The Dale Jr. Download - 592 - Xfinity Champ 4: Let The Smack Talking Begin!

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

In anticipation for the NASCAR Championship weekend in Phoenix, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Four. AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Austin Hill enter the studio to air it all out ahead of the series finale race at Phoenix. They discuss:How will they race around each other at Phoenix?How will these four veterans handle the pressure?With a one-race-wins-all format, are they put in a box with how aggressive they have to be?What obstacles did each driver have to overcome this season to get to the Championship 4?What’s it like for new Champ 4 contender Austin Hill vs. the three drivers who have been here before?Who is the favorite this weekend? 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. We've got a great show for you today on the Wednesday edition of the Dale Jr. Download is the Ally guest segment presented by Xfinity. We've got the Xfinity Series Championship 4 Drivers all coming in to this table. Man, they are going to have a lot of fun. Can't wait to ask them some tough questions. Let's get started. The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media.

Ready? Ready? Hey, everybody. It's Dale Jr. The ally guest segment. by Xfinity. We've got the Xfinity Series Championship 4 drivers

all coming in to this table. There's been some controversy on the racetrack. Might get a little uncomfortable. Probably right out of the gate. It's going to be off. The Dell Jr. Download starts now. All right, so today

we have a pretty cool guest segment, the Ally guest segment. I want to thank Ally for everything they do for us here at the Dirty Mo Media and Dale Jr. Download and everything they do in the sport, sponsoring race cars and just really being plugged in. they care a lot about NASCAR and make a big investment to do so and we're appreciative of that

and also Xfinity. The Xfinity folks have been great to us here as well, sponsoring our Ask Junior and Ask Amy segments and bringing us the four championship for drivers going into the finals here at Phoenix. So we're thankful for that. Xfinity is the proud premier partner of NASCAR. They've got those mobile hotspots all across the nation, making sure that, Wherever we go, we're able to plug in watching NASCAR, the NFL, whatever it is you're watching.

You're able to do it with Xfinity Mobile. So we're going to bring in the four drivers. The unique thing about this is, obviously, there's been some controversy on the racetrack with Cole Custer, A.J. Amundinger, Cole and Austin earlier in the year. And, yeah, so it might get a little uncomfortable. Probably right out of the gate. It's going to be awkward. So let's see.

They're out in the studio. Let's bring them in. All right. So we got the Xfinity 4, the final four drivers going for the championship in Phoenix for the Xfinity series, and no newcomers. All you guys, I think, have been in this position at least once. Am I right? This is your first one.

Seems like you've been in it before. No. He's been a quarter of a corner away from being in there you go. Yeah. There's been a lot of those happening. How many regular season championships? Two. Well, yeah, once on the truck, someone once on the Xfinity side.

So you're still, I would consider you a veteran at this point. All you guys have raced each other many, many times. Sometimes a little hard, sometimes for wins. But what's, you know, kind of what's the feeling? You get past Martinsville, which is going to be crazy. It always is. Some people come out on the bad end of things. Some people come out on the good end of the things.

Some people are just glad to survive and get out of there. But now that all of that is over, this has been one of the craziest kind of playoffs that we've had on even the truck, the Xfinity, or the Cup. The way they stacked up these races for the first two rounds was pretty ridiculous. But you're all clear of it. You go right into Phoenix. You know what you're supposed to do. So, I mean, let's go around the room, AJ, starting with you. What's the mentality now that you're, you know, you've got all that behind you?

Yeah, I mean, I think it, for us, just in our group, it's been kind of a crazy season. I mean, I think I finished last like five times this year. Like it's, you know, you take two years ago where I averaged, I think of six-place finish all year. It's, so we've had a lot of ups and downs. So I feel like we've at least, more than anything, have gotten some speed out of a race car over the last, you know, I'd say couple months. And it's, which is different in the past because I feel like we've started this season's off great, won some races, you know, won two regular season championships. but kind of winning the playoffs, you know, quietly of like, okay, we're kind of in trouble here. Like, we need a miracle to happen.

Even the year that we made it going into Phoenix, it was like, okay, I probably need the three guys to wreck to win this thing. Like, we just kind of knew we didn't have the speed. And this year, I think it's a different mentality where we've just clawed and scratched and fought to try to just make it to each round to make it. I mean, heck, there was a time this year I thought, man, I might not. make the playoffs. Like we were struggling. So to win Vegas, to have more speed at these races, you know, I think gives us a lot more confidence than we've ever had going into Phoenix. With that said, we do know Phoenix is a racetrack that we've struggled at. So we're putting a lot of work into it. And, you know, when we'll load, we'll see if that work is paid off. But I definitely

think if you ask the whole group at Collard Racing, we're probably more confident than the two years. You know, one of the years I made it. And the other year, we won the regular season championship and struggled. Justin and I had a good fight at Martinsville. We did. Spirited battle. Spirited battle. But, yeah, I think the mindset is, you know, this is our best opportunity.

Yeah. I haven't been surprised with the speed that y'all found late in the season to be a contender and pretty incredible to have you make it this far. But you do a great job representing colleague and representing the series. Cole, it's been an eventful couple of days for you. Got smacked around there on. pit road. What was your, what did you say? I saw your body language and you were, you kind of threw your arms down like, what are we doing? What, what did you say when that happened? Well, at the end of

the day, it was just, I just raced how I got raced, you know, and that's what I was telling him. So, you know, he's put us in, you know, he put us in the wall a few times this year. He used the bumper on me. I used the bumper on him. And it was what it was at that point. So that's kind of where it ended. Yeah. And you and AJ had some disagreements. Did you not during, during Martinsville? We did. It ended quickly, unfortunately, for me. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I told him before. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, uh, I didn't force Justin to sit there. I said, you can pick between these two seats. So he, uh, unfortunately puts you right next to AJ, but I was playing the game. I love it. I love it. I'm here for it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, if I was going to do it again, um, I would have done some things

different. I got a little impatient at the start of the race, um, because I was trying to track him down, because he out qualified us. He did a great job. And I was trying to track down the 20 to get in the owner's championship. But at the end of the day, if I was going to do it again, and Monday quarterback, I would have done things different. But at the end of the day, we just take it lap by lap and go this weekend and see what we got. Yeah, well, you feel like your reputation is as a driver amongst your peers

because I've always thought, I don't look at you as a guy who, I don't get nervous when you get up behind our guys that you're going to drive through them or not giving a shot. I do. Is that real? I mean, I think he's pretty level-headed behind the wheel for the most part. But you had a run-in with Austin at Charlotte that was pretty wild. I was able to watch that one.

But for the most part, you know, I don't, I've not raced you a ton, but I've never looked at you as sort of, you know, a wild man out there. Yeah, I mean, I don't try to be. I don't, that's a question for somebody else, I guess, for you three, you know. I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, I just try and go out there and race. I don't try and do anybody dirty. This past weekend, I wish I didn't get as aggressive with AJ as I did at the start of the race. But, you know, other than that, I feel like I just try and race people how I want to be raised.

Yeah. I feel like you could put all four of us in the same box. And you probably couldn't put more similar drivers of our entire series in one Final Four, right? Like, we all kind of have the same ammo. We all have the same aggressiveness. We all race each other hard. I feel like for the most part, it's fair. funny. When I look back and I look at, you know, all four drivers that are in, I'm like,

man, you could almost put a blindfold on somebody and ask who each one of them is and they're probably going to give you the same answer, you know, between the four of us. So it's kind of interesting. I have to say Austin's definitely the most aggressive one. I agree. And I only, listen, no, no, no, I watched the races from a fan's perspective. And I would say it's only because the other three guys are in totally different places in their lives. Like, you're, you're, you're still, you're the mentality of my goal is to make it to the Cup series no matter what. And this is, I've got a very, I got a runway to prove it, right? Where these guys have already been down that runway and back.

And so they're a little more measured, I suppose, where you're kind of like putting it all out there every lap. Which if you drove my car, I would like that. But sometimes, you don't drive my car, so sometimes I don't like that. but I do respect it, man. But so, Justin, you know, you've been in this position so many times. So, you know, you've been in the finals multiple times. Some heartbreaking, you know, close calls at Phoenix, you know, just going down there and just not having what you've went to Phoenix and won the spring race and had some great runs there. But when it comes down to the final, we're not been able to get it done.

And you know that you're on the backside of your career. You know that there's only a few more shots at this. You're still got the talent. You still got the cars. But how much pressure do you put yourself on this run? All the enough, this one's way different than all the other ones. This one's been probably the easiest sell for going to Phoenix of my entire career. Like I look at spring race.

I look at what we do well at Phoenix. I don't know, maybe it's the age, right? Maybe it's just being a different place in my career, but honestly, I'm more prepared. I'm in a better place than I've ever been. Like the nerves aren't there probably should be, I guess. I don't know in a lot of ways, but this one feels different. And to be honest, whether this is the most excited I've been to go to Phoenix. Because it's just, I just feel like I'm more prepared.

I feel like our team's more prepared. I feel like we've done everything right. I look back at last year, you know, Cole did a great job last year at, you know, managing the weekend really well. I feel like as a team, you know, that was kind of my first year together with the seven group that we have now. And I feel like we just mismanaged the weekend, right? And I know that sounds really crazy. And these other two have felt it and they've experienced it. You know, I think Austin will get to experience that this year, which he has a veteran team and they've been around this before.

But that final four race is just different and how you manage it and how you manage it and how you, you know, put what mindset you put yourself into. And this one's interesting for me. Like, you're right, I'm a lot closer to the end of my career than I am in the beginning of it. But to be honest, this one is exciting for me, and it's something that's different that, you know, I've never really had this kind of piece going into a final race before. So I'm excited for it. Austin, you're, you know, you're with a great team that's won championships before.

You know you can win races. What's your confidence going into Phoenix, though? What kind of racetrack is Phoenix for you? Yeah, I mean, Phoenix has been kind of up and down for us for sure. You know, last year, championship race, obviously we missed it. We went into that race, qualified second and had a good weekend. I didn't want to, you know, really disturb the championship fours. So I was trying to race with as much respect as possible last year.

And so I feel like this year's obviously different. Like the aggression level is going to be there. and I, you know, I've already told the guys this week, like, the hard part's done. Like, making it to the final four is what's hard. You know, getting out of that round of eight and making it to the final four, that's the hard part. Now you just got to go out there and execute, minimize mistakes, and beat three other guys. I mean, that's the way I look at it, that makes it easier than trying to make it from the round of eight to the round of four and all that. So, you know, I mean, Justin talking about him being at peace and all that, I'm, yeah, I'm sure the nerve.

are going to be there when I get there this weekend. But as of right now, I'm cool, calm, and collective, and I'm just ready to go out there and execute. Yeah. Will you guys be doing a lot of media together throughout the week? I know when you get to Phoenix, there'll be a full day, probably talking to all the... I think they have a split, right? I think we're all doing stuff at different times.

Yeah. But, yeah. So is it interesting or awkward at all being around each other as y'all get ready for this race with everything online? No. You spend so much... I just say we around each other. all the time.

Yeah. Like we race each other every week. We're driver interest together every week. Like I said, the four of us together, I feel like we always, we always run into each other in a lot of ways other, you know, like a lot of different ways. But I feel like, yeah, I feel like that y'all, you all know what to expect from each other. You kind of know when you're around each other what's coming where you got younger guys, some of the guys that didn't make the final four.

You got some younger guys that are a little more unpredictable and, you know, have it, you know, when they get in those high pressure situations, you're not sure how they're going to react where I think all you guys have been there before, right? Yeah, I mean, it's, I think we generally, I mean, it's hard racing, right? Like, you're all going to have conflicts with each other at times during the year, and there's no doubt if it comes down to the, you know, it's four of us on the final restart up front, you know, in the first four positions, like it's going to be aggressive. But, yeah, it's, I feel like we generally get along really.

really well most of the time. So, I mean, you can sit here and nitpick that, yeah, we've all had arguments with each other, but I think it's, I think we're actually fairly easygoing when it comes to that, like all of us together. Do any of the things that happen throughout the season, for example, you know, unfortunately Cole will pick on you a little bit, but you've had some run-ins with two of these guys, you know, between, I know Cole probably once it. Three. You two? Yeah, he flat in my tired Atlanta. Oh. I forgot about that.

Or Tal Degga. Then I put him out of. So, I mean, there's, you know, do those things, uh, I know for me, like, I, I never, like, let, I never, like, put that away, right? And it's hard to, like, uh, not want to try to get the guy back.

And you, you might wait a year. You might wait five years. You might not ever get the guy back, but you wish you had the shot, right? Um, are, Are you guys that way in terms of like when there's things that happen throughout, especially throughout this year, now here you are racing for a championship? Are you, you know, are you able to kind of put that stuff aside?

Is it still, is there still some animosity, I guess, between you and any of the other drivers? I mean, I, me personally, I think I'm, yeah, if I don't get it, if I don't get it handled that weekend, it's over. Like, that's the way. I mean, we're either handling it that weekend on the racetrack or off the racetrack, however we've got to do it. But we're handling it that weekend. And then after that, it's over and done with. And if we have to go have a meeting with Wayne Otten the next weekend, just to make sure all the, you know, everything's clear. Cole and I did that after the Charlotte weekend.

Obviously, we both had a bad day that day, and it didn't go either of our way. And so we had a meeting with Wayne and we smoothed it over. we talked about it and I feel like him and I have actually raced each other you know I don't want to speak for him but I feel like him and I've raced each other really well the rest of the year this year so obviously everyone can be aggressive here and I can be very aggressive and I'm sure I've made these three very mad throughout the year but it's not like I'm out there trying to wreck them you know it's not like I'm just

like I'm you know it's not like all the seven cars in front of me I'm just going to you know knock him up out of the way but yeah I mean for for me I think going into this weekend. I don't have anything from the past or anything that I'm like, oh, well, I got to get that down back this weekend. I think it goes back to what I said earlier is like we're all aggressive. Like we all race each other really, really hard. But I feel like we've all had enough run-ins together. I mean, Cole and I talked after Watkins Glen, you know, after a couple weeks in a row, like the first one, okay, then it happens again and now it becomes like, you know, and to Austin's

point, like he's always been good. Like when we've had issues, we've settled them right away. And I feel like, I feel like when, when it comes down to it, we race each other aggressively every week. But we're usually it's not egregious, right? It's not, we're not putting each other in the fence. I mean, obviously they had their deal at Martinsville. It sucks. Do I think it flattens a tire? No.

But AJ and I had the same challenges two years ago racing each other really hard at Martinsville and it flattened its tire too. So long story short, we're going to flatten AJ's tire every rub. paying people back because I just keep flattening my tire, obviously. I'm very poor at this. But you started it with me and your tire got flat. Yeah, so anyways. Yeah. So obviously I just got to get better not flatten my tire. But I would say, though, like it's hard because we all race each other so aggressively. But at the same time, it's good because we know each other really well. Right. Like, I think we all expect this weekend to be aggressive, right? Like, there's no question. It's going to be. But at the same time,

I think we all respect each other enough and I think we're comfortable enough with each other. like we know that while it might get aggressive, it's not going to get too far over the line. At least I hope it doesn't. Yeah, I mean, I don't see it happening. I think all of us are old enough and we're mature enough that, yes, we're going to put it out on the line. But it's... I've seen AJ before there. Every once in a while, he gets...

There's always a borderline of me snapping. Yeah. Yeah, it's okay. I'm okay with that. You're either... It keeps it fun for everybody racing against me. You're either like this or... Yeah.

So there's always that borderline. So it's a tipping point. We'll see. We'll see with like two to go. There's like a light switch. If I just snap it or not. I got a little red, I got a little red hangarchief that I'm going to put in the car with me. Hangarchief.

Yeah. Hangerchief. What is it? Hankerchief. Hangerchief. That's the southernest way I've ever heard of it. That's how you say it. But I'm going to put one out in like a matador.

You know what I mean? What's acceptable in the last corner? So Cendrick got knocked out of the way. hammered hammered. Did he actually hit him? Oh, hell, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, he got him. Well, he hit him on the exit, but did he actually hit him in the back, or do you know? I thought so. Yeah, no, he moved him. I did it pretty good. I think he hit him and it, like, started him sliding, and then, and then he, like, run into him. I can't remember if Austin just overdrove the corner to try and not have him hit him.

I don't know. I think, I think he hit him. I don't remember. Either way, we're going to go down, we're going to say that he hit him. He got aggressive with it. What's fair? I mean, last year, we were four wide, I think, coming off of two on the last restart. Same was all the way against the inside wall. Then Cole, then me, then John Hunter, I think. Is that what it was? Yeah, I think so.

I think John Hunter did end up getting the wall. He did. You cut his tire down too. I didn't cut his tire down. His right front went down. His tire went down somehow. Because he hit the wall. Oh, okay.

I think at the end of the day, you know, you have a little bit of bumping, but like nobody wants to win a championship and say that it was dirty and live with that. I think the truck guys. I think the truck guys are okay with that. They're okay with that. That's going to happen this weekend.

I'm just throwing it out there. I'm pretty common in it. Somebody in the trucks is getting wrecked coming to the checker. So yeah, so we're going to watch what not to do. Yes. All right. That's the last couple years we've been able to do this. Maybe the trucks do set the tone and sort of like show you all the shit that's, you know,

if the truckers go out there and act a fool and then everybody sees that and they go, well, we better not do that. Maybe we, you know, let's not take it that far. but I mean with what's happened in the last it seems like that across the board I don't care what series you're talking about if it's a full

bodied stock car oval track racing in North America it's like the etiquette is changed it's evolved it's changed it always has Mark Martin made it very cordial a lot of give and take you go ahead I'll pass you later and everybody adopted that

and then now we've slung back toward it's pretty much anything goes and everybody's racing the shit out of everybody for every position like in the cup series guys are battling not letting nobody lets anybody pass you don't you can't and the truckers and the younger kids coming up through are racing aggressively over the line even in the cars tour I admit and it's bleeding into y'all series you guys have some guys in there that are pretty wild So as that sort of morphs over time, you have to imagine like you, you go down in that corner, you got the guy in reach. Are you really sure what's fair?

What's not fair? What's okay? What's, you know, what you're comfortable with, not comfortable with? A lot of times we've got to do things we're not comfortable with. NASCAR's putting y'all. You could also say this, which I've told Sam Mare this a couple times. NASCAR put you in this box. go bowl

through those guys NASCAR's bait As competitors to Sam Mayor we really appreciate I know I know you do I really Yeah thanks a lot

We've all felt that We've all felt that We've all felt that We've all Literally I told him to do that And he made a pretty clean pass It at the Oval

But I gave him a pass To drive through everybody But no we really appreciate that He gave me the same advice Just so y'all know But It's like, you know Years ago I would say

hey man we're gonna win this the right way i did remember when it was uh tie gibbs i was like don't rick him don't hit him we're gonna win it the right way if we can win it but now it's kind of like you know everybody else just driving through everybody else i don't want you know we're the we're the guys on the island that are the that are racing clean so has that start what island was that when what racing clean oh i mean not all my guys okay no okay i didn't yeah i got a couple guys you're on your own eye you're still learning okay yeah we're this isn't a couple level we're still teaching them i would say for me like it's hard because i feel like but is it not changing it's it's fully changed yeah is what's acceptable like it's a move and goalposts i feel like

as veterans though all of us have have we've raced against people that have taught us the right way right we've you know i remember i remember coming into the sport and i remember going the truck series and it was jack sprague and uh ted musgrave and uh ron hornaday and mike skinner and these guys that like you you didn't mess with them. Right. If you race that way, even if you didn't race them that way, you learn really quickly. You don't race that way, right?

And as veterans, I feel like, you know, we have to set the example. But at the same time, you get tired of it. And so then your goalpost moves a little bit, right? And I think we've all transitioned towards that direction more than we would like to admit that we have, right? But at the same time, it's like, I feel like when I look at this group and you look at who's racing you other, our etiquettes are all fairly in line with each other. Whereas, like, if there was somebody that's maybe a younger driver coming in, and not to pick on Chandler, but like you and Chandler last week, right? I think, I think if Chandler makes the final four this weekend in Phoenix, he's 10 times

more aggressive than he was last week, right? So then what boxes that put Cole in? If Martinsville was the final race, what boxes that put Colin in how he races Chandler, right? How does that argument happen after the race is over? So I think that that's where, for me, it's really unique is you have four guys that all have similar values. Now, all of us want to win a championship. All of us are going to do what we got to do to win a championship. But at the same time, I feel like I kind of know where everybody's heads at going into the weekend.

And it makes it a lot different than, like, Martinsville, you race and got a lot of guys that I had no clue whether they were going to wreck you or not. Exfitting to 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 fast downloads for turn-by-turn action, smooth. live streaming with fewer pit stops and a strong connection for the parking lot to the grandstands. So for more laps and less lags, stay connected with Xfinity Mobile. If you're a true race fan, then you know that Christmas just isn't Christmas without a Lionel

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You can also stop by the Lionel store at Concord Mills near Charlotte Murder Speedway or Opry Mills in Nashville, Tennessee. Lionel Racing Diacast are also sold at Team Stores, official trackside haulers, NASCAR.com, the official Lionel dealers and Walmart and Target stores nationwide. Y'all mentioned Wayne Alton. He's leaving the series or leaving his post at the end of the year. What's he meant to the series? I mean, he's, what he's done for this sport, the series especially, but just the sport, you know, I think we all have stories of Wayne, probably calling all of us on our birthdays, like at 7 a.m. when you're not awake yet, he calls you on your birthday, Christmas.

And sings. And sings. He doesn't just call you, he sings. Yeah. And the guy, and what's, the best thing about Wayne is how much he cares. for the series, but I think for all the drivers. You know, like, it's, you walk up to Wayne, and, you know, he can be hard on if you do something dumb, and you need it.

But he also puts your arm around you as soon as you win, and you feel like he's generally the happiest guy. He's happier than your race team that you won. And you love having a guy run your series that is like that because it just makes everything so much. much more enjoyable and at peace because you can go talk to him during the good. You can go talk to him during the bad. You know, if you've done something wrong, he's going to be hard on you, but he's also going to put your arm around you and pick you up. So he's done so much. It's hard

to put into words. But, you know, I mean, 33 years. Like, that's amazing. Yeah, he was doing weekly racing when I was racing in late models in 1994 at Martinsville. He was running that show. So he's been doing this a long time. And I didn't know then what kind of. kind of quality guy he was. And he will be hard for the series or for NASCAR to replace for that for that role. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think going over time, I mean, we've seen that right. We've had people that are in that series director role that that hold more weight than

other people do or, you know, have the lasting effects over time than others do. And I think that, you know, AJ hit on a lot of key things that, you know, Wayne is, I think we've all been in Wayne's office as, you know, not in a good way. And we've all. He can turn it on. Yeah, oh yeah, he can, when he's mad, he's mad. But we've all also been in Wayne's office and, you know, it's like your best friend, right? And, you know, he's helped the sport grow.

And the thing that I love about Wayne is, Wayne understands the garage well enough to know that he'll come pick our brain and ask questions that, you know, he's got a decision to make and he's going to make the decision that makes the most sense for the sport and for NASCAR, but he wants the driver's input. He wants to know, you know, rules, like things that, that are. are pertinent that we can help that we see on a regular basis. And I think that, you know, when you really look at it and AJ's right, he genuinely cares about the people in the sport. He cares about the sport and like that it goes around in circles, but he genuinely cares about the people, the pit crews, the mechanics, the drivers, the families. I mean, I don't know how many times, you know, I'll have the family with me at the racetrack

and he'll come running out of the hauler with suckers, right? He's always got suckers up in the front, giving the kid sugar. I'm like, Wayne, please stop giving my kid sugar. That's the last thing to eat. But at the same time, food dies, all that shit. He's, he's just that guy. And he's going to be hard to replace.

I know, I know that they're going to have somebody replace him, but he's going to be hard to replace. Yeah, I think the Xfinity series level is the best series in NASCAR, and I think it starts with Lane. Yeah. I mean, I really do. I want to ask you, that's a great comment right there because it leads into this. I want to, I want to figure out how we can,

champion the Xfinity series or we can quantify how important winning this championship is to a driver. You know, the cup series is, you know, the top series, it's the mothership and winning a cup championship certainly is the ultimate goal in NASCAR. But the Xfinity series carries its own weight and has its own personality and has its own history. And so where does the potential or the idea of winning a, where does that rank in your cabinet? You know, no matter what happens to you going forward in the rest of your career, should you win this championship,

what would that mean? I mean, yeah, for me, I think that, you know, no matter what happened on the cup level, if I ever was able to go cup racing one day and run full season, that getting my first championship in NASCAR in the top three series, and it being at the Xfinity level

would probably take the cake. Like it would be up there. It'd probably be at the top, just because that's the first one I've gotten, you know, right? So I just think your first, you know, you're never going to have another first. So I just think that, getting the job done and being able to, you know, bring a championship back to RCR, back to

welcome, just, you know, my family, there's so many people involved that it's not just me. It's an entire team, entire organization. So it would be hard to put into words, really, what it meant, but it would be one of those moments that you would soak in for sure. Cole, you've won the championship last year. you've been in the Cup series, you've kind of seen this sport from a lot of perspectives as a driver. What did that feel like? I mean, it's such a, you know, a proud moment for yourself because you as, I mean, all of us as a team,

we work so hard to perfect every single little thing and execute a race every single weekend. And to have it all come together like that is just really surreal. But I think, you know, you try and compare it to other things. I guess, you know, you try and compare it maybe to like a college football national championship. You know, is it the cup level? you know, it's not, but at the end of the day, you're going to take that with you the rest of your life because you're playing against the best of the best, guys who can race at the cup level, have raced at the cup level, and it's huge. I mean, you'll take that the rest of your life with you.

Yeah, what about for you two guys that have been in the Cup series and came back to the Xfinity series, I would, I haven't drove in the series in a long time, full time, but I remember the Xfinity series garage has a lot less um you know there's a lot less politics gamesmanship it's a it's kind of it's just more fun it's an easier vibe um is it still that way it's you know in terms of the pressure and you see a lot more people walking in and around at xfinity garage smiling than you do in the cup garage you know the cup garage is serious business um not that the xfinity series isn't important but I just remember being that being such an enjoyable time in my career and hard to replicate once I moved out of the Xfinity series. Yeah, I think so for sure. I mean, it's the cup level.

I mean, you just have to be extremely mentally tough, you know, because especially how the racing is now it's so tight you could run fifth one week and 30th and next, you know, so we're in Xfinity. I mean, even on a bad day, we're running 15th, you know. So, you know, so. It's, you have to just be extremely mentally tough. And it definitely, you know, it wears on some people. And I think the Xfini level is a great place to reset and really get your mind right. And, you know, I think just to build some confidence and go at it. What about you, AJ?

You've been back and forth. I don't know why you want to go back up to the Cup Series. Both of them. What is that to sit? Yeah. What is that all about? I just love the punishment, man. I just really do.

It's just that mental scarring every day that I love just waking. up and you know it's uh i thought for sure you'd fight that no hey so for the record it was it was actually my idea honestly for the record all i know is i saw him like wednesday after iowa and he had a right front go down in both races in iowa exfinity and cup and i think his soul was outside of his body when i saw him that week and i don't think he ever wanted to race ever again and then like whatever it wasn't long after that you announced you were going back up racing. I was like, good, good for him. The, uh, the tire blowing in the cup wasn't quite as bad as the Xfinity car. So yeah. You also, you also throttled up to hit the wall. Yeah. That thing,

that thing went quick. No, I, Dale, it's like, I laugh. What, what makes life the greatest thing in the world is the thing that I wake up and probably miserable every day, because it's not good enough. Right. You just want to be better. And, um, I've been very fortunate, especially what I call my second life here in NASCAR with Colleg Racing is the fact that I have people that believe in me that think that I can help the program, whatever that is, Xfinity Cup. You know, part of the reason coming back this year was to try to help the Xfinity program. It took a long time, I felt like, you know, trying to figure out, okay, where are we lacking? A lot of hard work, and we, you know, kind of reap the benefits a little bit.

We've got the win in Vegas. You know, we're in the final four. We have a chance to go win a championship. but yeah I just it's I love the challenge for myself you know you talk about what does a championship mean I would love to have one because it's an honor to be able to say that especially in the top three series in NASCAR that you're a champion there's not many people on this planet get get to say that you know Cole he gets to say that he's been very fortunate and done a great job with it but at the end of the day does it change my life

you know, Saturday at 8 p.m. if I am the champion or I'm not, it probably doesn't change my life, but it might change a lot of people's lives in college racing because Matt started this team only eight, nine years ago, and, you know, just the hard work that they put in. And I think that's what I would get out of it is not so much for myself because I put all the pressure on myself. I mean, we've raced against each other many years, you know, you taught me a lot of lessons. You flipped me off many times during the race. I don't remember that You know, you, Tony, Mark, Jeff, Jimmy

When I first came in the sport You know, there's a lot of times you guys took me in the side Like, man, you got to knock that shit off Like you're like, you're like calm down a little bit And I'm like, man, I'm just trying to make it You were spas I'm just trying to make it man Like I'm hanging on for dear life

So yeah All that would be full circle And but more than anything I would have the the inner excitement and that I was able to bring a championship to collard racing because they deserve it. So I think that's more than anything why I put the pressure myself is for them. Cole, you're with a program that's made, that's having, that's got a lot of change going on at, you know, with, with Haas. And knowing that you're going back into the cup, knowing how steep of a hill you've got to climb to get that program where you want it to be,

how do you that that'd be a bit of a challenge i think for a driver or anybody to remain focused on the job you got this weekend knowing knowing uh you know the workload ahead yeah i mean it's interesting but i think at the end of the day we've we've gone through so much this year our whole team you know i mean there's been distractions left and right you know and you know at the end the day it's probably one of the toughest situations you'll ever be in on a race team when you know you're having this much change so and everybody's figuring out what they're trying to do next year and it's just you know there's just a lot of distractions so I think our group's done a great job of just staying committed on the weekends and being truly focused on what we have at task and

I think going into this now it's no different than that you know I mean I think our group does such a great job of just kind of staying under the radar I feel like and kind of just focusing on what we have at hand and there's no reason we can't do that one more week yeah I've been sitting here 30 minutes and just just noticed that you're you got a black eye yeah I got you know A little bit right there. That slap gave you a black eye? I guess I bruise you. What do you have a ring on?

What the fuck? Did y'all see that? Hey, I had not noticed it. I said it though. So the best part was the little like picture of him with the smile. He's turned around and he's looking right at me. I saw Justin and I was like, look at that. He made that like little laugh.

And it was so funny because, you know, I'm looking up. And I think you were behind me. And so like I'm looking up at the border. I was me. I was him. I was home. bro. Yeah, yeah, that's right. I forgot. I'm sorry. I already had a cut tire. I was done. I'm looking at the jumbo-tron, you know, up, up the top. And he, like, he's like,

hey, look, they're fighting. And I didn't dawn on me that they were fighting from me. The one guy. Obviously, it says, hey, look, they're fighting. Obviously, Chandler didn't get the, you know, the, didn't get taught how to punch, like Austin punches at Martinsville. Oh. I, you know, I did have to laugh, though, because you were just at wrestling and did the whole, spiel and then you get into a fight. Oh yeah. Yeah, and you get into a fight, right?

And I'm like, did we script this? Like, Chandler, was he in on the deal? And like, we're promoting NXTE, right? You know, what are we doing here? So, damn. I don't know, I was pretty impressed. I'd be. You didn't get a black eye if you did that, though.

Man, I would feel like, I would say, you're saying that you can put it to bed when the shit goes down, you leave the track, it's over. If I walked that way with injuries, I'd have a hard time not wanting to do something about it. Yeah, Maid didn't put it to. He didn't feel the same way when he left in Augustville that year with Austin. My had almost left on a stretcher.

Well, that was one thing. I will say this, though. I am glad as the reigning champion and knowing that obviously they're pretty good at Phoenix, right? So, you know, Chandler two weeks ago talked about how, that depending on how the rest of the season went, that he might be going to work for his dad in the construction business. and then they fight at Martinsville, right, and he doesn't make the Final Four, and I'm like,

Chandler's got one more race, I guess, if we're going on his calculations. So, I mean... He's got to get everybody back. Yeah, like, he's got everybody back, so I'm like... What is he owes him? I think he feels like...

I don't know if he owes him. I mean, I don't know if he owes him. We'd have to get Chandler in here. I don't know. We should have him on. Yeah, we should have him. Y'all speak to Chandler. That was...

Chalers getting him back. It's no question. He's getting back. He smacked him on pit road and gave him a black eye. I think it's fucking even. If anything, he deserves, if anything. He did drive him, he was on the front row and he did drive him out, like, all the way to the wall and turn one. Did he not do the same thing to me, though?

I didn't see that one. I don't know. But I'm just saying. Did Chandler hit the wall? He got ran up the track. Yeah, but I mean, you could argue that he lost a shot at winning a race. And he's fucking racing. I don't disagree with you.

Listen. Look, I don't like it if it was you or one of my guys. I would be mad. Don't worry. Don't worry. He got me on the next restart when he was mad of him. He drove through me to get back to him. I feel like, I don't know. I feel like if you don't hit the wall, if you don't get fenced, if you're racing over, you get used up, sent up the track a little bit. I mean, that's fucking short track racing at Martinsville. I had a fun weekend at Martinsville. I had no like, I had no drama. I had no drama. I was home. I don't even know. I was watching college football. What happened? I was like not even out of the car all the way, and I'm like fist pumping because they're going at it. I'm just like, yes, it's not me. I didn't make anybody, well, I don't think I made anybody mad this past weekend, but I don't think I did either. I mean, yeah, I don't think I was fast enough to make anyone mad this past weekend. I felt bad for you.

Man, I was like, man, you are three lanes up the track, just getting everything you can get. I don't think I ever saw you on the racetrack, to be honest with you. Like, I don't think we ever crossed past you. You probably almost lap me. No, no. I ran like 14th all day. So I wanted to ask who the favorite is, but honestly, when I initially thought about that question,

I'm thinking Cole, to me, would be the pick there because of how he ran at Phoenix last year when it came down to the final. They were in a league of their own pretty much the entire night, at least. It felt that way. But, I mean, when you look at the statistics this year, Cole, you haven't seemed to have had the same speed you had last year. you may disagree with that. I'm not sure, but two wins would be probably short of what you expected this year.

Do you guys feel like it's anybody's to win? Do you feel like that it's, do you feel pretty confident going in there that it's even? Or at least everyone has the equal shot? Because, I mean, honestly, I wouldn't have guessed that based off of what we saw last year from Cole. They just seem to outperform everybody else. But this year it looks a little more like it's anybody's. game. Yeah, I think so for sure. I think there's no reason. You go in these, you know, one game moments, you know, you never know who's going to show up with what, you know. So I think

at the end of the day for our team, I mean, last year we hadn't even won an oval up going to the championship four. So, you know, I don't think we were the favor going into last year. So at the end the end of the day, you just take a lap by lap and, you know, see where you end up. I think it's weird. It's probably the weirdest thing is actually getting practice. Like, I know that sounds odd, but you get an our practice and, you know, we're able to make changes and then you go through inspection after practice. Whereas normally, you know, we're going to inspection. You kind of are married to what you have. I mean, you can make some small adjustments here or there, but, you know, for the most part, we all unload as four cars with what we think is the best package available. We're going to

go to Phoenix and we can kind of make adjustments. Do you want that? I would like to have that back. Even like maybe I speak for the minority here, but I feel like even as somebody that has a ton of all these racetracks and as a company that is phenomenal at showing up the racetrack with with all the tools that we need to be prepared I still miss practice like I don't know that we need three hours or four hours of practice like one hour like you guys go cars to a race and you get like a whole day of practice I'm trying to shorten it it drives me nuts but at the same time 20 minutes or 15 minutes isn't quite long enough right so and I think it's not necessarily the time it's the ability to not change things I feel like you go through time used to be you'd

go to the racetrack and you might have two complete patterns that you wanted to evaluate. Now for us, like, we all go differently to the racetrack as a company because we all want something that fits our drivers. And you never really have time to vet out those different setups. And so I feel like when you have practice, you know, having a guy like Jim Pullman for me, a guy that's like, I don't think he ever sleeps. I'm going to be honest with you.

Like he'll text me at 2 o'clock in the morning with notes from SMT. And then at 5 a.m. I got an email with notes from what he's been looking at. I'm like, I don't think you slept, but you take a guy like that and you give him practice, and I feel like that only makes us better. But I feel like every team's got that, right? Every team's got those people that they can rely on. So I'm interested to see what that kind of holds for us. I asked Chase Elliott this year about it, and I was surprised that he said he's fine with the minimal amount at most weekends.

Like obviously this weekend, it's good to have a little more because of what's on the line. But he said, honestly, it's probably not going to make the race in any different most of the races we go to have an added. more practice if we just said hey man everybody gets an hour or something like that yeah i mean i think the biggest thing for us you know even if we only got the 15 or 20 minutes to be allowed to make more more changes because i can't tell you how many times throughout a week we're talking about something as simple as like nose weight in the car we're talking about well do we want to go with this nose weight or this nose weight because then you're locked into it every you know when you have those 15 and it practices, you're locked into that nose weight or you're locked into certain things and

you can only change certain stuff. You can't take a spring out. You can't, you know, like, there's just certain things that you're locked in with. So even if we didn't, you didn't have the 50 minutes, as long as you had, say, the 20 minutes, but then it's like, hey, guys, have at it. Like, you know, you can change whatever you want in that 20 minutes. And afterwards, it is what it is, then I think it would be a little better on us. I want to get y'all's take on the Sunday race a little bit before we let y'all go. With, do you think they made the right call on the 20 car?

Based on the black and white rule, yes. Yeah. Everybody feels good about that. I don't like the rule. Yeah. Is it a rule unnecessary? No, the rule is not unnecessary. The rule is there because it's going to happen again

if they don't put the rule in there. But I also think that it's very specific to Martinsville. It is. Right. Like Homestead, if Tyler Reddick gets in the wall and passes Blaney touching the wall, wall. Do they make the same call? I don't think so, right? Because people hit the wall at homestead, right? They run the fence. You hit the wall. Martin'sville, right? Yeah. I mean,

Martinsville, you're running the bottom. There's no way you're going to ever go to the wall, right? My thing is, if you watch the 23's onboard, it makes it even more apparent because the 23, like, hits the wall, turns and like... The 20. No, no, 23, hits the wall and turns and comes down and finishes the lap like you normally would. The 20 hits the wall and just throttles up and you the whole nose pop up. Like that to me is... The problem is I don't know if he even had to do it. I think if he just slowed down and came off the wall,

I don't know if he would have lost any spots that mattered. Based on the events that had gone up to that place, the 23 wasn't going to pass him. So yeah, I think you're right. I mean, I think that that was how it was going to be. But at the same time, I've just always said as a racer, I'm not going to put myself in a box,

then NASCAR has to make that decision. Right? If he doesn't ride the wall, NASCAR doesn't have to make that decision he's in. And I think when he gets out of the car and you see his face, he knew. The moment he stopped on pit road, he knew that it was going to be in question.

And I think that's where it becomes really difficult. Yeah, I mean, I think NASCAR just has, they have a lot on their hands. I mean, radio communication, manipulation, all that stuff with the Chevy camp, the Toyota camp. Like, I just, he got loose on entry. So you kind of give him that benefit that he got loose on entry, but then he does hit the wall.

And instead of hitting the brake, he throttles up and that's where you know they're worried about the crossgate and that's where it kind of gets a little iffy for what happened on the racetrack and then you have all the other stuff that's going on outside of that that makes it just really tough on NASCAR well i think at the end of the day they just got to set a tone either way so where do you stop can we pit together at super speedways well you know like yeah and the way i look at is this like it used to be everybody had a four car team in NASCAR because your four cars were how you control what went on, right?

Maybe not to the level of what happened on Sunday. But like, you know, if you needed something, you could, you could race each other with a different respect, right? Not saying that you're not racing at 100% because that's not the case. And even really like, what is 100% if what's best for the company is that car getting ahead of you? Is that manipulation? Is that racing?

Like, I don't know. You know, the fact that you had two other teams. Like you had three Chevrolet teams that are in question right now. Three separate Chevrolet teams in question. And nobody on the radio, I mean, whether you want to, you can listen to all the radio communication you want to listen to. Nobody said, hey, do not pass the 24 car. Right?

They didn't because they already knew that. Those drivers already knew what was at stake, what was going on. They didn't have to tell them not to pass them. They already knew what was going on. You can't ever control that. But like, do I think that how many teammates you got this week? Two? This weekend?

I'm not sure how many. I think we're breaking seven. No, we haven't announced it yet. We got seven going. You guys are all screwed. You added the 10 this week, right? Like, I think the tens are this week, right? Yeah, we got the 10.

We got the triple zero. Either way, my thing is, though, is like you have. We got the 94. We got the 76. He's got three teammates this weekend, right? No different than I have three teammates this weekend. Actually, I got four teammates this weekend. No, I got three teammates this weekend.

He's got one. You got four teammates this weekend. Do I? Yeah, I do. I have four. Yeah, we have five cars. I keep forgetting that. That's why we had to go with seven.

That's why I got gray hair. And Cole's got teammate. Like, if they just race you differently, is that the same? Right? Like, if you race your teammate differently, is that the same as what we saw on Sunday? I just want you guys to race each other like you guys do at the Super Speedways. Because somehow you guys... I would love that.

Listen, if you ever... If you ever want to call in Junior Motorsports for race manipulation or taking team orders, just watch any race from the last 10 years that I've been here. I think we've wrecked each other more than any other race car on the racetrack. I got a good laugh out of that one Super Streetway race. Where we all wrecked... Daytona?

It was awesome. I'm pretty sure Brandon Jones, which is not my teammate, which is not going to be next year, I'm pretty sure he wrecked all four of us in one shot. Good grief. Yeah. Wow. Okay.

Way to just throw... Brandon Jones. Wow. That's not even... Hey. Brandon, just if you're listening to this, hey. He's such a good guy. When you're next to the old seven on the restart, you're not his teammate next year.

Just remember that. He wasn't my teammate then. And then he came here. Like he's... Which race... See, this is what's tough. What race are you even talking about? He was so much.

So like three years ago? We were all four in a line. And we all, like it was the race... Is this one Sam flipped? Sam flipped? Sam threw a big. Big block and wanted to on you. No, no, that was.

Because Brandon was your teammate at that point. No, yeah, Brandon was already a teammate then. This one was a year before that. So he screwed you over a couple of times. But then he came here. Like, I'm like, hey, you didn't like us all running, you know, as teammates together. I thought y'all did a great job. Yeah, no, it's great.

Yeah, we, listen, we did a great job at something. I'm not sure that that was the plan. That's what I'm going to actually miss most about Exfinity. When I go back to Cup next year, it's like leading the super speedways. And they're like, hey, yeah, you got all junior cars lined up behind you, I'm like, don't worry, they're going to crash. It's all good. But now, hey, the best part about this is is you're going to go over there and you're going to be leading the field and you're going to be at 25% throttle and you're going to be like, this is great.

It's all right. Yeah. As long as I'm leading the field. You know what I do love though? What did you call it? What did you call the two series? What? What?

What? You love, Xfinity and Cup. Is that not weird that we have a series that is notorious only by the presenting sponsor? whereas the Cup series has been the Cup series for I mean it used to be the Windsor Cup series I always remember that but then after the Winster Cup series like it didn't have this moniker I mean it did but like nobody remembers is it is that what is just a cup series now right yeah I think so right present by oh there's four partners yeah I don't even know who the partners are I do know Xfinity is one of them the I just touch on the Martinsville Cup thing like I got it

I got a yeah so I mean we went yeah we're going back so the only thing i can say for like i mean nascar's in a bad spot right with all that but if they want it to stop if there's anything said on the radio that could somewhat be any type of manipulation i made the comment to somebody that if they found proof that say the 24 said something on the radio the 20 said something on the radio about even if it was like code word and they were able to decipher it somehow and say like oh he he said this because he wants the three and the one to stay behind him that's that that you two take both of them out and you put the five in.

Damn, I hate that. No, I hate it too, but I'm saying, like, if you want to stop, if you think that it's full-blown manipulation and you think that... I think that you just take them out and leave it, like, you know, racing. You can't run three? Why? Can't you? Because, I mean, the Jeff Gordon year was so weird, right? Like, it was weird. Why can't you run three? Why? What if one of you guys fell, like, definitely ill?

The number. Like, why can't we do six? What if one of y'all... enough for one of you all got sick and couldn't run Saturday. They're not going to plug somebody in. They're not going to not race. I think the problem is, is there's not 100% definitive proof that anything happened that could, like,

I think if you're going to come down on one, you've got to come down on both, and then it's plain and simple. I don't think if you look back 25 years ago, I don't know that we would have ever had this situation happen. Not in a bad way, not in a good way. This sport has evolved.

Technology has evolved. I mean, we have more technology. at our disposal now as racers than we ever did, right? Yeah. But it also makes NASCAR in a really, really, really small box. And they have to, their job, as race teams, our job is to push as far as we can push or as manufacturers or whoever, and it's NASCAR's job to rein it back in.

I don't know how we rain this one back in, but it's not going to be easy. Yeah. I got one more question. This year, the CW came into the series to, and going forward will be the home for all the broadcasts for Xfinity. How has that process been for y'all as drivers? What has changed? What is not changed? I know as a viewer, it's unique and you have to understand where you're going to find the broadcast, but it's not impossible. Numbers are good. Viewerships are pretty decent. But as far as drivers, have y'all noticed anything unique or better or different about it?

I mean, to me, at least to me, it hasn't been any different, but, you know, what I love about it is with the CW, you know, you have a partner that is trying to grow together, right? You know, Xfinity has always been on Fox and is on NBC and, you know, it's just part of another program to me, I feel like, at times. There's so many sports that are going on in on those channels. It's just, you know, you're one of many sports. Shoulder program almost, yeah. You know, the CW with what they're trying to do, you know, with Live Golf, they're trying to, you know, they've got some college football games on now. I feel like they're trying to turn their network somewhat into a sporting network, and hopefully Xfinity is just a huge part of that where they start growing together. So, I know.

I don't feel like it's changed anything at the racetrack right now, but next year, I think when it's full time, should be a great thing for the series as they grow to. together. They said one thing at the kickoff meeting when we all went and we got to meet some of the executives from CW and they were very, it was when they announced that they were going to take over the end of the year to all the drivers and teams. They said one thing that really, I thought was kind of the key moment for all of us was that this was the biggest investment they've ever made into any broadcasting that they've ever done and that they weren't going to allow it to fail. And that while they care about the cup series and they want to see the cup series flourish their only focus was the Xfinity series yeah right that is huge you being on NBC when you were right you would step

away from the broadcast at a lot of times because you didn't want to show bias towards your race team in the series um but it's still even even then like your focus was the cup series right the whole broadcast focus was the cup series practice qualifying you're preparing for the Cup Series week in and week out. The Xfinity series, while you know it really well, because you're involved in it, you weren't preparing for the Xfinity series like you were the Cup series. And I love the fact that the CW has plans of like they want their talent, they want their pit road reporters, they want their drivers. This is their number one goal and their only effort. And I think that that changes the game for all of us. I mean, you two aren't going to get to

be there and be a part of it, so I'm sorry for that. Well, they may come back. Well, they may come back, but on a full-time basis. They may go getting that pool and decide that they... I mean, I got... It's like that girlfriend that you broke up with and then you're like, man, I should go back out with her. And then you go back out with her and you're like, no, I remember why I don't want to date her. And then that, maybe you end up coming back.

Yeah. Maybe so, but I just feel like, I just feel like from a driving standpoint, from a team standpoint, having everybody together all on one channel. I mean, we've seen a lot of challenges already this year of getting it broadcasting, but a lot of that was due to like pre-existing contracts and maybe some local regions already had other stuff, you know, together. They can't use the app right now. They'll be able to use that next year.

There's a lot of things that I think will be better. That'll be great. I'm excited for it. Exfinity knows NASCAR is better in real time, and 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 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. So we talked about, you know, quantifying the value of winning the championship in the Xfinity series. How about Xfinity as a partner and what they've done? They've done it. They do a lot around here for Dirtymo Media and they do so much for the series. We can't, you know, the series, you know, the series, you all understand how delicate the series can be and the title sponsor is a critical. part of that. So I know you've had some great experience with Xfinity. What have they meant to you guys for the

series? I mean, yeah, I think that Xfinity has done a great job with our series. I think that, you know, they help us a little bit. We help them with driving the fast at the Xfinity Internet. And I think it just works, you know, as a group, just trying to drive that forward. Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing for me is they want to be there. They've put their heart and soul into the series, and they want to see it grow. When they say names are made here, I feel like it's funny because you've got a bunch of old guys in here

going for a championship, but that's all right. How old are you, Austin? 30. I'm getting up there. How old are you, Cole? 26. He's the young guy. Yeah, so old.

He looks the oldest. It's the mustache. It's the mustache. But they say, you're not. Damn it, Cole. You had me fooled there for a minute. I thought they were in your. 30s.

45. But they send executives to the track. It might be the porn stack. This is it. Oh, boy, we're in the weeds.

They send executives to their race track. They want to be there. They want to grow this series and the sport. And we do appearances at stores, you know,

at their tracks, like the activation that they do is really cool. And it is crazy. We go to appearances sometimes, like New Hampshire is one that I always remember.

You go to, appearances up there and there's people waiting in line for hours and they are like we're not even coming to the race we're just we're NASCAR fans we don't have time to go to the race but like we wanted to come say hi and get an autograph and uh it's like i don't know just the activation that they do is really good so i'm really proud that uh that we can race in the Xfinity series and it's something that uh you know it means a lot yeah i mean i think they're just so all in you know like that's what it's all about is you want to work with people who are all in on the sport and that's what they are and i think it's like one of the coolest things when we went to dad and

downtown Philadelphia when it first started and everything. We're driving the cars down downtown Philadelphia, revving them up and everything. Like that was one of the cool things. Somebody blew one up. I think a couple guys blew them up. I just remember somebody was doing burnouts and that were part of it. We left oil everywhere. It was not good.

I mean, I think at the end of the day, all these guys covered it. But what I've always enjoyed about Xfinity is, is like, you know, we help to, you know, get their name out there. but they will do the same for all of us. You know, if we got anything going on, they will promote it. You know, and not just like a store appearance, like appearances, like they'll just help promote you as much as they can because they want whether a bunch of old guys

or fake old guys like Cole over here, that it's, you know, they want it to be great for everybody and they make sure that that happens. One last thing. So do either one of y'all know the car you're taking to Phoenix, where you raced it last, what happened to it this year? We're taking our Bristol car. Bristol car.

All right. It was simple. We're taking a Vegas car. Vegas car. You're winning Vegas car. Brand new. Never hit the track. Never.

Wow. Oh my goodness. That's a bold strategy. Same. Never once hit the track. Brand new. Brand new. Holy shit.

Yeah. All right. That's cool. I mean, that's kind of fun. You ever watch Days Thunder? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Jim Pullman was standing in the barn with the bisqueen.

Did he take it to the actual barn? You know, I don't know that you'd want to walk into that barn or put a race car in there, but he shaped it like a bullet. Damn it. Probably not the way we need to shape it. Thanks, Kina. Not the way. Thanks, Skinner.

Yeah. Feel really good in turn one. Man, he's fast down the straightways. Well, I appreciate y'all. Hey, you guys are good sports. I know y'all are, you know, you're going to Phoenix to try to become a champion. And you both are great, you're all a great representative. of the series, great assets to the sport.

I'm very thankful that we got time to spend with you today. Not easy coordinating schedules and getting everybody here. So really, really appreciative of all four of you. I'm wishing the best for you. Of course, once I get there and put my owner's hat on, I'll have a little different attitude than I do today. You get to flip me off again. It'll be good.

Yeah, I will. Just out of spite. He's just going to do it. Hopefully before the race. Anyways, man, y'all, y'all, y'all do a great job representing a series. Whoever wins will be an amazing champion for us. And thank y'all for being here today. Thank you. I appreciate.

That's a great conversation with the championship four drivers, and I am thankful that they came through. I was a driver once. I know how these guys' schedules are, and I know how tough it is to say yes to some, to a lot of media, especially this week. Man, you really just want to kind of be left alone and focus on the one thing you need to do, and that's try to go winning championship but they came in and they were all on board with you know sort of coexisting in the same space as badly as they want to go out and beat each other on the racetrack and as badly as things may get during the year amongst them they all seem like they've got a pretty level head on their shoulders and i gave cole custer a little bit of a hard time today but i'll be honest i really really

like that guy um you know he's i will say this you know cole uh you know has a has a has a Cole has an opportunity with Stuart Haas, and it is connected to his father's involvement in the business, but he has never came across to me as a guy who is spoiled or not appreciative of his opportunity. And he races hard, he's good, he's talented, deserves to be there. And he's been a great champion for the Xfinity Series, and I'm, you know, I'm happy that if he wants to go back to the Cup series, he's getting that opportunity. But anyways, I was a little hard on him, just picking on him today.

But, yeah, pretty cool. Having to, you know, having to navigate that conversation with one of my drivers being in the four, Justin Allgaier, it's pretty easy to do. I really won't really get competitive about all this until we buckle down and get the race started this Saturday. So not a problem for me to sit here and pretty much, you know, keep my biased out of it.

but I enjoyed the conversation. Thought they did great. Thought they all look like they're pretty much ready and prepared. And hopefully it's a competitive race. It may get physical. I think that they're all prepared for that if possible. And it doesn't seem like any of them are scared to be physical. And we'll see where the line is drawn.

Thank you, Ally, for bringing our guest segment to us every single week. They've been great partners here at the Dirtymo Media. And thank you for Xfinity and everything you do. do it for us as well. Xfinity Mobile, those hot spots all over the country, keeping us connected. Everywhere we go, they're a proud premier partner of NASCAR, and yeah, it's been a, it was a good

show today. No matter what you're saving for, whether it's a car, race tickets, maybe a new home, we're all better off with an ally. Dropping Sunday after the race to tear down with Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi and Monday, door bumper clear, Jeff Gluck, the guest on that show. Action is detrimental with Denny Hamlin also dropped Monday. And yesterday, we had

Dirty Air Recapping Martinsville with Amy on as well. Had a lot of fun talking to her and having her part of the show. Dropping today, Speed Street with Connor Daley and Chase Holden. And tomorrow, DJD Relo with Ask Amy and more. And then Dirty Modo, giving you the best bets for the upcoming week

and also our Thursday night football group Parlay. Remember to leave us a five-star Apple review. We're going to read it on the show. Bubba 414 writes this. I travel weekly for work and spent around 20 hours on the road. This podcast helps make the road trips enjoyable. Listening to Dale Jr. tell stories from his youth and former driving days is the best.

Thank you, Bubba. We appreciate that and keep it safe out on the road. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.