The Dale Jr. Download - 464 - Josh Berry - Marching 4Ward

Episode Date: June 21, 2023

On the biggest day of his racing career, Josh Berry joins Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis to share the news that he’ll be replacing Kevin Harvick in the Stewart-Haas Racing number 4 next year. Josh has been a frequent guest on the Dale Jr. Download throughout the years and could think of no better way to celebrate this major milestone than to sit down and reflect on his time spent at JR Motorsports. The interview covers how the deal to go Cup racing came together, and how Josh’s time spent filling in at Hendrick Motorsports earlier this year served as almost an audition in the decision-making.Dale inquires about how Josh was able to juggle so much at the same time this year, between racing full-time in the Xfinity Series, filling in for Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, and working on putting together his 2024 Cup plans. Dale and Josh discuss the prospect of being a career late model racer and how his success at the short track level eventually led to the opportunity to run 12 races for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series. They also recognize that Josh’s first career Xfinity win at Martinsville helped change the perception of him as a driver and paved the way to his eventual Cup series opportunity. 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, Delenhart Jr., the Bojangl Studio.

We've got a great guest today. Well, how you doing, Rhiz? I'm doing fine right now. This is every week, okay, Bob. Huckle it. You died on that hill. Your career died on that hill and you were hardheaded. You were a bigger idiot.

I didn't even think about it. You thought about it and didn't ask you. That makes me the bigger idiot. I think so. Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. Welcome back to another episode of the Dale Jr. download Wednesday, June 21st, episode 4, 64. And we've got a great guest for you today.

Brought you by Ally, doing it right. Ally do it right It's our guest segment Mike Yes it is And we talk about it every week Ally is a great supporter of our Our team here at Dirtymo Media And they bring us this guest segment

Every week and yes we have Another Ally coming to the desk And it's Josh Barry Josh has a big announcement That he's making today It's probably the worst kept secret in the garage It's cliche to say that But it's true

Everybody pretty much knows that Josh is going to drive for Stuart Haas going into 2024, and he's going to come here and talk to us about it. I'm excited. I know a lot about what he's going to share with us, but, yeah, me and him have it sat down and really dug into it. It would be a great conversation. Yeah, we've had Josh on here many times,

but never is the driver of the number four car, the future driver. Kevin Harvick obviously finishes out the year, and Josh finishes out with us in the Xfinity series. But, man, what a day for not just Josh, but also you too, Dale, and in this entire company, because I think we all wanted this for Josh. He's earned it. So I'm looking forward to this,

and he's coming in right after talking to the company, and that's going to be something, too. It was pretty emotional. Yeah, he spends a few minutes addressing junior motor sports, and all the employees there are thanking them for all the influence and effect that they had on his career and helping him get these opportunities, and then he's coming into the studio. So let's just go ahead and get started.

I think he's right outside the door. let's bring him in josh berry on the delgenre download thank you good day look at that shirt new new shirt yeah josh berry is at the table and uh in the studio in the bojangled studio and it's a big day for you today um you're going to uh you're going to make a big announcement that uh you're going into the big time yeah so this is like as someone said earlier this morning maybe one of the worst kept secrets in the garage. And I kind of want to know. I went through this a little bit.

And I've seen a lot of drivers go through it. What has the last, you know, six months been like? Man, it's been crazy, especially the last really four to five months, I guess. Yeah, but first off, yeah, you know, it's an exciting day for me. It's emotional day, you know, moving, you know, I knew this. being here was going to be the most emotional part, I hope. I hope I hope I don't get too emotional in front of everybody, I guess. But yeah, I need this would be an emotional part, you know,

just thinking back all the times that we've had together here. But yeah, it's exciting. Man, the last four or five months, right? Like you go, I think, you know, just to dive into it, I guess, you know, my first conversations with Stuart Haas really, began right before the season start. Most of the meetings that I had actually were before the season, including I sat with Tony at Daytona, right, you know, when we were there for the race.

So this hasn't been ongoing for a little bit. You know, I don't think, you know, there was no, no means anything finished, but, you know, just conversations had started. And then, you know, we get to Las Vegas and Chase's injury comes about. And I never will forget that day of Mike. Mike Baumgartner coming and grabbing me. He was my crew chief last year. He's a competition director here.

He comes and grabs me and pulls me out of the hauler. He's like, hey, come over here. And I'm like, what are we doing? He's like, uh, something's going on. Chase has injury. I don't know what it is, but they want you to drive the nine car. And, you know, really from that moment on, I'm like, this is a full-blown audition, right?

And so from that moment on, you know, all through those weeks, you're bouncing the, the expending team, you know, racing the expending car, but also racing that cup car, trying to manage that and fully in the back of the mind, you know that this is all, you know that you're auditioning for your future at the same time. So you know that Stuart Haas has a lot of interest in you and like you say, you're going to drive the nine car, a very good race car in the Cup series. And so you felt like your results in that opportunity were absolutely critical

to helping you secure this opportunity. Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, I had my foot in the door, right? You could say I'm sure that we, you know, they had a number of candidates that they were looking at for this. But, you know, I obviously was able to get my foot in the door before that. But I'm sure that the moment that they, they read the news just like we all did, I think they realized, hey, well, we'll see, you know, this will give us a great opportunity to see how this is going to go. And, you know, feeling and replacing Kevin Harvick, right? I think jumping in that scenario, I think, is going to be similar. and it was a great experience for me to learn, learn and grow and how to manage that.

I think that, you know, ultimately I feel like that those races, and I'm sure that they had some conversations with some people at HMS too, that kind of, you know, just cemented their, you know, their thought that I was the guy they wanted. What were your conversations with Tony like? Really laid back. Like, I can't even really remember that we talked about race. much we talked about everything drag racing racing racing sprint cars it was uh it wasn't too much yeah i think he just wanted to get to know me a little bit as a person and how i you know how i got here

right like my story and what i did and that was really it's when we sat in his bus for a couple hours i feel like it was as a while yeah so um thinking back to your uh early days in legends cars at nashville fairgrounds and you know trying to you just go out there and win you a race uh at the local racetrack. Did you let yourself dream about anything like this back then? Oh, man, it's hard to, even back then, I don't know. I think back to when I was a kid more than anything, right? Like, you know, when you first watching NASCAR, remember watching, you know, you know,

you, your dad, Jeff, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, all these guys have all the little die-cast cars playing with them. You know, that's when you're a kid and you dream about, like, you know, I'm first starting to race go-carts and stuff. You know, and I'm like, man, I want to, that's what I want to do, right? And just as you progress and there's so much, you know, it's like the story that I just told about, you know, how we got here, even with the situation with the nine, the amount of timing and things that have to fall your way to get to this, get to this point are so hard that as you get older and progress, like, sometimes you may be, I'm not going to say lose sight of that dream, but the dream, you know, you don't wake up every morning and be like, you know, when I was racing your late model car, I didn't wake up every morning and be like, I'm dreaming. I want to be a cup driver. You know, you think about what you have to do and to go win the next race or run the next race.

So you kind of lose sight of that, I think. And, you know, over those years when we're all the racing we did, right, like that's who I became was a, you know, a short track racer. We, you know, won all kinds of races together and championships. And I think once, you know, my mindset, you kind of get that dream back whenever you step back into the Exmending Series like I did and started having a little bit. success, you kind of wonder what if you can make the most of this, you know, if these opportunities will come. You know, when you're racing at the, you know, at the cars tour level, a late mile stock car, and you're having so much success, right? And you would, you know, you'd run the cars tour. You went and won a national championship. You, you know, you every, you just kind of

checked all the boxes. And at what, you know, I think we had a couple conversations. at times about, you know, what your legacy was going to be, right? And I think what, you know, you say that sometimes you'd lose, you wouldn't lose, you know, hope. There's always this sort of this glimmer, right? But there were times, I think, when you're thinking, you know, maybe it's just not happening to me. I remember us having a couple conversations where you were like, maybe that's just not what my fate is, right?

but then out of nowhere as much it was as much a surprise to me I think as it was you that we were we fell into an opportunity to give you some chances in the Xfinity car take us back to that moment when you know I think am I right in saying that you kind of had you kind of were mentally preparing yourself to be a career short tracker right yeah absolutely yeah yeah and you walk into this building one day and 12 exfinity races were handed to you this and you remember that moment yeah no I mean first off especially I mean you're right I think that I had completely you know accepted that that I was going to be a career short track racer and I hope that I could race you know as long

as I as I could or I wanted to or we could we can make it all work I had I I definitely accepted that and I think and I don't look at that as a negative right I mean I didn't at all and I still the only thing you know throughout this you know I get asked so many times like was it frustrating all those years and the grind and all this and I'm like man it was it was fun as hell like you know we raced we built our race cars they were fast we woped a lot of ass we drank beer when we won it was a I mean it was a blast and I love and I loved that time and doing that and um You know, we just, our motivation through those times was just like, we're going to just keep doing it. Move the next box, right? You win Martinsville. You win Cars Tour Championship. You win, you know, the Thanksgiving Classic. You win, okay, well, now let's go for the national championship. You win that. We just kept raising the bar for ourselves just to keep adding in that motivation.

But, yeah, I remember, you know, we, I remember we actually did the podcast after I won the national championship. NASCAR called in on the TV and officially crowned us the national champion. And then we discussed that and had a great conversation. I think the next day we had media day. I did like a virtual media day for that. And that's when they surprised me. I think I was on Sirius XM at the time. And surprised me with that opportunity and that I had no idea was coming at all.

Right. And, you know, I remember. Which, by the way, was the full time? ride. Is that what... No, it was the 12 race. The 12 race is at the beginning of the season, yeah. They surprised you, that's right, that's what happened. The 12 race schedule.

Yeah. Got it. I remember just probably, I could tell something was up. I was in here and I could tell something was up because somebody was filming me. And I was like, this is weird. And somebody was filming, and I kind of just tipped off slightly by that. And then they went into it and told me that. And I remember I can't.

I can't remember if it was you or Kelly or LW or somebody. I think it was one of you three. Like we get through and, you know, obviously I get a little emotional about it. And I'm not, you know, I'm kind of quiet. I'm not really saying much. And one of you all looked at me and was like, you do want to do it, right? I'm like, yeah, I want to do it. You know, I'm just taking this in, right?

And, yeah, we, you know, just, you know, so that just spirals and takes off. you know, I remember going home and, you know, even my wife's like, what? You know, she don't know, right? She's sitting at home. She thinks I'm just out working and I come home and she reads the shit on the internet. You know, she's like, what's this? And, you know, I thought in that moment, I felt like I changed. You know, I felt like my mindset changed.

And I said, man, I can, you know, I can do this, right? You pull up, first thing you do is you pull up the schedule and you look at the list of races and you're like, man, there's some great opportunities for me in this. Like, if, you know, I'm going to have a great team and great race cars, and if I can adapt quickly and handle this situation and work through it, you know, you never know it could happen. And it was, you know, it was just a whirlwind experience. You know, we didn't, even through those 12 races, like the first couple didn't go great, right? You know, I was still adapting. Maybe they weren't the best, you know, racetracks or whatever. We didn't have the best cars that day, but, you know, the first couple races were a struggle,

but we saw the potential in it, and then, you know, we went to Martinsville and won, and, I mean, I just feel like that, you know, that moment just kind of just changed my life going forward. That was a really incredible moment. That was a big day. And when you win and race, in racing, there are so many emotions. Really, really high, really, really low, right? And I have, you know, we've all been around our, we've all been around our, we've all been around racing and experience so many things, all of us. But that day was hard to explain. You know, winning that race at Martinsville, just a race, just a race in the middle of the

schedule. But for you, that was the day where if this was going to go further, that had to happen. Yep. And all of the variables at play and all of the odds were against you. You're obviously at a race track you feel great about because you've had so much good success at Martinsville and your late model cars. But man, I mean, if you don't win that race, I don't know if we're sitting here. I agree with that. Yeah. I mean, I think it was, you know, it was just that big of a moment, right? I think it just, even publicly, it seemed to just take me from like the guy, like, who, you know, this guy is like, yeah, he's a good short track racer. You know, this is cool. He's getting this opportunity. He's too old. You know, how is he going to do to, you,

you know, whoa, this was why was this such a big moment? I think that's what a lot of people that even in the media was like, well, why is this such a big moment to you and to me and to junior motor sports and a lot of people that was around it,

why was this so special? And I think that's when it kind of, you know, it just moved the needle for me. And we, it kind of got some, you know, it got the momentum going. You know, we were able to attract some more partners to help put together the full season.

That was extremely important, obviously. I was able to get a few other opportunities and some other cars here and there in the truck series and in the Xfinity series. And later on, even as a fill-in in the Cup series a couple times that season, you know, it just was able to snowball me into some opportunities so I could continue gaining experience. And then while we set ourselves up for, you know, 20, 22, which would have been, you know, full-time season. You know, I'll attempt to explain it or what that feeling was. it was validation for both of you guys, not just Josh, but you as well. And it wasn't validation for the previous 365 days. It felt like validation from the previous decade, frankly, because you had been, we've said it before, you had been killing it in the late model series,

but as we all know, there were also people that were coming in in the second team and then also going to cup. Yeah. Right. William Byron, you know, there's other people that come, you know, obviously had success on the late model program. that you practically built. I know there were other drivers before you. I'm just saying that you took that thing to another level. There was a validation for both of you because I agree. I don't think you unlock those new opportunities without Martinsville.

And I felt like Dale also sort of took a gamble because I think you guys are hitting on it. You're not a multimillionaire bringing all this money. Kevin Barry is not a multi-millionaire, correct? Correct. Okay, Hendersonville, Tennessee, not the central. hub of the racing universe, correct? Right. So you are one of these guys that actually is making your way up by merit.

And there's not a lot of you these days. In fact, not a lot. And you were taking gambols on them. The way you did, Kozlowski and Josh Berry was, and you guys felt validated. Yeah. I, you know, I think that's a great point. You, you, there was one part of your life, your career, where I could, you know, I could see, I could see the

you were a great mentor for a lot of drivers that came through the late model program William Byron's a great example of that you know we've had several drivers come through there that are actively racing in the trucks and Exfinity and Cup level today and you influence their

race craft I mean you you still influence them today long after they have moved on but I could see in your expression at times like, why is this happening for me, right? I'm outperforming these guys, and they're the ones getting opportunities

to go to this next level, and why isn't this, what are the things that are missing? And I think that's what makes this story even so much more compelling is because when we did get the opportunity to put you in the car for 12 races, there was sort of this, are we sure we can do this? And then when we got to the next step of, man, we can do a full,

year, is this really happening? You know, I mean, I feel like, especially in the last three steps that you've taken, like full-time Xfinity, now this new opportunity to go to the cup level, there is this sort of sense, I don't, I think you feel it, but I feel it of, I can't believe this is real. Yeah. And it's not, it's kind of this feeling about, I don't know how to feel because it doesn't feel like we ever thought this would get to this place.

Yeah. I mean, it's just this whole process, the whole, you know, this whole journey to get here is just so unprecedented kind of. Just how everything, I don't know. I mean, I think it's just so unique. I think just the situation that's, you know, that you have, you know, in the last three years and then the time before that. You know, I often think about what I could have done different, right? Like, I think about that all the time. But, you know, ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, like, I did the right thing because it worked out in my favor.

But, you know, I wonder like, man, should I have been beaten on people's doors trying to drive this truck or that truck or this expensive car? But, you know, I think I just, you know, for one, I felt extremely loyal to you and in this company and putting in the work and being a part of that program. Because ultimately it was a, you know, ultimately it was how I made a living too, right? I was an employee of the company. I worked on the late model cars. I was expected to be present there every day in building. And, yes, I was working on my own car mostly. in our other cars throughout that program and racing it and all that.

But, you know, it was almost like, you know, I was expected, and I know I was expected to do that. And I just stayed extremely focused on that. And, you know, in time, you're right, you know, there was times for sure that I, that's frustration, you know, the frustration is, you know, was building, you know, that built and then maybe over that. But, you know, I just never let it, you know,

I just never let it bother me. I just felt like I just, I was, still so fortunate to get to be to get to race a late model car get to race at all these racetracks around here and go race to my buddies and work on my car and have so much fun that you know i just you know i didn't you know i remember days when i never thought i would race uh you know anything other than a legend car or or on our racing or whatever right and and so i just think it's you know it's unique it's my story is different because it is different right and i think sometimes people don't understand that part of it. They're like, well, weren't you, you know, you're a cup driver now.

Weren't you mad when you race late model cars? And we're like, but we know, because we've done it. You know, you know, we've done it and we know how how rewarding and fun it is racing, racing at that level that, you know, maybe could I have done more to advance that for sure. I mean, I know I could have, but at the same time, just the effort that I put in and we all did in that group to win all the races we did is what propelled me, you know, and helped y'all give me the opportunity in the Xfinney car. And ultimately, all that work and all that preparation in racing was what made me prepared to win races and get here. You mentioned your age, and that's, you know, something I wanted to talk about a little bit. You know, I absolutely get that if you want to

capture a young talent or a driver that you think is going to be incredible, right? You want to get him in the house. You want to get him under the roof as early as possible. Probably earlier than before they're even ready to or even developed into a winner or championship. And we've seen this time and time again with William as a good example. He goes into the cup level. He is a talented race car driver. Potential Hall of Famer one day, maybe win a championship,

maybe a couple championships. He's winning and races having a great year now. But it took him a while to get there, right? It took him a while to learn the ropes and the racecraft and Joe Lugano almost was given up on at one point in his career becomes a multi-time champion, right? True Hall of Famer. But he had that period of time where there was those four or five years,

maybe even more, where he developed. And I think that you're a great, example of the other side of the coin where your teams can find and hire that turnkey developed ready to go win race's driver right out of the gate and i want to give you a couple stats like for example dad do you know how old dad was when he ran his first full time season 28 years old even more extreme to that harry gant do you think harry gand had a pretty good cup career yeah guy started his first full-time season at 39 years old. And so I think, and that's a, you know, obviously that's a different time and a different era,

but I think that you will open up a lot of people's eyes with your career and what you do beyond today with that the idea of a guy with all of this experience, all of this local track experience, short track experience, experience, experience, that the age, you've, You're beyond developed. You're not going to get in this four car and need five years to become a winner. You're not going to need four years to become a winner. You're a winner now. You're ready to go win cup races today.

I know you won't say that, but I feel that. And I think that that's almost kind of like cheating for the Seward House guys, right, to be able to plug a guy in there that's ready to go. I think Preece is also, I know he's struggling to get the results this year, but I think he was a guy they plugged in that had so much racecraft and development, short track racing and just weathered, right, and would be able to get in there and when the car is right, get it right to victory lane and know exactly what needs to happen.

But I think that, you know, I think there's two different ways to do it. You can get that young guy in there. You're going to spend those years developing him. He's yours, but you've got to be patient. or you can go out there and hire the guy who's turnkey and ready to go, and that's another alternative, and I think you represent that very well. I wanted to ask you about Rodney, so I've got to be honest.

Me and Rodney, I know you know all this, but people out there listening, me and Rodney used to run around in my pickup truck when we're kids. I've known him all my life. I wish I'd have known that he was going to be this amazing crew chief, because I would assuredly have loved to have worked with him. I'm envious that you're going to get that opportunity. Rodney and you are so similar.

Y'all have very similar backgrounds. Rodney was a very talented short track racer. One, just about everything he built. He would build his own cars, take him to the racetrack, and kick everybody's butt. And unfortunately for him, his brakes didn't come. He was on the exact same path as you. But he had to make a decision and make a change in his life.

And so y'all's backgrounds are so similar, and I really am excited to see y'all go to the track and work together because I think that, you know, you will understand each other right out of the gate, and I know you probably spent some time with him, and I kind of want to understand, you know, I kind of want to hear your thoughts on your impressions of Rodney. This is a Hall of Famer, one of the best crew chiefs in the garage,

and now you're going to get that opportunity. Because, I mean, this is, when you get to the couple, level, it's every part of the puzzle. All of it has to be right. You know that. All of that, you know, you got to have the crew chief right on his game, drivers got to be on his game, engineers, everything, all the guys in the shop working on the car, everything's got to be perfect. And I think that you check that box absolutely with Rodney and you're going to get this incredible opportunity. What's your impression to him so far? What have you learned from him? What do you think you're excited about there? Yeah, I mean, obviously it's a tremendous opportunity.

to have someone like that on your side and working with you as you start this full-time cup opportunity, right? He's, you know, I've known Rodney for a while. He's texted, we've texted back and forth and talked over the years even when a late model race, and he was always supportive of me and watched the races and what we did. And that kind of builds that relationship at a, you know, there's no, you know, there's no intention behind that. That's just genuine, right?

Like, he's not reaching out to me in saying these things because I'm going to drive his car next year, right? He's reaching out. This is years ago. So that begins to build a relationship of trust and respect years back. Yeah, I remember, like when you're out there kicking tail on the cars tour and stuff, he's liking tweets, retweeting stuff, commenting. Like, this is a driver right here. So he was a big fan of yours going way back. Yeah. And just, you know, throughout this whole process, you know, everybody, literally almost every single person that either picks up on what's been going on or whatever and ask about ask about the four or ask that this is happening. They're like, was Rodney coming?

And that's like the first. So that just shows how big of a piece to the puzzle he's going to be in this. And man, I just, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and just so excited to work with him and learn from him. And, you know, he's been, you know, he's been pretty involved throughout this process as well. You know, I never will forget one of the, one of the coolest things that happened was, you know, he, he texts me one day, and he's like, you know, because he was kind of,

hey, he's just, you know, we're kind of texting back and forth. I'm just like gossiping. Look, is this going to happen? Is this going to, you know, I feel good about it? You know, whatever, back and forth. And he said, he texted me one day. He says, man, they kind of called a meeting with our whole group. And they, you know, they threw out a list of a few drivers.

I don't know who the other drivers were. But every single one of them voted for me. Wow. And I was like, I was like, Yes. Wow. Like, you know, that's, and I think that was big, right? And I think that they truly, you know, Rodney's so well respected in that organization that they, you know, they valued his thoughts and that, you know, that group.

You know, a lot, there's a lot going to be made up today of like, why me and, like you said, the age part of it and all that. But, I mean, they could have had anybody and they wanted me. And that's why I'm there. That is a great feeling because as a driver, you have to have, you have to know for a fact, genuinely that not only the crew chief, but all those guys that are on that car helping you every week believe in you. You know, and you know, you have that right now, right? And, and you, your, your responsibility going forward is to continue to nurture that, you know,

trust and that relationship and prove to those guys why, why they should believe in you. And it's tough, you know, so I've, I've been in situations in my career where that wanes comes and goes. And it's, and it's on you a little bit as a driver, right, to, that, that, that, that, you know, that, sometimes, you know, you struggle with that. What is the responsibility moving forward? I mean, you're obviously going to finish the Xfinity Series season with us, but do you start to work with the SHR guys?

Do you and Rodney start developing? What is the expectation there? Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm really not sure. You know, I think for one, they, you know, not only, you know, I have, you know, the rest of the Xfinity Series season, and that's extremely important to all of us, you know, how that closes out. And it win in races and hopefully competing.

for a championship again like last year is obviously the goal there so that's important and then even on their side i mean they're they're finishing their season with a future hall of famer nascar champion that's retiring that's still running really well he's not you know i think they're they're in the top five in points he's could have won a couple races already this year like they're not they're not easing off the throttle at all this is a full full commit and um you know so that's so for me i think you know i think you know i think i think it'll be it'll be fun to build a relationship you know i want to come around those guys a little bit you know go see them while i'm at the racetrack you know not make make myself a stranger but i think

it's going to be important to let them close this chapter on on what they've been doing and and for me to close this chapter on us and then in the meantime you know do the things i need to do to be ready uh mentally and physically to be a cup driver and then when the when the when this book closes on these two chapters get ready to get after it and i think that you know the the the expectations are going to be there next year, but, you know, for me and my message to them is going to be, hey, all our expectations are going to be is our best effort every day, you know, with every car and every race just to put together our best effort. Because ultimately, I feel like if you, you know, if you put together your best effort, you work hard, you believe in each other,

you do the right things, the results will come. And I mean, I'm, I'm living proof of that, right? I mean, that's literally how I'm here right now. So that's one of the one things I kind of wanted to touch on is you're on your own. I know that, you know, you've got me, you've got a lot of people in your corner, LW, it's like a brother, Kelly. You've been part of our family for over a decade now. But nobody is holding your hand through this process. And I think it's, I guess I want to commend you a little bit because, or a lot of, lot because you're taking it you're doing something at such a high level with literally

you know very little um very little understanding of of the territory you didn't grow up here you didn't grow up in this cup world you're you're you're discovering and learning and going through these processes for the first time and experiencing and meeting people sometimes for the first time and it's not too big like the The stage is not overwhelming or too big. I know that you don't know how to feel sometimes about how, you know, this is unreal. It's hard to believe. But I'm just so impressed by your ability.

You know, you talked about having communication and preparing and what should you do with the four team. You've got this other stuff to do with the Xfinity team. They're running their season. They want to win a championship and they don't want distractions or anything to, you know, you've got to find balance there. but I know that you're actively reaching out to Rodney and those guys and Kevin and saying, what can I be doing? How can I be doing?

What can I be doing to prepare? I want to be ready to go when you call on me and it's my turn to step in there. I want to have done everything I could do. And to be that mindful and that proactive with everything else happening, I mean, you're working out with Josh Wise every week. Your days are filled with meetings and reviews of the last race to prepare for the next race in the Xfinity series. There's not a minute in the day to spare. But you do not have a traditional support system, I would say, in terms of,

it's just really impressive to me that you're able to manage and handle all this. and be provoked to think about checking in and making sure that you're doing everything you need to do across the board. It's been a very overwhelming year for you, filling in for Chase, and those are incredible opportunities. Absolutely. But so overwhelming, right? Didn't even have to time. You still probably haven't even processed what you did this year. No.

Right? No. No, it was, yeah, that length of time was just a whirlwind. I mean, it was just nonstop, right? Because they, you know, like I said, it was double the amount of meetings and double the amount of SIM and trying to manage everything. Like, it was a lot. And obviously, it was a great opportunity. And I don't, I'm not shying away from that, you know, one bit.

It was awesome. But, but, but yeah, it was a lot. And then, like I said, knowing, knowing and trying to manage that the whole time that you know that you're basically auditioning, right? Like the impressions that you make on each person at Hendrick Motorsports, you know, the job you do. I think that was extremely important to me. I wanted to be, obviously I wanted good results on the track, but I wanted to manage to represent myself well within the company and in those moments.

And I think that, you know, that was extremely important to me to, you know, to leave that and have it be a positive experience. And I feel like it was. Yeah. So it was, you know, it was amazing. And like I said, even with that being said, you know, I'm so thankful for them for thinking of me and giving me that opportunity and even even after our first race our first race wasn't

wasn't great by any means it was a you know last second deal we had you know I had had no experience in the next-gen car it was kind of a whirlwind literally no preparation at all and then you had issue with the car didn't finish well and they could easily said ah this is something we don't want you know we're gonna look somewhere else and they they didn't they gave me an opportunity to to earn it and and you know we worked extremely hard that week and then and then after after that, you know, we were, the results were pretty good. Yeah, I think you do, you got to give Allen, Jeff Gordon and Rick, Hendrick,

Chackenhouse and all of them, a lot of credit because, yeah, they did have a pool of drivers they could have pulled from to try different things throughout that process. But I think that your work ethic and the amount of effort you put into it and being accountable and presentable and available, even. while you're trying to run your Xfinity car and also trying to put a new deal together for your cup career. You know, it's just incredible how many things you were juggling at the same time. I think you did leave a great impression on them, at least from what I've been told.

They were all, you know, loved your effort and, you know, you were always within reach when they needed you. Any damn near one. Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah, he got some great results. and they got creative and and he was able to you know when they put him in position he was able to finish a job um which was paramount yeah um and so but i but i speak to that speak i was trying to get you to talk a little bit about how difficult this has been most people that i know in this

sport have a connection to it right have a have a relationship to it whether it's kin like me i came through my grandfather, my dad, everybody, right, was involved in racing. You came from Nashville, you came from Tennessee, driving a legends car. You've been on this road to get to this very top level. Now, you're married, you have a family. That's a support system. That's someone to bounce things off of. But they're just as green at this as you are, right?

And navigating this big, crazy world of NASCAR in this industry. help people understand, I guess, you know, what that's been like for you. You don't have a, you know, you don't have a group of handlers, people hushering you around to make sure you're on time for this and on time for that. I've seen your schedule today. You know who's responsible to get you to all those things? You. Me.

And I know that that will change, and it may change today. There may be people around today that are actually going to be making sure. that you know from sewer horse racing make sure everything's right but yeah up until this point man i mean a lot of we have really asked you to manage all of this you know and there's still things today that i don't think people realize that you do like you're going to go you're going to go help us run a car store race a car in a couple weeks on a wednesday yeah for a car that we're going to enter in that race yeah i call him up i'm like hey man i kind of want to do this man can you can you help me get it done and he's like yeah i can do that i guess and i mean i mean

on top of all of the other things that's going on in this guy's world. You know, and he's got, like I said, a family and all of those responsibilities to be present. And so I just can't believe how much you've been. We've really stacked a lot on your plate. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's, you know, one thing is I think I don't really know any different, I guess, right? Like, it's just kind of how it is, I guess. I don't know how to word that.

You know, for sure it's been a challenge. And like we touched on the cup and the expedient deal, that was top of it, right, trying to manage through all that. And obviously, you know, my wife, my family, that, you know, she can help. But it's, you know, it's really just a lot kind of managing. And a lot of times you have to kind of prioritize what's important to you in this, you know, what you're going to do, how you rank your meetings and your, you know, your Simtime or, you know, all the different things that come along with. with cup racing and Xfinity racing. And I think that, you know, that's one thing that I learned throughout the process of this year was that I am ready to race a cup car.

And I am capable of handling that, the grind that it's going to be and mentally how you have to stay focused and in the game for that long of a season, right? You know how it is. And I think to touch on, you know, the support system around me, I don't think I feel that way, right? Like I think, you know, I know that even now going through, if you think when it comes to the driver side of things and cup racing, I have three Hall of Famers that I can, that I'm going to be able to lean on, right? I'm going to have you. I'm going to have Kevin Harvick and I'm going to have Tony Stewart, right, that I can lean on whenever I have questions about, you know, anything, you know, my day-to-day life, my routine, what I need to do, what I need to prioritize. And then, you know, and Kelly and LW have been so good to me even still just on life thing, you know, business, you know, just different things.

I've reached out to Kelly throughout this process several times and asked her questions about this and what she thought and, and utilized her to help. So I don't feel like I don't have, you know, I don't feel like I'm doing it all myself. Yeah. You know, I think, so that's an important part of it. I think, you know, if I can, if the least I can do is be on time to all this stuff, right? So I feel like I can manage that with everything that's happening. I wonder how much you've been double booked this year. I don't know.

I mean, I can't think of nothing that. really stands out. I mean, like two meetings happening once. You're like, which one do I go to? Yeah. Let me ask something real quick.

You know, speaking of all that you have on your schedule today, it started with getting in front of the junior motorsports company and telling this news. Good news for sure, but still standing in front of the company. Is that easy or hard? It's, it's not easy.

I feel like, so out of all my day and everything that we've done and the things that I've thought about, me the most that of maybe, I don't know if I don't want to say a level of difficulty, but, you know, just the thought that went into that, right? I think the, it needs for different reasons, right? You know, one, I knew that standing in front of the company today and doing this, after all this time and you get up there and that you try to prepare for it, but you start thinking about all that, you think about all the races and all the times that, you know, so,

and then it, and I knew that would be an emotional experience for me, you know, addressing them like that. Even though it's not even, it's like I said, it's not goodbye. We still have a lot of racing to do, or, you know, I'm going to be around here for months and months as we finished out this season. So, you know, I knew that was going to be an emotional one for maybe a little bit for all of us. And then, you know, the next is like, so I leave here, I go to Stuart Haas and I'm going to have to address, you know, them for the first time. And it's, you know, really important to me, the first impression that I leave on those guys, right? I don't want to show up and look, you know, you can't look. intimidated or I don't want to be too emotional right like I don't want to think about that and what

I'm going to say in the message that I'm going to convey to them has been important and that's something that I've been thinking a lot the last couple of days I feel like sitting here talking to you guys is just fun right it's easy and fun yeah you know it's natural but thinking thinking about that stuff is just just important to me because you just want to you you only get a first crack at this once and you just want to make sure you deliver the the right message yeah it was not just emotional for you this morning. It was emotional for, there was a lot of grown men in there

trying to fight back emotions, to be honest with you. I think, to touch on that, just kind of close the book on that a minute. Junior motor sports exists to win races, championships, but mainly we are a bit of a vessel, right, to get to this top level, right? And we do it with

drivers. My sister told me you'll be the 10th driver to come through our system to make the cup level. Yeah, that's pretty cool. That is something. Chiefs, countless crew chiefs, engineers, mechanics, over the wall guys, people even up in the office. We get people hired out of our office to bigger, you know, Penske and all these other big teams. And as much as it is sad and tough to lose great people, it's really what we do.

It's really why we exist. That's how we are an asset to the industry is we are a place for these folks to get that experience they need to get to that next level. And teams look at us and go, man, they got great employees. Maybe they got somebody that can feel this role for us. We know we're going to get a quality employee when we look at junior motor sports. And so I tell people all the time that when someone is hired out of this building to the cup level, it's as good, if not better, for me, than winning a race. It's a win.

It's a success. and I know a lot of people out there I see it in my timeline well he's going to Ford you know you're losing him out of the sort of the Hendrick pipeline if you will but that's that's the beauty of junior motorsports is that we're you know

people can come here and and have that opportunity to be looked at and be be chosen by anybody in the industry you know and as much as we would have love to, you know, work with Josh. This is, this is such an incredible opportunity. I'd love for you to stay here in race exfinity cars, but that isn't what is in your future, right? That isn't what you need to be doing.

Nor is it the identity of junior motorsports, to your point. Yeah. That's not what we do. It's keep people back from reaching their potential. And so, I mean, you know, I couldn't, you know, I can't stress more how much a win this is for for for for me personally um i couldn't i couldn't think of a better position in place for you to go to i talked about how much i believe in rodney and how great of a fit i think that's going to be for you i honestly if given the opportunity to pick anybody is your crew chief

in the cup level i wouldn't pick anyone different yeah the other thing is i wanted to ask you about Harvick. So I don't know how Harvick feels, but when I was leaving my car, I had to have, I wanted to have a, I wanted to have an understanding of who the driver was that was going into the car, right? And I developed a relationship with Bowman and felt really great about that transition and what the job he would do. And I wonder if Harvick has had to be. conversation with you about, you know, giving you advice or do y'all communicate as busy as he is and you are? Do y'all talk about this yet or is that down the road about, you know, because this is probably, it's absolutely important to him that Rodney is in a good place. Rodney has the tools,

the driver that he believes that can do the job and that that team continues to have success. He has relationships with all of the people in that car. So what's, what's, what's, the communication been like? Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, I've communicated with him several times. I know that he was a, you know, he was a advocate for sure of me and this. And I think that's, that's the part that when we look at this opportunity and what I've learned throughout this process is that they, they were very intentional in the type of person, the type of racer, the type, you know, the guy that they wanted to fill this seat because they, you know, the number one goal was to try to keep that, keep that group together and motivated and kind of carry on the

legacy that Kevin, Rodney, and all them guys have built. So, you know, Kevin was definitely, I think, advocated for me and was there. And, you know, we've talked. I talked to him for a while at Sonoma about, about that racetrack. You know, we're still working through that, right? Like, he's, you know, I told, you know, I know, I communicated to him that I wanted to, At some point when we got some time to sit down with him and just be like, hey, what was your, you know, one of the biggest things was just be like, hey, what was your life day to day? How did it look? You know, what did you, how did you prioritize your using the SIM or your meetings and different things like that? Aside from obviously the driving the race car stuff, right? Like, so yeah, we're, you know, he's going to be a great asset for me, I think. And it was really important to him to have say. And I think, you know, we'll find out more today. with him, you know, he's going to be involved with some of the stuff we're doing today, and we'll get to hear it from him firsthand what his opinion and thoughts are going forward to this. But he was, you know, he's been awesome.

You know, I remember calling Kevin years ago before I raced the Expendant Richmond, and I think that was the first time that he was at Junior Murder Sports at the time, and I believe, I'm pretty sure he was, and called him at first. for like advice on Richmond and going there and we had a really good race. And, you know, ever since then, he's been a, you know, super strong advocateer for me. And, you know, it's been, it's been awesome to hear. Hey, Nashville, the Dale Jr. Download is coming your way this week for a live show presented by Ally. It's this Friday night at the Old Red on Broadway.

8.30 p.m. start. We cannot wait. Of course, there's going to be other things before and after our show. Russell Dickerson, the country singer, will be performing. The venue fills up really early. get there, enjoy a beer, enjoy Russell Dickerson, and then we'll be on. We're looking forward to it, and thank you, Ally, for inviting us. We will see you Friday night. So when you got up this morning, you got your itinerary, you're going to be doing media all

day until about 6 o'clock talking about this incredible opportunity. First off, I guess, how did you sleep last night? Pretty good, actually, yeah. Yeah, that's something that I've been, that's like a Josh Wise thing, is like working on your sleep and making sure you get an amount of sleep. Like, that's his, like, biggest thing. So that's been, like, a, like, intentional, like, priority of mine this season to do that. But, yeah, I slept pretty well.

McKenzie come and got in bed with me on six o'clock this morning. Isn't that great? Yeah. Yeah. It's, yeah, it's funny. So, but, yeah, now, I slept pretty good, man. And, like I said, I thought taking some, you know, I've been trying to take a little time to myself just to collect my thoughts and think about everything that's going to happen today

and how I want to approach it. But it's exciting. It's every emotion that you think it would be, right? It's exciting. It's, you know, maybe a little stressful, maybe emotional. But all in all, it's just, it's just a great feeling to do this. And like I said, I think it'll be, it'll be great for all of us to get out, get this out, and be able to move forward. I am excited. I'm excited about your day because obviously you only get hired to race in the Cup Series the first time one time, right? This is one, you know, you may have contract extensions and other cool announcements

and milestones throughout your career, but this first only happens once. And so I'm looking forward to, you know, you being able to, you know, somewhat, you know, enjoy being in this spotlight because of all the hard work and effort that you put into it to get to this moment it's all paid off and it's all real and you're getting this incredible opportunity with an insanely good race team and so you know i wonder i guess i'm just uh you know this this industry is really insane you'll win a race you'll win the Daytona 500 biggest race the year and immediately seven days later you're back at the next race you're back at the next race track back to zero, back to trying to work to be a winner again.

And this day will come and go. You'll go back to racing your Xfinity car. Harvick's going to, Harvick and Rodney are going to go back to that four car, try to win races, and you're going to have to, you know, wait patiently for your chance to get behind the wheel that car in preseason testing or whenever that may be. So, but this is a, you know, this is a day that I encourage you to consume. you know, soak it all in. You know, don't be apprehensive to embrace what this day's about.

It is, you have worked all these years for this day, right? Take it in. You earned it. You deserve it. I told Harvick when he's like, hey, man, I'm going to retire. I was like, well, be ready to get your ass celebrated everywhere you go. And you better not hold that shit in arm's length because it only happens once. They're not going to celebrate you the next year.

you're not going to get you're not going to go hey man I'd like a redo I didn't get I didn't really appreciate that as much as I should have so I'm like you know they're going to want to put us they're going to want to shine a light on you it's going to be a little uncomfortable but let them shine that light and embrace it because he's earned it and he's earned that opportunity to be celebrated and you've earned this opportunity to be celebrated today and I can't wait to hear what Rodney and everybody says about their excitement to have you come on board. I can't wait to hear Harvick's praise and appreciation for you, especially Tony. I'm looking forward to seeing Tony's comments and how he sees and envisions this pairing

going forward and you being part of his program going forward. That's all going to be such an exciting thing today. So I am proud of you, bud. Thanks for giving us a little time today. You got a long day. Thanks for giving us a little time. You're a pretty cool dude and have done such an incredible job. We got more racing to do this year and can't wait to finish this out.

But yeah, congratulations from all of us here. Thank you. From all of us here at Dirtymo Media and the Dale Jr. Download, we're very proud of you. I'm proud of you as a friend. I don't know what this means for our late model racing. You're probably going to go over and help Harvick make his late model really fast. That's the other thing. This makes things a little tough.

Are you losing a crew chief? You'll have to come in there in a disguise. Yeah, pretty much, that's been thrown around a little bit for sure, driving the 62. I know they're excited about that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Dale's losing a late model crew chief here. It's just the worst part of it for you, I guess. He can still come, but he'll have to wear.

Yeah, I don't know if he can't. Yeah. All right, man. Well, you know, Josh is also, like, I think he's the most guest appearances on the Dale Jr. Download in our history. So what we need to make sure we do is that when he wins his first race in Cup and everything else, we need to have a shotgun on you, all right? I say it's to Mike Arning and everybody at SHR.

Let Josh come here first. Yeah. That's funny. I'm sure we'll have no problem getting him in the studio for that. All right, bud, have a day. All right, congratulations. Yeah. 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, outside 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 Dirtymo Media team. Check out Dirty Mo Media. Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.