Brad Was Wrong About SVG, Classic Cheatin' & Chasing Big E

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download – Episode Summary

Podcast: The Dale Jr. Download
Host: Dirty Mo Media, SiriusXM
Episode Title: Brad Was Wrong About SVG, Classic Cheatin' & Chasing Big E
Date: March 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Dale Jr. Download delves into three central themes: surprising shifts in the NASCAR driver landscape (particularly Shane van Gisbergen’s [SVG] emergence), a deep dive into classic NASCAR “cheatin’” tales from the sport’s golden era, and personal, behind-the-scenes stories that highlight the culture and character of NASCAR legends. The tone is candid, anecdotal, and sprinkled with humor and unfiltered nostalgia as the crew—led by Dale Earnhardt Jr.—mix lighthearted banter with genuine racing insight.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Racing with "Big E" and Classic Tale from Talladega

[01:27 – 02:54]

• Guest: Randy Lajoie recalls his debut race against Dale Earnhardt Sr. at Talladega, coming in second.
• Randy noticed Senior and Kenny Schrader sticking their fingers out the window nets, “moving air,” and Randy tried to mimic them, resulting in a hurt shoulder and a rookie lesson in the minor “tricks” of the trade.
• Memorable Moment: Randy joking about forever flipping off any Winn Dixie car, still harboring competitive resentment over Mark Martin’s notorious car.

“I still look at that Winnie Dixie card, flip it off. If I see a Winn Dixie sticker, I flip it off.”
—Randy Lajoie [02:52]

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2. Randy Lajoie’s 1984 Daytona Crash and Survival

[02:57 – 06:11]

• Randy recounts his near-fatal crash at the 1984 Daytona 500 and shares insights from his rookie meetings with Richard Petty about bracing for impact.
• The crash left him unconscious with a chunk of grass lodged in his mouth, only to be revived by a fireman pulling it out.
• He still keeps the helmet with the crash marks, adding a personal, tangible connection to his storied career.

“He said, I reached in to get the microphone out of your mouth, and when I did...I pulled a clump of grass about the size of a tennis ball out of your mouth. And I did that, your eyes opened up and you started moving.”
—Randy Lajoie [05:09]

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3. Racing at Phoenix, Darlington Preview, and the State of Short Tracks

[06:22 – 07:52]

• Discussion centers around improvements in short-track racing quality, especially after Phoenix. The panel anticipates Darlington to be a “wild card” due to changes in the aerodynamic package, predicting dramatic tire fall-off and cars “out of control.”
• Dale Jr. predicts four seconds of fall-off per run: an “out of control” race expected at Darlington due to reduced underbody downforce.

“These cars with essentially little to no underbody...are out of control. I’m predicting four seconds of fall off. It might be more...It’s just the cars...absolutely out of control.”
—Dale Earnhardt Jr. [07:07]

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4. SVG: Proving the Doubters Wrong & Trackhouse’s Bold Move

[15:45 – 25:53]

• SVG’s (Shane van Gisbergen) surprising performance: Spun out twice at Phoenix, still finished 11th. The hosts are amazed at his resilience.
• Dale Jr. and co-hosts walk through SVG’s trajectory in NASCAR—showing up as an “unknown” in Chicago, winning immediately, and then being doubted during his Xfinity/oval learning curve.
• The panel reflects on Justin Marks’ courage and vision—Trackhouse’s owner sticking by SVG, opting to keep him over Zane Smith, a move now praised in hindsight.

“I’ll just go ahead and say it right here: I was wrong...Now that 2026 has come around...SVG is almost becoming the face of Trackhouse. He’s the guy that’s going to win probably three to five races this year.”
—Podcast Host [19:47]

• SVG’s ability to spin out, recover, and still finish strong inspires a Jack Roush story about promoting Kurt Busch over Greg Biffle due to the former’s knack for spinning without wrecking.

“Kurt spins out. He doesn’t hit anything. You spin out, and you wreck and you hit things. So Kurt’s getting the Cup car.”
—Podcast Host retelling Jack Roush [23:23]

• The show highlights that SVG’s consistency on ovals and excellence on road courses position him to be a season-long contender, validating Trackhouse’s gamble.
• Praise for Justin Marks: Not enough credit is given to Marks for his willingness to invest in, and then promote, SVG despite conventional wisdom.

“He pulled a guy out of another country in a series that most of us know very little about...went out and found this guy, took a risk on him. And I really respect that about Justin. I don’t think he gets enough credit for that.”
—Podcast Host [25:13]

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5. Classic "Cheatin'" Tales – The Hidden Deck Lid Spoiler

[27:25 – 34:25]

• Andy Petrie discusses innovation (and “cheatin’”) in the days before strict tech—how he devised a system to lower and raise a car’s spoiler using trunk actuators from an Oldsmobile, actuated with a hidden switch in the radio box.
• Despite nerves and close calls with NASCAR’s Gary Nelson, they executed the cheat during qualifying. Ultimately, he learned that others were gaming the system even better.

“The key to cheating is you gotta do it right, you gotta really do the work.”
—Andy Petrie [31:20]

“I found out years later, Junior’s cars were on the front row. They were cheating more than we were.”
—Andy Petrie [34:21]

• The segment is lighthearted, filled with tension and mischief, providing a window into NASCAR’s hands-on, innovator culture in the late 1980s and ‘90s.

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Notable Quotes

• “I thought he was cheating...Here I am sweating my gallons off...these guys moving air. What the hell they doing?” —Randy Lajoie [01:37]
• “If you get on someone else’s bus, make sure they’re good people. Those buses will take you to places you would never be able to go alone. The best advice ever.” —Coach Mike Krzyzewski [10:28]
• “His first cup start was with RFK...and by the second half of the season, he actually started running pretty well. So I was surprised when they cut Zane versus Shane. And I’m going to just go ahead and say it right here: I was wrong.” —Podcast Host [18:59]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:27 – 02:54] Randy Lajoie’s story racing with Dale Earnhardt Sr.
• [02:57 – 06:11] Randy’s 1984 Daytona crash and recovery
• [06:22 – 07:52] Short-track improvements and preview of Darlington
• [15:45 – 25:53] SVG’s rise, Trackhouse’s bet, and the Jack Roush/Biffle/Bush anecdote
• [27:25 – 34:25] Andy Petrie’s “cheatin’” tale with the hidden spoiler

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Summary Takeaways

• SVG has fully silenced his critics. The show’s hosts candidly recount how their initial doubts about Shane van Gisbergen have turned into admiration, especially as he adapts to ovals and steadies Trackhouse’s season.
• NASCAR’s past was full of innovation and mischief. Longtime crew members reminisce about the “art” of bending the rules—a point of pride and camaraderie among the old guard.
• The culture of NASCAR is still about outsmarting the competition—on the track, in the garage, and even in choosing which drivers to invest in for the future.

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For listeners who love NASCAR history, shop talk, or simply a good yarn about truly “racing against the system,” this episode delivers—complete with laughter, nostalgia, and the authentic voice of the garage.

Transcript

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[Randy Lajoie]

Qualifying credit required.

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[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Hey, everybody, I'm Dylan Hart Jr. And this is the Dirty 30. The best highlights from all of our podcasts this week. 30 minutes every single Friday.

[Randy Lajoie]

The Dirty 30 coming at you. Let's get right to it.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

This episode of the Dirty 30 is presented by Arby's new Meet in 3 box. Get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats.

[Randy Lajoie]

Randy Lajoy.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Welcome to door Bumper Clear, sir. How are you? This is an honor to be here. Family friend Dick Moroso. My dad and him grew up together. He called me and said, hey, I need a driver for a handful of races. You want to do it? I said, absolutely. And run second to Big E at the, at the Talladega first time out. And I thought he was cheating. We're going down the back stretch right here. I am, I'm just in high cotton, you know, I'm just. I said, I'm racing with Senior. I'm running second tool. And Schrader was right behind me. Schrader got in front of me and we're gone. We look in the mirror and ain't nobody behind us. So we're cruising and I, and I look and I see Senior's fingertips out by his window net. I said, what the hell is he doing? So the next lap, I look and his fingers are out. And Schrader's fingers are out. And I was like, what the heck? These guys moving air. What the hell they doing? I said, oh. And here I am sweating my gallons off. I was like, oh, they're getting a little wear. So the Next, the next damn straightaway I put my hand out the darn window. I could have take the gas cap off. Oh my goodness. I said, what the heck did I do? I freaking hurt my shoulder. I was like, okay, I'm not gonna do that anymore. But that was cool. I run second to him and that was fun. And then went to Darlington, run second to Mark Martin at Darlington. Everybody did that Winn Dixie card. I still look at that Winnie Dixie card, flip it off. If I see a Winn Dixie sticker, I flip it off.

[Randy Lajoie]

Darren Rockingham,

[Podcast Host]

this is for Randy. What do you remember about your crash at Daytona in 1984? And do you have any artifacts from it or other wrecks?

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Yes, what I remember is nothing. Yeah, no. Well, a little bit. Very little. The all of the rookie meetings that you had, you know, Petty Richard was always one of the guys doing it and he's like, hey, you're gonna crash here Daytona two ways. Either you're against the wall and you're gonna crash right into the wall and then you're gonna slide or you're gonna slide a long ways and hit the wall. And there's a couple things you need to do before you hit the wall. Remember to tighten your belts and if you could remember to take a deep breath because it'll blow the air right out of you. So I remember coming out of turn four, we had blown a couple motors up, home built motors. We bought a motor from Richard Petty. Oh, Kenny Wilson motor. And I thought we had a broke axle because I'm spinning the tires, warming up the car, you know, for the 125. And I was like, what the heck is going on here? That sucker had some power. Boy, that thing had some power. So I, okay, put it to the floor and hang on. And that's what I did. And I remember I come up on Sterling Marlin. He was in that 17 Hesco car and I was going to run over him. Well, I turned left, hit the bump, started sliding and I'm sliding. I was like, okay, I think it's time to pull the belts tight. And I pulled the belts tight. And my dad always taught me never to let go of the wheel. So I grabbed that steering wheel and when the thing picked up and I started looking at the sky, I says, okay, I need to take a deep breath. And I didn't wake up. Yeah, I did. And I woke up in the hospital that night when I started to remember and I was like, holy, you know, watching the news and that's me. Oh my God, you Know, okay. I think I feel okay. You know, Had a headache for ever. And I went back to the track. That was a Thursday. Went back to the track on Saturday watching the bush race. And a fireman come up to me. He was all decked out in fire gears.

[Randy Lajoie]

You know who I am?

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I said, no, I don't. He said, we're at your car. You know, we got you out of the car and they laid you on the stretcher. He says, and you weren't. You weren't breathing. He said, you were just laying there. I said, okay, and then what? He says, the microphone open. Face helmet. The microphone was stuck in my mouth. He says, I reached in to get the microphone out of your mouth, and when I did, he goes, hell, I pulled a clump of grass about the size of a tennis ball out of your mouth. He says, and I did that. Your eyes opened up and you started moving.

[Podcast Host]

Holy.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I said, so. Hell, I was vapor locked there for a little while. That looks good right there, bud. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, yeah.

[Randy Lajoie]

Wow.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

So I did take a deep breath. You're vertical. You're vertical right there. Usually, I think we try to stay horizontal. I still have the helmet. The helmet has a scratch on it from one of those pieces of tin. Ray Everham was sitting in the IROC garage and a windshield landing in the IROC garage.

[Ad Voice]

Damn.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Yeah. He said, the grass is crazy.

[Podcast Host]

I've never heard.

[Commercial Announcer]

I was in the grandstands that day.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

That was a brutal wreck. My dad had that car. I think he finally got rid of it probably about 10 years ago.

[Randy Lajoie]

Wow.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

It was up in the junkyard and

[Podcast Host]

you said, got the helmet from it. That's what.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Yeah, I still got the helmet. Hey, guys, welcome to Actions that you instrumental.

[Podcast Host]

How hopeful should we be looking ahead to short tracks considering the racing here

[Randy Lajoie]

at Phoenix was definitely better than it's

[Podcast Host]

been in the past. Is it going to get even better at tracks like Martinsville or. It seems like Phoenix is always kind of so. So whereas these other tracks are. Are better than Phoenix.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

The race, it's going to be a small incremental change. Again, not the. The small change.

[Podcast Host]

You know, what?

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Was the racing truly better this time around? Was it 10%?

[Randy Lajoie]

Maybe.

[Podcast Host]

I mean, 15, but it's something.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

And so I think you'll see that same change at other racetracks. One thing I will tell you is that heads up on Darlington. You want to see some cars out of control here in a few weeks. These cars with essentially little to no underbody, because we're now going to the short track. Aerodynamic package for Darlington there. These cars are out of control. And so we are going to be, I'm, I'm predicting four seconds of fall off. It might be more. It's, it's just the cars with that, with the underbody taking off and that simple diffuser just, even on new tires, just absolutely out of control. So it's going to be a wild card race.

[Podcast Host]

Who does that benefit the guys?

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Whoever guesses right? Whoever guesses the tire and the aero and the setup.

[Commercial Announcer]

Right.

[Podcast Interviewer]

Okay, everybody, we are back for another episode of Sons and Daughters. Super excited about this conversation that I'm going to have today. There's a lot of people in my career that have made me a better reporter, but are very few that have made me a better human being. And today I get to talk to one of those men who has no doubt made me a better human being. Probably didn't even realize he was doing it. And that's coach Mike Krzyevsky. What is it about you think the mother son relationship, that kind of. Because you, you're around. I, I read a quote. Paulo Bankero, right. His mom obviously was one of his first coaches. And, and I think you said that everything that he is is because of his mother. And I, I can't help but think that Paulo relates a little bit to you as well. What is it about that starting point that sets a boy, because you've seen it in your own life and obviously as a coach level that sets the stage for a boy?

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

Well, the very first thing is a guy doesn't give birth. A woman gives birth. And that's who brought you into the world. And you'll never have a friend more loyal and better than your mother. That's for guys and girls. And I learned that I didn't know that through my teenage years, probably as much as I should, but once I got to West Point and for the rest of my life I knew that. But my mom, you know, my mom was there all the time. There's nothing my mother wanted more than for my brother and myself to get better. That's her main, that was her main thing on this planet.

[Podcast Interviewer]

I tell my kids that all the time. I have two boys. I tell them that exact same thing, coach, exact.

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

The sooner they realize that, the better the better. And you know, my mom gave me the best advice ever when I was going to starting high school and I was a young punk, you know, smart, smart ass, 14 year old in the inner city and I was going to have to travel on city buses, CTA buses and the Night before I left for school, my mom had a meeting with me. She says, mike, make sure you get on the right bus. And I was impatient. I said, ma, I know the city. I can go Damon to Armitage. Armitage. Wire me. I can even go Division of Grant. I know. I know the city. And she says, that's not the bus I'm talking about. I said, well, what bus are you talking about? And she said, tomorrow, you're going to start driving your own bus. And I looked at her, and she said, only let good people on your bus. I get chills thinking about it. If you get on someone else's bus, make sure they're good people. She said, those buses will take you to places that you would never be able to go alone. The best advice ever. And it's been the basis of what I've done, because I've only tried to be with good people.

[Podcast Interviewer]

Let me get to West Point. Why was. Was that the one place that recruited you? And. And what is that transformation like to go from a civilian to a cadet or plebe is. Is what they call West Point, right? That's what you went to.

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

Coach Knight just became the West Point coach. And Gene Sullivan, one of the really outstanding coaches, told Coach Knight, he said, you know, the best player in the league is at Weber Krzyzewski. And so he came and talked to my coach, and my coach said he could go to West Point. And. And I was not interested at all. You know, my mom, dad said, you're going to go to West Point. And I said. I said, you're crazy. I'm not going to West Point. I am not. I do not. And my mom said, that's where presidents go. And this is all true. I said, mom, I don't want to be a president. I want to be a point guard. I want to play ball. And so I. I called Coach Knight and said, I'm not coming. And for two weeks, everything in a Polish family's done in a kitchen. And my parents used. They verbally abused me in a good way, don't get me wrong. They would speak in Polish in the kitchen, and then, you know, all of a sudden you'd hear, stupid Mike. And. And I come out. I said, I'm not. I'm not going. And this is true. For two weeks, they did this. Finally, I had enough. I said, okay, I'll go. And it was difficult to get me in at that time. And I call it the best decision I never made, you know, because someone

[Podcast Interviewer]

else made it for you.

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

Yes. People who believed in me, trusted me and wanted something better for me that I could not see at that point.

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[Podcast Host]

Any surprises at Phoenix that you saw? Like, I know Blaney and Bell were fast. Denny was decent. Any. Any cars you thought, you know, do you see anything when you were out there? I. You know, the thing that really stood out to me more than anything else was SVG spinning out. Spinning out twice, too. And he still finished, like, 11th. Yeah. How did. How did he do that?

[Randy Lajoie]

I don't know.

[Podcast Host]

I. I see that, Travis. Feel like I need to go back and watch this entire race on in car camera. Like, how did you do this? I mean, I remember looking down and seeing him spinning twice in three and four, and I'm like, ah, he's having a bad day. Yeah. And then he rebounded. Yeah, he rebounded really well. And I thought, I got a lot of thoughts on svg. More road courses? No, not more road courses. But, yeah, I guess when I think about svg, I want to rewind. Like, three years ago. So he shows up in Chicago, kicks everyone's ass. I had no idea who this guy was. I got to be honest. I did the track walk right next to him, and I thought he was a fan. I really did. At Chicago. I'll never forget this. Like, I'm walking. I'm like, I don't know who this guy is. He's either a fan or a PR guy. And then the next day, he gets in one of the cars. I'm like, oh, he's one of those guys from somewhere else. Like Arena.

[Randy Lajoie]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, honestly, most times, like, the industry doesn't pay any attention to them because they show up, they run one race, usually doesn't go very well. You never see him again. You're like. Like a substitute teacher. You don't really think about that person. So he shows up, Chicago wins the race, and we're all like, huh. Well, you know, he's a V8 supercar guy. It was raining. It was a track nobody's ever ran again. Trackhouse has great cars, street courses, where he come from. Yeah, absolutely. All those things. Everything worked perfect for him. Everything worked perfect for him. And I think for me personally, and I. I don't know if I speak for a number of people in the garage, but I assume I Do everybody's kind of like, fluke one off, whatever, move on. But then Justin Marks is like, no, I don't think so. Let's do something more with this guy. And this is as much about Justin as is about svg. And I kind of look through that timeline of like 20, 23, he wins the race in Chicago. Justin Marks says, hey, why don't I get you a full time deal in xfinity? Yeah. Now O'Reilly auto part O'Reilly with Kaulik, and he does that. And honestly, I didn't think it went that well. He average. He went average. Did okay. He didn't run as well on the road courses as I thought he would with Kolig. And not that he didn't win, but he just didn't run as dominant as I thought he would run. And the ovals were just kind of blah. Right. And so Justin Marks, like, in the summer of 24, has to make a decision of what to do with svg. Now, keep in mind, at that time, he has Suarez, Chastain, Zane Smith. He's got Zane Smith kind of like on a loaner deal. Yeah, Zane was truck championship and then. But Zane was kind of like an up and coming star. Yeah. He's like, I got to make a decision. I want SVG to be a part of my deal. I got to cut one of these three. It's not going to be Chastain like Ross Chastain is in my eyes, like the face of Trackhouse. You know, he's got bush as a sponsor. He's won races, almost won the championship in 22.

[Randy Lajoie]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Ross is the. He's the solid guy. So he had to make a decision. All right. Between Daniel or Zane. It's like, okay, Daniel had been with the company since the beginning. He keeps Daniel. He cut Zane. All right, so this happens really in the summer of 24. Now, personally, I'm thinking to myself, Zane hasn't gotten a fair shot. He's been in, like a third team that wasn't even a frack house team. It was a spire team. And by the second half of the season, he actually started running pretty well. And his first cup start, I think, was with rfk, wasn't it? Yes, it was. Yeah. And he ran Gateway really well. So I was surprised when they cut Zane versus Shane. And I'm going to just go ahead and say it right here. I was wrong. I like Zane. I think Zane's really good. But I thought putting Shane in, like, all right, so you're gonna win some road Courses, this is really just a hack to get a car and not change. Not a hack. This is a team ownership hack to get a car locked in the playoffs. You're now guaranteed top 16 in points. Your charter value goes up. You're winning races, your company value goes up. It almost felt like SVG was a prop for the company that brought in more sponsorship revenue, more talent to help make Daniel and Ross run better. Like, that was the way I kind of saw it. But I got to tell you, like, now that 2026 has come around and he's had such a great start of the year, like, I feel like I was wrong. Now he's like, SVG is almost becoming the face of track house. Like, he's the guy that's going to win probably three to five races this year. He's probably going to win. Yeah, three to five now. And he's their. I think he's their highest car in points. So, you know, I know we only have like a four race sample size, but it's. But it's pretty good. And he like, SVG was kind of like Happy Gilmore if he could learn how to putt. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, he's got this massive drive. He could get into the green, like if he could just learn how to putt, which is like the ovals.

[Ad Voice]

Uh oh, SVG learned how to race on an oval.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Yes.

[Podcast Host]

So he got exactly what's going through my mind. I mean, it's dangerous if he gets to where he's just competitive. Like, I don't mean dominant ovals, but just competitive on the ovals. Yeah. And then keeps up his road course, kind of like dominance. He's going to score a ton of points. He's never going to be terrible at a road course. No. At worst he's going to be fourth or fifth.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

At worst.

[Podcast Host]

As long as he doesn't, you know, blow an engine or get. Yeah, but I'm saying minus mechanical difficulties, he's going to be in top five regardless. But if he can just be like 10th on the ovals. Oh, he run 10th on the ovals. He's going to run really high in the points. Yes. Like, and he becomes like the guy at Trackhouse and starting the year off at Daytona and Atlanta, getting through those superspeedway plate races. And he's already, I mean, another thing, top 10 in points. How many times he spun out this year? He spun out at Atlanta?

[Ad Voice]

A couple.

[Podcast Host]

All right, I gotta tell you a story because you just made me think so. So he spun out Three times this year and still hasn't, you know, still getting good finishes. I got to tell you a Jack Grouch story. I was sitting with him. This is only a few months ago. This is a fresh story. And we were actually talking about Greg Biffle, because Greg had just passed away, and we were kind of reminiscing about Greg and what he meant to the company. And Jack said something to me in a story that I think this audience would really appreciate, because if you circle back to, like, the year 2000, Greg Biffo had won the truck championship. Kurt Busch was his teammate. Kurt got pushed into cup, and Greg got, you know, a year or two of the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Yeah, did really well, though. And there were a lot of people like, why did Kurt get elevated? He didn't win the truck championship. Why did Kurt get elevated and not Greg? And this was something that kind of like, followed Greg's career for a long time. And then Greg makes it to cup, has a great career in Cup. So this isn't a dig on Greg, but nobody ever really understood, why did you promote Kurt and not Greg the way you did? And so I asked Jack, like, so what was the reason for it? He goes, oh, that was simple. I'll tell you why I promoted Greg.

[Ad Voice]

Oh, boy.

[Podcast Host]

And not Kurt. And you have to understand what Jax like to talk to to really appreciate his manners. So we'd go to the racetracks, and we would practice and test, and we would do all that. And Greg was like, drive this thing as hard as you can, Kurt. Drive this thing as hard as you can. And these guys would go to test sessions, and they'd spin out all the time, both of them. And they'd tear my stuff up. And I'd get back and I'd yell at them and tell them, stop wrecking my stuff in a way that only Jack could do. And so what ended up happening is we'd start going to test, and they would still spin out, but Kurt would spin out, and he wouldn't hit anything. And Greg would spin out and he'd hit something. And so I just told Greg, like, all right, Kurt spins out. He doesn't hit anything. You spin out, and you wreck and you hit things. So Kurt's getting the cup car, and that's where it came from. That's Jack's story on why Kurt got the cup car in 2001 and Greg didn't. Because when they'd go to practice and test sessions and Kurt would spin out, he wouldn't hit the wall. And Greg would spin out and he'd hit the wall.

[Ad Voice]

Unreal.

[Podcast Host]

Accurate. So anyway, back to svg. Yeah, he's had like three spin outs this year, at least. Yeah, I mean, I know it hasn't hit anything. Two is two. I mean, two of them were at Phoenix and he had really impressive. So. Yeah, and like, if Jack Roush was sitting here in the room, he'd be like, that's the guy I want, the guy who spins out. And when he does, he doesn't hit the wall. Fifth in points.

[Ad Voice]

Yep.

[Podcast Host]

Way to go. So anyway, somehow I got a Jack Roush story in there, but I want to bring this back to Justin Marks because I think sometimes he gets more credit than he deserves on things he's brought to the sport, and other times I feel like he gets less credit. I don't think Justin gets enough credit for the vision he had with svg. He pulled a guy out of another country in a series that most of us know very little about. Took a chance on him in a cup car, then made the investment in him to run an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. The sample size was not outstanding, and then decided, you know what? I'm gonna go buy another charter and I'm gonna find a way to get this guy in a cup car full time. That's pretty gutsy. And it wasn't just like an accident. He went out and found this guy, took a risk on him. And I really respect that about Justin. I don't think he gets enough credit for that.

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[Randy Lajoie]

Not to brag or anything, But Arby's new $7.99 meet in three box is kind of a big deal.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

The other guys give you just one

[Randy Lajoie]

side, we give you three sides. Not to brag. You get a meaty sandwich, curly fries, Mott Sticks, a sweet treat and a drink, all for just 7.99. It's more meal for your money. More meal for your money. More meal for your money. Where'd that come from?

[Podcast Host]

Arby's.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

We have the meats and participating Arby's

[Podcast Host]

for a limited time.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Hey, everybody, It's Dylan Hart Jr. Here with another episode of the Dale Jr. Download. We've got a classic with Andy Petrie.

[Podcast Host]

Listen, I know we're supposed to. I know we're supposed to talk about all your, you know, your days with Dale Earnhardt and, and rad and everything, but I still got one more I want to ask you about. Okay. Because this stuff is fascinating and I'm impressed. I was watching an interview that Ray Everham gave and where he was talking about this deck lid at Daytona.

[Randy Lajoie]

He's one giving that up.

[Podcast Host]

Well, I guess. I mean, it's on YouTube.

[Randy Lajoie]

Really? All right, what did you say about it?

[Podcast Host]

Well, the deck pen, the pins, like, somehow.

[Randy Lajoie]

Was it his?

[Podcast Host]

No, yours.

[Randy Lajoie]

Okay.

[Podcast Host]

He said, this is yours.

[Randy Lajoie]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Where Earnhardt could lower.

[Randy Lajoie]

No, it wasn't Earnhardt.

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

It was.

[Randy Lajoie]

It was not Harry Gantt.

[Podcast Host]

It was Harry Gantt.

[Randy Lajoie]

Yeah, I've still got it. I've still got the deck.

[Podcast Host]

Is this on the same shelf as.

[Randy Lajoie]

It's close to it.

[Podcast Host]

He's got a, he's got a trophy case of all his.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

When it comes to selling your stuff, I want all those things. I want you cheated apart.

[Randy Lajoie]

Okay, so we go to. In day Daytona, they came up with a spoiler angle rule. I guess it was 89 or 90. I can't remember what year it was. And we had always been good, like I said, we won an 88 at Talladega, finished third at 500. So we were always good at speedways and exploiting all the rules. Well, some of that spoiler angle was. Some of it. Some of it was heights. A lot of things that we. But Gary Nelson came along and really tightened up every. You know, this is his first, going to be his first season as a series director. And so you got to clean it all up now. We can't be cheating. They're going to check heights. And so now all of a sudden we, we can't do our little things. We were doing. And we weren't very fast. We were testing. We were really Slow motors were off at that time. And I remember being on a plane coming back. I'm just kind of in my mind think, what are we going to do? I thought if I could figure out a way to get that spoiler to lay down and get it back up because they're going to check it post race. And so I had in my mind before I even landed, I had in my mind how we could make the hinge, you know, and conceal it and how all that would work. And I didn't have, what I didn't have was an actuator for it. And so I go, I mean I go to work on it as soon as we get back. Me and a guy named Dean Jones worked in our shop in a little locked up room on this thing. Nobody knew. And we get this thing all working. The spoiler hinge is perfect, everything's good. I've got the back plate of the spoiler. I do this little deal with silicone where it looks like it's welded but it still has flexible and it's, you know, it's all good, but I don't have any way to move it. And I'm looking at back then no Internet, right? So you don't have a way to go to search this thing. And I've looked in catalogs and so one night I took my car that we drove is Oldsmobile Delta 88 they gave us to drive, you know. So I'm driving it to the store and I get to the store, get some groceries and I pop the deck lid. Boop, pops up. You know, I'm gonna throw the groceries in the trunk. I shut the deck lid and if you remember these cars, they would click and then they would have this thing that just pulled them down tight, you know. So as soon as that happened, like as soon as they went click, click and went, I was walking to the driver's door and I went, whoa, wait a minute. I popped that deck lid up and I said, where is that thing? What's doing that? And so I take that thing right straight from the grocery store over to the shop and I pop that thing out and I find that little motor and it is dead perfect. It's got this little thing going up and down. I'm thinking, man, this is perfect. And so I take it, I make this, I go in there and fab up. This is like 8 o' clock at night. I fab up this little thing to like hold the deck lid down on this car, you know, and take that thing. And then I had to Buy another one. Right. Because I needed one on each side of the spoiler.

[Coach Mike Krzyzewski]

Okay.

[Randy Lajoie]

So we start making all the little linkages and everything and. But it has perfect, had a little limit switch and we had it, we could set it. And we got it and it was nice. Again, Leo Jackson, not one that wants to cheat. And so how did you engage it? So, okay, that's, that's the key to it. So we get it on the car. I told Lee, I said, look, here's what I'm. I wasn't gonna do it without telling him. He said he didn't want to do it. I said, tell me, let me put it on the car. If you can find it, if you can find it, we won't run it.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Where was it?

[Randy Lajoie]

Okay, so we had a radio box back then we had a different kind of radio system. It was an analog thing and we put it in a box. Everybody kind of had them. They were aluminum box that would keep out the interference. And it sat on the tunnel the way we had ours, right beside the driver. And it had some switches on it and dials to turn the radio up and turn it on and off. So we just put a little extra switch in there, a little three way, like middle and up and down on the radio, on the radio box. And so I wired all this stuff through the roll bars. I mean, the key to cheating is you got to do it right? You got to really do the work. And so we, we spent hours and hours doing this and concealed it up in the hinge part, you know, and all the stuff in the car. Everything's ready, Put it on there. Check. Okay. So Leo checks the angle. It's 45 or whatever the number was. And he goes in there, starts looking at switches and he's raising the deck lid and he's looking at this and he's looking at that and he's, I mean, he's all over this thing. Cannot find it. He said, I don't think it's on this car. I reached in there. If the radio box went, the spoiler goes,

[Podcast Host]

Holy crap, that would have been so good.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

I'd be in my pants if I was you.

[Randy Lajoie]

Because I was, I was. The whole time I tried it, you're like, oh God, I just knew they

[Podcast Host]

were going to catch us.

[Randy Lajoie]

I was, I mean, I was, I guarantee I look so guilty. I couldn't stand it. They were all over that thing. I'm like, good Lord. And we get, we get ready to qualify. Rolls out there, Gary Nelson is checking the spoiler angle, the the first day on the job, head of director, he is supposed to be stopping all cheating. He's doing it himself instead of having somebody. He's at the right before you go on the track. He's the one putting it on your car. So I had it up a degree or so, just so I didn't have to mess with it. Yeah, well, he says, knock it down. I said, no, it's good. I was wrong. He said, no. He said, knock it down. I'm like, oh, God, my heart's one. You can see it beating through my shirt. I guarantee you, I'm trying to get it together. It won't move, man. It won't move. It won't bend. I mean, I've got linkages and everything. Finally, it goes down a tenth or something. He finally says, go. And I was like, oh. So he takes off, and at the end of pit road at Daytona, it's right close to the track, and I'm standing there with my stopwatch, going to clock Harry when he comes by. And, you know, Gary's standing right there in front of me, checking the next guy spoiler. I look at that car coming by and I think. And I went, God, visually. Oh, yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Oh.

[Randy Lajoie]

And Gary didn't even look over there.

[Podcast Host]

He had a seat.

[Randy Lajoie]

I mean, it was.

[Ad Voice]

It was obvious.

[Podcast Host]

Yes.

[Randy Lajoie]

Damn. So after that, I said, we gotta get that deck lid off the car. I can't stand it anymore. I just can't do it. There's no way to live. Back then, they used to let you put the cars in the hauler. And so we had another deck lid, and I had them get in there and chop them wire and put the stock deck lid on it. And that way I could breathe for, you know, speed. I couldn't do it for two weeks.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Right? You only did it for qualifying.

[Randy Lajoie]

Yeah.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

Oh, my gosh.

[Randy Lajoie]

You know what was bad? We qualified third.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Randy Lajoie]

I found out years later, Junior's cars were on the front row. They were cheating more than we were.

[Dylan Hart Jr.]

All right. That was another episode of the Dirty 30, presented by Arby's. New meat in three bucks. Get more meal for your money. At Arby's, we have the meats.

[Randy Lajoie]

Not to brag or anything, But Arby's new $7.99 meat and three box is kind of a big deal. The other guys give you just one side, which is. We give you three sides not to brag. You get a meaty sandwich, curly fries, Mott Sticks, a sweet treat and a drink, all for just 7.99. It's more meal for your money. More meal for your money. More meal for your money. Where'd that come from?

[Podcast Host]

Arby's. We have the meats.

[Commercial Announcer]

And participating in Arby's for a limited time to be a Team USA skier, it takes dedication, determination and lots of hard work. But it doesn't take all that. To score unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, just use the active cash Visa credit card from Wells Fargo and tap to pay with that natural born talent and unwavering focus. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with the Active cash Visa credit card from Wells Fargo. Terms apply. Visit Wells Fargo.com ActiveCash Visa proud sponsor of the Olympics and Paralympic Games.