The Dale Jr. Download - Leigh Diffey on Dramatic Moments, NASCAR Fans & Broadcasting Highs And Lows

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

On this episode of DJD Reloaded, we're joined by the newest voice in the NASCAR NBC broadcast booth, Leigh Diffey. He talks about his transition into NASCAR, the most incredible sports moments he's called, and his excitement to be covering NASCAR. Leigh also gives us his message for NASCAR fans and jokes about being called "British." Next, we sit down with Parker Retzlaff to discuss his second career Cup Series start and the controversy surrounding the final restart. If Parker could do it over again, would he do anything different? We get his side of the story and see how he's handling the scrutiny while preparing for Darlington. Finally, we have a fresh batch of your questions in Ask Jr. where Dale shares how he feels about the return of the No. 88 to the Cup Series. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sounds of the race. If you're at the track, then we know it's all about the roar of the cars. But if you're at home, then it's really all about the call of the race. And if you tuned into the race on Saturday night in Daytona, then you know just how epic of a call that Lee Diffy had as Harrison Burton crossed the start finish line. And today on DJD Reloaded, we have the pleasure of being joined by Lee Diffy, the newest voice in the NBC broadcast booth for NASCAR. So we got a lot to talk with him about.

We've also got Parker Retzlaft joining us today. And I'd say he had a pretty good finish in a second cup series start, his first in Daytona, but maybe not everybody feels that way in the garage. So we'll get to that. We've also got Ash Jr., your favorite segment of the week, featuring a question on the 88's return to the track. The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. Welcome into another episode of DJD Reloaded. Hail Bush leads the way.

He has not won since 2023. Welcome into another episode of Dirt.J. DJD Reloaded. I am your host, Carla Gebhard, and I am now joined by a very familiar voice in all of motorsports. You also heard him just a couple of weeks ago on the Olympics, and now in the NASCAR Cup series just this past weekend in Daytona, Lee. We appreciate you joining us. And I know it wasn't your first race, but it was maybe your first race for a NASCAR Cup series in Daytona this past weekend. So just kind of put into words how that went for you and how much fun that was for you. Well, Carla, it was a huge weekend. I think I'm still buzzing a little bit from it. I had a lot of excitement leading into it. From a personal standpoint, it was really gratifying and satisfying because I'd called, I think, just about every other form of racing at Daytona. I'd done American Flat Track on the short oval. I'd called the Daytona 200. I've called Supercross at Daytona. And of course, I've called many, many Rolex 24.

So it was really great to finally call NASCAR at the birthplace of the sports. So it was terrific. It was joining a part of the NBC sports family who I know very well but hadn't been with in a long time. So it felt very natural going back and joining Steve and Jeff and the whole gang, our producers and our director and everybody. So they were extremely welcoming. And just all around it was such a positive and fun weekend.

Take us back a little bit to when you found out that this opportunity was kind of before you to come into the NASCAR Cup series for the rest of this season. Just kind of what was the excitement level for that? And is this something that's maybe been on your radar for a while? I hadn't been on my radar at all just because I didn't ever expect it to be a possibility or a reality. You know, I was I was busy doing what I would call my day job, you know, which was IndyCar and. Supercross and the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and Track and Field, whether that be indoor track and field, outdoor with the national championships and world championships. And then, you know, every four years when the Summer Olympics come around and I do the Winter Olympics as well.

So, you know, I was busy enough as it was. And I just, I never thought that it was a possibility or a reality. And the last time I did it, as you mentioned earlier, was a long time ago, was seven years ago where I did a couple of Cup races. And I did a handful of Xfinity races. And so that was really great. I mean, I thought, well, even if that's it, you know, at least I've done some Expedity and Cup races in the span of my career. So I was happy.

So I never thought that this would come about. I found out about it earlier in the year. And I was super excited. I was somewhat shocked and I was super excited. But I had to kind of watch the races when I could because I had such a big workload already going on. And I had to get over the huge. huge mental, not hurdle, but just like in your head, you know that the Olympics are looming.

And it's a really big deal and it's a big workload. And so I was doing my regular schedule knowing that the Olympics were looming. And then fortunately, my bosses gave me a weekend off, the Michigan weekend off, so I could recover from the Olympics. And lo and behold, I got home from the Olympics and had COVID. So I had to recover from COVID and get ready for NASCAR. And it was at that point where, you know, I was able to free up my mind, so to speak and fully focus on NASCAR. And to have three months straight, 12 weeks in a row where I could just be singularly focused on NASCAR is, that's pretty new for me because I've always been, you know,

somebody who does multiple categories and multiple sports. And so just for now to say, I can do NASCAR for three months straight, including the playoffs and leading up to the championship weekend in Phoenix is something new for me. And it's refreshing. And I'm really looking forward to it. Well, I know a lot of people were just impressed with your knowledge just in one race in Daytona. And I am most interested in just media, too, like how you prepare and have that process. I know you kind of mentioned that a little bit about, you know, having that week to really focus on and to take a breath and to, you know, shift that focus from the Olympics to NASCAR.

But what is and what was your preparation like for the race in Daytona? I love watching tape. I'm a big proponent of watching shows back. So I had to go through just in chronological order. I had to go through and watch the entire season. Full hand on heart and honesty. I didn't watch every full episode from start to finish. But I certainly went through methodically went through every race and every round and took notes. I'm kind of an old-fashioned person in that regard. If I write it, I'll remember it. And it actually quite annoys me that I have a mental block that I can't type it. I have to write it.

If I write it, I remember it. If I type it, I don't. So I have to write it out. And I went through there. And my colleagues and my teammates, Steve Lattard, Jeff Burden, Marty Snyder, everybody on the team has been super helpful. You know, as well as I do, we have a separate team, a company called Racing Insights,

who do the statistical and historical side of it. And all of the guys there were so helpful to me. Just like in the Olympics, we have a research team. And so at any stage, you have a question or a query or something, you know, and they give us plenty in advance. But sometimes in the moment for Jeff, Stephen, myself in the booth, things come to you in the moment. And like, for instance, it may have been right at the beginning of that green-white checker that Russell from Racing Insights, he passed me a note and he said, if, if Harrison

was to do it, it'd be Woodbrothers' 100th win. So there's a beautiful teamwork that goes on, not just with the broadcasters at the fan base here, but behind the scenes, people you'll never see or know, they do a tremendous amount of work. So it was definitely a collaborative effort, definitely a team effort. I had to spend, you know, even recovering from COVID, I was grinding through my notes and watching the tape. And there was a lot of work, but I'm really, really excited now to have that under my belt and get going.

Is it hard to trust yourself in those moments, green, white, checkered? I mean, this is something that I would think about as a broadcast. of just like trusting your instinct, trusting the fact that you've done this a million times over for different sports. But to call a moment in that way, you just kind of have to trust your gut as well, right? Yeah, you've just got to go, you've just got to go trust your eyes, trust your instinct and trust your eyes. And look, I'm not sure how much of the Olympics you saw, but I made an error at the Olympics with the 100 meter final. And I, but I did the same thing as I always do. I trusted my eyes and I trusted my instincts and I got it wrong by five thousandths of a second which is the blink of a human

eye right and I'd called other other races other world championship victories that were separated by hundreds of a second and I got it wrong I got it right pardon me and I but I got it wrong at the Olympics in the hundred meters and so you have to get back on the horse and you have to keep going and you have to keep doing what you do which is to your point trust your eyes trust your instincts go with your gut go with what you see and you know how Harrison got that big push by Parker Retzlap and Kyle Bush was looming. And it was just, what a thriller and what a special moment for Steve LaTard and myself to share that with Jeff Burton to see young Harrison win. You mentioned the Olympics and kind of that moment. And then obviously

on Saturday night, what's the pressure like in that moment or have you done this enough to where it's not, there's no pressure? Yeah, it's not pressure. It's actually fun. Well, for me it is. Maybe that's in a weird way. Maybe it's, I'm a little sadistic in that way, but I love it. You know, I live for those moments because there's no better theatre and drama than live sport. And when you see it unfolding in front of you and to be part of that, you know, to be there first and foremost as a fan, and then to be fortunate enough to work in it and then see it unfolding in front of you. And it was just a Cinderella story the other night, you know, with Harrison and being buried in the points, coming back, win, driving his way into the playoffs,

Wood Brothers 100th, his dad up in the booth. It was at daytime. I mean, just it's fairy tale stuff. So I don't feel the pressure in those moments. In fact, I look for those moments. I really love them because, you know, we're all going to grow old and retire one day and not be in the positions we are. And those are the moments we'll look back on and say, I was there when.

You mentioned to just your familiarity already with Steve and Jeff. in the booth. Was that hard to pick back up on this weekend? Did you kind of, you know, pick up where you left off when you had talked to them previously? Was there any chemistry that you kind of had to reconnect with before you got in the booth? It happened pretty naturally, to be honest. It felt really good. I mean, they're such easygoing guys. And we've worked together, by the way, too, even though it was been a seven-year gap for me with cup calls and NASCAR calls, we've worked together on the Rolex 24 and we've worked together on the Indy 500 as well. Even though Steve or Jeff weren't in the booth for the 500, they were certainly with us on the Rolex 24 and different times.

And we've known each other for a long time. And I have an old saying that if you get on off air, you get on on air. And so that transition really doesn't exist because the way you talk to each other off air is the way you just step it up a little bit for the broadcast. but if you know each other's characteristics and mannerisms and even the inflection of words, you know, we don't have to look at each other. I know when Jeff's going to stop or I know when Steve's going to stop.

And there's a gap when we share it. And I think as a trio, we got off to a pretty good start. We didn't trip over each other and we were very respectful with each other's airspace and time. And the way that stage one started, just the way the race unfolded, the three of us looked, at each other and we were smiling. It's like, this is good. We didn't know, you know, at a super

speedway or drafting track, you never know kind of what you're going to get. And we were hoping that it wasn't going to be too mundane and it was anything but. Yeah, it's definitely Daytona. And I think a lot of people did pick up on the chemistry that all three of you shared on Saturday. I am curious, though, because you have called F1. You've called IndyCar, NASCAR as well. Is there a difference in transition of style or pace or anything, maybe even in your preparation? that differentiates NASCAR from maybe the other motorsports. There's definitely a different cadence just to the racing, just to the racing. Each category. And if you look, you know, like right across my workload at NBC

sports, the only thing that I think that I've called that's not racing was rugby. And, you know, bobsled, skeleton, luge, track and field, rowing, supercross, pro motocross, indie cars, sports cars, everything is racing. that I do. So in many ways, a race is a race is a race, but the construction of the race is different and the cadence of the race is different and the characteristics are maybe slightly different. So preparation is the same. You know, you combine everything, you know, all in one, get what you can from where you can, pre-event, in the event, crew chiefs, drivers, you know, engineers, team owners, whatever it might be, everything and anywhere. Like take as much as you

you can get, you know, put it all in. And you might start with this much, but you might only use that much, but that's okay. And then you have to disseminate where and when you use that appropriate piece of information. And the Olympics then would be a whole different ballgame, right? Yeah. Yeah, that is. That's pretty wild. Like we were doing on track and field, we were doing both morning sessions and evening sessions,

and there was pretty little sleep. And our research team were unbelievable. even though I work with Olympic legends who know the sport backwards, even they rely on our amazing research team who help us. And they give us the information and provide us the information. We still have to read it. You have to study. You have to, again, try and absorb as much as you can

and then decide when you use whatever is appropriate in the moment. And it's great. It's just such a great team moment. There's a gazillion people behind the scenes who you never see and never will see. But our on-air team was fantastic. And it's truly team spirit, not team building, because the team's already built. It's team spirit that gets you through, you know, because when you're grinding there, I was getting home most nights at 2 a.m.

And we were back at the stadium by 930, 10 the next morning. You'd get back to the hotel about 1.1.30. And we had to be back at the stadium by 4.30 for a production meeting, back on air again. And you're doing this day in day out for, you know, 10, 10, 11 days straight. So it was pretty full on. I think a lot of people would probably empathize with the, maybe why you got sick after you got back home, right? There was a lot of it going around,

so I think I wasn't unique in that regard. There was plenty of it going around. But hey, what a great games. It was the games that made the world fall in love with the Olympics again. It was pretty awesome. You've been a part of just some really incredible moments throughout sports. Do you ever sit back and really think about that you are, at least the voice behind the history of the sport that you're calling?

I have to imagine, I don't do play-by-play. that feels a little over my head, at least at this point in my career. But I have to imagine that that's pretty cool to sit back in and think on. It's just really lovely to be part of some magical moments. And as time goes on and you get older, you get to experience more of that. In Australia, where I was born and I grew up, I got to call some unreal moments in V8 supercar history. and then when I came to the Northern Hemisphere and lived in the UK and called World Super Bikes and World Rally and some other stuff,

I was part of some pretty amazing moments here in the States. I've been in the States for 22 years now and called some really special times. And I called Kimmy Reichenen's first F1 win, Max Verstappen's first F1 win, Jet Lawrence's first Supercross win, and when he won the SMX World Championships last year, some really special moments at the Rolex 24.

And, you know, I begin, even though I've done it before, I say now I begin my NASCAR tenure and to call Harrison Burton's first win and the hundredth for the Wood Brothers at Daytona and, you know, playoffs looming. And yeah, just those moments are really special to reflect on. And I feel fortunate just to have been there at that venue and to have seen something special unfold. It sounds like you probably have like a list of top 10 or top five, but do you have a? have a favorite moment or one that maybe is particularly special to you? There was one that it goes back a long time, but kind of the Dale Earnhardt or the Richard Petty of Australian motor racing was a gentleman called Peter Brock, who won the Bathurst 1000, which is like the Daytona 500 of Australia nine times, and he was a legend, terrific guy.

And tragically, he got killed, not in a circuit incident. He was doing a rally out in the Australian bush, and he passed away. And at the time, a young Australian driver who Peter had took under his wing was Craig Louns, who was a legend of Australian supercar racing now. He's since retired. And when Peter passed away at that very next Bathurst 1000, they did a tribute, and they did lapse of the Bathurst of the Mount Panorama Circuit in the nine cars that Peter won. And Craig Lounds got to drive one of those cars, and because Peter was his mentor, he was

he was really upset on the morning of the race. And we all thought that was it. He was done. And at the end of the day, he drove to a Bathurst victory. And I just remember calling that moment and saying, you know, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Wincup win, you know, Lounds wins Bathurst on the day he farewelled his friend. And that was a really, you know, I was still pretty young in my career, but that was a really emotional moment and a very special moment in Bathurst history.

Wow. Yeah, it definitely gives me chills just even listening to that story. When you were preparing, moving back to NASCAR, when you're preparing to go into Daytona, obviously we have Darlington this week. And I'm curious in your studies and kind of in your note-taking, like what storylines have interested you the most as we approach the playoffs right now? Well, can I answer that in a couple of parts? The first part is I cannot wait to go to Darlington. and simply because A, I've never been there and B, because of the history.

And I have had friends who are in the NASCAR business. I have friends from the IndyCar side who have a big NASCAR past. I have friends who work for NASCAR and I've been inundated with Darlington stories and Darlington history. And they're excited for me to experience Darlington for the very first time. And, you know, to me, I was thinking about it, you know, it's kind of like if you think about Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, and the traditions of that golf club, to me, you know, Darlington reminds me of the Augusta of NASCAR, right? You know, I've been racing there since 1950 and the traditions are just so, it's so steeped in history. And from those humble beginnings to just having the legendary status that it does and how tough it is and the Southern 500, I'm just, you know, I'm kind of. It's almost like first day and first week at school, right?

I'm just excited, eyes wide open, ears wide open, and even though I've been in television for more than 25 years and motor racing all my life, still when there's something new, I get excited about it and I'm happy to learn and listen and just take it all in. To the storylines, of course, all of us are fascinated with the bubble, right? And maybe the three above the cut line and the three below the cut line.

Do we see another story like last week where somebody comes out of the blue and races their way in? Do we see one of the winners already repeat? How does Denny Hamlin deal with what happened to him with that engine hiccup and that subsequent penalty and then being involved in the big wreck last weekend? How does Denny not compose himself,

just how does he steady the ship and how does he go forward? is really interesting me. I think it's the pressure cooker. We were talking about pressure before. I think it's the pressure cooker of who makes it and who doesn't. And that's where our eyes will go to. The regular season will be concluded, but it's that everybody's thinking about the playoffs.

So that for me is where I'm going to be looking. Yeah, great comparison and just great pictures to put in perspective what this weekend means. And what Darlington means for drivers. You mentioned industry members kind of filling you out on stores. You talk to any driver right now, and this is definitely a race that they want to win. Before I let you go, I know people are very familiar with you. They're familiar with your work, but there are just a few NASCAR fans out there that maybe aren't as familiar with you.

And so I'm just curious, what do you want those fans to know about Lee Diffey? I'd like him to know just how seriously I'm taking it. and there's not a single broadcaster on the planet who's going to please everybody. But my message would be that the NASCAR fan base is a sacred group of people. And I have the utmost respect for it and for the sport. And I feel privileged to be here and to have the position of commentating the races for you. Maybe I should get the message across now that I'm not British. I'm actually Australian.

I'm a proud American. I've been a naturalized American citizen for 13 years. But no, just the honest message is how seriously I'm taking this and how privileged I feel to be here to be commentating the biggest form of motorsport in North America and one of the biggest in the world. And I don't take it lightly. Hopefully people can see from last weekend in Daytona

how seriously I take my research and to be prepared, not for myself and not for my employer, but for the fans, for the viewers, right? And that's, we race because we race because we love the sport. We race because we love the entertainment. It's a business as well, but the fans are the ones who need to be satisfied. And I'm doing my best for you is my message. Well, we love that and certainly can tell that you're putting every effort into making these broadcasts, not only memorable, but just ones that we'll be talking about for years to come. Lee Diffy, we appreciate your time. And good luck in the call this weekend in Darlington.

Thank you so much, Carla. Great to be on the show. Thank you. Well, again, we just appreciate Lee Diffey for joining the show today. Obviously, his call of the race in Daytona was a highlight of last Saturday. But another highlight was Parker Redslaff, the seventh place finish for him and his second cup series start. But it was, I don't know, it was good for him, but maybe not for everyone else. So we'll talk about that with Parker next in studio. So if you listen to Tuesday's episode, the Dell Jr. download, It's the first time I think that Dale has called his shot for DJD reloaded on what guests he would like to see this week.

And so he requested Parker Redslaff, and now we have Parker Redslaff in studio right now. Parker, we appreciate you joining us today. I know you've done quite a bit of media after the race in Daytona on Saturday. But first off, I mean, seventh place finished for you. What's it fielded to get a top 10 in your second cup series race? Yeah, I mean, I got a lot of media over it. but I'm very happy with my finish. I thought that, you know, it went as what I planned it before,

I told everyone I wanted the top 15 and just have a clean day and try and learn as much as I could. So we exceeded what I wanted to do when I came there. So I'm very happy with it, and I just want to build on it for the next one. Did you hear earlier in the week that Dale asked for you to be on the show? Is that something that you were like, I'll probably be getting a call pretty soon? Yeah, I mean, everyone looks up to Dale. So it was good to hear him talk about me.

and, you know, it's always good when Dale talks about, unit's positive. Do you like the attention that the finish brought even? I mean, they say negative. I mean, I'm quoting negative attention, but it's attention still. I mean, yeah, it hasn't really been, you know, negative. Everything is kind of, people are speculating everything. So everything has been kind of fine from my point of view.

It's just, you know, the fans always are speculating. and trying to figure out what's happening on the scenes. Right. We'll get to the restart here in just a second, and I'm just curious, because it was your second Cup Series race, your first one at Daytona. What was kind of the build-up? What's that been like for you to kind of be in this series?

Does it feel as big as it is for you? Yeah, I mean, I was definitely nervous before the race, so I've got to the point where the Xfini races don't make me nervous, but I definitely was nervous to the Cup race and just didn't want to make a mistake and make myself, you know, look silly in front of the race. of everybody or caused a big wreck or something. So that was kind of my goal.

The first two stages was just kind of hang out and try and figure out how the car is draft and how long it takes me to suck up back to somebody and all that stuff in the first two stages and then try and just make sure I was there at the end of the race. And I missed that big wreck down the back search and I was fourth. And then I had plenty of time to sit there and turn one and think about what my plan was. So what were your thought processes during those laps to get ready for the restart? What did you think your chances were? I mean, when I came up fourth, I knew that, you know, I wanted to be behind Kyle on the bottom.

But then as soon as Christopher took the bottom behind him, I didn't want to lose a row and then put myself in kind of a position where I felt like I was in a lot bigger chance to get involved in a wreck. So I took outside and then I knew basically down the backstitch, my only chance was to just push Harrison clear and get myself clear and give myself a shot for everyone who supported me. And really, I wanted to give myself a shot, Chevy. and Funkwa, who's always supported me. So was this, I mean, a decision for you for a good finish, but it sounds like you were really incorporating more than maybe just, like, teammates in that instant, right? You were talking about the people that have helped you get to this point.

Those are the people you were thinking about. Yeah, I mean, everyone who has supported me was there for my first cup race. So it was kind of, I wanted to get them a good finish. I wanted to get everyone once again, everyone who supported me and helped me the last two years or two and a half years of this, racing and then ask our stuff to try and, you know, get them a good finish for my second ever cup race. So one of the storylines this week was that the radio came on and said, don't push the 21. Was that the case? Did you hear that radio transmission? No, I never did. So, I mean, it's just,

I don't know, it doesn't look good, I guess, but I never heard it. And I just went with whatever I felt like was best for myself and everybody supported me. Were you worried about crashing in the moment based on the restart based that this is Daytona and your second start? I mean, I definitely didn't want to be the one to cause the big record. So I feel like I put myself in a better spot or a worse spot to get involved in a crash for a restart to fifth rather than fourth and kind of have the whole outside to control it. So I did with what I felt was best. And, you know, everyone's going to have their own opinion on what was the right thing to do.

But I just did what I felt like was best for my team. and, you know, everyone who supports me in Funkaway, and yeah. You've had time to watch it, I'm sure, to think about it, to talk about it. Do you have any regrets? Would you have done anything differently on Saturday night? I mean, if I could go back and change it, I would have, you know, helped Chevy and all them put a Chevy in the playoffs. But I also don't want to just give up for everybody who's supported me and be everyone at

beer motorsports who worked so hard on that car. but to get it ready for the race and had everyone from Funkaway there and I just wanted to give them a good result. I think a lot of people are impressed though. Again, top seven, top 10 finish for you in the second start. How many people, I'm sure you've had multiple, many, many people reach out to you. What about though, like maybe some other drivers or some other industry members that wanted to reach out and just maybe kind of encourage you with your finish? Yeah, I mean, there's been people that reach out. It's just I've been trying to, you know, just go with normal week and get ready for Darlington this weekend with the Xfinity car and, you know, kind of just be happy that everyone is, you know, some people are taking my side. Some people aren't.

I mean, it's, I mean, I don't know. I hate being the person to cause all this, I guess, drama and mess on Twitter. But I just want to see and do whatever I felt like it was best for the people who've supported me. Was there anything that somebody said that has kind of helped you push you? Bass this moment this week? I mean, no, I've had conversation with Chevy and we're all like everything is

good. I mean, like I said, everyone is speculating a lot of stuff. That's not true. Chevy has supported me the last two and a half years of my career in NASCAR. So everything's been fine. It's just been a lot of speculation and people talking. It sounds like you're ready to move on from the

narrative a little bit. Yeah, definitely ready to move on. He's ready for the Xemite race this weekend at Darlington. Yeah, well, Dale had a lot of questions for you, which you've kind of already touched on already during this interview. But one of the funnier questions was how many people have mispronounced your last name? Oh, yeah. It happens. It happens all the time.

Like to give me some examples of what they think your last name is. I mean, there's so many. It's just like the problem is it doesn't look like how it's pronounced. So I pronounce it Retzloff. There's like a lot of Rets laugh. And I mean, I think that's the most normal one I get is Retz laugh. Okay. So it gets from nistrenounced all the time, but I try and, if anyone ask me about it, I try and tell them how to pronounce it. Okay. Well, let's, I mean, I've already said it a couple

of times on the show, but I wanted to get it straight from the source. Yeah, it's Parker, Retzloff. Okay, Retzloff, got it. All right. Well, Parker, we appreciate you stopping by and giving us a little bit more details on the story from Daytona. You mentioned you got Darlington this weekend. You feeling pretty good about your shot there? Yeah, I mean, I feel like we ran good at the beginning of the year at Darlington and we had a power steering issue in the third stage to put us out of the race and I feel like I've been good every time we've been there we just had bad luck so hoping we can turn the year around and get some stuff going on the right direction and hopefully finish out the year strong all right love that good luck in Darlington thank you again we thank

Parker for coming on and answering all of those tough questions but now it's dale's turn to answer some questions we got asked junior next I am dale and heart junior how are y'all. This is a... Welcome to Ash Jr. presented by Xfinity. That's right. Is As Asch Jr.

presented by Xfinity? Xfinity. Xfinity. Xfinity. Xfinity has been a great partner of ours. They're a proud premier partner of NASCAR, and we support them and all their efforts to promote their Xfinity mobile. It's great.

It's a great service. 5G and hotspots everywhere. So if you're looking to switch or you're kind of tired with the coverage you've got, I think you'll be happy. with them. Andrew has some questions for you, for me, and you guys, I'm sure they're going to be great. Can't wait to get started. So let's go.

That's right. This first question, I saw a bunch, but I found Susan's tweet, I think, or tweet notes on Facebook, specifically thoughts on SVG running the 88 next year. Yeah, so I was glad to see the number come back. You hate to see the number not be out on the racetrack. It's like, man, come on. Why didn't somebody want to run it? 88 has a lot of history in our sport. If you go back to Donnie Allison, I mean, I'm going to start in the mid-70s.

Donnie Allison drove 88 with Dygard and then Darry Waltrip and then obviously Bobby Allison and Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace and just all sorts of drivers got out. Yeah, Dale Jarrett. And so it's got a lot of great here. history and you want it to be out on the racetrack and so um i was glad i was glad it was coming back and i think they're you know their little marked through it is an identifier for them and i like yeah and i like that and so uh they were super super um good about it they were texting and making sure hey man i want you to support it it's it's helpful for us i guess if i support it but they just were like, you know, we'll make sure you're good with it.

And I have a great relationship with Trackhouse and Justin. He's a partner of ours with the Cars Tour and actively involved in the communication of what the tour's doing and how to get the tour going where we wanted to go. And we're helping him with Connor Zillich here at Junior Motorsports with an Xfinity deal. So, yeah, they're doing. just Justin's just a really good guy, you know,

and you want the number, if the number does come back, when it comes back, you want it to be with good people, not a bunch of, you know, jerks. So it was,

I was happy. I thought it was a great, and SVG will have some real shots at putting it in Victory Lane, which will be cool. So adding his chapter to the number. And so,

yeah, I was happy about it. I really, was. So your only involvement was just the blessing, like saying you're okay with it. Yeah. Yeah. People were asking like, oh, man, it's Dale. Of course I'm fine with it. Dale's part of track house. No, so, yeah, there's only, all right. So, yeah, I'm not part of track house. No, no involvement whatsoever. Other than just being supportive and hoping the success, hoping for their success. Numbers to me, like, I think, I like to say, I like to say, I like to

see them out there and being used. And so when the, you know, I, I know why HMS went away from it. And I understand that. And I appreciate their position and what they chose to do. But while, you know, it puts it on the sideline, and that's sad for me. I want the number to be out there competing. And, and, and so I was, I was really, when they called me, I was surprised and immediately happy to hear that the number would come back. and it would be out of, not only for my connection to it, because I'm a nostalgic historian. I want the number out there.

It's a cool number that's been around for a long time. Take me out of it. And so, you know, that was, it's going to be good to see it on the track. Yeah. So, cool. Yeah, no, it's pretty neat. And SVG, like you said,

pretty good representative of it. This next question coming from Thomas, Florence, this, weekend. Are you looking forward to racing? Thoughts on the race on Friday night? I am. We, we're, you know, we're kind of getting our fifth wheel together and getting up getting all excited, and I'm going to drive up there Thursday morning, so we have a practice from noon to five, and so, yeah, there's a lot going on with the cars tour. The cars tours had a lot of curb balls thrown at it over the last couple of weeks, and we've had some real kind of, you know,

We've had some watershed moments or some tough moments where we've had to kind of look inward and look in areas where we need to improve as a tour. And we've had some challenges. This past weekend, we went to a very small bullring, but a nice well-ran racetrack that draws a really good crowd. And it's Wake County, and we get a small field there. a lot of teams don't want to go there because it's a bit rough or the racing could get rough. It's hard on equipment. The cars run hot.

The brakes run hot. Everything's really pushed to the max there. And teams will fall out of the race just running out of brakes because of the archaic sort of brake package that we run on our cars. And it's good that the brakes can fail and could fail. I mean, we don't want to, you know, we don't want NASCAR cup brakes. and so the that track traditionally will have a smaller field we had 19 cars and we switch we've got a really great relationship with Hoosier and we switched over to the

ST2 tire Hoosier's trying to do away with basically their old catalog and move to this new deal where they have an ST1, 2 and 3 and each tire is harder than the other and the super's and the pros will run on the one on the left side and two on the right side. So all across the country, they're trying to implement this ST package, one, two, or three, or a combination of two. And so we jumped on the wagon and said, hey, we'll support this thing you're doing and we'll do the ST2 tires. We went and tested and everything was really looking like it might be okay.

But we've had a lot of problems with the tires, and a lot of our teams have brought up to our attention some struggles. with the tires, some issues in quality control or, you know, the performance of the tire. And it's also a new product, so they're rapidly making these for everyone across the country that might be running them. And the tires, when you make a racing tire, it needs to cure. It needs to go sit in a warehouse for two months and cure. But everyone's needing these tires so much that we're getting them and putting them on

race cars sometimes six, seven days after they've been made. And so the tire hasn't had the chance to cure, so it's doing this on the car. And the tire just goes crazy in size and growth and all kinds of imperfections can develop sometimes because the tire didn't get to sit in a warehouse and cure. And so it's created some issues. And not to get down, I'm not, it's long-winded, I know, but we decided this weekend, we're going back to the 45, the tire that we've ran for many years. It's been a very durable, well, it does wear out, but it's been a durable, it's been a good quality tire for us and for a lot of short track racing grassers racing for years.

And so that's not, I don't know if that's a long-term solution, but we have to do it to get, we can't go back to wake and have the tire issues that we had. Our teams are at the end of their rope and they're asking, begging for change. And so a lot of challenges. So I'm going to Florence, not only trying to go race and have fun and just enjoy running a race, we're going there with all kinds of challenges as a tour. So I'll be wearing a lot of different hats over the weekend and hoping that we have a smooth event. Is that tough to do on race day? To be all these different people.

Once you got a suit on and you're getting ready to get in a car, it is what it is. Everybody's in the same boat. We're all in this. together, but it's the, you know, it's Friday and Saturday morning, or well, in this case, it'll be Thursday, all day practicing, and then Friday morning, just hoping everybody's happy, hoping that the teams are, are satisfied with the platform that we've provided them, right? And so I'm, I'm disappointed about the entire situation that the SD2 didn't just kick ass and everybody just love it. And, but we're working hard with Hoosier to try to

come to some sort of a, you know, consistent platform that we can race on for our teams and the teams, something the teams will be confident in and happy with. I never would have thought about all the tire stuff that actually goes into it. You wouldn't know, you wouldn't, fascinating. I didn't either. I didn't know all of the little challenges and curveballs and grumblings and frustrations that are going on in a tour, right? And it makes me look at, and I know people were, I know people were hard on NASCAR and so am I. And very critical NASCAR and have been over the course of my driving career.

But it really makes me want, it really makes me not want to be involved in running NASCAR. Because that, I don't, that's a thankless job. You're never right. You never, you're never, it's very little appreciation for when things do go well. Yeah. Right. and you're dealing with like that little thing we're dealing with with the tirey shoes in our in our cars tour that's been going on this year that's a little problem in the NASCAR world they have made you know they're they deal they deal with all kinds of challenges

and so yeah it makes me appreciate how difficult that job might be for them and how uh you know when they do get it right we don't none of us say anything we're like yeah that's what it's supposed to be you know yeah No pass on the back. Yeah. Right? When it goes well. But man, when it goes wrong. You're going to hear about it.

Yeah, everybody's going to tell you about it. I saw someone from Goodyear. He was on the same flight as me going to Daytona. And he was like, hey, I love listening to the show. And I'm like, we appreciate you guys at Goodyear for all you do. So, yeah. There's definitely a lot that they have going on. This next question, I apologize.

I missed your name. But did you see Lane Riggs dislocated his shoulder? Yeah. celebrating after the truck race. Yeah, I want to tell y'all something. So I got a text from him. I want to read it. From Lane?

Yeah. Where is it? Dagum. I had it. Dale. He was not the one you were texting at the beginning of the show. While you look, the YouTube chat also is very excited about the 88 returning to the racetrack. Here it is.

So I, thank you, YouTube chat. It's nice to hear. So Lane Riggs raced in the cars tour, but also race locally. South Boston won a national championship. Great kid. I've probably talked to him. I can count on one hand the conversations I've had with him. He said this in a text message.

And it makes me wonder how many of these he sent. Yesterday's win makes me think about all the people who have helped me get to this point and guide me. and you Dale were definitely one of them. I appreciate you. What a cool text. That's cool. Yeah.

I mean, I'm happy for Lane, but I didn't expect him to text me. Or, you know, I want to see him have success. It's been a difficult year for him, but to see him finally go to Victory Lane. I was, it was nice. And it says, you know, not only is a great, you know, he's a good driver, he's got a great character. Yeah. It's like a big moment, but he's thinking about all the people. people who helped him.

Very, very smart to, you know, reach out. And he must have casted a wide net for that text message if I got one. Yeah. But it's personalized as my name is. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Yeah. No copy and paste here.

Pretty cool. I was texting Harrison. I said, how many text messages you get? He said, 400 and something. Oh, my God. Which is like twice as many as I would get when I would win. And I said, dude, man, he's like, I'm. know how I'm going to get through them. I was like, copy and paste. Just don't tell your mom.

Thanks, buddy. Thanks, bud. I appreciate it. You did the copy paste method. Oh, yeah. What was the go-to? Just like, appreciate it. Thank you very much. I appreciate you. You. Yeah. Yeah. To whom this may concern. Yeah. Insert name here. We have an audience. Can we, let's get back. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's right. We got a question. Hold on. Dalton saw it in the YouTube chat and then texted it to me. Oh boy. You're putting the pressure on me now. Yes, that's right. From Soylent Green, Dale, do you enjoy the rodeo? Have you been to a rodeo? Like a rick? Yeah. Yeah. Bull riding. Do you not know that I had my own invitational?

No. No way, really? Yeah. In Charlotte. During the PBR. That's badass. Who's the Dale Jr. invitation? I'm wondering who the partner was that brought us to get. Maybe it was Mountain Dew. That seems right. But, yes, it was probably about 15 years ago in Charlotte, the PBR, one of their regular stops in their tour was at Charlotte. And they, oh, man, they paraded me out there in front of everybody.

But I know some of those guys. So back in the Bud days, back in the Budweiser days, they sponsored the PBR, and they would have the Bull Riders come to the Bud National Sales Convention. And Ross Coleman, who was a champion Bull rider, also has a plate in his head. He actually is one of the coaches for that stuff that Austin Dillon and them are doing with the teams. Ross is a man, all the Bull riders, they're bad-ass dudes. And they're crazy, really crazy. The crazy that gets on that bull, that's how they are off the bull.

And so we would go out and party in the bud days, and you just didn't know what was going to happen. And who was going to fight who? Like when one time I took Ross to a bar, and we just sat down at a table with a bunch of people and get us, we're ordering beers. gonna, here we go, man, we're gonna have a couple hours here hanging out at the bar, gonna drink beer, and everybody's gonna talk and have fun.

And Ross is looking back at the door. We just walked in. And it's a kind of a lit-up place. It's not a dark, you know, not a dark dive bar. Not a dark city bar. This is like a marina, you know, kind of a nice, decent place. You eat dinner there, lunch, whatever. Trying to paint the picture.

Maybe I'm not doing it. you're doing a good job. I can picture it. He keeps looking at the door. And I'm like, Ross, what is it? And he goes, I think I can take that bouncer. And he's, he goes, he goes over to the guy. And he says, for nights over, man, I think me and you ought to get into it. I think, because he really did want to fight him. And he was asking the bouncer if the bouncer was okay if maybe they fought later. Yes. And he was dead. He's dead serious. It is. Hey, appreciate what you do, man. You want to go outside and just... What are you doing in like 20 minutes? That is the mind and mentality of a guy who climbs on bulls for a living.

Want to wrangle anything. That's crazy, dude. Yes. Oh, my God. I mean, he rides a bull. That bouncer ain't nothing. Yeah. Right?

And so... Anyhow, I don't even know how we got here, but... I'm going to start doing that. Just like, hey, you mind if we fight later? Yeah, this evening. I still keep in touch with a couple of them that I got to meet through that whole kind of process back in the bud days. That's pretty cool.

And yeah, there's some good dudes. They're all good dudes. And it's funny because they ride their careers, man, are rather short because of injury. And, man, there's just so many other young talent coming up and pushing you out. And just good, good talented riders coming in. And so you learning about their career. and how brief they were, but then, too, how they had to reinvent themselves to stay, you know, whether it's going to commentating like Tough did or, you know, whether they're the guys that are

now like bringing the Bulls to the shows. Right. All the coaching. Yeah, all that kind of stuff. This team sport is kind of cool because it gives guys, like Ross, an outlet right now. He's like the coach of this of this team. of bull riders and it's a pretty neat deal. That's a good place to NS Junior.

We actually have our race winner here. Really? So thank you to the YouTube chat. If you want to hear Harrison Burton, check out the podcast. We had two on the show today, two current drivers. Can we say? Of course. Yeah, Bubba Wallace is going to be.

So when this comes out later, Bubba Wallace will be on the show talking about fatherhood and cars flipping and all of those different things. And yeah, we're going to have a conversation with. with Harrison and his dad. Jeff Burton. They're both coming to the table. So it's a good show today. Hopefully you'll check it out later when it comes on.

Thanks for tuning in to Ask Junior. Thanks to Xfinity. I appreciate all y'all out there. And hopefully it may see some of you at the racetrack this weekend at Florence. If not, somewhere else down the road. But thanks for supporting everything we do here at Dirtymo Media. And the Dale Jr. download. Thank you again to Xfinity and Xfinity Mobile.

We'll see you. Appreciate Dale taking the time to answer all of those great questions. And appreciate all the fans for sending those in as well. Again, don't forget all of the Dirty Moe podcast that were out earlier this week. We had the tear down on Saturday after Daytona. It was nice to get all this content out a little bit earlier with the night race this weekend. And then Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin and Jared Allen. That dropped on Sunday. Monday, we had door bumper clear. And then, of course, Dale talked all things Daytona on Dirty Air on Tuesday. And then Buddy Parrott on Wednesday. That was his

special guest this week. We had Speed Street and Dirty Mo Doe, both. dropping on Wednesday and yeah obviously today DJD reloaded a big weekend ahead of Darlington you heard from Lee Diffie earlier in this episode just talking about all the different storylines that we have going into this race we've got the regular season champion that's going to get decided we've got those three spots that are up for grabs in the NASCAR playoff 16 drivers going to advance after this weekend and then of course on top of all of that it's the lady in black the southern 500 a crown jewel race that every driver has to win. We're looking forward to that. But that's going to do it for us on DJD Reloaded.

We'll see you back here next Thursday. Check out Dirtymo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.