The Dale Jr. Download - Steve Letarte & Adam Alexander: The Booth Where Beer and Banter Are Welcome

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spends a little extra time with his Amazon Prime broadcast booth partners Adam Alexander and Steve Letarte on this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download. After an adventurous trip to Mexico City this past weekend, the three had a lot of notes to compare on their respective experiences. The guys marveled at the state-of-the-art Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez facility and how the stadium section provided a unique, grandiose feeling to the race weekend. They also share stories about working with their producers and how gratifying it is to receive positive feedback throughout a production for their racing insight.The three discuss how intimidating a television compound can be and how comforting it is that so many members of the NBC crew were part of the Prime productions. They also look forward to their upcoming time on TNT and anticipate what will be different when the move is made back to a network as opposed to streaming. The conversation takes a look at the Playoffs picture and how it has changed with Shane Van Gisbergen’s Mexico City victory, as well as the ongoing Ricky Stenhouse/Carson Hocevar feud.  They also answer questions in an “Ask The Booth” segment, sharing what their go-to booth snacks are, thoughts on the In-Season Tournament & the funniest moment that has happened to them on air this season. Dirty Mo Media is launching a new e-commerce merch line! They’ve got some awesome Dale Jr. Download merch on the site. Visit shop.dirtymomedia.com to check out all the new stuff. And for more content check out our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia FanDuel disclaimer: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's the funniest moment you guys have had together? A minute ago, you said Ty Dillon and you had to look away. You couldn't even look me in the eyes. Is that the moment? I mean, you couldn't even look me in the eyes. You said his name. Let me just tell you. The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media.

Hey, everybody, it's Dale Jr. And we're here again for another episode of the Dale Jr. download. It's Wednesday. And I've got a couple of cool guests that are coming in here today. Steve LaTart, Adam Alexander. Boothmates from Amazon and T&T. They're going to come in here and talk about our last couple of weeks. weeks with Amazon how awesome it's been preview a little bit of what's to come in the remainder of the

season talk a little NASCAR let's get started adam alexander steela tart my boothmates and close friends are here good to see you guys awesome to be here adam looks scared as he should i'm a nervous wreck you get me that booth on camera i'm like we can ease right through this you put me on the dale junior download i'm like might be a career ender well we've we've had a lot of fun over the last couple of weeks and we're going to talk about that a little bit. We'll also, you know, talk about the season as a whole. So let's, let's kind of dive into Mexico. I don't know what you guys expected personally, but, you know, I went into the weekend, kind of looking forward to it because being able to travel out of the country is always kind of unique. I like commercial travel.

I don't do it often, but I do enjoy the experience because it's kind of like going to the mall. It reminds me of like going to the mall back in the day. Remember when you used to skip school and go to the mall? You know, I don't really do, you know, I don't drive down the road and go, I'm going to a convenience store and just get something to drink or a bag of chips. Oh, in the airport? Oh, yeah. There's all kinds of shopping. Like, have you ever bought a Cineabon anywhere but the mall or the airport?

It's the only time in your life that you think this massive piece of sugar. Like, yeah, this is the right thing to do. Big old giant candy bar or something. It's like, yeah. It's okay here. It is. It is. Mexico was, it was, I didn't know what to expect.

The travel was actually straightforward. You guys are smart. It worked. Y'all handled y'all. So, okay, so we're smart now that it's over. I'll say that. So when we, this is months ago. Like, I'm talking on November, December timeframe.

When we knew we were working together, we knew that race was on our schedule, I went right to the American app. And I was like, this is the flight we're going to be on. I text him and we booked two seats. We couldn't risk it. Yeah. Well, I risked it. You got it.

I figured it out. I was on the NASCAR Charter and my plane disappeared. It was stuck in Singapore. And so they were like, hey, we don't know what's going to happen here. Just start to, you know, think about some alternative plans if you want. But they, I think if I had leaned into the NASCAR charter, I'd have still got to the race. But I ended up flying myself to Dallas and commercial trip from there. But it's all right.

I got there a little bit later in y'all. Hotel was great. We went to a steakhouse a couple blocks away. We had beers after the race at a place a block down the road. Amazon did have security with us. Plain closed dudes just kind of hanging out. But I saw no real need for it throughout the entire weekend for the most part. The racetrack was awesome.

That's what I was, I didn't know what to expect from the racetrack. Facility-wise, it was 8.5. plus. You know, we read about the stadium, but when you saw it in person, it was a bit more grand than I was expecting. You know, the covered and just a feel and that part was better than expected. To me, when you go places as a sports fan or participating like we do, you wanted to feel big. Yeah. I mean, you just wanted to feel big. And I remember a few years ago, we went to the Circuit of the Americas for the first time. Yeah. Had no idea what to expect. Probably a little bit of the F1 influence, right? But when we went there, it was like, wow, this place is grand.

So getting to Mexico City, it felt the same way. And that stadium section is one of the most unique things I've ever seen at a racetrack. And I know that we are all, you know, we take for granted going to the racetrack because we've been to these places so many times. So I'm sure the newness of it had something to do with it, but it just had a big feel in Mexico City. I agree. You know, the crowd in the stadium was pretty decent. It was about 80% full.

there was a lot of empty seats down the front straightaway and through other parts of the racetrack for whatever reason whether it was pricing or what have you I don't think the ticket sales got to where they were hoping but I don't think that that should deter them to return I really enjoyed there was no deal breakers for me to your point like so when you look at it overall a little bumpy here a little bumpy there a couple issues but there were no deal breakers I would say it actually goes the other way I would say there were some things that happened that you say we probably need to do this again. You know what I missed?

Yeah. This is what I was not expecting. It's been a long time, you know, when we started doing this. The cruise, everybody was kind of the same hotels. You came in on Thursday. Even back like Speed Weeks, right? You were in Daytona for 14 days, so you hung out with all these guys. In today's world of NASCAR, you're kind of in Friday, out Sunday.

You don't get to see as many people as you used to. And now we were all kind of confined to the same hotel. So you go down to the hotel bar, maybe four different race teams and half the production staff. And that was the part I did. didn't expect and had a great time kind of hanging out with everybody from the series that we don't get to see week in a week out anymore. Yeah, that would agree with that. That was the cool part. I'm not sure my liver could do it every week. I need a little break. Well, Ben Kennedy said afterwards that they learned a lot on the logistics. They learned a lot

on where maybe this might better suit the schedule. So it's a good chance that we end up going back to Mexico next year and they just kind of have to adjust the schedule a little bit to be make it more convenient for the series to get in and out of there. And so, yeah, I was happy with it. Pretty cool to see Daniel Swares win on Saturday. That was a great experience. And then SVG smoked them on Sunday. I would want to know, I guess, with this, you know, moving on beyond the race itself,

we're going to get back to talking NASCAR a little bit down the road in terms of the season performance expectations, what we think is going to happen moving forward. But we're coming up on the final race of the Amazon five race package. And I knew it would be quick. Oh. You know, it's, it's going to, it's a bittersweet because it's been a great experience for me. And working with you guys has been fun. The whole team really has been really good.

but one race to go, and then we, us three, we'll move on to T&T. We were just talking about knock on wood. We haven't screwed one up yet, right? Like what, like, we've got a lot of positive feedback, and I appreciate that. But, you know, we, I think internally look at, hey, did we do it we wanted? Charlotte was a barn burner. Those are the sometimes easiest ones to cover because when they're great on the racetrack. And then Nashville, and then Michigan, we had a whole different feel.

But the last 25 at Mexico was a bit strung out because SVG is your point. he was out there and gone. So I've been proud of what we've put out there. What I really appreciate is it's been effortless. Fun, I think is the right word. It's just been fun. Like, everything's a job, but some jobs are more fun than others. And this one's been really fun getting Marv back in our ear from the truck. You and I have experienced this before. It's been great watching you hear Marv for the first time in your ear. You've got a couple stray bullets from Marv. So for the fan who doesn't that, so I'm going to talk back all the time. And I'm busted.

What is talk back? Okay, so we have a, in the booth, right? We have a button we can talk to ourselves, like a private channel. They have a button that mutes ourselves because... You got a call for... Yeah, whatever, maybe. But then the middle button, the magic button, talk back. That's talking about the whole basically production team.

Replay, producer, director, everybody. And I talk a lot. So I don't... If I'm not on air, I'm talking to talk back. I'm just jabbering to the guys in the truck. Sometimes about something important, like we need to cover this or cover that. Sometimes just taking a stray shot, just poking on them. And we were somewhere a couple weeks ago.

Yeah. and Marv was all worried about doing this promo. He's like, man, we've got to come back with this promo. Nashville. Yeah, and he keeps asking us, and you and I were like, no, Marv, the racing's great. So we come back, we don't do the promo. The racing's amazing. And I take a shot.

I hit the little button. I'm like, dang, Marf, good thing you didn't do that promo. And I didn't get nothing back. Normally I get some sort of curse word or something back. Come to find out later, he had Adam and I confused, and Adam took a stray basically ashto in from the production truck. Oh, it was spectacular, right? He was out of nowhere he lights me up and he does it with a little bit of a giggle.

So I know whatever he's getting on is not serious and I haven't screwed anything up, but I'm a little caught off guard. I'm like, man, of all the things I've done, what did I do to deserve this one? Straight bullet. So we get to the next break and LaTart's like, nothing on that man. He's like, oh my God, I hit Adam on that, you know? And it creates this great moment for us in the booth. So Marv is a classic.

And the other thing I love about Marv, he's his. high-energy guy, huge sports fan, and he just lays it out there, good, bad, he puts it on the board. No bull-h-h-h-h-not at all. But we're at Michigan, and we have this unbelievable race. It's as much fun as I have ever had calling a race. It was just awesome, the side-by-side and the restarts and all of the battles for position. And as a play-by-play guy, it's just a dream to have that. And you and I, I felt like at times were just living out a dream up there calling that race. And so we have these big moments and a guy makes a big run and takes the lead and I'm giving the play by play and just in my element. Couldn't be happier. And I'll hear in my ear as soon as I call the pass for the

lead from Marv, that's what I'm talking about, Adam! Where to go? And I'm like, this is unbelievable. I mean, it's like you're playing a basketball game and the crowd is cheering for you. It was like Marr was our support in our ear just giving it to us. It was outstanding. Yeah, I think that's my favorite thing too is working with Marv. He, every now and then, you're working, trying to get that, right?

Like, you're trying, he'll never know this and probably won't believe it. But like, as you're broadcasting in the booth, as you're talking or doing whatever you're doing, at least this is my experience, is like, I am doing, I'm trying my best in hopes of him coming on and going,

hell of a job right there. Right. You know. Yeah, you're looking for the coach. Yep. Great play. Yeah. Great play.

That's what you're looking for. He's the coach. And he'll do it. And you know, but you got to earn it. Like you got to really, he don't give you one. He might not even give you one a race, right? Like we've worked with him four weeks. I think he's gave me two, three out of boys.

But man, those are the ones that it's what, it's a, it's a payout. Nobody's ever going to come up to you after the race and say, damn, dude, that was a great call that one moment. Yeah, that's pretty cool there. But it's nice to get one from him. I'll even, in that Michigan race, it got super intense on one restart, and you two were like all on the screen. And I literally sat down. It's kind of the same thing, but in the inverse, I was like, hey, Marv, I'm still up here, but I'm going to be quiet for a little bit.

These two are on fire. And I just sat back there and I'd sit my coffee. And I think that's why it's worked, is we haven't done this together for very long. But we just, it's not even unspoken, but it's just clear. I don't know how it works like this, but it's clear when something happens, I have no question that that doesn't. need me. Dale's going to handle that. And then something else will happen and be like,

oh, no, Adam's going to handle that. And then we'll get into a pit cycle, and you guys both literally would just stop talking and kind of look at me. I'm like, I guess I'm going to take this, right? Like there's this natural comfort in the conversation. I truly feel like we're sitting in a bar having a beer,

which if they served us beer, it would be. The feedback might be a little bit different. No, I don't agree, man. I think the old school baseball guys were like, you know, it was like one pint every like five innings. I think we should have like a beer stage. I'll tell you. When we're in the post race and we have that beer toast, you'll drink half of that beer.

And the show for the last like three minutes is really good. Hey, did you ever see the post of the first beer, though? Did you ever see those ones about Chastain? I asked Marv to bring him on air and he didn't. But there's a picture of they're all toasting at Charlotte. And my man's tipped up. Everybody else is like cheers. And he's like, nope, I've been waiting 600 friggin miles for this thing.

And he gets halfway through the beer. Yeah, everybody needs something after that broadcast. That's a long night. You are right, though. But like the last segment, you're like, man, that was easier. Yeah, I know. Well, hey, you know, I don't know, other than, you know, I've had a great time with y'all. I've worked with Steve before.

Never worked with you before, Adam. But, I mean, I've known you enough, I think, to understand that this was going to be pretty comfortable. And I've seen your work to know that you were going to bring, you know, legitimacy to the races. and do such a great job. So it's been fun. The only thing is, is like, yeah, we do get to go into the T&T portion and do another five races together. That's going to underneath us or, you know, the rest of the whole production team will be entirely different, right? We've had some opportunities to kind of communicate and work with the T&T folks, meet everybody, do a little bit of a dry run.

but it is going to be a completely different deal. Everybody that works in the TV compound, there's some new faces in certain positions, but for the most part, I think roughly 80 or 90% of the people that are in the TV compound for these Amazon races are people that I know from NBC that I've worked with for seven years.

So that was easy. That actually made that very comfortable. But with TNT, I'm not sure exactly what to expect because it's all new people. Well, he has to cheat though, because he worked for him forever. So every time I meet somebody new, he goes, oh, I know so-and-so, or I know so-and-so. But I would say that that's what I've experienced the last few weeks, because I have done the Fox thing forever. And you go in and you know who everybody is and exactly what they do. And if I need this, I go to this person. And if I need that, I go to that person. And it's really easy in

coming into this world now because it's mainly NBC folks. I'm not saying I didn't know them or I hadn't seen them or maybe hadn't met in passing. But the reality is most of them I didn't know. And I would love to get your thoughts on this, just the comfort that that brings. Because I don't, that TV compound can be a pretty intimidating place. Oh yeah. I mean, you're talking a couple hundred people that put these shows on. And when you don't know a lot of people, that's what I'm, it's intimidating. That's what I'm, that's what I'm anxious about, I suppose, as we shift into the T&T is like having to, like, you know, get to, it's, I don't know why, man. It's hard for me to like, meet everybody and then automatically connect them to the role and responsibility they have and

utilize that, right? We're all a tool in the toolbox, right? And Steve's really good at that. He'd be like, oh, that's a replay guy. Our first production meeting man is going to be like kindergarten class. I'm like, can everyone stand up and please tell me your role within this production? Like, hey, I'm Steve. I'm a booth guy.

This is Dale, right? Like, hey, nice to meet you, Bob. What do you do, Bob? We really need that. That's what I mean. We could go around the room. Everybody, just real quick. You know, hometown, what you normally do and what you do in this production would really

help me out because we only have five weeks. That's right. I will say, though, universally in life, I believe we should all wear name tags. And I'll tell you why, I'm a big name guy. I mean, I really want to know people's name. I want to call them by name. But when you hold yourself to that standard and sometimes you have to cheat a little bit or whatever, right?

Like, you just can't remember everyone's name. There is no one better in the world. at Steve, how you doing? And turn into the next person and you're like, oh my gosh, I don't know, but I just sold this one so big. You know what I mean? So name tags would be really nice, especially in the world we're entering into right now. That's why I like work. So I didn't know someone could talk to more people than I do, but that's Adam. I don't think he gets as many words in in a day as I do. But man, he's never met a stranger. That's normally what I'm accused of. The pressure's off. We travel with Adam. I'm like, hey, I want to talk to that guy. But I don't have to say anything

because Adam will speak to him here in a minute. The conversation will just come right to us. I'm completely off the hook traveling with him. I agree with that. You know, there'll be a bit of a, I guess, you know, there'll be a bit of a change in, you know, the feel and vibe of the races, but I'm pretty excited to work with T&T.

They've been with NASCAR in the past. They have a, you know, they have their own sort of culture, their own sort of approach style, which is laid back, I would assume, right? Wouldn't you connect? Very much so. I like that.

Not a ton. I don't like feeling a ton of pressure, like, from behind or pushing me forward. And so I think that that's going to be kind of comfortable as we get going into those races. I'm excited to go to Sonoma. I hadn't been to Sonoma since we raced. Wow. Yeah. Did we talk about this?

Same. I'm the same. Last time I was there was together in 2014. Yeah. So, I mean, there's some pretty exciting things coming down the road. But, Pocono will be. a bit sad because this has been a pretty epic for five race stretch. But again, I don't know.

A lot of those people just take five weeks off and then they go back to work with NBC. Well, so selfishly, I know it's new for you, but selfishly for me, even on the NBC side, we have a different producer. Renee comes into the seat. She does a spectacular job. But this is kind of like the our core crew now is our throwback. So when Dale, I think I have the timing, right, right? When you joined NBC, it was Marv in the chair, right?

Marv, Sean, Renee, like this front bench was, which is the producer, director, that was who we had. So this is like a little reunion tour for us also, right? It's five weeks of new with Amazon, but a reunion tour. So I agree. It's a little bit sad at the end because we just never know all of those people in that production world are so successful that you just don't know where they're going to go, right? Like Marv's doing Big Ten football in the fall. I imagine he's going to just continue to move up the football chain, and then he'll, you know, not come hang out with us anymore. Yeah. I hope not. But I'll say this, you know, you said it's going to be

sad. And I hadn't really thought about the goodbye portion of this weekend at Pocono, but it makes a pretty big statement that you feel that way after five weeks. Five weeks. Because it does go like that. And we all knew that's how it would be. Just knew it fly by. Really, when you look at the 10 weeks that we're going to be together, I mean, that's all going to be here and gone before you know it. But in five weeks to have developed the relationships that we all have. And I'm not talking about the three of us. That's great. But just organizationally. And it makes a major statement about the leadership and the guidance that we have received along the way from the prime team because their leadership's been outstanding. It is. Hey, it's Dale Jr. Did you know that we've got brand new merch from our

Star, Stripes and Beers collection available now? We've got tanks, teas, beach towels, and more just in time for summer. Check it all out at shop. Dirtymomedia.com. Adam, you're pretty busy. Yep. Doing the cup races. You talk about that. I think you signed up for CW, all the Xfinity stuff.

Me and Steve have an experience of doing double duty, if you will. But how has that made this summer more challenging? The biggest challenge to me is not as much the double duty as it is the double duty for two different networks. because it's not like the folks that are producing the Xfinity races for CW are in the same meetings and the carryover that would be natural if it was just all on prime or it was all on CW. I will tell you someone, and this is someone that comes from the NBC family that you two know well, Caleb Combs, who is our producer on the Xfinity side,

he's been great because he's just given me the room I need to work in. he doesn't overdo it but he makes sure I have exactly what I need and it speaks to how he goes about his business because he and I can just show up on Saturday, pick up where we left off and go with it and he can kind of fill in all of the gaps that I need to make sure that I can do my job. It's been tough for me to find the balance of preparation is the biggest thing. Not only finding the time to do it, but just the balance because the first 15 weeks of the year, 12 weeks of the year, whatever it was, it was all Xfinity. You know, I mean, I was doing a little cup stuff to get ready for our deal, but week to week,

it was watching old races of this track and reading those notes and getting in the garage. And now you have to find a way to fit it all in. And that's made it a little bit more challenging on Saturday because the main focus certainly goes to what we're doing on Sunday. So it's been busy, but I feel like I've settled into a nice balance. And, you know, when we finish in Indianapolis, the weekends of double duty, that'll be a nice change of pace to get back and settle into one series for sure. What are some of the things that, you know, Amazon brought to the table, unique. We talk about the burn bar, things like that. What are some of the things that you think

that has helped maybe push broadcasting and their NASCAR races forward a bit? I think the biggest thing is the flexibility within the broadcast of programming and commercials and promos. And I, look, I realize when someone says it's apples and oranges, they're absolutely right because we feel it just from NBC to USA or from Fox FS1. Like when you go big network, it is very structured. There's a lot of bills that have to be paid. There's a lot of you know, sales items, and you go down to cable, and it becomes a little more flexible, but still within the structure of television. I had no idea what it was going to be like on Prime.

You know, there is maybe a little more structure at times than I anticipated, right? We still take commercial breaks and do other things, but it's the freedom to just kind of, you know, moving around within the sport or within the race specifically. I think that's the biggest thing. The two biggest things to me are the last chunk of the race being commercial-free, that includes really most of the race. I don't think we've missed really any green flag laps because they're all side by sides. And then the big home run for me that I would love to someone explain to me why this doesn't

work for anyone else in the business model is the post-race show. Like the race just ended. I'm excited to go down to that desk and chat about what we just saw. I know we were on air for three hours. It was awesome. And in the confines of calling the race, I didn't get to ad lib or ad about so-and-so or this or the host of our Stenhouse or, you know, there's always new developing things. I think those are the two big ones from Amazon for me is the structure of the commercials and the post rate show.

I would just say the big time feel that they have brought with the stage. Yeah. It just makes a major statement. And I read so much feedback before I had gone back and watched the Coke 600. You know, you read some things and you get some notes. And the one common thread was it felt big. And when you're in it like we are, you're just doing your job. And I don't know that you fully feel the impact of that until you go back and

and watch it, and it does feel big. And I look at, you know, where the stage was this weekend down in the stadium. And that just, gosh, it just felt awesome. And to come on the air that way. And I go back, you know, to the Coke 600, and this was one of the coolest things, opening that broadcast with you on the roof and having you welcome it in. I mean, just everything that they have done to connect the past to where we are now, you know, the history of the sport, the history of NASCAR broadcasting, kind of,

in that thought process and approach to the new way of doing things at a big stage and all of that. To me, they've connected a lot of dots that just really have allowed this thing to be successful. Man, yeah, that was so much fun. I was sitting there for that 600 broadcast when they said that they were going to have us up on the roof like that, I went back and watched the CBS broadcast from the Daytona 500. I remembered immediately, like, they would always have Ken Squire and David Hobbs or something on Ken Squire, maybe another driver, whatever. They'd always have them up on the roof.

That's also how Wilderoyal Sports did it back in the 70s as well, is they would have somebody up on the roof kind of with the backdrop of the horizon as well as some of the racetrack, and it was just a really neat sort of, you know, 40,000-foot view of the day that was about to happen and what you were going to experience as a viewer. And so I watched some of those and was like, you know, picked up a couple things like Ken would always say, flag to flag coverage. I just love those very vintage sort of, you know, nuggets.

And so I was trying to do my best impression of Ken Squire when we were up there. And that just felt, it just felt like we were doing, like, it's so strange to me, too, because a lot of the people that are involved in this production for Amazon are NBC folks. but this felt you know not my NDC experience was incredible and I thought we really did some badass work over the years and and y'all continued to do

really great work but it didn't feel like an NBC show even though it was the same people it felt like it had its own identity and and it's kind of you know it's unique in its own way not not so much better just different you know a different presentation certainly I haven't

really watched a lot of it back to actually see kind of graphically how it's different. And the stuff that, I mean, I'm sitting there looking at program, but I'm not totally programmed into like looking all the bells and whistles on the screen. But the reaction, I think that, you know, we've gotten from the general public has been incredible, you know, how much they've enjoyed the job we're doing. It's clean. To your point, I've watched just a little bit of it back. The graphics is clean.

And the stage, I underestimated what the stage would do just to my, approach because we do a lot of stand-ups. We move all around. Like you guys talk about starting on the roof. Well, when I, hey, you're going to be on the pre-race. Yeah, no problem. Done this for 10 years. But then it just, man, you get there and you're like, there's a lot more people here in

the state. It felt like what I think the racers should feel like. That stage kind of rubber stamps, hey, this is a big deal. We've set up this entire set even for 30 minutes. You know, like, where was it, Nashville? Or no, Michigan. They brought the whole stage there and set it. all up for two segments of the pre-race show on Pet Road. I don't think people realize that.

We see it in the rundown. We didn't use it in post-race because we had to move to Victory Lane. They had to move it off Pet Road before the pre-race was even over. So the commitment that we know it takes to bring that whole stage there for literally, what, 14 minutes of TV? It increases my enthusiasm. Because if they're that committed, well, then I better do, you know, when the ball gets tossed to us, you know, we better be ready. Because, man, they've kind of set the bar pretty high, so we have to match it. You know, the other thought I would say is the truck does a really good job of chasing us. You know, you were talking earlier about talkback and the communication between the booth and the truck. And, you know, that can be cart before the

horse, right? I mean, you never know how that's going to go. And ultimately, if we want to talk about something, we can hit that talk back and say, let's go here. The one thing I've noticed, because the point standings now are such a big thing, right, to play off leaderboard and, and, and, you know, who's in and who's out. It was huge over the weekend with SVG leading and how that was going to change things. And I've just noticed they do a really good job of listening to us. And when we go down a road, even if we haven't prompted them that that's where we're going, that they follow us. And so the balance of that has been really, really good between us and the truck. So it all makes sense at home for the viewer when we're telling stories and bringing up the various things

that are happening and the impact that it has. Yeah, Sean, the director, Sean Owens has a, he's a massive fan of NASCAR, which is helpful, right? And I don't know what it is about him, but he has a really great ability to know where we need to be. There's not a, there's rarely, if ever, a moment where I'm looking at our program and I'm thinking that we're not looking at the right stuff, right? and I don't ever feel the necessary need to go, hey, we should go to this battle because we're usually where we need to be. And their ability to kind of be able to follow the action around the track

and get us on the camera that gives us the best perspective to be able to really kind of understand what we're seeing and to give us the chance to sort of describe all the nuances of what's going on is he does such a good job. It's pretty impressive. There are some director, they're all super talented of making it look good and being artistic and painting in the crowd and all that. It's Sean's uncanny ability to watch the race as we watch the race is how I describe it. You know, like, he gets me somewhere before I think I need to be there.

Yeah. You know, like, I'll be like, oh, that battle's good. Like, I didn't see the battle and say, hey, let's go to third. He gets there before we can suggest it. It has to be his fandom, right, because he's obviously super talented. but he just knows the sport. He knows it as well as we. You got to be careful because you start running some 90s or early 2000s NASCAR stats out there.

Sean will start agreeing or disagreeing. He's done his homework. And I don't think people understand how, like I think he's made like four or five trips to Mexico City. Yeah. To figure out what the cameras need to be. Like this isn't, you know, when you're watching the race, I want to give Sean his due. It's not just, hey, you know, camera three, go camera three, camera three, camera four, go, go camera four.

Six months ago, he decided where camera four was going to be placed. And what camera three was going to be placed. He had to imagine what this race was going to look like by watching old races and going into an empty racetrack and be like, all right, they're going to come here, so I need the camera here. And like on Thursday, I called him Travel Day and I said, what are you doing?

Moving cameras. It looks like crap. I got to move too. Like, his effort for them three hours on Sunday, what we're going to deliver is, you know, he's moving cameras, moving locations, cutting it differently. That makes our job so much easier.

Yeah, absolutely. Let's dive into the season, man. I got the points printed out right here in front of me. which kind of helps me, you know, remember exactly where I'm my head's at. But Shane Van Gisbergen launches himself into the playoffs with a win this past weekend. And there is a bit of a conversation, I suppose, going on around the sport as, you know, similarly to last year when Harrison Burton won his race and sent the Wood Brothers into the playoffs, sitting around 30th in points.

And, you know, it is the, it's the way the rules are written. I don't necessarily have a problem with it. I didn't have a problem with it last year. You know, if that's how NASCAR wants to write the rules, I can embrace it. Everybody knows what they are when their season begins. Do I think SVG is going to go and spoil the championship battle by winning the whole thing outright? I don't. His performance at the Oval's would argue that he still has a ways to go.

And so I'm not so worried about that, and I don't even feel like that he's stealing a spot from somebody who may be better deserving, someone sitting 16th, 15th, 14th in points. I think stealing a spot is a slap in the face of what he just did. He earned a spot. Like, he beat you by 15 and a half seconds, I might add, right? We're not talking a photo finish. With a baseball bat over the head, he beat you. So I am not a believer that you should be in the top 25 or top 30 points. I know this is not popular in the garage.

There's a lot of people that feel like you should have to be high enough. And I'm like, well, man, he's gone to every race. This isn't a one-off entry. That would bother me. You know, if colleague ran, you know, or track house in this situation, ran, you know, different drivers and just cherry-picked and tried to win their way in on like the owner's championship. I'm like, all right, now I think we're getting out there a little bit. That's not what they're doing.

They've committed to SVG every race. He is there. His approach is, you know, he's trying to be better at the Oval's. I'm totally good with this. Harrison Burton last year. That was one of the moments of the entire year. I was up there in the booth watching Jeff get the call his son to victory lane. You know, this is the Burton family.

They've been, you know, blood, sweat and tears to try to get that kid in Victory Lane. He does it. And then somebody has the odds. I said, well, it shouldn't count. Like, well, you're just mad because your driver didn't win. It absolutely should count. Now I'm also, I went on action detrimental. I also believe this whole, you know, if you win, you should be in.

If we somehow at 18 winners, I'd say all 18 should make it. I think winning is that hard. I'm great with SVG winning. I think it's great as well. I agree with you, though. I'm not also, not all, you know, blue sky like, oh, he's going to make a deep run. No, he isn't. Like, he's just not.

I think he could get out around one maybe. But hey, you get out around one. Yeah, I know. Then you get to Roval at round two. And you know what I'm saying? But my argument would be if he gets out of round one, shame on the other drivers to not eliminate him. Like, I'm a big competition guy. Like, if you let him out around one to go win at the roval,

shame on you for letting man a round one. You better step on him. You know what I would, and we got into this a little bit in the broadcast on Sunday. But just rewind two years. We have no idea who Shane Van Gisbergen is. You know, really hadn't heard much about this guy. Comes on the scene, going to race at Chicago. Man, top 10 would be pretty good in your debut, maybe a top five.

He goes out and wins and it's like, wow. Now everybody is like Shane Van Gisbergen. You know, got to know how to pronounce his name because he's here to stay, right? but that opened the door for him then to go do a year at colleague in the Xfinity series. And what made him great there full time and made him so attractive and competitive is the road course races. And we knew that. We knew that was their opportunity and their ticket. And he went out and delivered and makes it into the playoffs.

And so now he elevates and, you know, he's a trackhouse again and he's, you know, going full time and cup. And again, you know that's what's out there for them is the road courses are their opportunity. Everyone knows the rules. And Justin Marks knows him. And he's invested in this guy. And now he's delivered. And so I think it's great to see. You can't penalize someone for doing exactly what they've set out to do

and playing within the rules. And these are the rules and they're executing. I think Dale, I didn't think of this until he brought it up on our coverage. I think his advantage is more significant at the newer tracks. You know, you said that. Like, hey, man, his advantage is bad because nobody knows Mexico. You know, Chris Buster beat him at Watkins Glen. Just flat beat him at a track.

where Chris has a lot of laps. So as great as SVG was, I'm also not ready to give him all the other trophies. You know, like we're going to Sonoma. I'm like, man, you know, he's going to be a favorite, but he's not my standout favorite in Sonoma. Now I'm at Chicago maybe a little bit more, but so, so I agree that, you know, he's invested. Let him, let him. I'll be surprised if he wins. I think he could go to Chicago and win again. I think he'll still have an advantage there because it's still relatively new to a lot of the drivers. And so I still feel like he can go there and be the clear favorite. But, yeah, I don't know that he goes to Sonoma and wins.

I agree. And his ovals are getting better. Because honestly, I talked to him today, or yesterday, he's new to Sonoma. He ran a wheel force car in the Xfinity race. That's it. So, like, he's almost at a disadvantage. And that place has a lot of nuance with the curb and stuff. You know, it's not as straightforward as some of the other road courses.

The Cup guy's been going there forever. Yeah, so I think it's actually going to be tougher for him to win at Sonoma. But I do think we're going to have more winners, though. Back to your point conversation. So, like, I look at Bubba Wallace, right? So he's whatever. Plus 57. Yeah.

I think, and I love Bubba, and I think he's had a great year and all of that. But I don't think he's comfortable. I think you get a couple more winners. Next you know, he goes to Daytona, as he does, it seems every year, right on that cut line. And that's some of the nuance of this playoff. I didn't really give credit to, but that movement of what winners do to that cut line makes it stressful. Well, think about this. Kyle Busch came into Mexico City at zero, right, on top of the line, right? Obviously had a bad day, crashed out. You're going to lose, yeah, roughly 30 points,

right, to the bubble, maybe even less than that, right? The guys that are finishing around the bubble are probably walking out of Mexico with 25 to 30 points tops. He's going to leave there now that Shane Van Gisberg and has won his way forward. he's going to leave there at minus 50. Yeah. He went from maybe. He's not making up 50 points. Not in 10 weeks.

He went from possibly, you know, arguing his way into a points position to not even having a chance at that. But we talked about this on the broadcast and that is just the number of wildcard races between now and the end. You know, we've got the road courses. Three of those in the final 10. You got Atlanta in a couple of weeks. You got Daytona.

I mean, cross the board. Like, it is, and there are nine drivers that won last year that it is. have not won this year. Yeah. So you have, the other thing, too, is you got Bobba Wallace and 13th, Chase Briscoe and 14th. They're at plus 57 plus 39, right? And I think Briscoe wins.

Briscoe wins. I think Briscoe wins in the next 10. But you also, if he doesn't, you also have Alex Bowen and Chris Busher with four road courses left of the 10, right? They're right behind those guys. on their heels. I think that Alice Bowman and Bousher go outperform those guys in those four races. Totally. That's what makes it

so great is I can easily find great performance and or wins from that whole group right there. Man. And luckily we get to cover most of the races going up to that, I think the final four of the regular season on NBC. I'll still be working, guys. We'll be texting you on Sunday.

Yeah, I appreciate. I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of feedback on Sunday, but no, I'm looking forward to it. Do you guys, how quickly or when does Carl, I mean, sorry, Kyle Larson come out of this, I'd call it a slump. Is it this happened this weekend at Pocono? I don't have, that's a great question. I think we need some consistent track. So he's always dangerous everywhere we go. But I don't have him circled at Pocono.

He runs well there. Him and Denny have his thing. Sonoma, he sat on the pole. I mean, I guess that's what makes it. So I don't think I have the answer any time they want to. I think the five can show up. and win anywhere we go. But I do, I think it's a slump. I think it's fair to label it a slump. Yeah, maybe not on the wrong. He didn't mean to get bowling balled by the eight car this week,

but it's still a slump. For him, though, I feel like they're always just a step away from running away. Oh, yeah. Of course. You know what I mean? And so it's just almost a matter of when do you flip the switch. And I'm like you, there's a lot of guys you could put on the board at Pocono. And it's such a unique track and whatever. But none of us would be shocked if we went up there. And he goes out and dominates practice. wins the pole and, you know, dominates the race. Is it crazy that their slump in the summer is a good timing for their slump? I mean, not to be, not to sound dumb, but it's, you know, in 10 more weeks, they're going to have to be on full go, right? So it's like if you're going to have a downturn, I feel like the ebbs and flows or you don't get to choose them.

But if they can kind of get it going the right way before the regular season ends, I think they could go really deep in the playoffs. I would always. I would say, though, Cliff Daniels does such a good job of managing Kyle Larson as a driver, because Kyle's got so much going on. I mean, the month of May, you think about all the back and forth between IndyCar and NASCAR and all the dirt stuff that he does during the week. And, man, Cliff just does a good job leading the team, putting it out there like it needs to be so that they're in position.

And Kyle is going to turn it up. It's just a matter of time before they start finding their way again and winning on a regular basis. And luckily for them, they're ahead of it. I mean, we would talk about a slump, but they have a huge advantage on so much of the competition that once they get it going, they're going to be in position to make a deep run of the playoffs. During our, this kind of lends to that conversation about does Kyle Larson turn it around this weekend at Pocono? Every Tuesday we do a, we have a little fan duel segment.

And during that segment, we kind of had to do a three-driver parlay, highest finishing manufacturer. Ooh. Give me your three for Pocono. Get ready, Adam. I'm ready. Toyota, I'm taking Hamlin. I think he's going to win. I think that's the storyline.

Chevrolet, I'm taking William Byron. I think he's the fastest Chevrolet week in and week out. And then for Ford's, I think the low-hanging flutes, Ryan Blaney. He's the fastest every week. It's just a question if he hits something or not. He's either going to be the first Ford or the last Ford. I'm not sure which.

But if he finishes, I think it'll be the first Ford. It's Hamlin for me. You look at his numbers there. It's just remarkable. what he's done. I did a little bit of research. In the last eight races there, he's got five top twos. And that doesn't factor in when he won to race and then got decued. And I'm not saying that he should get credit for winning that race. But I mean, they were really good that weekend, obviously. That one would have paid on Fandle, so you're okay. The results don't show. Okay, good,

perfect. Yeah. So Hamelin is easily my Toyota guy. In the Chevy camp, I would stay at Hendrick, but I would go Chase Elliott. And he's been a little bit of a sleeper there. And he got that win, actually when Hamlin had it taken away. And then from the Ford camp, just to be different, because I agree with you on Ryan Blaney, but I would say Chris Busher has shown me something lately, and he's one there, although I know that was a different time and a different situation, but I like what Bushers doing lately, so I would put Busher on the board. All right. Well, the Tuesday gang agree with you, Steve. All the way across? All the way across. That means I'm spending way too much time with the Tuesday gang.

But I'll let us know if y'all follow. or tail Adams parley and win. So that'll be pretty interesting to see. Yeah. Well, the, you know, outside of, I guess, the conversation around the season, there was a bit of an incident that continued in Mexico between Carson Hosevar and Stenhouse.

This has been really hard to watch, honestly, because Ricky Stenhouse was 20 points above the cut line going in Nashville. That team does not belong in the playoff conversation, but they were overachieving, incredibly. And a compliment to them, backhanded, I suppose, but also

a compliment to Ricky for just doing what he could do to be able to get them the best opportunity every single week. I wonder if that's not why I'm harder on Carson. I think it is. Right, like if he would be wrecking Byron or Bell or one of these front runners, I'd be like, you know, let's cut the kits of slack, right? It's going to be okay. But he's, you know, he keeps wrecking this guy that

I'm cheering for as the underdog. Yeah. You know, I like Ricky. He's an underdog wrecking another underdog. Yeah, I'm like, man, what are you all doing? Yeah. Like, this is already hard enough. Let's, you know, let's work with each other. And I wanted to believe him after Nashville and then after he ran him over in Mexico being a lap down. I'm like, man, now I can't, you know, what you say and what you do are not aligning. And I need that to connect for me. I am a really big, universally. in life, minimize distraction guy. The more distraction you have, the more clouds that are up there, the more difficult you make every situation. And I look at Hosevar and the speed they've had and the position they've been in at Charlotte and Michigan. And obviously he did end up finishing second at

Nashville. And I'm like, man, you are making this way harder than it needs to be. Minimized distraction. Make people your friends a little bit. And I'm not suggesting that he needs to back off being fast or compromise who he is, but just be a decision maker that allows yourself to not deal with, because now you go to Pocono, and not only are you always looking over your shoulder and where's Ricky, but you're also going to have to field the questions. And all of that steals the mindset probably that you need to go out and be successful. And we all know how hard this is anyway. So I think he just needs to minimize the distraction because everyone has seen and you guys are better better to analyze this than me. The talent and the speed is there. It's just a matter of going out

and finishing the deal. And that last 10% I think is increasingly more difficult when you're dealing with all the other side show stuff. Yeah, I agree with that. There's a, you know, he's also on Twitch streaming, on iraising and also just having conversations with folks, made a little bit of a misstep calling Mexico City. Not so much of a great place. He was a little more, explicit, but and I will say this. So I'll kind of be surprised if he discontinues his involvement in terms of streaming weekly or if he gets advice to do so.

But when you get in that situation, you get into, you're on a stream, there's people in your chat. normally those people may also be sim racers or of the community and so there's this sense that you're in a room having a conversation with a small group of people right

but if you say something that's a bit controversial like that it's coming out of that room quickly and you know it was a mistake that he made something he shouldn't have said and he had to he had to send out an apology of sorts on social media, and I read that. And I didn't find

his apology cringy. I felt like I read that in his voice, and I thought, all right, he realizes that it was pretty stupid of him to do. But to your point, can he do what he wants to do, right? stream, sim race, do all, can he do those things? And can he go out and continue to sort of be who he wants to be? Because he doesn't want to change who he is. But yeah, minimize the missteps, minimize the distraction. He writes, I was saying it after the race Sunday. Like this kid writes a new chapter of comedic eras every week.

And I'd like him to keep doing it till we're done. broadcast races at TNT. It's this, I don't want him to change. I just want him, have a team around him that can put a reasonable amount of acceptable polish. It's like, hey, I love that he says what he thinks, and I love that he dropped, like, it is entertaining. He is an entertaining sports figure, but he's kind of like that D2 quarterback, you know, came out of junior college and just ended up at Texas or Tennessee or Alabama and be like,

hey man, you know, your social media video when you're at the ball, are on Saturday night that nobody cared about last year. That's big news this year because you're now running this top-notch program. Like the focus on the 77 is because he's fast, because he is kind of this lightning bolt. So I don't want it to go away completely. I just hope for him that they find a way, because there's only two ways, right? It's either it gets polished up and we still get this personality or at some point the valve just gets shut off and then we lose him, you know, we lose all of our insight into him completely. And he just kind of shudders in and he's not on Twitch and not saying what he wants and I don't think any of us want that. I mean it's obviously who he is.

Yeah, I like, I like, he's a little cleanup. I don't want him, I actually don't want him to stop streaming. I'd prefer that he continued to do that because it's a unique, it's, it's something unique to him, not a lot of drivers stream. Do you think he knows he's a star? That's my question. Or do you think he's like, you're using my, I'm just hanging out of my friends? I don't think he can have, I don't think he can have an understanding of really the reach. Okay. Right. So when he's having a conversation or sitting on his stream talking to his, his, he feels like he's in an insulated protected space where he does I don't think he realizes how quickly or easily that conversation can become a public thing right and then um he needs a

tv lesson you know every mic's an open mic yeah and I say that jokingly so for the fan who's understood so in television you always have a mic on and it can be very comfortable under commercial or you know to to lose your guard yeah and it's and it's not it's how you wanted to let you have to say everything, even in private, even in that talkback we talked about down to the truck, all those have to be, if this went out on live TV, am I okay with it? And I think that's what you're saying. Like, he needs, you know, every mic's an open mic. I would say, though, you know, not to defend anything, because I agree with everything

we're saying here. But the one thing that has made him unique when you look at his career trajectory is he went straight from trucks to cup. I mean, did a little splash and exfinity here and there. but it's almost been like overnight for him. You know, he's the rookie of the year last year. I feel like that transition happened so fast. And it was like he went from this guy we didn't really know driving for Spire to a guy that's able to win a pole and run up front.

And the spotlight really went on him. And he had a few missteps at the truck level as well. But that's hard to be able to understand where the spotlight is and how bright it's shining. And so, you know, hold. Hopefully he can figure it out because the talent is there and you don't want to see a missed opportunity for him because of some of the other things that are happening. I think he will figure it out. It's just a matter of does it happen quickly or is it another two or three years of what he's doing now? And can he avoid the big mistake, right? That ultimately costs him an opportunity like he has today.

What does Ricky Stenhouse do from here? I mean, he said, you know, he did say he's going to kick his ass when they get back home. It's happening. We'll see if that really comes down to it. But what do you do? What do you do if you're Ricky Stenhouse at this point? That's a great question. I don't know if I have the answer.

I'm not a big fan of wrecking race cars. You know, I was a guy that had to fix them. People have to pay for them. But at some point, I wonder if that becomes the only really alternative. You know, like punching the guy in the airport? Is that really the appropriate way to handle this? Because that's kind of what he said, hey man, I'm going to whip your butt, right? So is that really the right way? You know, there was an

error that, you know, there was a time where my dad would have told you that's exactly how it should have been, right? My dad would say, hey, just wait, you know, next time you see him, you don't even have a conversation, you know, he'd say one punch and we'd have this whole conversation. My dad would even tell you then on the other side of it, just take your punch, move along. Yeah. Like, you've kind of earned this. And now I don't know, you know, in 2025, I don't know if that's the appropriate answer, but I think conversations aren't good. I think it's past conversation at this point. But it has to be an enormous headststom. scratcher for Ricky because it happened at Nashville and this huge spotlight has put on the situation

and you feel like at some point there's going to be a payback from Ricky and you just kind of wonder when and where and you knew it wasn't going to happen at Michigan you maybe even thought the ticket to get him back was at Mexico City where you know you're in one of those low speed corners just turn them around and move on with life and it turns ends up going the other way and you know he gets hit again by Josevar and so I if you're Ricky I know you're fresh. but you also have to be like my gosh how is this happening again i mean when are we going to learn this and how do i handle it to make him understand don't mess with me i i think that's a tough spot to be in and then on the other side of that everything that's on the line for stinthouse because they have been good

enough to deliver and we've got some tracks coming where you feel like they will have an opportunity to go out and win and put themselves in the playoffs so it's a tough spot to be in and i admired his restraint after the race on Sunday because it would have been easy to get out of bounds there, and I'm glad he didn't do that. There wasn't just that moment where he got turned around. Earlier in the race, there was another bit of contact between them in the same corner. Right. That where it nearly spun Ricky around.

It's hard because no driver is innocent of bad choices. Yeah. You know, I pick on drivers because that's what we're talking about. Like we all, man, I wish I would have said that, wish I would have done that. Race car drivers do the same thing. Ricky, right, he's hit people. They've all done it. So I wonder, I'm going to ask you, Dale, the question I have is,

how much are the other 34 guys not involved seeing this? So my question, you know, John Hunter Nemechek, pick a name, Todd Gillen, these other drivers, if they're racing around Carson, are they more timid because they think they'll get run over by him? Are they more aggressive because they think now they, Hosevar has to be, you know, how does it affect kind of the ebb and flow week in and week out, or is it you race everyone the same? Well, I think they're probably, I think they're absolutely like every week that goes by where Carson has some sort of a situation, you become more leery, I think, of being around him, right?

Less trustworthy that he's going to. Less trust. Yeah. And you're like, okay, well, if I see him or I'm around him this weekend at Pocono, I'm going to give him even more room, right, than he needs. And that continues to. And then you have guys, honestly, there's these other guys. and I'll name names because it'll help sort of understand my point. But there's the Noah Gregsons out there that are like, hey, I'll be the one to get his ass back for everybody.

You know, there's those guys out there that are like, you know, I want to do something that's in good standing of the community, meaning the drivers. And so I'll be the one that takes this, you know, that takes care of this or sends this message. Right. And a lot of times maybe that's not, it needs to be Ricky, right, in this sense. But there will be other drivers that will take swipes at Carson. Or put him in bad situations because they know that he's going to do that to them or has done it in the past, right? Put you in a bad situation aerodynamically or just sort of. I'm going to watch Turn 1. Yeah.

Like talk about bad situation. Is there a worst track you'd be going to four wide turn 1 every restart? I'm like, I just want to see, you know, how they treat him. Like how they race around him into turn 1. Yeah, I mean, if you've got a car length on him coming out of turn 2, you just drive right up out of the while, you know, like he's not even there. You know, forced him out of gas. I want to throw this out there because last couple weeks we've been racing, it happened at Nashville again at Michigan, and host of ours on track and he's racing

with Chastain. And we all in the broadcast booth who've kind of referenced that, right? Like, man, there's, you know, there's Ross and there's Ross 2.0, you know, because of how Ross was early in his career and the bulldog he is on track and how aggressive he is and all those things. And, you know, we say it and we have fun in the booth. And then sometimes I go back and I watch the races and I'm like, boy, if I'm Ross Chastain, how does that land? I don't know, right? So Ross did the Xfinity race with us on Saturday.

And we're just sitting in there talking before we go on the air. I say, I got to ask you something. And I don't know if you watch things back or whatever, but I just put it out there. I said, is that fair? Do you agree with that? And he's like, yeah, yeah, I think that's, I think it's a really good comparison. So he was okay with it. He agreed with it. But my point in that is, there was a time when we were like, what's Ross going to do? Like, you know, he's got some pretty big names mad at him.

And you look at what he's been able to do, you know. And I think it slowed him down. Yeah, and it changes perspective, right? Slowed down. And it takes some time. And so you just give the grace, I guess, when you're on our side of it and just hope they figure it out. And, hey, we've had some pretty good ones over the years where guys didn't get along. And three or four years down the road, they're hanging out of their teammates. And it's like, wow, remember when. Yeah, there's that magical mix, though, right? Because, like, Lugano, Ross, we could list the ones that are as, I don't even know the right word.

Aggressive's probably not the right word, but their tenacity is very high. But it's expected. And I would say at this point for Ross accepted. Like, you know, you hear, what was that with the one car? That's just how Ross races, right? Like, I think he's earned everybody like, hey, man, this is how I'm going to be. But I do think that line is a little different than where it was, right? So Ross has adjusted.

I don't feel like I've lost Ross's identity. I know what he is, man. When you go to the insights page, right, he's the defender. Him and Lugano, they're going to defend every spot. So I guess that gives me hope for Carson that he can go down that same path. He can find whatever it is he needs to go from maybe being public enemy number one to just that's how he races. I don't know what over the fence that is in the driver world, but it is because we've seen other drivers do it. It's possible.

Hey, TJ, you know that I got my own Chevy dealership down in Tallahassee, Florida. We're part of the Hendrick Automotive Group. Yes, I have heard of Darren Hart Jr. Chevrolet. I bet you'd be surprised on what type of Chevrolet vehicles we specialize in. If I had a guess, I'm going to say it would probably be Chevy trucks. Well, we definitely sell plenty of those, but actually we're really big in commercial vehicles. We actually sell a lot of crane trucks. Or the number one seller, actually, in crane trucks.

Okay, I definitely did not see that coming. Yeah, pretty neat, huh? So for any of our listeners shopping for commercial vehicles, here are some things you need to know about us at Delin Hart Jr. Chevrolet. We have hundreds of trucks in stock so you can find what you need fast. And we have people there that can help you with custom orders. So if you want to build the exact vehicle you need, we can do it. We offer complimentary delivery anywhere in the continental U.S.

Plus, Hendrick Automotive Group is the nation's top-rated dealer group for online reputation. Visit Dale Jr.' Chevy.com and click commercial to explore the wide range of available commercial vehicles. Our team at Dellenhart Jr. Chevrolet will give you a world-class experience. Chevrolet, together, let's drive. Well, we got a segment on the show called Ask Junior, but we're going to call it Ask the Booth today.

Okay. So these will be firing in from me. Andrew. Adam, this is where we don't want to become unemployed. I was settling in and now my anxiety's up one more time. You wait until you're real comfortable. He goes, all right, yeah. When do we get a restroom break? Right now, right now. You guys covered a lot of great stuff, so I don't want to repeat. But I guess with T&T coming up, thoughts on the midseason tournament and how do you think

that's going to shake up the race? Am right? That's good stuff. Listen, I think round one is going to really set the whole tone. We have 32 guys going to Atlanta. Favorites could get upset. I think if you got the big names moving forward, they have so much other on the line, but I think there's going to be some stars.

Todd Gillen, you mentioned Noah. I think we have guys that a million bucks is going to be life-changing, so it will affect how they race it. Think about the upset opportunities in the first three races of this deal. Atlanta, who knows. And then you go to two road course races where even though maybe the pool isn't as big, as far as winters and all that, there are a lot of guys that are really good road racers.

You could get just a really bad matchup and have a subpar day and get upset. So I feel like those first three weeks are going to be really dramatic as we get it down to the final four at Dover and then ultimately the final in Indianapolis just because of the way the schedule sets up. I'm excited about it. I am too. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to have fun with it. I've really enjoyed over the last several years filling out the NCAA basketball tournament brackets and watching that sort of play out and seeing whether I was correct or whether my assumption is right.

And this will be the same for me. I would imagine that a driver like, you know, a driver like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, who's at the top of their game, their ultimate goal is they've got a legitimate shot at battling for a championship. They can't take their eye off the prize and they're going to downplay their enthusiasm

or their focus on this tournament. But, and it's in, in reality, what they may say is pure bull-h. They do want to win this tournament, right? They do want the million dollars, right? A guy like Noah Gregson, the guys y'all mentioned, are absolutely going to take note of who that driver is at Atlanta that they have to beat. they're going to run their race as they traditionally do they're going to try their best but at some point

in that third stage they're going to go where is so-and-so compared to me and then as it boils down in them final laps they're really going to be thinking about that and they may not admit that because again there's this sort of you know there's this sort of mentality in our sport

where you only need to be thinking about one thing, right? And that's what the ultimate team's goal is. And to say otherwise might go against the ideals of the owner or the crew chief. And so you won't publicly, you know, be that outspoken around your enthusiasm of this, of this, of this, in-season tournament. Until everybody sort of experiences it and it lands, we get the plane on the ground, and then we have it again next year. I think the chatter gets better and more comfortable every year as we get more into it. I love how this is part of our sport. I think that it's got real legs to add some interesting excitement for this short five-race package with T&T.

And there will be an alt-cast with Jeff Burton and Larry McReynolds focusing solely on this tournament during the T&T races, which will be pretty fun to see how they do that, right? And I've talked to Burton a little bit this weekend. He's pretty excited about that. You know, I think it'll be a pretty neat thing. I'm going to fill out a bracket. I'm going to, you know, I'm going to watch to see. I'm hoping, you know, again, for that underdog story.

I hope we get down to that final race, and it is the most odd cast of characters battling it out for $1 million. And I, to your point, hope that it's somebody who that would be life-changing for, one of those drivers that's, you know, maybe outside the top 15 in points or so. Yeah, NASCAR's leaning into it. I'm going to do a YouTube show every week. focusing on the matchups. They have a gambling partner that's going to come on board with it,

and we're going to really just look at the tail of the tape of this guy against this guy at this racetrack, and we're going to go through every matchup, and I'm with you. Nothing would make me happier that when we go into Dover, I hope there's no high-seed drivers left somehow, right? I mean, look, because you go to Dover, and if it's Kyle Larson versus a drive, it's going to take a wreck, right? Like if Kyle Larson's were against a mid-tier guy, it's going to be like a heavy favorite, it's not going to be as much fun.

But if we could take some mid, you know, mid tier, I say mid tier, because they're all going to be, you know, ranked by their finishing order. So if we could just have some guys in there, that'll be so much fun to watch. Just go to the results, though, from Sunday. You look at it, Todd Gillen spent a lot of time up there. John Hunter Nemechek had a great run. Eric Jones spent some time in the top 10. You know, Ty Dillon, we talked about. There were a lot of drivers that had good days over the weekend that will have a chance to pull an upset at either Chicago or Sonoma.

And that to me is what makes it exciting. So, you know, we're here kind of selling it. But it's not fraudulent and not naive to believe that we could see some drivers that make it to Dover and ultimately Indianapolis that you would have never anticipated getting to that point. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. You mentioned a bunch of different racetracks and a wide variety that you guys have to broadcast. What is the hardest track to broadcast from, I guess, in your 10 race run? For me, I think it's easy.

I think Chicago is the hardest. I'll be interested to see where he's set up the last two years. I have been literally, it's call it a storage container, right? You might as well be kind of on the moon. Right here. So yeah, we could do it, actually. Right here would be the same. So I think that's the hardest, just because I struggled with turn identity at Mexico for some reason.

I struggled with landmarks. I'll correct me about 30 times. I was in the wrong corner half the time. But I think Chicago is probably the hardest for me to broadcast just because it's a little unnatural with the road course. and the view, even though it isn't great at most tracks, having zero view was tough for me. I've not done Chicago, but I would have to believe based on what I know, what you've told me, and just my overall experiences of doing road courses and lack of visibility, that would be it. I would say Mexico City, you know, kind of like you, like that's learning a new place.

And the biggest struggle I had with Mexico City is I went back and watched as many races as I could, as many as I could find at that layout of the track, just trying to find. the nuances of the corners and how they connect and you look for these markers that help you understand where am I and they've got these bridges well the problem is with like the bridges and the signage on the walls that was all different when we went there compared to win some of the other series race there and so you've got these landmarks to help you that actually end up confusing you so mexico city was a real hard one I don't think sonoma as road courses go is difficult at all I feel like that separates itself you know pretty easily so

Across the board, I would say the road courses are the ones that typically are the most difficult. Yeah, I'd agree with Chicago. I was on a perch out there for the first Chicago race, which wasn't too bad. But, man, doing radio style is not my forte. But I saw the storage container that those guys were in, and it was like a prison cell. Hey, you got all the stuff you're going to need. Hey, if the shoe fits putting Lattart in a prison cell, you know what I mean? It was comfort for quite some time.

I don't know. But I think we're going to be, from what I saw, we're going to be in another location close to the front straightaway before the flag stand. So we'll see if we'll get at least some view of the cars coming by. On the opposite side, I will say another one that's hard to cover is Atlanta for all the right reasons. Like, where do you want? I love that. Like, it's awesome and I enjoy it, but when I say it's hard to cover, it's just because what do you want to talk about? Because there's so much going on, that it's just, I mean, it's overload. It is, I think we've said the best ticket. I mean, the place is unbelievable.

So when I say hard in a very different way, just because it's so awesome all the time, you could cover anything. Yeah, no, those are my favorites. I think my favorites are Daytona, Talladeg, Atlanta. Yeah. Charlotte was amazing, like 600's now up the list. You know, because the racing's awesome at Charlotte, obviously.

But in Atlanta, so I, I, actually I struggle at the races where strategies massive and I know that like we're going to lean on you right and like when there's a green flag cycle you know it's really not a lot for me to do it really isn't I'm I'm almost forcing it if I'm trying to really get in the middle of that conversation and you cover it so well and and you know kind of to your point like when there's good action on the track you kind of back up but man when the green flag cycle starts happening, it's all Steve LaTart. And so in those races, those are probably the more difficult races for me.

When I know we've got a pretty short race and there's going to be a lot of fuel mileage, probably not a lot of cautions, not a lot of restart action. It's going to be mostly, you know, strategy conversation. Atlanta's perfect for me because it's like a gigantic buffet. It's like where do you want to, what do you want to, where do you want to start with? Because there's just tons of stuff on the table. Anytime I've worked with a new analyst, at one of the drafting tracks, you know, Daytona, Talladeg, Atlanta.

I said, this is the best scenario because there's always something to talk about. But if you don't have anything to say, the pictures just kind of tell the story. And I think it's a broadcaster's dream. I can't wait for Atlanta. I think it'll be great. For no other reason than you and I've had a front row seat to watch Dale. I mean, it's been fun, you know, when the racing's good. I mean, you're on the edge of your seat.

So I know we'll see a lot of that at Atlanta. So I don't think I've told this story, so I'll tell it on here. It was maybe year, it wasn't year one. I might have been year two. I was crew chiefing him, and we were in the second duel. And we either stood on top of the truck for a little bit of it or even watching the lounge. And I've watched it now.

I've crew chief for Jeff Gordon. I've watched racing my whole life. I'm like, man, I know what's going on out there. And then he was explaining that what was going on. This is well before we ever dreamt of doing TV. But that was the glimpse. When they all said, hey, Dale's coming at TV. I remembered that moment.

I'm like, oh, he's going to be great because I had watched this stuff for 15 years. And I watched this duel for the first time with him just saying, well, watch this guy and this guy and this guy. And I was learning things about a sport. I thought, man, I already know. So that's what's going to be great about it. Like I become a fan. I quit talking at the Speedways because he points out stuff that before. That's what shocks me.

You know, because I'm like, oh, this guy has a run. Well, he'll say it, you know, way before I see it. And that's what I think is so much fun, like standing next to him in the speedways. Speedway races is because just he sees these runs come and go. And in Atlanta, out the window just doesn't look real. It doesn't matter how many times I go. It's just not my mind expects them to lift and roll to the bottom and it just doesn't look real. I got to say this though off of that. This is the one thing I've learned. Not that I ever doubted the level of preparation, right? I've watched you two work and been around you and I know how dedicated you are and we've been

in the meetings and just philosophically hearing you talk. Like the last thing I was concerned about going into our run of races together was, is everybody going to be? be prepared. But I will say, and I tell this story on here only because I know you're here every week and everyone follows you and wants to know more about you. Your level of preparation, it really blows me away, not just watching you do this and the various guests you have and the questions you ask and all of that. But we're sitting in the booth and Dale's over there making notes. And I'm like, I'm doing the show, practice, or quality. I'm like, what the heck is he doing right now? But you are continually working your mind for what's next. And you told me,

these are notes that I will compartmentalize and organize so that when we go to Mexico City next year or whatever race it is, you can bring them back. I marvel at that. I'm more of a week of kind of guy, and then once I get there, I read and react to the moment. And I know my role is different, but that's the one thing that has really opened my eyes is just how you are continually gaining knowledge and putting it on paper so you've got it for the future. Yeah, I think as a driver, you know when you drive the race car all of the new all of the little weird things that a driver's thinking about or worried about or dealing with or the challenges that he deals with at each track they're they're unique to the track sometimes and the farther removed from that experience the easier

it is if you don't document the easier it is to forget the tiny details right that a driver that i can talk about as an analyst and so yeah i think that um i've got this sort of i got a file and cabinet at home, every race that I've ever done has a folder and all the notes from all of the races that we've done over the last seven years of NBC are in there. And I'll take them out and I'll compile them down, squish them down to, you know, the most, you know, the most neat, you know, tight, sort of concise bit of information I can. And so that, yeah, when we get on that Thursday, we get on that Tuesday call that we're going to do later today, I'll have all my Pocono shit and I'll be like hey I remember this was an issue this was something they dealt with

this is something we could watch this is something we can talk about you know um because it's really more for that meeting you know where we start to really sort of like remind ourselves some of the things that you know will be important this weekend um I'm ready you know because going trying to get that attaboy from our you're prepared now that way to go junior But, no, I, yeah, I feel, I feel most confident in anything I do when I, I, um, I overprepared. So, like, I know that, all right, I didn't, I won't, if I fail, it's not because I didn't prepare, right? If I fail, it's because I just suck today.

Or I just can't, you know, I just didn't do this job today very well for whatever reason. But it ain't going to be because I wasn't, like, I was fucking off all week, right? But, um, I appreciate. saying that. I, you know, I really admire Burton, got to work with him for seven years, saw a lot of the extra things that he does to try to, you know, have a value. I sell him really work hard to maintain that value every year and continue to be a great analyst. And I would say that my, you know, Steve certainly has motivated me to be able to, if I'm going to be in a booth with him. I don't want him thinking that I have a liability. And Burton's approach has really

rubbed off on me over the years too. And you know, you're just working with such incredible people through the years at NBC. And now with Amazon and TNT, you want to make sure that they, you know, they're like, hey, I'm glad he's our, he's our guy for that role. And so it's pretty cool. Next question. Yeah. And I'll say as an objective viewer, it comes across as you guys are both prepared and are able to enjoy the broadcast. So this kind of segues into this next question. What's the funniest moment you guys have had together, whether that be maybe on the broadcast or even on the road.

Adam seems to have an answer. No, Steve's got to go. Oh, I'm not going. A minute ago, you said Ty Dillon and you had to look away. You couldn't even look me in the eyes. Is that the moment? I mean, you couldn't even look me in the eyes as you said his name. Let me just tell you, we talk about preparation.

And I try to be a good prepare, but I started working with MRN in 2000. So I've been doing NASCAR for 25 years. And I've done college football and basketball. I mean, I've done a lot of sporting events over the years. And the thing that I continue today to feel like is my biggest liability is preparation. And it's not that I don't do it. It's just how do I do it so that I've got everything where it needs to be that if I need it, I can get to it. And so much of what I do is just here, right?

I want to do the preparation so it's here. I just, when we get in the booth, I want it to be fluid and conversational and not shuffling through papers and whatever. And so having said that, when I do my preparation, and I've already started on Pocono, when I go to my notes, I'm trying to find what is the best news I can sell about this guy. I mean, I might look at his cup record at Pocono, and like his best finished in 15 races, there's 25th. I don't really want to go down that road.

But then I find that you've had back-to-back top fives in Xfinity race. You know what? I'm going to say, hey, his cup record here is not great, but he did have those back-to-back top fives here in Xfinity, so we know what he's capable of. That's how I want to spin it. I'm every driver's fan. So I say that to say, we're at Michigan, and we're doing the race. And colleagues run well as a group.

We've celebrated them organizationally. We were even doing qualifying somewhere, and I got a note from Chris Rice. appreciate the love, man. So we're doing the Sunday race at Michigan, and we're talking about Ty Dillon, and we're giving him love. He's doing a good job. And I'm like, yeah, man,

those college cars have been fast, and they've got to be really excited about the schedule that's coming, going road course racing. I mean, not as much about Thai, but more about A.J. Almondinger. And I didn't mean it that way. I wasn't trying to be critical at Thai.

I'm just some trying to celebrate colleagues as a group and AJ on the road. We get to the next break, and Junior's like, I'm sure no one heard it but me, but I'll tell you, man, Todd Dillon's going to be happy with you. And I'm like, I'm like, what did I do?

What did I do? He's like, man, you threw him right under the bus. I'm like, I did. I mean, it wasn't that bad. I'm just, I am guilty as hell. I'm like, oh my God, what have I done? And Dale's like, no one noticed but me, I'm sure, you know, like with that damn smart ass smile on its face.

And then to make it worse, we get to Mexico City and I see Ty. You know, I'm an aboveboard kind of guy. I went over to him, shook his hand. And he's like, oh, I didn't even know. So then I tell these two, like, no, it's so funny. You wouldn't apologize. You didn't even hear it. I'm like, I tell you what, we have become really good friends in short order between us.

I really appreciate the support, being the new guy at all. It was outstanding. So there you go. That's the Ty Dillon story. Yeah, that's been the peak of the four weeks. And Ty, if you're watching the podcast today, again, man, I apologize. And by the way, he's running in the top 10. All day.

Just stee was traction. You don't know how many of the old... Hey. It was this the whole town? I couldn't wait to mention it. We were like 10, 15 laps in the race and I'm like, Todd Billing having it. There's bruising over here from those elbows I was doing.

I'm driving through the field, guys. Here at a road course. Look at this guy. Carrying the banner for calling today. I think one of those even came out. It was great. I promise. There's no.

anti-Ty Dylan in because not I think he's a really nice guy and I'm rooting for him. Can I request a mention of him each stage? Oh, well, I know a couple of guys

that are going to mention it with those eyes, you know? We got time. One more question. You know, we asked this question to Dale a few weeks ago on Ash Jr., what's the go-to booth snack?

So Adam and Steve, like when you guys get snackier, you're hungry up there in the booth, what's the go-to thing for you guys? I got to have coffee to drink. And I eat those. those gummy snacks and here, I don't really like them, but here's a problem. If I eat like anything granoli or peanut so or anything like that, you end up coughing and hacking and if they come to you

really quick, like, you know, if you get one of them healthy bars that you have to chew on like leather for 30 minutes, you know, you never know what it's coming to you, right? You got one bite in. They're like, so Steve, well, um, you can't have, it's got to be quick nibbles. Yeah, quick nibbles. I don't need a lot during a race. Typically, I don't. But I will say those night races are hard. Like, you know, Charlotte and Nashville were at night. And so just finding the right time and your schedule's all jacked up. And we were doing the 600 and they brought sandwiches to the booth. I'm going to tell you, I won't say the name because I don't want to screw up any sponsorship

deals or whatever. But that turkey sandwich, I mean, it was like five star stuff now. I am like, I must have been really hungry because I am destroying this thing. So sometimes you got to have something. That was, I think it was the first, that was the first time. I think I've ate during a race was the 600. For good reason. Yeah.

Usually you're okay. You don't have to eat. I will grab a trail. There's a little trail mix that they'll have in there that I'll eat. It's like an excuse to eat stuff you would never eat at another time. Was you that was saying that? Excuse to eat bad, yeah. Yeah, like those gum.

Like there's not a chance in my life. I'm like, you know what it would be good right near? You know, these gummy snacks. But I'm going to eat them right now because that's all we have. I've got no choice. I'm going to go back to this, though, because earlier you were talking about the things that, you know, flying commercial and just how different that is and it takes you out of your element a little bit. So we go to the TV compound and everywhere you turn,

there's a bag of snacks, right? I mean, there's a box full of stuff. And you just, man, I'll grab a granola bar. I'll grab a pack of gum. And it's terrible, but it's like it's there and you stuff it in your backpack. I might need this someday. I was flying commercial a number of years ago and I went into the airport gift shop there and I get me a drink and I'm looking for granola bar. I can't find it. I'm like, I don't know where the granola bars are. I'm like, oh, well, I'll just grab a bag of pretzels or whatever. So I check out and I'm leaving the airport gift shop and over right as you walk out or the granola bars. I'm like, oh, here they are.

And I pick one up. And I'm not kidding you. I about put it my bag and walk out because I'm just so used to like we just grab and go. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, that $4.99 they're going to charge me for this. They probably want. So luckily I didn't get arrested in the airport when I stole the granola bar. But the way we live on the road can create some bad habits. Oh, man, those extra bowls of food.

No good. They're no good. That's right. Well, man, that's awesome questions. Good job, Andrew. That'll be all from Ask the Booth today. We should do this again toward the tale of the TNT deal before NBC takes over and carries us to the finish of the season and sort of contrast the differences of doing the two different broadcast partners. I've appreciated this, guys.

Thanks for joining us today. I know we had a long weekend. I know everybody's, you know, trying to recharge and get their sales together for Pocono. I'm excited for this weekend. I love Pocono. Fun racetrack. Bringing the kids. We're going to Hershey Park.

I took the kids when they were little. You're going to love it. My kids still talk about it. When I walked out of the house this morning, I put Hershey Park on YouTube, like a tour. And it's the kids. We're going Friday. So pay attention. So they're excited.

The other thing that's going to happen is Marty Linley, our crew chief on the 88 was suspended. And so they're going to put me down as the crew chief for that race for Conner Zilich. So I'll be on the pit box. Steve, you might come by. I'm going to be sitting behind him just critiquit.

I'm going to be like, I'm going to give him the Marv. Great call. That was a great call. I'm going to give him that feedback. He's looking at. for. Yeah, I'm pretty nervous. I'm more nervous actually about catching a tire. Apparently, I've got to catch the right front tire.

So, because you've got to I don't know, there's just so many, so little people on the teams. And it has to be team guys. Like, I can't go catch the tire. You can't catch the tire. So that's what Marty does when he gets down off the pit block during pit stop. So if the right front tire goes rolling across pit road, you'll know why. Your CW prep is happening

right here. Shot of mighty. Uncontrolled tire. 88. Yeah, tail into the field. That's right. Pitted too soon. Improper fueling. Running out of gas down the back straightaway, the 88 fuel mileage. He's out. So I'm excited about that.

That should be a lot of fun. But yeah, so appreciate you guys coming in. We're going to have fun this weekend. We'll send the Amazon folks off with a great finish to the five races and get going for our TNT deal. Thanks for coming. by. Thank you. Great times. All right, it's a lot of fun talking to those guys. I hope you all enjoyed the conversation.

Steve's a great friend of mine, obviously. Adam has been a lot of fun to get to know and work with. And yeah, that was fun. I enjoy talking to those guys. They live it. They're with me. They know the sport as well as anybody. So there's a ton of different ways we can go with a conversation around NASCAR.

Pretty easy to feel the 45 minutes to hour and a half that we're going to to do on a Wednesday show. Hope you enjoyed it. We'll probably have them back. And yeah, let us know. Let us know what you thought. All right. It's time for the white flag.

The tear down was live in Mexico City following the cup race. Make sure you want to check that out. And door bumper clear came out Tuesday as well as dirty air that me and T.J. Do every Tuesday. Both of those, all three of those shows are out. Coming out today, along with this episode, is Herman Schrader. And another Speed Street. It's going to be awesome to hear what Connor Daly says about his.

He almost won that race in St. Louis has a lot of fun seeing him drive to the front. Great run by him. And Thursday, bless your heart tomorrow. Me and Amy will be back at it here in the studio. Big thanks to Tim Dugger for feeling for me last week while I was trying to go to Mexico. And the first two episodes of Becoming Earnhardt came out last Sunday. That's detailing the 1980 championship season. I hope you'll give it a listen.

These are easy, small, consumable podcasts. And the third installment will come out this Sunday while we're in Pocono. Please give that listen. Tell us what you think. Thank you to everybody for supporting what we do here at Dirtymo Media. I appreciate it. This is a great conversation with our guys. And we'll maybe do this again after the T&T-5 race stretch

and see kind of the thoughts and experience there. I don't know what to expect, but I think it's going to be fun. So we'll see them back in the studio sometime here in the next four or five weeks. See you. Check out Dirtymo Media on Instagram, Facebook, X, and TikTok.