, not being in the car, he's going to come back hungry or more determined. Do you remember the first time you felt when you had to watch your car on the racetrack and you weren't in it? It's weird, man. I'm going to be honest. You don't want it to go. well. There's half of you that wants it to not go well. There's other half of you that wants it to go well.

It's a really, really weird feeling. I'm going to just be clear, man, when you're not in the car, you're terribly conflicted and you don't have very, you know, you're probably not your best self in terms of how you want things to happen. You know, there were times when Regan was driving the car or Alex was driving the car. You know, I was, I wanted them to do well, but, not too damn good, you know, and I wasn't sure. You know, somebody else is going to drive the car. And what if they, what if the car goes way faster, right? You know, you've got an ego.

Hell yeah. You're like, no, man, I don't want, I don't want them to show me up. So whether a driver's really willing to admit that, I can admit it now because it's, you know, after the fact. But in the moment, you're certainly not going to hear drivers say those things. but yeah I think you know it's it's just like another player going into the game in your position you don't want them to go in there and score a bunch of points or or ball out and make you look bad but you've got a crew chief or members of the team that you want to have success and so and you you probably may like the guy that's actually driving the car as a friend right

like you want him to have a good day you want him to things I was I was in a bit of a pickle man because I didn't want Regan or Alex or Jeff to run super good, but I also wanted to see them do well. But the other thing, too, is, is like if you were struggling with the car, right, or whatever, and they go in there and they perform exactly the same, you get out and you go, man, what do you think is going on, right? You feel it?

You feel the things I'm feeling? and now you've got two drivers' opinions, you know, trying to push the team in the right direction. That's a good thing. And so, you know, there's a lot that happens when another driver gets behind the seat of a car. You'd never do that intentionally, but when it does happen, you know, it can provide some good information that can actually help the team. So there's a lot that happens, but not fun. It's not fun at all. I mean, you know, if you're Chase or anybody with an injury, you're dealing with that physical injury and the emotions with that,

but you're also watching your team go out there and compete, and it's just a lot happening. Yeah, I mean, like, you want to prove you're the best guy for the job. But, God, that does not seem like. I want to say, though, man, I was, you know, I've had very brief text conversations with Chase, and from what I can tell, he is handling this like a pro. He's on he's briefing with the team in the in the conference calls with the team I mean he's he's in direct contact with them all day long Trying to help them still prepare to be able to go to each race and do as well as possible

And so that he is understanding of what they're what they're doing what they're involved in So when he does come back it's almost seamless as it can be He understands everything they've been dealing with And so from what I can tell, man, he is handling it as well as you could possibly handle it. And, you know, but he's a pro. We talk about drivers that your buddies with that you're rooting for. And then we're going to go to Willie's question. What's the angriest that you recall being at a driver?

Yesterday. I was driving home from the beach and some jerk. So I'm driving, and I'm in the left lane. I'm in the left lane, right? And there's an exit ramp going off to the left, driving through Charlotte. There's an exit ramp going off to the left. And so I'm going to continue straight in my lane. Somebody behind me goes onto that exit ramp and then cuts in front of me, you know,

right in, like very close. And just to jump in front of me. And then, you know, and so there was a moment where I, You know, I throttled up and was going to, I don't know, we're going to have a little race. I don't know what I was going to do. Have a little race. Yeah. And then they look over and like, oh, my God.

I was going to do a little side drafting. I'm not sure exactly what I, I didn't have a plan. But my wife heard me throttle the car up and she goes, you got kids in the car. I was like, I do. And so I had to let the cowboy right away. I was pissed And I was pissed off So

You know what I've been mad about things on the racetrack But Just complete ignorance on the highway Man drives me crazy I'm sure That is a beautiful story I do want to know

If he's been that mad at another driver Like a race car driver That's the question I was asking But that was And I think that answer was brilliant Yeah I think, yeah, I mean, I was mad at Kyle that night in Richmond. I was really, really mad at Kyle that night.

What about Kyle at Phoenix? Oh, yeah, Kyle at Phoenix, flipped me the bird. Yep, I was mad that day. I had to figure out what episode that was where we talked about that so you can go back and listen to that one. But I, you know, we're, Matt's going to be mad. I was racing with Kenseth. We're running.

there's not many instances that I can remember really being that upset after a race, but me and Matt are racing for like 8th at Michigan, last lap. And we're side by side through turns 1 and 2, and he's on the inside. And we come up off of 2, and he squeezed me into the wall. And I think we actually hit the wall. I had to lift off the gas, and I finished 11th or 12th. I was like, Matt, Goddain, man, I had a top 10. We were going to, you know, when I'm racing, you know, and I'm like, I'm thinking about those things.

Like, man, top five, we're going to, top three, you know, wherever we're running. Top 10, all right. And in an instant, like, I'm 12th. And I think Sterling Marlin goes by and a couple other guys. And I was like, damn, Matt. And then Mark Martin did the exact same thing. It's same track. Squeeze me into the wall off of two or something.

And there's a YouTube clip of me sitting on the back of the tailgate talking about Mark. That's right. I was so pissed off. Where was that? I remember that. So Mark and Matt both are very similar in their styles. And I loved racing them. And I really learned a million things from Mark Martin driving in the Xfinity series and racing against him in the Cup series.

they were both very good friends of mine. They were both very supportive of my career. So those two moments were sort of uncharacteristic. And I think when somebody does something sort of out of character, that makes you, that kind of catches you off guard, right? Now, when you drove like a jerk by a jerk, you're like, yeah, he's a jerk, and I'm mad, but dangy, you know,

I better, I should know better, you know. But when somebody does something like a buddy of yours, right? On's over you or something. which rarely, rarely happened. That sometimes is tough because those friendships, you know, you want to keep the friendship. You don't want to let the friends. You still want to be pals. But how do you handle it?

You know, how do you let that person know then? Like, come on now. You know, I'm not going to just run you off the racetrack. You know, I'm going to race you hard, but I'm going to give you the room you need. And you want that in return. Now, I'm sure that Matt has a completely different. version of events. Katie probably has a different version of it.

Yes, I'm sure. So, yeah. Anyways, I think I get way more angrier on the highway, just out on the, yeah, for some reason. At least you weren't friends with the guy who cut you off yesterday. Right.

I was going to say he gets angrier in a race more to his crew chief or spotter than another driver. But I would throw in a couple honorable mentions here, Robbie Gordon, and I don't even know, was it Bristol. y'all had a thing and then i was annoyed you were annoyed i don't think that i can't i'm sitting here thinking about i can't remember when dell was just super angry at a driver i know annoyed at other drivers jeff gordon at any restrictor plate race and that was also mutual i mean like i think that they

did not like racing with each other on a restrictor plate race that's not true is it not okay wait wait wait so he would know better than i would no no so the thing about jeff at restrict plate races is i couldn't hear him on the radio like you could right so you could hear him complaining all the time about how I raced on the plate tracks. And I couldn't. So I'd get out of the car and have no clue that Jeff Gordon had any problem with anything I did on the track. So I'm just like oblivious, right?

That's fair. So I'm fine with Jeff Gordon. But, you know what I think? Jeff, that's what it was. Jeff would always get annoyed with Dale. And for no good reason. Now, yeah, now I go back and listen to the clips and I'm like, holy smokes, all these years, I had no clue.

Right. I wish I'd have known maybe I'd have really rubbed it in a few times We gotta calm up one of these days Bring him back up Yes we should ask him man what was it Why were you so annoyed We did ask him We had him in one of the early

Del Jr. Downardt interviews But I don't think he was honest Yeah interesting He made it seem like he wasn't annoyed And we're like like we didn't hear you We heard you Yeah we should have the clips ready Yeah that's true

We'll get him ready for next time Tim's giving me the wrap-up sign, so that's all we got for today. All right, everybody. Appreciate y'all tuning in. Cars tour opener is this weekend. Southern National Motorsports Park. If you're wanting to go see some awesome racing,

there's going to be a lot of cars there. You want to tune in for that on Flow Racing as well. So have a great week. Action is detrimental by Danny Hamlin is out. Door bumper clear is out. We're going to have three episodes of the Dale Jr. Download this week, and also Dirty Mo Doe by Steve LaTard on Thursdays. And Speed Street.

Speed Street as well. Speak Street's been hammering in here lately, guys. So tune in to all that. Thank you. I want to end this show with a bit of a, maybe a dedication, if you will. Gary Hargett, a lot of you might recognize that name. Maybe you don't. For those of you who don't know, Gary Hargott worked in racing for all of his life.

Born in Marshall, North Carolina, lived there for over 80 years. and just passed away this week and in the home that he was born in. And Gary worked with Harry Gant in the 70s. He worked with my dad as well as a mechanic, crew chief, car owner. He ran sportsmen and local tracks, but all up and down the East Coast, grassroots racer. I was paired with him through my father when I moved into the late model series in 92, 93, and I worked with Gary for about three years.

He became like a grandfather to me. I never really had much of a grandfather, a constant daily grandfather figure in my life. And he filled that role really well. It taught me a lot about not only just racing and working on cars, but the one thing that I think that he taught me that was really important was how to treat people. and I've, you know, I would, you know, I would run everybody out of the shop complaining, criticizing. We're working on the car and bickering back and forth with people. And he helped me understand how that, how, you know, especially when you have volunteer help,

how to treat people, right? How to take care of the people that are there to help you. And so anyways, Gary has. You know, just been, he's been a big part of a lot of racers' lives, and I got the chance coming home from Florence from the Icebreaker to stop in and see Gary. And Gary has been dealing with some health issues for some time. I tried to get him to come out to the Wilkesboro race in August, but he wasn't well enough.

But I got to stop in, sit with him for a couple hours, share a lot of stories. He told me, you know, he spent probably 70% of the day talking about Harry Gant and all the times that they had together. But I got to tell Gary that I loved him. And I'm glad that I did that because, you know, he, and I wanted to also say that the day before he passed away, he got to talk to Harry Gant, who I don't think he's talked to in years. Harry called him. Gary wasn't able to talk, but Gary could. hear Harry and reacting to Harry's comments and so forth. And I imagine that that meant the world

to Gary to be able to hear from somebody that he had so much respect for. So anyways, Gary is going to be missed. He impacted my life in a very positive way and I just wanted everyone to know that we're going to miss Gary. So anyhow, that's going to wrap it up today for episode 421. We appreciate everybody listening. Thanks for tuning in. Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 is in the books.

Tomorrow, we got Tyler Redick on the show as our guest. Looking forward to sitting down and talking to him. We'll see you then. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.