60 wins, Who’s to Blame, Selfish Racing & 2 Beer

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download — "60 wins, Who’s to Blame, Selfish Racing & 2 Beer"

Date: October 17, 2025
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Dirty Mo Media, SiriusXM)
Special Guest: Kevin "Two Beer" Pinnell

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrates reaching 60 career wins and explores what the milestone means on a personal and professional level. The show then dives deep into the nuances of spotter-driver communication during races, especially in the context of a recent Las Vegas pit lane mishap. The conversation also covers the evolving nature of "team orders," the tension between being a good teammate and racing selfishly, and practical choices facing playoff drivers at Talladega. The episode rounds out with Kevin "Two Beer" Pinnell sharing legendary stories from the Earnhardt racing family.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Career Milestone: 60 Wins

Timestamps: [01:23] – [10:00]

• Reflecting on 60 Wins: Dale admits that reaching 60 wins never felt possible, especially looking back at earlier wins like the 2016 Daytona 500 (his 27th win) and realizing how quickly victories added up as his career progressed.
• The Weight of Expectations: He describes the odd feeling of seeing his name among the NASCAR greats and still not seeing himself as one of "the legends."
• Emotional Victory: Dale opens up about breaking his typical stoic demeanor, especially with his family watching, noting that both his father and mother felt immense pride in his accomplishment.
• Fans' Changing Reactions: Historically met with boos, Dale was “humbled and surprised” to instead hear cheers and experience an outpouring of positive fan response this time.
• Personal Sacrifice & Family: Emphasizes the sacrifices his parents made, reflecting on their selflessness in supporting his career.

Notable Quotes:

• "As a driver, we expect to win so much that I feel like, if we go four or five weeks without winning, it feels like a freaking eternity. But it's hard to win." – Dale Jr. [03:32]
• "When I look at the names on the list that I'm now a part of for the top 10, I feel like my name sticks out as not one of the greats." – Dale Jr. [04:07]
• "You went from being the most booed driver…to the most celebrated at the end when you were driving your car up to victory lane." – Co-host to Dale Jr. [06:36]
• “Thank goodness my shield was down. You all didn’t see the heavy stuff.” – Dale Jr., about tearing up on the cool-down lap [08:11]

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2. In-Depth: Spotter-Driver Communication Mishap

Timestamps: [13:06] – [20:14]

• The Las Vegas Incident: A deep dive into the Ty Dillon and William Byron pit road miscommunication. The panel unpacks the layers of complexity and potential missteps:
  • Spotter roles, hand signals, geography on the spotters’ stand, and the possibility for crossed wires between "going to the bottom" and "pitting."
  • The accepted practice of alerting not just your own driver, but also communicating with spotters/drivers of cars directly behind.
• Accountability: While spotters carry some blame, the consensus is that drivers (like Ty) have an obligation to execute clear signals themselves.
• Camaraderie and Professional Tensions: The panel discusses heated words exchanged between spotters after the incident and how the spotters’ group chat often serves as a forum for resolving these procedural breakdowns.

Notable Quotes:

• “You could be talking to multiple people… but it’s tough. Where these guys stood, they’re very far apart on the roof." – Freddie Kraft [14:41]
• “If you’re in the mindset of, ‘I want to lead every lap,’ I think you’re putting yourself in a safer spot at Talladega.” – Dale Jr. [29:33]

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3. Playoff Team Dynamics & Selfish Racing at Talladega

Timestamps: [21:58] – [29:41]

• Teammate Protocols: Dale and panelists assess the modern culture around “team orders,” noting a shift away from formal manufacturer or teammate alliances in favor of a more opportunistic, individualist approach as drivers vie for playoff spots.
• Case Scenarios: How should teammates like Blaney and Logano—or drivers below the cut like Byron and Elliott—navigate working together while ultimately needing to prioritize self-preservation?
• Racing Philosophy: Discussion centers on whether drivers should prize stage points or focus purely on race wins, and the consensus is that adaptability and aggression ("race hard all day") are better than ultra-conservative strategies at volatile tracks like Talladega.
• Crash Risk: Dale shares from experience that trying to avoid wrecks by “laying back” is more likely to get you caught up in one—which is why leaders try to stay at the front.

Notable Quotes:

• "I'll try to be a good teammate when that's possible, but I can't…do anything that I think is detrimental to me, even losing one position." – Dale Jr. [24:07]
• “If you’re racing hard all the time, there’s a better chance of you being in front of the crash.” – Dale Jr. [29:25]
• "Your chances of crashing in Talladega are 80%... that might drop to 70 if you race hard all day." – Dale Jr. [28:30]

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4. Storytime: Kevin "Two Beer" Pinnell (“2 Beer”)

Timestamps: [29:49] – [33:11]

• Origin of "Two Beer": Kevin reveals how his legendary nickname came from an infamous night during late model racing, when he was too young to join the crew at the bar and ended up overindulging from a cooler of beer.
• Dale Sr.'s Role: Dale’s father gave him a special beer stein that only held two beers, demarcating his “limit”—and the story stuck, earning him a nickname recognized industry-wide.
• Family and Crew Culture: The retelling highlights the close-knit, teasing, but loving crew environment at DEI, and the way stories and nicknames forge enduring bonds.

Notable Quotes:

• "I've always wondered this…how did you get that nickname, Two Beer?" – Dale Jr. [30:30]
• “You don’t need but two beers.” – Dale Sr. (paraphrased by Kevin “Two Beer”) [31:06]
• “Your nickname, 2Beer, has followed you ever since. Nobody calls you Kevin.” – Dale Jr. [32:38]

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Memorable Moments

• Dale admits to crying on the last lap: He says he was a wreck emotionally, and only lifted his visor when he'd pulled himself together. [08:11]
• Spotter panel breaks down the communication fail: Lays bare the real-world logistics and chaos atop the spotters' stand—making NASCAR’s invisible orchestration visible. [14:29]
• Affectionate crew pranks: The “Two Beer” anecdote illustrates the Earnhardt team’s legendary camaraderie and legacy. [31:36]

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Key Timestamps (Approximate)

• [01:23] — Dale Jr. on the significance of 60 wins
• [06:36] — Fan reactions to milestone win
• [08:11] — Dale describes his post-race tears
• [13:06] — Analysis of Las Vegas pit road miscommunication
• [21:58] — Super Speedway playoff scenarios and “selfish” racing at Talladega
• [29:49] — Kevin "Two Beer" Pinnell tells the origin of his nickname

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This episode blends personal storytelling, practical race-craft insights, and behind-the-scenes culture—offering a compelling listen for NASCAR fans and newcomers alike.

Transcript

[A]

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[A]

Hey guys.

[D]

Welcome to Actions Detrimental Post Las Vegas. The first race of the round of eight and we come home with a dub.

[E]

Did you think that that race was winnable with 15 to go?

[D]

Well, that's not true. When I got clear of that wreck and went from starting ninth, the wreck happened. Now I'm sixth on the outside and now I'm behind a four tire car. I thought the key moment was Brad. There's a lot of key moments. Brad was on two. I didn't want to start in the same lane as him because I thought that, you know, I was going to have to go three wide on him to, to get around him. That likely breaks my momentum. I'm likely to get freight trained one way or another. When he chose the lane, he chose it. Now put me sixth on the outside. I'm behind Larson. He, he's behind two tires. I got Brad on the inside of Larson with two tires and it's like, okay, now me and him are going to be the only guys on offense here. Like we should be rolling. And I was really surprised that Larson didn't get a better Restart. We took off there. I gave him a push. I was pretty close. I really wasn't on his bumper much. He actually was off the 22 way more than I thought.

[A]

Both lead, both one first and second, I feel like. Had a gap.

[D]

Yeah. And at that point I was able to get to the outside of them. Now I didn't end up gaining any positions from that, but it just, that allowed me to kind of feel my car out in some clean air and realized that this thing had superpowers.

[A]

Now that you've had 24 hours, what's 60 mean to you.

[D]

Huh? I mean I just never thought like when on NASCAR's post social post and it was like, win one. And then it, the ticker went, it was like win 27. Like the 2016 Daytona 500 was win 27. Have we won so many races in the last nine years? Like, that's a lot. We're now at 60 in 2016 Daytona 500 was win 27. I mean we've gotten hot lately and, and it's just, they rack up quickly. It's crazy because as a driver and we expect to win so much that I feel like, ah, if we go four or five weeks without winning, it feels like a freaking eternity. But it's hard to win. And you know, when you can average three and a half, four wins a year, they just tally up really, really quickly. And for me personally, what does it mean? It's like I still feel like when I look at the names on the list that I'm now a part of for the top 10, I feel like my name does stick out as not one of the greats of the sport. You know, I, I see the names, I'm like, oh, these are the legends of, of the sport. These are the people that grew the sport were just the best of the best. And then, you know, lots of them are guys that I raced, I, I raced against in my era. And so I knew how good they were. It's just very gratifying that I was able to still race at a high level this long into my career.

[A]

You're usually very stoic, you don't show too much emotion. But it got to you when you won. What was that?

[D]

It's just been such a build up, I think around the number it was, you know, obviously, you know, some home stuff going on and really happy that my dad is able to see 60, you know, because him and my mom just had so much sacrifice that they endured to keep me going, you know, to keep their son's dreams Alive like this. They just were so selfless and you could argue reckless in keeping this thing alive, but it's just like working and getting a trophy. Like that's what makes you really proud, is that, you know, that this all paid off. It all paid off in the end. Did it make it any sweeter that it felt as if the fans also appreciated it? Yes. Yes. You went from being the most booed driver and driver intros yesterday to the most celebrated at the end when you were driving your car through that, you.

[B]

Know, up to victory lane.

[D]

Right. There's fans on both sides of the, the barrier. Just felt like a. Yeah, a big moment that they all appreciated. I, I mean, I truthfully was really surprised not to hear booze from the crowd after the race. Like usually I, it's just a given I'm gonna get, you know, usually the fans in general after the race, you're gonna get even if they're not fans of you. People always just get cheers because it's the end and you know, it's the winner. But all of my post race interviews, when I get out of the car at the start finish line, it is, you know, it's 50, 50, you know, I think I just, I'm sure there were some boos, but I, I didn't hear them. I just didn't hear them at all. It was, I thought it was all really positive and in it truthfully was before I said anything. So I don't think I influenced it in that kind of way. So, yeah, it makes me very humbled and very appreciative of the fans to do that because it certainly meant a lot for me personally. That was a big accomplishment for myself, a life accomplishment, a life goal in this sport, in my profession and for them to kind of give me that moment. I really appreciated that. But also the, you know, the fans and the stands don't get to see what was on the broadcast. You know, you tearing up in your car on that cool down lap, like people watching on tv, they're all privy to that, but the fans in the stands don't see that. So it just, I don't know. Yeah, you know, they don't know how you're feeling in the moment until you get out of it. I felt like they, well, had already felt good about it. Yeah, I mean, I went back and watched and like, thank goodness my shield was down. Like y' all didn't see the heavy stuff. The heavy stuff came down far before I raised that shield. I was, I was a wreck that the, the Entire last lap and then cooldown lap was just. I was a mess. And. And so I. When I finally pulled myself together is when I raised my shield. So, yeah, it's just. I don't know, sometimes it just. It hits you.

[A]

What was that conversation like when you talked to your dad?

[D]

Yeah, I mean, he's just so proud of me. I mean, I don't know what to say. I. You know, I don't want to come off super soft in this. That's not me. But it's. It's great because, you know, he always, you know, sends me messages and stuff after the race. And, you know, we have. Sometimes we have phone calls that, you know, talk about it, and he's always got questions, but either way, it's like he's always like, you're the best. You're the best. He's. He's my number one hype man when it comes to. To confidence. And so, yeah, he just always says how proud he is, and certainly I'm so happy that he's. He was able to see all those wins. What did your mom say when you got home here today? She's just super excited. Really, really excited. I came home, the kids had some confetti poppers ready to go, and my mom was videotaping it and whatnot, so she just came. Give me a big hug. You know, just. That's kind of what my mom does.

[A]

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Just go to indeed.com dalejr right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.comdalejr Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to another episode of Door Bumper Clear. Where we're all or some of us are running on very little sleep. Some of us because they stayed up too late studying notes. Some of us because we were flying back forward. I think. I don't know. You may, you may be the most rested person here, but I am still Freddie Kraft, I think. Spotted for Bubba Wallace, spotted for Dean Thompson this week, joining me as always. Thomas, how are you today?

[B]

Good morning.

[C]

I'm feeling good.

[A]

I got a little toothache. But you had a, you had an interesting remedy for your toothache.

[D]

You're just telling us.

[A]

Drink a bottle of tequila. No, no, Carson. I don't know where the hell Carson is today. Who knows? I forget where she took off to, but Stephanie Odie has joined us. I don't know what the hell you did to get thrown to the wolves like this. Speaking of, how the hell did you get here? Where did you come? How the hell did this happen?

[E]

Yeah, how did I end up here right now?

[B]

That is the question.

[A]

This is as I know, Lee D.

[B]

I was catching up on episodes, sort of get my bearings and surreal is maybe not the word I use. Completely bad. Crazy might be the word.

[A]

Hi, Dylan.

[B]

The communication mishap. Who was miscommunicating?

[A]

What exactly happened?

[B]

So it was about 31 laps to go. Ty Dillon slowing down, getting into pit.

[A]

Road and then massive slam.

[B]

Obviously William Byrom did not see him signal or anything.

[A]

He said that he didn't hear anything. And then you see Ty saying that.

[B]

He told his spotter to tell William Spotter that.

[A]

But he didn't get any signal.

[B]

So do you think that William's frustration.

[A]

Was warranted or should he have been more aware of the cycle?

[B]

So before you go, I'm so excited for this conversation. This is, I think, in the NASCAR podcast power rankings on this discussion, door bumper clear is P1. So can you, instead of just answering that question, like, just do a deep dive on how this all works? Because I think it's. I think it's fascinating of like, what is a spotter's role when someone pits and just everything that goes into it. Because that was the one kind of like just thing that was hanging out there yesterday at the end of the race that no one really understood. Perfect question for it too.

[A]

So, you know, in this moment, you know, so I think one of two things happened here, and there's a lot of stuff that happens up there that, you know, it happens quick. Like, I know that the spotter, the 10 basically had a half a lap to communicate. They was.

[B]

They.

[A]

They made the call to pit as he basically passed the start finish line for the record. Freddie, they were terrible. They were awful.

[B]

They were. They were.

[A]

They were the by far the slowest car out there at that time. Yeah, by far. And they were like the first ones that pit every time. So they were usually ended up on the oldest tires, Latent runs. So whatever, he gets the call to pit. Now, what happens in our. More in our world is we will try to run down to the guy. Like, if this. If it's me, if I'm spotting the 10, I will try to run down to the guy and let him know, hey, tap him on the shoulder. I'm pitting this time the leader or whoever, Whoever is behind us. It's usually whoever is behind you or it may be the next two guys behind you, just to let them know, you know. So you could be talking to multiple people. You can be talking to multiple people, you know, and. But it's tough. Like where these two guys stood, they're very far apart on the roof. So I don't know that the spot of the 10 had time to go down there. He may have. Sometimes you just kind of step back, get on the. Get on a stool and get up and wave and tell them. Like, a lot of times you're like, we or you just have a guy.

[D]

Hanging over the rail.

[A]

Tom, you've seen this before where you just got. You're hanging over the railing, waving your hand like that. That's a signal to pit. But sometimes you can. Like, if you're, you're too separated. You can't see that. So you try to go down to the guy. And I think one of two things happened here. Either he didn't have time to go down there and was trying to wave from his spot hoping that he would see him. And Brandon obviously never saw him. You know, there's pretty obvious the 24 had no idea that the 10 was Pitt. The other problem is it's possible that in this moment we also communicate as a lap down car. Like if the leader's catching us or lead up car is catching us, I'll look at somebody and say I am going to the top or I am going to the bottom. And it's all hand signals. We're not really talking because it's probably a distance between this. So there's very possible like my hand signals and I'm going to have to change these now, but my hand signals for pitting and I'm going to the bottom are the same. Like if I look down at somebody like this and I go like that, that means I'm, I'm pitting. I'm coming this time. And usually if they look they're right behind me or whatever, they'll know. Especially if it's we're battle position. But it's possible that the spot of the 10 did like pitting because it wasn't time to pit yet. No, no, he was right. There was no, we weren't in our pit cycle. So. Yeah, so he, when he does this, you hear the spotter of the 24 tell William that the 10's going to run the second or third lane because I think that maybe if he did see a hand signal saying down, he might have thought that he was going to give him the bottom. Like, you know, you're going to have, you're going to get the bottom here. And that was the message that got relayed. You know, I don't know that that's what happened, but it could have happened. You know where that's. That can be easily confused with I'm pitting or you're going to. You go to the bottom. And it's just like it says here, miscommunication is the best term for it because I don't know, obviously nothing was done maliciously and I kind of ty would be the one I maybe put the most fault on. Just because he didn't execute his entry very well, he ends up sliding. You know, sometimes you see a guy when you have a car that's handling that bad, it looks like that. All the time. And you.

[E]

You.

[A]

How many times you guys up there when a car is really slow and it's just all over the racetrack and it's all over. Well, sometimes you can't even slow it down well enough to get to pit.

[D]

Road, you know, and he was.

[A]

I think at the time, he was over a. He was a second and a half off the pace. Yeah. I just think that we got to the. He got to the point there when you got. I think he heard in his interview, like, it was almost relieved that that took him out of the race because they were so bad. But, you know, in that moment. Like it happened the day before. No, that. In that race with. You know, we were running down the back stretch, and Charles made the call to pit, and Priest was right behind us. And I knew I didn't have time to get to Priest's guy, so I told Bubba, I'm like, you really have to let Priest know you're coming here. Which they do in multiple ways. You hear, you see him wave out the window. You'll see him swerve back and forth down the back straightaway. That's kind of a signal to the guy behind you that I'm coming to pit road here. And I didn't see any of that at a tie. So it's. You can blame the spotter if you want, but a lot of it's on you as well. You got to execute. Like, if.

[C]

If.

[A]

I think if William sees Ty slowing down on the white line, I like to see. When they told him to pit, though, they told Ty to Pitt about the start finish line. Oh, the lap before. Yeah. So they had about a lap, three quarters of a lap to. To figure it out, but it was. Yeah, I mean, it's just unfortunate, but, you know, I think Ty could have done a lot to help there.

[D]

Where.

[A]

And you. You know that these guys are behind you, you know, you know, like the. What's going on around you? But I think Ty was really frustrated that how his day was going. And so going off that. Great question. The next question is, do you guys now this weekend get together and talk about that as spotters? Yeah. Like, do all you guys go, man, what. What do we need to do differently? We talked about it on the roof yesterday because obviously the 24 spotter was. Was pretty heated at the 10 spotter. And, you know, at the moment, it's like, hey, let's everybody calm down. You know, let's. Let's. We don't know what happened.

[B]

Can you go into details on What?

[A]

I didn't hear it. I couldn't really hear it. They were kind of a few people down for me. I saw two of them get heated, yelling at each other. Then I saw somebody else. Tyler Green kind of went in and defused the situation and said, hey man, this guy, you don't know that he did anything wrong, you know? Yeah, I don't know what happened. I wish I knew that he went down there, you know, And I. Like I said, I know it's. They're literally there's probably 25 people between the two of them on the roof. So it's hard to get down there to him. There's bags everywhere on the roof nowadays. Wires, cables. Yeah. So monitors. The. The amount of monitors and iPads up there is driving me insane. But so do you guys now will go through your. Like how does that do you guys. Yeah, so I mean we won't for that.

[B]

We won't.

[A]

We'll just. We have a group chat that we'll all talk about. But like I said, it's. It's probably something that's very specific to that moment. Just a miscommunication between those two where it was very obvious that the 24 did not know that the 10 was pitting.

[B]

And.

[A]

And we have to figure out what. What the spotter of the 10 could do better to let that know or to let him know or the driver of the 10, whoever really dropped the ball there. Because obviously, you know, this, this changes a lot of things as far as we, you know, the playoffs are concerned. The temps might be dropping, but the action's still running hot. For excitement that goes beyond the track, check out Chumba Casino. The online social casino with over 200 games to keep the fun rolling. Chumba Casino, proud partner of 2311 Racing always brings you something new to play from slots and table games and more. Sign [e-mail] and grab your welcome bonus. Two million free gold coins and two free sweeps coins. No purchase necessary VGW Group void where prohibited by law CTNC21 + sponsored by Chumba Casino.

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[B]

Dale Jr. Back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. And I am remote today. Kids are on fall break, so we go to Talladega. There's an opportunity for Denny to be a good teammate. You know, Denny can be calculative on what he wants to do, who he wants to help, who he doesn't want to help. Right. I think that's a pretty neat spot to be in if you're Denny Hamlin. Other drivers in, in the, in the final are still kind of racing to get in, right? You have, you have Byron, you got, I mean, we know kind of Blaney and those guys what, what they have to do, but you got, you know, Byron at minus 15. Larson's at plus 35. He's pretty good. Pretty good. He's in a pretty good situation. He just doesn't need to crash out. But Byron and Chase Elliott -15, -23. What's going to be the protocol with teammates? Because we know in the past there's been a lot of manufacturer orders, there's been a lot of, you know, teammate orders. We've seen that fade away a little bit. It was, it's not quite as big of a part of super speedway racing as it used to be. Now, now it's more about, you know, fuel mileage and so forth, but kind of, what's the, what's the attitude if you're a teammate to another driver in the chase going into this race?

[E]

I mean, I, I think this is a whole different, this is a scenario that we really haven't seen in a while as far as heavy hitters needing to, needing to make up some ground like Joey and, and, and, and Blaney here. Normally, they're in the plus at this point or, you know, have been in the plus and they're in a good spot. Now you got two A's that need to be, that need to win this race, and now that changes to me, it changes the whole thing. You know, how, like, how these guys now have to race each other.

[A]

You've got five championships below the cut line right now.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, that's. It's a whole different scenario, in my opinion.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

I'm interested how they work with each other now.

[B]

Well, if I was the. If I was the driver of any of those cars, I would just tell. I would just tell everybody, like, I'm, you know, I'm going to try to do what I can to be a good teammate when that's possible, but I can't. I'm not going to do anything that I think is detrimental to me, even losing one position. So I'll race and be. Be a good teammate, but I will not do a thing that's going to cost me a spot. I always want to be moving forward and trying to be at the front of the field leading every lap, and so there'll be things that I do out on the racetrack that you'll be like, damn it, that wasn't good. That wasn't a good teammate move. But it's something I had to do for myself that I felt like was put me in the position to try to win this race. Yeah.

[A]

I'll be curious to see how long Blaney and Logano work together early on the play work and then at what point, for sure, what point do you go, all right, we're not teammates.

[E]

Yeah, well, you got to beat this guy. They're. They're racing each other for the last.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. Like, at what point does that drop off? Like, is it 10 to go?

[E]

Like, I don't know, man.

[B]

No, no, no, no. It dropped off coming off.

[E]

I don't know.

[B]

No, no, not earlier. Listen, if Blaney and Joey are running first and second with 20 to go, it don't matter who.

[E]

I agree.

[A]

They're not.

[B]

They're not gonna shuffle one or the other out early. They're going to need that teammate to be able to stay in those positions all the way to the finish. They're going to try to work together for the benefit of both of them all the way to the finish. And then I think, you know, coming to the white, that's when it gets a little blurry, and you may see a teammate with a run he has to take, and he's going to have to, you know, he's going to make that choice. He's going to do that thing that's, you know, he's going to do that thing for himself. In that moment, it may come with two to go, but I'd say, you know, you take a risk, lose. The one thing that you don't want to do is go back to. If we're talking about Penske, for example, you don't want to go back to Roger Penske and have to look him in the face and say, the move I made cost us both. Whatever move you make, it better be the one that wins you the race. If you're going to take a win from your teammate, you better be able to know for sure that that move is the one that will win you the race. So that you know you do. You can't cost both of you.

[E]

Let me ask you this.

[B]

Making.

[E]

If you're, you know, if you're. Ryan and Joey, you're running top three to five, the first stage, do you take stage points? You know what I mean? Like, are you stage pointing this thing in the beginning, or are you setting yourself up for the win? Because to me, I mean, I'm just racing like hell, but, I mean, I know that. But, like, you're gonna have to pick one side or the other, because at some point.

[B]

No, you don't. You can race for stage points and the win.

[E]

I mean, I guess, why not?

[B]

What the. It's race. Go race. The only thing that tj, the only thing that I think could actually truly affect that is their fuel mileage. What are their. What's their objective? Right. To be in the best position late in the race to assure themselves the track position. And if they have to say, look, you know, I gotta do this thing that's going to cost us track position now and likely stage points, but it's going to benefit us later. Then. I see them doing that, but I'm thinking of it from just purely the driver standpoint. My mentality would be go to the front, be at the front, take the lead. Lead.

[E]

Lead, yeah, for sure. And I think they will. I think they'll have a good shot at doing that. I think they'll be in control of some of that. But at some point, what I was saying is the decision is going to have to be made. Do we take first and second on this stage or we sacrifice a little bit here.

[A]

You can do both, though, like Kyle Larson in the. In earlier this year, first in stage one, second stage two, second for the. The race. So, like, you're right. Like, you can. You can have your cake and eat.

[B]

Yeah, you can.

[E]

It just so hard at Talladega, though, because of the wrecks and stuff. You. I Mean, you know how hard it is. We're talking about them being the guaranteed of the race. That's a hard point to get to.

[B]

Tj. The wrecks are.

[D]

The wrecks.

[E]

They are.

[B]

Well, I mean, you, when you, I mean, when you go to Talladega or Daytona, you can't strategize for crashes.

[E]

No, you can't. I agree with that.

[B]

You just race. You just gotta race.

[D]

I agree with you.

[E]

110. I go and race.

[B]

Drop.

[E]

If you race hard every lap and.

[B]

See where you end up open and.

[A]

The play qualify up front, I feel.

[B]

Like that your chances of crashing go. Your chances of crashing in Talladega are 80%.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Let's just roughly say, Russell, you got it. You got 80 chance of crashing. All right, now that might drop down to like 70 if you race hard all day. If you, if you're in protect mode and defense mode and just, you know, if you're in like conservative mode, you might actually raise that percentage. And I just feel like that if you're racing hard all the time, then there's a big better chance of you being in front of the crash when it happens. At least that's what my experience was. And anytime I tried to be conservative or chill or lay back or settle in any point in the race, I'm like, I'm actually in the danger zone right here. This ain't good at all. You know, I'm actually, I'm actually going to drive into the wreck when it starts to happen, you know, so it, it's, I think it's, it's a good practice to be of the mindset that I want to lead every lap. It's not realistic that you're leading every lap, but if you're in the mindset of I'm going to be doing everything I can all the time to try to be in the lead, then I think that you're putting yourself in a better, in a safer spot.

[E]

You are. I think when you get two, three rows back you, and you're stuck right there, you're just kind of like, you just, you know, it could get you.

[B]

Yeah. If it happens, it's right where you're at. Hey, Everybody, it's Dale Jr. Back again for another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. And we got a great guest for you today. His name is Kevin Pinnell, but everybody knows him in the racing industry as Two Beers. We're going to learn how he got that nickname. You can imagine how that might have came about. But this guy, Kevin Two Beers, whatever you want to Call him. He's been part of the DEI circle for a really long time. He was working with the ACDELCO crew when I would come in and drive that car for two championships in 98, 99. He was with the Bud guys back in those days. And we've just always been together, one big family. Dad gave you your nickname, Two beer.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

How'd that happen? I've always wondered this.

[C]

Well, obviously the late model racing, you know, we went to the beach and raced with you on some of the big races. And we went down there and everybody wanted to go out to some establishments. Oh, yeah, I went out with them. Figured I was going to get in, but I didn't get in. Got throwed out.

[B]

Damn. Too young.

[C]

Too young. Sit out there in a dually. And there was a cooler beer. So I sat out there with cooler beer by myself until they decided to come back. I was passed out.

[B]

Damn.

[C]

I done sit in there and got sick.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, no.

[C]

Messed all over. Messed up all over the side. So they were like, you know what I mean? You know, I mean, you can't drink. You don't need but two beers and all this stuff. And then they got back to the shop and, you know, your dad was like, I could, you know, told me I could, I could go with her, but I couldn't, you know, get into trouble. Drinking and all that other jazz with them. Got back to the shop and the story time he had on Monday nights, yeah, he went down to the house, came back and had a.

[B]

If there's a story to be told and them boys in that shop know it, you ain't surviving.

[C]

You can't hide it.

[B]

You can't hide it.

[C]

Can't hide it.

[B]

Coming out, five o', clock, the damn beer cooler came into the shop and the five alive and the absolute vodka.

[C]

Or Jack and Dyson.

[B]

Yeah, all that stuff came out of the cabinets and it was story time.

[C]

So he went down to the house and came back and he had a stein. And it would only hold two beers, and I didn't know it at the time. And he set the stein on the table and he says, two beer like that, you know what I mean? And I didn't answer. And he's like, he, he goes, kevin, like that. And I go, what? He goes, I got a mug right here. This mug will only hold two beers. Whenever you think you brave enough to drink another beer again, you can have it. But this is all you can have. I'm gonna put it up here in the cabinet. Yeah. And he slid up there in the cabinet with all the pictures where they were and all that stuff. But that's where it set for all in years.

[B]

Damn.

[C]

And it was just a, it got exposed on a Monday night thunder night. You know.

[B]

Man, you, we, your nickname, 2Beer has followed you ever since. Nobody, yeah, nobody calls you Kevin.

[C]

And, and that's the thing about it, you know, people, you know, you get in uniforms and you get Kevin put on there and they're like, kevin. When did you get that name? You know, I mean, but you know, mom and dad, they're not really proud of it, but the same stuff, you know what I mean? It got me to where I am today, you know what I mean? I mean, your name is your name, but hey, yeah, I, I, I'd much rather get it from who I got it from than, than someone else.

[B]

Check out DirtyMome Media on Instagram, Facebook X and TikTok.

[A]

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