The Dale Jr. Download - 85 - Phoenix: Blown Opportunity

Episode Date: March 17, 2015

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares his thoughts on the blown right rear tire and 43rd place finish in Phoenix. TJ Majors details the group's sightseeing trip while out west. 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.

This is Dale Jr., and you're listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Too fast, section 4 and 5, great. Oh, fuck. It was hopping. I didn't put you. It was over. Come get the left. It's up to the left.

You're now listening to the Dale Jr. download presented by Spy. Check out Dale Jr.'s signature dirty-mow sunglasses from Spy and Spyoptic.com. Hey, everybody. It's Dale Jr. Early morning, Monday after Phoenix. Not a great. weekend, obviously. The car showed some promise here and there, but for the most part, it was a bit of a struggle. So we, you know, had a little bit of a tire issue. The bead failed on the right rear tire,

and I guess the nine car had the exact same issue. You know, it's just a heat issue with the brakes, but I don't know for sure, you know, exactly what causes that. We, you know, only two cars. cars in the whole field had that happen. So we had adequate cooling compared to other cars on the track. So I don't know, made, you know, some weird things going on there, but not a lot of people had that problem, so I don't think it's a global issue with the Goodyear tires. So, you know, can't really point a finger at those guys.

Anyhow, we'll try to figure out how we can avoid that happening again. Even with, you know, even without that going on, I don't know how well we would have done. I spent on pit road, and in them short 300 lap races, you can't be fooling around making mistakes like that. I'd always been real conservative over my career. And this year, I've been trying to step it up a little bit and see if I can be more aggressive, and it caught me.

We had a bit of a miscalculation on the tack for pit road speed, but still we have an opportunity when we're out there on pace, laps before the race to understand what our railroad speed is. And I just pushed it a little bit hard, got aggressive. But we can fix that. That's easy to fix. Anyhow, we didn't really tear the car up too bad. I think it probably knocked our beer clip off of it,

but we didn't really hit the wall that hard. The reason we couldn't get back out there mainly was because the automatic fire standards went off in the car. And those are time-consuming to replace, and with very little of the race left, we didn't think we'd be able to get it back out there to improve our positions, so no point in getting out there and getting in the way

if we can't get anything done. So there is a rule that you can't go out there with a race car without fire, standards, and all the specified locations, and there you have it. The tire call on fire after it blew, trying to drive the car back to the pits, and it probably did some other damage to break lines and so forth.

that we didn't know about at the time that we would have had to repair. So it had been a difficult repair. It also broke the right front upper control arm on this front suspension. You kind of tagged the wall with the right front just a little bit, and that was enough to break the right front control arm. So a lot of issues there to be able to repair to get back out there. Greg made the call, which I agree with not to do it. And, you know, we just go around and gather all the guys up

and tell them all that we're going to go to the call. Fontana and get back on track. It's a long season. You're going to have adversity. You can have problems. It's a little bit easier to take when you can kind of understand it's a problem that you can either fix or it's out of, you know, something out of your hands, out of your control that's not, you know, not part of the race car and something that's your responsibility. That's the best way I can look at it. We'll get back together and go to Fontana. I love Fontana, a lot of different grooves, fun race track. We should be able to go out there and be real competitive.

I'm looking forward to it. So we run the high line a little bit there, which is always fun. So it should be a fun race. And that's that, y'all. I'll talk to you later. All right. Good stuff from Dale Jr. As always, doesn't matter how great the day is or how bad the day is.

We always appreciate hearing from him. He's, in fact, here right now while we're talking. Mike Davis is with him somewhere in this building. We do have Miss Amanda. We've got T.J., I'm Taylor. We've got the brand new dog. Gus, we've been hanging out with him. We're watching Gus while Junior and Mike are talking about something in some room.

Gus is. Yeah, probably doing nothing. Just hanging, huh? Joking. Gus is a beautiful dog. I will say that. Good looking boy. He's from Oregon, I believe.

Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, Washington, one of them. Same thing. Well, yeah. Oregon and Washington are very close to each other. The northwest region of the country. I'm sure the people in the Great Northwest would like.

like to tell T.J. the difference between those two wonderful states, but it's a beautiful part of the country. And I think Ms. Amy went up there to get him into last week, and he is a beautiful dog. So we've had fun hanging out with him. Yeah, it stunk. I mean, what do you want to say? Sunday was terrible. It stunk. Kind of reminded me a little bit of Texas last year after hitting the grass and finishing DFL, if you will. It didn't have a lingering issue, Texas last year. You just, you know, it's for the next race. Yeah, you just have one of those days, you know? I kind of knew we kind of struggled not as a car. We struggled a little bit as a car, but I mean, I had us pinned his six to 12th place car after practices and stuff.

And, you know, if we get some track position, yeah, we probably could have finished a little bit better than that. But I think we just, I think the whole company was just a little bit off there a little bit because, you know, we weren't all four cars. You know, the five seemed to be the strongest car. And the 24 could hang in there. And the 48 kind of did the, you know, drop way back. He had that penalty or had that tire in him. beginning or whatever, then came back up through, then went back a little bit. But when I say get back up there, he got to, like, eighth or ninth.

I mean, it wasn't like he was charging through there. So I think we just missed it as a whole in Phoenix a little bit. And, you know, obviously we had that tire problem. And I'm not saying we would have came out of their fifth after that. But, you know, we could have got a couple good resarts in the right lane or something and maybe entered up six or seventh or something. You know, made a respectable day out of it still. Yeah, I was, I'm glad I missed it.

I listened to Amanda's friends at MRN to the entire race on my way back from the SEC tournament, also known as the Kentucky PEPRally in Nashville and listen to the whole thing. And by the way, Rusty's great on the radio. Great addition having him on MRN this year. Yeah, that was a coup for them. Yeah, for sure. But like Amanda put in our notes here, MRN on Twitter said it was right issues having to do with lower horsepower, more speed, and heat in the tire in the mid-corner.

You just heard Dale kind of allude to it, and it's kind of a fluky thing. Only two cars in the field experience. Yeah, I don't feel like our car was, there's no way I feel like our car was, like, you know, going to be hotter than the rest. So it might as think, you know, we might have just got a tire that didn't like it as well.

You know, I'm not saying it's good years' fault, but, you know, it's like running over a nail, you know. So a fluky set maybe, who knows? Yeah, who knows? Or maybe something happened that run that it ran a little bit, hotter. Who knows? I don't know. Maybe something happened. Maybe it didn't get the air, all the air that it was used to getting somehow or something, and it just blew out, you know?

You don't know. You don't know. I mean, I think, too, obviously, you never want to have something like that happen, but it does happen. It happens to everybody. It's, and I'm here to tell you, it's going to happen to Kevin Harvick. I know that people don't think that right now with the way things are going on with his season and the extraordinary historical march he's on, but it will happen to him. It happened to him a lot last year. So it's going to happen to everybody. How you handle it is the big thing. And I think that a lot of people were waiting to see how this entire team would handle this,

because, again, it happens to everybody. Steve Lattart is extraordinary with crisis management. DJ, you saw it. You lived it on Sunday. How do you think Greg Ives and the boys handled it? I thought Greg did a great job. You know, Stevie always had this not-so-serious voice when he would talk. And, you know, he'd always kind of be like, all, well, you know, you fix this, you fix that.

I'm going to drink glass lemonade where you guys fix this. He was very under control. Yeah, and it wasn't, he was serious, but he wasn't like, I think Greg managed a situation very well. He thought of a couple things that I didn't even think of at the time. And, you know, he looked at the problems and was like, okay, well, we can fix this. This is going to take a little time. We're going to have to get this right before we do this. I thought he did it well.

And being around the guys now with working for him for a, for a, for a month. month or over a month now listening to work it's going smooth man i mean you wouldn't it's a little it's a little bit different attitude but the guys are just happy and and the work i think and all the everyone's working hard the same so it's no that is seamless that i think everything is going great with that and we've conquered everything we've came up on you know we went to the 500 ran really good there gregg and then put together a great car there with all the new pieces went to the first real race of the season in alana and we had a shot of winning yeah and i mean we are I don't think we've lost a beat.

I think we'll go to Fontaine, and I think we'll have a good car there, and I think we'll be in the ballpark for a win there, too. Yeah, first three races. That certainly was a case, and every reason to feel that way for this one. All right, well, let's hear the in-car audio. A couple things here when the wreck happened

and what Greg Ives had to say. So what happened there, left the right rear. Here go, buddy. Just stay below that yellow line for me there. Whole right rear, Greg. Hit with the right or left a little bit. guys what we're going to do we're going to try to jack up the right side we need somebody under the right rear tail could take out the right side tires look at all the fender wells in that right rear we're going to put the right sides on

left sides look like they're still aired up and then we're going to send them back out fire i got coming and as you as you alluded to earlier that's a very in-control crew chief right there had a plan uh here is more from gregg ives about this learning opportunity okay guys just so you you know, we're not going to put this car back on the racetrack. This is for you guys to learn what we need to do in a case of an accident. We got a right front, upper control arm that's bent. It broke off the car. Like I said, suspect right rear fire bottles are out of it.

We can do that for a... Yeah, and it made it all the sense in the world. You know, it's kind of crazy. The fire extinguisher thing, but it is. It's a learning opportunity. Nobody wants to go through that. Everybody's going to be frustrated. It's a lost day.

It's a lot of people... But you're going to at some point. Self-included that either... flip the channel after that. That's a member of this nation, if you will, or listen to another channel on Sirius XM, as was the case with me, after that happened. So you don't want that ever to go on,

but you want to handle it very well, and certainly Greg did. Yeah, I thought Greg did a great job. You know, the only, I washed the tire blew, actually probably 50 yards after he went by me, and I saw all the pieces come out of the bottom and, you know, pieces from the tire shredding, and crushed panels and stuff inside there.

I saw that all come out, and then it hit that wall at a really weird angle, too. And I knew that was probably, when they hit at weird angles like that, it shifts a lot of stuff. And the only part that made me nervous was whenever he actually caught fire and he said it isn't fire, I could not see him because I'm all the way down in the middle of turn one and two, and you don't like when you can't see your car. And he pulled up against the wall on pit lane, and I can't see where he stopped because it's like looking straight up to your left a little bit of ways away

and all the pit boxes and everything are up and all that. It's the opposite side of the race track. But it's just I couldn't see him. And, you know, when he said you don't like fire, obviously. And I know where the fire trucks are because they pull him out before every race. There's usually one in each corner and middle of the backstretch sometimes. They pull him out. And we take a mental note that way if he's ever on fire and you've got to get your car to a fire truck

and they can't see, you know, it's better than him stopping way out here on the track when he could get to a fire truck a little bit quicker. You know what I mean? But that's the only part that makes me nervous. But I thought the team did a great job. Greg, obviously, surveyed the dam is real good. And you don't, the way the points are now, one point, I mean, if you get a win, that one point is.

Who cares? Yeah, that point is you're risking other drivers and your driver. Yeah. You're risking his safety for, you know, one point. Well, and it was the right decision. There's no question. Now, if you're in the case of, in situation Matt Kenseth was in last year, year and you never won, you know, then yeah, you've got to do whatever you can, even though,

again, they still made the right choice. But like you said, go win a race and none of that happened matters from yesterday. Last thing about this race before we move on, in regards to Kevin Harvick and what he's achieving right now and what that team is doing. T.J., you've been in the sport for a long time, gone to every race for a long time, or almost every race for a long time. About 11 years. You have seen Kyle Busch have incredible runs in the nationwide, now Xfinity series, and at the cup level. You've seen Tony Stewart in the chase win five of the 10 races to win a championship, which was remarkable. Jimmy Johnson and all that he's accomplished speaks for itself. Dale Jr. at Restrictor play tracks at Talladego, especially. Same thing.

Four in a row. Yeah, it's crazy. What about what Harvick's doing right now? How would you compare that to what you've seen. It's an incredible accomplishment for them, especially in this day and age. You know, the competition now is so close and so it's so hard to do. But when you get hot, you're hot. You know, it's all about getting hot at the right time and this stuff. And obviously winning a race early in the year sure does relieve a lot of pressure. We've been in that situation. Now we're on the other side of it, trying to get into the chase already. But, you know, it's pretty amazing what they've accomplished. And, you know, we'll see if they can keep it going. You know, it's tough to keep going.

No, it is. It really is. Especially this early in the year, yeah. He could blow a tire on lap two next week, and he'll be. And the mojo's gone. And yeah, they's right with everyone else. That's a good point. Amanda, should we ask TJ about his trip out west?

Should we, you know, you never know. We saw it documented on. You know what? I did have a question. And I'm Taylor. I'm so glad you just brought this up. I saw that Dale tweeted out a picture, and it showed T.J. with a selfie stick.

Did you happen to see that? I absolutely did. And all I could think was why on earth does is T. TJ have a selfie stick. I mean, TJ, you're a pretty cool guy. That's kind of nerdy, man. You got a selfie stick at the Grand Canyon? It's not really a selfie stick.

What is it? It's for a GoPro, and that's not really a selfie stick. Did you have a GoPro on it or did you have your camera? I did have a GoPro. Okay. That's only that you can put on. It's a GoPro. Oh, okay.

Because in the picture it looks like your phone. No, it's not my phone. Junior owns one for the phone, no. I will go ahead and say that. So Junior has a selfie stick. Yes, he's got it. It's in his house in Key West. Just, just.

Because he called you out on Twitter And said it was a selfie stick He didn't look at it Close enough I guess But I bought it So I could When we went to Disney We went to Disney with my little girl

And I wanted to be able Take it on rides with her And see her Because she's a thrill seeker And I don't ride rollercoaches To go upside down And she's the type That hands are up straight up in the air

Scream and having fun And I'm sitting there like Just let me off this thing I'll be good when it's over But I bought it to record her reactions and stuff. So it doesn't hold your phone or a camera. It's for a GoPro.

I don't really, it's not really called a selfie stick. So you were doing panoramic views of the Grand Canyon with your GoPro? I took some video, yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, no, I'm glad you clarified that. I feel a little bit better now, actually. In his defense, Jr. was doing panoramic shots, obviously.

He did, because I ruined two or three of them. Yeah. They're pretty cool shots. Yeah. But obviously, you guys saw some pretty cool things. Had a fun time. Yeah, it was a fun trip. You know, obviously, that's the longest I've ever been, that I've been away from home from my little girls.

It's just the four of you? Yeah, and Tyler kept his girlfriend as well. So it was fun, you know, Sunday night, we went hung out, woke up with a headache Monday. It happens. Just, we just hung out, we hung out Monday and just kind of sat at a bar atop and just kind of watched people walk by and just hung out in the shade. It was beautiful weather, too. And Wednesday we hopped in the car and we drove to a couple little towns. We stopped, he got on some app that he has on his phone to find a couple little places eat lunch,

and we stopped in some little town outside Vegas, and that was where a woman told him he looked a lot like himself. You look a lot like Dale Jr. Yeah, that was interesting. That was funny he tweeted that. Yeah, that place was cool. But we stopped there, and then we went down this straight road that didn't have nothing. It's just weird looking.

You look off and, like, a mile off the road, there's like a bunch of trailers or Camber's, or something, a little community. I don't know what it is, but we drove to the Grand Canyon. We got there, and we went to the Hoover Dam first, then went to the Grand Canyon all the same day, and then went to a cool little town called Sedona. And that was a really neat town. I got a really comfortable pull-out couch in the living room. It was really cool, fireplace to myself.

Nice. Woke up in the morning, walked out of the deck, saw some little pigs, whatever they have, roaming around there called Havilinas. So that was interesting. Like wild boars? Yeah, they were like miniature wild boars and it's cool. You never know where he's going to go, do you? You just don't.

But I mean, I did actually. Really comfortable pull-out couch. The little things in life really matters to T.J. It was comfortable. It was a great room service, Caesar salad. It's a wild trip. Man, you went nuts. I wake up super early out there.

So this little place didn't have like any doors on it. So I woke up. I went in there like a four-year-old and woke them up. Like, guys, time to wake up. TJ, waking up, Jr. and Amy. I thought, I said, Amy, you got to wake up. There's pigs outside. You got to come look.

I got a video, too much. Well, put it on Twitter. Go for it. See how everybody reacts to that. All right, well, good adventures with TJ, Amy, and Jr. On the trip out west. Unfortunately, had a bad result. at the Phoenix, but going back out there this week, obviously,

and hoping for much better results. All right, before we get into reaction theater, let's take a moment to remind everyone how to get a pair of spy shades at a discount. Go online to spyoptic.com and check out Dale Jr.'s signature Spy 88 collection includes the Dirty Mode, McCoy, Quanta, General, and Farrow for the ladies. All styles include the Happy Lens technology. Once it check out enter discount code Daytona and receive 20% off of your purchase. Let's see what we got.

Oh, yeah. I'd like to start off by saying that wasn't worth a damn. I ain't never heard of nobody melting a bead on the right rear. Anyway, let's hope like hell we can get something going at California. I know they struggle there, but they got a whole lot better there the last few years. Also, not real big fan of Kevin Harvick, but the man can do a burnout. Anyway, I'll give you all a deal. Yeah, anyway, just for showing up.

Hashtag three beers. There you go. I will say, what is it, Couch Crew Chief? Couchy. Monday Couch Crew Chief. I like that. That's good. It's rare they do that. It is rare, but it's...

I would go with rare as opposed to... Yeah. Never. I mean, he must have a good notebook. Who's next? You know what fucking good year in their bullshit tired? I'm sick of this. The Jr. was going to have a good solid finish,

and Good Year decided to fuck it up. I'm sick of this shit. Anyways, hopefully Dale Jr. has a good finish next week at Auto Club, and hopefully we'll get the win. Again, it was a conspiracy, T.J. They were trying to help Harvick and hurt Jr. Good Year was. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, you know, Goodyear needs to stop hammering us with them tires. I can't stay in it anymore. I'm just kidding. It's not the Goodyear's fault. They got to produce so many tires. It's, you know, look at all the other cars that have a problem here and there. It just happens.

It's part of the sport. It's like a deflated ball in New England. We don't need to go to that controversy. Deflated balls. Here we go. Who's next? Well, damn. That sure would.

tough. I'm really, really, really pissed right now. You know, the car wasn't running too good, but they were planning the damn strategy to get us back up the damn field. I knew we were going to do it. I knew we were going to get a top ten, maybe in the top five, didn't have enough for them four cars. But I just have to say, this is all Jimmy Johnson's fault. You know,

he gives us all his good cars, Rick Hendrick, and gives him all the damn cars. I'm so pissed, freaking hashtag four beers. Well, I mean, blame JJ. I love it. When all else fails, blame JJ, and that's always works well. TJ.

Yeah. I mean, Jimmy will take responsibility for that. Yeah, Jimmy, come on, man. It's all your fault. So I've given us

the junk cars. Even though Jimmy's car wasn't going to be better. No. Yeah. Dang it, Jimmy. Jimmy, why did you do it? Just,

that's the way it goes, it seems. Mike's finally out of his meeting. Mike has made it and made it for caller number four of reaction TV. You're a little bit late.

He looks like you just got the playground. Just a little late. What I miss, fellas? Nothing. You missed up. Can you give me a quick recap? Yes, I can.

I can give you a recap. It's all Goodyear's fault. Okay. It's all Jimmy Johnson's fault. Of course. Couch Crew Chief. Yeah, we had a couch crew chief. Pavalinas.

T.J. woke up, Amy, and Jr. at 5 o'clock in the morning. Oh, it wasn't that early. Come on. There's little piggy's outside. Let's go see them. There was pigs outside. I know I had a great pull-out couch and Sedona.

Yep. All of us feel. Greg Ives did a very good job of damage control. It was stopped. It stunk that you couldn't get back on the track, but hey, when the extinguishers go out, that's what happens. So there's your recap. Thank you, fellas. Yeah, it's been pretty good.

All right. You can leave, I'm just none. Yeah, I can leave that. All right. Rest of Reaction Theater, here we go. Ah, shit. After cool it off and having a few beers and thinking about it, now I'm outside smoking a cigar. I come to the realization we did the same damn thing it takes us last year.

There's 43rd, and yet we still were a contender for the championship. I'm not too worried about this. I think Junior and Greg Isles are just starting to mesh, and this was a real opportunity for them to figure out how to fix the car when it does get into a wreck. Now, the fire, well, great balls and fire is half a bottle of Jack. Wow. Now, that's a lot of fun.

He threw in some Jack. I didn't have any beers or any Jack, and we came to the same exact conclusion. Yeah. It's like Texas last year. Forget it, move on. No big deal. I will say, though, Texas was kind of self-inflicted. Yeah, I was going to say.

When you run through the grass. Yeah. And you also destroy. And by the way, you want to blame someone. Junior destroyed Jimmy's Day in Texas last year. Well, he should have been in front of us. What are you doing behind us? You make your own look in racing, man.

I learned on Sunday there's a such thing as a better 43rd place finish than another 43rd place finish. But it still is fluky, is my point. And it didn't, I don't expect it to have a lingering effect. I don't. I know. That's the point. Yeah.

Okay. But this was a better 43rd place. This was probably the best 43rd place finish. I remember a junior's career. It could have been worse. I mean, we could have just ran 403rd straight up. That's what I'm saying, right? Yeah.

At least we had a reason. Who's next? Yeah, I could not believe how y'all run this race this time. Y'all, it was pitiful. Y'all got all that good equipment, and y'all could not do nothing on the restart. And Dale was trying so hard he sped down pit road. Way to go, Dale, you run really hard. But y'all, y'all would be ashamed of yourself with equipment you all have the way you all run.

But anyway, catch him next week, Dale. Go. So there you go. It's all Hendrick Motorsports's fault. Dale Jr. is just trying to help things out by speeding down pit road, even though he took full responsibility in his remarks at the beginning of this podcast. Yeah. I think we actually really did have a miscalculation for his pit road reading.

That pace car reading, just for all you couch crew chief's notes there, the pace car reading they give us the beginning of the race is not what we use. They give you a five miles an hour buffer. if you're going to run 45, then you're going to run 49, you're going to destroy me on pit road. So you have to push the envelope there, and we only have one way to do that.

That's math. You know, they've got to measure pit road and figure out do the math on it, how fast, what gear you got and all that stuff, and they got to do the math. Well, apparently, you know, we just missed it a little bit, and his tack was programmed wrong.

You know, it was just a little bit off, and we got busted for it, so it's all we can do. Yeah. Move on. Who's next? 5-1-5-0. Somebody called the pole. Rally back from that speeding ticket on pit road.

Came back was running pretty good, making way back to the front, and boom. Nationwide. I've got to be a call to the adjuster after that one. Get a dumb beat. Anyway, heads up. It's not over yet. Let's keep going forward. This is the year, Dale, yeah.

I like that. You've got to send that guy something, man. That's pretty cool. That's pretty strong. That's pretty strong. You got a five. You got a few. Through it some Dirks Bentley and a sponsor.

I'm going to tell you what, if we ever speak again, I'm not telling him he spent on purport. I'm just starting it at 5-1-50. Download some Dirks-Bentley, just put it up to your microphone there. Amanda, we can track that guy down, right? I think I can do it. Amanda can track anything. You know what we are going to send him? So you know why?

Because I'm going to sit, you know what I'm going to say? We're going to see that guy at Dirtymoor Radio Hat. Okay. All right. I will track him down. That's creative. Creative. I kind of got more of a question than a real reaction because the

race kind of sucked from where I was sitting. It just was another runaway. And the changes that NASCAR has made really seemed to me to not do anything. And I guess that's my question is what was the point of reducing horsepower and making changes when the car seemed to be going faster? And we have the same exact fall of the leader races. One car breaks out, he's gone. Can't catch him. All I can say is, I hope that car that breaks out and just crushes the field. And out in Cali is, Dale Jr. and that old number 88. A track Lake Phoenix,

they're trying to get the cars. To me, they're trying to slow them down a little bit in the corners more when we go to the fast place because they're going so fast. And if they get, they're, you know, taking down force away and taking the horsepower out to make them have to drive a little bit in the corner

and go slower at the same time. But you can't just, you can't just knock out, you know, hey, guys, we're racing without spoiler this year. You got to do a little bit at a time. And places like Phoenix are, it's a short track, but it's not really a short track. You know, it's pretty, it's big, and it's fresher repaved there,

and it's kind of, like I was telling you earlier, it's one groove kind of. And if you, without the ability to move around, the guy with the fastest car is going to be hard to beat. And, you know, a couple guys got out front in front of Harvick, but he was running back down. Like, the two car got way out there one time, and Harvick, you know, came from, like, fourth or fifth,

and just slowly, he had the car to beat all weekend. I was washing him in practice, and he was, he was fast, really fast. And, you know, I knew he was going to be the guy to beat, but, you know, everyone, you just hope you can unload and, you know, hopefully you have the speed to run with him. But, you know, the rolls package is going to be a work in progress. They're going to, it's going to take time.

But Phoenix is, it's going to be tough at a place like Phoenix. We're going to see more of a change at mile and a half, I think, before we'll see a big change at Phoenix. And, and by the way, the first three races I thought were very entertaining. Daytona was extraordinary. I thought Daytona was awesome. They didn't try the heck out of it. I think everybody needs to put all four races in perspective

before they all of a sudden fly off the handle. And you're right. I mean, anytime you change the rules, it's going to be a little bit of a transition. But I don't think this one's that drastic. Last one. Go, junior, go, junior, go, go, go. We're tired, going to keep our cool,

even though we're on fire. Fontana, maybe Martinsville. Gonna get that wins. I have a brew and chill. Another chips ain't down. Going to keep our composure because we got a strong team man, we ain't no folders, D&F.

Yeah, they suck our node, but Junior Nation still saying, go 88, go, Dale, yeah, no beers. It was pretty creative. The part about Martinsville and Fontana. Anything in that song rhyme? No, that's what I'm saying. Like, that's where I was just kind of like, I don't really know what we're trying to do here. Hey, DJ, all poetry doesn't have to rhyme, man. It's beautiful, even if it doesn't rhyme.

Rime. No, man, it's artistic. It's artistic. My coos don't rhyme, right? No, they don't. Can you spell that? We don't have that kind of time. All right, there you go.

That is Reaction Theater. Got Auto Club Speedway and Fontana and then Martinsville, then Texas, then Bristol. It's kind of crazy of Bristol later on the schedule this year, but that's the way things roll. Reaction Theater is open 24-7. All you have to do is call toll-free 1-855740-1902. Leave us your voicemail message. We'll play the best week each week right here on Dirty Mo Radio. Time now for It Takes the Nation, presented by Nation.

wide. All right. I'm really excited about the guests we have on Takes Nation because you know what? Just about an hour ago, I heard these loud shrills and girls just cooing and awing and all this stuff going on. I'm like, what's the commotion? And the commotion was that Gus, the Dale Jr's new dog, is here at the office. Now, I would have assumed right away that it was Renee Key, who was the one that just was

making the most commotion because let me tell you, Renee Key, she's our receptionist, but she's also, like, I don't know that anybody gives the dogs here. more love than Renee. You were basically Killers' Guardian because when Junior was out of the road so much. Is that true? That is very true. And so you're the receptionist, but you're also, a lot of people to visit Junior Motorsports here, they could often see you outside with Killer, playing with Killer.

You took that really hard as well, I know, the loss of killer. That was a sad day for a lot of people, and you were right there at the top of the list. Oh, it was gut-wrenching. Yes, it was. Dale Jr. brings a new dog up to the office today. He went right to you because on the way over here, Gus had an accident in Del Jr's Chevrolet. He had a little peepee. That's not all he had for what I heard.

That was in the office. Okay, well, he's, yeah, Gus is making his mark all over Moresville then. Junior comes into the office and he says, hey, Renee, you want to take this dog for a walk? And if it was anybody else, they would be like, you know, I'm working. But Renee, that's sort of what she lives for out here. Is that right? Yes, it is because they're so sweet. Now, what was your first impression to Gus?

He's adorable, but he's going to take a lot of work. Is he? Because he's a puppy? Yeah, he's 10 weeks old. What kind of dog is he? He's an Irish setter. Okay. Apparently, I came into the show late.

Gus was actually in the studio here. Amanda, everything clean? Did we have any accidents? We had no accidents. Thank goodness in here, but you could tell he was a puppy. He was into everything. Everything. What is your fascination with dogs?

Do you have any of your own or do you just keep dales? I used to have dogs on my own, but now I just keep dills. else because I don't need any of them own. Right. I have part-time dogs. Right. That's right. So you feel like you and Gus

going to be big friends? Sure. And do you think that Gus will be here at the shop? I mean, a lot of people used to come just to see Killer. It's going to take a long time to take Killer's place. Yeah. A long time. Yeah.

Killer was so laid back and he didn't care. Just take my picture. I don't care. Yeah. But you know Killer wasn't always that way. We were just talking about stories about Killer as a puppy. And I'm going to tell you something, Dale Jr. would go qualify. He would, you know, have him on the road.

And then we'd go qualify or go to practice. And we'd come back, and Dale Jr.'s motorhome would be torn to pieces. That was killer as a puppy. He outgrew that in a big way. Oh, he was very lazy, but he was the sweetest, kindest dog. You could do anything with him. He didn't care. But everybody sees the pictures, how we dressed him up, how we took him here, we took him there,

swimming. He was great. Do you think Dale's going to try to take Gus on the road, a good, bit or is he going to leave him here for a while? Hopefully he'll take him on the road for a while. Oh, really? Renee doesn't want the accidents in our house is the issue right now. Come bring Gus to Renee when you've got that dog train, right?

No, not really. Because he was great on the leash. He was wonderful. But he's puppy. He's 10 weeks old. I got you. Well, that's the talk of the company today. I'm telling you, not a lot of people working hard because Gus is what everybody's

talking about. So he's already made an impression. Gus has made the impression on everybody. Captain Augustus McCray. That's right. That's the full name. Did you know that, Amanda? Whoa.

Where did that come from? Longsome Dove. Renee, thank you for being on the Takes a Nation segment, and we just had to talk about dogs today. I'm sorry. Some weeks you're going to have that. Yes, and about six months, we'll talk about him again. That's right.

All right. So, folks, just remember Nationwide 88 on Facebook and Nationwide 88 on Twitter. That is your follow for all behind-the-scenes stuff. Dale Earnhardt Jr., and maybe even a little bit of Gus. Gus is probably going to find his way on those nationwide 88 social media channels. So follow them.

They've got it covered on the behind-the-scenes stuff, and don't forget the nationwide's always on your side. Coming up on Wednesday, we've got Ashley Stremie, wife of David Strimmy, stopping by to chat with Kelly on Fast Lane Family presented by Well of Professionals. Thursday, Regan Smith and Heath White are back with another episode of Junior Motorsports up front.

You can also keep up with all of Dale Jr.'s press conferences throughout the year on Said Jr., presented by Nationwide. And of course, don't forget about the Monday recap, presented by Spies Recap the full weekend for the Junior Motorsports Exfinity Truck and Late Model Teams as well as Dale's Sprint Cubs series run. I am a guarantee that California's going to be better in Phoenix.

Guarantee in it. I'm guaranteeing it, Amanda. I've got big stones to say something like that. I'm telling you. Oh, you know how deflated balls. Yeah. A lot of talk about deflated balls for some reason in the Patriots for out of nowhere on this podcast.

I'm guaranteeing it, Amanda, better finish in California. All right, put your Vegas bets down then I guess. I'm Taylor. All right. Mike Davis, it's so good to see you. Contribute. White flag. White flag right there, white flag.

Here is a look at Junior's calendar this week, plus anything that you need to know that will help you in your life. Ready? Yeah. Junior had a dentist appointment today. Okay. If you haven't gone to the dentist, you probably should schedule one too. I think I have to go like a week or two.

I'll refer to you to junior's dentist if you'll refer to me to my next employer. after I lose my job for telling you that you're just going to the day. White flag is sponsored by Dr. Yeah. If you're in the Charlotte area and you're serious about watching college basketball and finding reasons not to be at work, TJ. Whiskey River will be televising every single basketball game all day every day during March Madness. They've got great food, and so it's a perfect place for an important meeting.

Let me say this. I have great food. I have done live radio shows during the NCAA tournament at Whiskey River. You have? Yes, sir. I certainly have. J.R. Rhodes fixed me up there. It's a great spot.

I'm not kidding. I'm not making any money off this. Don't Rose. It is a great spot to watch the NCAA tournament. You know what? Then this white flag is sponsored by Whiskey Freaking River. I love it. It really is a good spot there in the epicenter.

And I will stop by there, but I'm going to go to the games actually this weekend. Get some food there. It's good. Whiskey River. Games are in Charlotte, by the way. That's right. Now for an important message. Be a good American citizen and do your sense.

taxes on time. Be a good supporter of Dale and Hart Jr. Do your taxes on time using Taxlayer.com. Unbelievable. Do your taxes with TaxLayer.com and if you're a new user, use discount code Dell Jr. 15 and get 20% off your classic federal return. Slay your taxes with Tax Slayer. On Wednesday, Jr. will be at Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville, promoting the upcoming Bristol race. You were just in Nashville. I just was. Did you go to the Wild Horse? I did not go there. I wish I would have. He'll be unveiling a special paint scheme for the April 19th Bristol race and it's rightly all.

Did you unveil an awesome paint scheme where you were there, Taylor? No, but they didn't unveil a new serious X-M studio in Bridge No arena. The car will probably be completely black as well. The walls will be black. It'll be dark. It'll be awesome to try to find. You just totally put out there that Dale Jr. is unveiling a black card. No, I said it will probably be black.

That's my guess. They always make it hard for me to see. Oh, all right. This was a T. I got it. Meanwhile, you know, Earnhardt fans all over the place. He's going to unveil a black card when it's not black. It's a rainbow.

All right, here we go. On Thursday, Dale will be doing some media about JRM's upcoming debut in the Camping World Truck Series with driver Cole Custer. So you know that race is the Kroger 250 at Martinville. It's on Saturday, March 28th. You excited about trucks? I know you're not spotting Cole Custer, T.J. I just want to see them. It's fun.

So are you going to spot any J.R. truck races or are you got your own truck guy? I've got a full-time truck deal. Okay. Also on Thursday, that means you're no friend of ours. Also on Thursday. Okay. Get TJ. Yeah.

Sorry. Junior will be meeting the winner Thursday of the most recent eBay Motors auction. Junior sold his 1999 Callaway Corvette. The gentleman will be in town to receive the keys. Meet Junior to take ownership of that new Corvette. On Friday, Junior in the number 88 nationwide team, we'll start preparing for Sunday's Cup race. And you know what, Taylor's ours are guaranteed that he will do better.

I feel so strong. Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 will bring you all the preliminary events, and then Fox will air Sunday's race. Check your local listing for. start times. You know there's no dog legs there, but there is some grass. Uh-oh, watch out. No, but I'm saying, I'm telling you.

Is that a dirty joke? No, he's just saying that they're not going to finish. It could be worse. Could have a Texas-type situation, but I'm telling you, it's not going to happen. Gentlemen, this is one of my favorite shows today. You were incredible. I thought I brought my ago. Your contribution was incredible.

You know what the best part is? I'm like a pitcher that comes in and throws one pitch and then they take them out. I strategically got to avoid talking about why we finished 43rd, and I came in right for the fun part. Thanks a lot. He came in, ran one wildcat playing left. Yeah, exactly. Left us to do the dirty work. I'm the field goal kicker.

Want to thank the pigs. Want to thank Gus. Want to thank Ms. Amanda. You belong above them, by the way. Thanks to DJ. Amanda McIreiber. Thanks to Dale Earnardt Jr. Thanks, Wolfie.

For all those people, okay, Mike Davis too. I'm Taylor Zarser. Thanks for listening to the Dale Jr. Download, presented by Spy. Thanks for listening to Dirty Moe Radio. Do you know who else? can make people happy. Yes, spy can make you happy with their happy lens.

Is that the right answer? Well, no. Dale Jr. can also make you happy with Spy. Right. Because his signature 88 collection has the happy lens. Imagine how happy you'll be if you have the happy lens and Dale Jr. just wins. And that way we don't even have to worry about being sad for a 43rd place finish. And we're that much happier because we already have the happy lens.

And we're in the signature 88 collection. Happy lens. That's like the ultimate scenario. Yeah. if you're a Dale Jr. fan. Yeah, exactly. It's not that just Dale Jr. wins. It's he wins and you're already happy.

Like you start out happy and you get to be happier because you have the happylands. Go pick yourself up a pair of. Do you know how happy that is, Amanda? Signature 88 collection on spyoptic.com and intercode Daytona. We're so happy. We're still using the same, the season opening race. We're so happy. We haven't even thought about changing the discount code.

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