Matt Weaver: The Saga of Saving Nashville Fairgrounds

Summary

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Herm & Schrader Podcast Summary

Episode: Matt Weaver: The Saga of Saving Nashville Fairgrounds
Date: June 11, 2026
Hosts: Kenny Wallace & Ken Schrader
Guest: Matt Weaver (Senior NASCAR Editor, Motorsport.com)
Network: SiriusXM, Dirty Mo Media

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth, irreverent, and passionate discussion about the ongoing battle for the future of the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway—a conversation rooted in racing, fan culture, and the changing face of a city. Kenny Wallace and guest Matt Weaver unpack the complex politics, local personalities, and shifting cultural tides threatening the racetrack’s legacy. The conversation also detours into modern NASCAR media, fan engagement, social media dynamics, and current events shaping the sport.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nashville Fairgrounds Controversy

• Background: The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, a historic racing venue dating back over a century, is under increasing pressure from city interests and property developers who’d prefer alternative uses for the land.
• Soccer Stadium Impact: John Ingram, owner of Nashville’s MLS franchise, spearheaded the construction of a new soccer stadium on the fairgrounds property, complicating the racetrack’s future ([05:25]).
• Local Politics: The site's future is protected by a 2011 city charter specifying the fairgrounds must host a fair, expo, flea market, and racing. However, a well-funded and vocal anti-speedway movement seeks to overturn this charter and repurpose the land ([05:25], [11:00]).
• Public Discourse: Wallace’s innocent comment about “canning” the Fairgrounds on social media was weaponized by anti-racing factions, showing the intense PR war surrounding the issue ([03:23]–[05:25]).
• PR Battle: "There is a PR battle taking place, and you have published one side's material." — Matt Weaver ([03:23])

2. The Power of Opinion & Social Media

• Out-of-Context Quotes: Both Kenny and Matt discuss the dangers of social media and having comments misconstrued or weaponized by those outside racing culture ([16:11], [38:20]).
• Kenny’s Influence: “You have name value that can be used either to prop the speedway up or create the appearance that you're pulling it down.” — Matt Weaver ([17:09])
• Dale Jr. Involvement: Dale Jr. jokingly interacts with Kenny about the topic, showing how quickly racing personalities get swept into these public battles ([09:43]).

3. Local Tensions: Gentrification, History, and Change

• Demographic Shift: Nashville is rapidly evolving—not just a country music hub, but now an “entertainment mecca” with diverse influences, including NFL, NHL, and MLS ([26:08]).
• Historical Significance: The Fairgrounds is likened to “our Wrigley Field…our Fenway Park.” Its removal would erase a vital piece of motorsports history ([20:09]).
• Residents vs. Racetrack: Ongoing friction exists between new residents (who moved in knowing a racetrack was nearby) and the long-standing racing community ([23:22]).
• City Ownership: The land is owned by the city; its fate is tied to public sentiments and political maneuvering ([20:09], [29:25]).

4. What Lies Ahead for the Fairgrounds

• Proposals: Two main models exist—one spearheaded by Speedway Motorsports (NASCAR events, large renovations), another led by Bob Sargent (weekly grassroots racing) ([13:54], [15:00]).
• Uncertainty: “This is like a tree and the roots have like 1700 different directions…it’s that complicated.” — Matt Weaver ([15:00])
• Money Talks: “Ultimately, it always comes down to money...If the property generates revenue for the city, that decides the fate.” — Matt Weaver ([29:25])

5. Parallel Cases & Broader Cultural Themes

• Other Examples: Comparable situations are cited at Indianapolis (IMS vs. IRP) and Knoxville Raceway, where communities embrace their racing heritage ([34:05]).
• Booming City = More Pressure: Nashville’s pop-culture explosion and rising property values increase the pressure to redevelop the Fairgrounds ([27:25]).

6. Personality, Perspective & Media Evolution

• Kenny on Social Media: Kenny’s approach is defiant and authentic: “You throw a brick at me, I’m throwing a block back...I’m not a badass, but back off. You’re on my platform.” ([35:35])
• Smartphones as Media Tools: Both marvel at how smartphones have changed content creation: “I call this thing my sword and my shield. It is literally a weapon.” — Matt Weaver ([38:20])

7. NASCAR, Race Length, and Modern Attention Spans

• Denny Hamlin Controversy: The hosts discuss Denny Hamlin’s complaints about NASCAR race and stage lengths, the generational shift to shorter attention spans, and the mixed fan reaction ([47:16]–[52:18]).
  • “We have brain rot...my brain has been rewired to, like, I need everything in little short spurts.” — Matt Weaver ([51:46])
  • Both agree that while traditions matter (Daytona 500, Coke 600), the need for shorter, more engaging events is real.

8. On NASCAR’s Leadership & Direction

• Steve O'Donnell’s Impact: Matt praises NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell for being more open and responsive to fans/industry than his predecessors ([58:23]):
  • “NASCAR is casting a very wide net and gathering opinions in a way that they never did five years ago…and I do think that Steve was probably always that way, but he has people to answer to.”
  • Matt is careful to balance praise with humility: “I never want to be accused of being a shill…even if we don’t always agree, I still think every fan, everyone who’s a part of this community, their say-so matters.” ([61:43])
• State of the Sport: Both agree NASCAR is in a “really good place” right now, with rising attendance, positive energy, and tire innovation leading to better racing ([66:33]).

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the Roots of the Fairgrounds Fight:
  “That facility is protected by that charter…But there is a very large group that is anti speedway…any sort of negative press or good press is being used to sway the hearts and minds of the voters.”
  — Matt Weaver ([05:25])

• On Being Taken Seriously:
  “Why did they take me so serious? Am I that popular? Am I, am I that big time?”
  — Kenny Wallace ([16:11])
  “Kenny Wallace is a name…Even if it’s out of context, you have name value that can be used either to prop the speedway up or create the appearance that you’re pulling it down.”
  — Matt Weaver ([17:09])

• On Nashville’s Changing Identity:
  “This is our Wrigley Field. This is our Fenway Park. This is the place that’s been there since the early 1900s.”
  — Matt Weaver ([20:09])

• On Community Evolution:
  “It comes down to money. The citizens…want whatever proposal makes more money for the city and improves their quality of life.”
  — Matt Weaver ([29:25])

• On Social Media’s Power:
  “I call this thing my sword and my shield because it is so powerful…it’s literally a weapon…You are being used as a weapon for someone else.”
  — Matt Weaver ([38:20])

• On Modern NASCAR Fans:
  “We have brain rot. Let’s just call it what it is…Our attention spans are so short…that’s the society we live in.”
  — Matt Weaver ([51:46])

• On NASCAR’s Current State:
  “I really like where we’re at right now as an industry. Not everything’s perfect, but, man, I think the trajectory is going this way.”
  — Matt Weaver ([59:54])

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Notable Timestamps

• 02:01: Kenny introduces Matt Weaver and sets the stage for a deep-dive into Nashville’s saga.
• 05:25: Matt delivers a comprehensive explanation of the Fairgrounds issues and personalities involved.
• 13:27: Parking, logistical, and proposal debates between racing and soccer interests.
• 23:22: The “move next to the track, then complain about noise” phenomenon in Nashville.
• 29:25: Matt breaks down the fundamental role of economics in the Fairgrounds dispute.
• 34:05: Comparative examples from Indianapolis and Knoxville highlighting harmonious racing communities.
• 38:20: The power and double-edged nature of social media for racing personalities.
• 47:16: Discussion turns to race lengths, Denny Hamlin’s criticism, and changing fan expectations.
• 58:23: Matt’s candid, nuanced assessment of NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell’s style and leadership.

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Final Thoughts & Tone

The episode is dense with humor, self-deprecation, unapologetic racing fandom, and candid media reflection. Kenny and Matt volley opinions while staying true to their roots—championing tradition, embracing progress, and calling out both detractors and their own industry when needed.

The lively back-and-forth about Nashville Fairgrounds is a microcosm of the broader struggles facing motorsports: generational change, gentrification, and the eternal tug-of-war between heritage and progress.

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For New Listeners

This episode offers a no-BS, insider’s look at one of racing’s biggest current controversies, illustrated with personal stories, acute observations, and plenty of laughs. It’s essential listening for anyone passionate about racing culture, city politics, or the never-ending circus that is NASCAR.

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Transcript

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[Matt Fries]

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[Matt Weaver]

Foreign

[Kenny Wallace]

and welcome back to Kenny Conversation, brought to you by i55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway park right here in Pele, Missouri. Dirt racing every Saturday night. While you're looking at him, one of the hardest traveling journalists I know. He is the senior NASCAR editor at Motorsport, Matt Weaver. Man, how you doing, buddy?

[Matt Weaver]

My brother, I'm doing great. I. I love every chance I have to talk race cars with you. And so one just thank you for giving me the chance to talk race cars with you. Always a pleasure.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, you know, we all admire you because you work so hard. And if you're not at a NASCAR race, you are at. At the Snowball Derby. You're in Florence, South Carolina. You're everywhere. I love your vagabond lifestyle. Do you live a vagabond lifestyle?

[Matt Weaver]

I've actually used that word a lot, actually. So I have an old email address that was vagabond, Matt. That was actually my old email address when I was a high schooler early in college, because I love to travel and just go from one racetrack to the other. Used to sleep in my truck to go to races. And so it's a great word to use because I've used it myself. That is totally on brand.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, yeah. And. And that's the way we were when we grew up. And, you know, brother Rusty started traveling and we're in that old bread truck and it's. We, you know, it was just a vagabond lifestyle. And, you know, had. I have a nickname for. It was called dog food that we're going to go to the gas station, get one of those old junkie sandwiches, you know, and. All right, buddy. Listen, everyone. We're talking to Matt Weaver, and Matt is what I say, hardcore journalist. I love it because you love racing, so I love you. Thank you for loving racing like we all do. Okay. I stirred up a hornet's nest and didn't. Didn't know I was doing it. Had had no idea. I guess I needed to pay more attention to the ins and outs of the Nashville fairgrounds, the legendary Nashville Fairgrounds, you know, right outside of the city of Nashville. So I. I do a coffee with Kenny, and at the end of the coffee with Kenny, I say, maybe we need to can Nashville Fairgrounds, you know, respond right here. What do you think? So I do it. And the man you're looking at right now, I'm gonna have Charlie drop this in. Charlie, if you don't mind, Drop it in right now and you're reading it. So Matt says, brother, it wasn't intended to be anything more than a stray vlog thought. No doubt. But the way your fairgrounds commentary is going to be weaponized, to turn that place into a parking lot for John Ingram cannot be understated. There is a PR battle taking place, and you have published one side's material. So since then, that was like a day ago. Tell me what's up in Nashville. Obviously, I stepped into a hornet's nest, and I didn't know what. Who is John Ingram and what's going on down there?

[Matt Weaver]

Well, we. We've. We've kicked up a hornet's nest. We've got a lot to dig into. So I don't even know where to begin. But just to answer your question broadly, and we can dig deeper and deeper, John Ingram is the, the gentleman who, who brought these, the soccer franchise, the Major League Soccer franchise to the fairgrounds property. That brand new stadium that now sits right behind the old short track, the NASCAR Busch Series and the truck series used to race at, and then the Cup Series before that, most recently 1984. We've all, we've all seen pictures and videos of the racetrack, but if you look at the modern visual of the racetrack, there's this brand new state of the art soccer stadium right behind it. It is big, it's pretty. He. He has worked to, to get a large part of that property, the old fairgrounds, which, which is. It's required to have a fair, it's required to have the expo, it's required by charter that, that the voters of, of the county voted in a referendum to protect all of those things plus racing. There's been a lot of debate certainly for a long time, well before I was born. There's been debate since the last cup race there about what to do with that property, what to do with the racetrack and right now that that facility is protected by that charter, the charter that was signed in 2011. But there is a very large group that is anti speedway that would prefer to see that property used for a lot of different things and they're well funded. There's a lot of theories about where that funding comes from. But they're, they're well funded. And every single talking point they can to shine a negative light on the racetrack, they jump at it. They will take you out of context, which is what I certainly think happened here. And I just, as soon as I saw the video and I watched it, I'm like, I get where he's coming from. That is a great race we had on Sunday. I used to hate that racetrack, the super speedway. I used to call it the concrete abomination. The racing, the racing was not good with the old car. It was not a good show.

[Kenny Wallace]

It was so good for me. I run second there to Martin Truex and Clint Boyer like five times. But I love it.

[Matt Weaver]

So you love it?

[Kenny Wallace]

Man. I had me a set of front shocks that compressed really nice. I could drive down in there and. But anyway, go ahead.

[Matt Weaver]

But I'm a short track guy, right? You know that. I love my short track and my grassroots racing and even as a kid in the early 2000s. I'm like, man, this superspeedway is going to signal the death of short track racing downtown. And it hasn't. That track has continued to put up a really good fight. And there's a lot of people who are fighting very hard to find some pathway, whether it involves NASCAR or not. But the group that is anti Speedway will take you out of context, and they will certainly find any narrative they can to create bad press around it. Because basically what's happening right now is, is they're. They're. They're arguing over its future and they're trying to put it back on the ballot. And any sort of negative press or good press is being used to sway the hearts and minds of the voters of Davidson county. Because eventually their plan is they want to get it right back on a ballot, just like they did in 2011.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, so what I do is I do coffee with Kenny, and then while I'm sitting on my couch, I go back to coffee with Kenny on my cell phone. And I'm able. I'm not good at any of these electronics, but I'm able to edit up what I think is the most important part. So I do a 10 minute coffee with Kenny and I grab. I think it was like one minute, and then I put it on Instagram because Instagram, Facebook, all tied together. Okay, so you know me, I cut right through the. Here's the way it is. So on Instagram, I put that like one minute deal. Where at the end I say, do we need a can? What. Which. What I meant was the cup date. Dale Jr says. Dale Jr responds. He says, I ain't falling for this, Herm. You're messing with us. With. You know, he's laughing.

[Matt Weaver]

So I was wondering if Dale had reached out or if Marcus.

[Kenny Wallace]

They've all reached out. But here's. Here's where I know. Here's what I know. What's up. Dale Jr. Runs the cars tour race there. And they, like you said, they attacked him mercifully. And I said, oh, my God, these people from Nashville are attacking Dale Jr saying, these billionaires from NASCAR. And they were talking about Dale Jr and Dale Jr is like, I don't have that kind of money.

[Matt Weaver]

So he said. He said he would buy the place.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. So I mean, from that standpoint, they're like this little mob scene down there in Nashville, and. And they just. They want that fairgrounds gone, you know, to the maximum peak. And I've always. And I am a Nashville fairground supporter through and through. You know, if you know, Matt, if you go to The Kenny Walsh YouTube show, I stopped there, you know, three years ago. Did a. Did a real nice Kenny Wall. Show them over.

[Matt Weaver]

I interviewed you. I was there. I covered it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, so I'm a Nashville fairgrounds guy. So how is this going to end?

[Matt Weaver]

Well, I got to push back on you just a little bit. Like, I know it's really easy to see the press that's coming out of there and to get the impression that the people seem to want it gone. I think a lot of that is just right now, that is the current state of play. I think that the pro speedway people and there's a lot of influential people and certainly Marcus is working really hard to make something happen there. They're keeping their powder dry and they know the time is going to come that they're going to start to put out some positive press and to generate some positivity. But they're trying to work in the shadows. And that's probably not the right word for it, but they're trying to work behind the scenes with local government to. To find the right path forward. Because right now the anti Speedway people. I want to say that I respect the will of the voters and ultimately, if the voters decide to do something different, then that's that. But I don't think we've heard from them yet. And we've only. We've only had the. The. The weaponized opinion coming from one side of it because right now we don't have any. Any agreement to sink our teeth into, like Marcus Smith, SMI and that group Bristol, Jerry Caldwell from. From Bristol. They're working through various versions of what that racetrack would look like, what the renovated facility would look like, parking, infrastructure, community relations. There's been various proposals that have come through and, and even some that have passed the fair board and eventually needs to make its way back to the mayor. It almost made it to the mayor. Then there was an election. There's a new mayor. So now the process had to start over again. But I still think we're in the. I think we're like in the fifth inning if this is a baseball game. And I know you're a Cardinals fan, I'm a Cubs fan. We're rivals, we're enemies here, but we are on the same page in the sense that we recognize this is still in the middle of the baseball game. And we've seen the best arguments that, oh, well, this is noise. We have a noise problem. Well, you know, Marcus has a solution for that, too. He's got A sound barrier he wants to put up. Well, parking's an issue. Well, if they, if they expand seating to 30, 000 seats for the, for the racetrack for a NASCAR race, it's no different than the, the same number of seats for the, for the soccer stadium. So that's.

[Kenny Wallace]

Can't we, can't we, can't we use this now? I know what I'm saying here. Can't we use John Ingram's parking?

[Matt Weaver]

It's all the same. Yeah. And, and so actually there's some, There's a lot that can be had. There's a number that can be met. There's a property behind turn two. I got to make sure I get my geography correct. Behind turn two that could be purchased.

[Kenny Wallace]

Hi, good looking.

[Matt Weaver]

Can be utilized. And you know, there's still a lot of those details to be worked out. Right. There's, there's, there's multiple pathways to having racing continue. Now there's two versions of this. Right. I think this is where it gets really nuanced. There's a version with nascar and that's the, the Marcus Smith Speedway Motorsports model. And then you know Bob Sargent, who I know you know very, very well, good friend of both of ours. Bob has the, the rights to the weekly racing program. And neither SMI or Bob wants that to go away too. And so I think there's a version that either has NASCAR and the short track racing, just the short track racing, but those are two different proposals. But my point is, is when you ask, how does it end? We are a long way from the end game. And what that end point looks like has so many different outcomes. Like, I'm struggling to even articulate this because this is like, this is like a, this is like a tree. And you look under the tree and the roots have like 1700 different directions it goes out on. That's where we're at. The track is the tree and there's all these roots under it.

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[Kenny Wallace]

You know, and I dumb it down. It's a show because it's been going on for five, six years at least. And they just keep going back and forth, back and forth.

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[Matt Weaver]

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[Kenny Wallace]

Let's get to the matter at hand. I am Kenny Wallace. I never won a Cup race. I won nine. I won nine Busch races. I'm, I'm a third brother. I don't take myself serious. So why did they take me so serious? Am I that popular? Am I, am I that big time?

[Matt Weaver]

You certainly have name value. And I, I know you're, you're playing it pretty humbly, but like you've done a lot of cool stuff like your resume. And I'm not just saying this to blow smoke up your ass. Like I, you, you're, you're a hero. Like I grew up as a middle schooler in high schooler watching you race and then transition to the media side. And you are such a big personality and you continue to be such a big personality that if you were to walk up on the street, if you were to ask my dad, who doesn't watch weekly anymore, he's, he's a dirt racer on the Gulf coast, so he's still into racing, he's just not into NASCAR as much. And you were to ask him, name me 15 to 20 NASCAR personalities off the top of your head. You're on that list. And so I think it's really easy for people who are not super inside of our community to pull a name that they recognize. All people know Kenny Wallace. Kenny Wallace is a name and Kenny Wallace said can the speedway. Even if it's out of context, you have name value that can be used either to prop the speedway up or create the appearance that you're pulling it down.

[Kenny Wallace]

Man, that scares me. I mean, it really does. It scares me because, you know, I grew up a race car driver competitor in my life. If you don't win, you suck. You know, if you know, and I, you know, I'm mentally strong. I mean, you can't get me ever. Because, you know, you then you too, you know, that's the way I roll because I mean I grew, I grew up in St. Louis. And, you know, it's not that we're bad here. It's just that, you know, and now I'm retired. I don't even work for anybody. I'm like, but I'm retired, you know? So when I said that yesterday, it wasn't even. It wasn't even in my brain. And then I got a call from a really good friend, and they said, kenny Wallace, really good take. But at the very end, you said, ken. I said, yeah. You know, why do you want to keep fighting these guys? You know, just can the cup date and keep on rolling with what Bob's doing? He goes, no. He goes. I said, why? He goes, no. They. They want to tear it all down. I'm like, oh, okay, now this. I said, that'd be a great coffee with Kenny in the morning. So. So then I respond with, hold on, now. I'm. That, you know, I don't get on the Internet every day wanting to know what's going on at Nashville fairgrounds. So when did it go from? Here's my point to you. When did it go from? We don't want NASCAR cup series being here. Oh, and by the way, we're going to tear the whole place down. Was that always there or did it switch to that?

[Matt Weaver]

Yeah, I mean, it's. It. There's always been an element of that, and certainly it predates my time in the sport. I mean, listen, the cup series left after 1984 because the facility was in desperate need of infrastructure improvements, many of them that were never even made. And I don't know if you saw this, but there was a fire today. All these days run together. Today's Thursday. I think the fire was on Tuesday, and it burned down the. The. The merchandise building that is in front of the front stretch behind the grandstands. And what it was attributed to was. Was faulty wiring that had not been renovated since.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, my.

[Matt Weaver]

And lost a ton of die cast and T shirts and a lot of history actually surrounding the racetrack. But that is just to go to show you that that's. That's the reason why this has become such a debatable topic. They built this brand new soccer stadium. State of the art. They. They've built the brand new expo building state of the art. And we still have this old racetrack, the oldest continually operating motorsports venue in the country. And by the way, that's the reason to protect it. Right there it is our talking about us and the stock car racing community, the royal we. It is our Wrigley Field. This is our Fenway Park. This is the place that's been there since the early 1900s. We're talking Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Fairground Speedway, Nashville as being these places that have been around over 100 years. And so there's always been a group of opponents who say, look at this old racetrack. We don't need it. Think of all the other things we could do in this little amount of space in this property that the city owns. Keep that in mind, too. The city owns the entire fairgrounds property, but the voters, when given the choice to protect it was put up to. The voters say, we want to know if you want to protect motorsports. The fair, a fair, the expo and the flea market. Yes or no? Simple binary question. And I think it was 70 to 30. The residents of Davidson county voted to support the pillars of that charter as it stands now. And you know, I can't tell you what that vote would be in 2026, but that's why there's this PR campaign on both sides. Here's the reasons why we need to renovate the racetrack. This is the reasons why we need to bulldoze it and turn it into affordable housing and mixed use development. Either way, something does have to be done with it because there was a fire two days ago because it's just so old. And I think there's a lot of people who are quiet right now because they're keeping their powder dry about how to make that racetrack as pretty as the expo and the soccer stadium.

[Kenny Wallace]

So when I was there racing there and then did a YouTube show there with my old cell phone, I said to myself, here's this racetrack and they're racing right now. And these people took these homes and built them right up to the racetrack. Stupid move. And I, I guess they were betting on the come. I'm not putting words in anybody's mouth, but I'm like, okay, I see these houses built here. So the builder must have said, oh, don't worry, they're going to tear the racetrack down because why the hell would you build homes right next to a racetrack? So is there, is that a theory that the builders said, don't worry about the racetrack because you're sitting there, you're buying a home next to a racetrack. I mean, just my dad was hardcore. That's dumb.

[Matt Weaver]

Yeah. I mean, I can't profess to know what, what is it in the true hearts and minds of the. The residents and. But I will tell you that they, they are offended that they have moved next to this racetrack and it's Loud. And by the way, it gets crazier. It gets crazier. It gets crazier. I'm not going to quite go that far. I'm as blunt as you are, but I. I try to be a little more nuanced. But I will tell you, this is the same market, the same geographic region that also has people that move next to the airport. And there was a story. Everyone can Google this. People outside of Nashville airport said, this airport's way too loud. I moved in here. Planes are always flying, and I just can't stand living here. We got to do something with this airport. So maybe it's just something in the water there in the greater Davidson county area, but I can't. I don't know if this is really how they feel or if they've been championed for this cause by someone. I don't know if that really answers the question, but I haven't talked to them. I've listened to public comment, and I think that's important. They do these once a month, fair board commissioners meetings, and frequently they have residents of the area come in and share thoughts. What do you think we're doing? Well, what do you think could be better? What do you like? What don't you like? So we hear them. They speak. And people speak for and they speak against.

[Kenny Wallace]

You know, sometimes when we try to look at a situation, we go, okay, we got the great Darrell Waltrip from Franklin, Tennessee. We've got Sterling Marlin. We. We've got. Who was. Who was the country western singer saying El Paso City? Marty Robbins. This fairgrounds is deep in racing history. You know, forget about nascar, just racing history. Okay? So Nashville is a racing town. Always has been. Now you go over here in the city, and it's. It's always been country music. I love. I'm an Ella fella. I love. I love country music, and I love Nashville. But the Ryman Auditorium, they didn't tear it down, and they got opera land over here, so they just don't. It sounds to me like you're saying there's 30% over here because you said they took a poll, 70% said keep the racetrack. This 30%, they. They don't recognize history in Nashville.

[Matt Weaver]

Well, I will tell you to, in fairness, that that city has started to change, right? Like, it's still music city, and there's still a lot of deep country music roots. But every city starts to evolve, and they try to ask themselves, what is our place in the world and in the country and what do we want to be known for? And they are an entertainment mecca. And certainly that's now involved the NFL, NHL, mls. There's all sorts of entertainment they've. They've made themselves. I mean, they call it Nash Vegas, right? Like, it is a. A Southern version of Las Vegas in a lot of ways. But I will tell you, too, I think there's a lot of people who are, you know, not only just veteran residents, but young people as well, who have grown up with that, and they're like, hey, that's history. You know, we in. In this time where we're growing and evolving and we're more than just the Ryman and Dollywood and all these Tennessee staples. We're also. We're also the fairgrounds. And I just think this is. This is the sort of dialog and conversation that every community has about where. Where they came from and where they want to go, and just trying to figure out how much of that intersects.

[Kenny Wallace]

I want to give my opinion on the dynamics of Nashville. I love Nashville. It's, you know, it's. It's St. Louis, and you go, you know, 57, 24 down. Down on the Nashville and all. I've always. I listen. I got a long history at the fairgrounds. You know, Bob harmon's all American 400. Damn. I grew up there, and I'm from St. Louis. The fairgrounds does define me. I know it's strange to say, but it does. What I. What I've watched happen to Nashville, and everybody already knows it. I'm just wanting you to know it. It has exploded. You got, you know, Sam, you got, like, you got Sammy Hagar, you got groups from Aerosmith, you got Kid Rock, you got rock and roll moving into the Nashville and the surrounding areas. It's. It's the dynamics that you just said. I want to say that I'm going to add on to that. You said Nashville's not all country anymore. And I think that's why Ella Langley is so popular. She doesn't say sing. She says sighing, and. And I think that's why she's so popular. She's trying to keep the country into Nashville. And. And it's this 30% that's trying to take it out. They don't want Nashville to stay country. They want it to become, you know, we got the new football stadium. Awesome Nashville, the Titans, the. The. It's over. It's. It's. It's so big. It's going over Interstate 24, spaghetti junction right there. You know, 40, 65. I get it all, but I think I'm Getting into your psyche right now, it sounds to me like it's this new up to date group, the 30% that, that just want the old days. They want the, they probably want Ryman Auditorium gone, but they don't want to mess with that. How far am I off in my thinking?

[Matt Weaver]

This is what I would say. I think it comes down to what it always comes down to. Ultimately when you asked me earlier, how does this end? It always comes down to money. The question is always follow the money. And I think ultimately the citizens of Nashville and Davidson county, if whoever proposes to them a model to where we have this idea or we have this property, it will generate revenue for your city to make your livelihoods better, to make our city continue to grow and become a destination for entertainment. And by, by the way, more than just race cars like there, there's a version of this that modernizes the short track for short track racers. But the SMI plan that would bring NASCAR back by the way, every other year. So we're not even getting rid of the superspeedway. One of the proposals that are that are out there is we go to the fairgrounds, we go to the superspeedway, we go back and, and we don't oversaturate one. But it comes down to what other entertainment properties can we bring to this racetrack? We have this facility we can use for a lot of different purposes for the city because it's owned by the city. This would be SMI and Bob either share the lease or just one of them has the lease or whatever. It's how can we generate revenue for the city and therefore your residents. And I think back in 2011 and that referendum I keep bringing up the, the reason that the track and the fair and the expo and the flea market was preserved were two reasons. One, the, the people of Nashville said we love our traditions, that there's these other new things that are coming and we like that too. We want to support that. But there are things that are rooted in our identity. Those four things that I brought up at the fairgrounds, we want to keep that. And oh by the way, back in 2011 there was a proposal on the table that said this is how it also makes money. And in the case of the speedway never lost money. It was never a money losing endeavor in the last several years. And so that's all you can ask for now. The SMI proposal wants to make them money. And if this works, when it becomes time for the pro speedway side to make their voices heard louder, you're going to see a very powerful presentation from that side. Of all the ways that one hey, racing is cool. But also these are all the other ways that we can improve quality of life and entertainment for the residents.

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[Matt Weaver]

This is incredible.

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Everything's either going to be okay or not.

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[Kenny Wallace]

You have power within your cross.

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[Kenny Wallace]

Well, blows my mind that the 30% are sold out and they want racing gone when you have legends like Daryl Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Marty Robbins. I mean, there are some hero racers right there. So. All right, well, as old Larry McReynold say, I think we beat this like a dead horse and I do want to move on with you another 15 minutes. Are you up for that?

[Matt Weaver]

Please. I again, I love talking race cars with you, Kenny.

[Kenny Wallace]

Is there anything else that you want to say? I've already said what I want to say. I just, I can't. First of all, in synopsis, why do you build houses next to a racetrack? Number two, you know why? Why are you trying to get rid of racing? Number you know what I mean? And number three, why would you want that business to go out to Lebanon? You know, why those three things? Why do you want to get rid of racing? Why do you build houses next to a racetrack? You know, it's just crazy to me.

[Matt Weaver]

Well, one other thing I want to add on to that is I think the model of how this works. And part of the story that they're probably going to tell is I've got two examples for you. Indianapolis, which you've got this great mecca of motorsports history, but right down the road, a place, you know Very well. IRP is this really, really awesome short track that has its own history, its own lineage for not only stock cars, but, you know, pavement, Midget, the Silver Crown cars, Indy Lights. And that community, they love racing so much, there's never a question of, well, we have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Why do we need to have a racetrack at Brownsburg, too? That's one example, and the last one I'll give you, too, is it's a very similar dynamic Knoxville Raceway, home of the Knoxville Nationals. And that is a fairgrounds property, very similar to Nashville. It's owned by the town and that community. By the way, that race track is smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood, and those people just embrace racing. And so I think. To your point, I would. I would say that if you don't like living near the racetrack, certainly, I. I'm sure there's a version of that world where there's someone who does want to live there next to a racetrack, because I see it at Knoxville.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, thanks for clearing all that up. When I. When I saw your comment on X, I'm like, oh, well, then the person that called me last night, he said, no, they're trying to tear it all down. I'm like, oh, boy. Okay, this is a game.

[Matt Weaver]

When you called me, I was like, oh, man, you're gonna chew me out.

[Kenny Wallace]

No, you know. You know what it is? I'm just a different soul. I was born this way. You can't. You. I always brag on myself, and it's not about me being great. It's just, you can't get me. You can me all you want, you know? I mean, look at Denny Hamlin. He's won 62 races, and they still get on social media and talk to him. I. I've seen it happen. Listen, everybody does this in social media as soon as they jack with me. Hey, look here. There's an old saying. You throw a brick at me, I'm throwing a block back. So before you come out, just understand, you're on my platform. You're talking to me. I'm gonna bring a double dose. And I'm not a badass. I'm not a badass. I'm just like, back off. You know, you're on. You're on my platform. But. But I. The reason. You know, it's good content for us. So when somebody says something negative about me, I retweet it and say, well, this is good. Dale Jr. Oh, Dale Jr. Knows that about me. He laughs. He goes, herman, you're a genius. I'm like, oh, yeah. I mean, you know, when they talk about you, retweet it, because I'm strong. I'm not weak. You know, I'm the. I'm the younger brother. I'm not as good as Russia, but that don't even matter. You know what I mean? It's just. And it's like. It's like being Dale Jr. You know, the son of Dale Sr. Or Michael Andretti, the son of Mario Andretti.

[Matt Weaver]

It just so the number of people that would trade their lives for the. The incredible life well lived that you've lived more often than not. It's. It's jealousy. It's a place of jealousy.

[Kenny Wallace]

What's. What's the funny saying? They hate me because they want to be me.

[Matt Weaver]

They hate me because they ain't me.

[Kenny Wallace]

So talk all you want, everybody. I'll probably. If it's a good one, I'll retweet it. And then. And then Junior knows that about me. That's why I said. He said, herman, I ain't biting. Because he. He knows that's my strategy. And I'm retired and I got all the money I need. I don't need any more money. And I just. I'm gonna drink coffee. I'm going to drink coffee. Hey, does it amaze you, the power of these cell phones? You know, when I worked for. Let me say this, When I worked for Fox for 14 years, they said, take that phone, make a video out by your pool. You know, why you're not. And I did, and it showed up on tv like a hundred thousand dollar camera does. Does that amaze you?

[Matt Weaver]

I call this thing my sword and my shield because it is so powerful. It is literally a weapon. And. And I've. I've learned, by the way, too. And it's, it's. I'm 38 now, so I'm. I'm not old, but I'm not a young man. I've been around long enough that I've learned a little bit. And I've learned, growing up in the social media era, the, the power of what that thing can do if you have any degree of a platform, right? Like, there. There are times that I do regret some things because I just didn't realize, even if I wasn't being totally serious, how impactful those. Those words can be. And I try to be a little bit more careful. I think being authentic and honest and candid, like we both are, is super, super important. But sometimes I'm hyper aware of man. I've got to be a little more cautious and thoughtful because someone could take something you said completely out of context, and all of a sudden, you are being used as a weapon for someone else. Your sword and shield is being used to. To stab someone you didn't want to stab.

[Kenny Wallace]

Matt, real quick, real quick.

[Matt Weaver]

You brought up coffee with Kenny. What coffee do you drink every morning? Because I'm a coffee connoisseur.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, well, listen, I wished I was a connoisseur. I'm too hyper. I just want my coffee now. I don't strain it. I just got the green. The green cups with the mountains on it. Whatever. I don't even look at it. Yeah, plain black.

[Matt Weaver]

Okay.

[Kenny Wallace]

No, no French. But I am careful because, you know, all these vanilla, all these creamers are. Will give you a heart attack. It's just horrible oil. I know it's so bad that it don't go bad ever. That's how bad. You know, things that are good for you should go bad. So. But I pour just a little bit in it. So I don't think I like coffee. I think I like coffee with creamer.

[Matt Weaver]

Here's the key. At some point, I'll make this for you. We spend weeks and weeks at Volusia, so this is the time to do it. I make my own creamer because I recognize to your point that it's based in oil. And so I've learned that. I like creamer, too. I like coffee, but I like creamer more. But I can. If I can make my own creamer, and I like a brown sugar maple creamer, and I can put my own kind of milk in it and water it down a little bit more. That's the key. You can make it to whatever specification your doctor needs you to make it to.

[Kenny Wallace]

I try so hard. Nick Hoffman is a dear friend of mine. His nickname for me is Skinny Kenny. I eat like a rabbit grilled chicken. I mean, if I'm gonna have a. You know, Mark Martin taught me sweet potato is rocket fuel. If I'm gonna have a salad, it's gonna be pretty plain, you know, with balsam. I mean, I do my best, and, you know, it's hard to be perfect.

[Matt Weaver]

I walk especially on the road. It's really hard to do it on the road.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. Okay. I'm gonna bring something up because you just kind of gave me this. How we don't want our feelings hurt on social media now, you know, you already know how much I love Marcus Smith. Marcus is the one that is gonna keep NASCAR Nashville. Marcus is a dear friend of Mine. And I work for him in a strange way, you know, I'm a contractor. We do trackside live, and we pack them in. We got 5, 000 people out there at these racetracks, and, you know, that's why I was at Nashville fairgrounds. But, you know, to your point, we try to be perfect. Do you remember. Do you remember that storm that Marcus was on X and. And responded to? Denny Hamlin about the. Out at Denny?

[Matt Weaver]

Yes.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay. So. So there's a. There's a man. I love Marcus, because. You know why I like Marcus? Because he's got the wherewithal to keep NASCAR going. And Marcus was the first one that said, kenny, I can't believe Fox got rid of NASCAR race day. Will you come back and do it? And I said, marcus, I'm going back St. Louis. I don't want nothing to do with it. Then, Then. Then they put dirt on Bristol. And Marcus calls me. He says, hey, be the ambassador. I'm like, okay, now I'm biting. So we go there. This is all Marcus. And I'm saying this right now. This is coming from. You know, there's a sea of people. Me and Marks look at each other. It's like people just need a place to park their cars, have something to do, see a show. And you bring Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and. And there they are. They're talking about what they're getting ready to do in three hours. So it's Marcus that has got a brilliant mind, and it was his idea to bring back, you know, what they shut down, which was, you know, NASCAR race day built by the Home Depot, fueled by Sunoco. And that is why, you know, I admire Marcus so much. But it's hard.

[Matt Weaver]

Let's give. Let's give Chris Blair credit, too, because I think Chris had a very similar idea. Right.

[Kenny Wallace]

He started it.

[Matt Weaver]

Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

So in. In perfect order. Okay. I'm gonna tell you how it was. In perfect order. Marcus said, let's do it. And I said, I don't want to do it. And then. And then Chris said, let's do it right here at the house. I said, oh, okay, I'll do that, because I just drive my vehicle 20 minutes to the racetrack. And. And Chris called Kenny Wallace Live and really got into it. It was. It's a show. So the difference between Trackside Live and Kenny Wallace Live. Kenny Wallace Live is a little bit of a circus. We bring a goat out, a real goat. When you bring Kyle Larson out, we got Bill Murray from Saturday Night Live. So. So I did it. And it's like, oh, my God. And then. And then they did the dirt. The dirt deal. So I just want you to know you're a good person. I love you, and it's hard to be perfect. And I just gave you an example. We watched Marcus, who is a brilliant man, get into a show with Denny Hamlin. What, three in the morning?

[Matt Weaver]

It was so late, and I was. I was ready to clock out for the night. And, you know, in my profession, you're always on call. It's like a doctor, and you're just. You're waiting for news to break at all hours of the night. I remember I got to bed that night and I pulled out my phone. I'm like, let's just check. Check the old Twitter one more time. And before I call it quits for the night, I'm like, nope, clock back in. I've got content.

[Kenny Wallace]

And these are. These are people that are worth millions and millions. So they're smart, they got a great brain. But.

[Matt Weaver]

But by the way, and this is what I love about both Marcus and Genuine. I'm not blowing smoke up anyone's ass. It's. What I genuinely love about characters like Marcus, Denny, yourself, is that you will never, ever question how much they care. How much you care about racing your place in the world, the ways that you can. Can grow it and create interest and conversations around it. I would prefer someone that gets in trouble every now and then for saying something controversial or messy, but, you know, it comes from a place of love.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. Thank you. Because I know how much you love racing. I bragged on you start. And I love racing. But everybody. Everybody is in trouble all the time. And. And we're not really in trouble. Think about it. We're not really in trouble. There's a 30 over here that wants to make us in trouble. Like, listen, I'm not in trouble. It's. It's your. It's your deal. You know, I'm not in trouble. I'm fine. I don't. I'm me.

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[Matt Weaver]

Everything's either gonna be okay or not.

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[Kenny Wallace]

You have power within your grasp.

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[Kenny Wallace]

Let's go to NASCAR for a little bit. The hottest topic think. Talk about getting in trouble. Denny Hamlin. We're switching subjects, everybody. Denny Amlin says that NASCAR races and stages are too long. And I mean they chew him up and spit him out. Then Bob Poras, everybody. You know, now the fans hate Denny. You know, tongue in cheek. I say that tongue in cheek. They don't really hate him but they hate him because he does actions detrimental and he d bullshits everything so you know where he's coming from. So he says the races are too long. And I said you're 100, right? And we race too much. And I'm like say whatever you want about me. I don't care. So what is your thoughts?

[Matt Weaver]

So I do think that we have a problem with what happens when the stages end. Like I like racing. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I think we should have less racing. I don't think that every race should be 600 miles. I even agree and I'm okay with having the number of races that we've had go from 500 miles to 400 miles. I can't tolerate any less. And, and the reason isn't even me. Selfishly, I think of the amount of content that has been cut from fans. You know, our race weekends used to be you take your camper out on Thursday and you're at the racetrack through a practice session on Friday, qualifying happy hour Sunday, maybe trucks, ARCA or Busch series. There was so much content. I have a hard time reconciling, having taken away so much practice, the amount of content that we have on the midway and things that we can do around the racetrack to then follow all of that up by then taking away more laps away from fans. And so like me, selfishly, whatever. I don't think we need long races as part of our identity and culture. I love a 30 lap sprint car feature. I don't need three hours of racing. But I think I hear fans when they say you've taken so much away from us, and I feel like I'm not getting the value for what I feel like I give to you. I'm inclined to believe them. And so it doesn't really matter how I feel or what I think that if the people who allow me to make a living doing the thing that I love, which is talking about and writing about cars going in circles, if those people tell me they want something different, I'm inclined to listen to them.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I'm the same way as you because I just didn't think the points were a big deal last year. And, I mean, I chewed their ass out mercifully. You bunch of dumb asses. But when the car's going around in circles, well, you know, there's a fight for the lead. But what's the points? I mean, we don't do that. And I said, look, we're gonna fix the points, and it's gonna be something else. So we fixed the points. And, you know, it's always something else. I want to say this. I understood Denny to the maximum peak because, you know, we used to run 500 miles at Rockingham, then they went to 400. Then it's like, okay, loudness, 300. And listen, you got a better. Better memory than me, I'm sure you can tell me what races have been shortened in nascar and they get shortened, and nobody even says anything about it, but because Denny brings it up, it's a show. My thought, Matt, is this. We are dealing with a. A new societal shift. And I always say this. Where Monster jam trucks. Remember 10 years ago when the Monster Jam trucks would flip and the people freaked out and they packed the stadiums? Now they flip all the time, and nobody. It's like. It's nothing. Same thing with snowmobiles. So my point is this. Everything in life now is fast. I think we got to recognize that what races need to be long. The Coke 600, the Daytona 500, you know, 500 laps, man and machine at Bristol. But what races don't need to be long because there are those young kids out there that they start blinking this damn, they're still going around in circles. I mean, my point. I'm trying to hit this target.

[Matt Weaver]

We have brain rot. Let's just call it what it is, right? Like these. These things that we keep talking about has made our attention spans so short. And I'm guilty of it, too. Like, I used to be able to sit down and watch. You know, I. I love serialized TV. Prison Break, Lost 24. I love those shows. Those are good TV shows, but I don't know. Yeah, I don't know that I could watch those shows anymore because, like, my brain has been rewired to, like, I need everything to be in little short spurts. That's the society we live in.

[Kenny Wallace]

You know, Dirty Mo Media does such a wonderful job at shorts. You know, my Charlie says, make it as long as you want, and then I'll, you know, we'll put it over here for the old people that ain't got nothing to do, and then we'll put the 30 seconds over here for the children. And this just seems to be like, you say, you got to give everybody what they want. Well, okay, listen, I really appreciate you. What, you're going to Michigan now. How does motorsport. How do they decide where they're going to send you and not send you?

[Matt Weaver]

That's a great question that I have not figured out the answer to yet. I kind of have made my own schedule this year, and I wait for them to object and say, no, you're not going there. I try to be very thoughtful about it. Like, I recognize that everyone's got a budget, everyone's got constraints. I. I have the great fortune of. I have an apartment in North Carolina. I've got my fishing camp in Alabama. So, like, that gives all those races in the Southeast a lot of coverage for not a lot of money, because I have two places that I kind of live in. And so if I have to spend extra money for flying and spending extra time away, there has to be a good reason for it. San Diego is new, and it's this really special event, 250th anniversary for the country. And so that's. That's an obvious one. There's a lot of interesting things to do there. I tend to me personally, I place a lot more emphasis on what is now the Chase for the championship. I think those races tend to be more valuable from a storytelling standpoint than, say, Pocono coming up here in a couple of weeks. Not that I don't like Pocono, but that's probably money that I would like to spend to do something later. Plus, I've got a cars tour race that I can go to an hour away from the house that weekend. And so to your point, what you said earlier, I'm at a racetrack every weekend. I don't need to be at the NASCAR race every weekend. I would like to be. I don't live in that world where I have that budget. So if I can't be at the NASCAR race every weekend, I will find a late model race, I'll find a sprint car race. And there's still things that I can do to create some really cool content. And in this world we live in, everything that takes place at the NASCAR track is going to be on the Internet somewhere. So I can still monitor and tell stories and I can always make a phone call too. So I just try to be very strategic about how what is the best use of my time and my presence and can I add something by being there and not doing it remotely?

[Kenny Wallace]

Coronado out there. Did I say it right? Coronado.

[Matt Weaver]

Coronado.

[Kenny Wallace]

Something like that. San Diego. Okay, so we know that race is not going to be there next year. This is a one time deal. We're using the base. Where does that race go next year? I'm hearing we're going to go back to. Go ahead.

[Matt Weaver]

Sorry, Chicago. No, no, I think we're on the same page. It seems like the writing is on the wall. But I will tell you, when they left Chicago, downtown Chicago two years ago, everyone said they weren't saying bye, they were all saying see you later. We like what we have here. We got to find a better date. I love that event. I love again, I'm a Cubs guy, right. I love Chicago, by the way. I love going to Cardinal Stadium, to Busch Stadium. I love seeing the Cardinals play as well.

[Kenny Wallace]

Thank you.

[Matt Weaver]

But I love downtown Chicago. Lovely, lovely city. But yeah, but I'm torn because like I love that racetrack. It's kind of like they took two Martinsville's and stuck them together but with a couple of right hand turns. I think it races incredibly. What I don't want to do is I don't want to lose Chicagoland. I would love for some version where we can do both or like we're talking about in Nashville, do it every other year. I love IndyCar too. I really do. But my, my frustration with being an IndyCar fan is I miss when the schedule was 50 50, we used to go with IndyCar to all the intermediate tracks, Texas and Kansas and Chicagoland. And now we just run the fastest sport on Earth at 35 miles per hour around a bunch of parking lots. I don't want us to follow that same path in that we had Chicagoland, but instead we're going to go to downtown Chicago. We have Gateway, but we're going to go run in downtown St. Louis. We, we bulldozed Auto Club Speedway so we can do a street race in downtown Los Angeles. Just hypothetically. I don't want to give up our bread and Butter culture, who we are oval racing, fast tracks for a bunch of street courses. I like this one. I just hope that we're very thoughtful about where we go and, and when we do it with these kind of special events circuits.

[Kenny Wallace]

Another subject. NASCAR is on a roll. Everything's good, everything's better. There's been way less. You know, X is where everybody goes to argue Instagram's quality. You know, I, I think Facebook is a little, you know, listen, everybody goes to this stuff. I finally caught brother Rusty and Schrader both on all social media. So the world has changed. So we all agree that NASCAR is better now. Steve o' Donnell is our new president. He has seemed to strike a tone that Steve Phelps did not have. Steve Phelps was very behind the scenes, didn't really want to talk. Steve o' Donnell just got out there when we lost Kyle Bush in front of Samantha and the children. And I mean, my heart was pounding for Steve o'. Donnell. His delivery was so good. In your mind, I mean, just grade Steve o'. Donnell. I told you, me, I think he's been. He's changed nascar. From a verbal standpoint, what do you see in o'? Donnell?

[Matt Weaver]

I, I think he's met the moment, but I want to. I want to be fully transparent and fully candid. And some of this was very public and fans saw some of these exchanges. My relationship with Steve o' Donnell was not always super strong. There was a couple of years where I just felt like, and this was not all Steve's fault, but Steve, in his previous role as, gosh, he's had so many different titles now I've lost track of them, but I just, I felt like, and this is not on Steve, but that version of NASCAR was not super responsive to fans. And by the way, I'm not saying that just because fans shout something on X that therefore NASCAR should do what that one person says. It's way more nuanced and dynamic than that. But I do think everyone would agree, and NASCAR has agreed to. Steve has agreed that there was a version of NASCAR from about 2017 to 2023, 24 roundabouts, that was not responsive to the fans and the industry in the way probably should have been. And they agree, too. And so I thought it was really important for all of us to have those conversations, not only NASCAR and the teams, which they battled it out in court and through the charter negotiations, but having serious conversations with the fan base, with us. I have way more conversations now with NASCAR executives than I ever had five years ago where they walk up to me and say, hey, listen, we're not going to do exactly what you say, but what do you think? NASCAR is casting a very wide net and gathering opinions in a way that they never did five years ago. And I think that is the brilliance of this version of NASCAR's front office, which has OD as its figurehead, as its face. And I do think that Steve was probably always that way, but he has people that he has to answer to, too. And I think that Steve has finally grown in this role to where he's able to pull a lot of the levers that he would have wanted to pull seven, eight years ago, but he just couldn't because he wasn't the man in charge. So I think that this version of nascar, especially with him in this role, is going places. And I'm not saying that because this is how I make my living when things are not good. I've said it, too. I really like where we are at right now as an industry. Not everything's perfect, but, man, I think the trajectory is going this way.

[Kenny Wallace]

You know what's sad a little bit? I was listening to you, and I care about you, but it's not your fault. You were almost afraid. You're just now, you were almost apologizing for talking good. You know, in journalism, you can't be mean all the damn time. You. You know, I love people, and my mother would say, you quit telling everybody you love them. I'm like, mom, if I say I love you, it means it's just something nice. So, you know, there's nothing wrong with writing a good article when. When you feel good about something. Okay, switching.

[Matt Weaver]

No, I want to address that, though, because you're right.

[Kenny Wallace]

You.

[Matt Weaver]

You are totally right. You read me correctly. And the reason I. I try to offer those kind of caveats.

[Kenny Wallace]

Negative.

[Matt Weaver]

Yeah, it's like I. I never want to be accused of being a shill. I do love this industry, and I love my industry. And I never, ever want to have a good faith conversation with a fan and ever make them feel like the things that they don't like don't matter. And so I. You're right in how you read me. But the reason I. I did that isn't so much fear. It's just that I know there are fans who will watch this or listen to this and be like, everything's not great. I don't like this, or I don't like that. I never want to be put into a position to where it comes across. Like, I am dismissive of how they feel. Because even if we don't always agree, I still think that every fan, everyone who's a part of this community, their say so matters. And I certainly want to talk about it. Even if I don't always agree and even if I don't think everything is totally bad or totally good, it's just nuanced.

[Kenny Wallace]

I want to tell you a quick joke. It's a good one. It's about this. I'm listening to the John Boy and Billy. You know, was it 99.7. The Fox and John Boy Billy, they, they're gone now over there in Charlotte, but they had this comedy hour. And this joke is funny, but it's serious to your point. This guy goes, hey man, I caught a five pound bass. Oh, really? Yeah, I got a lantern from the Titanic and there's still a two inch flame burning. Guy goes, I'll tell you what, you take a couple pounds off your bass, I'll turn my flame down. So, so in other words, we don't, you know, there's this. We don't have to be negative all, all the damn time for the 30% of people, you know, there's that group, they want to. They'll call you out, they'll hurt your feelings. You're like, it's no different than somebody saying, man, do you see all them people tear you apart on social media? I'm like, I saw two. Yeah. I said, so you. So you're paying attention to people. What's wrong with you People, you know, and, and they exaggerate. Those two people. And I don't. I see them like there was two people. Two. So be you don't be afraid to say when something's good. NASCAR is good right now. That ought to be an article. NASCAR is really good right now. It is really good right now. And to that point. And let's end on this note. Thank God for Denny Hamlin in actions detrimental. When we look back on it could have really, you know, he really is helping the sport. He said Goodyear is coming out with the best tower he's ever seen because it's wearing out. What do you know? Has, has Goodyear found a rubber compound with their engineers and scientists at Charlotte, the tower is wearing out. At Nashville, the tires wearing out. They going in, they sliding up a little bit. Do you think Denny is right?

[Matt Weaver]

Oh, he's, he's spot on. I mean, things never move as quickly as we want them to be. And I'm certainly guilty of it. I, I was pressing them. I'm, I'm Not. I'm not an engineer. I'm the son of a dirt track racer who raced a little bit, who. Who has now spent 15 years in the NASCAR garage. So I like to think that I know a little bit and I just see the geometry of a race car and how planted it is. And I'm like, we're 67 laps into a run and this thing is just planted, stuck. That is not what a stock car is supposed to look like.

[Kenny Wallace]

Right.

[Matt Weaver]

But I. I realized that there's a lot of. A lot of elements to this. Like, we have this brand new car. And keep in mind, there was a car two generations ago that they took to Indianapolis. And I know, you know the story I'm going at. And the car of tomorrow made so much load and they tried to go too far, too fast with a tire to do some of these things. We all. We want every tire to do. And we just didn't know enough about that car and those tires and how they reacted together yet. And I think obviously they took their lashings and Tony gave them an earful and everyone did back then. But I think Goodyear has learned that, hey, listen, trust us. We're going to get you to where you want to be. But we have this brand new car. It makes a ton of load, and we've got wider profile tires, and it's just been a process and they've made it incrementally better every year. I don't know that they can make it much better. I think now it's on NASCAR a little bit to keep working on this car, and they are too. And so to your point about the positivity, that's all you want to see. You want to see positive direction. The tires are getting into a better place. We've increased the horsepower. We're taking away mechanical grip and aerodynamic grip. And the racing's getting better. And they're getting better at every racetrack. That's a win for literally all of us.

[Kenny Wallace]

And I might add that the crowd is. The crowd nothing. It's like I've been joking the last two months. It's like the 102, year old lady said. Somebody said to the 102-year-old lady, what's changed over the years? Everything. Everything's changed. So we're not. We don't have 250, 000 people in the grandstands anymore. And that's just that. So it's over. Matt, you've been wonderful. I want to thank you so much for coming on Kenny conversation and talking about Nashville Fairgrounds we love Nashville Maximum peak and I think we said what we need to say. Listen up everybody. I say it at the end of every show. If you want to see Matt's pretty little face going over to the Kenny Wallace YouTube show, you can see him. And then if you're headed to Michigan and you want to tune into a Dirty Mo Media podcast, you can listen to Matt Weaver. Is that it, buddy?

[Matt Weaver]

That's it, brother. Love you, appreciate you.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, until the next Kenny conversation. Goodbye everybody.

[Matt Fries]

Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter,

[Kenny Wallace]

Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

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[Kenny Wallace]

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