The Dale Jr. Download - DJD Reloaded - Classic Driver Conflicts & Finally Calling Keller

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

Carla & Andrew are joined by guest Regan Smith to break down the best revenge moments in NASCAR. We dig up new dirt on Dale's old run-in with Jason Keller, who joins the show to speak on the incident for the first time. Plus, we hear this week's best Dale Calls and try to guess which driver Dale says wrecked him during the playoffs. 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.

The following is a production of Dirtymoe Media. Welcome to DJDU. Yeah. Rec by Jason Keller in 1996 in Florida Beach. I just wanted to harmlessly turn him around and let him lose about 20 spots. I am going to screw this up. One day. One day I'll send that song to go around.

All righty, welcome into another episode of DJD reloaded here in the Bojangles studio. I'm your host, Carla Gepphart, alongside Andrew Curlin. And Andrew, we've got a big-time guest on today. We do. I'm very excited about this. NASCAR and Fox reporter, and you used to race here in the building. Regan Smith, welcome. I'm trying to figure out big-time guests.

I don't know that that's a fair thing to say, but maybe a guest. We like to build people up on this show, you know? Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, you got to inflate the ego and then knock us down at some point through it all. Oh, we're going to knock you down. We're not a doubt that one bit, but, yeah. Yeah, it's fun to be back in the studio here, and we were joking early on, like the early days when it was just the one small studio that's off to our side over here.

I remember sitting in there and filming many of episodes, and myself and Heath White and different people, different weeks. And that was kind of in the infancy of Dirtymore Radio. So it's cool to see what it is now. Welcome back. I appreciate it. New and Revised Studio. Hey, the reason we say,

we were going to knock you down is because, and Carla, we can talk about this. But today is all about driver confrontations, right? And you're not excluded to this conversation at all. We needed a driver in the room to talk about it. But we talked about it earlier this week on the download. What's the policy? You know, just this past week, we saw a run in between, or Jones Chase Briscoe. They said they're going to talk it out. Maybe they will. Maybe they won't. But this is going to be an awesome show. I can't wait for this. Yeah, super excited. And listen, if you're new to NASCAR, you don't know that there is this unwritten book in the sport.

Right. This book is not printed on paper. It lives in driver's heads. And if you are a NASCAR fan, you know all about this. You hear drivers talk about this on pit road right after an altercation on the track. I mean, this thing is really fun to talk about. It's one of actually my favorite topics about the sport because I think it does kind of separate, right, that self-policing that a lot of other sports don't.

have that's what kind of sets it apart for other sports so kind of what what is your just take before we get into into everything today well I think there's one thing you said there and and that always goes back to my brain it's the unwritten code part of it right there's no book on this and and and because of that it's different for everybody everybody has a different opinion everybody has a different way that they handle things that happen on the racetrack and and incidences that take place. And sometimes it's stuff that's off the racetrack, right? Sometimes it's, disputes that happen post-race that are, that end up on the ground or whatever it may be. And, you know, I think the other thing you said there was that in driver's heads, this code.

Well, in driver's heads, there's a lot of crazy things up there. They get even crazier when you put the helmet on. They get, you know, they're crazy when you take the helmet off. And so because of that, I think you get a lot of varying opinion and a lot of varying, um, you know, thoughts on what the way to handle a situation happening is. And, you know, it's weird. It's a little unique for me because I've gotten to see it from both fronts. I've gotten to see it from behind the wheel in the car competing with guys. But then I've also got to see it from the media side of things.

And, you know, when we go talk to guys after something happens, and it's interesting because I used to, my opinion as a driver was different. And my opinion, if you ask me as a driver, it's probably different than my opinion if you ask me as somebody that talks to guys when they get out of race cars and when they're on the racetrack. And, you know, maybe that's evolved over the year.

I think the, you know, for the sake of conversation right now, though my opinion when I drove the race car was if something happened on the track, right? If there was an incident, if I, rather I wrecked somebody or somebody wrecked me, whether it was on purpose or it was not on purpose, I was not a call and talk about it guy. I was not the guy that was going to pick the phone up on Monday and say,

hey, I'm sorry, I got into you. Now, I'm not going to say I ever did that because I honestly can't remember. You know, you race long enough, you have enough incidences, you have enough run-ins with different guys, and sometimes they all start to run together at some point or another. So maybe I have in the past, but I don't remember ever making a point to pick the phone up and call on a Monday and say, hey, I got into you. I'm sorry. You know, I didn't mean to do that. Because at the end of the day, you know, my belief was always, we're smart. We can watch the tape

back and understand. And sometimes in real time, it feels different than what it feels like when you watch the tape back and you see the scenario that that car might have been in or what might have caused it. So we're all smart enough to see that stuff and know exactly how it went down and exactly how it took place. You know, I think sometimes also it's more of a body. of work too is it's did this guy race me the right way for the past 10 weeks or has he been you know really giving me a hard time has he been difficult to pass as he been you know maybe chopping me off when he shouldn't and i've had opportunity to do things that i didn't do to him and then all of a sudden the shoe was on the other foot and he ran through me i i think there's always a buildup

to get to a point where you have an issue with somebody so you know for me it was always a case-by-case basis in terms of how mad I was at somebody. And quite honestly, I wasn't, I wasn't big on picking the phone up and calling afterwards, even if I was in the wrong, because I knew that that guy already, he's mad. Like, what am I going to prove by calling him to say I'm sorry other than to just piss him off even more? Because now I'm calling and saying, hey, that was my fault. Well, you know, no shi-or. Like, I know it was your fault. I know exactly what happened. And that was, you know, that was kind of my belief on that. Now, shoes on the other foot. Did I want? want guys to call me? Not really. Not really. I mean, again, I don't know what that call was going to

prove other than to make them think that they felt better about themselves and make them think that I wasn't still going to remember it and maybe to smooth it over, you know, on a temporary basis. I'd rather not have the conversation and let them wonder, like, what's going to happen when you come up to me again? You said calling someone is just going to further piss him off. Do you, like, when, I don't know, if I'm getting a phone call, and again, I haven't driven, but like, when, oh, hey, thanks for owning up to it, you know, type of thing. Well, own up to it on TV right afterwards. If you did it, just say, yeah, I did it.

It was an accident. Sorry. Like, now you're saying it to everybody watching that already saw it happen. Yeah. That driver is going to see it. And especially, you know, when I was driving Twitter and X or whatever we call it, now, that was all kind of new. And that world of stuff getting out to everybody quick was still, it was still evolving.

And we were still getting to the place where, you know, immediately, whether it's Bob Pockers, who does an amazing job for us at Fox or any of the other reporters that follow the series, they can put stuff out there so quick now that by the time you get out of the race car and you sit in the car to drive to the airport, you're already seeing exactly what that person has said. and you already know. So like what's going to change on a phone call different than that? So yeah, if you're going to own up to something, you can do it right away. Yeah, I mean, you can get it done quick.

Now the thing about this, guys, is that we're talking about this in generality, right? You said a case-by-case basis. We're going to get into kind of the meat of these case-by-case bases and really delve further into that. But to get us going, we actually asked Andrew, we asked the fans out there, what's your favorite revenge moment? What is your favorite payback? moment. Obviously, there are many that kind of come to mind to NASCAR fans. But let's go ahead and listen in to some of these calls and then we'll kind of talk about it. All right? First off, there's no

revenge in NASCAR. It's just getting even, right? That being said, back in 2022, Ross Tustain had beef with pretty much everybody, most notably Denny Hamlin. Fast forward to the fall cutoff race at Martinsville. Ross goes ahead and does the safer slide, aka the hail melon full of grace, bless his right that among NASCAR drivers. And if my memory serves you right, he knocked Denny the Hamelin out of the championship four. Now that is

revenge on everybody. Are we calling the Hill Mellon revenge? I just thought that was, I mean, like a really cool moment. I think earlier in the season, though, I mean, it wasn't just Ross Chastain versus Denny Hamlin. That was the biggest feud. I mean, that's the most recent one that we can really think of. It was Ross Chastain versus everybody.

It felt like. Going back to what the caller said, also, I guess now we've got to refer to him as Denny the Hamel. The Hamelin. I did like that. Denny the Hamlin. Not the Denny Hamlin. You call him that this weekend on the broadcast? I will do my best to fit that in somewhere. Denny the Ham, I hope it's in an interview when he can actually hear it too, because that'll make it way better if that's the case. You know, I think what they're referring to there is, right, the best revenge is to go out and beat the guy. And, you know, no matter what side of the Ross Denny feud your. were on and it was a great feud and I hope it I wish it wouldn't stop and I hope it doesn't stop right and

feuds don't have to end with guys wrecking each other or race cars tore up I think that it's it can be a rivalry to where you just know that these guys are going to race the snot out of each other every time they're by each other on the racetrack and and I think those two do race each other extremely hard still and and I think that that's great I think what that was referring to is the fact that hey the best way to get back at somebody if you feel like you've been done wrong or if you feel like you know it's it's not even in terms of who's gotten into who or what's been taking place there is to go out and and make a move like that now was ross thinking at the moment where he put that car on the wall and rode the wall around martinsville in a way that we've never seen before what was he thinking in

that moment yeah i'm doing this to get by denny and and it's i'm gonna get back at denny right here by doing this and it's going to be great no he was thinking i need whatever I forget the points, but I need five points. And this is my only option to get five points. Now, was it ironic that the last car he passes on the outside? And the driver he needed to beat? And the driver he needed to beat was Denny Hamlet? Yes, I'm sure when Ross got back to the shop, or left the track and realized all that later on, after the excitement of making, you know, making it to Phoenix to race for the championship, he probably saw it and he was like, oh, that makes it even better. Like, that's, yes, that's just one more, one more little great part to what just took place here.

And Ross last season, too, again, many different quarrels on the track, off the track. Afterward, though, he would always be like, well, I didn't mean to. Or like, he kind of took this like softer approach. Did you believe any of that when it happened? Well, I mean, I believe Ross at his word, right? And I think that's all that you can do is believe a driver at their word and what they're saying. Now, you know, the softer approach, this gets into body of work that I mentioned earlier. And case by case basis, if you've had that.

many situations with different drivers, other drivers see that. And they add that up as it goes along and as it moves along and kind of evolves. And if you get out every time and say it was an accident, I didn't mean to. And oh, you know, oh my goodness, it was just, it was such a bad mistake and I'll call that guy. That adds up. And I think that's what creates frustration sometimes and maybe makes a, what seems like a minor incident become a more major incident is depending on that driver in that case-by-case basis. And, you know, certainly, again, all as I can do is take Ross at his word, that they are not intentional, that they are accidents. And Ross Chastain is a very, very aggressive race car driver. He races hard. He's had to race hard to get to where he is. And, you know,

he hasn't had the same path through that a lot of guys have to get to the Cup Series and get to a successful cup car that he can win in. And I think that shows up in his cup racing. And quite honestly, I'm fine with that. Like I love the way Ross races. I love the aggressiveness. I love going for the hole, making the move at every moment that you have to. But you also got to know that that's going to eventually make some people mad. And it's made plenty of people mad.

And it's, you know, I personally think this is just a personal opinion, right? Keep racing the same way you do. Like don't change that. That's what got you to that level. You can't change that once you get there. And, you know, I'd be okay if he didn't apologize every time and just says, hey, you know what? I was racing hard.

and I ran into him. Oh, well, it happens. Yeah, so that's the Denny Ross rivalry. Let's go ahead in here from caller number two. I think he's got a different one we need to talk about. My favorite NASCAR revenge moment came at the Kankakee Airport. After the Chicago race, we were all on our way to go test at Indy, and Jeff Gordon's sock Mike Bliss right now. Bliss was wearing sunglasses for the entire Indy test.

I had forgotten about that one. That was a good one, and I certainly, was not present for that one, but I've definitely heard the stories of that one. And, listen, Jeff, Jeff's smart. He's a veteran. He's cagey, right? If you, if, and, and back then the fines and what NASCAR was, was doing was a little bit different than what they're doing right now. And, and things have changed over time. I don't remember the on-track incident that left led to that. I just remember hearing all the stories in the garage and, you know, the legends afterwards of what it was. And credit to Jeff, right? Like, get out of the racetrack. NASCAR is not going to find you for something that you do away from

the racetrack to another driver. So take care of it at the airport when you get there. Just make sure you're not on the airplane because I think that changes everything. If it's on the airplane, then it's FAA thing. Then it's federal and you've got a whole other level that you're going to. So do it on the tarmac at least if you're going to do it. Well, the reason that we're talking about this, obviously, is because of Dale Jr. earlier this week talking about an altercation that he had almost. the track. We talk, you know the phrase like it lives rent free in your mind. This one's paying rent and it's been paying rent for a long time. So let's go ahead and listen to what Dale had to say earlier. Rec by Jason Keller in 1996 at Myrtle Beach. He didn't mean to wreck me.

We're running, I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again. I've qualified in the top 10 in my first, uh, Xfinity start, right? Or one of my first Xfinity starts. I think it was my first start. So we're running 10, 15 laps into the race, and I'm right on my teammates' ass, Jeff Green, and my dad's number three car. And I'm like, oh, just stay right here. I'm just going to

try to keep up with Jeff. You know, I'm driving my hair on fire, right? We go down into turn three, and Jeff Green knocks Jason Keller's ass up the racetrack. I almost puts him in the wall. Well, Jason Keller says, here I come. I'm coming for your ass, Jeff Green, and he's

coming down the track like a, like a crazy man. And he's wanting to clip Jeff Green in the left in the right rear. But I'm there. And he runs into the right front of my car. So his left rear to my right front. And it just spins me out. I'm pissed. I didn't have nothing to do with that. Right. And here I am, freaking spun out. I carried that with me my entire career. And he's still carrying it with him. One of the things though, Andrew, that we've never actually done before is talk to Jason Keller about this. I know. Dale's mentioned it so many times and we've never actually called him up.

I think we have him on the phone right now to get his side. So let's bring in Jason Keller. This guy is a 10-time Xfinity series winner, maybe one of the first Iron Man's of the sport, especially in that series over 500 starts. So Jason, we have to know, first of all, do you even remember this moment in Myrtle Beach with Del Jr. Well, first and foremost, thank you for having me on to tell a little bit of my side of the story. And because since Dale has mentioned that, I get that quite often, you know, coming in and I apologize

if you hear that, but I get it quite often that he has mentioned that. So I've become a little more famous for that instead of my 10 wins, but it's all good. And I don't remember that part of that race. So understand as drivers, your sole focus is on what you're doing in that race. And I'm not denying what Junior said, but I wasn't focused on him in that race. And I know it was his debut. And I know I've kind of heard a little bit of a backstory about it. And so I do apologize if I inadvertently knocked him out of the race.

But as drivers, we always remember those times, that's for sure. Let me ask you this, Jason. Like, this is Dale's go-to story. Every time he brings up, like, hey, have you ever been frustrated with the driver? You're the guy. Should he be over it at this point? I mean, like, it was insane history. Okay, I need to get a shirt.

I'm that guy. Yes. I don't know. But no, we always. we remember those type things that uh and and uh for me i was so focused on uh i was actually upset i do remember this part of the race not the not the not the junior part of the race but i do remember being frustrated because i had messed up in qualified and qualified um uh worse than i had had had anticipated uh when i go to myrtle beach as a matter of fact i know you guys are not

believe this. I'm in Myrtle Beach right now just pulled in 10 minutes ago. So it's really ironic that we're talking now about the race at Myrtle Beach, but I'm here for a car show the weekend. And I remember being so focused on. I had, I had I was managing the team, driving the car, had one of the most visible sponsors in the sport, Slim Jim at the time, just had our first son. So you got to understand. I was 26 years old and I had a lot of things going on and I knew there was only a handful of racetracks that I could really legitimately have a shot to win and Myrtle Beach was one of them. It's semi-my-home track in the home state.

I was never able to win a Bush race there or a nationwide race there either. But I knew that I had a chance to win. But I knew there was a handful of drivers that I had to focus on, David Green, Mike McLaugh, Rockland, Randall of Joy, those guys that I had raced against, you know, coming into that, that, that, that's that race. And I knew the ones that were strong on the flat tracks and the slick race tracks. And I don't want to hurt Dale's, you know, junior's feeling, but he wasn't one of those guys I was worried about. You know, and I hope we don't take that the wrong way. But I was so focused on on, on, I messed up in qualifying.

So there again, I had that on me. I was really pressured to do good and win a race in a slim jump car. And I'm sure I was. I'm sure I'm exactly what he says. I was being aggressive and trying to get back to the front or get to the front pretty quickly. So that part of it, I think we agree on. I was there and I wanted to go to it. But it's really, it's not funny, but I can relate.

to what Junior's talking about. I've actually got another driver at Meryl Beach. I was leading the race with coming to, we'd just take the two to go and lapping a car, and he hit me in the left rear and knocked me out, and I was not able to win a bush race at Mertl Beach. So we have all those races that we remember, you know. We got the trophies for the ones we won,

but we've got those memories of the ones we didn't win for sure. I think that's funny, Jason, that you mention that, because it's the ones that you don't where stuff happens, like the one where you got wrecked at Myrtle Beach, they stick out. Like, they're the ones that stay with you that you're like, man, that's the one I want back. And that's the guy I'm maddest at. I'm curious. So you don't remember that exact incident.

Do you remember being mad at Jeff Green and going down and trying to right rear him at that moment in the race, not necessarily that junior wrecked because of it, but just when you were mad at, I think it was Jeff Green, right? Yeah, you were mad at Jeff Green. Well, I don't, it may have looked that way, but I don't recall being. mad at Jeff at that race. I could have been. We could have got in the corner, roughed each other up, getting into three,

and I was just mad because I was on the short end of the stick. I don't know how that went down, but I do know I was trying to get back to the bottom. We do agree on that. I was out of the groove, and I was trying to get to the bottom. Now, it looked like I was taking a shot of green on the right rear. And a short track racing, those days, you know, you took everything that you,

you thought was yours and some of what was other people's too. So you just try to do everything you can. And I just remember that race very clearly because of the Slim Joe sponsorship. And it had been with the Labonis and then David Green. You know, every, every driver had won with that sponsor. And here I am going, I got a few shots to win and I better take advantage of them when I get that opportunity. and unfortunately, we're really not really unfortunately. I hate that I hate that I affected someone else's race negatively,

but it's been a lot to talk about. I guess I would have been from that in a lot of ways, but there's a lot of people been talking about it, but we all remember those races that we've lost for some crazy reason like that, that has totally out of our control. And that's the frustrating part, that no matter what he was doing, and I took him out inadvertently.

But I guess I need to call him up. I've been trying to scratch my itch and maybe run a car store race or two. I guess I need to see if I can run one of those races, but I don't know if I can drive his car and he wrecked me too. We're talking about calling guys up the week after the race. You're going to call a guy out 20, 25, 26 years afterwards.

The reason why I ask that question is, you know, as we hear Dale tell the story, and you were coming off the wall and just coming all the way down the racetrack from from the top to the bottom as he makes it sound like. Perhaps maybe, you know, maybe another way to look at this is maybe Dale should have realized that was happening and hit the brake pedal and gotten out of the way. Maybe ultimately it was his fault. I don't know. You know, just throwing that out there. Now, that's your words, not Jason Fulner's.

Don't put that guy on me any more than I already am. So understand that that's your view. But I will say this, as drivers, once you get laser focused on what's happening. Sometimes we inadvertently tighten the helmet a little too tight and lose a little oxygen and we drive over our heads. And that sounds like what I did. And I'm not oblivious to the fact that's probably what it was.

I don't remember having a beef with Jeff Green because that was prior to us being teammates at PPC. And it never came up. In all the years I drove at PPC and was Jeff Green's teammate for a couple of years that I had a beef with him. So I don't know that that part of it is exactly that. That's junior's point of view. But I do remember being out of the groove and coming back down the racetrack. That I agree on.

And I actually went back and tried to find a video of that race. After this came up. And it was on the old TNN, if I'm not mistaken. and it was, it didn't really capture the actual accident or the event that Junior is talking about, but there was verbal going on. So, you know, in my view, if you're in a wreck on the highway and you're the car behind, who gets it fought? That's who gets the ticket, the car behind.

Hey, I've got a question. I mean, you mentioned racing again. Just hypothetically speaking, if you and Dale Jr. are on the track together again eventually, does he still owe you one in this? I don't know if it's the owing part of it, but we never forget. Understand, I'm sure if, and I can't speak for junior, but I'm sure if I get out of control and maybe he sees an opportunity, drivers, Never forget, and the flashbacks come back quickly, especially on the racetrack. So I could see where he wouldn't cut me any, wouldn't do me any favors, that's for sure. Hey, I got a question. So, like, you said, hey, maybe I have to go call him up. What's great about this show is Dale listens, right? And we play him clips on the download on Tuesday.

Is there something, this is your time? Is there a quick little spiel that you want to give, Dale? You're speaking to him now. No, I mean, he's ready to go. I'm not going to go there because I'm sure he's going to be. No, I don't, it's been, I've spoken to him recently, a matter of fact, in the last few months. Do you talk about that?

So I don't think it's something that he holds to him. And it says, if I see that killer, I'm going to, I'm going to punch him in the face. Now, he may punch me the next time he sees me, but I don't think that's the case. He was smiling when we spoke, so hopefully that's the case. But you didn't speak about that moment when you saw him. No, not at all. Not at all. We didn't speak about that at all.

We actually spoke about how Grady had ran at Bristol prior to us speaking late last year. And I told him it gave me as an old guy some really motivation because I went back and looked at a YouTube video. And I remember winning Bristol one time and I beat him. So us drivers, we remember those. things. But we didn't speak about the 20 year ago or even probably more than that now, 25 years ago. I think that's well played on your part to bring up something. He gets really excited about, not something that he gets all wound up about. He gets excited about that Bristol run and he loves to talk about that. Morton, he loves to talk about you wrecking him. So that

worked out good right there. Yeah, Jason. We're going to. I love for him to talk about that too, because I mean, he did great. And I'm like, man, you know, you see all these young guys in there and As I'm sitting there watching, I go, just if I had that one more chance, just that one more chance to race in a racetrack when Myrtle Beach is not here now, because I just went by it about 20 minutes ago. And unfortunately, it's just a big vacant lot now. I just get, we would all like to have that one opportunity. So it's nice to see them running good at Bristol for sure. All right, Jason. Well, we are going to let you go on that.

We really appreciate you joining us to talk about that moment so long ago, which feels, I'm sure, very still fresh to Del Jr. and to yourself. Thanks again for joining us. Okay, now the next time you guys see me walking around the racetrack, maybe at the throwback race at Darlington or something crazy like that, that's what us old guys do. I'm going to have a shirt made that says, I'm that guy. We expect that. That means now.

I love it. Wow, what a moment. Loving rehashing that. And to your point, I mean, 20 years later, it's just as if it happened yesterday, talking about it. And that's the funny part. We've now seen both sides. of that, right? We've seen Dale's side to where it's, it's fresh and it's vivid and it's like,

this really shaped everything I did going forward for a while. And then we've seen Jason's side where like, I don't really remember it. Like, it is, and that's why I say it, it's different. Every situation is different. Like if you're on the receiving side of it, you remember it. If you're on the giving side and it's like, oh, well, that happened, but it didn't affect my outcome or my day at the end of it. And, you know, I happen to think there's a statute of limitations on things too, right? Like, like three years. down the road or everybody's retired, like, you're not going to hop back in the car and wreck each other because of something that happened almost 30 years ago now, right? I guess. But, yeah, it's cool to

hear both differing perspectives there. And every driver handles this differently. And on the Dell Jr. download, we kind of heard a different driver perspective. Christopher Bell, a younger driver in the Cup series right now. And he kind of answered, you know, how do you handle revenge? How do you handle that moment with another driver? And this is what he had to say about that. I don't know. If I'm on the giving side of it, then if it's intentional, then I just, you know, let it ride. And I can't, I can honestly think of maybe, maybe once in my career where I've like intentionally wrecked someone or spun them out or something like that. So it doesn't happen often. But if it's unintentional, then I am like the first thing, like either post race or if I don't, if I don't see them. post race, then I'm like, you know, trying to call them and be like, hey, dude, like, I really

didn't mean to do that. Like, that was not my intention. Um, but yeah, if you're on the receiving side of it and they don't reach out to you, it, it's underneath your skin, buddy. And you're like, you do, you need redemption. And you kind of touched on this at the top of the show, Regan, but I mean, this is the big difference. It's the giving side or the receiving side. And that is two very different standards for drivers. It makes, it makes the world a difference, right? And, and, and, you know, Again, as Christopher just said right there, the guy who receives is probably going to be a little bit more angry. And I do agree with them to a certain level. Like if it's unintentional and you do it, yeah, I guess I can see where some guys like to call and they like to have that conversation.

Again, I was always just more of the belief like they know if I was trying to wreck them or not. Absolutely. And this is also something that NASCAR drivers have been talking about for many years, right? the texting, the calling, all of this. Well, they weren't talking about texting back in the day. Well, I'm talking about like in 2013. They were writing letters. I'm talking about in 2013, there was a specific driver, Elliot Sadler, that had to mention a driver.

Do you remember who he was talking about in this moment? I know where we're going with this already. There's only one reason Mike Davis calls me. It's because he's got something up his sleeve that he's like, oh, I bet Regan doesn't know about this one. And let's get him in here. Let's bring them in here and really put them on the spot. So I'm sure I know what's coming right about here. It was you.

Let's listen to what Elliot Sadler had to say in this clip, courtesy of NASCAR. Why do you guys have to talk it out? That happens in NASCAR, but like hockey players can punch each other, and they're not going to talk to the next week, NFL players can beat each other. Why does that happen in NASCAR? Why do you feel like, because it happens all the time. You guys have to work it out during the week before your race track?

You know what? That's very simple, very, very simple rule. When you play hockey, you have black. Hawks ridden on your jersey so you're responsible for the Blackhawks when you drive racing we have Fortune 500 companies up here that don't want you running around I think punching people and setting a bad example and I think it's a courtesy thing it's a gentleman's you know we all usually all have a pretty good gentleman's agreement with each other if we have a issue we'll come talk it out and we'll go from there yes Regan did reach out to me this week and we had a

20 or 30 minute conversation and also Dale Jr. reached out to me this week because he's the of the car and he and I've been friends since we were teenagers and had some good conversation so I'm still pissed about it and Regan knows that he knows where I stand and he you know he took 100% of the blame and understood why I'm upset and why I was upset that doesn't sound like you making phone calls I'm a liar on the show already because I got to be honest I was going to say who do we believe in this or did Ellie Tadler make no I mean I believe I was saying that and to the you know to Jason Keller's point just earlier in the show,

I do not remember having a conversation with him. And quite honestly, the only thing I remember about that incident, that incident happened at Loudoun. I've never heard that clip either. I didn't know he talked to the media or, you know, he had, I think that was probably in his media availability.

So I can honestly tell you, sitting here, I can't tell you how that conversation went. With that said, what I remember is getting out of the car, walking back to the garage area. I'm heading to the hauler. And I hear this really large,

angry gentleman yelling my name from a ways away. And here he comes at me. And Elliot Sadler, if you guys haven't met him or for anybody that doesn't know Elliot, which I think most people listening probably do, Elliot's a big, big guy. He's a lot bigger than I am. Like, that's not a, battle. And again, I don't mind rolling around on the ground, doing whatever we got to do. That wasn't a battle that was going to go very well for me. So here comes Elliot up to me, and he's mad. I just remember thinking, oh, this is going to hurt. Like, there's, What is my approach? Because as mad as he looked and, you know, I didn't know what, I don't know what's coming.

Well, as he's coming up to me, I'm like, all right, if he starts swinging because he's really mad, what's my approach right here? Like, how am I going to mitigate some of these damages? So I had this big plan worked up in my head. I'm like, if Elliot gets to me, he starts swinging, I'm going to go in immediately for the body as quick as I can. I'm going to get as tight to him because he's bigger than me and it's going to be harder to swing. He's not going to be able to get his arms around. Just like a bear hug? Yeah.

He's not going to make good contact. And then maybe if it goes to the ground, at least I got a fighting chance of, you know, it's one thing if it goes to the ground, still, you're not going to any punches in or anything good at that moment. And as Elliot's coming to me, he's really, really mad. And then he kind of slows down a little bit. And he's not really coming right at me quite in the same pace and in the same anger. And it turns into we're discussing it. And I'm like, wow, well, how did that happen?

How did this not get out of control? And then we get all done. And he says his piece. and, you know, that he's going to wreck me and he's going to take care of it and everything that he's going to do. And I'm like, okay, well, yeah, you know, it's all on audio file or it's on TV, right? Like, they picked all that up. And I turn around, I'm like, man, that was really odd that he didn't just come whale me. Like, I was ready to get punched right here.

I was ready for that moment to happen. I turned around a big trucker Matt was standing behind me the whole time. And I'm like, okay, now it all makes sense here. Now, okay, that makes a little bit more sense. Del Jr. had another story this week on the Dell Jr. talking about an anonymous driver, Andrew. Yes, yeah. It was, it's, oh, we've got a clip.

It was a mystery. We don't know who it is, and, well, we'll let Dale set it up. I got wrecked by a driver one year. It was in the playoffs, about eight races to go. I'm racing like hell, right, trying to, trying to, I'm going through these concussions. I've had all these issues, and I'm racing my ass off trying to have a good night. And I'm taking the air away from the guy behind me, and he finally gets sick of it. And we go off into turn one.

and he just bumps me in the left rear. Sent me in the wall. I would go up and slap the wall, right? I got a little foggy in and got a little concussion from that. I was so pissed off. I was like, all of that was that ass of fault for doing that to me. Weeks down the road, and that driver ends up failing to make the final four.

And we had this big driver text group conversation going on, and I was like, I feel better finally. I really was pissed off at you, but now that I'm glad you, didn't make the final four because of that shit you did to me a couple weeks ago. So no names given. No names. Yeah.

Kind of an interesting take. Do you know who this is for you? I don't. And that's why, listen, there's a very small window of who that could have been. And that's why I'm sitting here on my phone right now. I'm trying to figure out who it was because it makes a story a lot better if we know who it is. Yeah.

I just wonder how many fans went to Google after this to figure out who he was talking. Give us your hand. Who do you think it was? I think you're going to flip out if you figure out who it is. I don't remember. I'm not good enough with stats. Did we ask the fans on hashtag don't hold me to it? I think we did ask the fans.

Yeah. Can we go ahead and pull those results up and see who they thought it was? Kyle Busch at Richmond. Yeah, that was earlier in the career though. So I don't think it could have been Kyle Busch. Playoff race. Remember, he said playoff race. Carl, Michigan can't be it. Yeah, and Carl Edwards in 16, he was racing for the championship at Homestead.

17, he had retired. So it couldn't have been Carl. I don't think anyways. If it's not Lugano, then I don't know. That's from Kite Dome, so. I guess Ligano could be a possibility. I don't know. It almost had to have been 17 for some reason in my brain, is what I'm thinking.

Well, could be. But remember, if you read Racing to the Finishes book, sometimes he race through some of the concussions, so it could have been even further. I mean, the playoff format started in 14, so really it's 14 to 17 you might have to look at. I know he listens to all the stuff that you guys put out here, but we can just mute this out, and that way you don't have to look them in the eyes Monday and say, I told the whole world who it was.

I think you gave us a hint. If people go back and listen, they might figure it out with what he said. I must not have picked up on the hint. I'm a little slow. All right, guys, I think it's time to get to the white flag and obviously, dirty move pumping out content week by week. And there's a lot of good shows to go back and listen to this week, right? Andrew, I mean, Dale Jr. download. If you kind of miss some of the stories that we talked about today, go back and listen.

listen to that one. Got actions detrimental, dirty mode, dough, a lot of different shows. Can't forget, like, yeah, two great DJD shows already out, Jefferson Hodges. It is, it is, for those who want to get into the sport, more on like the mechanical side, this is your how-to. Like, this is how, listen to that, if you're interested in getting into the sport. But, yeah, a lot of shows already out, the tear down Jeff Glock and Jordan Bianchi. I was actually, I got a chance to listen to it live. I was road tripping back from Hilton Head. man, that made the drive go by so much easier. Like, thank you, Jeff and Jordan for that.

It's amazing to get content that quickly after the race. They do such a great job. The race ended, I'm like, I'm all right, I'm just going away from to go live. And sure enough, they were live pretty shortly after that. Got everything you needed, huh? Exactly, it was. I mean, everything that you didn't already get from the Fox broadcasts. That's right.

It did a great job of building up for you and for them to talk about. Yes. We also got door bumper clear. We've got Speed Street with Indie Car Winner. Joseph Newgar. That was a big time guest for them this week. Definitely go back and listen to that. We mentioned Dirty Modo. We mentioned, though, the

Dale calls. You got to keep bringing in the calls this week. Do you want to give them the number, Andrew? Yes, it is 704 5-84-9703. And, yeah, we'll keep picking the best ones every week. We got some good ones this week. It was a really, really good content for this week

for DJD Reloaded. And Regan, we appreciate you so much for stopping by. I know you got to get on the road soon, right? You got to go to Bristol. And what else do you have going this weekend? Busy weekend. We got, obviously, truck racing on Saturday evening. I think that's at 8 o'clock. And then Sunday, we got the cup race at Bristol. No more dirt. We're back to the pavement. We're back to the concrete. You know, I think that the dirt was a very cool thing. And it was fun to try. And it was fun to see these cup cars on a dirt track. But going back to the concrete, I think we're all kind of, that's near and dear to all of our heart to get back on, get back.

and get back on what Bristol was meant to be. And who knows, might have a lot more content after this weekend about guys rolling around and being mad at each other and wrecking each other. Like, maybe we're a week ahead on this show right now. Bristol's a good spot for that. It tends to happen.

I really hope two guys get into it on the track. You're interviewing one of them after the race and there's a fight that breaks out right in front of you. That would be, you know, like that's just what we talked about. I'd love it. No injuries. It'd be okay. No injuries for you though.

No, no. What about them? I mean, come on now. I mean, a black eye. that kind of makes for like, I don't mind that, you know. I don't either. If that happens, it happens. It's a good story.

I'll be at Bristol, so if you need me to, I can start a fight on road. You'll be, you can. Andrew, I don't think you're the guy to do that. I don't know. Listen, Harvick's all the way up in the booth now, so we won't get any more of them little shove in. Maybe somebody, you could be the guy to shove in there or something like that. And then that'll be my last race covering NASCAR. Oh, man.

Well, again, Regan, we appreciate it so much. And, of course, thanks for all the fans for listening. and we'll see you back here next Thursday on DJD Reloaded. Check out Dirtymo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.