The Dale Jr. Download - Get To Know These Fearless Female Racers

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

The future is now. Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with three up-and-coming female racers who are already making names for themselves on the grassroots level. Lanie Buice, Jade Avedisian, and Isabella Robusto sit down with Dale Jr. to share their stories and make it known that their names are ones to remember.First, Dale Jr. sits down with CARS Tour driver Lanie Buice. Buice is a first-generation talent who shares what kinds of challenges come with breaking into the racing scene. Dale became easily impressed by Lanie’s speed after racing against her at Florence and was taken aback by her ability to go out and make lap time. The stage is never too big for Buice, and she will be one to watch in the coming years as she continues to hone in on her abilities.  Next, Dale Jr. welcomed in dirt and asphalt racer Jade Avedisian. At the young age of 18, Jade has already made appearances in the Tulsa Shootout, Chili Bowl, and the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Tour, where she won the national championship. Dale made note of Jade’s impressive tenacity and confidence she shows on any given weekend, and learns more about where she gets those abilities from. Avedisian also opened up about her return from a concussion and how she made the decision to step out of the car to focus on her recovery. If you weren’t a fan before, you will be now.  Finally, Dale chats with ARCA driver Isabella Robusto. She and her twin brother grew up racing each other, both rising through the ranks as young race car drivers. Isabella caught her first big break when she entered the Drive For Diversity Program, which propelled her to a deal with Toyota Racing Development. She discusses having to step out of the car for 10 months for recovery from a concussion and explains why that time away from the car only reaffirmed her passion to drive race cars. Dale also provides her with advice ahead of her debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. She is wicked fast on the track and is only getting better with every lap she runs.  Dirty Mo Media is launching a new e-commerce merch line! They’ve got some awesome Dale Jr. Download merch on the site. Visit shop.dirtymomedia.com to check out all the new stuff.And for more content check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia 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.

All right, everybody, it's time for another episode of Belgium to download the guest edition, and we've got a pretty cool group of guests coming in today. Laney Bice is one of our guests as well as Jade Abedizian and Isabella Robusto. These are three girls that or ladies that I think are very talented behind the wheel of a race car. I've had the chance to watch them or race against them. in the last couple of years and was just, you know, I was actually talking to Laney and I said, man, we've got to figure out how to get you on the download sometime.

And the thought occurred to me, maybe we bring a couple of them in here and just let them kind of tell their story a little bit and introduce you to a couple of drivers that I think you should be paying attention to. So it's going to be a lot of fun. They're 18, 18, and 20 years old. All kind of basically. kind of going through the same route to find their way into the NASCAR ecosystem.

And I really do believe in all three of them. So let's learn about them. And I'm excited to get started. We'll bring Lainey into the room first. They'll all come in here individually to be able to give them a good opportunity to really talk one-on-one. And so here we go. Let's get started. Lanny Bice on the Dale Jr. download.

First of all, thanks for coming. Thank you so much for having me. Where did you come from? I am from Jackson, Georgia. A little bit of a middle of nowhere. Is that where you came from today? No, today I'm from Huntersville. So, yeah, I live in Huntersville now.

Really? Yeah. All right. I was wondering if you'd kind of gravitated up this way because I think, you know, to make the commitment to do this, right, you kind of want to be in this area for some reason. That's kind of always the way it's been. Definitely.

It's been a transition. I moved last year. So it's a little bit different. I'm from the middle of nowhere down in Georgia. So being up here where all the traffic and everything, it's definitely different. But I love the area. Racing in the cars tour full time these days. But I want to dive back into your 18 years old, working through the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Program as well, racing some market races.

But I want to know when racing first became an interest to you and why. Yeah, I randomly got into it. I didn't, none of my family had ever raced before, ever. So I had four-wheelers in the backyard, and my dad owns a tree removal business, and he built me a little track in the backyard. And that's basically how

my passion came from nothing to race car driving. And I went with him one day to look at tree work, and I saw go-kart racing out the window, and I begged him to take me in. And I'm super relentless, don't give up on much, so I begged him to take me in that day, and I think

it was a few weeks later. And then we had a go-car, one of the next few days. What kind of go-car? It was an L2O6 sportsman, one of the pretty simple, yeah, pretty simple ones, but pretty big for when you first getting into it. I started racing at Lamar County Speedway. What kind of track is that? Asphalt, road course. Really? Wow. Yeah, so a little bit different. I feel like a lot of people come from like the dirt racing world, typically when you get into oval racing. So it came from asphalt. But road courses. How'd that go? Really good. We had a lot of success. I loved it. I loved it. I fell in love with it almost immediately, especially competing with the guys.

I think that was... So, you know, I grew up around racing. I watched dad race. I watched races. I mean, I had this incredible education always, everything always around me. So I'm kind of curious as to how were you able to pick up the nuances of driving a corner, like apexes, and who was helping you do that? And what were some of the things?

What were some of the things you learned as you were, you know, maybe following other drivers or what have you. I think that was the hard thing when I was in asphalt go-kart racing is I didn't really know who to learn from and I wasn't really learning much. Like it was more so of me just driving the race car and just competing weekend and week out and learning what I could

because me and my dad did it together. And so I think that was what also made it special because like my dad always says he wishes he could go back to those days because he was so involved back then. and I just there was only so much that I could learn when I was in go-car racing because I just didn't really have anybody to look up to or to learn from. Sure. So talk about the successes and failures of going through that process. Yeah, go-car racing, like I said, we were very successful. I think that was why I really fell in

love with the sport just because of how competitive we were a weekend and week out. And in COVID, during COVID, I actually flipped and broke my collarbone. And I think that was what really was trying to make that transition to something different. my mom was like, no, we should really stop doing this because this isn't a good idea. But you won 23 straight races at one point. Yes, sir. Wow. Yeah, we had a lot of success.

I raced all across the southeast. So we ran the Maxis Series. And then we ran at Lamar County Speedway. That was my home track. And then we actually went up to Indianapolis a few times. And Jacksonville down in Florida, that's my favorite track. It has a really long straightaway, and you actually have some drafting. And it was so fun.

I just remember a little 12th. 13 year old me trying to draft and figure that stuff out. So that was really neat. But yeah, breaking my collarbone was definitely the thing that moved me to. How did that happen? I was practicing, actually. And I came up on this, like, slower cart, and I went to go below her, and I don't know if she just didn't know that I was there. And she came across, and I went over the top of her and threw across the asphalt. It was not good. Mama was not for racing anymore. And actually, funny story, me and my dad immediately went and tried to find something different that I could do. And that's how I got into legend racing.

So we searched and searched. And actually, the first legend car we got, I still had my sling, my arm in a sling from when I broke my collarbone. So it was really quick to getting back into something different. Were you apprehensive? So I've never broke my collarbone. But, you know, you strap your belts right across the top of those things. I had a problem for a long time. A long time.

Yeah, how did you do that? Yeah, I had a bump for quite a while. It doesn't bother me anymore, thankfully. But during Legend racing, I always remember to have to, like, move the belts around it and, like, make it comfortable. And especially after a long time with it over it, it'd start to irritate it a little bit. When you were racing go-karts, was that predominantly all road course stuff? Yeah, yeah, I only ever did road course. What about Legends?

Legend racing. I did Roadcourse. I did Oval, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway. We traveled a lot. And then I also did dirt one time. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would love to go back. Sonoya, it's in Georgia.

So it's where a lot of some of the big dirt stuff goes on down there. Occasionally they'll have some big dirt stuff. But I really liked that place. It was really cool. I wish I could do it again. I'd do it again in a second. I really want to get into a micro. I think that would be so much fun.

Well, you've got the connections kind of to put that together. Yeah. I imagine you've been over to Mill Bridge to see all the things going on over there. That's quite the place. Yes, sir. I went last week actually to watch. I had a few past teammates that race

so he just decided to go and watch. I'm sure somebody let you jump in one. When you were racing the Legends cars, you're 13. That car's got a ton of power, not a lot,

not very heavy. I'm not sure about the Go-Cart, but you're probably dealing with a whole new set of sensations and so forth as far as what the Legend car will do. And it doesn't really do

anything great because of the way it's built, but they're fun to drive. How did your experience go in that? Yeah, we were really competitive in Legend Racing. I got into the seat the first time in 2020, 2020, yeah, 2020. So the middle of 2020 during the summer. So we ran the Chargers class to start with.

And then actually the third race I ran in Young Lions, we won, which was Championship Night of Thursday Thunder. So in Legend Racing, super competitive. Atlanta Motor Speedway, all the Thursday Thunder stuff is super fun. So, yeah, we won our third race and actually qualified on the pole and led the whole thing. So it was a really really. fun night and I think that was what spiked my success in the legend racing. I think from then on I always talk about this. I actually started to try and figure out like mindset wise. I think that was when I figured

out like, oh, that sport is way more than just driving the thing. It's a little more of what you're thinking about, how hard you're challenging yourself, what your mindset is, what your physical fitness is, and things like that. Like legend racing was when I started to figure that out. And so I kind of fell into a little bit of a little bit less success over the next few months after I won that race. And I think that was what inspired me to try and figure out what I could do better and what was going on and why I was struggling so much. And then I ran legend cars through 2020. So through the end of 2020, we ended up winning a few track championships. I never got a Thursday Thunder championship. Just always one race this year in Thursday Thunder just never had enough luck to be competitive up front

every single race to get us that championship because I know that's what that takes. And then we won Cordial, actually. I won a championship at Cordial in a Legend Car. So it was cool going back there this year with the Car Store. Yeah, I didn't know that. Yes, it was really neat. And then I won the Georgia State championship for Georgia in the Legend Car. And then, yeah, we just had a lot of success.

And I learned a ton. And I think, you know, I found a passion for racing when I was in Go-Carts. but like legend racing and like being competitive and having to be challenged all the time was what really like made me fall in love with the sport and want to continue to like climb that ladder and be challenged weekend and week out yeah what happens after uh legend's cars so we had a really good friend um Ken Reagan down in Georgia and um he was he runs all the legend car stuff at Thursday Thunder and pretty much in Atlanta so we um he was like you need to go to North Carolina. Like you have to make the switch. It's a completely different world up there.

The racing is completely different. You got to get in a late model stock. And if you want to be a NASCAR driver, you've got to go up there and you've got to compete. And we started talking to people. Actually, funny story, you know how I race with Lee Pulley in performance in the car store this year. We started that connection back in 2023 or 2022, right at the end of 2022 when I was making that transition to late models. We actually called him. And, wanted to get in with him almost right away. And I actually ended up racing with AK performance in 2023 and ran at Florence Motor Speedway. We were second in track championship points, almost got my first win there multiple times,

and was the South Carolina rookie of the year. And I think that was what the transition was all about. Like that was what really inspired me to want to be a race car driver. Like before, every time you make these steps, you just start to fall more and more in love with the sport and you continue to love what you do and you continue to love the challenge of it. So when I ran 2023 in Florence and then we obviously went to a few other tracks, we ran a few cars to our races that year as well. Just the challenge of it and making that transition was really good for us and thankful for Ken Reagan for pushing me to do it. I got the chance to be on

the racetrack with you a couple times at Florence in some of the bigger late model races and I was really impressed with your speed. I can continue to be. I continue to be. I continue to to be just really, really impressed by how you're able to go out and make lap time. Some people, there's all kinds of different race car drivers, and they all have different qualities and abilities. I am not a hot lapper, and I never really strive to be one because I just know that's not my strong suit, and I'm always more focused on being repetitive and trying to put together, you know, good long run speed.

But I've always admired people that can go out and knock laps down. Mark Martin was one of the guys that used to do it all the time back in the day when I was getting in a NASCAR. But you get into the car and you can just make the lap, you know, and it might be a brand new track that you've never seen. But it's not, it's not, the stage is never really too big. The uncertainty of the facility, or the lack of knowledge of the actual racetrack itself is never a problem.

Has that always been one of your strong suits? And is that something that's developed recently? Because I think that's the one thing that always really gets people's attention about you is you'll go and make the lap in qualifying and practice. And when you have teammates, you typically outperform them or, you know, you always seem to be able to get the most out of the car. And qualifying to me, and especially in late model stocks, is the hardest thing. It's harder than the race.

It's so difficult. Yeah. Yeah, it's, and, you know, I've always known that about myself that I could go and find that speed pretty early. I feel like new places I go to or new tracks I go to, that's something that I try to do and I want to prove that I can do it just because I know how important it is, like you said. Do you study, is this an effort that starts early in the week or weeks before the race? Definitely. Absolutely. I watch the races beforehand. I look into kind of what to expect and what it looks like. I feel like I'm not super big on eye racing. I just never have been. I do it just to get a sense for where I might be going if the track is on it. I just have never loved it like I probably should. And that's okay. I'm trying to.

find it but I love being in a race car I love all the things that come along with being in a race car I seem to do better in a race car because you can feel everything in your butt um versus i racing is just in your hands so um yeah but like you said I I've just always strived to to be the best that I can unloading straight off into the racetrack it's just something that's always been important to me um and then like you said with qualifying that's been something that I feel like I've been trying to figure out a little bit more this year uh late model stock qualifying is one the hardest things I think we can do. It's just a challenge. Trying to find maximum grip, the first lap you go out is hard. And so I've been slowly getting better and better at that this

year as well, and I feel like that's been a priority of ours. And again, learning so much about staying consistent, like you said, you're good at those long run paces. And sometimes I may struggle with that a little bit, just staying consistent every single lap and trying to day within that 10th is something we've been heavy working on lately. And it's, it's been going way better. And I think that's, that's just the differences in every driver and what they're good at versus what some may be better at. Yeah. The, um, I think the cars tour, I'm biased because I'm, I've, I've got so much invested into it, but I think the cars tour, some of the most competitive racing on, uh, on asphalt ovals in the country, honestly. Um, we have, if we have 30 cars in the field,

there's 28 or 26, 25 that could win any given weekend. You'll have someone that will dominate a race and then run 15th the next week, and there's no rhyme or reason to any of it. But you're able to pick up your first top five at ACE here early in the season. I know there's been some struggles along the way, but the speed has been there. And Lee, one of the most well-respected owners in the series, in all of late model stock racing has affirmed and reaffirmed his belief in you. And I think it's warranted.

I mean, I believe that you have the ability to do it. It's great to see how big of a fan that Lee is and trying to help you showcase what you're capable of. Talk about that relationship and how that's developed because he also, he was able to do this with Butterbean, right? And Lee sort of seems to be the kind of person that needs to believe in that driver to be able to truly enjoy the potential of the team and what he does as an owner. So I can see that starting to develop between you two. Definitely. It's funny you say that we, this relationship started out at the 400 last year. and I didn't quite perform the way that I knew I should have at that 400 race.

And I showed him who I was, though, and I'm big on that. Like, I am who I am. I like to go out there, and I want to prove to everybody that I deserve to be out there as well. And I think he appreciated that, and he also appreciated my passion for it, because I love what I do, and I want to win. I haven't gotten there in the late model stock yet, but I'm working at it every single weekend. and I know it's coming soon. But I think he saw my passion for what I'm doing.

And he saw how much I loved it so early on. And then when the 400 didn't go well, he actually, a few days after, called us and asked us to run the Thanksgiving Classic with him. And we had a really, really, really good shot at Thanksgiving Classic. And me and Lee talked about this all the time. We should have won that race. Like, that was our race to lose.

And I think we always just look back at that. And I think after that race was when the development, Our relationship just developed so much. And we were talking back and forth about running the full season with him. And I wanted it really bad and he wanted it really bad. And so we just decided, let's do it. And thankful for Folsom Fin's Supply coming along and making that possible for me. Without his help, this season wouldn't be possible.

So super thankful for him and all the people that have made it possible for me. But yeah, we ran and then we ran the Icebreaker and had a really, really good success. And I think that's what started the season off for us. And then again, we've had so much success already this year. We just haven't had like it's a capitalize on into where we can show for it. Every single race we've been competitive. We've had the speed. We should have qualified better the first three races of the year.

And I think that was something that I had to work on. And then the last two races I finally figured it out. And so that was good for us. And yeah, we've just had so much success together already. It's just nothing has quite shown for it, obviously, other than the ace race where we finished fourth. And that was big for us. It was a good momentum builder for us. And I think that's partly why we went into North Wilkesboro so confident.

And then we qualified second as well there. And it's been incredible to work with him. And I will speak on this so highly for as long as my career goes. I understand why Butterbean always talks about him and why he is always so thankful for, for Lee Pulliam because he is actually an incredible person. And he continues to push me. And I think that's something that's big for me too is having somebody in a team owner that I'm working with,

believing in me and my ability to drive the race car. And it doesn't matter who I am to him. I'm a driver. And he believes in me and he's pushing me. And like this weekend, we had a really rough weekend, as you saw. Just I made a bad decision and I made a mistake. and Lee made sure that I knew that, and we talked about it, and we figured it out together,

and now we move on to the next one. How does Lee explain or express his feelings about that? He was pretty firm about it. He was, and that doesn't – I love that. I want him to be hard on me, and we talked about it, and we agreed that, look, we talked about this before the race. This is not something that you can do. Like, you made a mistake, and I was aware I made that mistake, and I was aware I made that

mistake, but I think he even opened it up even more to me, which is perfect. I love that. Like, please tell me what I did wrong. And I know I won't make that mistake again. So he's teaching me so many things that are going to make me a better race car driver. And for that, I'm just super thankful. Yeah. Well, I can sit here and talk to you. We have a both, we both have a passion right now for late model stock racing. And I know you're, you're getting opportunities to race in the Arka Series and I believe that you will continue to climb the ladder. I believe you have the ability. It's fun to see you out there competing. It's fun to, it's going to be a blast to see you win in the cars tour because I know it's coming to. You know, you're one of those drivers that just shows

the speed every single week. And like I said, when, you know, these teams, it's, it's, you just kind of got to keep plugging away and you're going to show up to a race and it's just going to all work. You know, the speed will be there like it has been every single week. And the race will just just come to you and you'll find yourself in Victor Lane. Can't wait for that to happen, Lainey. Thanks for giving us some time today. Good luck in Langley. Yeah, thank you so much. It's going to be a turnaround. We're going to have a great weekend in Langley. I already know it. Have you ever race there? I have not. I've never been. Such a fun track. I'm super excited. It's a little bit warm in the summer. But great little racetrack and got a lot of history too there. I'm excited. I think

butterbeams going with us. So at least I hope so. So I think he'd be a pretty good one to go with us and help us out. He'll be a massive help. He's run good there. So thank you again for coming through. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me on. Lainty Bice on the Dell Jr. download. Hey, T.J., you know that I got my own Chevy dealership down in Tallahassee, Florida. We're part of the Hendrick Automotive Group. Yes, I have heard of Darren Hart Jr. Chevrolet. I bet you'd be surprised on what type of Chevrolet vehicles we specialize in. If I had a guess, I'm going to say it would probably be Chevy trucks. Well, we definitely sell plenty of those, but actually we're really big in commercial vehicles. We actually sell

a lot of crane trucks, or the number one seller, actually, in crane trucks. Okay, I definitely did not see that coming. Yeah, pretty neat, huh? Yeah. So for any of our listeners shopping for commercial vehicles, here are some things you need to know about us at Delin Hart Jr. Chevrolet. We have hundreds of trucks in stock so you can find what you need fast. And we have people there that can help you with custom orders.

So if you want to build the exact vehicle you need, we can do it. We offer complimentary delivery anywhere in the Continental U.S. U.S. Plus, Hendrick Automotive Group is the nation's top-rated dealer group for online reputation. Visit Dale Jr. Chevy.com and click commercial to explore the wide range of available commercial vehicles. Our team at Dellenhart Jr. Chevrolet will give you a world-class experience. Chevrolet, together, let's drive. All right, that was Lainty Bice. Great opportunity to talk to her, and we're going to move right into our next interview with Jade Avedisian, and that's a tough last name to say, but we'll make

sure we're saying it right. That'll be the first thing I ask her when we get her in the room. Let's get started. I'm always nervous saying this. Jade Avedisian. Yep, that's correct. First try right there. How many ways have you had your name pronounced your last name?

Too many. I can't even keep count, honestly. Some people get it, like first try like you, and some people it's like. Luckily, we have such a great play-by-play in our Cars Tour booth, Eric, and he's the one that was teaching me this weekend. I was like, man, I think I know how to say her last name, but I don't want to mess that up because we did the pro race together. But 18 years old, 2003 Extreme Outlaw Midgets Champion, Cars Tour winner this year, ran strong in Orange County. But your background is dirt. I want to know, I guess, coming from Clovis, is that pronounced correctly?

Yes, that's correct. Yes, that's correct. How do you get involved in racing out in Clovis, California? Yeah, so my dad, you know, growing up was always involved. He never raced, but he worked on, you know, dirt sprint cars, you know, all the way until I was basically born. And then when I was born, I was just always around it because of him. And I was actually at a dirt track at, like, six months old.

Yeah. Introduced very young, and then, yeah, just kind of took off from there. He bought me a little quarter midgett at four I tried it out and at first I didn't really like it But take it for granted I was just four So he kept it around a few more years Thank goodness and I tried again when I was seven And you know that was it

So we used to go out to like empty parking lots Just see if I would like it And like I said I liked it at seven And then just started racing from there So I did quarter midgets till I was about like 10 and then switch to dirt from 10 to basically all the way to last year. So, you know, been really heavy on the dirt side, but, you know, grateful to kind of make the switch and just get the opportunity on the pavement world.

Yeah. So when you're, you know, I assume that during this, you know, during all these years racing dirt, you had tons of success, there's a lot of people that make a living on the dirt, you know, and was that sort of, did you, I guess, I don't know, at 18 years old, do you really even have a vision for your future. But what, you know, take me back maybe four or five years ago when you were grinding it away at these dirt tracks. What was your goal? What was your in-game? Yeah. So like five years ago, honestly, I didn't really think about like a future. I just did it for fun and, you know, it was just that weekend and, you know, I just took it week to week, honestly.

But yeah, if you asked me five years ago, I really don't know, you know, what I probably would have said. But I feel like, you know, as I matured and, you know, grew up and, you know, I think signing with Tierty was, you know, kind of, you know, finalized, I guess you could say my decision. But, yeah, like, I've always, you know, watched NASCAR growing up, but I never thought, you know, I'd ever get the opportunity to kind of make it hopefully a reality. So, yeah, now that I kind of have, you know, the opportunities and, you know, the people around it to, you know, hopefully make a reality, I feel like, you know, that kind of made up my decision. But yeah, I feel like, you know, even two years ago, I could have maybe gone both ways and, you know, made a, you know, a world, you know, on the dirt side and, you know, career on that side, you know, racing sprint cars or whatnot. But like I said, just the opportunity kind of arise. And, you know, I wanted to, you know, make my goal and, you know, race on Sundays. And I just took up the opportunity.

So was the transition, you had a ton of success in the dirt world, racing the Tulsa shootout, finished fourth in the A class in 2000. 2019, raised the Chili Bowl main event 13th there in 2020. And that championship in the Outlaw Midget Tour, the switch to you were, the switch to asphalt, was that encouraged by anyone in particular or? Not really, honestly. You know, right when I got the opportunity, like 2023, as soon as I signed with Tierty, I just took it. You know, I was excited for it.

I was excited for a whole different challenge. Obviously, still up to this day, I have, you know, a ton to learn. But I was just excited. I was excited to, you know, try something new, try something. You know, I've seen a lot of, you know, Toyota teammates, you know, try to make the switch. And, you know, obviously some I've made it and some have not. So I was just, you know, grateful for the opportunity and just wanted to kind of try it myself. Who are some of the drivers, I guess, that have went through that route that you look up to that might be helpful to you,

had taken you under their wing or drivers you stick out advice with? I would say, you know, Christopher Bell, obviously, you know, he's, you know, at the top of the top right now. And, you know, he kind of came from, you know, kind of what I have been doing. You know, he ran with Keith Coons, you know, many, many years. And, you know, I was with them, you know, the past two years. So I feel like we've kind of came from, you know, the same spot. Obviously, you know, he's made it and, you know, kind of conquered it. So, you know, I see him in the gym, you know, sometimes.

You know, he's just, you know, down to earth. And, you know, same with, like, John Hunter. I feel like I kind of look up to him as well. He doesn't, you know, come from the dirt world. But same thing. I see him in the gym. And, you know, he's always, you know, hard worker.

Yes, for sure. Always open for, you know, any of my questions. And, you know, he's been in my situation. He's been racing, you know, late models when he was young. So, you know, he's been through it. So I would say those are the two guys I look up to right now. What's your, what's the biggest challenge, I suppose, when you jump in a late model on asphalt,

what was the first thing, I guess, that was the toughest to get used to? Probably just driving off my right front. You know, I've been so used to, you know, kind of like always, you know, leaning on my right rear and, you know, using my right rear to turn. But, you know, now it's just like all about my right front. Make sure I'm, you know, heating it up and cool if I.

Make sure I have, you know, the temperature in it to, you know, have turned. So I'd say just like kind of flipping my, you know, car. you know, to the right rear, to the right front. So I'd say that, just, you know, trying to, you know, acclimate myself, you know, getting used to, you know, leaning on my right front and using it to my advantage. Yeah. Where do you live now? I live in Moorsville. So as soon as I signed with Tierty and, you know, in 2020, I moved out here at the beginning of 20203. So I've been out here for two years. So it feels like home now, but I still kind of go back and forth once

in a while. My parents live out in California. So, yeah, but I'm at here by yourself. Yep, I'm out here by myself right now. Yep. I don't understand that. So there's a lot of young drivers like yourself that are seeking opportunity, making the move. Lainey was just in here, and she moved up from the southeast, further south than North Carolina. And man, 18 years old, I had no business not, you know, being anywhere far away from my family or my parents. I would have not, made good decisions. How do you stay focused and motivated? And like you have places that you're supposed to be. You have you have the opportunity to be at the gym, but you have, you know, maybe there's Sim or maybe there's, you know, there's, you got to get by the shop. You've got to be,

you know, you got to be around your team. And how are you, are you managing all of that on your own? Yeah, for the most part, you know, but I also have, you know, my parents still come out here, you know, a lot. So I'm not like alone alone. You know, I spend most of the weeks alone, but, you know, they're always checking in. And honestly, I have, you know, the TRD family, like everyone in the gym and, you know, my boss is over there, they've, you know, become family. So, you know, whether it's, you know, making sure I'm doing my stuff during the week or, you know, straighten me out. So I feel like, you know, they became, you know, family and, you know, also Bon's Suss. Bond's awesome. Yes, he is. He's also became like, you know,

a guy I look up to and, you know, a guy I see basically every single day. So, yeah, I just have, you know, a good group of people around me to, you know, always make sure I'm, you know, at the right places at the right time and doing the right thing. So what does your racing schedule look at? I don't really, I don't, when you're not at the cars tour, I don't know where you are, but you're racing somewhere, I'm sure. You come to run the cars tour sporadically, but what other things are you trying to accomplish this year? Just to race as most as I can, honestly. I can't run, you know, full car sewer because the Wilson team, you know, super. So whenever the super's are racing, I can't race. But next week we go to Montgomery and then, you know, honestly,

I'm not too sure really after that. I just kind of take it week by week. But yeah, I love, you know, like your guys' series is awesome. You know, I love like racing. I've raced it three times, I think, this year. So I always enjoy, you know, going cars to wear racing. But, um, you know, you're going cars to racing but yeah just like next week we ran you know the pro with the super's at my grummary and then like i said you know i'm not too sure after that but we just try to race you know as much as we can right now the um the one i know that you won earlier this year at new river in the cars tour but the i was actually at orange county to watch the pro race and i inadvertently accidentally ended up on the broadcast there i was supposed to just say a couple words at the top of the

show and they were going to turn me loose but they never turned term me loose, so I ended up standing there and broadcast the whole race. But you're driving, you know, you're working way through the field. There was a couple drivers battling for second position, and you made this really aggressive move to be able to take that position from them. And I was really impressed by the, I don't know, the tenacity that you showed in that moment. I think that, you know, as an, I don't know, I'm thinking of myself as an 18-year-old. I was a bit more conservative, more apprehensive, maybe not sure of, you just had so much confidence in that very moment to do what you needed to do and succeed and taking that position and finishing well

in the race. Is that, you know, I don't know if you can explain where that comes from, but you have, you know, I guess you could describe your style as a driver. What do you think you're, you know, what do you think you, you know, mold yourself after? Honestly, I don't know. I feel like, you know, until I started, once I started racing, I've been, you know, super, super aggressive. Like the dirt world, I was, you know, maybe even sometimes too aggressive. So I've always been trying to kind of take a step back. Obviously, I don't. Dial it back?

Yes, I don't know if you need to change. I feel like right now I'm in a good spot. But, you know, growing up, obviously I wasn't as mature and, you know, some days I would, you know, make not good decisions and, you know, put myself in bad decisions, you know, on the racetrack. But yeah, I feel like I'm, like I said, I've been in a good spot right now, but I don't know. I don't know where it has came from. But I feel like, you know, the moment I've started racing, I've been, you know, super, super aggressive. And, you know, it works sometimes.

And sometimes it puts me in a bad spot for sure, though. Yeah, it paid off. Talk about the cars tour and just, I guess, you know, I feel like that we have a pretty competitive tour. When you get ready to, you know, come to a cars tour race, I guess describe the experience that you think you're going to have. have? I like it a lot, honestly. You know, there's a lot of good, you know, cars and a lot of good race car drivers. And, you know, North Wilkesboro, like, if you look at the entry list, you know, it was, it was a style. It was hard. So, you know, I enjoy, I enjoy going to those, you know, races. I enjoy, you know, racing against, you know, people that are probably a little bit better than me right now,

because, you know, that's the only way I'm going to get better if I race against those people. And then, yeah, you guys just go to really cool, you know, racetracks. And I feel like, time you guys, you know, put on a race, you know, it means something, you know, a lot more than, you know, maybe any other late model race right now. So, yeah, I enjoy it. I know my team does too, and, you know, I'm just excited to, you know, race another cross-year race here shortly. Yeah, one of the toughest things about driving a pro late model, late-mile stock, or anything else like that, is qualifying, trying to fire off the right front tire. And I think that's probably the biggest challenge for me when I go run these cars is just getting the temperature and the

tire to be able to put down the lap. I know I can I can put down. You struggled a little bit in qualifying at Wilkesboro. I'm not sure exactly what that was, whether you just didn't get the temperature in the tire or whatnot, but talk about that challenge. You mentioned it just a minute ago about getting the heat in the right front and getting the turn in it. The car will not turn until the right front gets to a certain happy spot. Describe that experience because it's pretty tough. Yeah, that's definitely been, you know, the biggest learning curve. You know, been hard on me lately, but it's good. I honestly, I can't really figure it out right now. I can't figure out, you know, how to mold, you know, my right front, you know, with me and qualifying. You know,

it's definitely been, you know, our biggest struggle all year. You know, I haven't finished, or I haven't even qualified. I don't think really that great in any course to a race. And it's just because I don't think I can get, you know, enough right front heat. And I just have no turn and no roll speed. And, you know, that's every time, you know, every time I qualify or mock up, you know, I'm always going to beat like 30% mark to like 60% mark. So it's just going to take a lot of studying, you know, over the next, you know, probably year of just figuring it out and, you know, getting better at it. But, yeah, it's tough.

And then we go like race run stuff and whether it's practice or, you know, in the race and we're always fine. And I always feel 10 times better than I do in qualifying. So it's definitely something I need to work on. But yeah, it's definitely tough right now. Yeah, that's been my experience too. I probably, I don't know, I've run maybe a dozen. late model races over the last couple of years and I don't think I've actually had one maybe there's

only really really been one qualifying session where I feel like I did a good job just trying to get the right front tire to to fire off and start working is is a big challenge and to your point like you'll get into the race and everything starts working great and the car drives incredibly well and I've seen that through you as you drive through the field you know I know you mentioned that you wanted to race on Sundays I'm assuming that means the cup level you know what What are the next opportunities that you hope are out there for you as you're working your way through late models? But I know you probably want to move up into ARCA or even the truck series. What are some of the things that you hope happens?

Yeah, for sure. You know, just, you know, moving up the ladder, whether it's ARCA or, you know, racing a truck. You know, those are definitely stuff, you know, that I'm looking out and, you know, want the opportunity in. But, you know, right now for the rest of the year, I think I'm just going to, you know, put a lot of focus on the late model side. and then, you know, realistically just kind of, you know, trust in, you know, the TRD program. And, you know, I also have a lot of trust in them. I know, you know, when they think I'm ready, you know, they'll put me in, you know, positions where hopefully I can shine. And, you know, hopefully I could be ready for those positions.

But, yeah, I definitely want to, you know, run an Narka car and then, you know, follow it up with the truck. So, you know, I don't really know, you know, when the time is going to come. But, like I said, I have a lot of trust in them. And, you know, I know when my time comes, I'll be ready. see yourself driving dirt races during all of this? Is that if you shut the door on dirt completely or is it just for the time being until you find your, you know, kind of find your roots here in the asphalt world? It's tough.

I would say yes. I just want to race every weekend. Like I just, that's all I really care about. No, whether if it's, you know, dirt or pavement, I think, you know, even racing dirt's better than, you know, sitting at home. So, yes. Do you go over to Millbridge? A little bit.

much. Honestly, you know, my dirt has kind of been shut off right now since I've gotten hurt last year. But now I'm feeling, you know, a lot better. So, yes, I hopefully can get back and, you know, swing. What happened last year? So April, I got an incusion. I flipped at Farmer City, got in cushion. I was out for six, seven weeks, came back over the summer, was okay over the summer, and then BC39 and September, which is weird. I didn't even flip. I ran second, and I woke up the next day and I just was not feeling okay. Like, just very, like, couldn't understand, like, couldn't really have a conversation without, like, you know, remembering stuff. And I just knew I wasn't right.

So I called up, you know, the doctors that I worked in or worked with in April and, you know, they don't live, you know, the Mooresville area. So I actually went down to, you know, where the doctors are down there. And, you know, I was just telling them my symptoms. And I was like, hey, I just don't feel right. Like I just know I'm not okay. And, you know, they found out that I have a nerve from my neck to my top of my head, and it just had gotten damaged. It was super, like the racetrack was rough.

It had rained the past two days, and the race got moved, you know, down the week because of the rain. And, yeah, it was just a misfortune that had happened. And, you know, that kind of took me out a lot of things, honestly. Took me out of the whole West Coast swing, took me out of Chili Bowl last year. They gave you some good. options on how to rehab that nerve. Yes, yep, they did. We did PT like every single day, basically, like seven times a week, even over the weekends. So, yeah, I worked with really good doctors, you know, on the medical side of things and got my feeling a lot better. But it's frustrating,

honestly. Like, I feel like if you, you know, break your arm or something, they'll tell you, like, six weeks or whatever it is, and it's usually six weeks. But the head stuff is just frustrating. like it could take you four weeks to heal and it could take me 12 weeks to heal. The same exact crash is going to be different for everybody. Yes. They told me that concussions are like snowflakes and now, you know, and it's true. No one the same. Everybody responds differently.

I do want to say that I'm very, very thankful that you're smart enough and self-aware enough to know that you needed to stop for a minute and get something checked out. It's kind of a new mindset that we have with drivers. in your generation that we love to see. Because I think that you're very talented. I think that your opportunity to succeed and get to where you want to go is very good. And I've seen you race, and I want to see you win.

I want to see you get to where you want to go. And being smart about those type of things is going to give you that best, you know, that opportunity. So, yeah, I appreciate it. And, yeah, I feel like, you know, it was a lot of people around me to make decision. Like, I feel like I just wanted to race, but at the same time, you know, I knew I was just not feeling well and, you know, not going to race at 100%. So, yeah, I was able to make the decision.

But there was also a lot of people, you know, to help me make that decision as well. Yeah. Well, good job by you to do that, to be able to give yourself the opportunity to be successful today. Thank you. Listen, I'm thankful any time you ever come through the Cars Tour. It's awesome to watch you race. You're an asset to the series. anytime you show up. Good luck and everything else you got going on. We're going to be fans of yours

and pulling for you as you work your way through the ranks. Thanks for coming today and give us some time so people can get to know you. And hopefully, yeah, hopefully you'll be celebrating some more wins this year. Yes, thank you. Thanks for having me on. All right. Jade on the Dale Jr. download. Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our Star, Stripes, and Beers collection available now? We've got tanks, teas, beach towels. more just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop.dirtymomedia.com. All right, that's great having Jade in the studio today to be able to talk and get to

know her better. And I hope she enjoyed her time here on the Dale Jr. Download. Our last interview is going to be Isabella Robusto. And I saw her race also in the cars tour several years ago. But now she's moved up into the Arka Series full time for Venturini. And, man, she's got a bright future. if everything goes her way. But let's get right to it.

Let's bring Isabella into the room. Isabella Robusto. Thanks for coming today. Thank you. Yeah. I was actually at Cordille several weeks ago and ran in Delaney after the race. And I was like, man, get you on the download.

And she's like, I'd love to come on download. And it got me thinking about getting you and Jade and her on here because I think there's a lot of talented female drivers out in the ecosystem, but I've seen y'all race, you know, and so I know that y'all have what it takes, and I wanted to shine a light on y'all. You've worked your way through all types of different cars, and at one point came through the cars tour as well, but now you're racing the Arc Series full-time. I wanted to know, so you're from Fort Mill, South Carolina, not far away. Not far.

Yep. You have a twin brother named Will, who also races. Yes, yeah. We grew up racing against you. other. How was that? Crazy. I always say that I beat him into the world because I'm an hour and a half older, so I always make sure. Oh, hour and a half. Yeah, so birthdays, I always make sure that I get the candles first. But, you know, we grew up racing against each other from five years old and go cards all the way up until we were about 12. We did every race together. And it was always almost a bigger competition racing him just for the bragging rights that week than it was for kind of like the race when it was like, all right, if I'm going to finish this,

third, like, let me make sure I beat him at least. Yeah. If I'm not going to be able to win. He's still racing. He is. Yeah, he runs in the Toyota GR Cup series. So single make series that Toyota has, it follows the Sero schedule. And I was lucky enough to race a couple of races a couple years ago.

And it's super fun, really competitive. So I'm excited to kind of go and watch him on the weekends I evolve. How much of racing with your brother at that young age do you credit to driving you to be as competitive as you are at this age. I feel like a lot. We were built in teammates as well. So we had the same equipment and obviously went to the same races. So was he easy to be teammates with?

Is he a good teammate? He was a good teammate. There were a handful of silent car rides home where either of us did something we weren't supposed to, meaning like crash them. But yeah, you always had someone you could lean on and know like if, I asked him a question of like, what was he doing in a turn one at a new track we haven't been to? I knew that he was going to tell me like what he was doing. And same thing with me.

And I felt like we were just able to work on our racecraft so well when we would go to the cart track and just practice. Like the two of us were competitive enough to where we could just full race each other for the whole day and just work on that. Yeah. Well, why did you decide to take a different path? So when I was 12 years old, I ended up being part of the drive for diversity. program and got selected for that. And it was an amazing opportunity just to kind of get into a full race team kind of with NASCAR's help and to be able to go through all of not only the media training, but start to learn all the stuff that goes outside of driving from like the

sponsorship side to working with the team, going to the race shop. That was kind of like the first time I got into what we would call like a full-blown race team. And so for me it was a huge opportunity I was able to kind of take the oval route. Grew up go-karting, but always loved NASCAR and knew I kind of wanted to go that way. And so I was able to work with the NASCAR diversity team up until I was 16. And Toyota, it helped shine an eye on me that Toyota saw and took a huge gamble and kind of brought me into the Toyota family, which I'm super thankful for Tyler Gibbs and Jack Irving have been huge supporters of mine. and then Trent Morriguez for believing in me.

And so I kind of took the NASCAR route where he's always loved road courses and go-karting. And so he continued kind of down the MX5 Cup route and then GRCup. So when did you run your first Oval? So I grew up running ovals in the Bandoleros and Legend cars. So we did the Ovales and Road Courses for both of those. So it was kind of like a 50-50 since we were eight years old. And then when I was 12, it was more like 90% ovals, 10%. road course type thing.

When you got into late model stock cars, I didn't actually know you ran late model stock cars that much. I thought you were kind of more into the pros and supers, but you ran late model stocks as the Advanced Auto Parks Weekly Series with them when you were 14 years old. What was your experience like racing late model stocks? Very eye-opening. I remember the first time I got out in the car.

The biggest car that I had been in was, legend car at the time. And so I whacked the fence the first time down the backstretched. Like I had no idea where the side of the car was. And then from then, like, I would leave five or six feet to the wall just trying to figure out the size of the race car. But just a very different type of racing, you know, I feel like just the size of the car is different how you set up a pass than legend cars where they have those bumpers, the metal bumpers. It's more of like a kind of drive up on them and move them out of the way, which I feel like cars tour when I race cars. tour, I learned that that was kind of the way you had to pass too because we were so close and so

competitive. You kind of had to use the bumper a bit, but it was just a different type of racing for me and very eye-opening. Same thing with the intermediate tracks now for me. I was watching you, you were racing at Hickory in the cars tour and you had a great run going, but on like the last lap you had an accidental straight away. And that was a bit, you got, you suffered an injury. through that accident and that was a bit of a setback for you.

But you've been able to overcome that, right? And find yourself into the Arka series. I guess talk about that path. Being so young, we actually talked about this a little bit with Jay because she had a similar moment where she really had to take some stock into her health and make good decisions, right? And it's hard to do when you're young because you're thinking, you know, I just want to race. I can't give up this opportunity.

So talk about that new mentality. I guess that your generation has where you're making such great decisions to give yourself a chance to to have this long successful career. Yeah, when you're growing up, you kind of have that path that you want, you want one, two, three years in whatever series to kind of climb the NASCAR ladder per se. And so for me, I kind of had it set going into 2023. It was a year that I was going to run all different series, all different types of cars, all different tracks, and just learn as much as possible. And we had a plan to start my ARCA season and career in 2023 and had a really good run running up front and trying to get the win with one lap to go at the car store racing Hickory. I think the whole place was standing

up for that to happen. It was a very exciting race. I wish I could make it one more lap around, but yeah, it was a great race and ended up suffering a pretty bad concussion out of it. and it's just something that you don't know when you get it, how long it's going to be. It's not like a broken arm or something where it's, okay, it's going to be this many weeks or whatever it might be. And the rehab for it is very different, especially for females. That's something I've learned over the years is. I don't even know this, but yeah, it's very different. And I feel like that's one part that female drivers have to kind of look at more than male drivers is there's not a lot of study done about concussions for females.

and it's way different because of all the hormones that go along with it. So there's so much that is behind it and that a lot of people don't know. And so for me, what we thought was going to be one or two months out of the car ended up being almost 10. So it was a very different approach for me. And it was the first time that I was actually out of the car since I was five years old for that long. Like even off seasons, I was testing. I was practicing all of that. And so that was the first time I was actually out of the car.

And it just helped solidify myself. that racing is what I want to do. This is my dream. I want to be in the car. And so for me, it just helped kind of prove like, all right, what else do I need to do to get back in the car? What else can I do? When I can't race, what can I do? And so I actually ended up getting to crew chief a Supra for the GT4 series at one point.

I got to spot a bunch of different races. Just kind of go through all the different positions on the race team and learn everything else that goes along with it when I couldn't drive. and so I still filled up those nine and a half, ten months that I wasn't able to be in the car, but it just helped show that this is what I want to do. And, yeah, just help solidify that to myself. So the Toyota Racing Development Program, how much of an influence do you have on the path and the new things? I know that you're in the ARCA full time now, but they have some gaps in their schedule.

how much influence do you have on how you feel that time some influence um we kind of sit down at the start of the year and plan out the next one two three four years whatever we kind of see fit and for me the archa schedule is very different than the past years the past years I've run three or four different series at a time to where if I wasn't racing somewhere I was like at the car store or at a test or whatever it might be and so this year is a lot more open gaps um and And budget-wise, ARCA is a lot more expensive than the series that I've been running in the past. And so for me, there's not really a lot to fill into the weekends I've off. So I've kind of planned out which races I'm going to go to and watch a truck race or which races.

If ARCA is racing with the team, like, where's Venerini racing where I can go help them in some other kind of form? And so just finding ways for that. And even if I have an off weekend, am I able to get on the SIM? Can I go work on the sim for the next race, whatever it might be? How do you feel like the transition in the Arca series has been? I mean, you get to run on some larger racetracks. And, you know, you're running for a really good team, Ventureenie. They've been around forever and I have a great respect for that family.

But so, you know, what's that transition been like? It's been good. I've been able, thankfully, been able to be a part of a couple of great race teams, coming up through the series. And Toyota's always put me with great teams that you can learn a lot with and kind of progress. And so being able, when I learned that I was going to be able to race

with Venerini in the ARCA series, I was super excited just knowing that I could get into a car that was a winning car and was up front, and they have so much experience there. If I have a question, they've got five different ways to answer it. And so I feel like that just helps with my learning, especially going to tracks

that I haven't been to. And the intermediates, I feel like I've been the biggest challenge and just being able to go to their past drivers that they've had and kind of get input from them as well as Billy. He's obviously been in it for years. And so I'm super thankful to be able to be part of their team. Yeah. So there's some transition for them, though,

as the team's kind of been sold or bald, I'm not exactly privy to everything going on there. but, you know, does that disrupt or change anything for you? For me, this year it doesn't. It's still the Venerini team, and my crew kind of stays the same, still working with Billy. I still have Larry as my crew chief. And next year, Nitro is going to take over Venerini,

but I've actually known Nick since my go-karting days. He was on kind of the other team that I raced against, and so I've known him since I was about six years old. So we do kind of know each other from way back when. And so I've been actually doing a couple tests with him in a TA2 car. So getting to know the guys on his team, getting to know him better, just kind of preparing for next year. But I feel like it's going to be a smooth transition. I feel like it will be a really good change.

One of the things I didn't get to ask the others that were in here before was school. So you're a full-time college student. I am. Yes. I've, yeah. So how do you juggle the responsibilities? You're going to the Arizona State University studying aerospace engineer. Lots of math. Engineering, wow. Lots of math. Yeah, so all my free time, I would, I don't have much free time, but the free time I do have is mostly spent on my computer doing schoolwork. And so, yeah, it's a lot of math for aerospace engineering, but it's something

that I've kind of come to love, especially working with all the different engineers on the Sim at the Toyota Performance Center and the GR garage. They're obviously building the GR Corolla's and the GR 86s. And so being able to work with them, I feel like it's been a huge help, especially if I have a question, I can go ask one of them. They've been through it too. So yeah, it's just something that I've always wanted was a college degree. And engineering has been one of the things that kind of caught my eye and filled up a lot of time when I was hurt as well. You really could fill up the entire day preparing for the next race, getting all your school and your college responsibility is done.

But at times, I'm sure they're both competing for your time. They are. I feel like I've worked out a pretty good schedule. I've kind of done that since high school, where it's been online. And when COVID hit, I went fully online since COVID. And so I've gotten a lot of practice over the years. And I know that race weekend is basically one day. day through Saturday for us.

And so Sunday when I'm home after the races, after I get all my race notes done, that's full school day. Anytime I'm ever on an airplane, just school. So I feel like I've got it split up pretty well to where I can still get all my racing stuff done and school stuff and still have some time afterwards to just be able to chill.

Who are some drivers that you look for when it comes to advice or support? and if there is anybody that's giving you some really good advice. Yeah, there's a lot. And I'm kind of going back to the Venerini table, like past drivers that have gone through there, I feel like Corey Haim and even Jesse, he's not a Toyota kid anymore, but even Jesse who goes through,

if I have any questions, they're normally huge helps with that. And we'll give me straightforward advice. And on the Cupside, my first time going to Kansas, I was super nervous going to my first intermediate track. And I actually talked to Bubba a good amount, just trying to get some info from him. And I know that's a track that he likes.

So just trying to figure out anything and everything that I could before going there. And obviously helped. I got the poll, but it didn't work out too well after the green flag dropped. So what was the sensations like, I guess, when you went out there? I mean, I remember going to, I ran half-mile racetracks all my own. life growing up and then I went to, you know, Charlotte to test once and I thought, and I wrecked my ass off like four lapses. That's promising for me on Friday. This is, this is comforting. There's a bump down into turn one you've got to be careful with. But I, you know, it's a really big race track.

And I just wasn't, I didn't know what the car was going to do when I went down in the corner, you know, and I'm going down the back straightaway and I'm like, all right, I see that corner. I have no idea what I'm what to do next, you know. You go to Kansas. You go to Kansas. You go to Kansas. You go to Kansas and you know, you qualified really well. So it must have felt relatively like what you expected. And where would you get that knowledge from? Are you on the SIM getting that knowledge through the Toyota Sim? Do you eye race at times at home? What's the? Yeah, I do the Toyota Sim. Normally once or twice a week, we have sessions on there and those are hugely helpful, especially we kind of working on the setup of the car. I racing, I do a lot kind of in the evenings just with a bunch of Toyota

kids as well and just working more on the racecraft side there with the air and how to set up passes. And going to Kansas, I had no idea what it was going to feel like. The first lap in practice, I held my breath the entire time just going through the corners. I was like, I don't know if this is going to stick. They said it's going to stick, but I don't know if it's going to stick. And I was not great in practice. I was, I think, like, 15th or 16th. That was not very good. And so when I came in, we only have like 15 minutes before practice and qualifying. And I remember them just saying, just hold it wide open. Like don't lift.

Just hold it wide open. And I was like, okay, all right, here we go. And so we go out. And all I can hear in my head is like all the people just saying, hold it wide open. Like, don't lift, don't lift. So I did it. And I held it wide open. And I almost hit the fence off a turn four, but it worked.

Then they came on. They're like, well, you got the pole. So I guess you held it wide open. And I was like, yeah, I don't think I took a breath the entire like two laps either. And afterwards, we were in like the meeting before the race. And I was just asking the other drivers, I was like, do you guys hold it wide open? They're like, no. I'm like, got it.

Yeah. All right. But that was my first experience at a mile and a half, which was eye opening. It gives me a lot of respect for what the cup guys can do on Sunday. It's crazy. Well, after your experience at Kansas, you're going into Charlotte. Yeah. what are you what are you anticipating what do you do

do you do you do you do you do you do you have a better experience at charlotte yeah I feel like the biggest thing was getting ahead of your car for the changes and how that changes especially when you test during the day and then race at night I feel like that was the biggest thing that I got behind on was the adjustments with the car and so going into Charlotte having more of a knowledge of how the car is going to change during the day into the night is going to help, but also knowing what the air actually feels like when you go and make those passes. You have to have that left front out if you want to have any front nose grip. And same thing. Like I've never run the wall until Kansas. I've never run outside of

anywhere. And so running Kansas is basically 90% of the race up on the wall. I feel like I got way more comfortable up there. And so Charlotte's not really one for the Archer race where we're going to be up on the wall, but just being more comfortable running that type of track. Yeah. Well, it's going to be a lot of fun. I have enjoyed watching you kind of progress, and I think a lot of people know you have tons of talent and a lot of opportunity and a bright future. I want to thank you for giving us some time today so we could get to know you better.

And thank you for having self-awareness to take care of yourself and make good decisions with your health so that you can be a great race car driver in your future. and we'll be cheering for you at the Arc of Race in Charlotte. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thanks a lot. Isabella Robusto on the Dale Jr. Download. All right, so I'm hoping that they had a lot of fun with that, with those conversations.

I know we were kind of splicing up this whole guest segment into three, 30-minute conversations with each driver. And, you know, as they progress through their careers and, you know, to have success, there'll be opportunities to have them back on the show. But this is kind of motivated because, you know, I just don't know that we've really taken the moment to, yeah, to get to know some of the female drivers that I feel like are coming up through the ranks. Lainey, Jade, Isabella, have incredible talent. and if they get the right breaks, get paired with the right people, get the right tutoring,

and all of those things, they will have successful careers. So just wanted to talk to them a little bit, get to know them. And maybe now that you've heard from these three young ladies, you might check out what they're up to each weekend. in each race and you have somebody to pull for as they work their way through the ranks. All three of them are a lot of fun to watch on the racetrack. I raced with Lainey at Florence and we actually traded a little paint in one of our events and she is fearless and dropped the green flag.

She drove right to the front. She ended up burning up the right rear tire and slipping back through the field a little bit. but she has the speed. We see it weekend and week out. Jade, we didn't, you know, we tried to expound on a little bit. Her aggression at that racetrack in Orange County this year in that pro-late model race, man,

I know she has the pace and the speed. She's in a good race car, and she gets, you know, she takes that good race car and does good things with it, but how aggressive she was driving up off the bottom underneath those two competitors racing for second, going three wide,

they ended up getting together and getting in the fence and she cruised on to the second place finish. It was just really fun to watch. You can see that potential there. And Isabella, she's kind of ahead of both of those, both Laney and Jade in terms of the progress up the ladder. She's now full-time in the Arcus series. If that goes well, I would assume her next opportunity may be in the truck series.

And it'll be fun to see if she gets those chances to continue to progress. but just, you know, three young ladies, I think, have a lot of talent and a lot of opportunity, and I hope to follow them as they go through the next several years in their careers. So I enjoyed it. And, yeah, I hope you did too. Now time for the white flag. All right, it's time for the white flag. And as every week, the tear down was live on Sunday after the All-Star Race on YouTube and Twitter.

and they were joined by the poll sitter, actually, from the 2025 ND-500, Robert Swartzman. So it was a great opportunity to get to know him. And action is detrimental, door-bubber clear. They dropped on Monday. The Dale Jr. download, Dirty Air Edition with me and T.J. was out yesterday. And then also today is Speed Street.

You don't want to miss this because Conner Daily is not only getting ready for his Indy-500, but he's also going to cover all of the drama going on at Indy between cars not passing tech and you know cars having accidents on the racetrack just a lot happening at the 500 this year and also today Herman Strader will drop another episode and don't forget that this Thursday tomorrow is Junior Mergers Sports and Dirtymo Media Fan Day there'll be autograph sessions, food trucks live shows

Sirius XM NASCAR radio is going to be broadcasting all day bless your heart. We'll be going live at noon on the stage, the Lionel stage, and Doorbopper Clear also kicks off at one with Jordan Bianchi joining them. For more information about that, visit dirtymoadia.com slash fan day 2025. DirtymoMod media.com slash fan day 2025. Also, don't forget about our merch site. Go to shop.dirtymomedia.com.

That's shop. Dot dirtymomomedia.com. We've got a lot of new stuff up there. tell us what you like what you don't like what you'd like to see and we'll keep we'll keep turning out some pretty cool stuff there so hope you enjoyed the episode today look forward to tomorrow fan day we'll see everybody there check out dirty mo media on instagram facebook x and ticot