Cleetus's Advice From Drivers, Lee Pulliam's Emotional Embrace & Dale’s Fired Up

Summary

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The Dale Jr. Download – "Cleetus's Advice From Drivers, Lee Pulliam's Emotional Embrace & Dale’s Fired Up"

Release Date: April 3, 2026
Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dirty Mo Media & SiriusXM

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively blend of racing insights, emotional storytelling, and candid driver commentary. NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew dissect recent races, discuss the unique cultures at tracks like Martinsville, and spotlight special moments, such as Lee Pulliam’s heartfelt family embrace pre-race. Special guest YouTuber-turned-driver Cleetus McFarland brings a fresh perspective on adapting to NASCAR, while memorable fan interactions and behind-the-scenes discussions round out a rich, fast-paced episode.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Martinsville Racing Culture and Driver Attitudes

• Early Laps: Trading Paint and Accepting Bumps
  • Jesse’s aggressive driving at Martinsville sparks a spirited debate about old-school racing expectations.
  • Dale Jr. (02:10):
    "I would go to Martinsville looking forward to getting run into...If I knock your ass, if I run into the side of your car. Take it like a man. Let's go. You wanna give it back to me in the next corner, fine. But it's eye for an eye."
  • The group fondly recounts the joy of "door-ing" each other and wearing race history on their battered sheet metal.
  • Adam (03:12):
    "Nothing like flooding the sheet metal market here."

2. Stage Breaks, Caution Procedures, and TV Commercials

• Debate: Long Cautions or Interrupted Green Flag Racing?
  • Discussion on how TV dictates yellow flag duration due to required commercial breaks.
  • Todd (07:01):
    "I feel like we're in a world of — we gotta get that dopamine hit every couple of minutes. A 15-minute caution can really drag you down…"
  • Consensus: There is no easy solution, fans and drivers alike chafe at lost race flow versus losing sight of pit stop action.

3. Driver and Team Dynamics: Humor & Human Moments

• Pit Lane Banter & Family Ties
  • Laughter over the infamous "pickle card" and drivers’ obsession with racetrack pickles (08:18).
  • Jesse shares a spirited moment:
    "...now I'm gonna have to see, since I am a chase sexual, if my wife wants to get together and make another baby. And we'll call him Clyde. Come on." (08:46)
• Shane van Gisbergen’s Adaptation to Ovals
  • Admiration for Shane’s quick learning curve:
    Freddy (10:07):
    "To see what he's done is just incredible and yeah, massive respect for sure."

4. Kyle Busch’s Struggles & NASCAR’s Car Sensitivity

• Is Kyle Done with This Car?
  • Kyle’s frustration with current car dynamics and debate over whether more practice would help.
  • Tommy (11:04):
    "You can see in Kyle's interview he's just about had enough. I don't know what that means for the future, but I'd be surprised to see him back in that car next year."
  • Group agrees that, given a fast car, Kyle’s talent would shine despite his apparent discontent.

5. Cleetus McFarland: Bridging Digital & NASCAR Worlds

• Massive Learning Curve & Driver Support
  • Jeff Burton (15:58):
    "I was asking some of the cup drivers this week what they thought would be reasonable expectations for you at Rockingham..."
  • Cleetus McFarland (16:19):
    "In that day, I developed more as a driver than I ever have in one day. … They have. I've never been given so much data, so much communication for anything in my life..."
• Pressure, Scrutiny & Humility
  • Cleetus (17:50):
    "There's a lot more pressure, external pressure on this type of racing...I got nothing to prove. I got to get out there and...just get out there, stay out of the way and learn."
• Biggest Surprises of NASCAR
  • Overwhelmed by NASCAR's scale vs. his YouTube world; adaptability is hard, car control much trickier than expected.
    • Cleetus (19:19):
      "The machine of NASCAR is massive... Normally, I bring eyes to a sport. This sport brought eyes to me."
• Validation from Veterans
  • Mark Martin and Kenny Wallace’s public endorsements mean a lot:
    • Cleetus (21:49):
      "I definitely feel like I am not a bad driver... It feels good to have their opinions sway that way. But I also know that I have a lot to prove or a lot to learn..."
• Content Creation Advice
  • Expand appeal by widening the “funnel” of content (23:14):
    "Yours specifically is like, your funnel is like this...mine's like this..."
  • Focus on broad, easy-to-understand titles and thumbnails to draw in a wider audience.

6. Lee Pulliam’s Emotional Race Day and Father-Daughter Moment

• Dale Jr. highlights a moving pre-race embrace
  • Dale Jr. (29:08):
    "The best moment of the day for me happened before the race ever started...You knelt down and gave her a hug and she got emotional and you got emotional."
• Lee reflects on fatherhood & dreams
  • Daughter’s awareness and support made the experience deeply personal and inspiring.
  • Lee (34:12):
    "When I gave her the hug, I just told her—this is why you never give up on your dreams. And I said whatever you dream of you, you fight for and you just never give up."
  • A universally relatable story about family, effort, and never quitting.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dale Jr. on short-track joy:
  (02:10) “I would go to Martinsville looking forward to getting run into… It's eye for an eye. Don't be a idiot and take me out."
• Cletus on adapting to NASCAR:
  (17:50) “There's a lot more pressure, external pressure on this type of racing… I got nothing to prove."
• On the machine of NASCAR:
  (19:19) “Normally, I bring eyes to a sport. This sport brought eyes to me."
• Lee Pulliam’s fatherly advice to his daughter:
  (34:12) “When I gave her the hug, I just told her—this is why you never give up on your dreams."
• Freddy on driver’s discomfort:
  (12:08) “They're the most sensitive car I've ever driven. Put Kyle Busch in the fastest car, he's going to be at the front."

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Important Segment Timestamps

| Segment Topic | Timestamp | |:----------------------------------------------------|:--------------| | Short Track Racing & "Trading Sheet Metal" | 01:52 – 04:47 | | Extended Cautions & TV Influence | 04:42 – 08:11 | | Pickle Card Banter & Family Name Stories | 08:11 – 09:15 | | Shane Van Gisbergen’s Adaptation | 09:30 – 10:42 | | Kyle Busch’s Struggles | 11:01 – 12:26 | | Cleetus McFarland’s NASCAR Journey | 15:58 – 24:36 | | Cleetus’s Content/Tips for Creators | 22:50 – 24:13 | | Lee Pulliam’s Emotional Pre-Race Moment | 29:08 – 35:15 |

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Episode Takeaways

• Martinsville remains a beloved “throwback” where hard, physical racing defines the experience.
• TV’s need for commercials disrupts the race flow—there’s no perfect fix, but the conversation continues.
• Cleetus McFarland brings major humility and shows how hard it is to transition from digital stardom to competitive racing—he both celebrates and respects the racing craft.
• Lee Pulliam’s pre-race embrace with his daughter is a standout moment, showing the deeper, human side behind every race.
• The crew’s humor, honesty, and willingness to rib each other makes for an entertaining listen, even as they tackle serious subjects.

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For fans and racing newcomers alike, this episode is packed with practical advice, emotional resonance, and genuine passion straight from the heart of the NASCAR community.

Transcript

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[Dale Jr.]

Hey everybody, I'm Dylan Hart Jr. And this is the Dirty 30. The best highlights from all of our podcast podcast this week. 30 minutes every single Friday. The Dirty 30 coming at you. Let's get right to it. 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.

[Jeff Burton]

Jesse.

[Adam]

I I went back and watched the race. Me and Carson back and watched the whole race. Jesse was a little rough on some guys early too.

[Dale Jr.]

Jesse doesn't realize there's here's the thing about Jesse. Jesse drives the way he doesn't like to get driven.

[Freddy]

Exactly.

[Adam]

But any and I mean I love Jesse is great.

[Dale Jr.]

I like Jesse too. And I don't want it to be. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to give him the wrong idea. But yeah, dude. And honestly, Jesse races hard and there's nothing wrong with it, but when it comes back around, he don't like it. And especially at Martinsville, like, damn, you're supposed to get run into. I would go to Martinsville and I want Jesse and everybody to hear this. I would go to Martinsville Looking forward to getting run into. We go to all these other racetracks. When I was driving, we had steel bodies, right? You go to Kansas and Chicago and road courses and all these tracks, you can't touch no body. If you barely bend the quarter panel, you're. Yeah, you couldn't touch nothing. So I couldn't wait to go to Martinsville, and I'm like, please, door me. Somebody put some donuts on this mother. Let's go.

[Adam]

That explains a lot.

[Dale Jr.]

Yes. I mean, we'd get 100 laps in the race, and Latart would come on the radio and go, dude, you got 400 laps to go. Can we save some race car? Cause I'd have both sides lit up.

[Adam]

Nothing like flooding the sheet metal market here.

[Ryan]

I feel alive.

[Dale Jr.]

I loved it. And when a guy got loose under me and me, you know, hit me in the left side door, you know, it was. I want. It's what I went to Martinsville to

[Adam]

expect at the time. It did not make you happy.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, but I mean, you want it.

[Todd]

You're.

[Tommy]

No.

[Dale Jr.]

I know you're looking forward to grinding your teeth. You're like.

[Adam]

You're looking forward to being the guy. You're looking forward to dirtying the right side up, not the left side.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, but I mean, you know, are you looking forward.

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You want to get hit first? So then it gives you the freedom to go back.

[Dale Jr.]

Adam, I just went to those races going, I'm ready to trade some sheet metal. I'm not gonna knock. I'm not gonna spin a guy out. I'm not gonna, you know, ruin somebody's day. But if I knock your ass, if I run into the side of your car. Take it like a man. Let's go. You know, you wanna give it back to me in the next corner, fine. But it's a, you know, it's eye for an eye. Don't be a idiot and take me out. I'm not gonna take you out now. I don't want it to escalate.

[Adam]

That's when it gets carried out.

[Dale Jr.]

It doesn't need to escalate. But do I want to hit? Do I want to hit? Do I want to trade bumpers? Do I want to get out of my car and see the story of the race written all over the sheet metal? Yes. Yes, I do. And I want it on both sides. It was fun. And now these guys get all bent out of shape when somebody gives them a little donut off the corner. Back to this. This caution thing, though.

[Tommy]

What is.

[Todd]

We got a normal stage break Normal stage break.

[Dale Jr.]

Caution. What is, like, the procedure? Do you do two laps and then they open pit road and you come down? Like, what is.

[Todd]

It depends on the track, right? Because two laps at Kansas is different than two laps at Martinsville. But I just told you what it is. You throw the caution. They, the, they watch us gather up. They go to commercial for a while.

[Dale Jr.]

So commercial is dictating how many laps you're doing. It's not. We need one lap to clean off the track. Pit road open.

[Todd]

Not, not for stages, for, for regular cautions. I. I think it's more. A little more buttoned up. They're not, but it's still the same.

[Dale Jr.]

It.

[Todd]

There's still not. I don't know that there's a huge sense of urgencies on regular cautions, too, because again, TV is banking on. We listen. They heard us when we talk. When, when the fans complained about all these commercials during green flag, they're like, all right, well, we're going to do it during yellow. Well, the, the time, the running time of the commercials has to remain whatever it is. So they're just going to have to extend the yellows if you want them to tune into green. So what. What would you rather them have longer yellows or have some commercials during green? Traff. What's your opinion of that? If they had to run one hour of commercials every race I'm throwing it that I have no idea what the number is. Would you rather it be for extended yellows? Would you rather be extended yellows or take away a little green flag?

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Can we, can we do the extended yellows but freeze the lap count?

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, God, no.

[Todd]

The races would be six hours.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

I. I think I, I would still. I think I would rather take the yellow.

[Todd]

Longer yellow.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

But the. Yeah, the hard thing is, like, yesterday would have been great to go during some green ones, but it's like you. You can't decide it. It's tough.

[Todd]

I think you take a little green away maybe just. You know, why? Because we're just. I feel like we're in a world of, you got it. We got to get that dopamine hit every couple of minutes. And I'm telling you, a 15 minute caution can really drag down your feeling. And next thing you know, now I've switched over to basketball, and now it's a close game. I'm like, I don't want to. This is great. I don't want to change from this. I flip back real quick, still under yellow. Let me go back to the game. And then I Just find myself getting caught in the game.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

I will say though, that like showing the pit stops, I do think helps build the race up.

[Todd]

I, I, I agree with you.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

I, that's why I maybe a happy medium just mix.

[Todd]

If there was a easy fix, then NASCAR would have done it all. There is no easy fix. We're trying again. We're trying to make it all work and make air feed all the mouths that, that, that are NASCAR. So it's a tough, tough thing. But TVs got to get their commercials in. It's the only way that the series gets the, the money that it does that, that, that supports this whole thing, so. But it feels long in the car. I'm telling you. We were running lots of car.

[Jesse]

Cottage. You got to bring that pickle card back, dude. Those pickles are fire.

[Dale Jr.]

I love that.

[Tommy]

What pickles is pickle card?

[Freddy]

Yeah, the gorillas card everyone loves. Dude, when we put out that cooler behind the hauler of pickles, they go very, very fast.

[Tommy]

They have the hot ones too, right, though spicy.

[Dale Jr.]

Oh, yeah.

[Freddy]

They'll be back soon, so.

[Kyle]

I can't wait. I love them.

[Jesse]

Freddy, you better shave your eyebrows off after this race.

[Tommy]

The haircut.

[Kyle]

Clean your beard up, man. That's a mess.

[Ryan]

Clean.

[Tommy]

This is as clean as it gets, buddy.

[Jesse]

Oh, Lord. So I am driving home from my boy's birthday party. Turned seven today. He is named after Chase Elliott. So happy birthday to my son Chase. He gets the win today. Love that. So now I'm gonna have to see, since I am a chase sexual, if my wife wants to get together and make another baby. And we'll call him Clyde. Come on.

[Kyle]

Awesome.

[Tommy]

I was expecting some chase sexual calls today.

[Jesse]

Oh, Shane Van Gingerberger pretty much ran top 10 all day. I'm not saying we're or anything, but me and Jeff Burton better figure out how to say this guy's name right.

[Tommy]

Tommy, what is it about qualified in the top five?

[Cletus McFarland]

What top five?

[Kyle]

Top ten, I think.

[Tommy]

No, he was, I think he was fifth or maybe, maybe sixth. He was right there, though. What is it about Martinsville? Because AJ was kind of the same way. What is it about Martinsville that, like, kind of lends itself to these road course guys? It's just the breaking.

[Kyle]

Yeah, just breaking and timing. You know, Montoya was the same way when he got to Martinsville. It took a little bit for Shane to do it, but he's figured it. I mean, look, Shane's figuring out all the ovals now, right? He's getting, you know, they were a little off Last week as a group. But he's getting better. I mean you're racing, you know, around them more now than you did last year, right?

[Freddy]

Yeah, I know absolutely it would beginning of last year when to, you know, Vegas and Texas, all these places. He was, you know, he was a car that we expected to beat, you know, and now he's very, very fast, I think. Yeah, it's very impressive. I, you know, I don't think anyone's ever necessarily a massive fan. Right. When someone comes in and, and just beats, you know, all the guys that, you know, I think are the greatest in the world, um, it hurts a little bit. But yeah, to see what he's done is just incredible and yeah, massive respect for sure.

[Tommy]

Yeah, we said he was gonna be the most improved guy this year and he's, he's living up to

[Jesse]

is. Currently 6:12am I'm just walking into the great state of Michigan again after a 12 hour drive home from Martinsville. I haven't slept in probably 30 hours and I still think Kyle Busch had a longer day than I did.

[Freddy]

Kyle Busch had to race with me all day, so I don't think he had Kyle.

[Tommy]

You can see in Kyle's interview he's, he's just about had enough. I don't know what that means for the future, but I would be surprised to see him back in that car next year. His interviews, he's gotten to the point where he's given the one word answer. Interviews, like, and I don't know, like they're, I mean as a whole, they struggled yesterday, obviously, but like this guy is still one of the best race car drivers on the planet. Like he didn't forget how to do this.

[Kyle]

He just doesn't like this car. He doesn't like the feel. I mean, he just doesn't.

[Tommy]

Do you think practice, lack of practice has anything to do with that? I mean, obviously he doesn't need practice, but I feel like it, he, he does need it like to get comfortable.

[Kyle]

I think prac, if we're allowed to do more things in practice, it would help that. But you know, I, I don't know, man. I just, he just doesn't like it. But I guarantee if you get it right for him, you know where he's going to be. Yeah, right. But he's, you know, the deal, man. Todd, these cars are so finicky. One round, one round in the left rear, in or out could mess you up.

[Freddy]

Yeah, no, there's, they're the most sensitive car I've ever driven. But yeah, I think like Tommy said, if you put. Put Kyle Busch in the fastest car, he's going to be at the front. So I think he'd like the car a lot more.

[Kyle]

And in.

[Tommy]

In that situation, I'm hoping for the cow Bush fans, he figures it out at some point because they're. We're going on two years now, y'.

[Jesse]

All. I'm pretty upset. I just found out that Freddy's been lying to us for years because then he's not great. That was some. Go 12.

[Tommy]

Go 12. I knew that was I. Again, I didn't see it. Tommy informed me last night that it was pretty egregious. And I'm gonna take Tommy's word for it. He's never lied to me before.

[Freddy]

Is that what you guys do on the show? You just. You say you didn't see it?

[Kyle]

Well, I was using it with Denny.

[Cletus McFarland]

He does, yeah.

[Tommy]

Yeah. Well, it's in his contract. The guy signs my check, so I can't say anything bad about him. Unless, like, last week, he screwed up last week for sure because it ended up wrecking us. But that was. That was his fault. Last week, this week, I didn't see it.

[Todd]

Sorry. Last one.

[Jesse]

You know what? I'm ecstatic that Chase Elliott won the three. Did you know why? It takes zero. Thanks. Somebody. You, Denny. You, Denny. Bros. All y'. All. You. I hope you guys have a horrible Easter. I hope Easter bunny gives you instead of chocolate for eggs.

[Freddy]

That guy's a northerner for sure.

[Dale Jr.]

No, that wasn't.

[Kyle]

That was like a. That was like a Midwestern guy.

[Tommy]

That sounded like a guy from. Where's Blaney? From Ohio.

[Kyle]

That's where it was. That was not a north.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, that was blazing.

[Tommy]

That was actually Ryan.

[Dale Jr.]

Ryan. Thanks for calling me, Ryan.

[Tommy]

He said he was calling in one of these.

[Dale Jr.]

We cannot confirm.

[Tommy]

Yeah, that was aggressive. That was a little aggressive.

[Cletus McFarland]

All right.

[Tommy]

Hope you ruined your Easter. That was. I mean, that's bad.

[Adam]

That's bad.

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[Jeff Burton]

You know, I was asking some of the cup drivers this week what they thought would be reasonable expectations for you at Rockingham. And you know, the general consensus like just run all the laps, stay out of trouble and stuff. And I imagine that your confidence in being able to do that is like exponentially higher than it would have been before you did that test day. I'm assuming you gained a lot from that test.

[Cletus McFarland]

Way higher. You know, in that day I developed more as a driver than I ever have in one day. And that's the biggest difference from me going, you know, having this opportunity with RCR is I'm not just getting in a car and hoping to figure it out in the first 50 laps. You know, they have. I've never been given so much data, so much communication for anything in my life. I mean I probably, I got less data when I became a pilot. You know, like these guys are giving me so much data. I've been spending hundreds of laps on the Simulator every day, hosting races on iracing. You know, I was just watching data from RCR this morning. I'm going to the simulator this afternoon with Jesse Love. You know, I just am. That's the best part of this RCR deal is just so much help for my actual driving abilities.

[Jeff Burton]

Well, so you mentioned. Obviously, you've done a lot of crazy stuff, a lot of fun stuff, Stuff that takes balls, stuff that takes adrenaline. I mean, the Talladega video you just did with the RFK drivers was insane. So I imagine that you're used to whatever nerves and adrenaline that come with that. You're used to channeling that already does. The feeling of getting ready to compete in this race, is it the same kind of feeling or is it something different?

[Cletus McFarland]

I think there's a little. There's a lot more pressure, external pressure on this type of racing versus what the other stuff I do, you know, specifically because of, like, how badly I did at Daytona in the truck. You know, there's a lot of scrutiny going on, and this sport has a ton of scrutiny. Everyone's at each other's throats. Like, you make one mistake and it gets pretty chaotic. I've obviously not. I don't have the driver skill to back up, you know, and prove these people wrong. So at this point, it's like, I got nothing to prove. I got to get out there and. And do what a lot of these cup drivers are suggesting. And like, you know, Dale Jr. And these guys are saying, just get out there, stay out of the way and learn. And. And that's my hopes. I mean, that's the plan. Finish the race.

[Jeff Burton]

You, you know, you could really tell that you've gained such a firsthand appreciation for NASCAR and the limited stuff that you've done so far.

[Dale Jr.]

What.

[Jeff Burton]

What's been, like, the single biggest thing that has surprised you about the NASCAR world compared to what you thought it was like before you got yourself in it?

[Cletus McFarland]

Are you talking, like, on the. On the social side or, like, the competition side or what?

[Jeff Burton]

However you want to take it.

[Dale Jr.]

Whatever.

[Jeff Burton]

Whatever jumped out at you. You're like, man, it was like this.

[Cletus McFarland]

The single largest thing. I mean, the machine of NASCAR is massive, right? I. I mean, I'm just totally not in this world at all. When I'm doing the drag race and YouTube stuff, stuff, it's pretty fun to jump over here. It's such a massive world and community and be a part of something this big. So I don't know. That's probably the biggest thing that surprised me is just how Extreme of a machine. It is like, you know, it. It elevated me as a creator more than I thought it would. Normally, I bring eyes to a sport. This sport brought eyes to me. And on the competition side, I would say the biggest thing for me has been how hard the cars are to, you know, correct when you screw up, they're kind of like, what? Once you mess up a little bit, it goes really wrong really fast. And I, you know, I. I'm sure you've seen clips where I can drift cars at hundred plus mile an hour dead sideways and have full control, but the asymmetric, you know, wedge in these cars, like, the way that they drive is so new to me. It's way harder to recover from an incident. There's obviously 35 to 38 other cars on track. It's chaos. I can't believe how many stars have to align to actually win a race.

[Kyle]

That.

[Cletus McFarland]

That's also shocking. Yeah, you have to be so competitive, and then so much other stuff has to go your way. So when you see somebody win, like, you think, oh, that's great. But it's a way bigger deal than that.

[Jeff Burton]

Wow.

[Cletus McFarland]

It's a lot.

[Jeff Burton]

You know, you're. I was watching one of the. The reaction videos that, like, Mark Martin did, and when he was talking about you, your approval and all this stuff, and he was talking about how he had watched your videos and he was like, look, Cletus can drive, okay? And it's like, you know, this is a NASCAR hall of Famer saying this. Then, you know, Keselowski in the video you did at Talladega, you know, he's obviously, like, very impressed seeing you drive firsthand, the way you pushed him and all that stuff. I mean, you know that you have car control and, you know, you have these skills, but when you catch the attention of these NASCAR hall of Fame type guys and impress them with your talent, I mean, does that mean anything to you? Does that resonate with you?

[Cletus McFarland]

Well, I love Mark Martin, by the way.

[Jesse]

He.

[Cletus McFarland]

That guy has been so gracious to me. Honestly. Him and Kenny Wallace have kind of been like some of the few guys who've had my back. So I love those guys. I definitely feel like I am not a bad driver, you know, and. And especially in like, you know, a car that has symmetrical grip that I feel like I'm very confident and it feels good to have their, you know, have their opinions sway that way. But I also know that I have a lot to prove or a lot to learn, you know, to. To hopefully make those guys proud. So I just can't believe how far these guys drive these things in the corner. I mean, they are so damn good at turning left, it's ridiculous. So I just have. So I have such a gap to, you know, get to where I can be competitive but learning as fast as I can.

[Jeff Burton]

I know you get asked for advice all the time from people. You know, how do I do this with my YouTube channel and stuff like that? How do I make good content like you? My channel currently has 11,000 subscribers, so I have 4.66 million fewer subscribers than you have.

[Cletus McFarland]

What would.

[Jeff Burton]

What advice would you give to someone like me on how to grow my content and be a better creator?

[Cletus McFarland]

Well, Jeff, I see your stuff all over when I'm in the NASCAR world. Like, your stuff is all over, but, you know, yours specifically is like, your funnel is like this. Right. You're just only applying to this specific community, and my funnel's like this. Right. You know, of how many people my videos can apply to. So I would say for you, you have good content. You know, you may want to interpret what could open your funnel up. And you know what? Next time you make a title for a video, think, all right, who's gonna understand this? Is it this many people, or will everybody understand it? You know, the. In the title and the thumbnail are the most crucial part of that, of getting people in the door.

[Jeff Burton]

That's fascinating advice. Thank you for that.

[Cletus McFarland]

You can't get them in the door. They don't even care. What. I mean, what? Doesn't even matter what's on the other side, so. Right, right.

[Jeff Burton]

Well, for the people that haven't watched your videos, the NASCAR fans who are, you know, have only heard about you because you've come into this world, what do you want them to know about you as you take some steps into the sport?

[Cletus McFarland]

I think that, you know, if you don't know a Cleese McFarland is or who I am, I would say go to the channel and just watch maybe, like, the best of 2025 video, and that will give you a small, short example of almost everything we did throughout the year. And just know that I am not trying to wedge my way into this sport and, you know, show the world that anyone can do it. I'm simply here to enjoy the sport and go turn left with a bunch of other, you know, people who love turning left. And that's it. I'm here to learn. I'm here to have a blast. I got this crazy opportunity to run in O'Reilly's with RCR and Tommy's Express Car Wash. And I think a lot of people are viewing that as like I'm trying to wedge my way to the top. You know, they called me and who, who the hell would I be to say no to Richard Childress Racing saying, come get in my car. There's a 0% chance I'm turning that down. And now here I am going to race in a level yeah, I may not deserve to be at, but it's up to me now. I put myself here. So, you know, if you want to come along for the ride, we'd love to have you.

[Dale Jr.]

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[Dale Jr.]

My favorite and I hate to take you here emotionally but because I know you're,

[Ryan]

I know where you're going.

[Dale Jr.]

Listen, dude, I'm telling you, this was really cool. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a girl, dad. I got little 5 and 7 year old. Your daughter's around the same age but she seems absolutely aware of what, you know, what she's, what's happening that day, what y' all were doing. She was, she was, I was watching her and trying to compare her to my child and, and she, you know, she, my girls go to the race and they're still not sure what racing is, right? They're not sure what we're doing there and why I'm in that car. You know, daddy's out there in that car. He's out there. Where is he at? You know, why is he not in the camper? Where is he? And so my girls are still sort of a bit oblivious to some of the, some of the things and we'll get there one day with them. But yeah, and I'm sure your daughter is a child at heart. But I'm telling you man, it was a special moment. It was, we raced all day, we Led laps. We had fun. You got to do all these great things and you got to experience the lows and the highs. You did it all. Um, but the best moment of the day for me happened before the race ever started. Yeah. So I'm standing over the right front. She comes up to you. Your wife and her close by, they had been. They'd been within, you know, within arm's reach for the last several minutes, kind of hanging around, waiting and, you know, allowing photos and other things to happen. And you waved her over. She comes over to you, right?

[Ryan]

Yeah.

[Dale Jr.]

And y' all had a moment where you knelt down and gave her a hug and she got emotional and you got emotional. Now I understand why you got emotional. Yeah. Right. But it was really profound for me to see your daughter recognize in that moment how important this was for you. What a. What a. What a cool. I think what. That's got to feel so good as a dad. Right. Forget the race, forget how important this is in your life to be able to experience this one thing. You got to feel so good as a dad to have a daughter that recognizes how important that was for you and how happy she was to see you get to do it. That's what I saw. I saw her emotional and thankful. And knowing my dad's getting ready to do something he's dreamed about, I have to imagine that you. Y' all must have had some conversations leading up to this. You must have shared with her.

[Ryan]

She knew how special it was.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah. And then you made it. You made it aware. You made it and, you know, you made her aware of it, and she was able to go there and you know how much that mattered to her now that she knows and understands all this. And your wife sat on the pit box behind me the whole race, and I knew the whole time. She knew exactly how important every single lap was. We watched you come off, turn four, time over time, time after time after time, just soaking it in and just realizing how big a grin you had on your face, you know, But I was. I thought that was. Of all things that happened that day, that embrace with her and how connected to the moment she was, was impressive to me.

[Ryan]

Yeah, she's. That's been really special because she's at an age where she understands how much it meant to me. She saw dad working. She saw dad running up, back and forth, running miles on the driveway in the farm. She saw. She saw me being like that 18 year old kid, but I was her dad, you know, she saw that fire in me and she. Man, she's been like my biggest supporter. And just. When we had the post, when we had that post race meeting Monday morning here.

[Dale Jr.]

Yeah, the team meeting.

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

Yep.

[Ryan]

And tell you how aware she is. When I left, she said, daddy,

[Jesse]

you're

[Ryan]

not gonna get in trouble, are you? And I said, I said, I said, I said, I don't know, baby. I said, I think they really impressed with my racing. I said I'm probably gonna be critiqued on my restarts. I said, but that's okay. I said, that's part of life. I said, I critique you on things. And I said dad knows he needed to be better there. And I said I'm gonna be fine. I said there's a lot of people there to support me and have, have reached out to me and told me, hey, I've done it before, I've had this issue. I said, so I'll be fine. But that's all she could think about that morning. She didn't want dad to be in

[Indeed Sponsored Jobs Announcer]

trouble at this meeting.

[Ryan]

So she is so aware of the everything and she knows that I wanted to be perfect. Yeah, she knows that how much it meant to me and she knows that disappoint like the disappointment I felt of making that mistake. She knew she could feel that. She knew that how much that had weighed on me that weekend. Like she knew that I had a great time and a great experience. But that morning, like she's just so aware of so many things and if three or four years ago she wouldn't have been so she's nine now and it's just kind of amazing to be at that point in life. But yeah, when I gave her the hug, I just told her this is why you never give up on your dreams. And I said whatever you dream of you, you fight for and you just never give up. And so yeah, yeah, that was definitely a special time for me for sure

[Jesse]

and

[Ryan]

something I'll never forget.

[Dale Jr.]

So hey, this is Dale Hart Jr and for all the latest Dale Jr download gear including the I'm will 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. All right, that was another episode of the Dirty 30 presented by Arby's new meet in 3Box. Get more meal for your money. At Arby's, we had the meat. As a fan chosen for the halftime challenge, I love sports for a chance

[Cletus McFarland]

to win the big prize.

[Dale Jr.]

But when my half court heave only goes half the distance, how embarrassing for him. I wonder is Sport Clips better than sports? Because Sport Clips Haircuts is sports on tv. Plus an expert haircut, hot steam towel and massaging shampoo Tear up his comically large check which is better than sportsclip plus Public Embarrassment Sport Clips. It's a game changer. Check it online at sportclips. Com.