An All-Star Race In The Wet ... On Purpose?!

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download – "An All-Star Race In The Wet ... On Purpose?!"

Date: August 7, 2026
Podcast Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dirty Mo Media/SiriusXM
Main Guests: Tony Stewart, Marcus Smith, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon, others
Episode Focus: The evolution of NASCAR’s playoff system, the identity and future of the All-Star Race—including radical ideas like wet-weather racing—as well as a candid roundtable of current and former NASCAR personalities sharing stories, ideas, and inside views.

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Episode Overview

This lively roundtable episode centers on sweeping changes and experiments in NASCAR, starting with the revamped playoff system and segueing into a passionate debate about the All-Star Race—its history, value, future, and whether NASCAR should embrace dramatic concepts like mandatory wet-weather racing. Through a mix of nostalgia, critique, and innovation, racing’s stars and decision-makers offer a rare, open look into what keeps the sport evolving.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. The NASCAR Playoff System: Returning to the Chase (02:28–10:03)

- How the Change Happened

• Dale Jr. recalls being on a committee for playoff changes, feeling the NASCAR brass were mostly unwilling to revisit full points systems or abandon current elimination formats.

• Tony Stewart is praised for being the lone vocal advocate for the fan-favored changes.

  “You just would not stop. You had this conviction. ... I'm just telling y'all what the fans are telling me.”
  — Dale Jr. (05:24)

• Stewart shares his motivations:

  “I did it for the fans... I love the sport, but I love the fans even more because the life I live today [is] because of the race fans.”
  — Tony Stewart (06:33)

- Resistance & Breakthroughs

• Stewart and Dale agree the committee was full of “yes people” with too much at stake in the TV deals, leading to little real dissent or risk-taking.

• Stewart reveals the change back to the Chase format was essentially about representing the overwhelmingly pro-Chase/full-season point sentiment among fans (an “80-20 issue”), with Stewart vowing minimal compromise:

  “I will get behind a 10 [race Chase] because I knew we weren’t getting [a full season]... I was shocked when they came back and said they were going to do it.”
  — Tony Stewart (09:21)

2. The All-Star Race: Identity Crisis and the Call for Innovation (12:03–24:51)

- Historical Significance & Nostalgia (12:09–13:56)

• Marcus Smith reminisces about the All-Star Race as his childhood favorite—citing pivotal innovations originating from it (night racing, side-by-side restarts, stage racing).

• Judy, Travis, and others note the All-Star’s original specialness has faded because bold ideas it introduced are now standard everywhere.

  “Every race is now the All-Star Race.”
  — Judy (13:38)

- Debate Over Its Future (14:07–16:43)

• Some call for the All-Star’s outright retirement, but Marcus Smith resists, pointing out few races offer $1 million to win or foster real experimentation for the sport.
• Ideas surface: rotating venues, trading dates, and returning to short tracks like Bowman Gray, South Boston, or Hickory for novelty and nostalgia.

- Radical New Concepts: "An All-Star in the Wet" (17:11–24:51)

• Smith floats the idea of actively wetting the track and running full races with rain tires to create drama and test drivers’ skills—a concept first mentioned years ago by Bernie Ecclestone in F1.

  “Why not run on a wet track and run rain tires for a race and actually make the track wet? ... I was so hoping we'd get a passing shower for Wilkesboro the other day.”
  — Marcus Smith (17:33, 18:28)

• Danny and Judy argue for using the event as a throwback to short tracks, smaller fields, and true “All-Star” exclusivity (win-and-you’re-in), connecting the sport’s past and future.

  “If you didn’t win a race or championship, your ass ain’t in it. ... Create an All-Star event at historic racetracks. ... That’s a big damn deal.”
  — Danny (19:52)

• All agree the All-Star Race is now as much an "innovation lab"—a race for trying things that are too risky or radical for points events.

  “I know it’s called All Star Race, but I also think about it as the innovation race...”
  — Marcus Smith (22:09)

- Controlled Experimentation vs. Free-For-All

• Judy mourns the loss of “run what you brung” rules packages, arguing the sport missed a learning opportunity.
• The group discusses the need for balance between open innovation and control so teams can safely, meaningfully experiment.

3. Offbeat Roundtable: Stories, Humor, and Unfiltered Q&A (26:54–33:13)

- Kyle Busch Hospital Story (27:04)

• A guest shares a vivid memory of watching a race in the hospital while his wife gave birth, insisting on naming their daughter after Kyle Busch’s daughter, Lennox.

  “During the race, like, I'm holding—I can't look because I'll pass out... But then the next thing you know, the baby comes out fine. ... I got to name her after Kyle Busch's daughter, Lennox.”
  — Kyle Busch’s fan (27:04)

- "The Dog Pound" – Life at the Back of the Pack (32:08)

• Austin Dillon and Noah Gragson share self-aware humor about racing at the rear, calling the 25th–32nd battle “the dog pound.”
• Playful ribbing about who “lives” in the dog pound and what that pack’s internal dynamic is like—camaraderie rather than rivalry.

- Lighthearted Brainstorming on Racing Packages (30:40–31:20)

• Drivers react to the new Daytona package with skepticism, joke about bringing back tandem racing, and agree “less drag” would be transformative.

  “Unpopular opinion, but I think the tandem racing would be sick to bring back. ... What do you think? ... Less drag.”
  — Noah Gragson and Marcus Smith (30:00, 31:19)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tony Stewart on speaking for fans:
  “I did it for the fans, and it’s hard for the people inside to do that. ... The life I live today [is] because the race fans.” (06:33)
• Marcus Smith on All-Star as innovation:
  "I know it’s called All Star Race, but I also think about it as the innovation race, a place where we can really innovate and try some things." (22:09)
• Danny on short tracks:
  “What do you mean we don't belong there? That's where we came from. That's why we exist today.” (18:52)
• Kyle Busch’s fan story:
  “I'm holding her hand like, push, babe. While I'm watching the race, I'm yelling at Derek and Rainbow on the radio.” (27:04)
• Austin Dillon on 'the dog pound':
  “It is blue collar. ... The battle from 25th to 32nd? No, it's the dog pound. ... All just dogs back there.” (32:08)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:28–10:03: Deep dive into playoff system committee work and Tony Stewart’s vocal advocacy for fans
• 12:03–16:43: All-Star Race origin, status, and why retain it or let it go
• 17:11–24:51: Experimental concepts for the All-Star Race—including running in the wet, rotating venues, returning to roots
• 27:04: Hilarious family/racing story about Kyle Busch fandom
• 30:40–32:29: Drivers discuss tandem racing, package tweaks, life at the back of the field (“dog pound”)

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Tone and Style

• Conversational, passionate, often irreverent: speakers don’t shy away from sharp opinions or humor
• Mix of nostalgia, critique, bold dreaming, and lived racing experience
• Focus is on putting fans first and being real about both failures and innovation in the sport

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Summary

This episode is a must-hear for NASCAR enthusiasts and newcomers alike—blending behind-the-scenes insight with meaty debate over the identity and future of the sport. Whether you’re interested in system-level politics, the “soul” of iconic races, or the wild potential of a wetted All-Star event, this roundtable delivers on access, candor, and ideas you’ll likely be debating with friends and fellow fans long after the checkered flag.

Transcript

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey everybody, I'm Dylan Hart Jr. And

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

this is the Dirty 30. The best highlights from all of our podcasts this week. 30 minutes every single Friday. The Dirty 30 coming at you. Let's get right to it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

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[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Somehow or another, you and I both ended up serving on a sort of informal committee of, for the playoffs, the NASCAR playoff system and changing that and what would be the future of that? And we were invited onto a call early last year to start those conversations. And you were, you were the one that was the most vocal right out of the gate. We were, I remember sitting in that first conversation. This might have been, I think this might have been the first or the second conversation, but we, we basically had like an initial get together. Here's what we want to do. We don't know what, what we're, you know, what this means if we don't know if anything changes, but we just want to look at it. And then we got down to, you know, having some zoom calls and conversations got more intense. But I remember early on there was zero chance that we were ever going to go back to full point system and there was not much of a chance that we would ever go back to a 10 race chase system. There was this idea early on that was, it wasn't really spoken, it wasn't really completely verbalized, but there was this idea that we got to hang on to the rounds, we've got to hang on to elimination. We can't give up. When in your end there's all these things that just, they were too, they were, they were not willing to release. And I remember on one of the first calls, it was either the very first one or the very second one. I think me, maybe one or two other people on this call are biting our tongue, not really wanting to say what we want to say. Feels like it's a waste of my time to really kind of get on a soapbox and talk about something that I don't think 85% of the people on this call are interested in.

[Tony Stewart]

Right.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

And you did it. You said, at the end of the call, you said, you went on this sort of five minute rant, rant that was like, this is what we need. This is the only way, this is the way to do it. And at the end of that, at the end of your rant, I think the, the NASCAR executives on the call said, all right, well, we know how everybody feels. A little bit of a chuckle. We're going to. We're going to meet up again down the road. We had a couple more meetings. You may remember this better than I do, but we had a couple more calls and zoom calls and so forth. And you continued to pressure this idea and I still didn't feel like it had much of a chance. But you wouldn't let it up. You wouldn't let go of the. You just were. You had. You've said this over and over and over. You're like, man, I'm just telling me, telling y' all what the fans are telling me. I'm just telling you all what the fans are telling me. This is what they're telling me. And you just would not stop. You had this conviction of, I'm just going to tell. I'm just going to push this narrative, I'm going to push for this change, whether it's realistic or not, whether it's even possible. This is what I believe in. And I really, truly feel that all of your effort is the reason why the Chase is back. We got the Chase, which I didn't think was possible, and we got. We got as close to a full year point system as one could have. And so, you know, now that we are in the back half of the first year of this new or old system, however you want to look at it, where. Where's your satisfaction? Where's your pride? How are you enjoying what you're seeing? What's been the experience, I guess, for you?

[Tony Stewart]

You know, first of all, I did it for the fans, and it's hard for the people inside to do that. The worst thing they could do to me is take my hard card and I don't go for very many races anyway. I love the sport, but I love the fans even more because the life I live today are because the race fans, they're more responsible than NASCAR is. They're everything to me. And I wouldn't have stood up for that for my. And I never do try to really push for what I want. If the fans really want something I don't want, I'll at least stay out of it. If not back them up. Because I think it's about the fans and you do, too. But, you know, television and the broadcast stuff has taken over to the point that even if they don't say what they want, a lot of the people in the industry were backing it up because they believed that's what they wanted, which mostly what they want is for it to succeed.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

That's right.

[Tony Stewart]

That's really what they want. But if they don't know our sport like we know our sport, then that's the problem with the committee. You put the wrong people on the committee, you get the wrong answer and that's all I'll say. You know, and there were way too many yes people and people that had to cover themselves and had to watch. Look, when I drove for Jack Roush, I kept my mouth shut. You know, I didn't run my. I could not have survived if I spoke like Tony Stewart did. That's why I love Tony Stewart. He said everything I already thought, you know, but I didn't have. I don't, you know, he had the talent that they couldn't fire him or run him off. And that's kind of the same thing. If you're in this sport and your livelihood has to do with, in the end, the TV money, you know, then you're going to do what they want, even if it, even if it hurts the sport. From a fan standpoint, I, you know, I don't think. I just, I just didn't feel like that anybody was in a position to tell it like it was. And I'm telling you, I was certain where the fans stood. It was not. It was an 8020 issue.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Oh yeah.

[Tony Stewart]

You know, it was only 20. Wanted playoffs. If you combine full season, which was stronger than, than, than the chase, but you combine the chase and full season, it's 80%. And in the end, if you remember on the last conversation we had, I said, I will, I will get behind a 10 because I knew we weren't getting. It was positive. Yeah, but I will get behind 10. Race chase. Yes, but I won't anything less, you know, because I'm on stand and squall like that. Like the fans, like, like the fans were so. I couldn't believe. I was shocked when they came back and said they were going to do it.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I was too.

[Tony Stewart]

Yeah, shock and it's great.

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[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Moving on to the All Star Race and the future of that. Marcus, you you.

[Marcus Smith]

Let's talk about some ideas.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

You kind of own the the All Star Race and the idea of the All Star Race. I've heard some really good ideas and you know Dover is involved in this. Wilkesboro is involved in this. I would assume the best idea that I've heard is for the All Star Race to go away entirely. Now I don't love. I don't really love any of these ideas entire, you know, for but what is your opinion about the All Star Race? Why does it need to exist for you? What does the All Star Race mean?

[Marcus Smith]

You know, it's so wild to me how we've gotten to this place where the All Star Race seems like a negative for so many people. And for me it was my favorite race growing up. I mean it was the race.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

There was a time when I felt the same way.

[Marcus Smith]

It was the race that made me my own kind of decision that I'm a NASCAR fan now in 92 one hot night. I mean that was the race. And every year I look forward to

[Travis]

it

[Marcus Smith]

and look at everything that's come out of the All Star Race. I mean the simple things that we take for granted every single week on the schedule, side by side restarts didn't have that. And the All Star Race did it.

[Judy]

That's the challenge. Every race is now the All Star Race.

[Marcus Smith]

Right. The stage racing came out of the All Star Race racing under lights. We can do it at any track with lights.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Used to just be Bristol.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah, well, in Charlotte was the first that it was the big speedway. Yeah, but I mean, yeah, Bristol was the.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Bristol was the first night race. Candlelit, first and only night race.

[Marcus Smith]

Yes.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I think that's why the Bristol, that was the reason why Bristol became so popular.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah, the night race.

[Austin Dillon]

Yeah.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah. But I think the All Star Race, you know, has done so many great things for the sport and you know, creating these, these opportunities to showcase bold ideas. And now it's every weekend and somewhere it became kind of a punching bag and people like to talk about, I mean, heck, man, before leading into race week, people would be debating about how the format for the race that they hadn't seen yet needs to be different. Already it was judged up front. So it's really frustrating a lot of ways to me and sad in a lot of ways because I just love that race over years and years, so would love to see it get the support that it should have. I know a lot of guys like to talk about the million dollars not being enough, but how many races pay a million to win on the circuit?

[Danny]

It seems like real money to me.

[Marcus Smith]

I mean it's. The purse isn't as big, but to pay a million to win, I think that's more than most races in the, in the season.

[Judy]

My favorite idea I've got, and this requires a lot of creativity, but we are in a very creative era of the NASCAR Cup Series. Could you, in nascar, with the Clash moving back to Daytona, could you acquire the, the Bowman Gray date and have a million dollar to win race at Bowman Gray in, in exchange for, I don't know, the finale or something like that? Could that be a possibility?

[Marcus Smith]

I don't know. I don't know. What do you mean?

[Judy]

So, so basically so you, you have the All Star race, right. And the Clash is being taken from Bowman Gray right to Daytona.

[Marcus Smith]

Right.

[Judy]

They've got contracts and obligations to Winston Salem. Could they come to you and say, hey, we'll give you the, the All Star race and you'll, you'll ask, well, what do I, what, what if NASCAR then has. Yeah, the All Star race? Could you then say, okay, well, I want the finale. We can take it to Vegas. Or some sort of creative idea like trade.

[Marcus Smith]

Trading.

[Judy]

Yeah. Trading dates temporarily or semi, permanently.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah. Open ideas, for sure. And we talked about a ton of ideas, us and nascar, and. And I think, you know, like you guys said, I mean, there's no. There's no decision that you make that's without detractors. You gotta. You gotta just know that going in.

[Austin Dillon]

Yeah.

[Marcus Smith]

But I think rethinking the. The time, the place, the. The format of All Star, what that looks like, I think it would be. We could come up with some. Some cool ideas. And I think that if. If we all, you know, get behind it, it could be very successful and give it a chance. I think. I think it's important for.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

You think the All Star race is here to stay.

[Marcus Smith]

Well, could always change. You know, I mean, it could always change. But going into.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Where do you want to have the All Star race next year?

[Marcus Smith]

Ah, let's see. Yeah, it would be.

[Austin Dillon]

There's.

[Marcus Smith]

There's a lot of. I've got. I've got, like, four ideas that. That could be interesting. But in talking to Harvick, if he was here, he'd say, let's go out to his speedway in California and run the All Star at the Kevin Harvick Kern Speedway. I think all those options are out there. And think about how it can play a role in innovation for nascar. I mean, if we've innovated a lot with us with it thus far, we've done some tire ideas at All Star. Why not run on a wet track and run rain tires for a race and actually make the track wet? And so, you know, I was so hoping that we'd get a passing shower for Wilkesboro the other day.

[Judy]

Did you get that from Bernie Ecclestone? I heard Bernie say that, like, 10 years ago.

[Marcus Smith]

Oh, really?

[Danny]

No.

[Marcus Smith]

What'd he say?

[Judy]

So Bernie said he wanted to so desperately, but the team shot him down on this. He wanted to turn on all the sprinklers and have an F1 race that was run entirely in wet conditions on wet tires, and I would get along.

[Marcus Smith]

I like that idea.

[Judy]

He is a promoter's promoter, so I.

[Danny]

So I want to jump in on this because I. You know, you're. A long time ago, I. I publicly said I think that Marcus should promote the All Star race at South Boston Speedway, at Orange County Speedway, at Hickory, and I got laughed out of the industry. You know, I had some of the biggest people in the industry say there's no way we're going back to those racetracks. We don't belong there. What do you mean we don't belong there? That's where we came from. I mean, that's where we came from. That's the, that's, that's what we are. That's why we exist today, is because we started at those racetracks. Yeah, we now have the Charlotte Motor Speedways and we now have the Daytonas and we have these magnificent facilities, but that's not where we started. So in this era, we are starting to clearly reach back into our past and say, okay, there's some magic in there. How do we, how do we embrace that? And so I still believe that if we, if. And we've done this, we've done this in at Bowman Gray, we've done this in a way by going to a short track at the stadium out in California. But the opportunity to go to South Boston Speedway, to go to Hickory Motor Speedway and have an all star race, like if you didn't win a race or championship, your ass ain't in it. You know, it's an all star race and I know that's hard for sponsors and I know that's a difficult situation, but there is an opportunity to have to get a couple people in, race their way in, keep the number down to the All Stars and move it around. Do a three or four year deal where you go to historic racetracks and you're talking about helping short tracks. You're talking about helping short track racing. You're talking about helping grassroots that connects all of that. And you talk, you know, look, I'm from South Boston, so it's a bad example. I shouldn't be using that. But let's go, let's say Hickory, you take, you go to Hickory Motor Speedway and our stars are there. That's a big damn deal for anything but create an All Star VIN. It's not 30 cars or whatever. It's a limited number. And you had to be special to be in it.

[Judy]

The smaller track makes it really easy to do that.

[Danny]

Exactly. Because you can't put 12 cars on Charlotte Motor Speedway. It's boring as hell. I don't care what anybody says, it just is, you have to have more cars. So look, and it's easy. It's really easy for me to say because I don't own racetracks. I don't. You know, it's really easy to sit around a table and say, well, Judy should do this. You don't really understand the repercussions of it. But there has to be some excitement brought back to the All Star Race because you're right, there is some sort of luster that's gotten away. So now we're like, well, let's just get rid of it. Well, let's just do this. Well, why don't we reinvent it? Why don't we reimagine it? And what does that mean? I don't know. But I do believe a connection to our past is a good thing. We can't do everything because that's how we used to do it, because that's a recipe for failure. But there are some things that we can do how we used to do it. And the All Star Race, to your point, presents an opportunity that we aren't presented in a point paying race.

[Marcus Smith]

Well, what about how can we do that? I like the idea of going back to a lot of the classic tracks, but the All Star Race, I also like the idea that you can try new things with the Cup Series and we're willing to do new things. The things that now are normal, like stage racing, like side by side running lights on big overtime. But maybe there's some other things we haven't tried yet, like racing in the wet. And I'd love to see, let's take the whole field to in the All Star Race. And it could be at any, any track. Could be at Wilkesboro, it could be Dover, it could be New Hampshire and have a full field race in the wet and let's see what it's like. So I would kind of. I know it's called All Star Race, but I also think about it as the innovation race, a place where we can really innovate and try some things that, you know, testing only goes so far. You got to have a trophy and a purse to really, to really see what's going to happen. And I think this is an innovation race now, probably even more than just an All Star race.

[Judy]

I resent so much that NASCAR and the teams were not able to come to the table and figure out how to do what you're wrong run what you brought ish kind of rules package because there was so much we could have learned in this era where we're not testing as much as we used to, where we're not going to the racetrack and tearing stuff off. And there's only one way you can actually learn things. And it's not like testing. You got to drop the rag and go.

[Marcus Smith]

Yep. Yeah.

[Danny]

The problem with the run, you know, run what you run kind of scenarios. What do you learn that car is faster than that one, you have to learn.

[Judy]

If it's faster, hopefully it can pass the car. That's.

[Danny]

But that's not necessarily true. So run. What you're wrong. If you're going to learn something, you have to have somewhat of a controlled environment if you're really going to learn.

[Marcus Smith]

So my pitch on it was take everything in the shop and you can't. We're not talking about, you know, new alloy creation or, you know, some crazy hyper, you know, illegal thing.

[Danny]

Same parts and pieces, same parts and pieces. Do what you want to with them.

[Marcus Smith]

Adjust, take away, add. I don't know what it might be, but there's some really smart people in these race shops that have some ideas and let them do their thing, see what happens. And what are we going to find out? I don't know, but we're going to learn some stuff.

[Judy]

That's.

[Marcus Smith]

That's the big deal.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey, this is dale and Hart Jr. And for all the latest Dale Jr.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Download gear, including the I'm old, drink some beer T shirt we've been talking about here around the office, head over to shop.dirtymomedia.com for all the latest merch. Guys, if you know me, you know that I haven't stopped talking about Arby's buffalo chicken sandwiches for months now. Check out the Buffalo chicken slider. Buffalo chicken sliders are fantastic. Fantastic. It's awesome. They have a buffalo chicken slider and

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

man, is it good.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

The folks at Arby's heard me and they said, we'll do you one better. They're going to put that awesome sandwich right into their 7.99 meat and 3 box. So now you too can enjoy the crispy, saucy perfection that is the Buffalo Ranch chicken sandwich at an unbeatable price.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're not going to believe how much

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

food you get in the box. The sandwich, that's just the start. You also get curly fries, mozzarella sticks,

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

a peach cobbler roll and a drink.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

It's all your Arby's favorites, all for just $7.99 in the meet in three box. And you don't have to race me to get one, but you ought to hurry over to an Arby's and try the $7.99 meet three box with the Buffalo Ranch chicken sandwich because it's only gonna be available in the box for a limited time. Available for limited time at participating locations. While supplies last prices may vary. Get your Meet in three Box at

[Ozempic/Bridge Bio/Starlink Advertiser]

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[Marcus Smith]

Like, I know you said you related

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

to Kyle, but, like, give me your

[Marcus Smith]

best Kyle Busch story.

[Danny]

He's related to Kyle.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

He relates to Kyle as. Yeah, relates to him.

[Kyle Busch]

Well. So my wife. So I don't miss a race. I like, every son, like, my wife gets mad, like, no matter what, if they're at birthday party, I got it on so and so, you know, I got. So she's during the. We're in the hospital because she had. What is it? Preeclampsia. Like, so they had to go to the hospital early. So we're in there and I'm like, man, we're gonna have the baby during the race. And she's like, no, we're not. And like, doctor says, yeah, like, we're having a baby. And so I set up the iPad. I was already ready, had the iPad, the phone. So I got the iPad of the race set up. I got listen to Derek on the radio. So during the race, like, I'm holding. I can't look because I'll pass out. That's one freaks me out. So I'm holding her hand like, push, babe. While I'm watching the race, I'm yelling at Derek and Rainbow on the radio. And then the next thing you know, the baby comes out. Fine. And then I look over and then we have our first daughter. And I'm like, you got to let me name her after Kal Bush's daughter Lennox. And she was like, yes. And I was like, she's like, I gotta spell it the way I wanna spell it. But then I was just, like, you know, thankful that she let me do that. That's how much Kyle Busch has meant to her.

[Tony Stewart]

That's awesome.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

That's awesome. How did you end up. I'm just curious how she ended up spelling Lennox.

[Kyle Busch]

Ah, you're getting me in trouble.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Okay, never mind.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Don't say we'll cut.

[Kyle Busch]

We got Lugano in trouble a couple

[Tony Stewart]

weeks ago, and now we're gonna get Frank.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I'll pretend like I didn't ask that. We'll cut that one out.

[Capital One Advertiser]

No,

[Kyle Busch]

my. My reading and writing is not good.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

It starts with an L. He spells

[Kyle Busch]

with an L. I can barely remember their birthdays,

[Travis]

Man. Some of these questions are mean, Travis.

[Ozempic/Bridge Bio/Starlink Advertiser]

Yeah, some of them are.

[Noah Gragson]

Oh, no.

[Marcus Smith]

Just hit us with the music.

[Austin Dillon]

Hit us with the deep. The deep cutting question.

[Travis]

You want the deep cut?

[Austin Dillon]

Is it? Is it? Let me see. I'm sure I know who it is.

[Travis]

Everyone knows who it is. Now that I look at it. I don't even really want to get this.

[Austin Dillon]

Is that the guy Danny had beef with?

[Tony Stewart]

Yeah.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Travis]

Dude, when I read the question, I did not. I was not looking at who sent it first.

[Noah Gragson]

I like the Denny delivers guy on Twitter. Yeah, he's always in my mentions and stuff.

[Travis]

Do you ever have the urge to just turn right?

[Austin Dillon]

The urge to just turn right? Yeah, man. Every race, man. The next corner's gotta be right. I've been going left for so long, it's like a. It's like.

[Noah Gragson]

It's actually a specialty. It's turning right.

[Austin Dillon]

I know, I know.

[Noah Gragson]

And left.

[Austin Dillon]

I feel like I've been turning a right right a lot lately. On the ovals, though.

[Noah Gragson]

Turned right when Noah hit you.

[Austin Dillon]

I did have to turn right a lot when Noah hit me.

[Travis]

If NASCAR ever went back to the tandem package like Dega, who would your tandem partner be?

[Noah Gragson]

Dude, I would actually love that. That might be a unpopular opinion. Unpopular opinion. But I think the tandem racing would be sick to bring back. I mean, it can't be any harder to pass them.

[Austin Dillon]

What we like me and Shane, would be some good tandem partners, dude.

[Noah Gragson]

Also, we need to bring back the radio with the big dial of like, everyone's car numbers.

[Marcus Smith]

Just tune in.

[Austin Dillon]

Oh, yeah.

[Noah Gragson]

Oh, Connor, you want to work with me? Nah, man.

[Marcus Smith]

Already got Shane.

[Austin Dillon]

That would be cool if we could do that at practice for the 500

[Noah Gragson]

choose cone now, too. That would work perfect.

[Ozempic/Bridge Bio/Starlink Advertiser]

Well, also, think about yes, a couple weeks ago with Joseph Iron Heim. You forget the middle finger. You could just dial up and.

[Austin Dillon]

Yeah.

[Noah Gragson]

Oh, yeah. We don't need host far to have that.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Dude.

[Noah Gragson]

He'd be rage baiting everyone.

[Austin Dillon]

He would be rage baiting everyone.

[Noah Gragson]

Oh, what do you think about the new package for Daytona coming up? Dude, you think it's going to make a difference?

[Travis]

We're told to temper our expectations.

[Austin Dillon]

That's what Denny says, dude.

[Noah Gragson]

Denny's on the board of the thing. Why didn't.

[Travis]

He said it'll be. What do you say, Travis?

[Ozempic/Bridge Bio/Starlink Advertiser]

I said, what should fans expect? And he said, 20 better is of fair expectations for fans.

[Noah Gragson]

You know what small gains.

[Austin Dillon]

You're such a positive guy. What do you think the solution is?

[Noah Gragson]

I have no idea, dude. That is way above my pay grade.

[Austin Dillon]

That is. What do you think?

[Ozempic/Bridge Bio/Starlink Advertiser]

That must be a lot then?

[Austin Dillon]

Because, I mean, if you ask any of the drivers, I think there's a common answer.

[Marcus Smith]

Less drag.

[Noah Gragson]

Just.

[Austin Dillon]

Well, I. I think a different car, but I don't think that's possible right now. So. Yeah, I mean, I think obviously the biggest thing is drag, and they're taking a lot of drag out. But, you know, I think that will help.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I mean, the thing is with the

[Austin Dillon]

Xfinity cars like you, you can't run 40 throttle in 25th when the leaders are wide open, whereas in a cup car, you can. So I think the hole that the cars are punching is too big,

[Noah Gragson]

dude. Another thing, this. The short track package. All these guys at the front are saying their cars drive too good. We need less grip, more horsepower. And then I'm back there in the back. Who is asking for this? Struggling with what we had before. Now I have less grip already. I'm down on grip and more horsepower, dude.

[Austin Dillon]

I'm like. It is blue collar. Do you know what we call the. The battle from, like, 25th to 32nd? No, it's the dog pound.

[Travis]

The dog pound.

[Noah Gragson]

Because we're all just dogs back there, dude.

[Austin Dillon]

Dogs.

[Noah Gragson]

We had a class photo last week because now they put us by where we line up, where we qualify. It's just the back row.

[Travis]

Who's in the dog? Who's in the common?

[Austin Dillon]

The common? Yeah.

[Travis]

Like, yeah, yeah. Who has a residence card?

[Austin Dillon]

Ricky's.

[Noah Gragson]

Ricky's probably, like, the front of it. Tenure. You know, he's been there for a while.

[Austin Dillon]

All the frat row guys. Zane's. Loki been finding his way out every now and then, but Zane's. Zane's in there. Noah Todd, me.

[Noah Gragson]

Austin Hill.

[Austin Dillon]

Austin Dylan.

[Marcus Smith]

Yeah.

[Austin Dillon]

Ty Dillon. Austin Dylan.

[Noah Gragson]

Sometimes SVG is like an honorable member because sometimes he'll, you know, randomly dominate.

[Marcus Smith]

But I think he's left that, though.

[Noah Gragson]

Yeah, that's actually fair, I guess. That was more like first year. Yeah, he graduated.

[Travis]

But this sounds like a tight group, though. Like, why do you guys have beef with each other?

[Austin Dillon]

We don't have beef, man. We're. We're.

[Noah Gragson]

We just.

[Austin Dillon]

We're all just trying to get to the end of the race.

[Noah Gragson]

Just business back there. We're just racing hard man.

[Capital One Advertiser]

Alright.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That was another episode of the Dirty 30 presented by Arby's new Meat in Three Box get more meal for your money At Arby's we had the meat.

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[Capital One Advertiser]

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