The Dale Jr. Download - 571 - First-Time Winners & Fatherhood with Bubba, Harrison & The Mayor

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

After a surprising finish at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in the studio to catch up on the latest racing headlines on this week’s edition of Dirty Air. It's a star-studded lineup on the show this week, with Bubba Wallace, Harrison Burton and Jeff Burton all jumping on the show. Harrison Burton’s unpredictable win means the Playoffs cutline moved again, and several drivers face a must-win situation rolling into Darlington:Harrison wins number 100 for the legendary Wood Brothers“Winning the lottery” is a good thing for smaller teamsWas Parker Retzlaff in the wrong?Bubba Wallace stops by the studioThe Playoff bubble shifts againNASCAR returns to Mexico City in 2025 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.

Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. And we got a big fully packed show for you today on the Dale Jr. download. I want to thank Xfinity for bringing all of this to us today. We got Bubba Wallace coming on the show. We're talking about flipping race cars and all kinds of other things going on in the sport. He's going to be a dad soon. Harrison Burton, this week's winner, comes on. And his dad as well, Jeff Burton, we get to hear from both of the Burtons on today's show.

Can't wait. It's going to be a lot of fun. Let's get started. The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. You're a complete moron if you under your belt in a moving race car. Moron. He tends to hide the weird stuff in our friend. Bringing Amy on was a bad idea.

This is great. The Dale Jr. Download starts now. Hey, everybody. It's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download here in the Dirty Moe Media Studio. And this is brought to you by Xfinity. I want to make sure that you stay connected with Xfinity Mobile. They're a proud partner of NASCAR, proud premier partner of NASCAR,

and do a lot of great things into sports. So thank you, Xfinity, for everything you do. Got a great show for you today. We are coming off of an incredible race at Daytona, and Andrew's here. How's it going, Andrew? It's going good. How are you doing?

I'm all right, man. Dalton is here. How's it going? It's going good, man. Tim's back there in the booth. Are you? Good. Yeah.

So let's just jump right into. to it, man, dirty air. Presented to you by tire pros, great people at tire pros, stores all across the country owned by people in your community and supported by all those stores. They do everything, not just tires. So we're thankful for them supporting us today. One of the things that I wanted to say about Daytona is, isn't it hard to remember that it's not the cutoff race or the not last race in the regular season?

Damn, you NASCAR. I mean, I'm just giving them a hard time. They didn't want to move, you know, the schedule kind of got jumbled up, and they didn't want to move the Darlington date off of Labor Day, right? Right. Kind of disappointing. Like, I was looking forward to the excitement of Daytona being the cutoff.

It still kind of did. Like, Darlington's good. Yeah. It'll be good, but Daytona's better. It still was, it still did have the same, potential to be a spoiler race, right? Yeah.

I don't think that, did it change at all, moving it away one week? Not so much, because we still got the underdog winner that they're trying to, you know, they're trying to give that race that chance to be that, right? And it was that. So yeah, I don't know if it needs to absolutely live right on that last race of the season. and I don't know I have no idea how Darlington would go but you would think that Chastain and Bubba

would be closer in the points and you would probably get not a super surprise winner so it's like you go to Daytona and one of them crashes you're like oh that's it playoffs are shot like it's the moment that's what I liked about it

you're right that's the thing that it was missing the thing that it was missing was that if a guy did crash you were like that's it. Yeah. Now they still have Darlington. Well, Darlington is the Everest of NASCAR, right?

So like going to Darlington for a must win is like impossible. Whereas at Daytona, you're like, well, I got a shot, you know? Who doesn't have a shot? It's not an easy follow-up for sure. No, no, not at all. And so, yeah, that's anybody like, you know, anybody that has to go to Darlington in a must-win situation certainly wishes that Daytona was the cutoff race. You know, it's funny, all the drivers when they moved Daytona to the, to the,

I call it the cutoff race, but the last race of the season, oh my goodness, what a terrible idea having it, having that race there. Just, oh man, and now, boy, they wish they were going back to Dayton. A lot of them, right? Yeah. Because they damn sure ain't got a shot at Darlington. Don't. Even, even, you don't got a shot, damn it. Even like Kyle Bush after the race, they're like, how do you feel about Darlington? He's like, yeah, we're pretty, bad there last time. He's like, we really got it. Like, there's, that's not his exact words, but they struggled last time. So it's like, darn, it's Kyle Busch's best chance. It's like it's already kind of maybe behind him. Maybe. Richard Childress found some speed. Austin Dylan came out

of Richmond and was flying and he did well last, I mean, I know Daytona's completely different. And Darlington was a good race. The eternal optimist. I try to be, you know. Good for you, dog. Got to keep your head up. Yep. Someone has to for Kyle Bush. so Harrison Burton comes away from Daytona with the win my you know I thought it was a great deal for Wood Brothers the Wood Brothers

you know it's not it's not like David Pearson you know when in the race in the 70s or you know that it's not that Wood Brothers there's this really great cool alliance with Penske I think we should all be glad that, you know, Penske supports that alliance and has for so many years because

I don't know where the Wood Brothers would be without it, right? The Wood Brothers have an amazing relationship that they've nurtured and continued with Ford. They have a great amount of, they have a really good relationship and a lot of support from Ford. I don't think that Ford would allow them to fail, but I believe that their relationship, their relationship with Ford won't allow them to fail, but their relationship with Penske is what allows them to have performance and be competitive in these moments. So we've got to be given a shout out to Roger for being such a badass. But also to the Wood Brothers themselves. Leonard and I have a really good friendship. Leonard builds all kinds of things, but one of the neat things that he builds is

RC cars and very, very competitive RC cars. Like he's raced in competition. He's racing. and his car. He'll build the cars and he has other people would drive them and race them. Gas powered, tent scale.

He won't race him himself? He's just the car builder's old. Yeah. Or whatever. He may be older than that. But he builds them and has built them for a long time. Back when me and Tony Jr.

and Tony Senior were racing together in the Bud Days, he was building RC cars for us. And he's built me, he built me two cars, probably about eight, ten years,

ago and I put them away never touched them never ran them they're immaculate and his quality and detail and his work it's a really interesting piece but uh I don't know you I'm thinking in my when he hand on them to me I asked for them I wanted them and he made them and I got them and I was like Leonard Wood built these I ever this is what I think of the wood brothers right I'm putting these in the shelf yeah keeping them keep them forever and so um Anyhow, getting off the path a little bit. But I was happy for the Wood Brothers, number one.

I think, you know, those names, Richard, you know, those names, Richard Petty, the Wood Brothers, you know, the Earnhardt to an extent, all of the, having those names continue to be successful in some form in our sport is, is helpful. It connects us to the past. When the Wood Brothers win, the past wins, the history of our sport

succeeds and remains relevant. And so I think that that was a cool thing. So if we can, we'll move to Harris. Yeah, but like to your point, I was in Victory Lane and the win was way bigger than just like the immediate 21 team. Like Blaney was there. All the NBC guys were there. Obviously Jeff Burton was it.

But like, it was like this is way more than just one. car winning a race it felt bigger and i think that's because of the history that they've built you had you had competitors of harrison who were basically knocked out of the playoffs quote unquote at this point going up and celebrating him celebrating with him yeah and like that speaks volumes for what the wood brothers means to nascar for sure harrison uh i think a lot of that says a lot about harrison too because i've met harrison and the he is a um he's a good dude he is really really really just a good, nice, kind. Good head on the shoulders.

Good, approachable. Really, really solid. I hate to call him a kid. But his dad, Jeff, did a really, really good job, Kim as well, raising this man, right? And so I think that when people were coming into Victory Lane to congratulate him after the race, it's because of their respect and appreciation for his character.

His character is solid. He's a good little race car driver as well. And I don't know that we all in this world, right, in this room and outside this room, can handicap him. I don't know that we know exactly how good he is. And we've seen him in the Gibbs stuff, and he's ran well in it in the Xfinity series. There's been a lot of volatile results in the Gibbs equipment over the years from different drivers. even this year right they I think they've got a couple of good drivers in their cars and they they don't dominate right only a couple people will get in the Gibbs car

dominate Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs for the most part right Denny Hamlin somewhat but Harrison outruns or runs with anyone else really that's got in that equipment and I think I've watched that 21 car closer I think a lot of people might because of the connection with Jeff Burton and the friendship that we have. And it's been a tough year. They were 36th in points.

34th. But they were 36th. They were the last full-time competitor. And he's actually still is the last full-time driver in the point. So he's 34th? Yep, he's still 34th. I was happy for Harrison. I was happy for Jeff.

But, and I didn't even think about it, Nothing, none of that happening, it never crossed my mind that there was a problem with it. Are people having an issue? You mean him winning? Yeah. With his, him going from 34th to the playoffs? That's where I kind of struggle.

Like, listen, Harrison played his cards exactly right. All credit to them. It's, but just all of a sudden, now we're calling a 34th points car one of our best 16 of the year. I had the same frustration when Austin Dylan won. He was in the 30s and points. I'm like, this is our representation of the playoffs. And I get it.

It's exciting. It's winning you're in. But there's just part of me that just struggles with that part of it, the integrity part of it. It is no doubt exciting. It's a storybook moment, but that's where I can't fully get my head around that. Do you guys, you know, having followed the conversation around, you know, the sports since the race, has that been, has that been a common theme?

You know, because when I look back at, when I look back at all the playoff fields over the last several, you know, over the last decade, if you go back to the original Chase field. O.G. 10 or 12? 10. Those 10, I think I might have been in there, they were the 10. Yeah. Right? There was no, you know, there was no kind of wild card that snuck in.

It was the best representation of the season so far. When it got opened up to 16 and, you know, in the last several years, I think in the last probably 10 years, It's had one or two of those drivers. It's had one or two of those guys that you look at and you go, he's not a championship contender. He's not going to be. But he's in the playoffs. But how often was like the 10th place in points in the Winston Cup,

how often were they considered a championship contender? They weren't. Right. So it kind of makes me think like. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. I agree.

that it's kind of a staunch or stark, like, launch from 34th to end of the playoffs. I get that. I understand people going, wow, you know, of anybody that this is pretty extreme. But it doesn't bother me because every year we've had one or two of those drivers that find their way into the playoffs that we know. And no one's going to say it out loud, but, you know, us podcast, and people in the media, they're not going to go

battle for the championship. They're not. Could you argue like a Chastain or a, or a, a, a busher or someone could make a late run or Bubba could make a later run? Like, I could see someone like

Ross Chastain, who right now is out of the cut line. Oh, man. He could race his way. He could have, he could turn it on the playoffs, make it in the round of eight. But it's like a Harrison. I don't know if I see that 21 car

doing the same thing. But no, and I don't think anybody expects him to, and I don't think, and I think that's totally fine. He, he, if this was the first time that this had happened, I could understand this being worth a conversation. Yeah. If this was the first time, right? But this is, every year we've had somebody, and maybe, you know, pick a, pick a playoff

grid, any grid, and I'll tell you one or two drivers that are like, yeah, they've, they, they're not contenders that don't belong in there and it's more than one and that's okay and it's you know it is what it is we know that you know

I want Harrison's going to go man we're going to we're going to do the best we can I don't want to I'm not trying to talk badly about their team but the performance across the board is what it is and hey it's a great opportunity

you know what matters in this is it we well they don't belong in there because they're not a contender that's not really what matters them going from 34th to the playoffs is millions of dollars in revenue for this team i think i saw somewhere uh it's two to three million dollars to go from like 30th to 60s they did a lot of boxes major major boxes that might not have never gotten checked for that team got checked and they're, you know, they're going to benefit from, from that financial success. And so, you know, a pretty good deal. I like that part, right?

I like that this team won the lottery. Yeah. I like the idea that, you know, Rick Ware or, you know, some of those teams that are back there, they're putting up a fight, man. there ain't no teams starting parking. Everybody's coming to race. I like that. They're all working their guts out,

and they're working their guts out to run 25th and 30th every week. That's harder than trying to run in the top 10. That's harder emotionally, mentally, to stay, the morale, the grind, the going over and over week after week. And they just landed in the lottery, bud. And so I like that idea for our series of having, having a team, hey man, here it is. We're going to lay this out in front of you.

You might win this race and win the lottery. You might not. You might stay 34th in points and just have a shit year. But if you win this race, hey, here's, here you go. Here's your basket of good shit. And millions of dollars and all kinds of cool. I like our sport having that potential. And it's more rare than.

I think we give it credit for. Like, how many, run that race 10 times. How many times does Harris win it? I think once, right? Yeah. Right. Yeah. Absolutely.

I've never thought of it that way of almost like, this is a good thing for the sport because if it means better parity for the next two, three years, that's a significant thing because this not only impacts them this year, but I think Bob Packers or someone tweeted that like it impacts the next two to three years because they take your average finish

per season and that goes into revenue go back to go back to spire winning that rain the Justin Haley yeah where is spire today with if that win doesn't even happen who knows oh man that's a good question yeah even knows right it's a good point so that that win for spire they they're standing on the shoulders of that today and I believe you know, with that win, they would have maybe gotten to where they are today at some point, but I'm sure it accelerated it, right? And so what can the Wood Brothers do with this? Not only the financial game, but the momentum and, you know, being relative and all the median exposure that it's going to bring to them,

they'll go into the playoffs, their driver in the playoffs, all these opportunities to be able to get themselves a bunch of you know, a bunch of notoriety. And so that's good. Exfinity Mobile customers get exclusive access to the most powerful Wi-Fi network on the go with speeds up to a gig. For NASCAR fans, that means faster downloads

for turn-by-turn action, smooth live streaming with fewer pit stops and a strong connection from the parking lot to the grandstands. So for more laps and less lag, stay connected with Xfinity Mobile. Hey, everybody, I want to talk talk to you a little bit about safety culture. You may know safety culture's logo from Shane Van Gisbergin's

car, but safety culture is more than just a sponsor. It's also the workplace operations tool for the trackhouse racing team. And what does that actually mean? Well, the team uses safety culture's app to manage everything from pre-race inspections on the car to assembly checks, and they even do some of their training on the app. Every race team has an incredible amount of individuals that maybe don't even travel to the racetrack, work back at the shop, they are a big part of the success of that race team, preparing cars, getting them ready to go to the racetrack and run

these races and try to win checkered flags and ultimately championships. No matter what you're trying to achieve, no one has time to waste. From construction sites to factory floors, safety culture is designed to drive improvements not just in safety, but broadly

across quality and efficiency too. Are you ready to put your workplace in the pole position? We'll head to safetyculture.com slash SVG. To go off your point, Dale, of like you like that a car can just win and get in. It's like winning the lottery. Like this is something unique to our sport. This isn't like anything else in any other sport.

I think the closest thing we've come up with in the office is, you know, a team winning their conference championship in college and then making a bid for the bracket, the NCAA bracket. And I don't think that's such a bad thing. I've seen a lot of complaining online about, well, this isn't deserved and it's not this and it's not that. This is the game. This is the game that we get to play. And unfortunately, if you don't like it,

I have bad news for you. It's going to keep happening. So I think it's cool that that NASCAR is unique. And we have something that sets us apart from other sports. Yeah. So, all right, also, another thing, if you can't have a problem with this win and be okay with Ricky Stenhouse win

in the Daytona 500. great point I had a funny feeling about that one too I would say really yeah what yeah like it was same same type of deal like it's the first race it's the first race of the year you don't really have it you don't know I don't know I kind of have a feeling yeah give me a list I mean we we did it the beginning of this year this is our 16 like was Ricky sent out on that list for you okay McDowell went an indie indie Roy was there's another one he won the indie road yeah yeah so I mean we I don't know that there's

There's an uproar of, you know, debate when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins the Daytona 500 or when McDowell wins at any. There's a, oh, awesome. Great for them. It's in the back of my mind. What a Cinderella story. You know, everybody's just very happy. And now all of a sudden we have, you know, there's a group of people going, yeah, I don't

like this. This ain't fair. I think it's not a big deal. One of the things that was interesting about how Harrison won the race. So there was this moment, right? when I saw social media like blow up. Well, maybe not. Maybe, you know, he crossed the finish line.

Under review. All of the social media, all of the media in NASCAR Gluck and everybody else. W.L line. Under review. It's official. I mean, it was like two seconds. Under review. It's official.

All of them were like doing this. I mean, all of the media from the media center were like typing this, texting this, tweeting this as fast as they could. I mean, you look at a double yellow line, the amount of time, Like, you cannot, it cannot be guaranteed, I feel like. Well, there was so many people so badly wanting Kyle Busch to win that race. Right, right. And it's like, oh, I'm maybe there's help.

Yeah. And they were like, hey, he went below the line. Throw him out. And so. But he went below the line because of the contact. Right. Everybody understands that, right? Right.

Like if, yeah. And he didn't gain position either. Yeah. Well, I don't know that I know what you're saying. I think that was part of the ruling. It is. I agree. but he could still be deemed as trying to block, right?

You know, you can't, you cannot just, even if you're the leader, you can't go below the yellow line. Right. That's, you can't. That's illegal, right? Even if you don't, you're not advancing your position. But if you go below the yellow line, in some circumstances, I could see NASCAR having a very big problem with that,

especially if you're in a blocking maneuver or blocking motion. If NASCAR is like, so if you're, if a guy, if you're coming down to straightaway and there's a lane open on the inside which you were pretty stupid to leave that lane open anyways and the guy in second goes to maneuver there and you blocked him so aggressively that you went below the line i could see nascar maybe not on the last lap but on the 50th lap or the hundredth lap going something black flag below the line you blocked you forced your way down there forced the driver that's they don't want that and that is i think i might be wrong but i think in my mine, that would get a black flag. I would black flag them in the booth. But if he's coming down

to block and trying to, he's trying to stay on the racing surface, but there's contact that kind of steers him down there, I'm going to let that go. And I think that's what NASCAR decided. Props to Kyle Busch for not wrecking him. And he even said in post race, like, besides flat out wrecking him, I just, like, there was nothing else that I could do. I got beat. I, it was, even though Kyle Busch lost and I was, I want to see Kyle Busch in the place. out so I want to see him do well. I respect him for the way he handled that last life. Did he do? Did

Kyle Bush do anything to not wreck him? I mean, he didn't right hook him. Could he? Was he in the position to right hook him? I don't. Coming off of four potentially? Like when they're... I don't think so,

but he could have... They were clear. Yeah, I don't think from four on to the finish line, I don't think he could have hooked him. But before that, there were probably a couple chances where he could have sent him, you know, like, pushed him up the track. Laps before? Like, like, within the overtime restart and he raced him clean the entire time, like, not just

coming to the line. So, he handled that post race, and I'm sure he was probably more upset than he was giving on, but he handled post race better than I was expecting. Lee Diffy's call was fantastic. It was awesome. That last lap. So and then we were talking about this yesterday.

The last lap was, it was a kind of normal Daytona last lap. It's not like there was a photo finish. There was a pass for the lead, but it wasn't extremely exciting, but Lee Diffey made that just so memorable. Plus with the Jeff Burton being in the booth, that was fun to watch.

So, I agree with you 100%. I think Lee Diffy, I'm not surprised at all that Lee had a great call. Lee's energy is infectious and he loves to make those calls. He loves what his job is and he also loves racing. He loves to be there. He's happy to be there. He's excited. I've worked with him before.

His attitude and personality about that. None of that surprises me how he performed. What I would say is the last lap, if you turned the sound off, the last lap is exciting. It is thrilling. I think that we don't, I think that we,

I say we, I think us that watch races have to be reminded that this past, for the lead on lap 50 of the race is a big deal. And it's hard to do and it's exciting and the drivers are on the edge and

if we watch that pass for the lead on lap 50 and go, oh, there's a pass for the lead. Then yeah, that's not very exciting. And you don't think it was a big deal because it didn't sound like a big deal. It sounds just mundane and normal. Normal.

But it isn't. And it should be every battle on the track is that. It's a battle. And it's a driver trying his hardest to improve his position by one spot. And you badly, as a driver,

want to pass the field one at a time, right? And you work your ass off to get one position. And it's a game between those two drivers in that moment, whether they're passing each other for the lead or if it's happening for 15th.

And I think that it's lost on us how much is happening out there and how much is happening emotionally and physically within the driver as he's trying to do those things. I think we've lost the understanding and appreciation for how much of that is happening in every single race. And that last lap, everybody in the field, their heart rate was at its peak. internally, physically, they are doing everything they can. They're terrified. They're excited.

They're hoping they get back in one piece. They're hoping that they cross the finish lines going with all four tires and going straight, but they don't know. And they're coming around that corner and, you know, calamity could happen in any moment, right? and so it deserves to be it deserves to be acknowledged and the energy and all of those things that Lee brought do a really good job at helping you understand as you're watching the race how really really crazy this is and really wild it is and so I you know I I think that that's such an important part of the broadcast and I feel like I feel like that, you know,

just over the last 20 years, it's that that aspect of broadcasting the race and letting the viewer know how really crazy this moment is and how important it is and wild it is and special it is, is eroded away. And it's not been an intentional thing. It's just sort of been this natural sort of evolution of just calling a race a little,

more straightforward and a little calmer and a little less up on the chip. And, you know, I always say this, and I know there's a lot of people that do this, listen to an MRN broadcast. And the energy that they give you and how they, every lap is high energies. Yes. Yeah. Well, that's the way it should always be. I agree.

Right. And some of, that's the way the TV broadcast should also be, right? And I think since we as TV broadcasters have a visual, we dial it back unintentionally and take a little bit of our energy out of it because we think it's less work almost. Yeah, there is. It's there in front of you. You see it. I don't have to tell you it's exciting, but you do.

You do have to tell us it's exciting. We need to be told. That is, this is insane. And so, you know, I, uh, I think Diffy is going to do great. And I can't, you know, I think fans are going to, you know, I think there was a lot of fans that loved the call. I think as he does week after week, more and more fans are going to get on that wagon. And by the end of the season, um, shoot, man, he'll be like, he'll be one of the guys.

Him calling the champion the checkered flag is going to be a crazy moment. I actually ran into Lee boarding my flight home from Daytona. Yeah. And first of all, he says hello. Very nice. But he said he's most looking forward to like he's done indie car, track and field, sports car racing. He is most looking forward to really being able to focus on these last 11 races and to just fully give it as all. I'm excited to see what that looks like.

Yeah. You know, we are very lucky to have. the Lee Diffies, the Bagley's of the sport. Yeah. And if you listen to a Cars Tour broadcast with Eric and Blake, that to me is... It's thrilling. That's the level of energy that's acceptable.

That's not the top, that's not, you know, that's where everything, that's like the standard, the norm. Those guys do a really good job. There was one more thing. there's one more thing Parker Retzlath oh

people giving him what the hell I don't understand why all right so Parker is driving a car for beard motorsports

I guess it's RCR affiliated they have they have chassis they spend money and it's a teammate car yes yes I absolutely

feel like that Kyle Bush and RCR would look at that car and go, yeah, we can count on him. He's with us. Right. But, nobody told Parker how important that was. Well, didn't they say over the radio? Apparently there was something, right? They said, like, don't push that forward in front of you to a win. And he, and he kind of did. Kind of did. I mean, he did. He definitely did. He definitely did. Do you think you can get him on the Thursday show?

Oh, good call. We need to ask him. Give him a couple days, get his talking points, and then we're going to hammer him with the hard questions. Yes, and I was with him on pit road after the race. He was doing media availability, and he said, definitely not what I wanted to do, but also I wanted to give myself a shot. And I can't blame him for that. Well, that's a good point. I mean, in his mind, he ain't pushing at 21 to the win. He's trying to get himself in a position to be positioned to be. push to the wind. That's where I'm at. Manufacturers' teammates be damned on the last lap. You know, I kind of agree with, I agree with you there, and I've said it, so I'm not, I'm not backing down from my feelings. We would get in these meetings, I mean, back in the DEI days,

even in the HMS days, and there were long conversations about, all right, you know, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, everybody in the room. Everybody talk about what their expectations of others are. We're going to tell each other what we want to do. Like, hey, I'm going to sit down and I'm going to say,

all right, y'all, this is how I like to run. I'll help you when I can do it. I'll help you when I can. I'll do this and I'll do that and I'm willing to do this. I'm not willing to do this. I'm not willing to do that. And then in the end, I'm going to do these things. So we would do those. We would talk

about that, but then we would maybe say, all right, I expect this for my teammate. And so, because that was the tricky part. We all could tell each other, I could talk to y'all and say, we could all share with each other, here's how I'm going to race.

But what really needed to be said is this is what I expect from you. Now, if I'm hanging out here and you're over here, I want you, I would expect you to do this for me. Right. And so that helps you when you get in the race, you're in the moments and you're like, all right, this guy, my teammate,

we talked about this. My teammate and I talked about this and he probably wants me to, he probably needs him help right here. That gets, that gets a better result in that situation, right? And so, I'm sure that he was probably in these conversations. And, uh, but dude, he doesn't have the experience to really, truly know how much of that to trust. And to your point, a lot of people are going to go, man, he pushed a 20,

to the win. Why did he help him? He wasn't trying to push the 21 to the win. He was trying to get himself in position for him to be pushed to the win. He's thinking, I'm another row closer to the front here. If I get the right help off of four, who knows? And who knows? He could be sitting in Victory Lane. And so I don't blame him. I mean, what else could he have really done? I mean, lift. I know, but then, exactly. Cause all kinds of freaking problems. Exactly. Not like totally lift. but he could sit there and moderate throttle and just totally not do anything that surges the 21,

but he's going to get run over. They're all going to stack up behind him and the pushes are going to get more crazier and crazy. You're damn right. Somebody's getting turned around coming off the floor because of any of that. There's no way they get through that without getting spun around, somebody getting turned around.

If you look at how big of a run they had, I think it was coming off the back straightaway too, you could easily think if you're Parker Retzelive, I'm clearing the eight on the inside. going to make a move for the lead. I'm sure he was thinking that, not like, oh, I'm helping Harrison, and Harrison's got the win. Yes. People are saying that, oh, well, there goes your chance racing for RCR.

You know what people say is, I go and went to Martinsville and won the race, and I'm thinking, holy shit, you know, I got a clock, I am happy, I got, you know, this is a box I wanted to check. I love saying that, checking boxes. Hell yeah. I do. I'm like, man, I really wanted a Martinsville win. I finally, finally got one. And people are still today, every once in a while,

come up to him and go, I can't believe you didn't let Jeff win. And he could have went on to the, went on in the playoffs. That would have helped him in the playoffs. I can't believe you didn't let him win that race. Like, I'm supposed to pull over. This is not Formula One. Well, I mean. It's not.

Well, I mean, I, I. People truly think that that should have been my choice. Man, that's crazy. And in the same thing, you know, same thing here. Like, people truly think that Parker should have just got out of the way or just not helped and not done anything. I don't know, you know. It's wild.

Like, if, when you're saying earlier, hey, let's talk about expectations. Should they have said instead over the radio, don't you don't push that 21 instead like see if you can help the 8. Yeah. Is that maybe, would that have been different? I don't know that he could have chosen to do things differently because he was where he was. He was behind the car. He was behind and he's going to try to push that car best he can.

But I, you know, they were pretty clear. The orders were clear. And I don't think he, I don't think they could have said anything different that would have netted a different response from Parker. I was going to say, why isn't anybody giving Christopher Bell a hard time for pushing Kyle Bush? He's in a Toyota, and Kyle Bush's in a Chevy. You know, and he's trying to push him to the... I know it's a little bit different, but Gibbs has the last playoff implications.

I get what you're saying, but like, if we're going to get that granular about manufacturers, why did Gibbs get out of line and try and... There's a lot of people that truly believe in the loyalty and, you know, you do everything you can to make this... To get a Chevy in Victory Lane. Manure, yeah, the manipulation in manufacturing by teams and even, you know, manufacture camps of the races at Dayton and Talladega have gotten way out of hand. They were even more, it was even more egregious a couple of years back. Remember when they were pitting together and practicing together and everything was like so orchestrated. And it was, it was nauseating.

It ruined, of the many things that can ruin plate racing. It ruined racing at Daytona and Talladega when the manufacturers were all trying to connive and work against each other. And so, and it ruined, like, you know, when Joe Gibbs racing all started to work together and basically get at the front of the field and control the entire race, God, it sucked. It sucked as a driver. It sucked as a, you know, a viewer, unless you were a Gibbs fan. But I love, and listen, don't hire me if you don't like this, right? Okay. Whoever you are out there, whoever you are out there.

Are you looking for jobs? No, I'm just saying, well. His options open. Maybe I should say my point first, then that. I always said, I'm going to help you as much as I can during the race, right? I want to be a good teammate and I like you. I like my teammates.

That's nice. Now maybe when I weren't teammates with them, I didn't think they were good and I didn't like them. But when I become your teammate, I'm all in. I'm going to be a good teammate. Now, I'm not going to do something to help you

that's going to screw me 10 spots. Sorry. You can just kind of hang where you are and just try to wait that out. But I'm not going to do something that saves your ass and costs me five or ten spots, right? I'm not doing that. But I'll draft you, push you, work together.

We can stay at the front, whatever, however that works. At the end, when it comes down to like 20 to go, I'm very singular, very selfish. I'm trying to win the race. And if I'm trying to help you win the race, I ain't, I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. And so I like what Parker did. I think he was truly just trying to put himself in position to get a win. And so I don't have a real problem with it. And I know that you can go home.

You go home at the race, 18, they're not going to be big Parker fans. They're going to, you know, a little bit of grumbling in the shop, a little bit of grumbling in the office. Some of the management might be disappointed. But when we get on down the road, right they're not going to look back on this and go that Parker screwed us that Parker ruined our season that Parker they're going to go you know what Parker did a pretty good job at that race they're not going to they're going he's not going to get less opportunities if it's with

RCR because of that they're going to they're going to go hey all right you made that choice didn't love it this is what I would do we'll sit down we'll talk about it I was expecting this I was expecting this from you, Parker, but he's a good little racer. He's not, he didn't kill his career in Daytona. All right, so we got Bubba Wallace on the Dale Jr. download today, and Bubba coming out of Daytona, a lot going on. We was talking about the race a little bit,

happy for Harrison. I know you're probably happy for Harrison, like everybody else. I know you're not happy because you didn't win, but Harrison is a good guy. You got to be happy in this sport for other people winning. Yeah. No, no. In the moment, hell no, I wasn't.

No, not happy. Like, it's so funny under the cool down lap. Usually you go up and ride up next to him. I rode ride and five car links. Oh, man. No. I went back to the bus, showered, changed, and then went back to Victory Langley. And then we were texting yesterday.

So, no, congrats to him. Super proud of him. He's a good dude. So let's talk about, let's talk about fatherhood. So you're, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're going to be a dad soon. All right. You get tons of advice, I know.

People come and left and right telling you all the things. But what's the experience been like? I mean, sitting on the couch, watching the baby kick, feeling all that going on. You're like, wow, it's real. How's that? I know you're emotional dude. So this is going to be a big ride for you. Yeah.

So honestly, I've been super calm. cool and collected about it right um Amanda she's been going through the ups and downs and just the excitement of uh motherhood for her feeling the baby kick and all the things you said and she loves it she thinks it's the coolest thing ever um starting to get we're i mean we're five weeks out yeah Thursday and it's it's crazy to think and so she's starting to feel some pain and some pressure in certain areas and uh now she's worried like Oh my God, if I do one wrong moves, maybe coming now, right? She's overthinking everything.

And then for me, she's like, she asked me a couple weeks ago. She's like, are you excited? And I'm like, look, there's a lot going on right now, obviously. I will be excited when a little man is here. Yeah. But imagining whatever, don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be a dad. But it takes a lot for me to get excited. So we're both enjoying the process.

She's growing. She's strictly belly. That's it. Hasn't put on any other weight anywhere else. It's crazy. which she says that might change in the last couple weeks. But it's been awesome to see her grow and enjoy it, enjoy the whole process. So every time I'm around her, though, she's getting kicked, getting her ass kicked.

That's awesome. I miss all that, man. That was so fun. And I won't give you any advice, but I will say my favorite thing, when you go when it's time and you're in the delivery room and the baby, the baby comes, there's this really brief moment. So when the baby comes, you're happy, you're thrilled, you know, baby goes to mama.

If everything's, you know, going the way it's supposed to go, there's this sort of hallmark moment where y'all are together and baby's here, which is awesome. But there's this, they take the baby over to this little metal table to weigh it. And it's 10 feet away from the mom. It's not, you don't leave the room or anything, but you walk over there with it. and there's this real, there's probably like one minute

where it's just you and the baby, well, there's a nurse there too. But the baby's like, the baby's been here like two minutes. Yeah. Right. It has no clue. It's like what the hell?

Right. And but you're standing there with it and it's like there's a, it's your moment. It's like a dad moment where it's like just you and the baby just for a brief second and they're like, you finally get just like a second alone with, with the child and you're like, wow, you know,

it's real. It's real. And then they take the baby after they do all the little basic vitals and stuff. They take it back to mom. But pretty cool, man. I can't wait for you. You're going to love all of that. Knowing how you are and you live with big emotion and you, you know, when things are good and you're

happy, you're really happy. Yeah. And I'm kind of the same way. I think that that whole thing is going to be a hell of the ride for you, man. I'm excited. I'm excited as well, so thanks. I'm looking forward to all of it. There's been a lot of debate on,

there's been a lot of conversation, I guess, around cars flipping. So at Michigan we had the Xfinity car flip and then the cup car flip. And then I got on here and I said, hey, cars are going to flip. You go fast, cars will flip. Then Barry flips and hits the inside wall and people are saying, all right, it seems like there's an issue. I don't think cars just, you know, seems like there needs to be some addressing of some problems.

What do you think about it? Are the drivers, speak for the drivers. Are you as a driver more concerned than you were a month ago? Is there something that needs to happen? I'm with you, right? Cars go fast. They're going to flip. Knock on wood, I've never flipped in my career. I've gotten close. But I don't know, man. I think it has been kind of crazy the last two weeks. We've seen, what, four flips now, three on the cup side. but it's just being in the wrong spot at the wrong time being in a bad spot and I thought LaJoy's was pretty wild but man the wind was gusting so hard we had a massive headwind at Michigan yeah that plays a factor uh Barry's you know I forgot how his line did he get hit in the door yeah he did which is which commonly does get a car up there right right so I think LaJoy's is the only one where it's like what happened there

The other stuff is what we've seen years down the road, right? So, simple enough, don't crash, don't flip. Don't flip. I don't have anything else to add to that. So coming up at Martinsville, last year you had selfies of 65 fans on your car at Martinsville. And this year, you're going even bigger with 500 fans. Talk about how the idea came together to that paint scheme. Yeah, Exfinity coming on board last year, they've done a lot.

know, being an Xfinity team owner here, they do a lot for the sport in a short amount of time they've been in the sport, which is really cool. So they're invested. So they joined a part of our team last year in a capacity and wanted to do something for their rewards members and give back. And we know a lot of, it doesn't matter what sport it is, being able to give back. It's pretty damn cool to be able to do and be a part of. So this year we're ramping it up from 65 reward members to 500 to give them a chance to ride on our car at Martin'sville. Good thing they outlawed the hellmellon, so I won't mess up any of their faces on the wall. But it's just Exfinity, just a way of doing bigger and better things, giving them back to their customers and giving them

a chance a ride of a lifetime, I guess. Yeah. So to be on the car, do you know what it involves? How do you get him? Just being a rewards member. Really? And then you get an opportunity. So it's, like I said, up to 500 and you mentioned that as well so first 500 really cool they get in there so coming out of Daytona i i'm so uh it's hard for me man i'm so used to Daytona being the last race of the regular season and now and this year it's not yeah um and we're going to darlington for the final race of the regular season um a lot of drivers saw Daytona as a real opportunity for them where do you how do you approach this unique situation where Darlington is the last race, the last opportunity, put us in the mind of the driver that needs to go in there and have a great day?

Yeah, to your point, I think I looked at the schedule a week before the off weekends, and I was like, oh, it's Darlington this time. I thought it was Daytona the whole time. So there's two sides of it coming out of Daytona. you're bummed, you're pissed off. You're not really pissed off. I mean, you're frustrated that you're not in. You did what you're supposed to do.

We outrace the one car, and we have a 6.7 point cushion to him. But we had a new winner. So it's like the goal post moved again. So it's like, okay. You know, I had Sunday to, you know, be down and figure out, you know, is it going to work? Is it not going to work? I had Monday to, you know, being at the shop kind of brought all the, competitive juices again, but you weren't ready for it.

So I just wasn't in the best mood yesterday. But I had MJ text me yesterday on the way to the shop, actually. And he says, things you want more cost more. And in the moment where you're pissed off and frustrated, you're trying to think of what that means. And, you know, all day yesterday and all day in the middle of the night, and even this morning, I'm telling myself, you try to go out and have the best race you've ever had in every life.

and it's not like saying it as that's impossible. It's just showing up and me doing all that I can. Take out the outside factors, you know, pit stops or we call the wrong race, right? You go out and drive your best race you've ever had and knowing that you have the people, knowing that you have the equipment, then everything else will make its own way. And so that's how I'm approaching it. I woke up in a much better mood this morning. And I think that helps.

You know, I think last year I went into Daytona really stressed out, right? And just wanted to race and super focused. And I think for Daytona, you can get by with that. But I think if it was Darlington, I would have a crash lap too. You know, just taking a deep breath and understanding where we're at, we're not out of it. by any means and it's as simple as if you,

it's a little bit more complicated but if you outrun the guys you're racing then you should beat them. But we have to do a little bit extra work and I'm excited to roll the sleeves up and do that. So that's how I'm approaching it. What about competition meetings and all the, you know, so if you're 21 points out,

will you sit down and talk to the team about all right, these are the things that this is the strategy, this is how we will approach this first stage, the second stage, this is how we're going to try to have the best result, but also accumulate whatever we can accumulate, right, and try to put the pressure on that 17 car.

Yeah, that all starts tomorrow with our analytics meeting. We'll start to get into that, a little bit of the strategy. But kind of like Michigan, we talked on Wednesday leading into that, and it's like, okay, this is a big strategy race. You can go for points. You can go for the win because the passing is at a low there, right? and I said it's simple. If you gave me the car that we had two years ago in Michigan,

then we're going to go for the win. And if not, then we'll go get points. And we fire off and we're going to the front. So we instantly knew within the first 15, 20 laps, we're going for a win. So yes, we gave up points there in the first two stages. But at the end of the day, we got crashed out. by someone else's mistake. So people had questions of why we were doing that.

You got to pick your poison. Either going for points or you're going for a win. Some tracks you can go for both if your car is that good. Michigan's pretty damn tough. So Darlington is another place where strategy comes into play with the tire dag and all that stuff. One stop, two stop. So I think we just have to figure out when we unload Saturday,

how our Saturday goes. I think that'll dictate a lot. But at least getting the ball rolling and getting juices flowing on Wednesday so we're not, you know, called with her pants down, as they say, when that time comes around. Moody is your crew chief.

Great dude. I've been trying to get him to come on my show, and he keeps telling me that he is too busy and doesn't want to do it. And I want to hear his story. You know, he's got an amazing story, so maybe you can go home and put in a good word for us.

I'll try. Yeah, he's definitely reserved, like comes to the media side. He doesn't want no. Nothing. All right, man, I appreciate you coming on. Excited about you being a dad, and hoping you have a great race.

I want to thank Xfinity for being a great partner of yours and ours as well here, bringing you on and having this great conversation. Absolutely. Thank you. Exfinity knows NASCAR is better in real time. That's why we deliver the fastest connection to every race. Streaming with more horsepower for ultra-low lag and wall-to-wall Wi-Fi coverage from green flag to the checkered flag.

Get a better groove and less drag from the best seat in the house, your very own pole position. Xfinity, bring on the good stuff. All right, so great conversation with Bubba. And to his point, man, he's sitting there doing everything he can in that race and ends up six points above over Ross, but gets bumped down outside of the top 16 with the win of Harrison Burton. And now he's 21 points behind Chris Busher at the cut line as they go into Darlington.

And, you know, Busher doesn't run bad at Darlington. I don't really know what his stats are, but, you know, they, they should be rather competitive there. So I think it'll be pretty a big challenge ahead for Bubba. He was leading the race. Boucher was. And then Reddick and him got together. That's an interesting because, you know,

there was a 2311 car that ran good. You wonder how much that impacts the whole team and if Bubba can unload better. I mean, I don't know, 21 points for one final race is still a lot it feels like to overcome. Yeah. So a big announcement today. Mexico City has been announced as a new addition to the schedule next year. They're going back to the same facility that the Xfinity Series raced at many years ago.

I mean, 20 some years ago. I remember with Truex racing for chance too and winning at Mexico. And so that's going to be kind of right in the middle of the season in the summer months, right, during the Amazon Prime portion of the schedule, which I'll be broadcasting. So we'll jump on a plane and head on to Mexico and enjoy that. It's funny because I've been to Mexico. I will have been by the end of this year to Mexico three times this year.

Oh, just this year? Just this year. Wow. Dang. So are you getting the scouting report for next year? Marrying into a Texas family. Mexico is a very common, consistent vacation destination. Like it's just, hey, we've got a long weekend.

We're going to Mexico. And so that's what's taking me down there. We've got to, we had, I've been to Mexico by December for two birthdays. And I forget what the other reason was. But anyhow, looking forward to, looking forward to that being part of the schedule. You know, it was a toss-up between Montreal and Mexico City. I'd never been to the race in Montreal for the Xfinity Series when we used to go up there for junior motorsports.

Looks like a pretty cool deal. So I'm hopeful that that might become part of the schedule at some point. But Mexico City, the racetrack, yeah, it's kind of unique. Don't remember too much about it. But I am looking forward to seeing what the support for Daniel Suarez would be like. Oh man. So imagine, yeah, imagine NASCAR going and racing in front of, you know,

Pablo Montoya's. Fucking Columbia. Yeah. Yeah. Fans there. They would, it would have been just 95% Montoya fans. And crazy, excited, right? And so imagine what this might be like for Daniel.

to go into that race where they will probably like 99, 95% Daniel Suarez fans and not all, he'll be, there'll be pressure, I'm sure,

for him. And that, I feel like it's got to be like his Daytona 500 almost. But Daniel seems like the kind of guy that, like when you put in that situation, he'll perform.

Like he'll step in, he'll rise to the occasion. So that could be pretty cool to see if he, if he does go and actually runs well. What a, what a cool visual

that might be or a moment that might be for the sport. Do you think he'll take more time, run more laps on the sim? They're going to put extra close care into making sure that car is just right. I know he'll be prepared. Yeah. But pretty different and unique addition to the schedule, and the schedule will change quite a bit next year. I don't think that's officially still out.

I think I've heard this week. Yeah, it's got to be close. I think this was the last peg in the, in the whole thing to get official and now the rest of the schedule should be coming out. But I know there's been a lot of stuff that's been leaked. There's been a lot of tracks already just saying, hey, we're selling tickets. This is our day. Yeah.

So people have pieced it together. But pretty cool. And man, I cannot wait to get back into the booth. It has been really, really difficult to not work this year, to be honest with you. I'm enjoying it. having some free time and enjoying my trips and being with my family and spending time with Amy, but the, you know, when you sit there and watch those guys, especially the NBC booth, you damn sure miss it.

All right, so we got race winner, Harrison Burton on the Dale Jr. download today. Harrison, thanks for coming and joining us. Where are you at? I'm at the shop in Morseville here. Just hanging out in a small conference room tucked in the closet with my PR guy, Taylor, who is setting up the laptop. because I'm not good at technology at all. So I need a lot of what I can get.

What has the last, I guess, 36 hours been like post-win? Oh, gosh, I'm not a lot of sleep. You know, it's been a lot of fun. After Saturday night, I got home at like 4 in the morning because tech took a while and my media took a while. So it felt bad for everyone. We fly on the Team Penske plane, so all those guys are waiting for us and had a pretty late night, but definitely was worth it.

And then I got home at 4. I opened the door, and Todd Gilland and Sheldon Creed are just standing there in my hallway at 4 in the morning. Like, ready to go. So we had a long, I guess, morning, and then took Sunday to kind of relax and chill out. And then last night did a dinner with a bunch of my friends that were not able to come at 4 in the morning on Saturday night. So it's been a lot of fun, been really cool. Today was reality again. I was back in the sim at 7 in the morning, so getting back to work.

Yeah, that's the one thing about racing and winning is you, man, you can win a Daytona 500 and it resets back to zero when you go to the next race. You've got to try, you know, you've got to try to win the next one. But we're not going to do that just yet. So, you know, when you think back on the weekend, did you have, you know, did you have any inkling, I guess, leading up to the weekend that, man, I got an opportunity here. Had there been past performance at Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta, or anywhere, maybe even Michigan, where you felt like, you know, I'm getting confidence in the car, I'm getting confidence in our abilities.

I've watched y'all a little bit closely over the last. probably two months. And I feel like that the 21 cars running better. I feel like just in the course of the race, you guys are a little bit more ahead of where you were probably in the first half of the year. Do you feel that same way? And again, like what was what was the emotion, I guess, leading into the race weekend. Yeah, I mean, we had a fairly decent weekend in Michigan. So that's always good to kind of, you know, we just kind of hit a base hit, right? Like where we, you know, just got on base, had a solid kind of. time day, tried a little strategy, let a couple laps because of that. So, like, just had a little

bit of momentum. But then in the past, I feel like we've always been pretty solid at the drafting tracks between me and my spotter, Jason Jarrett. We have a pretty good relationship. We spend a lot of time watching the races, listening to his audio, you know, letting him know what I need, what I don't need to hear. And as you know, I mean, it's just such an important relationship for those races is that spotter driver relationship. So yeah for me like to have commons for that race I think was you know kind of just based off the past performance. You know I've led laps at Daytona and in Atlanta and Taledega just was never the right one. So I knew I could do it. It just had to to work out and you know once the kind of wrecks happened and I was able to avoid them and

we were running up front for that last little bit there and kind of knew I had to shot, you know, and then to be able to have the opportunity and then take advantage of it is really fun. It's just, you know, you sit in the car and the caution, think about all the plans and everything that you want to do and for it to work out the way that I kind of thought it did or thought it was going to and had a plan for everything. It was pretty surreal feeling. Yeah. So what is the, let's talk about, you know, the elephant in the room, you know, you win, I imagine that you've been, you know that you're not coming back to this team next year. I know you're a great kid and you've got a lot of character and you're going to do an amazing job for them to work hard.

But what was that, what was it like, I guess, knowing that this was just announced weeks ago to go out there and get a win and prove not only to yourself, I think, but outwardly. that you belong in this series? I mean, it was really, I don't know, I never really looked at it that way. I just, you know, really felt fortunate to be able to drive this car, to be able to work with the people I've worked with. The Wood brothers are amazing people. They've taken great care of me and my family. They've done everything the right way as they have since 1950.

And my biggest regret was going to be leaving the Wood brothers without getting their 100th win. If you have three years to get one of the most historic wins in NASCAR and you don't do it, and then the next guy gets in, say, Josh gets in and wins number 100, that would have stung. So for me, getting that win for those guys, getting that win for myself, certainly meant a lot. But now I just feel like, yes, I have regrets about how things have gone that led up to this moment. I wish I could have done better. I wish, you know, I could have been better in multiple ways. I just, I feel like it made it feel a lot, a lot better, you know,

and feel like I kind of have some closure with this whole opportunity. And obviously now we're in the playoffs. So, man, how cool it would it be to make some noise in the playoffs and have a little Cinderella run. So we have just such a great opportunity ahead of us that I haven't even really thought much about the end of it, right? which is unfortunately coming pretty soon. So, you know, it's been a lot of fun to work with these guys.

And what's been really cool was just that we never quit on each other, even through all this drama of me maybe coming back, maybe not, and then not coming back, them announcing Josh. It would have been really easy for all of my race team to quit and get ready to punt for next year. And so to win for those guys and get that genuine reaction of, you know, We've worked through this together. We've been there, done that together, had the hardest days of probably my life together with these guys.

And I think just all of our ability to put accountability on our own selves has what's kind of kept us together. If Jeremy, my crew chief, makes a mistake, he'll tell me. He say, hey, that's on me. I did this. This is why. Or if I do the same thing, I'll tell him. And there's just not been any finger pointing, which is pretty rare and really special. So I think all of those things together make it really bittersweet to win and know that it's coming to an end soon.

But like I said, we've still got the playoffs coming. So we've got a lot to fight for it yet. I think a lot of people are excited or looking forward to what might be the next chapter for you. I know you haven't announced anything. But can you tell us that there is a plan in place, something you're excited about? Will there be an announcement down the road? Is there any information you can share? Yeah, I think we're getting closer on that front.

You know, for me, I'm really, really luckily. My dad, as you know, went through all this stuff. My mom's been through this before. I've got a great management group around me that helps me through all this stuff. And I can kind of tell them what I want, what I'm looking for, and they can kind of, they've gone and tried to find the best fit, right? and it's been really fun kind of just trying to find out, you know, where can I go that I'm wanted? Where can I go that I see a future?

Where can I go? That I can make an impact. And, you know, my goal is to win a cup championship one day. That's my goal. And so what is the best thing I can do to better myself as a driver so I can get to that level? So, you know, it's been, it's been, you know, believe it or not, it's actually been kind of a bit of a fun experience. going through that process and I have, you know, an opportunity I think is getting close that I'm pretty excited about. And, you know, I think it would be something good for my career to kind of

get what we're working on done. We just obviously have to get it done, which is always something, right? Yeah. Well, we're looking forward to hearing what that is and looking forward to seeing you make your run into the playoffs and through the playoffs and finish strong with the Wood Brothers. I know that that's important to you. You're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a, you're a class act. Even at this young age, I've always been very impressed with your composure and your approachability and you represent the sport very well. And now as a winner in NASCAR at the cup level, you'll continue to do that, man. So thank you for giving us some time today. I know you're very busy. A lot of people pulling at you trying to get a comment

here and there. And we just thank you for spending some time with us this morning. Yeah, man. Thanks for all that. It means a lot. You saying that. I also have a lot of respect for you and what you've done for our sport. So my dad just logged in, so that's a good timing right there. I'll pass you off to the old man. So we just got done talking to Harrison about the weekend and what all that felt like. And I got to say, first off, and I've said this on the show about three or four times already, but his character, composure, his professionalism at such a young age, he's been challenged

these last three years as a man, as a person. And I have just really been impressed with the job he's done to be a professional and keep it real in front of the media and so forth and not an easy thing to do. I know Kim and you have to be very proud with not only him being able to kind of overcome and see this through and show that he belongs in this series, but how he's handled the challenge of racing in the Cup Series to begin with for the last several years. Yeah, I mean, you know, junior, you and I have looked out of the window an awful lot of times, and it will be having a decent day, and then we get, you know, we leave the racetrack.

We're like, where in here is the finish? Yeah, 30 seconds. You know what I mean? And so it's been, and then they've also had those days where they just have simply run bad. So it just kind of felt like for a long time, like they just never could catch a break. and they didn't have enough speed to overcome the bad breaks. And that wears on you, man. I mean, you and I both have had times in our careers where we were winning races

and then we got to a point where we couldn't sniff a win, couldn't even look at one. And at least we had the opportunity to go back and say, well, damn, I know I can do it because I was doing it. And he and many other drivers, when they're struggling and haven't done it, it really is hard, right? because you start questioning yourself, your ability, the people around you are trying to help you, but at the same time, you know, you feel like, man, like I'm just not good at what I'm doing. And it just, that doubt creeps in. And it's hard, super hard to overcome. And then what happens, a lot of times you start pulling back, right? You just start pulling back and you start doubting the people around you. And I'm proud of Harrison because he hasn't done that. Like he doesn't come to me and say,

man, my crew chief sucks. Pick true is no good. Shot guy, engineer. He never does that. Like, never, ever does that. He just constantly talks about what he needs to do better. And if the team isn't doing as good of a job as he thinks they made, then he thinks it's because he's not communicating to them like he needs to.

So I'm just proud of the ownership that he's taken. And, you know, at 23, he has shown a tremendous amount of maturity. And it's hard. Man, you know how it is. We do this in front of people, which makes it awesome. But at the same time, they are more than willing to let you know when it's not going well. But I feel like he's done a nice job of handling it. I want to know how you got down to his car to jump in his arms and give him a hug so quickly.

What was the literal path you took to get to the infield from the booth? So what happened was Clay Campbell, when Diffie dismissed me from the booth, I turned around and Clay Campbell was standing there. And he's like, come on, I'm going to get you down there. And he and Chip Wilde had held an elevator for me, had created a gate, had opened a gate. And when I got to the front straightaway, the front straightaway gate was open. And so I, we went down the elevator a couple levels, went through that concourse level, where, you know, where we parked the cars underneath the grandstands.

And that took me to like maybe the 10th row or something in the grandstands. walk down there and walk right under the racetrack. What is the, what is that comparable to when you were, when you get your feet onto the racetrack and you're walking toward your son, compare that to something else you've experienced in your life? I don't have it. Yeah, I don't have it, Jr. I don't know that there is anything comparable. I, I, um, because everything you said before, um, you know, when you're behind the door,

you know what's, you know what's going on, you know the pain, you know, the pain, you know, all those things. And I, as I'm walking over there, I see the woods. I see Harrison. I see Jeremy Bullens. I see Jenna, Harrison's fiance. I see Kim, clearly Harrison. And I'm like, and I don't know.

I mean, the damn crowd, man, it's vibrating. Like it, the, the, when I came down through there, Jr., there was no one leaving. Like, everyone was still there celebrating. And there was this energy that was just wild that took me by surprise. Like, you know, it just surprised me at the energy. And then when we locked eyes, that was a very cool moment. And, yeah, but I can't compare that to anything. Were you in Victory Lane throughout the entire time he was there?

and then when he goes to the media center, I imagine you went and sat and listened to all of that. I experienced it all. Talk about maybe the reflecting that you did during that time, thinking about all of the late model races and all of the miles up and down the road trying to get him into these opportunities and what it took to get there.

I imagine that that must have been, when you finally are sitting there allowed yourself to soak it in, I imagine that that must have been pretty profound, the hour, the two hour, the three hour after the checkers. I think the thing for me, Jr., was trying to figure out how to say this. I don't think people know Harrison, and I could sense that people were getting to know him. and the questions that people were asking him, the drivers that were coming in Victory Lane, the car owner,

the people that were coming in Victory Lane to look him in the eye and shake his hand. I mean, oh, Bubba and Ross came in there. I mean, these two guys' lives just changed because he won. They came in there. I thought that was cool. I thought this was Harrison's, coming out party, so to speak, and that this was people now were starting to recognize who he is.

And I'm not talking about as a race car driver. I'm talking about it as a person. And I think that meant a lot to me because I think Harrison has been part of the reason people don't know him because, you know, he hasn't done a lot of social. He hasn't really opened himself up to those type of things. And this one was right in everybody's face. And I just was, I don't know, I mean, I'm not, I think Harrison's, he's my, kids. I'm going to be careful. I just think he's a very unique person. And until you get to knowing, you don't really know that. And I just felt like people were getting to see who he was. And some people won't like that. And that's fine. Like whatever. But I just, I just think that it was,

for me, it was more about that than it was reflecting on his racing and all those kind of things. And then also to see, I remember when in my first Expendity race and I was exonerated race. And I was exhausted emotionally. I was beat. Like I was to the point of like is, you know, is it worth it? And I know what it feels like to be, get your ass kicked week in and week out and to doubt yourself

and to see him celebrating his accomplishment as a parent. That meant a ton. Well, we appreciate you giving us some time today, man. It's been awesome getting your perspective. I, you know, you're a great friend and I appreciate you. But

I was so glad for the sport to see this happen because I know how hard that he has worked for it. And I know how much it's meant to you. And you've done such a really, really good, difficult job of doing your job in the booth while also being a great dad and a supportive father to what he's trying to do out on the racetrack. That is a difficult, fine little line that you have to walk, and I think you've done it perfectly. and I believe everybody was so thrilled at all the visuals and the broadcast and the moments that we saw on our TVs after the race. So thanks for bringing such a great iconic moment to the sport. And that's one I think that we will remember out of all the things that might happen this year is that night in Daytona.

So appreciate you giving us a little time today. I know you're busy and I hope you have a great week and have some fun in Darlington. Thank you, buddy. You know, Darlington, man. It's our place. We're excited to go. All right, man. We'll see you there, bud.

Take easy. All right, so great conversation with Jeff. Gosh, could feel the emotion talking about him, you know, coming down to see his son on the frustrateway there. And, yeah, you'll, you know, Harrison, you know, if everything goes well, Harrison wins many more. cup races in his career, they'll never be a first. And that will never happen again. And good that they got it all,

got everything emotionally and that they could get out of it. And it's awesome that he was there throughout all of the victory lane and the media center of watching Harrison answer all the questions with the media and stuff. It's cool that he was able to see it and did that, put himself in that position. I want to thank Tire Pros for sponsoring

sponsoring the dirty air segment of today's show. Tire Pros is a great supporter of the Dell Junior Download and Junior Motorsports. And they do a lot of great things in your community. If you've got Tire Pros nearby, it's owned by folks in your area, in your community. Go support them. They do more than tires. They'll do anything for you. Alignments, brakes, whatever it may be, they can get it fixed.

So thank you, Tire Pros. All right, it's time for some Dirty Mode Do. All right, Alex Tens is at the table and let's talk some of the best best that you had over this past weekend at Daytona, another wild race, another Cinderella victory. Did you capitalize on the uncertainty? We did, yeah. There was actually some new bets that were on the sports books this week, some top 20 bets. So we took advantage of Cody Ware, who's always a guy who just hangs around the back.

He had like the lowest odds to be that, to be a top 20 and it cashed for us. All right. That's pretty cool. So you had Cody Ware with the top 20. at minus 110. Christopher Bell is the top Toyota. Yeah, we had a little strategy where we picked, you know,

Bell, Gibbs, Eric Jones, and John Hunter in the last four of Toyota's, they were all good odds, and one wins, you cover your money and then some, so. And then Michael McDowell on the over for four and a half laps lead.

Yeah, that was, once he won the poll, that seemed like a lock. I think he led like 20-something laps, so that was a really good bet for us. Yeah, plus 30, wow. I'm surprised at the odds on the Cody Wear top 20.

You know, it's funny, but like at Daytona, I think they tighten down on that. It'd be interesting to see if they have these odds next week or this week coming to Darlington. Pretty cool. So going into Darlington, what are, you know, what are some of the drivers that you feel like you could count on? You know, with all these, like, you know, new winners we've had, I think it's going to go back to, it's a JGR-HMS type of race. You know, I think they're going to gear up for the playoffs. It's kind of going to bring some stuff and get those final playoff points for, you know, for the playoffs. No Eric Jones surprise win? I don't see it. I don't see it. Dyer. I don't see it.

Okay. Is there, who is the underdog? Who is the one driver that's outside the top 16 in the playoffs that you feel like has a shot? Well, I mean, I think Chris Busher. He's why 16th, but I think he is the guy. I think if you're going to bet somebody outside that, he's the guy. All right, but his odds will probably not be worth betting. I'd say around 2000, plus 2000.

Okay. Wow. Okay. So good. I would too. All right. So thank you, Alex, and Dirtymoe Doe comes out every Thursday on our Dirtymo Media platforms, anywhere you listen to podcasts if you want to hear how they handicapped the field,

some of the best bets to make. It's a great show, so tune in every Thursday. All right, as I mentioned, the Cars Tour is coming off of a race at Wake County, and we've got a recap from Blake. On the second of three consecutive racing weekends, the Z-Max Cars Tour, presented by Sound Gear visited the smallest track on the schedule this past Saturday night, as many championship hopefuls and local favorites joined the field at America's favorite bull ring, the quarter mile Wake County Speedway in Rale.

The championship points battle tightened up after a chaotic ending at A Speedway eight days prior, with Connor Hall sporting just a 13-point advantage over Brendan Queen coming into the weekend, and Brent Cruz's 15 markers back after carrying a win out of Altima. the previous Friday night. After two days of practice and an abbreviated session on Saturday afternoon, Thunder Road Harley-Davidson poll award qualifying concluded with a first career poll sitter in the form of Richmond, Virginia's Mason Bailey. So this is a 2012 chassis, oldest one out there, but we built it real soft, and so it's good

for the long run. That was our objective, and we didn't expect to qualify worth the crap anyway, so I think we'll be even better in the long run. The driver's second and late model points at Wake County Speedway and Raleigh Native. Carson Hayslip would join Mason Bailey on the front row with Connor Hall and his championship points lead starting in third. Isabella Robusto qualifying fourth and Trayton Lapsovich with a recently reinstated win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, rounding out your top five. Early on, it was Mason Bailey who dominated the initial proceedings,

but it didn't take long for the series' latest winner in Brent Cruz to drive up towards the front of the field. As it looks like he has a nose to the inside of the 0-5. He washes up the racetrack and with 84 laps to go now in Lake County. Brent Cruz has taken over the top spot. And again, we mentioned this battle for the championship. Every point matters, including the one he can get now for leading a lap as well as leading the most laps if he can hang on for the rest of the night.

It was a lead that Brent Cruz would not relinquish until things were all set up for a chaotic ending with 15 laps to go. They're still side by side, down the back straight away. As they enter three and four, that's a teammate that's looking to the inside, almost three wide. Cruz cleared down. Cruz trying to shove the door. Lewis trying to shove a wide.

K.H.I.C.I. Cars playing bumper attack for the race lead at Wake County, and there's more contact in three. Two friends. Again, Lewis trying to fight for the owner's title for the 62. That's eighth in the owner's points, but also trying to get his Emax car store win. He jumps Cruz up. the hill. Here comes Trayton Levesovich, his cruise gets turned into the outside wall. Holden Haddock joins them. Clay Jones spins around. And the car that has dominated this race and was looking to get into the championship fight is parked in a heap of smoke in turns three and four.

After the melee ensued and Isabella Robusto was put to the tail end of the longest line, Landon Lewis would not relinquish the opportunity to become the season's fifth first time. winner and make it back-to-back victories for Kevin Harvick, Inc. First off, where I want to get started with the interview, I'd want to say a huge apology to Brink Cruz. I mean, he's a team car. He's raced me for teammates, and I work on that car, and I did not want to see that to happen at all.

Last week was a really weapon for me. I think I hit everything but the pace car. And then this week we come back, we regrouped. We had a bunch of talks at the shop. Ron come down this weekend to help out and make sure I was, you know, feeling the car correctly, and we're here. I never thought I'd be in cars for victory lane so early. After having his win reinstated at North Wilkesboro Speedway,

this driver nearly got another one at Wake County this weekend as Trayton Labsovich brought it home in second. Just, I don't know, I tried to give a 62 a little bit of a shot, knock him off the bottom, just couldn't quite get him enough. And his car was a little better than ours, but great racing with the 0-3-62. I'm glad we could all keep it straight there. Grasolian on the win. Yeah, we had no sway bar.

We broke the sway bar arm when the tire went down there, So just really good effort from the whole Chad Bryant Racing team. Big thanks to Everham, BKFC, all I'm racing for all their support. And it was a hard charging effort through the field for Brendan Queen who made up valuable ground in the championship fight. Yeah, we got a little damage there when we were battling for third and knocked the toe out. So I wish the race had been about 100 more laps. Our car was really good on the long run. And that was probably one of the most fun races I've had.

You know, when you start in the back, you kind of got a lot less pressure. You just got to go forward. And I remember during the pre-race there, I just was in the zone looking off in the sky, knowing what we needed to do tonight. And great points tonight for us. We gained a ton. And we're going to fight until the end. Next up for the ZMAX Cars Tour is a highly anticipated visit to Florence Motor Speedway,

where not only the pro late models will be back in action, but with names like Josh Barry, Kevin Harvick, Bobba Wallace, Raja Carruth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., filling up the entry blank amongst the many different divisions. It will be a night to pay attention to in South Carolina on Friday. I'm Blake McCandless, and this has been your Cars Tour recap. All right. It's time for the white flag. Just use that. Yeah, that's the sound design.

Can you use that? White flag. Dropping Saturday, dropping Saturday after the race to tear down with Jeff Gluck George Bianchi. It's a great listen every single week. And Sunday action's detrimental with Denny Hamlin a day early. Good job, Denny. And then Monday, the guys with Doorbubber Clear got in there and got the job done.

And Ryan Truex joined the team at Doorbubbler clear to talk about his Xfinity win this past weekend in Daytona. We didn't even mention that throughout our show. Congratulations to Ryan Truex. Good dude. Dropping tomorrow, Speed Street with Connor Daily. and Chase Holden. Will Power will be joining the show.

I guess there's been some Will Power drama in the series. The last, I don't know, can you go back a month or two? He's kind of been in the news. He loves. Doing some things. Yeah. All right, sir. Yeah.

And then we have Buddy Parrott, long-time crew chief, father of a couple successful boys that have been involved in the sport. And Brad Parrott and Todd Parrott. So Buddy's going to come in and tell us all about his. history and he has a ton. I can't wait to talk to him and that's going to drop tomorrow. Thursday, DJD reloaded. And then Dirty Modo is well dropping Thursday.

All the best bets going into this weekend's race at Darlington. And then also, it's that time of year again for when Dale Jr.'s ride. There's still time to purchase your raffle tickets. It's the 14th year of the program and this year we're raffling off a brand new 2024 Corvette Stingray. The Dale Junior Foundation will cover all of the taxes on the car. The raffle tickets are $25 a piece. And the program runs until September 30th or until tickets are sold out.

So we've got to thank Chevrolet for donating this nice Corvette. Me and Amy have been driving the car around, enjoying it, but we're not putting too many miles on it. Can't get too attached. Yeah, Dalton, you've got a weekly social media standout. I do. This one actually comes from someone who sent it to my social media. media and with school coming back up, you know, high school seniors do this thing where they'll get like a parking spot and they can decorate it. And this young man, Graham,

if I can get it up on the screen, did this up on the TV and painted it after the good old intimidator. That's cool. The curb. The curb, yes, the parking curb. That's badass. So he was like, I really wanted Dale to see it. And I said, all right. All right, Graham. Thank you, man. I really love that. That's really cool. And I hope that more people will paint curbs with Dale Earnhardt on them. Yeah, maybe like a Mike

Curb would be kind of cool. Curb on a curb. A curb on a curb. There you go. All right. A little nod to Mike Curb. One of dad's sponsors in his 1980 Cup season. Mike could be coming in this room at some point. We'll just leave it there. All right. Alex

Bowman has the question of the week. So my backup question for Dale in case My first one was inappropriate is what is it going to take for Dale to go to bat for all of us to have painted or wrapped rocker boxes on our cars at every race because they look badass. I agree. I agree, Alex. So NASCAR, when the next gen came out, they would not allow the teams to wrap or paint the rocker boxes, which makes them look stupid. and I don't like to use that word stupid but a car that doesn't have painted rocker boxes or wrapped rocker boxes really looks dumb and so

even the fact even though they are dumb looking and stupid looking they still trot them out there every single week and so but yeah I'm I'm on I would love to if I could influence anything in the sport that would be one of the things I'd love to do that for you Alex

and I'm fighting that fight every day. I want you to know, Alex. Thank you. I love hearing from, you know, I like hearing that from the drivers. That matters to them. It matters to me. A lot of people think it's a silly thing to argue about. Silly hill to die on, but

that's where my heart is. What was this first question? I was going to ask that. I just remember, like, you got to ask a different one. We'll talk about it on. We'll talk about it. His PR rep is. His PR

I was like, yeah, we should probably have a backup question ready. Oh, oh. All right. We'll never know. Tomorrow, Buddy Parrott on the Dale Jr. download. We'll see you then. Thank you. Check out Dirtymo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.