The Dale Jr. Download - 422 - Tyler Reddick - A New Approach to Life

Episode Date: March 8, 2023

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis sit down with the driver of 23XI’s number-45 NASCAR Cup ride Tyler Reddick on episode 422 of the Dale Jr. Download. After impressing in the NASCAR Truck ranks driving for Brad Keselowski Racing and winning his first Xfinity Series race for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2017, Reddick took over the JR Motorsports number-9 for William Byron. He would win the 2018 season opener at Daytona and go on to capture the points championship while locking up Rookie of the Year honors. The guys chat about how fatherhood has changed Tyler’s approach to life, and how he became a more focused, hard-working version of himself. Dale also asks for Tyler’s opinion on the recently announced new NextGen short track package for the 2023 season. Other topics of discussion also include Tyler’s transition from Richard Childress Racing to 23XI, how he feels about seeing Kyle Busch in his former car, and what a weekly routine for a NASCAR Cup driver looks like. 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.

Calling is a production of Dirty Mo Media. There he is. Come on in here, buddy. Have a seat. Hey, everybody. Glad you tuned in. It's time for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download.

Mike Davis, Dale and Hart Jr. The Mojangles Studio. You've got a great guest today. Well, how you doing, Rhiz? I'm doing fine right now. This is every week, okay, Bob. live. You died on that hill.

Your career died on that hill and you were heartheaded. You're the bigger idiot. I didn't even think about it. You thought about it and didn't ask it. That makes me the bigger idiot. I think so. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. It is Wednesday, March the 8th, 2003, episode 422. This one is presented by Xfinity TenG Network. Xfinity doing so much for NASCAR, for Dirtymoe Media. And this will make a little sense later in the conversation with our guests

of why Xfinity is presenting this episode. Tyler Redick is the guest today. Mike, he's going to be coming in here. We have had Tyler Drive, our race cars here at Junior Motorsports. He's been in the Bojangles studio before, but that was when we were recording in the booth over there. Yeah. So it's been a long time since we've had him.

in the room. It's going to be great to talk to him. Yeah, he's made some headlines since then. He's been in a very, very public switch to 2311 from RCR. He wins a lot of races. He's doing well in the cup level. I am excited to have him in here. You know, this thing is made possible by Xfinity, as we said, but also Lionel. Yeah, I was looking across their table. I don't think we have a Lionel-Tylic car on the table. So hopefully he won't take notice of that. But, yeah, Ally is bringing our guests every single week. They have done a great job this year, having some awesome guests on the show. Tyler is another ally, at least we hope he is.

Three out of the four Junior Motorsports cars ran into him at Fontana during the race. We will talk about that. So it's going to be a fun conversation. Let's just go ahead and get started. Let's do it. Tyler Reddick on the Dale Jr. Download. There he is. Or we may want to do it now.

Well, I need have to do it now and pick me up. You may not be able to do it now. Yeah, you guys can try it. Del and I got no responsibilities in this life now. Yeah, it does have some alcohol in. Oh, yeah. That's pretty good. This is, I believe, one of the first times we actually did drink alcohol on the show, Mike.

We did it for you, Tyler. Well, Mike. We're going to do it for you because this is a right. When I go on DBC, we're always taking shots because I don't have anything to do the rest of the day. Hopefully on the times I've been on there. So 6.6.0%? Yeah. alcohol oh wow so you how you doing man doing great thanks for coming today yeah absolutely i appreciate it

worked out yeah i am too so you said you've been on door bumper clear before yeah i think yeah i think yeah i know and so i wanted to ask you like when you're when you go we're really proud of that show but they're crazy you know maniacs so when you go on that show do you know what you're getting yourself into the first time yeah i'm trying to instigate it honestly had you listened to it before yeah oh yeah and so um do you have fun times when you're on there No, when we've done the Christmas special, I've tried to make a habit. Well, this last time I went and got a giant thing of, well, I guess I probably shouldn't say what it was, but we had some fun for sure.

Yeah. Yeah, we got it going pretty early. When you got, do you encourage other drivers to go on the show? You know, I haven't had a lot of drivers ask me about going on the show. I feel like it's pretty well, you know, established now to where someone, you know, whether it's. I think other drivers should because it's such a different. different show. Yeah, you can kind of, you feel like you kind of let your hair down.

Yeah. You know, I don't know. Maybe you wouldn't say in front of other media and whatnot. When you have done the show, do you have regrets afterwards? That would be the answer on whether or not you're trying to get other. Do you wish you hadn't done it? That's the question. Yeah, I think I've definitely done some things that could have potentially not been, not been great while on the show.

But I don't think they really caught the light of day too bad. Didn't y'all take shots? Yeah, yeah, we did. I think we took a few. But by the time we got to, you know, halfway or beyond in that show, T.J. really started, you know, saying things I feel like he normally holds back on. So it worked out really good. He doesn't practice enough. So he doesn't, when he does drink, he like gets... Yeah, he was like, I'm not, I'm not taking a shot.

And he eventually did. Then I got to take two, then three. Then, like, you know, halfway through, he started saying some stuff. It's pretty funny. So, um, the Fontana race, you had, like, all... I got three out of four junior sports cars. put you in the wall. In exfini rates? Yeah.

That was fun time. See some old faces in there that I know. That's a good point. You're back in the shop that you used to, you know, race in, and you're seeing people up through the window and you're waving at them as that. But that's cool. Yeah. Do you give some, like, team orders or something?

Like, hey, that 24 car looks too good. We got to rip the side of it off. This is why being an owner, this is the sucky part of being an owner. Yeah, right? Because, you know, you have drivers and cars and they run into friends. and yeah. I mean, there's things that happen on the racetrack and you're like, oh my God.

Like, you know, you want your guys to go out there and race as hard as they can, but then there's things that happen and you're like, man, now I got to go talk to this guy or call this guy or call, you know, talk to an owner. But that was almost laughable. It was crazy. Me and Justin were this close to just rounding it all off.

Right. I wouldn't want to one time just diving off in there and he's really, really good at battling for every inch of position, whether it's side drafts down the straightaways or holding you up and really make you uncomfortable, you know, before you turn off into the corner when you're on the outside of him. He's really good of that stuff. And I remember diving off into one and he knew what I was going to do. And I just, I sent it off in there and he jumped right down on my door. And I'm like, uh-oh, this is a good. Like, I thought we was going to get loose and take us both out. We,

we held on. But yeah. If that would have happened, that would have been the junior motorsports parlay. Yeah. You would have, everybody would have gotten a piece of it. Yeah, it was. I mean, you know, I got to talk to all three of them after the race, Sam, Brandon, and Josh. And, yeah, it all worked. I mean, we got to talk about it and got an understanding for what happened. Surely, the deal with Josh was really frustrating, but. He had no. It was like, you, that was a hard one.

Yeah. I got to talk to him about it. And, yeah, I mean, at a place like Fontana, it's easy to make that mistake and think you got the corner finished. and when you're side by side with somebody lose the nose the last minute. Yeah. Yeah, I almost hated it for Brandon because, you know, I got to talk to him and Tyler and Jason about that.

And Tyler's like, yeah, I'm sorry. I just screwed that up, you know? It took Brandon out of it. Yeah, with Sam, it was more just like, hey, man, like, keep the nose on this car. Like, you finished second with that car that was damaged. You know, if you could have kept the car clean, maybe I had a shot to win that race.

You know, so. Yeah. Have we run into you before? I don't think so. I mean, listen. I've ran a lot of stuff in. in your guys' cars a couple years ago. No, but you also won a championship,

so anything would have been forgiven right at that point. But then you went to RCR and you, you know, continued, right, I mean, we were racing against you big time then. So I would just think that we'd have had a couple of little issues at some point, but I guess not. You're some easygoing. I mean, it's hard to piss you off. I was just wondering if we pissed you off at all.

I think the only time I got a little pissed off was just, you know, by the time the race was over on Sunday night, Fontana. That was just not a good day for me in general. Just how the cup race went, you know, not getting to qualify. It's starting pretty much last. And then, you know, just how that the whole day went and wasn't a fun day. But that's like the only time, I think. So you're a father, a new father. Yeah. How big is the family now? Just just one kid. Any plans to? I think Alexa definitely wants to have more kids and I'm just trying to balance. saw that.

Yeah. And how old, Howells, Howellsbow? He just turned three, January 18th. So, yeah.

So, um, what is fatherhood taught you? What is, you know, you've changed a bunch. Just be, you know,

from the time that we started working with you to the, to now, just as a driver and a person and a man, I've seen this massive, like, growth.

And, um, what is being a dad, uh, mean to you? I mean, when, when you become a father,

like, everything, changes like completely it it's it's weird you prepare for it you hear about it you know try and get ready for it and then it happens and then just all these things change that you know within yourself and around you that it's really hard to describe but like the biggest thing for me um that i found through it all is you know i found new sources of motivation to get better i found myself, oddly enough, finding ways to work even harder than I was before because it wasn't just working for it for myself. Like I want to want my family to, you know, have a good life. I need to

now run good to support them and give him, you know, everything, hopefully that he will want and more when he gets older. Or even now, I honestly, we're buying plenty of toys and all that stuff. So, yeah, when things like that happen, you know, I just found more motivation that I didn't really know was there to happen to. Yeah. Did that change, uh, or did that change the way you look at your parents? Yeah. Yeah, I wonder like, how in the world did I survive? Yeah. Like, it's funny when, you know, I don't know if this is, you know, I feel like to some degree it's normal, right? When, when, when your parents become, you know, grandparents of like, Bo and they come back and they're doing this and that, it's like, how in the world did, did I survive, right? Did they forget how, like,

did they forget how to be parents? But, but, uh, it's, it's, it's great. There was, there was, There was a lot of things that were okay back then, I think, that, you know, that our parents let us do. And you're way younger than Dale and I. But the fact is, is that, yeah, times have changed just in the last 10 years on what parents can get away with. Yeah, well, I mean, just one of the things that's popped up lately is, like, I am, you know, when we get in the car, buckling both kids up. That's, like, automatic, right? Yeah, of course, yeah. Man, when we were kids, we were just riding around with, no buckles, no, we just riding around.

I'd sit in middle seat next to my dad, yeah. Hell, my dad let me ride in the back of a pickup truck from Chattanooga to Knoxville. That's a two and a half hour drive. We rode in the back of the pickup truck. Yeah. Crazy. And there was probably room in the truck, right? You just wanted to ride in the back?

Yeah. We all just part in the bed of the truck. The dog was back there. But you think about the playgrounds, man, they were dangerous. Like the slides that we'd go down, it's a different day. Can't do that. It's crazy how, I mean, I was busy racing, but the playgrounds we have now and around this area, like, you can just pick which playground you want to go to.

It's crazy, and they're all really, really nice. Yeah. It is fun. When we go there, he's got the bug, I'd say, like, the adrenaline junkie bug to a degree like me. So, you know, there's a playground for his age, and he's just like, no, I'm going to go over here and play with all the kids that are like four or five years older than him and get, you know, knocked around. That drives me crazy, man, because those kids are running wide open in all directions, right? And you're just waiting on them to bounce into each other any minute it's going to go bad. and how do you like it's hard for me to like sit back and like let it just happen right because

you got to you got to let it happen if you don't let it happen i mean then they don't learn right so it's it's a it's a fine balance and that's one thing that's been interesting too is you know i parent one way and alex's parent's another way and trying to balance the two is has been how's who's who in the relationship i feel like i i don't know i'd say i'm a little bit more more harsh, a little bit more strict. But, you know, I'm hardly, when, on the days like during the week where I'm in the simulator all day and everything else like that, you know, I'm not, I'm not always at home as much as Alexa is with him. So I mean, you know, if you're really, really hard on them all day long, right? Like by the end of the day, they're tired of it. So there's a balance there,

and I feel like we're doing a pretty good job with it. Yeah. So do you get excited about the, we all get asked this question, you know, are you going to let them race? You're going to let them race. You know, it's just going to happen. You know, you can have to deal with that. But do you even think about that? Because there's, you've done this. You know, there's, you know, there's opportunities at three, four, five years old for them to steer a motorized vehicle, right?

A go-car, even at a track by themselves. Are you sort of like, you know, excited about that? You know it's coming. I'm very nervous. Nervous about it. Why? Well, I mean, he definitely loves it. He likes being around it.

Like, he loves going to racetrack. He's always watching the races. Anytime, like, especially here in this past off season when I start getting, you know, cars from Toyota and everything, like, he loves those things. Once he's getting them and riding him, gets to know more about him. Like, he's definitely got, he loves cars and loves racing. But, like, I know, like, I really wanted it really, I wanted it really bad, and I arguably almost didn't want it enough. if the way that how things looked and went like throughout my career I had enough I had a few opportunity you know few situations where um you know it almost the road almost ran out right and um

looking back on it you know I could have definitely worked harder than I did but heck hindsight's always 20 20 right so he's definitely have to really really want it and so you know I'm not trying to push him into it you know I'm trying to just let him do what he wants to do and you know if he has motivation there for it I'll I'll help him with whatever it might be it's so funny because you know you say he's three years old and so you're like oh well i've got 10 years before i can make that decision but not these days no that decision's up on you already jason britt had his boy over at my go car track at three riding around riding around you know 10 at 5 10 mile an hour started it at 4 and a half so like yeah the window's closing it's time you're gonna have to start to deciding right now like

how much you're going to go invest in his racing career who's his favorite driver i still think it's chase like he's shifting like he's starting to like denny more and i'd never even push that on him He just started to like Danymore. Obviously, I'm up there with them, but it's different when your dad, right? Yeah. Like, it's just a little different. So when I was a kid, I had, I pulled for Jimmy Means, who was an independent, right? But I never pulled for anybody that was like a threat to beat dad on a weekly basis. So how do you, how do you normalize that to where, like, you know, your son pulls for these other drivers that you go out there and have good and bad days with?

I just, I mean, the way I look at it is like, I, he, you know, I can't tell him who he can't pull for. Like if he likes this driver for this reason or that reason, if he's three years old, I haven't really had, hey, why do you like this driver so much? What if he liked, though? What if he liked, okay, say he's six years old, seven years old or whatever, and he likes this jerk, like a completely terrible person. Are you going to say, hey, man, I need to tell you something about this guy? I mean, maybe I would do that. I don't know. I think I would, I'd give him a little bit of trouble about that. that, especially as he gets older and older, you know.

If I wore the wrong hat, Dad would pull it off my head and set it on fire. Really? Yeah. Yeah, I don't know if I'll do that. That's a great idea, though. Seems extreme. Like, I'd say if, I'd say, I mean, it's a long time down the road, but if, you know, teenage years, you know, if I get into it with somebody, you know, on that particular weekend he wears his hat. I mean, that's a good idea, but he's really young right now.

Like, it's all just innocent, you know, just, I don't know if it's the car, the scheme or the driver. I don't know what it is, but. So this is. this is what you're in. This is what you're in for. Dad and Bill Elliott run into each other. And it's an all-star race in 1987. And we go to Darling, or no, we go to Talladega.

And they had these bootleg shirts that said, guess who ran into me today? And it basically had Bill's colors and dad's colors equally smeared across the shirt. And so you could either one, either fan could wear it and go, yeah, Earnhard hit me today or Bill hit me. And I took the shirt and went over to the Talladega short track. I'm probably 14 or 15. I don't remember how old I was, but 87, so 13. And I had Dad's number airbrushed into the shirt.

Yeah. So in my mind, now it's Dad's car. Look, you know, there's Dad's door. And I thought I had a badass shirt. I walked over to the Cup Garage the next day or later. that day or whatever and dad saw that thing and made me take it off right that he was so mad at me and i was like what dad this is cool and he was pissed off and i was like but it's your number you know it's your shirt and he was like no what i didn't like about it that it was bootleg or may he probably

didn't like the bootleg part but he probably didn't like the insinuation of you know conflict he didn't want his son walking around the garage and maybe skating it bill you know seeing it going what a Well, a little jerk that kid is. And the hat he took off. So my grandfather, Robert G., worked for Rick Hendrick, and Jeff Bedin drove his car. And Dad and Jeff would wreck each other all the time. Dad wrecked Jeff a bunch. I loved it.

I loved when Dad would wreck Jeff. But I also loved my granddaddy. And I came home from his house with Levi Garrett hat on. And that's the one he yanked off my head and threw it on the ground and set it on fire. Well, I think that's a little more understandable. If it was just a random head side on that one. Absolutely. Yeah, right.

I had it coming. Yeah. But that's what kids are going to do, right? They're going to do those things. You're going to go, why doesn't this make sense to you, right? Back then it didn't make sense to me. I'm like, yeah, my granddaddy. I'm up.

I don't know. I think that we've heard Tony Jr. talk about it because he was on that team. I think they actually used you for what you didn't know. They set you up and deliver a message. They may have. They all stood back and watched. watch it happen.

Yeah. Xfinity Rewards is the place for Xfinity customers to get incredible NASCAR experiences this season. It's true. I even got to surprise Bridget, an Xfinity Rewards member, with hot laps around Charlotte. It was a lot of fun. She thought she was going to just get a pit crew experience, right? And we surprised her with some laps around the racetrack in the car, man. That was a lot of fun.

Yeah, that was cool. So you can check out the full video now with our friends at Xfinity Racing on social media check out Xfinity rewards anytime at Xfinity.com slash rewards. Let's talk about the short track package coming up at Phoenix this weekend. Yeah. We know what it is, right? We got a two-inch spoiler. They took some diffuser stuff off the bottom.

30% down-force reduction. Have you drove the car with this on there? Just in just at the Toyota simulator. I've really leaned on the feedback that Christopher's given, just some of the information that they gathered at that test. but yeah, from everything I've seen. So C. Bell, tested at Phoenix, right? Yes, at the group, they had like a group test out there.

What's the overall opinion? Well, I mean, from what he said, it's just the back of the cars just feels like it's like on ice. And looking at SMT and Motek and the data from those tests, like, even on, you know, lap one or, or it's still Phoenix. So it still takes four or five laps. I'd say for the tires to, like, come in. Just, I mean, it's just Phoenix. The towel's always been. Yeah.

you know, even at the fast lap of the run. I mean, you see, you see him in there pedaling the car all the way off the corner, the corner exit of turn two. Turn three and four, not quite as much just because that corner's got a little bit more banking and whatnot. But yeah, you can see in there even on his good laps when the car is driving good. You know, he's having to, you know, handle it, you know, get a little tight, getting back the gas, snap loose and hold onto it, drive it off the corner.

So just trying to get a feel for that. but yeah other than that it's just been sim like said and lean on those guys but it looks like it's going to be a bit different than what we've had at short track so with the low profile tire the i haven't drove the car enough to have any kind of like a moment and so um when the car steps out right is there you know typically with the low profile tire it's like a very it's like a bit of a surprise yeah the moment's much sharper like with a 15 inch tire can you tell you It's coming, though. I'd say it's...

I'd say it... You can. You just have a lot less time to react to it, and sometimes it's almost best to not react to it. Like you'd see early last year where drivers would react to it overcorrect and bam, hit the wall at a really severe ankle.

Yeah. But this time, it is odd. You know, I feel like the lower the speeds are, the less you're relying on the aerodynamics to, like, kind of keep the car going the right direction and with the quarter panel shorter, you know, when you get this thing crossed up at a really high-speed racetrack, there's not the same amount of side force to, you know, get you back going the right direction.

So, like, Place like Gateway really surprised me, Phoenix surprised me. In what way? The tire being wider, even though the sidewall is less, you can still kind of accelerate and make lap time with the car sliding it around a little bit. Okay. It's not like the old cars, because I feel like the old car, when you would slide around that 15-inch tire, you'd be burning it up, burning it up. but with the just the lack of pace fall off we've seen with the downforce we've ran you could

kind of get away with sliding that wider tire it just seemed like because it's wider it just you know the window once you go past it's sharper but you can kind of still accelerate it while hustling it a little bit too which is interesting that's that's going to be fun to watch um i i wonder what do you anticipate the race looking like i mean are we still going to be uh single groove dominant do you think it's going to you know create opportunities where we're moving around. I know a couple years ago they put the resin down. I thought that was amazing because

you chased the resin all day. Whereas the PJ1, you just ran where the PJ1 was. The resin seemed to be something that you chased and it wore away and we went looking for more. And they didn't put the resin back down the last time we ran there at Phoenix. And so that was you know, I don't know if it was

as good of a race, but... What was weird? That was the... they had put down in the years prior was still still kind of there and it's still from what I saw like where you still wanted to be in like one and two it was an option in three and four so I don't know what they have planned yet I think there's been some communication on the driver's side trying to do you think with the lack you know feeling like the backs on ice do you think you're going to be trying to look for some of that stuff more likely that that that that percentage of increasing grip that you get from the resin or whatever's on the track becomes more important so yeah it might be a

good thing for, you know, if I was looking at, I think I'd just leave the track alone because I still think drivers were able to go up into that, under that front, during the test and make it work. The test, they were still, to be still there. At the test, they were still using some of it. I think so. That's what I was told. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe we don't, maybe the resin's not something that needs to be applied all the time, but if it sort of has this residual effect, I just love the idea of like being able to go find grip, right, on any track, whether you got something on the track or not. It's just you, and I know you love that too.

I just give up quick and I go to try something else. I do too, yeah. Hey, I got a question about this. I think Kevin Harvick was actually alluding to the short track package, but over the week he said that he feels like that NASCAR is going to continue having to challenge the teams with this car because they figure it out so quick. They figure out the car. And so like I think about this past weekend's race at Las Vegas.

I mean, the racing that we've come to know this car can do on these mile and a halfers was not there. Yeah. And you guys got strung out. So what is your thought on that? Is that true? I mean, you look at Vegas 1, the off-throttle time was that of, I think, what everyone was hoping for. Then we go back when it was even, I think it was 20 or 30 degrees warmer in the fall. And, you know, we were able to dang to run wide open in one and two.

And I think I breathed it just a her in three and four. Christopher was, I think, completely wide open in one and two in his qualifying lap. and then we come back and qualify again. Well, everyone, I didn't get to, but watching others qualify, like they're dang near wide open in one and two and wide open in three and four. So as they've continued to make this car better or figure this car out, it's kind of slowly watching it migrate back to almost wide open racing we saw with the 550 package. And I think, you know, it's a small sample size,

but the racing from Sunday looked a little bit too much like the racing from, from before this car. Yeah. You know what I think? It's just the throttle time. Yeah, you know, it was cool. There was win. There was things that added into that.

That headwind down the front made you have to really plan and, you know, the headwind down the front, the tailwind down the back kind of shifted your options in the corners. Like in three and four, it worked going up really high if you had someone in front of you. But if you didn't, you know, you would just be so stalled out from the headwind. One and two, like the bottom worked really good because you have the tailwind. get you back going down the back straight away. So, yeah, those things did play into it. But I've been watching the trend of this car, and as it's been getting worked on and figured out by these teams,

we've been getting closer and closer back to just completely wide open. Yeah. And I think when we're completely wide open, we'll see some of the racing that we saw with, you know, the old car. Yeah. Well, maybe they need to start dialing that, you know, as you find down force, as the teams find ways to create down force, create grip, and you get to dial it back out of the car.

Yeah. Yeah, I think it's just got to, for sure. So, you know, I kind of wonder, I know it's early in the year, but I kind of wonder how your experience has been going with changing teams, right? You were over at RCR, won a couple races last year, had a great thing going. You watch Kyle take the car. I mean, y'all won both stages at Fontaine in that car. You know it's a fast car.

Kyle goes there and does some really good things and wins the race. So that's not a big shock. But how are you finding this shift from culture and team manufacturer? You changed from junior motorsports to RCR, so you understand how to adapt as a driver from one culture to a different culture. But manufacturers and tools and SIM and all those things are all going to be different for you now. And how's that going? Yeah, just going into it with an open mind. You know, everyone on the Toyota side, TRED side's been really, really welcoming.

You know, I've heard about it throughout the years as I've been in racing that they treat everyone like family and getting to experience that and see that. First person, firsthand is really cool. They made me feel right at home right away. And then, yeah, on the team side, 23-11 does things quite a bit differently than RCR. You know, Denny's approach, Wheeler's approach, you know, they got Dave Rogers. They got a lot of great people over there that I think just go about it differently. than some of the other teams. And just trying to get accustomed to their routine.

You know, I had my routine that I had at RCR and the things that I would do during the week and just trying to get used to the flow. You know, there's, I think it's all good things. There's more meetings, you know, I think Dave's really pressed upon me the importance of being a better note taker. You know, I'd kind of, I would take notes and I remember things, but, you know, there's, there's a lot of ways I could continue to improve as a driver. And Dave and the team have really helped kind of open. in my mind up to some more things that I want to get better at. I feel like for me as a driver,

would I, you know, in the offseason of 2020 to 21, when I got a lot better at the road courses, you know, the team really gave me like, hey, this is what you need to look at, this is what we need to get better at. And they kind of gave me stuff to go chase after. And I feel like I've been given the same, you know, things to go chase after again this year with the new team. So, yeah, just trying to get used to the, to, you know, I know the drivers at Joe Gibbs Racing, obviously, I don't know Denny, I know Martin. But working with them closer now, working with Bubba closer again. We kind of got to do that a little bit when he was at Petty.

And I was at RCR, but then COVID kind of changed everything for the rest of the year. But just getting used to how they go about things, leaning on the drivers and how they approach a simulator, getting used to the differences between the simulator that I was into, you know, being in the Toyota simulator. But all that's been good. It's just been different. I think I got really used to that routine that I was kind of in for three or four years. and it took a little bit of time to, I guess, get out of that routine and try to piece together

what my schedule week to week is going to look like and how to maximize it. Because I felt like that's where I was able to make good gains at RCR is I really had my schedule packed full of stuff of what I needed to get done. And I'm still working trying to get that completely maximized over here. But I think it's off to good start. We didn't get to practice or qualify it in Vegas. and just because Bubba's car and my car really, really close setup-wise, you know, he went out there and practiced really good, had some changes they tried.

We didn't get to practice, but it was almost like we still did, so it worked out pretty good for us when the race started. So you talked about the driver. You talked about your week. When I don't know in detail a lot of what a cup guy is doing, but I do know what our affinity guys are required to do and asked to do during the week. I remember exactly what I was doing just less than a decade ago and other drivers in the

cup garage. I knew what they were doing. And the amount of time that you're responsible for now as a driver, and you've seen this change just in the time that you came into the sport, it's massively different. Yeah. No, for sure. Your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday is spoken for. You've got.

Yeah. you've got meetings and training and, you know, on top of that, you know, being a father and a husband and, you know, trying to, you know, trying to do those type of things. So, you know, when I watch our Exfinity guys, I kind of worry, you know, like, man, they're going to, I worry about them getting burned out before the end of the year. That was a big concern when I came into NASCAR in 2000. dad and all those guys were like the cup level's a little different. I promise you no matter how well you think you're prepared and how well you think you've you've scheduled your year, 10 races to go, you're going to be toast.

You know, at the end of this year, you're going to be done. And they were right. You know, with about 10 races to go in our rookie year, I was out of gas, you know, just emotionally and mentally. And I don't think that I, you know, I look at what these, guys are doing today what you're doing and I don't think that it's it's not normal. It doesn't seem like it for sure. And now I think too, like a lot of people that come up into this type of, you know, getting

the top three levels are in for a huge awakening in terms of what they're going to be asked to do. Yeah. You know, I don't think it changed. I don't think when I went from late models to Xfinity to Cup, The adjustment and the requirement and responsibility didn't change an awful lot. I still had a ton of free time during the week to fill with whatever I wanted to do. And that's not the case anymore for you guys.

Where does it end? Like how much harder can you stretch out the day, right? And fit time into the week. Then you're going to go and put it all together and race on the weekend. I mean, when you probably go on the race weekend, you're kind of like, nice, a little reprieve from training, sim, home, all of the things. I can actually, you know, when I'm not in the car and in the hauler, I can kind of relax for a minute, right? Well, I've kind of found myself to be the person that has to just be running and doing something or, you know, have to be working on something at all hours of the day. Like, I've never really been the few times that I've tried to go on vacation and, like, unwind,

relax. I sit down and maybe have a drink and then my mind just mealy goes back to thinking about what I should be doing at home or you know working on. I think I've just kind of mentally maybe I was always that person but I've done a better job over the last couple years or really like taking that acting upon it and doing those things. So for me like yeah it my rookie I had the same kind of burnout. I was you know I felt like I was working really hard doing all this stuff. Things just weren't working out and yeah about it was about 10 rates to go. I was like man, This is tough. But oddly enough, the answer for me at the time, and it still seems to be the answer was just, all right, the offseason gets here, just go to work.

I just kept working, working, working on it. And I've just found myself that within myself that, you know, the more that I work on this stuff, the more confidence I have going into the race weekend. And mentally, it puts me in a better spot too. And, I mean, I just, this is what I want to do. And I flat out just love putting all the time that I can into it. I've gotten rewards from it. You're not always guaranteed that, right? And you can't get disappointed when you don't get them.

But just the whole process for me fulfills me on the racing side. And also personally, too, like I've really enjoyed getting in a lot better shape. Like, I feel like I have more energy. I can do more things. It's just all around made me more productive. So you are in way better shape than when you first came into, you know, the Xfinity series. What is the one thing that's most important to your training? What is the one thing you like the most that you do the most?

Like I liked riding bikes. Riding bikes for me was great mentally and physically. Is there one sort of thing that you stick to? Man, I really like all of it, but, you know, I think it may not necessarily always be the most beneficial for like a super hot weekend at, you know, like a, like a, like a, like, I can try to think of the race, like a road course. But, you know, for me, like being in the gym and weightlifting and doing. exercises of that nature are always really fulfilling personally. I used to absolutely hate running and running for me is like kind of a way to kind of unwind and unplug from everything going on and just work on yourself.

Honestly, all of it. I did a lot of biking because I hated running because my knees would hurt, my legs would hurt, and I kind of enjoyed exploring the process of, okay, well, why I do my legs hurt when I run? Okay, well, my form is terrible. I need to work on my form. I need to change the shoes I'm wearing. I need to, you know, how I'm sitting in the car is screwing up my legs when I run and then I fix that and it seemed to also help my comfort inside the car. So it's just, the thing I've kind of done has been based around making me better in the car to some degree and I feel like it's helped me be better in the car.

So I just continue to feed off of that and just keep chasing that perfection that you'll never get to. But I just really enjoy that part of it because it's helped. That's one of the most impressive things about you for me is how you change, how you, how you, how you, you worked harder on you. You know, there were, when you came into the Xfinity series, there were a couple moments where you were like, you looked at me and you're like, I'm going to do better. I can do better.

I can do this better. And it wasn't even, it wasn't even on the track stuff. Yeah. Right. And you went to RCR. You've physically gotten better shape. You seem more mentally, you know,

grasping what we were trying to accomplish week to week and day to day. you seem to have a better, you know, understanding of what's in front of you. And that's really, really impressive because, man, the raw ability and the raw talent that a lot of people think you have is, you know, up there. I mean, Denny said it. Everybody at RCR knows it. Anybody that you ever worked with knows that there's this raw sense of what the car is doing underneath you that a lot of drivers don't even possess.

And, you know, it's a difference between what makes a good guy and a great, a great, good driver and a great driver is that real incredible sense. And you're putting the rest of that package together. I mean, you're getting really close to sort of, you know, you can be great anywhere. Road courses, short tracks anywhere. And so it's pretty impressive to see. I just think that, you know, it's been nice to see you, you know, take things more and more seriously as you get further into this deal. and appreciate it as much as you do. When you got behind the wheel of the 2311 Toyota,

what are some of the first things you noticed that were different than the Chevrolet you'd been driving for Richard? Well, I definitely think, you know, how, what their approach to the SIM is definitely a little bit different. You know, I feel like I have to be a bit more disciplined in their simulator, which is something I tried to really chase after when I was with Chevrolet. and it seemed to work good for us while we were at RCR. Is it easy sometimes to get lazy in the Sim?

Man, I don't think so. I've always been, I've always just kind of went in there with like real intensity. You can learn something today. Yeah, yeah, we got to make a number of gains, you know, like the drivers run so many laps and do so many things. You know, if we haven't exhausted the notebook or the list of ideas to try, you know, it wasn't a successful day. so I just, I love doing that stuff because we can hit on something that just, you know, feel-wise or speed-wise that really wakes the car up or makes a change. Like, I think that's why I enjoy working at it. Again, another reason why I like working at so much, because when you make those gains in the simulator, I mean, they don't always pan out.

But when they do, I mean, it's the greatest feeling in the world when you make that, when you put that work in, you and the team put that work in, you find something that improves the performance on Sunday. And so there were times in, you know, even just recently years ago where a lot of drivers didn't like to do SIM, didn't think it was a big benefit. You see a transition now more and more where drivers are, you know, because of their very limited time to go on the track and actually test things in real life. You see more and more drivers, especially the younger guys coming in with a very dedicated approach to SIM time. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, for me, how I learned to run the wall was, on the simulator. No sh**ing with Kyle. You know, when I was teamed up with Kyle Larson at Chip Canassie Racing, you know,

for real. He had to run the wall pretty good. And I go on the simulator and try and mimic it and replicate it. And it gave me a starting point. I think even Dave and Noah, you know, from the notes that we had when we had our rookie test there, I think Dave and Noah dove through that information and really studied it as far as I know. Yeah.

And Noah took that as a starting point and look at what he can do on the fence now, too. So, like, I feel like it's kind of funny how all this is kind of stem from Kyle and us kind of mimicking what Kyle does and then kind of turning it starting there and then building off that into how we kind of approach it. But yeah for me the simulator, whether it was that stuff, road courses especially, you know, I saw so much, I got so much better as a driver. I've gotten so much better as a driver just through so many different aspects of the racing, whether it's been the short tracks working at stuff at Martinsville or working on the road course stuff obviously. Like the sim simulator has, you know, made me such a,

better driver. And while I appreciate the comments about the talent and everything, I mean, obviously look at how I was doing when I was here, right? Like I had the talent and I was kind of, you know, I can do this and that with a car and I can make this work right. And then it wasn't until years later that I realized, well, it only gets you so far. You got to work really, really hard. And I feel like, yeah, I've been able to get so far off the talent, but it was really important to just, you know, it's not enough. You got to just keep pushing in every area possible to get better. Yeah.

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from Xfinity, proud, premier partner of NASCAR. Tyler, now that you've got me drunk on this beast unleashed and I just don't care anymore, I would like to ask you about the time you announced you were leaving RCR to the time you actually went to 2311. What was that like? And what would you wish you would have done differently if there's anything? Honestly, for me, you know, I think when you look at it,

you know, Denny and, you know, Denny and, and myself included, we all wanted to get it out there. We wanted to be our news and just know how everything works. In media and in the world that we live in today, it's really hard to keep things under wraps. Someone's going to find out. Someone's going to take away your opportunity to announce what your future is. So for us, that's just the way we wanted to do it.

And obviously, the things that happen after the fact, they are what they are. But I'm at 2311 now. I'm working with Toyota now. and the end goal in all this when, you know, well, I didn't know it was going to be this following year now. Yeah. But, you know, the end goal down the road was I want to be with this team and with Toyota. And we want to start building on, you know, the foundation of what we want to grow and build into together.

Denny wants that team to grow into championship caliber. And, you know, he wanted me to be a part of it. And I wanted to be a part of that, too, with him and Michael and Curtis. And so, yeah, it sped it up a little bit. So honestly, I hate that I kind of didn't get to finish that last year with the team and those guys. But it worked out perfectly for them. They got one of the best drivers out there in Kyle Busch. So I was worried about that hole that might be there for them, but they got a really good driver and they've already won.

So, you know, I think it all really worked out. I think it did too. Keep in mind, you know, Dale also, at this table, we all have experienced the announcement of leaving a team and then having to finish out a year with them. Listen, there's no way to say. It's awkward. Is it not? I mean, Dale announced he was leaving DEI, announced he was going to go to Hendrick Motorsports,

still had a whole year to finish out with DEI. There's nothing that makes that easy. You got your team, all that stuff. I would imagine it wasn't easy for you. There's just no easy way to do that. Is that fair to say? There was hard moments. Definitely when I sat down and told them,

hey, this is what's going to happen. That was a hard conversation to have with them. They were heartbroken about it. I hated to be the one telling him that, but I needed to be the one telling them that. There's nobody else to do that. Yeah. And, you know, I think it could have, I guess in a sense, you know,

the playoffs didn't really go the way we wanted it to. Was that because of the announcement? I don't think so. It was just a product of kind of what had plagued us all year long, and it was tire failures. So, yeah, you know, I think just because of who I am and how hard, I worked with that team, they knew, well, they obviously knew in the future I wasn't going to be there, but they, not for one second,

my effort and how much I was going to put towards it. And we just continued to work hard. We went back out and won an indie. You know, playoffs were tough for us. And after getting eliminated, we still weren't in any mindset of, okay, we're going to give up and blah, blah, blah. We just kept working on it. We got win Texas. We had speeded a number of other tracks, too.

That's just who we are. It definitely raised tensions in other areas in the company. But our team, our group, we had each other's backs. We're going to see it through to the end, whenever the end ended up being. Where do you think things are with you and Richard? you guys on a good I think so You know it was

I don't think Definitely from my side And as far as I understand From our conversations on his side It's nothing personal Just all came down to business And once it's business You know

We'll see it through to the end of that And then Every time we've ran into each other This year in the garage You know He's been really great to me And I've reciprocated that too So I think obviously

You know It put They were in a weird spot, right? Like they didn't know what their direction and future was going to be for a little bit, but then they started to figure out their options. And then once Kyle and that whole deal worked out for them, you know, I feel like things worked out really well for RCR and them. I definitely didn't want to put them in a spot where they were going to have to almost reset

and try and figure out what they were going to do. It worked out really good in them getting Kyle. If there was friction or if there was tension, what did the Indy Wind do for that, if anything? I know that from our standpoint, just watching it, it would have seen, I don't know if it's a narrative that we just wanted to believe was true, but an Indy win would do some positive, I don't know, healing or repairing or anything if there is any of that to be healed and repaired. Is that true? Did Indy do that? Or is it just something that we just wish kind of happened? I think more than anything, it was like, hey, we, you know, all this is out there, but it doesn't change anything about this year. Like, I'm still 100% locked in. on this team. The team still 100% locked in on me. We're going to go out there and we're going to try and, you know, get all the way to Phoenix and get a championship. And Richard even said that too.

He's like, hey, you know, we're going to go out here and we're going to give everything we have and we're going to try and win this championship. Obviously, it didn't work out like that. But, I mean, I think the speed that we had, we just needed to have a few things go the other way and we could have definitely went farther than we did. But that's racing. So what kind of owner is Denny? He's very, he's very plugged in. And having a current driver, as an owner is a is a really cool thing um you know i've gotten to experience that in other other areas you know with in the past but having um a driver that you're competing against also be your team owner um i didn't know if there was going to be disadvantages to it and i haven't i haven't really

seen one yet honestly i don't um having him be plugged in you know with with gibbs as he is and then be paying attention and pushing on on the team on certain areas that we need to get better It's all been really good. And then, too, just, you know, I have Bubba as a teammate. I've got all the Gibbs drivers as teammates anyways, but then I got Denny as well. And as a teammate owner, like he wears a lot of different hats. I don't know how he keeps up with it all. Honestly, it's a lot.

But yeah, it's been great. Doesn't seem like he sleeps or has time to sleep. Have you been, have you gotten to meet Michael? Yes. And what was that like? That was really his crazy moment in my life. You know, I've got. to meet a lot of cool people throughout my life. The first big one, honestly, was when I got to meet you at

the National Guard Youth Foundation deal in D.C., I about crap myself. I thought I was a nervous wreck. I honestly, we were trying to work with, there was some people we were working with that was involved with it in the time, and just, you know, you were involved with them too, so it just worked out. I was there, you were there. So I'm like, you know, the people I was with like, let's go introduce you to Dale. and I was like, okay. And so that was a really big moment for me. Michael, meeting Michael is another huge one. But yeah, we got right down into it, got the talk about just anything imaginable, right?

Racing, non-racing related stuff. I knew he's involved and I knew he pays attention, but it really surprised me how locked in and involved. He really is and how much he pays attention. Even before Daytona, he was busting me pretty good about, yeah, you know, his speedway finishes, haven't been too good. I'm not expecting a lot on Sunday. That's hilarious. They got me fired up.

Yeah. And so up until I got collected with Harvick, I'd run the cleanest race of my life on a speedway, like coming into pit road, like eighth or ninth, coming out first to third. Like, I was extra motivated. So it's been fun. He knows how to motivate you. That's good. Yes. And again, it's been really surprising how much when, like last year things, like when I got a little banged up at Martinsville and just a number of other things were going.

going on just always checking on me hey you're all right how are things going just he checks in all the time too and that's been really cool to see what was that experience like going through that injury or getting kind of banged around at martinsville what was what was going on what were you thinking it was it was odd um you know i'm just very fortunate that whatever i was feeling at the time just was gone really really quickly um you know by i'd say monday morning i was feeling good and obviously i needed to go through all the steps and make sure there was nothing going on and that I was was was okay to return to racing and thankfully I was but it was a weird moment for sure you know you never expect to restart just stack up to do that but um in the moment it was a very odd situation and I knew it wasn't

wasn't 100% in that time and that I needed to get out of car and when I did I realized like yeah something was a little off but thankfully the more that we dove into it um you know it ended up not being serious and I was able to go back to racing that's honorable for you to be in the situation you're in, right, in the middle of the mix and got all these things to look forward to, to say, hey, man, you know, this, I got a thing. I need to take care of this. I think that sets such a great example, and it seems that, seems that drivers are becoming more and more comfortable with, you know, saying, hey, I'm on, I need a minute here. And you know, I think part of that is just a nice little culture shift that, you know, it's okay to do that.

But also, and I think there's some, you know, you can jump in, but I think drivers have a bit more respect for their longevity and their careers, especially younger guys now. But the car too, you know, the car did have some issues. NASCAR made some changes trying to improve that. and so I think that there was also you knew that is it or I guess I'm asking you is this true you knew that hey man if I had a little thing that I think I need to get looked at

and I'm potentially in some this car could do this again tomorrow this could this car until it can be improved could potentially create more and more problems for me in the very short term is that what's going on in your mind yeah I mean in that moment I was you know thinking of okay if we have another the restart stack up, you know, what potentially could that lead to then, you know, would

have been more serious? Would it have actually been something to where then I don't get to finish the year out at Phoenix? So, yeah, it was just, I don't know, it was just one of those things where I was thinking about, I mean, not necessarily, I was thinking about myself, but I was also thinking about, like, do I really need to put the team in this position? Because, like, if something does go wrong and then I just absolutely destroy a race car, I'm not helping them either.

But, but, yeah, like, honest, if I'm being honest, like, I've, I've, you know, I've, I look at a guy like Mark Martin and some of these other drivers that did it for so long. And that's something, if I can, I want to race as long as I can in this sport. Like this is what when I was two, three years old, I dreamed of being and I want to do it as long as I can. I want to do it well. I don't just want to be out there and in the field. Like I want to be sharp and I want to be an asset to my team. So I want to do this for a long time.

So in that moment, I felt like long term the right move was, I'm not feeling right. I need to get out of the car and evaluate what's going on. And I've definitely, through the things we've seen with this car, try to pay more attention to what you're feeling and be more in tune with what your body is telling you, just so you know, okay, I need to be thinking about this or need to be thinking about that. And just, again, it's all about that longevity. Like, if you bite the bullet and say, nah, I'm fine, I can get back in the car or do this or do that, make these decisions.

As we've learned more and more, we realize now, like, the long and lasting effects from that, potentially be really bad. So it's a great self-awareness. The changes that NASCAR made, you go to the Coliseum, and you're in similar scenarios with the checking up and the accordion effect of all those things that you felt at Martinsville. It's a car better. Unfortunately, my opinion and the opinion of the others

that were just bumper cars all night long, it didn't really feel like it to be honest with you. So that's something we've, I believe we've shared with NASCAR. I think, yeah, we had a meeting, I think going into Daytona. We talked about a number of things. But, you know, it didn't seem like at that event it was any better. Yeah, I didn't tear the car apart and look at it after the fact, but like the sharp hits. The low speed stuff.

The low speed stuff was still pretty significant for sure. Yeah. So what I feel like that happened is, you know, looking at the bumper structures and a lot of things like, yeah, I could, hearing the feedback from you, all right, NASCAR makes the changes. Going into this year, we're all hoping that those changes are great. Drivers have feedback after the, the, the, the, the, the, the, uh, coliseum. And then you look at the car and you go, okay, low speed stuff is still a problem. I think the high speed stuff's absolutely got to be better. You know, they took out enough stuff that when that car hits a wall at 150 miles an hour,

it's going to absorb that impact better for you. But the low-speed stuff apparently still needs a little bit of work. And I could absolutely look at the structure and the bracing in the bumpers of sports and see that that could still be potentially too rigid for, you know, lighter impacts. Hey, I got a question for him about this is sort of aligned with this. Now, I'm not going to ask you to make an opinion about Chase Elliott and what you doing what he does in his off time and that kind of thing. But in yesterday's show, Dale and I had a discussion about when he was a driver and what he

would do in his off time and the kind of the mental process you apply to live a life versus the risk and reward of doing something, you know, that might actually injure you. So my question for you is, do you think about things in the middle of the week or when you're deciding on where to go on vacation or whatever you do with your life, do you always think back to what does this do or could it have an effect on my racing career at all? And do you have an opinion about this medical waiver thing? And I'm assuming you would be okay with it, right? Assuming so. But what is your opinion on all that? Yeah. I think for me, that's something that, as I've, you know, we talk about how definitely my mindset's changed over the years. I definitely say,

you know, three or four or five years ago. I wasn't really thinking about it quite as much. You know, I've I've almost ripped my finger off like the day before an Xfinity race and had to have it in a sling. Like, I've made some pretty poor decisions and not really thought about it, right? Like, oh, that would be right. Oh, no, that went really bad. I didn't, you know, I should have been thinking about this or that. But, yeah, the whole medical waiver thing will be interesting to see how that goes

because I feel like if, for whatever reason, they don't give him one, that puts all the drivers in a really weird spot where they're going to feel like they have to live, like, in a bubble. You know, I'm going to be worried about running down the road on the highway, exercise. I'm going to be worried about riding my mountain bike, running my road bike. worried about training training yeah is it worth to go that extra 10 pounds on on this deadlift and blow your back out or not like obviously you work really hard in your form and all that stuff to avoid that and self-awareness but still things can happen right um so it's how that plays out but for me how i look at it is i've never been really great at snowboarding but you know you

you have to be locked in and if you're going at a good speed like you know i've seen plenty of videos of you know helmet cans of people snowboarding it's it's intense you know you have to be locked in. And anytime that you can, you know, kind of almost train your brain or train your mental awareness and being able to find that zone and get locked in. I feel like whether I've been able to try and lock in on that when I'm running, I guess when you're running on the highway or the sidewalk, it's not as technical, but when you're trail running, you have to be really aware you're going to put your feet when you're running a mountain bike. You know, an inch this way or that way could mean disaster, right? So there's a number of things that I feel like I do that that help train my

brain. I don't know if necessarily that's why Chase does it. You know, just because for the enjoyment of it. But yeah, I hope that, you know, they give him a medical waiver and allow him to come back on his own terms and then go compete for a championship. Yeah. If you're a diecast fan like me, you know

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what is that like for you, you know, seeing that car out there, either run poorly or run really good, right? You know, depending on the result, is it just another car? Is it really kind of like you have no emotional attachment good or bad to it? Because I feel like that, you know,

I moved out of the Xfinity series and other drivers got in that car or, you know, and I've seen drivers of our you know, our team swap, you know, when you went to RCR, for example, right? Yeah, yeah, dang, I hope he doesn't beat us. I want to beat, you know, I want to be, I want to, I want to, you know, I wanted you to regret leaving, right? I wanted you to, you know, I could be honest and say, man, I wanted him to, certainly

didn't you want you to go there and go, man, this is better, you know, right? I wanted you to go there and go, you know, I really, I really had a great place, I really had a great place at Junior Mers. So, you know, to my point. is like when you're, you know, out on the racetrack with a car that you used to drive, what's, what's that like? It's, the motions are tough. You're kind of like torn.

I mean, it was the same thing when I went from here to RCR. Like, me and Dave were still really, really close. And I wouldn't see that whole team still do well because all the people on that team meant a lot to me. A lot of the people in this building meant a lot to me. So you're kind of conflicted a little bit. You don't want to see them do bad. You don't want, you know, like, I never. once in my mind, once, you know, watching Kyle at Fontana win that race, like, never once

crossed my mind, like, man, I, you know, man, I hope something happens. Never once crossed my mind. But certainly, too, I feel like a sense of motivation, kind of like you talked about, like, you want to, you want to outrun them, you know, the competitor and you wants to do better than them. So you're kind of like caught in this weird middle ground. Like, you, you don't wish anything ill will on them, but you want to go out there and, and beat them in competition because, well, you know, you're somewhere else now. So it's just, it's tough. Like, For me, I have good friends on that team, and to see them win is makes you happy. But, you know, we'll see.

Maybe ask a question again when it's me head-to-head, going for a race win, and see how I feel about Africa. Yeah, six months from now. So how have you changed? We're going to get to the Xfinity stuff here in a minute, but how have you changed as a driver from the person you were standing on pit road at Bristol in the dirt race? So I feel like that maybe you're the same, maybe you're different,

but you Briscoe and you get together Briscoe sent it into the corner wasn't going to make the corner neither one of you get to win you surprised a lot of people by how you reacted after that race but I'm sure that you've changed or grown

and maybe you don't need to maybe that reaction was perfectly fine but say that happens again this year you know what where do you think you are in your growth cycle I suppose in terms of how you handle those type of situations because I'll be honest man I mean I knows my cars but

you know you were spicy at Fontana the one hits you and you're like down the back straight away you're like hey you jerk yeah um you ran me in the freaking wall you idiot and then you know and I think you had the same sort of um same sort of reaction to Josh you know if you could have you know shown him some displeasure you would have right and so well I don't know it I when I went back and watch the deal with Josh, like, I come flying down the track, and I'm like, oh, man, did I lose my cool for a second? Was I thinking about it? I was looking at your, was I thinking about it. I could have got both of them in one swing, right? They had an in-car, they had an in-car camera, and I was watching your eyes. I was like, man, I wonder if I can see these anger.

Because some, you know, you were, you know, I didn't know if you were like going to bow up in the car. But I wonder, you know, me and Mike were talking about this about, like, me being angry and another driver, and we were having a hard time really finding examples of me just really being pissed. A guy cuts you off on the highway, you lose your shit.

I actually don't. Really? Yeah, I don't get mad on the highway at all. I used to when I was, like, really, really young, like, I would kind of show displeasure and get back of people, but, like, I just... I don't know. When I get cut off on the highway,

like, it's nothing against him. Like, hopefully he finds it's funny. I was like, oh, that was Ross. He just took the line away. Here we go. I'll just wait my turn, and maybe I'll get back. round this car a little bit later on. You know, I don't really get mad.

You know, I... You haven't even had a Ross run in, have you? I mean, honestly, no. Me and him race really, really hard together and, like, me and him... But it's just a drug... Every guy's natural reaction is to think the guy that cut him off on the highway is Ross. That's what I took away from that. That's it.

Yeah. I don't even really... You said Ross. You said Ross. I don't mean that in a negative way. I don't. I don't. He is, like, I was going back, get ready for Vegas last week, and it was just so impressive

Eventually, Joey got alongside him in that fall race last year, but so impressive how he just left Joey no options right up for number of laps on old tires. So, I mean, honestly, I said, I have a compliment. Like him and Brandon work really, really good together on the roof and in the car. Yeah, as a broadcaster, I love it. But, yeah, he's good for entertainment. So, but anyways, back to my question. So have you –

Oh, yes. Have you evaluated some of those moments, and have you – would you handle it differently today? I think, well, hindsight's always 20-20, and I think throughout that whole situation, I found that, you know, after the year was, after the playoff run, it kind of took in its course. Like those five points would have,

I would have survived Bristol, all the chaos we had there. We would have won at Texas and then been into the final round of the whole deal. Obviously, we needed more speed there. but when you look at all that, definitely I think it shifts how you may respond to something like that if it happens again. You know what I mean? Like, okay, if this happens again in a similar way, you know, where are those five points that I missed out on going to cost me down the road? Hopefully they don't, but, you know, definitely my mind at the moment when that happened, you know, I wasn't thinking, oh, you know, we'll win more races and we won't need those five points. I don't we needed those five playoff points. But certainly after going through that whole situation or miss out on the first round and all that sort of stuff,

You know, it'll definitely change how I approach that situation going forward. I'm not saying, like, move out there and lose my mind with someone, but... That's interesting, though, that you... Probably not going to be as accepting of the outcome. But I still, in that moment, felt like, yes, he ran me... Like, he ran me down. Like, I could have done more. I could have done something different, better to keep the gap.

He caught you. I didn't. He caught me. And it was the last corner into turn three, and I'd attempted the save move that he had attempted a few times on other cars. I was going to make it work, because they didn't defend it. it. I try to defend it. If I wouldn't defend the dang slider, he probably would have, he probably would just spun out of what kept going. So I look at it in a very different sense than some. You should be commended to look at it that way. Because everybody else put it in our,

we put ourselves in your shoes, we would have been livid. I wonder too if us, us like strictly pavement guys have, have, don't have quite the understanding that he and Chase have of what went down in that moment, right? Is the dirt, is with y'all's dirt history and experience. I think, all look at it differently. I think so, but I do think I remember talking to Kyle about it. He was like, dude, you just took you out. And I'm like, well, he's more dirt. More of dirt guy than any of us. And he still feels that way. Larson said that. I think he did. Don't quote me on that. But I do feel like he was like, you know, didn't understand that. But I don't know. I feel like it was in control what happened. I let him get there. Yeah. Well, you got to talk about this paint scheme you got coming up

in a couple weeks. Now, Exfinity are a great partner here for us at the download. And for for Dirtymo Media. And man, they have been incredible in the Xfinity series, supporting that. They do so much in our sport. It's one of the biggest sponsors in NASCAR. They're going to be on your car at Atlanta. And, man, I'm looking at this paint scheme. We're not going to reveal it.

But it's beautiful. They got the new TNG network, which is fun to joke around because they skipped a few. Skip a few numbers. Yeah, they went right past. six, seven, eight, and nine. Just jump right by them, yeah. But, you know, you've won in the Xfinity Series,

and you know what they mean to this sport and everything that they do, and they support so much going on in NASCAR. It's got to be pretty cool for you to be able to carry their colors in a beautiful race car. It is. I mean, whether it was here and then at RCR, getting to win the championship in the Xfinni series, and just everything that they do for that series and for the drivers, You know, they've, you know, Xfinity and Xfinity racing changed my life, really.

And so to a couple years down the road, be working with them at 2311 is a really cool opportunity. And yes, I'm really excited about the colors of the car. You know, purple, purple is a color. It's an underrated color. And I really do like the look of the car for Atlanta. The paint scheme will be revealed next Tuesday, the 14th. do you have like any influence on any paint schemes do you get involved in design of the cars or anything like that

I mean I enjoy it yeah right now I'm not I don't know it's just one more person that's got to go through right if I do but you know I'm kind of new new at 2311 I'll work work my way into some other things down the road but definitely I would I would I love you know old school cars I feel like I have kind of a almost a throwback nostalgia vibe to what I like to see on the track but yeah I'll try and I'll try and sink my way into into some of those discussions down the road after I'm there for a little longer

yeah well man it's a good looking race car and and man going to Atlanta I know that track is who would have ever thought it is what it is now it's crazy it's it's a wild race I really thought I hate to see the old Atlanta go because that was such unique animal and you just it demanded perfection right and what it's turned into now is kind of the same, but it's plate racing. You know, you can't make a mistake anywhere. And obviously, we didn't have the finishes we wanted when we were there last year, but like we were really strong. I had a lot of fun drafting. I feel like me and Denny have some things working out pretty good there and that hopefully we can share amongst, you know, all the Toyotas and have a good strategy going back.

But Atlanta's really become fun. It's like a, you know, I had my reservations about it first, but it's really turned into a speedway race, you know, unlike the others that I really enjoy. I was actually going to ask you about it real quick because since Atlanta's next weekend, you're going to run this Xfinity 10G car next weekend. So, like, yes, drivers were very vocal when the Atlanta track was reconfigured. I don't remember where you were if you necessarily spoke up like everybody, you know, like some of these. Did you? I mean, I would honestly, I would love to race more.

That's a dirt racer in me, right? Like, I almost wish we could have the Atlanta now and still have the old Atlanta. But obviously you see these tracks yet to a point like we had it at, at, if one, Montana where they're coming apart. Well, the weepers and just amounted debris that was destroying the noses. Like there's a, there unfortunately is a time where you have to say, all right, we got to shut over. I love seeing our door up the noses where, man, that was sad. It created a lot of issues for the teams, but I know.

I don't know if you saw some of the splitters were literally separated tore off. And at that point, you're junk, you know. So I hated that part of it, but, you know, just the direction of the next-shend car. So I know that technology and pavement is much better 20 years, 20 years after the fact. but the first time that Atlanta was repaved was 96, I believe. And so I raced it in 01. I raced it in 98, 99. It was pretty damn slick in just a couple of years.

Because of the environment down there, it's almost kind of this sort of sand hills, almost like a beach town, if you will. It will more than likely degrade or lose grip much more quickly than you might see like a Charlotte or something like that. So I'm excited to see what you guys say in just a year's time, how slightly different it will be. And it will progressively kind of get closer and closer to that old Atlanta field.

Yeah, I hope so. If not, then we just need to get a few of us together and go find some old blueprints from pavement equipment back in the 90s and just bring it back and repave tracks with that stuff. Yeah. It worked. It worked. We had tire fall off. blazing fast lap times and qualifying and they would chew tires up move around so yeah i don't know i may

have to if i do if i do pretty good over here 2311 and get some money sitting on i might have to go buy some payment when you mix the when you mix the aggregate with the the you know asphalt the tar and all that you know you got to put more crushed sea shale and granite yeah for sure and so there's less tar um i think the um you might find this interesting so charlotte they repaved it you're ago, right? It still has a bottom dominant groove. They put the resin up top and we, you know, we saw the Xfinity series and the couple guys run a little bit higher. But if you don't treat that track, you're running right on the bottom. Well, actually, I felt like once all, they really went out there and scrubbed all that stuff off of it before the 600 we had this, this past year.

And I feel like the resin actually made it bottom dominant because it was so slippery and wouldn't ever really get the temperature and heat friction it needed to come in. So actually, when we like had our test there in the off season or in the fall or whatever, they went out and sprayed the whole track off. And that was like the first time in years you could actually get all the way up by the wall and move around. So I was really excited about 600 and then you saw it. You could run top to bottom again. So I was really worried about that track when it was still on the track,

but they went out there and just pressure-washed the daylights out of it and got all of it off. And I feel like the tops back. Yeah, the oval race at Charlotte this past year was phenomenal. but when they repaved that track a decade or two ago, I mean, it was like 15 years ago they repaved it. They repaved it with, they used rubber polymers instead of like a concrete, a granite, or crushed any kind of aggregate, right? And so it's like rubber on rubber.

And so that's why it was like not falling off. It wasn't wearing, it wasn't deteriorating. It was like a brand new repave for like 10 years. Yeah. And so, yeah, the technology in an asphalt and paving has gotten two. good. It's good for the highway, but we need to get away from it on the race tracks, right? For sure.

I think they've learned that lesson. Well, man, I'm thankful you gave us some time today. A lot of fun hanging out. I love watching your race. Hope that you get things going at 2311. I know it's early in the season, and it's been kind of a clunky start with the weather and everything. So you haven't really been able to get your feet underneath you, but I'm sure once you do,

you're going to be a handful. and we hope you come back and visit us soon. Yeah, I would love to. I'm telling you, if we have cars like we did at Vegas, Pitt Road obviously bet us, but we have cars like we did at Las Vegas this year, we're going to be right where you want to be. But thanks for having me.

Wish I could stay longer, but I got to get back to work. Go to work. Man, it's a busy guy. Thanks for giving us some time. Tyler Reddick on the Dale Jr. download. Man, I'm really excited to have Ally help us bring the guest segment every week.

It's one of my favorite parts of the download. We get to talk to so many different people in racing, of racing. But everybody that comes in here, I want them to have had a good time. I want them to want to come back. I want them to feel like an ally to Dirty Mo Media. Thank you, Ally, for your continued support of the download and the entire Dirty Mo Media team. Check out Dirty Mo Media. Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.