Can a New Crew Chief Save Kyle Busch’s Season?

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download

Episode: Can a New Crew Chief Save Kyle Busch’s Season?
Date: April 28, 2026
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (with co-host TJ Majors, Travis, and guests)
Guest: Carson Hocevar (NASCAR Cup winner)

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Episode Overview

In this lively and candid episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew dissect the biggest story in NASCAR: the mid-season crew chief change for Kyle Busch at Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Throughout the show, Dale and TJ weigh whether a new leader atop the pit box can rescue Busch’s flagging season, drawing parallels to Dale’s own career challenges and giving listeners an inside look at the pressures, relationships, and decision-making in NASCAR’s top teams.
The show also features guest Carson Hocevar, fresh off a big win, and dives into recent Cars Tour highlights, penalties, team dynamics, collecting (cards and diecasts), and leadership changes at NASCAR’s executive level. Lively debate and storytelling abound, with Dale's trademark mix of humor, honesty, and racing insight.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Warm-Up & Weekend Recap

[01:36 - 04:02]

• Dale Jr. mentions recent personal activities, including signing 1,500 bags of beef jerky for a promo and a Texas Roadhouse/Nashville trip to celebrate his namesake vodka drink (“The Dale Yeah”).
• Quick recap of the Cars Tour weekend at Caraway, new financial support for teams (tire giveaways, $10,000 “Flodium” bonuses), and reflections on the high operational costs for late model racing.

2. Collecting: Cards & Diecast

[08:27 - 15:11]

• Friendly banter about card collecting, with Dale pulling a “Griffey Downtown” and a few notable auto cards.
• Dale introduces the Ultimate Racing Collector feature by Lionel Racing, spotlighting Everett Applegate’s impressive Ricky Rudd and AJ Allmendinger memorabilia.

Notable Quote

“You know, I'm not much in collecting NASCAR, but I'm getting converted. The cards look good.” — Dale Jr. [09:02]

3. NASCAR Short Track and Community News

[19:37 - 21:03]

• Shout-out to Wall Stadium in NJ—saved from closure by local racers, with Dale encouraging fans to support short tracks.

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4. Main Topic: Kyle Busch Crew Chief Change at RCR

[21:09 - 34:10]

The Situation:

• Andy Street replaces Jim Pohlman as Kyle Busch’s crew chief on the #8 car after a string of disappointing results and tense radio chatter.
• Discussion centers on whether a crew chief change can alter the trajectory of a struggling Cup team, and what it feels like for all involved.

Panel Insights:

• Pressure on All Sides: Culture of mid-season changes in NASCAR when expectations aren't met—"I've been in this situation, man. When you make a change mid-season, it's really hard to find positivity…” —Dale Jr. [22:33]
• Team and Driver Compatibility: The importance of chemistry between driver and crew chief, and the difficulty of rebuilding momentum.
• RCR’s Broader Challenges: Organization appears to have lost a step; Dale points out the unique difficulties of attracting top talent to RCR’s rural location.
• Timing of Change: Travis and TJ question if it’s early, but all agree internal team dynamics sometimes force action.
• Kyle Busch’s Priorities: With his career window closing, urgency is high. “Kyle’s sitting there thinking, five more years, maybe, of kick-ass talent left. I need to be winning now… not in a program that’s not ready to win.” —Dale Jr. [27:35]
• Alternate Futures: What if RCR replaces Busch with a prospect like Jesse Love for a lower salary, but less proven upside? Dale and crew agree: Kyle’s elite, but team improvement is needed across the board.

Notable Quotes:

“Everybody believes that Kyle can do the job. Everybody believes that Kyle is one of the most talented guys behind the wheel. All his fans absolutely believe he should be running up front. …If I’m RCR and I’m Richard Childress, I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen – to keep Kyle from leaving.” — Dale Jr. [26:40]

“They are on an island up there in Welcome (NC)… That might as well be on Pluto.” — Dale Jr. on RCR’s recruiting challenges [31:00]

Timestamps:

• RCR crew chief change: [21:09 – 34:10]
• Kyle’s urgency: [27:35]

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5. Debate: O’Reilly Race Penalty – Blocking on Pit Blend

[34:33 – 44:33]

• Panel debates recent penalties handed out for drivers impeding fast-moving packs while merging from pit road.
• Dale argues for a return to in-person drivers’ meetings to truly communicate safety points, calling email-based briefings ineffective.
• Guest Carson Hocevar (who “usually” does the blocking) adds his perspective, reflecting on how the rule is interpreted on track.

Notable Quotes:

“...to blatantly go into the third lane and pull up in front of a car pack, that was against code. Now it’s become normalized. Which it shouldn’t be.” — Dale Jr. [41:31] “That’s how I found out that was even a rule—because I saw Carson at the concert at the Boulevard and he’s like, 'Hey man, don’t do what I did.'” — Carson Hocevar [47:41]

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6. Talladega Highlights & Cup Race Discussion

[50:16 – 54:16]

• Carson Hocevar details surviving the “big one” at Talladega, using skill and luck to escape damage. He also describes the overwhelming emotional release of winning at the Cup level.

Notable Moment:

“Every time I watch the video, I just ball up—like, I literally cry my ass off… I can get back to that spot because that was the number one thing I was scared of if I ever won—was it wouldn’t feel like I dreamt about. And it matched up perfectly.” — Carson Hocevar [53:16]

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7. Ask Jr. – Listener Questions

[55:36 – 67:55]

Key Topics:

• Rookie of the Year Debate — Discussed NBA Rookie of the Year snub for Hornets’ “Khan” vs. Cooper Flagg; Dale rails against small-market bias and trading card industry incentives [55:43 – 59:43].
• NASCAR Leadership Moves — Jim France steps down; Ben Kennedy is “the guy,” with Julie Giese rising too. Dale places full confidence in NASCAR’s next generation of leaders [62:31 – 65:23].
• NFL Draft Reactions — Panel shares thoughts and optimism about their favorite teams' picks [66:01 – 67:55].

Notable Quote:

“Ben Kennedy is the guy… Whatever this sport is in 25 years will be through the vision and eyes of Ben Kennedy.” — Dale Jr. [63:23]

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8. Betting & Texas Preview

[69:10 – End]

• Lively roundtable dissecting betting odds for the upcoming Texas race.
• Discussion of favorites (Hamlin, Reddick, Larson, etc.), surprise picks, and whether current trends matter at one of NASCAR's most unpredictable tracks.
• Value bets and driver performance breakdowns: Who’s underrated? Who's slumping? Who’s got momentum?
• Teams struggling: Penske falling behind RFK; Cindric’s moderate step up.

Notable Quotes:

“This is a track where you could see something unique happen. I think Texas is a lot of fun.” — Dale Jr. [69:44] “Penske, as a whole, has struggled to outperform RFK over the past several weeks.” — Dale Jr. [76:50] “Blaney’s just better speed. That’s a wild take, Russ!” — Dale Jr. reacting to betting debate [78:13]

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Kyle Busch’s window: “Kyle’s sitting there thinking, five more years, maybe, of kick-ass talent left. I need to be winning now…” — Dale Jr. [27:35]
• On team changes: “You don’t make this change unless somebody raised their hand…” — Dale Jr. [33:14]
• Crew Chief realities: “You’re not firing Kyle Busch. You’re just not.” — Dale Jr. [26:40]
• On RCR’s struggles: “They are on an island… might as well be on Pluto.” — Dale Jr. [31:00]
• Card collector wisdom: “Buying it is not the same as pulling it out of a pack yourself.” — TJ [08:50]
• Winning emotions: “Every time I watch the video, I just…cry my ass off.” — Carson Hocevar [53:16]
• NASCAR’s future: “Ben Kennedy is the guy. They’re positioning him to be the guy.” — Dale Jr. [63:18]
• Old-school vs. new-school: “It’s time to bring back the driver’s meetings.” — Dale Jr. [36:05]
• On betting picks: “This is a track where you could see something unique happen. I think Texas is a lot of fun.” — Dale Jr. [69:44]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Crew Chief Change for Kyle Busch/RCR: [21:09 – 34:10]
• Penalty Debate (Pit Blend Blocking): [34:33 – 44:33]
• Carson Hocevar Talladega Recap: [50:16 – 54:16]
• Leadership Changes at NASCAR: [62:31 – 65:23]
• Texas Preview & Betting Analysis: [69:10 – End]

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully captures the pulse of NASCAR’s competitive tension—both on the high banks and behind pit wall—while showcasing Dale Jr.’s honest, deeply knowledgeable voice. The conversation about Kyle Busch’s struggles and team dynamics offers rare, behind-the-scenes candor, while spirited debates on rules, leadership, and betting round out a must-listen (and must-read!) episode for any racing fan wanting to know how NASCAR truly ticks.

Transcript

[Travis]

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[TJ]

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[TJ]

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[Travis]

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[Carson Hosvar]

When I rewatched the videos I I still remember it so so like I get. I'm like I'm mainly crying just cause I I literally get back into the same emotion I can get I was and like I can hear the crowd. I can hear everything. I can visualize everything again.

[Dale Jr.]

The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. This is the most fun I've had in this chair in the last hour and a half. Yes.

[Travis]

I don't know if we've ever argued. Did I piss you off over the

[Dale Jr.]

weekend or I'm still sour that I was the best man at your wed.

[TJ]

Who was your best man, Dale?

[Dale Jr.]

Tj. Tj, you don't need a cool vest for that race. What are you thinking? Get him, TJ Elway to start the show.

[Travis]

All right then.

[Dale Jr.]

Welcome back to another episode of the Dell Junior Download. It's Tuesday here with my co host TJ Majors. Got a lot to talk about man. This episode is presented to you by Arby's. Forget about Arby's new Meet in three box. Get more meal for your money at Arby's we have the meats. We also have Carson Hosavar coming in studio for today's show to talk about his big win race winner. Yeah, he is indeed. And yeah, let's get right into it. So first off, we got a lot of we got a lot to cover in in in NASCAR in general in general. But there's also a lot of things that I I wanted to include into our show today and I'm just going to run through a couple of these things before we dive into the NASCAR stuff. So. Jerky boys. Beef jerky. Greatest Greatest jerky in the World. If you haven't tried it, you ought to try it. You can get it online or on Amazon, go on the website. I just get it on Amazon, if I were you. But I'm going to sign 1500 bags and those are going to go into random shipments. Oh, yeah. So we've been talking about a fun way in. The card collecting has given me this idea, Right. I'm trying to make an experience like opening up a, you know, open up a pack of cards and finding that, that refractor or whatever, Right. So where I'm going to sign 1500 bags and over the next several months, we're going to be dropping them into shipments or placing them into shipments. You know, if you, if you subscribe for a year or do something extraordinary such as that, you're liable to get one of these bags. Also. I want to make gold bags. That's the, that's the move. But that's coming down the road. That's one thing. So excited about that. Also. Amy and I took a trip Sunday. I missed a lot of racing action. We had the car store race on Sunday. We had the cup race happening, but I was on an airplane flying to Nashville to meet with over 2,500 people that are franchisees and operators for Texas Roadhouse.

[TJ]

Oh, hell yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

Texas Roadhouse and High Rock Vodka have partnered up to make a drink. And you may have seen this locally or in your neck of the woods. It's called the Dale. Yeah. It is a drink that's been on the menu for a while. And if you like creamsicle or orange Creamsicle ice cream, this drink is a lot like that. So it's amazing. It's a great drink. And it's on the menu right on the table. If you go to a Texas roadhouse, you'll see it there. Well, they're going nationwide with this drink. And so we went out to Texas Roadhouse to, to celebrate with them in Nashville. That was a ton of fun. Amy had a blast. I had a blast. So that's what, what we were doing this, this weekend as, as guys were in Talladega running laps, we were meeting with a lot of franchisees and owners and operators with Texas Roadhouse. But I did catch up on a lot. I also did watch the Cars Tour race. The Cars Tour. They were in caraway. I went Saturday with the intention of seeing the race that night, but it ended up raining right around 7 o' clock and we were going to fire off and start, so I went home. Everybody else came back the next day. On Sunday, and we raced at 2 o'. Clock. We had two great races with the pro late models. Caden honeycutt won the pro late model. And the late model stock race was won by lynn and Lewis. And there were a couple significant things that happened that weekend. One of the first was we gave away our first two sets of tires. And this is presented by keen parts with corvetteparts.net Mr. Keen calls and says, I want to. I want to give tires away, but I want to give them to teams that need them. So we take the back five finishers from the week before at Nashville, and we literally draw out of a hat one of them teams. And if and at the next event, they get a free set of tires. The set of tires they're going to race on are comped. A set of tires today cost about $860. That's roughly a third or a little more than a third of the entire expense of the weekend. And so I think these teams are, you know, it costs about 2200 bucks to get to the racetrack and put your car out there for practice. By time you go out to practice, you've spent $2,200. You bought two sets of tires, pit passes, diesel fuel, all that stuff. Right. We gave away our first two sets of tires at caraway. I love this program. Thank you, Mr. King. Tom's great. And they've been a staple for a

[Travis]

long time in short track stuff. I've noticed that name.

[Dale Jr.]

So they do a bunch of great. So also our floating program, Basically it's every three weeks, Flow is giving away $10,000 to a race team who wins this floating program. All right. For the pro late model stocks, their next week to trigger this will be at wilkesboro. The late model stocks will be racing for their $10,000 floating money at the next race at ACE in two weeks. So what happens is we run two races, and of those two races, the top three finishers are in the Flodium program for the third event. At the third event, those. Those cars will race for $10,000. The cars that are in the Flodium program for ACE going for 10 grand, which is actually more than the race itself pays. The winner, the 88 JRM team, the 4 Matt Piercey team, 29 KHI 44 Carroll Speed Shop, and 89 Mike. Darn. It's the car that wins the money. I could name the drivers they'll be in these cars, but it is the team itself, the owner that will be racing for this. Pretty exciting. A lot of great things going on in The Cars tour right now. We had a great, great race on Sunday and I'm looking forward to. To ace. I'm gonna try to get there also. Tj Me and you're big time collectors in the card game.

[Travis]

I think you've surpassed me now.

[Dale Jr.]

I know, man. I'm. I'm in over my head.

[Travis]

But you've probably pulled the coolest card last week than any of us had. So really, I mean, that's pretty good for not buying it. You know what I mean? Like. Or not buying it by itself. Like pulling it out of a pack yourself. It's pretty fun.

[TJ]

Yeah. Buying it's not the same as.

[Travis]

Yeah. Getting that card that he got last week was pretty big.

[Dale Jr.]

I got a Griffey downtown.

[Travis]

What was your reaction when you saw it? I mean, you had to be like, whoa.

[Dale Jr.]

I almost. If you want me to be honest, I pulled this last night. A Ken Griffey Jr. Oh, nice leaf. 1992 and PSA 10525 card. Yeah, I got me a. I'm not much in collecting nascar, but I'm. I'm getting. You're. I'm getting converted. I got a. The cards look good. They do. I got a. I got a. Got a Priest Auto.

[Travis]

Oh, yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

So. But I got you, man. I got you a card in here. I'm going. Try to find it. I don't want to waste a bunch of time here. I know, I know. Mar. Travis is like, get this show.

[Travis]

He's always like that.

[Dale Jr.]

He isn't.

[Travis]

If you were Denny, he'd be like, take your time, Danny.

[Dale Jr.]

That's right.

[Travis]

Take your time, Dennis.

[Dale Jr.]

I got a special gift, tj.

[Travis]

Take your time, Dennis.

[Dale Jr.]

Try to figure out where it is. I got it.

[Travis]

Where was Denny Sunday? Why'd he take the race off?

[TJ]

He was driving really fast.

[Dale Jr.]

Are we gonna. Yeah. So that had to. That.

[Travis]

That was terrible, like, timing for it.

[Dale Jr.]

What happened?

[TJ]

He just sped going into pit.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, Denny's speeding up right at the start.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

Nothing's new.

[Travis]

And we ran so long, then he's

[Dale Jr.]

always speeding on pit road. It's. Does he know. Does he recognize he's a habitual speeder?

[TJ]

I think he does, but I don't get it.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't.

[Travis]

It's the worst penalty you can get, too. Yeah, it's the worst pen.

[TJ]

I don't get how he continues to make it.

[Travis]

He made it at the worst time because everyone.

[Dale Jr.]

You don't get how he continues to make it?

[Travis]

Yeah. We don't understand that.

[Dale Jr.]

Make what?

[TJ]

Continue to speed.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. You don't get how he continues to

[TJ]

up, especially this one.

[Dale Jr.]

You're. You're king.

[TJ]

Like it's the one thing you can't do.

[Travis]

You're king.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Your king keeps up. Need to tell you king.

[Travis]

He's not. Look at his face.

[TJ]

No, I'm with Dale. Like, it made the race awful for me. Like, I'm with him. Like, he needs to stop up.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes.

[TJ]

Danny, are you listening?

[Travis]

Your king needs to stop on behalf of the bros. That's gonna be the. Somehow. That's his shirt. Travis is king or the king with an 11.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes.

[Travis]

Oh, my gosh, man. The King Travis card.

[Dale Jr.]

D.J.

[TJ]

we gonna go through every card here.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, is it in the back?

[Travis]

We're getting there. How was the sleepover? Were they up late?

[Dale Jr.]

So, yeah, Isla had Isla's birthdays this weekend. Everybody shout out. And so Amy had a little sleepover with some friends. So we had. We had three little girls in the house. And that's always a. That's. You know, having children is mind blowing. And you think about. You know, you often think about putting some scenarios and you're sitting there going, man, how the. I can't believe this is my life. Right? This. You know, I'm saying. But nothing's more nerve wracking, I would say, than when you have someone else's child in your house and they spend the night. Did you have that feeling when T.J. when you. When you had your first sleepover where you like. Cause it's a. You're responsible for your own child, and that's enough of a. It's not a challenge, but it's like, you know, you handle that. You manage that. But then when you have someone else's child in your home and in your career, man, the. The intensity goes up.

[Travis]

Yeah, it's definitely not as. I don't know. It didn't really bother me, but I can see. I know exactly what you.

[TJ]

PJ just doesn't give a. About your kids daily. Come on.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, I mean, like, when someone. I have another person's child, I'm like,

[Travis]

you know, I mean, I definitely think,

[Dale Jr.]

like, I get more like they're all swimming in the swimming pool, they're jumping off rocks. And I'm like, yeah, you know, I could.

[Travis]

You're definitely on alert then.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, I'm like, golly, I need to almost sit here. I'm like a full time lifeguard, Lifeguard. All of a sudden that.

[Travis]

You're definitely like that.

[Dale Jr.]

You're.

[Travis]

You're alert in the house. You're just waiting for the big thump on the floor and. Everybody okay.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Travis]

You're definitely.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't want to send somebody's kid home with a knot on their head. Yeah. You know what I mean?

[Travis]

Well, I mean, one of mines had a broke leg. The other ones had a broke arm.

[Dale Jr.]

Happen at my house. Disclaimer, you know?

[Travis]

Yeah. No, I didn't.

[Dale Jr.]

There it is. I found it. Sorry. Was that a scare jump scare. Sorry. All right, buddy. It's for you, man. I don't know this dude. Oh. All right. But this is a number card. One of one. This is number 92 of 199. It's an. It's a sticker, auto. Not an own card auto. But. Gotcha. I pulled it, man. And that's for you.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's their number one draft pick last year, so.

[Dale Jr.]

All right.

[Travis]

Nice. Appreciate it. Nice case.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, buddy. You know, a little sticker. I'm always looking out.

[Travis]

Yeah. Maxwell Harris. Maxwell Harrison.

[Dale Jr.]

I had a great year.

[Travis]

First pick was against Patrick Mahomes.

[Dale Jr.]

When I see a. When I see a Bill's player, I set it to the side. It's. It's going to be TJ's. Unless it's like, of course it's, you know, $1,000 card or some. I don't know that let's.

[Travis]

I mean, I would give you my Jaden Daniels card if I had it.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, but I mean, I'm not. I don't expect you to give me cards of mad.

[Travis]

I'm going to go ahead and tell you if you. If you pulled a Josh Allen, like, really good card, hand me that card.

[Dale Jr.]

I'll scan.

[Travis]

I'd expect you to sell it to me, at least at a really good price.

[Dale Jr.]

All right, y'. All, it's time for this month's selection of our ultimate racing collector, presented by Lionel Racing, the official Diecast of nascar. Lionel Racing is your go to source for all racing Diecast needs. You can check out the latest pre orders@lionel racing.com. this month's winner is Everett Applegate. Let's check it out. Oh, he sent us some photos. This is a rare moment where a video doesn't win.

[TJ]

Upset.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, big upset. So fake photos sometimes can get it done. I see a tail piece behind all that. I don't know. That's an Almondinger tail piece, I'm assuming.

[Carson Hosvar]

Yep.

[Dale Jr.]

He's got a lot of AJ Almendinger stuff. Let's see the next slide here was

[Travis]

that dirt late model stuff.

[Dale Jr.]

Back here, there's some Tide Rides, Ricky Rudd, he's a big rooster fan.

[Travis]

Rooster.

[Dale Jr.]

Let's check out the next slide some more. Ricky Rudd. Yeah. And Dale Jared a little bit. Oh no, that's more Ricky Rudd. Ricky Rudd Yates. Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers. And let's check out the next slide. Oh, we got a Ricky Rudd stand up.

[Carson Hosvar]

We do.

[Dale Jr.]

We got a number 47 Stenhouse Junior door, I'm assuming. No, that could be Almondinger. That could be an Almondinger door. I'm gonna assume that's an Almond Dinger door because he's a lot. Got a lot of almond Dinger stuff. So this guy is a unicorn. Not many almonding or Ricky Rudd fans out there. No, he's a double Rud Almondinger fan. Maybe one of a kind. Congratulations to Everett Applegate. Thanks for sending in all your great photos. Yeah, you could win this award or win or become the ultimate racing collector. Stay tuned for more details on when we will be sending Setting up our post on social media for you to follow and give us all these great give us all this great insight into some of your great collections. Thank you. Lionel Racing. Remember, you can check out the latest pre orders@lionel racing.com for all the parents out there.

[TJ]

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[Travis]

Quince.com DaleJR damn, you went extra big on the case.

[Dale Jr.]

It come like this brother. Geez.

[Travis]

They don't trust you anymore then okay.

[Dale Jr.]

What are you talking about they don't trust me.

[Travis]

That case is gigantic. This is no on your phone.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh my case?

[Travis]

Yeah, your phone case.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh it. What do you mean it's gigantic?

[Travis]

Look at how big it is.

[Dale Jr.]

It fits the phone.

[Travis]

You mean does it not look big?

[Dale Jr.]

Look at the the phone is big. Also my buddy Jimmy blew it. Just text me. It is Wall Stadium's 76th year of operation and it is the oldest and last standing asphalt track in New Jersey. Two friends of Jimmy Blewett's leased it so it wouldn't close this year. They were a threat to close, but two of his friends have leased the racetrack to operate it this coming season. And Jimmy, his family, his friends, a lot of the racing community got out over the last, I don't know, six weeks and just did an entire rebrand and paint and fresh coat of paint and cleanup of this racing facility historic place. Truex's race there. A lot of great racers, a lot of modified racers have ran at Wall Stadium and but they're back at it Jimmy blew it. I think he's found, you know, Jimmy's a great guy. He's been on our show and. And they're going to be running that racetrack this year. I'm hoping that they have an incredible season.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

But their season kicks off this weekend. Saturday night, May 2nd. I believe it's May 2nd. So Wall Stadium, if you're. If you're out there around in jersey, go support it. Go support it.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

And I'm not sure if they're on flow or if they've got a streaming partner, but if they do, I have

[Travis]

watched some of their stuff before. I believe I'd love to watch it. I'm pretty sure it is. Earl used to be.

[Dale Jr.]

All right, so. Crew chief change for the eight car. Andy street will assume crew chief responsibilities for Kyle busch in the number 8 car in the cup series. He worked alongside with bush at the end of last year when. When they were making a crew chief change. Jim pullman left junior motorsports. He had been with allgaier forever. He won us. Yep. Won us a championship. We're extremely thankful for Jim. But he will transition into a leadership role within the competition department. Richard childer says this is a move about putting our best people in the best position to succeed. Yada, yada, yada. We all know, you know, they just haven't had the results. It's been tough. There's been a lot of radio chatter that's become public and there's been a lot of focus on that. Radio chatter like that between guys, you know, between within teams is not uncommon. A lot of them are doing that on a weekly basis. It's just highlighted because it's Kyle Busch and he's. He's struggling. Unlike Kyle Busch, you know, unlike Kyle busch. He's just, you know, he's having a tough year and it's. I've been in this situation, man, when you make. Make a. Make a change mid season, it is really hard to. To find positivity and. And try to figure out, like, how to be hopeful that things are going to improve.

[Travis]

I think this one is very challenging here because it seems like they've lost a little bit.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

As a whole. So you got to find that and have a good relationship with this new driver in kershif.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, you know, everybody's wondering what's. What's Kyle going to do? Is he going to stay with rcr? Is he not? That was just a really tough situation all around. Jim. Jim was, you know, I think Jim here at junior motorsports, he had kind of Gotten to the end of the Runway. He was like, you know, I've. I've kind of. I need. I need a new challenge. This ain't getting it. This ain't doing it.

[Travis]

He got it.

[TJ]

And cups calling. It's hard to turn that down.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, Mike Dillon called me. He's like, hey, can we talk to Jim? We really looking for somebody to crew chief Kyle's car next year, and we'd love to have Jim back. Jim used to work at RCR years ago. They wanted. They saw he was comp. You know, what he was able to do with Justin. I think they underestimated just how good Justin was, but they. They brought Jim on board. I told Jim, I said, hey, Jim. Jim was like, if I'm staying with Junior motorsports, I've got a long list of things that I'd like to see change or improve or operations, just on floor operations, things that he thought could run smoother, better make his job easier. So we were working kind of through that with him, and some of that stuff could change. Some of it wasn't going to change. And I was like, hey, man, you know what? I want you to stay. We got to figure it out. But I got a call from Mike Dillon. They want to offer you this opportunity. I don't know if you want to take it. You know, I don't. I don't know if that's something you want to do. He thought about it and ended up making that decision to go over there and do that. Now, you know, just a handful of races into the season, it's. It's not working. But I hope that, you know, Jim's an awesome, awesome guy. Very, very passionate.

[Travis]

It's a little early to make this change still, do you think, in the season.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't know. They know better than any of us. Yeah, I'll say that.

[Travis]

Like, they're in it every day.

[Dale Jr.]

Look, man, I could sit here and be critical. I'm. We are. We are a podcast, right? We're going to sit down and talk, but we ain't in the building. We don't know what the conversations are like inside the building, in the rooms with Kyle, with Jim, with rcr, with Mike Dillon, with. With Richard Childers and all. They. They have a. They have a handle on it. You know, they know way more than any of us. And they got this. You know, they're sitting there thinking, man, we got this. Don't. Don't worry about it. That's probably their take, their racers, right? They think, you know, they're racers and racers are like, we're going to figure it out. You know, Kyle struggling and the organization struggling. And I just hate it for Jim. But honestly, I don't think that he made a mistake leaving Junior Motorsports. I really don't. I think that he was at the end of his Runway. Obviously, we're in a good spot. We got overstreet. We're running races. Justin's not missing a beat. Justin's running as good, if not better. And so we're in a good spot here. But I felt like it was time for Jim, personally, like he needed a new. He needed new horizons. He needed a new, new place and a new space. He. Jim doesn't have to do this at all. He's in a good enough spot where he doesn't have to be in the industry at all. So trust me when I tell you that while Jim's probably disappointed this didn't work out, Jim's gonna be fine.

[TJ]

I feel like this move is out of like desperation and obviously you're not getting rid of the driver, so what are you gonna do? You're just trying something. But I don't, like, I don't know what this is gonna do though.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, I've been. I was in this exact same situation. Kyle used to publicly poke it, poke fun at me in the media about it. It's always the crew chiefs faults, never dale juniors. But I mean, did he not.

[Travis]

Oh, yeah, it was back and forth a lot.

[Dale Jr.]

So, I mean, yeah, you're not, you're not firing Kyle Busch. You're just not. And everybody believes that Kyle can do the job. Everybody believes that Kyle is one of the most talented guys behind the wheel. All his fans absolutely believe that he, you know, should be running up front. And so, yeah, I'm going to. If I'm RCR and I'm Rich Childress, I'm going to be trying to get Kyle running better. And I'm going to do whatever I can to. To make that happen to keep Kyle from leaving. Right. Kyle is sitting there going, all right, man, I'm. What? I don't know. What is he, 41, 40. Kyle's sitting there thinking like, you know, I too am at the end of my Runway, 40 years old. I'm at the. Kyle's sitting there thinking five more years, maybe of, of, of. Of kick ass talent left. I need to be winning now. I don't need to be in a rebuild or in a program that's. That's not ready to win. I need to be winning races. Right. So he's feeling. He's. He's not feeling pressure, but he's urgent to get back to, you know, running up front. And so he ain't 30. He's 40. Right. Y' all understand what I'm saying? Yeah. And so there's some urgency for him to, like, hey, guys, let's get this figured out.

[Travis]

Or.

[Dale Jr.]

Dude, he. I'm telling you, man, you know, his eyes are going to stray. You know, his thoughts are going to stray. He's going to be tempted to. He's gonna get phone calls. People are gonna call him. Hey, man, you want to come drive this car? Look at this car.

[TJ]

Does RCR want him back next year?

[Dale Jr.]

Why wouldn't they want him?

[TJ]

Yeah, well, what they're. What they're paying for the results that they're getting.

[Travis]

Timing is that.

[Dale Jr.]

That ain't on Kyle.

[Travis]

I don't think it's all Kyle.

[TJ]

No, it's not on Kyle, but.

[Travis]

So who are you gonna put in there that's gonna magically fix it?

[Dale Jr.]

Look, I. The driver agree, but. All right, this is a. I'll have this conversation. So I don't know what they're paying Kyle, but I. They could put Jesse Love in the car. Pay. Jesse would probably take a much smaller paycheck.

[TJ]

Right.

[Dale Jr.]

His base. His base salary would not be what Kyle's is. That would be. That would be something that the team would. Would go, okay, that's a. That's a positive. That's a check in a positive column. But Jesse Love will all do respect. I think Jesse Love is a cup talent. I think he's. He's. This guy is extremely talented. Jesse Love will win cup races. He will battle for cup championships. He has that ability. But is he Kyle Busch today? I don't think so. I would say Kyle is just, you know, I trust Kyle's record and his ability, knowledge, his, his, his. I just. I would say I would put Kyle in the car before I'd put Jesse in.

[TJ]

He put them both in the same car. Kyle's going to be better.

[Dale Jr.]

I think so, yes.

[TJ]

Yeah. I think we all agree he's going

[Travis]

to know how to run a more complete race.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. So that's the thing, you know, if you put Jesse in the car, know that you're going to be going through the processes of Jesse learning and struggling and getting, you know, figuring all this out, which he will. You save a little money on the salary, maybe, you know, some. You save some money there.

[Travis]

But don't you feel like you take a lot of that and invest it still? Though in like other departments like engineering and. Because you're going to have to get better.

[Dale Jr.]

Look, they got to get better. The organization has to get better. They know that. They know that they're not.

[Travis]

Cars are make a lot.

[Dale Jr.]

They are not running from that. They're not hiding from that. And you know Austin Dillon and Mike Dillon and all the folks over there, rcr, they just, they know they just got to figure it out. They got to buckle down and figure out how to get. It's tough, dude. They are, you know they are on an island up there in Welcome. I mean that might as well be on Pluto. You know, I'm saying it's hard to get people to, to up. You know a lot of the racing industry and it's not. I don't, I don't really know how they feel about how challenging this part is. Is it the same as it was 20 years ago? And I again, I don't run there. I don't, I don't know what it's like to run their business or be involved in their business. So maybe this isn't a hurdle but it feels like you know, if you've got a very talented guy that you want to hire, maybe he's an excellent crew chief, he would probably, maybe he wants to come work at your organization. But does he want to drive that hour up the road? Is he, is he living in Concord, Harrisburg where all the other teams are and he has to drive that hour up to welcome every day. He's certainly probably not going to uproot his whole family or whatever is going on. You know, move, you know, that's a challenge, that's a hurdle. That's a challenge for them. They got great people too but they need, they don't have quite as much sway, you know, when trying to recruit in I believe and that probably may still be a tough challenge for them but man they're racers and they're hard, they're hard nosed and I don't love seeing them struggle.

[TJ]

It's good for the sport when they're good.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, I don't love seeing them struggle but you know it is a tough situation that, that, that they're in. I think that this is a, this is a good change. I would have loved to have seen Jim get a little bit longer time to see how that might have beared some fruit. I don't know that this is going to change really how the car performs. But dude, when you get, when you get kind of like when, when, when you get ready to make a change and you get your mind made up. It's. It's hard to turn it off. It's hard to. It's hard to. It's hard to turn it off. And somebody in this relationship is. Is. Is over it. You know what I mean? You just got to imagine that there's somebody here that said, I can't do it anymore. Maybe it was Kyle. Maybe it's Jim. I don't know.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

For sure. Yeah. You don't make this change unless somebody raised their hand and said, I can't. This isn't working for me. Yeah. Just interesting that Andy's going to go back on the car. They kind of know what they got there. Right. Because he was on the car at the end of last year. They must, you know, Kyle must have liked some of that. Like, I don't know why they didn't put Andy on the car this year to start the year, but. So that's a little interesting, right? Don't you think? Yeah.

[TJ]

I find ironic that they're bringing somebody back that's already been there.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. So I don't know, but, I mean,

[Travis]

who else do you go get right now? It almost has to be internal, right?

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, a couple of decent. I mean, the finishes at the end. The tail end of last year were kind of on par with how he was running throughout the year. Just looking at the stats.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

But

[TJ]

anyhow, see what happens.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, well, tough deal, man. I was a little bit surprised to see it, but I was, you know, we all knew that there was some. Some frustration there for sure in the o' Rally race. So I watched the o' Rally race, man, I'm not looking forward to this conversation because I don't think me and TJ Are going to be on the same page here.

[Travis]

But none of your cars wrecked.

[Dale Jr.]

None of my cars wrecked.

[Travis]

That's good.

[Dale Jr.]

But they didn't finish any better. Like, usually when you don't wreck, you end up running up front. We had some very fast cars. Hendrick. Hendrick engines brought some speed. Our crew chiefs had them things dialed in. They were winning cars, and we didn't get it done. Well, one of our, you know, teammates in the 17 got the win. Corey Day, congratulations. Corey Day is, you know, hey, you know, he's been in the spotlight a little bit this year for some of the things happening on the racetrack, but he's figured it out. This kid's starting to put together races, and Corey Day is a championship contender. I'm gonna say it. Corey Day is figuring it out, and he is going to be a handful later in the season, you know, for all these guys that are trying to go win a championship. He's going to be in the conversation for sure. So the, the guys are coming off pit road and NASCAR apparently said in the driver's meeting, NASCAR has seen something. This is what the broadcast was talking about. NASCAR saw something over the last couple of races at Talladega in the Cup Series. They did not love how guys were pulling up in front of the pack on the back straightaway. And they said they don't, they don't have drivers meetings in O'Reilly series anymore. It's really a one sheeter.

[Travis]

Yeah, you get a, they, they send out a.

[Dale Jr.]

It's a video.

[Travis]

Yeah, it's video. Same when they play, you know, and like the cup deal.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, I think it's time to bring back the driver's meetings. I don't believe, I believe that the COVID era, you know, memo and email, we're over that. Let's get these boys back in the room. We don't have to get all of the CEOs and all the athletes and celebrities, but we need, we're there at the racetrack. All you got them boys are all sitting around on, on race day when twiddling thumbs. Let's get them in a room. Let's, let's watch the video. Let's have a couple converses, ask some questions. Let's do that. Let's get doing to that. I don't like the email memo video. Bull. Because our guys ain't watching it. All right, that's on us. But we, I mean, come on, we've been doing drivers meetings for years. The way to do a driver's meeting is to actually get everybody in a room together and have, have a conversation. It should happen. That's one thing. But our guys, they said in the email that they were going to be looking at this a little closer because they haven't liked what's starting to develop and it's starting to become a habit or it's become normalized to pull up in front of the pack as they're coming off a turn. You know, if you're coming off pit road, it's been normalized to try to impede their progress and break them up. So coming off of turn two, Carson Copple pulls to the middle of the racetrack. Okay. As the fields coming up in basically what amounts to the third lane. He then moves into the third lane, as does Justin Allgaier. And so NASCAR saw that and said, here's our opportunity to Nail these guys and set an example of what we don't want. Now TJ Is going to say, that's fine. Just keep doing this going forward. Like, if you're going to do it to us, do it. Do it to the next guy that's. That's on NASCAR to.

[Travis]

I think the 92 should have got it as well.

[Dale Jr.]

So let's watch it. Where's the 92 at?

[Travis]

The blue car.

[Dale Jr.]

Let's watch it. Let's watch it back. I thought there was a third car in the group.

[Travis]

He's right behind Carson, right there in the middle of the racetrack.

[Dale Jr.]

And he didn't do. He. The 92 is. Didn't do what Carson did.

[Travis]

Aren't you supposed to be on the line? He's moving up to the middle of the racetrack.

[Dale Jr.]

They didn't. I don't think they said that. You got to be against the line all the way down the back straightaway. So Carson makes a third move into the third lane. Justin makes a move into the third lane, then back down.

[Travis]

I mean, see, to me, that's one defensive move from Carson. That's only one.

[Dale Jr.]

Are you serious?

[Travis]

Well, yeah. What do you want me to say? How many moves is it?

[Dale Jr.]

His first defensive move was up to the middle of the racetrack.

[Travis]

Well, I mean, he's not looking at the two cars. Looking the 92 right then. TJ whether you want to call it the second one or first one. I mean, to me, he can't even see the two car until he gets up to the third lane.

[Dale Jr.]

I'm. I'm telling you, if I'm NASCAR and I want you to stop this, I'm penalizing these guys right here when I see it.

[Travis]

Well, that's fine. They just got to penalize rest of them from here on out.

[Dale Jr.]

That's what I just said. I figured you'd say that. I agree with you on that. NASCAR's. NASCAR has set a precedent. That's.

[Travis]

I do think Justin is this sketchy for me right here.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, Justin's move was scary for me. Listen, I gotta be honest, man. I was at. I was in practice. I can't remember if this was an Xfinity race or A, an O'Reilly race or a Cup race, but this was probably 2003. And we're out there practicing on the racetrack, practicing, and we've got about a 10 car pack and Kenny Wallace pulls out on the racetrack and there's, there's, you know, handful of cars down on the bottom going down the back straightaway that are going to Blend up into the pack, right? And they're going quite a bit slower. And so as we're going down the back straightaway, I kind of start feeding the pack high because I figure these guys in the bottom are going to stay low. And so we ease off into turn three and we're going up toward the wall. Well, Kenny Wallace just drives up the racetrack to jump in front of us. And I was like, damn, that. That's crazy. Like, it is like, what. It's practice and we're trying to like, jump in front of a pack that's going maybe 15 mile an hour faster than. Because you want to be the leader of that pack. I mean, I don't know. And we. No one ever, anytime that ever happened, right? Everyone thought, man, you just don't do that. That's against the code. You know, you just don't do it. You don't pull up in front of people in practice. You don't get in front of guys that are making mock runs, you know, and this, you know, I know this is a race and this competition and you're trying, they're trying. There's a. There's an effort by them to try to impede the. The pack so they don't lose all these positions. But it's always kind of been a code, an unwritten code that you just don't pull up in front of a pack of cars that are coming 10, 10, 20 mile an hour faster than you. And it's become normalized. It has.

[Travis]

Very normal.

[Dale Jr.]

It's become normalized and which it shouldn't be. NASCAR is right to. To try to get a hold of it before it becomes a problem and somebody gets turned over.

[Travis]

So let me ask question right there on that. Why didn't we saw it a few probably two years ago, three years ago, maybe three, something like that. Whenever they first started doing this, guys would come off pit road and just split and make everyone go around them. Why not see it right? Then why do we run eight more 10 years?

[Dale Jr.]

Look, you wouldn't give a. If it was Jesse Love getting popped. I mean, I know mad because it was you.

[Travis]

I didn't like it when they first did it. And my car wasn't even involved in the cup race before. I didn't like it then.

[Dale Jr.]

NASCAR slow to move on it. So they're finally getting a hold of it. They're trying to get these guys to quit doing it.

[TJ]

You can't say, well, they didn't do it two years ago, so why they do it now? They finally decided to please.

[Travis]

The reason why these guys are doing it is because they see the guys on Sunday doing it.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes, but they said in the email they were going to start watching it. If. If somebody tells you, hey, man, the sidewalk's going to be wet, we're going to repour the sidewalk tomorrow. Don't walk down that road. You don't walk down the road. The sidewalk's wet.

[Travis]

I'm not disagreeing with you. There's. What is. So let me ask you this. If you're.

[Dale Jr.]

You got told to be mindful.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

And y' all let it happen.

[Travis]

I didn't let it happen.

[Dale Jr.]

First of all, did you read the book email?

[Travis]

Did you hear my radio?

[Dale Jr.]

Did you read the email?

[Travis]

Did you see my radio? Did you hear my radio?

[Dale Jr.]

What'd you say?

[Travis]

Stay on the line. Stand the line. Stand the line.

[Dale Jr.]

All right, well, what's your problem?

[Travis]

My problem is not just this.

[Dale Jr.]

They didn't listen. They got popped.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's fine. But there's other moments in the race, like when you catch other packs, like slow packs, and they split in front of the leaders, too, is they're not coming off pit road, but you catch them so fast.

[TJ]

TJ it's not the same.

[Travis]

That's. I'm just asking you.

[Dale Jr.]

NASCAR's, you know, just trying to.

[Travis]

Yeah. I mean, I. From the very first time they did in the cup series, I thought it was bad.

[Dale Jr.]

They're just trying to get a hold of it. We got made of examples of. And sometimes that's going to be us, sometimes it's going to be somebody else.

[Travis]

No, I agree.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't love it. I hate it for them guys. They. It cost us, you know, cost them good results for sure. They had good enough cars. They should have, you know, they could have just let this compact go by and they would have got the draft and figured it out and got back up through there and they didn't give themselves. I'm mad they didn't give themselves the chance, but I would appreciate if we would go back to having normal conver. Normal drivers meetings. I think that would help because I'm. I need a. I needed Mike Helton to be in the room going, guys, today we're going to be focusing more on X, Y and Z. Okay? So make sure you. You're. You're doing a better job there. You know what I mean?

[Travis]

I do think it is better in person when you're going to stress something like that because whether you send the email. Did you know, redeem about it like that email tells Me. No tone.

[Dale Jr.]

No tone.

[Travis]

It tells you no.

[Dale Jr.]

My guy. I'm telling my guys aren't they're not going to ping on that a line. Yeah no they're not.

[Travis]

Not especially when you see guys do it on Sundays every week.

[Dale Jr.]

I agree.

[Travis]

Plate races.

[Dale Jr.]

I'm sorry.

[TJ]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Russell]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Russell]

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[Travis]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Travis]

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[Dale Jr.]

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[Russell]

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[Travis]

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[Russell]

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[Dale Jr.]

Well, we got our winner for the, for the cup race, Carson Hosvar in the studio. We're arguing about the penalty on the O'Reilly race on the back straightaway with Carson and Justin.

[Carson Hosvar]

I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't look at emails or whatever.

[Dale Jr.]

And I was saying to TJ, dude, in like 2005, nobody did that. That was really against the code, right? To put to blatantly, like, go into the third lane and pull up in front of, you know, car pack. That was against code. Now it's kind of become, like, normalized. Is it truly when you see a guy do it, do you, God darn, okay, you know, just going to figure out a way to get around him or do you go, what an idiot?

[Carson Hosvar]

No, I mean, every time I, I mean, I'm normally the one doing it, honestly. So, I mean, hell, I did it on the Chevy, so. But I was already on the racetrack when I did it. But I, I've already, but they were already doing it before I got in there, really. Especially, like the Penske cars, like, they, they like, had a plan of like, all right, one car goes here, one car goes here, one car goes here to really, like, block them. And, like, we haven't, like, you know, like, wrecked anything. I, I know I was appreciative that y' all got popped at least. So that was how I found out that was even a rule because I saw Carson at, like, the concert at the Boulevard and he's like, hey, man, don't do what I did. And I was like, what the hell did you do? Like, I, I didn't even realize what the penalties for. I, I thought, like, maybe he just got up too quickly off turn two. I didn't realize it was like halfway down the back just turning up, like, because I just thought that was, it

[Travis]

wasn't like blaining the 500. If you saw that clip, he. He blended literally in the middle of 1 and 2 at Daytona. I've never seen it before, but that was. I mean, it got away with it, but.

[Carson Hosvar]

But I felt like. I feel like one in, like, Talladega. Like, you go through on the apron, through one and two, and you get halfway down the back, you can kind of just do what you want. Where Daytona, like, it's like the. Well, you kind of got to stay on the Different.

[Travis]

It sounds weird, but it is different.

[Carson Hosvar]

It's different. It is like you're not really on the apron. You're still merging onto the track. You just can't go too far and everything. Like, it's similar. Like, poke narrow, like Pocono. We're getting away with murder. A lot of them are just, like, going straight to the wall off turn to. When you're supposed to stay low and everything. Yeah, there's other places we. We get away with it.

[Dale Jr.]

It's gotten something. Something that's gotten really aggressive. Yeah. Because, I mean, man back. I hate to sound like an old man back in my day, but we all adhered pretty good to the, you know, the. The no blend rule, and we all stayed pretty tight. If we were told to use the apron, obviously, it made it very simple to. To use the apron and then come up off the. You know, off of turn two and just, you know, you're looking up. All right, nobody's coming. I can. I feel like I can get up against the wall here, but if somebody was coming, you didn't drive up in front of them, you never would.

[Carson Hosvar]

I think the thing is, too, the car, like, there's. If. If they slammed you at 20 mile an hour faster, you're just gonna shoot you forward. If they slammed you back in the day, 20 mile an hour faster.

[TJ]

Oh, yeah.

[Carson Hosvar]

Flipside down.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Carson Hosvar]

We completely destroyed.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Well, hey, it is what it is. Congratulations again to Corey Day. Great, great race by Corey. He did an awesome job. And. Yeah. So let's move on to the cup race. Big, big crash going into turn three. I got to see. I got. I was flying to Nashville and doing some work with Texas Roadhouse, so I didn't get a chance to. To see all of it, but I did see this big crash y' all had into turn three. Where were you?

[Carson Hosvar]

So I was the last car on the top. Last car was the last car, like, on the top lane. And so, literally, I was the, like, going off turn two. I kept doing the. Trying to get the fastest lap. So I'd, like, lay way back, and I would just drive through the field. Like, you know, they're like four wide,

[Travis]

half throttle, and that is kind of fun.

[Carson Hosvar]

I would just start cutting through five wide and stuff, trying to get the fastest lap. So I blew my tire just literally just on the brake. And so, like, right there, I'm, like, flat and everything, but you can see it bouncing. Yeah. But, yeah, I just happened to take off, too. I was like, man. Because I just kept doing this with the pack and. Yo. Yo. And I was like, I'm. If they wreck because I'm yo. Yoing through everybody. And I just happened to think that off, too. And I was like, I probably should back off a little bit. And then all of a sudden, I saw, like, one car do something not normal. And then Tyler said, they're wrecking, and you see smoke. So luckily, I saw that. I had that intuition a little bit of, like, being aware that I'm putting myself in a bad spot, what I was doing. But we didn't really get any damage. We just. Not the. There was something with the left front we had to fix because there's so much rubber that hit it. But. But no, I was completely fine. I praised for impact because I couldn't see anything.

[Travis]

Dude, I'm gonna go and tell you if there was a car sitting in front of you.

[Dale Jr.]

You're.

[Carson Hosvar]

Dude, it's over.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Carson Hosvar]

I was more worried about. I was just. I was. I was so braced for impact. Of them spinning back up.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Hitting the door or something. Yeah.

[Carson Hosvar]

Like, just. Or just flying in from behind that they didn't see.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Carson Hosvar]

But I was like, if I. I was. I just kept turning my wheel, right. Because I was like, if they. Like, you know, if they have four flats, they're just gonna slide down. So I was like, yeah, just. Just clean. Just go. Just go to the bottom.

[Travis]

Please move. I mean, it worked out.

[Dale Jr.]

I'm.

[Carson Hosvar]

Yeah. I got super lucky there.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. So when you watch all the videos, you know, it. That's one of. That's one of my favorite things, is to every now and then go back and watch an old race, you know, and just relive the emotions. Right. And so what. What does that feel like? I guess when you. Because, you know, it does take a while for it to sink in.

[Carson Hosvar]

Yeah. I was. I was driving here, and it doesn't feel like I've. I've won. Like, I keep forgetting I've already. I've won one. But, I mean, every time. I mean, literally every time I watch the video, I. I just, like, ball up. Like, I literally cry my ass off. Like, I just. So lame. Like, I mean, literally, like, almost two days apart. But, like.

[Dale Jr.]

But that's what I.

[Carson Hosvar]

Like, I. I felt like I. I. I was so focused on soaking it all in, and, like, I wanted to visualize it. And, like, nothing's a blur. I could tell you exactly where, you know, what row I saw somebody. I could tell you everything. I could tell you exactly who I was pointing to. I remember it all. And so when I watched. When I rewatched the videos, I. I still remember it. So, like, I get. I'm. Like, I'm mainly crying just because I. I literally get back into the same emotion. I can get. I was. And, like, I can hear the crowd. I can hear everything. I can visualize everything again. And so, like, that's my favorite part is, like, I can. I can get back to that spot because that was the number one thing I was scared of if I ever won was either wouldn't feel like I dreamt about and, like, it wouldn't feel like that big of a deal and would just. It'd be like, damn, this is everything I've ever, ever dreamt of, worked for. And it just. You know, it just. It wasn't what you'd expect. You know, the expectations were so high and everything, but no, you know, matched up perfectly.

[Dale Jr.]

Really appreciate Carson stopping by in the studio for this. Ended up going a little bit longer than we thought. Uh, we're gonna decide, actually. I'm making the executive decision right now. We're gonna actually give you the full interview during the guest show tomorrow. So if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, and it's a great one, check out tomorrow's episode with Carson Hosavar. Hey, this is Dalenhardt Jr. And for all the latest Dale Jr. Download gear, including the I'm gonna 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. Hey, Everybody. It's Dale Jr. And we're back again for another episode of Ask Jr. Here on the Dale Jr. Download YouTube page. Want to thank Xfinity for waving the red flag on Internet price hikes? They're sneaky, those price hikes. They're raising the green flag on savings. You can get the speed you need in your reliable wi fi. Locked in one price for five years. No surprises, no late yellows. Right to victory lane. We've got a winner. It's Xfinity Imagine that. Let's get right to the questions. TJ's here with me. Go ahead Travis.

[TJ]

First question is we had some awards given out yesterday. How people want to know how you're doing about the Rookie of the Year. Not going to con.

[Dale Jr.]

Not going to con. Con in the NBA. Had a great rookie season but lost to Cooper Flag.

[Travis]

He got robbed.

[Dale Jr.]

It was like 54 to 48 or something. The voting really kind of relatively close. But of course as a Hornets fan I was disappointed in those results. It was 56 to 44 for first place.

[TJ]

Total was 412 to 386.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't know man. I mean look, Cooper Flag is a badass dude and he is, he as a lot of people will point out, he's the number one option on that team. Khan is the second or third option on his team. And, and, and Khan struggled down the stretch, man. I think he had a back injury that was, he could not hit a three pointer.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

the end of the year the, like the last nine, ten games were just, just tough outings. And, and I think that affected or that list that opened the door for the folks that were big on Cooper Flag. I can't help but feel like,

[Quince Representative]

you

[Dale Jr.]

know it's, this is like this reminds me used to watch boxing. I used to watch boxing matches a lot. I still love boxing but I don't watch as many. You would see big matches get put together and you knew that the, you knew that the scoring of the rounds was always going to be a little weighted toward the champion or the person that was, you know, not, not the challenger. Right. And a lot of times if you were a fan of the challenger, you felt like man, this guy's going to have to knock him out. He's not going to win the decision if he allows it to be even close. They're going to give the decision to the other guy every time. And this is what that feels like this, you know, this feels like that. If Khan didn't go in there and continue to knock it out every night and just have badass games all the way to the finish line, he was going to open up the door of opportunity for them to give it to Flag and that's what happened. I don't agree with it. I wouldn't have voted Flag. I would have voted for Con. Listen, I am a casual fan. I am not a hardcore Hornets fan. So don't come at me with all these stats and you don't know. I don't, I don't know and so. But I'm just telling you, I've been. I was. I was fired up to be a Hornets fan this year. We've had a rough, you know, go of it as, As a. As a franchise. We had an awesome year. Our playing game sucked. It sucked to get blown out by Orlando like we did. And I, you know, I was watching and I saw Khan kind of faltering down the stretch to the finish line with whatever was ailing him. And I. I was worried. I was like, this is going to present an opportunity for the folks that want to give it to Flag to do that.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

And let me tell you, there is a lot there. There is a lot. There is a lot riding on Flag winning that award that starts at the beginning of the year. Right. I mean, he's the face of a lot of things.

[Travis]

They're banking on it.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes. Like, he's on all the. He's on all the boxes of, Of. Of. Of Topps cards and cases and boxes and this and that and other. And he's like the, the industry makes more money off of a Flag rookie of the year than Khan. They do if they give it to Khan. And Khan remains this second third option on this team. He plays well, and he's a great player and aids his team in having success, but he's not a superstar. Yeah, the guy they, you know, it's. It's not as great.

[TJ]

He's not the face of a franchise.

[Dale Jr.]

Not the face of the franchise. Yeah. So, I mean, the industry had must. You know, I'm. I'm imagining there was a little leverage and a little pressure on some people to. To say, hey, it's better for us long term as a, As a. As a industry. Flag is the winner here because he is the face of this franchise.

[Travis]

And it's just like this where Charlotte's

[Dale Jr.]

a small market, we feel like we get pushed around. We feel like we're not allowed to have anything. This. This aids in that, you know, this aids in this idea that, man, they ain't never gonna let us have nothing. All of the guys and girls like myself that had con cards, we're freaking disappointed because we feel like they want the value too. Yeah, Exactly.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

My 700 Concord now $7, you know, six months from now is gonna be worth half that money.

[Travis]

Do you really have one?

[Carson Hosvar]

Probably 700.

[TJ]

Don't worry about it.

[Dale Jr.]

Don't worry about it.

[Travis]

I thought you had a limit.

[TJ]

He knows people.

[Dale Jr.]

I don't have to. I'm not buying every card. Sometimes you can pull a Card.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

So I'm. I'm a little. I'm a little. I'm not. I'm not a hey, here's what I pulled today kind of guy. I'm not going to post every single card that I pull because. Gotcha.

[Travis]

Well, that was a good one. If you pulled that.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Now, I couldn't help it. I pulled that Ricky, that Griffey. Yeah. Downtown. I was like, I gotta share this. This is amazing. I just. I'm disappointed, man. Khan deserved it. I want to get Khan on the podcast. If he's hearing this, please come see us. We're just down the street. I'd love to learn about you and your game and let's talk Hornets and let's talk about. You know, I want to learn about this dude. And it'd be. It'd be badass to have him or any of the players come in here and sit down and talk basketball because, again, I'm a casual fan. Don't know. I want to learn more. And the Hornets look like they're poised to. They got an amazing coach. I love this coach we got. And they're in a position with their draft capital and so forth to really have a good stretch here over the next couple of years if they do things the right way, make the right decisions.

[Travis]

Travis, can I. Speaking of athletes, really quick and first timers at Talladega were. I met like five or six Green Bay packers that were there through the super bowl eras of like, you know, Aaron Rodgers and stuff. First race for a lot of them there. Had a great time. It was like Josh Siton, John the fullback. You might remember his cool. Very cool dudes, man. Yeah, it was. Really had a great time meeting them and. And Priest actually gave him pace car rides and they were freaking out like, awesome.

[TJ]

Yeah.

[Travis]

So.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, Ryan Priest. I pulled an auto. Ryan Priest. Shout out.

[Travis]

Ryan Priest and the auto. Yeah.

[TJ]

Next question. What'd you think of the news of Jim France stepping down?

[Dale Jr.]

I mean, excuse me, I. Nothing. It changes nothing. Steve o', Donnell, great guy. I don't think that it really changes how business is going to get done or not. You're not going to see this seismic sort of shift in operations. It'll be, you know, more of the same. Steve was already in a pretty high position. I think it's just schematics at this point. Jim's. Jim's getting up there and they need to. I think this is them knowing the inevitable and getting go ahead and making that move. I like. I think what's more interesting out is the move for Ben Kennedy.

[Travis]

That's what I was going to ask you about.

[Dale Jr.]

So Ben Kennedy's Ben Kennedy. He is the guy. They're positioning him to be the guy. He's going to be the guy. And whatever this Sport is in 25 years will be through the vision and eyes of Ben Kennedy. And so. And he will, if he's given that opportunity, he will run this, run this business with all the best intentions. He's a great guy. That's really the bigger move is, or the more interesting thing for me is to see Ben. Ben sort of coming up the ladder and getting closer to the top rung.

[Travis]

And that's what I saw when I saw it, too, because Ben's been kind of the schedule guy. And now I think they moved Julie Giese into that role.

[Dale Jr.]

She's amazing. I've worked with her. When we were doing the broadcast for the first time, Charlotte Chicago street course race, we got to spend a ton of time with her. She don't mess around. She is. She's the real deal. I have ton of respect and admiration for her and the role she'll play going forward. But the, I don't know, you know, I'm not, I don't want to. I'm, I'm. It. This sport is moving forward. Get on the train or get off.

[Travis]

It's always evolving.

[Dale Jr.]

It is, it is. And, and there's some things that, you know, it's tough to break tradition or it's tough to see things change or evolve. And I pick my battles on kind of what, what to fight against or, or when you're swimming against the current. But it's going in the direction it's going. And I approve a thousand percent with the leadership they have in place. Yeah, I do. I like every one of those individuals. I am not afraid to admit it. They're good people and they want what's good for the sport. And they're people that I can call and they'll answer the phone and I can tell them what I think and we can have a conversation.

[Travis]

Yeah, even like OD coming on dbc. I mean, that was awesome.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. I mean, me and Kelly got a meeting with OD in a couple of weeks to talk O'Reilly. So.

[Travis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

You know that they're, they're folks that I've known for a long, long time. And I call Ben the other day, you know, he, he had that deal where he, he took his team to the race and they were race fans, you know, for the week. It was kind of Like a undercover boss kind of thing, you know? On the way into the shop, I call him on the phone. I'm like, hey, tell me about that. I want to go on my podcast, talk about it, but I need to know what the heck actually happened. And so, I mean, they're. They're. They're easy to, you know, easy to reach.

[Travis]

And, yeah, this is a good deal.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[TJ]

One more question is how happy were you with your team's NFL draft picks?

[Dale Jr.]

I was pretty happy. What about you, TJ? The Washington had a great opportunity at 7 to take Styles. I thought that was a great. Awesome. To be able to land a guy like that, we really need some linebacker help. They had a couple other curious picks, but when I looked at where those players were graded, we got really good value for the pick. Little running back out of Penn State that I'm. I'm excited to see. They call him Fat Man. This is nickname, which is interesting, but instead of Batman, it's Fat Man. But. And we drafted a quarterback, I think, with our last pick, which is also interesting. I think Sam Hartman might be out, and they're trying to figure out if this kid can come in and play. But. Yeah.

[Travis]

Yeah, I don't know. They. Bills traded back a lot.

[Dale Jr.]

We got a center. I think he's from Michigan State. We needed a center.

[Travis]

Yeah, I think the Bills. I like the draft picks. Brandon Bean's been pretty good about finding. Finding talent later in rounds and stuff that stick around and be starters. So, you know, time will tell.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Excited about the. You know, you always got that first round pick. You excited about the guy. They land there.

[Travis]

They traded.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, they traded out of the first round.

[Travis]

They traded out of the first round. Yep.

[Dale Jr.]

Well, they must have been pretty late in the round.

[Travis]

Yeah, they were late in the round. They went for a linebacker first, and then they filled a lot of spots. So I'm pretty happy with what they did.

[Dale Jr.]

Our play, our. The. The commander's team has really changed. They went hard on the defense to get a bunch of people in there, and it's every across. Across the board. I'm pretty happy. We are thin at wide receiver, and we're thin at cornerback, and, you know, there's.

[Carson Hosvar]

There.

[Dale Jr.]

The wide receiver stuff is not as critical. I think cornerback stuff's.

[Travis]

Yeah, you have a number one.

[Carson Hosvar]

Yeah.

[Travis]

So that's always good.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

McLaurin. I. I think you guys got a

[Dale Jr.]

reason, and we got a great couple corners. I just, you know, if you could

[Travis]

add one offensive piece, would you. Who would it be? Like a Who's tight Endurance or who was it?

[Dale Jr.]

We. We got the guy from the Titans. We signed him in free agency, so he's supposed to be pretty solid, but we'll see.

[Carson Hosvar]

Awesome.

[TJ]

Well, that's it for today.

[Dale Jr.]

All right. Well, I hope everybody had a great. Had a great week, and we had a lot to talk about in this show. You're going to want to tune in and. Yeah, I guess we'll see you tomorrow. I appreciate Xfinity for waving the green or the red flag on Internet price hikes and giving us awesome opportunity to lock in the same price for 5 years for incredible Wi Fi. Xfinity is a badass program. There are great people that invest in our sport, and I've got the service, and it works really, really good. So thank you, Xfinity, and we'll see you next week. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets. All right, everybody, it's time for the segment Dirty Bodeaux, brought to you by fanduel coming out of Talladega. Do we got to talk about anything? Did anybody make any good bets? Anybody win any money?

[TJ]

I just.

[Dale Jr.]

Talladega was a show for everybody on the betting app FanDuel.

[TJ]

Yeah, there was no need for. Yeah, no need to talk about the.

[Dale Jr.]

No need to talk about it. Well, we're going into Texas this weekend. Our favorites are Denny Hamlin, Reddick, Larson, Blaney Bell, Byron. The same every week? Yep. Jesus. I mean, we might as well just don't even have to print a new sheet for the next race. The favorites are Diddy Hamlin.

[TJ]

Should Denny be a favorite, considering his last couple of races at Texas?

[Russell]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but, yes, he still should be a favorite.

[Dale Jr.]

There you go. All right. This segment was brought to you, but I'm just kidding. I'm just messing it. Hey, you know, it's a track where you can see. You know, it's a track where you could see something, you know, something unique happening. I think Texas is. Is a. Is a lot of fun, but. And I don't know how I feel about Reddick, though. Look, I know this dude has. He's had an incredible start to the season, but this is a mile and a half. Do we look back at Vegas, you know, do we look back at performance at a track similar to Texas? And does that carry over who almost

[TJ]

won Texas last year?

[Dale Jr.]

This. Well, I. I hear you. That was last year, King. Last year was a completely different year for him. He almost won a lot of races but didn't win any.

[Travis]

Who talk About Reddick.

[TJ]

Thanks for listening, tj.

[Dale Jr.]

Thanks for waking up, tj.

[Travis]

Just making sure he wasn't talking about Danny.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, I just. How do we feel about Reddick? We. You know, it's. This is a. This is a up kind of groove that we're in as. As content creators, race fans, whatever you call it. It's literally no matter what the racetrack, it's, what have you done for me lately, like, in Talladega, has no bearing on Texas at all. But I can't get out of this habit, which is a shitty habit that I don't love, I have, of looking at last week's results to determine my feelings about the upcoming race.

[Travis]

Yeah, I agree, but what is.

[Dale Jr.]

Why are we doing that? We used to never do that, but I see that. I see myself and other people doing that more often in the state of the sport.

[Travis]

It's momentum,

[Dale Jr.]

you know, does. So Redick just magically pops back to the top of the board going into, you know, going into Texas. What do you think?

[Russell]

He won the last mile and a half race.

[Dale Jr.]

Yep.

[TJ]

So.

[Russell]

So what?

[Dale Jr.]

All right.

[Travis]

But, I mean, you're making me.

[Dale Jr.]

Hey, you're making me a believer. That's all I needed to hear. Stop.

[Travis]

He. He probably wasn't going that race, though.

[Dale Jr.]

But we have a rebuttal.

[Travis]

But, I mean, he wasn't going, like, minus unforeseen.

[Russell]

Okay. He was second then.

[Dale Jr.]

Okay.

[Travis]

But that's not when.

[Dale Jr.]

But he's still going to be a contender. All right. Who out of that group is. Are you most worried about?

[Russell]

I would say Travis is onto something with Denny with his. With his finishes there lately. But, you know, like, engine failure was one last year, so that's where I. I say that I think it's hard when you look at the mile and a half races this year. We've had nine guys finish top 10 in both of them. So, like, it's the same guys running up front there.

[Dale Jr.]

Who are those nine?

[Russell]

So it's. It's Denny, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Chris Bucher, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski.

[Dale Jr.]

All right. Do you not think that Byron's the one? Byron's kind of one that I'm not confident in. They've had a tough. They've found the tough. They found some.

[Travis]

You know, they're just having a rough go.

[Dale Jr.]

They've had a rough go.

[Travis]

It goes like that.

[Dale Jr.]

It goes like that. It does. Do they bounce back? Do they got. Did they start performing like they want to?

[Russell]

I think. I think this is a Good track for him for sure.

[Travis]

It is.

[Dale Jr.]

They certainly. I was thinking Byron was a championship contender this year. This might be a year where he could actually really make a go of it. But man, they've kind of keep stubbing their toe. Little. Little things. Right. But yeah, it'll be interesting. What about Spire? We, you know, host of our coming off of a win. They've ran well at the mile and a half.

[Travis]

He's decent at Texas too.

[Dale Jr.]

Goes into those tracks with confidence. Now with a win under his belt, the pressure's off, you know to like be desperate. Right.

[Russell]

Yeah, I definitely like him here for at least a top 10 bet, if you will.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Russell]

He's won here in the truck series. So he likes the track. Like he's guys a top 10 here already in this race last year. Yeah, I believe he wasn't. Didn't he win the poll here last year in the cup race in the fall?

[Dale Jr.]

He did.

[Russell]

And there was only one race here last year.

[Travis]

Yes.

[TJ]

Plus money for top 10 for us far.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Is there a. Is, is that, is this what I'm seeing? There is a. There's a one on one Suarez versus Chastain.

[TJ]

Yep.

[Dale Jr.]

And so I love this bet because this is personal. So they don't like each other. They're ex teammates. Suarez went to Spire and Trackhouse has struggled and I think this is a juicy little fun bet to. To have I hope continues throughout the year.

[Travis]

They've both kind of met in the middle like.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

You know what I mean? Like Suarez.

[Dale Jr.]

Suarez over Suarez is plus money against Chastain. I would take it.

[Russell]

He's been. He's been top 10 in the last three at Texas, 12 in the last five.

[Travis]

He's been quietly. He's been quietly having a pretty good year.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. That's a bet to make.

[TJ]

I'm on it.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

Do you think the difference between like a Kansas and a Texas is. Kansas to me is a much narrower window and it's easier to make mistakes there and get in trouble. Do you think the same.

[Russell]

Yeah. This is the track. We've had the most cautions in this car.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Russell]

On average. So you know we, we've been way down on cautions this year. But this is, this is a track where I think we can. We can get several cautions.

[Dale Jr.]

Why? So you have to tell me that.

[TJ]

Is it that bump?

[Travis]

No, it's not. It's the bump. I mean it's the way the groove is. I mean it's real easy to. And the way this track is. They. It's Hard to see the cushion sometimes in one and two, and if you jump the cushion and guys get free up there and. And to me. And guys can put each other up there and get each other in trouble more. And they will do that.

[Dale Jr.]

So there's another head to head where there's a massive underdog. Brad is plus one fifty versus Briscoe. I. I gotta say that's. That's a. I would. I would gamble the money on Brad to. Since it's plus money.

[TJ]

150 is a big number.

[Dale Jr.]

What do you think about that?

[Russell]

I'm with you. I like Keselowski over Briscoe here.

[TJ]

What are the numbers say, though?

[Travis]

Where the 19 finish? Talladega. No, I'm just wondering because it's like this is all gonna matter where his qualifying position is, too.

[Russell]

He was 29th.

[Travis]

Okay. So he's gonna go out pretty early in qualifying, so it's gonna be tough.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. What about logano versus Elliott? It's minus 115 both ways.

[Travis]

Ah, man. I like Elliott. He's. Chase just finds his way here some.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, I like Elliott over Logano, and

[Russell]

Logano is just struggling.

[Dale Jr.]

They are Penske.

[Russell]

Their last win was here last year.

[Dale Jr.]

Penske as a whole has struggled to outperform RFK over the past several weeks.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

What's going on there?

[Travis]

I mean, even last week, who was their top guy of the two?

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. Are they in a bit of a rut? Penske for sure.

[Travis]

Yeah.

[TJ]

Yes.

[Russell]

Yeah, for sure.

[Carson Hosvar]

I don't.

[Russell]

I don't know why, but it's.

[Dale Jr.]

It.

[Russell]

You know, the only thing is, is Cindrick's really come on lately. Like now he's. He has got better actually in playoff or Chase position now. So, like, he's been, I would say, running the best of the. That Penske group lately.

[Travis]

No, I mean, it's hard. He's had more speed. But Cindrick, you got a lot of

[Dale Jr.]

strange looks in this room. Yeah, that comment.

[Travis]

That's not going to be true. Russ, Come on.

[Dale Jr.]

No dis. No disrespect, Mr. Cindric.

[Travis]

He's not been the. He's. But he has the best average finish.

[Dale Jr.]

Been the better maybe not performer.

[Travis]

Yeah. Blaney's been the fastest Penske car to Matt. Come on now. The predictor is going to slap you in the face.

[Russell]

I would take Cindric over.

[Travis]

You're telling me right now.

[Dale Jr.]

I would take Centric over Blaney over Logano and Barry. Yes, but Blaney. I kind of put Barry in there.

[Russell]

We're just like, like, look at. Look at Cindric. The last five races, he was fifth, eighth, 16th at Bristol, 12th at Kansas, eighth at Talladega.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, those are moderate results, but I still feel like that Blaney's a better five. Blaney's just better speed. Yeah, that's a wild take, Russ. Yeah, I didn't say, hey, this is coming from a guy who knows wild takes. That's a wild take. Master over here.

[Russell]

We should take that out if Travis thinks it's a while.

[Dale Jr.]

No, it's staying in.

[Travis]

Oh, this is not leaving now, man.

[Russell]

Boy, a lot of time with Cindric and the in the Fox booth the

[Dale Jr.]

last couple of weeks.

[Russell]

Yeah, you got a soft spot.

[Travis]

It ain't nothing. I mean, Austin's a great guy and he's having a good day.

[Dale Jr.]

That relationship is affecting your decision making.

[Russell]

It may be affecting my decisions.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes. Yeah, I like. Well, the predictor doesn't have feelings.

[Russell]

Yeah, the predictor agrees. The predictor disagrees with my feelings.

[Travis]

Yeah, you're making an emotional decision.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes, you are.

[Russell]

Blainey has struggled on these mile and a half. We talked about that.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah.

[Travis]

He's also won the All Star race there.

[Dale Jr.]

He did win the All Star race there one year. Many, many moons ago. All right, this segment is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is the premier gaming destination in the United States. Thank you, Russell, for another great insight into Dirty Modo. We'll see you. All right, everybody, that's the show. Appreciate y' all listening to another episode of the Dale Jenner download this Tuesday. Great having Carson come through today. Thank you, tj. Thanks for joining us in the Arby's studio. Don't forget about Arby's. New meat in three box. Get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats. We'll see you tomorrow. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Instagram, Facebook X and TikTok. At our house, family feuds are settled at 200 miles per hour. Visit the NASCAR hall of Fame and relive the iconic virgin racing moments that made Petty, Earnhardt and Allison household names. Make new memories in our realistic racing simulators and interactive pit crew challenge. Or get up close with the cars along glory road that span generations. Plan a trip to the NASCAR hall of Fame in Charlotte. [e-mail] NASCAR hall of Fame. This is our sport. This is our house. If you're like me, you have a lot of things on your mind. Work things, family things, what's for dinner things.

[Russell]

So here's one last thing to think

[Dale Jr.]

about protecting your engine. Just swing by your local take five

[Russell]

for an oil change and ask for Pennzoil Platinum.

[Dale Jr.]

Full synthetic motor oil. It helps protect against wear, keeps your engine running clean, and gives you the

[Russell]

kind of peace of mind you don't have to overthink. Just remember one thing.

[Dale Jr.]

Ask for Pennzoil Platinum by name at your local Take 5 Pennzoil. Long may we drive.