The Dale Jr. Download - 475 - Lawn Mower Concerts

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Dale Earnhardt Jr. returns to wrap up the Download week with his co-host Mike Davis. The guys recap Sam Mayer’s first career Xfinity win. They check in on the ever-changing “bubble battle” as the NASCAR Cup Regular Season draws to a close. They also chat about the Xfinity Series’ big announcement that their future race broadcasts will be televised on the CW. Shane Van Gisbergen has announced his plans to race in NASCAR full-time next year, but where will he land? The guys hear from the Short Track Insider and tackle a new game, NASCAR’s Immaculate Grid. During the Ask Jr. segment of the episode, listeners sent in questions regarding:  Dale’s choice in sneakers What it was like to shoot the new Bojangles commercial Regular Season Championship significance  Playoff points carrying over between rounds What volume Dale prefers his music at in his car 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 make? I'm weird. Yeah, you are weird. What? Mr. Dallan Hart Jr. That family techniques sometimes. Gives you more than just a tomato salad. That's the voice of my co-host and one of my best friends in the whole wide world.

Mike Davis. We're screwed. Who's that me? No, we're not standing in that box together in our underwear. Are you kidding me, Mike? Oh my God, that is hilarious. Welcome back to another episode of the Dale Jr. Download here with my co-host, Mike Davis. We're in the Bojangles studio for a Thursday show.

And right off the top, man, we've got to say congratulations is in order. Sam Mayer wins his very first NASCAR Xfinity race and his very first race for junior motorsports. And actually that, I don't know, is true. Actually, he raced in the late-mile stock series. one for junior motorsports then. That's true. Anyhow, we have experience to win with Sam in the past. But honestly, I'm so proud of Sam, Mike.

And, you know, the thing about it is he's very young. Not even old enough to do a beer toast, right? He's going to do some chocolate milk. We did the beer toast, but he didn't. That's right. And so the thing that I think about is, You know, we put Sam in the, you know, the college level, the AAA level, the Xfinity series. It's a very competitive series.

We expect a lot of the drivers, but I think back to myself at that age and would I be able to manage the expectations and deliver? I'm not sure. You know, I really don't think I had it all together to be able to accomplish and do what he does. And I hesitate to say that because I don't want him to think that what he's doing is, good enough, right? You always want them trying to continue to improve, right? Now, he's won the race, put together a fantastic race at Road America, and we've been working with him on cleaning up his racecraft.

He's kind of joke around. He's kind of like the opposite of the other drivers, all my other guys wait until the end of the race to run into each other and something else. And Sam always does it on the first lap. That's so true. I know. So I'm like, Sam, you know, if you could just calm down that first lap, there's no need to be hitting the fence running so freaking hard that you're bouncing off the wall. Like way dial it back.

Like calm way down. And I said, I told him a couple weeks ago, I said, as soon as you fix that, you're going to win races. And, you know, he would come back and have a great finish at New Hampshire. And he'd get out and go, man, we made a, we came back. We had a great result. Come back from our troubles. Yeah. And I'm like, man, if you don't have the troubles, you win this race.

Yeah. Right. And so fix that. And honestly, you know, you wonder sometimes when you're talking to the young guys whether they really get it or they're hearing it. And, hey, he goes out there, puts together a great race. When things fell into his lap at the end, he took advantage of it. I don't think people appreciate how treacherousous race track was at the end.

Oh, man. All weekend. Everybody else was losing their composure and going crazy. And he was the voice of reason and kept his cool, won the race. Exactly. So from the beginning of the weekend, that track was super slick, new pavement. Nobody could get offline. You were spinning out off the racetrack easily.

So you had to tiptoe all the way around the racetrack. And then it's covered in speedy dry on top of that for the last few laps. And you saw what happened to many drivers in those final few laps. The one guy that you would think would be most mistake prone, he ends up putting it together a couple clean laps and wins his first race. I was so proud of that. and I think too he talks about it he's like I've had the weight of the world on me and I feel 15 pounds lighter now I haven't won this race he's been racing with all that pressure to deliver to come

through to fix fix fix fix fix fix to stop making mistakes and a lot of times when you put that much pressure on yourself you make more mistakes right sure and so man now he's free of all of that he's got that win in the column I think he goes forward much more relaxed much more confident and calmer on that first lap, not in such a hurry and not in sort of panic mode when the green flag drops in these races. So excited for Sam. I want to make sure we celebrate him.

He did a heck of a job this weekend. Marty Lindley, his crew chief, son of the famous short track racer, Butch Lindley, whose door is on the wall, incredible to win races with that family and their history and legacy. That's right, man. A lot of pep in their step this week, by the way.

It's been a fun time at the shop. Absolutely. So yeah, I'm glad we let off the show with that. What else you got today? Well, the short track package was tested at Richmond. We weren't hearing any great feedback or any big pluses coming out of Monday. Tuesday, although drivers did have some great things to say. It wasn't about that front splitter that they were trying to run that would create some lift.

It was more about a softer tire. Goodyear was trying some softer compounds, and they took the diffuser off the back of the race car and added rear spoiler. So basically going back to where we used to be as far as how the back of the car was down forcewise. And the driver said that it was much more forgiving. They could move around behind each other. So there's some signs of what we may need to be focusing on

for the short tracks. They've even said that they're going to continue testing all of this stuff at the Oval at Indy. And they wanted to caution people. That is not to say that we are going to be racing this package at the Oval at Indy. It's just another place for us to try to go learn more at a higher rate of speed so that we can really understand the data.

When you take that arrow and run it around a short track, the speeds are so slow. It's hard to really get great, great data. You need to really pick the speed and the pace and the air flowing through those parts up, and they'll be able to do that at Indy at the Oval. They'll be able to understand exactly what that data is telling them so that when they go back to a short track to test further or they want to make a decision on what to do for the short tracks. They can feel better about that decision knowing that information they're getting.

So I don't think that this is a sign that, hey, we're going to run the Indie Oval or this package may go to a bigger racetrack. I think it's just a way to learn more an opportunity to do that at the Oval at Indy. So I was interested in that. It's promising. It's promising. I really wanted that splitter to really work. I wanted that splitter to be the thing.

Also, Becoming Earnhardt came out yesterday, episode four, getting great feedback on it. glad people are still loving what we're doing and can't wait for episode five one week away. So this time next Wednesday, episode five. Right now we're still sitting at eight episodes. That seventh episode, I've been working on it. It's eight races, Mike.

Most of our episodes have been about four. Uh-oh, what are you trying to say? That's seventh episodes of eight races. And I don't know how we're going to pack it into the, you know, the box that we're trying to get it in. Anyways, yeah. We got a news saying. around here. Sounds like a TIF problem. I want to have a shirt

that says that. We may, this episode, this series may end up ballooning another episode or two before it's over with. All right there. Hey, let's stay flexible folks. That sounds good. All right. All right. Leaning into the next race on the Cup schedule

at Michigan, let's talk about the bubble battle. This is something, when I'm looking at what I'm most curious about every single week preparing in the booth about broadcasting and all of that, other things that I pay attention at this specific point of the season, especially with just a few races to go, is the bubble battle. We had a lot of changes amongst those in that battle for the

final few playoff spots. At Richmond, Bubba Wallace doubled his gap. He went from plus 27 to plus 54. And Michael McDow gained one point. Almondinger lost a few points. Ty Gibbs went from minus 28 to minus 18. Suarez had a tough, tough race, went from minus 23 to minus 34. So I'm shifting around, but Bubba Wallace really has to be smiling coming out of Richmond

because we're going to some road courses where they struggle, and he's going to need that 54-point cushion. Somebody back in the pack here, Chase Elliott, minus 56, going into Richmond, is now minus 40.

He gained 16 points. basically having a average day. And I heard Denny Hamlin on his podcast say that, mark my words, Chase Elliott is going to point his way in to the playoffs. I was on that wagon with Denny about five weeks ago, but in the last two or three weeks where Chase basically would gain four points here, lose five points, gain four points. He really stayed flat for the last several weeks.

This is the first time he's made a big game in a couple of times. weeks. I lost confidence in Chase being able to point his way in. And I was really thinking at minus 56 going into Richmond, he needed a win. Well, minus 40 is doable, but he's going to need to have those, you know, plus 15, plus 20 gains almost every week. And he's not racing just one person. He's not racing just the cut line. He's racing all these different drivers, right? And they're going to also have varying results that are going to make that complicated for Chase. Chase is good enough, the team's good enough to get 40 points back and point the way in, but I just don't, it's going to have to go just right. So are you jumping back on the wagon or are you staying

off? Well, I was thinking that it was impossible for them to point their way in before Richmond. It's possible again that he can point his way in, but it's going to be tough. It's all going to have to go right. With that said, I still don't know how to make sense of the math. When I look at a race, you know, it used to just be finishing order. Now that we have the stage points, it's really hard to tell how much of a deficit is minus 40 points. It feels like too much for me. It feels like too much because we're so seasoned and conditioned to think about finishing order.

Finishing order does not matter anymore. That only matters to the guy who won the race. What matters now and what's hard for us to sort of get a grasp on is stage points. Finishing second and a stage every week, and I heard didn't he make this point as well. He's a very good point. He's like, man, if you get second in the stage, that's 18 points. Yeah. And the race ain't even over and you got 18 points.

So with all of that information, I still look at a minus 40 point deficit for Chase Selling. And I go, oh, no way. But honestly, man, is it easier than we think? With stage points, with Chase coming up on road courses where he may be able to get that fifth and fourth place finishing stages that will accumulate the extra points that he needs to beat drivers in front of him, dude, maybe 40 points ain't what it used to be. Or maybe it's not that big a deal if he's running at peak level, which they're not. Nine, is the performance of the nine giving you any confidence that they can, you know,

make up 40 points in the next several races? No, the performance they've had over the last several weeks would tell me that it's going to be difficult for them. but they're the 9 team. They're Hendonk Motorsports, they're champions. They figure things out. I know who they are, and they're capable of doing this,

even with their most recent performance. So you've got to feel like in your gut, even if you're not a Chase Elliott fan, they sooner or later get on track. They sooner or later gain, you know, get back to running where we would expect them to run. And I think it happens soon. when I look at Bubba being able to double and go from plus 27 to plus 54,

I mean, minus 40. Sure. For Chase Elliott, seems doable now. I think that I, again, I go back to, I go back to all of us are so season to look at race results and go, yeah, he's not finishing good enough to make up 40 points. And what we don't know and what we haven't grasped is how much those stage points really factor in to the ebb and flow of the points cushion

or a deficit to that bubble. And maybe 40 points isn't as much as we think it is these days with stage points flying around, something to keep a look after it, I'm telling you. I've got one more question for you. All right, this is not to do with Chase Elliott, but it does with the points chase, all right? Yeah. A.J. Almondinger, you're a race team owner.

Now, and listen, we're not sitting here criticizing what race teams do with their drivers and their teams and their plans for the weekend, but I was just, I found it peculiar that A.J. Ombandinger went and ran the Xfinity Series race this past weekend. Now, you talk about 40 points being doable. Well, what also was doable was where AJ is on the bubble line. Yes. He was just, you know, it was in the teens. I mean, 17. He was 17. he lost five points this weekend. Yep.

And maybe that was inevitable. However, did you find it a little bit peculiar that he would go do the Xfinity series race, given that there's so much more at stake in the Cup series and that he's on the bubble line? I thought it was great fodder for media and broadcasters and everyone to debate. but if I was colleague and I owned all of that operation right deep deep down I would want AJ to be in that road course race knowing just how good he is and how capable he is of winning an Xfinity race for me I would rather have him there than practicing the cup car and qualifying the cup car at Richmond and I don't know that what making the playoffs versus not making the playoffs means to this cup team. Denny Hamlin could tell us that because he was in the same situation last year with Kurt Bush being hurt, shuffling things around, right?

Trying to get certain teams into certain positions in the points on the owner's side. And so it means something because that mattered a lot for Denny in 2311 to do that, right? They went to great lengths to try to make sure something. You know, so, but, you know, maybe colleagues sitting there going, yeah, I'd rather go try to win this race knowing that I got a driver that can do it. And the fact, there are two road courses left in the regular season that he's quite good at. Maybe they're going ahead. But still, the points differential from from making the pointing your way into not is still so minimal that he, I just, I agree with you. But again, I think them staying flat is pretty.

probably what they expected, right? Five points. I would, I'd be pretty happy with that, having sent him over there. Look, if he, I said this on the broadcast, I said, if AJ goes, is this the right decision? Yes, if AJ goes and wins the trophy. If he goes and wins that race at Road America, I made the right decision before the cup race ever starts. And so that didn't happen.

but they come to the cup race. He loses five points to the bubble. We're minus 22. Bub Wallace just gained 27 points at Richmond to the bubble, a track that he doesn't really have great statistics at. AJ's got road course races coming up, and AJ knows how to go to those races and gain the points he needs. He is very much dangerous to all these other drivers around that bubble

with the races we got coming up. He's dangerous at minus 22. And so he's still, in good position. It was curious and it was great to debate it. But if I'm the owner of the team, I'm doing what the hell I want. And that's what happened in this case. So

the CW announces that they're going to be partners for the NASCAR Xfinity series to broadcast all races through 2031. So the CW's free TV gets you an antenna. You can pick it up. You can watch the app. Sign up for the app. It's free. Free, free, free.

NASCAR Xfinity races forever. one. NASCAR Productions will handle the production of the race. I think they will outsource that to someone who does production very well. NASCAR Productions eventually, so NASCAR Productions, I think, is building, physically building itself to produce these races. But they're not quite there yet. I think they outsource this to someone who does a great job.

so I feel confident that the product for the CW will be good. The rights were pegged at $115 million per year. Right now, I think the Xfinity series gets much less than that in the current deal. But NASCAR has to take some of this money and then go out and produce these races. So that's going to cost, you know, probably roughly near two dozen million dollars, right? Let's say just around $20 million to produce. Let's just guess, right? So while this is a big bump in the number, as far as what they're getting per year

to be able to, you know, get the naming rights for the Xfinity series, NASCAR does have to take some of this money and go get these races to produce. So it's all kind of going to even out, I believe. But it's a great thing for the Xfinity series. Finity series, there were rumors that we were going to streaming platforms. I know that, hey, if that's the future, that's a future. I'm fine with that. But right now would be kind of a scary thought for a car owner to be pushing your

broadcasts to a streaming platform and possibly losing viewership, which is really how we sell sponsorship. So for us to be able to go to the CW as a car owner, I'm hoping that on the CW everybody will have such simple, easy access to these races. The numbers will be as good, maybe better than they are today. That's the hope, right? I think it would be. Yeah.

How could it be worse, Mike, if it's easier to access and in more households, right? So the hope is that the number stays flat or better and that Xfinity Series team owners will not have to go to their partners and say, yes, the numbers aren't as good, adjustments have to be made financially. That's absolutely what we're trying to avoid. So pretty happy about this. I'm pretty happy about it.

I like this partnership. And I think we're going to still see a great visual product When we're watching a race, it'll look as good as what's going on today in terms of what the Xfinity Series product looks like on television. I think you hit it. You hit the nail on the head, and that is, I think people need to just remember is that when the Xfinity Series teams go out to the market to try to get funding, they've got to be able to look at those CEOs and CMOs in the eye and say, hey, this is where your product will be

visible. This is where your return on investment is going to happen. If you say it's going to be on Fox sometimes here and it's going to be on NBC, sometimes here, and then, oh, by the way, Peacock will take this and then USA will take this. It becomes a very disjointed and confusing conversation. So what this does, I've seen some people try to, you know, work hard at trying to critique this in a way that's, you know, trying to find some sort of negative connotation. I'm like, oh, there's just one more television partner that we got to go factor in. Hey, listen. you hit it on the on the on the on the head dale it's free it's accessible you don't have to pay for it and it's all year so you know where to go for infinity races and you know what when our teams go and

they go try to find funding and they go to these sponsors they can say cw here it is it's a long-term thing it's an easier thing to sell yeah and i think it's an easier thing for the the advertisements uh the sponsorships to to to invest in to take a gamble on because they can see see where exactly their product's going to be. I think it's a win. Yep, I agree. So I also, you know, think that I hope that the CW controls who their talent is. I would love to see, much like in the truck series, a dedicated booth to the series, right?

I would like to see a dedicated booth to the Xfinity series that they, the Xfinity series is their home. It's what they know. They know their drivers. It's theirs. They own it. They take ownership of it, right? And so that's a little, I'm getting a little bit ahead of ourselves there,

but I'm hoping that that'll be interesting to see how all that plays out. All right, so SVG has confirmed his plans to pursue NASCAR full-time in 2024. I think this is a big shock to me. And I was talking to some people over there in the motorsports world around what's going on with Shane and V8 supercar in his future. and I guess there was this concern, okay, he's won this race at Chicago. He's kicked everybody's ass.

The idea is that, okay, well, we can put him in a road course car, capable car, just like Project 91 and Trackhouse is, and he'll win at road courses. Probably so. He'll run first, second, third, he'll run great. He's going to do good at every road course. race you put him in. That's the thought, which I think is a fair thought. But, you know, he's got little to no experience on ovals, right? And so he'll struggle at every other racetrack

would go to. So in my mind, I was thinking there's no way that a team would, you know, hire him at the highest level to run a full season of NASCAR and take that guy. gamble at all of the ovals for the reward that would be waiting at all of the road courses. But it looks like that there's real interest and a real possibility that he is, I believe that he already has his plans. I believe that he already has his teams lined up and that he would not turn his back on what's going on for him in Supercar, V8 Supercar. He would not turn his back on what's stable and secure.

without a plan already in place. So I think that the decisions on who and what he will drive in NASCAR are nearly shored up or laying right there in front of him. He is very aware of what team he has an opportunity with. I also think that he spends time racing Xfinity, maybe even a truck. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in an Xfinity ride multiple times, throughout the year and not at road courses.

He would be doing that, in my mind, to get that oval track experience. And so it's doable. And we don't have to look far for examples of drivers that have been able to come over and make that adjustment. Marcus Ambrose is the perfect example of coming out of V8 supercars. listen the V8 supercar was the closest thing to NASCAR stock cars around the globe and that got even closer

when the next gen car was built NASCAR and Steve O'Donnell will tell you they built the NASCAR next gen based off of the V8 supercar so for Shane and anyone to get in that car and feel comfortable makes perfect sense and I think his adaptation to ovals will be even easier due to

that than it was for Marcus. But I believe he absolutely has to race in the truck series, if not in the Xfinity series, he needs to run as much as he can on ovals. And so I wouldn't be surprised for his plans to race full-time in NASCAR to include racing at those other divisions. We should probably go ahead and let the news come out that SVG is going to be on our show here in a week or so. Yeah, we can talk to him about this very thing.

on our show next Thursday. So he'll be here in town, in studio, and he's not coming all the way here to do the Dill Jr. Download. Well, I think he is, but he's going to also just do the Indy road course while he's over here on the state side. Yeah, he's coming back to racing NASCAR, but we get a chance to interview him about his plans,

and we'll see what we can learn. We'll try to press him to release some information. information that maybe he wasn't prepared to. I'm trying to decide if I should do that to you right now because it seems like you're having educated opinions about this. Or am I wrong? I'm just hearing that, you know, look, I was shocked. I did not think, even after watching him win at Chicago, I'm telling everybody that's

asking me, like people in Australia are calling me going, hey man, do you think there's any interest over there? He's curious. He really wants to do this. Do you think there's a team that would hire him? I'm like, man, I don't know. You know, I don't think so. not full time.

I think that he could come over here and probably run an unchartered car in all of the road course races next year. Maybe there's somebody that wants to do that. That's an expensive ask, but maybe Justin Marks would run him in every road course race next year, but he's going to have to give up the eight supercars to probably do it.

And would he do that? I just don't see it happening. And I just didn't think that somebody would put him in a car full time given his inexperience on ovals. I just, but somebody wants to try to fast track this guy on the ovals, he's going to

have some opportunities and some Xfinity cars to gain that oval experience. Well, it certainly is an easier gamble to take to your point Dale that this new car, this next-gen car gives a team at least a different consideration because you almost wonder what Marcus Ambrose.

Marcus Ambrose was a freaking awesome race car driver. I mean, I almost wonder what he would have done in this next-gen car. So other people that were like him that came over and tried NASCAR. All right. So if there's going to be an Xfinity slash truck component, let's just say that's going to be about a $3 to $4 million investment. Then you're going to have a full cup deal,

which is anywhere from 15 to 20. And then do you have to buy a charter, which is going to be anywhere from 3rd? to $40 million. I mean, this is going to be, this is going to be an expensive, the reason why I felt like this was so unlikely, even with his success at Chicago,

is because it's so expensive to do what he needs to do to come over here and ramp up his, his knowledge in, you know, his knowledge. You know, but if he, if, all right, so if he's in an, if he's going into an already chartered car, who's out, right? who gets knocked out, who is he replacing? And then there's that, you know,

then you can take that having to purchase the charter off the table, but you're still looking at around a, you know, at minimum $21 million investment. Geez, yeah. Yeah. That's a big one. Yeah. And so maybe you already have some partners in place

that are going to help handle and manage some of that cost. But I cannot wait to learn more about this. It's definitely intriguing. It is. Yeah. And now you've got a driver coming in. If he comes full time, you got a guy that's going into the playoffs with at least one road course win. Right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he will likely do to his oval performance, I don't know that he places in the top 16 end points throughout the regular season. He's going to be one of those drivers out of the backside of the top 16 with a road course win or more that's going to take a playoff position. I mean, he's going to, it's going to be interesting to watch how that all happens, how it comes together, who he ends up signing with, where he races Xfinity cars and truck cars, how he performs on the ovals out of the gate. Let's just assume he's going to win a road course and how that shakes up the playoff system for other drivers. It's going to affect somebody, if not multiple teams.

It's a lot going on. And I love it. I want it to happen. Yeah. Yeah. Good personality to have to do this. I am interested to see if there's any carryover from Chicago's street course to the Indy Road course where you've got all of our regular guys quite familiar with this course. They were not with Chicago.

That's a great point. You had the, you know, the big flood of Chicago that day and things that kind of, you know, affected the way that race was run. And let's see. What would be a success for SVG at Indy? Let's not hold him to his winning standard at Chicago. Is a top 20? Is a top 15?

Like, what do you think is a success for him at the Indy Roadcourse where a driver is? Oh, I'd be massively disappointed in just a top 10. Okay. Massively. Oh, so he needs to be top five, you think? Oh, hell yes. Okay, got it. I think, look, if there's, if he's confirming he has plans.

or he plans to pursue a NASCAR full-time ride, I think he's already got an idea of who this is with. The pressure's on. He needs to go to Indy and back it up. He needs to go to Indy, lead laps, and challenge for the win. If he runs fifth, not good enough. It ain't good enough to warrant all the effort that it will have to take place to get him here into that full-time deal.

knowing that, look, man, he will have challenges. I don't want to use the word struggle, but he's going to be challenged at the ovals for a while. You know, I mean, it's just, I doubt it comes naturally. And so, you know, this ownership and team will manage some of that, you know, we'll have to manage that struggle and that patience of waiting for the oval stuff to take. And if he's going to go to all of the other road courses that we, all know well and be just top five, is that enough?

That's an interesting point. No, I think your point is, look, you're going to struggle with the elbows. You get those road courses. You better show out. Damn right. There is no. I think that's the only reason this is happening is with the idea that, yes, he's going to go to the road courses and be damn near hard to beat. Much like every time we showed up at a road course, Marcus Ambrose was one of the top dogs. Oh, yeah. In really mid class equipment. Right.

Right? Yep. I mean, really mid-class at best. You know, he would go to Watkins Glen, a track we all know very well and running balls out

with that 9 and 47 car. That 47, man, he was so good. Yeah. And they weren't top teams. That's good. That's a fair point. I got it. Yeah.

All right. Now it's time, Mike, for us to play another great game, the NASCAR Immaculate Grid. I love these. You don't want to do that year game that Alex did I hated that. That was all the best game of the year. I loved that. That was pretty bad. I was hoping we'd do that again. All right. So what we have

today is another Tick Taktow grid. It's a little different than Tick Tick Tick Tso. This is more of a social media trend that I'm not sure if you guys know. It's more of baseball, but this is from a guy on Reddit actually made this board. Okay. And it's the same rules as Tick T-Tac-Tow. Do we know who it is on Reddit?

I did not write down his name, but I will get it to him. We need to get that. Yeah. Yeah, so it's the same as Tick-Tac-Tow, except we're not playing to Tick-Tac-Tow. Okay. It's more you have nine guesses to get all nine squares, hence Immaculate. Wait, we need to win.

We need to get everyone right. Or the most? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, the most. It's more of, the most correct answers? The way it is on, like, baseball side. It's like a score you get after you plug it in. Okay.

All right, so we're not playing a tick-tac-toe, so it doesn't matter where you go, Mike. Okay? Doesn't matter where you go. We're not going three in a row. We're just going to go try to get as many correct as we possibly can. And so it's teams, and we got across the top, RCR, Morgan McClure, Evertonham Motorsports,

and down the left side, Bill Davis, Michael Waltzp Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. You go first, Mike. I'll go first. You're not ready. I'll go. Yeah, you go first. Okay.

Um, all right. Um, is this cup an expended or cup only? Cup only? Okay. Gruff. I'll have my head in this game. Oh, no. You don't either.

Yeah, it just takes a bit. I'll do the Evan Ham Hendrick, and that's Casey King. Yes. Is there a timer? No, just. nine guesses. Wait, we get nine guesses? Yes. Oh, so I've used one? You've used one,

but you got it right, so the square is done. I know, I'm just saying, but if we get it wrong guess, we're down just eight? Yes. Oh. Yes. That's the immaculate part of the immaculate grid. Okay. I'm going to try Everingham and Bill Davis. Mayfield? Yep, correct.

Guys are doing good. Seven squares. I feel like we're doing great. Two for two, that's good. So it's Dale's turn. Yes. We also have the Reddit user that created this grid. So shout out No Gro Broski. Or no Grosk.

He did a good job. He does a good job with these. I can tell you right now, the Morgan McClure one is tough. It is. I'm surprised the RCR Hendrick. I swear, I can't think of it. It should be easy, right?

should be very easy. I'm like half the field, probably raised for them. Yeah. Five possible answers for that one. Yeah. There's five? Yeah. Yeah.

I'm... Holy smokes. But to be clear, Dale's turn, I'm not going, like, am I waiting? Or if I had an answer? If you have it, you can go, yeah. Um, okay. For time's sake, yeah. Yeah, for real.

All right. Because once they guess the square, it's... The square is gone. Okay. Oh, Michael Watcherbracing, RCR, Clint Boyer? Yes. Morgan McClure and Hendrick is Mark Martin Morgan McClure and Hendrick yes correct

Really? Yes Are we penalized for wrong answers? Can we just start? Yeah you just lose a guess So then Where are we at? You guys are 4 for 4 right now So you have 5 or 2 to 2 We're tied yeah We've both done two each

Yes so it's combined your 4 for 4 so you have five squares left Let me ask you question question. Yes. Does the Days of Thunder cars count? I believe they do on this sheet. Okay, then the Morgan McClure, and I think we should be able to have the wrong answers. In that case, I'm ready to fire out some freaking dozees. Fire them off at this point. RCR, Bill Davis, Jeff Burton. No. Gord Burton. No. Was the McClure and Hendrick Bobby Hamilton, Jr.? That one's also on there, yes. A Bobby Hamilton, not Bobby Hamilton, Jr.

Well, that's a different guy. I know what he meant. So Morgan and Hendrick is Bobby Hamilton? No, you've already filled that score. That's one of them, yeah. Mark Martin's one of them, Bobby Hamilton's one of them. Jeff Purvis, Joe Neimancheck, Ty Bodine, all could have worked in that. Damn.

Holy moly. Can I try for Bobby Hamilton in the top center, Bill Davis and Morgan McClure? Yeah, but it's wrong. Okay. I can't believe we're not coming up with that. the RCR Hendrick. I'm shocked. God, this is I feel like...

If guys want me to be stupid here. I know, I feel like the weight of every listener listening to this is calling us both idiots. I want to get it right. Hold on. There's one answer. I mean, it's not clear as day. I hate this. I don't know.

I feel like an idiot. Why am I not thinking of this? I don't even want to give you a think because it's so obvious. Don't, don't, don't, don't. Can't think. Kyle Bush. For Hendrik R. Yeah.

Yep. Duh. You could have Casey Mears, Ken Schrader, Ricky Rudd, and Ron Hornaday. Ricky Rudd drove for RCR? Damn he did. Yeah. Back in the 80s. I don't remember Ron Rondon.

Back in the 80s. Well, damn it, I ran his name through my head and it didn't click. What the fuck is wrong with me? I'm thinking like dad was the first, you know what I mean? So like going pre-dad, it didn't trigger. I mean, A.L. You ready to call it again? You guys got any other guesses on me?

I'm going to guess RCR. Bill Davis racing, Mike Skinner. Yes, correct. Okay. Oh, I just tied it back up. Now, we can't quit. Okay. That leaves us...

All right, I already are there. Here's how I'm going to win it. Yeah, you guys got Bill Davis racing, Morgan McClure left, Michael Waltrip, and Morgan McClure left, and Evertonham Motorsports and Michael Waltrip. Remember, you can repeat guys.

Is Morgan McClore, Bill Davis... Is that... Bobby Hamilton? I already guess that. Yeah, he guessed that, no. I'm sorry. This is a complete fly. Michael Waltrip and Evernham, Bill Elliott?

Yes. Damn! Was Casey Atwood ever... He's not. Yeah. Okay. Bill Elliott. Tell just took the lead again.

And now, yeah, I'm done. I can't come up with Morgan McClure's. I mean... You could add Elliot Salter for that square, too, but... For what? Evertonham and Michael Walter Bracey. Oh, that's right. Hey, listen.

Morgan... Morgan McClure Bill Davis is also Mike's... Skinner. Yes. So we are the first person to get this square. Morgan McClure and Michael Watcher bracing. Yeah, go ahead. Dang. Oh, Mark Martin. Correct. They'll wins.

You know what? Why don't I just ask? I should just say Mark Martin on every square, every time. Decombe dude's race for everyone at some point. Shout out Nogabrosk. Yay, I won. Woo! He like finishes. This is the first fair fully, no, no.

First fair fully fully. No asteris. No bull's, no wrong. Hors shit. I've been one of these things. Yeah, but there was always like a bullshed. Like a loophole or some shit. They didn't.

Rulie didn't tell us. I always f***ing something up. Your words, not mine. Frickin Martin. All right, let's get some ass juniors. Time for some great questions. That's a great segue. Let's go.

So let's just get started. Let's get to it. Let's get ready. See what questions we have today. We've gotten a lot of questions just over, did you make that shot? I know you checked. You missed it. You made the one right before we went live.

We've gotten a lot of questions over the past couple of weeks, and Joe specifically asked it this week. Where do you get the pair of sneakers that you wear, and how many different pairs do you have? Yeah, these are A6. They make a Mexico 66-style shoes, what it's called. I think it's from, it's a throw, it's sort of a nod to soccer.

Okay. And so I've worn them forever. I don't know. They're very comfortable. I remember when I was in high school getting a hold of a pair of wrestling shoes and how comfortable those were. And they're really similar to NASCAR driver's shoes, right? They're very easy to wear.

Not much so. And so I've gotten so accustomed to wearing those style of shoes. And this kind of reminds me of that. Easy to put on, kick off. and they come in so many different colors, which I always kind of like to wear all kinds of different ones. But, I mean, you see me. I'm wearing different, you know, with my hats and my T-shirts and all that.

But I got a lot. I got a lot of pair of A-6. And I haven't been shopping for many of them here lately, but they're kind of getting harder to find. I don't know if they're making less of these or what, but they, I've got a bunch of these back home. I took some pictures one day and I was going to post it on social media, but Amy said that would be a bad idea. Why?

Because I had like a bunch of A6s. But anyways, Mike's rolling his eyes over here. I'm glad I didn't post it. I'm glad A6 makes that type of shoes so you don't have to walk around wearing wrestling shoes all day. Yeah. You know? You know what made me think was that earlier in this show and people can listen to the podcast, but we were talking about what makes you an ass.

It's the people that take pictures of their closet and show how I'm going to. shoes they got. That's one of them. Yep, for sure. Anyways, yeah, that's it. That's what he wanted to know about the shoes. Yeah, that's good. I didn't know they were ASICs, so I'll go check that out. Interesting. This next question comes from Brian.

They've been seeing your Bojangles commercial with Lee Bryce out on the airwaves. What goes into shooting a commercial like that and how was it working with Lee? Lee was great, easy to talk to. We both had to be a little goofy at times and he was more than happy to do that.

so that makes it easier when you're on the same page. The, and I think too, he has genuine, a genuine affinity for Bojangles like me. You know what I mean? We grew up around it. And so I, you could tell like this was an easy, you know, thing for him to do. And so, I don't know, it just felt like two guys

talking about bojangles. But making the commercial is easy. We drove over to Charlotte, somewhere downtown. They'd rented some spaces and rented some lot. And all of it, you know, you drive up and everything's already set up the crew, right? That's going to put all this together and the cameras and everything and the lighting. They get there like in ridiculous hours, like five, six in the morning. Start setting up.

And so you roll in and it's all ready to go. and the director or whatever is going to hand you your lines. He's going to say, hey, you're standing by this car, right? Lee's going to walk in. He's going to say this. You're going to say that. We need you, you know, we need you shutting the trunk, and we're going to give you an action to move, which is shut the trunk of the car, and then we're going to give you an action to start speaking, right?

Or they'll tell you, as soon as you get the trunk lid down, that's when you start talking. Yeah, it's pretty simple. and they just want you to be you, and which is very, very, you know, you don't have to be anything, like a true actor, right, has to really research and put himself in that role, right? But this is just us being us.

So you, and I, you know, sometimes they'll have you say things or there'll be things in the script. You're like, I don't say that word. I don't use that, I don't talk that way. And you just tell them, right? And they're like, all right, well, say it in your own words. Say it how you,

would say it. And so it's important to like be genuine and true to yourself and say look, you know, this is how I would handle this. And this is, you know, a lot of times the script writers, they're not, they don't know NASCAR and they get the terms wrong or the language wrong. I remember when I was shooting a ESPN commercial. I'm underneath this desk working on this computer and fixing, fixing the, fixing this computer that was broke. and you can hear like an air gun and some racing tools, right, going off while I'm under there. But the language they had me using about this computer wasn't right.

And I was like, yeah, that's not how you would say, like, you know, I'm going to install some RAM memory in this computer. You know, they had me saying things that weren't right. And I was like, man, my friends, my friends that know that no computers are going to give me a hard time if I say this stuff, right? So I said, I got to change the language a little bit, you know, make it more. or, and they're like, yeah, whatever. Because the people that wrote it didn't know computers.

Yeah. And so you just got to, it's fun. And they'll, usually the producers and directors and people there are really easy. And so you'll just tell them like, what if we did this? What if we tried this? This would be, maybe this is funnier. We had some, you know, one of my favorite shoots, I don't, you might have been there, Mike. I can't remember the AMP shoot.

We went all the way to Las Vegas or Los Angeles. and we shot with the gorilla, and then we did the check, the camel. Did the camel, yeah. You remember that? Yeah, I was there. And a lot of that was like, we were, you know, that was like real, I'm not going to say real acting,

but like I had never really done, like, we're carrying a camel on your back, right? You've got to, you know. So there was some moments where you're sitting there going, man, this is awesome. This is amazing. to be shooting a this is a real commercial we're shooting

right we're not just like talking about race cars like this is this is real uh Hollywood type stuff um and even in those moments we got to improvise a bunch right and we shot a lot of different endings

for some of those commercials some didn't make some some were great but they didn't make it um fun fact that not only was that feeling Hollywood it very much was we shot that camera commercial with Lulu, the camel. That was the camel's name. But it was on the same stage that Wizard of Oz, scenes of Wizard of Oz was done. I mean, that stage had been there for a long

time. There was a whole list of movies and things that at that stage had done. And so that's what I also thinking about, you know. And when they says stage, it's like a giant emptyware. Yeah. That's what it is. Yeah. And so, but anyhow, I'm rambling. But, you know, commercials, some are heavy duty and some are pretty easy. Like the Bojangles, it's local, it's authentic. Let's drive down to Charlotte. Let's shoot that. Let's be ourselves.

And it was an easy, easy day. That's interesting. And you kind of answered what one of my follow-ups was going to be is like they allow you to change language or make it feel like it's more personal to you. That's one thing I did notice is like it played into your personality pretty well. At least the Bojangles one. So that's interesting. You played a role in like fixing.

things to make it, you know, most comfortable for you. Yeah, every time we're going to do a commercial, the script comes here to Junior Motor Sports and we go over it. Yeah, okay. And we're like, I'd never say this. We're going to say something out. We've got to change this. And so there's a lot of approval process.

Interesting. Yeah. Never knew that. This next question coming from Drew, should the regular season championship mean a little bit more? Oh, how do you get it to mean more? How do you get it to mean more? You know, I thought that too.

And so when we first came out with the regular season championship, I had a thought, and they actually did this, but it was kind of awkward when it happened. I said, you know, we got to really make this matter. Why don't, you know, if there's a monetary value, if there's a monetary, like, what is a hundred grand, 150 grand, whatever happens, right, for the regular season champion, right?

Why don't we walk out at the end of the race, they're on pit road. Okay, final race of the regular season. You're going to bring the winner and the top five down pit road to get going through tech and all that. Bring the regular season winter down pit road, and when he gets out of his car,

handing him a briefcase, open briefcase full of cash, right on television. And literally, it's his. there you go. And so they tried that and they were like, yeah, okay, we'll do that. And I remember when they did it, the person was like taking a back.

The person that's getting this briefcase full of money was like, oh, well, this is weird, right? And they didn't let them have it. Like it wasn't real cash. It wasn't, I was like, man, how do we get, what the intention was, Like, we need to get somebody to go, hell yes, I'm so glad I won this. Regular season championship, that's how you get it to matter.

How do you get it to matter is get a reaction out of the person that wins it? Yeah. If it matters to them, then it matters to us, right? That's why, you know, my whole argument about the clash and it being only poll winners, right? Because when people would win polls, they would get out of the car after winning the poll and go, yeah, I'm excited about this poll but damn, I'm in the clash. Hell yeah.

That's the only way to get in there. And so I was like, yeah, how can we get a reaction out of the driver that wins this regular season deal? Hand him a briefcase full of money. Wouldn't that get anybody thrilled? I think, yeah. If somebody walking this room right now

and handed a random person in here, a briefcase full of cash and was like, it's yours, bud. You'd be your pants? I would probably have a few questions to who is this pertinent like in your specific situation of course you would all right no you would but i mean i'm just that was my thought is like you know kind of like that's you know what was it they would walk up and knock on people's doors and be like uh like the ed mcmans yes yeah yes

clearing house sweet sakes yes we're trying to get that reaction right from the driver close to that as you can so like help me like figure out how to get a driver that excited And I thought, man, you know, just hand them a briefcase full of money. But I really wanted it to be real money. And I wanted them to basically be set, you know, basically wanted you just say, here you go, man. Regular season, it's yours. And you're going to be like, holy crap, got a briefcase full of money here.

I mean, that would be freaking insane. Yeah. Right? And so even for drivers that are paid millions of dollars to race to be handed 150 grand. in cash, everybody's going to get happy about that, you know. And so, but it didn't, it kind of was awkward. It fell flat. I think we, if we could, I'm sure somebody will find the clip of that because they,

they did it and it was like, we're, it just was like, okay. Yeah. I'm glad, yeah. Because it was not their briefcase and it wasn't real money and they didn't get that pop, you know. I would, I would try that again. just give it a second go yeah yeah yeah maybe at daytona unless somebody driver's not expecting it right you know hey by the way here's some here's some money yeah

who doesn't love that so um i don't know if they should try it again but make it make make it genuine like it make it make it real uh kind of similar breath of the regular season championship and i think this would be interesting from your perspective as a tv commentator but then also a former driver. Thoughts on playoff points carrying over in each round because I know that wasn't always the case that kind of reset and, you know, would change some things down the road. What are your thoughts on on that rule change? Run that by me again? So like, you know, playoff points, they didn't always carry over per round. Yep. But now they do. Just someone asked thoughts on that versus like entertainment of like the end of each round. Yeah, it's not bothering me.

You know, it doesn't carry over to the final round. And the final round, we're heads up. It doesn't bother me. I don't have a problem with that. And I have thought about it a few times. You know, I've thought about that. I'm like, does that bother me? Does that something I don't like her?

And I can't really find a problem with it right now. I think, you know, I think that that fact that those points do carry over helps make those points so critical, helps make that regular season. So important. Helps make every stage point important. It makes those guys all race harder for us during the 26 regular seasons, races. It gives us a lot of action that we otherwise probably wouldn't get

if they didn't carry those points. And so I also think, you know, I want it, you know, if a driver accumulates a ton of points and they set themselves apart, I like the idea that this driver has done so much, he's really giving himself this really great shot to get all the way to the very final moment.

I would have a problem if a driver had 50 stage points and they didn't carry over and he doesn't make it to Phoenix. Right, yeah, because it means so much. All that work during the regular season. All right, this guy's won more stages than anybody else, more races than anybody else,

and he got knocked out of the second round. You know, it makes it less creditable for me. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that would be a good one to ask. Look, I mean, if you dominate like Truex has or Harvick did a couple years back, you know, you get maybe three guys that are dominating the season, I kind of want those

three to be in the finals. I kind of already do before the playoffs start, you know. And when they don't get there, I need a damn good reason they didn't get there, right? Yeah. Yeah. All right. We got time for one more quick one. I saw this and I thought more about it.

I'm like, all right, this would actually be a good question. This one comes from James. When you're alone driving in a car, what volume is the music at compared to when you're driving with other people? Wow. Yeah, right? Dude. Oh, shit. So, this is so funny.

And I think parents will get this one. So when I'm getting in the truck this morning, literally walking up to the door to open it up, the thought that hits me in the head is, I'm turning the damn radio up. Yeah. Because my truck's got two car seats in the back that are usually full of kids.

And man, when you're riding around, driving the family and stuff, we stay low. We keep that volume down. And I mean, up until I had kids, and usually when Amy's not in the car, I'm jamming, man. I got it cranked.

And that's how I've been my whole life. You know, as soon as you're 16 years old and you get in your first car, you're like, turn it up. My favorite song. Rewind that, you know. And playing everything as loud as you can. Buying speakers, buying amps,

doing everything you can to get it louder, clearer, louder, clearer, louder, clearer. And then you have kids and it's like, nope, you can't go over this volume. This is the volume. This is the limit. So man, when you walk up to the car and you're getting in that thing

and you're like, it's just me going to Junior Motorsports this morning, I know what I'm going to do. I'm playing that song I downloaded yesterday and I'm playing it loud as hell. Yeah. That's what I'm going to do. So that's how I do it.

I don't know. I'm not getting much of a reaction out of mic here. He must not listen to loud music. Yeah, you don't? No. I don't think I do. Interesting. Yeah.

I do. and then I always forget to turn it back down. So like even just yesterday, I was driving people over to DBC and the radio. It was super loud just when everyone got in the car. Same here. So that happens too. So I'll drive my truck over here, jamming out loud music.

And I'll drive at home. Same thing. And then me and Amy will get in it to go to the farmer's market. And when my Bluetooth connects and starts playing that last song, she's like, what in the world? And I'm like, yeah, this is what I do when you're not in here. This is how it is every day when you're not in here. She's like, hey, goodness gracious.

And I'm like, what? That's, what is the problem? I don't know. The key is to play it just loud enough to not hear yourself sing it badly. You know, there was a funny video I saw the other day where guys that are riding their lawnmower and they're listening to music, which is what I do. And, man, when we're doing it, it's concert performance. right like it's it's amazing it sounds fantastic but then what people are here

Mitch does that so Mitch my Mitch is Mitch is been my Mitch is basically mowed the property we got hundreds of acres out there and he's mowed it I hired him from my dad's place so he worked he worked on dad's property forever and then eventually I hired him to come over and do do our property and Mitch I hear Mitch.

Like when he comes by he comes near the house on his mower I can hear him singing and it's like just him singing and the mower like I don't hear the song right because it's hilarious and it's got to sound awful. Because Mitch even the way he talks

sounds like a little like sling blade so he can't sing good. Yeah, yeah you're right. It's something. So you're right about that man if you can yeah that's pretty funny. If you can out sing the mower, you're doing something.

Every once in a while I catch a word. I'm like, he's singing? You know, because it's like, it's lawnmower noise. Oh, and then you'll catch a word. Like, you know, he'll get high pitched or something. Man, I feel like a woman. And nobody can hear it. You're like, Mitch is singing.

Mitch is listening to music. Oh, man. That's good. Yeah, man. It's a good place to end it this week on Ash Jr. All right. Well, I appreciate it. I hope everybody learned something today.

So, Mike, last thing before we go, let's talk about the ultimate experience. Dirtymo Media is headed back to Bristol. That's right. Man, you got an extravagant. Now, I want you to know, man, when we're using adjectives, these are well, well-used adjectives in this room.

We're going to call this package extravagant. It's all-inclusive, and it's ultimate. And it's tailored specifically. for Dirty Mo Media fans. You have a joke to you want to say. I can tell. Just go ahead and just throw it on out there. I just love the words.

Join us September 16th for the NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race and enjoy a luxury, VIP suite experience, and it includes parking passes and appearances by a host of several shows. Doorbubble Clear. I might even slide on in there. Should. Once you let me know where it is.

You're going to get some free swatting. I'm assuming who knows what's in the swag bag, right? All kinds of fun stuff. Probably a tumbler. Probably. You're going to have all the food you can eat and all the beer that you can drink. There's other beverages as well, water and so forth.

So anyways, the sweet food at Bristol is good. I have been up in several of those, and it is some of the best racetrack food you're ever going to eat. Tickets sold out well in advance last year. Well, they're about sold out this year. We only got a few left. I was just going to say, don't wait. Just a few tickets.

left. You can get it today at Dirtymobedia.com forward slash ultimate experience. All right. Great questions. I dominated the NASCAR Immaculate Grid. Just such a cruise to victory.

Thank you, Mark Martin. Don't ask him what years are you. And my knowledge of McClure Racing. Your knowledge. Appreciate everybody tuning in today. Hope you enjoyed the show all from the Bojangl studio. We'll see you next week. Look out Dirty Moven.

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