The Dale Jr. Download - Speed Street - Building a Legacy: Jimmie Johnson & Way-Too-Early IndyCar Predictions

Episode Date: March 4, 2023

On this Bonus episode, it’s race week for the IndyCar Series as Conor Daly and Joey Mulinaro are ready to kick off the 2023 season on Speed Street. The guys discuss NASCAR’s final race at Auto Club Speedway and why it was a mistake for IndyCar to leave the venue, their way-too-early IndyCar season predictions, reactions to F1’s Bahrain test and each team’s NFL comparison, and reveal their crucial Las Vegas advice for Producer Ben Walton’s inaugural trip to Sin City. Then, Conor and Joey talk with seven-time champion NASCAR legend and recent IndyCar driver Jimmie Johnson about his transition from NASCAR to IndyCar, his future Indy 500 plans, the challenges of being a team owner, and he reveals his craziest championship celebration story.  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.

What's up, download fans? Producer Alex here, and we have a special treat for you on this Friday. Speed Street has been absolutely killing the guest game lately. A few months back, they had Eagles running back, Boston Scott. A couple weeks ago, they had Frankie Munez. And this past week, they had, that's right, the man, Jimmy Johnson. And that's what you're about to hear today. In this episode, Connor, Joey, and Jimmy dive deep into Jimmy's IndyCar career,

as well as life as an owner now. and what life was like as a seven-time champion. They also give producer Ben some vagus advice as he embarked on his first trip to Sin City and the react to news all around the world of motorsports. Let's just get right to it, shall we? Speed Street with guest Jimmy Johnson. This is a production of Dirty Mode Media.

It is finally the week we have been waiting for. The calendar has turned to March of 2023. That means it is officially race week for the 2023 IndyCar season. St. Pete Weekend is on the horizon. We are so pumped. We have the Daytona 500 behind us. NASCAR's fully on the way.

Now we are into the IndyCar season. And what a show we have for you today. It is an absolutely stacked Speed Street episode today for many reasons. We have predictions. We have wild speculations about what's going to happen this year. But we also have this guest you may or may not have heard of. Yeah, it's right. Seven-time NASCAR champ, Cup champ, Jimmy Johnson, JJ, all in the show today. And of course, wouldn't be able to do it without my guy, Connor Daily. Conner, what's up,

dude? I am fired up. I just threw the roof so excited. How are you? Great, man. Yeah, great show ahead, as you mentioned. We have a great interview with Seven-Time. just happened to, you know, float out a text message to him. So you don't get what you don't ask for, you know what I mean? And we've been talking to Jimmy really since middle of last season in Indycar, his PR reps, his folks. We were going to schedule something. But obviously, look, sometimes when you have friends like that, you know they're much more famous than you. And so I'm like, look, I like to be the friend who's not an annoying friend.

You know what I mean? And if I'm just sending you a text every week to try to be on the podcast, which is actually what I do to Felix Rosenquist every week and we still haven't had him on the show. Saw him this morning at the gym. And he's like, hey, podcast. I was like, yeah, sorry, man, we got Jimmy Johnson instead. At some point we'll have Felix on, but he keeps denying my requests. But yeah, thankfully Jimmy Johnson late last night was like, sure, he's doing dad things, though. And, you know, he's a great man for doing so. A fantastic conversation, honestly. Really good.

So, yeah, a lot of great stuff to talk about today. We had, honestly, a wild NASCAR weekend in Fontana. Just snow in California, both X-Fidity and Cup race on the same day. Track that was just fantastic track that is now no more. We had F1 testing that was going on. some wild predictions about what teams are going to suck and what teams are going to be good. You all guessed it. Red Bull is going to be good.

But, yeah, and obviously, of course, the most important thing in the entire world is that it is race week for IndyCar. We're all very, very excited. Everyone's leaving here in a couple days or tomorrow or very soon, wherever it is. Just can't wait to get down there to St. Pete. Great place to start the season. So yeah, a lot of wonderful things to talk about today. Yeah, you mentioned an annoying friend to Jimmy. I'm going to be the annoying friend to you.

I'll put you out of the spot. With any chances that my wife would be able to snag a Connor Daly the past to St. Pete this weekend or no? You know what? Great question. I'm glad you asked because I'm down to two left. So we should be able to make that happen, yes. You're going to be down there, right?

Yeah, I applied for a credential. Yeah, I applied for a credential for myself. And I didn't want to like weasel my way, you know, because if, you know, RISE, she probably would like hold my camera, I guess. But like, eh, you know, I was like, eh, it's walking a fine line. I'll maybe just ask Connor and see if we can get that taken care of. Okay, good, now that we got that out.

Well, I think you should easily be able to get that taken care of. I mean, you're the co-hosts of this program. You're a dirty-mo media guy. I mean, you're a big media personality. I mean, you're literally a star. So if they didn't give you, if they didn't just hand you a plus, one, I would be sad. Yeah, well, you know, you just can't take any chances and I can't be going half of the time

my life down in St. P., watching cars go fast, and then my wife and six-month-old son are like, what the hell's going on? That would be a tough conversation upon arriving home, yeah. Exactly, exactly. Also, want to get this out of the way real quick. Check this out, boys. Oh, wow. Whoa.

Sent to me for us by a listener. I got to get on Instagram and find this, this fellow. his name up again, but for those who are listening, it is an incredible, it's an incredible, basically a, what is that, piece of wood with Speed Street on it? And our autographs.

It's sign, so it's our logo, and it's like the 3B woodworking, you know, it's like something we put up in a studio. We're like, put up right behind you, right? Oh, yeah. Because I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it, and also maybe we might start get back in the studio of recording. But, yeah, this is from,

02 creations Sides and Banner Service. Nice. So they reached out and was like, hey, did this for you. And I was like, cool, yeah, you can just shoot it to my place. And they did not show up and, you know, try to kill us or anything. So that was good. But also very, very fantastic work.

And so check them out. Just out to them. It was great chatting with them. And they did a great job. So super pumped about it. Things we love to see. That's awesome. Very, very cool.

I think we can get right into the NASCAR racing since I was most recently a NASCAR driver, and we cover all forms of motorsport in this show. One thing that I want to get to right out the gate, which, and I kind of mention it a little bit in our Jimmy interview, but I was at the Chevy simulator yesterday, which I'm technically not supposed to say, because we're not allowed to post about it on the internet, but I saw three different Honda drivers post that they were in the simulator. So, again, I'm not really worried about if people know that we're in the simulator. we're preparing for our jobs. Still, obviously, you can tell that I'm frustrated with that rule.

But over here at the simulator, saw two of my friends, Landon Castle and Ross Chastain, interesting to chat with them after the Daytona 500 because I had not seen them since, and they've obviously got more Daytona 500s under their bill than I do. And Ross Chastain was a guy that did actually try to help me at the beginning of the race a couple weeks ago. We had had a brief chat, and, man, I, um,

I know that it was something that we talked about a lot, but Ross definitely did try to help me, and I do appreciate that. I think I didn't give him enough credit in our first little recap, because I was trying to get through as much as possible. But Ross had this strategy of being basically last and kind of hanging out for the first bit of the race. And I had sort of fallen back with him,

but I wasn't really falling back on purpose. And when we got back there, he did try to push me, but he was like, yeah, man, it just wasn't meant to be. And I said, you know what, Ross, I completely get these. Like, yeah, I just kind of had to pull out and drive by. I was like, look, as you're well capable of doing, that is completely fine. And as soon as young Ross went by me, my race was over.

So it is what it is. I still am thankful for the money team racing, the number 50 crew, everyone that made that happen. It's still really cool to look back on, even over the weekend. I spent some time here in Indianapolis. A lot of folks talking about the Daytona 500. I went to Starbucks last week in Zionsville, Indiana, not far from my mother's house. And the person that working at Starbucks was like,

hey, congrats on being in Daytona. So a lot of people watch Daytona, and we appreciate that. Very, very cool. Bitnial.com launching March 1st, which is very, very exciting. We were recording Tuesday. that means it launches tomorrow.

So please check out bitnial.com. It's going to be awesome. So yeah, just a funny little Daytona story there. And then talking to Ross, I think Ross has a great interest in going open wheel racing at some point. I think Ross is in an incredible position in the Cup Series right now, driving for one of the best teams. Justin Mark's, his owner, is, I think one of my favorite people in motorsport,

just by the way he does business, the way he does things, and just his vibe in general. and the fact that he hangs out with cool people too. Tutsis, the Nashville folk. And he had a lot of great questions about open wheel stuff. He's like, hey man, like I kind of want to respect the system. Do I need to try to test some indie lights cars, indie next cars, whatever it is,

or some Indy Pro 2000 cars to get a feel for stuff because he's never driven an open wheel car before. And I thought that was really cool. So I would love to see Ross, you know, in the 2026, 2027, Indy 500, who knows. but yeah he definitely has a really you know a cool interest not so much to do the event because it's the event but to be a better driver and I actually respect that because he does you know truck racing Xfinity races anytime that guy can drive he drives he races so I respect that I think he

look did he make some questionable moves last year yes I think I think there was some questionableness going on there no denying that but but I respected that he was asking so much about the Indy 500. Oh, I don't know. I don't know. You know, every driver's, you know, we all do things right according to us. You know what I mean? So it's it's one of those things.

But cool to hear him considering, you know, hey, how do I maybe dabble in a bit of wheel racing? Yeah, dude, that's a, that's, I totally agree. We get more into it with Jimmy, but he makes some really great points about just, you know, those kind of guys who just want to be willing and just get out there and let her rip and not to jump to something else too quickly off of that, but I was reminded about it from Jennifer Fryer and old Ben sitting in the group chat. She said, Nugget I've uncovered, Kyle Larson, Hendrick McLaren, Indy-5 Underdeal is a two-year deal for 2024 and 2025.

He's expected to test this year. So this is a little bit of news. No? Yeah, no, I did see that because, well, he's going to do the race this year. Well, he's doing the race next year. But, But yeah, I think there's a test anyway before the 500, which is awesome. But honestly, I think that's the way to do it, right? I think that's the way to be prepared. Like, obviously, you know, we talk a little bit with Jimmy about it in our interview, but it's hard to be competitive at the Indy 500, right? Like, you can get in, and you could, if you're a skilled human being like we saw Fernando

Alonzo do, like we saw Kurt Busch to, like we saw Jimmy Johnson do. Jimmy Johnson was competitive at the 8500, qualified in the Fast 12. quick, quick month. But it's hard to get that win. It takes years. It takes everything to be perfect. It takes things to go right. Or if you're Alex Rossi, you win of your first time out.

Who knows? Exactly. But I think it's a smart move for Kyle. I think he's going to be very good. And cool to see that. Cool little nugget of information for sure. And moving into NASCAR racing as well from Fontana. I think Fontana was very interesting because it snowed in California.

I don't know if you paid much attention, Joey, to the weather that was going on out there, but it was fascinating to see that not only was every day essentially rained out slash snowed out, but it was freezing in Fontana. And I remember going to the last IndyCar race at Fontana, and it was lovely. Very warm there. Indy cars raced insanely well there. I hate that that track is going away. I almost got to do that indie car race in the five car for James Hinchcliffe because he was injured that year.

But I only got to do the first two races after he was injured. They put Ryan Briscoe in for the rest of the season. But a great race track. It's filthy. It destroys the cars paint jobs because of all the dust and the dirt and the rocks that come up off the track. But I think it's a great race to watch. enjoyed it, both the Cup race and the Xfinity race, to see Kyle Bush get a win already with RCR. I mean, that didn't take long at all, obviously. And then the Xfinity race, John

Hunter Nemechek, not really too surprised there. It was, you know, it was a good race, but he pretty much had it wrapped up at the end. But also very cool to see how those cup cars drive at another track after having done the previous race. After having felt a little bit of bit about how they react to the dirty air, how they react in packs of cars at high speed. I have always been a spectator, right? But I don't actually know what it felt like through the seat of my pants. So now when I see a lot of these scenarios in the race, I'm like, oh, that would have been more difficult than I expected, or that's a really cool move because I know what this car does in the air. So interesting to watch with, I guess, let's say, one higher

level of knowledge. It's like you can watch a football game all day long, right? But until you play in the NFL, I'm sure there's a lot of differences in that whole scenario. Yep. Yeah, no doubt. I was just watching that race, though, and I was like, and I saw some stuff on Twitter, you know, Matt Archelette, a few different folks posted like highlights of the last time IndyCar was there. Oh, yeah. So good. I mean, yeah, I'm watching NASCAR, and their guys are shooting out all over the place, all over the track. They're going, you know, obviously five wide on the parade laps or whatever,

but still, I mean, close to that, you know, even during the race. And I'm just thinking, it was pre-race band-inom for Joey, right? So that was before my time, really. Oh, you would have loved it. I know, and I've just tried to picture, oh, my God, that seemed absolutely insane. Yeah, IndyCar, honestly, and I mean, I could, I've said this many, times before, but when we raced on those ovals, it was so good. Like, Fontana, it was the most exciting

race that I've ever watched. And I still, that is the biggest sadness of my career was like, because I had raced that during that season. I had done three races in that season. And I, you know, and the five car, you know, the Arrow Electronics car, you know, four SPM at the time, it was a great car. And I was like, oh, man, that would be such a cool race to get to do. You know, I hadn't done a lot of ovals yet, but definitely sad to have missed out on that because I thought we raced there. Now, look, is it dangerous? Where are we going really fast? Yeah, of course.

But like, I'm sorry, racing is dangerous. And guess what? Our car is way safer now. I wish, wish, wish we could go to more tracks like that. Tracks like Michigan, tracks like Kentucky, tracks like, you know, sadly, no more Fontana. But there are so many places like that that I think NASCAR. races well at that gosh our cars would race so well and fontana we have perfect evidence of it fontana i thought was the coolest race i've ever seen so you are if you were a fan then joe you

would have we would have been talking about this show on the or that race on this show for sure what what what current track that you guys race out on the 2023 schedule is the closest resemblance to that or is there not one nothing yeah there's nothing because we the only thing that we have that's even close, you can't compare indie because it's four separate corners and there were not racing side by side to the corners like that. And Texas, Texas just isn't Texas anymore, sadly. I mean, I love Texas. I loved what Texas used to be, but it's more of a single lane racetrack now. It's more of a, you know, there's not as much passing as there used to be. There's just no more pack racing in Indy car because everyone got scared of it. So

hopefully we can be less scared of things in the future. And as our sport rises this year, with all the great marketing efforts that we're putting forward. All the new commercials, all of our television show, hopefully we'll be like, you know what, we're not scared anymore. We're going to go to cool races, and we're going to sell a lot of tickets because IndyCar Racing is awesome. That's what I hope for. It is awesome.

We see, it seems like an upticket social. It seems like, yeah, I saw it on Primetime USA Network, was getting some commercials out there over the weekend, all great stuff. And you're right, IndyCar racing is awesome, and the season is upon us. It is race weekend coming up, race week. And so I think it's appropriate for all of us now to get into some predictions for the 2020-3 season. Yes, we can if you would like. I think it's going to be a very, very competitive year.

We have 27 full-time drivers, as we've mentioned on this show. and there's not really any regulation changes. You know, there's a few downforce tweaks at tracks here and there. A few, well, the only real difference is, honestly, are the tracks that got repaved. You got Rhode America that gets a repave. You got Laguna Seca that gets a repave. Detroit's a new track.

So that will throw some wrenches into it, but that makes it more exciting. And, yeah, I think I'm going to go first. And again, we're going to do a, each of us will do a top three. Again, no particular order, but the three drivers that will finish in the top three of the championship, we'll do a rookie the year prediction, and we will do a Indy 500 winner prediction. So I will go first with my top three in the championship. We actually ask this of Jimmy, too, so you'll get to hear Jimmy's speculation.

Scott McLaughlin has to be included in the top three. I think that's easy. And again, we can all have the same ones. That's completely fine. Scott McLaughlin is definitely going to be in the top three. I see for sure a Ganesi driver being in the top three. I don't know why it's not going to be Scott Dixon, but Scott Dixon will not have Michael Cannon this year as an engineer.

I don't really know if that will affect him at all because I feel like Dixon's always been good. But for that reason alone, I'm going to pick Alex Pelo and sit. I think I'm going to go Alex Pallone. I'm going to go Scott McLaughlin and I don't know but I'm going to have to say probably Alex Rossi McLaren hasn't really blown anyone out of the water yet

when it comes to testing and there's been some technical issues and some glitchery but I think Alex Rossi is going to be a little bit more powerful and more consistent than his teammates. So those are my top three no particular order championship prediction. That's great.

Yeah, Rossi is interesting, and I'll be at the Arrow McLaren hospitality thing on Saturday night. Apparently they'll have a pool. I heard that Arrow McLaren Hospitality has a pool, so that's next level. So look out for the pool. At the trunks, good deal. Yeah, but it is interesting.

Guy's got to have, you know, he always has a chip on his shoulder, but I think especially after his time with Andretti, now leaving over fresh start. He's kind of a new man. He's engaged. He's got things to prove. He wants to show, hey, I'm still Alex Rossi.

That was always up at the top. I'm going to do it at this new team. I get that. He will not be in my pick, though. I'm two of three with you. I think Palo, I think McLaughlin. I think McLaughlin is going to win the championship. I think the same thing as well.

But we're only pick in top threes. Yeah. But I think Colton Hurd is going to find himself in there. And I talked about it a handful of shows ago. Last year, he still had plenty of times where he was in a good spot towards the end of races. And one move that didn't work out, whether it was, you know, he had the Penn of Mid Ohio or it was, you know, at Long Beach where he runs it into the wall, right? I feel I really believe that as talented as he is and as as close as he was on multiple different ones last year

and even the year before, I think now with all the F1 stuff kind of out of the way, I don't think we're going to hear of as much about it as we did last year. And I think this is the year he puts it all together. He always is getting older. And even though he's still like 10 years younger than me and you, Connor, at least it seems like it looks right?

Yeah, he's getting older. He's getting more and more experience under his belt. And he's still with a really good team, obviously, with Andretti's. So I have big expectations and hopes for Cold Herda this year. So my top three, I think you're going to give you Ganesia, Palo, and And Reddy with Colden Herda, and obviously, Opensky with Scotty Mac. Yeah, I think that's an interesting three. It's hard because, again, as we said, there are so many good drivers. So it's definitely a speculative pick, and we will keep record of this for the end of the season, see how everyone's predictions are.

Ben, who is your top three championship prediction? Yeah, so similar trend that you guys are going with with Loddick and Assey and Penske. I think you guys are foolish for forgetting New Garden. I know, I know.

It's New Garden fatigue. It's hard. It's New Garden fatigue. It's like you can vote LeBron as the MVP every year, but that's fucking boring. Fair. So he's on top of my list.

I mean, enough said about him. I was debating, between Polo and McLaughlin, but I think with how good he is at the end of the season, I think Scotty Mac's finally going to put that to good use, and I think he'll be up there. I agree, I think he's also my championship pick. And third one, a little bit of a different gannasty driver,

I guess, than what you guys have. I'm going to go with Erickson. Come off any 500 year. I think he's going to start the year hot. He's got to maintain a little bit more at the end of the year. I know Indy helped him stay in the points a little more competitive than maybe if it wasn't double points. But I think he's going to start out the year hot. Yeah, and it's true. We don't have double points at Indy this year. So that'll be a major mix-up.

Honestly, those who struggle at the 500 will definitely not be as hurt. And that's huge for some, because especially even for Joseph, because you got to remember, Joseph has not had the best races at the Indy 500. yet he's there always for the championship at the end of the year. So let's say Joseph has another solid day at the Indy 500. He finishes 8th, 9th, 10th, whatever it is. That puts him still in a way better position in the championship hunt than if he loses out on double points. So that's a very, very interesting prediction.

And speaking of the Indy 500, we'll move on to Indy 500 picks now. I plan on winning the 8500, honestly. that's that's death with a plan and I feel confident enough to make that pick I know it's weird to pick yourself so if I don't pick myself I think it's tough to pick a Penske driver for some reason recently at the Indy 500 it's been very odd I don't know if they'll fix it

I assume they will but it's hard to go away from Ganassi they were so easily so much faster than everyone last year and we're not talking easily like they won by a mile, but at Indy, when you have an extra half mile an hour, when you have the ability to maybe run a hair more down force because your car is a little bit more efficient, and it's just a little bit quicker.

They have the juice. So I honestly see either Dixon or Polo winning it, and if it comes down to a shootout, it's going to be Scott, for sure. I bet they honestly put that car away from last year I bet they put it in the shop they didn't touch it and it's going to be rolled right back out for next year because that was a fast car. You know, record setting.

Yeah, definitely. You go wrong there. And you know they'll be up there. And to your point, I truly think this is 10, right? This is your 10. My 10th. Went in 10? I think we need to start that campaign.

I think it's going to have a lot of legs. And it is, you know, I truly believe, literally, 2020 would you lead. You know, we know what happens there. 2022 at Eurofront all damn day and you finish top. Well, I'm sorry, it was top six, top five. Six.

Six. I finished six so many times in my Indy car career. It's really weird. So I'm with you. Win in 10. I like it. I think it makes sense. We've talked to Jimmy about it.

and what would happen in this city and at that place and in Speedway I lord can only imagine and I hope that he has a good plan for it and being your podcast partner and your friend it is like yeah I'm not just going to like brush over that like Bailey I think it's Paddle Award

all right there you go award is his career at Indy obviously we saw last year the dude Chevy Chevy and you know that that little cocky S-LB and he'll admit

that he's cocky he wants nothing more than to win that race, cement his legend and go on some crazy after party tour similarly to what Connor Daly would do. He might never return from Mexico, who knows? Ben, what you got?

Yeah, I like the Gannasi trend. I think they're going to keep up their speed pretty good. He's already got out of championship. I think he's on a fast track for big things. I'm going to go with Palo. Well, you know what? The funny thing about Alex Palo winning too is obviously he's a McLaren Formula One reserve driver as well next year. And if it's for some random reason you see Alex Palo going to Formula One after he wins the Indy 500 will be a wild, that would be a wild seat. I don't know how it would happen because they're locked in with Piastri and Lando.

but if for some odd reason he somehow, you know, pulls off some wizardry in witchcraft and ends up in Formula One, I mean, good for IndyCar, I think, honestly, good for Indy car. But yeah, Alex already has the championship. I think he's going to be good at Indy again, but we shall see what happens. So I think those are some great predictions from us. We have a little bit to chat about with Formula One.

Obviously, we want to respect Formula One as well, but I think we will do that after our Jimmy Johnson interview. The Jimmy Johnson interview is great, and since we were predicting things about IndyCar, you can hear his as well. So let's just jump right into the incredible interview with seven-time NASCAR champion, Jimmy Johnson. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a very, very special guest,

someone who is very successful, someone who is a father, someone who has participated in many forms of motorsports, someone who has, well, more championships than most people that I know in my life. Jimmy Johnson, thank you for being here, sir. We appreciate your time. We've been talking about having you on the show since the show began. But now you're back to NASCAR.

Maybe you're less busy. I don't know. How is life right now? I am not less busy and I apologize that I have to do the podcast while driving home from the race shop but life has been amazing to me and opportunities have come far and wide including this opportunity to come back to come and be a team owner and I was just at the shop all day knocking out all of my you know kind of weekly obligations and meetings and such and now racing home to work carpool and put on the dash.

So life is good, my friend, and thankful I'm finally on the show. I love it. Hey, we appreciate you being here. I tried to FaceTime you on Saturday night. That is my mistake. I tried to FaceTime several other people. Sorry about that. I know there's some dad, you know, you got to pay attention to timelines and when dads are awake and all that. But aside from that good stuff, the Daytona 500, right? You might have, I saw you in that race for exactly 35 to 45 seconds. Maybe you slotted right in in front of me and I never saw you again. Did you have a great time in this new car compared to the older car? Obviously, I don't know what the older car was like. You had a lot of great experience in multiple generations of cars there. But was this, because this race,

I think a lot of people were judging it because of the lack of, you know, movement from one lane to the other, the help that you needed to pass, the energy. What was the experience like compared to, let's say when you last did the Daytona 500? Yeah, I would say it was probably 80% familiar of the cars are real and you'd try to pull out a lot of stuff with fire tracks. You know, you just hit that wall and stop the car. So I think that prevented lanes from kind of advancing.

It prevented the middle from really working, which was kind of different for me. and honestly kind of put it back into the form of driving where I won a couple plate races, which is you give the car in front of you pushes, incentivize them to pull out and make a pass, maybe incentivize them in a way that they think you're going to follow, and then you don't, and you just take their spot. So I really found through the course of the race that just take a run and send it forward

instead of trying to find a lane to go out and pass because the drag to power ratio is much different with the sneak bar. Jimmy, good to talk to you, Joey Mullenero here. Do you have another $9,500 in you? Or you got one, you've done. No, I would love to come back and do it. I mean, I've always wanted to do the double

and certainly respect Conner's form of double that you're pulling off, man. It's just so cool. Like as a kid, you know, watching others do it or just thinking about a combination of a double or, you know, the 600 and 500 the same day. And that's the stuff little race car drivers drove dreaming about. So I still want to do it. You know, I had a lot of moving parts, but certainly great opportunities with CGR to consider it for this year and just wasn't able to put it together. And hope that I can in the future because that's still, I think Lamas is probably the last thing.

or the highest thing on my bucket list is still accomplished and I get to do that this year and then the double was right there with it. Did follow up on that? Did your experience the month of May, did your experience with the spectacle, did it live up to everything you dreamed of as a little kid?

It really did. I would say it was more than, I didn't expect the, kind of the emotions to be as significant as they were on race day, to be there on the front stretch with my family sitting on its tire on my car hearing back home again in Indiana the flaw in all of that I'm getting goosebumps just talking about it right now I mean there is

just nothing like it and I watched it on TV for all my life imagine what it would be I went back last year and did TV and was like oh my gosh I've got to do this and then to do it was was just insane so a little bum with my performance and I really felt like some of the other experiences I had would suggest that I would have a better run. But, man, I just didn't want to bust my rear end and was a little too cautious at the wrong times. And it was way more track position dependent that I, that I, you know, chalked it up to be. And before I knew it, I was losing track position. And then we had a caution come out at the wrong time, which really killed track position. And I was just kind of a sit-and-duck the rest of the time. Yeah, it's a

tough race, man, nowadays. But I mean, as you, like, I still think you did a very respectable job, obviously qualified well. It's hard to learn that event, though. Don't matter who you are, it doesn't matter if you're Kurt Bush, you're Fernando Alonzo, whoever it is coming over, right? You guys are competitive. You're good at what you do, and you're absolutely fast when you got there, right? But it definitely takes some time. Boy, it took Tony Kannon nearly two decades to do it, and he did it eventually. But who knows, you and Kyle Larson could easily share the same next year trying to do the double. I mean, it sounds like something that's extremely plausible. I mean, Abby, come on. I like where your head is. A little plane pooling to save expenses make sense.

Man, I'm excited to see him go and give it a shot. It looks like he's got a nice long runway ahead of himself to get prepared and ready. Then it's really about maximizing the days on track before you go racing and that's something I would do differently. I think maybe I was a bit focused on popping off a lap time and where I was on the pylon at the end of sessions and now having a race under my belt in the 500. I know the environment I would want to go live in and all those race practice sessions. Exactly. I mean, it changes so drastically day by day. And it's so easy. You practice for five hours a day and you're like, I want to be up top. I mean, come on, what are we doing? We got to get the big toe lap. We got to figure it out.

It's very tempting. I get it. I think I talked to Ross Chastain yesterday at the at the Chevy simulator, and he had a lot of interest in something in the open wheel ranks. How does he expand his driving career? How does he learn a little bit more? Who else do you think in that NASCAR world right now would be a great candidate? Obviously Kyle Bush, we know Kyle Bush, I think, has talked about doing it before. But a guy like Ross Chastain does really interest me. You know, definitely a young guy as well like Kyle Arson, but very, very good right now in the Cup series. Who would you say like your top three potential candidates for doing a double would be? Man, it's a great question. And I know my efforts, I think what Kyle is going to do will continue to break down some of these barriers that,

I even had of my safety, concerns of my safety. And I think that the NASCAR world and the motorsports world in general, although they know that aeroscreens on the car and the halo's behind it, that, you know, technically it's more safe. It is way safer. And I think that has been a stumbling block for a lot of guys. And I know it was something I had to work through. You know, I went the first year, just rode the street only and then got on the ovules. And I was like, man, I should have been doing this all along. So, you know, That barrier is coming down and there's guys responsible for doing that. And once that does come down, I think team owners, sponsors, drivers will look at it more seriously and our sport's only going to benefit from it. But when I look at Chase Elliott and his ability to dominate road horse races, I think he would be a great candidate.

I know William Byron went for a two-seat ride when we were there for the shared event, the Brickyard 400 and the IndyCar double. and he came out of there asking a lot of questions. So it's hard to pick three, you know, off the bat, but man, I just, our sport is growing, as we all know and love. And for whatever reason, you know, we may like or dislike F1's contributions, you know, as you're racing these other series. But, you know, the hat I'm wearing is we all need to take care of each other. And it is a neat sport in the scheme of things.

And we all need to have crossover. We all need to support one another, and hopefully guys will continue to knock down barriers and keep the spotlight on these opportunities drive different stuff. I think that does more for a sport than anyone ever realized. And you, my friend, Potter, are one of those guys too. I appreciate that. I agree. Yeah, no, we love how he dips and everything.

Just like, you are you an F1 guy? Do you like the impact? Like this crazy Netflix world that's brought over, like, are you a fan of the racing? What are your thoughts on F1? Yeah, I think it's done a great job. And I think we're all experiencing the uptick of their drive-de-survive show and people asking questions that normally wouldn't about auto racing. I mean, a lot of different circles I'm in, they knew I race, but that maybe didn't, I'm pretty sure

many of them didn't watch the race. And now all of a sudden they're like, hey, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, wife loves the Netflix series and now I've watched it and now I want to go to a car race and these are folks who never go to a car race. So it's working and we all need to ride that wave. And I think we also all need to take care of each other too and look after each other, not trying to tear each other down. I agree completely. I think why can't we all be fans of maybe all three or even just diversify your portfolio when it comes to being a motorsport fan? It's not that hard. Keep me up. I have a funny.

a more fun question for you, and this might be out of complete left field. But I was thinking about this the other day. You've won so many championships, literally one for every day of the week. But when it comes to after parties and celebrations, does one championship after party outrank another? How do you, like after you've celebrated three championships, I mean, it must be like, man, this after party is going to be even crazier. But after six and then after seven, I mean, do you just start going home and getting massages or like, is it easy? I mean,

what's the after party protocol after three and four, five? I committed to trying to up my game every after party. And my liver didn't like it. Maybe they earned brownie points in different regards. But I, the last one was the top experience. and I probably never shared this,

which you're going to love. Love it. The seventh championship, so many of the championships, I've always subscribed to work, hard, play hard, and if Daytona 500 wins, any of these big media tour-supported celebrations,

you know, NASCAR owes you days after these big moments, and after the championship, and in the other experiences. So, you know, I worked hard to get there. I was going to play hard during, and then also play hurt. So I've lost through some uncomfortable. interviews and days that followed me. But I came, I knew I had NASCAR owned me at 7 a

Monday morning following the 7th championship. And I was, I came to my senses climbing out of Denny Hamlin's, the pool that was at the place he was staying at. And I was fully clothed. And wondering where my phone was. And it was like, wow, if the sun's up, it must be close to 7 o'clock when NASCAR owns me. I probably need to find more. way back to my hotel. So I looked over and Canales was in the pool. Everybody was laughing because they threw us both in. And I got out and went back to my hotel, changed clothes, got my luggage, looked for my wallet, remembered my wallet. I somehow recalled throwing it out of my pocket, which I was hopeful was my phone, so I didn't ruin my phone. But I didn't have my wallet. It was

at Denny's place. So I jumped in a cab, went back over, got my wallet, and they came back to the NASCAR folks waiting for me to take me out to start my day. So that one was probably the, it's optimal. I love that. I can't really say shit to you. I mean, come on. You do whatever you want.

I did nap on the flight to New York, and things really didn't improve as that they went on, but I, again, you know, and stand and fight through it. I hurt. I love it. Now, we talk about that kind of thing a lot on this show, Jimmy, you know, then Connor especially, and I agree with them about like, you know, IndyCar, we got to let loose a little bit. These guys, you win, you got to celebrate, you know, maybe don't be afraid to show that you're celebrating a little bit, show that personality. From your experience now, being the legend you are in NASCAR and all motorsport, but then being an indie car full time, do you think,

that does need to be shown a little bit more. The guys do need to show a little bit more personality, have a little bit more fun, especially after they win. Yeah, I mean, it's tough. I was probably criticized more than any other driver for being too professional. And I just, you know what you know,

and you're raised a certain way, and your opportunities in life come as a result of certain scenarios, right? So for me and my parents, I had a very simple upbringing, and thankfully, parents loved racing as much, if not more than I did, and provided everything to me and my brothers. But my way to be recognized going forward was to network and be never noticed and have this corporate appearance. So, you know, fast forward to my cup career and when my

opportunity really hits, I am who I am. And there definitely was a level of professionalism that served me well in the way it behaved in track. And I'd get out of the car and say all the right things and somebody tried to hand me a beer, but kind of looked the other way, wait until the canvas went off, and then I had my beer. So, and, you know, I love seeing the big personalities. I just knew that I had to be me, and that's, you know, I'm now at T-Motor, and I have a big personality in know Gregson, and a World Reserve personality, and Eric Jones, you know, they both, you know, we're chatting it up, and they're like, well, what do you want us to do? And I was like, guys, you just got to be yourself.

Like, Noah, you be you. That's how you're going to perform it to your best. Eric, you be you as well. I mean, you just, you've got to be yourself, you know, and just take it from there. I mean, the day you start trying to be someone you're not, you're going to make mistakes. You're not going to be true to yourself. Your fans are going to see it. And all those things kind of fall against.

It's true because one of your team partners who was one of mine, U.S. Air Force, right? When I first had a mullet, the U.S. Air Force was my sponsor. And a lot of people were like, whoa, what are they going to say about that? And when they were like, oh, we love it. That's awesome. That's you. Like, it is what it is. And like, they love the fact that, you know, someone was just being himself.

And so I think, I think a lot of people, there's obviously a very good corporate appearance, which, of course, is, is, you know, we all have to do that. I mean, even I, who I obviously like to be myself. I like to, you know, get amongst the evenings and whatever it is, you know, and celebrate accordingly. or commiserate either way. But I think there's obviously a good mix of both. There's a mix of that professionalism, but knowing that, hey, look,

I'm not out, like, we're not out committing low-level felonies at night, you know what I mean? You know, if I have two Budweiser's or two Coors' lights with Joey, you know, we're celebrated. We're having a nice time. So I think there's a good mix. And, you know what, you'd be a champion of that, I would say.

Absolutely. That's a great point. great way to put it. I want to get your a, we're going to have a wild speculation segment here because you are, I consider you still an IndyCar driver, right? Uh, thank you. Let's say, you know, whenever it is, IndyCar driver in general, but we want to get a potential top three in the championship of 2023 prediction. We want to see who you think is going to potentially be, and it doesn't have to be in order. You could just pick three drivers that are going to occupy the top three, and we would like to get you to predict

who's going to win the Indy 500. Those are your quiz questions currently. I see, I see. Totally on the fly. Gosh, on the fly. Well, I just, being inside CGR and seeing Alex's talent, Scott's talent, Marcus's talent, you know,

it's hard for me to really think outside of those guys, But very good team. Very good team. I was really impressed with New Gardens, just steady, consistent competitiveness on all fours of tracks. So I guess I can't pick all from one camp, but yeah, I'd probably say Scott from the CGR camp. I would say New Garden from the Penske camp. there's some shuffling going on with other teams and Rossi moving. You know, I'd probably normally keep him at that championship tier.

But I don't know, there's something inside of me right now thinking more about McLaughlin. I just think that the year he had and how competitor he was, and I'd probably put McLaughlin as my third championship contender. From a 500 standpoint, I just, gosh, I think it's Dixon. It just, and again, I'm so biased because I know what I lived through and I know what I experienced over the last couple of years, but I probably throw back on Scott. It was his race last year too.

Like he definitely dominated the whole thing. Yeah. Well, you know what that's a fair prediction. I will try to beat Scott this year because I would like to be the victor of the race. But you know what? I think of all the people who probably deserve another, it's definitely Scott. And I think our fan base and everyone would be like, you know what? We're happy with Scott winning another one.

I think that would be a people's favorite as well. He's Peyton Manning. Can we for a minute think about what Indiana would do if Conner Daly won, Indiana that was 500? Well, Jimmy. When you're leading a lot, the place goes bonkers. I had someone mentioned that. I had someone mentioned that to me the other day and as if it was like something I didn't think about that often.

And they were like, hey, man, could you imagine what would happen? I'm like, yes, I literally think about it every single day that I'm at the other Zerway. I would love that to happen. There would be a celebration, Jimmy. I know you didn't come to my after party last year. That's fine. Not offended. But if there is, if we do win, you will be invited.

Even if you're in Charlotte or wherever it is, you know, you got a plane and a bus. You'll be fine. Dude, I don't think that place will melt down. Connor, I don't think I told you, I don't think I told you this story yet, Conner, about last year, because I didn't go to Conner's after party either. I somehow found my way at Scott Dixon. Thanks, Joey. I somehow found my way at Scott Dixon's with Colton Herda. And Colton Herda said, you want to meet some cool race car drivers? I said, sure. He said, cool. He brought me over to Jimmy Johnson. I said, wow, this is great. I said, hey, Jimmy, awesome, love that you're here. So great. So great to meet you. I said, when you wave to your dad, when you, you're going out for your out lap. I was so cool. I'm about to be a father. Like, I just got so emotional. I was, and then, you know, and Jimmy's like, who the fuck are you? Thank you. And I'm totally fair. Totally fair, right? Because who the fuck was I? By the same time, I just had to get that out there for everybody to know. And I still will look back on that

experience because it was a great one. Well, I'm sorry, handled it that way. No, no, no, no. You were super sweet. You were like, oh, okay, man. Yeah, right on. Thanks. I'm like, shook my hand. But like at the same time, I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Who the fuck is this kid? So I'm so thankful you pointed out other drivers that missed Connor's party. So I'm not totally on the hook for missing. No, look, it's fine. It's an annual debate, you know?

Everyone's invited and half the people come and sometimes, you know, it is what it is. It's at a nightclub. I know a lot of these drivers nowadays are very executive. They would much prefer a nice, you know, reclining chair, specialized cocktails, maybe even some high-level wine. I can't provide it all, you know. Jimmy, last one I got for you. Very true.

When the inevitable movie is made about your life, who plays Jimmy Johnson? Who plays me? Great question. You know a lot of famous people. Well, based on appearance, I've been told that, oh, what's his name?

I just had it and I lost it. Colin Farrell, I'm told you look similar. I could see that. But I think you may have beefed up a little bit since I've last saw him in a movie. So I'm not sure that's trending correctly. But yeah. What did a good one? Another one that people say it look like, which I'm not sure you guys have grasped.

And I had to see the picture side by side to get it. He's not an actor. He's a musician, but Dave Matthews. Oh, wow. I can see that. I can see that. Just based on appearances alone, I've been told those two multiple times. We're going to stick with Colin Farrell for you.

Yeah. People who said, Dave, he's doing you a disservice. Man, I didn't believe until I saw the photo and I was like, damn, we both have eyebrows on different levels and hairlines doing something. Oh, also, this is a very fun question. Going back to NASCAR land, what is it like comparing indie car shape for road courses compared to get ready for your NASCAR race is shape. It's a little bit different. I've noticed that after a couple cup races now, I am much happier physically after doing a cup race than my body is after an

IndyCar race. Dude, I just live that transformation coming from, you know, cup over. And wow, I remember the first year training that all the work PitFit was putting me through. I'm like, is this necessary? Oh, yeah. And then with the Seabring, with the Seabring for the the first test session, I was like, oh, yeah, this is necessary. Yeah, it's a different game. You know, Bristol, NASCAR, Bristol race is in the space. You know, there are some tracks that are more physical, but there's no doubt. IndyCar is the most physical form of car racing out there.

I agree. Well, Jimmy, I know we've taken up some of your day, and I appreciate it. We are all thankful that you are a team owner, still racing, doing cool stuff. The fact that us three, me, you and Pastrana made the 500 is the craziest thing I think I could ever have thought of. Oh, wow. We should have got some sort of group photo. Maybe we'll do it again next year. Who knows?

Travis sounds like he's not going to do it, but I don't know. We'll see. But I appreciate you being on this show. And you know what? Hopefully we'll see it in an IndyCar race. But either way, we appreciate what you've done for IndyCar. because I think, honestly, you were the biggest ad campaign that IndyCar's had in the last 10 years,

so that was awesome. And yeah, we appreciate your legacy. And, oh, yes, your team is called Legacy as well. So wonderful news. I appreciate it, buddy. I had the best time in IndyCar. And so thankful I was able to get to know yourself and others better, truly understand the sport.

You know, as a kid, that was the dream. And to be able to go do it at 45, I had the best time. So thank you so much and glad to be on the show and look forward to seeing you guys also. Thanks, Jimmy. We'll catch you later, pal. Wow, what a guy. Jimmy Johnson, the legend.

And I'm sure as all the listeners and fans of motorsport already know, but in case you didn't, you're just tuning in for a great 30-minute conversation there. I mean, just you would never guess that he's one of the best of all time, just an absolute legend of the sport, just because he's so down to earth and such an easy guy to talk to, really easy to root for, and no wonder all the moms love him. Yeah, I mean, you're exactly right.

I really enjoyed that he took the time to do that. Just a great conversation in general. In general, he's always going to be real, which I think is cool, even if we throw some curveballs at him. So yeah, Jimmy Johnson, great interview, great guy, excited for what he's got in the future. for motorsport. And as we mentioned, we saw

a little bit... Before we get their NFL one, before you get up, I just thought of one of the other predictions were 2023. I say Conradalee wins Iowa race one. Okay, all right. We'll take that. Hopefully we get our time. Maybe it's both. But Iowa race one.

Well, as long as we get our tires to work a little bit longer, we'll be in a good spot. So we'll see what happens. I like that prediction. I like Iowa. Hopefully we'll be on pole there, too. Who knows? Right. Who knows? But yes, Formula One, Formula One was testing last week. And Formula One does a lot of live coverage. They had some live coverage of testing. And I thought this was a very funny topic because people got angry. I saw a lot of internet comments in an autosport article or something. People were angry that the Formula One testing broadcast was boring.

And to that, I have to say, you guys are crazy. I mean, we are talking about, like, testing can be the most boring stuff ever because it is not racing. Like, it's actual practice. Like, I mean, there are a lot of core fans for sure. We talked by this before. That will watch testing because we love seeing race cars go around. But you are not allowed. Like, if you complain that testing is boring,

you actually, you lose the privilege to watch it on television because that's not something you can complain about. These are teams that are working at the track all day long to make sure that you are entertained on Sundays. So, like, it's not for you in the testing. Thankfully, Formula One is, you know, for them, they're such a massive world sport that if any cars are on track at all, we're going to cover it.

people are going to cover it, which is great. But you have to understand that those guys, those teams, everyone on those teams are working hard so that they can put on the best show on Sundays, you know what I mean? And that's when it counts the most. So I found it hysterical. Racing Twitter can be so funny sometimes of what people decide to complain about. I mean, it just never, never ceases to amaze me. But that was one of the things where I was like, all right, guys. Clearly you haven't been F1 fans very long because there's been testing for a long time. maybe not as much now, but it's not racing. It's like going to NFL OTAs and being like, well, I just don't get the hype.

I didn't see any touchdowns. Yeah. Exactly. Come on. Guys, I don't know if you saw this, but I saw all over Facebook, Jerry Meyer, a moral friend of the show. He was posting it. And it made sense to me. Definitely, you're talking about, though, with the NFL, that you see the Americans guide to F1 teams

comparing to NFL franchises? I did not see that, no. Ben, you didn't see this? No, I didn't. All right, I'll just run through it real quick for you. So I got the Indianapolis Colts as Alpine. I found major success in the mid-2000s with one of the all-time grates leading the way, said great, probably one more.

If it wasn't for another all-time great, getting in his way, the Patriots are Mercedes the Cowboys are Ferrari historically one of the most iconic and successful teams ever having had that kind of success in a while made a habit of choking don't worry this year is their year the 49ers was McLaren

they got the Carolina Panthers is Alpha Romero Okay Sorry to be Romanian Sorry sorry I've only had like two truly great years in their history kind of just there most of the time

and then the Chiefs are Red Bull Defending champs of Stark 9thi led by Young Stars critically rising up to go rankings That's funny I like that a lot Pretty accurate The Cowboys one is very funny

Yeah it is accurate You're exactly right That's funny Yeah we got Real quick They got the Jets is Alfitari Some great talent is past through these teams Over the years

Little Brother teams No one really expects them to ever win But yeah, just It made sense to me You know, as a guy who's trying to hitch my way In F1 I was like, all right, you're speaking my language Now we get it

Yeah, now we get it Yeah, and speaking of those teams We had a front of the show Will Buxton Yeah, we had a great interview with him If you haven't listened to that It's several episodes ago But great chat with Will Buxton

After the F1 season last year Or during the F1 season last year But he got a gave his prediction of the way the teams rank up from one to 10, and obviously there's only 10 teams in Formula 1. And I'm just going to read through those

and see what people think about it, because I thought it was very interesting. Red Bull racing, obviously, up top, I think Red Bull is going to destroy everyone, honestly. I think they're going to destroy everyone. And even if it's close at times with Ferrari, I still think they're going to outstrategy them. I don't know if, unless Ferrari has

fixed their strategy issues. Who knows? Very interesting, though, that the number three team he had on the list was Aston Martin, which I think is very impressive. Clearly, they must have done some good work on that new car. And our buddy Fernando Alonzo is there as well, which is very exciting. Who knows if Lance Stroll is going to be starting the season. Doesn't look like he is, honestly. That's crazy.

Injured during a bicycle accident. I hate to see that. But, you know, it does provide a great opportunity for a young driver like Felipe Drogovich, apparently, who a Formula 2 guy. that would be very interesting. Again, you never want to be able to, you never want to take advantage of an injury type situation, but the car has to be driven, and he will do it. If so, I would be super thrilled for Aston Martin because honestly, those are the guys that I worked with back in the Force India days. A lot of the guys are still there. A lot of new folks, though, as well. Number four on the

list is Mercedes, Alpine, then Alpha Romeo, Paz, Alphotauri, Williams, and dead last is McLaren. reading through all those Mercedes, that's definitely sad. I was like, man, Mercedes, I thought they were going to make a really big rebound. But who knows? Obviously, again, it's just testing. It's not exciting because it's not supposed to be because, sorry, F1 Twitter, it's not exciting. But a hot car seemed to have made a jump according to the testing. But the fact that McLaren, and I read so many articles about McLaren, who, you know, we obviously have somewhat of a connection to because they're an IndyCar as well. But them having a bit of a miss on the car is definitely interesting.

I will be very curious to see what happens when the season starts, because they also do start this weekend. I know we focus a lot on IndyCar, but Formula One also starts this weekend. So some interesting predictions there. The midfield does seem to be a little bit jumbled up, and if Eston Martin can be on the podium more, that would be very interesting.

So again, I'm not sure whatever we're, one thinks about those predictions, but that was a friend of the show, Will Buxton's predictions. Interesting. Nice. Very. All right.

Well, we got young grasshopper making his first voyage out to Las Vegas here. Well, I don't want. It's your spring break. You're going out there to throw some beds on some people, to be at pools with topless women. What's going on? Producer Ben going to Vegas. Yikes.

Right. Yeah. everybody watch out. He's a young lad. Me and Jason Schultz are, along with Mike, are going there for the Dirty Moe Ultimate Experience. Flying in Saturday morning,

sounds like Saturday we're going to have kind of most of the day and kind of do whatever. So that's going to be kind of our hard-hitting day. And then anything light we would want to do, we do Sunday after the Las Vegas Cup race. So I asked you guys to give me some, what is like advice could be restaurants,

could be, you know, beer before liquor, never makes sicker. It could be, where to go for betting. What's that? That statement is on my 10 command, like my life command. Yeah, I clearly agree. Beer, you're in the clear. Go ahead. Right.

So, yeah, no, just any, I open up the floor to you guys, anything about Vegas. What do I need to know? Well, I'll go two things because, listen, I have far less experienced than Connor in this realm of Vegas. So I want to hear his insight last as so should you. So I'll say two things. One, you're done with your boss. Have fun, but don't make an ass of yourself. Two, for my experience, do not ever say, yeah, we'll just walk to that place.

Okay. Because the land works, you, they're so large and you're on the strip or whatever. And you're like, oh, yeah, it's just right there. I can see it. And then like halfway there, you're like, have we even made progress? What is going on? And so you like, just hop in an Uber or a taxi or whatever. It's not worth the pain that will come on your knees, legs, feet, and you'll just be tired.

Just don't walk to places. Gotcha. Okay. That is a great call, honestly. It's very easy. And honestly, if you just walk through casinos, that's already, you're putting mileage on the legs. So we don't need to, you know, overexamine. are ourselves.

Vegas is an interesting place. I've spent time there. I've enjoyed times in Vegas. I've been out to the NASCAR race in Las Vegas. I participated in NASCAR Truck Series races there. I would say, you know, when it comes to certain people, I promise you that woman is not in love with you. That's my number one tip in Las Vegas.

That woman is not in love with you. That because, you know, there could be some lying afoot. knows. There could be some temptations out there. You got to watch out for those things. And honestly, the house always wins. That is something that is, unless you are very lucky, which I am, I am very lucky because I made the Daytona 500. But again, bet with what you're comfortable doing and experience it because it can be fun. And, you know, just watch out for untrustworthy humans. That's all. That's all. Don't get taken advantage of, Ben. That's all you got to remember. Good to know. No, I have my gambling slash betting budget already set out. So as soon as that runs dry,

no more for going back to the room and we're not touching it to Mike Davis too. Right. Yeah. Well, we're doing the company card. So we. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not saying we have a reservation at a place that isn't cheap, but, you know, it's going to be like our one big meal that we're doing. So, yeah, we're going to take advantage of it. But thank you for the advice. It's, uh, we'll see if we survive the weekend. See if you guys are going to look for a new producer at the next week. Oh, man.

And for those listening, uh, tweet the show, tweet us, tweet neb underscore not lull or whatever the fuck it is. And why. And let him know some of your, your Vegas insights and advice as well. We appreciate it. Yes, indeed. Connor, hit us up with the random N8500 driver of the week. Yes, to finish off the show, as is tradition,

the Ricky Treadway random N8500 driver the week. I was going through the list of years that we have used before. Thank you, Ben, for keeping that spreadsheet. It's very helpful. I went with a year that we have not chosen yet in 1971. I don't know why 1971 was not chosen yet. Maybe it was. Who knows?

But Al Unser won that race, Al Unser Senior. Yeah. Four time, obviously, four-time winner. And I went with the man who finished 22nd in that race in the number 99 machine, Bob Harkey. Bob Harkey finished 22nd. I don't, I did not know, I'm not familiar with that name. But Bob Harkey looks like he was born in 1930. American driver, obviously a USAC guy, most people were back in the day.

85 career starts. He did several Indy 500s, 1964, 71, 73, 74, and 76. So jumped around a little bit there. Looks like a best finish of eighth twice. Finished eighth twice. And yeah, interesting. One NASCAR start as well. So he, uh, interesting that he got to date.

Oh, wow. So he did the Daytona 500, uh, or no, first, first race at Daytona International Speedway, driving for Buck Baker. Um, interesting. NASCAR convertible division race supporting the inaugural Daytona 500. So that's kind of cool. Uh, also entered the 500, but withdrew. So that means he might have, but he was almost going to be on that list with me of drivers

who have done both. Um, so very, very interesting. Interesting. Where was he from? It doesn't say. Born in Charlotte, born in Charlotte, and died in Indianapolis in 2016 at age 85. So interesting, new driver that we have just learned about. Pretty extensive Wikipedia page here, CD. Yeah. Says Bob Harkey's first experience with speed came as a driver of a decoy car during moonshine runs. How about that? Learn to whip it doing that, huh? Whippin' wheel at this run and moonshine.

And again, we can't claim to think that Wikipedia is always giving us the right facts, but we're just reading what's on the internet, which is 67% true. Now you know about Bob Harkey, at least 60% of it. All right. Wow. What a show. Fantastic get for Jimmy Johnson. Thank you to CD for setting that up.

We're here. It is here. We've gone through a full offseason with DirtyMone Media, and now the real fun starts because cars are going to be. be on track and we're going to be racing and we cannot wait. Thanks to Jimmy Johnson for hopping on. Again, follow us on the internet. Now the season is here, definitely going to have more of an uptick and content and

tweets and Instagram going out there at SpeedstreetPod, both on Instagram and Twitter. You sure to follow the show, leave us a rating and review, maybe tell us some more people. I think Jimmy Johnson was on the dream guest list that we talked about for who we'd want to have on and we got him. So now we'll go after some more of those. please let us know. Connor, when are you heading down to St. Pete? Head to St. Pete Thursday morning.

It is Tuesday afternoon right now, so I'm very excited to get down there, get things going, and feel free to come up and say hello and say that you've listened to Speed Street because we appreciate that. Be a friend, tell a friend, leave us a rating, leave us whatever it is, share it with other people,

share it with folks that might need to get into racing. Yes, most definitely. I will be down there as well. I'm leaving Friday morning. Ben will be out in Vegas. Speed Street's going to be all over the place. That's what Girl in the Neighborhood is all about. Thank you so much. And let's enjoy Race Weekend, baby. We'll talk to you next week on Speed Street.