The Dale Jr. Download - Celebrating 30 Years of The Brickyard With Jamie McMurray & Dale Jarrett

Episode Date: July 18, 2024

30 years ago, NASCAR ran the first Brickyard 400 at the storied Indianapolis Motor Speedway that featured the largest crowd to ever witness a NASCAR race. Today on DJD Reloaded, we relive iconic moments from one of NASCAR’s Crown Jewels with a pair of iconic drivers. Dale Jarrett, a 2-time Brickyard winner, and the man behind the tradition of “kissing the bricks” calls in to share his stories. Plus, Jamie McMurray, a driver who won the Brickyard in 2010 amidst a historical season gives us his favorite memories from racing on the oval at Indy. And we’ll even hear from IMS President, Doug Boles, on what this event means for the Speedway, and how this race has evolved since its inception in 1994.  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.

30 years ago, that's when NASCAR ran its first ever Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of the largest crowd in NASCAR history. And ever since that moment, really, it's created some pretty iconic moments in the sport. And today on DJD Reloaded, we're going to try to relive some of those iconic moments from the Crown Jewel race with two iconic drivers. We got Dale Jarrett, who is a two-time Brickyard 400 winner. And something you may not know, he's also the man responsible for inventing the true. tradition of kissing the brick. So we're definitely going to talk about that with him. We've also got Jamie McMurray who won this race back in 2010, a pretty historical season for him personally. And how about IMS president, Doug Bowles? He's going to join us today to talk about the

significance of this race. His return finally to the Oval and just how he's seen it evolve since its inception back in 1994. The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. Welcome into another episode of DJD. You just felt like, man, if I win this race, this is going to elevate not just sport, but me. I was standing at the gate at the Brickyard 400 when he showed it without a mustache. Literally a woman fell to her knees and started screaming and crying. No, Dale! No, Dale! No! All right, so this is DJD Reloaded.

I'm your host, Carla Gepphardt. I'm joined now by Dale Jarrett and Jamie McMurray. and we are talking about the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400. So much excitement around this weekend to finally be returning to the Oval. Guys, they say the absence makes the heart grow fonder. It's only been since 2020 when we haven't seen the Oval ran. It was kind of a weird year, the COVID year. Kevin Harvick was the last winner at the Oval for this one.

But let's talk about the excitement, the lure of this. Jamie, a lot of people are ready to see this weekend. Oh, I mean, I would say all the, all the, of the drivers would want that. And when we went to the road course there, there was this time in NASCAR when we didn't have a lot of road courses and the ones that we had were spectacular. And all of a sudden, everybody, that's what they wanted everywhere. Indy historically had not been, it just hadn't been a great race. It had been somewhat single file. And so the idea of, I think, going to the road course seemed like a good idea. I would tell you that, and I don't think anyone will

argue with me on this, the Indy Roadcourse, it's not a very good, it's not a very good road course either. So, I mean, I would, I mean, I think everyone is, is pumped about getting back to the Oval. Also, the significance of winning on the Oval versus the road course at that track, it's a big difference. And it's not to take away from, from the guys that have won on the road course over the last few years, but I can assure you they would all trade in to be able to win on the Oval versus the road course. And of course, you won back in 2010. Dale, you won twice in 96 and 99. And this was back when, you know, we were just kind of getting going on the

Brickyard 400, right? That tradition had not necessarily been established. Take us back in time a little bit to that first running in 94. How big of a deal this was for really just the rest of the field and for you personally. Yeah, it was just incredible. You know, the opportunity to, when this talk started that we may go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and actually race stop cars. You know, the majority of us never thought that we would be getting an opportunity to race

on the most famous Speedway in the world because most of us weren't driving indie cars and didn't have any aspirations to do that. So when this came about, I mean, it was just incredible the amount of attention that it got. But I'm going to fast forward to the start of the race in 1994 as to how different all of a sudden everything looked with this facility being packed full of people. As we took the green flag and drove off into turn one, you had to catch yourself not to be paying attention to how different it looked because what we had been seeing in the test during practice, and qualifying was nothing like what this looked like as we went down into turn one. So trying to find your marks and not be paying attention to all the fans that were there was incredibly difficult at that time. But everything that went into making it happen, getting there qualifying, and I had to qualify on time in 94 because we weren't having a very good year.

And that was the most stressful qualifying session. I never had like a time of life. You know, we did not want to go there and miss the very first one. Fortunately, we qualified. I qualified well. And, you know, once the race started and we got into it, it was just an incredible event. Unfortunately, I got swept up in the Bodine family misunderstanding. And didn't get to finish that race.

But fortunately, things got a lot better from there. But it's hard to believe that's been 30 years ago. I know you look at me. and see my white hair and you can tell it has been a long time. But it was just an incredible event and one that we look forward to each and every year. And what Jamie just said about, you know, racing on the road course, I understood, you know, trying something different. Some of the races hadn't been the best through the years.

But being back, this is something that I've been, and Roger Pinsky didn't change this because of me being in his ear, but I'm pretty sure he's glad that it. won't be seeing me and having this conversation anymore because it is a difference, in my opinion. You know, when the F1 race there, you know, that's what they do. They run on those type of courses. And it, you know, works out well for indie cars, but it's just not made for stock cars. We need our drivers celebrating winning races on the Oval. Man, I love that. I love the story of just the picturing that crowd, right?

I was too young, very young at that moment in 94. But to picture that, that gives me a little bit of chills. By the time you had won it, though, Jamie, in 2010, this was an established tradition. This was something that drivers really wanted. Oh, well, yeah, and Dale will agree with me on this. This was one of the races that, you know, Daytona, you have to be, you have to be a little bit lucky to win at Daytona. You have to make good decisions. You have to have the people around you. You make decisions that don't hurt you or that maybe help you.

And you have to have a good weekend. But Indy was one of those races. it was in the middle of the year, and you would start building a car just for Indy. It was, you know, it was the Indy car, and you would take everything that you had learned all year long, and it was obviously about building a lightweight car, all the arrow pieces that you had learned all year long. And when you would get to Indy, it was so much fun to walk through the garage and to be able to see, like, what everyone was trying to get through tech, what they were able to get

through tech. It was just, it was so special. The engine guys, but all, you would save up the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, pieces and everything that they had learned on the engine side, you would bring that, that special engine to Indy. And at the, you know, you don't see engines blow up anymore, but there was a time when, when you got to Indy, they're like, it might make it, it might not. It's going to have really good power, but we might not make it to the end.

And, and that was fun. I mean, it was a, it was a different type of racing than what we have today. But it was, it was so special to see all the, the special cars that everyone would bring to Indy, the engines. and for me driving for Chip Gannasi, it was really special going to that track because Chip had already won the Indy 500. He had a team that was based there. I don't want to say that we put more effort into that, but there was more pressure on

the Penske and Gannasi cars when we got to Indy because of the success that our car owners had had there in the past. And when I see footage of me coming to the checker flag winning there, One of my favorite views is the emotion of Chip on the pit box. And he's actually on there with Johnny Morris from Bass Pro Shops. And they're kind of having this little moment. And I'm like, it's just, it was really satisfying to be able to give him that memory. Do you remember that much creativity, Dale, early on?

Yes. You know, the thing is, is I look back at this and think about how much time we spent, we spent three days testing there. And I mean, it was two and possibly three cars that you took to this racetrack. And, you know, it was about, as James pointed out, it was about speed. And that's, you know, when I started driving for Robert Yates in 95, there were two tracks, literally three tracks because Talibaga fit into there. But, you know, their purpose was they wanted to win practice and the race at Daytona. They wanted to do the same whenever we showed up at Indy because you have two long shredsways.

Obviously, horsepower makes a big difference. You know, I'll venture to say that that's the reason I had two of the trophies does because of that horsepower. You do have to figure out how to get it through the corners, which are very tight. And, you know, we spent a lot of time. You know, not only did we spend time at the racetrack. And back then we could, we had the, you know, it's, I realized that. that they have a lot of information now. But it was kind of the first time we were able to see what other people were doing,

where we were getting beat because of the loops and the data that we were able to access from Indianapolis and their timing and scoring system. And this was something that we weren't privy to anywhere else that we went. So it really helped to see when we would make a change, how it affected me as a driver, how it affected the car. And so it was just fascinating to me as we started into this kind of, a new era of knowing more about, you know, what was taking place. And there were many things that I learned.

You know, you get on a day of testing, and the wind is blowing 30 miles an hour on the back straight away, and it's dead into you. You know, you couldn't really get a good barometer of making changes and what you would do. So I started doing some things and trying some things just in case we encountered something like that that would help me. And so I learned some things about where I needed to be positioned against the wall, how far away I wanted. Literally, it showed me that, you know, as we tried to stay away from the wall the majority of the time and not pack air against our car to slow us down, in the wind, I actually went faster by getting as close to the wall on the straightway as I possibly could. And it was just fascinating the things that we would see and learn there.

And then I just, you know, once I got at Robert E.A.'s racing, we finished third. in 95 with the 28 car there to Del Earnhardt Senior and Rusty Wallace. We had a fantastic race. That was an interesting race because it looked like it was going to get rained out and we literally got called to our cars. We as drivers were running to our race cars because we were up against darkness and, you know, they kept telling us we, you know, probably not going to happen, but be ready. and we were running to our cars to get in and then ended up having a fantastic race. So just so many great memories through the years of getting acclimated and the things that you could learn at this famous Speedway. I think it's really interesting.

He brings up something I had totally forgotten about. You're spoiled today because we hear all the drivers and teams talk about SMT data, and you can see lap for lap, like where you're getting beat or where you're beating someone. But what he was talking about is that Indy had all of these timing loops, and it would be the entry to turn one, the exit of turn one, the entry of turn two, all the way around the racetrack. And you could actually go over and get a printout and see what your times were through these different timing loops. And you could reference it versus other cars. And when he said that, I remember my first year going there thinking that I, and I don't remember the exact corners,

but thinking I was really good in turn one and really bad in turn three. And then when you go look at the data, you're like, oh, actually, it's the opposite. that I'm where I think I'm good, I'm struggling, and where I thought I was good, or where I thought I was weak, I'm actually better than most of the guys. But it was such a different time and that, gosh, I totally forgot about going over and getting these sheets and being able to see that. And it's crazy how spoiled they are now. That had to be pretty eye-opening. Yeah, it was just different. And Indy was the only place you could do that. It was the only place that had that where you could actually see those different timing loops around the track.

Wow. Let's talk a little bit more about the wins. And Del will start with. you, 96 and 99, like we've already mentioned, were one of those more special than the other? Were they different for you? Yes, I'll say they were different in the way that 1996 was a year that it was started the second team and car at Robert Yates Racing as Ernie Irvin came back to be full-time. And so Todd Parrott was brought in as my crew chief. Todd had never been a crew chief in the Cup series. He'd been around it all his life, just like having his brother, Brad, there.

And then his dad, of course, buddy was around the sport for, gosh, seemed like 100 years. And just, you know, they were, you know, entrenched into the sport. So Todd got this opportunity to be crew chief. And our year started out pretty well with a brand new team. And, you know, we were kind of scrambling to get. cars, our race cars that we took to the track were always our best equipment that we had. Our backup cars, you know, we were just putting something together, hoping I didn't do something stupid crash and have to go to that because those things might have been five, six, seven

years old at the time as we were trying to get this second team built. And it actually was at Indianapolis in 1995, the year prior, that going to a Texaco-Havalin dinner that Robert Yates said, look, I'm getting a lot of pressure from Ford Motor Company about starting this second team. He said, I'm not a believer in it. He said, just like I've told you forever, weird, you know, when they make Victor Lane big enough for two cars and two teams, then that's whenever I'll have a second team. But somebody's always going to be mad because even if he finished first and second. Well, we started this team.

We go win the Daytona 5. We won the Bush Flash in 96. Then we turn around and win the Daytona 500 the next week. So Todd and I, you know, had some success. We go on and win some other races. We actually won the Coke 600. So we were pretty full of ourselves that, you know, we could, we were battling for a championship. And, you know, we seemed to be able to win some pretty big races.

And we were, we had a great test. and we were going over, we were at Michigan before Indy, and our car was not good there. And we literally were up at midnight trying to figure out how to make Michigan work. And we were looking at notes from our Indy test. And that's kind of where we came up with the idea that we were going to do something different. It wasn't if we won Indy that these two hockey guys were like when we win Indy. And so we, you know, went there with a fast.

race car. I messed up qualifying completely and we were able to rebound from that. And, you know, I had to race my teammate Ernie Irvin. And, you know, Jamie can attest to this, you know, when you're racing a teammate who has basically the same equipment, or, you know, if you're just in an alliance with a team and you know that, you know, they have everything that you have or maybe a little bit more, it makes it more difficult. So it's the lap for winding down. You know, I was pressuring Ernie all that I could. And finally, he overdrove getting into turn one just a little bit. And, you know, I was able to take advantage and get that. And the victory celebration was unlike any other. I mean, you know, that, you know, Jimmy and I are fortunate to be a part of a club that

I think there's only three of us that won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season. And, you know, to think of all the racing and everything that it takes to win, you're sports two biggest events in the same year. It's just incredible. And, you know, we had a great celebration. Todd and I talked about what we might do if we won. It was a back and forth and something that nobody else knew anything about. And I literally, I'll be honest, with the victory lane that we had then, you drove up on it still, but it raised up and it actually rotated around. And it was just an incredible feeling. And I was enjoying that. so much, I kind of forgot our plan and then taught, as it was reminded me as we were kind of doing

the hat dance in that victory lane, that we had some unfinished business. So we had told no one, Robert Yates, Doug Yates, no one knew what our plan was. And so we had them to lower it down where we could go out to the start finish line. And we got there. Nobody had any idea. We just knew that we wanted to do something special. The one thing there was left there from the original track and that was the yard of bricks. And so we kind of made our little plan together and we told everybody to turn their hat backwards, get on their knees. You know, we don't, we didn't have anything to bend down on, put our knees on. We didn't care. You know, it was very imprompt to and, and the, it was so funny as I look back now, the photographers and everyone was scrambling to try to figure out

what the hell we were doing and where we were going and what might take place for this. And so we got everybody there and got on our knees to put our hats backwards and kissed the bricks. And no idea that a tradition was going to be started from that day from two guys that were just a little bit too full of themselves. But we were able to back up some of that. Where did it come from, though? You said you mentioned the plan. Like, how did you come up with kissing the bricks? So the plan started that very night in Michigan. Todd actually brought it up. He said, look, when we win, we have to do something different. You know, you know, we knew that the ND-500 win or drank milk and, you know, we weren't going to do

anything like that. And nothing had really been done in the two first years of it. And so, you know, we started talking about opportunities that's to what we were going to do. And so this is finally, we're getting close to one o'clock. And we, you know, Todd's got to get up to get the car through inspection at Michigan. And this was Saturday night before the race at Michigan. And we said we finally settled in. And I will give Todd Tread that. He said, look, we have to do something around the yard of bricks. And so that's kind of where we left it that particular night.

We said, look, we've got to get some rest here. And we're going to leave it at that. So our discussions continued in the weeks to come. And we settled in on, you know, the yard of bricks. We were going to do something there. And so we both kind of had an idea that we have to do something. special here. And we literally, this was almost simultaneously that as we're looking at each other when we finally made our decision, it was like, I don't know that the words came out completely

together, but it was that we were going to kiss the bricks. And that's what we decided on. And again, we didn't tell anyone. So this is just, you know, it was totally, we had talked about a number of different things as to what we were going to do at the bricks and how we might celebrate this opportunity. But I think we settled on the right thing, fortunately. What a great. What a great story. I wish you would have went to me first because I feel like now it's like going after Dale Jr. at driver intros. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be hard to talk to. And I would also say that every winter since then that has carried on the tradition is thankful that he and Todd didn't get together and say we should streak. Yeah. Yeah.

Because that wouldn't be doing it. That wouldn't have been popular, I don't think, no. It has to make you feel special, though, Dale, to see that tradition still live on and even be adopted by other series, too. Yeah, it's just incredible to think that every winter since that point, no matter where they raced, if it was on the Oval or if it happened to be the road course, you know, they've gone to the yard of bricks. and, you know, it's a very well- orchestrated deal now, but to see it's just incredible to think back, because all we wanted to do is celebrate, you know, our opportunity to race there and celebrate what Indianapolis Motor Speedway is. And that's the greatest oval and racing facility in the world. And it's the most well-known.

And, you know, just for us in stock cars and NASCAR racing to be able to go there to give everyone something. now something to kind of shoot for and look forward to. Yeah, you want the trophy. That's something you'll always have. But there's nothing like those pictures that you get from kissing the bricks. And, you know, something else. And I don't know if they still do this tradition, but at that time, I know one of the great things, too, was so Todd Parrott and myself, they would take you around the track after everything was done. So it was in a convertible, and I think it was a Camaro that was the pace car at that time. Matter of fact, I know it was because I had the two from when I won. And so they took us around and our wives went with us. And it seemed like there hadn't a fan left,

especially in 96. This place was still so packed. And you just hear everyone cheering. I'm sure there were some booing, but you could hear the ones cheering much louder. So that was great. And it's just an incredible feeling to go around there two and a half miles at a slow rate speed, just taking everything in. And it was just an incredible place to be. And, you know, 99 was completely different to me. I was in the battle for a championship. And I did know that, you know, that was a race that it seemed like champions of our sport

had won in the same year a couple of times that they went on to win championships. And so we were in that position in 99. And we actually had a car in 99. that sat for a year from 1998. And I'll try to make this story quick. But 98, we had the most dominant race bar I ever drove in my life. And we were, I think it's somewhere 12, 14 seconds up on the field around halfway of the race. And we were trying to, well, I'll say we, I was driving the car, and we were a great car.

And a decision was made to win the $10,000 halfway award. So that was lap 80. And, yeah, I wasn't figuring fuel mods. I didn't. I knew we were going to be close. But we, as I came off a turn four to get to the start, finish line, complete lap 80, I ran out of gas. And so I lost four laps by the time I coached two and a half miles around this

before I could get back. We took that car. And, of course, then the lead lap cars lined up on the outside. You had the lap down cars on the inside. Through all of that and people realizing I had a fast car, I was able to line up on the inside road pretty much every time, especially after I made up my first lap. Anyway, we made up all four laps.

Go on finish. I think we ended up just outside the top 10. But it was just the fastest car. We took that car back. and it sat for one year until we went back to the test and we didn't dare race it anywhere else. And we took it back there in 99 and won the race with it then. The running out of gas thing was difficult. I was not very good with the media after that.

Matter of fact, I didn't want to talk to the media because once I finally did that, I told them, I said, look, you know, I can drive this thing, but I can't drive it and figure fuel mileage too. So I was not happy with Todd at the time. Quick story at the end of that, they called me on money because we used to race on Saturday then. And they called me on Monday morning one of my crew guys did and said he just thought that you might get a little kick out of a funny story that happened. Todd Parrott called in that morning that he needed somebody to come getting. He literally ran out of gas driving to work on Monday morning. That wasn't a good weekend. Didn't get us a trophy back, but it was a funny story.

So you've had a little longer. It's time to follow up with your 2010 winning story. Yeah, so I want to back up to 2003, which would be my first year there. We had done a test, and at the test, had the best car, came back for the race, and had what I would consider the dominant car in 2003, leading with, I don't know, maybe 20 laps to go. and at that time, and Dale just referenced this, there was a caution that came out, and the lap down cars lined up on the inside, which wasn't a big deal, but the tail end of the lead lap cars, for some reason, would line up in front of the leaders on the outside row. And so I lined up, I think, I was the leader at the time, lined up third or fourth, and I believe it was Dave Blaney in front of me, didn't get a good restart. I got stacked up, and Harvick and Matt Kinseth ended up getting by me. I was able to, to chase Matt down, not able to pass him. And I finished third that year, and Harvick went on to win.

Every year after that, you come really close to win, and you get back to Indy, and not that you feel like a track owes you a win, but you're like, man, we were really close and knowing how big of a race that is. And also driving for Ganesi, as I mentioned, it was really important to our team, you know, to be able to win there. Fast forward ahead to 2010. It's my first year back. with Ghanasi. Montoya is my teammate, and I think the two previous years, he maybe had sat on the

pole and had the dominant car, and whether it was issues in the race, or I don't remember what the circumstances were. He wasn't able to win. We get to 2010, and Montoya is on the pole. I qualified fourth that day. And what I remember about the weekend or about the race is, I don't know, there's maybe, maybe 20 laps to go in the race, 30 laps to go. I was running third or fourth. Montoya's leading. And I'm like, if we don't get a caution, like, he's going to win this race. And there's kind of mixed emotions going, going through your head because I'd won the Daytona 500 earlier that year.

But I really wanted to win an indie. And selfishly, I wanted to win here. I wanted to win here. I didn't want my teammate to win this race. I wanted to be the guy to give that to Chip Ganassi. a caution comes out and we made a decision coming on pit road to put two tires on montoya put four tires on and it got me out front and and that was ultimately the decision that that was able to win me the race but in those closing laps kevin harvick who had won the 2003 race passed me and and i

remember thinking i can't believe the same guy is going to take this race away from me twice fortunately a caution came out and I was able to beat Kevin on a restart and get a win and and for me when when I think back to Indy it's such a big track and and Dale referenced riding around the track in this convertible car and going slow but even in a race car at a high speed the straightaways are really long and and I can I have very few memories that I can still see in my head but the memory of coming off of turn two after I'd taken the white flag and you have this mile long straight away, I remember I had enough of a gap that I'm like, I don't even have to try very hard. I'm like,

I'm going to win at Indy. And I'm like, I want to savor like every second of this. And I remember like looking on both sides of the track and seeing the fans and just kind of taking everything in. And then the moment of coming off turn four and the guy waving the checkered flag was already waving it. Like as soon as I came off turn four, I could see that. And it was just, it was just such a surreal moment, you know, to be able to win there and, and to get to just, you know, as a kid, you, I always wanted to race a NASCAR and it was always the Daytona 500. But once Indy became one of those races, and I hope that Dale and I have been able to express to everyone listening how important that race is. and all of the testing that went into it. And he talked about taking three cars there.

Everybody did that. Everybody, you only had so many tests a year you could use. Every team went to Indy because of how important it was. And every team built special cars for Indy because of how important it was. And so to be able to win that, you know, it's just, it's one of the, my favorite racing memories ever. and of any photo that I've ever had taken in racing, for me, it's kneeling down in front of the bricks. And that's a special photo because of the track it's at. But for our family, it was also special because my wife, Christy, was pregnant with our son.

And when I say pregnant, she was really pregnant. And so we have this incredible picture in our house of our son Carter, you know, in her belly. And it was just like I still look back of that. And I'm like, it's just one of my favorite memories ever in racing. I love that. And the waiting that you did have to do from 2003 to 2010. Just incredible. Thank you all so much for sharing those stories.

And we're going to talk more about memories. I know you're going to rejoin us here in a second. We've talked about these memorable wins. But we're going to talk about the significance of this event, the significance of the track with IMS president, Doug Bowles. So let's go ahead and welcome in Doug Bowles now. He is the IMS president and has held that title since 2013. Doug, I know you've also held a lot of different roles for Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well. But we've been talking about just kind of the buildup for this weekend, right?

Going back to the Oval for the Brickyard 400 for the NASCAR Cup series, it's a big deal. A lot of people are excited. I have to imagine that you are also excited and that the track is ready to welcome NASCAR this weekend. Yeah, you know, we are really excited to get back to the Oval. We had the three years where we were on the road course, which was a lot of fun and a good experience. It was also pretty neat to see the old generation cup cars and the new cup cars on our road course, especially last year was neat to see those cars. But, no, it started on the Oval.

The Oval is the thing that we're known for, started racing on it in August of 1909, so 115 years ago. So to get NASCAR back on the Oval is a pretty big deal. We're hearing it from our fans. I'm really surprised at how much energy we have. around the Oval and getting back to it. Because as you know, when we switched to the road course, we were in a series or a little bit of a slump in terms of just people not feeling like the race was competitive and we needed to change. So I think it was appropriate to move to the road course for a while. But it's absolutely, especially on the 30th anniversary, to get back to the Oval.

But why go back? I mean, obviously it took a lot of decisions to make it the road course and then to kind of realize that was it because fans were kind of calling for this, even some of the drivers? Or like what was behind that decision? Well, certainly we had some drivers calling for it. I mean, we had, you know, Kevin Harvick was really outspoken about it. Kyle Bush, you know, I had a lot of those drivers who really believe that it should be on the Oval. And I think, you know, I don't know that we had a huge, huge calling from our fans, but when we made the announcement to go back, you certainly heard from our fans that were excited that we went back.

You know, when we moved to the road course, we knew that at some point in time we would likely go back to the Oval, may even still someday go back to the road course and rotate. We haven't made a final decision on that. We wanted to give the road course some time to see. see how it was going to be. So you needed more than one race. And then when we knew we were going to have a second, we thought, you know, the right time to go back to the Oval is the 30th anniversary to celebrate to, you know, 1994 and NASCAR coming to Indianapolis and how it's been here. So I think this is the right timing to go back to the Oval. We haven't officially announced it yet, but the plan is

to be on the Oval again next year for 2025. And then we'll see what it looks like after that. I know, you know, you probably like both, but do you personally have a preference for the Oval or the road course? Yeah, I mean, when you grow up in Indianapolis and you grow up kind of loving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you know, it's hard not to love the Oval. And it's what we're known for. And it's what made NASCAR so special when they came here in 1994. Nobody's been on the Oval except for Indycars in our history. And then to have NASCAR come here in 1994 in August, it was a really big deal to have them on the Oval.

And so going on the Oval is important for our history. But yeah, if you love this place, it's hard to, it's hard to like anything. anything more than the Oval and watching the cars go counterclockwise and then end up crossing the yard of bricks right there on the on the on the main straightaway just because I'm interested I know this process is a lot for Charlotte Motor Speedway you know when when they have the Coca-Cola 600 and the Roval the same could be said for for the Indy road course but what what goes into not only the decision but the preparation to go from the road course back to the Oval is is there a lot of prep work within that? Yeah, there is a lot of prep work in terms of the walls and pit in, pit out. You're going

opposite direction with pit lane. So that's completely different when you go through that. It's funny, for a track that's known for its oval, most of our 140 days of on-track activity that we have here during the year are on the road course. So really, with the exception of May and the Indy 500 and then testing for that and Brickyard 400 weekend and testing for the Brickyard 400, we're in road course configuration. And that takes, you know, somewhere around. a day or a day and a half to completely flip the racetrack to get it ready for, to get it ready for being on the oval. But it's something really special when you get the track put in oval configuration with the

walls and the fencing moved and all the timing lines and everything sorted out the right way. So we're excited to be in what is our natural state, which is the state of the oval. What did you think about all the testing with the next gen car? This is going to be something new. Jamie, I'm sure you're pretty excited to see how this next gen responds to the track. but what were those tests like and what do you think we should expect this weekend? I wish I knew, right? The testing was great.

We started testing here last year almost immediately after we finished up the NASCAR weekend year. I think this was Wednesday afterwards. We had three cars here testing. One of them was Chase Briscoe Hoosier drives for Tony Stewart. He's never got a chance to compete in a cup car in the Oval. I know he's maybe looking forward to it as much as anybody. So I was at a lot of great interaction with those drivers as they were here trying to understand.

And that first test, I think they were just trying to learn because those cars had never been on the track before. We've had several tests since then. You know, I think that kind of is mixed in terms of what I'm hearing from drivers. Some think it's going to race really, really well. Others think it's going to race better, but maybe not really, really well, which you might expect in the first year, right? As we start to understand how these cars are going to operate here and then working with NASCAR and maybe make the competition a little better as we go forward, I'm hoping with the cooler temperatures that might help us in terms of widening what's already a narrow track so that drivers have an opportunity. maybe run too wide in some of our corners.

Certainly on the restarts, I think they can do that in the start. So it's just, we're going to remain to be seen. But I'm excited about it. We've got camping in the infield we've never had before. So we'll have a different element of fan feel here. I just think it's going to be, I think it's going to be fun. And the one thing we don't know is exactly how it's going to race, and we'll find that out on Sunday.

What do you think about that, Jamie, with the next-gen car? Yeah, I would tell you that, you know, traditionally, we used to always go to Pocono and then head to Indy. and typically they race fairly similar. The next gen car, obviously, the draft is quite a bit better than what we had in the previous gen car. But Indy is, it's such a special place. And I would just like to mention that Doug actually has reached out to me the last couple of years,

the only promoter track president that I get an email from each year asking if I'm going to come to the event. And, you know, what do you need? And so he's done an incredible job with that track. as I listened to him talk just now about coming back to the Oval, Indies are really special place, but the Oval is a whole different level. And he talked about the fact that we went and did the road course there years ago because there was a time, if you go back to that, that everyone wanted more road courses.

And that time has passed. And I would tell you that getting back to the Oval is where they need to be. And there's really, you know, from a driver's perspective, the Daytona 500, is always going to be the most special event in NASCAR, but Indy is the next one in line. And things always evolved, Doug. I know a lot of people don't necessarily like change, but you have to probably be proud of IMS for kind of maybe doing what Jamie said, changing with the times, and then realizing the moment and when that moment is to go back.

Yeah, you know, I think NASCAR has done a good job at that too, right? I mean, you think about all of the cool things that the NASCAR leadership has been able to do over the last several years just trying stuff, right? So trying to go to a stadium in California to run NASCAR cars or going to the streets of Chicago. I mean, we're at a time where I think as leaders in our sports, we have to try those things and have to see if we can make the racing better and make the fan experience better, maybe first and foremost.

And going to the road course for us was a way to do that. And I think it was helpful. I think our folks had a lot of fun. But I can tell you right now, so our ticket sales are not going to be anywhere like they were when we first started. in terms of attendance here. But the good news is our ticket sales today are better than every year all the way back to 2017. And really, starting in 2002, we had a decline and we had our tire issue in 2008,

had a massive falloff in terms of attendance long before I was ever here. But when you look back at those numbers, but we have never really had a year-over-year increase since 2002. That tells you really how the racing product, the fact that there were more racetracks as the Midwest got, Kansas and Iowa and all these Kentucky at one point in time. It was easier to go see a NASCAR race and maybe it was in 1994 if you lived in the Midwest. So we had to think about how do we differentiate ourselves to do that. But going back to the Oval, our ticket sales right now are better than every year all the way back to 2017.

And we have a chance of actually having more people here this weekend on Sunday than we had in 2017. And that tells me our fans are ready for the Oval. They know the history. Our fans love NASCAR right now. The racing's been great. The programming has been great. The television has been great over the last. couple years. It can always get better, right? But I think the momentum is certainly there. And

I'm looking forward to seeing we're going to have, I'm guessing, close to 70,000 people here at the Indianapolis Merritt Speedway on Sunday. And that's a huge NFL crowd, right? I mean, it's a big deal to get that many people to come to a race. And I'm hoping this is the foundation. If the racing ends up being good, I think that means next year we'll just end up continuing to build on that. So I want to get the Brickyard 400. Roger wants to get the Brickguard 400 back to over 100,000 people here if we can in the next few years. I love that and I know fans are going to love that. You mentioned the infield camping.

Is there anything else that fans can expect that might be a little different this weekend? No, I mean, I think that's the biggest thing in the last year or so. There's a lot of new video boards around. We've invested a lot in our concession stands and restrooms and the thing since Rogers purchased the Indianapolis Marys Speedways been really almost completely focused on customer experience. What can we do to make the customer experience better? And one of the things that we've done for the last several years and continue to do, if you've got somebody 15 and under, they're free.

Not just on a practice day or qualifying day, but on race day. So we're trying to do everything we can to engage families because we all want those young kids, right? We want the young kids early to fall in love with the sports so that as they get older, they continue to follow it. So that's one of the things. I still think as many years as we've done it, people don't realize the 15 and under free. You can show up here on a race day and an adult. One adult buy a ticket.

As many 15-year-olds are under that you can put in your car, you can bring in. Yeah, that's awesome. Some of the fans should certainly keep in mind going into. the weekend. Since you are a track president and we haven't had one on on at least DJD reloaded, I kind of want to get your opinion back to the racing product, right? Because it doesn't matter if you're at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, if you're on a short track. There are always opinions out there from drivers and fans about the racing product. You've seen the next gen car. I'm just kind of wondering from your perspective because I know we've kind of heard some of the fans say that they think

maybe the racing on Sunday will be a one one lane race that we usually see, which is not surprising. But, you know, everybody out there is an expert or they want to have a difference in the racing product that they see. So what do you think would make a difference just from your viewpoint? Well, I'd certainly love to see it. I'd certainly love to see the opportunity for those, you know, for drivers to be able to move forward. And one of the challenges in our place is it's narrow, it's flat, it's long straightaways with these long flat corners that are that are narrow as well. So it is challenging. And Jamie knows this as a winner of the Brickyard 400.

When you win this race, it's because you have an amazing setup, your team's done all the preparation, your driver is just on edge throughout it. It really benefits or it really lifts up those people that can do everything sort of perfectly. And there's something kind of cool about that, that it's a technical track. And it does take you have to qualify well. You need to think through your pit stops. You can't mess up because if you get relegated further back, it's harder. But you do want an opportunity for drivers to get up and make some passes.

So I'm hoping that that's the case. I think a little bit of that certainly makes the racing better. But if you look back in our history, with the exception of, and Jamie maybe being one of them, with the exception of three or four drivers, when they win the Brickyard 400, they typically have been or are champions that year. Ricky Rudd was second, I think, was one of the drivers that maybe finished second in the championship. Brian Newman was second in championship. But for the most part, it really benefits those teams that have figured out how to how to really make their cars work through the

long haul and certainly here at the Speedway. So does it make it mean more? Well, I would, yeah, I mean, I would say exactly what he did. It's one of the hardest tracks to win at because you can't really have a mistake throughout the day. He mentioned you need to qualify well. There's, there's typically always an issue on a restart. It's normally at the front of the pack because everyone knows how important restarts are there. There's normally an issue on pit road. Even though the pit stalls are really long, it's a really narrow pit road. It doesn't matter whether it's the Brickyard 400 or the Indy 500. We see issues on pit road there. And also similar to what you saw at Pocono last weekend, there's a little bit of strategy that comes into play.

Normally, tires are more important at Indy than what we saw or have seen in the past at Pocono since the repave. But you have to put together the perfect day. And just because you put together the perfect day, it still doesn't guarantee success. So that is, And the other thing that's unique about Indy and what makes it so special besides the history of that racetrack is that unlike a lot of the tracks like maybe a Charlotte or Daytona, you only get one shot a year. And until recently, you know, we've been on the road course. We haven't even had a chance at the Oval. So that is all those things together make it hard to win there. And it's what makes it so special to win there.

Yeah. So a good reminder. Yeah. Go ahead, Doug. I was going to say Jamie brings up the pit road thing. Our pit road is narrow. so that's another challenge. In fact, in 2020, which when we kind of split things,

we had Xfinity and IndyCar on the road course, and then we converted overnight and got Cup on the Oval. We had a pit lane incident entering pit lane. So it is a challenge, right? So it does. There are so many little variables that you just kind of have to get right throughout the whole day in order to make sure you have a chance to win this event. So I'm going to take this as a reminder for everybody out there to appreciate it for what it is this weekend.

It's the lore. We're getting that lore back for this race. so you got to appreciate that. Doug, before I let you go, we have been giving some of our favorite memories. Obviously, Jamie's win is probably going to rank at the top for him. But do you have a favorite memory from the NASCAR Cup series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Well, obviously, 1994, right?

When NASCAR comes to Indianapolis, finally, we've been running the Kroger 200 at Raceway Park for many years, but then in the Bush series back then. But then to bring Cup here in 1994, actually, was working for the mayor of Indianapolis when that happened. So it was really cool for our community to have NASCAR finally here. So that was a big deal. In 1995, I got to be in the flag stand because the mayor waved the green flag.

So I stand in the back of the grand stand or the back of the flag stand at the start of the brickyard. That was the year that it rained, if you remember. And then what ended up happening is last minute we tried to get the race in. Dale Senior wins that race, which is pretty cool. So that's a pretty cool memory for me as well. But then my first, I was made president in July of 2013. So my first race as president was actually the Brickyard 400 in 2013.

Seeing Jeff Gordon win five, Jimmy Johnson win four, Dale Jarrett, kissing the bricks. You know, people think of that. That's an Indianapolis thing. It's a Dale Jarrett NASCAR thing that Indianapolis is adopted. And that's what I love about our traditions is they're rooted in something that's happened here. They're organic. They come from a fan or a driver or something. And that's one of the coolest ones.

We're going to have our hauler parade tonight. And Dale's going to help us kick that off. And a good way for us to say thanks to him. Todd Parrott for making that thing happen is pretty cool. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, before I let you go, I also just want to make mention that you're pretty much related to Dirty Mo Media, too. You're the stepdad of Connor Daley, who, of course, is the host for Speed Street.

I know I speak for a lot of people within the building when we say that, like, our favorite moment last season was when you and Beth kind of played that trick on him and Beth sat down to interview him. So I have to know, do we have any more tricks up our sleeve for Connor in the near future? You know, that was one that was really organic because we were. doing a bunch of stuff, media day prep, and Beth and I were driving to the hotel the night before. I said, you know, wouldn't it be kind of funny? And she did such a good job of playing, and he had no clue, so it was pretty funny. You know, speaking of Connor, he's going to run the

truck race on Friday night and the Xfinity race here on Saturday, so I can't wait to see Connor. I know a lot of our IndyCar fans are excited that he's going to do that, so he's going to do two-thirds of the three NASCAR legs this weekend, so that's going to be fun. But, you know, we haven't really picked on him lately. And you know, it's, you know how these things go. When you start picking on somebody, then you're the next one to get something. So I think we kind of put it on pause for a while. You got to be careful, but we'll be looking out in case you decide to change your mind on that. And of course, good luck to Connor this weekend. Doug, we appreciate it so much. Yeah, thanks, guys. All right, so let's go ahead and welcome Del Jarrett. Back in here. We got Jamie McMurray still.

And we've talked a little bit about these wins, your memories from your big wins. But now I want to do some, the nitty gritty work. I want to know about the story. that we don't know about. Dale, you kind of mentioned a little bit with the rain, the driver's running, and just kind of what that was like. But there were a lot of moments throughout the course of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that really created some high drama. So do you have a memory that fans might not know about just yet?

Yeah, I should have saved the part of running to our cars because that was just an incredible, you know, you get, so hyped up for certain races. And I could hear, I've been able to hear it in Jamie's voice as we talk here. It just brings out different emotions for drivers and especially those of us that have been fortunate enough to go to Victory Lane and win this incredible race. And, you know, that day was in 95, we weren't expecting to race. I mean, it didn't seem like there was any way of getting the track drive. every time that looked like we might get there, another shower would come.

And so, you know, I think that myself, I'd kind of, you know, resign myself to the fact that we were going to be racing the next day, which was unfortunate. You know, this was only the second year of the brickyard 400. But I'm telling you, it happens so quickly. Fortunately, I think the majority of us were in our uniforms just because you're sitting around in your haulers, you know, talking and, you know, about what you're going to do and what your plans are. And, but, you know, to see everyone be called that quickly there, you know, to literally be running to our cars was just, you didn't, you know, you talked about the plan that you had, but I think we all kind of forgot it for just a little bit. And, you know, we're just, how are we going to get this race in and getting there? It's just like, this is fantastic. And, you know, when something that you anticipate so much, all of a sudden becomes.

a big, huge rush, you have to get yourself back acclimated to, okay, now we're going to race. I have to do my job. Mother Nature has been following NASCAR for a long time. That was a hurricane, right? Remnants of a hurricane coming through back in 95. What were you going to say, Jamie? Yeah, so mine would be more as a fan. I remember watching at 95, 96, Jeff Gordon said on the pole, and they had this incredible shot

from turn one all the way down the front stretch to his car. exiting turn four. And when he exited turn four, he almost got into the wall and kind of had this long slide and he left black marks. And he comes out the corner and he ends up setting on the pole. And I remember I was racing late models or something at the time. And I'm like, that's the most badass moment I've ever seen in my life

to be able to slide a car, leave black marks and then set on the pole at Indy. I thought that was just such a special moment. Does anybody have a memory or a story about 2008? I know you may not want to remember that, but the tire debacle? Yeah, I, yeah.

I have a memory of that. So my wife at the time, she was my girlfriend. She would sit on the pit box at that time. And I remember after the race, she had a white shirt on. And it wasn't white after the race because there was so much of this rubber particle floating around. It was a little dirty. But I remember we got on the airplane and she had like, she had a pocket on the chest of her shirt. And it wasn't full of rubber, but it was full of rubber.

It was just that was one of those. That was one of those races. I remember that, and I remember you were only running like 12 or 15 laps before the tires would blow, and you knew it was going to blow. You just hoped it wasn't you. But my memory of that race is Jimmy Johnson. I don't remember if he had a bad pit stop or why he got back in traffic a little bit, and he was still driving.

It seemed like as hard as he could. And I'm like, he'll never, he'll never finish this thing driving that hard. but he did. I ended up winning the race. Oh, man. Yeah, that was the first year. So in 2008, I retired. I ran the first five races,

and then I ran the All-Star race in Charlotte, and that was my last race. And so I'd gone to work for ESPN, and at that time, our first race that we covered in the Cup series, we did Xenity races, but our first cup race was the Brickyard 400. And I was so excited about this to be able to call this great race and, you know, all this build up about what it thinks as a driver. And then here we have this.

I didn't even know what to say or what to do at this point because, you know, it was just, we were all just standing there waiting to see who the next one that was going to blow a tire and be taken away from the opportunity to win the race. So I was in a whole different way, Jamie. What you were going was way more stressful, but I didn't really know what to say. So we've been talking about traditions at Indy. The worst tradition at Indy, and no one warned me about this. But I believe it's at like 6 a.m. on race morning, they shoot a cannon off. And if no one's told you about it, when I remember being asleep in my motorhome and it went off. And I had this moment, I'm like, I'm sweating because I'm like, we have been attacked.

I don't know what has happened. Yeah. And you prepare yourself as the years go on. but that is, if they did it away with that, I think everybody'd be good with it. I can't imagine that. Terrible tradition. Terrible wake-up call. All right. Well, of course, those aren't the only moments that we're going to reflect on or that we've

reflected on this week. We've actually looked back in the archive of the Dell Jr. download and picked out some of our guest's favorite moments and memories from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There was these huge moments in the sport at that time that were just standout races, whether it was the Brickyard 400, whether we went to Southern. California and in Fontana or Japan that you just felt like, man, if I win this race or if I stand out in this race, this is going to elevate not just the sport, but me and my brand or, you know, my place in the sport.

The only other time I saw Dale senior fans more horrified was I was standing at the gate at the Brickyard 400 when he shut it without a mustache. And literally a woman fell to her knees and started screaming and crying, no, Dale, no, Dale. Like in the movies. Like, clow, no. That collapse on the ground. No, Dale, no. We went to Indy when the brickyard 494, the playing field was pretty level because nobody had a notebook.

And we went there and won that. And then we're okay. Okay, we can run with these guys. And that built a lot of confidence. So just for your reference, that was Jeff Gordon, Ryan McGee, and Ray Everingham as well. Let's now talk a little bit about the current field right now. I know you've got to get going here soon. You've got to get out to Indianapolis Motor Speedway shortly.

But let's talk about storylines. And I want to hear maybe a bold prediction from you guys about what to expect this weekend. Jamie, you want to go first? That's a lot of pressure. Bold prediction. I would tell you that historically, whoever runs well at Pocono will run well at Indy. I know that Ryan Blaney led the most laps last weekend. I wouldn't say that he had the fastest car, but he'll definitely be a contender this weekend.

I think this weekend will be a Joe Gibbs racing event. Those guys were all really fast at Poconos. Strategies seem to bite them. But I think you'll see Truex, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, all of the Gibbs guys being good. Dale? Yeah, it's such a weekend. I mean, to go back on the Oval, I think there's 10 drivers that haven't even raced there on the Oval part.

And so it's going to be interesting to watch that. I will agree with Jamie in the way that. There's one Joe Gibbs racing driver in particular. I think Blaney will be good, as you pointed out there. They seem to be the best team to be able to put on two tires and get track position and their car still be good enough by putting Ryan Blaney out front because they seem to have mastered that. And so he will be a factor. I think William Byron will be a factor.

But that Joe Gibbs number 11 in my mind with Denny Hamlin is the man to beat. He's won all the big races everywhere else, and why not add this to his list? Yeah, we know that he really wants this one as well. I also love the fact that you mentioned that a lot of these drivers haven't raced on this track. That is going, regardless of the fans, and the fans are going to be excited about this. That is going to make just this field, I think, appreciate the moment of returning back to the Oval, don't you think? Yeah, and I think that's going to be a great moment for those guys that haven't been there to experience that in a cup car. and I think it's going to be a little bit eye-opening too as to just how hard this track is.

I feel like Indy is one of the toughest tracks, and it's one of those places that I don't think your car is ever comfortable there. You always tend to be really free on entry in order to be quick enough through the middle of the corner and to be able to exit. And there's just such a huge penalty if you don't get through the middle of the corner because of how long the straightaways are at that track. But I'm excited. I mean, I know that we talked about earlier, like, what to expect this weekend.

and I can't wait to see how this car races on this track. I would say Pocono wasn't a stellar event. I don't think anyone's going to say all the racing other than the restarts were exceptional. Indies similar to Pocono, but I don't know with the long straightaways, with the draft that we see these cars able to use, it might surprise us. We're also going to see a little bit more practice for these drivers, which is something, Dale, that Denny had mentioned, you know, he did the testing there and wanted to do with that specifically to try to get an advantage.

But the other drivers are going to be out there with extra laps. Do you think practice is going to be an equalizer this weekend? It's going to help, certainly. But as I pointed out earlier, we used to have three days of testing. Hell, that wasn't enough for me sometimes. So I don't know how they plan to learn this. But they have a lot more information there. They do have the simulator that they have been working in for a while to get a field for it.

but there's nothing like that on track time. This is such a precision track that just going a few feet too far into turn one and turn three can ruin your lap. And not only does, when you get in racing conditions, that's probably going to mean that you're going to lose one, two, three spots if you happen to get in there a little bit too hard. And if you don't take advantage and set your car up and understand that the entry is, end of two and the entry into four, as much as you want to carry speed there, it's about getting your car to rotate and back to the throttle to the two long straightaways that Jamie was referencing. So you have to understand where there's places to make time and where there's places to make passes. And I'm not sure that you can learn all of that in a practice session or throughout 400

miles, so a big learning curve for a lot of these drivers because these stock cars have always had a difficult time putting on a good show at a place where you have so little banking in the corners. I know they say that there's, what, eight degrees of bank. I tell people that if you find that eight degrees of banking, you're getting ready to hit the wall because it's not down where you race. And so you have to make sure that you're doing what you need to do. And I agree with Jamie in that I'm interested to see what this car provides us. I think more than the car, I'm looking to how the wider tire will help these cars to race better

this weekend. Yeah, a good weekend to pay attention to practice and to qualifying. Del, we know you got to get on a plane, get out there pretty quickly, so we'll let you go. Thanks for joining us today. Yeah, thanks for having me. Great to relive this and great seeing and talking with you, Jamie. Again, part of a very small group, and we're proud to be there. All right, Jamie, so I have one more question for you. And Brickyard 400, it comes before the two-week Olympic break, which is a longer break than NASCAR Cup Series drivers. usually get, so we know that they're looking forward to that. But I think back to the NFL, right, when they have a buy week and players often talk about this, where if they lose, they have to sit

on that loss for just a little bit longer. So I have to imagine, not everybody can win and ask our race. Only one person can do that. But I would think running well is going to be important for a lot of these drivers who would then have to sit for two weeks and watch the Olympics and think about how they raced at Indy. Yeah, I mean, you said it. The, the any time you head into an off week, if you can, obviously winning, I can't imagine getting to win not just a race, but to win Indy and then get to have two weeks to kind of celebrate that, because other than the championship, you don't get that any other time during the NASCAR season. But also, you know, it's an important race for all those guys right on the cutoff line that

no one below the cutoff line wins to maybe knock someone else or get that even closer. Or if you're Bubba Wallace, Kyle Bush, all those guys that are right on the line, if you can have a good day, that's great. If one of those guys you're racing has a bad day, that might make your two weeks a little bit better. But yeah, I mean, without a doubt, everyone's going to savor it, getting to have two weeks off. But there's just, I mean, there's, there's, you know, not any weekend that you'd like to run better than this weekend. So you could, could maybe enjoy that two weeks off. We know a lot of the drivers are probably going to be leaving the country, out on vacation for these two weeks.

If you win and you haven't booked a trip, are you booking a trip? Listen, I think it's different for everybody. Yeah. I always just wanted to go home. You know, like you travel every single weekend. And it's a little different now because they're not away from home as much as what it was in the past. But I don't know. Like I'm blown away.

Like I see Kyle Larson going to Paris. Like these guys just... Midweek. Yeah. Why not, right? And then run a sprint car on the way back home. But yeah, I mean, I think it's different for everybody. I always just wanted to come home and relax and just hang out of it.

the house. Yeah, love that. And I love our conversation. We really appreciate you coming in studio today. Yeah, thanks for having me. It was fun to come in and hang out with you guys. I know, a lot of fun to kind of look back. And I hopefully get more, I feel I was already excited about the race this weekend, but to get even more excited and to get fans excited as well. And that is really going to do it for us on DJD Reloaded. Of course, don't forget all the Dirty Mo Media podcasts that are out right now. If you haven't listened to the Dell Jr. download, go back. Dale had quite the take on seatbelts, especially after Chicago and when drivers should or shouldn't unbuckle their seatbelt. Andrew Curlin tried to make an argument. That was not. I took my, I would undo mine. I would. I would. And I, I, I'm going to have a word with you.

Listen, I heard that rant. What I, what I remember about after the end of some of those races, my back would hurt so bad from the seatbelt being tight. Right. I couldn't, I mean, I don't know that I would take them off, but I would always loosen them up as much as I could. As soon as the caution would come out or the flag was over. So I feel like he didn't get much sleep that night because he was like on this random rant. And I actually felt sorry for Andrew. I saw that because Andrew looks like he's four foot shorter than Dale Jr. I feel like he was picking on him just a little bit. But I don't know. I would have to argue with Dale on that. Well, if you do loosen your seatbelt, don't tell him about it. Yeah. Don't get hit. Yeah. That's right. All right. Again, if you haven't listened to that, go back,

listen to that fun conversation from the Dale Jr. download. That'll do it for us this week. We'll see all next week. Check out Dirtymoe Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.