The Dale Jr. Download - Do It For Dale, Hauler Fights, Moonshine: Best of DJD

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

The Dale Jr. Download had some awesome guests this past year. Here are some highlights from the 2025 season 00:20 Dale Jr., Justin Allgaier, and Chris Stapleton announce their plans to race in the Daytona 5004:58 Cleetus McFarland and Dale discuss the slogan, “do it for Dale”6:35 Kasey Kahne opens up about leaving the sport and concussions17:22 Carl Edwards on coming so close to a championship and the pain it caused26:05 The 2001 Rolex 24 team talks about where they were when Dale Sr. passed away31:50 Robin Pemberton finally confirms that Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch got in a fight in the NASCAR hauler33:23 Todd Bodine has a gift for Dale36:50 Tony Stewart and Rico Abreu open up about nasty crashes they’ve been in46:00 Tony Gibson on the innovation ideas they had at DEI50:00 Edwin McCain on rehab and getting his life together56:00 Carson Hocevar isn’t worried about making friends at the race track58:10 Did Richard Childress really run moonshine?1:01:01 Jack Sprague let Tom Cruise drive his car with Nicole Kidman And for more content check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMediaReal fans wear Dirty Mo. Hit the link and join the crew.👇shop.dirtymomedia.com/FanDuel: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. here for the Dale Jr. Download. And over the course of this year and years and past, we've had so many great guests on the Dale Jr. Download. We've compiled a best of show for you to enjoy. Here it is. The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. This is the most fun I've had in this chair in the last hour and a half. I don't know if we've ever argued. Did I piss you off over the weekend? I'm still sour. Did I want the best man at your wedding?

Who was your best man, Dale? T.J. You don't need a cool vest for that race. What are you thinking? Get them, DJ. Hellway is starting a show. All right then. All right, so sitting here with Chris Stapleton and Justin, Justin and Chris.

I mean, we've been working on this minute for a long time, trying to put together something that's not easy to put together. But we're here today and announcing, and finally able to share, I guess, with the rest of the world what we're up to. And I kind of want to get y'all's individual feelings about, you know, the realization that this is going down. It's a real feeling. Yeah, I mean, it's been cool for me.

You know, the process of this is kind of superseded me being a part of it. Just trying to get through the end of the year. Obviously, we were going for a championship last fall. And so the question never got asked if I would drive it. But when the question finally came of, you know, would you be the driver? When I walked into the office, I'll never forget, the faces were pretty stoic. And I thought maybe I was in trouble, right? Like, I didn't know what to expect.

And so they started running through the process of what was going to happen and that travelers was going to be part of it and you were going to be part of it. And I kind of thought in that moment that we were just, they were going to tell me the program and tell me who was going to drive it and just what Junior Motorsports was up to. And when I got asked to drive it, it was really special. And then to see, you know, to see your involvement to understand what you've wanted to get out of this. It's been special. And I mean, the Daytona 500, you've lived it, you've been a part of it. I've been lucky enough to race it twice now and there's no race like it. So this is a really cool experience.

And cool that we're able to get all together like this and to have this program going. For me, I, you know, selfishly just wanted to see the car. But beyond that, I just love the history of racing and whiskey a little bit. And that's kind of how it all started, I think. And when I thought about pie in the sky kind of things that I would want to do to kind of advertise this product that we have that I'm real proud of. this was one of those kind of like what if we could do this and and I happen to know Rick Hendrick and he kind of hooked us up and we built it from there and it seemed it was a very easy process to me I don't know how you felt about it on your end I was like this

this really happening okay cool when we set a couple rounds of designing this car together and and here it is the day and it's a real thing and I got to see it today and it was sometimes in those moments I I can feel like I didn't think those things could really, those things really happen, you know, like, and then we're here doing this, and I'm going to show up it and get to watch the Daytona 500 with a car that has a whiskey that involved in on it.

So I think that's, for me, I don't think it's going to get much better than that. It's going to feel like, you know, I already feel like winning the Super Bowl or something. It feels like that just to get to make the thing, you know, and I think, I love creating things. And as somebody who likes to create things,

my part that I can contribute to it is done. And you guys obviously have a lot more real work to do in it than what I do. But I'm thrilled to be just a tiny part of it. Been a couple of reality checks in this process, bailing the car and all of those things. Can you imagine what that might feel like to stand on the grid? Is Justin's starting to buckle up? I don't think I'm going to be able to know what that.

is until I'm sure you I'm sure you I think I think you guys are sitting here smiling about it because you're like he doesn't know what now to be honest with you like I mean I've said it before but like I've done this as a driver for many times I've done it as a driver and there's a there's excitement but also pressure nerves and and you're you're the one it kind of in control of everything in terms of how things go that day but as an owner it the thing about being an owner and I think you may also experience this is once it's on the grid and and before gentlemen start your engines it's out of your hands at that point right right and and so there's a lot of there's not so much pressure anymore yeah but it's a pride's thing it's like watching something

you had an involvement in creating go out and do what it's supposed to do but all how he turn where how he turns the corner is up to him right it's no longer in my hands and so um which is kind of nice you know all right it's time to bring our next guest onto the show

this is going to be a lot of fun for me Cletus McFarland What do you think of the quote Do It for Dale I love it And when

you know All these years later I said this when he passed away And I said it For probably a decade or so Everybody'd be like You know What's your thoughts

On losing your dad Now to go My fear is that He'll one day Just be forgotten With time My worry would be that he would just disappear into the distance, right?

As we get further and further removed from his career, I was like, I just hope he's never forgotten because he left such an impact on the sport. And so that kind of thing is the staying power. That is the reminder to me that he resonated with people. Now that you say that, I would say that he has the most longstanding legendary status of any dream. real motor sports driver.

Maybe. I think she does. And so when I hear things like that, it's like, yeah. Yeah. He still matters. I say it at the end of every one of my videos. Every YouTube video I've ever had. Yeah.

Maybe a few I've missed, but I always just say, thanks for watching. Do It for Dale. I love it. I'll freaking see you later. Do It for Dale is like a nod to dad in his legacy. And it's tasteful. It's, you know, I like it. I'm thankful.

I'm glad you like it. Yeah. I know I'm not the one who invented it. I just, you know, I think it's a great saying. It's like a lifestyle. My buddy, Justin Keith, said it to me one time, and I was like, Deer for Dale. Yeah.

It's literally, that's kind of like how we live our lives. It's like, we're just doing it for Dale. That's right. That's cool. I'm glad you like it. All right, man, here on the Dale Jr. Download with Casey Kane. You know, I took six years off of NASCAR racing. Why?

Well, I needed to. I needed to for myself and just kind of get away. and do different things. I put a lot into that for 16 years, you know, and just put everything I had into it. And I feel like at times I got everything out of it that I needed. And at other times it was difficult, just like racing is for most. You know, the ups and downs of racing.

But, yeah, I loved racing in NASCAR. How hard was that to make that choice? I know you made the choice. You had a purpose and a reason behind it, but it's not like just, you don't just stop, right? You got to, how hard was it to wake up and watch that series keep going? I've experienced that, right? Yeah. And so watch, how hard was it to wake up and watch them continue on and going down the road without you?

Yeah, and it's, it doesn't slow down. They're doing, you know, it just keeps going. So that was actually pretty hard for a little while, and it made me not, um, pay attention to NASCAR for a little while, you know, and so I tried to really get away from it. It hurt to pay attention to it. Yeah, because I felt that I should still be part of that. Yeah. I needed to get away because of, you know, personal health and things like that. Like, my body just was, it was struggling with those long races. Why? It just went down that path of , you know, it just went down that path and I couldn't fix it. The longer the seasons went,

the harder it got to recover, the longer the week was, feeling terrible. And the quicker, I mean, by the end, like, I was done in practice. First practice at Darlington, I was sopping wet. If I stood in one area, it was a puddle underneath me halfway through practice. Wow. And my body just, you know, I don't know why it went that direction, but they say, I mean you can't control those things and off of environment

and a lot of different scenarios is your body goes certain directions but mine went that way with the heat and yeah so it was it was tough and then the series just went on and it looked good without me so that was you know it was kind of hard for a little while

and I stayed away from it the other thing that and we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to Casey because you've never really publicly talked about it but head injuries. I think me and you've had some pretty nasty wrecks and I've been open about mine,

but I was wondering if you thought that any of that ever had an effect on you personally? I think that it definitely has. I learned a lot about it after I left NASCAR. Before that, I didn't really pay attention to it. And when I crashed, when I sprint car hard and knocked out and, you know, and realized,

Yeah. Yeah, didn't you have to step out? Yeah, I tried to race. Yeah. And basically I was entering the corner. When I thought I was entering the corner at the right time, it was like 100 feet late. Yeah. And I had no clue other than when I would get there.

I was in a different spot than I really thought I was in. Right. And that's when I realized, I mean, I was questioning kind of my head. So let me ask you this. So do you? That's interesting to me because there's, like, when I had, when I got, when my, when I would have an issue, right, if I'd crash and I'd have it, I was like, I knew, like, yeah, I'm messed up. This is, I'm, there's a problem. Now, when I, it, it, give me a second here. When we're in, when we're in our 20s or when we're young, right, I didn't, I had concussions and crashes and, and, and, and, and, you. rang my bell, we'd call it, that I didn't think were a big deal.

You know, we would, I wrecked it in 98 at the Xfinity race at Daytona, flipped and hit my head on the door, on the door top, and was dizzy and thought it was funny. Because in my mind, I was going to, it was going to go away in a couple days, one day, two day, whatever. Yeah. And no big deal. I didn't think anything about it being a long-term problem, or should I

race next weekend. No. It was just fine. You know? And there were other crashes that I was probably messed up and didn't know it. And then when I got older it was real easy to tell. There's a problem.

And there are guys there are other guys that I know that it's not as obvious to them when there's a problem, right? There's been other racers that I know that have crashed and they're like, man, I, I felt fine.

I felt totally fine. But then I got out there and this happened and I was like, oh, that's not right. But I felt fine. I had no clue. Yeah. And so, and it sounds like you kind of fell into that boat. Like you had this crash, you got knocked out, you thought everything was good. And then you're driving the car and you're like, hmm, that's not quite what needs to be

happening. but otherwise walking around talking every day getting up in the morning doing your thing living life you had you were oblivious he had no idea that that there was going to be this issue till you put yourself in stress right and or in duress right right behind the wheel of a car is that kind of so i'd say that's partly correct with me i'd so i just know of two concussions one was the one that was in sprint cars, you know, four years ago, five years ago, and learned a lot about it since then. And after that, I was like, man, I bet there was other times and didn't put it together. Right.

There was another, in 13, I crashed at Loudoun, New Hampshire, hit the inside wall. Yeah. You gave this really crazy interview. Do you ever, have you watched that back? So I've seen the interview, and I'm just, it's very confused. Yes. Do you? And I caught myself after that, I would be driving down.

down the, so I'd be driving from, I lived in Cheryl's Ford, I'd be driving into Mooresville and just be happy as can be running 25 miles an hour down the road, 35 miles an hour down the road. 50 mile an hour zone or something, slow. And have no clue. Right. So I caught myself doing things like that after that one. Yeah. But I never felt off in the car. But did you feel? But when I look back, I know I had to have been off in the car. Sure. But I didn't feel it. You know, the only things that were off to me was, you know, I'd catch myself doing things that I was surprised I was doing on the roads. Yeah. So that means, you know, in the car, I might have been as well. Yeah. But always raced through it. Prior to that, I never felt anything different, weird,

nothing. That's so frustrating because that there are people similar to yourself, like, that have an issue, but don't recognize it or don't. It's not that, it's not a, it's not a obvious and I think you know I just watch drivers and I go man I wonder if he knows maybe he's not okay right and they're just like it was it became a it was easy I guess for me to tell like yeah like I got a problem man I need to pay attention to this and but other people it doesn't it's just weird how it affects people differently and I would say in some situations they might know something's off and then others they may not at all because I feel like I was on both sides of it,

and I've looked a lot, you know, I've looked at it, you know, a lot since I learned more about it. I went to PA, learned a lot about concussions and how to help myself. Did you go see Mickey? Mickey. Yeah. And it was, he's like the best, the man. Isn't he?

The best doctor I've ever. He just, he makes you feel really good and understand what we're looking at. Yeah. You know, and it's like, wow, that clicks. Like, it was really good, you know, visits up there. Yeah, I think I remember you going up there. So let me ask you this question. When you get, so you get past that crash in the sprint car,

you take the time, you do the right thing, everything Mickey's telling you to do, right? Yeah. You do the homework. You're back at full song, 70 races a year, three years in a row. how do you measure like I have girls you've got kids how do you measure the risk at this age right like we're doing this bonus racing right right like I I I my idea of my idea of playing it safe is pretty silly I'm like you know I just don't need to race every week I can race a couple here

and there and that really lowers my odds of getting myself in trouble because I I don't need to hit anything right and And now could I hit something and be fine? More than likely. But I don't need to test that theory, right? And so that's why I race very minimal. But you're back at it, hard at it. 70 races a year.

You're in the throes putting yourself at risk like any other racer in the sprint car world. Yeah. How do you justify that? So I talked to Amy about it, you know, and make sure that we're on the same page with it. That's important. I think about it probably more than what I should. Well, that's okay. You're 44 years old.

Yeah. You know? Right. You have to. I have to. And I feel like I want to. And because of that, like every single time I learned from that last wreck, well, that wreck where I'd hit my head hard. that I just need to be more, like really do a much better job of understanding where I'm at and who I'm around.

And, you know, and their tendencies, you know, and just how maybe they race and just do a, you know, just basically use my head more than just going out there and going as hard as you can. Yeah. So I look at everything a little differently now. All right. So the Dale Jr. download here on a Wednesday guest segment and one of our most requested by far. has been Carl Edwards, and we are lucky to have the chance to have Carl here today. Let's talk about Homestead.

I'm in my bus, I believe, and I remember the sound of the cars slowing down, and I thought, fuck, there's a yellow. And I look out the window, and here comes this car down across the apron with a flat tire. And I thought,

I can't believe they threw a yellow that was Carl's championship. He's trying to win a championship here and had it. You had raced your whole life trusting that the green flag would drop and the checkered flag would end it and that there would be

nothing in between that that wasn't pure. Yeah. And between the tie with Tony, there was no shenanigans going on there, but between how difficult that must have been to sort of get past, right? this questionable yellow, you had given everything you had to the sport, you'd been a good shepherd, you had been an outstanding citizen in the industry,

you know, you'd done everything right. I felt like I was sitting there watching this break you entirely. And I felt like it just took all the passion that you had for this away. And I wonder if you feel that same way. that, you know, I know you can gain it back and I know you look, you're coming back, you're going to broadcast, you want to reconnect with a sport, you felt like you walked away from it,

you felt like you turned your back on it, that's what you said. But I mean, dude, you had every right if that's what you did. Because, I mean, I felt like that you didn't deserve that. And I don't know how that you, I don't know how that must have felt for you. All right. Man, you teed that one up. So what I'm sitting here thinking about, my hands are sweating when you're saying all this because I don't know how honest I want to be

about all this, but I think I'm just going to tell you how it is. So there's a couple things here and they're really big deals to me to say. So first of all, I don't deserve anything. And I've learned this, that, you know, we were at church the other day, and anybody knows me well knows I'm not, I'm historically an atheist at best. But I've come to realize at 45 years old that if I try to write down a list, all the things that God didn't give me, that I did myself, there's an empty sheet of paper in front of me. So when I start there and I say, hey, everything's, then it's, just a gift and what do you do with a gift if I send you a gift your only job to do is enjoy it and so for me I was wrestling with some things like this at the time I was seeing them I was living them right there

I was living that it wasn't my plan it wasn't what you just described it wasn't that I worked so hard my whole life and I deserve to win this thing and it was taken away from me what I realize is that that there was a bigger plan than mine and that all that stuff played out just perfectly, and I was just along for the ride. And so when I got out of that car, I was feeling something that was a lot bigger than me, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it,

but it was the strangest feeling Dale. I knew that whole weekend, and I was not a believer at that time, but I knew that whole weekend. My wife will tell you there were so many crazy things that happened. My motorhome broke down at least once or two, twice on the way the racetrack. I didn't have a motor home. Um, had all sorts of issues going on at home that were very strange. Danica and I almost wrecked in practice. We had the fastest car and it was

this crazy thing. Um, in the middle of the race, we, uh, either we had a bad pit stop towards the end or I screwed something up and I came out and I almost gave up. I remember pulling out, we even behind the pace car thinking, I did it. I gave up my whole everything I ever worked for. I'll never forget Dave Rogers coming on the radio and saying, We got them right where we want them. And we went and we passed every single one of the guys I had to beat. And there was something about that caution. It was like the final thing to say,

damn it, you're not supposed to win this thing. This is not supposed to happen. And I know NASCAR was throwing those cautions to make it more exciting. That's a fact. And I specifically talked to people about it. And that's that. And we're all in this sport to entertain. And they were trying their hardest at the time.

But my point in saying all of that is that it was an outstanding set of circumstances. It was very odd. But now I realize it was the best thing in the world for me. And I was able to get the message that I did not belong in a race car. That's not what I was supposed to be doing with my life. And looking back, I'm so thankful for it. I mean, it changed my life at that moment in a way that I could never have understood how great it was. So I know that's a roundabout answer.

It might be too much to swallow, but that's the way I see it. Yeah, I think it's just, I find it just hard to believe. Which part's hard to believe, sorry. So you didn't have a choice but to experience it. It's what happened. Yep, yep. In the moment. Yeah.

And I could understand, and anyone could understand, how that would break your spirit. Yeah. If you were just talking about your passion and love for racing. Right. I would give you that. I would say, hey, yes. Be a broken man for a while. Yep.

but to have but to think i don't belong in a race car anymore or my life isn't i'm ready to put this part of my life away yeah i just let me bridge the gap for you okay so you're exactly right i wanted to win that championship it's everything i mean you know you know but it's it's Everything I'd work for. That's it. That's the prize you want more than anything in the world. And yes, I believe that was snatched. Okay?

So that's part of it. Yes. The, the, and that was very difficult, okay? So I had to look and say, okay, let's just go to the next year. Let's go to 2017. Right. Let me just be real smart. Let me just think this through.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go and I am going to continue. I'm going to put everything in my life second in the back seat. And I'm going to go starting at Daytona and I'm going to drive the hell out of this race car like I've been doing for 13, 14 years. And I'm going to run this thing all the way of the end and give everything I got another year of my life and all the stuff that you, you know, the head injury stuff started to really be a factor for me. You know, because I didn't think about that. And now I'm like, man, I'm not just giving up my time now. There's all sorts of things that I might be given up in the future.

And then I'm going to get to Homestead at the end of 2017. I'm going to do everything just right. And they're going to throw a caution with five to go. And we're going to put all this on a restart. And I thought, damn, I don't know if spending a whole year of my life and all the things you give up and possibly give up for, you know, one restart. Like, I don't know. That's part. Yes, that's a big deal. You have to weigh that. And so, so yeah, I guess really disappointing, but it actually helped me to say, hey, you know, this is the reality. This is how it could go and is it worth it to you.

All right here on the Dale Jr. download, we've got quite the group of guys assembled for this show. We're going back to the 2001 Daytona 24 hours. and the Corvette that Dad and I was a part of. Doug Feehan was a team general manager. You're here today, Doug. Thanks for coming. And then Kelly Collins was one of our co-drivers. And then Andy Pilgrim, also one of the co-drivers. Right after the race, we were up on the podium. And then everybody kind of, I had to go to sea or down to West Palm Beach to test some cars for Skip Barber.

And he comes running over and he goes, hey, when am I going to see you again? I go, I don't know, soon. We're going to, you know, you've talked about plans and stuff that was it yeah when was the last time you talked to him Andy the very last time I talked to him mate was actually during the 500 oh yeah before with the long yellow with Tony Stewart and I he said to me because he'd invited me for the 500 yeah to come and so yeah I actually stayed on his boat the night before the race yeah and so it was like when you when you when you're towards the end of the race said make sure you get back to the

bus at the end because I'll be ready to go. He said that, you know, and there was an SUV there when I got back to the bus. And there's an SUV there back at the bus and there were, you know, two police officers there with motorcycles and that was it. But I walked back during that Tony Stewart yell, I walked back.

And when I got back to the bus, Teresa was there and she said when I got in the door, she said he's been asking for you. And I said, oh. And so I didn't immediately think about it. But But then it, that was there like three or four minutes. It was still under yellow.

And he said, is Andy have his ears on yet? And I heard it on the radio. And she said, here, he wants to talk to you. So I got on the radio and said, hey, Dale's Andy. And he said, oh, yeah, I'm having fun. You having a good time? I said, yeah, yeah, I'm back at the bus. You know, everything's good.

And he said, all right. He said, so anyway, you know, you got any advice for me here? That's what he said. Can you imagine a road race? He got any advice for me. And I laughed just like you did, just then. I kind of laughed at. No, Dale. I mean, to me, watching the race, as I tried to, with my inexperienced eye,

it looked to me like he had a 15th, 20th place car, and he just kept working his way back up to the front. So I said, Dale, just keep doing what you've been doing, man, you're doing great, you're doing awesome. I'm like, what the heck else can I say to the guy? I didn't know that. Wow. And that was it, and then it went. Might have been the last person. Yeah. Well, and there was an overall call on the radio that said, green this time. and then I was like okay you know

see you later damn crazy yeah you never told me that I yeah we didn't speak too much after that you know those are things honestly I mean there was a lot of stuff these letters I kept them for 20 years before I actually

started bringing them up at enthusiast for people that would appreciate them yeah I think they're the same way oh yeah it was the same way it was I know I think it was just out of respect for everything When people come in my house, you may read that letter, they're like, oh, my God. Yeah.

Like, that's Dale. And I go, yeah. Yeah. Four emails. Huh? Yeah. Before email. Well, there was email.

There was email, you know? And I only bring that up because after the race, I got hundreds of emails. And some of them are looking at them were you the Andy that Dale was talking to under the full course yellow before. back to green. But there were like four or five at that time, and I still got them. Actually, I printed them off because they just wanted to keep them.

Damn. But it was, well, the emotional reaction, man, it was, it was, it was, it was people really, really care. And Andy called me from the coach. Yeah. And you guys all knew way before anybody else. Yeah. And I'm just sitting there, we're having some beers

and we're all excited. And I just, my girlfriend at the time, I just turned white. It was so surreal at the time. I mean, obviously, they should die at night. Sure. Yeah. I'd gone down to Atlanta to be with Panos.

I don't know if you ever met Don Panos. He's got Owens Road, Atlanta, and a bunch of other stuff, kind of a crazy guy. These guys know them. Yeah. And I was golfing, and I had radio with me, and I'm listening to the race. and the end of the race was pretty exciting. Yeah. Okay.

So I'm trying to pay attention to what I'm doing. Of course, the guys I'm playing where they're pissed off because they're not race fans. So I put the radio down and finished up, and I walked in into the pro shop. Okay. And of course, the guys there are all NASCAR fans, and they're all looking at the TV.

Race was over. And I look up, and now the full screen is a picture of your dad. And it was one of those pictures. that wasn't a race winner picture. Sure. It was one of those remembrance pictures. And I'm looking at that

and I'm looking around and the place is just absolutely silent and everybody just glued to the TV and I said to the assistant pro guy at the corner, I said, what's going on? He said, Dale was just killing that racquettoe. I said, no way.

The race was just coming down. The race was over. Yeah. No. Yeah. No. I can just remember. I'll never forget, just looking up at that TV and seeing that, I get emotional about it,

but seeing that full fame, I mean, it was, for everybody else. It was just unbelievable. It was just, I couldn't, I couldn't accept it. Yeah, that's interesting. Go ahead. Yeah, no, it's just some of the, some of the, the respect for the man. Yeah. There was, you know, the racer, in some ways people either loved or hated him, right?

When they were doing an introduction to Daytona, the biggest role was for you that. I mean, it was. I was listening to all the introductions when I was sitting now. It was like, it was the biggest roar. You could hear some booze because people didn't like him. Oh, yeah. But, man, the respect was there. All right, so we got Robin Pemberton here on the Dale Jr. download.

An old friend of mine. I forget the race. Tony Stewart and Kyle Bush got into it on something. And then we called him to the hauler. Yeah. So. Might have been maybe Daytona. He was.

There's a night race at Daytona, maybe? Maybe. Or was it Kurt? Tony and Kurt. Because apparently the remember was Tony popped Kurt in the holler. Yeah. So we're in, Mike says, okay, you, you guard Tony and I'll take Kyle. This is Mike.

Kurt. Yeah, or Kurt. Yeah. You know. And I said, okay. Well, you know, so they come in and they're sitting and they're talking and they're not getting very far with the conversation. And it's not, nobody's bending, right? And they're starting to lean up a seat and they're leaning and lean and leaning.

They stand up. So I stand, you know, I get up, and I got Tony behind me, right? And I'm kind of keeping them away. And Mike's got Kurt up here, you know, just a little bit. And Tony comes across with a left hand and just drills them. So now, I mean, the Shiner's, it's going to, it's happening already, right? And we said, you know, well, we're not getting anywhere. You got, you know, we're going to talk about this, whatever, whatever.

So they walk out. And I turned a mic. I said, you didn't tell me, Tony. was left-handed. I'm blocking him like he's right hand. You didn't tell me he was left-hand. He said, hell, I didn't know. It's like, oh my God. Watch Tony's left. Jesus. Oh, man, it's, oh. Was that as bad as it ever got in the hauler? Yeah, I think so. Todd Bodine, one of the three Bodine brothers that had success in the NASCAR world is going to come into the room here in a moment. In 98-99, race in for CC in the 60s in the 60.

car with me, man. Y'all were fast. Contenders every week. I was really lucky to be in a pretty fantastic race car myself that helped mask some of my rookie issues. And I had some really good people around me, so I was able to get out there and compete. And we raced good together, I thought, until... We did until one time.

Yeah, one time. And I don't know that we ever... And that was my first. fall. Really? Yes. If you're not watched a video, I know.

I went down in there and got sucked around and yeah. That place, so I had two, I had two races at Pikes Peak and two bad days. That was one with you, and the other was Tony Stewart put me in the wall, and the other one. But it was a fun racetrack, but very flat.

And our cars, yeah, I mean, our cars were kind of edgy. And if you got underneath somebody, you know, it's a potential to happen. But I was pretty, I was pretty proud of myself back then. By that point in the season, I had, you know, oh, I can do this. I've won a few races.

I know what I'm doing. Yeah. And your last name was Bodine. So it was like an automatic trigger for our heart. But after that, I don't, we never had, do we remember? Nothing. No problems after that. No, no problems.

I remember. God, we thought we were such big tough shit back then. And that happening and saying that about you. And then I was like, hmm, I wonder how he's going to react. I don't know you well enough. You said that, but you didn't let them know what you said. Who? Oh, I got out of the car and they interviewed me and I said,

that cue ball-headed fool wrecked me. And show them what I brought you. brought him a little present today to put on with the rest of his chachis. A little cue ball signed by Todd. This is one of my favorite things in the room now. Cube ball headed full. Yeah. I will ask you, what was your reaction when you heard that?

Laughed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because you're right. You were young. I think it was your first year. Right?

You know, everything our families had gone through. Yeah. And that was the thing. One of my big lessons, Growing up was, and I feel this way still today, is I don't hold grudges. I don't think, try not to think bad of people and talk bad of people. Because especially in our sport and what we do, it's going to happen.

Man, it's just part of it's the nature of the game. And if you hold grudges against people, you're going to have no friends. You're going to have nothing, you know. And I just, it was funny. Yeah. I don't know if you remember this. I tried to find one, but I couldn't find. one. That next week I made some

some of them t-shirts. Did you? You never, you had, I swear you got one. Yeah. It was a rack of billiard balls, but we changed all the numbers on the balls to the race card numbers that we raced with and yours was up front and I was the cue ball and it showed the balls all getting broken apart. Yeah.

Yeah. We just gave him away at the racetrack the next week. Damn it. Yeah. We have two guests coming on the show. Rico Abrue and Tony Stewart. The focus driving the car literally hitting the gas and driving it to the finish line is cut a good reaction time, keep the car in the groove, and be ready if you have to pedal it, if you have to just abort the run. You have to, I told our cup guys last year, you know, a bunch of young guys and that they all wanted to know about it. And I said, you know how we make split second decisions when we drive. We all know that.

Now take that split second decision and make a split second decision off of that. that's how fast your brain has to react to what is going on. And what Rico asked me when feeling the tire spin, I hit the gas. Somebody asked me the other day, they said, what's it feel like when you hit the gas in those cars? I said, I really don't know anymore because, yeah, it's accelerating like crazy.

But as soon as that light changes and my eyes go to my focal point, my brain goes to the back tires to feeling what those tires are doing. If it's starting to shake a little bit, if it does start to have a light shake, can it drive out of it? You have to make all these decisions so fast off of feel. So your brain literally goes backwards to the car while your eyes and everything else is going forward. You're trying to put your brain on top of those tires to feel what's going on. So it's just a whole different discipline. You really don't see cars crash very often. In the crash that Doug and I had, I mean, Doug and I raced USAC for years together,

never touched wheels. And that's, that'd be the place where if it's going to have, Yeah. That's where it's going to happen. But it's not common in drag racing, first of all. And that was a situation that he did everything in his power to keep that from happening. I mean, we're both in the first round of the countdown. You know, he's seconded the points at that point. We're leading the points on that run. And now we just crashed our cars that got us to the dance. So, but there's nothing he could do, nothing we could do. And, you know, it's, but stuff happens very, very quickly in those cars. Yeah. You said you were knocked out for? for a little bit. Had you ever been knocked out before? I've been knocked down a lot. That's the problem. You know, for us, I think it's kind of like when people get heat stroke. It's the easiest thing I feel that you can compare to. And once somebody gets heat stroke, it's easier for him to get it again. And with concussions, it's the same way. If there's not enough time in between to let your brain catch up and heal, and it'll heal. You know that. If you don't get that your brain time to heal, you're susceptible to it even easier.

And, you know, we had an event at Norwalk where we literally, the two qualified runs on Friday blew up. Blew up again first round of eliminations on Sunday and still won the round, had changed motors and get ready for second round. But then the next week, the next event, we go to Seattle, we blow a motor and I get a concussion out of it. How? Because of the power of the explosion of it. And if you watch a slow one, and I asked the same question. And I asked Leah because Friday night after the two at Norwalk, I said, why do they keep asking me if I'm okay?

And she goes, watch the replay. And she goes, don't watch the tires and don't watch the pipes and the cylinders go out. She goes, just focus on your head. Watch your head. And we're talking about a car that when it blows up, it's not deselling. It's not like you're hitting the brakes all of a sudden. You're just not accelerating anymore. But I watch the replay in slow motion.

My head, it looks like I'm trying to shove my head through the dash. Wow. It goes forward so hard. From the compression of that explosion. Oh, wow. Damn. And that's what gives you the concussion. So, you know, we talk about wrecks and crashes and stuff. It's not physically crashing the car into a wall. When those things blow up, it is violent. Yeah. And we're talking about a dragster. Imagine Matt Hagan and John Forrest and J.R. Todd and our buddies that drive funny cars, what they go through because it's like being inside a trash can. Somebody throws a quarter stick of dynamite inside when those things blow up. So they're just violent race cars. And, and. You know, the stuff that we're used to and the things that were variables we had to watch out for are different variables that we have to do on that side. Yeah. Damn.

Yeah, I saw in the video after the wreck, you're getting a little bit slow moving. But usually you don't move super fast anyway. I know what you should look like. Wasn't the one you're used to seeing. Yeah, you just move a little slow there. Yeah. But you sound great. Thanks.

Yeah. No, I feel fine. I mean, I felt like somebody had literally dropped a 15-pound bowling ball off top of a large step ladder right on top of my head for about six straight hours. But, you know, that got better. And it's, you know, here we are three days after it. And I just feel like a telephone pole walking around, like all the muscles are tight. Yeah.

So we're just like when we, if we had bad wrecks and cup cars and Xfinity cars and sprint cars, I mean, that's the way you feel the next day. But the best thing you do is just get right back in the car. That's what loosens it up. Yeah. I'd say driving sprint cars are, you know, world outlaw and wing sprint cars. And the high limit is quite spectacular at times as well. I don't, you know, there's a very high limit, high element of danger.

You talked about the wrecks at Eldora. The, you know, how do you manage? Because I went to, I went to a race, my first race, I think, a year or two ago. Learnerville, I think we can learn a bell. Never seen anything move as fast around an oval at the limit or out of control. Literally, to your point, everybody out there is driving them to the edge. And the commitment that you have to have, just watching a car run by itself in time trials is really impressive. But then to see you guys out there in the race, dodging.

each other for clean air, dodging what's happening to the racetrack as it starts to sort of degrade in certain areas. I, you know, it's, I don't know if, I guess it's,

it's so risky. I guess you have to kind of compartmentalize that and set that on the sideline and not worry about it ever, right, about what might or could happen when things go wrong. Because, you know,

we've seen some pretty scary things happen in that type of, of racing. Yeah, and I mean, you think about it. I mean, while you're going out there, right? And over the last few years, you know, previously years, I've had some big wrecks. I mean, you've seen the violent wrecks, sprint cars can, it can happen. And, you know, from blowing a tire and hitting the wall to, you know, crashing and we're in open wheel cars, so they're not meant to beat and bang into each other. You know, and I've, I've really studied, you know, the racers that I race against and their awareness of who's around them and how they race when they get around

guys. And I've really understood that if I want to be in this sport long term, you know, you can't have crashes like that and put yourself in those positions of uncomfort and really tried to learn like how can I continue to do this without, you know, rattling my head every other weekend or even just big, big rough tracks where you're bouncing against this, this headrests in the seats. I mean, you can get a freaking concussion doing that. So it's, it's about managing all of that, you know, understanding where you're racing, who you're racing against, and not pushing that extra bit when you're outside of your comfort zone. I think that you, you know, you can put yourself in big, big, bad spots and it can be catastrophic at times. If you take those big wrecks,

And then you got to turn around and race the next night. That's the toughest part. So it's, you know, I've really tried to learn not to put myself in bad spots. And, you know, if I have a 15th place car, I'm going to finish 15th tonight. And I'm going to make sure this car rolls into the trailer so we can work on it and get better for the next night. Because everything just starts right over. And it's, you got to appreciate it and you got to respect the sport that we're doing out there. Yeah.

That's the hard part about it, too, is, you know, you take a traveling series. like High Limit or World Outlaws, and they're going to a track that is a weekly track. Well, yeah, he can study the guys he's racing with every week that are running the touring deal. But now you roll into a place. You don't know this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, and you don't know what their characteristics are. You don't know how they race. You don't know if they're respectful or if they're guys that kind of race a little on the dirty edge, you know. But that's the things that you have to, that's the hard part about running any kind of a touring series

that you're going and racing with weekly race. racers is you don't have that opportunity like what recons is. Well, they're amped up to come beat it too, more than your traveling guys, because this is their opportunity to come beat the best, right? You got your national series coming into town, and they're going to do, you know, wild things to try to run up front, and that can, you know, it can affect the race, for sure. Tony Gibson on the Dale Jr. Download. We got busted because we went to Darlington, and we had the COT had just come out, and

Tony Jr. had figured out something. We made wing mounts. In the wing mounts. Right, because we found out that the distance between the wing and the deck lid was where the downforce came from. Right. So we ended up making a set of wing mounts. And the only way to really tell was if you measured between the deck lid and the wing. How much difference do you think you'd gained?

Oh, we gained. it was, well, it was 60,000 offset, so it was over at 8, 316th at the decklet. It's a lot. It's kind of like, picture like this. It's kind of like the underwing or the diffuser on these cars. The closer you got that together, man, that hair would tighten up and here it would come. So Tony Jr. figured out how to do all that and what we're going to do. So I'll never forget that.

So we're pushing through tech, and we had already made it out of the tech line, pushing it up the hill. and here comes officials. Hold on stop. Come back down. So we're like, what's up? Let's come back now. So we back it over there. Darby's like back it over there against the building. So we backed it over there and we're standing there, standing there. Here comes big Bradley. Bradley comes over there and he's talking to Darby. They're like, take those wing mounts off, take the wings off.

and I looked at 2 beer and I said Two beer. They got us. He's like, oh God. I said, well, I said, it is what it is. I said, let's just play cool, get it off, the ordeal, and maybe they won't find it. They're going to have a template to find this. So Bradley had stuck his little,

remember he had the little gauge, so he had stuck his gauge in it when we went through for tech. I'm thinking, well, that's kind of odd. Why would they do that? Who would know that? Nobody would know to check that. So somebody, we feel like, kind of added this out.

But it is at this point. We're like, okay, we're busted. So I say, amen, tell Tony Jr., tell Stiffy, we're busted. Like, we're done. So we back over there, take the wing mounts off and all that, and they check it, and they got this, they got a brand new set right beside it, and they got pins that drop in, so they dropped them in and they wouldn't go in there, right? Yeah.

So me and 2 Bear are standing there, and so we're trying to find wing mounts put back on it. We're standing over there, and there's a table over there, one of them little fold-up tables sitting over there. They got them wing mounts laying, though they just took off our cars laying on that table. And me and 2-Bare are standing there. Two-Berry looks at me, he goes, oh, man, I'm going to grab those wing-mouts right there, and I'm going to take off running. He says, if they can't find them, they can't throw us out. I said, two beer, they already know. He said, but if they don't have proof, how are they going to know?

He's like, I'm getting ready to grab them, and I'm going to take off running. I'll be out of this place in no time. And you know, too, beer. Oh, yeah, he was serious as a heart attack. Oh, yeah. Said, too,er, please don't do that. He was crazy. I said, two beer, they'll have dogs and helicopters after you hear about 15 seconds, dude.

I said, it's over. It's done. Yeah. So, yeah, they busted us. We put wing mounts on it and continued on. Tony Jr. And that's the fun stuff that I learned from those guys was they were always thinking about what's the next way I can stretch it.

Where's that gray area I can get in or I can talk my way out of? And, you know, Tony Jr. was always like, you always got to have a way to talk your way out of something. Whatever you get into, make sure you have a way to kind of talk your way. At least a story that sounds pretty good. All right. So it's going to be pretty exciting to talk to our next guest, Edwin McCain. When I was 14 and 15, I thought that would be really cool to ride around my friends on Harleys and be rich and get wasted.

But that's not, but a lot of people do that and they don't go to the place I went to. And what I would say is, and after going to rehab and doing a whole autopsy of the entire situation, it was an inevitability based on my brain chemistry. based on some trauma and and based on my inability to create my own balance. And I sort of always thought that, you know, and I, it was my own doing. I never, I couldn't take my foot off the gas in doing the business, like going and playing gigs and doing all that stuff because you get to be in the cash machine. for, you get to be in the thing for a minute and you just, yeah, yeah.

No, it was like, um, we would have family vacations planned and you could count on two or three private events would show up right in the middle of the vacation. And my wife and I had this deal. I'm like, you know, if they come in with the number doing it, you have to, we have to, you have to, you have to do that, you know. And so I, anyway, all that said, um, and part of my story was, I'm so ADD and I was unmedicated. and cocaine really works well if you don't have the proper medication. So that was kind of part of my story.

I started using cocaine to get up in the morning to get up and sharp and doing that. And then we were drinking like crazy people for two hours stretch after the show. I never drank before shows. I was always pretty disciplined when it came to that. But then, you know, we were sprinters, right? So we like, you know what I mean? So the big, the big disaster would always be if there was like some kind of situation where I'd start day drinking. Like if I started drinking at noon by 2.45, I'm a, I'm wrecked.

And because I was a sprinter. I was like, yeah. And so I remember, actually, once again at a NASCAR race, we had, you know, gone way off the deep end. And I ended up, I think it was in Atlanta. showed up as spectators, you know, and Dale Jared had gotten me tickets and stuff, and we all showed up in the infield. And I was a disaster. And I remember catching a look on Dale's face where he was disappointed in the shape I was in. And I instantly was like, man, I got a problem with this. I got to do something about this. And I tried, you know, I did the thing, this is how bad

an alcoholic I was. I did the thing where, because everybody around me was starting to say, hey, man, you need to start, you need to think about, like, you need to tone this down. And, but, but they're not really, because I'm, I'm, I'm generating a lot of money. So there's not, they're not going to, nobody's going to make me stop. Yeah. Because I'm still, I tell you what to do. Yeah, I'm still turning up.

Yeah. I'm turning up. And, and, and. So to get everybody off my. back. I was like, all right, I tell you what, I'll quit drinking for a year just so you guys will know that I don't have a problem. Well, that's what real alcoholics do. So I white-knuckled it for a year. Really? And then I got to the end of a year. You did a year? A hundred percent. And I got at the end of a year and I said, I'll tell you what, I'll throw an extra six months on it,

so I don't ever have to hear y'all talk about the way I drink. That, now think, if put, like, that is some like next-level matrix alcoholism to elbow yourself out, to really get to it the way you want to. And so when that next six months got to the end, I literally went totally ballistic, and it did not take six months for me to be suicidal, like so bad off that I had to make the choice between living or dying. And that is such a common storyline.

Like I thought I was so unique. I did. I mean, I really did. And I got to rehab and I had this terrible secret that I had planned on committing suicide. And I mustered the courage to tell this group I was in the next morning. I was like, I need to come clean about this whole. plan I had and I, you know, I told them my dramatic plan about killing myself and this guy sitting next to me goes, yeah, welcome to the club.

And everybody in the room was like, yeah, that's where it goes. That's how this ends. And I was like, wait, everybody. And they're like, welcome, welcome to rehab, you know? And I was like, oh. And that began the journey of, of, of. getting rid of the ego and learning about acceptance and balance and being able to say no and and and owning your and making the amends that you have to make and and all of the all of the things

that I needed to be a good human and a good father and the friend my friends deserve and not just the ringleader of some crazy circus that I thought was hilarious. Carson Hosevar is going to be the guest to come in here. Who do you hang out with? Just a bunch of my irisobodies. Not anyone in the industry. No other racers. You have no other racer buddies. Nope. None. There's not one guy that races, truck, Xfinity, or Cup that you would call a friend. No. Not one driver. I've only hung out one time with any other driver. It was SVG and Bubba at his property. One time. time.

SVG and who? Bubba Walls. One time. So, but you don't? We don't, we don't, like, hang out. Like, it was just one time. Who do you see at the racetrack that says hi to you the most? I don't know.

No drivers. No. When you go up on the platform and ride around on the... Whoever I didn't run into last week. Like, this week, it was, I got on the podium and it was Bowman made a joke about how I was getting on the slow boat because they were all torn up and they're starting in the back and I was qualified third and slow boat I just I went to the float that had the least amount of drivers on it and I was just like all right hi why did you go to the float that had the least amount of drivers I was the last one

I was last one there but I just I just know that I don't really talk to anybody why do you want to be friends with drivers or is it intentional uh I mean it's not like intentional or unintentional it's just how it worked out, you know, like I don't go out. I don't drink. Yeah. When you were racing short tracks, did you have friends that you raced with? No. No, not really.

I mean, like, I had guys. You're incapable of making friends with people you race against. I just have, I just want to hang out with my crew guys. When you raced in the truck series, did you have any kind of, like, not look, I'm not saying you got to go play golf with people. I'm just saying, did you have somebody that, like, when you were on our driver's intro, state? you more than likely went over and talked to them.

Maybe Zane in trucks? Zane? Maybe. But he was going to Spire. Yeah. So like that was, but that was like year three. But like that was like twice. But now you see Zane and nothing. I don't, I don't, I've never, I've never hung out with a driver my whole time here.

Yeah. I've never like hung out and just like other than that one time. Yeah. Our first guest of the 2025 season is Richard Childress. You had a history in bootlegging, like a. real you were a real live bootlegger. Is that true? Well, it's a long story also, but when I was a kid, the question is, did you run moonshine illegal? Yes, but here's what happened. I didn't bring it down from the mountains. I was running a service station. Yeah. 11 to 7. 7 o'clock in the morning and

moonshiner's would bring. Did you own the station? You worked there. I worked there. I didn't own it. Okay. I had to work there and run it at night. And I wasn't but 17. I think 16, 17. 17 and these bootleggers would park the car come in there and give me some addresses you know where to go these drink houses you deliver this there you deliver this here and you deliver it there and I would do that now I did move a couple down from the mountains but most of the time drink houses yeah but I'd tall that what's the drink house a drink house is is right in the roughest part of town and here's a 16 17 year old kid and I'll tell you why I got out of it but I was there and I would take it whiskey and I'd have to sell, give my case here, give my case there.

Them guys would go collect the money and then they'd give me money to go do it. But that's how I would do it. Drink houses where you'd go drink all night and party and raise hell and everything, you know, back in the day. Why did you get out of it? It was a killing and I was in the wrong, I was in the right room. I heard the gun go off and I ran. Damn.

So that's drink houses back up there off of the. Patterson Avenue, the roughest part of town. And it was, it was, it was something. I bet. God, I can still see some of that. So is, are those buildings still around some of them? No, I go up there, I went a fair a few years back and just, every down in, I'll just ride around some of these old houses.

Like Bowman Grace Stadium, I used to deliver meat to this community down there where Boma Grace, I used to deliver more chitlins and saltfish and you. you could ever think about eating down through them houses they're no loaner there you've done it all i've seen a lot yeah yeah damn all right man well um pretty incredible when are you going to write this book i don't know i'm just you better get on it i keep talking about i know i ain't get no younger the damn it's going to take a long ass time to write oh it will let me ask you question you talk about age if you didn't know the day you were born how would you be oh if i didn't know the day that you were born. If I just had to guess, I'd say 35. There you go. So people ask me,

you know, I said, if you don't know when you were born, you do it and know how old you are. Yeah. So I think I'm about 40 with maybe 39 years of experience. How's that? There you go. I enjoyed it, Jr. Back up one minute. I'm not pissed off at you. I don't remember. I don't remember all that. I mean, I remember something, but I don't remember anything that was seeing. I couldn't even remember what it was about. I almost called Austin and said, you remember why I was pissed at junior and Casey asked? You don't put up with no bullshed.

I know that. I appreciate you. Great conversation with Jack Sprague. Jimmy Johnson calls me because I knew him because of the dealings with Robert and his car. There used to be, I want to clear it up for the listeners. There used to be a Jimmy Johnson that ran Motorsports at Hendrick Motorsports, an older fellow. Yep.

Yeah, I wasn't older then. But, yeah. So I knew him. And he called me one day and says, hey, he's. said, Rick's Rent and Concord Wednesday or whatever day it was. He said, but he's got a buddy that wants a car to drive and they want to play. Would you be willing to do that? I'm thinking, I said, Jimmy, this is all I own in this world that's worth anything.

I said, I'm leading the points. I have to race Saturday. He said, it'll be all right. He said, I promise you, if something happens, it's going to be all right. Yeah. And I'm sitting there sweating. I'm like, how do you say no? No.

I almost, dude, I almost said no. I said, okay. Tells me what time to be there. My brother and I take the car over there, Jason, and unload it beside them. Rick ain't there yet. Nobody's there yet. Rick shows up. Nice could be like always.

This limousine pulls up. I'm like, what the hell's going on here? Door opens, here steps out, Tom Cruise. And then here comes all legs, Nicole Kidman. Oh. I'm like, holy shit. It's big. So they go out there and play, and Rick, I knew, could drive.

I mean, he's a pretty good driver. So could Tom. Really? Oh, yeah, really good. I mean, they weren't three, four-tenths off what I'd run in. Bulls-s-h-h-h-hast. Yeah. That's not bad.

Yeah, half-second at the most. So they play all day, and finally, if you remember the super-late models, I mean, you got a place to sit, then you got this nice aluminum interior. There's nothing over there except X-bar. That's right. There's nowhere to sit. There is nowhere to sit. Well, she decides she wants a ride.

Nicole does. She puts helmet on. There's nothing over there. She sits in there on top of that X-bar. Digging her heels into my aluminum. My stuff was nice. Oh, yeah. And it was driving me nuts.

I'm like, oh, Marty, she's scratching my shit up. She's got her heels dug into my aluminum material. She's hanging on to the X-bar. and the top roll cage he goes out there with her and he's only three-tenth slower and he's running with by himself. I'm like...

Yeah, that's a crazy thing. And if he hits something, there's going to be parts everywhere. Oh, yeah.