The Dale Jr. Download - 470 - Will Chase Elliott Make The Playoffs?

Episode Date: July 13, 2023

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis are back again to wrap up another week of the Dale Jr. Download. After the exciting, Wednesday world premiere of Becoming Earnhardt, the guys reflect on the first episode and what it was like putting that series together. They also react to the big news that Busch Beer will be joining Ross Chastain and Trackhouse for the 2024 NASCAR season. Now that we’re past the halfway point of the NASCAR season, it’s time to start looking at the “bubble battle” and the guys speculate who may “points in” as well as who will make the final four. Finally, no Thursday episode would be complete without a new game (Guess the Year) and a report from the Short Track Insider.During the Ask Jr. segment, listeners sent in questions regarding: Do Isla and Nicole realize Dale Jr.’s voice is in Cars? What is the origin of racing under number 88? What fan tattoo stands out the most? NBC pre-race show grid walk and other ideas 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.

What do you think? Didn't get them? I mean, of all things to say. What? Family picnic sometimes. You get you more than just to create it out. Are you kidding me, Mike? Oh my God, that is hilarious.

Hey, everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Dell Jr. Download is Thursday, July the 13th, and we're in the Bojangles studio at our table full of Lionel die casts. A couple new ones on the table today, man. noticing but uh always fun to come in here get to see uh what has been placed on the table because we have more right we have this big collection yeah the one thing i'm still waiting on what do you waiting on oh i know what you're waiting on my new late model stock yeah not here yeah i'm waiting on the sample you got to buy it you got to buy no i don't so uh anyways yeah yeah they sent a sample here to approve that oh yeah yeah yeah show up where this damn thing Andrew took that home he better not

But anyways, we are back and we are coming off of a Wednesday where the first episode of Becoming Earnhardt, 1979, is now out and about. And we hope you're all enjoying that. We basically, in that episode, we won't dive too deep into it, but for those of you haven't listened yet, but it's the introduction to the series. and I really wasn't going to do it that way. I wanted to tell that little story if we could, Mike, but I wrote when we first sat down,

we split this thing into six episodes, and the introduction was going to dive right into the season. We're going to get all the way through the end of the Daytona 500. And then the project grows and grows, right? And you thought better to carve out that sort of introduction, tee it up, tell you everything that you're about to experience, and then, you know, the second episode would start with the very beginning of the year in terms of going to the first race.

So I loved it. I loved the first episode. I was well done. Love the MRN drops. All the audio from Barney Hall and those guys. Loved hearing other people like my aunt and Doug Reichert come in and give us some small takes on some of the things we're talking about. and that'll continue to happen throughout every episode.

Yeah, you know, having Aunt Kathy and Aunt Kay, Kay Snipes, Kathy Earnhardt Watkins, which many of you listeners, if you've been here, Junior Motorsports and bought a T-shirt or a hat out of the store, you know, Aunt Kathy, you probably have had long conversations. It was important to have their voices in it, and I thought this episode one to set it up was their best chance to be able to hear them.

And Aunt Kathy says a line in it that is, I'm not going to give it away, but it's really profound and really kind of sets up what we're to, understand about your dad at that time, right? And, man, yeah, it fires me up. So I hope everybody, listen, it's on the very feed that you're listening to this podcast on, this episode here.

So just back up one and you'll be able to hear it if you haven't already. And I love the yellow and blue graphic. You love it? Yeah, we're sharing out on our social media handles, to end up, you know, celebrating and promoting the series. I love the yellow and blue colors, man. It can't get enough of that. The car is really cool.

Like you went and you put this side panel in our studio. The side panel that we put in here is why we put that side panel. Why I even made that was for this series. Like, dude, that's cool. I love that. That's going to be hanging somewhere in some place that I visit for its... Forever. Yeah.

For every more of my lifetime. Yeah, yeah. I was going to say its lifetime, but it'll be here long after me. But anyways, we've got a lot of things to get into. Ross Chastain, Bush Beer. They announced their partnership. Pretty incredible that track house was able to land such a big fish. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I'm trying to decide if that's almost like an underdog story getting the big fish. I don't know that it is. I don't want to undersell their current partners, right? Right, right, right. But that's a big get. Oh, it's a big get. Huge. It's a big one.

And so, and I think that that's great for Ross. I think he's a good match. We're going to find out how much of a beer drinker. Exactly. Hey, I'll tell you what, when I teamed up with Budweiser in 1999, I was not a beer drinker. What? Not at all. What?

Not at all. Dude, we were going to the first dinner. Boy, did they have an effect on you, man. With, dude, the, you know, the bushes that owned the brand. August Bush, the fourth. Yeah, the family. They were going to, they were at this dinner in Charlotte. They came to Charlotte to have dinner with me and dad.

we're driving there. And I'm like, dad, do I got to drink a beer at this thing? He's like, you damn right, you do. I was like, Dad, I don't like beer. And he's like, you're drinking one tonight. He said, get one of them red coat Budweisers. And you're going to sit there with that at the table and I don't care if you have to sip on it. And you're going to like it.

The whole dinner. And I'm like, all right, no problem. So, of course, you know, over time, I love it. I love beer. You know, that has a potential to be one of those iconic partnerships. Because if Ross does what he is, what we think he can do, that Bush brand would be perfect, I think. But, like, it has to all match up and everybody has to do their thing.

I don't know how many races. When it was a full-time sponsorship when they did that, like, if that's what it was, I mean, like, I don't know. I think it has potential. Yeah. If he's a beer drinker. I would love for him or anybody when they get a big sponsorship like this for it to be the sponsor every single week.

We'll find out next. next year when we go to the racetracks where they're going to have Bush on the car but I think this is sort of one of the final if not the final boxes to check for Ross for him he now has all the ingredients

to to become one of if not the biggest star in the sport Anheuser Bush will open up opportunities for him that he's not getting with anyone else fat yeah it will and so you know, there's a nice blueprint for them to go by anyways. Yeah.

There he is. Yeah. So on how to create a superstar, right? I know that this deal would have started well before Josh Barry's announcement. I would have loved if they would have just hung with Josh. Of course. With SHR. Yeah.

Josh Dr. Dr. Dr. Bush. Yeah. I would love to see that. But that's selfishly. Yeah, I agree.

But I'm happy for Ross and happy for Justin. Marks. Look, I know that they got a lot of partners, and they've got good funding and great support, but this type of partnership gives me so much confidence about trackhouse and their ability to sustain their performance and be a major player in our sport, long, long term. I don't think I was doubting that all that much, but I just know this. now solidifies that they're even more of a key player, right? They're coming in to this sport, right?

And they're trying to take some of the pie from the big guys, right? Stuart Haas Racing, Hendrick, Gibbs, Roush, Penske. They're trying to, they don't come in and get their own pie. They're taking some of their pie, everyone else's pie. Yeah, move over, Hendrick, move over, you know, Penske. here's this new team, right? And they're now getting some of the bigger gets in terms of corporate sponsors and corporate support. Pretty incredible, be honest with you.

Yeah, good for them. How long has Anheuser-Busch, you think, been in the sport, like been buying in the sport? I don't think, I don't want to lose side of this because you talk about some of the long-time investors. Bush was on Cali Yarbril's car in 78 or 78. And so before that, I don't believe they were in the sport. There was Olympia beer or Olympic, I'm not sure exactly which one it is. They were on a West Coast operation, I think it was Ray Elder. And Falstaff and Kale had a, gosh darn, Kale had one beer company on.

Was it Schlitz? Nope. I think that, I got to know this is going to kill me now. No, do it. I mean, listen. This isn't even a tic-tac-toe game. This is straight up just so we need to know.

Sponsor. Carling? Yeah, Carling was a... I would not have got that sport. Carling. So that was a beer that was on his car in 1974. So, So anyhow, you know, I don't know when they first started sponsoring race cars.

I believe it was the late 70s. They got into a partnership and they created the Bush clash. Yeah. An executive from Bush did that, which you're going to learn about. I didn't know if you were going to go there. In Becoming Earnhardt. That's right. Yeah.

Nice little history lesson. Nice, yes. Episode took next Wednesday, as a matter of fact. Yep. All right. Anyways, pretty exciting for Ross. Let's move on to something that I think. starting to get a little traction.

This is about the time of year, man, when we start looking at that bubble battle in our points championship. And right now in the Cup Series, it is pretty incredible. In 15th place, so 16 cars make the playoffs. In 15th place, Suarez, McDowell,

both are plus 3 to the cut line. Bubba Wallace is minus 3 and 17th. A.J. Almondinger is minus 13th, 13 points, and 18th. Then you have Ty Gibbs at minus 26. Bowman, all the way down to minus 44. You know, he was right there at 15th, 16th spot a couple weeks ago. Chase Elliott is minus 60.

He lost a few points. He lost five points, I believe, at Atlanta. So now what he needs weekly to point his way in to get to the playoffs is nine points a week. Still doable. Still doable. There's weeks when he's gotten 20, 15, 12. He can still do it. Especially if he has a big, you know, big race where he can get tons of stage points.

and a top three finish. But there's no room for error. There really isn't. I don't think he can have another flat week like he did this past weekend in Atlanta. Because we got what seven races left? Is it seven before the playoffs? Yeah, seven. I was, I'm on team.

I'm a believer that Chase points his way in. I've always felt that way. There's a very, very big competition in the booth between me and LaTart and Burton about whether Chase points his way in. They don't think he can. They think he has to win. I believe he can do it on points, and I believe you will. This weekend hurt my chances a little bit,

but I still believe Chase gets right up in there. The Gibbs, Ty Gibbs is interesting. This is a rookie learning, getting better, improving every week. If I'm one of the guys that's right around that bubble, I'm looking at him. He's also got one of the top five best pit crews on pit road for average four-tier stop. at minus 26 with some smart racing he's right on top of that bubble line at the end when we get to the playoffs.

AJ Amendinger, another driver that gained a lot at an oval. You know, we talk about AJ being a great road racer. At minus 13, we have a couple or one road course coming up. Two. Indie Road course and Walkins Glen. So look for AJ to try to capitalize there, but they are doing some things on the ovals as well. surprising to see him so close.

Bubba Wallace is fast enough. Fast enough and good enough to beat Michael McDowell and I believe Suarez in a one-on-one battle for that playoff position. But right now he's minus three looking on the outside. McDowell is a shocker. McDowell has had a good year, man, but statistically, you know, top fives versus top tens and stuff like that, it's surprising that he's done enough to really be sitting on top of a playoff position right now.

He has a playoff position in 16th at plus three. Sores is a little bit off from last year. You remember he won some races last year at Sonomond and so forth, and their pace hasn't been that great. Another one, though, who was in the hunt, dang sure about trying to win that race this past weekend. Yeah. Sores, I think, you know, if he hits stride right at the right time,

could be hard to handle. So this, I know, you know, look, are any of these people going to go and race for a championship? It's unlikely. But I just think it's really fascinating to see how that bubble battle plays out. Because when you get down to the end of it and you're one of these teams that you think believes that you're good enough to be in the playoffs and you're not. Morale. It is a massive boost or a massive hit one way or the other.

It sure is. So here's my question for you. Looking at this, so you've got Suarez and Michael McGrath. Dahl 15th and 16th. They're just right there on the edge at plus three. So first question, do you think both of them end up making the playoffs? Who? Suarez or Michael McDowell.

Oh, I mean, I don't know, man. I don't. So I look at the people that you mentioned on the back end between who is there. It's interesting that you think Chase Elliott can point his way in. I'm looking at who's capable of winning between Bubba Wallace, Almondinger, Ty Gibbs, Austin Cendrick, Justin Haley, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott. First of all, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott could win anytime. With the two road courses, you've got Amundinger and Justin Haley,

don't you even have to maybe think he could potentially win a race? He almost did it at Chicago. But Amundinger absolutely could win one of those two road course races. Haley's Chicago finish was more product of some lucky pit strategy more than anything. But look, I mean, Haley could win at Talladega or, I mean, Daytona? That's true. I mean, I don't look at it as wins. Well, wins aren't what I'm looking for.

When I look at this, Mike, I don't look at, okay, who can win. I'm just going to assume none of them are going to win. All right? So who can point their way in. Now, if they win, it changes the whole game. We're, you know, it changes all these numbers you can change. Right, that's right. But I'm looking at, like, who's good enough to race their way in, right?

Somebody wins, they win. Oh, well. but, you know, good for them. But I'm looking at, like, who's good enough in terms of performance and gaining the points needed. Okay, so then Bubba Wallace, you're saying absolutely. I think Alamandinger can. I think if Bubba minimizes mistakes, they should beat McDowell and Sauras.

I think Armandinger on performance alone will not do quite enough. I think being minus 13 is a great. sign for that team, but I don't think they're ready yet. Ty Gibbs, I think, falls a little short, but he gains. I think he nestles right up to that bubble, but not quite. I don't know if Bowman can get it together to gain the points needed. They're just not performing well enough. Chase is running good enough to be right there to seize that 16th spot.

So I'm going to say Bubba Wallace Chase Elliott, 15th, 16th, and points when it all wraps up. That'll be exciting. Let's keep revisiting this every week. That'll be exciting. who can take note of our opinions and how they may change week to week because it's certainly going to change. It's been, you know, this bubble battle is fun to watch because it keeps changing the drivers that are in and out week to week.

Is William Byron a championship favorite? I think he is. Are you sure? No, I'm not sure. I think he is, though. I mean, I wasn't on the Byron bandwagon like you guys were, but I'm, listen, I'm believing. I'm a believer.

He's won four races. Yep. Who else is more of a favorite than he is? That's the question I think we need to ask is if, you know, if William Byron, William Byron, if Billy. Billy Byron. Yeah. If he's not the championship of favorite, then who is?

I'll be honestly, man, in my opinion, it's Martin Trix Jr. Ooh. Man, he is. He's coming. We went two weeks, and now he's, you know, He's not on anybody's radar anymore, but right before, as we were going into Chicago, Martin Trek's Jr. was the hottest thing on the circuit, man. True.

And I think he's still there. He had a pretty good run going the other night at Atlanta. And Kyle Bush, obviously with three wins, but they're hot and cold depending on the track. And I don't know what the pattern is and whether that means he'll be great at Phoenix or not when it matters. If he wrecks early, I like his chances to be there at the end. For some reason, that's what he does. I picked Ryan Blaney to win the championship, and I still am not ready to change my mind just yet.

When we go to Phoenix, Penske's been good there. And I think if a Penske car can get to the final four, I'm feeling good about my pick earlier in this year about Blaney. Well, you're the only one, then. Yeah, I know. I'm on an island. I'm not ready to say William is the favorite William is certainly in great position to get to the final four.

He is. But he'll have his work cut out for him in Phoenix, as well everybody. But dude, we went into Phoenix last year. I wasn't considering Joey. He hadn't done enough all year. He's having the same exact season this year. So when you're looking at a favorite, though, William's making a case.

I just ain't sure he's there yet. I think Martin's just sloth. slightly edging him out. The stats would say otherwise. I know that. The stats would say William all day long. Do you know who I'm impressed with, and I think at least deserves a mention here, and it's not somebody we've mentioned so far because I think he's 13th. Yeah, 13th is Brackzlowski.

Yeah. And they're like 100 points in front of the cut line or something like that. So, I mean, come on. And his teammates. And his teammate. They're 13th and 14th. Him and Bush. I mean, come on now.

What an improvement. A massive improvement. Yeah. Good for them. You've got to give Brad a ton of credit. Hey everybody, Dirty Mo Media is heading back to Bristol. That's right, with the extravagant, all-inclusive, ultimate experience tailored specifically for you, the Dirty Mo Media fans. Listen, we're taking care of you.

And so join us on September 16th for the NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race and enjoy a luxury VIP suite experience that includes parking passes, appearances by the host of Door Bumper Clear, free swag, all the food you can eat, and all the. beer you can drink. Tickets sold out well in advance last year, so don't wait. Get your ticket today at dirtymomedia.com forward slash ultimate experience. That is dirtymomedia.com forward slash ultimate experience. I will see you there. I cannot wait. It was a packed house last year. We are going to expect a packed house again this year. The race is phenomenal. Bristol night race. You cannot miss it. It is going to be fun. And we are going to pamper you. Let's just be real. You are going to be spoiled. You'll never be able to watch a race from a grandstand again, but that's a

problem you can encounter later. Take care of yourself in this one. Come on. Join us Bristol Motor Speedway. Dirtymodea.com forward slash ultimate experience. Speaking of Ryan Blaney, speaking of Ford, they had a massive missed opportunity at Atlanta.

In the spring race, they raced to the finish between a guy you just mentioned, Brad Kiselowski and Joe Ligano, Joey, edging Brad out in a race. Brad almost wins. But the Fords were good.

We go to qualifying in Atlanta this past weekend. There was one Toyota in the top 10 and one Chevrolet in the top 15. And so Fords were fast. And it looked like in the race, they were going to be the ones to beat. They had the most stability.

The Ford nose has a little less drag on it. Now that suffers at other racetracks as we've seen. Their performance has not been great. Only two wins this year. And so this was their chance and it was a missed opportunity. I still feel like Ford gets it together.

I don't know how they overcome the the challenges aerodynamically or wherever they're at a disadvantage. They won't get any, I don't believe they'll get the updates needed to fix any of those issues this year. But I don't know, man. I wouldn't count them out.

Really? Do you think of Ford makes the final four to be able to race for a championship? I don't. I do. Yeah. You know, like right now, The best Ford is Blaney in eighth.

And I know, look, we're looking at point standings that are going to just completely get jumbled up with the playoffs get here, obviously. Yeah, I mean, you're asking about the final four? No, I think there's faster cars that are going to be better. Okay. Well, that's interesting. We're going to be watching that. I mean, I've always thought that our sport has to have the manufacturer competition has to matter to all of us as fans. when we lose like that Ford versus Chevy rivalry,

we lose something pretty important that makes our races matter and makes, you know, makes it, if it doesn't matter to the fans, then it won't matter to the manufacturers, right? And they'll find no value to be here. So I like pumping that, you know,

the manufacturer competition, who's ahead, who's not, who's looking for speed, why are they behind? and right now it looks like Chevrolet and Toyota have it pretty much figured out at most of the racetracks. There are moments where Ford can excel and Ford at a track like

Atlanta or Talladego-Da-Datona are the stronger manufacturer but their opportunities to seize on wins during this year are running out and so it would be interesting to see how Ford continues going forward and what they're missing, dude,

is so minuscule the difference between them being where they are now, just a slight bit behind and right on top of the rest of those guys, it's so small. It's crazy. So if they can find that somewhere in the shop floor and they're working hard, it'll be interesting. I wanted to ask you about start time Sunday night. Man, I heard a lot of people talking about how late that race started.

I think we got going at what? Seven. Seven Eastern. You know what time they start Monday Night Football? Eight. Yeah, 820. Yeah, 8, yeah. what's a problem

are you asking why isn't it later than seven no why is it why is that why is seven too late yeah you know what I just don't think anybody's used to it but I didn't have a problem with it I thought it felt prime Tommy I know I always you know I I like um look I'm selfish but when we're when the football season's going on and we have those late games like on Thursday or Monday night or even Sunday night football and if I'm if I'm I'm home to see it.

I'm like, hey, I'm going to watch a football game tonight, okay? That's my pass to stay up a little later, have a couple of years, you know, maybe watch the post game show. Yeah, I do not realize that. I don't want it to the end. I don't want the race to be. I don't want the football game to be over at 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock. That's my guy time.

You just hit it, and I did not realize it until now. but that's when the family commitments start to wind down. And so I was able to plug into the race. There's a difference between watching the race, which we can do every week, but being able to plug in and follow laps in Atlanta this past week, you wanted to be plugged in. There was action going on the whole time.

You mentioned that. And I think you're right. I think that that late start time felt, you know, adult, like the nightcap, like the thing, like the cigar room. that you get it through after a day. Look, I'm still a little surprised that the NFL has games that are running that late, you know, and starting at 820, you know, the game's going to run, you know, into 11, 11, 15 or so.

I'm surprised that that's when they want their product on a television, right? And that's going to get the number they want to achieve. Networks drive those start times, as we know. but as a fan at home, even if the teams that are on aren't teams I care about, I'm like, this is a chance for me to have a little moment to myself and put on something on TV

that's going to feel like something I want to watch and I'm going to stay up and watch it. Yeah. And now for the fan at the track or even at the football game, yeah, maybe you wanted to start a little earlier. That's a little late to be sitting around and it makes for a long day.

Man, in the comfort of you're on home, I hope that that start time, if we do late Sunday races, gets a little normalized and people can, you know, can see some of the benefits in it or how it's similar to other sporting events that also start late. Yeah. I said it on our Tuesday show, but Atlanta, the whole thing, with all that came with it, including a shortened race, Atlanta left me very satisfied. I was fed at the table and I was not hungry afterwards. I would have loved to see it gone to the end. And I think that a lot of people that might be complaining about the late start time are also trying to think of what would have happened if we'd have tried to finish that race. But how do you avoid it?

You don't. So why would you worry about it? Listen, you won. Didn't you win the Daytona 500 or was at the summer race that went way into the night, right? Sometimes that's just the way it is. But like I thought it was good. The idea that we are going to, you know, the idea that we would say, okay, that, you know, we're going to listen. And next year's start time for Sundays, Atlanta race is going to be 5 p.m.

You know, damn good and well, you can't predict that there won't be a rain shower. Of course. At 7 o'clock. Right. Or 6.30. So any point. You can't. So it's a moot.

Listen, we had Sam Flood on here a few weeks ago during business of motorsports. And we asked him about start times. And listen, it's as simple. It's probably what you already know. It's trying to get in front of as many people as you possibly can, period. That's the TV thing. So if you go at 7 o'clock or 8 o'clock, you're going to get in front of more people. I like it.

All right, let's get to Smash Jr. by Xfinity. You guys have been sending some great questions in to add Xfinity Racing on Twitter, and we appreciate the engagement. Xfinity does as well, so we'll thank you for them. Andrew is here with all your questions, so we'll get started. Yeah, we got a good first one from Andrea. You know, you make a few appearances in the Cars movie. Do your daughters notice that it's your voice?

Or do you point that out if you've ever watched it with them? I have. And I'm not sure that they get it, get it. You know what? Of course they don't. But they recognize Isla is five and she recognizes my voice. I can point at a die cast. And if it's got an 8 and 88 on it, she'll assume it's mine.

So when I show her the car in the movie, she goes, yeah, that's your car and that's your voice. But she doesn't know what being in a movie or doing a voiceover is all about, which one day I hope she gets it. But, man, when I went out there to, I went to their studio out in California to record that. I'll never forget that. the studio that produced that movie what's it called? Pixar? Pixar.

So we go to their office, giant building, all-glass, huge, tall ceilings, big, big lobby. And we walked through this lobby into this sort of, into this big, giant, it was almost like a warehouse, right? Big rafters, steel rafters.

But this warehouse was full of these little mobile or huts. And those were individual offices and workspaces. And all of them were different. And all of them were self. designed. And when you went inside each one, they took us into a couple of the designers and writers and so forth. I mean, it's writers, designers, animated, you know, animator, whatever. I don't know what you call these people.

But the people that work on these movies, right, there are so many jobs to create this product. And they all have these little cubicles or these little buildings and huts. It's like a fisherman's hut, right? Kind of like that. They're flat on the ground. and looks like a shed in the backyard of somebody's house. You go inside and they're like, you know, this one had a secret door that went back into this room

that had like a little bar with a bench and a little roulette wheel. During break they'd get together and have beers and play roulette in the back of this one guy's. And so, I mean, they were all so different and they're, you know, they're very creative minds, those people that work on those movies, super creative, right? So their huts were, they were like one-up in each other, right?

Getting more and more detailed. And, you know, it was whatever you wanted it to be. And so anyhow, that was fascinating to me. I'd love to be able to take you there, right, to help you really see what I saw. But they give them that freedom, right? Yeah. So that their workplace is fun and enjoyable,

and it's theirs, right? It's their creation. So that was pretty neat to see. I would have never guessed it was that elaborate. But I guess for like a creative space, it makes sense. I remember going in there and reading my lines, and there were only a couple, right? I got like three or four lines.

And I was trying my ass off so hard because I wanted to get more work. I wanted, you know, Darrell, watch it, right, has a lot of lines in this movie. And I'm like, I didn't know how many lines he had until it comes out. And I knew Richard Petty had a pretty big role, Humpy Wheeler

and a couple other people. And I'm like, man, if I do this really good and they have another Cars 2, maybe I can get asked to be a more prominent role, but it didn't happen. Dang. We'll have to get a new Cars movie out to get you go back. Yeah. I got a question. How long did that take those, the lines that

you had? How long did you? 15 minutes. That was it? Really? Okay. Interesting. Because like I would have guessed, and they probably did, like they would have you read it multiple times. Yeah, you are. Yeah. Just to get it right. Yeah, it's like three or takes. But I mean, literally, I got like three lines maybe in the whole thing. You kind of touched on, you know, your daughter can identify like the 8 and 88 die casts, like two iconic numbers.

This question comes from Ryan. It wasn't always going to be 88. Like there was 51, there was 81, 38. So like where did the origin of the 88 number come from? Well, yeah. So when I was moving over to Hendrick, I was working with a friend of mine, Kevin King. He's a sim racer buddy of mine, and he also designs, you know, sim, you know, designs cars in Sim racing.

He's also designed cars in NASCAR, the Reese's car that Kevin Harvick drove at RCR was Kevin King's design. And so, anyhow, Kevin has done some cars, or had done some cars for me when I race for the Budweiser number eight. And anyways, I was like, man, you're going to help. me design this car. When I go to Hendrick and drive their race car, the Mountain Dew car, you're going to help. You're going to design. I want it to be yours, and you're going to help me. And he knew what I liked. I liked it kind of simple. I liked some nostalgia or some throwback feel to it. And anyways, we were going, I was getting him to do these designs, and we didn't have a choice on a number. I couldn't be eight. We weren't going to be able to

purchase it from Teresa. They wanted to keep it. They had equity in that number. At DEI, it was important for them to continue racing it, which was really, I would have done the same thing. I would have loved to have had it, but I could understand them wanting to hang on to it because it helped them acquire partners and sponsors, and the car had some identity. So I'm thinking, well, for my fans, man, I mean, a lot of these people have this number tattooed on their body. What am I going to do? I knew in the back of my mind that the best thing for me would probably

to do would be to drive something with an eight in it, right? Whether that's 38, which I didn't love, my sister ran that number in her late model career. 81 was okay. I'd ran that number some in my bush car a few times, but it wasn't a cool number. My favorite number that's not three and eight, or 88 now, my favorite numbers were like numbers that felt,

masculine 51 47 57 55 57 I don't know for me

those numbers are are are those numbers have you know like a feel to it feel to it yeah

I don't know how to explain it but Mike's like but that you know the number 50 A1 yeah the number 50

right is a very I mean, it's perfect for a guy like AJ Foyt, right? Right, yeah, yeah. And so, and AJ ran that number of time or two, 51, like I say. And so we were looking at 51. I wanted 51. No one else in my camp and Rick or anybody else wanted 51.

They were like, 51, what, that's nothing, why? Where's the connection, right? And I was like, I don't know, man, we just start new and just, but I, but then I kept thinking about my, you know, our fans that love this eight and had all this eight stuff. And I'm like, man, we got to, we got to go something with an eight. And that was everybody else's opinion too.

So, I was thinking, 28. 28's it. I wanted 28. We're going to get 28. We're going to be 28. Nobody's 28. Let's be 28. Holy crap. I did not know this. Yeah. And they were like,

well, we got to ask Yates. Yeah. I'm like, we do. Why? I don't mean to ask anybody. And so we called Yates up, Robert, and they actually talked to Texaco, and Texaco said hard no. Now, I don't think that they had rights to this number in the series, right? They're not even the sponsor anymore.

But something about the history and the heritage and legacy of that number was important to them. and Yates was like, man, please don't do this. I don't believe they could have stopped us, but they were like, hey, what about 88? Would you, we would give you 88? And I'm like, oh, we didn't even know that was available. We didn't know that was even a possibility.

And so, you know, they were like, hey, you can have 88. And I'm thinking, that's perfect. Instead of 1-8, 2-8. Yes. And we got the fond as close. close as we could without getting another lawsuit. And there you have it. We went to the racetrack with 88s.

That is a heck of a story, actually. It is. Who would have thought that 88 would be more available than the 28? Yeah. I mean, because the 80s was a Dale Jerry. They were right. At the time, I think Roush had the 30, what was the Roush? 38 and 88.

Ooh, that was before my time. Yates. Yates was 38. Or Yates. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They were 38 with Elliot, sadly.

that is so baffling to me that the Texaco havelin they told they told me they had discussed it with the with the they reached out to the partners that were part of that legacy with that team right and they all agreed like we really would love to not see this number come back but will you take the 88 yeah yeah wow there's a lot of things that's surprising about that story i am a little shocked that the hindric people weren't more receptive to 51 yeah because isn't I mean, that five is iconic with Hendricks. So you could play off that fine. I wish now that I had tried that argument, tried that angle.

And 51 was a bit of a Days of Thunder number. It was. I wonder if, and Rick was obviously the centerpiece of that whole Days of Thunder thing. But then I wonder if it was because Kyle Bush is. I don't think Kyle was using it at that moment. Oh, wow. Dude, that is a great story. Yeah.

And I got so many more questions. Yeah. And even just like to 51, thinking, like knowing how history played out, just trying to picture you racing in a 51 for all those years. Like it's crazy to rack your mind around. Yeah. You get used to things and I think, you know, 88 was fine.

88 ended up being great. 28 would have been cool though, man. Because, I mean, 28, you know, my favorite design and paint scheme is the gray ghost right here on the table. Imagine the throwback we could have done with that damn thing. I'd have been trying to get them to let me run that every week. every damn week that would be cool

you mentioned and we had another fan a few weeks ago submit this question you know that fans getting tattoos of you know eights and now 88s is there a specific like fan tattoo that you know that sticks out in your mind of like oh my God someone got this there's a lady that's

a massive fan that's been around I've seen her at the races for a couple decades that has a number three car on one thigh and the number eight on the other. She's in New Hampshire.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She does come to New Hampshire. Yep. She's, she's, those are serious commitments, right, to, to, to have those. And, um, you have, you appreciate it, right? That, that, that, that, that, that means that much, um, especially the, you know, the senior stuff, right? The dad stuff.

Um, so that's probably, uh, and she'll love to know, if she ever gets back to her, she's going to be so happy because she's a, she's a, she's a, she's a, massive fan. These are not small tattoos. These are massive tattoos on each leg. Yeah. Yeah. And I think she's got a big one like on her back. It's like your dad. Yeah. Wow. Well, you know, that is neat. Yeah. Hopefully she sees this video or is at New Hampshire this weekend. Yeah, she might be. Maybe she is. Maybe she's there. Yeah. Um, this next question coming from Jimbo, um, you know, with, with you and Jeff

starting down on the track at the beginning of the race, what does the next? the choreography look like in terms of calling the race from pit road and then getting up to the booth? I'm glad you're telling this. Yeah, so I'll be honest with you. We talked. Talk about it because we were talking about this yesterday. My office is great. My bosses are getting mad of me. Maybe not everything.

Yeah. I, so when we when we sit down this year to start talking about, you know, all of NBC gets at a table, big, giant table bigger than this and we sit down and everybody just kind of throwing ideas around.

They were like, you know, we want to rethink the open of the show. We want to rethink it, get a little more creative. It had become a little predictable, right? And so I love it. I love that idea of, and I always go nostalgic, you know. I don't start thinking more innovative. I go, okay, what do I love about, you know, the opening of the Daytona 500 in 1983, right? they used to put this camera right on the asphalt in between the cars.

They'd have the cars lined up down pit road, and as the cars fired up and pulled away, they had a shot of the cars driving by you, and the camera's sitting in between the inside and outside line of cars, and as the cars are driving by, they're doing the lineup. Road two, there goes row two, road three, this driver and this driver. And I'm thinking in my mind, like, man, this is the stuff I want to bring back, right? doing the lineup for me

I'm getting out of bounds a little bit but doing the grid the starting grid should be a you know it should have this killer night rider music in the background and you know dun da da da da da da da da da da da row one you know it ought to be something right

and so I've always wanted that to come back if you want to get an idea what I'm talking about watch any of the Daytona 500 broadcast from the early 80s. And so we, anyways, they were like, yeah, we want, you know,

they always had us at the front of the grid, right? For all of last year, for the countdown to Green Show, we're going to do a segment at the front of the grid, me and Jeff, going to interview a driver, whatever. And our, for this year, they said our pre-race shows are going to shorten and with an effort to try to have, always have a post-race show. And anyways, I know that's a little, sensitive subject for this particular weekend because we didn't have one.

But anyways, there's an effort for us to really lean into a post-race show more, providing fans with those interviews that they want from the drivers after the race. And we're going to brief, shorten up the pre-race. Because honestly, man, it is a lot of good information, but it does get a little redundant when the pre-race show is an hour. And really, honestly, man, we'd love just to come on TV and be like, we're freaking here. here's the line up green flag. You know, the show is on.

You know, and not a lot of fluff at the beginning, right? And so anyhow, get to the answer to this question. We're talking about all these ideas, and they're like, you know, we want to have y'all down there for the pre-race, and it's going to be a shorter show, so maybe you're going to be down there for a few laps of the race. The walk-and-talk that we did at Nashville and at Atlanta, I love. and we're going to do it differently.

They'll be, you know, the tracks will provide opportunities for us to be in different places. We might not be next to the grid. We might be out on a start-finish line. We might be standing in a damn flagstand. Who knows, right? We might be in a corner that's really important to that particular race or something that's really challenging. Who knows? Where we'll be.

But I like the walk-and-talk. And if we're in the right place, it puts me in the right place emotionally. I'm fired up. and the excitement and energy that I have in the walk and talk is genuine and it sets a tone for me to be excited about this moment in the race that's about to start. When we're done with that, we move over behind pit wall. There might be another hit or two where we're talking about something else.

But after that walk and talk and the engines are fired and the cars are about to pull away, we move over to the other side of pit wall and we stand there and there's a monitor a person holding a monitor with the program on it, the race, what you're seeing at home. And we get behind one of the pit boxes and create a little bit of a sound barrier because the cup cars are, you know, have the left side exhaust so it's a little louder in the pits

than it typically is in an Xfinity race. And so we get behind a pit box and watch a monitor and do a little radio style for the first hand, you know, first 30 laps. Mm-hmm. Um, that part is not as fun for me. I don't enjoy that part as much. You know, and I don't know, it's a balance.

We got to figure out how to get it right. To me, that can be better. To me, I am not doing my best work in that scenario. It's just, I don't have the tools. When I'm in the booth, I can call a race a lot better. When I've got everything in front of me, I got the race out the window, which I can watch. I've got the monitors, timing, and scoring, and all of that, and my notes. And I can do a very, I think, I can do the job as well as I can do it in that space.

When we're down on pit road doing radio style, I don't, radio style for me belongs at Watkins Glen. Right. Yeah. It's that, that's radio style and that's where that belongs. I don't, we haven't, we haven't really, and we're not stuck with, we're not like stuck with, oh, we're going to keep doing it this way. talking to my bosses, I'm like, you know, is that as good as it needs to, is that as good as it can be? And I don't know that we all think it is. So there'll be some adjustment there and a balance to find.

And that could change an altar, which is fine. It should change an altar. It should be different. The walk-and-talk will change a lot. It's not going to be the same walk-and-talk. This guy and this guy and this guy. He's going to be good. He'll be good.

See you, after this commercial for a green flag. You know, we've got to keep it new, but it's fun, it's real. Me and Jeff are both excited to be in that space, excited to be where we are, excited to be teeing this race up. I really, really enjoy doing that. It's definitely a nice twist on what we did last year. Last year, we stood at the front of the grid. We'd interview people or just talk about what we thought was getting ready to happen. This is much funner.

Yeah, I like that you guys are playing around experimenting with different things, you know, not locked in a box. Right. Yeah. Well, I'm getting the wrap-up signal. But hey, we got some great stories. I feel like we went on like a cruise of like different avenues, you know. But we've got a lot of good fan questions to just keep in the memory bank for the next couple of weeks. They've been doing great. I want to say the questions y'all sent in this year, they're better than what we've had over the last several years.

Andrew, you've been doing an amazing job. I want to thank you. All the Dirty Mode team that's been digging into all of the questions that are being sent to Xfinity racing. This segment has improved. And we've been able to tell some cool stories, but it's because of the great questions we're getting. So thank y'all.

And if you haven't, checked out Becoming Earnhardt. It dropped Wednesday. Make sure that you check out that first episode of Becoming Earnhardt, a new series here from Dirty Mo Media. All right, always a fun segment asked junior. Before we get to the rest of the show, let's go to some Short Track Insider, and a new house.

Welcome back to another episode of Short Track Insider and thanks everyone for bearing with me of course. We just basically to take some time off with the wild schedule that comes with summer, summer racing, summer production, you get it. But nonetheless, we're back at it with another episode of Short Track Insider. And honestly, I don't even think I can recap the last two weeks in an eight minute segment. So we're simply just going to start with this past weekend and some highlights.

First and foremost, some news as Kip Childress, who I have been honored to know in many of his roles at NASCAR, was announced as a news. executive director over at the Cars Tour. And he stepped into that role, effective immediately so much so. And man, he's going to be a huge asset of the series. I'm so excited to see him, you know, back in short track racing, I think is what we can call it because I first got to know Kip Childress when he was the series director of Arka West. So he had to deal with a, you know, a little 15-year-old Hannah at one point. So great to have Kip as part of the Cars Tour. I think he's going to be a huge, huge asset to that series.

But also the Cars Tour pro-late models were in action at Wake County on Saturday. And man, a wild late race caution, allowed Logan Jones to capitalize on the restart and move from what would have been a career best finish of third for him all the way up to his first Cars Tour win. So congratulations to Logan Jones. Great to see always the first time we're in Victory Lane. Kyle Campbell came home in second,

and Katie Hedinger rounded out your podium for the Cars Tour pro late models. Also, the 44th Slinger Nationals at Slinger Speedway was ran on Tuesday evening. And I love when you run these big races on midweek. you know, it's tough sometimes for fans. I understand that because you guys have got to work, you know, throughout the day. But, man, it makes opportunities for drivers like Chase Elliott, William Byron and Eric Jones, you know, that have these other weekend jobs, as we can call them, gives you all the opportunity to that maybe even those that are racing

in respective series, you know, chasing points championships to step out and come run these big, you know, marquee events. So, man, it drew the names of short track stars and big shots alike against some of the short track bests of Stephen Nash. Matthew, Luke Fenhouse, Derek Thorne, but it was the Master of Midwest Super Late Model Racing. I think that's the new nickname I'm going to give him, Master of Midwest Super Late Model Racing. He found Victory Lane. Ty Majesky took the win after 200 laps over Fenhaus, Derek Thorne, John DeAngelis, and Austin Mason,

rounding out your top five there for the 44th Slinger Nationals. And lastly, this is not really a recap or a preview, but something super cool that I've really been following this summer. And, you know, something to maybe add to your docket to watch. A car IQ recently launched an initiative called the Fab 4, where the top four females in USAC racing, those being deemed as Kaylee Bryson, Taylor Reimer, Taylor Ferns, and Jade Affidician. They're all competing against each other for a $10,000 cash prize at the end of the year and a test with Porsche Carrera Cup and Porsche Sprint Challenge team MDK Motorsports at the end of the year.

How they're doing it is they're basing it on their average finish in USAC competition, as well as a fan vote that's currently actually taking place right now. You can head to their social medias as well as Car IQ and vote there. And just a really cool initiative to just bring, I think, eyes and opportunity to the women of USAC racing because sometimes it just gets overshadowed. So I love that Car IQ is doing this. But Jade, the youngest of the four, spoke to us about the initiative. And what it means to her is she pilots the Keith Coons Motorsports Midget in the 2023 season.

Car IQ has put together this contest, which is called the Fab Four. It determines the top female race car drivers within USAC Circle Track racing. It's based on performance and a fan belt. The winner received a $10,000 cash prize and a test with MDK Motorsports at the end of the year. It's very tough to be on your game each night. I think it's harder than it ever has been, in my opinion. There's so many factors at playing into putting your whole night together. You have to be able to stay focused all night, and there's no time to let your guard down.

It's a fight from qualifying to the main event. One small mistake early in the night can put you behind. The really good drivers find a way to be there at the end of the night, but certain series formats make it harder than others. There are some nights you can qualify at P1, but then start outside of a transfer position and a heat raise. Those drivers in front of you are just as fast and just as good, usually. You have to hope they make a mistake and hope that you're right there

to take advantage of their mistake. Well, temperatures are hot across the country this weekend. And unfortunately, there is some weather in the area for many places, but nonetheless, a packed weekend here on the schedule. You know it's a packed weekend when I can't even get all of the racing simply on a Saturday in one little square on my calendar. But it's a great problem to have. So this weekend, the first thing I'm really focused on is this is probably one of the richest weekends in sprint car racing. As we speak and as I, this is going out to you guys. It is Thursday.

and tonight is the Eldora million, a million dollars on the line back at El Doris. Over 83 sprint car drivers have made their way to Ohio. They're going to battle it out at El Doris Speedway tonight. This started last night with preliminary action, but tonight they will battle it out for a cash prize of $1,2,023. And you can watch all of Thursdays racing for the million. I mean, it's must watch television on Flow Racing before it once again switches over. This is just the beginning of all of the money being given out this weekend for sprint car racing at El Dora.

Friday, the World of Outlaw Sanction event takes over in its Kings Royal weekend. Friday, if you're new to it, it's called The Night Before. And there's a healthy $20,000 paycheck on Friday. And then it goes into Saturdays action where the prestigious Kings Royal takes place $175,000 check. But man, the history and prestige that comes with Kings Royal is also incredible. So yes, everyone wants to win a million. but man, you also want your name on that King's Royal Trophy. So, you know, if one person plays their cards right,

it could be an incredible weekend for a team at El Doris Speedway. But Friday and Saturday can be watched on DirtVision. Of course, third day to night. You could watch on Flow Racing. The World of Outlock case late models also in action this weekend, they head to Ponda Rosa Speedway in Kentucky on Friday before making the trip right over to Brownstown, Indiana on Saturday. And for those that are big block enthusiasts,

Superdirt Car Series is racing this weekend on Sunday. They'll be Atlanta Legends in Canandaagua, New York on Sunday. If I said that wrong, please tell me, because the spelling just really throws me off. But Canadaigua, New York on Sunday, but both World of Outlaw and Super Dirt Car Series can be caught on Dirt Vision. And for some pavement stuff for my pavement friends,

the Pro All-Star series is at White Mountain Motorsports Park in Barry, Vermont, on Friday, and can be watched on Racing America. And then out west, you've got the SRL Southwest Tour. They're at Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, California. In Spears, the SRL has their own streaming platform. You can check out on their website. And also on Saturday, the NASCAR Wheel and Modified Tour is kind of kicking things off over at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the NASCAR game.

And of course, you can watch most NASCAR wheel and modified tours as well as ARCA West, Arca East, I think most ARCA stuff in general, you can watch on Flow Racing as well. And lastly, it's wild me that we've got two key marker super late model races. in the same week. But another big super late model race on the docket this weekend as the Redbud 400 is this weekend with the ASA stars as drivers prepare drivers prepare for 300 laps of racing around Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Indiana. Drivers like Kyle Crump, Logan Bearden, Dalton Armstrong, who's won this race before,

among many of the drivers looking for new or continued success at this prestigious race. And there's multiple options and you can watch it. Hopefully you can make it. But if not, you can watch the event on tracktiv.com, Midwest Tour. TV or Racing America as well. But guys, so much racing going on. Again, your local tracks are in full swing right now. Mid-season stuff is shaken up for them.

Please get out, support your local race track, whether that's via, you know, streaming and you get the opportunity to do that. And support these local drivers and drivers that tour as well. I mean, a lot of these people in tracks, they're paying their bills with, you know, merchandise. Buy a T-shirt from one of these guys that you maybe have checked out for the first time here on Short Truck Insider. support them, get on their website.

That's a huge asset for a lot of these teams and drivers. So there will be plenty to recap. Next week, look forward to it all here on Short Track. That's awesome. By the way, thank you, Hannah Newhouse. She does a fantastic job.

Dale, I wanted to mention, you know, Kip Childress was on Door Bumper Clear this week. Yes. And you recently hired him, and you and your group, to be the series director of the Cars Tour. He is fantastic. He is.

I'm going to tell you something. If you haven't listened to Door Bumper Clear, There is some great conversation. Kip Chilters, first of all, talking about why he's doing the cars tour and what it does for him. And it's a fantastic, you know, I feel so great about him. Everybody loves Kip. But he also gives such good insight into being a series director, applying it to the NASCAR stuff. Like, you know, the decision from Atlanta to whether to throw the caution for Kevin Harvick's spin as he's limping around the apron or to go green.

Great insight from Kip Chilers on that. So, you know, when we're talking about Short Track Insider, it made me think of Kip and being on DBC and also well done on that hire. Man, I appreciate it. Yeah, I love – Hannah, good job on Short Track Insider, and I knew y'all were going to have fun with Kip. Kipp's excited to be a part of that any time y'all need him to to help you debate, you know, some of the things that go on there. I figured he'd be sort of a voice of reason in the chaos of door bumper clear. We got a new game. Alex, Alex is going to tell us about how to play.

I've got no idea. We haven't seen anything. We haven't cheated. So let's go for it. Yeah, this is a brand new game. It's called Guess the Year. It's pretty simple. You guys should do this.

Called what now? Guess the year. Guess the year. And you guys are going to be playing against each other. Okay. You each have three lives. Now, the key to the game here is, I'm going to give you something that happened in this year,

like the top song was My Sharona. And then you'd have to guess the year based off that clue. Yeah, what you ask? Go ahead. Yeah, so, love it. There's one tiny little rule that might get confusing if you don't pay attention, so pay attention. It wouldn't be a game with Alex

if it wasn't a tiny weird rule. Right. Then he later regrets because he hasn't thought it all the way through. Yeah, go ahead. So, you can guess after every clue, but I will give you three clues without you guys having to guess and waste your lives. But after the third clue, you have to guess after every clue. So don't you explain again?

You were right. No, that was confusing. That's confusing as hell. So I'll give you three clues. If you know it, if you think you know it, go ahead and say it. Sure. I'll give you a chance. Won't waste a clue. We each get three clues.

You get more than each clue, but once you, after the third clue, you have to guess after each clue. So you don't have to guess after the first three clues. Okay. I got it. So I can listen to three clues without having to guess. For each question, we get three clues. Yes. Yes.

Go for it. Are we buzzing in or do we take terms? Just buzz in. Just buzz in. There's no buzzer. I know, you know what I mean. What the hell? Cerement out there.

Right. Okay, first year, the Super Bowl champion was the Dallas Cowboys. The World Series champion... 1995. Wait, he's got another... So you just lost a life, that's wrong. Oh. See, now you're down to two lives.

See? I thought... All right, go ahead. You're down to two, Dallas three. All right, the World Series champion, clue number two, was the New York Yankees. The NBA champions were the Chicago Bulls. Can I guess? I can keep guessing, right?

And losing lives. You're losing live. If you get a wrong guess. 96. 96 is correct. Damn. Mike got one. Mike got one.

I mean, the Chicago Bulls went on that run. I mean, like, there was five runs. So we knew it was one of five or six years there. Okay. That was good. All right. You're number two here. The top song was in the club by 50 cent.

Oh, good one. I got that in my head now. The top movie was Finding Nemo, the World Series champion, were the Florida Marlins. You have to go. 2003. Correct. Mike.

Damn, Mike. Mike's on this. They beat the Cubs in the playoffs. It was heartbreaking. That was good. That was good. All right, I got one more year for you. This is my game.

I love this. The game that has nothing to do with racing. Where the fuck am I at? Do I need to even be in this room? Yeah. Let's do more World Series champion games there. That makes perfect sense. I'm fucking pissed.

This year. Okay. The top movie. of this year was the Avengers. The largest company this year, or that of this year, was ExxonMobil. Well, that derives it down.

There you go. And the top song was Call Me Maybe by Carly Ray Jepson. You guys know that song, right? Can we... Mike, you won. Good game. I love it, man. That's fun. Thanks, Alex. You don't know what your car... God Almighty. This is torture.

I'll guess. Do you got more clues? Yeah, I do. Just make a guess. You have to make a guess. You have to make a guess now. 2013? No, wrong. I might even, all right, well, I don't know. Do you got a year guess?

What year ExxonMobil was big? All right, let me think. Del might have a guess? He don't want a guess. Don't want to guess. I'll give you another clue. I got another clue. The nationwide series champion was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

2006? No. 2012? 2012 is correct. All right, look at you. But NASCAR ones are easy. You get it in five seconds. Well, I mean, that's really my life.

That's what I came to this room to do. Next week, Trigonometry Questions by Alex. I could see the guest the year, the non-Nascar edition, sitting in the bargain bin at the store. We've got reduced by 50%. It's on a layaway. Please take this. No, I think it. belongs on the front it belongs it needs its own uh you know it's on an

ironboard cutout of dale he needs this on aisle yeah yeah this is a great game Alex I thought it was fun I like no is it over yeah it's over thank God Mike good job man you got me oh I'm gonna I gotta give you gotta give you gotta give him hard time for that we give him a hard time even I know it right yeah yeah but that was I enjoyed that part Yeah. Anyhow, if you haven't listened to it, Becoming Earnhardt, it was our Wednesday episode for this week. Episode 1 is out. It's an easy, easy listen, tease you up, introduces you to a whole series exactly what you're going to expect.

And from episode 2 on, we're off and running right to the racetrack and diving right into all the things that happened throughout the year. Every Wednesday for the next several weeks, you'll be getting an episode of Becoming Earnhardt. Hope you're enjoying it. Give us some feedback. know. I mean, this may be something we continue to do beyond the 1979 season. Tell us what you like. Don't like. What you wish was included. What you enjoyed. Help us continue to make this better. So thank you. All right. We're closing the show out. We're going to leave you with a little man on the street with Andrew from the streets of Chicago. What's up race fans? Andrew Curlin here with another

edition of man on the street. We went to the streets of Chicago talking to new race fans, old race fans, and more. It was chaotic. It was fun. Take a lesson. What's your name? Where are you from? Carolyn, Virginia. I love your sunglasses. Thank you very much just to keep the bad vibes out. Bad vibes. Yeah. And we can't have any bad vibes here. What's the track bar? Where are we going to go drink? Damn right. What is the track bar? Where you get drinks at the track. That's it. So it's going to have some sweet tea. Okay. And some vodka. Wow. You think sweet tea and vodka is going to be good? No. If you go up, up on the

the track bar you're getting more drinks for everyone just around around on everybody are you have you guys been to the track bar yet not yet what's what is wedge like does it resemble a cheese wedge oh my god kind of what does it mean to be tight you know my pants are kind of we'll see after all the food i eat today oh what does it mean to be tight someone like you know really close with you so you like like this yeah be tight who that's very sexual what's a red flag i don't know like someone like someone not paying for your bill like when you want to date. What's your name where you from?

Dinah Hamlin. I'm originally from Chesterfield, Virginia. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina now. Can you name all the toppings of Chicago dog? I'm not a hot dog guy. I mean, I'm just gonna throw out ketchup, mustard, chili and cheese. Ketchup's a big no-no.

Ketchup? Oh, yeah. Yeah, they're not fans of that. Oh, so is it like just chili and cheese or something? Actually, I don't think there's chili, is there cheese? Not even cheese. Danny, unfortunately, you didn't get any. I failed one time. How would you feel if a NASCAR driver said he wanted catch up on his hot dog?

I would tell him he's got to go race someplace else. Yeah, not here. Yeah. What's your name? Where you from? Brian, I'm from Wisconsin. It's race day. You're damn right, it's race day.

You can fuck around and find out at any time of the year. How much do you have to f*** around to find out? Oh, you have to f*** around and see. Show me some cash and I'll let you know. Did you know, did you know NASCAR used to race at Soldier Field? No. And I think that. That was the last time anyone saw a win in Soldier Field, too.

What advice would you give for drivers navigating the city? Don't text and drive? Do you know that from experience, not to text? No. You don't do that? No. I don't either. What's your name?

Where you from? Ryan Blaney, I am from Ohio. What percentage of people do you think are good drivers? Good drivers. I feel like 75% of people. 75%. Yeah, like, you know, I went heavy on the number. Will Purdue, and I'm from Chicago.

What percentage of people out on the? the road would you say are good drivers? In Chicago? Yeah. About 3%. Three percent. And about 75 percent have road rage. Good drivers? Yeah. 30 percent. But I mean, it's hard for me to critique. I mean, it's, you know, saying a baseball player telling me that I'm terrible at baseball, well, they're in no shit. I'm terrible. Check out Dirtymo Media. Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.